Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Chapter 2: Findings

Konohamaru Udon and Moegi walked through the Hokage tower with slow uneven steps. They had just returned from a month long mission where they had to assist the Kazekage in getting ride of some pesky bandits that hindered Suna's reconstruction efforts.

This was not an uncommon thing now a day. All five of the great shinobi villages had agreed to remain in an alliance. So, naturally they helped each other out as much as possible. This was particualarly so in Kumo where most of the fighting had taken place.

The whole country had be ravaged and torn by the war and many of the shinobi from the other four villages kept shinobi there to assist in their reconstruction and rebirth. It was a true symbol of how the world was changing. No longer was their a constant threat, there was no more petty disputes over menial things. And as long as this continued it would never happen again.

So, the now the older team Ubisu had come home to report the mission's success. Konohamaru lead the three through the halls with his head held high. This was the first mission they had completed as fully realized chunin. Incidentally, Konohamaru was the last of the three to gain the higher rank, only doing so a few weeks before their latest mission.

Moegi and Udon had gained their rank at the first chunin exams after the wars end. Though the world was moving forward for the better, the chunin exams were still a necessity. It was the perfect time to not only get the shinobi of the world together, but also the civilians. It no longer kept back the threat of war but rather brought the world together in a way nothing else could.

So, going back to Konohamaru and company. They skulked through the busy halls of the tower, the Sarutobi nodding to fellow shinobi as he passed, several of which were from another village besides Konoha. When they reached the all to familiar door of their Hokage, Konohamaru knocked loudly before flinging the door open.

"OI! Baa-chan we're back!" The scarf wearing boy said with a huge grin on his face. Moegi and Udon decided to wait in the hall so to not be involved in Konohamaru's life threatening beating. But, when it didn't come they fallowed in.

Tsunade looked up expectantly, but was slightly disappointed in what she saw. Damn it, why does this brat have to be just like Naruto in every way. She thought unaware of the disappointment that was clear on her face. But, it didn't go unnoticed by Moegi who gave her a troubled look.

"Are you okay Hokage-sama?" the orange haired girl asked her worry obvious.

Tsunade quickly gathered herself and put her "Hokage face" back on. She coughed into her hand to make sure her voice wouldn't falter. But then, she heard a light chuckle from her student, which gained her attention.

Sakura's face was sheepish. She held her hand up to her face in an attempt to cover her snicker. After she collected herself she turned to her Shisho, who now wore the same smile Sakura had.

"You thought it was him too, huh?" Tsunade asked and Sakura nodded. Tsunade let lose another chuckle before turning back to Konohamaru and company who all wore questioning expressions, except Konohamaru, he knew of only one other person who would dare to call Tsunade-hime "baa-chan".

"Him who?" Udon asked, always thirsty to be in the know-how. Sakura had finally gathered herself at this point and was now smiling fondly at the three chunin.

"I think Konohamaru knows." Sakura said, and like that the Sarutobi bolted out the door. Udon and Moegi looked on in shock as their dear friend ran out of the room. Then in an instance it his Udon, who sharply turned his head back towards the Hokage.

"You mean…" he started, and he didn't even finish because both Sakura and Tsunade nodded knowing where he was going. Then like that Udon grabbed Moegi's wrist and pulled her after Konohamaru.

"Wait Udon where are we going?" Moegi said as she was pulled along out of the Hokage tower.

"The front gate, the boss is home." Moegi finally understood and they both picked up the pace not wanting to miss him.

Back in the hokage's office Tsunade was still smiling as she looked out her window at the three chunin running for dear life.

"Wouldn't it have been better if they stayed here? After all Naruto and Sasuke are getting escorted here by ANBU." Sakura said putting her finger to her chin in contemplation.

"Yes, but know those three will be too busy trying to find them to bother me." Tsunade said as she got back into her chair. "And besides I want to talk with them immediately, and we both know Naruto would get to excited about seeing them to find his way here."

Sakura couldn't argue with the Hokage's logic. This whole thing just made her more anxious about seeing her old team again. She wondered why they didn't come home right away. And why they hadn't included her, as always. Soon she would know everything.

Back across town, Konohamaru was going as fast as he could towards the main gate. His excitement growing with each step. He didn't even get to see Naruto after the war since he was still in Konoha at the time. It had been nearly three years since he saw the boss. He couldn't wait to see how strong he had gotten, and to show the man what he had learned.

