After eating, Naruto headed for Ino's house. He finally was calm enough to act in a normal manner. His walk was interrupted when a shinobi ordered him to the hokage's office.

The Hokage's office had Its usual inhabitants and Fukasaku. "Granny Tsunade." said Naruto as he entered through the window. "I thought I told you not to go through the window," said Sakura, "It's rude." "But, it's faster." argued Naruto. "Naruto, you remember Fukasaku right?" asked Tsunade. "I remember geezer sage." he answered. "Naruto don't be rude." said Sakura. "It's alright." said Fukasaku, "You remember how I trained Jiraiya boy, correct?" "Yeah..." said Naruto. "Well, now I'm here to train you. You will become a sage." spoke Fukasaku. "Cool, so when do we start? I think training ground four is open, no one is ever there." said Naruto. "Not here, you will train on Mount Myoboku." "Ok, how long will it take?" "It took Jiraiya Boy his whole life, even then he didn't master it." said Fukasaku. "What?!", said Naruto, "I don't have that kind of time!". "Well," said Fukasaku, "It didn't take his other student so long, but he never could really maintain the form. So, who knows..."

"Alright, when do we leave?"

"Later today, I still need to do some things around the village. I pick you up at the village gates around sundown."

"Roger that." said a saluting Naruto. "Well, Naruto. Now that you have some time, go see Ino." ordered Sakura. "I gotcha!" responded Naruto. Everyone drained out of the office, leaving only Tsunade. "Did everyone forget I'm Hokage, they all ignored me? Well, they are young."

Naruto left the building with Sakura by his side. "Well, I'm going to go see Ino now," said the Uzumaki. "I'll go with you," said the clanless kunoichi, "I haven't seen her in a while." Both walked through the village streets toward the flower shop. Ever since her team had been gone, Ino spent much more time at her parent's shop. The pair found her there, taking orders from a mourning Aburame mother. As the woman left the shop, Sakura made note of how familiar she looked. "Hey Ino," said Naruto, excited to see her after so long. "Oh, hey Naruto. It's been a while," said a blushing Ino, causing Naruto to blush. "What happened between you two?" asked an observant Sakura. "Nothing..." said the two blonds. "Alright, well... It's about sundown," said Sakura, trying to change the subject, "Let's start heading for the gate. We'll see you off, right Ino." "You're leaving already, Naruto?" asked Ino. "Yeah, I'm training to become a sage!" said the excited shinobi. "That's awesome," said Ino, turning in her apron for the day and clocking out. "Yep, I can't wait!" said the smiling Uzumaki.

The group headed for the village gates, but didn't see the toad anywhere. "Huh," said Naruto, "I thought geezer Sage would be here." "I'm sorry Naruto, but I have to go." said a regretful Sakura, "Tsunade only lets me be away from the hospital for so long." "It's Ok, Bye Sakura." said Naruto. Sakura left the two alone with a sad smile on her face. She spoke to Inner, 'This hurts us, but they should be alone. It will be good for them.' 'Yeah, I wish it was us,' said inner. 'Yeah, but we can't be selfish.' Sakura cried lightly as she walked away, "Be good, Naruto, Sob, be good."

"I have to go too, Naruto," said Ino. "Ok," said Naruto. "Aren't you gonna kiss me?" asked Ino. "Yeah," said Naruto as he leaned in. As soon as the pair met, a cloud of smoke enveloped where they stood. The couple looked around as the smoke dissipated, but they had no idea where they stood. Giant mushrooms and single leafed stems stood high above them. The red dirt beneath their feet seemed to form a path toward a house. Squinting, Ino saw a toad approaching them from the direction of the house. As the toad got closer, Naruto recognized him. "Hey, geezer sage," said Naruto toward his new teacher. "Naruto," said the toad greeting his new student, "Who might this be? I didn't realize you were bringing a companion." "Hey," Ino interrupted, "I didn't know I was coming either. How did we get here anyway?". "Reverse Summoning," answered Fukasaku. "But, I didn't sign a contract with you." said Naruto, "Neither did Ino." "But, you did sign a contract with me," bellowed out Gamabunta; who had somehow been ignored despite standing right next to the shinobi this whole time. "Ok, but how did I get here?" asked Ino. "If you two were touching the summoning jutsu might have dragged you along." answered Fukasaku, causing the blonds to blush at the thought. "Well, Naruto."said Fukasaku, "Let's go to my house, you both must be tired after your travels. Afterward we can talk about your companion and your training." "Roger," said Naruto.

When Naruto saw the food presented to him by Shima, Fukasaku's wife, he was disgusted. The plate of worms and insects was repulsive to his eyes almost more than his nose, but far less than his stomach. Naruto turned pale, but Ino elbowed him. "thank them for the food," she whispered, "and eat some, it can't be that bad." "I assure you it isn't that bad," said Shima, expecting this reaction from humans. "I am so sorry!" said Ino, standing up to bow, "Please accept our apologies!". "You seem to be a good influence," said Shima, "I like her, she can stay." "Thank you," said a very apologetic Ino. The group had a wonderful conversation, which continued when Fukasaku addressed Naruto: "Let's talk about your training." "Right," answered Naruto. "During your training, you can't be interrupted, only you and me." "Right." "Tomorrow, you'll start. Until then, let's eat." "Ok," answered Naruto, digging into his food which used to be inedible. It still was.

As Naruto was training, Ino was staying back with Shima. Shima was a wonderful toad, but she may have been a little too observant. "Your belly, it seems full." said Shima to her guest. "I don't think it is, I haven't eaten for a while." responded Ino. Lady Shima followed with, "That's not what I meant, I mean you are with a guest." "I thought I was the guest." "Oh, I guess I haven't been clear. You seem to be with child." "That can't be possible, oh..., how do you even know? It should still be far too early to see signs?!" "It comes with age. An old woman, even if she's a toad, knows." "Damn," said Ino. "Is he the father?" asked Shima.

"Yeah, he's the only one."

"Does he know?"

"No, I didn't even know."

"Let's keep this between us. After all, I could be wrong."

"Right."

THE WOMAN IN THE FLOWER SHOP

The woman in the flower shop bought three Red Spider Lilies right before she left. She slowly made her way through the village's broken streets toward a secluded spot near the edge of the village. With her she brought three vases she had previously bought and the aforementioned lily. She had light tears form on her face as she reached her destination, a little stone with a crooked inscription carved into it. "I wish you could have seen him, he would have made you proud, Shibi" the woman said, "Shino, he did good. The village is proud of him. I wish you two could have met in this life." She left the flower on the stone and went to her next stop. This time, a more formal grave. The grave of Shino Aburame, the man who sacrificed his life on a mission that no one would remember him for. Shino's soul was released soon after Asuma's, but his was just as important. After Shino's grave, Kurenei would go to Asuma's. She has lost so much, she is tired.