Naruto:A New Path

Dinner Plans

It was morning as Ino made her way through the streets of Konoha. She smiled as she took a big breath, enjoying the fresh air. Being raised by a flower shop owner she knew to appreciate nature, the fragrances of plants and the rich air that the forest surrounding the village brought were things that she really loved. The Leaf village was like a paradise to her.
Ino kept a steady pace, wondering what kind of training she would go through today. Learning medical jutsu was her prime wish but Tsunade wanted to take care of her weaknesses first. It wasn't until their training started that she realized just how many weaknesses she had. Her jutsu left her wide open and her taijutsu wasn't where she wanted it to be. At times like this she wondered just how much training her dad and teachers had gone through to be where they are.
She turned a corner to see the ninja Academy. A smile adorned her face, watching the building through the fence that surrounded it. There were a few Chunin walking into the building already, among them a smiling Iruka. He had probably been the only teacher to really like that job in her opinion. She remembered how not all of them could hold it together and, although he clearly didn't at times, he was still cheerful each morning. It seemed things hadn't changed for him.
The smile suddenly faded when she saw the lone swing hanging from a tree. A sudden image of a young Naruto sitting on it with a depressed look flashed through her mind and she couldn't help but look away. She knew from watching him that he wasn't completely over that pain, it was as if he had just pushed it away. He might have all of those fake smiles and words but his eyes never lied. She could always see a wave of sadness wash over them whenever something brought up his childhood.
The kunoichi shook her head, ridding herself of those thoughts. It wouldn't do her any good to linger on them. Getting over that pain was something he had to do alone and, as much as she wanted to help, she couldn't. She was glad that he really liked the time he spent with her and her family, she could always see it, he needed something like this.
She passed by the Academy and finally made it to her destination, a two story home standing proudly on the street. This was the home of her teacher Tsunade. Ino didn't know why she didn't just get a bigger home since the legendary medic was certainly capable. Her answer had been a laugh and a rather simply explanation. Aside from the fact that her last gambling streak had left her with close to no cash, she was simply a modest person. She didn't care where she lived as long as she had enough room to move around and put her many books and notes.
Ino walked to the home's door, knocking on it loudly since she knew that her teacher was not a morning person and needed this kind of noise in order to wake up. She waited patiently before hearing the familiar sound of footsteps followed by a thud and a low curse. The doorknob turned before the door finally open to reveal a shirtless Naruto with a necklace she had never seen around his neck.
"Ino?" Naruto mumbled, still half-asleep.
The kunoichi blushed and snapped her head to the side. "What are you doing Naruto?" she scolded, "Put a shirt on!"
The blond Chunin cocked his head to the side. "Why should I do that?" he asked, "I'm always like this when I go swimming. It's not a big deal, right?"
Ino gritted her teeth and snapped her head back to Naruto, prepared to yell at him before taking note of the cast on his right arm. "What happened to your arm?" she asked in worry. Not caring about his lack of shirt anymore she entered the home and closed the door behind her, "Did you use that jutsu again?"
Naruto smiled and shook his head. "I was hit by an attack but I'm all better now," he affirmed, waving his right arm for emphasis, "See? Granny Tsunade healed it yesterday right after I got here."
"You got here yesterday?" Ino asked in slight surprise. Her boyfriend nodded and walked towards the home's kitchen, his feet tapping against the wooden floors. She followed after him and pouted, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Well, it was late when I got here," he began, opening the fridge and looking over what it held. Behind him Ino sat on a chair and watched her boyfriend look around the fridge with a look of disgust on his face, she guessed that he hadn't been here before. Being a medic and a gambler made Tsunade's diet a little odd, mostly consisting of odd food with many types of drinks. "There's nothing to eat…" he muttered before turning back to Ino with a grin, "Anyway, it was late and I decided to wait until today to visit you."
The kunoichi nodded with a smile before pouting her lips in confusion. "Why are you here anyway?" she asked, "Shouldn't you be in the hospital or your apartment?"
Naruto let out a chuckle and sat on a chair next to Ino's. "Granny said that she didn't trust me to be alone in my apartment so she took me here," the blond crossed his arms, "So, what are you doing here Ino? Were you looking for granny?"
Ino instantly smiled, remembering that Naruto still didn't know of her latest news. "Yeah I was looking for Tsunade," she began, her eyes lighting up in excitement, "I'm her new student and she said she was going to train me today."
"That's great," Naruto smiled proudly, "You'll get stronger in no time."
