Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Unlikely Alliance ❯ Prologue: Love Sucks ( Prologue )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Darkness had curled around the large village, hiddenn in it's lush forests and groves, the only showing factoer in the outside world being a rising mountain, with a group of faces carved into it -- the great leaders of Kohona, the great Hokages... But our story does not concern them. We must focus on a smaller scene...

Unbidden rain, unseen except when caught in wandering lanternlight, falls almost silently as two men sit, talking closely about recent events. They are alone, sitting at a table that belongs to a restaurant nearby. They speak calmly, as no-one is near. Who would venture out into the storm? They laugh, at a joke from one of the men...

One, a little younger but seeming much more mature than the other, glares at his partner unbelievingly... The man must have said something strange, or new, to his friend. The younger one shaks his head, looking sad.What happened?

The older man shrugs, and begins to tell the younger man more. His headband, signifying his alleigence to the leaf, and his graduation into becoming a ninja, shines in the light of a portable light... He is an adult, and a Jounin... A warrior of his country, and a teacher.

"Iruka," he says, "Ino..."

"What, Kakashi?" the younger, brown-haired man turns his head to look behind him. "Ino?"


~~~~~~~~~
Unlikely Alliance
Prologue
V. 2
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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, etc. I hae a distinct feeling that Masashi Kisimoto-sama owns it...
Note: This is a rewrite - Formerly know as The Plan, sorta AUish where Sasuke doesn't leave the village (late 100's)

~~~



A young girl is barely visible through the deluge, and she is a bedraggled mess. Her hair fell slightly past the shoulders, it's natural golden hue soaked into a dull sandy colour. Her clothes consisted of a dirty, white t-shirt that ended at her knees, and a pair of ripped shorts of an unsightly green. Her blue-green eyes, so cheerful and bright, blazed with resentment.

"Ohayou, Kakashi-san, Iruka-sensei..." she said in a dull, raspy voice, glaring at the two surprised ninjas.

"Ino-chan? But..." Iruka was visibly changed, his light, worried air now stripped down to bare guilt and worry. "What... happened..."

He could have smacked himself. She chases a guy around for so long, he suddenly tturns around her and falls in with her rival, and he asks what happened? There was something wrong with him, he was sure...

"You know, I was so sure... that it would... work out..." her head lowered, as she shuffled closer. "But," sje smiled weakly, "it's not like anyone was supportive of the thought anyways, right? I mean, except you, Kakashi-san... I don't think it would have mattered to you, would've made it easier... I guess just bad luck, right? If only you'd made the first move..."

Woah, that was a hit.. The silver-haired ninja is taken aback, and suddenly looks as if there was nothing more importnat than keeping his self-control... JUST above Ino's slow, agonizing death...

"Ino, that was uncalled for..." Iruka could see his friend's reaction, and looked to take action to stop it.

"Oh sorry... I guess it was... I'm surprised, really, that you noticed though. Your perceptive skills were second-lowest ranked in the last... eight, Jounin exams? Right between your abhorrent stealth and your near-average jutsus... You're pretty good at transforming, though, aren't you? That, and you can survive a giant shuriken in the back and avoid going to the hospital..."

Now, Ino was either VERY angry or VERY stupid... or both... because you didn't insult a ninja, OR bring up little nudges about bad things in the past... and Mizui was DEFINATELY a bad thing in the past... Now she had a Jounin AND a Chuunin angry at her.

"Ino..." Iruka said, shaking. "Leave."

