Unforeseen Consequences

Chapter 10: Battle of the Heart

After the confessions of the two girls and his time thinking on the Fourth's Head, Naruto had barely slept at all that night. He kept tossing and turning thinking about his problem. He wasn't sure he could pick one girl over the other, they were both of his precious people and to him that meant more than gold. Those precious to him were the most important things in his life. Growing up alone had taught him the true value of friendship. First it had been the Third Hokage, then the people at the ramen stand, then Iruka. Slowly over time he got more and more friends, the bonds he formed started to fill the gap in his life.

Now not one but two girls were liked him, this was an odd feeling for Naruto. Sure a little ego boost did happen, and he had thought about what it would be like for girls to like him. Seeing Sasuke with all those fangirls all those years did make him a little jealous of all that kind of attention. But the fantasy and the reality were two totally different things. Maybe if they were just two girls he didn't know it wouldn't be so hard. But he was on a team with one, and had formed a stronger friendship with the other. All in all Naruto was pretty much stuck.

So when morning came he was glad he had nothing to do that day, he was tired from a lack of sleep and mentally tired from constantly thinking about his problem. In fact he was getting a headache as he was thinking in circles the entire time. Normally he would train but he really wasn't up to it, so he decided to try and seek out help again. He had to ask someone about this and get their opinion on matters. So after showering, having breakfast and then changing into his civilian clothing he left in search of someone he knew.

He thought of Iruka but he would most likely be teaching a class, so Naruto would see him after school was out for the day. He went to track down Jiraiya, even though the man was a self proclaimed super pervert, Naruto had no one else that knew more about women. It was just how desperate he was to find an answer to go to that old pervert for help with women. But for some reason Naruto couldn't find him in the usual spots. The river where he spied on women playing in the water, the hot springs where he liked to peep, the bars when he tried to pick up women, even the adult books stores if the man was checking on the sales of his novels. So far no luck, making the boy think his master was out on another mission.

He sighed in defeat as he walked alone the streets wondering if he would find any of his friends. He thought about maybe Sai had more books or knew of books on something like this. So he checked the library but no luck. Maybe he was out painting someone, Naruto figured as he slumped down on the steps to think on who else he could ask. It was just blind luck that two people he knew actually saw him first as he was sitting on the steps of the library thinking about his problem.

"Oh Naruto, what are you doing here?"

Naruto looked up to see both Kakashi and Yamato and he brightened up on seeing them. "Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-sensei! When did you two get back?"

"Just today," Kakashi smiled at the boy. "The mission went well and we dropped off the report."

"Oh hey did you see Baa-chan by any chance?" Naruto asked hoping that the Hokage would be in. If anyone might help him understand the mind of a woman then maybe another woman was needed.

Kakashi was a bit surprised by the question, "Now that you mention it no, she seemed to be out for the moment when we dropped in our report."

Yamato nodded it was odd that the Hokage hadn't been in, "Shizune said something about her having an appointment of some kind. So we gave her our report and left. Although she did seem a little odd when we asked where the Hokage was."

"Noticed that too did you," Kakashi stated as he thought back to it. Shizune had seemed to blush a bit almost as if she was embarrassed about something. But what could be so bad that would make her do that? Maybe Tsunade was out drinking or something, or maybe gambling. But it was still early and the Hokage couldn't have started this early in the day. Usually she waited until at least after work before the woman would indulge in her personal vices. Or maybe he was just reading too much into things, so Kakashi shrugged it off.

"Oh." Naruto was disappointed by that. First he couldn't find Jiraiya and then Tsunade. Maybe they were out on another mission together? But so soon again, that was kind of weird.

"Something wrong?" Yamato asked the young man before him.

Naruto slumped his shoulders and nodded, "Yeah you can say that. Do any of you know anything about girls?"

Both Kakashi and Yamato shared a look between them, both feeling a little embarrassed on the subject.

"Well…a bit," Kakashi admitted as he scratched the back of his head.

Naruto gave him a dirty look, "Ero-sennin's novels don't count."

"I have had girls in the past just for the record." Kakashi said flatly. Honestly did people think that he was still a virgin at twenty-nine? Sure he didn't have a girl every other week or something but still he had experiences with women in his life. It's just that he was careful about relationships. After all, Rin had been in love with him or maybe it had just been a strong crush. He wasn't sure but he knew that he hadn't deserved her affections, when she went missing and later presumed dead, on a mission she went off on, he had closed himself off for any emotional relationship after that. It was just safer that way, the life of a ninja was filled with death.

Naruto however had never even seen Kakashi on a date let alone any real personal history about him. "Really?"

