This is just something I whipped up for New Years, a fun little chapter not related to main story, so please don't take it too seriously. And with that, there may be quite a few mistakes, so I apologize. I was going to make a Christmas special, but couldn't find the time. Either way, onto the story! :-)
New Years Eve Omake (before Naruto left Konoha)
"So what? We're supposed to celebrate simply due to a change in year? Don't be ridiculous, I can't jeopardize my training like that." Sasuke said to Sakura, who was frowning.
The two were at Naruto's apartment right now, the cold forcing them to stay in. His place was small, having only one room, with the kitchen and living room being tightly connected. Still, the living room specifically was a cozy place, great for hanging out with friends, which they were currently doing.
"Why not? It'll be fun. Everyone from the academy will be there, not to mention the Hokage will be coming, too." Sakura replied with excitement.
"I have to agree with Sasuke on this one." Naruto cut in while carrying two cups of tea. He handed them to Sakura and Sasuke, before sitting down on the carpet in front of the red couch they were sitting on. His couch could only hold two people unfortunately.
"A party is cool and all, but I prefer training." Naruto added, with Sasuke nodding with him.
"Exactly."
Sakura simply sighed. "You two are hopeless..." she muttered, before suddenly shivering. "Naruto, don't you have air conditioning?"
The blond shook his head. "No, I don't. Sorry about that, the land lord is a massive douche."
"You should seriously get this place renovated." Sakura advised, finally taking a sip of the tea. "After all the missions we've done, you should have enough money to at least afford air conditioning, right?"
Naruto laughed, although nodding. "I do, but I have no idea who to contact. I mean seriously, you know I had to borrow this tea from the Ichiraku family, right?"
Sakura looked at him in disbelief. "Seriously? You don't even know how to make tea?"
Naruto grinned at her, before shaking his head. "Nope! I carried the tea all the way here!"
"Really?" Sakura asked again in disbelief.
"Yep!"
'Nope, that was a lie! I did get it from the Ichiraku family, but I just put it in my inventory and then ran back here. Man, I love the Gamer ability!' Naruto exclaimed internally.
Sasuke simply raised an eye. "I'm surprised it isn't cold."
"I'm just that fast." Naruto replied with a cheeky grin.
"Anyway!" Sakura cut in. "Are you guys not gonna come? New Years Eve is tomorrow obviously, but the party is happening tomorrow at 8 p.m."
The two boys looked at each other, before shaking their heads. "No."
"Oh, come on!" Sakura pleaded. "Lord Jiraiya, Kakashi-sensei and a bunch of other important people are coming! We were super lucky to even be invited! It was only because of you two we were able to!"
Naruto tilted his head in confusion. "Us two? How the hell did we get you invited?"
"Hello? Naruto, you played a key role in the invasion and brought Tsunade back, while Sasuke is the last Uchiha. Kakashi-sensei is obviously a famous ninja, and since we're all in a team, by extension, they would obviously invite me." Sakura explained as if it were obvious.
"By the way," Sasuke said, "are there going to be any famous ninja there?" he asked curiously.
Sakura nodded her head. "Yeah. It's more of a peace treaty party, to be honest," she admitted, "but as I said, Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, the Twelve Guardians, Kiri ninja, Suna ninja-"
"Suna ninja?" Sasuke repeated with interest.
"So Gaara and his siblings will be there?" Naruto asked with excitement and a tiny bit of worry.
'Our last battle was incredible, even though Gaara had almost no control of himself. But if I could fight him while he was in control, that would be even better!' Naruto thought, giddy in the inside.
"Now this is getting interesting." Sasuke said with a smirk.
'A rematch with Gaara...now that would be perfect to prove my true Uchiha abilities.'
"This isn't tournament, you guys!" Sakura shouted, interrupting their action-packed thoughts. They looked at her, before sighing.
"Fine..." they muttered together.
Next Day
The team were at the entrance gate of an enormous dark purple-ish japanese-style castle. It was called Kikyo Castle, a place usually reserved to hold meetings between villages.
