Dream Walkin'

Chapter 8

Hokage's Office – 13:00 hours – Month 5

"No need to be so formal, Sasuke," Naruto said to his best friend, "sit."

"Thanks, Dobe," Sasuke Uchiha replied, taking a seat, "I really should thank you for giving me this team."

"Doing well, I assume?"

"Kenshin's a kenjutsu specialist, and uses a choktou similar to mine," the sharingan master explained, "Apparently, his family came here from the Land of Iron prior to the 2nd shinobi war. Yahiko's a ninjutsu powerhouse. I've already tested his and Kenshin's elements. Yahiko has fire and earth. Strange for a genin to have 2 elements already."

"You did."

"I also had Kakashi Hatake as a sensei, and came from the Uchiha clan. Yahiko's family is shinobi, but not a prominent clan." Naruto pulled out a file, while listening to Sasuke.

"What about Kenshin?"

"Wind. Good for a kenjutsu user. The one I wanted to talk about is Akane."

This piqued Naruto's interest. "Is she ok?"

"I'll say," the Uchiha head answered, "She comes to training every day ready to go. Their first sensei had a few notes on this team, and described Akane as 'prodigious level of chakra control and extremely talented with weapons'. I'm seeing shades of both Sakura and Tenten in her."

"Any thoughts on the Chunin exams?"

Sasuke shook his head. "They won't be ready for the one coming up in Suna," he stated plainly, "I still need more time to work with them. Plus, Akane still has 2 more months of sessions with Ino before she'll sign off on her as 'Mission Ready'. Mind you, we still do D ranks, mainly to give the team some mission experience, but until Akane's ready, according to Ino, I can't take them on any missions outside the village. It's a blessing, though, as it gives me a chance to help them improve their skills before we start taking higher missions."

"I'll have to sign them up for the one in Kumo, then," Naruto figured, "8 months from now. Think they'll be ready by then?"

"I'm already planning out the next stage in their training. With Akane, I'm going to get Sakura to start training her in medical jutsu. Also, since Kurenai's not an active Jonin anymore, I managed to talk her into teaching Akane some genjutsu. Now, I know that Tenten's getting ready for the Jonin trials, but do you think she could spare some time to teach Akane, too?"

Naruto just had to whistle. "I'll talk to her about it soon. I would ask Yugao, but she's going to have her hands full with her own team in just about another 2 weeks. The next class will be graduating soon."

"I'm also going to need someone to help train Kenshin in his wind element."

"I can send a clone to do it," the Hokage explains, looking up from his file, "I'll give him the first couple of excercises like Kakashi-sensei did for me. Also, when he's ready for the 2nd phase, I'll pull Yamato for a day to help set it up. Also, you may want to talk to Kakashi-sensei about Yahiko's training. He may surprise you."

"You don't think he could be a lava style user, do you?"

"According to Sandaime-jiji's records, his family came here as refugees from the Kiri bloodline purges," Naruto responded, "It wouldn't surprise me. After all, the Mizukage, Mei, can use both lava and steam styles."

"Sakura told me you and Ino are talking about marriage," Sasuke noted, taking the conversation in another direction.

"I've already talked to Inoichi and Reika about it," Naruto replied, smiling, "I haven't officially proposed yet. Kiba and Hinata's wedding got us thinking about it seriously. What about you and Sakura-chan?"

"We've discussed it," the last Uchiha stated, "And I wanted to show you something." He reached in the pocket of his jonin vest and produced a small box, showing Naruto the ring inside. "I'm going to propose to her this weekend. Kizashi and Mebuki, Sakura's parents, have already given me their blessing."

"You slick Teme," Naruto laughed, patting his friend on the arm, "Congratulations."

"You know how Sakura and Ino gossip," Sasuke began, "Kiba and Hintata's wedding has already prompted 2 other proposals: Shikamaru and Temari, and Neji and Tenten. What are you waiting for, Dobe?"

"The ring to come in. I had asked for a particular stone for the setting, and it had to be ordered from the land of Spring. It's the same purple stone that Koyuki-hime's hex crystal is made from."

