Naruto:A New Path

Persuaded

Tayuya watched her team with a frown plastered on her face. They were all idiots. No exceptions. She had been pleased to find out that she would be the new leader of the Sound Four since Ukon and Sakon had been captured. Since then she had been forced to missions with the two idiots that were left until the new member arrived.
She turned to the new member, watching as he watched the terrain with a phased look. He rarely spoke, which she was grateful for, but his silence was getting on her nerves. Not only that, but for some reason Orochimaru had given them an order to follow above all else. If they were to be defeated, they had to make sure that the member got away . The snake summoner didn't explain anything else, just that he was really important.
The Sound kunoichi suddenly turned to the side, the sound of footsteps getting closer and closer. She assumed that it was a Sound ninja since they had hidden in the middle of a dark forest. Their earlier run in with the blond had forced them to go deeper into the woods in order to avoid running into someone else.
"What are you doing here?" Tayuya scowled. The ninja in front of her made her uneasy. Whenever he went out on a mission, he would end up killing anyone that hadn't done the job correctly. Her eyes narrowed, if the bastard got close to her then she would kill him.
Kimimaro walked into the area, his face showing no emotion. "I have come with news of Lord Orochimaru," he said flatly. The Four sound ninja turned to the newly arrived teen, "He has decided that I will be placed on this mission."
"What kind of bullshit is that?" Tayuya snapped, "Does he think we can't do our job?"
"Things have gotten complicated," Kimimaro explained with an unchanged tone, paying little mind to Tayuya's earlier outburst. "We will need to mobilize earlier than expected," he went on, "We'll need to get Lord Orochimaru's new body safely to the Sound Village as soon as possible."
Naruto let out a sigh as he knelt next to the small river in the training grounds he frequented. He had tried to get the basic exercises for water control down but it was too hard for him. If things went on like this, he would end up taking days to complete just one exercise.
Using clones would speed up the process exponentially but, due to Ino saying that it wasn't fair to do that, he was forbidden to use them for training. He pouted as he turned to the side, easily spotting Ino glaring at a leaf held tightly on her right hand. From his spot he could see that she wasn't anywhere close to getting the smallest cut in the leaf, served her right for forbidding him from using clones.
"How's it going over there Ino?" he teased with a foxy grin, Ino instantly turning to him with a heated glare. He suppressed a chuckle. She would always get like this when things didn't go her way, of course it would be easy just to ask for help but she wouldn't do that. Not yet anyway. It would take at least one more day for her to finally give in and ask him to lead her in the right direction.
The Chunin turned back to the river and placed his hands above the water's surface. Since he didn't have a natural affinity for water jutsu he had to begin with the simplest of exercises. In this particular one he had to make a whirlpool in the water, no matter how small, in order to start developing his water control.
"Hey Ino," he called with his gaze on the nonmoving water.
Ino sighed, letting the leaf fall from her hand. She couldn't help but notice the lack of progress as it fell on the ground, "What is it?"
Naruto plopped down on the ground, deciding to try the exercise some other time. "How did you learn this? It's freaking hard," he complained.
Ino smiled as she kneeled next to the blond. "Here look," she instructed, placing her hands on the water's surface. Naruto sat up and watched as the water beneath Ino's hands began to swirl, soon forming a small whirlpool, "All you have to do is use the water as an extension of your chakra. Like the chakra in your body, the water flows. Just give it a try while keeping that in mind."
"Alright…" Naruto muttered as he placed his hands on the water's surface, closing his eyes in concentration. He poured chakra through his hands, the water beneath him splashing. His hands glowed with blue chakra as he focused on moving the water.
Ino's eyes widened, she knew where this was going. "Wait Naruto-"
The water beneath Naruto's hands suddenly erupted, leaving the couple soaked.
Naruto looked at his girlfriend in shock, a wave of fear washing over him. "S-sorry about that," he urgently apologized, seeing the state she was in. Her clothes were completely soaked and her face was now covered by her wet hair.
"Naruto…" she growled.
The Chunin let out a nervous laugh, wondering if he would be able to live through the rest of the day.
The blond couple walked through the streets at a steady pace, both carrying happy expressions. Asuma had called for them to have dinner at the barbeque place they frequented. Naruto had been a little surprised to have been invited, since he believed it was a kind of team meeting, but Ino simply smiled and told him to go with her.
The two walked hand in hand, both of them liking the touch. Naruto spared a glance at his girlfriend, a small smile forming on his face. It was thanks to her that he had gotten great friends. Sure he talked to Shikamaru and Choji before but it was only on rare occasions, he never imagined that he would get close to them. It had gotten to the point where he actually preferred being with them than with his team, which wouldn't be a surprise because of earlier incidents.
"What?" Ino muttered in confusion, "Do I have something on my face?"
Realizing he had been staring, Naruto turned to the road ahead. "I was just lost in thought," he admitted.
"Thinking about what?" she wondered, receiving a confused look from the blond. She blushed slightly with a frown on her face, "It's not like I want to know what's going through your head all the time. I was just asking because you were staring at me."
Naruto smirked. "Do you really want to know what I was thinking?" he asked, moving his eyebrows up and down.
