Naruto:A New Path

Fight At The Rooftop

The sun was setting as Naruto made his way to Ichiraku's. He was a little slow on his step, having trained the whole day, with his face carrying an expression of exhaustion. Today's training had been a little more than demanding. His clones, as usual, had spent the day training on the taijutsu, with a few reading the book on sealing, while he and Anko sparred. Only this time she had him go through several exercises that would increase his speed.

' You might be a Chunin but I've seen old hags move faster than you!'

Those had been Anko's word before she made him run through the exercises. The first one had been simple, he only had to enter the river and walk against the current. It had been the second exercise where things had gotten more complicated. He was to do the same thing, only this time he needed to dodge rocks thrown by Anko. But nothing could prepare him for the final exercise of the day.
Anko had summoned a rather large snake. Naruto still remembered the sadistic grin Anko sported as she explained the exercise.
' Keep the snake from eating you for a total of ten minutes!'
Naruto shuddered, horrible snake-related memories flooding his mind. He had barely escaped the damned snake but it had only been due to using a variety of jutsu. Those snakes were tough and wouldn't go down with anything but at least he had managed to live through today's 'training.'
He sighed, shoulders slumping slightly, he was tired. This wouldn't be a bad thing if it was regular training but with Anko, being tired could cost him his life. The crazy kunoichi was bound to kill him one day, he was sure. So sure in fact that she was on his list in 'people to watch out for,' the first place being proudly held by Inoichi.
"Naruto! Over here!" he heard Ino call from the distance, waving her hand with a smile on her face.
Naruto smiled, he had been looking forward to this. Earlier that day, he had run into Ino while on his way to the training grounds. He had asked her to go to Ichiraku ramen with him after their training was over. She had gladly accepted and promised to meet him.
"Hey Ino," Naruto greeted with a hug. "Sorry if I kept you waiting long," he laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.
Ino shook her head, "It's alright." She took hold of her boyfriend's hand and pulled him through the streets. Throwing a glance at him, she took note of his wore down expression and couldn't help but ask, "How was your training today? You look pretty tired."
An image of a giant snake flashed through Naruto's mind, his body shivering in fear. "I-it was alright," he let out with a quiet chuckle.
The two continued to walk in confortable silence, simply enjoying each other's company. It had been a while since they had been simply walking through town. It was comforting. Ino leaned her head on Naruto's shoulder, letting out a tired sigh.
"My training was draining," she whispered as her eyes closed, "Master Tsunade had me work on my chakra reserves again. I have close to no chakra left."
Naruto smiled. "Don't worry about it Ino!" his tone playful. "After all you're about to get ramen and there's nothing like it to get your strength back!" he declared, eyes lighting as he gazed at the stand only a few more paces away.
Ino giggled as the two entered the stand, taking a seat as soon as possible. The kunoichi let out a yawn as she leaned on the table, resting her head on her hands. She suddenly perked up when a bowl of steaming ramen was placed in front of her.
"Here you go!" Ayame smiled, "The first one's on the house!"
"Hey, how come I didn't get one?" Naruto complained with a pout.
Ayame giggled and shook her head, "Ladies first. Right Ino?"
"Right," Ino said as she began to eat, too hungry to care about any sort of manners.
Naruto watched Ino with a raised brow. She was eating really fast, almost as fast as he did on occasions. He smiled, it looked like it had been a long day for her. She needed a break from training, by the looks of things she was pushing herself.
"Hey Ino," Naruto suddenly called. Ino turned to her boyfriend with a confused expression on her face, "Why don't we go on a date tomorrow?"
Ino's face lit up as she dropped the chopsticks on her plate. "I'd love to," she beamed, "Where are we going to go?"
Naruto smiled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "I haven't thought about it yet…" he admitted, making Ino sigh. "Don't worry about it Ino. I'll take you somewhere great," he assured, looking down for a brief moment, "I'm just new at this so, sorry if I'm not doing something ri-"
"Don't worry Naruto," Ino broke in, placing a finger on Naruto's lips, "I'm just happy to spend time with you. It doesn't matter where you take me, I'm sure I'll have fun."
