Before we get started, I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to you all! This story just recently hit over 600 followers, 476 favourites and 98 reviews (so close to 100!). That's amazing! I really appreciate those of you who have stuck with me since the beginning of this rewrite (unsure how many of you have been here since the start of the original version, but if you're out there, you're fucking awesome!) and I hope you are still enjoying the story!

"Talking."
'Thinking.'
Flashback.
"Kyūbi/Jutsu."

A/N: I was browsing the wiki and when I read Ino's page again, I realised I missed that she had water as a chakra nature and that her fire was anime only! Not that I really care if something is anime only, but I suppose for the sake of a little diversity, I'll go back and change it in the chapter so that she has water and earth while the other two have fire and earth. My bad!

Also, before I forget, let me tell you guys how god damn dumb AND super intelligent I am at the same time. Remember in the last chapter when Asuma said that Naruto having water release makes sense cause the Uzumaki clan is from the Land of Whirlpools? Well I just looked up Kushina's wiki page (surprisingly for the first time) and turns out both her nature types are wind and water. I didn't even mean to match Naruto's types to hers, and I guess that also means I unknowingly made her water release make sense. It seems my brain switches between low IQ and high IQ, there is no in between for me.

Chapter 27: The Love Between Two Damaged Souls

Naruto woke up the next day to the bright sun streaming in through her window, casting a light glow across her face, like it did most days. The girl sat up and stretched her arms above her head, yawning and blinking away the last of her sleepiness. She looked out her window like she always did, frowning at the sight of the Sandaime's rock face seemingly staring right back at her before shaking her head to clear away any sad thoughts that may try to creep their way. Naruto pushed the bed covers away from herself and swung her legs over the edge, her bare feet hitting the cold wooden floors. It was time to start her morning routine.

Ever since learning how to use the Kage Bunshin jutsu, Naruto liked to find creative ways to make her day easier and one of those was having a clone make her bed and set out her clothes while she did her morning exercises. After finishing them, she would take a quick shower and her clone would make her breakfast for her to eat when she came out. Finally, she would brush her teeth while her clone brushed her hair and put it into her usually ponytail. It was all a very efficient process and she was rather proud of herself for coming up with it.

About an hour after waking up, Naruto was tying her headband around her waist and slinging her travel bag over her shoulders. In it were the essentials for a long mission: water canteen, food pills, some snack bars (for when the food pills weren't quite enough) and, sealed in a scroll, her sleeping equipment. Also, her Amaterasu scroll was placed in her pouch, of course. Taking another look back at her apartment before leaving, checking to make sure all her windows were shut and locked, she closed the door and locked it, smirking to herself as she pocketed the key. New day, new mission, different teammates, no Sasuke. Ah, she was going to enjoy it, however long it took.

"Naruto, don't do that with Sasuke. Don't pretend like you hate him more than anything, else you'll quickly find out that time is short and when it finally runs out… all you'll be filled with is regrets."

The Uzumaki frowned as she recalled her sensei's words to her the previous day. 'Pretend'? Was she pretending that she hated him? Or was there something else going on there? She supposed that, much like her sensei, she wasn't very good with personal feelings. 'They're not important anyway, certainly not worth getting confused about. What does matter is getting stronger and fulfilling my goal and if 'personal feelings' get in the way, then they must be crushed like everything else.'

Naruto jumped over the railing of her apartment building, landing on the street below without making a noise. She almost laughed seeing the startled faces of the civilians going about their day before breaking into a light jog towards the main gate where she would be meeting the rest of her squad for the mission. She made it about halfway before running into a familiar face.

Standing there, leaning against a pole and wearing his usual green kimono and red haori, was Jiraiya the Gama Sennin. Looking up from a book he was reading, the man smiled upon seeing Naruto approach. "Hey there!" he called, shutting the book and tucking it away into one of his pouches.

"Ero-sennin? What are you doing here?" the girl asked, stopping in front of him. "I thought you had left the village already."

"I'm leaving later today but wanted to see you off before I go. I'll be gone for about three months or so, but we'll be continuing your training as soon as I get back, I promise," he said, ignoring the nickname. The Uzumaki nodded. There were a few moments of awkward silence between them before the Sannin spoke up again. "How is it?"

"Hm?"

"The mark, under your bandages," he pointed to the white material still wrapped around her neck and shoulder.

"Oh. It's fine, I guess. I haven't used it since the Akatsuki encounter, if that's what you're worried about."

"Not even against Sasuke? I heard how heated that got, excuse the pun."

Naruto chuckled. "No, not even against him."

