Another Choice
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Naruto x ?
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Story Start
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Naruto made his way into the floral shop. He was greeted by none other than Ino. "'Hey there Whiskers!" Ino called out excitedly before she jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her chest into his as she kissed as she shot him a flirtatious smile. "Sakura told me about the meal you had after your team meeting. How come you didn't invite me too?" she asked, putting on her best pout.
"Ino-chan, cut it out." He stammered. For whatever reason Ino really liked to tease the blond and with her figure it was easy to. Platinum blonde with gorgeous blue eyes. Ino had the most balanced figure between the girls. Whereas Hinata was top heavy and nearly Sakura's bottom heavy equal, but in Ino's case she had a nice balance to her figure not to mention being the tallest of the girls with amazing legs.
If she wanted to Ino could have a fairly successful career as a seduction type shinobi.
Ino couldn't help but relish the look on her friend's face. He was just so fun to tease. Out of the three of girls Ino was the most outgoing. She was not afraid of going for what she wanted. Unlike Hinata who was shy with her affection with the blond and Sakura who was in denial, Ino had a fairly good understanding the potential of her friendship with Naruto becoming something more. She had hoped by now the hints she dropped would have spurred him into action by now.
Oh well. While she normally wasn't patient this was something she could wait for. "My shift's over for the day and I don't have to meet my team. We should go hang out or something."
"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Hanging out with Ino seemed like a good way to spend his day.
"Just let me go get my things and close down the shop." She said as she left to grab her bag. "Feel free to make yourself at home til then."
Naruto nodded and crossed through Ino's living room and kitchen until he reached the backyard. The backyard was wide and in a square fashion. It was limited by high bushes that were neatly kept in check and had many flowers on their surfaces. Lush grass covered its entire surface and there were some rocks here and there. The backyard on itself was very beautiful.
Naruto fancied himself something of a gardener. In fact his hobby of watering plants and growing them was because of his friendship with Ino.
A few minutes passed as Ino trailed down the steps. "Ready." She cheerily called out. She had changed her outfit, putting on a white sleeveless top and exchanging her purple skirt with a red one that ran a slit down up to below her thigh.
He felt a little under-dressed, being in just a black shirt and his usual orange/black pants.
The two of them went for a walk around the town. Because of Konoha's size it was already nightfall by the time they were along one of the trails.
Looking up, they were treated to the beautiful night sky.
"So how's your team been?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, horrible. Just dreadful, really," she joked, eliciting a laugh from the blond boy. "But in all honesty, it could have been a lot worse. I've known Shikamaru and Chouji for so long their habits don't surprise me, but if they don't shape up we're going to be in a lot of trouble later down the line." Ever since Sakura had started exploring her Genjutsu talent Ino had been motivated to improve herself as well. So she had taken to learning about using different kinds of poison and how to incorporate it into her fighting style.
"How about you? How's your team?"
"Working with Sakura-chan has been great. The Uchiha on the other hand." He trailed off, not wanting to sour the mood by thinking about what happened.
Ino frowned slightly, "Sakura told me what happened. I just don't understand how anyone could be like that. Look, I admit I'm one of the last people who should be commenting on the matter considering how I used to hound him, but there was no reason for him to be that way. Especially towards people who were at least trying to be friendly with him."
"He's gone through a traumatic event in the world of shinobi without the proper training or mindset Ino-chan. He was seven years old and the fact he hasn't been consistently monitored or in therapy has probably made it where its going to be difficult to break his shell."
"You're not defending that jerk are you?" Ino accused him, arms crossed as her look conveyed exactly how she felt of the situation.
"Of course not, I want to give him a nice hard slug myself, but like it or not he's my teammate. I might have to depend on him one day and antagonizing him would only hurt my team dynamic. Letting my emotions set the pace will only lead to trouble. While I feel completely killing your emotions like some shinobi tout is actually a weakness not a strength, I can at least understand the wisdom of self-control you know." He said as Ino stared at him for a few seconds before slugging him in the forehead with the palm of her head. "Hey! W-What was that for?"
"I hate when you go into super freaky genius mode. You're supposed to be going on about ramen and being easy going." She stated as Naruto chuckled.
"Oi, I'm still me Ino-chan. Being smarter hasn't changed who I am, my beliefs, or my dreams. I just put a bit more thought into what I do and say is all." He explained as Ino seemed to contemplate his words.
