Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. If I did you can bet your ass it'd be yaoi.

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Last time: They were waiting.

Second Chappie. Here Goes! XD

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'Kit are you just gonna make them wait, you do know that I kinda like that snowball mutt of the dog boy's.' The nine tailed fox, Kyuubi, supplied.

The anbu nin expelled yet another breath and calmly replied to Kyuubi.

'First when will you get it straight that snowball mutt is called Akamaru and dog boy's name is Kiba? Second you'd know that if you didn't insist on giving both of them their own stupid nicknames.'

Kyuubi laughed deeply within his cell. 'No matter how stupid my nicknames for them are, you do know that they're completely justified when referring to them.'

Naruto was just about to retort when they both realized something, Naruto sniffed the air again and smelled not four but six scents mixed around with Kiba, Akamaru, and the rest of his comrades.

'Kit...' Naruto sat up swiftly and reached in his weapons pouch for two kunai. 'Yeah I know, Shikamaru probably sensed the chakra signatures, while Neji probably used his Byakugan to spot them. And of course Kiba and Akamaru used their noses. DAMN IT! How come I didn't sense it before?'

Before Kyuubi could console his kit, a dark figure silhouetted by the stars wearing a cloak that covered his entire body appeared on the same branch as Naruto, and the person seemed to look more demonic than he naturally appeared. Fortunately for Naruto, he himself was less human than he appeared.

The blue eyed kitsune smirked just before he jammed one of the kunai in the branch, with the other kunai still in hand he swiftly got up and gave his signature foxy grin. "Itachi, long time no see. Still hanging with your shark-bastard bitch, Kisame I smell."

A second ago Itachi was there standing barely five feet from Naruto and the next he was directly behind him, a little too directly. "So the nine tailed did grow up, but he's still too much of loud mouth." Itachi all but whispered into Naruto's right ear.

Naruto suppressed a shudder of utter disgust and quickly turned to place the kunai directly below Itachi's carotid artery.

"You know, Itachi I still haven't stopped thinking that I shouldn't be the one to kill you..."He dipped the kunai further into Itachi's neck where a drop of blood leaked out, to further back up his words.

"But then I'd frustrate Sasuke-teme and I don't want that. So, why don't you stop pissing me off, or so help me kami I won't respond." Itachi flinched outwardly at Naruto's maliciousness. "Heh, so the stoic bastard does have emotions after all. And here I thought you were emotionally constipated."

Itachi reverted back to his emotionless facade as he said, "Careful Nine tailed don't forget that I bought Kisame along with me." Naruto grit his teeth as he quickly caught why Itachi bought the shark-bastard up. 'Kyu, you got a solid position on him yet?' 'Getting there kit, I'm getting there. I won't let that shark-bitch hurt our precious people.'

Naruto looked at Itachi's stoic expression and quickly weighed his options. 'Better at least stall.' Naruto thought as he felt Itachi's pulse unwillingly rise. 'He's getting off on this. He truly is demented.'

"So, Itachi, why are you and your shark-bitch checking tabs on me, huh?" Itachi looked at Naruto with what appeared to be an amused glint in his eyes. "Kisame and I were merely on our way to Konoha to deliver you a message scroll when we felt your chakra sig and decided to get our little mission over with faster."

"Message scroll...for me, why?" "Our leader has a request for you. The nine tailed not only grew older but sharper as well. Very impressive, Naruto-kun."

The blonde haired kitsune grit his teeth at Itachi's insolence, and did what he wanted to do to him ever since Itachi had ridiculed Sasuke's existence that time Itachi and himself first met. He removed the kunai from Itachi's carotid artery and punched Itachi so hard that he fell on his ass on the dirt ground.

A bruise was sure to come on Itachi's face and undoubtedly on his ass too. It wasn't that high not enough to kill him, just mess him up a bit. Either way the look of pain on Itachi's momentarily readable face was enough to make Naruto laugh his ass off, and you know what, he did.

The sound of Naruto's laughter enveloped the eerily quiet night air and rung in the ears of his comrades, they looked shocked as they realized that his laughter was 100 percent the real deal. And it lightened their hearts at the concept of hearing his laughter again soon. 'It's been too long.'

Naruto's comrades thought as it was replaced by eerie silence yet again. Naruto's laughter died down when he saw Kisame quickly reach Itachi's side. The shark-bastard looked up at Naruto and back down to Itachi's pain stricken face.

Kisame quickly reached inside his own body length cloak and pulled out the message scroll that Itachi had mentioned not too long ago, placing it on the dirt ground. "Here you are demon fox the message scroll. What you do with it is your own damn business. We completed our mission". With that Kisame gently picked up Itachi and left.

After awhile of staring at where the missing nins once were and at the message scroll that laid so untaintingly on the dirt ground, Naruto asked, 'Kyu...?' 'They're long gone, kit.' Only then did Naruto bend down to pick up the kunai that he jammed into the branch before the whole encounter occurred.

As soon as the kunai was pulled out of the branch, three figures stepped onto the branch Naruto was currently standing on. Naruto looked at his comrades for the first time in a year. It'd be hard to guess how they dressed when they were gennin. The first one to undergo Naruto's thorough observation was Neji.

The blue eyed kitsune looked the Byakugan-user up and down. Neji's hair had grown longer since the last time they'd seen each other. It was more kempt and beautiful if possible. How he managed to take care of that amount of beautiful hair was beyond Naruto. Neji's outfit had changed measurably since he was a gennin. He wore a white t-shirt that showed off his abs, and black shorts, with black nin sandals.

If you didn't already know Neji you wouldn't think it was him. He looked and felt more open rather than his usual detached façade. His eyes were the same pale ghost gray as always but sharper if possible. He still sported his forehead protector on his head.

The next one to endure Naruto's meticulous observation was Shikamaru. The lazy cloud-watcher was wearing a black t-shirt a green vest and black shorts, and black nin sandals. He still wore his forehead protector on his left arm, and his brown hair was still up in a ponytail. His brown eyes weren't as lazy as they used to be, they were the eyes of shinobi that's seen his fair share of combat.

Lastly but by no means least was Kiba. He lost the jacket over the years and wore a gray t-shirt with dark blue shorts and black nin sandals. He sported his forehead protector on his head, as well. His brown eyes were still open but more questioning, his sense of smell got stronger, too. He got lots stronger as well, so did Akamaru, his loyal companion.

Now it was Naruto's turn to undergo a thorough observation from his comrades, he spread his arms out so that they could have a better look. He was wearing a black wife's beater, dark orange shorts, and black nin sandals. They raised they're eyebrows in question at his shorts.

"Love the color." He said simply.

And then he gave them a pointed look, 'Love me, love my shorts.' Message received, Kiba snorted while Akamaru barked, Neji smirked, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes lazily.

After a moment of silence Naruto jumped off of the branch and landed on the ground. When he picked up the scroll his comrades followed him off the branch and onto the ground. They looked at each other and said simultaneously, "Home." They smiled as they raced for it to get back home, momentarily entranced at the fact that just for the race back home they could act ignorant of what was to come.

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That's it for the second chappie. Hope you liked it. PLEASE, PLEASE R&R.