Naruto let out a deep sigh of relief as he heard the all too familiar click of the lock on his apartment's front door. With no wasted time, he hurried inside and locked it behind him as he took refuge. By some divine miracle, he had been able to avoid running into anyone he knew on his way home, but he knew that wouldn't last. Eventually he would have to venture back out into the village, and even if he didn't, the gate guards had seen him enter so it was only a matter of time before the whole village knew he was back. He could only take solace in the fact that Jiraiya hadn't made their return a big deal, opting to sneak into the village to try and surprise Tsunade. It would be the pervert's funeral, but who was Naruto to argue with the man.

Dropping his pack on the ground, he took his jacket off and undid his forehead protector. He wanted to run off and see all his friends, to see how they had grown and changed over the years, and he would, but for now he needed a moment to himself. Running his hand through his hair, he could already feel his excitement at being back building inside of him. He kicked his shoes off and took a deep breath as he looked around his apartment. It was so good to be home… only something wasn't quite right. The place was impeccably clean, his plants had all been taken care of and were in good health, some of his furniture had been replaced, and there was a chunin flak jacket hanging on the back of a chair. That certainly wasn't his.

'Great. So, they rented my apartment out to someone else while I was gone. Bet the owner made a killing getting double rent this whole time. Greedy bastard,' Naruto thought to himself, a frown setting on his face as he made his way deeper into his/their abode. There was no point in being angry about it. The other person likely didn't even know this was Naruto's apartment. He would just wait for them to get home and explain the whole mess. Tsunade would sort something out anyway, so it wasn't like he was going to be kicking someone out onto the streets. He opened one of the kitchen cupboards and grinned, pulling out a packet of instant ramen. At least this new tenant had good taste. Maybe they would be open to a roommate agreement.

He went to boil some water, eager to have his first decent meal in what felt like days only to stop and sniff his shirt, blanching at the smell. That's right, there was a good reason he wanted to stop in at home before running into his friends. He and Jiraiya had made good time getting back to Konoha from where they had been, good time that came at a cost. He needed a shower, bad. Leaving the food for the moment, he ventured into the bathroom, only to stop and gawk at what had become of his once humble washroom. Gone were his plain blue towels, his non-scented soap, his simple non-patterned shower curtain. In their place now were purple-coloured towels, a shower curtain decorated with flowers, and a large array of soaps and hair products that he could smell from the doorway.

Naruto scrunched up his nose. Brilliant. His apartment had been taken over by a girly-girl. That was just what he needed to deal with. With a shrug, he resigned himself to his fate and made his way in. Maybe it was time to see what all the rage was when it came to these expensive shower products. He would deal with everything else once he was clean and smelling like… creamy vanilla and raspberry? Wow. He sure hoped he didn't run into Kiba anytime soon.

Ino was at the end of her rope, both physically and mentally. She had not long got back to Konoha from her latest mission, and she was exhausted. It was one thing to have to run all around the countryside trying to find a group of bandits that had been causing trouble for local trade routes but needing to invade the minds of so many to find the ones in charge had been too much. She wished she could get her dad to purge several memories she had extracted from her victims before they set in. What some of those men, and even the women had gotten up to left her feeling sick. Still, the mission was a success, and she had been a key factor in that outcome, so she couldn't help but feel proud of herself. All that was left now was to go home and wash away her worries. And by home she of course meant Naruto's apartment.

At first, she had stuck true to her promise to Naruto, only using her access to his apartment to look after the place and take care of his plants. Over time that had evolved into her crashing at his place on the rare occasion, mostly when she and her parents had some sort of disagreement. The fact that she had somewhere private to escape to irked her father, though not nearly as much as it did when he realised it was a boys apartment. Oh yes, crashing at Naruto's served many purposes for Ino, none more important than being a place that she could lounge around and truly relax. No one would bother her there. No one knew she went there save for a select few, and they knew better than to intrude. The only person she had to worry about was Naruto himself, but it had been years now with only the occasional report back to the Hokage, so Ino was confident she didn't have to put the place back to how it had been for quite some time yet.

Fumbling with her keys at the door, she made her way in. Whether it was due to her tiredness or just simple lack of awareness while in the safety of her second home, Ino failed to notice the travel pack and orange jacket laying on the floor. She went to the kitchen, giving the open pack of ramen no more than a passing glance as she went about making a very strong cup of coffee. She didn't remember leaving anything out before she left, but obviously she had. With a shrug she started to boil some water. There was no point in wasting a good packet of ramen, and she was rather hungry. Within minutes she was sipping on a warm cup of caffeine filled goodness and sauntering over to the table with a steaming cup of noodles. No sooner had she sat down and broken apart her chopsticks did she freeze in place, the sound of something crashing to the floor somewhere followed by an indignant cursing catching her off guard.

Ino may have been taking some privileges with Naruto's home, but no one would say she wasn't extremely vigilant about keeping it safe and undisturbed by the hands of anyone else. Kunai suddenly in hand, she stalked her way silently out of the kitchen and down the small hallway, coming to a stop at the bathroom door. She frowned, the intruder having gone silent save for the barely audible sound of the sink faucet running, a thin whisp of steam escaping around the closed door and a shadow casting out through the crack underneath. Someone obviously thought it was funny to take advantage of Naruto not being here and use his apartment as their own little pad. Well, so was Ino, but she had permission… somewhat.

Twirling the kunai around her finger she rested her free hand on her hip and waited. Ino knew she had the element of surprise here. She could barge in and throw this person out with little to no effort. The only thing that stopped her was the risk of catching someone in their birthday suit. She already needed enough memories purged from her mind; she didn't need to be adding to that list right now. Almost on cue, she heard the intruder walk up to the door and open it. Gripping her kunai tightly and scowling, Ino flared her chakra and prepared to unleash the most intense tongue-lashing Konoha had seen in quite some time.

"You better have a good reason to be… here," Ino said, her harsh tone quickly dying as light blue eyes settled on an unexpected view. "You… what… when… I… fuck…" she blubbered out. So many thoughts raced through her poor tired mind. So many words, so many questions. In the end all she could do was stand there dumbly and stare. Yes, just stare. Ino definitely wasn't drinking in the sight before her like she had just spent a week in the desert and had finally found water. No, she was more refined than that, more in control of herself. Yes, self-control; Ino absolutely had that.

"Ino?" Naruto said, quirking an eyebrow at the blonde girl's presence before giving her an up and down glance and blushing slightly. Holy hell had she grown up. She was taller, obviously, but her outfit was what really caught Naruto off guard. A purple sleeveless crop top that left her stomach bare, and a matching short skirt paired with mesh armour that showed off her legs. Her hair, now grown out considerably longer, was surprisingly done up in a long single braid that reached down past her waist, a large bang covering the right side of her face and obscuring her eye. Speaking of her eyes, they appeared to be looking Naruto up and down in a way that made him feel uneasy. He had seen that kind of look before and it rarely indicated anything good. Realising that he had just stepped out of the bathroom with nothing more than a towel wrapped around his waist, Naruto gawked. 'Idiot!' he cursed himself while on the outside he only grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uhh, long time no see."

