A.N. This is a oneshot, really a challenge to anyone willing to pick it up. i was playing arkam orgins,
and i was enamored with the "joker meets harleen" sequence, the one sequence that gave such a intimate
look inside the joker's mindset regarding batman, and i thought i could re-purpose that into something like what
your about to read. if you wish to pick up this challenge, please tell me so i can read your version.

story start.

Naruto was in the hospital, once again after a particularly brutal beating. The white steril walls and the
constant smell of anti-biotics. It was all very familiar really,
but at the same time, tonight...tonight it was different.

A knock came at the door, and in strode Inochi Yamanaka and Ino Yamanaka.
Both coming up to the bed, Inochi placed his hand upon naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, this is my daughter and tonight she will be performing your psyche test, to get her used to some
of our clans teachings, ok?"

Naruto looked out the window, not responding.
He had Performed a psyche test on naruto each time he had a beating from one of the villagers, and each time
the boy had come out no worse than before. He had no reason to believe tonight was any different.

When naruto looked at the girl, he saw none of the hate, none of the glares, but geniune curiosity. But he didnt see a possible friend
the village would never allow it, no, what naruto saw was a plaything, someone he could manipulate into his corner,
someone who could be molded into nothing more than a mindless drone happily doing everything he wanted.
She would be his!

As Inochi strode out the room, young Ino sat at naruto's bedside, slightly cringing at the injuries.

"Rough night huh?" Ino asked nervously

Naruto look at her right in the eye and said

"Tell me something dear, have you every had a .day"

"And what do you mean by that" ino asked curiously

"You of all people should know, there's nothing so cruel...as memory.
The pointy, biting little thunderbolts
unwanted party crashers, screaming though your synapses
Unescapable, unrelenting...not at all friendly
YOU CANT EVEN ESCAPE INTO MADNESS!"

taking a deep breath as all the memories of all the beatings, the abuse, everything came flooding back to him.

"And then you meet someone that changes your life
and you feel you dont even know who you are anymore
isnt it funny how one little encounter can cleave off little pieces of your past and persona until you
rethink your whole identity- and as you realize how foolish it all is
your laughter reverberates off the walls of your own emptiness"

Ino blinked confusingly at the rant

"ohhhkaayyy... im going to need more specifics. How about we try some word
association"

With unhidden faux enthuesiasm, naruto replied with

"That sounds...delightful"

"Acceptance"

"Now thats a little trite, isn't it?"

Ino giggled "Come on baka, be serious, lets try another one...Fate"

"He he, you want to know something funny? i used to think of fate as evil, predetermined,
not by some higher power,no, but by the rules of human nature.
But TONIGHT thats all changed"

"Whats Changed"

Manic glee shown in naruto's eyes

"Have you ever had the feeling that your entire life has been building towards this ONE moment"

"Is...is that how you feel"

"Well now, yes, now i realize that all the battles, the bad days, the brutalities, it was all the hand of
fate at work"

"So now you see fate differently?"

"oh absolutely. Now i understand. There are no chance encounters. It was all meant to be, everything
leading up to who i met tonight"

"so you met someone special?"

"Yes, and you might say its changed everything"

"everything?"

"Absolutely, i mean, do you realize what a vile world we live in?
how lonely it is to wade through all the wretch and filth an your own"

"It IS kinda lonely, isnt it?"

"of course, of course! You understand! Even in a crowd of other screwballs, you're so alone that you can kick,
claw,yell, scream at the top of your lungs, and no one cares, its like you dont even exist. i feel...
sometimes i feel like i'm trapped on this path leading to nowhere, into just emptiness. But now..."

"now you feel like youve got someone by your side, to share the journey with you"
finished Ino, growing increasingly flattered and happy.
"and how does that make you feel?"

"I feel Adrift, floating, like someone's pulled the stopper on my reality and
im sucked down the drain into something new. Its all very exciting really.
He he he
you wouldnt know what that feels like, im sure"

"I...I might actually...Can you tell me more about how this person makes you feel" Ino asked, her heart in her throat.

"It's like meeting someone i can actually relate to...which believe me, dear, ive never felt before"

Ino giggled

"you understand, you're someone who's not afraid to let go and fall"

Ino giggled harder

"Free falling, and i didnt pack a chute He he! Do you know what i mean?"

"Yes, yes i do" ino said, completely enamored with the boy

"I figured you would"

"So...May i ask...who is this person"

"oooh someone VERY special, but whose real name i dont even know yet"

"M..my name is Ino, Ino Yamanaka"

"What a pretty name, your friends must be very jealous"

Bashful, Ino replied "oh, i dont have many friends"

"Well, Ino, you got one now"
Said naruto, and as he smiled, his smile was distorted by a wretched, glasgow smile