AN: Sup guys, Here's #36. I had a few personal issues get in the way, so I'm feeling eager to start writing again. Funny thing, this is actually the 2nd draft of chapter 36, since the first one couldn't make me laugh as I read through it (that's my humor metric when I vet my chapters now). The goal right now is to have Naruto back in Konoha ASAP so we can observe the impending cluster-fuck of hilarity. For those of you who aren't in the loop, PROLOGUE ORANGE HAS DROPPED, so go ahead and take a look because this chapter directly references Prologue Orange.

Sakura sat at the side of the bed with a grimace on her face, her hands were glowing a faint green as she hovered them over Naruto's crotch area.

Naruto, who was now semi-conscious, would occasionally mutter an incoherent set of words, none of which seemed to have any meaning to Sakura. She sighed and looked at the clock on the wall, it was approaching noon.

The medic thought to herself.

'If I'd kept my cool and made an excuse, we could've sorted this out by now.'

'SHANNARO! You could've fucked him too! We're falling behind!'

Rolling her eyes, she returned to healing Naruto. Sakura pondered the last time they were able to speak freely with each other, it was the evening Naruto came over and stayed the night at her house.

The blonde's words echoed through Sakura's mind.

'I'll give you a hint, you were the first person to give me a reason to fight, think back on that when you have some time.'

Now was as good a time as any for the pink haired teen to reflect on what she could have possibly done to become Naruto's muse. She played back the hectic night once more, and as usual, her sharp mind pulled up a potential solution to the problem.

'You just don't remember why. A small act of kindness can mean the world to someone else, I'll let you figure that one out on your own, you're more than smart enough.'

Sakura looked at Naruto's dazed expression and gave him a sheepish look.

"You told me you loved me that night... but I'm not sure what it was that I did for you to make that happen. You said so yourself that I gave you a reason to… fight…"

The realization gradually formed itself as she spoke to her semi-conscious teammate. Sakura thought back to Team 7's first real mission, no one involved came out unscathed, but Naruto had gotten the worst of it from what she could remember.

Sakura gave Naruto a mixed expression.

"That was the lowest I ever saw you, you know. As far as I could tell, you were invincible up until then, to act like nothing was wrong when you were in such pain… and one day, the floodgates finally gave in."

The memories of their conversation at Tazuna's house flooded her mind. "You know, I didn't think I made much of a difference with what I said to you, but I suppose I underestimated how much you needed to hear what I told you."

Naruto's words those years ago, stung more than any cut she'd ever experienced.

'My guardians won't tell me much of anything about who I am, or where I came from, and people are either mean to me, or they try to ignore me… Something's going on, and it seems like everyone except me knows what it is. I'm just… lost.'

With her free hand, Sakura rubbed a smudge off of Naruto's whisker marks and cupped the side of his face.

"There's so much I want to ask you… but even if you were awake, I'm not sure it would be the right time for us to talk about this mess."

Suddenly, out of nowhere, Naruto's eyes snapped open and he stared at her.

"Talk about what?"

Sakura nearly bit her tongue because of Naruto's sudden awakening, and she reflexively sprung to a standing position. The two ninja gave each other awkward stares until Naruto broke the silence.

"Sakura-chan… are you angry with me?"

Sakura shook her head rapidly, her cheeks began to flush as well.

Naruto chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "But... you kicked me… I guess I shouldn't have just grabbed you without permission, right?"

"That's-" Sakura spoke, but cut herself off at the last second before glancing at the bag of dirty books in the corner.

A suitable lie popped up in Sakura's mind, so she went with it, as the truth would be a bit much at the moment.

Sakura stood at attention, still visibly nervious. "I… was embarrassed. I bought some books on the female reproductive system… among other things. I'm trying to learn how to deliver babies since I want to work at the hospital once I complete my training."

Naruto at first nodded and appeared convinced for a moment, but then he gave Sakura a suspicious look.

"My gut's telling me something's off… Meh, it doesn't really matter, I trust you Sakura-chan."

Naruto punctuated his momentarily correct hunch with a foxy grin, this made Sakura blush and sit back in the chair next to his bed.

Sakura mentally kicked herself for that one; she should have known that it was almost impossible to lie to Naruto and not tip him off.

"Naruto-kun. I've wanted to talk to you for a while now, about your promise, but I need some time to think on that. Right now, I want to ask you something else… about the talk we had the day Haku… um."

Naruto's naturally upturned lips became a flat line at the mention of her name, he slouched and stared at the blankets on the bed.

"What about it, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura had a tiny smile on her face, and a visible blush.

"I don't mean to pull up any bad memories, but… Was that the "smallest act of kindness" you were talking about?"

Naruto's eyes widened a bit and he turned and looked at Sakura, who stared him in the eyes as she waited for him to answer, her eager expression made Naruto feel butterflies in his stomach.

The blonde smiled down at his hands. "It was… That was the day I started really paying attention to you, it didn't really hit me until Sasuke left, that I was in love with you."

"I see… Naruto-kun, can you do me a favor?"

Naruto smiled. "Of course."

Sakura took Naruto's hand and gave it a firm squeeze. "Please, don't change... Especially not for me."

Naruto smiled a tiny bit and looked out the window. "… I'll try, Sakura-chan."

Ino watched her mother, Rena, through the mirror's reflection. She carried the last of the boxes into Ino's room in her new apartment.

Rena placed the box on the mattress and walked up behind her daughter, she observed the heart-shaped housing for the mirror and stared at the lightbulbs that lined said housing.

"I never understood why you kept this ugly thing around, it's not even your style."

Ino looked at Rena through the reflection and smiled. "It really isn't, I just like the lights."

Rena placed her hands on Ino's shoulders and rested her chin on the top of her daughter's head.

"Ino, are you sure you want to move out? You may be a jonin now, but you're only 15, no one would bat an eye if you stuck around the house for a while longer."

The Yamanaka heiress smirked. "I would, but there's this boy…"

Rena grinned. "Boy? … Would this boy happen to be Naruto Uzumaki?"

Ino gave her mother an amused glance. "Is he that popular already?"

Rena laughed. "Everyone with a daughter's heard plenty about him, probably a lot more than they'd prefer... It seems like he's quite the catch, what's the competition looking like?"

Ino's face dropped into a scowl. "Stiff. Everyone… literally everyone, from Anko Mitarashi to Hanabi Hyuga want to sink their teeth into him."

Rena laughed. "Anko-chan? You'd better get moving before that girl sinks her teeth into him!"

Ino groaned. "I know, I know. I've had this conversation a billion times at this poi- OW! MOM!"

Rena was pinching Ino's cheek and pulling it. "You have a crush and you don't tell me until now?! When I heard that everyone was calling you the "Ice Queen of Konoha", I was starting to worry about you!"

Ino frowned up at her mother. "What was there to worry about?! I'm just selective!"

Rena gave Ino a haughty expression. "I don't know, you were hanging out with Sakura quite a lot."

"Mom... this is why I don't tell you anything."

Rena cocked her head to the side and raised her eyebrow. "Do you think I'm too overbearing?"

Ino yanked her cheek out of her mother's grasp. "Well yeah! You taught me the "three date" trick when I was eight! You're always so competitive!"

Rena frowned and pinched Ino's other cheek. "How do you think I got your father to notice me?! He was a complete pig back when we were young, he had a different girl on his arm nearly every week!"

Ino sighed and ceased her struggle to escape the pinch, her mother let go shortly afterward.

"Asuma-sensei said I was thinking too much. So, I've tried being spontaneous, and it's been working out so far."

Rena stepped to the side and sat on the dresser next to Ino, she was facing the window and her daughter sat on her stool, staring at her reflection intently.

"Mom?"

"Hm?"

"What should I do with my hair? … For when Naruto gets back from his mission, we're supposed to go on a date."

Rena turned around to look at her daughter's reflection once more. "I used to wear my hair somewhat like that when I was young... People would legitimately mistake you for me if we were the same age... Try this!"

Rena quickly tied her daughter's hair into a long ponytail and let some bangs fall in front of her face.

"Mom! I always wear my hair like this!"

Rena smiled and fluffed Ino's hair. "Exactly. You look just like me, therefore, you look perfect."

Ino chuckled. "Oh, now you're just bragging."

Rena smirked. "No pumpkin, that was an observation. Just be yourself, and if all else fails… You do have my mother's obnoxiously proportional hourglass figure… which in my case, skipped a generation."

Ino started laughing. "Mom, you're a mess."

Rena puffed out her chest. "A hot mess… Okay! Meet me halfway on this! Just one last scheme, I guarantee you'll want this up your sleeve for when Naruto comes back."

Ino sighed. "... I'll hear you out."

Rena gave Ino a mischevious grin. "Naruto won't know what hit him... Listen closely, