Naruto:A New Path

Infiltrating The Bases

Naruto leapt from three to three with three Genin trailing behind him. It had been a few hours since they had left Konoha and the sun was high in the sky. They had been heading west and the blond was already noticing the climate change. It was growing a little warmer and he assumed that this meant that they were nearing the Fire Country's border. Beyond this border was a small area filled with rivers that would lead to the Sand village. Since they had come this far it was time to change directions, he didn't want to pass the border on accident and get his village in trouble. He knew that he could keep on going but looked back at his companions. Neji seemed okay while Ino and Choji were panting lightly with some sweat on their foreheads.
The Chunin moved his gaze forward and saw a small clearing on the distance. He signaled his team to stop moving as he landed on a branch. "We're going to take a small rest," Naruto informed them with a serious look on his face, "Make sure not to eat anything since we'll be moving in less than an hour and I don't want you throwing up on the way." The three Genin nodded in understanding. The blond was a little taken back since he expected some complaints but dismissed it, "Okay, let's go."
The group of ninja went over to the clearing, Ino and Choji had looks of relief on their faces as they made their way to a small stream with fresh water while Naruto and Neji stood next to each other in the middle of the clearing. The Hyuuga had his byakuugan active while the blond crossed his arms and stared ahead with a frown.
Neji deactivated his byakuugan and turned to Naruto. "There's nobody around but there are some traces of chakra around," the Hyuuga reported with a pensive look. It was normal to have leftover chakra around environments since battles between ninja took place almost anywhere, the leftover chakra would disappear after a few days, what was not normal was the type of chakra he had found, "From the looks of things this chakra is not ordinary, it loos different."
"How is it not normal?" Naruto questioned, already thinking of what to do with his team if they were in any kind of danger.
Neji shook his head and put his hands on his pockets, showing he had no need to be on the alert for now. "I'm not sure but it feels as if the chakra is tainted, dark even," he explained, "I haven't seen anything like this before but whatever it was isn't here anymore."
Naruto nodded in affirmation. "Rest for now Neji, we'll be moving soon," he ordered as he moved to sit against a tree. The blond dug into his pocket and took out a paper and a small brush with some ink. Ever since Jiraiya had taught him the art of sealing, the blond would always carry the necessaries to practice whenever he had free time. He dipped the brush into the ink before getting to work.
On the other side of the clearing Ino drank water from a canteen, feeling the water cool her mouth and wash away the thirst she had been feeling. Choji sat next to her with his head submerged on the water. He was apparently cooling his head while taking gulps of water. Ino was of course disgusted by this and turned her gaze to her other teammate. Neji was standing against a tree with his arms crossed and a thoughtful look on his face. She felt relieved that Neji wasn't being rude to them though his superiority complex wasn't fully gone, she guessed that Naruto had had a positive impact on him.
Ino looked at the other side of the clearing and saw Naruto writing on a small paper. 'What is he doing?' she wondered as she watched the blond continue to write. A thought struck Ino and her eyes widened, 'Could it be that he was writing a letter to someone? D-did he meet another girl while he was away?'
The kunoichi shook her head, trying to rid herself of the thought, there was no way that someone else liked Naruto like that, was there?
She shyly made her way over to Naruto, hoping to get to the bottom of what the blond was doing. "Hey Naruto," she greeted with a smile. The blond looked up from his work to Ino with a questioning look on his face, "What are you doing?"
Naruto turned back to his seal and put on his serious face. "I'm working on a seal that will help me take some of the weird chakra Neji and I found back to Konoha so that it can be analyzed," the blond explained as he stroked the paper with his brush.
Ino sighed in relief, happy that nobody had beaten her to Naruto yet. She sat next to the blond and watched as he made the seal. "Why do you have to take the chakra anyway? Our mission was to destroy the Sound base after getting some research papers," she asked in confusion.