Ino didn't even hear Naruto's words. She was too lost in her own little world, the image before her being burnt into her mind with more clarity than a Sharingan could dream of offering. She had often times daydreamed about what Naruto would look like when he finally returned, wondering how much he had changed as he grew up. Nothing could have prepared her for what stood before her now. He was tall. Much taller than she expected as she now had to look up slightly to lock eyes with him, which she would get to eventually. His body was still somewhat lithe, but he had amassed quite the impressive muscle tone. Being shirtless with beads of water still dripping down his chest was almost enough to elicit a perverted giggle from the Yamanaka. This was just like a scene in one of the Icha-Icha books she had read.

There was no way in hell she was going to let this fine specimen slip out of her grasp. 'I know how to pick 'em. Hmmm,' she thought to herself, finally tearing her eyes up from the welcome view to see his bright and warm smile. That was where the excitement halted and Ino's eyes widened. His wonderful blonde hair was a little longer and messier, but that wasn't surprising. What was surprising was his other features. His whisker marks had darkened noticeably, his grin was accompanied by now enlarged pointed canines similar to an Inuzuka, and his eyes… his eyes weren't those brilliant blue that she had longed to stare into again after so many years. From a distance they would have looked normal, but Ino was too close not to notice the changes. They were darker now, pupils slitted, with tiny flakes of red scattered through them. There was only one thing that could do that to his eyes.

"Naruto?" Ino said softly.

Naruto chuckled. "Oh, come on Ino. I haven't changed that much, have I?"

Ino reached out and gently cupped his cheek, stroking his darker whisker marks. She was happy, incredibly so, and excited to see him again, but something felt off. That feeling was expressed in the concern she looked at Naruto with. "What happened?" she asked, causing Naruto's smile to drop. She couldn't explain it, she just knew something had happened in the years he was gone. People's features didn't change that drastically, and eyes never changed unless you had a Dojutsu. There was also the fact that just his presence made her feel wrong somehow, her flight or fight response wanted to kick in despite there being no obvious threat. Even the Kyuubi's chakra within her seemed to stir from being so close. 'Maybe because I'm so close to the actual Kyuubi,' she thought to herself, forcing any doubt out of her mind. She had nothing to fear when it came to Naruto.

Naruto grabbed Ino's hand and held it. "I'm fine," he said, trying to ignore her frown. She was gorgeous. Truly breathtaking, even while she looked at him in a such a way. "I made it back, just like I promised. Safe and sound."

Ino held her frown for a moment before letting her smile come back. Now wasn't the time to be worried. He was back. That's all that mattered. She could grill him on the gritty details later. "Yes. Yes, you are," she said, squeezing his hand and letting the reality set in. Her face scrunched up once she glanced back down, intending to get another good view before letting him go and get dressed, only to spot the purple towel he was using. "Is that my towel? And what's that smell? Did you use my… you did not use my stuff! Do you know how expensive that is?"

Naruto's toothy grin could have split his face in two. He wasn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch, but the years away from Konoha had helped him at least hone is mind to an acceptable level. It didn't take a genius to put two and two together. Ino had clearly been crashing at his apartment and had even gotten comfortable enough to start leaving her stuff here. He could have fun with that. "Oh? Your stuff? Hmmm, now that's interesting. Last I checked, this was my apartment. Everything in it belongs to me. Whatever stuff someone may or may not have left here is their problem, not mine," he said, making a point to run his hand through his noticeable shiny and soft hair. "That shampoo was really good too. Took half a bottle, but the results are awesome. So soft."

Ino's eyes bulged out of her head. "Half a bottle!" she yelled. "You're paying to replace all of that!"

"No, I'm not," Naruto said cheekily. "Like I said. It's in my home, it belongs to me now. Maybe you should have thought about that before you turned my beautiful bachelor pad into your little getaway home." He really didn't care that Ino had crashed here. She was welcome to his home whenever she wanted. But an opportunity to pick on his fellow blonde could not be passed up. His reputation as a prankster demanded a call to action when such a moment was presented. Besides, Ino was very cute when she pouted.

And pout she did. Arms crossed, eyes hardened, Ino could pout with the best of them. She knew he was right. She had no right to be angry, and he had every right to claim what had been unknowingly brought into his home. Not that she would back down. Spending years away from the village didn't earn Naruto any special treatment, and clearly not having seen her for years didn't get her any reprise from his craftier side. As quick witted as Naruto may have gotten in his time away, there was one thing he clearly failed to get any better with, and that was choosing his words carefully. Naruto wanted to be cheeky. Well, two could play at that game, and Ino was the better player, hands down.

"Is that so? It all belongs to you now?" she asked with a smirk.

Naruto didn't pick up on the danger of her words and nodded enthusiastically. "Sure does."

"Everything in your home?"

"Yep!"

With a single purposeful step, Ino closed what little distance between them there was, making sure to keep a firm hold of Naruto's hand so he couldn't back away. With a glint in her eyes that would make Anko proud, she got right inside Naruto's personal space, to the point where all she could smell was her expensive body wash on him. Looking up at the now slightly flustered jinchuuriki, she battered her eyelashes at him and smiled. "I'm in your home, Naruto. Do I belong to you now too?" she purred, taking no small amount of delight in watching his face turn a bright shade of red. Ino was a woman now. A very attractive young woman. She was not afraid to use that to her advantage whenever possible. Naruto never stood a chance.

Naruto, to his credit, didn't immediately hit the deck from the myriad of inappropriate thoughts that suddenly flooded his mind. His face flushed, and he was frozen in place, but he was still standing even as he fought back one hell of a perverted nosebleed. Women were evil. "I… made a mistake," he said blankly, taking a robotic step back. "You can take all your stuff. I'll pay to replace what I used."

Ino rolled her eyes. "I was only teasing," she said, pulling Naruto back in and wrapping her arms around him tightly. "It's so good to see you. I missed you."

"I missed you too, Ino," Naruto said, returning the hug. Internally he did wonder if Ino was as aware of his state of undress as he was in this moment. "I see you're a chunin now. Congrats. I knew you were awesome."

"Pfft, after the hell that was our first chunin exam the second time round was a cakewalk," she said, squeezing Naruto once more extra tight before stepping back. "How was your trip? Learn much? See anything cool? Bring me back any presents? Come on, tell me everything. I've been dying to hear something, anything from you."

"Uhh, can I get dressed first?" he asked, earning a blush from Ino. "Ya know, unless you want me to stay like this?"

Ino's eyes lingered a little longer than they should have. "Well, I mean, if you're offering…"

Naruto snorted as he walked past the Yamanaka. "No," he grumbled. "I'm not even gone for four years, and you've been corrupted. Why does everyone I'm close to have to be a pervert, seriously? And now you too? Get your head out of the gutter."

"Like you're any better," Ino chided playfully. "I saw the way you looked at me just a minute ago. Don't think I didn't notice. First day back and you don't even have the decency to not ogle your best friend. Hope it was worth it, you perv."

"Of course it was," Naruto said without missing a beat. "You're beautiful." The struggle of making himself say that with a straight face was worth it. While he would never allow himself to fall completely to the corruption of his sensei, Naruto would be lying if he said he didn't take the time to learn absolutely everything he could from the man. That included how to deal with a beautiful woman who would leave better men paralysed. Ino was good at the game, he would give her that much, but Naruto had been taught by a legend. 'Sorry Ino. It was you or me, and I chose me,' he thought to himself, watching as the girl in question went bright red and stormed away silently. He had won, though at what cost he didn't yet know.

Damn it was good to be home.

"Don't eat my ramen!"

"It's mine!"

"My house, my ramen!"

"Bite me, fox boy!"

"Hey princess." No sooner had the words left his mouth did Jiraiya let out a yelp as he was forced to dodge a sizeable book aimed for his head. "What was that for?"

Tsunade glared at her old teammate. "You're late!" she said crossly. "What happened to being back within three years?"

Jiraiya grinned sheepishly. "Oh, come on. It's only a few months difference. Well worth it if you ask me," he said.

"Worth it?" Tsunade inquired, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't report much back to me outside of the bare minimum. Want to take this moment to explain yourself before I show just how hard I can punch you?"

The toad summoner paled at the memory of having nearly lost his life at the hands of the woman now threatening to do it again. Her strength was her beauty, and she was so very strong. "Sorry. Had to be careful with what I sent back. Wasn't sure how secure those types of reports are."

"You don't trust me?"

"Of course I trust you, Tsunade," Jiraiya said. "But you know what our lives are like. Better to be safe than sorry." He sighed deeply as he climbed in through the window of the Hokage's office and took a seat. "I didn't mean to take that long with the kid but trust me when I say he needed the extra time. Whatever happened back when he fought that Uchiha brat, it altered the seal somehow. Training him was a pain taking that into account."

Tsunade frowned at that information. "The Kyuubi? Any risk factors?"

Jiraiya waved dismissively. "Surprisingly, no. The fox has been disturbingly helpful. You can imagine how shocked I was to learn the thing actually talks to Naruto," he said. "The seal is significantly weaker than it should be, but the Kyuubi isn't trying to get break out. It seems… cooperative. For the moment at least."

"And Naruto? How is he taking it?"

"About as well as you could imagine the knucklehead to take any life altering news," Jiraiya said with a laugh. "Either way, he's fine, and the fox isn't a threat, so at least we can focus on more important matters for the time being."

Tsunade didn't like to be reminded that there were other important problems to focus on. She longed for the days when giant nine-tailed foxes were the biggest of their concerns. Such simpler times. The position of Hokage was not worth the headaches. "I assume Akatsuki are on the move again," she said, earning a nod. "Figures. But that's fine, as long as you did your job properly. So, tell me, is Naruto ready?"

"Ye of little faith, princess," he said. "The brat is ready. More than either of us hoped he would be. It's a little scary to be honest. He isn't like his father. Naruto is a whole different animal."

"Speaking of…" Tsunade grumbled, glancing over to the photo of the fourth Hokage hanging on the wall. "That little secret isn't going to last. Naruto's little Yamanaka girlfriend, Ino, she still knows about Minato. I was going to have Inoichi erase it for good measure, but that's not an option anymore. The Kyuubi's chakra has melded with her, changed her. The only thing keeping Naruto from learning the truth now is her ability to follow my orders."

"You don't think she would tell him, do you?"

"She's a teenager. Anything is possible. I don't think she is stupid enough to go running her mouth to the whole village. It's only a matter of time before she tells Naruto though. You need to break it to him first," Tsunade said.

Jiraiya crossed his arms. "I don't think it's the right time."

"The right time was years ago," Tsunade chided. "Let's face it, sensei was a fool for keeping Naruto and the rest of the village in the dark about this. He needs to know. He deserves to know. And you are his godfather, so you are the most qualified to explain to him why he had to grow up the way he did."

"I haven't told him I'm his godfather yet…"

"…" Tsunade's eye twitched.

"Don't give me that look."

"…"

"Tsunade?"

The wood of the Hokage's desk, made from her grandfather's kekkei genkai and stronger than some metals, groaned under Tsunade's grip on its edge. It was taking a lot of restraint not to use the piece of furniture as a weapon to finally end her teammate once and for all. "You idiot!" she yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you? Why not?"

"It isn't the right time," Jiraiya said, sticking to his defence. "I'll tell him everything, I promise. But it has to be when I know he is ready to hear it."

"You mean when you know that he wont try to take out his anger on you over it?" Tsunade sneered. Was Jiraiya really that much of a coward? "Face it, Jiraiya. There will never be a time when hearing the truth won't make him angry. But it will certainly help to hear it from you. Did you ever stop to consider what would happen if the Kyuubi is the one to tell him of his parents? The Yamanaka girl I can handle, should she be the one to tell him. But you just told me he has an actual voice in his head that not only knows who Naruto's parents are, but how they died. Can you even begin to comprehend how much damage this news could do to him if it comes from the wrong place?"

"It hasn't told him so far."

"That isn't a good thing! The longer this drags on, the worse the outcome. That blasted fox could be waiting for the perfect moment, when Naruto is at his most vulnerable. Then what happens?" Tsunade asked. "I can't justify sensei's choices, but I can understand them in some capacity. But you… I have never been able to wrap my head around what you've been doing all this time."

Jiraiya frowned but didn't try and argue back. He knew he had made mistakes, and the repercussions of those mistakes were still unfolding every day. But this wasn't something he could rush into. Naruto, for all his strength and positivity, was still just a boy. The seal was weakened, the Kyuubi's chakra now more easily accessible to him, and the whole thing was dependant on his emotions. It was a ticking time bomb. Dropping any kind of emotional turmoil on Naruto right now was just not a good move. "I'll handle it, okay. Just give me some time and keep the Yamanaka from blabbing," he said sternly. At the very least he needed to put Naruto through the rest of his sage training. If he could balance natural chakra within himself properly then his emotions would be a piece of cake.

"You better," Tsunade said warningly. "I'll see what I can do about the girl. But if she doesn't listen, you don't get to complain about it. Hell, you're lucky I'm not giving you a direct order to tell him now, let alone just telling him myself." She slumped back in her chair, having lost the urge to hold her temper. "At least tell me what he learnt with you. I need to know what kind of skillset he's working with so I can team him up properly for any missions. How strong is he?"

Jiraiya's eyes hardened slightly as he got serious about the conversation. The whole point of the training trip was to get Naruto as powerful as possible to best hold his own against those that would come after him. Still, the Sannin had to be careful of how he answered. Naruto was good at blowing expectations out of the water, but that didn't mean people could take the news well. "If he goes all out, without losing control of the Kyuubi, he could give either one of us a run for our money," he said, no hint of exaggeration in his voice. "For now, I've seen him hold four tails of it's chakra steady for a decent amount of time, but it won't take him long to go beyond that."

Tsunade knew she wasn't going to like the answer to her next question. "And if he loses control?"

