Chapter 26

When we were finished, she sat there for a while, supposedly contemplating our story. It did seem pretty far-fetched to my ears, and I was one of the ones who had actually experienced it.

I sighed and stretched in my chair. Naruto got up and walked around a bit. Shikamaru just sat there, looking too tired (or too lazy) to get up. We waited for Lady Tsunade's verdict. There was, after all, every possibility that she didn't believe us and was simply wondering which asylum to put us in. I certainly hoped that wasn't the case, though.

Eventually, she looked up at Shikamaru, Naruto and I, then spoke in a strong tone, "I believe you. No one could have come up with such an elaborate lie, but it also does seem pretty strange. How long did you say you were there, Naruto?"

"Six months," He said. "Time passes differently there than it does here, says Shikamaru."

Lady Fifth nodded once more, got up, and began to walk away. "I see. Well then, you may take your leave, but we will be seeing each other back here at 8 PM tonight."

"But why?" I asked, with a slight frown. "Didn't we answer all your questions already?"

She stopped and grinned back at us. "I'm not talking about interviews. I'm talking about festivities. We do have to welcome our heroes home, right?" And with that, she walked back towards her office.

"Festivities?" Naruto, Shikamaru and I said simultaneously. Then we all smiled hugely at each other, and went our separate ways to continue to greet people. I had to go find Ino and explain to her what happened, just like I had promised to a little while ago.

8 o'clock came faster than I would have expected. It was almost like time was passing faster in this dimension than it was in the place the three of us got lost in, even though the transverse was true. Anyway, the party officially started when Naruto arrived.

Late, as always.

So everything started at more like 8:30, but it was still really fun nonetheless. Eventually things started to blur together, and I was starting to feel pretty woozy. Not slap-happy-woozy, but more like the-world-is-spinning-woozy. I knew I wasn't drunk because I hadn't had anything to drink except for water and, you guessed it, Dr Pepper. It's possible that someone slipped me something, but I hadn't been tailed at all either, and I carried my drink with me almost the whole time. I deduced that I was just extremely tired, so I pulled out only two-and-a-half hours after the main event had started. I jumped up to my favorite rooftop, but found Naruto already sitting there, just looking calmly at the stars.

My feet touched the building with a muted tap,and Naruto turned slightly to smile at me.

"Can I sit?" I asked quietly.

He nodded.

I frowned a little and sighed.

"What's up?" He was using an especially gentle tone.

"Oh, nothing, really. I just feel out of shape is all…"

He rolled up onto the balls of his feet. "Well, I can remedy that, can't I?"

I bobbed my head in consent of what he was about to do. He threw a couple experimental punches that allowed me some time to jump up and into my fighting stance, forcing the former haze to fade. I pulled some fancy Muhammad Ali footwork, messing with my boyfriend, just like I always did. He laughed, but was cut off when I started throwing a few punches of my own.

We continued sparing for a while, parrying blows, and using the occasional small-scale jutsu. Eventually though, we both became so tired and sore that I was almost falling over, and Naruto had to practically crawl back to his apartment. I staggered back to my own house, almost breaking my nose on the door upon entry.

I began my bedtime habits as always, changing into my PJs (maroon cami and pink-and-maroon plaid bottoms), and brushing my hair and teeth. At last, I retreated to my soft bed, the one I hadn't slept in for a while. Without a second thought about reading a little bit, I flicked the switch and closed my slightly-heavy eyelids.

Well, I thought, pleasantly drowsy, Overatimespanofsixdays,Ilandedmyselfinanotherdimension,lostmytwobestfriends,learnedhowtouseanewkindofweapon,enteredatournament,faintedtwice,lostsaidtournament,foundmyfriends,foundawaytogethomeinacookbook,andactuallygotbackhome.

Not bad for a girl like me.

And then I slept.