And since the stars were bright, with the sky dark, the castle looked quite broody, but at the same time, quite nice.
"Ah! Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, I'm glad you could make it here!" Shizune greeted from the right side of the gate, raising a hand to identify her location. She had a smile plastered onto her face, and she was greeting the people that were allowed to walk in.
"Hey, it was no problem, Shizune! Who would want to miss this?" Naruto asked rhetorically.
Shizune laughed. "Do be careful, though. This meeting is essential to restoring our alliances, especially with Suna. It's only been two weeks, so tensions are still high."
Naruto nodded. "We'll be careful, don't worry."
Shizune gave him a look. Naruto noticed it immediately.
"No, seriously, I'll behave!"
Shizune sighed, before shoo-ing them off. "Go, now. And like I said-"
"-behave, I know." Naruto cut in, annoyed. "Don't worry Shizune, seriously." he reassured, before he walked through the gate with his teammates.
As soon as they got to the main hall, they were hit with a blast of mummering voices. It wasn't particularly loud or even directed at them, but it was something quite new to them.
And the worst part was, they were wearing their regular ninja clothes. Everyone else was wearing fancy clothes: tuxedos, suits, dresses, etc.
It was to be expected of course, since the hall was nicely lit with beautiful chandeliers, with the floor and walls being painted bright yellow.
Fortunately, they were saved from complete shame when team 10 walked up to them wearing their regular clothes as well.
"Man, and here thought we were alone in terms of ninja clothing." Naruto said in relief.
"I know right." Chouji replied, while holding...nothing. This was one of the first times Naruto saw Chouji without any food in his hands.
"What's up with you? No food?"
Chouji puffed his chest out. "I heard there's going to be some epic food around here from Narisawa. I'm keeping my stomach empty so I can eat as much as I possibly can." Chouji explained, drool coming out from his mouth. Naruto simply sweat-dropped.
"A-alright, that sounds cool." Naruto said, glancing at Sakura, who was talking to Ino almost discreetly.
"Leave them be. Girls will be girls, and they're probably talking about something we possibly couldn't understand." Shikamaru said, yawning afterwards.
"Yeah, I know." Naruto replied, glancing at them for one last time, before looking back at Shikamaru. "Anyway, how are you here, anyway?"
Shikamaru groaned. "Being the son of a clan leader is so troublesome."
Naruto snickered. "So forced to go, I see."
"At least somebody is there to help your sorry ass."
Naruto recognised the voice; it was Kiba, who also had his puppy Akamaru on his head.
"Damn it. And just when I thought we were rid of you." Naruto groaned, making both Akamaru and Kiba growl.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means exactly as he says." Sasuke suddenly cut in. "You're a nuisance and always will be."
"Yeah, you're kinda like Yamcha. Except more...uh..." Naruto thought about it for a solid ten seconds, before looking back at him. "...I got nothing."
"Screw you guys!" Kiba snapped back, rolling his sleeves up and stomping towards them. Akamaru started barking as well, but someone stopped the two best friends by putting their hand on Kiba's shoulder.
"Relax, we're not here for a fight."
Naruto recognised the voice to be Shino. "Oh, Shino, wassup? Still as secretly OP as ever?"
Shino looked at him, his dark glasses and coat hiding his face. "...what?"
Naruto walked up to him and slapped his back lightly. "Ah, nothing, don't worry!"
"You just killed some of my bugs." Shino said darkly. Naruto froze, before putting his hands behind him, whistling as if nothing happened.
"Clan obligation?" Sasuke asked simply. Shino nodded.
"Yes."
"Oi, oi, why the respect for Shino and not me!?" Kiba asked angrily.
"Because you gave up when you were supposed to fight me."
Everyone flinched as they heard the dark and broody voice. They turned around to see Gaara directly behind Naruto, who hadn't noticed him until he spoke up.
Ino, Sakura, and Hinata also noticed the red hair, and even they were worried, slowly walking towards the group.
'Damn, I didn't even notice him.' Naruto cursed, glancing at him from the corner of his eyes. 'But my Gamer ability should've told me, unless...he poses no threat to us. Still...'
