Chapter Twelve; Naruto Returns

I'm sorry I forgot to warn you that the last chapter had quite a lot of Sasusaku in it lol, so sorry if you don't like it and I know you didn't expect it. This chapter has it too though and Naruhina, so now at least you're warned lol.

It had been three and a half years since Naruto and Sasuke had left the village each going to their separate ways. Kakashi still missed his son very much and prayed and hoped that he was alive and safe and that someday he would return to him. Sakura also thought about him since after all, he was partly her brother. However, she also thought about Sasuke a lot and the last thing that he said to her was still freshly inside her mind. "I love you Sakura." A tear rolled down her cheek as she sat up against her bedroom door hugging her knees.

He had actually said that to her, he had admitted to her that all the time that she thought he hated her, he secretly loved her. What did it matter though? He still left her all the same and she wasn't sure if she would ever see him again. Even if she did he would probably be assassinated for all the time that he spent as a rogue ninja. Sakura knew that the only reason that Naruto and Sasuke even left the village in the first place is because they were tired of all the pain that they had been going through and the feeling of being unloved.

However the only difference was that Sakura didn't have any clue where Naruto was, but she did know where Sasuke was. So she decided then and there that no matter what she would go to him and bring him back so that if Naruto did come back they could work out their differences and their friendship would be restored. Then everything would be alright again. She didn't tell Kakashi that she was leaving because she knew that he would tell her what she already knew about being way over her head. So she grabbed her backpack from out of the closet and started on her way.

As she made her way to the exit gate she saw the last person that she'd ever thought she'd see. "Naruto?" she questioned with disbelief as she widened her eyes at him. "Hey, Sakura." He answered when suddenly she felt a sudden burst of pure rage and punched him in the face. "Ouch! Hey! What did you do that for!?" he yelled grabbing his face in pain and wiped the blood away before he started to rub it. "Where the hell have you been!? Don't you realize that Kakashi-sensei and I have been worried sick about you! We thought you were dead!" she yelled.

"I know I'm sorry but I'm fine. I was with Gaara alright? So just calm down." He told her. "Gaara?" she questioned. "Yeah, because he was the only other one who knew how I felt. But since he died I figured that I should probably come back here and talk to you and my father like he wanted me to." He explained. "Wait a minute, Gaara's dead, what happened to him?" she asked him. "It's a long story and I don't think that you wanna know about it. So where are you going anyway?" he asked her. "I'm going after Sasuke." She answered as Naruto gave a sudden loud gasp.

"No you can't!" he cried. "I have to, this nonsense between the two of you has gone on long enough." She said as she started walking past him. "But Sakura you don't understand! He's a dangerous man now and he'll kill you!" he cried as she stopped to look back at him. "No he won't, I don't care how dangerous he is. He's just simply misunderstood. I love him and he loves me, he told me that he did the night he left." She explained. "But that was a long time ago, and I don't want to see you get hurt, because I'm your brother." He told her.

"I know Naruto, but Sasuke loves me and he's the one who's hurting. Go ahead and find Kakashi and talk to him. I know that he'll be really excited and relived to see you. But please don't mention anything to him about me." She said. "Well,.." he began. "I still don't like it, but alright." He agreed reluctantly. "Thank you Naruto." Sakura said flashing a happy and warm smile at him before turning around and walking away.

As soon as she was gone Naruto walked further into the village. He couldn't believe how so much had changed since he had been away. That's when suddenly he literally ran into Hinata and came nose to nose with her. "Naruto? Is that really you?" she questioned. "Everyone thought you were dead." She told him. "I know, Sakura told me." He said. "Don't worry though you can relax, I'm fine. Where's my father?" he asked her. "He's back at home, he really missed you." She answered as she hung her head and blushed a little while fidgeting with her fingers.

It was then that Naruto realized that even though a lot had changed since he had gone, she was still the same beautiful Hinata. Naruto smiled at her when suddenly he gave a gulp and blushed himself while widening his eyes. "Did I really just think that she was beautiful?" he questioned himself as the thought just occurred to him. "And I really missed you too Naruto." She told him. "Uh yeah right, I gotta go Hinata and talk to my old man!" he exclaimed anxiously before he took off faster than the speed of light. "Goodbye!" he shouted with a wave over his shoulder as he smiled back at her.

Unfortunatley because of this he hadn't been watching where he was going and that's when he bumped into Kakashi. "Naruto?" he questioned. "Is that really you?" he asked him as Naruto took a step back and realized that he was now about the same height as him. "Oh hey, Father." He said shamefully. "Oh Naruto," he began before he grabbed his son inside a tight embrace. "I was so worried about you." He said as he hugged him tightly. "Easy pops, you don't want to suffocate your own son do you!?" he exclaimed as Kakashi quickly let go and Naruto took a deep gasp of air.

"Sorry, it's just where have you been all these years? I thought that I was never going to see you again." He told him as Naruto heaved a sigh. "It's a long story, but I wanna talk to you about something, or rather someone." He said. "Let me guess, it's Hinata isn't it?" he asked. "How did you know?" Naruto asked him. "Naruto I'm your father, I saw the way that you used to look at her in school. So are you going to tell her how you feel about her?" he asked. "That's just it, I want to. But I've never been very good at talking to girls. Take just now when I was talking to Sakura_" he began with a point over his shoulder when suddenly he gulped. "Oops." He said.

"What do you mean by oops? Where is Sakura anyway? I haven't seen her all day." Kakashi said. "I can't tell you, I promised her that I wouldn't." Naruto said. "She's gone after Sasuke hasn't she?" Kakashi questioned and when Naruto remained silent he knew that it was true. "Naruto why didn't you stop her!?" he scolded. "I tried to! But she wouldn't listen to me!" he cried. "That settles it, I'm summoning the ninja hounds to track her. If she's going after a rogue ninja, she can wind up getting herself in a lot of trouble." He said.

"No please don't do that. I promised Sakura I wouldn't say anything." Naruto told him. "Look Naruto, I know that you want to try and keep your promise to your sister, but if you really do love her then you'll help me do what's best for her and protect her." He explained. "But, this is Sasuke that we're talking about. I mean I know that he's done a lot of terrible things but he was a part of our team once too, and he loves her just as much as I do even though it's in a different way. Doesn't that count for anything?" Naruto asked him as Kakashi heaved a sigh. "I'm afraid not." He began before he bit his finger and slammed his whole entire hand down on the ground. "Summoning jutsu!"