Naruto took his first step through the gate. At the guard post were Izumo and Kotetsu, drowsing away. Kotetsu opened one eye and blinked. "Hey Izumo, that who I think it is?" he asked, waking Izumo up. Izumo rubbed his eyes and looked at Naruto. "Hey that's-" they began in unison, but were cut off by Naruto yelling "NARUTO UZUMAKI is BACK!" Izumo and Kotetsu looked at each other, shrugged and fell back to sleep. Naruto looked around. Not much has changed. Hey, Grandma Tsunade's face is carved into the wall now! I'll be next to her face one day! Suddenly Naruto felt a crushing pressure from behind, two arms wrapping around his chest in the tightest embrace he'd experienced. He looked down at the pale skin, the mark of a Hyuga. Neji does not hug. At least not me. It's got to be… "Hinata? That hurts," Naruto joked, not mentioning how awkward it felt to have her breasts pressing into his back. "Oh no! I'm sorry Naruto!" she exclaimed, letting go. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately in Hinata's view), the moment Naruto was free he jumped on Hinata with an attack hug, throwing both of them in the grass. He rolled around, beaming. Hinata was ecstatic, so giddy her face showed only a dreamy look. "Oh Naruto, I missed you the most. I don't think everyone else combined missed you as much," Hinata forced herself to say without stuttering, even though she felt like fainting already.

"I missed you a lot too Hinata, but why are you all alone?"

"They got tired of waiting here. They're somewhere else."

"Well I'm starving. I haven't eaten for half a day!"

"Here Naruto, let me take you to Ichiraku, our treat." She dragged him away before he could argue. I can't wait to see the ambush. Naruto's head was spinning. Here he was, back home after two years being dragged to his favorite Ramen Bar by about the shiest girl in the village.

Meanwhile, Teuchi was busy pumping out bowls of ramen for his favorite customer. The army of ninja hiding behind his countertop who had told him the good news weren't helping. So far he had 12 bowls out for Naruto. He'll definitely want, no need twice as much as that of course. "Ayame, more flour!" he barked. I hope Naruto makes this worth it.

Hinata had slackened the pace considerably. She activated her Byakugan. They were nearly there. As she'd expected, everyone was there, and a shadow clone of Kakashi stood on the neighboring building, holding a confetti cannon. She released the Byakugan and looked back at Naruto. "We're nearly there," she told him. Naruto was sniffing the air and smiling. "Yeah, I can tell!" he replied giddily. They turned a corner and there it was, the ramen bar. Naruto broke Hinata's hold and ran for it. As soon as he got near it, the ambush set off. Three cannons broke out, spraying the air with a layer of confetti. All his friends and teachers and even Iruka leaped out from behind old man Teuchi's counter and tackled Naruto in the ultimate group hug. Akamaru missed the queue and was swallowing a bowl of ramen, bowl included. "Shoo, go on doggy," he encouraged Ayame. Akamaru joined the pile, digging through to Naruto in a frenzy of paddling and covering him in loving slobber. The whole pile laughed at his understandably animal antics.

Inside, Naruto was stunned. All this is for me? I can't believe everyone would go so far just to welcome me back to the village. I've come a long way. Naruto thought back to the time he was alone in every crowd, cast aside and ignored because he was protecting them from the Kyuubi. To be honest, they should have realized that without me they'd all be dead, in heaven with the family the Kyuubi killed.

Hinata watched from a few feet away. I'm glad I'm not in that pile. Naruto climbed out of the pile. "Well, I'm glad to see you all, but that really didn't feel so good outside," he stated,
his dripping hair and sleeves emphasizing his point. When Sakura glared at him, he added, "Only on the inside!"

Sakura softened and approached Naruto. "Well, I have to admit, you've grown Naruto. You're probably taller than me, in fact," she said.

"Thanks! All that was worth it to hear someone say that!"

"Well Naruto, how about me? Do I look more like a woman?"

"To be honest, you look the same, but I won't kno-" Naruto began, but Sakura didn't let him finish. Her bare hand flew into his side and Naruto flew yards away. Before he hit the fence, Naruto, or rather his clone, turned into a cloud of smoke, leaving Sakura gaping. "Up here guys," Naruto called from where Kakashi's clone was. "I was expecting that. You're too predictable," Naruto said, sticking out his tongue.

