The weeks had passed without much hassle. Three weeks had passed ever since Naruto had re-entered the village hidden in the Leaves. It had been more than two weeks since he had finally managed to get over the pain and guilt that had built up within his soul for the last few years.
Currently we find Naruto sitting with a smile on his face not too dissimilar from the ones he used to hold when he was much younger. Now it looked much more mature and thoughtful, instead of childish and ignorant. He was sitting on the bench on the side of one of the rivers running through Konoha. He was sitting with his hands behind his head as he simply stared out at the open expanses of the water that glistened in the beauty of the late evening sunlight.
Too entranced was he in his watching of the evening sky affecting the picture before him, he did not notice the person that was slowly approaching him. Their movements were subtle and quiet, just what was needed to surprise anyone, but most of all Naruto. As Naruto let go of a particularly content sigh he moved further down into the bench and made himself more comfortable.
The sneaking suspect smiled to themself as they realised their position had not been compromised. They moved even closer until they were directly behind Naruto. They silenced their breathing and prepared for their next move. Naruto was not prepared for the next few moments in his life.
Suddenly he felt his eyes being covered over by undeniably feminine hands. What he did not expect was the sudden weight that was applied across his crotch area and down onto his lap with a somewhat mischievous smile Naruto simply decided to play along.
"Guess who" came the voice of what Naruto had expected, a woman. It was not exactly one he was unfamiliar with, indeed it was one that he had come to understand in the last few days. She knew exactly what it was like to be on the same level as him, to be viewed as something monstrous by the entire village in the past. Yet she had managed to regain her credibility in the village and there were no less than a lot of men who would not mind chancing their luck with her.
"I can tell that it's you Anko-Chan" Naruto responded and smiled when he heard the soft whine escaping from Anko's lips. Then her hands were removed from his eyes and he could see the face of Anko right in front of him with no less than a disappointed look on her face.
"How could you know it was me?" She almost demanded of him. With that he smiled at her with his foxy smile that had her face heating up slightly.
"Well first of all, you have a distinct aroma about you…" Naruto began only to be cut off by a somewhat unhappy Anko at such accusations. Honestly! She would kill him if he was saying she smelled bad.
"Hey! I don't smell bad at all, I'll have you know I bathe more than once a day" Anko answered as she looked down at Naruto with a dangerous look in her eyes to which he only smiled at, this shook her slightly.
"I never said you smelled bad, I just said you had a definitive scent, quite a nice smell of snakes about you" Naruto responded without his smile ever faltering. "There is also the fact that there are not many of the other women I know who would so nonchalantly plop themselves down onto my lap like you did" Naruto joked to her to which she softly hit him on the shoulder.
"What can I say, it looked much more comfortable than the bench you're sitting on" Anko replied shrugging her shoulders to which Naruto had to chuckle at. She really was carefree about this kind of stuff around him.
"I guess I can understand that kind of logic" Naruto said as he brought his hands from behind his head and rested them on his sides. He stared at Anko - who was looking extremely comfortable on his lap - contentedly. She caught sight of his staring at her and moved directly into his line of sight.
"What you staring at?" Anko asked seriously, trying to make him feel nervous, however her tactic came up as not working when Naruto smiled at her once again before he answered her.
"Unless I can look right through you Anko-Chan then I am probably looking at you, wouldn't you agree?" Naruto asked as he chuckled lightly at the way in which Anko seemed like she could kill him right now if she had really wanted to. Then again she could not deny that she would prefer to see him like this than she had seen him in the first week he had endured back at the village.
"See something that you like then do you?" Anko asked him softly as she stroked down her curves in front of him with a mischievous grin on her face, she felt her smile widen when she felt something underneath her seat beginning to grow. "I can see that something certainly does anyway" Anko said as she winked at Naruto who did actually seem flustered for the first time. She had been trying for the last week or so to fluster him with her flirting but had come up with nothing. Something seemed to be going her way now though.
"Sorry Anko-Chan, I guess my self-control is not up to scratch then is it?" Naruto asked sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his head and his face had taken on a deep crimson colour. In his mind however he was arguing with himself as he couldn't believe he allowed Anko to feel something he had not intended for her to feel. His mind was stopped however when he saw Anko grin at him before she spoke again and almost made him burst.
"Oh, that's alright Naruto-kun, remember you said I'd be the first so I don't mind in the slightest" Anko said to him in a husky voice before she winked at him and lifted herself off of his lap and stood up in front of him. She looked down at him and could see his flustered appearance completely gone, his cool and calm demeanour had returned, she already hated how quickly he could recover like that.
"You are such a tease do you know that Anko-Chan?" Naruto asked as Anko looked directly at him and smiled at him with the most beautiful smile he had ever seen on her face.
"Yep I know that very well thank you, I'm just glad I finally managed to beat you at the teasing game, you were the hardest I've faced so far" Anko admitted to which Naruto once again smiled at her. She could honestly get used to seeing that smile forever. It promised so much to her that she had been neglected most of her life. Friendship, love, compassion. All of them he could give her and he undoubtedly would as he would anyone else. She wanted more than what everyone else would get though; she wanted special treatment as selfish as it may sound.
"It's not like I tried to be an inconvenience, I just knew the words to use that would have you struggling to win" Naruto responded as he felt the tightness in his pants receding and got up from his seat on the bench, he felt all hot and knew exactly what his body wanted to do. He was not yet prepared for it mentally and as such knew that he would have to rid himself of his 'tension' otherwise.
"I see you recover quickly in all areas, that was much larger a few seconds ago" Anko pointed out as she looked down to his crotch area to which Naruto also found his gaze shifting, seeing that his pants were back to normal, as if nothing had ever transpired.