Naruto turned around with a serious expression on his face. "Long time no see."
"It hasn't been that long. It's only been two weeks." Kiba suddenly pointed out, causing the two jinchurki to glare at him. He simply whimpered and slumped, with Akamaru whimpering along with him.
"I'm disappointed you couldn't sense me." Gaara said with his arms crossed like usual.
"You posed no threat." Naruto simply responded.
"Are you sure about that?" Gaara asked with a monotone voice.
"Yeah." Naruto answered confidently. "So what? Are we gonna fight again? 'Cuz I've been looking forward to our rematch when you're at full power."
"Don't be ridiculous." Another voice suddenly cut in. "This is a party, not an arena."
"Neji..." Hinata called out, walking next to him. Her cousin simply looked away.
"Yes!" A fiery voice Naruto knew was Lee shouted. "Your youthfulness is great, no doubt, but we must leave it until later! That is what Guy-sensei told me!"
"You guys seriously can't keep it yourselves, can you?" Tenten added, walking next to Lee with a sigh.
"Shut up, girly." A more mature feminine voice known as Temari cut in. "You could barely last five minutes against me, so stop talking about battle as if you're good at it." she insulted, standing next to Gaara.
Tenten growled, glaring at her. "Shut up! I'll show you next time!"
"If you want to show something impressive, it better be a puppet show." Kankuro said, standing next to Temari with a smirk.
"Remember what happened last time when you showed your so-called incredible puppet show?" Shino asked mockingly. Kankuro growled.
"Tch! You were lucky that time!"
"Luck is apart of the game." Shikamaru suddenly added.
"You would know." Temari replied with a smirk. "Now that I know your techniques, you would be easy to take down."
Shikamaru simply sighed. "Whatever, woman..."
Naruto watched everything with a sweat-drop. 'And they told me to behave...what about these guys...?'
"Shut up before I kill you all." Gaara suddenly threatened with a dangerous voice. It was enough to finally catch the attention of everyone, including the other people in the hall.
Shikamaru noticed their stares, putting on an awkward smile to make everything seem less tense. "R-right. Could we do all that later? People are looking..."
Everyone looked back at the people watching them, creating an awkward atmosphere.
"Don't look back at them!" Shikamaru whispered harshly.
Cling! Cling! Cling!
"Alright everyone, eyes forward!" A stern voice everyone knew was Tsunade shouted. She was tapping her glass of wine with a spoon, and everyone quickly looked at the Hokage, who was at the centre of the hall. "We would first like to thank you for coming! And-"
'Thank goodness.' Shikamaru thought in relief, ignoring her speech. 'We could've gotten kicked out if it wasn't for Lady Tsunade.'
"Nice." Naruto whispered quietly, giving him a thumbs-up.
"Screw off, you didn't even try to help." Shikamaru said harshly.
Naruto shrugged. "Hey, it was fun to watch."
"Getting kicked out is not fun."
Naruto snickered. "Whatever."
"Hey, you two, keep it down, we're trying to listen." A man in a tuxedo said harshly from behind. The two looked back, and saw a young man with an odd pale white complexion along with snowy, white hair.
"Sorry." Naruto apologized honestly.
"Hmph. You're Naruto, aren't you?" he asked, although it was more of a statement
"Nope, not me." Naruto replied cheekily.
"Are...are you sure?" he asked with a raised eye. "Because I-"
"Sorry, but you got the wrong person." Sasuke suddenly cut in. "That's Naruto." Sasuke said, pointing at some random, short blond.
"...you guys think I'm stupid?" he asked, his right eye twitching.
"Yes." Sasuke replied cooly, making Naruto snicker, although covering by acting like he coughed.
The man sighed. "My name is Noe, and I-"
"Never heard of you." Naruto said with a blank face.
"Well, you're not supposed to anyway." Noe explained.
"What kind of name is Noe, anyway." Kiba suddenly came in. "What, are you like a mafia boss? Or a secret ninja? Or-"
"Why do you guys have the need to antagonize me?" Noe asked desperately.