"Well, I suppose if you were an idiot you wouldn't be good boyfriend material." She said as she suddenly latched onto his arm.
'Boyfriend material?' Naruto lightly groaned. 'Boy crazy girl.' he thought.
As the two walked towards the forest, they continued to talk about their teams and experiences thus far. Ino felt herself growing closer to the blond as the walk went on. It was hard to explain it. He just seemed to exhume a certain air around himself. It was warm and comforting; like you could tell him anything you wanted and not be afraid of judgement. It'd always been there. She just didn't realize it until now.
Naruto was simply someone who was refreshingly honest in a world where lies and deception were just as common as the truth. It was as if him just being there was enough to convince her that everything would be okay.
The two found themselves arriving at the edge of the forest, the moon shining down from high above them. "Hey Ino-chan want to see something amazing?"
Ino laughed. What ridiculous thing was he going to show her today. "Sure." Grabbing her hand, Naruto pulled Ino close to him.
"N-Naruto-kun, now see here I'm not that kind of girl. Buy me dinner first." She remarked, flicking her hair and devolving into a fit of giggles seeing his response.
"Just hold on tight and close your eyes you tease."
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Ino couldn't help but blush a bit at their close proximity. 'Since when was he this toned?' she thought feeling how chiseled the blond was. Then again Naruto's clothes were always baggy and in recent memory she couldn't remember seeing him without the coat or a large sleeved shirt on.
Having closed her eyes, Ino saw nothing, instead, only feeling the rush of wind as she was pushed against Naruto all-the-more. Then, it stopped as she felt Naruto's grip loosen just the slightest. Setting her down to stand on whatever they were on, most likely some kind of rock he steadied her up next to him.
"Open your eyes," Naruto told her after he was sure that she was steady.
"I…wow…." Ino whispered when she opened her eyes.
It was beautiful. The forest was illuminated by a bright swarm of glowing bugs and the moon light reflected off the soft lake below.
"We're in a very serene and calm area of training ground 44."
Ino's eyes widened in shock. She had heard about the rumored Forest of Death. It was an S-rank danger zone with various degrees of dangers. Commonly the weakest zone was a testing ground for newly minted chunin to gauge their level of combat and the forbidden areas housed powerful creatures bred for combat and other such things. Beast masters and summon users were the only ones given access to that part of the forest.
As Ino continued looking around she couldn't help but noticed just how beautiful everything looked. They had stayed there for a little while, enjoying the serenity of the scene until it was time for them to start heading back.
"I have to admit this was a pretty nice evening. You sure know how to impress a girl." Ino commented as they made their way back to the village.
"Indeed." He softly uttered as his expression turned serious.
"Hey? What's wrong?" she asked, noticing that her companion's expression suddenly changed.
"Ino-chan, I need your help with something, but before I can even ask you, there's something you have to know."
"What…what is it?" She couldn't help but grow concerned as Naruto looked rather worried. Surely it couldn't be that bad right.
"It has to do with who I am. On the day I was born over fifteen years ago. The day I lost my parents and the day I became a Jinchuuriki…"
It was a lot to take in. She saw just how little she knew about him. , Ino openly shed some tears upon hearing how Naruto's birth mother died and how Yondaime, as much as it wounded him to do it, used Naruto, his own flesh and blood, as a living sacrifice to seal away Kyuubi and save all of Konoha, stopping the Kyuubi from doing further damage and killing more people. It pained Ino deeply knowing that Naruto carries such a heavy burden without his consent, but was inspired at the fact that Naruto never allowed this to crush his spirit and character.
In hindsight the Naruto's desire to bring honor to a clan he never knew and his drive to honor his parents was absolutely touching yet heart breaking. Living up to their expectations and hopes were the only way Naruto could connect to his parents besides learning their techniques or about the Uzumaki heritage.
To which if he wanted to restore the clan in a timely fashion he would have to go with the 'Heritage Expansion Act.' Ino shivered at thinking about it. It was not unheard of for it to be called by different names or colored up, often some people called it 'clan restoration act' without any thought or consideration of the basis or origin of it.
The original form of the act was the act of capturing members of a clan or blood line, mostly female members, enslaving and brain washing them so they could be used as living factories to either instill the blood line and traits within the clan or make living weapons.
