a/n: Yes, Sesshy's back with a new chapter finally. Hope you enjoy it. Notes are at the end.

larissatsukino - You asked how old Naruto was in this fic. He's 18. If you want a bit more detail, I think I talk about him and Sasuke's ages in the authors note in chapter 2 or 3 if I remember right.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Warning: Spoilers for future manga chapters. I hope you're keeping up.

Hiding Behind Masks

Ch. 24 - Finally Home

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Thoughts: 'blah blah'

Speaking: "blah blah"

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He raised his walking stick and knocked hard on the desk. Tsunade awakened with a jolt, raising her head with a glare, opening her mouth to yell at whoever disturbed her. She was stopped cold by the feel of cold steel against her neck. Her eyes first shifted to the various masked nin around her then focused on the single person in front of her.

"Danzou!" She growled. "What is the meaning of this? I'll have you arrested and charged with treason."

"I highly doubt that. You see, your guards are incapacitated. And so are most of your guards all around Konoha. The few ANBU or jounin you still have here in the village have no chance of stopping all of my ninja. And I should hope you wouldn't risk the lives of chuunin and genin to attempt to stop me. They would only die and leave the entire village at the mercy of our enemies. You wouldn't want that would you? So, as you can see Tsunade, I have all the power now. And my first act will be to strip you of yours."

Tsunade glared at the man she loathed standing in front of her. Suddenly her lips twisted into a smirk. A poof of smoke blinded them all for a moment and when the smoke cleared, a very different person sat in her place.

"DAMN YOU!" Danzou growled at the purple haired leaf ninja, who wasted no time grabbing the hand that held the offensive weapon and quickly snapping it, effectively breaking the limb. A choked scream erupted from the nin. After that all hell broke loose.

Another Root swung a short sword toward the woman's head but she blocked it with a kunai. With her free hand, she pulled another kunai and slammed it into the leg of the nin behind him. The man screamed and fell backwards in pain. Sai appeared out of nowhere, fake smile fully in place, and knocked him out with a well placed punch. Genma crashed through the picture window, poisonous senbon already flying and taking out his targets. More ninja from Root appeared but were dealt with by one of the three ninja. One senbon flew past Sai's head hitting the ninja behind him in the throat, effectively killing him. Danzou turned while their attention was diverted and tried to sneak off but he was met at the door by Tenzou and Shikamaru,whose hands were already in the sign for the kage shibari no jutsu. Danzou couldn't move another step.

The commotion finally calmed down and all the Root ninja in the room were either incapacitated or dead. And then Danzou heard the distinctive sound of heels clapping against the floor. Tsunade smiled smugly as she walked inside and leaned against the door. Danzou's eyes narrowed into a hateful glare at the princess of the Senju clan. Tsunade glared back and cracked her knuckles.

"You didn't really think I had no clue what you were planning did you? Did you really think I wouldn't figure out that there was a closed door council meeting without me present in which you tried to lobby to get me ousted? Please give me a little more credit than that."

"Haughty as always Tsunade. Well, you may have stopped me here, but you can't stop what's happening outside this room. The village is surrounded by my ninja. You can't possibly win with your resources so dwindled." Danzou replied.

"Is that what you think? You might want to take a look outside."

Genma grabbed the old man and yanked him toward the window and pushed him halfway out of the broken window so he couldn't miss a thing. Danzou looked on as the mist slowly dissipated and revealed the anbu and jounin forces all over the village gaining the upper hand. Danzou growled and struggled vainly to get out of the ninja's grip. Genma pulled him back inside and pushed him into a chair - ironically, the hokage's chair - and Tenzou bound the man using his mokuton technique to form wooden bindings.

"How?"

"I alerted them all. I got a tip from someone that you were planning something. I know enough about you to know how much you would love me to disappear. After the Akatsuki attack, the village was already vulnerable. So, for pretense, I sent our ninja out of the village on fake missions in order to make the village look even more vulnerable. I knew you wouldn't be able to resist putting your plan into action."

The door opened and the two guards he thought were dead walked in with weapons at the ready.

"You've been able to keep your activities under the radar for a long time. Not anymore. It's over." Danzou sat there with his hand clenched into a fist, watching his plans crumble to dust before him. He knew it was over.

