Acceptance Chapter 1: Acceptance, a naruto fanfic

Answers: A Naruto Story

Chapter 1: Acceptance

By: T.E. Rose

Disclaimer: I do not now nor will I ever own Naruto or any of its characters. Much to my great displeasure.

Publish date: April 2011

A/N: This is a one-shot I have no intention of expanding on it beyond what is already done. At least not at this time. Also this is AU and some of the characters will be OOC. That being said please feel free to review and tell me what you think. In this only a few members of the "Konoha 11" know that Naruto is a container, namely Shikamaru, Shino, Sakura and Neji.

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Sometimes in life you come up against a wall. When this happens its up to you to decided how to face it. Can you go around it? Can you go under it? Can you go over it? Can you go through it? Or do you find an alternate path? Whatever you decide on there is one thing you can not, under any circumstances, do. Give up.

At least not if you're Naruto Uzumaki.

Sighing despondently said blond shinobi was seeking the blond haired former student of Asuma Sarutobi. Asuma had quite recently fallen in battle to members of an elite organization styling itself as Akatsuki. Akatsuki was exclusively comprised of Ninja whose skill level was on par with or exceeding that of the Kage of any of the five great shinobi nations. Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, Suna and Konoha. Some were even said to be immortal thought that had for the most part proved untrue, granted they were extremely difficult to kill.

The reason Naruto sought his blond haired compatriot was simple. She had not attended the Sarutobi's funeral. Whether because she couldn't, wouldn't or didn't want to face the fact that her sensei was dead he wasn't sure but he felt that she deserved answers. To know why he had died.

He had spoken already to Shikamaru who had been present at the funeral, but the Nara genius had already deduced the reason for Naruto's desire to speak to him in private and come to terms with it. He said he didn't hold Naruto responsible for the death of his chain smoking sensei. Which eased the burden of guilt that had weighed itself against his conscious but did not assuage it.

Naruto had let a small sad smile come across his face at this point remembering the Nara's declaration that when it was time he would be the Jounin sensei to Asuma's child.

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He had been looking for more than an hour for the only other blond member of the Rookie Nine but eventually he did find her. She was in the same place one could find Kakashi most mornings. Staring disconsolately at the memorial stone. A monument dedicated to those who had given their lives for the sake of village. She was wearing her black funeral garb, perhaps she had intended to go.

He approached silently, trying to show some small measure of respect for his fellow Konoha nin in her time of grief. He stood by patiently awaiting the moment when she would acknowledge his presence.

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Ino had sensed their approach but didn't turn to see who it was. To much was going on inside her, for her to be able to speak without being overwhelmed by the flood of emotions that coursed through her.

They stood in companionable silence for a nearly an hour before Ino felt in control enough to see who it was. She was surprised when she turned to find Naruto. The blond was usually more vibrant and full of life than anyone she'd ever met. He seemed to exude energy all the time, except for right now.

She noticed he was wearing all black, right down to his shoes. It was in such stark contrast to what he usually wore that it had taken her a moment to recognize him.

"Hello Naruto." Ino intoned solemnly. Each word seeming to bring a stab of pain to her chest.

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"Ino..." Naruto nearly lost his resolve hearing the obvious distress that was bearing down on his...friend? "Can we talk? I... You need to know something."

He noticed that she looked somewhat caught off guard by his assertion. Frowning slightly she nodded her head. "Can it wait until after the funeral?" She asked quietly as she turned back towards the memorial stone.

Naruto was dismayed to hear her question. She had obviously lost track of the time. "Ino... the funeral is already finished." replied Naruto sympathetically reaching out a hand placing it gently on her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

She seemed surprised to think that so much time had passed. That she had become lost on the road of life trying to find a meaning in chaos and death. A reason that a man as good as her sensei, a man who wanted nothing more than to start a family of his own, much as his own father had wished him to, could die so suddenly. How a life as bright as his could be snuffed out as if it were nothing more than one of his cigarettes. How he could die before being able to welcome his own child into this world and how he would never be allowed now to see them grow up. How he would never be able to give them the love and advice that children so need from their parents, whether or not they realize it.

