Unforeseen Consequences

Chapter 2: Ino's New Crush

Ino awoke to a fresh new day, stretching as she got out of bed and banished the last bits of sleep from her thoughts. Her mind, normally focused on her plans for the day, wandered aimlessly as she went through her morning routine, brushing her hair and putting on the earrings Asuma-sensei had given her for making chunin rank.

As she slipped into her day clothes, she resolved to right a wrong she'd been unconsciously committing since the early days of the academy.

Ino was not one to admit she was wrong. Not often, at least not in her mind. The few times that she admitted to being wrong, it was either in battle or inconsequential. In battle if you were wrong you had moments to correct it or you were dead. Admitting you'd messed up just wasted time, so she'd spent those moments correcting her error and wrestling victory from her foes.

To think she'd misjudged someone... not just someone she'd known briefly, but someone she had known, in theory, for years... it was just galling.

For the longest time, she'd thought there were only a few people who'd qualified as dating material from the pool of ninja in her age group. Among those few, none had been available: Sasuke had been too distant and emotionally detached no matter how hard she had tried with him before he left. During those years Naruto had been gone, she once approached Neji. After all he wasn't as bad as Sasuke and was just as good looking. But he had proven to be too cool of an individual plus she had a theory that Tenten had her eyes on him. Not interested in getting between that she moved on. Even Sakura's new teammate Sai, while nice enough and thoroughly cute, ultimately proved himself a little too weird for her tastes as she got to know him.

For the longest time she'd despaired of ever finding good boyfriend material. When her desperation had caused her eyes to turn briefly to her own teammates, Temari had very subtly bared her teeth and made her claim on Shikamaru quite clear when she tried something with the Suna ninja had been with Shikamaru. Even if the Nara heir didn't realize it yet, he was as good as married. It was only a matter of time before the blond sand kunoichi sprung her trap... and she was nearly as devious as the lazy boy himself.

Choji was... well, Choji. Too much the little brother. She'd set him up with enough of her friends that dating him would have felt weird. Not to mention that he was a little too meaty for her tastes.

Of course she'd dismissed Naruto, practically from the moment she'd met him. To be fair she was just one of the many girls who had. Throughout the entire course of the academy Naruto had been the worst student, overall. He'd only ever been a touch better than adequate at taijutsu and ninja tool use and was dead last in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and a multitude of written work. He was the class clown, spending more time and effort on jokes than on his schoolwork.

Even Sakura, the young man's teammate, had dismissed him for the longest time. Ino couldn't recall Sakura mentioning the boy with praise without adding how far behind Sasuke he stood. Even after his two and a half year absence, Sakura's praise for the blond boy was sparsely given, though it had become qualified by circumstance less and less with each day.

Then again, Ino had learned a lot from her brief jaunt through his mind. Though many memories were too old or too fractured to get more than a brief impression of the events and others were hazy visions seen through dense fog, she'd seen everything from the boy's own eyes, unembellished by his ego or underplayed by his teammates.

Seeing was enough. She was impressed, beyond impressed even.

Although it was widely known that Naruto had been the one to beat Gaara, she had actually seen what had happened. It disproved a popular theory about what she had thought had happened when Sasuke had chased the sand-nin from the stadium. As she thought how it happened, Sasuke had chased Gaara and his siblings from the stadium. Naruto, Shikamaru, and Sakura followed as support, during which Shikamaru dropped back to foil the pursuit. When Naruto and Sakura caught up, they neutralized Gaara's sister while she thought that Sasuke had played a much bigger part.

That was what she had believed. It was the only explanation that made any sense at the time. Then she'd seen Naruto save Sasuke and Sakura from death at the hands of the sand-ninja and match the terribly powerful youth blow for blow. Even seeing it from the blond's eyes she was hard-pressed to resolve the resolute youth with the Naruto she knew.

