Chapter 106 - Revealing Secrets
Naruto, meanwhile, managed to give Inoichi the slip and returned home. He currently had a wry smile on his face while Ino was glaring at him and Haku was giving him a questioning look.
"So, you are saying that I am weak!?"
"No, Ino-chan, that's no…"
"But you are telling me to give up, right!?"
"Well, yes, but…"
"So, you DO think that I am weak!"
"In…"
"Do you know how hard I have trained?!"
"I…"
"I put a lot of effort into training, you know!?"
"…"
"Do you not trust…"
"INO!!!"
Ino stopped talking and looked at Naruto in surprise and was even more surprised when Naruto seemed to be genuinely angry at her. Neither Ino nor Haku have ever seen Naruto actually getting angry before.
"I do trust you, Ino, but Gaara is very different from a normal shinobi. If you fight him, he will cripple or maybe even kill you."
Ino was about to get angry again but stopped when Naruto raised both his hands to pacify her.
'Kurama?'
[You sure about that? Ino and Haku are very different cases compared to Hinata and Anko.]
'Yeah, it's not like I can hide you from them forever. Sorry I have to request this from you, Kurama.'
Naruto could feel Kurama shrug his shoulders which took quite the burden from Naruto's shoulders. He would show Ino and Haku that the Kyuubi was sealed inside him, but not that the seal had been removed a while ago. For that, Kurama would have to pretend to still be sealed, which wasn't sitting well for Naruto. To Naruto's relief, Kurama didn't seem to mind at all.
Naruto took a deep breath and looked at Ino and Haku with a serious face that caused the two to straighten their backs.
"I will reveal a secret to you and I hope you can promise me that you won't tell anybody about it. This secret will explain why I don't want you to fight against Gaara."
Ino nodded her head in agreement and Haku did the same. Naruto took a deep breath and stretched his fist towards Ino and Haku.
"Put your fists against mine and allow yourselves to be pulled in."
Although both of them were confused by Naruto's gesture, they still obediently bumped fists with him and as soon as they did, they could feel something pulling on their minds. As a Yamanaka, a clan well known for their mind arts, Ino could have easily resisted the pull but decided to trust Naruto.
Moments later, the trio found themselves at the border of three different environments. The usual sewer system, which was Haku's mindscape, a city that looked a lot like Konoha, which was Ino's mindscape and Naruto's beach.
Ino's eyes widened when she saw that Naruto's mindscape was actually developed, while Haku had no clue what was going on. Before the two could ask any questions, Naruto motioned them to follow him.
After a few minutes of walking, the trio reached a huge cave. As soon as Ino and Haku got a little closer to the cave they froze up. From inside the cave, two huge eyes were staring at them with indifference. Moments later Kurama stepped out of the shadow and revealed his form, causing Ino and Haku to gasp in surprise. Naruto, meanwhile, rolled his eyes at Kurama's "dramatic reveal". He could have sworn that Kurama was smirking at him for a moment, but that must have been his imagination.
[What do you want, brat? And why did you bring two women with you? Do you want to show off the mates you have slept with? I heard that humans like to show off their conquests, but I have no interest in humoring you, so you can get lost.]
Naruto almost face-planted when Kurama called Ino and Haku, Naruto's "mates" and what followed after that certainly didn't make it any better, either.
'That damn fox planned this!'
Ino and Haku blushed when they heard Kurama's words and started to glare at him, but both of them realized that it was useless to glare at Kurama and instead glared at Naruto who felt wronged by that.
'Why are they glaring at me!? I didn't do anything!'
"*Cough* Ino, Haku, this is the Kyuubi. He has been sealed inside me right after I was born. It might look like he is sitting in a normal cave, but he can't leave it completely. It is the representation of the seal trapping him inside me."
Ino and Haku widened their eyes in surprise when they heard the term Kyuubi. They naturally knew what that was and were surprised it was sealed inside Naruto. Before the two could say anything, Naruto continued to speak.
"There is no need for pity or any of that nonsense. I have lived a good life and had basically no trouble with the Kyuubi yet. Everything is under control."
[You sure have quite the wicked taste. Normally, when you pacify the woman you are aiming for with that line you are in a romantic location, but this time you even pulled your prey in here. Do you want your prey to see how dangerous I look so they are even more impressed? Typical human behavior.]
Naruto's face became chalk-white when he realized what Kurama just said. Cold sweat was flowing down his body like a waterfall. Ino and Haku, meanwhile, were glaring at Naruto with an intensity that is just a bit short of burning a hole through Naruto.