"Yes well, I guess you could say my self-control can be good at times" Naruto lied as he made to walk away from Anko towards any one of the training grounds that had a lake in them. Anko smirked when she heard his reply and knew instantly that he was still hot under the collar and knew instinctively that his body must have been tense.
"You know we could get rid of your tenseness together if you want?" Anko said to Naruto as she winked at him suggestively. Naruto simply smiled at her before replying.
"Maybe someday, but not today Anko-Chan" Naruto said as he was suddenly behind her with his arms wrapped around her stomach firmly. His hold felt so comforting and at the same time warm. He had whispered into her ear so darkly and sexily that Anko felt her own heat levels rise. Then just as quick as he had moved from in front of her to behind her and hugging her form. He had vanished away from her and left a very aggravated Anko… never a good thing to do as many people who got in her way while she stalked home would tell you.
Naruto chuckled to himself as he thought about the way he had managed to get one back on Anko. It had become somewhat of a game for them ever since he had finally regained full mental health again. They would both banter back and forth and try their best to seduce the other with their charms, Anko would always struggle with Naruto as he seemed impervious to her charm, she was however too susceptible to his own. She just could not resist whenever he whispered in her ear in his husky tone, it was like her body gave up its fight and he won their game.
She hated it so much; he was the best at the game she had been queen of for so long. At the same time though it did not seem to bother her as it gave her a reason to spend time with him and get to know him better, in her eyes it gave her a spot in his heart. And in all honesty he did have a spot in his heart for her now, she understood what it was like to go through the same stuff as him and because of that they already shared a bond of sorts with each other.
What they both done now was in a way the method in which they bonded, it was not quite at any romantic level by any means, they just found the fun in teasing each other, knowing their opponent to be just as hard to beat as themselves, it was only a bit of fun for them both. Even if Anko was a bit more honest about the whole thing, Naruto was no idiot, he's keep to his promise, one day.
Naruto surveyed his current surroundings. He was standing in a large open field with long grass, surrounding him on most sides was mountainous areas, the only difference being that there were gaps where the gates in and out of the area were. This was training ground 14. He had no real idea as to why he was here but turned around and saw something that made him smile. How he had managed to miss it upon first glance stupefied him but nonetheless he had managed to miss it.
In the centre of the clearance were four figures. One of them much larger than the other three and they were fighting against the other three too. All figures were feminine with one of them being clearly Jonin and the other three Genin, he had come across Ino and her Genin team in training. It seemed like quite some tough training too, Ino was punching and kicking at her Genin with a surprising amount of force and the girls were taking the hits rather well.
Naruto watched in silence as the team continued their exercise for another ten minutes. It was not exactly one sided by any means too, once or twice the girls had managed to get a hit into Ino. He could also see the agility of Hiku Hyuga that had helped her evade a few of Ino's attacks. He had no doubt the girl was probably being taught the arts of her clan by two of its greatest members.
Noma and Kyoki did not seem to be too shy about fighting either. Both had managed to land at least a couple of blows on Ino and he could see that despite the pain in her facial expression Ino was proud of her Genin team. Naruto smiled before he walked out of his watching place, catching all of their attentions. Ino smiled to him softly while the three girls looked at him in surprise, not expecting to see their saviour while they were training.
"Hey girls, how's it going?" Naruto asked casually to which he received a smile from Noma. The other girls did give him smiles of course but they paled in comparison to the one given to him by Noma.
"Not bad Naruto, we're training here is all, what are you doing here?" Ino asked as she stood up straight from her fighting position and looked directly over at Naruto who was slowly walking over to the group. He gained a smile on his face that just spoke volumes of his mischievous endeavours.
"Oh you know, I thought I would come here and see how you girls were getting on" Naruto responded casually to which Ino closed her eyes and while looking away sighed playfully.
"So it has nothing to do with the fact that you were running away from Anko?" Ino asked nonchalantly to which Naruto simply got red in the face, Ino turned around with her eyes barely open and could see the red face he currently sported.
"Hey that woman has been chasing me non-stop to try and beat me at our game, she finally done it too, then I got her back" Naruto said confidently as he smiled widely at the fact he had won at the game again.
"Wow, and here I was going out on a guess, thanks for proving me right Naruto-kun" Ino said sweetly to which Naruto looked at the victorious smile on Ino's face and simply face-faulted. The three girls all giggled at the antics of the adults, especially the way in which their sensei had seen right through Naruto so easily.
"Damn!" Naruto cried out as he fell to his knees as tears fell from his eyes and he stared up to the heavens, throwing his arms out wide. He was suddenly covered in a column of light before he spoke. "How could I have been so foolish to fall for such a ploy!" Naruto cried out to the sky.
Ino and her team simply stood and stared at the spectacle before them before Ino laughed at Naruto. "Honestly Naruto what are you doing?" Ino asked as she still giggled throughout her question.
"Asking Kami why I fell for such a simple ploy, he told me that you are a genius and that I must watch out for you" Naruto said as he looked to her with mock seriousness in his voice, to which once again Ino found herself laughing at.
"Well at least he got one thing right, I am a genius" Ino laughed as her team watched the banter between the two adults. Ino stood proudly as Naruto had yet to get on his feet and leave the column of light. "Naruto?" Ino asked after she had laughed enough.
"Yes?" Naruto responded as he looked to her through the light of the column he was in. His features shining brightly at her.
"How did you manage to do that, it's like Gai-sensei and Lee calibre Genjutsu when we were younger" Ino said as Naruto face-faulted once again at such words being spoken about him.
