Hair-Trigger
Naruto could control it. He
hated senseless violence, and needless brutality. But when Ino became involved,
Naruto had a hair trigger.
A routine mission. That's
what they were told. Go in, find the bandit, negotiate for or take the item
back, return the item to its owner.
If only it had remained
that simple.
Naruto and Ino had gone
alone on the mission. They were both jounin, and they were both known for their
skills. Naruto could summon vast armies of clones to his aid, and could take a
beating that would have killed several lesser men. Ino was cunning, and could
use her mind jutsu so well that most many of her enemies ended up killing
themselves in confusion.
But Naruto was weak to
genjutsu, and Ino was lacking in taijutsu, and because of this, Ino awoke with
a splitting headache.
Where am I? She looked around. Some sort of
cave. No sign of Naruto. He must have been led somewhere else by the genjutsu. Before
she could dispel it, she had been attacked, and, then she couldn't remember
anything very clearly. Someone had carried her away through various tunnels
from wherever they had been, and then dropped her suddenly when a huge noise
shook the cavern. Whoever had carried her ran away from the noise. She heard
loud, familiar sounding screeches and other sounds, though her muddled mind
couldn't recognize them.
Whatever was making the
noises grew quiet, and something flew by her with a loud whoosh. Ino
couldn't remember any more.
Performing a little medical
jutsu to ease her headache, she set off in search of Naruto, her comrade and
more. She slipped as she entered a large opening in the cave. Something had
coated the entire area in a thick layer of some smelly, slippery stuff. Ino
tried to clear her head some more, and then she recognized the lubricant. As
her vision cleared, she also recognized the sources, scattered all around the
cave.
Ino gave Naruto a quick
peck on the cheek as they strolled towards the Hokage's office. The whiskered
ninja smiled and leaned in for another. Ino played coy and leaned away, only to
be caught by a second Naruto. They first one burst into smoke.
When he had released her
lips. She gave him an exasperated smile. “That is so unfair, Naruto-kun.”
A cocky grin twisted his
lips. “You complaining?”
She rolled her eyes and
jumped at Naruto, who easily caught her and began carrying her bridal style
towards the office. She sighed and relaxed into his arms. He was always so
warm, she could practically fall asleep while he carried her...
Naruto shook her awake. Ino raised her head quickly. “I'm awake. I'm awake.
Just relaxing.”
Tsunade smirked. “Yes, I've been watching you relax for the past five
minutes. Naruto, set her down, or she'll never stay awake long enough to hear
the mission details.”
Ino groaned as Naruto gently lowered her feet to the ground. She continued
to lean on him, resting her head on his warm shoulder. This was almost as
comfortable...
“INO! I swear if you can't stay awake to hear to what your mission will be
I'll let Sakura go with him!”
Fire flamed in Ino's eyes as she reared up to attack the Hokage. Naruto
grabbed her before any harm was done. “Ino-chan, you know I wouldn't do
anything with Sakura. Why are you so jealous?” Although his words were
placating, his wide grin told her that he appreciated her jealousy.
“I would never give up time with you, especially to her. And ever since
Sasuke died, she's been... more open to the idea of dating you, and I know you
used to-”
Tsunade cleared her throat loudly, but Ino kept up her worried babbling.
“Naruto, could you do something about this?”
Naruto did something about it with such passion that Ino was left leaning on
him for actual support, her knees to wobbly to keep her up independently.
“NOW THAT I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION,” Tsunade spoke loudly, “I can give you the
mission details. Our client, Kohta, had a rather special ring. It's a family
heirloom, and it has a rather large ruby on it. It also functions as his
official signet ring. Not so long ago, it was stolen by some unknown group,
probably missing-nin. Kohta needs the ring back as soon as possible. I think
you might be aware of how much damage these people could do with a signet ring.
Anyone with it can pass as a legitimate messenger of Kohta's family, and could
do irreparable harm to Kohta's reputation. Time is of the essence.”
Naruto and Ino nodded.
“Leave as soon as you are ready, the thieves were last located 50 miles west
of here. Go!”
The blondes inclined their heads in understanding, and departed immediately.
Ino stepped gingerly over the dead bodies, careful not to slip on the thick
layer of blood that covered the ground. She held her stomach tightly, trying
not to lose her lunch. She could sense him up ahead, past the broken wall.
The blonde kunoichi hopped over the rubble of the fallen cave wall to find
another scene much like the first. She tried to ignore the signs of combat, and
the sickening smell of death. But she couldn't help up see the melted and
mangled shuriken and kunai, she couldn't help but notice the terrified
expressions on the intact faces that littered the ground, she couldn't avoid
the huge, blackened claw marks that decorated every wall, and the floor and
ceiling.
She walked across the room and found a long hallway, lit with torches. At
the end, she saw him, sitting propped up against a wall, looking at a large,
ruby-studded ring in his hand. She approached slowly, holding a hand against
her throbbing temple.
He heard her approach. Naruto turned and gave her a sad, pathetic smile, one
that made her want to cry, that made her want to cradle him in her arms and
never let him go. “I got it, Ino-chan.”
She sat on his lap and leaned against his chest, sobbing. Her tears ran into
the hollows above his collarbones. “I'm so sorry, Naruto-kun. I'm so sorry. If
I had been quicker, I could have-”
He cut her off with a brief peck on the lips. “Don't blame yourself, Ino.
We're fine. The mission is all but complete. We'll be back in Konoha before you
know it.”
Ino only heard it because she knew him so well. The inexpressible sorrow over
his loss of control, his anger with himself for failing to protect her, and his
anger, again with himself, for failing to overcome the rather weak genjutsu in
time.
Ino stroked his cheeks, running her fingers along his whisker marks. “It's
all right, Naruto-kun. You did fine.” With her unique sense of the minds of
others, and with her knowledge of Naruto in particular, she could feel his
emotions gradually wane. She continued to stroke him and whisper comfort until
she could feel that he was calm enough to go on.
Naruto stood slowly, picking up Ino as he did so. “It's alright Naruto-kun,
I can-”
She stopped when she saw the look in his eyes. He wanted to desperately to
make it up to her. She knew that she would not be able to convince him that she
didn't need this, and she knew that it calmed him almost as much as it calmed
her, to hold her like this.
The ache in her head faded as she drifted off to sleep.
They arrived at the cave rather quickly. Getting there just after dusk.
Naruto grinned at his beloved blonde girl. “You ready?”
Ino shot back with her own smirk. “Of course. Go on, fearless leader.”
They rushed in to take the missing-nin by surprise.
Except they didn't. They had been expected. Traps and ninja flew from every corner,
but these were not a problem. Naruto laughed as he dodged and blocked the
attacks. His constant use of clones and Kawarimi kept the weapons away, and the
ninja at bay, while Ino threw her own attacks from a distance.
She wasn't built for close combat, but she had learned how to deal damage
from a distance. With a combination of kunai and chakra strings, she tied up or
incapacitated quite a number of enemies until it happened.
Ino felt it as soon as she saw it. A dying ninja threw a simple genjutsu at
one of the Naruto's.
The real one. His clones disappeared and were not replinished. Ino's eyes
widened. What sort of genjutsu was it? She hurried over, and as she approached,
she saw his eyes straming tears, and his mouth opened in a silent scream.
She didn't know what sort of vile genjutsu it was, but she had to remove it.
But before she got there, a ninja got to her. With precious few clones left
protecting them, she should have seen it. But the ninja clubbed her once in the
temple, and she dropped like a rock.
Her vision and her memory hazed over.
Naruto was fighting, when he felt a slight pull. He looked over, and saw the
ninja stab Ino from behind, he whirled to come to her aid, but he couldn't go
fast enough. Too many ninja in the way. He hurried, and hurried, and killed,
but he couldn't get there fast enough.
The ninja finished her, sticking a kunai hilt-deep through her eye and into
her brain.
Naruto screamed. And screamed. Tears ran down his face. He fell to his knees
of the ground, screaming at the ceiling. He was so sad. So sad. So...
Angry.
No. He couldn't do that anymore. He couldn't. It was bad. And Ino was dead!
What was the point? Without her, he was alone, he was cold, he was...
ANGRY.
He couldn't fight it. It
was too much. His control didn't crack. It shattered into a thousand pieces,
and Naruto wasn't sure if it would over come back. He wasn't sure he cared. He
was...
ANGRY!! ANGRY!!
ANGRYKILLSLASHTEARCRUSHRIPBITEBURNKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILLKILL...
Naruto and Ino walked silently
into the Hokage's office, hand in hand. Naruto gave Tsunade the mission report.
The hokage smiled.
“Success!” Then she noticed their expressions.
Taking a swig of sake, she
asked. “Again?”
Naruto nodded. And turned
to walk away. Ino held on to his hand, casting a pleading look at the Hokage.
Tsunade whispered, just to
her. “Take care of him, Ino. Please.”
Ino nodded solemnly and
followed Naruto out.
As they walked, she
absently rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb. She had it so easy. He had
to bear the demon, he had to bear the village's scorn, and now he had to bear
the guilt for what his body did against his will.
Naruto never lost control.
No insult could faze him. No threat to his person could move him. No amount of
injury or pain could make him crack. But he had a weakness. Her. As she was his
comfort, she was also his bane. Naruto hated the ruthless way he killed when
Kyuubi came, but when Ino was concerned, the slightest thought of a threat
could set him off.
He hated his anger, but he
had a hair trigger. It's name was Ino.
AN: Tell me what you think.
But please, if you want to point out something you didn't like, please tell me
how I could have made it better. Constructive criticism is a great help.
Thanks for reading.
-demonicnargles