"Yeah," she agreed, "I'm already learning a lot and it's only been a few days. Where is she anyway?"
"She's over at the hospital," he informed, raising from his chair and letting out a sigh, "She told me to meet her there at nine for a quick check-up." He turned to Ino with a smile, "Do you want to go together?"
"Of course," she smiled as a light blush graced her cheeks, her boyfriend had yet to put on a shirt, "But could you put a shirt on first?"
Naruto nodded and left the room, leaving a smiling Ino behind. She was worried about his injuries but having him back safe and sound brought her a sense of relief that outweighed the worry. The only bad thing was that she would need to go training and wouldn't be able to spend much time with him.
Ino stood from her seat and walked towards the front door. She would just need to make most of the time she got to spend with Naruto. Besides, she was still free at night and if she wasn't too tired then they could go on a date or, in the most likely case, if she is completely tired then she can just invite him over for dinner. The only thing she wished for was that Tsunade wouldn't drive her until she dropped but it was only wishful thinking on her part, she knew that her master wouldn't tone down their training.
The Third Hokage sat behind his desk with his eyes closed. He would have a meeting with the council in a few hours, a meeting that would have several people panicking over the loss of a sharingan. It wouldn't surprise him if he spent the whole day there.
"You're looking a bit tired old man," came the voice of Jiraiya. The sage leaned against an open window by the Third's desk with his arms crossed and a small smirk on his face.
"I am tired," the Third responded with a sigh before reaching under his desk. "What brings you here Jiraiya?" he asked, taking out his pipe and lighting its contents, "You seem a little agitated."
Jiraiya grinned as his old teacher placed the pipe on his mouth, after all this years the man still knew him well. "You heard about Naruto's team coming back, right?" the Hokage nodded with an almost curious expression on his face, "You of all people probably won't like this but something messed with his seal on his last mission."
The reaction was instant. The Third's gaze grew firm and his eyes narrowed, "What happened?"
"Apparently someone tried to give him control of the Kyuubi's chakra without any influence to his mind," he began, "It did work but something went wrong and now his chakra and the fox's are isolated from each other. Long story short, Naruto will not be able to use its chakra anymore."
"I see…" the Third muttered. He hadn't been expecting this in the slightest. What were the odds of having such a complex seal altered, "Is there any danger to him?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "From what I've seen so far, there isn't any kind of secondary effect," he paused before running a hand through his hair, "I'll check on the seal one more time next time I see him. But the thing that worried me is that someone out there knows a way to manipulate a demon's chakra with a few seals."
"It shouldn't be so surprising," the Hokage responded, "There are all kinds of people in the world that specialize in different things. At least one person should know how to control a tailed beast."
"Anyway, I heard that there was some kind of falling on Naruto's team," the toad sage began, "What do you plan to do about it?"
The Hokage took a drag out of his pipe before letting out a cloud of smoke. "From Tsunade's earlier report, she said that Sasuke's right eye is gone. The council will want to punish Naruto for taking one of their sharingan but I won't allow it," he affirmed, "The thing I'm looking over right now is how to go about Sasuke. When a ninja attacks his own teammates we usually just lock them up but this being the last Uchiha, I'm sure the council will do everything on its power to override my decision."
"You're the Hokage," Jiraiya deadpanned, "Shouldn't you be the one to have control over your ninja."
"This is a special case," the Third responded, "With him being the last of his clan, he falls under the clan protection program. The council has control of this and can override a few of my decisions, I'm sure this is one of those few cases."
Jiraiya's scowled, "Then what are you going to do?"
"I know that I won't be able to lock him up," the Third stated, letting out a cloud of smoke, "But that doesn't mean that I can't still punish him. I can't have him think that he can get away with anything, that would just result in repeats of this mission."
Naruto let out a frustrated sigh. Everything was perfect. He had a steaming bowl of ramen before him, the weather was great and most of all, Ino sat next to him enjoying her own bowl of ramen. It was a perfect day but something was very wrong. He couldn't eat the heavenly meal since he couldn't use chopsticks with his left hand. He tried, but he just couldn't use them properly.
"I'm tired of watching you do that," Ino sighed out. Naruto turned to the kunoichi, eyes widening slightly when she moved closer to him.
"Ino," he muttered in surprise as she used her chopsticks to dig into his plate and put the ramen right in front of his mouth.