"You have some very harsh words Ino-Chan, never did I think that you would destroy me with words" Naruto responded as the column disappeared and suddenly Naruto was bent over with a dark cloud hovering over his body.
"Oh be quiet Naruto, I know you are too happy and energetic to stay like that for too long, if you do then I guess ramen all around the world would weep" Ino said and was not surprised when it got an instant response from Naruto, with him leaping up onto his feet and staring at her.
"Ramen in distress! Never fear! Naruto is here!" Naruto proclaimed as he pointed directly to the sky. It was only when he looked back at those before him that he realised he had made quite the fool of himself in front of rather a lot of people. "Ah, you all just saw that, damn" Naruto said simply as he smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.
It took a few moments of silence before anything was said again, and it just so happened that it had to be Naruto to break the silence because all four of the females were quietly snickering at his expense.
"So how well are you three girls getting on? Do you think you are at Chunin level yet?" Naruto asked as he smiled down at all three of them, he received three affirmative nods from them all and smiled even wider at them. He turned to Ino before asking her too. "What do you think Ino-Chan, do you think that your team are prepared to be Chunin?" Naruto asked to which Ino smiled at him again.
"Yes Naruto-kun, I do believe that all of my lovely ladies are ready to go on to become Chunin, they just need to keep training so that they can be prepared for the upcoming Chunin exams in Kumo in 5 months' time" Ino responded to which she received happy smiles from all of the girls on her team. Naruto also smiled with them.
"In any case, you'll be doing better than me anyway" Naruto said as the three girls looked at him curiously and Ino smiled somewhat sadly and happily.
"What do you mean Naruto-Sensei?" Kyoki asked and it took Naruto a few moments to respond after being called Sensei. He hadn't been called that word before either. Sensei and Foxy-Chan, both names he would never have expected for himself but then again he did not hate the names. He regained himself momentarily and explained.
"Well, that's because I am still technically a Genin" Naruto responded to which the three girl's jaws hit the ground and stared at the blonde man before them who was simply smiling at their reaction.
"No way" Hiku said as she looked at Naruto and thought about all she had seen and heard about him doing. "Ino-sensei it can't be true, he can't just be a Genin, can he?" Hiku asked her sensei unbelievingly until she heard laughter from her sensei.
"Well you see, Naruto never passed the Chunin exams and never tried again, so he has never moved up the Shinobi ranks like everyone else" Ino explained as Naruto nodded and smiled at the same time to everything that was being said.
"But, we've seen what he can do! There are no Genin alive that can do what he can!" Kyoki tried to argue to which Naruto laughed out loud and Ino giggled a bit to herself too before responding to her student's question.
"That is true, it is only on paper than Naruto-Kun's rank is Genin, in actual physical terms Naruto-kun has probably been at Kage level for how long now Naruto? Maybe 6 years?" Ino asked to which Naruto put his index finger to his chin and looked like he was thinking before he shrugged his shoulders.
"Although he may hold the rank of Genin just look at how strong he is, if you become a Chunin though, you can still literally order him around, not much he can do against you as you'll outrank him" Ino said to her team as they all grinned while looking at Naruto evilly. Naruto took it upon himself to squeal very loudly as the looks were becoming somewhat scary.
"This is no fair, it's like four on one here, at least give me a chance!" Naruto cried out as he waved his hand out in front of his face, his face smiling as sweat poured down his face. All of the girls giggled at his antics before he dropped his arms to his side with a smile of his own on his face.
"You all just about done then?" Naruto asked casually to which Ino turned to look at him quizzically.
"Why? What did you have in mind?" Ino asked as Naruto turned to her with his smile aimed directly at her. She wondered how she had ever worried about this man a few weeks ago; looking at him now would not indicate any hardships he had had to face in his life.
"Well I was going to go and get a bite to eat, and since we are all here I guess we could all go out together" Naruto explained as the girls all looked up at him happily; it had been a while since they had went out for something to eat. The prospect was definitely met with a positive reaction. All three heads turned to their blonde haired Sensei who seemed to buckle under the weight of their gazes on her.
"Am I to guess that you three want to go out for something to eat with Naruto-kun then?" Ino asked as she laughed along softly as she spoke, Naruto had already wormed his way into her team's hearts and he had barely even known them for more than three weeks. All three girls nodded their head in the affirmative to which Ino happily sighed alongside. "Very well then" Ino said as she smiled at all of her team jumping around happily.
"Don't worry Ino-Chan, it's all on me" Naruto said happily as he began to walk out of the training area towards his intended direction. Ino could already tell where it was that he was planning to go and dusted herself off before she too moved off after him. It was only when their sensei moved did any of the girls decided to move along also. They followed the blonde haired man closely only now realising just how big he was. On average a male may reach about 5ft 9in if they were lucky, but Naruto stood at least 6ft tall. Adding to this image was the fact that his very clothing made him almost look like an almost identical twin to the Yondaime Hokage, his facial construction also helped to lead towards a similar mistake by many people.
As they walked the three girls could see the looks that Naruto received from many of the villagers once they finally re-entered the village. He received very many happy looks and smiles from a vast majority of villagers and those who did not smile at him bowed towards him respectfully. While the girls were completely oblivious to the significance of such actions from the villagers but Ino was a completely different story.
She could see the way that those who greeted him had changed drastically from when they were younger. As much as the adults thought they had the children fooled, sometimes children are far smarter than their parents realise. Ino was one such case and due to this she knew of the ways the villagers treated him, just not what the cause of such anger and hatred was. It was not until he had basically told her himself did she finally realise the burden that Naruto held on his shoulders. As a result she smiled when she saw the way in which Naruto could now walk through the village confidently.
