It is a beautiful winter morning. To be exact, it was 22 January, 6 o'clock and it was minus 17 Degrees Celsius.
Naruto, Kiba and Akamaru just walked into the village after a night of guarding by a farming town nearby. They said they had seen a rogue ninja around. Others were saying it was the dead, because it had red eyes.
The fact that some of them saw red eyes made Naruto interested. Though Kakashi and Iruka said not to pay too much attention. It could be a transformation to lure Naruto out the village. He didn't really listen to them because as soon as Tsunade had a guarding mission for the small town, he took it.
"Next time you want to take a night guarding mission with me, just take care that you have slept. Because I really don't like it that you fell asleep! You idiot! Those rogue ninja's could have killed you!" Kiba said as he narrowed his eyes. Wroof! Roef! Grrrr! Akamaru barked at Naruto while showing his teeth .
'Jeesh.. I couldn't help it. Hinata made me work pretty hard it the house. We painted the complete inside. And we moved al her stuff in today…'
"Sorry but I was really tired and I couldn't sleep. And even if they would have attacked me, I still have Kurama guarding over me every night." Naruto said as he puts on his goofy smile. I just don't know where he is making such a big problem of. Nothing happened. There was no rogue ninja. They confirmed it, Kiba with his nose and Naruto used sage-mode.
"Yeah, but what if Kurama's chakra was to slow and you were dead before it arrived? Well, what would you expect me to tell Hinata, Tsunade, Konohamaru, Sakura and what about all the kids from the academy who look up to you? Do you want me to tell them: Well sorry but he just fell asleep there and I thought that he would be fine?!" Kiba was really worried about Naruto.
'It was like Naruto didn't care anymore. Not about the villagers, his dream to become Hokage, his friends and if it wasn't enough, it seemed like he didn't care about his own life. There must be a way to wake him up..' Kiba thought as they walked to Tsunade.
Secretly Naruto had hoped to find Sasuke at the town. He missed him. He had so much questions for him, questions only Sasuke could answer. It didn't matter what everybody said, Sasuke had a reason to come to the battle field, He had a reason to join war. And Naruto was sure it had nothing to do with his status as rogue ninja.
'It felt, as if Sasuke came there to help me out. To take care of his scardy cat, his blond idiot. But Sasuke would never admit it. Not in front of the entire army. Maybe he was there, maybe he was in that town. But he just went away because he didn't want people to find it out. Maybe he came back to the fire country to search for the place he can call home. But I will never find out, if Sasuke doesn't want to be found, you will really not find him.'
It felt like Naruto was drifting away from Konoha in his thoughts. It felt like he was back at the battlefield. Back to when his friend was with him. Fighting at his side, protecting the same thing. The most precious thing they possessed in their lives.
" Oi~, Naruto.. Something wrong with you? You look so down.." Kiba looked at the blond with a worried face. It could have been the face of Konohamaru after Naruto returned from war.
"Ehh.. No, euh.. I'm fine." Naruto sad while putting on a fake smile. "I'm just a little disappointed that we couldn't see the person himself. But further there is nothing wrong. "
They walked into Tsunade's office. "We are here to give you a report, Hokage-sama." As he waits for Tsunade to look up from the paperwork on her desk.
"You can just tell me if something happened. If not than we can see what we will do tonight." Tsunade said without taking her eyes of the papers.
"We didn't see him, nor did we found any traces in order to prove that he has been there." Naruto says , Kiba turned his head towards Naruto and added : "But there was an old camp, only 15 minutes walking from the town. It is not sure who has stayed there. So, I don't think we can see that as good evidence."
Tsunade looked at the two and she saw that they really wanted to find someone there. So did she. She wanted to know who was staying near that town, why he did that and with how many persons they were. It was not only to find Sasuke, it was also to protect the people from the fire country.
"I will send someone there for the day. If they report anything strange, can I count on the three of you to find out if there is someone there? Not a guarding mission. It will be an investigation, you will find evidence, report it to me so I can take care that an ANBU-squad is ready. Am I clear?" Tsunade said with a serious look on her face.