Ino blushed and turned away from the Chunin, "Shut up."
"I'm just teasing, no need to get mad," Naruto laughed, earning a glare from the kunoichi.
As she was about to retort, a flash of pink caught her eye. "Sakura?" she called uncertainly. Said girl turned around, her eyes widening slightly before walking over to them.
"We've been running into each other a lot," Sakura pointed out, "Aren't you guys usually training around this time of day?"
"We got the day off," Ino replied with a happy smile, Naruto nodding in agreement.
Sakura nodded absently, her mind clearly elsewhere, "I see…"
Naruto looked at his teammate oddly before feeling a light nudge on his ribs. He turned to see Ino look at him expectedly. Confused, he glanced at Sakura once more and knew exactly what his girlfriend was thinking.
"Hey Sakura," Naruto called, gaining the attention of the young kunoichi, "We're on our way to have dinner with Choji and Asuma-sensei. Wanna come?"
Sakura turned her gaze to the floor before mumbling, "I don't think-"
"What a great idea Naruto!" Ino exclaimed cheerfully. She moved next to Sakura and took hold of her arm. "Let's get going already," she instructed as she began to pull her friend along, "We don't want to keep them waiting."
Naruto walked behind the girls with a grin. Sakura had been feeling down, probably still worried about the situation with Sasuke, and Ino had quickly picked up on it. He had heard that Ino and Sakura had been best friends once upon a time. It was hard to believe with their past rivalry but, seeing them now, he knew that it had been true.
"Come on Naruto!" Ino called from the distance, making the blond realize that he had been spacing out and gotten left behind.
"I'm coming!" he yelled as he jogged over to the two kunoichi, noticing that Ino wasn't pulling Sakura along anymore.
Ino crossed her arms with a pout. "Geez Naruto…" she mumbled before suddenly latching onto his arm. She turned to face him with a small smile, "A boyfriend is supposed to walk like this with his girlfriend."
Naruto chuckled nervously with a light blush on his face, "Y-yeah."
Sakura watched the two with an almost look of sadness on her face. She wondered why she couldn't be in Ino's situation. Having a boyfriend that took care of her and understood her was a dream come true. But, by the looks of things, she wouldn't get her dream anytime soon. Things were bleaker with each passing day and she had a feeling that it would only get worse.
But, glancing at the happy couple, she knew that not all was lost. Naruto had given his word to keep Sasuke in check and she found reassurance in his words. In no time they would go back to being the normal Team 7 again. She would get to spend time with Sasuke and have a chance to be with him. She could only count on the blond to make it a reality.
Danzo sat on a dark room. Only his large chair and few parts of the room were visible, everything else covered by darkness. The elder switched his gaze to the space in front of him, a cloud of smoke suddenly appearing before him. The smoke cleared to reveal a shinobi kneeling over, his face masked by the room's darkness.
"I trust you have come with news on Sasuke," the elder stated.
"Yes sir," the ninja replied, never moving his gaze from the floor, "Just as you asked. We have lowered the security around him and have replaced all of the Anbu guards with Root members."
"Yesterday he fought the jinchuuriki," the ninja went on, getting a look of attention from the elder, "The fight ended with the intrusion of Kakashi Hatake. The Uchiha left and has spent his time on the Uchiha compound."
"Very well. I want you to get lower ranking ninja to look after the Uchiha. Things are calm and there's no use wasting my strongest man on a simple mission," Danzo ordered, "You're dismissed."
The ninja hesitated for a second before looking up slightly. "If I may sir," the ninja began, "Why do you wish for us to keep low security on the Uchiha?"
"It's because of what I have planned," Danzo answered calmly, "A person with a wounded pride is easier to control than a person with no pride. If I let him run around then he'll get in fights he can't win. When that time comes, Sasuke will be lower than dirt. That's when I'll approach him."
Without a reply the Root ninja left in a cloud of smoke. The elder frowned, it wasn't like his ninja to ask questions. They simply followed orders blindly without questioning him. It seemed he had to fix this certain member.
"That was great," Choji smiled as he patted his stomach.
Naruto grinned from his seat, "It wasn't as good as ramen but it was still good."
Ino sighed, "Looks like nothing can take your mind off ramen."
"He's always been like this," Sakura added, shaking her head in disappointment, "Back when Kakashi-sensei took us out to eat, Naruto always ended up finding a way to eat ramen. I thought that he'd be over it by now."
"I'll never get tired of ramen," Naruto frowned, placing a hand over his heart, "I just couldn't live without it."
Asuma watched the young ninjas with an amused smile. "Listen up," he broke in, gaining the attention of the three shinobi, "The reason I brought you guys here is to tell you that I'll be living on an extended mission soon. It will take around a month or two for it to be complete. I just wanted to let you guys know before I left."
Choji smiled. "You picked a great way to say it," he stated happily, "There's no better way to say goodbye than with a good meal."
"You might be right…" Naruto muttered as he placed a hand on his chin. "Maybe I should always get a big meal before I leave for a mission. That way I won't miss ramen as much," he nodded to himself, liking the idea.
"He can be a dork sometimes," Sakura muttered to Ino with an annoyed look on her face.
