Not really motivated to type this one honestly. Trying to organize stuff to work from home is a far bigger hassle than I thought it would be. So I'm just going to try and crank these out while I have the chance.

Edit 4-10-2020: REALLY not motivated to type on this. It's funny that when it seems you have more time, you find every way in the world to procrastinate.

Edit 4-13-2020: A lot shorter than the last chapter, but it's up fast just to have something out. Tried to make it more cringe since the last chapter ended up being a bit too serious for my liking. Starting to set the pieces in this chapter, so there will probably be a short time skip in the next chapter.

Chapter 8: Left in the Dark

There was a word she loved. It meant many things. It could be used to express wonder, anger, despair. It could be used to insult others or to invite one to an intimate romp. It was a versatile word that made its way into her vocabulary more often than not.

This word could be used as a sentence in and of itself. Hell, the word was a sentence that expressed all of the fore mentioned emotions.

It was the word she loved the most. The word she gave to all and sometimes even hoped to receive. The word was like-

"FUUUUUCCCK!"

Yes, that was the word. Fuck. Fuck is her favorite word.

Currently being used in a mix of despair and adrenaline.

To end this pronoun game, the current user of the word-

"MY NAME IS ANKO MITARASHI AND YOU SACKS OF SHIT CAN KISS MY CUNT!"

Fuck it. She can tell the story then.

"OH MY GOD ANKO-SENSEI, SLOW DOWN!" The diminutive Hyuga riding on the back of...a motorcycle...being driven by the snake mistress…called in panic.

"NEVER!"

The duo were weaving through the forest some ways away from Konoha. Their pursuers deftly navigated the serene forestland as well.

Anko turned and aimed a hand back towards the shadowy figures before firing off snakes as if she were shooting a gun. Two of the shadowy figures were struck and ended their pursuit, but the other five were still on their tail.

"It's your turn little Miss Hyuga!"

"I'm NOT a Hyuga!" Hinata's voice darkened before she stood on the back of the motorcycle on one leg and took a fighting pose seeming right out of a kung fu movie. "ALL GREEN!" Hinata shouted before disappearing from the motorcycle.

Anko looked back in shock as Hinata seemed to be teleporting between the remaining enemies and decimating them with kicks as she floated through the air. The snake mistress counted 100 strikes to each enemy, with the last one sending them blasting away deep into the forest, where their bodies exploded.

Hinata landed back on the motorcycle, wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist with a huff.

"Well fuck yeah! You're definitely not a Hyuga. Those stuck up pricks with sticks up their urethras couldn't be that bad ass!"

"Damn straight!"

The duo sped the rest of the way back to Konoha. However, to their shock and horror, the gate was blown off the hinges and smoke bellowed from within the town.

"Oh no, we're too late!" Hinata cried. Anko grit her teeth, revved the cycle, and then took off into town while doing a wheelie.

"No. I can still sense Hokage-sama and Kurenai-chan. They're fine."

As they blasted through town, they saw more of the shadowy figures attacking random civilians. Both paused to see.

Then pulled out popcorn to watch as the shadowy figures began to eat people and rip them limb from limb.

"Okay, maybe we can wait a little longer." Hinata called as they laughed at a woman getting bisected by two of the dark figures. However, once the massacre was over, the shadowy figures turned their attention to the dark haired beauties.

"Oh fuck." They called simultaneously before tossing the popcorn away and starting the motorcycle back up.

They tore off down the road once more with a veritable army on their hills. "Anko-sensei, you have to get to Kurenai-sensei and Naruto-kun. I'll hold them off here."

"What? No! You're my adorable little apprentice! You can't die!"

Hinata's opalescent eyes shined with tears. She gave her sensei one last smile before releasing her waist. She twisted her body and activated her byakugan as she struck the ground in front of the massive army of dark ones. The ground and Hinata exploded from view.

"HINATA-CHAN!" Anko shed a single tear as her newest apprentice was taken from her forever. She turned back towards the road and the rage on her face ignited around her. "You'll pay...ALL OF YOU WILL FUCKING PAY!"