"Take him to Ibiki." Tsunade commanded the guards. She quickly went through hand signs and pushed her fingers into the back of the man's neck. The guards grabbed him as he fell unconscious. The three disappeared. Sai, Genma, Shikamaru and Tenzou picked up the remaining unconscious Root members and took them away.

With a sigh, Tsunade rubbed her temples with her fingers. "I swear, the drama never ends. I need sake." she muttered. It was bad enough she had to deal with Akatsuki. She shouldn't have to deal with problems in her own village, as well. Well, at least the pompous old jerk will finally get what's coming to him. Hopefully he'll spill enough to take the other two council members with him.

"Here Tsunade-sama." Her purple haired stand-in held a bottle out in front of her with a smile.

"Ah...my hero. Thank you Yugao."

"You're quite welcome." The woman bowed and prepared to put on her anbu mask and return to her duties.

"Wait."

"Yes Tsunade-sama?"

"Have a seat. You played your role well. Consider yourself officially relieved for the night." The woman nodded and sat across from the hokage. Tsunade pulled out two cups and poured sake into them and immediately swallowed her own and poured another before the anbu ever had a chance to drink her own.

"Thank you."

Naruto felt the nostalgia strongly as he walked through the house that had, not long ago, been his.

He looked into the bedroom and noticed Aya sleeping in bed. She had finally succumbed to her exhaustion. With a sigh, he knelt next to the bed and gazed at her innocent face scrunched up in sleep. He knew some of her innocence died with the destruction of her village and the death of her mother. He grieved for the loss of it. Aya had always been such a smiling cheery person and he wondered once she rested and had time to let the traumatic events sink in, would she change. Naruto tried to ignore the nagging thought that it was his fault but the weight of his own guilt refused to disappear. He lightly brushed her hair from her face with his fingers. She didn't even twitch.

"I'm so sorry Aya." He whispered and stood up, quietly leaving the room and going back outside. He knew Sakura could use some extra help. When he got outside, he saw Sasuke already lending his assistance. Sakura saw Naruto and smiled, waving him in her direction. He stepped off the porch and weaved through the people until he reached her. He noticed that the crowd that had been in the small clearing earlier was slowly but surely thinning.

"How's Aya?" Sakura asked after she stood up from working on another patient.

"She's sleeping."

"Good. I slipped a sedative in her drink. I don't think she's slept much in the last few days."

"Yeah." Naruto looked away. Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You didn't see her earlier Naruto. She has a strong will. She'll be okay."

"I hope so."

He glanced around the clearing and asked what was on his mind when he left the porch. "Where did everyone go?"

"Many of the injuries were things like broken bones and cuts that needed stitches, some 2nd degree burns. Once healed, they went back to see what's left. My plan is to have most of the more easily treated injuries taken care of tonight. That will only leave those who are still in more serious condition. She did a very good job in healing what she could. If not for her, probably some of the critical patients wouldn't have made it. You and Sasuke did well training her."

"Yeah." Naruto smiled slightly, but it vanished quickly as he thought of those who left. He knew some of them would return to the village to find nothing left but ash and rubble.

"Think you can handle a few patients?" Sakura asked, taking him away from his depressing thoughts. He gave her a wan smile. Maybe it would take his mind off of things.

"Just point me in the right direction Sakura."

The sun was high in the sky when Aya woke up. As soon as she saw how late it was, she jumped out of bed, quickly cleaned herself up, and ran outside. She stopped and her eyes went wide when she saw how empty the clearing was.

"Where is everyone?" she muttered. The amount of injured people had been cut to about one-quarter. All the rest were gone.

"They've all gone home." She turned to her left and squealed at the sight of her favorite sensei sitting in the shady part of the porch.

"RU!" she exclaimed. Naruto made to stand up but was tackled back to the ground by Aya. He tensed at first before relaxing and wrapping his arms around her in a hug. "I'm so glad you're here. I was so scared...and I didn't know what to do."

Naruto shifted until he was sitting up again and he maneuvered so she was sitting next to him. His eyes were sad and he kept one arm wrapped around her as he spoke to her in muted tones. "You did well. I'm proud of you. You set up this whole thing up..." He gestured to the clearing still littered with sleeping bags and tents, "...all by yourself and treated those you could. Think of how much more Sakura would've had to do had you not been here."

Aya smiled slightly at the praise. Naruto couldn't miss the sadness in her eyes, though, and it made the guilt come back full force.