"Ino…" Naruto muttered, leaning his head closer to Ino's. A blush graced Ino's cheeks as she leaned closer to the blond, feeling his breath tickle her lips.
"Young love! How very youthful!" a voice exclaimed behind them.
The two blonds jumped back, both sporting blushes on their faces. They turned to the source of the voice to find a smiling Lee with tears rolling down his face.
"A-are you alright Lee?" Ino asked a little awkwardly.
"I was just overwhelmed by the amount of youth that came from you two," Lee laughed.
Naruto looked at Lee a little oddly, "So, what are you doing here Lee?"
The green-clad ninja smiled, his teeth sparkling. "I was asked to spread the good news!" he cheered, "Kiba woke up today!"
Naruto and Ino's eyes widened, smiles forming on their faces. They hadn't heard from Kiba since they got back from their mission to the Sound bases. It seemed as if a lot of time had passed since then.
"That's great," Ino smiled.
"Right," Naruto nodded, turning to Lee, "He's at the hospital, right?"
Lee nodded, "He won't leave for a few days since they're still checking on him."
"Alright," Naruto smiled as he turned to Ino, taking her hand on his, "Ramen can wait today. Let's go visit Kiba."
The blond pulled Ino through the streets, running as fast as he could. "Not so fast Naruto!" Ino exclaimed as the two blondes disappeared in the distance.
Lee watched them leave, his eyes burning with the spirit the two showed. "Alright!" he exclaimed, throwing his right hand in the air, "I'll go tell everyone while walking on two hands! I won't lose to Naruto when it comes to youth!"
Onlookers stepped away from the green-clad ninja, wondering just what was wrong with him.
Naruto and Ino walked through the hospital's hallways. The couple made it to the waiting room and found it to be filled with some of the 'Rookie 9' along with a few civilians. Among the group of ninja was Hinata. The Hyuuga heiress taken back by seeing her crush come into the room holing Ino's hand.
"Hey guys," Naruto greeted with a grin.
"Nice to see you again. It's been a while," Shino responded with his hands dug into the pockets of his coat.
Choji walked over to the two blondes, his usual bag of chips on hand, "Where have you guys been? I haven't seen either of you in a long time."
Ino smiled, happy to see her friends once more, "We've been busy with training."
"H-how you've b-been Naruto?" Hyuuga managed with a deep blush on her face.
Naruto turned to Hinata with a grin. "I've been great," he answered, his tone light. The Chunin turned to Shino, "How's Kiba?"
"He's doing well I guess, but…" Shino began, his gaze focused on Naruto, "You forgot my name again, didn't you?"
Naruto flinched under the gaze, laughing nervously. "O-of course not," he assured before pulling on Ino's hand. The blonde kunoichi rolled her eyes, her boyfriend could be an idiot sometimes.
"We're going to see Kiba," Ino broke in. taking her boyfriend off the spot.
Hinata watched the two leave with a worried frown on her face. Just what had happened between Naruto and Ino?
The blonde couple entered one of the hospital rooms, finding Kiba sitting on his bed while looking out the window. The Inuzuka turned at the sound of footsteps, his eyes widening when he saw who his visitors were.
"What are you guys doing here?" Kiba couldn't help but ask.
The last time they had talked, things hadn't been exactly great between them. In fact, they had almost gotten in a fight. Kiba felt that it had been partly, too proud to take the whole blame, his fault since he had almost hurt Ino over a stupid argument.
"We're here to see you," Ino responded calmly, sitting on one of the chairs in the room. Naruto followed after her and took the seat next to her.
The air was awkward around them. None of them had anything to talk about since their relationship wasn't that great. Most of the memories Naruto had of Kiba had been unpleasant. Things had been good between them on their earlier days but things had gone downhill after they became ninja.
"Thanks," Naruto deadpanned suddenly. Kiba turned to Naruto with a look of confusion, having no idea of what he was talking about. Ino, on the other hand, gave her boyfriend a small smile.
"Huh?" Kiba let out.