Anko saw a pile of debris coming up and swerved into it. She was launched as if it was a ramp all the way towards the Hokage's office. She smashed through the wall and rolled off the motorcycle as it stalled. It tilted over and then exploded behind her, making her trench coat and hair bellow in the draft. She stood slowly and looked to see Naruto and Kurenai both tied up in a corner of the room, their eyes pleading with the Special Jonin to save them. However, she had to give pause as the Hokage's chair began to turn around. In it, her worst nightmare was confirmed.

"Hello Anko-chan." His sickly slimy voice and tongue made her skin crawl. She dropped her kunai in horror.

"No...it can't be..."

"Oh but it is. Welcome home, my lovely apprentice!" Orochimaru stood in all his glory, the head of the Hokage impaled upon his appendage.

"YOU SICK BASTARD! YOU KILLED MY HINATA-CHAN!"

Orochimaru chuckled at the terrified look in Anko's eyes. Her false bravado didn't fool him. "Oh have I?"

He held up a hand to reveal a secret wall behind him. Hinata was tied up as well, looking to have been beaten and abused. She hung above a pit of lava.

"Just like always, Anko-chan. You can't save anyone. And all those who care for you will die. Just. Like. Is-"

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HER FUCKING NAME!" Anko shed tears and lunged forward. However, Orochimaru disappeared and grabbed her from behind in a choke hold.

"You're weak. Pathetic. You will die Anko-chan."

"No..." She whimpered and struggled to break free. "Stop calling me that…."

"Anko-chan."

"You killed her. You killed them both. You betrayed me..."

"ANKO-CHAN!"

The woman awoke with a start, her hair and face cold with sweat. She looked around to see she was in a clearing, her back leaned against a tree.

"Anko, are you alright?" Kurenai knelt in front of her best friend with a terrified expression. The ex-Hyuga heiress stood a few feet away with a worried expression as well. The other two genin were nowhere to be found.

"Kure-chan? What happened?" She stretched and yawned, though she felt something wet on her face. She quickly turned from the two, realizing they were tears, and attempted to wipe them away.

"Anko..." Kurenai started in a whisper. "You were screaming..."

Anko froze at those words. "Fuck..." She muttered. Knowing that there was no use in trying to hide it from her, Anko turned and clutched onto Kurenai. "It was a nightmare again...he...he killed so many of you..."

Kurenai's eyes darkened. Anko had been having recurring nightmares of Orochimaru attacking Konoha and killing the Third Hokage. Every time she would wake up screaming, whenever she stayed over with Kurenai. However, it had been a while since she had them, and never in the middle of the day. She didn't miss the way her gaze shot to her lone female student either, with tears welling up in her eyes.

It baffled her even more that Anko was letting out her emotions in front of someone that wasn't herself. She gave Hinata a subtle dismissal in which the girl hesitated for a moment. Kurenai was proud of Hinata's kindness for someone she didn't know, but smiled assuredly towards her, letting her know she had the situation under control. Hinata nodded her understanding before silently leaving the two adult women.

After a few minutes of simply comforting the purple haired kunoichi, Kurenai felt Anko moving away.

"You didn't have to send her away you know?" Anko sniffled before taking a few moments to recompose herself.

"Anko. I've never seen you react this strongly. What happened in your nightmare?"

For a moment, the flashes of her nightmare almost made Anko lose her composure again. However, she shook her head and stood up, willing the memories away. "I don't want to talk about it right now Kure-chan..."

The red eyed jonin stood with a sigh as well. "You can't keep bottling it up Anko. It's not healthy, nor is it helping you."

"I'm fine, Nai-chan. Please just drop it."

Kurenai was a little pissed off, the cocking of her hips and the folding of her arms being evident. Anko looked down like a scolded child when Kurenai gave her that look. The two stood in silence for a few seconds before Anko huffed.

"I'll talk to you about it later. Just not now. Please, Nai-chan. Not right now." Anko's pleading voice pierced into Kurenai. It was worse than she thought.

"Okay. I'm sorry for prying too hard."

Anko nodded appreciatively. The two began to leave the field in silence. Feeling the awkward tension rising and knowing it was her fault, the snake mistress bumped Kurenai with her hip.

"So, how was the test?"

Kurenai rolled her eyes. "You would have seen all of it if you didn't fall asleep."

"Hey! Not my fault. It was such a boring test! You put a genjutsu over the area and tried to make them find you. You literally have a kid that uses chakra eating bugs, a boy that could smell a fart from a mile away, and apparently the greatest Hyuga to even come from that stick in the ass clan."