Naruto shook his head as he worked on the seal. "The mission was to gather evidence of something called the 'Cursed Seal of Heaven.' He gave us a rundown of what the chakra it emits is like and the leftover chakra around this place is similar to it," he informed Ino as he sighed happily and put the brush and ink away, "We still have some time to rest so I'll just get it before we go."
Ino nodded but almost yelped when she felt her chin touch Naruto's shoulder, just how close was she to the blond? She turned to the blond and blushed when she noticed that her face was only inches away from his own, they had probably been too into the conversation to notice their proximity.
Naruto noticed that Ino got quiet and turned to see what was wrong with her. That had been a mistake since when he turned to his right, his lips brushed against Ino's. The two ninja blushed a crimson red before jumping away from each other. The blond cursed himself for his stupidity but still felt the warmth from Ino's lips on his own. Her lips were soft and he felt breathless when their lips met but he knew that it was an accident and it wouldn't happen again.
Ino kept her gaze away from Naruto and cursed herself for not moving away from the blond before it was too late. Part of her had wanted an accident of that kind to happen but when it actually took place she panicked. His lips on her own had felt like nothing she had ever expected from a kiss. Her heart had raced faster than ever before and a large part of her wanted the light kiss to last forever.
"I-I think I'll go get the chakra now," Naruto said with a nervous look on his face. He felt as though he had put their friendship in jeopardy by that slip up.
Ino watched him go with a light frown. From the way Naruto acted, he was feeling guilty about what had happened. She was still a little shaken about the light kiss but she was still able to read him like a book. It hadn't been Naruto's fault and he was stupid for thinking it was, this proved how his treatment as a kid had affected him. He would blame himself for anything that happened, she had noticed this some time ago and knew that she would need to talk to him the next chance she got. After all with what she wanted to happen, kissing would be quite normal and she couldn't have Naruto thinking that the kiss had been a bad thing.
' Maybe by the time this mission is over, we'll be a couple,' Ino giggled at the thought and smiled dreamily.
Choji watched Ino from the distance and sighed. "Girls," he muttered with a chuckle before going back to drinking water, knowing that a break wouldn't come for some time.
Orochimaru and Kabuto walked through a mountainous area. The snake summoner had an amused expression on his face while Karuto's remained calm and collected. They were on their way to one of his hidden bases. Since one of the Sound Four had been captured he had to find a replacement. It would be risky but he had the perfect candidate, after having Kabuto take care of those risks of course.
"Kabuto," Orochimaru muttered suddenly. Kabuto turned his gaze to the snake summoner, "I want you to take care of those things when we get to the base."
"Very well," Kabuto said with a slight bow, "What will we do about Ukon and Sakon? Having them in the Leaf is a little too dangerous."
Orochimaru chuckled. "I'm no fool Kabuto, I have taken the necessary measures if any of my ninja are captured," he explained with an amused smile, "Not one of my ninja knows enough to be a danger to me or my plans."
"What about me Lord Orochimaru?" the medic asked with a smug look.
"You're an exception since I've told you about everything," the snake summoner informed with a smirk on his face, "But remember that not everything is as it seems."
The snake summoner continued on his way with a frowning Kabuto trailing behind him.
It was dark when Naruto and his team arrived close to their destination. The blond stood on a tree branch with his team standing behind of him waiting for instructions. A small mountain could be seen in the distance with trees all around it. It seemed like a normal place but on closer inspection it had many chakra signatures scattered around it. Some were near the mountain while, thanks to Neji's byakuugan, they had found out that there were even more inside of the mountain. This meant that the information Naruto had received was accurate, this mountain did in fact house one of the Sound's bases.
The blond turned an eye to his team and saw the state they were in. Choji and Ino looked exhausted while Neji looked a little better than them but not good enough to put up much of a fight. Naruto knew he was not much better since it had been a long trip and knew that they would need to rest for the night. The trees in the area covered them from view and no chakra signature was too close, he guessed that they would be able to rest in this place since it looked relatively safe.