"If you really want me too... " she shrugged, and headed off in the other direction, smiling a little in her misery. Misery loves company... but it loves more to cause it.


~~~

A young boy sat, on the same night, contemplating some things. The loss of his love to his rival, his worth as a ninja, and Nidaime's nose...

"Damn Sasuke, gets everything. Finally catch up, and this happens... Sharingan, Kage Bunshin; Chidori, Rasengan... I've always caught up, and now that I finally have a chance... Sakura-chan..." the boy broke out into sobs, fully convinced that she loved him no more than an ugly carpet she might have to bear having in her bedroom, because her mother liked it...

If it hadn't been so sudden, if only there was time to ease into the idea... No, Sasuke suddenly stops walking in the middle of Sakura's tirade of his blankness and ignorance, and the idiot turns around and pulls Sakura into a passionate kiss... leaving a yelling Ino and a happy Naruto speechless... and joyless...

Naruto had run to seek solitude, to find a place where he could sit and cry... and Shodaime's nose was a nice, flat place to sit, right up on the monument.. In his solitude, it got worse. Old feelings of lonliness and sadness rushed ouit, and the boy had st there since afternoon. It was well into the night now, and he was still sitting there...

"Why am I even powerful? It's not even me, just the stupid fox... If I didn't have IT, I'd be useless... without it, all I'd summon would be a tadpole.. without it, I'd be as weak as Konohamaru..." He gave the smallest of humourless laughs, and looked down. Suicide was too easy...

Nidaime's nose was looking mighty annoying right now...

~~~

"Ino..."

"Leave me alone!"

"Ino... please..."

"NO! I. just. want. to. sleep..."

"But, Ino, honey... It's okay..."

Ino held up a hand, swiftly dismissing her poor mother, who left the door open a tiny bit and alked down to her husband and tell her aboiut his daughter's refusal. Meanwhile, Ino snuggeld up in her warm covers, and thought of Sasuke...

And Sakura... What had happened, to fuel such an event? She'd never seen Sasuke so... happy... 'He needs someone to love... but that person should be me...' she thought silently as sleep took her under its wing.

~~~

"Ino, Naruto..." Kakashi said on Monday morning, looking at the two genins with pleasure in his eyes. Kakashi wasn't a sadist, but oh, how he LOVED giving punishments...

"What?" a grumpy Naruto said, glaring at his teacher.

"Yeah, perv, what's up?" Ino demanded, smirking. "Nursing a wound?"

"Both of you are charged and convicted of crimes against Konoha... You, Ino, caused massive amounts of vandalism, and you, Nsruto, caused one huge act of vandalism... Therefore, you both shall stay off missions for an unpaid holiday, four weeks, as is the punishent is altered for those with emotional burdens. Kakashi's alternative to psychological help..."

"Kakashi-sensei... HOW AM I GONNA PAY THE BLLS!?" Naruto burst out. "Those are my only source of income! I need electricity, and food, and, y'know..."

Ino was surprised, in a way. For the first time, she realised that Naruto lived alone, like Sasuke... but he didn't have an insanely large inheritance like said Uchiha. 'No wonder he dresses so shabbily...'m But her next surprise was just to come...

"You'll be living... in Yamanaka-san's spare room..."

"WHAT!?" Ino screamed. "MY DAD WOULDN'T-"

"Your mother..."

"But... she's WORSE! No offense to you personally, but my mom has this 'thing' about you..." Ino turned to Naruto, and was subsequently surprised by his understanding look... had he done something to her parents she didn't know about? Heck, Ino knew EVERYTHING! What could it.... be...

"I'm living... with... HER?" Naruto was incredulous. "WHAT THE HELL!?"

Kakashi disappeared...

~~~

Ino sat on her bed, feeling a mix of weirdness, annoyance, anger, boredom and gladness. She'd never had anyone else sleep in her house but her and her parents...And what had happened with her parents and Naruto? Or Naruto in general? Before the Chuunin exam, bring up Naruto and prepare to be scolded, snapped at or smacked over the head... Why?

She's be able to find out... and that made this worth it.

'I just hope he showers...'

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YES! End chapter one of 'Unlikely Alliance'...

Is this better than the original? I wasn't too sure about this.. I'm having trouble with chp. seven of The Plan... so I'm trying to make a more descriptive one... I reread the original prologue, and didn't really like it, but I feel more satisfied with this one... I'm also hoping to expand on some scenes I skipped over, and everything... Is this worth continuing?



-Alden, Elite Jounin, signing out!