"He would kill us both…"

Tsunade took a deep breath as she digested that information. She and Jiraiya weren't dumb enough to think they could go toe to toe with an actual bijuu without some serious preparation. To think Naruto was that level of threat already. That was good. At least now she didn't have to constantly worry that he would be taken from her without a fight. "You're grounded," she said. "No missions or leaving the village unless its accompanying Naruto. His training is the only thing I want you focused on right now. If he's as strong as you say, then he can get stronger. By the time Akatsuki come looking for him, I don't want a single one of them to stand a chance. Do you understand?"

"I can't. Someone needs to keep tabs on Akatsuki and…"

"Jiraiya…" Tsunade growled. "I am not losing anyone else. That was the promise I made to myself when I agreed to come back here and take this hat. Not you, that brat, or anyone else can make me break that promise. You are grounded. That is an order. If you need eyes out of the village, then use the shinobi we have on hand."

Jiraiya went to retort but was silence by a glare. Tsunade was not joking around, not even a little bit. He knew a losing battle when he saw one. "I'm going to go and make sure the brat isn't getting himself in trouble yet," he said, heading for the door. "Let me know if you want to have a drink together later, for old times' sake."

Tsunade knew she would likely take him up on the offer. For now, she had paperwork to deal with. Maybe she could burn it all and find a way to blame it on Naruto now that he was back. He did have a reputation for pranks after all.

"You know… when you said you wanted to show me something cool, this isn't what I had in mind," Ino said from her spot across from Naruto.

They were in the middle of a training ground, both sitting cross legged facing each other. Naruto in a deep meditative state, and Ino with a strange stick in her hand. She wasn't about to outright question her supposed role in this 'training', but did the stick have to be slimy? Seriously, where did he get this thing? Ino figured it was best she didn't know.

"Sorry," Naruto said, still sitting unnaturally still. "I just wanted to see how well this works in the village. There's a lot of natural chakra here. Besides, I need to stay completely calm for this to work properly and having you here with me is helping with that."

Ino pouted. "Listen here, mister smooth talker. You don't get to just waltz on back into the village and start flirting like you know what you're doing," she whined. "I was supposed to be the one getting you all flustered when you got back. You're ruining my perfectly laid out plans." Not to say there was anything wrong with that in Ino's mind. The two of them had been playfully flirting with each other almost non-stop since he returned, and Ino was enjoying every second of it. They knew they liked each other, now was just the time to have fun with that knowledge, albeit with the awkward addition of teenage hormones and less than pure thoughts.

"You planned to flirt with me?"

"Duh!" Ino exclaimed. "I was going to rile you up so bad that you could barely stammer your way through our first date. It was foolproof." She would argue that it was more on principle than anything. She liked Naruto, and she still wanted that promised date, but she also knew what Naruto was like. He was annoyingly confident at times, and that would not fly. He needed to be a nervous wreck when on a date with the Ino Yamanaka, even if she had to help that nervousness along. She had an image to uphold. Ino had not turned down every single advance thrown her way over the past three years for nothing.

Naruto smirked. "You think I was going to risk coming back unprepared, knowing full well who you were training under while I was gone?" he asked sceptically. "As if I'd be that stupid. The moment pervy-sage warned me of what Anko was like, I learned everything I could. Clearly, I was justified in doing so." Leaving out the part where Jiraiya had gone to great lengths to set up specific training scenarios for 'seduction resistance' was probably smart. Ino didn't need to know that the only reason he could think straight around her was because he had already been overloaded by paid professionals. Where Jiraiya had found said individuals, or how he knew them in the first place, was something no one needed to know.

Ino let out an indignant groan. "You're no fun."

"Anko really corrupted you, didn't she?"

"As if lord Jiraiya didn't do the exact same thing to you."

"He tried. But I'm awesome," Naruto said humbly. "Now please, I need to be quiet for this."

Ino leaned back on her hands and watched on in silence. It was strange watching Naruto sit so still and quiet. If Iruka were here he would be trying to break out of a genjutsu. Evidently, Naruto had grown up in more ways than just the obvious. As time dragged on a little, Ino figured she would occupy her time with some meditation of her own. Naruto had vaguely described what he was trying to do, what with drawing from the very essence of nature itself and combining it with his own chakra. Ino wasn't going to fool herself into thinking she understood, but she was curious.

Over the years, Ino had discovered her proficiency in chakra sensing and tried to hone that ability like her father before her. It was part of what made the Ino-Shika-Cho trio so formidable. While her training with Anko had helped fill out a lot of gaps, there was a reason her and her teams' clans stuck to the same formation. It worked, and it worked well. From this distance, Ino would have to be chakra blind to not sense Naruto in front of her. That wasn't what she was trying to do, however. If what he said was true, and he was drawing on an invisible, unnoticeable, outside source, then perhaps she could try and sense what was going on inside him while he did it. And so, mimicking Naruto, Ino took a meditative pose and focused.

As she had thought, sensing him wasn't hard. It was impossible not to sense him. Ino knew Naruto had a lot of chakra, but holy crap that was a lot of chakra. Even without the Kyuubi, he was a walking ocean of power. Speaking of that troublesome fox, Ino could sense that too. It was a weak flicker of a sensation, something that she would attribute to only being able to perceive thanks to her own intimate connection to the foul chakra. The seal holding it was of amazing design. Ino was confident that only those who knew what they were looking for, or those with absurd sensing abilities would be able to ping Naruto as a jinchuuriki. As for this so called 'natural energy', Ino was drawing a blank. She couldn't feel anything around them, or anything else within Naruto. His chakra was doing some funky stuff as far as flow and trying to mould itself in a weird way, but that was it.

And then he started to fade. No, that didn't sound right. He was still there; she could sense that much. His chakra was just different all of a sudden. It was… melting? Flowing into everything around them? That didn't make sense. Ino opened her eyes and gasped. Naruto was changing, physically, right before her eyes. His right arm was now discoloured, fingers webbed, strange warts forming on his skin. Even his face was starting to disfigure. Was this what was supposed to happen?

"Uhh, Naruto? You okay?" Ino asked carefully.

Naruto opened his eyes, one now noticeably toad like in appearance, and looked down at his deformed arm with a frown. "Ah, yeah. This happens. Still don't have it down properly," he said casually. "Mind hitting me with that-"

Whack!

"-stick." Naruto rubbed his head with his now suddenly normal hand. "Thanks."

Ino smiled brightly and twirled the stick around playfully. "Anytime," she chirped. "Now, wanna explain what just happened. I might have to rethink our friendship if you're going to turn into a toad on me."

Naruto took a deep breath and let himself fall back onto the grass. "It's Senjutsu. Pervy-sage has me learning it. Apparently once you master it, it lets you do some super cool stuff," he told her. "Problem is, if you can't get the balance down right, you start turning into something. For me and pervy-sage, we start turning into toads. If you mess up real bad, you turn to stone. That's where that fancy stick comes in real handy to knock the sage chakra right out of someone's body."

Ino's smile turned as her expression darkened. "Turn to stone, huh? As in die?" she asked.

"Yeah, more or less. I think you stay alive in the stone. Trapped for all eternity or something. I dunno. I wasn't listening too hard when Fukasaku explained it," Naruto said. "But it's cool so long as we have the-" Whack! "-hey!" He winced as he nursed another sore spot on his head. "What the hell?"