Looking back over her shoulder she followed the hand back to its origin and found Naruto staring sadly at her. Yet there was something more there fear and guilt she thought. Though why he should feel those she could not comprehend.

"Here." Naruto formed a half seal, something she did not know he was capable of, and squeezed her shoulder before leaves kicked up and he directed them some place more private and less sacred.

Ino was surprised when she was rather unceremoniously dragged away but noted the serious look on her blond friend's face and so chose not to comment on it.

When they arrived Naruto went and sat on the edge of the precipice to which he had transported them.

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Ino looked around finding herself for the first time on top of the Hokage monument. It was just before sunset so the whole city was bathed in a calming almost surreal red glow. She was momentarily awestruck by the beauty that still existed in the world as it seemed so contrary to every thing that she felt inside.

As she stared she noticed her captor make a gesture asking her to join him. Acquiescing she made her way to where the only other blond from her graduating class was seated.

"This is my favorite view of the city." Naruto said so softy he may have just been speaking to himself.

"It is quite beautiful and peaceful up here." She commented agreeing with the usually loud and boisterous Genin seated next to her.

"I used to come here when I was younger. When the animosity of the village got to heavy for me to just shrug it off." Admitted Naruto surprising his companion as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "There were so few that treated me like I was human that it was difficult bear at times." Here he fell silent for a moment collecting his thoughts.

Ino looked curious wondering why he was telling her this. She would have brought voice to her curiosity but was denied the opportunity due to Naruto speaking up again.

"The Sandaime was one of the few who did. Its a debt that I can not and will not forget. He kept me sane and connected with my humanity when there where moments that I wanted nothing more than to surrender myself to the darkness that could so easily have consumed me." Naruto paused to take a deep shuddering breath barely managing to keep his emotions in check. "And now that debt has increased itself many times over."

Ino did not understand, but was concerned. It seemed as if Naruto were blaming himself for the death of her sensei. A heavy silence now stretched between them, one that she did not feel comfortable breaking.

Eventually, after what felt like hours, Naruto continued with his confession confirming her suspicions that he held himself to be responsible for Asuma's death.

"It's my fault that Asuma is dead." Naruto stated bluntly. "If it had not been for me Akatsuki would not have come here."

If she had been confused before she was down right perplexed now. "I'm afraid I don't understand. Naruto how your presence could be the reason for Asuma-sensei's death."

Naruto smiled sadly. "That's because you do not know what Akatsuki is."

Ino looked startled to realize that he did if she didn't. "What are they then?"

"Akatsuki is an organization comprised of Shinobi of a caliber on par with any of the Kage of the Five Great Nations. They are hunters. Hunters stalking nine very specific and very powerful creatures. The Demon Lords. They have already captured some of their prisons, others are still at large. I am one of the ones that is still at large."

Frowning she waited for Naruto to continue, she didn't see what any of this had to do with him.

"The day of my birth, Ino, was on the tenth of October fifteen years ago. The night that the Kyuubi no Kitsune attacked our village and caused death and destruction on a scale unprecedented except in times of open warfare. The only way that the Yondaime could think of to stop such a malevolent entity was to seal it away. So that's what he did. I did not know what I was however until the night we all graduated from the academy."

Ino frowned again before she gasped as realization dawned on her. The Yondaime Hokage had died to seal the beast into the very boy now sitting next to her. She didn't know what to do or think and before she could come to a decision Naruto continued.

Naruto seeing that she had caught on to the fact that the fourth had sealed the Kyuubi in him quickly continued his explanation before she could jump to any conclusions. "While I was growing up I became a walking reminder of pain and loss of fear and death of helplessness and despair. It was because of this that I was ostracized treated as a leaper by people I had never even met. People treated me as if I were the very demon which I keep at bay." Pausing Naruto darted a furtive glance at his comrade. "There are or were eight others like myself, prison's for beings of unspeakable power. Though the only other one I have met is Sabaku no Gaara the container of the one tailed demon Shukaku."

