"You're a little different… most people beg me to tell them what happened in my dream." The Daimyo's young nephew, whose name Naruto didn't have, smirked knowingly as he walked across the room to stand in front of the fireplace. "I suppose they think they can change the fact that they will die as I've foreseen."

Naruto watched him, his eyes narrowed and his arms crossed as he tried to stay as calm as possible. "I guess I am different." He shrugged, looking at Ino who had her hands clenched crossly at her sides. "Besides, why should I believe you? Because you said my name? I'm a shinobi; I understand the value of gaining information. It's not impossible for you to bribe a few people at the hotel to get my information… or have someone follow me. You certainly have the means..."

"I had no interest in you until I saw you in my dream. You told me your name and then jumped… Forgive me. I suppose you didn't want to hear about it…" The young boy laughed and, out of his pocket, he took a few Ryo notes. "You'll burn… just like this."

Chapter 21

Naruto winced when he clenched his fist shut fiercely around the piece of paper to wad it up before throwing it into the fireplace. What he just threw into the fire could've covered the two rooms that he and the girls were staying in at the hotel.

"That was a lot of money… next time you do something stupid like that, you should think about giving it away to a charity or something. That might make you feel better than burning it, maybe kill away this curse that has been placed on you."

"Some say it's a gift."

"Not when the people you dream about die; sounds like a bonafide curse to me." He crossed his arms, "Are all rich kids as spoiled as you? That was a lot of money."

He turned, his grin gone as he furrowed his brow and tilted his head, looking especially confused at Naruto's indifference. "You get so worked up over a little bit of money…"

Naruto's face was starting to turn red. "I've known people that died trying to make less than that on a mission. So, yes, I hate wastefulness."

"Huh… listen… don't you want to know how you died?" The boy asked, frowning.

Naruto rolled his eyes while Ino couldn't help but be intrigued; what her father told her, even though he did not exclude anything so far, did not prepare her for this boy. She wondered what sort of life he has led up until this point and why her father warned her about going into his mind.

"Naruto, you should at least hear him out."

Naruto frowned, looking at Ino knowing that he would if she recommended it. She looked at him sternly, not backing down from her suggestion.

"I guess… but we already know he's bullshitting, listen to what he said. He said that I introduced myself and then I fell somewhere. That's a lie, because he already knew my name. So much for prophecy; At the most, this boy- what's your name?" Naruto asked, interrupting himself for a second to find out what he was called so that he could stop calling him using pronouns.

"My name is Hi no Ichizoku Minato." At Naruto's confusion, knowing that was the name of his father, the young boy smirked and said, "Yes, I am named after your father. He was a very famous man."

"You called me Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto said with glaring eyes that narrowed to the point Inoichi was starting to think they'd disappear off of his face.

"Yes. I also said that you would introduce yourself… except, when you do, it will be as Namikaze Naruto."

Inoichi stood in front of him, smiling kindly at young Minato, "Thank you for your time, Minato-dono. Give me just one second to speak to Naruto-kun here while Ino runs a diagnostic on you and uses one of our mental checks to see if it's safe to dive in, is that fine with you?"

"Of course. Until you introduce the real you… Uzumaki Naruto." Minato said, smiling courteously with a slight bow of his head before walking back to the bed and taking a seat while Ino reached into a bag that Inoichi handed her. He and Naruto then stepped out of the room in a rush with the older man pushing on Naruto's back to get him out of the room as soon as possible.

I have to try and knock some sense into this kid, he thought, biting his lips as Naruto protested the shoving. He doesn't quite understand how precarious his situation is now.

When they were outside of the room alone, Inoichi asked Naruto to have a seat on a small bench in the middle of a hallway with plants and paintings decorating the walls.

As Naruto took his seat, Inoichi smiled at him and said. "Naruto, do you understand what is going on here and how things have changed?"

He frowned, looking at Inoichi directly in his eyes. "What do I say to that: 'I watched you die'?" he mocked, rolling his eyes. "As if you could give any more of a bad omen than that," said Naruto. "I say he should just keep that shit to himself. Let people die if it's their time."

"What if it's your time?" Inoichi asked with a twisted knot in his stomach. It was hard to speak to him when he was certain himself that Naruto would meet his end soon; after witnessing so much death, Inoichi came to believe that the boy's prophecy was indisputable.

"Well, I'm not going to be paranoid about it; if it happens, it happens." Naruto said with finality, and he stood up to head back into the room. "I'm ready to go back in. I want to see how Ino is doing."