Any time she'd seen Naruto create hundreds shadow clones it sent a shiver through her at the thought of the chakra expenditure it would take. She'd experimented with the shadow clones once and trying to create a few dozen had given her a whole new respect for Naruto, even years ago. That his fight with Neji was the gentle foothills and not the sky-obscuring peak of his ability was mind-boggling. Her limit was perhaps a dozen: Beyond that, her clones would lack the chakra to move, let alone fight effectively.

Then there were his more fantastical fights. The ones Sakura had never even hinted at, the ones he had never boasted of himself: His fights with Orochimaru; with Kabuto; with other foes she would have been frightened to consider fighting with her team at her side, never mind alone. She was sure that if she lived to serve Konoha for another century, she would not face half as many desperate battles as the blond boy had already seen.

The thought that Tsunade of all people had been forced to rely on Naruto to protect her, however briefly, was supremely shocking. The Hokage was supposed to be an infallibly strong ninja, an example for all other ninja in the village to use as a model for improvement. The Hokage wasn't supposed to be a terrified woman relying on a genin to protect her. It went a long way towards explaining the Fifth Hokage's unwavering confidence in the young man.

She had even seen the second fight with Orochimaru on the bridge, although she hadn't seen all of it as pieces were missing. The length he went to made her worry about him, he was willing to go to those lengths to fulfill a promise he made years ago. Even going after Gaara's body just to even get it back from that blonde guy with the explosive clay. She knew now why Naruto felt such a strong bond with Gaara as well.

She could finally admit to herself that she'd misjudged the boy very badly.

Having dismissed Naruto before, she'd missed the signs which were so obvious to her, now. She was astonished she could have missed them, as loud and obvious as they were.

He exuded a warm confidence she'd dismissed as brash arrogance. She had never before considered that his firm belief in his ability to defeat almost any foe could be a genuine belief. After a myriad of fights scattered across dozens of countries, it was a chilling realization to find that the only time the blond ninja had ever backed down from any ninja was for the safety of his comrades, not himself.

She'd thought he was just trying to fit in by saying that he'd fight for those he believed in... she hadn't believed that anyone could have such a big heart. She'd thought the orange-clad genin knew Hinata far better than he actually did, for all his passion in confronting Neji during that eventful first chunin exam. That his standing up for her and fighting Neji because of what the boy had done just because Naruto thought it was wrong. He apparently had no idea of Hinata's crush on the boy. Ino had seen it and knew it for what it was, it was too bad the girl had always been too shy.

It was a mistake that Ino wouldn't make, she wouldn't pass up the chance.

Now she knew, having seen just how eager he was to put a Will of Fire behind his often-dismissed promises of friendship. She knew that if it came down to standing between an army and a friend, Naruto would stand in front of that army with a cocky grin. He would do so without giving the matter a second thought... or even a first one. He would charge into that army with nothing more than a disbelief that anyone would have the brazen temerity to actually stand in his way, as if their defeat was a certainty.

She started to see him in a new light now, on the inside he was warm, had the biggest heart in the world. Sure he had faults but looking at them now, she found them somewhat cute. Plus he had grown up in this time away. He was taller than her now, plus with all the baby fat gone he looked so much more handsome now. Her mind made up, it was time to get things into action.

She slipped into the kitchen, returning her father's grin with one of her own as she opened the door separating her mother's shop from the family home. Her mother's raised eyebrow was studiously ignored as Ino grabbed three specific blooms and slipped outside.

She had new prey to catch.

oOo

Ino's first order of business was her rival, Sakura.

She was almost willing to pursue Naruto regardless of their friendship, given what she'd learned during the eventful evening she'd had just last night. She was honest enough with herself to admit she'd much prefer to clear things with the girl first and find out where the pink-haired girl stood with the blond genin. If they were just friends, so much the better: Losing Sakura once had been painful enough, she didn't want to repeat mistakes of the past.

That haunting fear was the reason Ino found herself drifting into the Konoha hospital.

While she was a fully trained medic-nin, she was by no means on the same level as the pinkette she was searching for. Ino had only passed the basic courses not the more advanced ones. She was adequate as a medical ninja, good enough to heal wounds in the middle of combat. She was not good enough to warrant pulling duty at the hospital while not on a mission.