"You. Could. Have. Died?!" Ino yelled, emphasising each word with another not so light whack from the stick. It didn't matter that Naruto was blocking all of them. "You do not involve me in your suicidal training exercises without warning me! You only just got back. Are you insane or just stupid?"

"I can be both," Naruto said defensively, laughing as he continued to block and roll away from Ino's onslaught. "Quit it."

"Stop laughing. And hold still so I can smack that stupid grin off your face."

Naruto rolled onto his feet, continuing to duck and weave around all of Ino's admittedly half-hearted blows. Eventually the sage training stick was cast aside as it turned into a playful game of seeing just how far Ino could push things before Naruto was forced to defend instead of dodge. That too quickly devolved into a full-on sparing match. They could have spent the whole afternoon talking and boasting about how much each of them had grown and honed themselves as shinobi, but words could only capture so much of the truth. Trading blows, seeing each other in action, feeling how the other fought and trying to work around it; that was how ninja really showed their progress. As Ino and Naruto lost themselves to the friendly fight, they both came to understand one another a little better.

Ino was impressed. Naruto had developed some tact as far as fighting went. Before he had always tried to turn the tide of a fight to his own benefit as soon as possible and rely on his ability to be a battering ram. He had been an offensive fighter first and foremost. Now, however, he was relaxed and seemingly happy to stay on the defensive side of things. Ino wasn't fooled. She knew it had nothing to do with some apprehension or refusal to hurt her. He never had a problem putting her on her ass in the past. Naruto was watching and learning. Taking his time to figure out how to beat her with the least effort. Guess he really did have a brain in that head of his after all.

Naruto ducked under a kick aimed for his head and continued to backpedal across the field. Ino was fast. Sure, he was faster, but what Ino lacked in raw speed and strength she was making up for in fluid motion and relentless follow ups. It was scary. No sooner had he dodged one attack was she already in position for the next. What happened to her lack of stamina? She should have been winding down by now. After a few more minutes of trying to put some distance between them, Naruto gave up and chose to fall back on old faithful. Bringing his arm up, he blocked her next kick and grabbed her leg, giving it a firm pull in an attempt to throw her off balance. It didn't work.

The moment he pulled her, Ino gave into the new direction without resistance, letting Naruto do all the work in closing the distance between them. Even as he reached out with an open palm, stopping her at an arms distance from him, she could only smirk victoriously. As soon as his hand touched her, Ino clung to it, causing Naruto to let her of her leg leaving her free to regain her footing. He reached out to grab her with his now free hand, to which she simply dropped her weight, using his arm as a swing to slide down between his legs, dragging him down with her. Or at least, that had been the plan. Naruto had planted his hand on the ground before his head could be dragged down into it and stopped Ino dead. Grabbing hold of her top, he used his strength to his advantage and reefed her back up from underneath him and hoisted her up in the air.

Ino went wide eyed at her newfound position. With Naruto holding onto her tight, the air providing no leverage whatsoever, and the shit-eating-grin on her fellow blonde's face, she knew this was not going to end well. Quickly wrapping her legs around his arm and neck, Ino twisted and squeezed hard, only realising her mistake once she felt the world rushing past her. Ino grunted as she was slammed down onto the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her, but her hold on Naruto didn't break. With a grin, she continued to try and pry the arm in an unnatural way whilst attempting to choke him with her legs to no avail. Ino was no pushover in the strength department, but Naruto was inhumanly strong, even for a shinobi. She felt herself get lifted from the ground once more before being sent crashing back down into the dirt, the smile never leaving her face. Ino had missed having someone to spar with who didn't take it easy on her like her teammates often did.

Naruto grit his teeth as Ino's efforts started to get painful and lifted her up once again, only this time she didn't let herself go along so easily. A swift kick to the face and a twist of her body was enough to get the momentum she needed to pull Naruto off his feet and send the both of them crashing to the ground. In that moment, her hold of his arm let off enough and he took the opening to pull himself on top of her and quickly pinned her down by her wrists. He grinned even as she pouted at him, but his face expression quickly fell as Ino's turned to a victorious smirk.

"Gotcha, Whiskers," she chirped.

Naruto frowned. This wasn't an impossible position for her to get out of, he knew that. He just wasn't sure what she was being so smug about since she didn't seem to be trying to get out of his grip. It wasn't until he felt a slight prickle on his neck that Naruto realised what was up. A senbon that was just barely touching his throat, dripping in a suspicious purple ooze, was the reason for Ino's smugness. It was protruding from the end of Ino's now extended braid, which was moving on its own, much like a tail. "That's a neat trick," he said, taking care not to move. Naruto could think of a certain Suna puppet user that would appreciate this dirty little hidden weapon, poison and all. While he could survive most poisons, that didn't make it a pleasant experience. If Anko had any hand involved in the poison Ino was using, then Naruto wanted nothing to do with it. "Whiskers?"

"You don't like it? I can think of something else," Ino said, letting the senbon retract into her hair and the braid return to its natural length. That had been a good little workout. It was good to see that Naruto had matured enough to accept a loss gracefully, even if she knew he wasn't actually trying to beat her. It was still a win in Ino's books.

"Do you really need to give me a nickname?" Naruto groaned. He was already being called brat so often it might as well have been his name now. He didn't need to be called anything else. Naruto was a good name. It was the name his parents, whoever they were, had bestowed upon him. It was all he had of them, and it meant a lot. That being said, the sincerity behind Ino's intentions was not lost on him. But Whiskers? Really? Way too on the nose for his tastes.

Ino hummed. "Did you really have to go nearly four years without sending me a single letter?" Was she going to mention that he was still on top of her holding her down? Maybe. But not just yet.

Naruto squinted at her. "What?"

"You heard me."

"I sent you letters."

"I didn't get a single letter. I waited patiently, and not a one," Ino said in a manner of fact tone. "And don't try and say something stupid like how I didn't send you any either, because I would have if I could. Kind of hard to send letters to someone who is flying under the radar."

Naruto got up off Ino and scratched his head. "I sent letters, Ino. I swear," he said earnestly. "And I didn't expect anything back, but it would have been nice of you to send something back with the toads."

"How was I supposed to use the toads? I can't summon them."

"Uhh, you give the letter to the toad that should have given you my letters. That's how it works, Ino."

"Naruto, listen to me very carefully. I did not get any letters. I never even saw a single toad summon the entire time you were gone," Ino explained, sitting up and stretching. She would be feeling those love taps with the ground later.

Naruto's face went blank. Without a word he went through some hand seals, bit his thumb, and placed his hand on the ground. A sizable puff of smoke later and before them sat a large orange toad wearing a blue vest. The toad didn't look too surprised at being summoned, but Naruto definitely didn't look too pleased at having needed to do so. "Gamakichi…"

Gamakichi lifted a webbed hand in a lazy wave. "Heya, bro. What's up?"

"You remember all those letters I gave you to send to Ino?"

"Sure do."

"Did you actually give them to her?"

"Yep."

"You gave them to her personally?"

"Of course."

"And who is standing next to me right now?" Naruto asked. By now his eye was twitching dangerously and he was holding back the urge to claim the new world record for Toad punting. Gamakichi's next words could very well decide his fate here and now.

Gamakichi squinted at Ino and shrugged. "New girlfriend?" he asked nonchalantly. "Guess all those letters to that Ino girl didn't do you any good, huh."

Naruto took a deep breath that Ino mistook as an attempt to calm himself down. It wasn't. "THIS IS INO, YOU IDIOT!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, causing the toad to go bug-eyed and stare at the Yamanaka in question.

"Well, how 'bout that," Gamakichi said, not even slightly fazed. "Yeah, I'm gonna be real with you, bro. I told you before you gave me those letters that I wasn't a messenger toad. You're lucky I even tried to deliver those things. You didn't even tell me what she looked like, or where she lived."

"Then why did you keep taking them?" Naruto asked exasperatedly.

The toad shrugged. "Seemed harmless," it said, ignoring the killing intent being directed at him. He had nothing to fear. As soon as Naruto's temper got out of hand, he would just un-summon himself and go back to what he was doing. No biggie.

Meanwhile, as Naruto was preoccupied with trying to tell off a giant toad, Ino was having a ball. Sure, she would have liked to have actually received the letters that had been intended for her, but simply knowing they existed at some point was enough for her. Besides, the entertainment she was receiving right now was worth it. Part of her always knew that Naruto would have never intentionally done anything to hurt her feelings, and she was right. He had simply been too trusting of his toad summon and was now suffering for it.

Naruto halted in his reprimanding of his summons and sighed deeply, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "You know what, forget it," he said. "Go home. I'll sort it out."

Gamakichi, still just as unbothered as he was when he first arrived, gave a mock salute. "Sounds good to me," he said before disappearing in a puff of smoke.

Naruto glared at the ground where the toad had been for a moment before turning to Ino with a defeated expression. "Okay, so I did write to you. It just… didn't work. I'm sorry," he said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," Ino said. "It's not like I was worried you had died or anything. Tsunade still kept me up to date whenever Jiraiya reported back. And it doesn't matter anyway. You're back now. We have all the time in the world to catch up." And there was much catching up to do. Ino hadn't even begun to plan out what she was going to tell him or how. A slight frown formed on her face as she realised there were still things she wasn't supposed to tell Naruto. She had promised Tsunade she wouldn't and sworn to herself she wouldn't break that promise unless she felt it was necessary. That meant she had to do some digging and figure out where Naruto was at mentally. She wasn't going to unload such secrets on him if he wasn't ready to handle them. "How's the fox?"

Naruto clammed up at the question for a moment, forgetting that he didn't need to be so guarded about his jinchuuriki status around Ino. The years outside of Konoha had made him paranoid. Having to be so careful on the off chance that someone knew what they were seeing and were game enough to try and claim it for themselves would do that to a person. "He's good. Kinda annoying sometimes. Still an ass though," he said, idly rubbing his stomach. "His name is Kurama."

Ino blinked in surprise. "You named your bijuu?"

"Yeah, Ino. I named the immortal chakra demon in my stomach," he drawled sarcastically. "Of course I didn't. That's his name. From… before."

"Before what?"

"Good question. He won't tell me. Tell you what, if you wanna go for another dive into my head and ask him, be my guest," Naruto said. "Maybe he will talk to you."

"No, I'm good," Ino said. Two dives had been more than enough. "Kurama, huh? So, you two are getting along somewhat? How does that work?"

Naruto groaned. "Barely," he muttered. "It works well enough." Well enough to keep him alive if he absolutely needed it, not enough to justify using it often. The constant flow of the Kyuubi's chakra was a good bonus, especially after his seal weakened and the flow increased. Jiraiya still hadn't explained why his seal had weakened to begin with, but it didn't seem to be a problem, so Naruto let it be.

Ino was a mind reader, but she didn't need to read Naruto's mind to know he didn't want to delve into a conversation about the Kyuubi. Some things were best left for a later date. "Well, I think I've hogged you all to myself long enough," she said slyly. "How about we go and get you caught up with some of the other rookies. I can already sense where Kiba, Hinata, and Shino are."

Naruto smirked. "You don't want to keep me to yourself? Interrogate me on everything and all that." There were some sore points from his travels, and it would be uncomfortable talking about everything. For Ino, however, he would do it. She had known everything about him before he left, and he would make sure she knew everything about him now, so long as she wanted to. Naruto didn't want to get ahead of himself, but he had a pretty good feeling she wanted to. The lack of secrets between them was what made their friendship so important to him.

"Nah. You deserve a break. I can get you back later," she said, motioning for him to follow along with her. As they walked, Ino filled Naruto in on some of the goings on of the village, such as who was getting close to who, what rank everyone was now, and a little about how she had branched slightly into a role in the interrogation division under her father's instruction. Apparently being adept at poisons, mind based jutsu, and having a natural psychic barrier made Ino a quite useful at times. It helped that most hardened criminal types didn't take to well to being put through their paces by someone as sweet and innocent in appearance as Ino. Those that were a little too into got what they deserved in the form of one Ibiki Morino.

"Hey, Naruto," Ino said, a thoughtful expression on her face. "If you sent all those letters, and I didn't get them, but the toad said he had delivered them, then who was he delivering them to?" She probably should have thought about that before Naruto had sent the summons on his merry way.

Naruto stopped walking and stared into nothing. Where did the letters get delivered to? To whom? He shrugged. "I don't know," he said. It wasn't worth summoning Gamakichi back just to find out either. "They were all addressed to you anyway, so it's not like whoever got them thinks they have a secret admirer or anything." He hoped not. That wasn't something he wanted to deal with, ever.

Days flew by like they were hours, and soon enough more than two weeks had passed. Naruto wasn't even sure what was going on half the time, but he was having a blast catching up with everyone, finding out what they had all been doing while he was gone. It was great. All of his friends were doing so well, were getting so strong. It was a big weight off his shoulders. The threat of the Akatsuki was no secret to Naruto. Jiraiya had made it clear the purpose of the training trip, and he liked to think he took it seriously and improved enough to stand his ground. His friends, however, were always a point of concern for him. Not all of them were aware of the approaching threat, so how could they have known to train themselves into the ground in preparation. What would he do if they weren't ready and got caught up in his mess? Naruto didn't know for sure. The feeling he got in his stomach just thinking about any of his friends dying over such a thing was more than enough to make him uneasy.

Naruto would have liked to say that he could do this without them, that he could get strong enough to fight his own battles and keep those close to him out of harms way. Nothing was that simple though. He knew he would need them, and even if he didn't, they weren't going to stand by and watch from the sidelines. That's just how they were. As such, coming home and finding that everyone was keeping up in their own ways was a relief. Not to say that Naruto thought they could go and take on Akatsuki at any time, it was just comforting to know that everyone had a chance. If Jiraiya's intel on the group was in any way accurate, then everyone needed to be at the top of their game to come out on top. That was going to require them to understand why things were happening, why Naruto was being hunted, why they needed to be ready.