Wow, thought Kakashi. He's grown mentally as well. That's good to know. "Well you've grown inside and out," Sakura said, albeit with a scowl. Naruto dropped from the building, landing lightly on his feet in front of Akamaru. "Wow Kiba, Akamaru's freakin bigger than you! How is it possible to grow so much in so little time?" Naruto exclaimed. Then he leaned over to Kiba's ear. "You look really cool in that black suit you know? Sorta like a ninja assassin!" he whispered jokingly. Kiba had no comment. "Well anyway," he started, "A lot of protein, hard work, faith, and being a dog all helped. I can ride him now," Kiba boasted, chuckling. Naruto turned to the next person, who was stuffed into a sweater and baggy pants and had brown rimmed sunglasses on. Dammit, who is this guy? He rings a bell, but nothings coming up. The 'guy' spoke up. "What's wrong? Can't remember me?" He spat, although with a hint of disappointment. Naruto hopped around him, examining him. He frowned. "How am I supposed to recognize someone in that kind of outfit?"

"It's almost the same as my old one, genius!" Shino exclaimed, surprised Naruto hadn't developed any social skills.

"OH Shino! Sorry!" Naruto yelled when he saw a bug crawl up his arm.

"You recognized Kiba instantly," Shino sniffled out, running away in a rare display of emotion. Kiba and Hinata ran after him. "Kiba has a dog!" Naruto yelled in Shino's direction. Naruto shrugged.

Lee hopped up to Naruto and shook his hand hard. "I cannot wait to see how much you have improved! I would like to challenge you as soon as you are rested!" Lee shouted, and gave Naruto the ultimate sparkle thumbs up. Naruto grinned. "You're on Lee!"

"That's just what I would do!" Lee's sensei Guy shouted enthusiastically, beaming. Tenten walked up and shook Naruto's hand. Out of the entire Konoha eleven, she knew him the least. Neji's face was stern, as usual, but there was a hint of softness emanating from him. He knew Naruto's words could be more powerful than any of his powers, and he had learned that the hard way. Neji grumbled a hello, and broke, giving Naruto a bear hug. "It's good to see Konoha's very own hypnotist back. Now that you're grown up, hypnotize some girls!" Neji said, adding another failure to his numerous attempts at humor. Tenten gasped and hesitated before slamming Neji into a wall. Naruto suppressed his upcoming laugh. He wasn't planning to spend the rest of the day in the hospital.

Naruto looked at Chouji, who had his eyes closed and was happily downing bags of chips. "Still the same old Chouji," Naruto, said. Chouji scowled. "Are you saying I'm still fa-" he tried to retaliate, but Naruto shook his head.
"I mean you're the same jolly kid everyone needs around!" Naruto almost barked out to appease Chouji's anger. It worked, because Chouji grinned again and continued eating obliviously, earning him a growl from Ino. Ino showed her teeth in an evil grin. "I hope you've been training, Naruto," she purred, continuing. "Because I've been too and I think it's time we got Sasuke back together, don't you think?" Naruto backed off irritated by Ino's attitude, and walked right in Shikamaru's waiting arms. Shikamaru smirked. He shook his head, muttering "Girls," purposely audible only to Naruto. He clapped Naruto on the back. "This is such a drag, interrupting my quality time," he said, earning a giggle from the hidden Temari. "But then I had to make everyone welcome my best buddy back eh?" He said to Naruto. "Well anyway, this ramen is for you on us, go enjoy it. There's nothing keeping you back!" Shikamaru said. Naruto shouted a thanks to everyone and jumped onto a seat, breaking a pair of chopsticks in half with two fingers and proceeding to pile ramen into his mouth madly. He paused only to compliment Teuchi and Ayame on their cooking before returning to his bowls. Next to Naruto, the bowls quickly turned into a mound. Ayame had been washing bowls for years, but her experience couldn't stand up to Naruto's voracious appetite. It wasn't long before the Konoha eleven began to regret treating Naruto. They didn't see bowls piling up, they saw a bill piling up. High. Tenten, being an orphan, was getting worried. Her pay wasn't great and as of late, the missions weren't to lucrative. Neji leaned down to her and whispered, "Don't worry, your share is on me."

"Neji..."

"Don't worry. It's almost literally nothing," he replied before she could speak. Come to think of it, he could access that Hyuga fortune for something as simple as ramen. It was nothing. "Ok, fine," Tenten said, with false contemptuousness, as if she still had dignity left. She was smiling, however, but Neji's face remained stern.

Sakura had decided to take action with Naruto. She walked up to Naruto and rested her hand on his shoulder. When he turned around, she had a charming face on. "Naruto, Lady Tsunade would like to meet you as soon as you can," she told him. Naruto slurped up one last bowl of ramen before roughly wiping his mouth with a napkin. "Really? I can't wait to see Grandma Tsunade!" He exclaimed. The Konoha... 9 breathed a sigh of relief. "Does she still look exactly the same?" Naruto inquired.

"Obviously," said Sakura scornfully. "Her appearance is a genjutsu." Naruto nodded and shook Teuchi's hand, thanking him generously for the feast one man made and one man ate. Naruto tried to tell out a farewell to the group before Sakura dragged him away towards the Hokage residence.