Naruto : Fate

"Ino! Listen to me! You need to leave! If you leave the pain will stop! It won't follow you!" She finally listens to me, after who knows how much damage has been dealt.

Ino returns to her own body, and I gain full control of mine again. The second Ino is back in hers, she starts crying.

...

Instantly Shikamaru and Choji come to her aid. Everyone is suddenly tense.

"What did you do to her?" Shikamaru demands. "She was in your head. She was fine before she went in your head. What did you do to her?"

I calmly hold my hand up in surrender. "Nothing. I did nothing. I don't know what she saw and felt. I could only talk to her."

Choji stands straight up, "Then why is she crying?"

"There was something else there." Ino whispers out, "Something in his mind. He's not alone in there, it's like he shares his head with something else. Something dark. Terrifying."

I slowly approach her, Shikamaru and Choji both let me pass. "Ino, did it show you anything?"

With watery eyes, she looks at me. "I'm so sorry Alvarcus. I should have listened. I should have trusted you. I had no idea. I didn't know. I didn't know!"

I gently place a hand on each her shoulders and force her to look at my covered eyes. "Ino, I'm not mad at you. Now tell me, what did it show you?"

Fresh tears spring to her eyes. "It showed me how you two came together."

I wince. Of all the things she could have seen, that one is one of the few I wouldn't wish on anyone.

"It made me feel your pain. It made me live through what it did to you. It was horrible. Words can't describe the agony."

"Ino, it wasn't real. You're not hurt. You're safe." I keep my voice calm and soothing.

"I know that!" She throws her arms around me in a hug. I don't know how to react, I'm supposed to be comforting her but she's hugging me? "I'm not crying because I'm in pain, I'm crying because of what you went through! I only experienced seconds of that agony, I can only imagine what you went through." She's sobbing on my shoulder now. I awkwardly wrap my arms around her. In a voice meant only for me to hear she says, "It's still there isn't it?"

I whisper back to her, "It will always be there. I can't remove it."

"I'm so sorry. I had no idea you went through... that." She's finally stopped crying.

I pull away from the hug. "Ino, I'm alright now."

"I don't believe you." She doesn't, not one bit. I can see it in her eyes.

"You don't need to worry about me, I'm tougher than I look. Right now, everyone is worried about you. Let's get back up and let them know you're okay."

"Alright." We get back to our feet, our heart to heart moment is over. "Sorry everyone!" Ino says while wiping her face dry, "I just saw a pretty... vivid memory. I'm good now."

Everyone starts bombarding her with questions.

"No I will not tell you what I saw! I shouldn't have seen it myself! And don't you dare ask Alvarcus! He doesn't need to remember that."

"I don't understand. Why didn't you kill her?" Gaara asks. Everyone falls silent. "She attacked you. It was your right to take her life, to prove your existence."

"Gaara." I say carefully. "I didn't kill her because she is my friend. She wasn't going to hurt me, it was a playful exchange that went sour. She didn't know about... certain aspects of my past." I don't want everyone to know about the Jiongu. I don't want to be rejected by them.

"Friends? You have friends?"

"Well yeah. Everyone here is my friend. Even you're my friend. I still owe you ice cream after all!" I finish with a smile.

Gaara looks confused. "You're my friend?"

"Well yeah. What else would you call our relationship? You and your siblings were willing to talk to a total stranger on the rumor that he might be part of your family. That's pretty cool. To go so far just to bring me home where I belong. Given we know that we aren't family, but it's the thought that counts!"

"Hold up. That happened?" Shikamaru interrupts but I ignore him.

"I... I need to think on this." Gaara walks over to a corner and sits down. Temari and Kankuro follow him and stand guard. Just how a family should be. They protect their own.

"Dude. Alvarcus, you are the weirdest person ever."

"Shut up Kiba! I am not weird!"

Shino clears his throat. "In the last five minutes you went from talking friendly with everyone, to being stubborn about masks, to comforting Ino, and then called a murderous Sand shinobi your friend."

"Well when you phrase it like that it sounds bad." Everyone stares at me. "Okay, you might have a point." I haven't had a normal day in forever.

"Hey guys! What's going on?" Naruto enters the booth.

"According to everyone here, I'm weird."

Naruto pauses, considering my response. He looks me up and then down. "I could see it. You always were strange in the Academy."

"Oh come on! Really? Can't one person be on my side?"

"I don't think he's weird." Ino comes to my defense. "He's been protective the entire day."

Choji stops eating his chips. "Care to elaborate? How is he protective?"