Passing half-exhausted medics as she wound through the halls, Ino mused that perhaps, mastery of a skill wasn't everything. Every medic-nin she passed seemed to have become trapped by their skill: Their time for practice of Taijutsu or other Ninjutsu seemed to wane as the demands on their skill in healing increased, turning what was once merely a specialty into the exclusive use of their talents. Then again Sakura was the exception as her physical combat skills were above hers in ways she couldn't hope to get close to.

She sighed at that point, she remembered when she used to be stronger, then they tied at the chunin exams, now Sakura seemed to be getting farther and farther ahead of her. Sure Ino could have trained more, it was her own fault but now she made a note not to fall any further behind. Starting with her love life and going on from there.

It didn't take her long to find her friend, eyes closed in uncharacteristic serenity as she paused for a brief moment over tea in the break room in between checking on her patients. Her green eyes opened as Ino stepped lightly into the room.

"Ino?" Sakura was surprised, Ino noted, and with good reason. Ino rarely showed up at the hospital to visit, preferring to see Sakura during her off-hours.

"Hi, Sakura," Ino said, pouring herself some tea from the staff kettle. She sat down on a nearby bench, suddenly nervous as she searched for words. While this was Sakura of all people, Ino knew that bubble gum-haired girl held a definite advantage with Naruto. Not only was she the girl Naruto had been crushing on for the last four years, but she was his teammate. She'd been there for him during the roughest of times, shared in some of his most desperate battles.

This was a girl Naruto had fought earth-shaking battles for, the girl Naruto for whom had faced Orochimaru without a trace of hesitation. A girl who could have the blond boy's heart for nothing more than the effort of voicing the request. For a moment she wavered in thinking she might have a chance but it soon passed. She wouldn't run from any challenge anymore.

"What's up, Ino?" Sakura finally asked, seeming to grow impatient. Ino remembered the girl was on duty. The break Ino was interrupting was probably scheduled to end in a handful of minutes.

"I had an encounter with Naruto yesterday," Ino finally said, tossing aside her worries plunging forward. While she didn't want to spill everything to her friend, she needed to at least get on to the topic quickly. "Has he always been so... open?"

"Naruto?" Sakura asked, blinking. She idly sipped her tea as she thought. "Well, I suppose he has. It's kind of hard to take him seriously sometimes, but he's... consistent. Steady. He's childish a lot of the time, but he always pulls through in the end."

"So you trust him?" Ino pushed, wanting to know more. She didn't want to tip her hand, and was thankful Sakura was too distracted by the questions to push deeper into Ino's motives.

"Of course, he's my best male friend after all," Sakura finally answered, and Ino breathed an inner sigh of relief. Male friend that was not someone you dated. She was in the clear, at least for now. Sakura grinned to herself, giving Ino the impression she was being ignored as those green eyes wandered somewhere distant, adding, "But then sometimes he seems so strong, so sure of himself. Other times, he's almost fragile. "

Sakura frowned a bit remembering how she had learned his terrible secret. How he contained the Nine Tails after that battle on the bridge. To see him all burned up like that had been horrible, he didn't remember hurting her and she would never tell him that. She hadn't talked with Naruto about that day, she wanted him to come to her when he was ready.

Then as she thought about him more other things came to Sakura's mind. "And when he needs to be, he's... well... I guess you could say that his fight with Kakazu was just another day. He keeps surprising me all the time with how strong he becomes. And he has matured more than when he was little, at least a bit more."

"I see," Ino paused, now unsure. Sakura's words weren't quite the words she would have been using if she just thought of Naruto as a teammate and a friend. Sakura was sending two very different messages. If she was thinking of the blond boy as more than a just a friend...

"Damn, I've got to go, Ino," Sakura muttered as she glanced at the clock, finishing the rest of her tea in quick gulp and standing. She glanced back at Ino. "Look, I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Sure," Ino said, standing and finishing her own tea as well. Sakura might welcome her presence, but she doubted the medical staff wanted her hanging around. She left the hospital, two different sections of her mind at war, now. She shook it off... It might not even matter in the first place.

