Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, Masashi Kishimoto does.

After Gaara was brought back to life, Team Kakashi and Team Guy and The Sand Siblings brought Gaara home. When they arrived, many people were there to welcome their Kazekage back home. Shinobi and civilians alike were cheering, relieved that Gaara has come home.

Baki went to greet them, "I'm glad that you're safe, Gaara." He added, "I thank you, Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto objected, "I didn't really do anything."

Baki then said, "Everyone has been waiting, please go on." The people around them had created a path for them to walk through.

They were going to walk on but Gaara said, "Wait." He turned his head and requested, "Put her first."

Chiyo was in a black body bag, held by four shinobi with her brother, Ino and Sakura walking on the sides. They walked on ahead as the people paid their respect for Elder Chiyo.

Soon after her funeral, they had to be on their way home. Both teams and the Sand Siblings were outside of the border, sending them off. Naruto was standing in front of Gaara but seemed a bit nervous.

He said, "Well, this would be the time where we shake hands and depart. But I'm not really good at stuff like this."

But then Gaara held out his hand and gave a small smile to him. Naruto felt Gaara's sand guide his hand to clasp Gaara's hand, the sand swirling around their joined hands.

Then as they were walking home, Kakashi and Guy were traveling slowly, Guy was supporting Kakashi. When Guy was getting frustrated that they were going so slow, he threw Kakashi into the air and caught him on his back, giving Kakashi a piggy-back ride.

This action grossed everyone out except Lee who asked, "I see, you're training right?"

Then Guy shouted as he ran ahead of them, "All of you, let's see if you can keep up with me!"

So then, to follow his Sensei's example, he put his backpack on backwards and bent over and said, "Neji."

Neji outright refused by shouting, "Oh, hell no!"

So they followed Guy home, trying to keep up with him even if some of them were tired.

Elsewhere…

Zetsu was with a masked man who found Deidara's right arm.

Then Deidara appeared and demanded, "Let go of my hand, you little shit!"

The masked man shouted, "Oh, you're alive."

Zetsu asked, "Where is the Jinchūriki?"

Deidara replied, "I already completed my mission and I had to escape from them."

The masked man exclaimed, "My, my, my! You really cut it close, huh, Deidara-san? But you're okay… Not!"

Deidara's patience was wearing thin as he said, "Tobi, hit him three times and even Buddha will get mad. I dare you to say something else; I'll decide how you die!"

The masked man who was called "Tobi", replied, "What's to decide? You'd just blow me up."

Zetsu warned him, "There's the third time."

Deidara got Tobi on the ground and was using his legs to choke him as he yelled, "Suffocation!"

4 days later…

Teams Kakashi and Guy arrived back in Konoha and were taking Kakashi to the hospital. Meanwhile, Naruto was contemplating something as he watched Ino from behind. He saw where she was hiding her wound with a few bandages wrapped around her stomach.

Kurama said in his head, "You know that you're going to have to tell Shikamaru about what happened."

"I know, but she asked me not to, what am I supposed to do?" Naruto asked.

"Remember what he asked of you?" Kurama asked.

Flashback…

Shikamaru showed up at Naruto's apartment that morning and Naruto was about to leave.

"Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" he asked.

Shikamaru answered, "I heard from Lady Tsunade that you and your team were going to rescue Gaara."

Naruto nodded and said, "That still doesn't explain why you are here. Was there something that you wanted?"

Shikamaru replied, "Yes, I wanted to ask you to protect Ino on this mission. If you're dealing with the Akatsuki; I know they'll be after you too, Naruto. I want you to protect her but also take care of yourself too."

Naruto smiled and replied, "I can't guarantee that she won't get hurt on this mission, but I'll do what I can. After all, she is a dear friend to me."

End Flashback…

"I made the mistake of running off and she nearly died," Naruto said with guilt.

"You were upset about Gaara, what's done is done. So just tell him because it will help ease your conscious," Kurama replied to him.

Naruto sighed but agreed, "Okay, I might as well get it over with."

He fell a little behind before the others before hiding in an alley and created a shadow clone. The Shadow clone went with the others to the hospital while he went to find Shikamaru.

He was running to where Shikamaru might be but then saw a person turning a corner, heading towards him. He was surprised and he couldn't stop himself when he bumped into the person, effectively knocking them both to the ground. Naruto lifted his head, opened his eyes and looked into a pair of lavender orbs. For a moment, he was mesmerized until he really looked at the person he fell on top of. It was a girl with long dark blue hair, wearing a bulky lavender jacket, blue pants and her forehead protector was around her neck.