He quite rightly should have been able to do so anyway, everyone in the village owed him one for taking down pein and for winning the war for them. That and taking out all of the threats posed to the entire world, those who possessed the Sharingan. Naruto was the Pariah turned hero of the village and Ino could not help but smile at the irony of Naruto's situation. His absence from the village had meant he no longer knew his status amongst the village, if anything he was something of a celebrity amongst the villagers of Konoha and even many of the Shinobi.
Naruto finally turned the corner that lead to Ichiraku's Ramen and Ino smiled as she would never have put it past Naruto to have come to this place. He moved forwards much quicker once the aroma of the ramen reached his senses and stopped suddenly, all four women behind him had to suddenly halt also or else risk running into his back, although Ino wasn't going to be one to complain.
"Ladies First" Naruto said as he turned to them and indicated with his arm that they should proceed before him. All four of them simply gawked at him, they had thought that there was some form of problem before them, yet it was just Naruto being a nice guy, Ino would have to get used to the new Naruto who was aware of himself now.
Ino smiled before she and her Genin team lifted up the individual curtains and took their seats on the individual stools. They did not wait long for someone to appear at the counter.
"Hello, how can I help you today?" Ayame asked happily as she recognised at least one of the people who had just entered the shop. Ino was not a frequent customer, but that did not mean she did not drop by from time to time, even if just for a chat to get Ayame out of her idleness. Ino smiled at the older woman before she looked down to her Genin team.
"What do you all want then?" Ino asked as all three of the girls suddenly had thinking expressins on their faces whilst looking at the menu. Almost instantaneously they all answered at the same time.
"Miso pork Ramen!" All three of them chorused together which took Ino by surprise, and Ayame too for that matter, it had indeed been a while from someone had eaten that dish. She smiled at the thought though.
"My, my the last person who ate that flavour of Ramen could eat it until it came out of his ears" Ayame joked to them all only for them to hear the sound of a body impacting upon the ground. All four women sitting on the stools turned around to find Naruto laying there with a dark cloud hovering over him while he muttered 'harsh words, such harsh words'. It was not long until he was back on his feet again and moved into the Ramen bar himself and saw the astonished look on Ayame's face.
"Harsh words Ayame-Chan, I always thought you enjoyed making me my Ramen? I guess I was wrong?" Naruto asked as he mocked hurt, he was not prepared when he heard a commotion and suddenly saw Ayame leaping over the counter at him and he had to quickly catch her before she fell to the ground. She clung tightly to him as if she expected him to be an apparition of himself. Nonetheless there he stood, tall and proud, and with that trademark smile of his on his face. She had barely changed all that much since the last time he had seen her, though he could not deny the feeling of things soft against his chest.
"Hi Ayame-Chan" Naruto said happily. "I guess it has been a while since we last saw each other hasn't it?" Naruto asked softly as Ayame looked up at him and the sad smile that he had. She just smiled back at him before resting her head on his chest.
"Yes Naruto it has, it really has been too long" Ayame said as she hugged into him tighter, from behind the counter a commotion could be heard as yet another person made their presence known. They looked much older than Naruto had last seen them and definitely looked like the years were doing them no favours. Yes there before them was the much older form of Teuchi, the store owner.
"Naruto, my boy!" Teuchi boomed at the young man to which Naruto could only smile at, Teuchi was always one of those who were really kind to him. However when Teuchi saw the way that his daughter was holding onto Naruto and the way that Naruto was supporting her he felt his eyebrow rising slightly in question. "Mind telling me when this one happened, and at that when the wedding is?" Teuchi asked bluntly as Naruto and Ayame instantly released each other with very red faces.
"Father!" Ayame squealed at her father who simply smiled and Naruto simply stood still with a shocked expression on his face. Ino inwardly smiled at the interaction between the three it seemed so peaceful and happy, no wonder Naruto loved these two. She could also not help but notice that despite the point being made neither of them denied anything about what had been said.
"What? It was only a joke, you realise it was a joke, right Naruto?" Teuchi asked the young man who was still standing as still as he had been for the last few moments. Suddenly Naruto shook his head and focussed in on Teuchi again.
"huh… oh yeah, I understood the joke Teuchi-San" Naruto responded as Teuchi smiled softly before speaking up again. "Now anyway, you came here for something to eat, and with these four beautiful young ladies I see, now tell me, what can I get you all?" Teuchi asked with a smile as he rubbed his hands together, getting ready to start his culinary skills.
"Well the girls said they all wanted Miso Ramen" Ayame said as she moved back behind the counter next to her father, the blush had yet to subside from her face, such insinuations were somewhat embarrassing and maybe even true, she would admit to nothing though. Teuchi raised his eyebrow before he let loose a light chuckle before looking at Naruto.
"I expected that from you Naruto" Teuchi admitted to which Naruto responded with a smile.
"I do want some of that, maybe three or four for me though, Ino what would you like? And also get as many as you want because I plan on eating until I'm full" Naruto admitted as the girls looked up at him with smiles on their faces, Ino could just tell the bill was going to sting Naruto.
"Two"
""Three"
"Four" came the voices of Hiku, Kyoki and Noma in that order as to how many bowls of Ramen they wanted. Naruto smiled before he turned to Ino who sighed before shrugging her shoulders and giving her answer.
"Very well, give me two Sushi Ramen" Ino said as she received smiles from all around her. She could not tell when she had last felt this comfortable when eating with others, her team she could eat with happily as they were almost as close as family, but otherwise it was sometimes awkward to eat with people she never usually ate with.
It was not long before all of the bowls of Ramen were set out before all of them and were being stared at hungrily by Naruto and the three other Genin. Ino at least had the decency to hide how hungry she actually was, though she would not deny that her bowl of ramen looked simply delicious.