Naruto grinned, crossing his arms. "You helped me out back in the Sound mission, right?" he asked. Kiba simply nodded, a little dumbly, "I just came by to thank you."
Kiba grinned. "You're getting soft Naruto," he teased, watching the two blondes rise from their seats, "I guess I'll see you guys later."
"We're ecstatic to see you again," Ino muttered in a teasing tone.
Naruto chuckled as he and Ino left the room. "Let's go back to Ichiraku's," the Chunin declared with a frown on his face, placing a hand on his stomach, "I didn't get to eat anything."
Ino smiled as the two walked through the hallway.
"Ino?" A familiar voice called. The coupled turned to their side to see Sakura standing in front of a door with a plate of apple slices.
"Hey Sakura," Ino greeted with a grin, "Are you here to see Kiba too?"
Sakura shook her head, her eyes falling on Naruto. "Sasuke got hurt and I'm here to visit him," she explained.
Naruto's eyes widened slightly, "What happened?"
"He was attacked by someone," Sakura began with a scowl on her face, "They're not sure who did it but their looking into it." She paused before looking over the two shinobi, "…Do you want to see him?"
"Um..." Naruto paused, his mouth forming into a scowl. "I guess I should," he muttered, "He's still my teammate right?"
"Right," Sakura nodded with a smile. After talking it over with Kakashi and a lot of pondering on her part, she had come to the conclusion that Naruto wasn't to blame for what happened. She was a little mad at him but their team came first, if her two teammates were able to make peace then everything would go back to normal.
Ino didn't say a word as they entered the room. As soon as they entered they were the subjects of a hardened glare from the last Uchiha before his eye settled on Naruto. The blonde kunoichi watched as Sakura went to sit next to the Uchiha with a nervous smile. The uneasiness was expected since neither of the boys had moved since they saw each other, they were in a kind of staring contest.
"S-Sasuke," Sakura muttered, bringing the plate of apple slices closer to the Uchiha, "I brought you something to eat."
Sasuke kept his gaze on Naruto, his teeth grinding together in a show of anger. "Fight me," he ordered. The Chunin simply frowned, further angering the Uchiha, "I told you to fight me. Right now."
"No," Naruto responded.
"Just calm down, we're in a hospital," Ino broke in, her suggestion apparently falling on deaf ears.
"Are you scared Naruto?" Sasuke smirked, "Could it be that you know for a fact that you can't beat me?"
Naruto turned on his heel and headed for the door. He suddenly stopped and turned back to the Uchiha, "I beat you last time Sasuke. There's nothing to prove anymore."
Sasuke let out a growl as he watched his teammate open the door. He couldn't let him just leave without settling the score. He needed to know the difference between their power.
"H-here Sasuke," Sakura offered the plate of food with an uncertain look. Sasuke turned to the pink-haired kunoichi with a heated glare, knocking the plate of food away with his left hand.
Naruto turned at the sound of shattering glass, seeing Sakura and Ino look at Sasuke in shock. "What the hell are you doing?" he glared, his blue eyes filled with anger, "Sakura's your teammate, you can't treat her like that!"
"Then fight me," Sasuke countered, inwardly smirking at the way Naruto's fists shook. He had known Naruto for some time and knew that the way to get him riled up was to threaten his friends. Threatening others wasn't what he would usually do but he had no choice. He needed to make sure that he was still stronger than Naruto.
"Let's just leave, Naruto," Ino decided, taking a few steps forward before being stopped by a hand wrapping tightly around her wrist. She turned to see Sasuke holding her wrist while glaring at Naruto, "Let me go Sasuke."
Sasuke kept his gaze on Naruto. "If you don't fight me then-"
The Uchiha was cut off by a fist colliding with his face, the cheer force behind the strike throwing him against the room's wall. He glared at the aggressor, Naruto standing in front of Ino with a look of fury he had never seen before.
"N-Naruto," Ino muttered in shock, quickly taking hold of his arm, "Let's just go! If you fight him then you'll get in trouble."