"I can vouch for that," Yamato said as he remembered their ANBU days together. "I still think Rabbit has a thing for you."

"Huh, Rabbit?" Naruto asked confused.

Kakashi coughed as he felt a little uncomfortable of that being brought up. "She's someone in ANBU, hence the codename. Let's just say that sometimes when you're on the same team for long periods of time certain things…can happen."

Yamato tried not to laugh at how lightly his sempai told it, the two of them had once been caught by enemy ninja while 'in the act' while on a routine scouting mission. Both had thought it was a safe area, they were bored and well one thing led to another. He still remembered coming onto the seen with a furious Rabbit angry at being interrupted before the end. Plus it had been comical to see them in nothing but their masks and half naked. It was never spoke out of that group for fear of both Kakashi and Rabbit's fury but it was still an inside joke among them.

"Oh so it's not odd to have feelings for a teammate?" Naruto felt a bit better about chasing Sakura all this time.

Kakashi chuckled knowing what the boy was thinking, "Yes it happens, although usually after some time and it doesn't always last. Sometimes it's just a simple hook up but a few times something can be made of it. But there are dangers to that too, you're emotional attachment can lead you to make choices you shouldn't make or wouldn't normally make. It can cost you the lives of others on your team or cost you the mission."

Yamato had to nod his head, everyone knew the stories but it can't be helped. They may be ninja but they were also human and humans could feel what they would always feel.

Naruto had never really thought about it before, but in all honesty it didn't really change much with him. Not matter what he would do anything to protect those important to him, even at the cost of the mission.

"Well the thing is, I kind of have a problem…" Naruto trailed off not sure how to go about it.

"Oh?" Kakashi was interesting now, given where this conversation was going.

"Yeah…see Sakura-chan said that she liked me and she kissed me." Naruto blushed bright red thinking back on it.

Yamato looked at Kakashi as he sighed, "You were right sempai, it did happen after all without anyone pointing it out to them."

"I told you that her feelings for him were there, she just hides it although this is a bit sooner. I thought it would take her longer. So what's the problem then, if it's because you're on the same team you never hinted at that before." Kakashi asked Naruto.

"Well that's the thing…you see Ino-chan also confessed that she liked me and kissed me too…"

Now both men stood there just staring at the young man.

"Say again?" Kakashi asked not sure he had heard that right. Since when did Ino have anything to do with Naruto? What had been going on while he had been away on that mission for this to suddenly develop? Naruto repeated what he had said so there was no doubt that Kakashi had heard things right.

"I think you need to start at the beginning," Yamato said to the young ninja.

-Training Area 5-

It was one of their usual training sessions together but the atmosphere between Sakura and Ino was anything but totally friendly. For years after Naruto left and Sakura started her training, they would get together and spar. They started this when Ino had gone into medical training as well, although after Ino completed the basic qualifications it lessened a bit. But that was because unlike Sakura, Ino still held a position in an active team. But still over the years they continued to spar now and then. However with the issue of Naruto between them, this training session had an undertone to it all.

Sakura pulled on her black fighting gloves as she got herself ready, "So any limitations?"

Ino finished stretching herself out, "the usual, non-lethal stuff only but any else goes."

"Fine with me." Sakura stated as the two of them got ready. At first it was just a staring match, each young woman was looking for a hint of what the other might be up to. Plans and counter-plans were quickly being made and then thrown away. It all depended on the opening moves that would start the tempo of the sparring. Ino decided that she wanted to start things off, she quickly pulled out several blunted kunai and threw them at Sakura as she moved off at a run.

Sakura saw the opening move and drew her own kunai, she threw them and each of hers hit all of Ino's kunai deflecting them all. When that was done, Sakura turned to see where Ino was running and with her other fist smashed it into the ground. The earth tore itself to pieces as the path of destruction went after Ino. Not for the first time, Ino wished she had that kind of monstrous strength, but Sakura always did have the better chakra control to learn that.

Ino jumped the growing fissure and while in the air threw several shuriken; she knew that Sakura would dodge those as she hid behind one of the large pieces of earth that had been pushed out of the ground. She knew that Sakura would most likely power her way towards her, so she had to play it smart. You couldn't go toe to toe against Sakura unless you were fast enough to avoid getting hit. Thankfully her training with Naruto had helped her in her close combat skills, she just hoped she had learned enough.

Ino sensed the attack coming and jumped as the rock was smashed to pieces. She continued to jump back getting some distance to see Sakura running at her. Ino didn't waste time as she threw two kunai at her to get her to dodge. But to her surprise the kunai went right through Sakura.