Naruto leaned forward and picked out five pairs of chop sticks. Twirling them all around in his fingers he threw them all up into the air and with four separate flicks of his index finger sent the sets of chopsticks at the four others at the counter with him. All present smiled at the showmanship showed by Naruto.
"Was there any real reason behind that Naruto?" Teuchi asked as he stood behind the counter with his arms folded and his brow raised in question. Naruto simply shrugged his shoulder in response before answering.
"To look good I suppose, if you got it, why not flaunt it?" Naruto asked happily as the three Genin at the table smiled at him while the other two older women thought about the many other innuendos that could be taken from that one sentence. Nevertheless all five customers snapped their chopsticks into their separate pieces. Naruto raised his into the air before saying.
"Itadakimasu!" he said happily before he began eating his Ramen with a wide smile on his face, even to the extent where his eyes closed. The three young girls looked at each other before they literally copied his exact movements. "Itadakimasu!" they all said together before they dug into their meals with just a little less vigour than Naruto had. Ino looked between all four of them before she snapped her chopsticks into their separate pieces and quietly said "Itadakimasu" before she began eating her meal slowly and enjoying the flavour. As she looked between Naruto and the girls she wondered if any of them could even taste the Ramen.
It took almost no time for the four of them to finish their meals, granted that Hiku did only have two to eat like Ino. After they were all done they leaned back in their seats and patted their stomachs contently as they smiled at the meal they had just consumed. Ayame and Teuchi cleared away the empty ramen bowls and moved them over to the washing area to clean them.
"Did you all like that then?" Naruto asked as he looked to the three Genin especially, but he did also mean to add in Ino to the question. The girls all smiled at him simultaneously after he had asked the question, and taking them as yeses Naruto then turned to Ino who had been looking at the reaction of her team. When she realised his gaze was on her she felt the heat on her face rising and turned towards him.
"Yes it was nice, thank you Naruto-kun" Ino answered to which Naruto once again smiled, Ino was so happy to see that smile again, it was like it was trying to get out as much as it could now, from being locked away for so long.
"You're welcome, you too girls" Naruto said as he smiled down at the three girls who were talking amongst themselves at that point. They turned to him when he had spoken to them and smiled.
"Thank you for the meal Naruto-Senpai" the girls answered to which Naruto face faulted and fell to the ground as the same dark cloud hovered over his body.
"From Sensei to Senpai, I liked Sensei better" Naruto said as Ino laughed at the manner in which Naruto had taken such a small alteration in his name.
"Don't worry about it Naruto-Kun just get the status of Jonin in the next 6 months or so and they may call you Sensei again" Ino joked as she noticed that suddenly Naruto's head had snapped up again and was looking directly at her.
"That's it! I will become a Jonin and I'll become a Sensei! Now I know what my goal will be!" Naruto said as he fist pumped into the air. Ino looked at him quizzically, she had always thought Naruto wanted to be the Hokage, but with this proclamation it seemed otherwise.
"What happened to your dream of becoming Hokage? I thought that was your goal in life?" Ino asked as Naruto looked towards her with a soft smile now.
"Well I did always want to be Hokage, but that was just so that everyone in the village would recognize and respect me, but I don't have to become Hokage to do that anymore, the village already respects me" Naruto responded sounding genuinely happy, at this the older trio all smiled at Naruto, it was nice for him to realise that the village had actually changed their perspective of him. Even if it was at a great amount of effort on his part.
"It does not help either that Kakashi-Sensei is going to get the position in three months' time and will probably hold the position for a further 30 years probably" Naruto joked as the others with him laughed alongside him.
"You never know Naruto-kun, Kakashi-Sensei may step down and give you the position, you know how lazy he can be" Ino said with a smile on her face that Naruto returned.
"I guess that's right, at the same time I think Kakashi-Sensei will take this seriously, this is not something that affects just him but the village as a whole, no I think Kakashi-Sensei will hold the position well" Naruto said as he smiled at the thought of his teacher being the leader of the entire village, he doubted his life was anywhere near over yet and guessed he would possibly be Hokage one day anyway.
"At least he won't have to worry about enemies of this village being stronger than him anyway" Ino interjected to which Naruto and everyone else looked at her with quizzical looks on their faces. "Well Naruto-Kun, you managed to face off against him on equal terms didn't you? So if there is someone stronger than him then there is still you around to help him" Ino said as Naruto smiled at the praise he was receiving.
"You see what I mean? How can he be a Genin when he can match the strength of a Jonin?" Hiku asked from her seat towards Ino who simply raised her eyebrow at the somewhat exasperated question from the young girl.
"Ino-Sensei already said it was only on paper that Naruto-Senpai was a Genin, she said he was as strong as a Kage in physical terms" Kyoki answered her teammate who shut her mouth at that moment and time or risk embarrassing herself further, not before she muttered a quiet 'sorry'.
Naruto was unsure as to what he could really say after that, it had turned so much into what level of power that he was, that he did not quite know what he could really say after the subject. As a result they all sat in silence as they could hear the sounds of bowly and other utensils being washed. It was only when Kyoki yawned and stretched did Naruto particularly take any notice of the time. He looked out from under the curtain to the ramen bar and found it to be dark already.
When he brought his head back inside of the curtain he found that all three girls were yawning and stretching. Looking to Ino he could see the warm expression she had for all three of them, it was like th girls were more of a family to her than her little students, it was both touching and sad at the same time. Touching that she cared for them so deeply but sad too because of the distinct possibility that as Shinobi they may die. Nonetheless Naruto smiled at the way Ino looked to the girls.
