Chapter 5: Bloodstained Twilight Part 1
Naruto and Ino watched the stars as they camped out in the woods, a small fire burning to keep them warm, Naruto seemed to doze off and enjoy the heat of the fire as he closed his eyes yet remained awake just in case, after what felt like an eternity of silence Ino spoke up: "The stars look beautiful tonight…"
Naruto smiled and fell into a daze as his gaze deepened, he turned to Ino with a grin as he replied: "They sure are."
Naruto smiled and gazed down into the fire, his eyes happened to wonder over to the form of Ino being illuminated by the brilliant flame. Ino caught his line of sight and flashed a sly grin as she said: "Yes Naruto?"
Naruto quickly looked away trying to cover the blush that crept across his face. Before Naruto knew it Ino had come and sat down closer to him. He eyed her nervously as he said: "Yes Ino?"
Ino smiled and rested her head on his shoulder as she said: "You know Naruto I've thought a lot about you on this trip…"
A bead of sweat dripped down Naruto's neck as he replied: "Oh yeah? What about me?"
Ino slid into Naruto's lap and straddled him as she leaned her head in and whispered: "No Naruto… I've thought about you a lot this whole trip."
Naruto blushed furiously as he said: "Ino tell me why do you like me?"
A stunned Ino wasn't expecting the question, she herself didn't know what drove her to do what she did but a mixture of jealousy and longing seemed to develop some kind of connection. She bit down on her lip as she said: "Well to be honest I saw you and Jade the other night and I got…"
She painfully swallowed her pride as she said: "I got jealous of you and her."
Naruto sighed and looked away from her as he said: "Listen Ino you're a wonderful girl and I'm positive you'll make a great guy happy but the truth is I've never really had anyone… Not a parent let alone a girlfriend or lover… So to tell you the truth I'm not quite that sharp in the subject of romantic relationships but I do know that shallow feelings like Jealousy aren't going to cut it for me… There's no point in any form of lust or longing if there's no love behind it. Then again I guess you could say I don't know what love is…"
Naruto's words in Ino's world had ruined the moment but then again what he said did have a deep truth to it… What is lust without love? Just empty emotions… Ino looked down and said: "I'm sorry Naruto you're right."
Naruto decided to change the subject as he flashed her a warm smile and said: "Ino you know we'll always be friends right? And to be honest I won't mind if we become more than friends someday, I just wish I could meet someone who truly cares for me…"
Ino had no idea Naruto had been through so much pain, she knew he was always alone in the academy but growing up as an orphan without parents or anyone who cared for you, that must have been a living hell.
Ino had returned to her position of her head on Naruto's shoulder. A shocked and confused Naruto was about to say something but before the words left his mouth Ino had tears in her eyes as she said: "Your childhood must have been a living hell… How could anyone live a life like that and turn out the way you are…" Naruto's eyes widened at her words as he said: "Ino…"
An unseen force tilted Naruto's head and he leaned in to meet his lips with Ino's, about halfway there Naruto sees a glint in the darkness and threw himself and Ino to the ground as he yelled: "Look out!"
A barrage of Kunai symmetrically aligned themselves in an odd shape in the spot he and Ino had been a moment earlier. Naruto got up and looked around the battlefield and formed his cross hand seal as he called out: "Come out and show yourself you bastard!"
"Mass Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Several replications of Naruto's form manifested from thin air and began running through the forest in all directions searching for the enemy, one of Naruto's shadow clones was destroyed transmitting the enemy's location directly to Naruto. Naruto made another army of clones as he rushed toward the enemy's hiding place.
"Shit!" Muttered the missing ninja as he turned to make his escape, his escape was cut short however as a fist impacted him hard on the face sending him flying into a tree. Naruto propped the man up and held a Kunai to his throat as he said darkly: "Listen this is how it's going to work, you're going to tell me who you're working for and what you know and in exchange I won't slit your throat, sound like a deal?"
The missing ninja nodded as slowly as he could, Naruto did receive a small piece of valuable information on who hired the man but not much, all the details he gave were one of them wore a straw hat with eyes that could have easily belonged to a demon and a man who's figure resembled a shark who was carrying a powerful sword. He also noted that the figures each wore a black robe with red clouds embodied in the cloak's design, they had hired them to "See his potential."
From what the man told him the ones who hired him belonged to a mysterious organization known as the Akatsuki, unfortunately the name was all he knew.
Now Naruto had promised the man he would spare his life if he gave him the information he wanted but Naruto couldn't do it, he killed the man to protect his and Ino's lives as they rushed faster in the direction of Konoha, in desperate hope that someone from the village would come to their rescue, because if Naruto's opponents were S-Class Missing Ninja him and Ino didn't stand a chance in the world, Naruto may have a hope of survival but he can't protect Ino and himself at the same time.
Kakashi and Gai were running through a dark forest at top speed, looking desperately for any sign of them, out of frustration Kakashi motioned Gai to stop for a moment as he pulled a scroll out from his clothing, bit down on his thumb and spread blood across a seal as he said: "Summoning Jutsu! Ninja Hounds."
In a puff of smoke eight Ninja hounds manifested around the copy cat Ninja. Kakashi eyed his hounds and let them smell two objects each holding a faded Chakra Signature from Ino and Naruto. In silent understanding the Hounds took off leaving Paku and a small white hound who jumped on Kakashi's shoulder and Gai's shoulder to help them on their search. Kakashi turned to Gai and said: "Let's split up, give a surge of chakra if you encounter the enemy or if you find Naruto or Ino."
Gai gave the copy cat Ninja his infamous Nice Guy pose and said: "At once my eternal Rival!"
And with those words Gai went speeding off in the distance using Kakashi's Ninja Hound's senses to locate his target. Kakashi using Paku's ability sped off in search of his comrades as he thought: "Hold on Naruto we're coming!"
A/N: Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I apologize for the lateness and shortness of the chapter but like most of us I was and still am enjoying my holiday to the fullest extent. Not much is happening in this part of the story but it is setting up the action scenes that will appear within the next couple of chapters.
As for the Ino/Naruto relationship Ino's feelings of jealousy are shallow but her symphony for Naruto's pain growing up and her friendship with Naruto could easily evolve into something more if given time. A lot of shit will go down but by the end of this mission Naruto and Ino will be closer then they are now and Ino will have found out about Naruto's secret.
And if you're waiting on the part where Garra gets kidnapped I'm sorry to say that it won't play a role in my story at all. The formula of this story is going to be One Hundred Percent different than the manga so if you're into creativity I'm your man, I've been thinking about writing another story where it's an AU, as an experiment like all my stories (Which all apparently turned out to be good.) but it sounds like a fun idea. Hope you liked the chapter, don't forget to Review! Peace! - DemonicLove555
P.S. I'm going to start a new story so if you want to encourage me to write more on this story I suggest giving me more reviews! I mean quater of a thousand people clicked on this chapter but only Two people left reviews? That's seriously weak people. Seriously