CHAPTER 19: A FATED MEETING

At 0600 Asuma, Shikamaru, and four Aburame clan members met at the gates to leave for their mission. The group left too quickly to have anyone meet them at the gate. With no one at the gate to slow down their departure, the team was able to set an incredible pace as they headed for the outskirts of the Land of Fire towards the Land of Wind. The travelers ran into little opposition on their way, until they reached the shared border between the two lands.

"Halt," said the son of the Third, "Those two men up ahead, they don't seem friendly. Proceed with caution." The Two men that Asuma was referring to wore Cloud laden cloaks. The men walked slowly on the trail as the Konoha-nin passed them from above. When Asuma's squad got past the Akatsuki, they were attacked by the mentioned men.

An incredible fight began, with Jutsu filling the forest. No tree was safe from the collateral damage that the shinobi inflicted. Kakazu went on the offensive against the non-missing-nin, while Hidan prepared his jutsu. Kakazu went out and collected blood from five of his opponents' on one blade, a feat worthy of an opponent of the first Hokage. He quickly returned the blood to his teammate, who had finished preparing his jutsu. "Alright!" yelled Hidan, "Let's do this!". A circle of blood red formed at his feet. The man's skin turned black with white markings as he lifted a dagger to his stomach. "Hey, Jashin, these are for you, be happy about it!" said the maniacal man as he slit his own stomach. As Hidan's guts fell to the floor, his act was matched by five enemy shinobi.

Hours later back in the village, Ino was on top of the world. She just had a successful date with Naruto and got him to admit to dating her. She was carelessly strutting through the village when she received a message from Sakura, "Head to the hospital, hurry!".

Ino rushed to the village hospital, avoiding foot traffic by jumping onto the rooftops that formed an uneven highway to the hospital's roof. Once she reached the rooftop, Ino rapped her knuckles against the metal door leading inside. After a few minutes of waiting, she gave up on this approach. In a moment of desperation she knocked down the metal door, a impressive feat for a chunin. "I'm sorry Lady Tsunade, but I'm desperate here!", Ino thought as she ran through the halls, "I'll help fix the door later." With no idea of which room her focus was in or even who it was, Ino focused on finding Sakura. She knew that if the person was important enough for her to be summoned by Sakura, Sakura would wait by that person's bedside. Sakura was good like that. Thankfully, her hunch was right. Sakura was waiting outside a room with Lady Tsunade, both with worried looks on their faces. "He's in there," said Sakura, "He's worse than we thought. Please don't get him too excited." "Ok." said Ino preparing to walk through the door. Before she could enter, Tsunade told her: "He'll be glad to see you! He couldn't wait for your visit, he wouldn't shut up about it!".

Ino cracked the door open, unprepared for the scene inside. "Hey Ino!" shouted the Uzumaki inside. "Naruto, what happened, are you ok?" asked Ino. Naruto responded, "I'm ok, I'm ok." trying to get her to calm down. Naruto lay on the bed with both arms completely wrapped in bandages. The wrappings continued from there until they covered part of his face. The boy was unrecognizable except for the trademarked blond hair and enthusiasm.

"So, Naruto, how did you do this?"

"I may have trained a little too hard. I have this new jutsu, but it really messes me up if I do it wrong."

"What did it do to you"
"It may have partially… sevredmychkrantwrk." Naruto hurried, trying to avoid what he did.

"What did it do?"

"I may have severed my chakra network."

"What, how did you do that?!"

"I uh…"
"I'll answer that," interjected Sakura, walking into the room. "Naruto's jutsu formed millions of little chakra needles, which not only hurt the enemy, but they also lodged themselves in Naruto's arm. Did I get that right, Lady Hokage?" answered and asked Sakura. "Yep, you got it all right, except for one part." answered the Hokage. "Oh, yeah. I almost forgot. Naruto, you can never use that jutsu again. It's too dangerous." summarized Sakura. "But…" tried Naruto. "No, Sakura's right. It's just too dangerous." said Tsunade, "You got lucky this time. It was only training and look how bad it messed you up. A jutsu like that is too dangerous to use in real fighting. I'm sorry, but it's final." "I'm just glad you're ok," said Ino. "Hey, while you three are busy talking about me, I'm getting hungry. Can I eat yet?" asked a desperate Naruto. "Yeah, it has been a while since you've eaten," said Tsunade, "Sakura, go get Naruto some food. Nothing liquid." "Does ramen count?" begged Naruto. "Yep." answered Sakura, "common Ino, it's been a while since we talked." "Don't worry Naruto, we'll be right back," said Ino as she filled Sakura down the hall.

'It's killing you' said inner Sakura as Ino and Sakura walked down the hall, 'You can't stand him being with her.' 'They're not together,' replied Sakura internally. 'You sure? Naruto was very insistent that she come see him.' 'They're just friends' 'but Ino does like him, and Naruto was very excited to see her' 'So what if they are? Good for them!' 'It hurts you, you just don't know it yet. I'll be back…' "Hey, Sakura. Are you ok? You kinda zoned out for a minute." asked Ino. "Yeah, I'm alright. Just lost in thought." The girls talked together effortlessly until an announcement went out on the loudspeakers. "SAKURA TO EMERGENCY ROOM, BADLY HURT ABURAME IN ROOM thirteen!" "I'm sorry, Ino. But, I have to go." "OK, I'll tell Naruto that you wished him well. "Thanks," yelled Sakura as she ran down to room thirteen. Little did Sakura know the scene that she was walking into.