Kurenai rose an eyebrow at her praising of her team, but especially Hinata. "That's pretty high praise, Anko."

"Yeah, for your students. They found you in 10 minutes flat, and even broke through your third strongest genjutsu in 20 minutes. They literally floored you when all three came at you for taijutsu, and the ex-Hyuga girl seemed like she wasn't even going all out."

The red eyed kunoichi hid her mortification at the excellent description of the first 30 minutes of the test. "If they were so impressive, why'd you fall asleep?"

"BECAUSE THE TEST ITSELF WAS BORING!" She cried out. "Why not pit them against each other and force them to find you instead of letting them work together the whole time? What did that teach them? They need to know that people can and will stab them in the back if they get the chance!"

Her words irritated Kurenai. She knew where the younger jonin was coming from, but she didn't agree with it one bit. She didn't want to do the previous 'teamwork' exercise most jonin did because she knew her students would work well together anyway. Hell, they proved that during the test. If she weren't a jonin, she would have actually lost to the trio at some points. Granted, she never went all out against them either.

However, she did notice that what Anko said was partially true. Hinata showed skill she had never seen in the girl before. It wasn't in the files she received from the academy either. When the girl fought, it was like she turned off most of her emotions. She was ruthless when need be but kept her teammates in mind.

"That Hinata girl would make a great apprentice..." Anko mumbled out, talkin to herself.

"Oh no you don't! You turned down the Jonin test when I asked you to take it with me. Now you want a genin? I don't think so." Kurenai playfully pushed Anko. The snake mistress smiled back and wrapped her arms around one of Kurenai's own.

"Hey, not my fault! I see a lot of me in her."

"That's terrifying."

"Oh bite me!" Anko pushed the woman away. Kurenai got a glint in her eye that actually made Anko blush. "I will hurt you."

"Oh by all means." Kurenai flirtatiously called.

"STOP BEING ME!" Anko shouted before running off down the road, leaving a hysterically laughing Kurenai in her wake.

The ex-Hyuga heiress slowly trudged through town with her head in the clouds. She was worried about the woman her sensei introduced as Anko Mitarashi. The Hyuga goddess had seen her several times in town, and a few times with Kurenai. They were best friends, she inferred when she was younger, and also questioned if they were closer than she realized. A small blush formed on her face and she shook the thought away.

Instead, she focused on getting to Ichiraku's. Her and Naruto had agreed to meet up there after they paused their test. She knew she would probably be early seeing as Kurenai's test barely took an hour and a half.

The thought of a steaming bowl of ramen with the boy she loved made her stomach flutter. She blushed and picked up the pace towards what was becoming her favorite little chill spot in town.

As she turned a corner, however, with her mind still on a meal and a kiss, she almost ran right into two people.

Two familiar people.

"Hinata-sama?" The voice of a young man called in disbelief, but a hint of excitement.

"K-Ko-san? Hanabi-chan?" Hinata's eyes widened as they fell upon the visage of her old care taker and her younger sister.

Ko's gaze was one of held in happiness while Hanabi...Hanabi glared at her older sister as if she had just offended her in the worst way.

"Ko. Do not address this thing with such an honorific, or I will report it to my father." Hanabi spoke while holding Hinata's gaze. Hearing her younger sister speak in such a way broke the goddesses heart.

Ko was conflicted for a second, looking to Hinata pleadingly. However, Hanabi cleared her throat, turning a sharp glare to the older man.

"I...yes Hanabi-sama..." He bowed his head and found interest in the ground for the remainder of the conversation.

Seeing the way her younger sister was acting, Hinata's heartbreak froze over and was replaced with a bit of malice. Her eyes seemed to steel and the aura wafting from her went from warm to glacial in an instant. Hanabi shivered as the timid look of her older sister was replaced with one of someone who knew they were superior.

"Hanabi-chan, it's good to see you." Hinata's words didn't match her tone. It was spoken evenly and uncaringly.

"The pleasure is all yours commoner." Hanabi bit back with a bit of anger, though the small smile on her face let Hinata know she thought such a comment would hurt.

"Oh yes, forgive me. I'm just a commoner now. I suppose I need to lament on the freedom that I have now. Oh, maybe I should cry that my younger sister didn't get branded with caged bird seal like she would have been if I remained heiress of such a gloriously divided clan."

