บท 8: Chapter no.8 Naruto
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Chapter no.8 Enter Inoichi Yamanaka
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Dinner was quiet, just the way Inoichi Yamanaka liked it.
He sat across from his daughter, watching as she absentmindedly toyed with a piece of grilled fish on her plate, her eyes glued to one of those cheesy romance novels she was always reading. He tried to ignore the irritation building up as she skimmed through the pages, half-focused on her food. Today, Inoichi had made sure to include a few high-calorie dishes—things she wouldn't notice were meant to keep her from getting too skinny with that damn diet of hers. He knew she wouldn't appreciate the extra calories, but as her father, he had to make sure she stayed healthy.
"Ino," Inoichi said, breaking the silence. "Let's try something different today. Imagine you're walking through a dense forest. It's peaceful, the trees are tall, and the sky above is clear, only a few rays of sunlight filter through. As you walk deeper, you come across a house. It looks familiar, but you've never seen it before. You step inside. What do you see?"
He could see her pause, her mind snapping to attention as she considered the question. Inoichi always made sure to ask her one psychological question every night before bed. If she was going to be physically weak from all this dieting for her looks, then by Kami, her mind would be sharp. A ninja's greatest weapon was their mind, after all.
Ino Yamanaka was fair-skinned, a girl of average height, with light blue eyes and long, platinum blonde hair that framed the right side of her face.
Ino chewed thoughtfully on her food for a moment, humming softly before responding, "The house is cozy, old but well-kept. There's a warm fireplace, and the walls are lined with books. I can see myself spending hours there… and maybe Sasuke would be there too, reading."
"Sasuke again, huh?" Inoichi raised an eyebrow, watching her light up at the mention of his name.
"Of course! He'd be there, sitting by the fire, reading something smart. It's romantic." She snapped her fingers, eyes gleaming. This had become routine. Every question, every test, always seemed to lead back to the last survivor of the Uchiha clan.
Inoichi couldn't fault her for it—not yet anyway.
She was young. Let her have her fantasies.
As her father, though, it worried him. The crush was innocent enough, but Ino was now a genin. Life as a shinobi was anything but a romantic novel. Maybe that's why Inoichi let her indulge in these little daydreams for now—her innocence was fleeting, and he knew it would be stripped away in time. He told himself she would grow out of it. She was smart enough to figure it out. In a month, maybe two, she'd start to take this seriously.
But even as he told himself that, his gaze drifted toward the picture of her mother—his late wife, who had died during the Kyuubi attack.
Don't worry, my love, he thought, his heart heavy. Our daughter is safe. As long as I'm breathing, nothing will harm her.
Inoichi shifted his focus back to Ino. "Interesting answer," he said, choosing his next words carefully. "You know, how you interpret that house reveals a lot about how you see your inner self."
Ino blinked, lowering her book. "My inner self?"
He nodded. "The house represents your mind, your subconscious. What you see inside is a reflection of how you view yourself—your strengths, your comfort zones, and even your desires."
"So, you're saying my mind is a cozy cabin?"
Inoichi smiled. "More or less. It suggests you value comfort, warmth, and intellect—you see your mind as a refuge, a place where you feel safe and in control. But the fact that you brought Sasuke into the picture, that indicates something else."
Ino blushed slightly, setting her book down. "What does it mean?"
"It means that, subconsciously, you believe someone like Sasuke is important to completing your vision of happiness," Inoichi explained. "It's natural to want connection, Ino, but you should also be mindful that relying too much on others to create your inner peace can lead to disappointment."
She sat quietly for a moment, processing the information. Then, with a sly smile, she shrugged. "Well, Sasuke can be part of my cozy cabin if he wants. I'm not kicking him out."
Inoichi chuckled, shaking his head. "Just don't let your cabin rely on someone else's presence. Make sure it stands on its own, with or without him."
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Dad. I know."
Suddenly, Inoichi felt a surge of chakra enter the room. Instinctively, he tensed. An ANBU agent appeared before them, dressed in a white trench coat, the hood pulled low over a bear porcelain mask.