Sasuke whistled, impressed, "Ino should love that."

It's at this moment that Ino comes into the office. "Naruto," she said with a worried voice, "I just had a troubling conversation with Akane's parents. Thank goodness you're here, too, Sasuke. Has she seemed distracted lately?"

"Only for the last couple of days," Sasuke answered, "What's up?"

"They're saying if she doesn't quit, they'll disown her," Ino explained, "the kidnapping drove them over the edge. They didn't want her to become a kunoichi in the first place."

Naruto just shook his head, and looked at his girlfriend, then to Sasuke. "Once she put on the headband," he informed them, matter-of-factly, "Akane became an adult in the eyes of the village. Her parents have no say in the matter. It's strictly her decision." He then reached in his desk for another file. "I still have 3 units in my old apartment building available for rent," he noted, "Is she with you?"

"No," Ino responded, "She stormed out after lashing out at her parents verbally. We need to find her." Naruto nods and creates a clone to do his paperwork, before standing up.

"Then let's go," he nodded, and all 3 jump out the window and begin the search for Akane.

Training Ground 9 – Time: 14:30 hours

"I figured I'd find you here," came a voice behind young Akane Shiratori. After her session with Ino, she overheard what her parents said, then barged in on the conversation, stating that she was emphatically NOT quitting, before storming out and making her way to the training ground.

The last month of sessions with Ino for counseling had done wonders for the girl; helping her to realize that, even though she had gone through what she had, she survived, and could still become a strong and capable kunoichi. Ino even called in Tsunade, Kurenai Yuhi, Yugao Uzuki and Anko Mitarashi to talk to the young genin as well. At this particular moment, she was practicing an advanced kunai exercise when she heard a familiar voice coming up. "Sasuke-sensei," she greeted the Uchiha, "I guess Ino-sensei told you what happened?"

"She told me and Naruto," Sasuke answered, "Listen to me, Akane. When you put on that hitai-ate," he pointed to the headband she wore around her neck, "you became an adult, in the eyes of this village. If you want to continue on as a kunoichi, that is entirely your decision." He then called Naruto on wireless radio, letting him and Ino know that he had found Akane, before walking over and sitting down under a tree. "Come over here and sit down, Akane," he told her, "You look tired, and there's something you need to know." Akane nods and follows her sensei's instructions. "You've impressed me this last month," the Uchiha jonin informed his student, "So much so that I was just talking to Naruto about the next phase of your training. Well, this whole team's training, actually. I've decided to get you specialized training in 3 different fields, from experts in each." He then went on to detail to her his plans for the whole team. "I want to have you all ready for the Chunin exams in Kumo in 8 months. To do that, though, we need to work on getting you all prepared. I needed to find someone who could train Kenshin in his wind element, and I'm going to consult my old sensei for help with Yahiko."

Up in a nearby tree, Naruto looked over to Ino. The two had been watching the entire talk between Sasuke and Akane. "Told you he'd make a good sensei," Naruto smiled, "She'll be ok."

Ino just nodded, "See you at home later?"

"You know it, Hime." Naruto then kissed Ino, before the two shunshined off to their own jobs, crisis averted.

Ino and Naruto's Apartment – 18:00 hours.

Ino walked into the apartment, smelling something good coming from the kitchen. She peeked in to see that Naruto was hard at work, making dinner for the two. "Something sure smells good," she noted, peeking over his shoulder to see what he was making. In one pot, rice was cooking, while in another, Naruto had put together a rather interesting smelling stew.

"It's a lamb stew recipe I picked up when I was in Suna with Ero-sennin," her blonde boyfriend responded, "Believe me, you'll love it."

"Anything interesting happen after you got back to the office?"

"Not really. Just a talk with a couple members of the council. There's talk about building a new addition on to the hospital's pediatric and NICU wings. I'm going to call Tsunade in to talk about it more in depth in the morning. Also, someone came to see me with a delivery."

"A delivery, you say."

Flashback – Hokage's Office – 16:00 hours.

