Naruto took in a deep breath. Finally, after two years he was back home! " Hey, wait, where is everybody?" he asked himself. " The letter told them when I would be back, did I get the day wrong?" he asked again. He looked down, disappointed that his friends hadn't shown up. " Oh, stop worrying about it, you probably just gave them the wrong day or something." Jirayai stated. " No, I'm positive! I knew I got the date right!" he said. Jirayai sighed. The past month Naruto had been ecstatic about coming home to konoha, but now his friends didn't show up? That had to be hard on him. " They just ignored the letter? They probably forgot I existed…" he said quietly. " Hey, Naruto! Shut your mouth!" yelled a familiar voice. " Is that…!" exclaimed Naruto. All of a sudden, Kiba jumped down off a building roof, followed by the rest of the rookie nine, except for Sauske. He winced thinking of that name. He had promised Sakura that he would find him and he hadn't been able to. " It's been a long time man! How've ya been?" asked Shikimaru. Naruto gave a nod and a grin. " I've been doing pretty good. You haven't seemed to change!" Naruto said. While he talked with everyone else, he tried dodging Sakura, but there were only fourteen people there, including Sakura. Suddenly from behind, he heard, ' hey, Naruto! Over here!" he turned around to see Sakura waving at him. He sighed. ' She would find out anyway, it would be better if she knew soon." He told himself, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hide his worry. ' Hey Sakura-Chan!" he said half-heartedly. Sakura gave him a worried look. " Naruto, are you ok? You should be happy, being able to see everyone again!" she said. Naruto gave a deep sigh. " Sakura… I'm sorry, but…but I couldn't bring Sauske back for you." He closed his eyes, and then slowly opened them when he felt arms around him. He looked down at Sakura's head on his shoulder. " Don't worry about it Naruto. I'm glad to have you back in one piece." She said. She really was happy, because during the two years without Naruto and Sauske, she realized that Sauske was pretty much an un-emotional jerk. He only rejected her while Naruto wanted to make her happy. She was truly sorry for not seeing that earlier. But she would have some time with Naruto now that he was back.
The Hokage, after talking with Naruto, leaped up to the gates. Shizune jumped up beside Tsunade. " Tsunade-sama, why are you up here?" she asked. Tsunade grinned. " Don't worry Shizune, I have a little surprise for everyone." Shizune sighed. " Ok everyone, listen up!" she yelled, causing the people below her to look up. " To celebrate Naruto's return, I've decided to take you all on a little road trip to iron city!" " What? Dude, that's freakin Awesome!' kiba yelled. Even Shikimaru was a little excited about it. He had been to iron city before on a mission. It was filled to the brim with clubs and bars, although he hadn't had a chance to go anywhere. Kakashi smiled under his mask. " Iron city. Brings back some good memories…" he said, recalling what had happened with his friends and the yondaime when they had gone there. He looked over at Naruto and the other guys in the rookie nine. " Well, we'll just see." He said to himself. Tsunade yelled over the words of excitement from the group. " Alright, Everyone! we're leaving tomorrow, ten am sharp! Anyone who doesn't show will be left behind." She said. The group below gave a fierce nod, and headed off somewhere. The jounins went back to their respective houses. " Tsu-Tsunade-Sama! When we decide this!" Asked Shizune, bewildered. Tsunade looked over. " Oh, yeah. I decided that the day after we received the letter from Naruto." She said. " Tsunade-Sama! Why didn't you tell me first!" yelled Shizune. " Because I knew you wouldn't let me!" snapped Tsunade. " Uhh, but…fine." Shizune said, realizing that any attempts to talk her out of it were going to be futile. " Well I'll see you tomorrow then. I'm gonna go home." She said, and jumped through the city to her house.