Inoichi nodded with a grimace on his face. "Naruto," he began fearfully, "it's OK to be scared."

He looked back at the older man and nodded. "Thanks for the support… If I'm going to die, then I guess that means I'll have to kill Orochimaru today instead of later. What do you think? Do I have a chance?"

Inoichi laughed. "Not a chance in hell. I'm pretty sure you're still well under my league."

"I'm resourceful." Naruto said, grinning impishly.

"Speaking of which, resourceful people know how to be safe, right?" Inoichi said out of the blue, confusing the younger blond.

"Yeah, I guess." He said, not sure where the man was going with this.

Inoichi gave him the most solid look of warning he had. Actually, the look was more murderous than a stern warning; an incredibly violent gesture that was so subtle that it was almost like he was smiling. Wait, he is smiling, Naruto realized, this is where Ino gets her attitude from. It's terrifying.

"The only safe sex is no sex, Naruto. Do we have an understanding?"

Naruto blinked; he looked at him mutely until Inoichi leaned in closer, his soft 'smile' turning into a frown with a full-on glare.

"Do we have an understanding?" he repeated, carving Naruto up with his eyes causing him to nod in response.

"Great! Now, let's go on in."

Naruto shook his head after Inoichi turned his back. He followed the jonin in carefully, scared the man would spin around all of a sudden and grab him by the head and snap his neck. The creeping smell of the man's killing intent was putridly strong.

"Naruto!" Ino called, spotting him and her father again at the door. "Ok, will you please come and talk with young Minato-dono, please? He has more to say to you."

Naruto gave up. "Sure," he said.

Minato looked at Naruto demurely as he sat with his legs crossed on the bed and his hands sitting in his lap as he watched Naruto take a seat by his bed. He shuffled slightly in his chair before looking back at Minato in silence.

Naruto waited patiently for the young boy to continue, but when he didn't the blond sighed and leaned into his palm as he set his elbow down to rest on the arm of his cozy chair. Regardless of the comfort, however, he was pretty sure he would prefer the sturdiness of a folding chair.

"So…" Naruto said, irritated now that the boy was waiting for a cue to start.

"When you introduced yourself to me, you were reaching for a chain that came down from Mount Krakatoa. There was smoke rising into the sky behind you and the red glow of the lava within the volcano made it obvious that it was about ready to erupt."

Ino looked up when she heard the name, "Ah! Krakatoa; isn't that the volcano on the island within the mainland?

Inoichi nodded slowly, stroking his chin as he looked at young Minato. "So you're saying that Naruto told you his name was Namikaze, he then grabbed the chain and… what? He climbed up to the top of the mountain?"

Minato smirked, nodding affirmatively. "Yes. He climbed all of the way to the top… then he yelled out as if he were talking to someone once he reached the top, but there was no one there. Soon afterwards, he fell into the volcano just as it began to erupt."

Inoichi frowned. "You're saying that Krakatoa is going to erupt when Naruto gets there?"

He did not answer, but the smirk that stayed smeared on his face collectively gave the group a bad feeling.

"This isn't good. We should inform the Daimyo. He just left for the village near Mount Krakatoa soon to spend some time with the samurai that train there, and his trip doesn't end for a whole month. He'll come back early October for the beginning of the martial arts tournament and Hi no Kuni's yearly bird festival here at the capitol." Inoichi said.

Naruto looked at Minato and gave him a slight nod of his head to get his attention as he was looking back and forth between him and Inoichi. "Minato. Do you know when I'm supposed to die? Is it today?"

The young boy frowned, "I'm not sure… but I haven't been wrong in any of my predictions so far… all thirty-two of them. You will die."

"Hm. I think thirty-three is a bad number. Honestly, it's probably about time you ran out of luck, kid." Naruto said, smirking. "Is there anything else I should know about your dream?"

Minato tried to think, looking down at his feet for a moment as he tried to remember the dream that was quickly fading away in his memory. "Some parts are fuzzy. One of those is a meeting you had with a man who fell off a tall building and survived. Not only that, but he wasn't even really hurt. He stood and walked after."

Ino looked at Naruto now with additional interest in the story that was on the news earlier that day when they were in the room. "That's…" she began to say, but when she caught Naruto's smile at her she stopped speaking and only smiled back shyly.

Naruto nodded at her, while Inoichi looked at the two of them inquiringly. "You know what he's talking about?"

"Yes," said Ino, looking back at the boy. "We saw it on the news… uh, Minato… you, by chance, didn't happen to prophesize that man's death, did you? The one who fell? He should've died from that."

He smiled openly. "I didn't… let's hope it's not one of you two next" said Minato.

Naruto stared him down fiercely, "You just keep dreaming about me kid. If not, you'll be dreaming about yourself one day soon."

Ino looked at Minato with an ugly frown on her face, adding "Charming." Her disposition changed when she turned to Naruto and grabbed him by his arm before dragging him away. "Daddy, we need to talk. Hang on a sec."

Naruto looked apprehensive about just leaving the boy and the wicked smirk he wore. He wondered what Ino wanted to talk about with him alone, and was surprised that he was sitting in the same seat he sat in earlier when her father wanted to talk to him.

He may have looked a little nervous, but his eyes kept that same demeanor that Ino always saw no matter what the circumstances were.

"You're being stupid again."

Naruto grinned in response.

She looked at Naruto and saw someone different than she expected. He was a little bit more callous, but that wasn't the problem. She remembered the kiss the night before and knew his kissing improved too much for him not to have had any experience; not that she was so innocent herself. She did try and date a few boys, kissed two of them, but she often grew bored and found that she was prone to toy with their emotions rather than actually take anyone seriously in a relationship; after some disappointment, Ino decided to focus on her shinobi career. That is, until Naruto came back into her life.

Not that she decided that she would stop being a kunoichi; she loved what she did. She'd never give it up, even if he asked her to, but she knew that around him she didn't have to put up such a strong front, and neither did he; they could be strong together, for each other.

Maybe it's because I've been searching for him some way or another and in more ways than one through those other boys… and I didn't even know it… jeez, Ino, that's so corny I can't believe you even thought that.

She took his hand in hers and looked him directly in the eyes, alerting him somewhat as his line of sight suddenly honed in on hers. "I'm upset." She said, her eyes looking down at his hands as she caressed them with hers.

"What's the matter?" he asked, turning his hand so that he could stroke her palm gently with his thumb.

"You're taking this pretty well…" she whispered, her eyes slowly peering at the doorway to Minato's room.

He smirked and slowly leaned in to look her more closely in the eyes, ignoring all rules of personal space as he was close enough to feel her breath on his lips. "Well, Miss Yamanaka," he whispered, "it's not the first time that I've thought my death was inevitable..."

She gasped at his smart remark and punched him playfully, and eyed him knowingly with pursed lips. "Don't play dumb. Why aren't you worried about this? Thirty-two other people have already died. Some were even close to him!"

Naruto frowned, "It just seems fishy. I don't believe in this kind of stuff anyways."

She nodded slowly, looking around. "It is sort of weird, I agree… but still. What happens if he's right, Naruto? We just found each other… I can't let you go again."

Ino blushed. Admittedly, she sounded a little desperate saying that; however, it couldn't be any closer to the truth than that. She realized the other night that she not only cared about him as a friend, but she sincerely hoped that they could one day be more than friends; officially only, because she already saw that in him. Living through Orochimaru with him solidified that notion for her.

"I wouldn't just let myself die so easily either. Don't worry about it Ino. I think I'll confront his vision. He says I was talking to someone but he couldn't see anyone there. And he said I would find a chain coming from the top of the volcano… I saw something similar to that just outside of Mizu. If it's the same thing, then I have something amazing to show you."

Ino smiled. "I can't wait." She said, squeezing his hand tightly in hers as they sat in silence while her father worked.

"That feels really, really weird. Are you sure we need to do this?" Chojuro whined as another acupuncture needle was pushed into a spot on his left shoulder. When Haku nodded Chojuro sighed.

"I still can't believe you're a dude. That's so weird. I was really checking you out for a while until you told me that. Now I feel… weird."

Haku smiled softly. "Well, I appreciate the compliment. Now hold still: if I do not put these chakra poisoning needles directly into each of your tenketsu on your back you could end up being paralyzed from the poisoning of your system."

"Ok." He muttered, groaning when the pretty young man named Haku used several handfuls of needles to find each and every tenketsu along his back. "Whoa, that feels too good. Was that my back popping?"

Haku shook her head. "No, that's chakra escaping clogged tenketsu. It's sort of like passing gas. You feel relief afterwards."

"Alright, that's weird. By the way, Haku, stay away from my butt, ok?"

The dark haired man rolled his eyes at the suggestion and countered, "Just because I'm pretty doesn't mean I'm into men; you were the one really checking me out earlier, not me you."

Chojuro laughed. "Hey, I was just joking. Besides, you're hot. I bet we could marry you off to a Lord's son-make a ton of money."

"You're an idiot" said Haku, sticking another needle in the base of his neck.

"Ack!" Chojuro cried out painfully.

"So, you just came from Mizu… and they're currently looking for the Yondaime Hokage's son, Namikaze Naruto?"

Chojuro nodded as he rolled his shoulders, one at a time, and the pain from his internal injury healing abruptly as Haku pulled out the final acupuncture needle. "Ah! I feel so much better! Where did you learn that?"

Haku smiled, responding "I learned some of it here in Hi, actually. A traveler was crossing the country to head toward Mizu last year and we escorted him; in return, he showed me some medic ninjutsu and also a bit of his practice in acupuncture. The rest, I practiced on my enemies."

Chojuro looked at him in disbelief. "So, you learned how to heal people by killing them?"

He laughed, shaking his head. "I try to only stop my opponents, not kill them. I prefer that everyone walk away with their lives at the end of the day."

"That might one day cost you yours." Chojuro said, bluntly.

When Haku smiled, though, Chojuro immediately felt bad for saying it. "I didn't mean anything by it… well, I mean, nothing bad. I just don't think you should spare the lives of your enemies if it means they'll want to come back and kill you later."

"I know. It's not the smartest practice, I've been told. Many times, as a matter-of-fact; Zabusa gets really angry with me when I let people go… usually I can convince him to not kill, but he's rather headstrong."

"Ah! Momichi Zabusa?" Chojuro asked in surprise. "He's still alive? I heard he was working for a crook over in Wave recently; Gatou was supposed to be a pretty cut-throat kind of guy."

Haku shook his head, "He was, certainly. That was one person that had to be killed… unfortunately. His sort of evil didn't just affect innocent bystanders, but society for Wave and Hi no Kuni as a whole. He was a terrible person."

Chojuro blinked, "Was. Wow, so even with all of that money he had… he couldn't afford to save his life."

Haku laughed. "I suppose not… so, how did you know of Zabusa?"

Chojuro grinned pointing to the sword that was sitting against a tree nearby, as they had moved further away from the beach into a small forested area in between the water and Haku and Zabusa's campsite.

"I'm the last swordsman of the mist… well, Zabusa I guess is technically still one of the swordsmen, but he's a missing-nin now."

"Yes. It's an interesting life he leads."

"Must be hard."

"Yes, however it can be quite rewarding."

Chojuro looked confused. "Why?" he asked. "I can't imagine having to run from hunter nin to be a fun existence."

"Not to say that it hasn't been a hard life; we struggle to survive daily, living off of rations and small missions that can be given to nuke-nin like us. I have to say that my favorite part about the life I lead is that I am with my precious person, and also I can call the entire world my home, and not just a single village or country. I feel less tied down, this way."

Chojuro smirked. "Still sounds crazy… but kind of nice, I guess."

Haku smiled.

Sitting in his wheelchair was Uchiha Sasuke, his eyes studying the room carefully; before him were several head council members, including every clan from Hyuga to Aburame, Haruno and even representations of particular groups such as the newly appointed head of the ANBU, whom wore a mask and shroud to cover his identity even within this group of prestige. Danzo was not in attendance, but Sarutobi's old comrades were. The Hokage himself sat at the center of the long, crescent-shaped table with a pit of fire burning in its center in between the speaker, Uchiha Sasuke, and the hailed group before him.

"What you propose, Sasuke-san, is incredibly dangerous."

"Not only dangerous Hokage-sama but a threat to our very way of life. I must admit that it seems farfetched-"

"Indeed," muttered the representative of the Nara clan, Shikaku.

"-and yet is it not a possibility that this is what the Snake Sannin seeks? His goal of immortality, as the Hokage himself said, falls into place perfectly with the opening of the scroll of sealing… its folds held seals that even our current Hokage has not unlocked, because they required something very incredible to happen, an appreciable foresight by the Shodai to have the two warring clans finally come together as one and work as one. It is his acknowledgement that one day there would be peace between the Senju and the Uchiha, and that one day they would need this to combat a different type of evil."

"It is still… so mad and unreasonable. To think that anyone, even Orochimaru, would want to make a deal with the Shinigami is… frightening." Homura said with a bit of shakiness in his voice.

"And yet so like him… to rely on the forbidden and tread on the lives of others to accomplish his goals." The Hokage said.