"I think it might be time for us all to head home, what do you girls say?" Ino asked her team who all nodded their heads sleepily. Ino nodded her head at them too before she stood up from her seat and turned to the owners of the ramen stand.
"Thank you Teuchi-san, Ayame-chan, I enjoyed the food as did my students" Ino said to both of them as both their head appeared around the wall dividing the counter from the kitchen behind the wall.
"No problem Ino-san! Only happy to help" Teuchi answered as he smiled at her and waved her off. "You too Naruto, stop by again and see us" Teuchi called over to Naruto who was smiling and nodding his head in return. He then turned his attention on the four girls before him.
"Would you like us to walk you home too Noma?" Ino asked the young girl who shook her head vigorously at the question while waving her hands frantically.
"No it's okay! My house is too much of a walk from any of your houses and I don't want you to be walking to one end of the village and then back" Noma said to the three girls before them, Ino looked like she was about to argue but was saved the need when Naruto made himself noticed.
"I can walk her home if you want, I mean I am in no rush home and don't mind in the slightest" Naruto said as he smiled brightly at Ino who looked very grateful at that one moment and time. Noma looked like she wanted to argue but found that any words she tried to form just died in her mouth.
"Thank you Naruto, I know that she is a Shinobi but I just want to make sure that there are no people causing any problems for her, she's not exactly the most open of people with me and I worry about her sometimes" Ino said to Naruto quietly so that the girls could not hear them. Naruto nodded his head in acknowledgment before he walked over to where Noma was standing and smiled down at her.
"Don't worry Noma-Chan I'm only going to make sure that you make it home alright, you have my word everything will be alright and if not you can tell Ino-Chan, and she'll probably kill me" Naruto said to which Noma looked at Ino who nodded her head in the affirmative, she giggled despite the forthcoming events that she was not looking forward to.
Without much other ado the group split off into the due of Naruto and Noma and Ino, Hiku and Kyoki. Naruto and Noma walked in silence for a long time. Naruto could see it from what little he could see of her face that she was not happy, even in the little light of the night he could see her sad face.
"What is wrong Noma-Chan, is there anything wrong? I thought you'd be happy that you got to eat Ramen, everyone feels happy after eating Ramen!" Naruto said happily to the young girl who rounded on his waving her arms in front of her and shaking her head.
"No I was happy, I was very happy that you bought me Ramen" Noma answered quickly which caused Naruto to stop and look at her face which was clearer due to the moonlight that was glowing.
"Then what is wrong?" Naruto asked softly. Noma looked down to the ground and clenched her fists tightly before she simply turned and walked away.
"Nothing" was her simply reply as she walked on again in the same direction that she had. Naruto was confused as to the sudden change in character but decided to uphold his promise and walked slightly behind her, at least letting her know he was still close-by. That was until they came to an apartment complex, this one looked hauntingly familiar to the one that he had grown up in. she stopped and then looked back to him.
"Thank you for walking me home Naruto-Senpai but this is where I live so you can go home now too" Noma said as she began to walk towards the complex and up one of the sets of stairs, Naruto watched until she disappeared completely from his view.
Noma walked up the stairs until she had reached the top floor. Once doing so she waked along one of the long balconies until she came to another set of stairs that let on to the roof of the complex. Walking over to where there was a small tent and some provisions outside it she smiled sadly at the sight before her, this was home.
All she really had was a tent, a futon, some food that she had managed to buy through the money she had made on missions and some spare sets of the same clothes she had. Other than that she was basically running on nothing at all. She sighed at the situation she was in but knew of no other way about it. She was an orphan, she had been for a long time now, ever since she was about 4 or 5 years old, her parents had died during the Sand and Sound invasion over 9 years ago.
She had been alone for all of that time, ever since she could feasibly look after herself. There was no way she wanted anyone to ever be made aware of her situation. That was why she never let her team walk her home, she did not want them to realise her situation, it was shameful and painful to her. Then today when Naruto wanted to walk her home he came perilously close to finding out but she hoped that she had managed to chase him off with her colder demeanour.
Moving into the tent Noma made herself comfortable before she took out some of the scrolls she had been told to learn before the Chunin exams. She had been given a few Jutsu that Ino believed would help her in the upcoming exams and Noma intended to learn them and become Chunin, if anything it was to prove that she could do it, but also because the pay was slightly better.
She moved slightly so that she could reach for the small candle that was inside her pack. She took it out and placed it inside a small glass cylinder. She then moved her hand over the candle before clicking her index finger and thumb together and sparking up the candle.
"You know, that is a really cool trick" came a voice from directly in front of her. Noma looked up instantly and found the face of the man that she had seen barely even a few moments ago. Naruto stood opposite her tent with his arms folded, through the light coming from the candle Noma could see that Naruto seemed to be unhappy, and despite herself hoped that he was not angry at her because she was keeping her situation a secret.
"Naruto-Senpai! What are you doing here?" Noma asked nervously to which Naruto looked up and Noma could now see the rather angry look on Naruto's face.
"I think the better question is why you are here Noma-Chan" Naruto said to the young girl who bowed her head in defeat, it was too late, she had been caught, it was not like she could exactly lie her way out of this situation. Naruto was a top notch Shinobi and would be able to see through her Genin level deception.
When Noma did not reply to him straight away Naruto continued on. "Noma-Chan why have you not told anyone about this, I mean surely you can't be happy living like this?" Naruto asked softly now. Noma looked up at him with tear soaked eyes before her head bowed back down again and she found the ground much more interesting.