"Aya...I...I'm sorry. I know that words will never be enough, but you have no idea how sorry I am..." Aya's expression turned to confusion.

"For what? What happened wasn't your fault."

"But...they were here for me. Your mother...she wouldn't be..." 'Gone.' The words went unsaid. "...if it wasn't for me. I should've never stayed so long. I should've just kept moving. I got too attached to this place." The teen glared at the blond and punched him in the arm then stood up with her hands on her hips, still glaring down at him in anger. Naruto was thinking of moving backward if he could. Right now she could give Sasuke a run for his money.

"Shut up! Just shut up. You have no idea.... Mother, she gave her life to save me. She made me leave her behind because she wanted to make sure I found you so I could warn you. Stop feeling bad over something you can't change. Yes, my mother is gone and I will always miss her terribly. But she wanted me to live my life and be happy. And I will do my best to live up to that." She sighed and relaxed her angry stance, allowing Naruto a moment to let the words sink in. She took a deep breath before giving him her news. "And just so you know, I'm going with you."

"No. It's too dangerous."

The anger came back full force. "You said that before, but look what happened." With a growl she turned away and stomped down the porch stairs. She glanced back once more at the morose blond, her anger disappearing at the sight. She sighed. "It's what I want. I couldn't heal half of these people...not the way I am now. I want to be a ninja, a medic-nin, like Sakura. I can't do that here. Mother was the only reason I didn't go with you before. You can't stop me Naruto."

"Hn...it seems you've grown Aya." She jumped at the voice and turned around to see Sasuke leaning against the post. She narrowed her eyes at her other sensei.

"How much did you hear?"

"Enough." He smirked slightly, then gestured toward the patients still waiting. "Sakura wanted me to see if you were awake. She needs your assitance."

"Alright." She skipped off to see the pinkette. Sasuke chuckled, then climbed the stairs and sat down next to Naruto with a sigh.

"She's right, you know. Stop feeling guilty. It won't help you." He turned his head and looked out at their charge helping Sakura heal another patient. "Or her."

"I know...I know."

"You're not responsible for every fucking bad thing that happens that has something to do with the Kyuubi. You can only do so much. You can't fix everything alone Naruto."

"I can sure as hell try." Sasuke could feel Naruto's chaotic emotions and pulled the blond closer and started running his hands through the spiky hair to calm him down.

"Idiot. There's nothing wrong with trying. What's wrong is setting yourself up for failure with unrealistic expectations that can't possibly be met. And you know this. So don't go carrying this burden around like it's all your fault dobe. As I said before, the only people at fault are Akatsuki. That's who you should be taking your anger out on."

Naruto nodded. Sasuke was right, of course. He knew it wasn't his fault, but just thinking about a village full of people who showed such kindness to him and made him practically family losing it all because of that damn organization... Killer intent started leaking, but he tamped it down.

It was time to end this.

"When we get back, we're going after them. I'm through running."

Sasuke nodded. He knew exactly what Naruto meant. He raised his hand into a fist. "I'll be right there with you."

Naruto grinned and bumped his own fist against the brunet's.

"Oh...and she's coming back with us."

Naruto scowled. "But-"

"Aya's coming." Naruto sighed heavily. But Sasuke's thoughts flowed through him. He felt Sasuke's apprehension. Aya had become family. Family was something neither Sasuke nor he had a lot of. Sasuke wasn't ready to lose that...and truthfully, neither was he. Naruto closed his eyes. How could he say no to that?

"Alright...fine."

Madara tapped his foot against the stone floor. Patience....Uchihas were never very good at showing that quality. Fortunately, patience was something he had cultivated over the many years he'd been alive. It was the only reason he'd made it this far. It was only because of his patience that he wasn't angry at Pein for keeping him waiting.

He was his superior, after all. Pein should've been here by now.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." The deva path stated in a monotone as he appeared from the shadows and took a seat across from the man with more than one identity. Uchiha Madara, former

Mizukage, leader of Akatsuki, Tobi...all the identities were dangerous in one way or another. However, Pein was not afraid of any of them.

"It is of no consequence. I merely wanted to talk."

"About?" Madara crossed his legs in front of him and nonchalantly gestured with his finger.

"Your latest failure." Pein didn't flinch at the dig. Instead, he stared back, not defiantly, but just a sign to show he was not intimidated.