"Lord Hokage," the elderly man said, "The stone you wanted came in yesterday, and I just got the setting finished for your order." He produced the box and handed it to Naruto. The Hokage opened up the small, felt-lined box to see a solid platinum ring with a setting of 9 diamonds, one for each of Kurama's tails, around a solid purple stone, with what looks like snowflakes swirling around inside it. Naruto looked at the ring and whistled, impressed at the craftsmanship.

"Holy Rikudo Sennin," Kurama thought to Naruto, "Ino surely should LOVE that."

"You do good work, Mr. Shiba," Naruto stated, "I'm glad I talked to you about doing this for me. What do I owe you?"

"Everything's been taken care of, already, thanks to the payments you already made, Lord Hokage," Shiba replied, "Your girlfriend will love this ring. That stone is one of a kind. The Land of Spring doesn't mine very many of those every year. The only known stone like it is the Hex Crystal of the Kazahana clan."

"I know," the Hokage explained, "I met Koyuki-hime when I was a genin. We helped liberate her country from her tyrannical uncle, Doto. At that time, it was the Land of Snow."

END Flashback

"Yeah, a delivery," Naruto stated, looking right into Ino's eyes, before dropping down to one knee, and producing the box from his jacket pocket, opening it up for Ino to see the ring inside, "Ino Yamanaka, it'd make me the happiest man alive, if you'd be my wife. Will you marry me?"

Ino was shocked, to say the least. Of course, they had discussed marriage before, and he had asked for her parent's blessing, but, this knucklehead went above and beyond. She was absolutely blown away by the purple stone on the ring. She looked right down into Naruto's eyes and said, emphatically, "YES, of course I will." She embraced her now fiancé, and he put the ring on her left ring finger, before giving her a long kiss.

Konoha – Merchant District – Tea house – Time: 12:00 hours.

"So Naruto proposed last night?" Sakura asked as she, Ino, Tenten, Hinata and Temari all sat around a table for lunch, "Let's see the ring."

Ino showed it to the girls, and every one of them was shocked, but Sakura most of all. "I've seen a stone like that before," she marveled, then remembered team 7's mission to the Land of Snow as genin, "Don't tell me that knucklehead got that stone from the Land of Spring."

"He said it was one of a kind," Ino noted.

"I'll say," the pink-haired medic explained, "The only other stone like it belongs to Koyuki Kazahana, the current daimyo of the Land of Spring. We met her on a mission as genin, and liberated the country from her uncle, Doto."

Tenten, Temari and Hinata were shocked, to say the least, and Ino was almost flabbergasted. The only other stone like the one in her engagement ring, was the treasure of the Kazahana clan. "That settles it," she thought, "That knucklehead is still full of surprises."

Same time – Hokage's Office

"Of course you know, we've got excellent relations with Sunagakure," Naruto said to Konohamaru's team, the only team he was sending to the Chunin exams at this particular juncture, "So I expect you all to do well, and to be shining examples of what makes Konoha great, the Will of Fire. I expect to see all of you in the finals in one month."

"We'll do our best, Boss," Konohamaru grinned back at his friend and Kage, "Won't we, guys?"

"We sure will," Udon and Moegi nodded.

"Ebisu, I expect to get reports on their progress from you during the exams," the Hokage told the team's Jonin instructor, "Also, if specialized training is needed between the 2nd and 3rd rounds, let me know, and I'll see what I can arrange."

"Of course, Lord Hokage," Ebisu responded, "Team, get packed up and meet me at the gate in an hour."

Team Ebisu all left the office, leaving Naruto thinking, "They'll surely go far. I sure hope Konohamaru doesn't try to pull the Sexy Jutsu on one of the proctors." He just had to laugh at the thought, then turned around in his chair, kicked his feet up in the windowsill, and looked out over the village.

Yamanaka Residence – Time: 17:00 hours.

Taking off early from the office, Naruto met Ino and the two went to have dinner with her parents, so they could announce their engagement to them. Naruto still wore his white cloak with his normal attire, and Ino had taken time to change into a white sundress and gray heels. Walking up to the door, Ino knocked and was soon welcomed in by Reika. "Ino, Naruto," she smiled, "It's great to see you. You two stay so busy these days." She showed the two into the kitchen, where they all sat around the central bar.