"I didn't want anyone to know that I was living out on the street, everyone would have laughed at me in the Academy if they knew this" Noma said quietly. Naruto nodded his head in understanding, kids could be cruel people sometimes, even if they did not realise it sometimes, they could be really cruel. "Then when I came onto my team, I didn't want them to know either, Ino-Sensei, Hiku-Chan and Kyoki-Chan worry about me enough as it is and I never wanted them to worry about me even more than they already did" Noma finished as Naruto was left to stand and think about what she had said.
The girl definitely had her early life just as hard as him. He honestly felt that she might even have had a harder time than him. He may have been orphaned since birth but at least the Hokage had gotten him and apartment and paid rent for him in his infancy. Noma on the other hand sounded like she had been living on the streets ever since she was very little, which he had to commend her for, becoming a Shinobi from living on the streets to him sounded like quite a feat.
As he saw her current living conditions he could not help but feel angry at the way she was living. How could he not? She was living not only on her own, but on the roof of an apartment complex. If it was to rain there was no way that her tent would keep out all of the rain that would fall. It was almost a definite that she would possibly get soaked and then get sick. Then it dawned on him that even if she were to be sick ther was no solace in staying at home in a nice comfortable bed, she was stuck outside.
Naruto was both sickened and shocked at his sudden realisation of the young girl. She was already having a tough life, he did not want someone to have to experience what he had been brought up to know. All he knew was loneliness when he was younger, he did not want her to suffer from the same fate as him, he did not want her to have to stay out on this rooftop for the rest of her life.
"Noma-Chan, do you like it here?" Naruto asked softly at which Noma lifted her head and looked at Naruto. She could see it from his posture that he was seriously aggravated by something and feared she may have angered him just by her living conditions.
"I don't have anything else, so it is all I have to live with" Noma admitted as Naruto's body seemed to get even more tense, Noma worried that he might just explode right there and then. She was surprised when she saw his shoulders sag down again and he released a breath he had been holding in, he then turned to her slowly and she wondered what he was going to do next.
"Noma-Chan, you don't have to live like this if you don't want to" Naruto said to her softly. At that she looked up at his face to see an honest smile on his face that promised her the things he said were true, and she so hoped that they were true, she hated her life the way she had it right there and then.
"If you really want to then you can get out of the loneliness that you are currently in, I have been there so I know your pain, I knew you were an orphan but I never knew that you had to live on the streets Noma-Chan" Naruto said sadly to which the girl simply kept on staring at him. If her thoughts were correct then Naruto was offering her something she had only ever dreamt of ever since a young age. "I have a large house that has plenty of spare bedrooms in it, if you really want to then you are free to take on of the spare rooms if your only other alternative is to sleep out here" Naruto said as he looked around himself as he spoke.
Noma had not been this happy ever since she had found out that she could actually enrol at the Shinobi academy. Since then she had only been closely this happy when she met her team and Sensei. Other than that, this moment very well might have just taken the cake. She was being offered a place to live, a better place from what she was forced to live in. it may have been down to her own pride but she had never wanted to burden anyone with her problems, least of all her sensei or her teammates.
Naruto was worried in case he may have stepped over some lines when he saw the tears hitting the ground before her. What he was not able to see however, was the smile that was present on her face. There was never a clearer answer to her than the one she was going to say, if there was a clearer answer then she was clearly blind to it and did not care about that at all.
"Are you sure about this Naruto-Senpai? I won't become a burden in your household if I do come to live with you? I don't want to get in your way or prove to be more of a pain than I should be" Noma said quietly, Naruto smiled satisfactory once he realised that her tears were ones of happiness and not sadness.
"No it is alright Noma-Chan, I would not have offered you a place to live if I did not think it was unsuitable, you are more than welcome to live with me if you are otherwise forced to live out here" Naruto said as he smiled warmly down at her, Noma felt her tears fall but also felt her cheeks rising as her smile widened too.
Noma leapt to her feet and rushed towards Naruto. He was only just in time as he caught the small girl in his arms as she literally threw herself at him. He smiled while he heard her laughing sobs that wracked her body and his; he would make her life better. He could not even think of anything else to do after he realised her situation. He would not be able to sleep at night if he was to do so in the knowledge that this small girl was sleeping out in the hellish weather while he was wrapped up comfortably in his warm bed.
They stayed like that for a long time. Noma was too happy to release the one who had made her life significantly better just by simply providing her with a warm bed. Naruto left her to do as she pleased, understanding that this must have come as a great surprise for her to suddenly be offered with a place to stay, he was much the same when the Third Hokage had given him the apartment he lived in. it was only after a good few minutes that Noma finally released herself from his embrace and landed on the ground, hugging into his chest did include her having to jump up to reach it.
"Thank you Naruto-Senpai, no-one has ever offered me a place to live before" Noma said happily to which Naruto simply smiled at her.
"That is alright Noma-Chan, I'm sure someone might have if you just told them about it, but I do realise I only know because I found you, don't worry about it though, tonight you will be able to sleep in a nice warm bed" Naruto said as the girl in front of him beamed back up at him. He smiled down at her before he spoke again. "Noma-Chan get your things together, because as of now you are an honorary member of the Uzumaki clan, under my roof" Naruto said as she smiled up at him again.
"Noma Uzumaki, I like it" Noma said quietly to herself as she set about picking up all of the things that she would need for her new accomodations at Naruto's house. She was going to leave the tent as it would otherwise be useless inside a house, the futon she would take alongside the candle and her scrolls obviously. She picked up all of the pieces of food she had accumulated too, her reasoning being that she might as well make some form of contribution if she was going to live there now.