"Well I'm glad. Kakashi did a great job sealing it, can't say I could've done much better. Him as your sensei and you as his student was a fine combination, I must say. I think you're good for each other."

"That's funny, I've been hearing that sort of thing recently. Are you and Asuma-sensei his advocates, or something?" she asked, but upon seeing his confused face, she dismissed it. "Never mind, doesn't matter. I should probably get going now, pretty important mission I have to get to." Jiraiya nodded waving her off before pulling out the same book as before, assumedly picking up where he left off. The Uzumaki turned and continued her journey to the gate but a sudden urge came over her. Just as she was about to turn the corner, she paused. Jiraiya looked up, wondering what made Naruto stop. "Ah… Ero-sennin?"

"Yeah? What's up?" he asked, still choosing to ignore the nickname. Maybe someday she would gain some more respect for him.

"I just wanted to say… thank you. For everything. For convincing me to get Tsunade with you, for teaching me the Rasengan, for…" the blonde half-turned towards him, but kept her eyes to the ground. "For just being there, I guess." Jiraiya almost dropped his book, not at all expecting Naruto to say anything like that to him. "Well, anyway, I gotta go so… goodbye."

The Sannin's shock quickly turned to joy, a warm smile blossoming on his face as he watched her go. Something must have happened for her attitude to suddenly change like that, but whatever it was, he was thankful for it. 'I wonder…' he thought, looking up to the sun still rising over the Konoha horizon. 'Am I right, this time? Could she be the Yogen no Ko, the Child of Prophecy?' the man chuckled to himself, his gaze shifting over to one specific face on the Hokage Rock. 'Only time will tell, eh Minato?'

Team 10's sensei sat on the low wall that lined the path up to the large Konoha gate, reading the mission scroll over a few extra times, Mitarashi Anko sitting not too far away from him on the same wall, eating some dango. He wasn't sure if it was because the Hokage had expressed her suspicions or if it was his own thoughts that made him feel this way, but something about the entire thing just didn't sit right with him. Even though it was true that many saw Naruto's extraordinary summon, plenty of other ninja were already far, far more famous and since tales of Naruto's fight against Gaara were able to reach the island so quickly then surely the inhabitants would already be familiar with other summoning ninja? While it very well could simply be a case of coincidental timing that whoever wrote out the mission already had Naruto in mind after the Chūnin Exams, there was still enough room in the back of his mind for that nagging doubt. He was so engrossed in his thoughts he almost forgot to flick the growing ash pile on the end of his cigarette before it fell and burned a hole in the scroll.

Hearing Anko greet someone, Asuma rolled the mission scroll up and put it back into his bag. Looking up, he smiled as he saw the Uzumaki herself jogging towards them. "Good morning, Naruto. You got here a little early," Asuma stubbed out the last of his cigarette before throwing it into a nearby bin. He'd done that action so many times now that he knew exactly how to extinguish it enough so that it wouldn't set any flammable contents of the bin on fire.

"Yeah well I guess I'm pretty excited to be out of the village for a while, it's been too long," the girl replied, placing her backpack against the low wall before performing some light stretching. The man had to briefly commend Team 7's kunoichi, no one on his team would use the free time before a mission to physically prepare themselves.

"Same here. Ever since I had to be a proctor for the Chūnin Exams I've been cooped up in here. Time to finally uncoil and kick some ass. I didn't even get to interrogate any Suna invaders before the entire village surrendered to us! What a waste," Anko huffed, crossing her arms.

"Ibiki still hasn't let you test out your new interrogation jutsu, huh?" asked the Uzumaki, smirking when the older woman began pouting. That answered her question.

"Good morning, everyone!" came a voice from nearby. The three present ninja turned to see three more heading their way: the genin of Team 10. It was Ino who had shouted, now running towards them- or, more specifically, towards Naruto while Shikamaru and Chōji kept their walking pace. Finally reaching her, the Yamanaka greeted Naruto again. "Good morning, Naruto-chan." She received a nod in return.

"You guys are a little early too, huh? Excellent, that means we can set off now," said Asuma as he stood up, smiling at the sound of the Nara's tired groaning. "What's wrong, Shikamaru? You don't think we'll have any fun on our mission?" Asuma just received a 'tch' in return from the boy. The Sarutobi then pulled out a map from his bag and used his finger to trace the route the group would be taking. "We'll be making our way south for the most part, until we reach the narrower section of the Land of Fire, then we'll turn east into the Land of Forests and continue until we reach the northern coastline. From there we'll make a stop at the port town to rest up before hiring a boat to take us to the island. Any questions?" asked the jōnin. He looked over the faces of the present ninja, satisfied that they all seemed to understand the plan. "All right, let's move!"