Naruto didn't respond, his eyes focused on the Uchiha. "Listen to me Sasuke…" he began. "I don't care who you are but if you try to hurt Ino, you'll pay," he declared.
Sakura looked at Naruto in pure shock. He had never expected him to attack Sasuke without hesitating. Turning to Ino she couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy, she wished to have a relationship like that. One where she was put above all else.
Sasuke simply smirked as a trail of blood ran down his mouth. "Let's take this outside Naruto," he replied as he made his way out of the room. He didn't bother checking to see if Naruto was behind him, he would come, he was sure of it.
Naruto watched as Sasuke left the room before following after him. He cast a look at the floor when feeling a warm hand on his, pulling him away from the Uchiha, "I have to do this Ino."
"Why?" Ino exclaimed with a hot tears building up in her eyes. She refused to let them fall as she held onto her boyfriend, "You just got back from training. If you fight Sasuke now, you'll just get hurt!"
The blond Chunin turned to his girlfriend with a sad smile, pulling her into a hug. Ino's eyes widened as her boyfriend hung on to her. "I'll be alright Ino," he assured, closing his eyes and taking in her scent. He pulled away, just enough so that their faces were mere inches away, before giving her a smile, "I promise I won't get hurt."
Ino opened her mouth to argue but was cut off by Naruto's lips on hers. A deep blush covered her face as the blond pulled away, giving her an apologetic smile before leaving the room.
The kunoichi watched him leave with worry written all over her face, just what was he getting himself into?
Naruto and Sasuke stood opposite of each other on the hospital's room. A cool breeze washing over them, as they simply stared at each other. There were many blankets being dried on the roof, a large fence surrounding the roof, meaning that there wouldn't be much space to move in. It wasn't the best place to fight by Naruto's standards, but at least nobody would get hurt.
"I thought you would come Naruto," Sasuke announced with a smirk on his face, "After all, you've gotten close to that blonde. I mean, you have to be if you attacked me so easily."
Naruto frowned as he slipped into his toad taijutsu style. "Just cut the small talk," he responded, making the Uchiha scowl, "I just came here to knock some sense into you."
Sasuke activated his sharingan as he ran at Naruto at full speed. He smirked when seeing that the blond hadn't moved from his spot, it would be easy. The Uchiha threw a punch with his right hand, the blond quickly ducking under the blow and throwing a punch of his own. Sasuke used his other hand to cover the attack before throwing a kick at the blond's midsection.
Naruto grunted as the foot made contact with his stomach before jumping away from the Uchiha. 'Dammit,' the Chunin panted with a few drops of sweat trailing down his face, 'Training with Anko left me completely tired. Damned slave driver...'
The Uchiha watched Naruto with a smirk on his face. He was already tired from their fight, beating him wouldn't be hard. He ran through hand signs, putting a hand around his mouth, 'Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.'
Naruto's eyes widened as the large fireball headed straight for him. 'I'm not going to be able to dodge,' he concluded. The best he could do was keep the attack from doing too much damage, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The attack collided with its target, raising a large cloud of smoke. Sasuke watched the smoke clear with a smirk on his face, wondering if the fight was over. The smoke cleared to reveal a smirking Naruto with a few burns on his clothing but nothing more, as if the attack hadn't hurt him.
' How the hell did he take on the attack?'
Sasuke gritted his teeth as his sharingan focused on the enemy. He couldn't ponder on the matter, he was in the middle of a fight after all.
Naruto panted, he had wasted too much chakra on shadow clones. They had taken most of the damage but it had still left him winded. His eyes scanned the area, they were in plain view if a shinobi was to catch wind of their fight then they would get in major trouble. 'I have to end this fast,' he concluded.
He ran through hand signs. "Wind Style: Air Bullets!"
Sasuke frowned as he moved away from the incoming orbs of wind, his sharingan catching the hand signs needed for the jutsu. He smirked knowing that he had just gained a new jutsu. The sharingan did more than copy hand sings, it also copied the amount of chakra used for each jutsu, that's what made it possible to recreate them.
The Uchiha jumped up the fence, running through hand signs. "Wind Style: Air Bullets!"