The girl smiled as she inched the chopsticks closer. "You can't eat by yourself so I'll help you. Open up," she ordered in a light tone. Naruto blushed slightly as he opened his mouth and was greeted by unforgettable taste of ramen. He smiled in appreciation as his girlfriend continued feeding him.
"Enjoying your meal I see…" someone muttered behind them. The couple turned to see a smiling Kakashi with a book on hand, "Yo."
"Kakashi-sensei..?" Naruto muttered in confusion.
The Jonin set his book to the side. "It's been a while Naruto," he stated before sitting next to him, his eyes showing a hint of sadness, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Ino blushed slightly and shook her head. "We were just eating here," she affirmed with Naruto nodding in agreement, "But what are you doing here?"
Kakashi set his book down and turned to his student. "I've heard what happened with Sasuke from Jiraiya," he stated. Ino turned to Naruto with a questioning gaze, watching his eyes lose their usual warmth, "I just wanted to say that I don't blame you for any of it. If it really happened the way you said it did then you are not to be blamed. But you do know that it is going to affect our team, right?"
Naruto nodded at his teacher with a scowl on his face. "Well, it's not like we've seen much of each other lately," he concluded, "I mean. With me being a Chunin and with you out on missions all the time, this thing will probably pass… right?"
"You're right," the Jonin responded with a small chuckle. He ruffled the blond's hair before getting up, "I can't let my cute little Genin team fall apart, can I?"
Ino watched as the older ninja left in a cloud of smoke. She wondered what had happened on that mission. So far, all she knew was that Sasuke was in the hospital and that Naruto had something to do with it and he was keeping it bottled up inside. She frowned, she had told them that he needed to stop keeping things bottled up inside and she would let him know that she had been serious.
"Naruto," she called with a frown on her face. The blond turned to his girlfriend and felt himself shrink under her powerful gaze. "What happened on the mission?" Naruto let out a sigh before turning away from the kunoichi, "You know you can tell me, right? You don't have to keep it bottled up inside."
"Sasuke attacked me during the mission," he began. Ino's eyes widened at the revelation, just what kind of mission had they been on, "It was during the middle of a plan. He put the entire team in danger and I was forced to fight him seriously. In the end he ran at me and, without looking, I cut right through his right eye."
"Well, he deserved it!" Ino declared with a firm nod. She had had no idea that Sasuke would do something like that. Sure, she barely knew him but she still thought that he would attack his own teammates, during a mission no less.
A hint of worry flashed through her eyes when she gazed at Naruto once more. "Are you alright with all of this?" she asked, hoping that he didn't blame himself for everything again, "He was the one who attacked."
Naruto grinned before chuckling lightly. "I know," he assured as he hopped off the stool, "Jiraiya-sensei told me to stop blaming myself for things like that. I know that what happened to Sasuke was bad but it wasn't my fault. He was the one who attacked and I stopped him before anyone could get killed."
Ino smiled as she watched him leave. He had matured a bit. Of course he could be childish at times but he was beginning to become a very responsible person. Not to mention that he was even stronger than Sasuke now, the guy that had been the strongest in their age group.
"Looks like Naruto pulled a fast one on you," Teuchi laughed from the kitchen. Ino's eyes widened, realizing that her boyfriend had just left without paying. The man smiled, "Don't worry, he does it to everyone that takes him here."
Ino clenched her fists. Naruto maturing had to be some kind of joke.
Naruto laughed as he walked through the hospital's hallways beside Ino who smiled in amusement. As she was about to pay Teuchi for the meal. Naruto had come back, laughing at the look on her face. After that Ino had called him an idiot while he paid for their food with his usual foxy grin on his face.
"Will you stop already?" Ino giggled, she had to admit that it was a good prank.
The blond Chunin chuckled once more as he approached a door. "Fine, we're here anyway," he opened the door to find Tsunade sitting behind a desk with her arms crossed.
It was a standard office. It had three large windows on the opposite wall of the door, white walls and various bookshelves filled with loose sheets of paper and old books. Tsunade's desk stood right in front of the windows, filled with documents, books and a few scrolls.
"You're late Naruto," Tsunade declared with a glare. Both blonds flinched from her glare. The medic had that effect on people. She was very intimidating when she wanted to, "What took you so long?"
Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I got… lost…?" he answered uncertainly.
Ino rolled her eyes. That had probably been the worse excuse she had ever heard, she guessed that she would need to help him, "We had to eat breakfast and ran into Kakashi-sensei. Sorry we're late, it won't happen again."