"The jutsu… tell us, what does it do again?" Asked Hyuga Hiashi who was still unsettled by the fact that humans and the Shinigami can even speak, let alone strike bargains.

"It allows an Uchiha and a Senju to make a wish in unity; asking directly of the Shinigami himself and it can only be used once in a person's lifetime… now whether that implies the worst, which they will die shortly after, or best, which they may not wish again, I'm not sure."

"How were you able to open the scroll's hidden seal? I thought you said you required the help of a Senju to be able to find it and read it?" asked Inuzuka Tsume, her arms crossed and a scowl on her face as she looked at the young, Uchiha upstart.

Stepping forward, the ANBU captain spoke in an eerily monotonous tone from behind his mask. "I can explain: our very own Tenzo* has assisted Uchiha Sasuke in his endeavors regarding the Scroll of Sealing."

Shikaku furrowed his brows, "Tenzo? The test tube baby? The one with the Shodai's cells? Where is Tenzo now?"

The ANBU captain tilted his head and spoke in a deep voice, "Hum… he should be arriving in Kumamoto shortly along with Yamanaka Inoichi and his younger daughter."

Sasuke looked at Sarutobi with a confused look on his face, but the older man simply nodded. "Thank you for the explanation, captain," and then he turned to Sasuke and smiled, "Please continue, Sasuke."

Sasuke eventually motioned to Chouza who opened the scroll to show an Uzu special seal that encompassed the entire scroll, from beginning to end, becoming a mercilessly long seal that unlocked the means of acquiring a one-of-a-kind jutsu that would allow a Senju and an Uchiha together to speak to the Shinigami and ask for one desire. It required their cooperation and a blood offering upon the scroll, which had become visible to everyone due to a locking seal that was removed by Sasuke late in his study of the scroll.

Sasuke's extensive knowledge of sealing jutsu is due to his discovery of the seal, though it wasn't a new discovery, since Sarutobi had figured out it was there before but did not know what to do with it. Thanks to that seal, he spent months reading on life and language of the Uzu people, the Uzumaki clan, their special seals and everything he could about the Senju and Uchiha. He even undertook special instruction in several ANBU training classes in order to further his knowledge on fuinjutsu, all thanks to Sarutobi's influence as Hokage.

After years of research and his powerful Uchiha eyes which had adapted to see the inner-workings of seals that were initially invisible to the normal eye. He did not understand why he was able to see the seals because they were not visible from the start and the Hokage only knew they were there because the Yondaime had worked with an Uchiha before to try and decipher the seal long ago. He had to go through the scroll day after day until he began to see traces of them. It wasn't until he confirmed with Sarutobi that his finding was real and not just a hallucination of his own mind, and then he was finally able to begin comprehending what the scroll's true purpose was.

"So… this deal with the Shinigami. It grants any wish that the user desires?" Hiashi asked in a way that told Sasuke that he was just recollecting the facts to get them straight. Sasuke frowned.

"I'm sure there are limits to that wish… and consequences." Sasuke said, looking grim. "One can only imagine the power of the Shinigami, which exists in another plane of existence and yet can dip his hand here to ferry our souls to the land of the dead… I assume he is not one to be trifled with."

Hiashi eyed him coldly, as if his eyes were made of stone.

Sarutobi lit his pipe and puffed on it, looking up towards the ceiling. "Not simply that, but this jutsu… the Shinigami, only one other person knew how to use the Shinigami for a jutsu. But that jutsu had very dire consequences: the user and the target is said to do battle forever in the belly of the beast, their souls trapped in an infinite struggle in battle against one another, where neither could die, for they were already dead, and neither could win, for they could never leave."

Sasuke nodded. "The fact that the Shinigami exists at all means there are so many more questions… possibilities… like is the Shinigami the end? Why does it exist and what is its purpose with us? I don't mean the tales that are told to children and fools, but a real, explainable reason. There has to be one."

Sarutobi stood up. "Perhaps," he began. "Thank you very much for the knowledge you have bestowed upon us and it is my hope that you continue to produce more and more information about the scroll as your research comes along. This meeting is adjourned."

As the ANBU captain passed he said to Sasuke, "The possibilities are endless, Sasuke-kun. Great presentation."

Sasuke eyed the dark figure of the captain as he left, and he shook his head. He sighed, thinking about Ino and how she was currently in the capitol so far away. Thinking of Ino always reminded him of his promise to her to bring Naruto back to the village. He wondered how his friend was faring now and the congratulatory words of the Hokage on a job well done slowly drowned out as he wondered how, with a wheelchair, he was supposed to accomplish that.