"We'll set camp here," Naruto instructed as he dropped from the tree and landed on the ground with no trouble. The other followed his lead and landed on the ground behind him, "You can eat if you want but if you need to make a fire then tell me. We will keep watches of three hours after we go to sleep. I'll keep the first watch, Neji the second, Choji the third and Ino the fourth."
"Very well," Neji sighed out as he sat on the ground with a tired look on his face.
"It's finally eating time," Choji declared cheerfully as he took out a bag of chips and several rice balls from the backpack he had brought for the mission.
Ino sighed happily as sat against a tree and reached into her backpack. She took out a plastic container with stew her mom had made her the night before. It was a little weird to have stew as dinner but her mom told her that it was so she would have something made with love on her mission. She smiled at the memory and opened the container but frowned when she noticed it was cold. A fire would be needed to heat the soup and she knew that in order to do so she would need to speak with Naruto which would be really awkward.
Naruto sighed as he watched his team. Tomorrow would be a dangerous day and he hoped not to have anyone get hurt but knew that the chances of that would be slim. They were going into an enemy base after all. He dismissed those thoughts and took out a scroll from one of the pockets on his Chunin vest. The scroll opened to reveal various cups of instant ramen. He licked his lips in anticipation and knew that he would need to make a small fire that wouldn't give out their location meaning that the fire would have to be made away from camp.
He prepared to leave but froze when he saw Ino walking over to him with a blush on her face. "Naruto," Ino said in an attempt to get his attention. The blond threw her a questioning look and his eyes widened when he noticed what she had on her hand, "I need a fire to heat my food."
The blond inwardly groaned at his luck, or lack thereof, and threw Ino a nervous smile. "Don't worry Ino, I kinda have to heat my ramen," he confessed before getting a little serious, "We have to make the fire away from camp."
"Okay," Ino agreed with a light blush adorning her cheeks. It was still a little awkward around Naruto but she still had to talk to him. Having him think that she hadn't felt anything about the small kiss would make him think that she wanted nothing to do with him.
Naruto nodded and turned to Choji and Neji. "Ino and I are going to make a fire away from camp. If you have anything you need to heat up then come with us," the blond instructed.
"The food I brought doesn't need to be heated since I thought ahead of time unlike some people," Neji said with a smirk on his face.
Naruto growled at that before turning to Choji. He didn't really need an answer from him since the Genin was stuffing his face with his food. The blond turned to Ino and motioned for her to follow him before jumping up a tree and moving away from the camp with Ino in tow.
The blond kept his eyes open as he leapt from tree to tree. He would need a place that wouldn't make the fire too visible, also taking into account the distance away from camp. He saw a cave in the distance and thought of making the fire there but decided against it since if there was any kind of dangerous animal then they would make unnecessary noise that would alert the enemy of their location. The blond saw a clearing in the distance and decided on using it for the fire since it was far away from camp and he would be able to keep the smoke from giving their location by using wind manipulation.
The blond turned to face Ino and pointed at the clearing with a nod. Ino nodded back and watched as Naruto jumped down from a tree and landed on the clearing. The kunoichi followed after him and looked around the area. It had plain ground and not many grass, she assumed that this place would do.
"I'll get some firewood to burn," Naruto informed Ino as he walked towards the forest, "I'll be back soon."
Ino smiled as she watched Naruto leave. Things were starting to go back to normal between them even though there was still an air of awkwardness around them. She sat on the ground and waited for the blond to return, she only hoped that he would be back soon since she felt a little uneasy being alone near an enemy base.
Shikamaru groaned as he watched his team. His team had consisted of Kiba, Lee and Shino. The Chunin didn't really mind Shino since he would be quiet most of the time but for some reason Kiba and Lee wouldn't shut up. They were currently sitting around a fire somewhere South of Konoha. One of the Sound's bases was located only a few miles away and they would be raiding the place the following morning.