The girl whispered, "N-Naruto-kun?"

He instantly recognized her as he whispered, "Hinata…"

Then he realized the type of position they were in and immediately pushed himself off of her.

With a blush on his face, he embarrassedly tried to explain, "I… I'm so sorry, Hinata. I was in a hurry, and I didn't stop myself and…"

Hinata sat up and cut him off, "N-No, it's okay."

Naruto took a breath and asked, "Are you alright? I didn't hurt you did I?"

Hinata shook her head and replied, "N-No, you didn't; I'm fine."

Naruto sighed in relief and then held his hand out to her, she took it and Naruto helped her stand up.

There was a silence until Hinata stuttered, "It's n-nice to see y-you again, Naruto-kun."

Naruto smiled and replied, "Yeah, it's nice to see you too, Hinata."

He looked her over and pointed out, "Hey Hinata, you grew your hair out."

Hinata replied while pulling on a strand of her hair, "Yes. I-I have been training f-for so long that I didn't really notice, so I let it grow out."

Naruto then said, "Well, I think it looks nice."

Hinata looked surprised and then asked, "R-Really?"

Naruto nodded and added, "It does, not that your short haircut was bad either but I like it; it suits you."

Hinata then blushed a bright red but she smiled and replied, "Thank you Naruto-kun, you have grown too."

Naruto smiled a big smile and exclaimed, "Of course, I'll be Hokage someday, and you know that." Hinata nodded and the atmosphere lightened considerably.

"So where were you going?" Naruto asked curiously.

"I was supposed to meet my team for a mission, so I was heading to where we were supposed to meet up," Hinata answered.

Then Naruto had an idea, "Hey, do you want me to walk with you over there?"

Hinata protested, "Naruto-kun, you don't have to and besides aren't you going the other way?"

"I don't mind, it's the least I can do for knocking you down. Also, I would like to talk with you more, Hinata. I know we're friends but I feel like I don't know you well enough. So tell me more about yourself and what you have been up to since I've been gone," Naruto requested.

Hinata smiled and replied, "Okay."

So they walked at a slow pace to where Hinata needed to be. They talked about a lot of things; Hinata's favorite things to do, her favorite food, her family, her teammates' progress and her training. While Naruto told her of the many things he's done, the places he's been to and what he has been training in, he even introduced her to Kurama. Hinata felt happy that she was speaking with Naruto and didn't stutter at all. She wasn't even afraid of Kurama, who she calls "Kurama-san". Naruto felt comfortable talking with Hinata. He learned a lot of things about her and he was feeling happy.

Until they reached a large tree, Naruto spotted two boys; one had a dark green hooded jacket, black pants and wore black goggles. The other had a black leather jacket with black pants with a big, white dog by his side.

Naruto called out to them, "Hey Kiba, Shino, Akamaru!"

All three turned to them and they greeted Naruto with "Hi" or "It's been a long time."

Naruto chatted with them for a few minutes before he remembered what he was going to do. He said, "Oh that's right, I still have something to do. I have to go but good luck on your mission you guys."

With that said, they waved goodbye to him as he ran off to his intended destination. As he walked forward; he saw Shikamaru up ahead, looking over the plans of the Chūnin exams.

Naruto called out to him nervously, "Hey Shikamaru."

Shikamaru looked up at him and said with a smirk on his face, "Naruto, you're back. I take it that the mission was successful?"

"Yeah, it was…" Naruto agreed but trailed off to look away from him.

Shikamaru saw his nervousness and asked, "Are you okay? Is there something you want to tell me?"

Naruto breathed a weary sigh until he answered, "There is something I want to tell you…" He paused then he said, "It's about Ino."

Shikamaru noticeably stiffened but then his eyes had a hard stare in them as he asked, "What happened?"

Then when he and Shikamaru were in private, Naruto told him of how the mission went; that he only saw Ino's injury but Sakura told of how she got it and how she almost died. That if it hadn't been for Sakura and Elder Chiyo; she might not have made it.

Meanwhile with Ino…

She was at home after her talk with Lady Tsunade about the information Sasori gave her about his spy. Since Kakashi will be out for a few days, they would need a new team..

When "Naruto", was listening in, he surprised Ino by saying that he won't be coming with them. Instead, he felt that he should prepare himself to be ready to face Sasuke when the time came. He asked Lady Tsunade that he be allowed to participate in the Chūnin Exams.

"He really surprised me that we may find something about Sasuke but he opted to stay instead," Ino thought as she was inspecting her wound.