"The Hokage has requested a meeting, Inoichi-sama."
Inoichi nodded, his mind already switching from father to shinobi.
"Goodbye, Dad, and maybe bribe the Hokage to make sure I end up on Sasuke's team!" Ino chirped as he stood to leave.
He sighed, shaking his head. "I'll try, my lemon," Inoichi said, using the nickname she pretended to hate but secretly loved. She stuck her tongue out at him, a playful glint in her eyes.
That innocence, he thought, the kind I never had at her age.
It was hard to watch, knowing that one day soon, the world would take it from her.
"Remember the routine: all leftovers go in the fridge, and make sure Choji gets them tomorrow," Inoichi said as he gathered his belongings.
"Especially the seaweed chips!" she replied, wrinkling her nose at the thought.
"Those are for you," he countered, narrowing his eyes.
She grumbled but eventually nodded. "Fine… whatever."
Inoichi smiled softly at the exchange, savoring the moment. "Goodbye."
"Yeah, yeah, just go already!" Ino rolled her eyes, waving him off like he was an embarrassment.
Inoichi glanced at the ANBU agent, who had been waiting silently by the door, and with a final nod to his daughter, the two of them vanished with a body flicker.
The moment Inoichi stepped into the Hokage's office, he knew something was wrong. Hiruzen looked more stressed than Inoichi had ever seen him. It was as if the announcement of the Fourth Shinobi World War had dropped on his desk. A knot formed in Inoichi's stomach.
Please, anything but that.
The thought of war sent a chill down his spine. Not because he feared it for himself, but because he couldn't bear the thought of his daughter—of all the children in Konoha—experiencing the horrors that come with it. War strips away innocence, leaves scars on the soul that never heal. Ino was smart and strong in her own way, but no child should ever have to face the atrocities of war.
"Hokage-sama," Inoichi greeted, his voice steady, though his mind was racing through worst-case scenarios.
Hiruzen seemed to sense his growing unease. He offered Inoichi his smoking pipe, a rare gesture.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama, but I'd like to live long enough to see my daughter marry a bastard that doesn't deserve her," Inoichi said with a small smile, though the humor did little to settle the tension gnawing at him.
Hiruzen smiled in return, though there was no warmth behind it. "Don't worry, Inoichi. I need your mind."
My mind?
Inoichi narrowed his focus on those words. If Hiruzen needed strategic advice, he would have called Shikaku. Shikaku was the genius when it came to battle plans and strategy. But this wasn't about strategy—Hiruzen needed him for something else. Psychological help.
"What can I do for you?" he asked, his tone careful, measured. The knot in his stomach tightened as he waited for the Hokage to speak.
"It's Naruto."
The moment the name left Hiruzen's lips, Inoichi's mind slammed to a halt.
Naruto?
Uzumaki Naruto? The prankster of Konoha? The orphaned son of the Fourth Hokage? The current container for the Kyuubi no Yoko, the very being that had ravaged their village twelve years ago and killed his wife?
Inoichi felt his heart rate spike, but he kept his face neutral. He had never blamed the boy for what happened. He knew the difference between Naruto and the Kyuubi—they were separate. But the very idea of the Kyuubi was enough to make him take this seriously, dead seriously.
His mind raced through everything he knew about Naruto. From the rumors around the village to the comments Ino had made about him—how she would tease him, calling him a knucklehead, a loudmouth.
"Is this about his graduation?" Inoichi ventured. Perhaps Naruto was angry about failing, or maybe he'd had a violent outburst. It wasn't impossible that the Kyuubi's chakra had been released in a moment of anger or frustration. The boy had never shown the talent that either of his parents had, and Inoichi could imagine the frustration building up in him.
But Hiruzen's next words were like a hammer blow.
"No. Naruto learned about the Kyuubi."
Inoichi felt his mind go blank for a moment. His eyes widened slightly, and he motioned to the Hokage, silently asking if the boy had learned this from him.
Hiruzen shook his head.
This is bad. Very bad.
Inoichi took a deep breath, steadying himself. "Can you start from the beginning? What happened exactly?"
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