"There was no failure. The jinchuuriki wasn't there. That is all. It seems he left a week before I arrived. And there is no trace of him."

"So you failed to capture him."

"No, failure to capture would imply that he was close enough for me to make an attempt." Madara's single eye narrowed dangerously. His puppet was being quite verbal today. And he didn't like the subtle tones of defiance coming from the path.

"You aren't usually so outspoken. Is there a problem?"

"Not at all."

"Good. You know, if you hadn't spent so much time in Konoha avenging your past, you might've found your jinchuuriki."

"You didn't seem to mind it all that much when I was turning the village to rubble and terrorizing it's people." Madara ignored him and pushed his point.

"You're a god. It shouldn't be so difficult to find your prey."

Madara was trying his best to rile him up with insults. But Pein refused to rise to the bait and stared impassively.

"Even the actions of a god take time."

"Hn. Well, it is time that you no longer have." Madara was losing the war of words and was no longer in the mood to trade barbs. He stood to his full height and stared down at the seated deva path. "Find him. I don't care what you have to do, how many villages you have to flatten. Find him and bring him to me. You have 5 days."

Pein stared back with not a hint of emotion. "As you wish."

Three days later, Team 7, along with Aya, were standing in front of the village gates. Naruto and Sasuke were both back in their henges - which had been quite an interesting experience for the young teen. The moment they walked through the gates, the team could tell something was wrong. They couldn't tell exactly what, but the air seemed tense with...something they couldn't quite grasp.

"This is Konoha?" Aya asked as she looked around. She took note of the crumbled buildings and knew something had happened. The scene looked too familiar. "Did those people come here too?"

Sakura nodded. "Yes, they did. But they can't keep us down. See?" She said as she pointed off to the shell of a building a block away. "Konoha's already rebuilding." Aya couldn't help but smile at that.

After a glance at her hooded and henged teammates. Sakura took Aya's hand and tried to shake off the feeling of wrongness. "We should go." All of them nodded and headed toward the tower. One glance at the tower with it's broken glass and holes in some of the outer walls had the group running up the stairs swiftly, sidestepping the evidence of fighting as they passed through the hallway. Naruto got to the double doors first and pushed them open.

"Baa-chan!" A paperweight lodged into the wall right next to where Naruto stood and he breathed a sigh of relief that the glass ball missed him. That would've hurt a lot.

"Shut up you brat! I was trying to sleep." Tsunade growled, one eye twitching as she glared at the group in front of her. "So, I see you made it back in one piece."

The team nodded.

"Good. Now take off those ridiculous henges!" The two males almost flinched and wasted no time doing as she asked. "Now, what happened and who's the kid?"

Naruto didn't answer, not wanting to talk about it. Sakura looked at the two males and rolled her eyes...she knew Sasuke was unlikely to open his mouth. 'Well, I guess I am the only official leaf ninja. I should give the report.' "Akatsuki had already come and gone by the time we got there. They destroyed the first village they got to in Bird Country looking for Naruto. Many were injured, some fatally. Fortunately, Aya had already set up a sort of triage before we got there."

"Who?"

"Aya." Sakura pushed the younger girl forward, who looked down with a blush at being the center of attention.

"My student, remember? I've written about her." Naruto added, wrapping an arm around the teen's shoulders like a proud father. Tsunade eyes went wide as she remembered.

"Oh! The kid you kept begging me to send more medical jutsu for? That brat?"

"Hey! I'm no brat. You don't even know me." Aya piped in, forgetting who's presence she was in. Tsunade raised a brow. The girl had spunk.

"I'm the leader of this village. I can call you whatever I want." Aya glared at the woman before turning her head away with a huff. Tsunade resisted the urge to laugh. She was a lot like Naruto. "Whatever. Why is she here?"

Aya almost growled. 'She' was standing right here. "I want to become a medic nin." she answered before anyone else could. Tsunade smirked. She hadn't had someone with this much spark around since Naruto was banished from the village. That kind of snarky spirit had been missed.

"You're not even a ninja."

"So? You can make me one. I've already got enough training. Ruka-sen...I mean Naru-sensei and Sasu-sensei said I could be a genin...maybe even a chuunin."

"Did they now?" Hazel eyes traveled over to the two males. Naruto raised his hand and rubbed the back of his head nervously. Sasuke stared right back without flinching. "Well boys, since you two are responsible for her, does that mean you're staying?" Naruto raised a brow.

"Can we actually return? I mean...What about the council?"

"Oh yes...about them...they have no control over what I do with you two. Well, at least not anymore."

"What's the catch?" It was the first words Sasuke had spoken the entire time they'd been in her office. Tsunade grinned.

"Actually, I think you'll like my options. Naruto, you were wrongly banished anyway, so by the power vested in me I hearby unbanish you. Sasuke, your situation is a bit different. You left of your own volition and became a missing nin. While understandable, your actions were unjustified. However, I am willing to wipe the slate clean if you do just one thing for me."

Sasuke raised a brow in question.

"Make Danzou talk." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Where is he?" he asked, his voice taking on a deadly tone.

"In prison. I'm sure you've noticed the mess." She gestured to the floor still littered with bits of glass, plaster and splintered wood. "Danzou tried to overthrow me and take over the village. However, we were one step ahead of him. Ibiki has tried for the last couple of days to get him to talk. Unfortunately, he's not getting anywhere with him. Damn old man is quite stubborn. I figure if anyone has the right to deal with him for what he's done, it's you. Therefore, if you can get him to spill his guts, I will allow you back into the village AND allow you to keep your ninja status with only six months of probation."

"And if I can't?"

"Then I will allow the council to be the ones to decide your fate." Sasuke nodded.

'Well?' Naruto asked him in his mind.

'Like I have a choice?'

'Can you do it though?' Naruto heard a snort in his head. He could almost visualize his friend smirking even though he wasn't looking at him.

'I did spend three and a half years with Orochimaru and Kabuto. Trust me. I can do it.'

"I will do it."

"Good." Tsunade reached into her drawer and pulled out two hitai-ite and tossed them to the two boys. "Welcome back you two." Sakura was practically giddy, bouncing on her feet and grinning. She was so happy to have her boys back. "Sasuke, I'll clear you to be able to make your visit for late tomorrow night. Naruto, your old apartment building is about to crumble. So here." She held out a key. "This is your new apartment. It has two bedrooms, it's already furnished." Naruto gave her a knowing look.

"You planned this didn't you?" Naruto asked. Tsunade shrugged.

"I hoped." Her eyes locked onto Aya. "As for you, meet Sakura and I here tomorrow at 10 a.m."

"Why?" Aya asked.

"You want to be a medic-nin don't you?" A bright smile overtook the teens face.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be here."

"Good. And don't call me ma'am! I'm not that old."

"Yes you are." Naruto coughed behind his hand. The hokage glared at Naruto. He gave her an innocent smile. She narrowed her eyes in warning.

"Now all of you, out of my office. I want some peace and quiet."

The moment they exited the hokage tower, Sakura squealed and jumped on the two males and squeezed them almost to death with her hugs. Naruto smiled. Sasuke grimaced, but didn't pull away. Aya giggled at their antics.

"Team 7 is back!" Sakura yelled with a grin. "I don't know about you guys, but I think it's only right that we celebrate at Ichiraku's."

"Ramen!" Naruto yelled with a grin. For once he could be genuinely happy about eating ramen since he hadn't had any in a while. Besides, Ichiraku's was still the best in the world. Sasuke glared at the blond and growled in his head about him being too loud. "Aya, you'll finally get to taste the awesomest ramen in the world!"

After lunch, Sakura took her teammates to see their former sensei. Naruto was surprised they hadn't run into anyone on the way. He figured that many of their friends must be involved in rebuilding. Kakashi was in his apartment still recovering from his injuries after fighting Pein. On the way, they found out from Sakura how bad off he really had been. The internal and external injuries were so bad, he'd almost died more than once on the operating table.

Sasuke had to knock sense into Naruto to keep him from being burdened by guilt again.

So now, here they were standing at his door. Sakura squeezed their shoulders before grinning and knocking on the door. "I'm going to take Aya and show her around a bit. You guys take your time. I'll meet you at your new apartment." She and Aya walked away. The door opened and a hand waved them inside. Once inside the threshold, the door closed and behind it was Kakashi.

"Yo!" he greeted, raising a lazy hand. Naruto grinned. Sasuke nodded. Kakashi sighed in relief. It seems he and Naruto would be ok. "I'm too tired to offer you anything. But have a seat." The two sat on the couch while Kakashi took his seat in the chair. Naruto's eyes widened in surprise when he noticed that the man was without a mask. On another occasion, he probably would've grinned triumphantly at finally seeing the handsome man's face. But right now all he could do was think of how strange it seemed to see him without it. He unobtrusively stared at Kakashi's face...had it always been that pale? Or was it from being in the hospital? He tried to think back to Kakashi after they saved Gaara. He didn't remember him being that pale then.

"So..." Naruto cleared his throat and began again. "So, I bet you didn't think you'd see me back here huh?"

"Actually, I think, if anything, I would've been more surprised to see him." Kakashi nodded toward Sasuke. "So, I suppose you have both been allowed back in the village?"

"Yep. I'm back to stay. So is the teme."

"So, did you get back to Bird Country in time?" Naruto shook his head and looked down.

"They had come and gone. But considering the circumstances, there were minimal casualties. More injuries than anything."

"Ah."

Naruto looked over at Sasuke and noticed how tense he was. Instead of slouching like himself, Sasuke was ramrod straight sitting on the edge of the couch. Naruto stood up. "Hey Kakashi-sensei, you mind if I make some tea? I'll make enough for everyone."

"Kitchen's all yours." With a grin, Naruto disappeared into the kitchen.

That left Sasuke and Kakashi alone. Sasuke stayed silent, unsure of what to say to his old sensei - if he could even call him that. Back then, he refused to consider Kakashi his sensei because he was an Uchiha. In his eyes, the jounin was beneath him. He sighed and clenched his fingers around the fabric of his pants. In the hospital, he hadn't said much to Kakashi, instead allowing Naruto to do most of the talking. What could he possibly say that wouldn't sound completely lame?

"You were right." he whispered.

"Hm?" Kakashi tilted his head in confusion at the whispered statement.

"You told me I would suffer. That succeeding in my revenge would make me feel nothing but emptiness. You were right." Sasuke thought back to that moment when he was young and stupid. A twelve year old genin whose only aspiration was to gain power for revenge. Kakashi had tried to warn him then, but he had ignored the advice and it had come back to haunt him. He looked down so his hair would hide his eyes. "I should've listened. But I didn't and my brother is dead because of it and I wish he wasn't."

Kakashi stayed silent. He knew how much it took for Sasuke to relinquish his pride and admit he was wrong.

"Did you know the truth? About Itachi?" Sasuke lifted his head after he asked. Kakashi shook his head in the negative. "All this time I hated him for what he did when he was only doing his job. He was ordered to kill them to stop them from doing exactly what Danzou tried to do. I killed him when he was only protecting Konoha and me, hell, probably Naruto too since he became a spy in Akatsuki. I wish I had known the truth...then maybe..." Sasuke trailed off.

"Perhaps you weren't supposed to know. Maybe Itachi wanted you to grow up normal without clan traditions being held over your head. I know the way he psychological played you may not have been the best way, but he was only thirteen after all. He did what he thought he could at the time." Kakashi ran his hand through his hair and sighed. "Of course, I'm sure that doesn't make you feel any better. But just think about the choices you made at twelve and thirteen...maybe once you take time to think about that, you'll understand him a bit more."

Sasuke nodded. Kakashi decided to leave it at that.

"Ah crap! What did I do with the key?" Naruto searched his pockets again. Sasuke cleared his throat deliberately and suddenly there was a key dangling from a keychain in front of his face. "Hey!" He grabbed the key, unlocked the door and opened it to an unfamiliar darkness and that new apartment smell. He stepped inside. Sasuke followed. "Home sweet home eh?"

"Hn."

Naruto patted the wall beside him to find a light switch. He flipped it up.

"SURPRISE!!!"

"AHHH!!!" Naruto jumped back almost falling over Sasuke. The whole living room was full of people who had previously hidden behind furniture and in closets.

"Now, I can officially say welcome back Naruto and Sasuke." Sakura smiled. Naruto slowly grinned as he began to look around the room. Everyone was there: Kiba, Hinata, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji, Shino, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon, Shizune, Tsunade, Iruka and...Kakashi?!

Naruto pointed at his sensei. "What are you..." Then he turned and glared at Sakura. "You did this on purpose!"

Sakura tried to hold back the smile. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"LIAR! You sent us to his place to distract us while you did this."

