Flowery Fox - 《[ NaruIno ]》[COMPLETE]

Tenchikyo / 8

Naruto and Ino were still sitting on the ground, holding each other and enjoying the moment they had together. Naruto had to admit once again that Ino looked absolutely  stunning. And her combat performance against Itachi proved she was very capable of holding her own in battle. 

But even after their win, Naruto was still upset that they fell for that clone trick. He was trying to figure out the meaning of Itachi's strategy - trying to lure them with the clone. But it all didn't matter because he and Ino were able to overcome this one obstacle on their mission. It made him happy that he and Ino harmonized that well in battle. It just confirmed his feeling that Ino was a very important person him. And he was happy about it.

Naruto glanced to the side and noticed something unusual at the spot where Itachi's clone dropped to the ground. A crow was sitting there and doing nothing but looking at Naruto.

Naruto tilted his head even though he didn't know why he did. Simultaneously, the crow tilted its head into the same direction as Naruto did. He couldn't explain it but he felt himself being caught in the eyes of the crow. The same eyes as Itachi's. 

Naruto couldn't control himself. He suddenly stood up and let go of Ino who looked at him with a questionable face. But Naruto ignored her. Its not like he didn't want to interact with her. He just couldn't look at her. The crow had him trapped. And he couldn't resist.

"Naruto..?"

Suddenly, the crow flew towards Narutp. And suddenly, Naruto blacked out. With the only thing he remebers being the Sharingan eyes of the crow.

---

Naruto woke up. He was lying on the ground in the middle of the spot in the forrest he remebered being before... the crow attacked him? He began standing up and wondered what happened. The first thing he noticed is that Ino disappeared. She was no where to be found. The second thing he noticed is that the entire world seemed to be more gray than before. Every color was dimmed as were almost not recognizable. Naruto wondered what happened but then a familiar voice spoke up.

"Naruto."

Naruto turned his head to see Itachi. He was confused. Didn't he just defeat Itachi in battle? Or was it his clone? He wasn't sure what was truth and what was illusion but he hoped that Itachi would enlight him.

"Where am I?"

The aggressive attitude was gone. In this realm he didn't feel any hatred towards Itachi. He didn't see Itachi as a foe. But once again Naruto wasn't sure if it was because Itachi created this world with its own laws and flaws.

"You're in my personal realm. You are caught in a genjutsu."

"Why?"

While Itachi was talking Naruto noticed that he didn't move his lips to actually form those words. He was talking to Naruto by... telepathy?

"I have to tell you something."

Naruto couldn't resist the will to talk to Itachi. During this entire time he was feeling a lot of hatred against the older brother of Sasuke. But not this time. Not anymore. Not in this world

"I know what you're looking for. I know that you are searching for Sasuke. And I want you to tell him something when you meet him."

Itachi stopped talking and moved on to unintelligible whispering. At least it would have seemed unintelligible for other people. But Naruto did completely understand it and knew what he had to tell Sasuke. 

"I will tell you where you will find him. His and Orchimaru's hideout is near to the Tenchikyo bridge. You'll find him there."

Afterwards, Itachi dissolved into bunch of crows and completely engulfed Naruto. He didn't know how to react and the last thing he felt before passing out was falling. Nothing more but falling...

---

"...waking..."

"...is he?"

"...he's....up....Naruto...?"

Naruto heard a bunch of voices calling him but he didn't want to react. He wanted to keep his eyes shut ad never get up again. But he realized that at some point he had to.

Naruto rised and sat now upright on the floor, resulting in surprising looks from Ino, Hinata and Sai.

"What happened?", Naruto asked, even though he already knew what has happened.

"You just dropped to the ground, unconscious. I caught you in time and then Sai and Hinata appeared, helping me with getting you to our camp.", Ino answered.

Naruto sighed. He didn't thought that he would be such a burden to his team. He wanted to be a proper team leader but Naruto knew he failed at the point where he left his group to go for Itachi.

"How long was I out?"

Ino considered. "Few hours I'd say. We decided to camp here and wait until you wake up."

Naruto nodded. He stood up and motioned to move. "You get some rest. I'll have a walk." And with that he was gone.

He didn't even look back.

---

Naruto was just blindly walking. He had no actual target. He just wanted to walk and didn't want to stop. At some point, he came by a large lake. He decided to sit down next to it and have some time to think about what happened on this day. He only did not expect Itachi to show up again but he was surprised that Itachi had a certain request. Talking to Sasuke. hm?

Naruto heard some bushes rustle but he didn't bother to turn around. He didn't even care who was it.

"Naruto..."

To all surprise it was not Ino but it was Hinata.

"Hey Hinata.", he said without even looking at her.

"...are you alright?"

He was surprised that Hinata cared so much about what he was thinking. The only person who did this was Ino. Could it be...

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just... tired."

Silence. Then Naruto heard how Hinata moved towards him and sat down next to him, crossing her legs.

"Do you... want to talk about it?"

Naruto turned his head to Hinata who immediately began blushing. He was never understanding this reaction but he accepted it as it was just her thing.

Naruto sighed. "It's nothing serious. It's just... Itachi... the Akatsuki asked me to do something when we meet Sasuke."

Hinata flinched. "When... we meet Sasuke?"

"Itachi is Sasuke's older brother. He hates Itachi because he was responsible for the massacre of their enitre clan. Sasuke wants revenge. And I can't loathe him for that."

Hinata lowered her head. "But how do we find... Sasuke?"

Naruto waited before he answered, considering every option he had right now. He considered how things could turn out when he told her right now. He glanced at her. Did he really trust her that much to tell her that important information? 

After some consideration, he decided.

"Itachi told me."

She startled. But before she could even ask another question Naruto got to his feet and reached out for Hinata's hand.

"Come on. I'll tell the entire group."

Hinata hesitated before taking his hand. Naruto helped her up and together they went back to the camp while Naruto prepared to inaugurate his fellow team mates into his new plan.

Flowery Fox - a NaruIno Fanfiction - Tenchikyo...