Chapter - 17

Naruto began walking through the sewer that represented the seal. He and Ino had spent most of the morning enjoying each other's company. The kunoichi was currently resting her eyes after their latest coupling. Deciding to approach the Kyuubi to talk with her, he was somewhat surprised to find her waiting.

Commenting on it he said, "I take it you already know why I'm here."

"Yes," Kyuubi said, "I was able to gleam the details while you and the blonde enjoyed each other."

"And…" Naruto said letting the word hang between them.

"And the least you could do is ask yourself," Kyuubi said sounding disappointed. Naruto figured it was since it felt her effort to get on his good side would be long and difficult. And considering the session he and Ino had just enjoyed she was probably more anxious than ever to experience sex.

However she did have a point so he said, "You're right. Kyuubi, would you please help us wake up Tayuya?"

"Alright," she said immediately surprising him. It showed as she laughed lightly hiding her mouth behind the sleeve of her kimono as she did so.

She lost some of the cheer as he asked, "What's prompting you to be so accommodating? I figured you would have held out for some concessions from me."

Dropping her hand she said truthfully, "Well I could say I was doing it to prove that I am willing to help you. However if you require a selfish reason then if I do try and force you into giving me what I want then you may simple decided to convince the Senju to let you meet this woman she was talking about. Considering your current power over her, not to mention you may simple screw her into meeting your demands it is in my best interest to help you with a minimal of fuss."

"Okay…" Naruto said surprised at just how much thought Kyuubi had put into her reply, "…thanks I guess."

Sighing Kyuubi said, "Anyway, this will be far more difficult then what I did for the Senju."

"Why?"

"Because, in order for me to use my chakra to help her. I will need to use a considerable amount of power. But unfortunately I will not be able to do so the same way for the Sound-nin." When Naruto cocked his head in confusion she explained, "I was able to use a great deal of my power discreetly because you had penetrated the Senju. If I tried to do the same thing without that penetration then we would have every Anbu in a hundred block radius on us in moments."

Naruto looked uncomfortable saying, "Okay, since screwing a comatose girl is definitely out of the question. Could you maybe help her if I touched her?"

"Maybe…" Kyuubi admitted, "However the problem would be your seal."

"Why," Naruto asked.

"Your seal is designed to prevent too much of my chakra from getting out. So for me to help the girl, I would need to overpower it, and as you know when I do that it tends to be flashy thus limiting my control. I was able to use it better while you had sex with the Senju because you were in an excited state making it easier to bypass the seal, and since you were connected to her, none of my chakra bled away making it difficult to detect."

"Well how about you try while you are standing outside the seal like now?"

"Unfortunately most of my power is trapped behind it," Kyuubi replied.

"True, but you may find you don't need so much if you can use the little you have without fighting the seal."

"I'll try," Kyuubi said sounding unsure of her ability to succeed.

Giving her a smile he stuck his thumb in the air saying, "All I ask is that you do your best."

Kyuubi quickly turned feeling her cheeks heat up saying, "Well then tell the Yamanaka to prepare and we can try tomorrow night." She quickly returned to her cage so her host wouldn't see her red cheeks, leaving a confused blonde who shrugged his shoulders and allowed his consciousness to leave the seal.

He came to in his bed a nude Ino lying next to him. She was cuddled up into his side and was absentmindedly tracing the muscles of his chest with her finger. His breathing changing must have alerted her to his waking up because she said, "Is she going to help?"

"Yeah, and she is doing it willingly," Naruto answered, "But she says there may be a few difficulties that she'll have to overcome."

"Really, turning back time for the Hokage was easier then waking a coma patient?" Ino asked disbelievingly.

"No, but unless you want to watch me have sex with said coma patient then it's going to be harder," Naruto replied.

"Who knows she might like it," Ino said giving a devious smile."Besides is that the end goal anyway."

"It might be, but I…I guess she deserves the same chance to refuse that you, Hinata, and Tsunade enjoyed," Naruto said.

Ino got up slightly to look into his eyes and she kissed him hotly. When she broke the kiss she said, "That's why I'm glad it was you that was given that jutsu. You have a heart and a conscious Naruto, never lose those."

He was spellbound by her blue eyes so simply nodded. Ino climbed over him before making her way to his shower. When she reached the door she placed a hand on the frame and looking over her shoulder said, "I need to relieve my mom at the shop. Would you wash my back for me?"

Naruto shot out of the bed to follow her into the bathroom and he even eventually did get around to washing her like she asked.

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Sakura looked at the walking injured that was the new Team Kakashi. Or better yet Captain Yamato and Chouji. The bastard Sai that had been Sasuke's replacement escaped after meeting with Orochimaru in the chaos that had been their meeting with the spy, who had turned out to be Kabuto. But the glasses wearing triple traitor was apparently at least loyal to Orochimaru.

After they had managed to escape from the Sanin, they had noticed that Sai was gone. Fearing his capture, they had managed to track him to a base where they learned he had joined with the Sound willingly. But what was worse for her was seeing Sasuke again. He had been so cold and when she had tried to remind him of the bonds that he, her, and Naruto had shared he had laughed. He then in a display of power destroyed the roof of the base and after easily handling all three of them was about to finish the job but had been stopped by Orochimaru of all people.

Sakura had been heartbroken, and truthfully still was, about what Naruto and hers teammate had become. But somewhere in her mind, she began to wonder if that was what Naruto had encountered three years ago. Had Sasuke been that cold even then? She knew that Naruto had been hurt, but she had just assumed that it was the Sound-nin that had escorted Sasuke away from the village. But was it possible Sasuke had done it, and if so, why didn't Naruto tell her?

She was on her way to see him since Captain Yamato had said he would handle reporting to the Hokage. She tried Ichiraku first and saw Ayame chatting with a blond haired boy who strangely enough was sort of acting like Naruto. Ayame seemed to be smiling and Sakura wondered briefly if it was her boyfriend. But even as the boy told her some story the smile never really seemed to reach her eyes. Almost like she was trying to convince herself something was there in the boy that wasn't.

After being told by the waitress that Naruto hadn't stopped by, noticing a slight frown on Ayame's lips as she said it, Sakura decided to try his apartment. She was just about to knock on the door when it opened and Ino began to step out. She was looking into the apartment as she said, "I'll see you later… Sakura!?"

"Ino… w-what are you doing here?"

"Obviously I was visiting with Naruto," Ino said a little guardedly.

To Sakura, Ino smelled freshly showered and she noticed her hair was still a little damp. Her eyes narrowed as she said, "Since when do you…"

"She was helping me with some of my plants," Naruto said walking towards his door, "I've been busy training lately so kind of neglected them. She helped bring them back to life."

"I see…" Sakura said watching the two, "I guess you do tend to hyperfocus on certain tasks."

She frowned though, as a cat that ate the canary smile appeared on Ino lips as she said, "You make that sound like a bad thing though Sakura. In the right situations that can really be a godsend."

"Wha…"

"Any way," Naruto said quickly knowing that Ino was referring to his tendency to thoroughly enjoy his girls until completely spent if he could, "thanks for your help Ino, but don't you have to relieve your mom."

Ino got the hint, and gave a small wave wishing she could have kissed him goodbye, but knew he didn't want Sakura to know about what he was up to. Sakura's frown deepened as Naruto leaned against his doorframe and watched Ino leave with his arms crossed. She wasn't sure, but she thought he was watching her rear as she walked away. When the blonde disappeared around the corner of the hall he turned his attention to her and said, "What's up?"