"What motivation!" Lee exclaimed in happiness, "If you and Akamaru work so well then I'll find a dog myself and train it until we are better than you! If I don't then I'll run one hundred laps around Konoha on my hands!"
Shikamaru frowned from his spot across Kiba and Lee. The two Genin had been talking about their fighting skills and how they would rise through the ranks of the village. 'What did I do to deserve this,' the lazy genius thought with a grimace.
"They're quite loud," Shino pointed out from his spot next to Shikamaru. The Chunin had a look of annoyance on his face, showing that he wasn't entirely happy with his team, "You'll get used to it. Whenever my team went out for missions Kiba would always be really loud, saying that he was talking for the team since none of us were really outspoken."
Shikamaru sighed. "I wouldn't have minded being on your team instead of Kiba. It would have been peaceful to have a team with calm people," he admitted with a frown on his face, remembering his own team, "I had to put up with Ino of all people. She would never give our ears a rest and to make things worse she brought Naruto with her after a while. They're good people and friends to have but the two of them are way too troublesome."
"I can imagine," Shino agreed, knowing that he too wouldn't enjoy having such a loud team.
Shikamaru suddenly laid on the ground and yawned. "I'm going to sleep for now. We'll need all our strength tomorrow," he explained, "Make sure to wake me when your watch is over."
Shino nodded before hearing snoring. He snapped his head towards Shikamaru and sweat dropped, only the lazy Chunin would be able to sleep that quickly.
There was an awkward silence as a bonfire heated Naruto and Ino's food. The two blond's were still a little shaken about the kiss, though Ino still tried to make conversation from time to time. Those conversations would only end in awkward silences, something the two hated. Their friendship wasn't supposed to be awkward, the two were usually always talking each other's ears off and would know what each other was thinking.
"Finally," Naruto muttered as he took his final cup of ramen away from the bonfire and opened it to reveal the godly contents. His mouth watered when the smell of ramen hit his nostrils before he took out a pair of chopsticks he had sealed with the ramen and began to eat.
Ino watched him with a small smile before taking her stew away from the fire. She blew on it before grabbing a pair of chopsticks her mother had put on the container. A smile made its way to her face as she ate her food. Her mom had been right, having a home-cooked meal was better than having anything else any day; nothing could ever beat what a mother had cooked for her children. Her thoughts caught up with her and she frowned. Sadness washed through her when she gazed at the blond. He had been an orphan and had nobody to make him a home-cooked meal. A smile made its way to her face as an idea struck her.
Naruto ate his ramen in silence. Nothing could really beat Ichiraku's ramen but it would do for now, it was still good ramen after all. As the blond opened his mouth to put his chopsticks to his lips, another pair of chopsticks suddenly entered his mouth. He turned to Ino with the chopsticks still in his mouth, she only smiled at him as she took the chopsticks away. The blond started to chew whatever Ino had given him and smiled in contempt when he tasted it.
"How is it?" Ino asked with a smile.
Naruto finished swallowing his food and smiled. "It was great, what was it?" he asked with a grin.
"It was some leftover stew my mom made yesterday," she informed with a gentle smile on her face, "I just thought that you would want something made rather than bought."
"Thanks Ino," Naruto said with a look of appreciation on his face. Ino smiled back and knew that it was the perfect time to talk to Naruto, she knew that an opportunity like this wouldn't come again on this mission.
"I have to tell you something Naruto," Ino said with a light blush on her face, her eyes bearing into Naruto's. The blond in turn nodded with his gaze never leaving Ino's, "It's about the thing that happened earlier."
Naruto blushed remembering the incident and looked away from Ino. "I'm sorry I did that," he apologized with sadness reflected on his blue eyes, "It was an accident and I know that it was kind of my fau-"
"No!" Ino interjected a little louder than she wanted. She composed herself and looked at Naruto with a sad smile, "I don't want you to think it was your fault. It was both of our faults and besides, it's not like I didn't want it to happen."