Tsunade smiled and nodded her head before turning to Naruto. "You could learn a few manners from Ino," she teased, inwardly smiling at the annoyed pout on his face, "I also want you to stop being late for everything. I won't let you become another Kakashi. Got it?"
"Got it," Naruto muttered with an annoyed look on his face.
"Good," the medic responded with a smile.
Ino watched the exchange with a small smile. She hadn't noticed it before but the two had a kind of mother-son relationship. If they knew, she didn't know but it was there. From the small amount of time she had spent with her master, she had noticed that Tsunade was a very professional person that carried herself with an air of respect. Of course she was a laid back person but she always made sure to keep things strictly professional with other ninja.
On the other hand when Tsunade was with Naruto she seemed a lot calmer and talked with an air of familiarity. Ino had to admit that she was a little surprised that the legendary medic gave off the kind of warmth a mother would when talking to her child. Even the stern, yet concerned, voice was there. If she didn't know any better, she would have guessed that they were related.
"Now, let's get back to business," Tsunade declared, walking over to Naruto. She placed both hands on top of his cast, the two glowing with green chakra, "You seem to be healing pretty well… but it might take a few days until we can take the cast off."
"How long?" Naruto asked with a frown.
The medic retracted from the arm and crossed her arms, closing her eyes in concentration. "From what I've seen, your arm is doing well right now but I want you to keep the cast just in case," she informed, "If you don't strain your arm I'm pretty sure you'll be well enough to take it off in around two days."
"Great," the blond Chunin muttered, eyeing his cast. He turned back to the medic with a frown on his face, "How's Sasuke?"
Tsunade sighed as she watched the two young ninja looking at her expectedly. "He should be out of the hospital in a few days," she began, rubbing the bridge of her nose, "But I wasn't able to do anything about his eye." The medic rose from her chair before breaking into a smirk, her eyes on Ino, "Well, I guess we should start with your training for today."
Ino laughed nervously, knowing she was bound for another day of torture. "R-right," she agreed hesitantly.
"Then I'll come too," Naruto declared with a smile, "Since I can't do any training of my own then I wanna see how Ino is doing."
Tsunade nodded, "That will be for the best, that way I'll be able to check on you." The medic took a scroll from her desk and made her way out of the room, "Let's get going. Shizune will take care of things while I'm gone."
The couple followed after the legendary medic, wondering what she had in store.
Naruto walked through the village with a very tired Ino with her head on his shoulder. The Chunin smiled as he cast a glance at the girl leaning against him. He had been surprised with how intense Tsunade's training was. He had wanted to train himself but due to Tsunade being there he wasn't allowed to move in the slightest, he could only watch as his girlfriend trained and he was surprised to see how determined she was. No matter how tired she looked she just kept on going.
"Naruto…" Ino mumbled, her eyes closed in exhaustion.
"What is it?" Naruto wondered in a light tone.
A smile tugged at her lips. "Do you want to have dinner at my house?" she asked, "It would be nice to have you over again and besides, my parents would like to see you again."
An image of Inoichi flashed through Naruto's head, remembering the last conversation they had had.
' if you ever do anything indecent to my little princess… I will castrate you with a spoon.'
He shuddered. He didn't know exactly what Inoichi meant but what he did know was that the man was frightening, "A-are you sure your dad wouldn't mind?"
Ino giggled, why did he have to be so intimidated by her dad? "Come on Naruto, you're acting like my dad hates you," she laughed, not noticing skeptical look coming from her boyfriend, "He just likes to mess with you. I'm sure he likes you."
"Fine," he sighed out, "But if we eat anything with a spoon, I'm getting out of there."
"Huh?" Ino let out in confusion.
"What are your orders Lord Orochimaru?" asked one of the four ninja kneeling in front of the snake summoner.
Orochimaru watched his followers with an amused smile. He was sure that they would get their job done, they had been handpicked after all. His eyes landed on the ninja with orange hair. He hadn't been too sure of sending such an important 'tool' but he would be needed in convincing Sasuke.
"I want you to watch over my next body, Sasuke," Orochimaru began as he licked his lips, "Make sure to watch him from the shadows, we won't want to expose you too quickly. When the time comes I want you to…persuade him into coming to me for more power. Is that understood?"
The four ninja raised their heads, "Yes Lord Orochimaru."
"Then you are dismissed," the snake summoner ordered.
The four ninja disappeared in clouds of smoke, set on pleasing their Lord.