Naruto's eyes widened as the compressed balls of wind approached him. He cursed before dropping down to the floor, dodging the attacks without much trouble. Sasuke might be able to use the jutsu but it didn't mean that he could control it properly. His air bullets had been smaller and slower than his own.
' I can't keep on giving him jutsu,' Naruto extended his right hand, gathering wind on his palm. An orb of compressed wind formed on his hand before the Chunin ran at his opponent.
Sasuke ran at Naruto, the curse mark suddenly activating. Black marks covered his face before his pace suddenly increased. The blond Chunin gasped at the sudden change in speed, receiving an elbow to his chest.
Naruto let out a groan of pain as he threw a kick at the Uchiha, who simply leapt away. Sasuke landed a few feet away with a smirk on his face, things were going his way.
"I'll make you a deal Naruto," Sasuke suddenly spoke in a smug tone. Naruto looked at the Uchiha with a frown, wondering what he was up to. Sasuke closed his eyes before pointing a finger at himself, "I want you to say that I am stronger than you. Accept it. You can barely stand, why keep on going?"
Naruto chuckled, his gaze on the ground. "Do you really think that I'll just say that?" he raised his face to meet Sasuke's eyes, "I worked too hard to be stronger than you. I won't throw it all away!"
"Then I'll just take you down," Sasuke lowered his right arm, placing it between his knees. He smirked as a few sparks of electricity covered his hand.
The blond Chunin panted as he struggled to keep standing. His body was groaning in protest with each movement, his legs were numb and his vision was blurry. Due to experience he knew that he was suffering from the first stages of chakra exhaustion, he wouldn't last much longer.
Sasuke broke into a run, his attack chirping loudly as he closed in on the blond. More black marks covered his face, his pace increasing once more. Naruto was taken aback by the speed, his legs too numb to move.
"Chidori!"
Ino and Sakura sped through the stairs of the hospital. The Yamanaka knew that Naruto was tired from his training and wouldn't be able to fight properly. If he wanted to fight then fine, but she would be there to back him up.
Sakura, on the other hand, wanted to stop the fight at all costs. Sasuke had just been in bed a few minutes ago and wasn't in condition to fight. She just wanted these problems to end, it was breaking them apart. Soon there would be nothing left of their team.
Both kunoichi threw open the doors leading to the rooftop to see Sasuke running at Naruto with a Chidori on hand. Ino let out a gasp when seeing that her boyfriend wouldn't be able to dodge.
"Chidori!"
Not waiting another second the kunoichi ran through hand signs, "Water Style: Raging Waves!"
A torrent of water shot out of Ino's mouth. Sasuke let out a surprised gasp as the attack hit him on the side, pushing him away from Naruto. His Chidori deactivated as he was slammed against the roof's fence.
The kunoichi ran at Naruto, her eyes full of worry. "Naruto!" she placed a hand around his shoulders, helping him stand, "Are you alright?"
"I'm alright," he assured, eyes focused on Sasuke. The Uchiha rose from the ground and glared at Ino, almost trembling with rage. Naruto turned to Ino with a serious expression, "You have to get out of here Ino. Things are getting dangerous."
"I'm staying," Ino deadpanned with no room to argue.
Naruto smiled, pulling away from Ino. "Alright then," he muttered. He slipped into his taijutsu style, "I'll be counting on you to watch my back."
Ino nodded with determination on her eyes. She had been training for this. Training to stand next to Naruto. He didn't have to do everything on his own, she would make sure of it.
Sasuke glared at the couple, his fists shaking in rage. Ino had taken away his chance to prove himself stronger than Naruto. "I'll kill you both," he growled, more black marks spreading through his face.
"No you won't," came a lazy voice from behind him. The Uchiha turned around to come face to face with Kakashi, his eye calculating, "You're not fighting anyone anymore Sasuke."
The Uchiha scowled before jumping away from the roof. The fight was over for now, Kakashi wouldn't allow it to continue. For now he had his answer. He needed to fight Naruto once more, this time without anyone interrupting and he knew just what to do.