It was one of the dirty little secrets of many prominent Kekki Genkai wielding clans that weas not discussed openly. Though not all those with blood lines were supporter of the act and preferred methods that comparatively were not as sickening but comparably still pretty bad. Like the Hyuugas who preferred inter-marrying to keep their blood lines pure and enslavement of members they relegate to the status as cadet branch to act as sacrifices to keep the Main branch safe.
After spending who knows how long silent Ino realized she hadn't heard what Naruto wanted of her. "Naruto-kun, what did you want my help with?"
"I want to enter my mind. I have never tried anything like that before and with you coming from a clan of mind walkers, I thought you might be able to help me." He explained to her and waited for her response.
"I should be able to help but can I ask why you want to enter your mind all of a sudden?"
"I want to see if I can communicate with the Kyuubi. I want to try and find out why the Kitsune decided to attack Konoha like it did." Naruto replied shocking Ino even more.
"You can't be serious Naruto. You actually want to try and talk with the Kyuubi? Are you insane!?"
"This is something I have to do Ino. Hokage-sama has already told me any day now Ero…Jiraiya-sama is going to come back to the village and help me learn how to tap into using the demon's power. Whether I like it or not I am our village's deterrent from the other villages who also have Bijuu. Nearly all of them have a massive head start on mastering their demon's power. The only saving grace I have is they focused on developing my mind and practical skills so I have the tools not to be over reliant on the Kyuubi. Will you help me Ino-chan?"
It was dangerous. It was stupid. It was what Naruto wanted.
She was reluctant. She wanted to say no, but one way or another he was going to be expected to use the demon's power right? At least this way if things got dangerous she could cancel the technique.
Naruto would probably try it on his own or find someone else from her clan who would be all too happy to make a mistake ending the life of the shinobi.
"You're a baka. Baka you hear me. I shouldn't be agreeing to this, but I'll do this for you. Because I have faith in you." No matter what Naruto never gave up in himself or in others. She couldn't start doubting him now could she?
A few minutes later, the teens were setting in Naruto's living room floor. "So how does this work Ino-chan?"
"First, I'll go into your mindscape. After that you will start to feel a small pull from the inside of your body, don't fight it and just allow me to pull you into your mindscape. From there we just have to find where the Kitsune is and you should be able to speak to him." She explained to him.
After receiving the go ahead from Naruto, Ino ran through a few hand signs before placing her hands on Naruto's temples. At first, Naruto wasn't sure if it had worked or not. But after a minute or two, he felt the pull that Ino was talking about. Naruto closed his eyes and allowed himself to be pulled into his mindscape.
Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a hallway with pipes running along the walls and ceiling. There was also about two inches of water on the floor. "Your mind is a gutter Naruto-kun. I knew it! So you do be splurging your money on dirty magazines!"
She accused the blond pointed at him as if she was commanding him to confess.
"First of all this is more a sewer. Which does not help my case and…just hush and help me find the damn Kitsune." Naruto grumbled after realizing he had no real way to counter Ino's claims.
Without any sense of time the two traveled aimlessly throughout the area until they finally reached a massive room with a giant gate that reached from the ceiling to the floor with a paper tag with the kanji for seal on it.
"Ino you stay back. This is something I have to do on my own." He said as he moved closer to the cage. He got close enough for two massive crimson eyes to appear in the darkness.
Instantly he sensed danger and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the claw that shot out from the cage.
"NARUTO-KUN!" Ino was about to run when Naruto's shout stopped her in place.
"STAY BACK!" Naruto shouted from his spot on the ground. He turned his expression back to the demon in front of him.
"Curse this damn cage. If not for it I would devour you and make my escape." The demon voice was not only deep, but It echoed with both power and malice. "So tell me what brings my container before me? The coward before you did everything in her power to pretend I didn't exist until it was convenient for her."
Naruto bristled slightly, but let the comment about his mother go. Anger was one of the easiest ways for a Bijuu to take control, second only to hatred and one step above despair.
"I wished to meet you and to discover the truth. The truth in regards of you being sealed inside of me. Why did you attack the village all those years ago?"
"And why should I answer you? What could you possibly offer me?"
A bargain? He was ready for this. He had been studying his father's notes and the Uzumaki clan seals. He still lacked the necessary skill to use his clan masks to summon the Shinigami to make the alterations to the seal, so he would hope the kitsune would accept an I.O.U.
