His return was greatly received as everyone in town gathered around him. They all question where he had been and what had happened but he brushed it off with a simple smile as he asked about the village's condition.
"Ne, this time you're staying for good right?" Konohamaru asked with anticipation.
He put a pondering look in his face, making Konohamaru frown, "Only if your alchemy is good." He smiled making Konohamaru happy.
"Big brother, you might not know this but I am at the top of my class." Konohamaru gave a cocky smile to him.
"Eh? Is that so? Then I guess I'm staying." As soon as the villagers heard his answer they cheered and started to arrange for a celebration party.
"Naruto." A lone figure called to him.
"Hey Sai."
"Naruto is it true what I heard?" Sai gave a look of concern. Naruto approached him and whispered beside his ear, "later." As a way to not concern the villagers, Naruto kept his smile but Sai didn't trust his smile so he kept a close distance, watching him carefully so that he could not escape.
As two strangers watched from a distance, they searched for information and would not leave until they were done with their mission. They saw their opportunity when a young man with blond hair and blue eyes showed up, and the village quickly became festive.
Their best bet to get information was now, they quickly got to work as the villager's preoccupied themselves with festivities. The unsuspecting villagers answered their question, not knowing who they were answering to, only knowing that a voice asked them questions and they answered, when they started to get suspicious they turned to look at the culprits only to find themselves alone.
"Well it seems as if we found the place." Shikamaru said in a carefree way.
"Yeah, but getting to the witch will be the hard part." Sasuke said.
"May I ask as to what you two are doing?" a voice called out to them.
"Just enjoying festivities." Sasuke said in a sarcastic voice.
"I heard that someone has been questioning the villagers, I was wondering if you two know something about it." The woman said more with of an accusing tone then a questioning tone.
"Though we do have questions of our own, we know nothing of which you are accusing us." Shikamaru said as he yawned.
"I see." She glared, "Then I apologize if you are telling the truth, of course. If you have any questions please feel free to talk to me as I am the village's Mayor." The women smiled even though her eyebrows were twitching.
"There you guys are!" Sakura exclaimed. "Come on I want you guys to meet an old friend of mine who just returned."
"Sakura you know these people?" the woman asked.
"Miss Tsunade, I uh, I was hired as their tour guide up in the mountain. Did they do something wrong?" Sakura asked with worry.
"No, I was just curious. Well have fun boys, and remember if you have any questions you can always ask me." Tsunade said with a semi threatening voice before she left.
Whew, Sakura sighed in relief, "Come on lets go before he leaves."
They wondered around searching for Sakura's old friend when they ran into a girl with black hair and pale skin. "Sai! Do you know where Naruto could be?"
Sai frowned "No." clearly upset about something, Sakura wanting to avoid any trouble pushed the strangers away. "Sorry it looks like he left already." Sakura said apologetic, "that little, this whole event is just for him, he could have stayed a bit longer."
"Who is your friend?" Shikamaru asked.
"His name is Naruto Namikaze, his the villages pride and joy. Ever since he lost his parents at a young age the villagers have been taking care of him, when he first started learning alchemy the villagers were afraid that he might suffer the same fate as his parents, but as you can tell he quickly became the our pride and joy."
"What happened to his parents?" Shikamaru asked.
Sakura struggled for a while before she answered, "They were killed by the strangers."