"Because it's fun." Gaara answered for them. "Killing especially. Now that is the best way to antagonize someone."
"Noe it's not, Gaara." Naruto said, making Noe twitch at his lame pun. "Killing someone is wrong."
Gaara looked at him, staring deep into his blue eyes. "And who are to say that?"
"As the one who beat your ass, I think I have a bit of authority over you." Naruto responded. "It's wrong because people lose those closest to them, they lose love and step into loneliness. I'm sure you've experienced that, and I'm sure you don't want that to happen to others."
Gaara looked down, as if Naruto just explained the meaning of life to him. "...loneliness...? Love...?" he muttered to himself in confusion.
"Okay, then...moving on..." Naruto said, turning away from Gaara and towards Noe. "You should Noe that Noe is a bad Noe-m."
"Screw off!" Noe shouted, bringing all attention to him and stopping Tsunade's speech.
"Don't tell me you're getting so a-noe-ed?" Naruto asked very quietly, with Kiba mouthing his laughter at Naruto's pun of 'annoyed'.
"Is there something you would like to say, sir?" Tsunade asked with a raised eye.
"Yeah...screw this, you're all dead." Noe said, an odd, black energy surging through him, causing everyone to back away.
"Could you not?" Naruto asked. "This is a New Years Party, we're trying to have fun, not fight. Didn't you get the memo?"
He sighed, creating a familiar, blue orb which was growing ever so quickly. "You try to be nice, but it just doesn't work out. I knew I should've just gone as Eon wearing a mysterious cloak; but no, I just had to embarrass myself." he said, before blowing everything up by smashing the enormous orb into the ground.
BOOM!
...
"Shit." Eon cursed, looking at the landslide that used to be Konoha. "Oi, author, reverse this please! It's an omake, nobody reads this anyway!"
"Screw off, you didn't even try to help." Shikamaru said harshly.
Naruto shrugged. "Hey, it was fun to watch."
"Getting kicked out is not fun."
Naruto snickered. "Whatever."
"Um...Naruto?" Sakura suddenly called out from the side. "We're trying to listen."
Naruto gave her an awkward wave. "Sorry, sorry." he mouthed, not outright saying it out loud.
The two turned around to see Tsunade all but finished her speech. "And to thank this meeting of ninjas and people alike, we would like to host a feast provided by Narisawa itself. Please enjoy!" she shouted, snapping her fingers, somehow summoning tables filled with food and drinks to the sides of the hall.
'That smoke...the floor must've been rigged with seals. Probably made by Ero-Sennin.' Naruto noted, before Chouji suddenly jumped.
"Finally!" Chouji shouted. "It's time to eat!"
Both Chouji and his father, Chouza, jumped right into eating the food. And since almost everyone was familiar with the Akamichi theatrics, they simply laughed.
Three hours had passed, and everyone had eaten their share. They were currently talking amongst another to pass the time until it hit 12 a.m. There was an hour left before the bell struck.
However, Naruto and Shikamaru were standing at a balcony, away from everyone else.
"What're your New Years Resolutions?" Naruto suddenly asked as he looked at beautiful sky.
"I dunno." Shikamaru replied honestly. "Maybe start being a bit less lazy. Or try helping my friends a bit more. Who knows? It's all so troublesome anyway..."
Naruto laughed lightly. "I feel the same way. I just don't know what to do improve on, even though I know I have a lot of weaknesses."
"I see..." Shikamaru sighed, before looking back up at the familiar dark sky. "Well, do your best anyway."
Naruto nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I know that."
"Naruto."
Naruto blinked, turning around to see Shikamaru's sensei, Asuma. "Huh?"
"Asuma-sensei? What's up?" Shikamaru asked.
"Sorry, but this doesn't concern you, Shikamaru. Let's go." Asuma said simply, turning around while lighting his cigarette.
"What? Why?"
"The Twelve Guardians that protect the Fire Daimyo are interested in meeting you and Sasuke." he explained briefly.