"Kura…Kyuubi, you bastard, take that back."
[Mhh? What do you mean?]
""Naruto-kun, what is this all about?""
After seeing Ino and Haku slowly approaching him, Naruto panicked even more.
"I-Ino-chan, H-Haku-chan, don't listen…"
[Ahh, that brat is quite the womanizer. Pretty sure he wants to copy his sister's behavior.]
The duo's glare intensified even further and Naruto couldn't help but shudder in fear.
'That damn Kurama. Fine if I am going down, then I will take him down with me.'
A glint of insanity appeared in Naruto's eyes as he formed the ram seal with his hands.
"Fine then, Ku…Kyuubi. Let's go down together!"
The look in Naruto's eyes made Kurama worry a bit, but he didn't think Naruto would do anything too dangerous.
"[Forbidden Sexy Jutsu…]"
Kurama nodded his head when he heard that.
'As expected, he is going to do something stupid. Is he going to transform into a giant, female fox or something? How would that even help him? I wonder why he added a "forbidden" to the na…?'
"[…Madara x Hashira…]"
[ABSOLUTELY NOT!!!]
With lightning speed, one of Kurama's tails shot out of the cave and smacked Naruto over the head, stopping his jutsu and causing Ino and Haku to be completely dumbfounded. They both had the same thoughts.
'Wasn't the cave supposed to trap the Kyuubi?'
[You damn crazy bastard! Don't even think of doing that again!]
"Hehe, can you stop me?"
Kurama growled in annoyance and looked at the still dumbfounded Ino and Haku.
[Fine, Naruto isn't seducing anyone, I just wanted to play a trick on him. Now get out of here. I need to meditate and cleanse my memories.]
"Haha, alright K…yuubi. See ya later."
Seeing Naruto happily walking away with the still dazed Ino and Haku in tow, Kurama could only shake his head.
'That damn brat is getting more and more shameless. If this keeps going, he will turn into a second Yuna.'
Naruto, Ino, and Haku, meanwhile, had exited their mindscapes and as soon as they were back in the living room, Ino started to glare at Naruto.
"What was that all about?"
"*Cough* Well… I kinda became friends with the Kyuubi and didn't want to reveal that. We took the fooling around a bit too far and things escalated. You weren't supposed to find out about that. I hope you can keep that a secret as well. People will probably go insane if they hear that I befriended the Kyuubi. Having him sealed inside me is at least known by quite a few people, but befriending him is a different matter."
Ino and Haku looked at each other and nodded.
"" Alright, I won't tell anybody about it.""
Naruto sighed in relief when he heard that. He still had to tell Yuna about his slip-up but was hoping she wouldn't be too angry. While he was contemplating the best way to explain the situation to Yuna, Haku started speaking.
"Well, you told us that you have the Kyuubi sealed inside you, but what has that to do with Ino not fighting Gaara?"
Naruto and Ino widened their eyes when they heard Haku's question. They had completely forgotten about that!
"Right, that was the initial problem. Gaara has the Ichibi sealed inside him. I know about that because I have the Kyuubi sealed inside me and can feel the Ichibi's presence inside Gaara. Gaara, however, isn't like me. The Ichibi is barely staying sealed inside him and he certainly isn't friends with him. If he were to fight someone strong, especially someone that would try to affect his mind, the chances are high that the Ichibi would break free."
Ino paled when she heard that. She has some confidence in her strength, but she certainly isn't arrogant enough to believe that she could fight something like the Ichibi.
"But, isn't that dangerous? Why is he even taking part in Konoha's chunin exam?"
Naruto could only shrug his shoulders.
"Pretty sure Suna is planning something, but until they actually do something, they are still our ally. You two should prepare yourselves as well. I have no clue what is going to happen, but things are about to get dicey during the finals. "
Ino took a deep breath to calm her nerves and nodded her head.
"Alright, I will forfeit my fight, but I will help with whatever happens during the finals."
Haku nodded in agreement, while a happy smile appeared on Naruto's face when Ino agreed. He quickly hugged her and gave her a kiss, which caused Ino to blush and Haku to pout.
Seeing Haku's pout, Naruto quickly hugged her as well and kissed her, causing her to blush as well.
"Haha, that's great. If Suna dares to do anything, let's fight side by side to protect our little family."
Ino and Haku blushed even harder when they heard the word "family". They meekly looked down and nodded their heads in agreement.
Kurama, meanwhile, was cursing Naruto for becoming a smooth talker like Yuna and then switched to cursing Yuna for corrupting Naruto like that, just to switch back to cursing Naruto again.
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