Ko flinched at her words, knowing them to be true. Though he himself was considered main branch simply because he cared for the heiresses, he was born of the side branch. As such, he was treated differently than most people in the clan. Not fully accepted by the main branch, but not as segregated as the side branch.

"I would have been heiress whether you were there or not!" Hanabi snapped. "You're weak! That's why father disowned you! You're not a true Hyuga!"

Hinata smiled at her sister losing her composure. She flared her byakugan, sending a sharp chill down Hanabi's spine once again. "Yet I have the oh so glorious eyes of your beloved clan. And there's not a damn thing you or your father can do about it."

Hanabi shook with anger, her face red and tears forming in her eyes. Who the fuck was this girl in front of her? The Hinata she knew was a weak willed and timid girl. Someone who wouldn't talk back to anyone, be they older or younger than her. She had never, EVER, talked down to Hanabi, or even treated her unkindly. This person was not her older sister.

"Who are you, you impostor?" Hanabi activated her byakugan and took the Hyuga fighting stance. Hinata sighed and shook her head.

"I refuse to lay down and take people's shit anymore, so that makes me an impostor? No. Who the fuck are you, Hanabi?" Hinata shot back, making the smaller girl flinch. "When we were younger, we could rely on each other. What happened to the little sister that used to climb into my bed whenever she had a nightmare? What happened to the little girl that would beg me to read her bed time stories, or to show you how to cook? Who are you, you impostor?"

Before waiting for a response, Hinata instead turned and began to walk away from the two.

Ko finally looked up when the two girls parted ways. He looked down to see Hanabi with her head down, but her body shaking. He figured it was in rage with her fist clenched and her body red. However, he wouldn't see the few tears falling from the young girls eyes.

Naruto sat in front of the Hokage in silence. The Third was looking through several files, clearly playing up the tension in the room. Kakashi stood a bit behind Naruto, awaiting their leader to address the blonde. The conversation had already begun, with Kakashi filling in Sarutobi on Team 7s pass. However, when Naruto's heritage was brought up, the Hokage seemed to dismiss it in turn for reading the files on other teams that had passed or failed their exams.

"Seems like Ms. Avalanche has done a wonderful job with the three given to her. Team 6 will be a welcome addition to the force." He mumbled, getting a sweat drop from Kakashi and Naruto.

"Um...Hokage-sama? About Naruto..."

"Hm? Oh yes, Naruto-kun! It seems you have learned of your parents?"

Both members of team 7 face planted at the Hokage's nonchalant demeanor.

"Y-yeah. And about my ancestry." Naruto admitted, being thrown for a loop. The Hokage nodded his head and placed his chin on his fingers.

"Though I understand that you may have been privy to some knowledge regarding Uzugakure due to my negligence, I'm sure I have left no documents on either of your parents laying around Naruto. It's not nice to lie to an old man, you know."

The seriousness in his tone let Naruto know all pleasantries were over. He was giving Naruto once chance to come clean. However, the Hokage's words made something in Naruto snap as well. His eyes narrowed and the heat in the room seemed to intensify a bit. Kakashi and Hiruzen both felt the ki come from Naruto, and both prepared to subdue the boy if necessary. However, a calming wave washed over Naruto for a moment and he could have sworn he felt the presence of his parents for a split second.

He looked around but it still only remained with the three in the office. He looked at the Hokage, seeing him tense, and completely calmed down.

"Forgive me, Hokage-sama." He started, which was immediately a red flag for the Hokage. "But it seems you have also lied to me about knowing who my parents were. I was under the impression that trust was a two way street."

Kakahsi placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder and firmly squeezed. "Naruto, watch your tongue. This is still the Hokage."

Hiruzen held a hand up, seeing the somewhat betrayed look in Naruto's eyes. "Stand down, Kakashi. Let's hear young Naruto out."

Kakashi nodded and released the jinchuriki. Naruto held the Hokage's eyes, somewhat pleading for an answer, but also showing that he probably wouldn't trust anything the old man had to say anyway.

"Naruto-kun, if you truly know who your parents are, then you must understand the reason why they were kept secret from you. And yet, I still don't understand how you could have figured out who they are regardless. Your father maybe, but your mother?"