It wasn't the first time she sent Naruto and Kiba on an investigation mission. They could work really good together if they both had the same motive.
"Yes, ma'am" They said in unison and Akamaru barked assent.
There appeared a barely visible smile at Tsunade's face as she said: "Good. Dismissed!"
As Naruto and Kiba walked out Kiba said " Say hi to Hinata from me. I will come to help painting the back of the house in the afternoon so you will have no excuse to say you were too busy." Kiba smiled and walked home with Akamaru, leaving Naruto alone to walk back.
Back to the house he and Hinata lived in together. 'After war Hinata's father offered them the old house from his grandfather. It was a big house with a whopping garden. He still couldn't believe it was now their house.'
Without noticing Naruto had already walked all the way back home. He quietly opened the front door, trying not to wake Hinata. He walks in and puts out his shoes. While walking to the bedroom, Naruto notices the light from the backroom.
They had a little room at the back of the house to look outside, they always sat there when it was rainy. The mountains behind the garden looked beautiful with the rain, that was something they agreed on.
Instead of walking straight to the light, like everyone would do, Naruto ignores it and walks to the bedroom. He slowly opens the door, knowing that Hinata wasn't there, but he didn't want to make too much noise. The moment he sees the empty bed, Naruto puts the light on and walks to the closet. He opens it and gets some clean clothes.
He looks at the division of the shelves. Hinata had most of the shelves, Naruto never had a lot of clothes, that was something he finds superfluous.
' You didn't need a lot, just enough the make it through the week. But Hinata was buying some new shirts for him, constantly telling him he needs a little bit more fancy clothes for parties. Not that he would ever go to them.'
Naruto started to undress. His shirt was al sticky from the rain, mud and sweat. So where his jeans, but he didn't take those off yet. He walks to the big mirror next to the closet. He turns around and looks at his back. Sasuke and he had a small fight after war, just before he disappeared. Sasuke gave him a scar just underneath his right shoulder. It didn't look ugly, it looks cool. At least that is what Hinata and Sakura keep telling him. He thought of it as a memento of Sasuke. It wasn't a big scar, but it was big enough for Naruto to always see it. As he walks away from the mirror he puts on his shirt and starts to see if there were some sweatpants of him lying in the closet.
All dressed up he walked out of the bedroom and starts to walk to the backroom, where he found Hinata sitting in her red negligée with some tea.
"Welcome home Naruto-kun" Hinata says with a smile as she pours in some tea for him.
Naruto looks at her, she went up early just to be there for him when he got home. She did that always, even when he told her to stay in bed. She wouldn't listen because she knows just how much Naruto loves it when someone is home waiting for him. But every time he looked at her when he got home, it wasn't what he wanted. She wasn't the person he wanted to see every time he got back home. Of course he loves Hinata, if what he feels is love at least.
Naruto stops thinking about it and sits down next to her, gives her a hug and says: "I'm home, Hinata."
Hinata gives him a kiss on his cheek and asks: "How was the mission? Did you guys find anything?"
"Well we did find something, but it wasn't enough to start a search.." Naruto says as he reaches out for his cup of tea.
"You really believe that Sasuke is back, don't you?" Hinata says with no emotions, not in her voice and not in her face. "Well, Naruto? Do you really believe it?" She says as she looks at Naruto.
Naruto takes a sip from his tea and looks at Hinata's face. There is really no emotion. "Well.." Naruto starts and takes another sip from his tea. "I believe he has some unfinished business here in Konoha. I believe that that's the reason he came back."
"But he is not back! You haven't seen him right?" Hinata said, she sounded irritated.
"We didn't see him, but I'm sure it was him!" Naruto said with a slightly raised voice. "Did you sense him? Or did you find something that belongs to him? Did you find a note that said: 'Sasuke's to do list. Number 1. Finish my business in Konoha' ?" The last what she just said sounded very mockingly.