"Oh, okay." Naruto turned to Shikamaru giving him a thumbs-up. "See you next year!"
Shikamaru simply sighed at the ancient joke he just said.
"Hmph. So these are the brats that everyone has been talking about." An old, bald man with a long but very thin beard said.
"Uh...thanks?" Naruto replied sheepishly. Sasuke simply didn't react.
"Naruto and Sasuke, this is Chukaku, an elder monk of the Fire Temple and main teacher of the Twelve Guardians." Asuma explained to the young ninja.
"Where are they anyway?" Naruto asked, looking around.
"They're guarding the Daimyo right now, who's here if you noticed." Asuma answered, nudging his head towards the old but important leader.
"Hmph. Protecting from the shadows, I assume?" Sasuke guessed. Asuma nodded.
"Yep."
"A sharp one, the Uchiha." A middle-aged man who was also bald pointed out sharply. He was standing next to Chukaku, his eyes closed with one hand in a ram sign, looking as if he were meditating.
"This is Chiriku." Asuma introduced. "A close friend of mine who was apart of the Twelve Guardians. He was the best monk to ever be born in the Fire Temple, and one of the best Twelve Guardians ever."
Chiriku opened his eyes, looking at him. "That may be so, but you were always on my level, if not better." he said.
Asuma started laughing, scratching the back of his head. "Don't listen to him. I was also apart of the Twelve Guardians, but-"
"You were apart of the Twelve Guardians?" Naruto repeated incredulously. "They're like Konoha's version of the Seven Swordsman or whatever, right?"
"Basically." Sasuke answered for Asuma, who would've more than likely played it off.
'Huh...' Naruto looked at both Asuma and Chiriku's levels. 'Asuma is level 96, while this Chiriku guy is level 95. They really are strong.' Naruto analyzed.
"You..." Chiriku's voice was directed towards Naruto. "You are strong. Overwhelmingly so for your age, and I sense you have only scratched the surface of your potential." Chiriku said, looking deep into Naruto's eyes, who didn't blink so as to not interrupt his analysis.
"...you two are incredible warriors according to the stories we heard." Chukaku said, suddenly turning serious. "But your conviction and will...now that is something to truly admire. You have gone through true pain. Especially you, Uchiha."
Sasuke simply narrowed his eyes.
"This is an open invitation to join the Twelve Guardians. Of course, we don't expect you to join now, but maybe when you're older and ready to serve Konoha with your life. Because right now, you two..." Chukaku glanced at them both briefly. "...your loyalty is questionable."
The two then walked off, making Asuma almost drop his cigarette.
"Screw these guys..." Naruto muttered under his breath so they couldn't hear. Sasuke smiled, although just barely.
"Sasuke." Naruto called as they watched the star-twinkled night on the large balcony. His elbow was on the balcony fence, with his hand ultimately supporting his face to look up. Sasuke was simply standing straight, his head up.
"Hn."
"What's your New Years Resolution?"
Sasuke didn't visibly react "I don't know."
Naruto sighed. "Same."
"Well, you don't have to have one." A familiar voice cut in from behind.
"Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said, although not moving to see him.
"Why so glum?" Kakashi asked, going next to them, somehow not having his Icha-Icha Paradise book in hand.
Naruto sighed again. "I dunno."
"Hey, the fireworks are gonna happen soon, so try not to look too depressed." Kakashi said jokingly. "Still, I get what you're going through. You're lost."
"Like you would know." Sasuke said, glancing at him. "Me and Naruto...we had and have almost no one."
"Is that so?" Kakashi hummed. "Just to let you know, everybody I ever loved is dead."
"...!"
"It's true. Why do I think I'm always late?" he asked. "It isn't always because of some black cat getting in my way. It's because I always mourn for those I lost."
"...I see." Sasuke replied, knowing how he felt.
"But you have others now, I think Naruto figured that already." Kakashi said, nudging Naruto on the shoulder to continue for him.
"Yeah. There's Sakura, Lee, Shikamaru, Kiba...they're all my friends."
"Not family." Sasuke cut in.