About Half a Day Later…

The group of Konoha ninja had finally reached the port town Asuma had mentioned. Unlike the mission to Wave where they were escorting a civilian (an old, drunk civilian, at that) they had the freedom to travel through the trees at top speed, cutting their journey into a fraction of what it would have been if they were forced to walk. The ninja were tired and were looking forward to getting a room at the local inn, but as soon as they had taken one step into the town, something seemed… off.

It was a small port town inhabited almost exclusively by long-time residents, almost no tourists or travellers passing through, but still it was too quiet. The streets were barren of any people, not even any cats or dogs running around, and there were no welcoming signs on any of the shops. It was like a ghost town.

The Konoha ninja proceeded through the streets with their guards up. While there likely wasn't a need to feel threatened by the vacancy, it just reminded Asuma of his previously mentioned feelings about the mission. Eventually, however, the group found the inn by the seaside which appeared to be owned and operated by the woman behind the counter, judging by the fact that there didn't seem to be any other employees around. She looked to be between forty and fifty years old with dark greying hair, some wrinkles on her face and her 'older' fashion such as the slightly dirty white apron she wore and the loafers on her feet typically found on the retired women of Konoha. Overall, she seemed non-threatening, except for the smile on her face. At first glance it was normal, expected of a person running a customer service business, but upon further examination it looked to be rather stiff and forced. Perhaps she was simply tired of working with customers all day, but then again, would she even be getting customers? It was a ghost town outside, after all.

"Welcome! It's so lovely to see so many customers at once! Would you like to book some rooms? I have some wonderful rooms with an excellent seaside view available. They're to die for!" she exclaimed joyfully. Too joyfully, according to Naruto, but it seemed their jōnin sensei either didn't notice or didn't care.

"That sounds great!" he replied, reaching for his wallet in one of his pockets. The man turned and assessed the group: three boys, three girls. "Are the rooms big enough to have three in one? If so, I'd like to pay for two."

"Yes, of course! Each room is only 130 ryō so for two, that's just 260 ryō. What a bargain, right?!" the woman cheered. [1]

"Uh… are you sure? That's cheaper than what my usual pack of cigarettes cost," Asuma said, confused and almost accidentally dropping his wallet. That was dirt cheap, even for such a quiet place. How on earth does this woman make enough of a living to manage the upkeep of this place? The inn wasn't small by any means, in fact it had two additional floors on top of the current one meaning there were plenty of rooms, and the inside was furnished rather luxuriously, for a port town anyway.

The counter between the woman and the ninja was made of a dark, rich wood and varnished perfectly, not a single scratch on it, and the cloth draped over the top was a fancy royal blue. The curtains on the windows, on each side of the front doors, matched the cloth's blue colour but had a silver trim at the bottom which had been delicately sewed on. There were fresh flowers placed in an elegant vase on the corner of the counter, too. Baby pink carnations, all blooming brightly with not a single petal or leaf out of place. The look of the place contrasted against the woman's appearance with, like said before, her dirty apron.

Naruto shivered at the strange vibes she was getting from the inn, her heightened senses given to her by being a jinchūriki were growling in dissatisfaction at her current situation.

"Absolutely! We may not get many visitors around here, but my husband owns his own fishery company nearby. It's small but the whole town are his customers so he earns more than enough to help me keep this place going, allowing me to have such low prices that people just can't turn down a stay here!" when she finished, her mouth widened into a toothy grin. For someone who supposedly earned so much money and was happy to spend it decorating his wife's business, you'd think he could spare some cash on some good toothpaste. Most of the woman's teeth were yellow and she was even missing a couple on the bottom row.

'Her appearance points to her living in poverty, and yet this whole building screams 'I have money!'. What's going on here?' the Uzumaki wondered to herself and when glancing at her genin companions it seemed they were thinking the same thing. Just as she was about to voice her thoughts, Asuma pulled the money from his wallet and placed it on the counter.

"I guess we'll take the two rooms then," he said, much to the delight of the owner who quickly scooped up the notes and shoved them in the large pocket at the front of her apron.

"Wonderful, wonderful! Please follow me to your rooms!" she said as she scurried out from behind the counter, leading them up the first flight of stairs. "Our best and biggest rooms are at the top. I'm sure you'll love them, they're to die for!"

'Yeah, you said that already…' thought Naruto as she reluctantly followed, taking up position at the rear of the group. 'Why hasn't Asuma-sensei or Anko pointed out how strange this whole situation is?'

"It's unlikely that they haven't noticed so they're probably waiting until the enemy let down their guard and show their hand. Remember, a shinobi waits for the perfect opportunity to strike, not a moment before or after."

'True. Okay, I'll follow their lead for now.'

Eventually the group was led to the end of the corridor on the top floor to the inn's supposedly best rooms, the doors of which were on either side of the corridor and were facing each other. On the way there, they had seen no sign of any decorations on the walls. No paintings, no eye-catching wallpaper, no rugs and no signs on the doors, just plain wood and plastered walls, like all the effort had been put into the foyer and nowhere else.

"Here we are!" the woman exclaimed, gesturing to the doors with both arms. "Your group can split between these ones here so the boys and girls can have their own privacy!"

'Yeah, yeah, privacy for each sex that's understandable- wait,' suddenly it clicked in the Uzumaki's head. She was too distracted by the strange décor earlier to pick up on what Asuma had said. Girls in one room, boys in the other. 'That means… I'm gonna have to share a room with Anko and Ino. Oh, come ON!'

Anko OR Ino she could deal with since she could simply make sure they were on opposites sides of the room, but judging by the distance between the doors of the other rooms, their one wasn't going to be big enough for all three of them to lay their futons down without a very small amount of space between them. It was too late for the Uzumaki to protest, however, since the woman was already leaving the group to it. Naruto sighed and accepted her fate, stepping into the room after Anko and Ino. As she turned to close the door, she looked back to see Shikamaru also closing the door to the boys' room. He gave her a respectful salute, acknowledging the struggles Naruto was about to go through and silently wishing her good luck.

"Ah, a bed!" shouted Anko, causing Naruto to whip her head around in alarm as the door clicked shut, seeing the Snake Mistress drop her bag on the floor and fling herself onto the mattress of the bed closer to the window on the opposite wall. Just like the corridor, the room was fairly plain with only the minimum amount of furniture: a table against the wall to Naruto's left, a square rug on the floor that was only a couple shades darker than the pale wood floor, a nightstand between the two beds- two beds?!

Much to the blonde's horror, the room was only a double, meant for two people or this case, three people with two sharing. Normally two people of the same gender sharing a bed for practicality wouldn't be such an issue, but these were Anko and Ino and Naruto already knew there was no way those two would be kind enough to share with each other, and if the Uzumaki was being honest, she wouldn't want them to anyway. Ino wouldn't survive the night.

The Yamanaka placed her bag on the foot of the other bed before taking a seat next to it, closer to the pillow, and gently bounced up and down a few times like she was testing the mattress. Seemingly satisfied, the pale blonde removed her shoes and tucked them against the side of the bed on the floor. The Uzumaki stood between the two beds, looking back and forth from Anko to Ino multiple times. Seeing this, the purple haired woman moved to lay on her side, propping her head up with her arm and patted the space next to her with her free hand, smirking. Ino, also noticing this dilemma the Uzumaki was facing, blushed and refused to make eye contact with her. Naruto's eyebrow twitched.

"I'm sleeping on the floor," she said matter-of-factly, removing her own bag and placing it on the floor before kneeling next to it and removing one of the scrolls. She quickly unsealed it, revealing her rolled up futon but before she could pick it up, a snake latched onto it and pulled it away from her. "Hey!"

"No futon! This'll be your last chance to use a bed before having to sleep on Kami only knows what on that island!" shouted Anko as she opened the window, tossing the bedding as far out as possible.

"My futon!" yelled Naruto in alarm. She dashed to the window, pushing Anko out of the way, but it was too late. The Uzumaki watched dejectedly as the futon floated in the sea for a few moments before soaking up some of the water and sinking due to the added weight. "Anko…"

"Hm?" the woman's mouth had turned up into a small, mischievous smile.

"You're crazy, you know that? I know everyone always says it and most of the time they're just exaggerating, but I really mean it this time. You're insane, absolutely nuts, 100% deranged."

"Thank you, I appreciate the compliments."

"THOSE WERE NOT COMPLIMENTS!" the Uzumaki shouted, grabbing the woman's coat and dragging the woman closer to her level. Well, she tried to anyway. First of all, the older woman was a lot taller (almost an entire foot taller) and she was physically stronger, meaning all Naruto really did was pull herself further up, much to Anko's amusement. "What the fuck am I supposed to do now, huh?! Where am I gonna sleep when we're on the island?!"