"I am one of the last Uzumaki. I am studying to become a seal master. I want your cooperation Kyuubi no Kitusne. Your power and knowledge will be valuable, but willingly given would benefit me more than simply just taking it. One day I will raise my skill allowing me to tweak the seal that binds you to experience certain things. Right now you're just stuck with what I see and hear. That much is common with the information written down from Mito's observations. To feel what I feel. To smell. To taste. It would make your imprisonment a little less bearable right?"
The demon rumbling of a chuckle escaped the Kyuubi's maw. "You are an interesting Ningen. Trying to barter? Trying to prove you're not like the rest of your barbaric kind who want my power to kill, destroy, and subjugate?"
"I won't lie, there might be a time I might use your power to kill, but I don't seek to kill because I want to, but because I need to. Either to protect those around me or achieve my goals. For now I can only offer you the knowledge I would gain under your advisement as well as making things as entertaining as possible while you're locked up in here."
"You have yet proven yourself worthy of my power. As you are now you are far too weak. Show me your conviction and power if you even have hopes of wielding mine, but I shall indulge your bravery or should I say foolishness.
During the incident of your birth I wasn't in control of myself at the time of the attack. The seal on a jinchuriki in weakest during child birth. During the time of your birth, a masked man with the sharingan ripped me out of your mother and placed me under his control. Your father fought with the masked man but by the time he beat the man, the damage had been done. Your parents used what little bit of strength they had left and gave their lives to reseal me into you. It was not until recently that the function of seal that put me to sleep has worn off."
"You said this man had the Sharingan which would make him an Uchiha. The Uchiha clans were wiped out a few years ago by one of their clan members. Could this man be dead?"
"I don't think so. This Uchiha smelled of something unnatural. Something even I cannot identify. So the Uchiha responsible was anything, but a normal human being. Even you flesh sacks with your blood line gifts have distinct traits I can pick up. The best I can identify the scent as is a mixture of nature and graveyard soil."
"Would it please you to see this masked man dead?"
"Fool. I am the mighty Kyuubi no Kitusne. Strongest of the Nine. Destroyer of Isles and bringer of Cataclysms. I am no one's pet. Nothing will please me more then to kill that man. As I said boy show me you are worthy of my power next time we visit and I will consider your proposals."
"Will do Kyuubi-san." Naruto said with a bow as he and Ino vanished.
"A human treating me as something besides a tool or burden. He was even willing to ask for permission for my power. I wonder. Could he be the one you talked about father?" thought Kurama as the two teens vanished.
The technique ended and Naruto and Ino awoken where they had went into the trace. "Thanks Ino-chan, what you did tonight helped me more than you'll ever know."
He had clues now. New goals. He was going to be busy for a while. "Would you like me to walk you home or do you just want to stay the night?" He suddenly asked her. It was surely nearing midnight at this point.
"My parents are both out on missions so if you don't mind I will spend the night here." She replied.
"I don't mind, you can have my bed tonight and I'll sleep on the couch." Naruto said as he stretched and took a seat on the couch. Wasn't like he could get much sleep tonight with what he learned.
Naruto now knew that meant he was going to be developing a good deal of his time researching ways to counteract the Sharingan.
"Just…just don't go off the deep end on me. Now that…now that you know…" With the discovery it was an intentional and malicious act Ino was kind of afraid of Naruto becoming revenge obsessed like Sasuke.
"Ino-chan, I won't. You and the others would never forgive me if I sat around all day and brood." He remarked.
Ino cracked a smile and playfully thumped his forehead. "That's right. Quota's been filled. Now I'm going to go take a shower so you better not peep." She said as Naruto rolled his eyes.
Naruto couldn't help but watch as Ino began her strut down the hallway. Especially with the sway she made with those hips of hers.
At the very least as much as Ino liked to tease him she was a great friend and someone he could count on.
He should. He should include her in on his plan. Hinata too and maybe even Shino. Sure they weren't his team mates, but he would feel better knowing his friends were given the means to defend themselves.
He couldn't shake the feeling that if this mysterious Uchiha was so intent on destroying Konoha all those years ago with the Kyuubi attack he wouldn't have given in so easily after one try.
No. Whatever was to come Naruto was going to be ready to face it.