They all needed to know the truth.

This day had been a long time coming, along with the intense sensation of dread that accompanied it for Naruto. The secret of the Kyuubi was his to unfold whenever he so chose, but that didn't make it easy. Sure, a lot of people already knew the truth, but not his friends, not his closest comrades who he would have to rely on and trust with every fibre of his being. Only Ino knew and that had been an accident. Naruto wasn't quite foolish enough to think that everyone would be as accepting of the truth as Ino had been, or that they would continue their friendship with him after finding out. Being a jinchuuriki wasn't quite as much of a problem as keeping it secret for so long was. How could he expect them to trust him properly when he hadn't trusted them with the truth.

It was this fear and anxiety of the situation that had resulted in Naruto seeking help. He wasn't stupid, but he also wasn't the brightest when it came to figuring out how to best approach people and gauge how they would react. For that he would need someone who was good with people, good with emotions and minds. That someone was Ino, and judging by the look on her face, she wasn't too impressed with the idea.

"You want to what now?" she asked, checking her ear with a finger and hoping she was hearing him wrong. On the chance she hadn't heard wrong, Ino was glad that they had retreated into her bedroom and closed the door. If her father caught wind of anything to do with secrets, it would turn into quite the lecture.

Naruto grinned sheepishly. "I want to tell everyone the truth," he said. "You know, about the Kyuubi. Things are being put into motion now, and its only a matter of time before they start coming for me again. Everyone deserves to know what's going on and why. I just don't know how to tell them without it blowing up in my face. I need your help."

Ino hummed thoughtfully. Planning wasn't usually her forte. Shikamaru would be better at this, but she could understand the need for a gentler touch. Shikamaru was a genius of tactics and strategy, not people and emotions. "We should do it all at once," she said. "Make sure no one feels left out for being the last to know. If everyone is on the same level, then they will take it better. Also helps to have many minds in one place. No one can go off the handle without looking like an idiot, and the more reserved of the group will keep the rowdier of them under control." That was assuming anyone even took the news in a negative light anyway. Ino had confidence that none of the rookies would turn on Naruto for keeping his secret.

"Good idea," Naruto said. "But that means we will have to wait for everyone to be back in the village at the same time. I don't know if we have that sort of time. I don't want anyone being caught off guard."

"We could get Tsunade involved," Ino suggested. "She can organise the missions and make sure we get a window where everyone is back in the village for this. You'll just have to make sure you let her know how important this is to you."

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, granny Tsunade will help out for sure," he said, letting himself lean back against the wall that Ino's bed was pushed up against. Why would she settle for crashing at his place so often when she had such a soft mattress here? "So, who do you think is going to take it the worst?"

Ino grinned. "Kiba for sure," she answered. "He still hasn't gotten over the way you beat him in the chunin exams. He will take this information way out of proportion and try inflating his ego with it. Surviving a fight with the jinchuuriki of the greatest of all bijuu is no small feat you know." She laughed at the mental image of such a thing. Kiba was a good guy, but he really needed to ground himself sometimes. "I'm pretty sure Shikamaru already knows somehow."

"You told him?"

"Of course not. He's just a know it all. If he hasn't figured it out on his own by now then I will lose a bit of respect for him honestly," Ino said. "Shino and Hinata will just accept it as is. I don't think they would care either way what you have inside you. Choji wont even blink as long as you feed him first. The only real unknowns are team Guy and Sakura." Now there was an interesting thought. How would Sakura react to learning that her teammate, someone she had come to trust and work alongside, was hiding something like the Kyuubi. Ino wasn't sure really, but it would be fun to watch what happened.

Naruto's eyes widened slightly at the mention of Sakura. He hadn't even considered how she would react. She was scary enough before her training with Tsunade, but now, well, Naruto had seen her in action during their friendly little team fight against Kakashi a couple of days ago. He would much prefer not to get on her bad side, ever. "I think Lee will be the worst of them. Neji and Tenten are level-headed. Sakura though…"

"Sakura will be fine. She knows you the best, second only to me," Ino said, a little proud that she had that over her childhood rival. Sakura may have gotten the chance to apprentice under a Sannin, but Ino would endeavour to win at the finer facets of life.

"Sasuke would have taken it well I think," Naruto said solemnly. "He might have gotten a bit worked up about it, but I'm sure he'd come around."

Ino frowned. "You know I don't like anyone talking about him around me," she said. She didn't care what his reasons had been for leaving, or what may have been affecting him to do so. Sasuke had made his choice, and in the process had nearly taken Naruto from her. Ino wasn't sure if she could ever forgive her former crush for that, even if Naruto wanted her to. "You still want to try and bring him back, don't you?" Naruto nodded and Ino sighed. "Look, I get it. You're just that kind of guy, and that's great. Your heart is what makes you so special. But I need you to make me a promise."

"A promise?" Naruto asked curiously.

Ino reached over and took a hold of his hands gently. "I'm not going to tell you to let him go. I know you won't listen," she said. "If you have to try, if you need to go after him, then please, just promise me you wont risk your life for his."

"Ino, I…"

"No," Ino interrupted, seeing that he was going to try and say something stupid. "We nearly lost you, Naruto. I nearly lost you. Sasuke almost killed you and I don't understand why that doesn't seem to bother you, but it bothers me. So, promise me. Promise that no matter what, you'll come back, with or without him." She could have chosen her words a bit better so as to not come off too strong, but Ino didn't care about that right now. She had only just gotten Naruto back in her life, and nothing was going to take him away from her again, especially not a traitor.

Naruto smiled and squeezed her hands. He had promised Sakura that he would bring Sasuke back, but that had been years ago now. It hadn't crossed his mind at the time how ridiculous such a promise was. He knew a little better now. Ino's promise however, was much more achievable. "I promise," he said, taking the time to disarm her with a smile and look deep into her eyes. "I'll always come back to you." Was that last part necessary? Not at all. Was Ino now the colour of a tomato? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

The two of them were suddenly torn from their little moment as the door swung open and Ino's mother strode in holding a basket of laundry. "Ino, hunny. I have your… Oh?" It must have been quite the sight. To see her daughter and a young man sitting on the bed, holding hands, both with eyes wide in horror at being caught in such a state. She would remember this moment till the day she died, then make sure it was passed on to others via the Yamanaka clan jutsu to ensure it was never forgotten. "Oh, sweetie. Why didn't you say you had company. I would have made tea."

Ino glared at her mother. "I thought we had an agreement on knocking before coming into my room," she said irritably.

"We did, but that was before you started sneaking boys into the house," her mother said pleasantly before turning her attention to Naruto. "And you are?" She didn't need him to answer. Everyone knew who Naruto was, as well as his reputation. But manners were manners, and she wasn't about to let her daughter consort with just anyone, no matter how much her husband assured her the boy was trustworthy.

"Oh, umm, sorry. I'm Naruto. Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto answered nervously, only now realising he was still holding Ino's hands and quickly pulling them back. Somehow Ino's mother was more unnerving than her father. "I didn't mean to sneak in miss Yamanaka-"

"-Himiko," the woman said.