The blonde genin sighed. Though he wouldn't tell them everything, there was one explanation he could give them. One that could still cause problems, especially in sight of the recent development with two certain girls.

"Yes, I know that my father is the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, as well that my mother was Kushina Uzumaki. I found out the day those villagers attempted to kill me and Hinata-chan. I...I met the Kyubi that night and she told me everything."

The two older men in the room froze. Kakashi looked towards the Hokage but Hiruzen immediately shook his head.

"How much contact have you had with the beast Naruto?" Hirzuen questioned calmly, trying to take one thing at a time.

However, the flare of ki from Naruto startled both men again. "SHE IS NOT A BEAST!" He growled out. However, as startling as the ki was, it didn't have the malicious feel of the Kyubi that both men were sorely familiar with. Instead, they took note of Naruto's gaze actually seeming a bit like his mothers.

"Naruto-kun, please calm down." Hiruzen urged.

Naruto took a moment to indeed calm. He knew constantly letting his rage out would only solidify their thoughts. He knew they were afraid that he was being influenced by the Kyubi because they didn't know the real her.

"I'm sorry Hokage-sama." Naruto spoke again, once again worrying Hiruzen. "I'll start from the beginning."

Naruto began to recount the night he died, only going to the part where he met Kurama and she decided to save his life by feeding him more chakra. He kept up the facade that he and Hinata were unconscious during most of the events and still didn't know whom had come to save them.

When he explained that Kurama lost most of her power and had told him that she had been controlled by someone of the Uchiha clan, Hiruzen was convinced, though Kakashi was still skeptical. However, Hiruzen explained that Naruto had been essentially fine and had shown little to no changes since waking up in the hospital several days prior. The Third simply held hope that the boy was still who he always had been. He had faith in the boy, which was ironic. He had still planned on hiding his parents from him.

"Which brings me to the next thing..." Naruto started, once again glaring accusingly at the Hokage. "I somewhat understand hiding my lineage. But why not tell me?"

"Naruto-kun, you should understand. If your fathers enemies were to know he had a progeny-"

"I'm not my fathers enemies though. Forgive me jiji, but hiding my lineage from me even after becoming a genin seems really asinine." Naruto folded his arms. "If you didn't trust me to keep that information to myself, I would rather you just say that. Which of my fathers enemies would learn of my heritage from ME knowing who my father was?"

Hiruzen flinched at that. Naruto was right. Telling Naruto wouldn't have made a difference. He was sure if he would have just had this conversation with Naruto seriously, while expressing the need to keep it a secret, Naruto would have been better off knowing whom his parents were.

However, Naruto was also right in that Hiruzen didn't trust the boy to keep his mouth shut. He knew that Naruto wanted acknowledgment from the villagers. He thought if Naruto found out he was the son of the Fourth Hokage, he go to rub it in the villagers faces.

"It seems I should have had more faith in you Naruto-kun. For that I am sorry. However, and I'm sure you understand, that this information is still classified for a very good reason."

Kakashi looked at the two in confusion. Once again Naruto was proving to be a far different person than he thought. His guilt began to come back ten fold as he listened to the maturity of the boy and of the lament within Hokage's voice.

"It should please you to know that your parents did leave you several things, Naruto-kun. Though they were only supposed to be given to you once you reached Chunin or turned 15, I believe you are ready."

Naruto was curious of what his parents could have left him. They didn't say anything to him when they were in the afterlife about anything.

However, before the Hokage could reach into his desk to draw the scroll for Naruto, a shout was heard from the doorway to the office.

"YOU'RE TIME HAS COME OLD MAN! THAT HAT SHALL BE MINE!"

The trio looked to see a small kid about 7 or 8 years old with a scarf and some type of weird bandana hat on his head. He was charging at the Hokage before suddenly tripping on his scarf, sending the child slamming face first into the ground, where he tumbled several times, hit a fire hydrant, bounced into the air, slammed into a ceiling fan that spun him several times before slinging him into the corner where he landed on a cactus that somehow exploded.

His charred and needle ridden body landed right in front of Naruto.

The Hokage held up a '10' card, as did Kakashi. Naruto held up a '1'.

"Why did I explode?" The kid coughed from the ground.

"Yes." Naruto answered.