"Didn't you notice where he stood since coming into the booth? Between us and the 'murderous Sand shinobi.' He moved to always be between us. He even comforted me after I invaded his mind! And Gaara? He's taken him under his wing, he cares about him. I think its sweet."

Well, she's not wrong. I know that Gaara is important, not just as a jinchuriki but because of what he will become. He'll lead his people into a new age, one of prosperity and kindness. He'll even go on to lead the Allied Shinobi Forces! Unless I change something drastic.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I'm honestly surprised she noticed all those things. She must be very observant. "And I am not sweet! Cool, handsome, badass. Those are acceptable."

"Nope! You're sweet." I'm glad to see her bouncing back so well. The Jiongu didn't manage to break her.

"Arg! Shouldn't you be terrified of me or something? Or mad? How can you be this carefree?"

"Please. I'm a Yamanaka. To learn our family jutsu we need to practice, so we practice on prisoners. Konoha doesn't really care if we screw up their minds, and some of those prisoners have disgusting thoughts."

The conversation becomes much lighter from then on out. The rookies chat among ourselves, but I make sure to keep an eye on Ino. When she thought no one else was looking, she would stare at me with eyes full of pity.

...

"Would the contestants please come down to the arena floor? We will be explaining the rules, then have the first match." A voice resonates throughout the stadium.

"Showtime!" Naruto exclaims, then leaps off the balcony and does some very interesting acrobats on the fall down. Showoff.

I sigh. "No time like the present." I use my chakra strings to slowly move myself to the arena. If Naruto wants to show off, I'll show off too. I basically make it look like I'm flying. The crowd loves it. Kids are pointing, adults are shocked, and the shinobi look intrigued by my performance. Flying is a rare skill.

"That's so COOL! Since when can you fly? You've got to teach me that!" Naruto demands the second I touch down.

"Hm... maybe we could do a trade?" I strike a thinking pose. It's really not that hard to do, and it could give me an excuse to spend time with Naruto. I never really spent time with him at all, not even in the Academy. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours? That kind of thing?"

Naruto's face drains of color. "...Dude. Poor choice of words."

"Oh get your mind out of the gutter! You know exactly what I meant!"

Interesting, that isn't how I expected him to react at all. I thought he would leap at the chance to hang out with someone. Maybe Jiraya's training has been good for him, I bet he's met a bunch of people outside of Konoha.

"So how about it Naruto? Want to hang out sometime? Maybe spar or something?"

"Sure. Just don't complain when I beat you into the ground!"

"I promise to not complain if you beat me into the ground."

The other gennin come down with much less fanfare. How lame, the stairs make for a boring show. I suppose it's okay though, it gave me and Naruto time to chat.

"We are missing Sasuke Uchiha." The proctor says. "You!" He points to me. "You're on his team. Where is he?"

"How should I know? Last I saw him was a month ago. Kakashi-sensei took him on a training trip."

"Did you say Kakashi?" The proctor asks.

"Yep."

"Ah. That explains it. I'll explain the rules now. I'll leave it up to you to fill him in when he gets here." I nod my consent. "My name is Genma Shiranui, and I am the proctor for the third exam. This is a single elimination tournament. Once you lose, it is over. Down here my word is law. If I call a match, the match is over. If I say stop, you stop. If you disobey me, you get disqualified. Understood?" The gennin all agree. "Good. Neji Hyuuga and Naruto Uzumaki remain here. Everyone else back to the booth."

The gennin all go back. I take the stairs this time.

"Konoha! I give you the first fight, Neji Hyuuga vs Naruto Uzumaki!" The crowd roars.

"So. Who do you think is going to win?" Kiba asks. "I say Neji. He was scary in the preliminary round."

"Neji."

"Neji."

"Neji."

"Neji."

"Neji."

"Neji."

"Neji."

"Naruto."

Everyone looks at me in surprise. "What? Naruto's been trained by a Sannin."

"That guy who took Naruto is a Sannin?" Ino exclaims.

"Yep. Jiraya of the Sannin. Also known as the Toad Sage, due to his summons. I wonder if he let Naruto sign the contract?" I hope so. We need Gamabunta to take on Shukaku.

"No shit." Kiba says. "I think I want to switch my bet."

"We were betting?" Shikamaru asks. "I don't remember agreeing to a bet."

"Well yeah. Isn't that what we do during fights like this?" Kiba asks. "All the jonin do it."

"How about we don't count this round. We can make stakes for the next fight." I offer.

"Works for me." Kiba says.

...

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