Ino smiled tenderly as she watched her boyfriend. He might be completely serious while on missions but when in the village, he was back to normal. Her eyes softened as she gazed at Naruto, "But he's my dork."
It was dark as Sasuke stood in front of the training log he used every day. He had a scowl on his face as he gazed at the log, an image of a smirking Naruto appearing before him. Their fight hadn't been finished. He wanted to settle the score once and for all. He was tired of waiting.
His sharingan activated as he gazed around the area, picking up a few chakra signatures. They were watching him, preventing him from unlocking his true potential. He fingered the mark on his shoulder subconsciously.
The time felt right to him, he would get to fight Naruto without anyone interrupting. He had thought about this ever since the time he had been approached. The fight with Naruto had served to show him that he wasn't at his old level. Only Orochimaru could make him stronger now.
Making up his mind he jumped to the roof of his house. A smirk appeared on his face as he kicked off the roof and headed for the village's gate, if he ran then Naruto would be sure to follow. Then they would finally see who was stronger.
The two ninja watching over the Uchiha immediately followed after he made a mad dash out of the compound. By the direction he was taking, it was evident that he was headed out of the village. The brown cloaks they wore fluttered as they ran, their respective white masks shining in the moonlight.
As one of the ninja leapt in the air, a web string latched onto his ankle. The ninja let out a gasp as he was pulled back and slammed into the ground. Quickly getting up, the ninja took in his surrounding, finding himself in the middle of the small nearby forest. A sudden pain struck his chest, making him let out a bloodied scream. His insides burned as he gazed at his chest, finding a kunai stabbed into his it, the world around him suddenly fading and turning into an empty street.
' Genjutsu…' was his last thought as he fell on the ground.
The remaining Root member landed next to his fellow member, finding him to be dead. The ninja suddenly jumped away, dodging a couple of web strings. He took out a kunai and placed it in front of his chest defensibly.
"A sensor, eh?" Kidomaru grinned as he landed in front of the ninja, "You were able to dodge my webs because you sensed the chakra in them, right?"
The ninja said nothing as he put his hands in the tiger seal. "Kai!" he exclaimed but found no difference. He had felt himself fall under a genjutsu just a moment ago and yet there had been nothing done to him.
"Fool," Kidomaru smirked, "It was only a diversion. We only made you think you were under a genjutsu."
The Root member's eyes widened beneath the mask as a white spike suddenly ripped through his stomach, blood splattering from his body as he choked on blood. Behind him stood Kimimaro with a bloodied bone-sword sticking out of his hand. His expression remained stoic as he retracted the weapon and kicked the ninja away.
"Take care of the bodies and meet in the assigned place," Kimimaro ordered as he left the area.
Sakura took a stroll through the village, wanting to sort her thoughts. Dinner with Naruto and Ino had been great but it had only served to show what she didn't have. She was thankful to them for trying to help but she couldn't help the feeling of sadness that washed over her.
She wanted what Naruto and Ino had. She wanted for him to be like Naruto. The kunoichi let out a sigh, his name echoing through her head before she let out a gasp and stopped on her tracks.
"Sasuke…" she muttered in disbelief, suddenly running into him with his back to her. The Uchiha stopped mid-step but didn't turn around, she took this as her chance to speak, "What are you doing out so late?"
The Uchiha didn't respond, instead keeping his gaze away from her.
"Sasuke," she said, a little more forcibly, "Where are you going?"
"I'm leaving," he deadpanned, not bothering to turn around.
Sakura's eyes widened. "W-what?" she looked at him in pure disbelief, "What do you mean leave? You can't just leave us Sasuke!"
"Leave me alone Sakura," Sasuke growled, his fists clenching, "You're annoying."
Tears fell from Sakura's eyes, the events of the last few days suddenly catching up to her. "W-why?" she sobbed, "Why are you like this Sasuke? Why can't we go back to normal?"
Sasuke finally turned around, his right eye covered by the cloth of his headband, much like Kakashi. "I don't care about anyone here," his eye glaring at the annoying girl, "Just walk away and pretend nothing happened."
"N-no!" Sakura yelled, "If you leave then I'll scream!"
Two ninja suddenly appeared next to Sasuke, both wearing similar outfits. One was a girl with red hair and the other was a teen with white shoulder-length hair. Sakura looked at them oddly before suddenly collapsing on the ground, Jirobo standing behind her with a frown.
"Let's go," Kimimaro ordered as his fellow Sound ninja, plus Sasuke, followed after him.
It was dark in Naruto's apartment as he slept peacefully, mumbling a few incoherent words. There was a sudden knock on his door, making him let out an irritated sigh. He tried to go back to sleep but the abuse on his door continued.
"Dammit! I'm coming!" Naruto yelled in anger as he stood from his bed and stomped over to the door. He passed a glance at his window and found it to be dark outside. Whoever woke him up would pay dearly for it.
"What?" Naruto exclaimed as soon as he threw open the door. His angry expression turned to one of concern when seeing a panting Ino standing on his doorstep. Before he could ask what was wrong, Ino looked at him in panic.
"We need to see the Hokage!"