"They're all I have- no, all we have." Naruto said, using plural rather than singular. "I consider you a big brother, Sasuke." Sasuke's eyes widened, his head turning towards Naruto.
"Sakura is my younger sister, someone who I always wanna protect. Kakashi-sensei is like my cool uncle, a guy you always wanna be like." Kakashi smiled through his mask.
"Ero-Sennin is like my perverted grandfather, while Tsunade is like my angry grandmother now." Naruto laughed, making the edges of Sasuke's mouth tug a bit. "Iruka-sensei is like my stern father, and even though I may not have someone who would be like my mother, it doesn't matter since I have all of them."
"..." Sasuke stood silent, not interrupting their moment of watching the stars. Unbeknownst to them (except Kakashi) Gaara was watching them through his third eye.
'I see...' Gaara thought. 'I now understand you, Naruto Uzumaki...Sasuke Uchiha. Thank you.'
"Look, the fireworks are starting." Kakashi pointed out, tracking the firework as it went up.
POOM, THWIFF, Crackle, Shee!
"How pretty. I never knew green and red could make a firework leaf." Naruto described, looking at the multi-coloured fireworks in awe. The firework took the shape of a leaf, with its outline being green while the inside red.
"Like Konoha is proud of its people, I'm proud of you, my ace students." Kakashi said, looking at them with a soft smile.
"Hey, everyone, this is an awesome spot to look at the fireworks!" Kiba shouted from inside the hall.
The whole academy crew suddenly walked into balcony Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi were in. They were lucky the balcony was wide to allow all of them to see, or else it would've been extremely crowded.
"You thought you could get rid of us?" Kiba asked jokingly, going next to Naruto.
"Yeah, kinda." Naruto replied with a grin.
"Well unfortunately, you're stuck with us." Shikamaru added from behind Naruto.
"Hey, we have enough space for you to look at them from the corner." Naruto said.
"That is true." Shino said. "But I think it's better for us to see it together. As comrades and old friends."
Naruto blinked, before smiling. "Yeah."
POOM, THWIFF, Crackle, Shee!
The firework took upon the shape of a gourd, similar to Gaara's. It was outlined in yellow, with the inside being orange.
"I still can't believe these Suna ninja are allowed here." Tenten said, obviously still bitter from her defeat against Temari.
"That is not very nice, Tenten! They are our allies now!" Lee shouted. Nobody minded since most of his volume was blocked by the continuous fireworks.
"Yes! The invasion is now all in the past!" Guy added.
"You mean two weeks ago." Tenten muttered under her breath.
"Tenten, understand that this'll help regain Konoha's strength. Our personal opinions hold nothing." Neji said sternly, elbowing her in the side.
"True, but what if the treaty doesn't work?" Tenten asked quitely so no one could hear.
"Treaties are a troublesome thing, yes. But they give power."
"Power that can be broken." Tenten pointed out. "They're simply pieces of paper, almost every treaty gets broken."
"Then that means there were still some that worked. And we must hope they work forever. It is better than losing people, especially those...who you truly love..."
Neji flashbacked to how his father sacrificed himself to meet Kumo's demands. It was unfair, and all his life, he thought the Main House forced him to die.
But it was the opposite, something he learned (after losing to Naruto) from Hiashi Hyuga, Hinata's father and leader of the clan.
He thought the Curse Seal on his forehead was due to destiny, a thought reinforced when Hiashi tortured his father (Hizashi) with the Cursed Seal for thinking his son (him) deserved better.
But now he knew his uncle never meant any of it. Neji knew Hiashi hated the Cursed Seal, and only used it to protect them both. Neji knew that if he tried, if he gave it his all, he could change the clan forever. That was his goal.
"...n...j..."
"ne...i..."
"Neji!" Tenten whispered loudly, waving her hands in front of him.
"Hm?"
"I said..." she began sheepishly, "...I guess you're right. Not like one hundred percent, but I see where you're going at."
"Then keep going. You want to beat that Suna women, right?" Neji asked, making her nod furiously.
"Yeah!"
"And I will beat you one day too, Neji!" Lee claimed loudly, although his voice was unheard due to the next wave of fireworks.
POOM, THWIFF, Crackle, Shee!
The two looked up to see a new wave of fireworks, seemingly forming the kanji "Fire" in deep, dark red.
"Ah, that's the waist-sash Asuma-sensei has." Chouji pointed out while munching on some chocolate.
"Yeah. Apparently it's the kanji for Fire, and it represents the Twelve Guardians." Ino explained.
"Asuma-sensei was apart of that, how awesome." Chouji said, now swallowing the chocolate. Shikamaru simply sighed.
"Yeah, well, we're lucky those days are behind him, or else training would be a lot harder." Shikamaru pointed out.
Asuma laughed from behind. "That is true. Peace has kinda made me dull in terms of harshness. Do you want that to change?" he asked threateningly.
"Nope, we're fine!" Ino said in a hurry, making him laugh.
"Don't worry, I only give you guys what you need. Afterall, you are my beloved students. I could never be more proud." Asuma said with extreme pride. Ino and Chouji blushed, while Shikamaru simply looked away with a smile.
POOM, THWIFF, Crackle, Shee!
Now, the wave of fireworks formed into the shape of a slug, obviously representing Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade is an incredible ninja and Hokage. We couldn't have gotten anyone better." Kurenai claimed with a smile.
"Yeah. Apparently, she's strong enough to crush rocks with her bare hands. And that's without any chakra whatsoever!" Kiba exclaimed.
"Impressive indeed" Shino commented. "But her ability to heal is most impressive to me."
"I a-agree." Hinata said, twindling her fingers while watching the sky. "Being able to heal others...that would be something I wish I could do..."
Kurenai looked at her student. "Don't worry. With Lady Tsunade, you should be able to, especially with the help of the Byakugan, you'll be a phenomenal healing ninja." she assured, making her student smile.
"Yes. I wish to save my insects from as little injury as possible." Shino said.
"Agreed. I never want Akamaru getting hurt." Kiba added, as the puppy ontop of his head barked in agreement.
Kurenai smiled. "Then it's settled. We'll protect our comrades, together."
"Yeah!" Kiba shouted, with Akamaru barking loudly in agreement.
POOM, THWIFF, Crackle, Shee!
This time, the wave of fireworks were a lot less potent, with the shape of it simply being a swirl with light red colour. But to Naruto, he recognised it as the Uzumaki symbol.
'My clan's symbol, huh? Good to know they're being honoured.' Naruto thought happily, before suddenly getting tapped on the shoulder. He turned around to see Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shizune, who were at the balcony entrance, away from everyone else.
"Well, you seem quite happy, Naruto." Jiraiya pointed out knowingly.
"Obviously. Who set this up?" Naruto asked.
"It was obviously me." Tsunade answered with her arms under her chest. "Be grateful, brat."
"Yeah, thanks."
"The Uzumaki symbol represents you, Naruto." Shizune said with a smile. Tonton oinked, feeling quite happy herself.
"It's been a long time since I've seen the Uzumaki symbol being memorialized like this." Tsunade commented, looking up at it. "My grandmother told stories of the Uzumaki clan. It sounded wonderful."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, well, they aren't here anymore. And the legacy I'll build is one separate from them."
Jiraiya suddenly grinned. "Ohohoho! So you are gonna leave a legacy! Who are you gonna choose?"
Naruto blinked. "What?"
"Ya know, as your wife?" Jiraiya asked with a perverted smile. "Is it gonna be Tenten, Sakura, Ino, Hinata? Who? Who?"
Naruto smirked, closing his eyes, before looking back up. "Who knows? We'll see."
Jiraiya pouted. "Oh, come on! That's a lame answer..."
POOM, THWIFF, Crackle, Shee!
It seemed these were the final waves of fireworks, since there seemed to be a lot more fireworks this time.
The fireworks were used to simply show beauty and elegance, not a symbol or representation. It was...magnificent in everyone's eyes.
"Sakura, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto called out, walking right behind them.
"Happy New Years."