'Damn it, it's a clone then the original is-crap!' Ino mentally cursed as she jumped out of the way of a falling Sakura. She had smashed the rock and with all the dust and smoke, Ino hadn't seen the simple clone being done. All ninja new that simple jutsu but honestly what chunin used them? It had been unexpected and Ino was thinking maybe Sakura was also trying to play it the way Naruto did. It didn't surprise the blonde that Sakura would have picked up a few things over all that time spent on Team 7.

So Sakura had used the clone to distract while she had jumped into the air and was attempting to get Ino from above. Thankfully it had still been daylight and Ino had managed to catch Sakura's shadow. If this had been night it would have been more difficult. Still, the impact had been impressive as Sakura destroyed more of the ground.

"Not too bad Forehead," Ino smirked at the other girl. "Looks like you're using that large head of yours for something."

Sakura got a visible tick on said head but she remained smiling, even if the smile was a bit strained. "Well thank you, although are you ever going to get on the offensive? I nearly got you with that, you must be slowing down."

Now it was Ino's turn to get a tick and force a smile. "Well then, let's just see shall we?"

Ino threw out a small smoke bomb at the other girl, when it exploded she dashed in. It wouldn't blind Sakura for long but she wanted to get in under Sakura's guard while she could. It had worked as Ino managed to dodge a fist and try for an elbow to Sakura's gut, but she felt nothing but air. Sakura had stepped out of the way. Ino jumped to her feeling the wind against her head from Sakura's punch just missing her.

The smoke was starting to clear and so Ino took her shot, she could see a form of Sakura starting to appear so she jumped at it and lashed out with a kick. Just when she felt it connect with something she realised that Sakura caught the leg. Ino's eyes widened as the dust finally cleared and saw Sakura's smirking face as she held Ino's leg.

Sakura threw Ino with her strength sending the girl flying, although thankfully Sakura pulled her strength. Ino managed to right herself in the air and land on her feet but it had been close. But Ino was only getting started. She ran at Sakura as the other girl picked up a large piece of earth and threw it. Ino was able to easily dodge it as she got closer. She knew that Sakura wouldn't give her time to use her any kind of mind jutsu so it would have to be another way. When she was close enough Sakura threw out a punch that Ino dodge, now it was time for Ino's training with Naruto to pay off.

Sakura had strength but only if she could use it, so Ino managed to grip Sakura's wrist and pull her arm around into a modified hammer lock. She then used her other arm to wrap around Sakura's neck from behind.

"Got you now," Ino said triumphantly. "Good thing all that training with Naruto paid off, you know it was always fun pressing our bodies together like this with him."

Ino hoped the jab would get Sakura's anger going, anger always made you make mistakes.

Although it did make Sakura a little jealous she was controlling herself. "One question, did you really think I could only put my strength into my fists?"

Sakura raised a leg and slammed it into the ground, shattering it with an explosion of power. Ino lost her grip as she also lost her footing from the ground shifting. She had forgotten that Sakura could do that, mainly due to the fact that Sakura hardly ever used her strength with her kicks.

It was only the start of things between them as they continued to spar against each other.

After some time the two girls had ended up panting heavily as they each were resting against the same large tree. Both girls looked dirty and their clothing was tattered in a few places, they were also sporting a few small injuries. Mainly just light bruising that both of them could easily fix when they got their breath back. It had been a long and hard fought fight but both girls were just too tired to continue on.

"I don't get it," Sakura breathed out finally, "Why are you fighting so hard?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Ino smirked as Sakura mirrored her. "I just thought that you were doing this king of because someone else actually showed interests in him."

"No," Sakura shook her head slightly, "I think it only just made me open my eyes and admit to myself the feelings that I guess have been there, slowly growing over time."

"I knew there was a draw back to that thick forehead of yours," Ino said in good humour.

"Still beat you in the medical tests," Sakura said smugly knowing how Ino had studied very hard but only to get average marks, while Sakura had gotten high marks in their training. Not that Ino minded, she had learned some good skills but Sakura was the natural medic between them.

"So I guess this fight proved nothing in the end," Ino sighed as she rested her head against the hard tree bark, ignoring the feel of it pressing against a bruise on her head. She was too tired to really care about being uncomfortable at the moment. "So what are we going to do? Do you really think he can make a choice?"

Sakura thought about it long and hard, "Honestly I'm not sure, he doesn't like to hurt others."

"Yeah he's a good guy like that," Ino smiled at one of the good qualities that she really liked about him.

