Chapter 20: Return to Konoha!

(Italics: Thoughts/Flashbacks/Dream sequence. Bold: Title and Kyubi's / Demon's / Inner Naruto's / Inner Sakura's Speech.)

Naruto carried Ino on his back and jumped from tree branch to tree branch, his eyes constantly watching his surroundings in case of enemies.

"Naruto?" Ino whispered weakly.

"What is it Ino?" Tears began to stream down Ino's cheeks and she pressed her face against Naruto's back as she said:

"I'm so sorry I was such a burden to you Naruto... I could have gotten myself and you killed... I want to get stronger...

Strong enough to protect you and fight by your side... I want to protect you too... I know I'm precious to you, but I want you to know you're just as precious to me as I am to you..."

Naruto's battle worn expression shifted to a more peaceful expression as he replied:

"Ino... You have no idea how much those words mean to me..."

A Four Man ANBU Squad jumped from tree branch to tree branch scanning their surroundings for their targets. They all stopped and the leader made a hand sign to his team causing all the other members to nod in understanding as all members split up in four different directions.
Naruto was beginning to feel drained and relying on nothing but Kyubi's chakra was taking a toll on his body. His eyes now had the power of hell and it was a very powerful weapon to use but the setback is that it uses ridiculously large quantities of chakra to use so a human being possessing such power is completely unheard of.

Naruto looked over his shoulder and smiled at the sleeping form of Ino he was carrying on his back, her face buried into his back and her arms around his chest. Naruto's smiled and kept going as he thought: Not yet... I have to keep going not for just my sake... But for Ino's too.

Naruto had been jumping from tree branch to tree branch for at least another hour and knew Konoha couldn't be too far away, suddenly his body became alert as he sensed four powerful chakra pressures heading his direction.

His body was exhausted of both physical endurance and chakra and had no means of fighting four powerful opponents.

Naruto looked around him as he thought: Shit! What do I do?!

Before he had time to further process his thoughts however the shinobi had appeared around him, surrounding him. Naruto couldn't see his opponents well in the dark and started to unsheathed his blade.

The Shinobi he was looking at rose his hand and said: "Uzumaki Naruto put away your blade, we are the ANBU Black Ops and we have been ordered to retrieve you and escort you back to the village."

Naruto sighed and replied: "Thank God... Alright let's go ahead and get moving I need one of you guys to carry this girl she's in weak condition. Don't worry about me though I can take care of myself."

One of the Anbu took Ino from his back gently as to not wake her up. The ANBU Leader looked around and asked: "Everyone ready?" The rest of the ANBU squad and Naruto nodded in confirmation as he said: "Alright Let's go." And with those words Naruto and the ANBU vanished.

Tsunade sighed and poured herself another glass of Sake as the file containing the mission Naruto and Ino were on lay open on her desk, the bottle of Sake next to it. She was growing impatient it usually didn't require this much time for the ANBU to complete such an easy task. She sipped from her Sake glass with a sigh as she looked out the window into the sky, she noticed the moon and said:

"The Moon's almost full..."

Just as she was finishing her glass there was an audible knock from the outside of her office door. Tsunade used a quick Genjutsu to hide the Sake Glass and Bottle, a moment later she

called out: "Come in."

Tsunade's office door opened and Shizune quickly emerged from the doorway with a smile as she said: "Lady Tsunade The ANBU Squad you sent out, Naruto and Ino have returned. They're being checked on as we speak."

Tsunade smiled and said: "That's great news. Would you like a drink with me before we check on Naruto and Ino Shizune?"

Shizune smiled and said: "As much as I hate to admit it a drink would be great about now."

Tsunade smiled at this and brought out another sake glass and dispelled the Genjutsu. She picked up the Sake Bottle and poured her and Shizune's glasses. Tsunade raised her glass and cheered: "To health."

Shizune nodded and raised her own glass as she repeated: "To Health."

Naruto smiled and sat up in the hospital bed he was situated in watching Ino sleep. Naruto smiled and thought: She looks so peaceful...

Ino's eyes began to open a little and she stirred as she struggled to open her eyes all the way. She succeeded and saw Naruto watching her and smiled as she asked playfully: "What are you looking at?"

Naruto grinned and gave Ino a wink as he replied: "You."

Naruto smiled and was about to continue when all of the sudden the door opened and Tsunade and Shizune emerged from the doorway.

Naruto smiled and said: "Hey Tsunade what's up?"

Shizune sighed as she thought: Same old Naruto.. Talking so casually to the Hokage.

Tsunade cleared her throat and said: "Naruto what exactly happened?"

The widest grin the Hokage had ever seen appeared on the young Jinchuuriki's face as he replied: "Do I have one hell of a story for you..."

A/N: A bit short I know, it's more of a filler chapter please bare with me. Not much happened in this chapter but I did do some perspective switching and got Naruto and Ino back to the village safely, I have some crazy ideas I'm going to put into words in my next chapter and Ino's character is going to get stronger, I mean a lot stronger so far I've portrayed her as almost useless on the battlefield which is going to change. Anyway REVIEW if you care!

Peace! - DemonicLove555