Ino was shocked to hear all of this but as she did pieces began to fall into place. She had been impossibly obsessed with her own life when she had been an academy student but that didn't mean she was blind nor did it mean that she had been idle while there. She was ashamed to admit it but she had been a bit of a gossip hound. She had, during that pursuit, seen and heard the adults treat Naruto differently but had always just written it off to him being a prankster.

"Akatsuki seeks to capture all of the hosts and extract the demons that they contain so that they can use them for their own ends. What those may be I do not know. As I am a container they are seeking me. Attempting to capture me so that they may extract the Kitsune. Doing so will end my life as assuredly as striking my head from my shoulders would." Here Naruto paused making a concerted effort to keep his emotions in check. "If I had been stronger, faster, smarter... he wouldn't have had to fight Hidan and he wouldn't have died."

Naruto steeled himself as he turned to look at the reaction his confession had garnered from his fellow blond. What he saw surprised him. Instead of anger or disgust or contempt all the things he had expected to see he saw an emotion that had passed across the face of only a handful of people in regards to him. Acceptance.

"Very few people our age know what I am. If its possible I'd like to keep it that way. I would like to tell them in my own time. Hopefully under better circumstances than those which prompted my telling you." Naruto said in a voice barely above a whisper as he turned back towards the view of the city. The sun by this point had completely set casting the world in front of them into shadow.

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Ino could not believe what she was hearing the burden that the world had saddled the young man sitting next to her with was monstrous, quite literally. Coupled with the way he was treated it was a wonder that he had not succumbed to the darkness as others had or would have in his place.

With this realization came understanding, Naruto had led a troubled and far harder life than she, and yet here he was trying to take away some small bit of pain from her to give her a place on which she could vent her anger and frustration and grief. He was willing to bear yet another burden if he had to. She didn't know what to say. What she did know was that she could not bring herself to hate Naruto no matter how tempting such an outlet might be. With surprisingly little effort she slid closer to Naruto and slipped her arm into his leaning her head against his shoulder.

She felt him tense at the contact clearly not expecting it. She rather enjoyed it. For someone as unpredictable as the sunny blond was for him to be caught off guard was rather amusing. A slight smile tugged at the corners of her mouth at the thought, the first since the death of her sensei. Then another thought came to mind. Maybe he hadn't expected it because he hadn't experienced it. This thought managed to depress her enough to lose her smile replacing it with the almost perpetual frown that had been adorning her face the past few days.

She looked up at him when she felt him release a deep breath, the kind people hold trying to keep emotions under control, before relaxing letting a genuine smile grace his features for the first time in a long while. The one he normally wore was fake, used as a cloak to hide his true feelings even happiness, the one he wore now seemed to age him. It revealed him as man not a boy who had seen far to much of the world in short space of time.

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He closed his eyes basking in the closeness of Ino. Her seeming acceptance coupled with Shikamaru's earlier meant a great deal to him. A relatively comfortable silence then stretched between them as they sat there. Eventually Ino was the one to break it.

"If you wish to honor Asuma-sensei's memory then don't die." she whispered pulling him closer against herself the warmth emanating from him like a blanket staving off the crisp night air that had settled over the city with the setting of the sun.

"It will not be my end but theirs when the time comes." Naruto promised his voice barely above a whisper as he looked over at the beautiful blond haired girl seated beside him.

They stayed like that for a long time, the moon and stars overhead clear and bright on the cloudless night. Towards midnight Naruto noticed that Ino had fallen asleep leaning against him and loath as he was to do it he gently shook her awake and escorted her home.

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He stood watching after Ino left him at the front door. Not that he'd expected to be asked in. He saw the light in one of the second story windows flick on as he stood their. He watched as she passed by the window and his heart felt immensely light. Lighter than ever he remembered it being. Perhaps...

Another small smile, one that seemed to age him several years beyond his physical age, graced his features leaving his thought unfinished before making his own way home. The weight of the world once more on his shoulders pressing down on him and trying to force him into submission.

When you come up against a wall it is up to you how to face it. The one thing you cannot under any circumstances do is give up.

At least not if you are Naruto Uzumaki.