There was a heavy silent between the two of them for a moment before Sakura was the first to speak. "You know I'm a bit jealous of you."

"Huh?" Ino tried to turn to face the pink haired girl surprised.

"Because of what you tried to do, you have a deeper understanding of him. I don't think I'll ever get to understand him as well as you've gotten to. All his dreams, all his pain even, all the things he doesn't try to burden with us with. I wish I knew just so I could help him heal from whatever pain that's inside of him." She felt the sting in her eyes from tears but tried not to cry. She always cried too easily and she hated that about herself. A ninja wasn't supposed to show emotion but she wore her emotions all the time.

"I know that there are pains he must go through that he doesn't show us but he's never opened up about them. You on the other hand know all too well and can understand here he's coming from better than me," Sakura gave a humourless laughed. "I'm his teammate and yet I still don't know him as well as you do."

Ino thought about what Sakura was saying before she decided to say something. "Put it like that, I'm envious of you too. I mean I may know more about what goes on inside of that thick skull of his-some which is pretty heart breaking and that damn Fox scares the hell out of me- but at least you have actual experiences with him. You've been there with him, hell most of his happiest memories are of Team 7 you know. I wish I had been there when you got to experience all those little things that he cherishes."

Both girls thought about that, it was a pure case of 'the grass is greener' in a way with them.

"In a way we each have half of Naruto's life," Sakura said thoughtfully. "It's too bad we just can't share that with each other."

Ino's eyes widened at that as her mind started to race with an idea. She hadn't really used it in awhile but it was possible with her. She managed to force her body next to Sakura, who looked at her curiously. She noticed that look in Ino's eyes, she was up to something and Sakura wasn't sure she liked what her friend and rival might be thinking.

"Well why don't we?" Ino asked her.

Sakura blinked a few times, "Why don't we what?"

"Share," Ino said as thought it was the simplest thing in the world. "Look we might not be able to decide things with a fight but maybe we can at least share each other's experiences. My dad has been teaching me more of the family mind techniques and one of them was how to share information between people."

It was a jutsu that was used to secretly pass information between people without any type of interception. When you couldn't be caught with a scroll or couldn't speak out loud. The only problem was that Ino hadn't trained in it all that much, she was confident she could do it especially if Sakura was willing. Plus she would like to have Sakura's experiences with Naruto, she wanted experience those times with Naruto from someone else's perspective because in a way it would be like she had been there.

"Is that safe?" Sakura asked mainly due to the fact that the last time Ino tried some kind of mental trick on her, Inner Sakura had stepped in and kicked Ino out. She wasn't sure if her inner self would do the same, then again she hadn't seen much of her inner self the past few years. As Sakura got more confident and acted more on what she was truly feeling and thinking, Inner Sakura got more quiet with less to say. Hell, she wasn't even sure what the hell that was. Sakura once looked it up in the medical books to see if she suffered from some kind of personality disorder, thankfully none of the medical books said she was crazy.

'Are you going to behave?' Sakura mentally thought directly to her Inner Self.

'I want this as much as you, so I'll be good, now get on with it I want to see what the Blonde saw!' Was the replay from Inner Sakura. 'And as a side note, you haven't seen me much because you're finally being true to yourself. That's all I am, I speak the truth you keep denying to yourself.'

Ino had been thinking about it while Sakura was having the short conversation with herself, "Yeah it should be. Just keep your mind open to mind and don't fight it, that makes it harder for me to concentrate."

Sakura sighed and nodded, "Alright, so how do you do this?"

"Just hold still," Ino positioned herself for it. She went through a few hands seals and when she was done she placed her finger tips on the sides of Sakura's head as the blonde closed her eyes and started to concentrate.

At first there was nothing but then there was a strange sensation, almost like you were falling out of your body, not floating more like gravity had been reversed and yet your body felt getting bigger and in focus. It was such a strange sensation that it soon got to the point that it was indescribable. Then the memories started to float through between them.

Sakura saw everything Ino had, and the memories were crisp and clear. Unlike how memories faded with time, these were taken from Ino's inner mind where things were always in prime condition. It was one of the effects of the jutsu as it helped to ensure that no information was lost. So Sakura saw and felt everything Ino had while the other girl had been trapped in Naruto's mind. She felt Ino's fear at seeing the Kyuubi and Sakura didn't blame her. She had seen Naruto go Four Tails but this was totally different. This had been the evil that had given Naruto such a hard time in life. She saw Ino look through all the memories and Sakura's heart broke as Ino's broke, she cried when Ino had cried. Sakura was no longer sure if she was feeling her own emotions at what Ino had experience or was simply mirroring what Ino experienced.