Kakashi watched Sasuke leave before turning to the rest of the shinobi present. "What were you two doing?" he scolded before turning to the kunoichi standing near the door, "You should have done something to stop them Sakura."
"It's alright Kakashi-sensei," Naruto broke in, "Sasuke was just being stubborn again, don't worry."
Ino looked at her boyfriend in worry. What was he thinking? Of course they had to worry, Sasuke was attacking teammates and he had almost been badly hurt if she had been a second late.
Kakashi looked at his student blankly before finally nodding. "Alright then," he sighed out. "I'm going to treat you as a Chunin. If anything goes wrong in your judgment then you'll be responsible for your actions," he warned before leaving in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto closed his eyes, wondering what he would do about the situation in hand.
It was dark as Naruto, Ino and Sakura sat on the stool at Ichiraku's. The Chunin ate his meal rigorously, eyes closed in enjoyment. Ino ate at a slower pace but with the same enjoyment, having grown fond of the food. Sakura, on the other hand, only pecked at her food with a sad expression. Her mind clearly elsewhere.
"That was good," Naruto declared as he set his final plate down.
Ino smiled as she pushed her plate to the side, "It was. But you're paying right?"
Naruto pouted. "Yeah, yeah," he took out his frog wallet and took out the necessary money, setting it on the stool. "Well… I guess we should get going," he started but scowled when seeing Sakura's sad expression. He let out a sigh as he rose from his chair, "Quit worrying about Sasuke already."
Sakura turned to the blond in shock, "W-what are you talking about? Of course I'll worry about him."
"It's not like that," he began, "What I'm saying is that you don't need to worry about him. He'll go back to normal in no time. Right now he's only acting weird because of the hickey."
"What are you talking about?" Ino asked with a raised brow.
"On our mission to Sound we were to find information on the Cursed Seal of Heaven," he explained, the two kunoichi giving him their full attention, "From what we found out, it changes the way people act. I'm not exactly sure of how it does it but I'm sure Jiraiya-sensei is working on a way to get rid of it. So quit worrying already."
"R-right," Sakura nodded, feeling a bit of reassurance from his words.
"Let's get going Ino," Naruto nodded at his girlfriend as he left the stand.
"We'll see you later Sakura," Ino smiled as she followed after her boyfriend.
Sakura let out a sigh after the two left. Things with Sasuke might not be going well but there was still hope. Right now she didn't care about her crush on him, she just wanted him to be back to normal. And with Naruto on the job, she was sure that things would turn out great.
Naruto and Ino stood on the outside of her home. The kunoichi turned to her boyfriend with a worried look on her face. She knew that there was more to Naruto, there always was.
"What do you really think about Sasuke?" she asked suddenly.
Naruto smiled, not really surprised at Ino knowing how he felt. "I'm not sure," he admitted, turning his gaze to the star-filled sky, "I was just trying to cheer Sakura up but I don't think Sasuke will ever be the same. No. I think we just had a wrong view of Sasuke from the start."
Ino smiled sadly, pulling the blond into a hug. "Don't worry," she whispered, "I'm sure things will go back to normal."
Naruto chuckled as he held his girlfriend. "Now I'm the one needing someone to cheer me up," he pointed out, earning a giggle from Ino. He took in her scent as he closed his eyes, "And you always find a way to do it."
The kunoichi pulled away from the blond and gave him a light peck on the lips. "I have to get going now," she smiled sadly, "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Of course," he grinned, "We still have that date tomorrow."
"Right," Ino beamed, having forgotten about it due to the day's events.
"I'll see you tomorrow after training," Naruto waved good-bye before making his way home.
Once he was a good distance away from Ino's home, Naruto frowned. He had a feeling that things would get complicated and he was running out of patience. If he was to fight Sasuke again he knew for a fact that he wouldn't be able to hold back. He didn't see him as a friend anymore, he had threatened Ino.
Naruto shook his head, ridding himself of those thoughts. He had another training session the next day, thinking about something else could get him killed. For now he would focus on his training and nothing else.