"Things may be peaceful, but a Hokage's work is hardly ever done," Naruto nodded, "And Ino-hime's been doing some incredible stuff at the hospital over the last couple of months."

"Oh hush, you," Ino nudged Naruto in the ribs, "Between my patients, and his work in the office, we spend what little time we have off together. Oddly enough, he's usually home by this time every day."

"How do you manage that?" Inoichi inquired, as he entered the kitchen, "Lady Tsunade usually pulled several all-nighters doing paperwork."

"The paperwork's easy enough when you have shadow clones do it while you're dealing with other matters," Naruto explained, "And the council is…not nearly as much of a pain as before. Sasuke killing Danzo was a welcome subtraction from the council ranks. I have to remember to thank him for that. Anyway, I've mostly been dealing with teams in the field, and others in training. I just sent a genin team to the Chunin exams in Suna: Team Ebisu."

"Ah, the Sandaime's grandson's team," Inoichi nodded, "I had talked to Ebisu several times, and he says that you had been teaching Konohamaru a few extra tricks."

"I may have taught him a few things," Naruto noted, "But that's not why we're here. Hime?"

Ino showed her parents her engagement ring, "Mom, Daddy, we're getting married."

Reika was at a loss for words, seeing Ino's ring, as was Inoichi. "Naruto, son, where did you find that purple stone? It is absolutely beautiful." she asked of her future son-in-law. He then went on to explain everything about the stone, and where it came from. To say the least, both parents were impressed.

"We haven't set a date yet," Ino told her parents, "But I know one thing. All the flowers will come from our shop. And we're going to try to keep it to just close friends and family."

"Any thoughts on who all you're inviting?"

"The members of our academy class and Team Guy, their families, Gaara, Matsuri and Kankurou from Suna, Tsunade and Shizune, the Ichiraku's, Kakashi, Kurenai, Guy," Naruto explained, "Just keep it small. I know a priestess from the land of Demons who can do the ceremony."

"Oh no," Ino said, "I remember Shion, Naruto. If anything, we'll get someone qualified from the Fire Lord's court to do the ceremony. Shion wanted you to father her children, if I remember correctly. You didn't, did you?"

"What kind of man do you take me for, Hime?" Naruto asked his fiancé, "I may have been trained by a pervert, but he didn't turn me into one, too. The only woman for me is you. Besides, at that time, I was still chasing Sakura like a dumbass."

The Yamanaka family and Naruto continued to talk over dinner. Naruto and Ino left the house around 9:00, headed back to their apartment.

END Chapter 8

A/N: I'm coming up on a decision with this fic. When I started it, I honestly thought it would only be a one shot based off one of my favorite songs, but it took on a life of its own. Now, I do know this. There will be a chapter similar to Chapter 700 of the manga, but there will be some changes.

1: Naruto's son will NOT hate the Hokages, because Naruto will be taking time with his kids, which he will have 2 (Fraternal Twins: Inora [daughter – Red hair, Ino's blue eyes], and Jiraiya [Son – Looks similar to Bolt, but no whiskers.] As a matter of fact, neither kid will have the whisker marks. I wondered why Bolt and Himawari had them in Chapter 700. The only reason Naruto had them, was because he grew inside Kurama's chakra while Kushina was pregnant. That wouldn't be the case with these two, unless the kids had latent kyuubi chakra from Naruto's genes, and I doubt a biiju would be passed on as a genetic trait.)

2: A few of the Konoha 12's kids will be the same, so expect to see at least Sarada and Shikadai. I'm not too sure about Chouchou (Choji and Karui's kid. That one came right out of left field. Sorry, just can't see it, personally.), and of course, there won't be any reason for Inojin to exist, since this is a NaruIno story. However, I'm thinking on what kind of kid to give Kiba/Hinata, as well as Neji/Tenten, and Lee/Yakumo. Any ideas, send them in PM, or a Review.

NEXT TIME – CHUNIN FINALS/WEDDING PLANS