"W-what?" Naruto gasped out in disbelief.
Ino blushed but didn't look away from the blond, trying to show him that she was serious. "To tell you the truth I've liked you as more than a friend for some time but only realized it recently."
Naruto blushed and looked into Ino's eyes. He had no idea what to say but knew that he should say something in order for Ino not to get the wrong idea. "I think I feel the same," he finally admitted after a moment of silence, "When I left with Jiraiya-sensei I kept on going over what I really felt about you until I finally realized it one day."
Ino smiled with happy tears welling up on her eyes. Naruto felt the same way she did, she had feared that he would reject her but that fear had been proven wrong. "N-Naruto," she muttered before throwing her arms around him and resting her head on his chest.
Naruto smiled and held Ino closer to him. It felt right to hold her so close on his arms. She felt soft against his touch and her hair smelt of wild flowers, making him crazy. He really didn't know what was going to happen from then on but at the moment didn't really care. He just focused on returning Ino's embrace and melting into her warmth.
"Hey Naruto," Ino muttered as she moved her head away from the blond's chest in order to look at him. Before the blond could respond, Ino's lips crashed into his.
The blond was taken back at first but then closed his eyes and returned the kiss. It was an innocent curious kiss full of love and warmth. Ino felt as if she melted against Naruto's warm embrace and the feeling of his lips made her heart go wild. The blond had similar thoughts and found that the feeling of her lips on his made him feel as if nothing really mattered except returning the gesture, making his body feel a warmth he had never felt before.
The two finally broke away from the kiss and stared into each other's eyes. "Does this mean you're my boyfriend now?" Ino asked with a small smile on her face.
Naruto grinned and put on a thoughtful look. "I don't know Ino," he began, "If we become a couple then it means that I'll have to bother you every day from now on."
Ino smiled and embraced the blond with a content sigh. "I think I'll manage to tolerate you but you'll have to eat at my house more often so that you can get to know my parents a little more," she explained. She giggled when she felt Naruto stiffen at the word parents, she knew of how intimidating her dad was when it came to boys, "Don't worry Naruto my parents like you."
"As long as your dad doesn't kill me I'll be okay," Naruto said with a smile on his face. He pulled away from the hug and stood up before offering his hand to Ino, "We have to get back now. We've been gone too long and the others might start to worry."
Ino nodded as she took Naruto's hand and stood up. "We don't want them to search around here with no idea where they're going," she agreed, "But you'll be taking me on a date when we get back to the village."
Naruto chuckled. "Fine but you're still going to buy me my ramen," he said with a mischievous grin on his face. Ino crossed her arms and pouted making the blond chuckle. "There's one more thing Ino," the blond continued with a serious look on his face. Ino gave him a questioning look before the blond pointed at the mountain that stood in the distance, "We're still in the middle of a mission. Make sure not to tell anyone about us just yet since it would only distract the team. Wait until the mission is over to tell them, I don't want an enemy ninja overhearing us."
"You're right," Ino said with a nod before breaking into a grin, "That just means that we'll just have to finish the mission a lot faster then."
"Right," Naruto agreed as he took Ino's hand on his and began to go back to camp. The two felt happy about their new relationship and couldn't wait until the mission was over so that they could spend more time together.
The next morning saw Naruto and his team getting ready to enter the Sound base. They stood hidden among the trees and saw a group of ninja guarding the mountain. After waking up, the group had made their way to the mountain and had come to a spot after Neji had seen a group of ninja close by. The ninja didn't wear headbands, hiding their village's identity, and were presumably Genin level.
"You guys wait here," Naruto whispered to his team, "There's only three of them, I'll take care of them before they can alert anyone. Make sure to take out any other ninja that comes this way." The group nodded in understanding as the blond took out his blade.
The three enemy ninja were watching over the mountain, planning on killing anyone that got a little too close. They were anxious to kill someone as a kind of good-bye gift since their leader had informed them that they would be abandoning the base soon. They really didn't care since it only meant that they would get to torture more people wherever they were moved to. The sound of rustling leaves was heard and the three turned towards the source of the sound but finding nothing.