There was a scar that had formed a layer of skin to heal naturally, with a similar scar on her back. She had only covered it with bandages to make sure that it wouldn't get infected; she and Sakura were too drained from the mission that she let it heal by itself. The flower shop was closed because her father was on his own mission and she was about to leave to meet with Sakura who will replace Naruto and two new members for Team Kakashi to meet them for another mission that day.

Then from the entryway she heard, "Ino."

She turned quickly to find Shikamaru at the entrance, with a hard serious look in his eyes, his usual lazy demeanor not showing. She instantly covered the scar as he walked inside staring at her intently.

"Shika, I thought you had to work on the Chūnin Exams. What are you doing here?" she nervously asked while covering up her scar.

He got close enough to where he was a few inches away from her before he asked "Let me see your wound, Ino."

She looked down at the ground while still covering her scar with her hands. She tried not to look into his eyes as she asked, "Who told you?"

He answered, "Naruto. He felt that I should know what happened."

"I told him not to tell you," Ino sighed in defeat.

After a silent pause, Shikamaru asked, "Ino, don't you trust me?"

Ino shook her head and explained, "It's not that I don't trust you Shika. It's just… I didn't want you to worry about me."

Shikamaru muttered quietly, "Ino, I'd still worry about you even if you didn't tell me anything. If I could choose, I would be there with you to help you and protect you."

Ino looked at him in mild surprise and then he added, "I may not show it all the time Ino, but I do care about you and your safety."

"Shika…" Ino whispered.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and asked her gently, "Ino, please show me your wound; I'll at least have peace of mind. It would've been troublesome if it kept nagging me at the back of my mind."

Ino was still a bit hesitant but she slowly removed her hands from her stomach and kept them at her sides. Ino looked up at him briefly to see a pained expression; she tried to explain, "Please don't overthink this, it was to protect Elder Chiyo and it was all I could think of…"

She suddenly froze; she felt his fingers run over her scar. Her face turned bright pink, as she felt his rough fingertips almost caress her scar with a gentleness not usually associated with him. She involuntarily shivered as he glided his hand to her back to do the same to the other scar. Then she was suddenly pulled against him in a gentle embrace; she didn't know what to make of it.

"Shi…Shika?" she asked in confusion.

He muttered, "Ino, you could have died; it was lucky that you had two others there with you. Please be more careful, Ino." He tightened his embrace, continuing, "Naruto told me he was taking the Chūnin Exam and he won't go on this next mission with you. So please don't do anything reckless if you do find any leads on Orochimaru or on Sasuke. I don't want to lose someone important to me."

Ino somehow felt her heart flutter at his sincerity; she smiled as she returned the embrace.

"Shikamaru, you don't have to worry about me. I promise I'll be more careful and I promise I won't hide my injuries from you."

He pulled away and gave her a small smile and she gave a bigger one right back at him.

"Oh by the way, thank you for the lunch you made me. I didn't think someone as lazy as you could even put in the effort," she playfully poked his cheek as she giggled.

He retorted with a smirk, "Yeah well, don't expect it too often; I rarely have motivation for it."

She laughed whole-heartedly and replied, "That's true; I always would have to push you all the time to even train." She smiled again and then said, "When I get back, I'll make you lunch next time."

Shikamaru half-smiled before placing his hand on her shoulder again and leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Just come home safe; that's all I ask."

Then he did something she never thought he'd do; he placed a kiss on her forehead. Ino blushed once again, almost forgetting to breathe.

His lips lingered for a minute and then he pulled away whispering, "I'll see you soon."

He turned away and walked out of the shop; leaving Ino stunned as she didn't notice the pink blush on Shikamaru's cheeks. Ino placed her fingers on her forehead, confused at her friend's intimate gesture that made her heart pound.

She asked herself, "What did he do that for? And why did my heart beat so rapidly that I couldn't breathe?" But then she slowly smiled and thought, "But that doesn't mean that I didn't like it."

For now, she had to meet up with Sakura to meet the new teammates for Team Kakashi. When Ino got to where Sakura was, she wondered, "Are we the only ones here?"

Sakura answered, "We're just early, they'll probably be here soon and we'll…"

She trailed off as she felt someone's presence behind her and that Ino stared at someone behind Sakura as well.

A boy appeared before them; he had black hair that hung over his forehead protector, a black shirt that exposed his navel and black pants, he also had a tanto strapped to his back.

But what was most strange about him was his fake smile as he said, "Hello."

Ino didn't know who he was, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't be pleasant to find out.

Well, that is it for this chapter. I hope you like my little tweaks and I thought that Naruto should take the exam this time. Please feel free to review.