"But you're happy...right?" Aya asked with a smile. She was already familiar with the entire group because of the letters and pictures that hung in his home in Bird Country. And now that she had been around them for a little while, she could understand why he loved them all. Naruto smiled.

"Yeah. But how did you do this so fast? We only found out we were staying a few hours ago."

Sakura grinned. "As soon as we hit fire country, I summoned a snail and sent a message to Ino and Tsunade-shishou. It gave them two days to work things out. Now, let's party!"

After that, there were hugs all around. Sasuke, though, stayed back and silently leaned against the door watching Naruto with a slight smile. He was glad to see Naruto so happy. He wouldn't admit though, that he was apprehensive. Were they willing to accept him back after betraying them all?

Sakura would have none of that though. She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him forward with that unnatural strength of hers. "Come on you anti-socialite. This party is for you too. Right everyone?"

"Hell yeah!" Kiba yelled. He was already starting on a second bottle of beer. "But if you ever think about leaving again or hurting Naruto we'll all kick your ass!" The group yelled their agreement. Sasuke gave a brief nod of acknowledgement before Ino squealed and attached herself to a pale arm.

"We missed you Sasuke-kun!"

Yep...he was definitely home. Sasuke rolled his eyes and didn't even bother to try to pry her off. It wasn't worth the trouble.

"Troublesome...Ino, let him go."

"But Shika..."

Naruto found Sasuke's eyes and grinned. Sasuke didn't even have to listen to a voice in his head to know what Naruto was thinking.

It was late that night. The moon was high in the sky, shining it's beams over Konoha. Naruto stood outside the Uchiha mansion waiting for his best friend. Sasuke and a few clones of Naruto came out with their hands full. The two young men had left their own party behind - although a good deal of the group were passed out all over his living room by now - at the prodding of Sasuke, who mentally told Naruto that he had one last thing he needed to do tonight.

"Seal these up, would you?" Sasuke said.

"What is all this stuff?"

"Everything important." He didn't elaborate, but it was the most important things...clan scrolls, pictures, some of his parents and Itachi's things, some clothes.

"Cryptic much." Naruto muttered. But he went about sealing the items. Then he narrowed his eyes in thought and stared into Sasuke's eyes. They were full of determination, but he had to be sure. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sasuke took a deep breath and let it out, then nodded. "Yes, I am. I think I'm finally ready to move on. I have to. I can't keep living in the past. Besides, I don't think any of their souls will truly rest in peace unless I do this." He stared ahead at the entire district he'd grown up in and imagined the days so long ago when this place was full of life, when people walked the streets. His clan...his family. "It's time to start anew." he stated with finality.

Naruto grabbed Sasuke's hand and squeezed it gently before letting go in a show of support.

Sasuke smiled slightly before turning serious again. "Lend me your wind?"

"Sure."

The brunet flashed through hand signs and took a huge deep breath. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu." A stream of fire blew from his mouth and engulfed the Uchiha mansion in a blazing fire. Sasuke glanced back at Naruto with a nod.

Naruto made some hand signs of his own. "Fuuton: Reppushou." A strong wind gust blew towards the house and sent the flames whipping out toward the next closest homes. The two used the same techniques over and over again until the entire district was burning. After they had torched everything, they transported themselves to the entrance of the district. They watched in silence as everything burned to the ground. The scent of burning wood filled the air and ashes floated with the wind. Sasuke stared silently, the fire reflecting in his dark eyes as he watched the fire destroy what was left of his haunted memories.

He was ready to live again.

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Edited 03/19/2010

Yugao - Uzuki Yagao, anbu, was Hayate's lover before he got killed.

Kage Shibari no Jutsu - Shadow bind technique

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu - Great fireball technique

Fuuton: Reppushou - Gale wind palm

a/n: And there it is. I'm sure everyone is saying 'Finally!' Well, I pretty much have an idea of how things will go from now on up to the end, so updates should come pretty quickly since I'll be concentrating on this story. This was kind of a transition chapter. The next will feature Sasuke and Danzou, and Naruto tells Tsunade about his plans to deal with Akatsuki. So, stay tuned! Also, what did you think of Pein in this chapter? I wanted to show he's not intimidated by Madara. Thanks for all of your reviews for the last chapter and for sticking with the story even when I take breaks from it. I hope all your patience will be rewarded with the ending. Please review?