She had to go see the blond boy. She would make things clear. Even if his heart was Sakura's for the taking, perhaps he wasn't willing to wait for the girl to clear the sand from her eyes and realize just what she had in her grasp.

oOo

Naruto grimaced, sweat beading on his brow. He had to make a choice.

Pink was his favorite and had been for a number of years... Truly, the love of his life. But that golden yellow was so inviting, so tempting... He was torn. Did he maintain his faith to his love or give in to the golden temptation that stood right in front of him?

Pink or golden yellow? How could someone even make that choice?

It was absurd to think he had to choose. He'd simply have both. That would solve his dilemma quite easily. He would start with the pink and then the golden yellow would finish him off. That would solve things best for all involved. He could keep his faith and try the tempting new vision, now flipping his perception and inverting his sensibilities.

So decided, Naruto tore open the seal on both the pink and yellow ramen package as he prepared his breakfast. Beef would taste better with chicken, anyway and he usually ate more ramen than most people anyway.

Naruto patted his stomach after he had finished his meal. He leaned back at his dining room table, completely stuffed thanks to the double serving of Ramen. He cocked his head as a chill ran down his spine, as if he were being hunted. The blond usually trusted his instincts, so he decided he'd leave early to train.

He had a promise to keep, and nothing to be gained by lounging around his home. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to start his trek early, scout out the venue for the upcoming match and confirm that there were no hidden surprises.

It couldn't hurt.

oOo

Ino tracked her prey to training ground eight and paused as she saw Naruto standing across the field from Neji, a determined look on both their faces. They didn't smile, didn't joke. The Hyuga simply dropped into his Gentle Fist stance as Naruto charged with a loud cry, closing the distance to throw punches and kicks with the reckless taijutsu that was the orange-clad youth's trademark.

Ino watched in mute horror, powerless to stop the fight as it ramped up. Naruto used his kage bunshins to throw the jonin off guard as the duo attempted to pummel one another other, vicious scowls on their faces as they ripped into one another with a frenzy Ino hadn't seen since the two boys had clashed in the chunin exam three years ago.

Deadly chakra flashed and puffs of smoke exploded as the clones swarming Neji burst in a cloud of wasted chakra. Though clearly doing noticeable damage to his foe's chakra reserves, the Hyuga boy was being forced back as Naruto and his remaining clones pressed the advantage.

Two Narutos dropped low to the ground, kicking their legs out to rob Neji of his footing as a third Naruto slugged the long-haired jonin with a solid right cross which elicited a grunt of pain. That quickly transformed into a smirk of victory as one of the white-eyed boy's legs touched the ground, allowing him to torque his body into a deadly spin of released chakra: Kaiten, the ultimate defensive technique of the Hyuga clan.

Naruto tumbled through the air, twisting and landing on his feet as his less fortunate clones hit the dirt and exploded from the impact. The blond grinned as he formed a seal, summoning more clones to his aid.

"Clones, clones... Is that all you're capable of, Naruto?" Neji taunted, plucking a pair of kunai from his ninja tool pouch and hurling them towards the small army amassed in front of him. He was unsurprised to see his two targets vanish in a puff of smoke.

"Who needs more to deal with you?" All of the Narutos demanded at once, an identical grin coming to their faces at exactly the same time. The closest blond pointed one finger at his foe. "I didn't need to use anything else to beat you, before!"

"Arrogant," Neji muttered, charging into the mass of clones with a grin.

Ino sat in the tree, trying not to blink as the two ninja, genin and jonin, clashed. Neither seemed capable of gaining a significant advantage... Neji was able to nullify the most devastating of Naruto's attacks, while the blond ninja seemed to possess the superhuman ability to replace lost clones at whim, ignoring the potentially crippling chakra cost without a heavy breath.