"What's go-" one of the ninja began but didn't finish as a blade ran though his throat. The two ninja watched their ally go down before thy launched at the culprit. One of them threw a punch but the blond met it with his blade, slicing through the man's fist and making him cry in pain. The other ninja threw a kick that was easily parried by Naruto's left shoulder before spinning towards the man and delivering a strong backhand with his left hand. The two ninja recovered from the attack and prepared for the attack but were thrown off when the blond jumped in the air before disappearing.
The two Sound ninja looked around for any sign of the blond but found none, he had simply vanished into thin air. The two were suddenly hit by a strong wind coming from the trees. The wind was so strong that the two ninja lost their footing and were blown away . The two ninja sailed through the air, unaware of the two Shadow Clones behind them. They could do nothing as the two clones used their blades to cut through them as if they were nothing. The two bodies fell limply on the ground, dead from having their hearts and lungs pierced with such force.
Naruto nodded at the clones and watched as they dispelled. There was a pool of blood on the floor and he frowned, someone would notice this easily meaning that they had little time to infiltrate the base. The blond jumped back to the trees and approached his team.
"We have to move now," the blond ordered with a frown, "They'll notice the disappearance of those three so we have to get moving."
"Got it," the three Genin said with serious expressions.
"Let's go," Naruto said as he ran at the mountain. When they got close enough they noticed that it had a series of caves, "Neji."
"On it," Neji responded as he activated his byakuugan. He looked around for a few moments before deactivating it, "There don't appear to be any ninja around those caves. The chakra signatures are coming from deeper inside."
Naruto nodded in understanding. "Good," he muttered with a serious look on his face, "I'm sure that the caves are filled with traps so I'll get a group of Shadow Clones to lead the way. We'll be going the same way, since we'll need the clones to take care of the traps."
"What will we do when we get to the enemy ninja?" Choji asked.
"You kill them," Naruto responded in a calm tone, "They'll be too much trouble if left alive."
"Wait what?" Choji asked in shock.
Neji frowned at the Genin. "You're a ninja so you're expected to kill. Naruto's right, these ninja are enemies of the Leaf and are too dangerous to be left alive."
"Let's get going," Naruto said as he made a couple of Shadow Clones and had them lead the group of ninja into one of the caves. 'Let's get this over with,' the blond thought with a frown as the group of ninja walked through the cave.
Shikamaru put on a look of concentration as he analyzed the situation. His team was standing behind him, completely silent and waiting for instructions. Sound ninja stood in front of what Shikamaru assumed to be the base they had to destroy. Staying hidden and setting explosives throughout the base would be the best way to accomplish the mission but the ninja guarding the base would be a problem. Those two ninja would need to be killed, there was no other way. He had killed before and found it to be troublesome but necessary when it came down to it, he could only guess when it came to his team's experiences but hoped that they wouldn't be too bothered by killing.
The lazy Chunin faced his team with a serious expression. "This is the plan," he began, "Lee I want you to take care of the two ninja in the entryway. Those two have to be killed, we can't afford to knock them out and risking them waking up later on."
Lee nodded with a grim look on his face. "I know that it is most unyouthful to do this but I must do it for the mission," he declared with a thumb's up, "Do not worry Shikamaru, I'll get this done."
Shikamaru nodded. "After that we'll go inside the base as quietly as possible. If any ninja spots you then you kill them on the spot or we'll be slowed down and forced to face a mob of ninja," he instructed with a frown. His team nodded at him with mixed emotions. He could tell that Kiba hadn't killed before while Shino looked indifferent, he assumed that the bug user had killed before. The lazy Chunin looked at the enemy ninja and frowned, being a Chunin was too troublesome but he still had a job to do. With a sigh Shikamaru faced Lee and gave him a nod, "Go."