While Noma had been moving around and getting together all of her things, Naruto had been standing completely still as he worked over what she had just said. "Noma Uzumaki, I like it" those were her words and they were the words that he was repeatedly playing over in his head. The name did seem to fit and it almost felt as if it was right, like it was meant to be that way. As he thought about it he believed he may have found a solution to another reason for her sadness, a way that he could make her even more happier if she was at least supportive of the idea but he would not ask now as it would be far too much for her to process at the one time, maybe once they got everything back to his house.
Noma turned to him with everything she was going to need all bustled around her. She had her futon rolled under her arm with a backpack full of everything else that she decided she would need. Naruto chuckled lightly at her before he brought out a scroll from one of his backside pouched.
"I see Ino-Chan hasn't taught you the wonderful thing that is sealing scrolls" Naruto said through his chuckles as Noma looked at him blankly. "Take off your backpack and place it and your futon on the ground and I'll show you" Naruto said as Noma done exactly as asked. Naruto placed his right hand on the futon and his index finger on his left hand to the scroll, with a tiny application of chakra, the scroll sucked the futon into itself. Noma watched in astonishment as Naruto repeated the procedure with her backpack. "As easy as that" Naruto said as he smiled at her astonished face.
"You have got to teach me how to do that Senpai" Noma said in an awed voice that Naruto found himself chuckling at. He picked up the scroll and replaced it back into his backside pouch before answering her.
"I might just do, I might even teach you some other things that will help you with the Chunin exams" Naruto said as Noma looked at him and Naruto could have sworn that he saw stars in her eyes before she nodded her head vigorously.
"Yes please!" Noma responded happily, it looked like she had never been crying more than two minutes before now. Naruto almost prided himself on feeling like a miracle worker. Then he knelt down onto one leg and turned away from her, looking over his shoulder he finally spoke to her again.
"Hop on, this will make the trip to my home much faster than if we were to walk or jump from rooftop to rooftop" Naruto said as Noma looked at him quizzically.
"What do you mean Senpai, what could possibly be faster than either of those?" Noma asked as she knew of no other methods quicker than either running, even though he had said walking, or jumping from rooftop to rooftop.
"So you don't remember how I got you from that Petrified Forest to here in such a short space of time either?" Naruto asked her with a slight bit of humour in his voice. Noma continued to watch him as he had yet to get up from his kneeling position. "Do you know the technique that made the Fourth Hokage world famous as the Yellow Flash of Konoha?" Naruto asked as Noma nodded her head, everyone knew of the technique that gave the fourth one of the very few 'flee on sight' commands in the history of all Shinobi wars.
"Let's just say that when I was hunting down those that had the Sharingan one of my nicknames was something along the lines of 'The Golden Flashing Demon'" Naruto explained as it seemed to sink in with Noma's expression giving away the fact that she seemed to be understanding him.
"So if you hop on we can get going" Naruto said as Noma finally nodded her head and jumped onto Naruto's back. " Also I would tell you to either close your eyes or prepare for your vision to go blurry, this is extremely fast for those that are not using the technique" Naruto explained as Noma nodded her head against his back.
With a flash of gold both of them were suddenly gone, the only indication they had ever been there was the fluttering tent that was moving due to the wind kicked up by Naruto leaving in such a flashy manner. Noma and Naruto suddenly appeared right outside the front doors of the Namikaze estate.
"Here we are Noma-Chan" Naruto said as he looked over his shoulder, what he found shocked him to the core. Noma had managed to fall asleep on his back, despite him using the fastest Jutsu that he knew in the world. She was either a very quick sleeper or it was an effect of the Jutsu, then again he had never carried anyone else with him except when he had rushed them all back to Konoha, and that time they were all gone too. Maybe passengers on the Hiraishem No Jutsu just fell asleep if it was used on them.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders as he walked into his house. He walked in, closing the front door behind him softly and locking it. He then made his way through the large living room until he came up to one of the corridors that had three other doors on it, one on either side and one directly in front of him. He moved to the one on his left and opened the door.
The room before him was basic and only really ha a single bed in it. Other than that was a wardrobe and a bedside table, she could add things wherever she decided it would be needed, but going by her state right now Naruto guessed all she needed was her bed. As such he moved the covers from the bed and revealed the simple sheets. He turned around and then tried his hardest to work her arms and legs from around him, which he found to be surprisingly tight, no wonder she fell off when she fell asleep. She just about had him in a hold that was unbreakable.
He softly placed her on the bed and pulled the covers up over her form. He smiled down at her peaceful face before he released the sealed items in his scroll into her room, with that he put the scroll back in his backside pocket and left the room. With a final look at her he left and made his way to the bathroom, where he had a shower before finally going into his own room. Changing into his own bed clothing he quickly fell asleep thinking about his proposition to Noma.
Unawares to all but Kakashi and Tsunade however there were four vastly powerful Shinobi who were making their way to Konoha in order to meet with the man who had managed to bring about the end of the Fourth Shinobi War almost by himself. Whenever Naruto was going to wake up he was definitely going to be in for a great surprise…
Well you guys here you go, the newest chapter of The Return Of The Hero Of Konoha, and it is also by far the longest I have written at 10,479 words long. I would like to point out that although I said the girls were about 12 years old in the first chapter they are actually maybe about 13 or 14 instead, just like Naruto and his friends. The scene at the end I have had in mind ever since I started this story so don't think I just threw that in for the sake of it, it'll play a greater significance later on. I hope that you guys enjoy this chapter as you have those before it. I apologise to those of you who did not like the whole Sakura scene but it was the way I wanted Naruto to come out of his depression so, it's gonna stay that way. Otherwise I hope you enjoyed and continue to read on after this too, please R&R as always and I'll see you later in my next chapter of this or Hollow Kingdom =] - Varrukh