"Just like tonight, ya can sleep with me," the Snake Mistress replied with a wink and a slow drag of her tongue across her bottom lip. Naruto's face reddened with almost every word and at first Anko thought she was blushing, but then the girl gave her an intense glare.

'Oh, little foxy is getting mad. This is going to be fun,' thought Anko before grabbing Naruto by the collar of her t-shirt and tossing her onto the bed, throwing herself onto the bed immediately after. Anko straddled Naruto's waist and placed her hands on either side of the blonde's shoulders to hold herself up. "Narutooo, love meeee," the Mitarashi pleaded, puckering her lips up and pretending to try and kiss the girl.

The Uzumaki, not realising that Anko wasn't being serious, let out an enraged scream and threw her arms up to push the woman away. "Get off me, creep!" she shouted, trying in vain to slap and punch Anko's shoulders and arms. Even when Naruto tried summoning clones, Anko's reflexes were too quick and the clones were easily dispelled by quick swipes of a senbon needle or a kunai, and of course Naruto wasn't going to use any other of her jutsu against her. She didn't even want to try hurting Anko. "You don't wanna love me, you just wanna drink my blood or something!"

"Aw, ya know I only do that to the people I love!"

"THEN HOW COME KURENAI-SENSEI ISN'T DEAD?!"

It was then that Naruto and Anko remembered there was another person in the room. The two slowly turned their heads to face the other bed, seeing Ino there staring at them in both shock and disbelief. Her mouth was agape like she was trying to find the words to describe what was going on but couldn't. After a few moments, she was able to collect herself, her face red much like Naruto's was about a minute ago, but for a different reason. "I… I mean… I knew you and Naruto-chan were close, Anko-sensei, but… and… Kurenai-sensei too?"

Naruto's face changed to one of horror. "W-wait! No! That's not what's happening! Just listen!"

"I'll… I'll give you guys some space…" the Yamanaka quickly slipped her shoes back on and almost skipped to the door in her hurry to leave.

"Yeah and forget ya heard 'Nai-chan's name mentioned here!" shouted Anko after her. The Uzumaki was going to, for once in her life, beg Ino to stay but Anko's hand over her mouth prevented her from doing that. The platinum blonde sent a sorrowful look to Naruto before closing the door behind her. There was no way she was going to get in between that, even if it did hurt her heart to leave them to do… well, whatever they were going to do. She liked Naruto, most definitely was in love with her, actually, but what kind of person would she be if she got in the way of her happiness with someone else? Even if it was weird… and possibly illegal? To be fair, the laws surrounding the legal maturity of ninja were a little vague. If you were old enough to fight and kill for your village, you were old enough to do a lot of things normal kids can't, but she wasn't sure if it included… that, especially with someone she was sure was at least ten years older. Oh well.

"Looks like we're alone now, little foxy-chan," Anko whispered, emphasising the '-chan' in a way that made Naruto's blood curdle and sent shivers down her spine, but not in a good way. Just as the Uzumaki thought the woman was going to do something horrible to her, she huffed and sat up, removing her hand from Naruto's mouth. "It's not that I don't like Ino, I just wanted to have a private conversation with ya."

"Wait… what…? Was this all a damn act?!" the jinchūriki glared up at Anko once again.

The Snake Mistress laughed, swinging her leg over the girl so she was no longer straddling Naruto, now kneeling on the bed next to her instead. "Yeah, it was. I was pretty good though, right? Pretty convincing?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows. "I had to do something to get Ino out the room and since I know she's got a huge lady-boner for ya I thought pretending like I was gonna have my way with ya would do the trick, and it did!"

"So, you don't want to… you know… with me?" asked the Uzumaki, sitting up and letting out a sigh of relief. She crossed her legs as she leaned back to rest against the headboard.

"Nah, I was just kidding… unless…?"

"NO!"

Anko was sent into a fit of laughter that almost sent her crashing to the floor. "Aw man, you're too easy!" the woman wiped a non-existent tear from her eye after she calmed down. "Ah, but back to business. What I really wanted to talk to you about was the mark on your neck."

Naruto's body tensed up, her eyes narrowing somewhat suspiciously. "Why? I've already had chats about it with people, which I'm sure you know, so what more is there to talk about? I know not to use it because of how dangerous it is-"

"I'm sure you've already been given a full list of the terms and conditions of a Curse Seal and the physical effects it can have on your body, but what I wanted to talk to you about is something neither Kakashi nor Jiraiya-sama could ever begin to understand," Anko moved to sit in front of Naruto, crossing her legs so their knees were almost touching. The woman no longer had an amused expression on her face, she was serious now but also… sad? Naruto couldn't really remember the last time she had seen Anko look like this. "The psychological aspects, how the Curse Mark makes you feel. I know that whenever you use it you feel so powerful, easily ten times as powerful as you've ever felt before. You're stronger, faster and your jutsu is more powerful too, but… it all comes at a cost. The temptation to let it take over only grows stronger the more you use it, and while the physical side effects are still serious, the most dangerous aspect of the Curse Mark is how difficult it can be to refuse the power.