The kid suddenly looked fine as he shot up and looked at Naruto. "HEY! You tripped me! And what was with that 1?"

"The take off was great, but the landing could've been better." Naruto dug in his ear. "Besides, how could I trip you if I was sitting here the whole time?"

"You must have some freaky ninja powers that you did with that freaky face of yours!"

"THE FUCK YOU SAY YA LITTLE SHIT?" Naruto grabbed the boy by the scruff of his shirt as his face really did turn into that of an ugly demon.

Another presence made itself known coming into the Hokage's office. "Unhand him right now you good for nothing ruffian! That's the Third Hokage's honorable grandson!"

The waste of space named Ebisu shouted at Naruto.

"Yeah? What now? Weren't going to hit me? Or now you're too scared since you know I'm the grandson of the Hokage?"

Naruto grew a tick mark. "I don't give a damn if you were the daimyou himself, stupid!" Naruto slammed a fist into the top of the boys head, sending him slamming face first into the ground.

'This guys...different...' The kid thought before he hit the ground.

"HONORABLE GRANDCHILD!" Ebisu shouted before putting a hand to his forehead and fainting like a bitch.

The Third sighed at the antics while Kakashi was seen sitting in the window sill with a bucket of popcorn in his hands, somehow eating through his mask.

"It seems you have met my grandson, Konohamaru."

"How the hell did I not know you had a grandkid? Actually, who the hell are his parents?"

Sarutobi's solemn face told him everything he needed to know. In that instant, Naruto felt a tiny bit of pity for the boy knocked out in front of him, but pushed it away. He would never want anyone to pity him in that position.

"Anyway, about what your parents-"

Once again, two presences were made known as one knocked on the already ajar door to the Hokage's office.

"Hokage-sama. We're here for our appointment about Hanabi Hyuga-sama joining the Shinobi Academy in a few months?"

All eyes fell upon Ko Hyuga and Hanabi Hyuga as they stood in bewilderment, looking at the scene before them.

Hiruzen frowned and held the bridge of his nose in frustration. "What's the point of having a secretary if people can just walk right into my office Karen?" He shouted loudly. A crash was heard on the first floor of the building.

"S-sorry sir!" A squeaky voice called from down stairs.

"Good help is hard to find these days..." He mumbled before looking at the people in the room. "Unfortunately, we'll have to discuss this matter later Naruto-kun."

Naruto nodded. "I understand jiji. And thank you for understanding."

As Naruto prepared to leave, Konohamaru began to stir. "Ugh, what hit me?"

"The next Hokage, that's what." Naruto answered with a cocky grin.

"What? No way! I'm gonna be the next Hokage!" He got in Naruto's face again.

"Yeah right. And she's going to be in Koyuki-chans next movie!" Naruto called sarcastically while pointing at Hanabi. Konohamaru followed the finger and froze.

'Who...who is she?' He pondered with a blush that lit the room. His eyes met hers for only a moment before she looked with an annoyed huff. 'She's beautiful...'

'He's annoying. Why's that creepy kid keep staring at me?' Hanabi wondered for a moment before her mind drifted back to the conversation she had just had with her sister. Her mood soured and she impatiently tapped her foot. "Can we just get this over with Ko?"

"Yes Hanabi-sama. I'm sorry."

Seeing the boy enamored with the haughty girl that looked a bit like Hinata, Naruto grinned. Oh he would need to see where that goes later. But for now, he actually needed to hurry to Ichiraku's to meet with Hinata.

"Later jiji! Kakashi-sensei." Naruto waved before jumping out the window.

As the door to their home opened, Inoichi and Kana Yamanaka looked to see their baby girl trudging through in. The young Yamanaka was covered it dirt and grim, cuts adorned her body, and she looked as if she had just ran around the village with Gai and Lee for their morning exercise.

"I'm home..." Ino called tired before all but limping into their small living room and flopping onto the couch.

"Ino-hime?" Kana started. "Are you okay? Shouldn't you go take a shower?"

Ino gave a grunt of agreement before struggling to lift herself up.

"How was...how was your test honey?" Inoichi asked as he moved to help the girl stand.