For Ino it was the same thing, she saw all the things from Sakura's point of view, she laughed at how Sakura had secretly enjoyed the little things Naruto did, like the eraser trick against Kakashi that first day. She saw memories that she hadn't seen in Naruto's mind, then again she hadn't seen every memory so the new stuff she was experiencing was a treat for her. She felt Sakura's annoyance and her feelings for Sasuke and Ino winced. She had been like that once herself and seeing it a second time through Sakura made her realize just how much they both had grown up. Then she came to when Naruto went Four Tails, she hadn't seen this and the sight of Naruto like that was nearly too much for her.

Ino experienced the moment Sakura's heart was breaking at how far Naruto would go for the promise, she felt as thought she was the one running to Naruto begging him to stop before a tail came and hit her arm.

Then something else happened, as the two girls were experiencing things from the other's perspective they were feeling just what the other felt about Naruto. They were not only getting to know Naruto more, but they were also understanding the other in such a personal and intimate manner. The mental link stayed open longer then was needed as both girls explored the life of the other. Ino felt Sakura's despair and loneliness as a child. Sakura saw how Ino views their friendship and rivalry.

Then they both felt each other's emotions about how they felt about Naruto and they stopped. Ino pulled back as they both stared at the other, they looked at each other almost as if seeing the other for the first time. It was all kind of a jumble for the moment but what had happened forever chanced their view of the other. They had seen into the soul of the other, every personal secret was revealed to them, both were 'naked' to the other now, totally exposed with no masks to hide behind.

And they both knew and finally understood where the other was feeling with Naruto.

"You're in love with him," both of them said at the exact same time.

Both girls slumped a bit against the tree thinking about what they had learned. Both of them loved Naruto and the experiences they just gained only seemed to make it worse. With what they had shared, their emotions were even more powerful as they were now backed up by the emotions of the other. Ino had made a mistake in leaving the link between them open for so long. The jutsu was meant only for short times not to have it opened for as long as it had just been done.

The side effects of the jutsu, was that the longer the connection the harder it was for the individuals to know who they were. With all the different memories that got passed between two people, sometimes people in the past had lost their sense of self totally. Thankfully Ino hadn't gotten that far, but she had gone far enough for the two of them to know the other like they were now both two halves of a whole. Both of them now held the memories, emotions and experiences of the other. Not all of them but enough of it had been passed between the two of them that changed things now.

How could the other have Naruto now? If one of them got him the other would be glad but the heart ache would be so much worse. Not only that, but the other would most likely know what the other was going through and would feel for their pain. How as Sakura to deny her best friend the first real love of her life? Ino was thinking the same thing, she knew just how much Sakura had fallen in love with Naruto too. It had just made a complicated position even worse.

"Now what are we going to do?" Sakura finally asked not sure herself. "I don't know what I'd do if he picked you over me feeling like this, plus I couldn't look you in the eye if he picked me…"

"Yeah…god what a dump idea that was," Ino muttered to herself. She wished she had paid more attention to that training of her father. Well she would now, he kept saying that the mind was a very delicate thing and now she was learning the hard way about that.

"You know he has to pick on no matter what," Sakura said thinking back to what she learned. "He's been alone for so long, he needs actual love in his life. Someone that can give him that love, he deserves it. It hurts just remembering all those years alone, I know what it's like but I at least had my parents."

"Yeah it was," Ino muttered remembering Sakura's memories of childhood before they had met. She had no idea that Sakura had known the same loneliness as Naruto, that same hollow pain in your chest was horrible. It felt totally empty and dark, yet there was this throbbing pain that game from the emptiness.

"He deserves to be happy…" Sakura stated and Ino could only nod. "But then…what do we do about the situation? After sharing that with you I feel even closer to you, I don't want you to get hurt."

Ino thought about it, they had shared something profound with each other that went beyond words. She saw Sakura in a light she hadn't see before, when you truly understood another person it changed your views of things.

'We shared so much and yet we can't share the love we feel for the same man,' Ino thought bitterly. Then she blinked, was that the answer? Well it might depend on if Sakura would go for it but it also depended on what Naruto would think on it.

"I have another idea." Ino said.

"Oh god now what?" Sakura moaned not sure she could take another idea.

Ino looked at the pink haired medic with a small smile on her face. "Well tell me what you think about this…"

Next up Chapter 11: Three Hearts Beat As One

I think I'll end this soon, this wasn't meant to be a long story but I think I might come back to this later with a sequel. Maybe I'll add Hinata into the mix with that one.