"The more you use the Curse Mark, the more corroded your mind becomes, making it easier for that… that bastard to influence you. Kakashi's seal on it only works to a certain extent, you have to be the one that decides how strong of a hold his cursed chakra has on you. Fighting it is just as much of a mental battle as it is a physical battle, and I want- no, need you to know that no matter what, I will always be here to help you through it, okay?" Anko then did something unexpected: she reached out to Naruto and took the girl's hand in her own, squeezing it comfortably tight. "I would sooner die, crawl my way back out of whatever hellish afterlife I'm destined for, and rip that freak apart with my bare heads before ever letting him take you. I will fight for you until my very last breath because I… I…" the Mitarashi's eyes drifted downwards, suddenly feeling embarrassed about that outpour of emotion.

Naruto's eyes had remained wide and full of bewilderment from the moment Anko had started seemingly speaking from her heart. Usually whenever Anko showed her kind and caring side, it was through implicit gestures and actions, almost never words. It just wasn't what the woman was good at, so she avoided heartfelt speeches like they were a damn plague, and yet here she was doing just that.

Naruto had always known that Anko had a complicated relationship with her emotions, mainly due to her history with Orochimaru. She had a secret soft side that she kept hidden behind a loud, stubborn and brash exterior, refusing to let anyone except a handful of people in. While there was a semblance of her "craziness" that was real, it was mostly for show in order to deter people from wanting to get closer to her in fear of her getting attached to the wrong person (like what happened with Orochimaru). As far as Naruto knew, only she, Ibiki and Kurenai had been able to crack the shell around the Snake Mistress' heart.

The Uzumaki returned the squeezing gesture with her own hand, giving a small smile to the purple-haired woman when she lifted her head to meet Naruto's gaze. "I know," said the girl, acknowledging how Anko felt about her without requiring the tokubetsu jōnin to say it outright.

There was a love there that could only be experienced between two individuals who had gone through the ordeals they had. One had been lured into a close mentor-student partnership by a man she had admired and aspired to be like, only to be abandoned by him and treated like dirt by the village she had been tricked into 'betraying' (however brief the 'betrayal' was) and the other was cursed to the endure the village's hatred since birth. They were both damaged outcasts resulting from events that they had little to no control over. Did they love each? Yes. Were they in love? Despite what Ino may or may not think, they were not. Anko and Naruto, if asked to define their feelings, would not be able to answer with something as simple as platonic love, however they also could not say it was a sisterly love either. It was complicated, like many things in their lives.

Like she hadn't surprised the jinchūriki enough that night, Anko wrapped her arms around Naruto and pulled her into a hug. Naruto let out a quiet 'oof' from the sudden embrace, her face being pressed up against the Mitarashi's shoulder. Even though hugs weren't quite to the Uzumaki's tastes, Naruto wrapped her own arms around Anko's waist and adjusted her face so that at least everything above her mouth wasn't being held against the woman and she could actually breathe.

At first, Naruto thought the hug was just for Anko to show her love again, but then then she felt it, the ever so slight trembling of the Snake Mistress' form. Was she trying not to cry? Was that why she had pulled Naruto into her? To subtly hide her face?

Naruto sighed, closing her eyes and letting herself relax a little. First, Konohamaru needed the comfort and so she forced herself outside of her comfort zone to provide that for him, and now she's doing the same for Anko, except this time it came with a feeling of guilt. Anko was terrified of Orochimaru taking the blonde away, that was clear. He had caused almost irreparable psychological damage to her and now he was threatening to take away one of Anko's few treasured people to exploit for his own gain… and here Naruto was, seriously considering going with him willingly. Not only would it be a betrayal to the village (although she couldn't really care less about that), her team and her friends, it would also be a betrayal to Anko. Just imagining what the woman's reaction would be almost broke Naruto's heart.

Without even realising it, the Uzumaki's hands tightened around the hold they had on the tokubetsu jōnin's trench coat, a soft look in her eye. Could she do that Anko? Could she break the woman that meant so much to her? Would it all really be worth it?