It was a deadly balance. Ino watched in horror as blood sprayed from Naruto's back, followed by Neji's hand as it pierced the boy's body. Sheer force had killed Naruto over and over again, before the body would inevitably puff into smoke and Ino could breathe a brief sigh of relief. The battle had been going on and on in this fashion for nearly forty minutes.

There was only one Naruto left. Neji closed, readying his hand. Naruto fought valiantly, twisting and turning out of the way, attempting his own counter-blow against his jonin foe. None of Naruto's blows found their mark, but Neji struck true with a sharp blow which cleanly caught Naruto's throat, causing the young blond to drop to his knees and cough as he vomited blood.

Neji had killed Naruto.

As Ino prepared to use her own jutsu to capture Neji, Naruto poofed out of existence as the sound of clapping filled the clearing. Neji smiled and turned to the source of the clapping as Naruto dropped from a nearby tree branch.

"Good job, Neji! You managed to kill five hundred clones in under an hour!" Naruto's voice was jovial, and he wore a broad grin as he walked over towards his friend.

"Naruto... Only you would call that an accomplishment," Neji grinned, shaking the younger man's hand. He shook his head. "I seem to recall defeating dozens of your shadow clones in under a minute during the chunin exam."

"Yeah, yeah... So why did you need my help training anyway? Isn't that what Lee and Tenten are for?" Naruto asked, scratching his chin.

"Well, I can't use the Gentle Fist on them, idiot. Not like I can against you. You're the only ninja I know with enough chakra to pose a good challenge after using kage bunshins," Neji smiled, cocking his head. "I think it's time I go now, though. I think Ino wants to talk to you."

Ino started, surprised at being detected. Then she remembered the Hyuga family's bloodline limit let them see nearly everything around them and also remembered that Neji had a ridiculously large range for his. He'd probably been keeping an eye on her since the fight started. She hopped down from the tree branch where she'd thought she was concealed and walked into the clearing.

"Take care, Neji" Naruto said, clapping the jonin on the shoulder. As the Hyuga walked away, Naruto pointed a finger at him. "And don't think this means you can beat me in a fight, now! That first shadow clone only had half my chakra!"

The older boy only raised his hand in a wave, not looking back. Then again, it's not like he needed to look back to see the grin on Naruto's face.

"So Ino... Why are you here? Does the Hokage need to see me?" Naruto pondered, his eyes squinting and his mouth pouting as he cocked his head to the side. Ino suddenly remembered why she'd misjudged Naruto... the look on his face was completely devoid of thought.

"No, Naruto. I was just wondering something..." Indecision seized Ino in a vice grip. She'd never bothered to ask anyone on a date, ever. That simply wasn't the way it worked. Guys asked her for a date, and then she considered it. Asking a guy out herself was... unprecedented. She might flirt with them, imply she wanted a date, but she never asked.

"Wondering what?" Naruto's face was still tilted, his expression unchanging. It showed nothing of the Naruto Ino had seen in his memories. Nothing of the boy smart enough to fool a jonin ninja in a mission to the Land of Waves, smart enough to fool Neji, smart enough to fool dozens of other opponents. It was absolutely maddening.

"Well, Team 10 and I feel kind of bad that you were tricked into paying for our dinner like you did," Ino charged forward, her goal in sight. She put on her best smile. "So we want to treat you to dinner to make up for it."

"Oh, okay!" Oblivious, Ino's target agreed. She smiled to herself.

"Great! We'll see you at seven at Amaguri, okay?" Ino asked, wincing slightly to herself. Amaguri was a relatively expensive restaurant, not the sort of place her teammates would normally frequent. Of course, it would be easier to convince them to come up with excuses not to come that way. Ino's wince turned to a smile.

"Sure," Naruto said, confused. Sure, he'd treated them to dinner once, but it hadn't been that expensive, even with Choji. It wasn't really that big a deal, especially compared to how much Asuma-sensei's teachings had advanced him along the path to his new jutsu.

Ino disappeared almost in a flash, hurrying home to make preparations for tonight's dinner.

Behind her, she left a very confused Naruto.

Next up chapter 3: Backfire