The girl paused, seeming to get a far away look in her eyes before the light came back to them. She looked at her father with a tired smile. "Oh, we passed! Shikamaru and Chouji were awesome. Didn't know they could be that cool actually. Neither were lazy for once." She giggled but lulled on her feet. "I'm sorry daddy, but I'm pretty exhausted after the test. I'm going to take a shower and then a nap. Then I'll tell you about it okay?"

"That's fine sweetie." Inoichi kissed her forward and gave her a hug before sending her on her way. His tired gaze followed her until she was upstairs and in their bathroom. Once he heard the show start, he gave an exasperated sigh and turned towards his wife whom shared his concerned look.

Inoichi was a hard man. Having been part of the original Ino-Shika-Cho capture and interrogation team, along with currently being co-commander of Konoha's T&I division, he was not one to easily scare.

However, the past few weeks...maybe even months, he had been worried to his core. His daughter, the light of his world and apple of his eye, had been acting strangely. At first, it was subtle. She would doze off here or there, trail off in the middle of conversations. Then she began to seem like she was losing all energy. Whenever he and his wife would take her to the hospital, the doctors said she was fine, if not a bit under nourished.

He thought they rectified that when he got her to give up on her silly diets and actually train. However, once she started showing excessive fatigue, his wife convinced him to stop training her due to her seemingly falling health.

He was at a lost.

The girl seemed to have lost all of her energy. She didn't even come home talking about Sakura or Sasuke any more. She spent most of her time in her room sleeping and Inoichi was starting to panic.

"Darling..." Kana called out to him. "What's happened to our little girl?" She asked with tears in her eyes. Inoichi wrapped the woman in a hug and did his best to remain strong for her.

"I don't know..." He started. "She's been getting frailer every week. She doesn't have the energy she used to have. When we started training she was so excited to get stronger but now..."

Kana shook her head. She looked up and kissed Inoichi, hearing the pain in his voice. "Inoichi-koi, do you truly think...do you truly think she's ready to be a kunoichi?"

Those words froze Inoichi to the core. If you would have asked him that question a year ago when he was training the girl, he would have said yes without a doubt. However, seeing how she had been recently. Watching the girl seem to waste away physically and mentally...it scared him to his bones.

"I...we need to talk to her." Inoichi's panic rose into his voice. Hearing it, Kana looked the man in the eyes. She placed a hand upon his cheek and kissed him again.

"Please calm down, darling. You're scaring me."

Her words calmed him down a bit. He took her hand and kissed it, knowing that he needed to be the one to comfort both of their fears. "I'm sorry. Look, I'll get dinner started. We can talk to her then."

Kana shook her head. "As exhausted as she was, I don't think she'll be joining us tonight..." She spoke solemnly. "I'll go talk to her once she's out of the shower."

"Okay." Inoichi gave her one last chaste kiss before retreating into the kitchen.

Once Ino was done with her shower and laid in bed, Kana knocked on her door.

"Come in." Her tired voice called.

"Ino-hime, I didn't wake you did I?" Kana called as she walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. The younger platinum blonde smiled tiredly and shook her head.

"No, I was just dozing off. What's up mom?"

Kana looked at her daughter, seeing the bags under her eyes and the lack of muscle on her arms. She trailed a hand over Ino's cheek and jaw, smiling as Ino nuzzled into her hand.

"I was just checking up on you my little princess. You've been working so hard recently. But don't you think you should slow down?"

Ino hummed at her mothers words. "I can't..." She mumbled as she began to lay down. She was dozing off mid conversation like had happened so many times before. "I have to be a strong kunoichi...for Sasuke-kun...but especially for me..." Her last words were almost muffled by her pillow. It didn't take long before she was out like a light.

Kana sniffled. "My little girl..." She began to stroke her hair as Ino slept. "Why must you grow up so fast?"

She kissed Ino's cheek before moving hair from the base of her neck. She took note of the tiny, almost imperceptible seal that was on the base of her skull.

"Mama will always be here to protect you." She said once more before kissing the seal and leaving the room in the dark.

Can't promise the next chapter will be up as fast. This was all supposed to happen in the last chapter, but I cut it short. There's still more that's already ready to go, but there's several other scenes not even thought of. Still making up most of this as I go.

Anywho, if you liked it, punch the like button in the face! LIKE A BOSS!

And! Hi-Fives all around! *WAPOOSH*

Thanks all you guys! And I'll see all you guys, IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!

Later loves!