"What does matter is getting stronger and fulfilling my goal and if 'personal feelings' get in the way, then they must be crushed like everything else."

Naruto's thoughts from earlier in the day came back to her, and immediately her gaze hardened. 'I have suffered a tremendous amount of pain for too long to just throw away the justice, the revenge, that I deserve. What is the love I receive from a few in comparison to the YEARS of hatred I have endured from that disgusting village?'

She ignored the pained mumbling coming from the Kyūbi's cage.

Suddenly, Anko pulled back and held Naruto at arm's length, the blonde quickly plastering a smile on her face to hide her thoughts. "Wow! So, uh… that was weird. Let's never do that again."

The Uzumaki chuckled at the awkward expression on Anko's face. She was flustered and avoiding eye-contact and before Naruto could tease her and call her out on it, Anko had pulled her bag up and started rummaging through it. "What are you looking for?" asked Naruto.

"My deck of cards. We're gonna play Daifugō until I forget that I let you see me act all mushy and pathetic. Come on, summon a clone! We need at least three players!"

Meanwhile…

Ino sighed as the door clicked shut behind her before leaning back against it, lifting her head up and shutting her eyes. Seeing Anko and Naruto being so… close, was difficult for her. She almost groaned at the thought of having to sleep in the same room as the two of them while they shared a bed. Or would Naruto share with her instead? There was still a chance, she supposed.

The Yamanaka was brought out of her daytime nightmare by the sound of the opposite door also opening and clicking shut, the other person looking up in surprise at seeing her there.

"Oh, you wanted some 'me' time too, I take it?" asked the Nara, shoving his hands in his pockets.

Ino looked back awkwardly at the door behind her. "Uh… yeah, something like that."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrow but decided against pressing for details. Chances were the knowledge was more burdensome than the lack of knowledge. "Well, I was just gonna head up to the roof to watch the clouds while the sun is still up. Do you… wanna come with me?" he asked, pointing his thumb towards the window at the end of the corridor. "Usually when I do some cloud watching I'm by myself, or with Chōji, but seeing as I'm gonna be cooped in with him right next to me overnight, I'm gonna get in as much time away from him as I can."

The platinum blonde let out a small giggle. Both she and Shikamaru cared very much about Chōji, but sometimes the boy could be a little too much to be around nonstop for hours, especially for a lazy introvert like Shikamaru. To be fair, the Nara also needed time away from both Ino, and sometimes Asuma, in order to "recharge his social battery", as Ino occasionally liked to call it.

"Sure!" replied the Yamanaka. Maybe a boring, but peaceful, activity to pass the time would do her some good since the last time she got some real relaxation time was before the Chūnin Exams.

The two members of Team 10 made their way over to the window, Shikamaru prying it open before hopping onto the ledge and using his chakra to stick to the side of the building, Ino following close behind. When they made it to the top, Shikamaru held his hand out to Ino, which the girl happily took to pull herself up and onto the roof. Taking a moment to breathe in the sights, Ino looked around at all the other buildings in the town.

The inn was definitely the largest, making it easy to look over everything. Most of the buildings appeared to be residential and only one or two stories high, made out of the same wood and of similar architectural designs, all in horizontal rows with the occasional alleyway between buildings. The inn itself was located next to the seaside, four long docks placed along the coast, a couple of boats tried to each of them. They were nothing impressive, but they were definitely made for fishing judging by the abundance of fishing nets tossed either on or near them. Something that made Ino pause, however, was the lack of people. Since the group found the inn rather quickly, they never took the time to explore so she had just assumed that they happened to pass by the quieter areas, but evidently the entire town was a quiet area.

"Hey, Shikamaru, is it just me or is it weird that we seem to be the only people here?" she asked, crossing her arms.

The Nara had already picked a spot on the roof to lay down and, without looking anywhere else, said, "A little. I tried to bring it up with Asuma-sensei, but he just said we were probably being paranoid."

The Yamanaka frowned at that. "Really?"

"Yup," replied the boy, popping the 'p'. Ino just shrugged and move to lay down next to her teammate, crossing her arms behind her head to use them as a pillow. "So, what's on your mind?" he inquired, still not looking anywhere other than the towards the sky.

"Huh?"

"You looked all mopey when I saw you which is really not like you, so talk to me." There was silence for a few moments before eventually Ino started to giggle again. "Oh, come on, I try to take on my new responsibilities as a chūnin and check in on my teammates, and this is the thanks I get? You laughing at me?" the fake irritation in his voice only made the girl laugh more.