"-Uhh, miss Himiko. I just really needed Ino's help. I swear I wont sneak around your house again," Naruto finished with a nervous smile, doing his best to avoid the woman's scrutinizing stare.

Himiko was having good fun making the boy squirm. It wasn't to last sadly as she could already feel her daughter's eyes burning a hole in her head. "Well, Naruto, it's nice to finally meet you," she said pleasantly. "I've heard so much about you from Ino and her father. It is good to finally have a face to go with the stories."

Naruto did not find that very reassuring. "What kind of stories? All good ones I hope."

"Hmmm, most of them."

Ino groaned. "Okay, Mom. You've had your fun, now quit tormenting him," she said, crossing her arms and staring expectedly at her mother. Her room was supposed to be private. Ino would be bringing up this breach to her father later, that was for sure.

Himiko laughed and waved dismissively, dropping a basket of clean clothes on the floor, and turned to leave. "I'm just playing," she chortled. "But if you plan on bringing boys back home more often, then I would recommend you ask your father to put a privacy seal in here. We don't need to know what you get up to."

"Get out of my room!" Ino yelled half-heartedly, launching a pillow at a suddenly closed door, the sound of laughter echoing down the hall as her mother retreated. "Argh! That woman. Just wait until daddy hears about this." She loved her mother, she really did. But sometimes there were days when she wondered why she was forced to suffer the woman's sense of humour. If it weren't for her father spoiling her all the time Ino doubted she would have survived.

Naruto chuckled at the display, not able to hold back a longing smile. Seeing moments like this were always special for him. Every family worked differently, and each had their own weird way of showing love. That being something Naruto had always wanted to experience, he often took the time to truly absorb these interactions whenever he had the chance to see them. "I like her," he said.

Ino huffed. "Oh yeah, she's great. When she's not being a pain in my ass."

"But you still love her even when she is a pain, don't you."

"Obviously. She's my mother," Ino said, not entirely sure where Naruto was going with this.

His smile was wide, but his eyes were lost. Naruto was searching for something that didn't exist. Memories he simply didn't have. He and Jiraiya had gotten close over the years, and he had a handful of people he considered close enough to be his family, but there would always be a part of him that longed to know what a real family felt like. Would he have argued with his own mother about privacy as well? "It's nice," he said. "Having these moments."

"Oh," Ino said, realising what he meant. Suddenly she felt like the worst person alive. She of all people should have understood the importance of choosing words carefully around people. She might as well have rubbed the fact that she had a family right in Naruto's face. "Hey, Naruto. What made you want to tell everyone about the Kyuubi?" Yes, the Akatsuki were a thing now, and yes, he said he wanted everyone to be ready and on the same page, but surely there was more to it. He had allowed Ino to keep knowledge of the truth on a gamble that he could trust her. If he was taking the same approach this time, then he would have done it much sooner.

"It just feels like the right thing to do," Naruto said simply. "I don't like secrets. If I wasn't away all those years, I would have told everyone sooner. I don't want any of my friendships to be built on a lie, and I don't want people fighting alongside me if they don't want to. You proved to me that I can trust people with my secret. Everyone should be free to make up their own minds about it too."

Ino felt a lump form in her throat. "But everyone has secrets, Naruto," she said. "You are allowed to keep yours, just as everyone is allowed to have theirs." Right? It wasn't unfair to think all concepts of secrets were off the table now. Deep down, Ino knew that she was just trying to justify the secrets she was keeping from Naruto. She could hide behind the guise of the Hokage's orders all she wanted, it didn't change the facts, or the feeling of guilt at keeping such things from him. He was the most trusting and openhearted person she knew. To keep a secret from Naruto felt unforgiveable, even if she knew he would likely forgive her eventually anyway. That was the way he was, and Ino loved that about him. 'Dammit, Ino. Stop using the L word.'

Ever the embodiment of positive outlooks, Naruto didn't falter at her words. "That's fine. I don't expect anyone to trust me. They just need to know that I trust them," he said. "I hope everyone can learn to trust me, like you did, but I know better than to expect it. If their secrets affect me, then I trust that my friends will tell me. If not, then there's no harm right."

That was a kick in the guts if Ino had ever heard one. "Naruto…" Ino took a deep breath and prepared herself for what was about to happen. He would blow up, there was no doubt of that. It would cost her greatly, somehow, but she had to tell him. Naruto needed to know the truth; about her, about his father, that she trusted him as much as he trusted her. There would never be a good time. Ino couldn't trust that Tsunade would tell Naruto unless it was absolutely unavoidable. That was something Ino couldn't live with. Playing with minds was what her family were known for. With that power came an understanding and respect for the act. Worst comes to worst, Ino knew her father would have her back on this decision.

"Ino? You kinda spaced out for a second there," Naruto said worriedly. He hoped he hadn't upset her somehow.

With a newfound resolve, Ino sat up and grabbed Naruto's hand again and levelled a serious stare at him. "I need to tell you something," she said. "You're going to be mad with me, and I will understand if you need some space afterwards. But please, know that I didn't want to keep any of this from you. I will probably get in trouble for telling you anyway, so-"

"-Then don't tell me," Naruto interjected quickly. He didn't want Ino getting into trouble for his sake. Whatever she needed to tell him wasn't important enough in his mind to warrant her suffering for it. "And I wouldn't get mad at you, Ino. You're my best friend. If you've kept something from me, I know its for the best. I trust you."

Ino looked down. "You shouldn't," she muttered before taking a deep breath. "I need to do this. You need to know. There's a little bit to get through, so bear with me and wait until I've gotten it all out before you lose your shit." She watched him nod, but the amused expression on his face told her that he wasn't ready for what was coming. Telling him about the Kyuubi's chakra was going to be bad enough, adding his dad to the mix was a recipe for disaster. Oh well, no going back now.

"Naruto… the fourth Hokage is your father."

A/N:

Well, another chapter down, who knows how many more to go. This story has gotten way more traction than I can believe, so thank you everyone for enjoying it so far. I hope this chapter is received just as well. That being said, several of you disliked the whole secrets aspect of the last couple of chapters, and even though 'secrets' is literally in the title of this fic, I too did not want to dwell on that aspect of things for very long. As such, the cat is out of the bag now, and from here I can focus almost entirely on Naruto and Ino figuring out just what kind of relationship they want in the future.

Sorry if the flirty teenage interactions were a little cringe. Tried to make it more awkward but just couldn't do it. I refuse to believe that Naruto would come back from three years with Jiraiya unchanged. Ino, well, she was stuck with Anko, so I'm pretty sure you all understand her development on the matter. Besides, they both already knew they liked each other before the time skip so I am justifying their eagerness to flirt and muck around a bit more intentionally.

From here on I plan to jump around the Shippuden timeline a little erratically. Should be fun. Also, just in case anyone is pining for it, this story will have no written-out fight scenes outside of the tiny little spar in this chapter. Don't have the drive or care to try and do that with this fic, sorry.

Reviews have been amazing so far. Please keep them coming. All reviews are welcome, just please don't be an ass for the sake of it, thanks.

Hope you all enjoyed. Until next time.

Soul out.