"Alright you two, run along." Inoichi said, finally exiting Minato's lavish room. "Ino, honey, I know I asked for your help, but I think we've had enough insight for today on him. Maybe the two of you can come back some other time?"

Ino nodded, grabbing Naruto's arm to walk along with him until she noticed he wasn't budging.

"I can't come back after this," said Naruto.

Inoichi arched a brow. "Why is that?"

"I'm a missing nin," he said, "I can't be here for too long because I don't want Kiri or Konoha to find me."

"Naruto… you should really come back to Konoha. Trust me, all of this time they've been easy on the reins because you were in Mizu and that brought up a lot of political issues… but now that you're no longer in Mizu either, I am pretty sure they're going to send someone out to trap you and bring you back. That, or…"

The young man nodded at him, making it so that Inoichi didn't have to actually say it.

"I know. I can't just ignore this, though. I have to go to Krakatoa and just face this head on. That way I can warn the Daimyo and try and figure out a way to hit Orochimaru where it hurts at the same time."

"You have some big aspirations kid… wouldn't you rather just sit at home and read a book or something? Or maybe learn to work for a nice flower shop… I'm going to be hiring soon, you know, since we're expanding the store and redoing the greenhouse."

Naruto smiled, "I appreciate the offer." He shook his head though, and took Ino's hands and said to her, his eyes gazing into hers fully as he spoke, "I have to leave now, Ino."

Ino felt her world come crashing down on her. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out at first. She thought that this was it; Naruto would leave the capitol to hide away from the prophecy, as he couldn't exactly die in Krakatoa if he avoided it altogether. But no, he sought danger like the thrill was worth all of it. Ino bit her lip and shook her head, and then she slapped him.

"Baka. You can't just kiss me and leave, I told you that already. You have to come back to me, no matter what."

"Kiss?" Inoichi asked, shocked.

Ignoring him, Naruto squinted away the pain from the slap to the face and shook his head, smiling softly at the young woman who was so upset with him. "Ino, I don't think I'll ever run from something just because it seems impossible. I have to stay strong, Ino. Not for me, but for Konoha, and, especially, you."

"You already are strong. You don't need to be any stronger. Sometimes it's ok to run away, Naruto." Ino said, unable to look him directly in the eyes as he spoke. She even had to turn away to keep from smacking him again.

"What do you mean you kissed?" Inoichi rephrased his question, his face flushed.

"Two times." He said to her father quickly. He then turned to Ino and said, "I know that Ino, and when it is something that I can run away from, I will. Otherwise, I have to continue walking forward even if it's scary to do it."

"You know, I think I might just hate you if you had said anything else. Naruto, I like this about you; your resolve. But," she said, pausing slightly before continuing, "It also scares me like nothing else."

Naruto smiled and pulled her close, "Compared to the stunt you pulled off against Orochimaru, this is nothing. Trust me."

She smiled back, her eyelids drooping slightly as she started to lean in. "I do… but I care about you."

"I care about you too."

They kissed again. Inoichi could've sworn that an explosion had just went off, because he felt like this side of his daughter he had never seen and probably didn't ever want to see was forced into his line of sight. To hell with the hunter ninjas or volcanoes, Naruto was going to die right now.

"Mm… that's three times." Ino whispered to him after the kiss, giggling as he kissed her again.

"Four… five… six…"

Inoichi, due to a lack of oxygen to the brain, passed out.

Ino and her father were sitting in their hotel room watching television. Inoichi had an icepack on his head as he lied restlessly on the bed. Ino was busy writing in a small journal and then going through one of the many scrolls that she carried along with her on missions to continue her training.

"Daddy, what do you think of Naruto?" she asked.

Inoichi groaned.

"That boy gives me a headache."

Author's note: A pretty decently sized set-up chapter. I have a really fun idea for Kushina's chains that are spread throughout the shinobi world. Forget about those? Naruto is on his way to find the physics-defying kunai and unlock another part of the Kyubi's cage.

I think that Naruto's and Ino's attachment to one another seems rather natural. A rocky road is coming up ahead. Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but often than not stronger bonds are formed with time and hard work, not a single moment of passion and glory.

Anyways, enough of my rambling. I'd really appreciate it if you'd take the time to review and let me know what you think or if you have any questions, ask. It makes me feel good :).