"Sorry, sorry! It's just that not only is this the first time you've invited me cloud watching, something that I've only ever see you do with Chōji, but you're also asking me to burden you with my worries? This really is so not like you!"

Shikamaru let out a 'tch' before playfully smacking Ino's side with the back of his hand. "All right, remind me to never do this again, I'll just let you get all moody and depressed," the Nara sounded annoyed, but the smile on his lips told a different story.

The genin and chūnin sat in silence for a little while longer after the blonde's laughter died down and, in that time, Ino could have sworn she saw a cloud that looked exactly like a pig, reminding her of what Sakura used to call her in their usual exchange of insults. Ino's face dropped at the intrusive thought. 'How much time did Sakura and I waste chasing after Sasuke? Even if he did end up liking one of us, it never would have been worth losing our friendship with each other.'

Thinking about her and Sakura's 'love rivalry' brought up her current feelings again, the ones she had for the other female genin in their group. It had been a while since they'd had a proper talk with each other and Ino had been looking forward to this mission since she realised she would get to spend a lot of time with Naruto over the next few days (at least), but now that she was getting her chance, she suddenly had no idea what to say. That's not to say she didn't have any topics to bring up (she sure had a lot), it's that she didn't know how to bring them up. Maybe she could talk to Shikamaru about it? It probably wasn't the kind of conversation he was expecting, but after hearing Naruto's declaration after her fight with Gaara, he was part of this too now.

A/N: Sorry to cut it off here guys but I'm already at 7k words and if I had kept writing then there wouldn't have been an appropriate place for me to stop for another 3k words or so and I like to keep my chapters between 5k and 8k. However, what you guys can have to look forward to is:
1. The 'not enough beds so we have to share!' trope (a favourite of mine)
2. Shikamaru and Ino having a heart-to-heart conversation
3. An update on what Sakura and Sasuke are up to
4. Some fighting!

I also hope you all enjoyed the interaction between Anko and Naruto! I've been looking forward to writing them both being emotional with each other, but it hasn't really fit in with the plot until now. After Orochimaru's attack on the village, killing the Sandaime and Jiraiya and Tsunade's confrontation with him, the threat of Naruto being taken by him is now really high, higher than it was when Anko was last around (the chapter 'Becoming a Summoner') and so it's only now that Anko felt like she really needed to talk to Naruto about it.

Also just before I forget, I know I said I don't care much for the first few chapters and so I don't want to go back and fix them (there are some mistakes, the writing isn't that great, the dialogue is a bit stiff) but I guess my love for this story has increased because now I actually want to go back and rewrite them (lmao 2nd rewrite). I mean they're definitely better than the original version (by FAR) but I want to be happy with the chapters I come out with. The rewrites won't be major, just some updated language and more scene fleshing out, so it shouldn't take me very long but still, I'll do it gradually, so it won't interfere with the rate of posting latest chapters.

IMPORTANT
Finally, I feel it's really important to make a serious point here. If you look at my profile, you'll see I have a section where I've mentioned my favourite pairings in Naruto and one of them is Naruto/Anko. If you scroll a little further down my profile, you'll see I give a long explanation on why I find the pairing appealing, but I also acknowledge the morally grey side of it. In my pairings poll (also on my profile) the Naruto/Anko pairing was 2nd most popular (Anko/Kurenai being 1st) which means most of you that wanted to share your opinion wanted it in this story. While I wouldn't feel comfortable making Anko part of the main pairing (since in this story they've known each other since Naruto was really young), I wouldn't mind having 'moments' like in this chapter where Anko just toys with Naruto (the poll does say "background pairings" so I never had any intention of making Naruto/Anko a real thing). Hopefully that satisfies you all for now and while I won't spoil anything, I will say that after the 3-year timeskip into Shippuden I would feel more comfortable making their interactions go a little further.

(A little note for those of you using the mobile site and therefore unable to vote: if you go into your browser's settings while on the site, you can 'request' the desktop site which should let you, funnily enough, use the desktop version of the site. If that still doesn't work, take out the "m." part of the URL and hit enter, that should reload the site as the desktop version, allowing you to go to my profile and vote in the poll)

[1] In Naruto, 'ryō' is the currency used based on the old gold coins used in Japan before being replaced by 'yen'. According to the wiki, 1 ryō is worth 10 yen and in this fic, the rooms were 130 ryō each which converts to 1300 yen, roughly equal to £10 (or $12.41 for my American readers, or 11,04 € for my European readers, at the time of writing this chapter)

P.S: For those of you that were interested, the first chapter of An Uchiha's Flame Burns (AUFB for short) has been posted! Go check it out on my profile!