Then suddenly Konohamaru saw two familiar faces walking down the adjacent street. He quickly came to a stop just in front of them and looked into the two's matching white eyes.

"Oi Hinata, Hanabi?!" the boy said jumping from foot to foot in excitement. Both girls just looked on in confusion, and Hinata was slightly humored by the sight.

"Hello Konohamru, glad to see you back." Hinata said sparing the boy a pleasant smile. The girl had done a complete 180 since the wars end. No longer was she a nervous little girl. But rather a kind, confident, woman. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

"You didn't hear?" Konohamaru asked exasperatedly. Both girl just looked on in confusion. "He's back. Naruto-nii is back!"

Hinata' heart immediately picked up in tempo. It had been so long since she saw her crush, the way they left each other was a bit awkward and left Hinata teetering on what the blonde thought of her.

Flashback

The medical tent was a little dirty but it didn't bother Hinata in the least. She wasn't going to leave until Naruto woke up. She stared down at whiskered boy with a smile. He had done it he won the war. Hinata just sat there staring at her love until the sound of someone entering the tent caught her attention.

It was one of the many nurses that had been keeping an eye on Naruto and Sasuke. Both of them were completely wrapped in bandages. There wasn't a place on their body not covered in cuts, scrapes or bruises. Sasuke even had a nasty wound where Obito stabbed him with his Bijuudama made into a spear. The would was in his left leg just above knee. Lucky, it didn't go straight through his leg, but rather just grazed it with a deep cut. The doctors said that he might not be able to walk for several weeks.

"Still here, huh?" the nurse asked the Hyuga girl as looked over Sasuke on the bed to the left of Naruto's. "He must have been pretty special to you."

Hinata blushed lightly, her face turning rosy pink from embarrassment. But, it was true Naruto meant the world to her. She wasn't sure she would have become the person she it today without the knucklehead blonde, whether he knew it or not.

Just then, Naruto stirred a little. Slowly his bright blue eyes opened up to look on the world around him. He blinked several times, his eyes adjusting to the bright day that was right outside the medical tent.

"Naruto-kun!" squealed Hinata practically jumped to her feet with delight. She stood up from her chair that was perfectly positioned next to his bed. Putting her hand on his bandaged arm, gaining a wince from the newly awakened boy. Hinata immediately removed her hands and brought them up to cover her face in embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry Naruto-kun." She said hiding her face behind her hands. Naruto took a second to see who it was, but judging by the long blue hair and how she acted around him, he knew in an instant. How could I be so stupid She thought still refusing to show her face. But, Naruto gave a small chuckle and reached out his hand to pull Hinata out of her own little world.

Slowly he brought one of her hands away from her face and gave her one of his signature wide grins. She immediately melted at that. No one could deny Naruto's foxy grin.

"It's okay Hinata-chan . It didn't hurt that bad. Besides, I'm glad you're here." His face soften and his guard was completely down. Hinata could barely believe what she heard. Sure they had shared some moments, but he had just openly admitted to being happy with her presence. She leaned forward, bringing her face closer to his. Naruto also sat up as much as he could. They both closed their eyes and prepared for the now inevitable. But, then suddenly a loud noise from outside.

"Hinata, the nurse just told me that you are still in here. Come…" Sakura started into the brown tent, but stopped dead at the sight before her.

Naruto and Hinata both stopped, their faces mere centimeters from each other. They both opened their eyes and starred at each other for a second then Hinata shot back up straight and looked towards Sakura who had stopped right outside the tent with the flap open.

"H-hey Sakura." Naruto said trying to sound excited to see her. Hinata just pushed her two pointer fingers together nervously trying not to make eye contact with the pink haired girl.

Sakura just stood their gapping at what she had just seen. Naruto and Hinata were about to kiss… she thought, a small blush crossing her face.

"Sorry, Sorry. I'll come back later." Sakura said about to walk away.

"N-no, its okay S-Sakura. I-I'm sure t-there's some t-test you have to run on N-N-Naruto. I-I'll j-just g-go." Hinata said as she walked quickly out of the small tent right past Sakura.

"Wait! Hinata!" Naruto tried to call after her, but she didn't stop in her long strides to try to get as far away as possible. She just kept walking until she found Kiba and Shino. She didn't say anything to them about it.

End Flashback

Three days later Hinata and the rest of the Konoha Shinobi returned home, and Naruto didn't come with them. She never got a chance to talk to him. Between assignments and her being embarrassed and scared. But, now he was back home and finally she was confident enough to confront him.

Back at the Hokage tower, Tsunade had decided to pull her sake back out, and Sakura and her began drinking. Sakura had gained quite a taste for the harsh drink through Tsunade's influence. Now the two were regular drinking partners.

They were currently laughing about how Tsunade beat the hell out of a man who had grabbed Sakura's ass last weekend at a tavern outside of Konoha the two went to, just to get away from it all.

"Remember the look on his face when you stepped up to him. H-H-H-Hokage-sama I'm sososo soooooorrrryyy PPLLLLEEEASSSEE!" Sakura said impersonating said man.

Then, there was ruckus heard outside the door, and within a second and ANBU was on the window ceil. Sakura and Tsunade quickly stopped their laughing to pay full attention to the new arrival.

"Report." Tsunade said sharply. The ANBU simply nodded his head behind his mask.

"Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke will be here soon. We had figured the third to be Orochimaru, but that doesn't seem to be the case." The tiger faced ANBU said as the ruckus got louder and nearer. Tsunade just nodded her head in acceptance.

"Very well I will deal with all three of them. You are dismissed." The Hokage said with a wave of his hand. However, said ANBU did not move from his position.

"If it's all the same to you Hokage-sama I would like to stay." With this the ANBU's voice became less stoic and more lazy.

Tsunade couldn't help but smile at her agent's sense of respect and nonchalant tone. She nodded her head once more.

"Very well, you are off duty after all." And with that the ANBU stepped into the room and removed his mask to reveal a dark haired man with pale skin and pupiless black eyes. He looked towards Sakura and nodded his head in a greeting.

"Hello Sakura, I see you are just as excited as am." The man said while he leaned up against the window he had just entered from. Sakura nodded head sharply before taking down some more of the nectar of life.

"I'm surprised to hear you say that Sai. From the look on your face I'd say you are… melancholy? Yeah or maybe nonchalant." Sakura said her voice up a couple octaves.

"And you are drunk." Sai said putting on a fake smile just because he knew it pissed her off. Sakura growled angrily at her old teammate. In truth Sai and Sakura became even closer after the wars end. They had gone on several missions together, and Tsunade and Sakura evn managed to get the stoic boy drunk once.

Just then the door flew open revealing three figures draped in black cloaks the reached all the way to the floor. The one in front walked into the room and revealed his bright blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Uzumaki Naruto has returned!" The three occupants of the room all smiled nostalgia hitting them like… well a yelling eighteen year old. His radiating blonde hair now framed his face just like his fathers, and if it wasn't for his forehead protector it would surely fallen into his eyes. His facial features were now much more defined. His jaw had more of a cut to it, and his baby fat was a far off memory. Anyone could have easily thought he was his father now, even more than before. Then Sasuke walked into the room and stood next to Naruto.

"Pipe down dobe, we all know." The raven haired boys hair fell well below his neck line now and his facial features had also matured greatly his chin was much more defined and overall just looked grown up. He was a spitting image of his older brother, and he would have loved to hear it. Secretly of course.

"No kidding you already did it when we first entered the village. Surely they already knew." The third group member said as he walked into the room and gestured towards Tsunade, Sakura and Sai. His hood still drawn up to cover his features, but his eyes were practically glowing as the looked towards Sai. "And besides this is the guy who escorted us here."

The other three besides Naruto and Sasuke went onto alert. They eyed the man closely as he removed his hood to reveal his face. His pitch black hair cascaded out to his mid back. His eyes were just as bright yellow as they were when his hood was up, not to mention they were slitted like Naruto's when he drew upon the Kyuubi's chakra. His face was just as matured as Naruto's and Sasuke's, so he was around the same age as them.

"Ah come on you two. I'm just so excited to be home!" Naruto said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. Tsunade smiled fondly at the boy who was practically her son.

"I'm glad you are home as well." The Hokage said pulling all three men's attention. "But unfortunately there are some things we have to discuss. Starting with you." Tsunade pointed her finger right at the mysterious man who had entered her office along with Naruto and Sasuke.

"Me? Names Kasai Tatsu, pleased to meetcha."

End Chapter 2

Cool two chapters in just two days. I knew I was good, but damn. But hope you liked it and I'm pleased that so many have already read the first chapter. Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks.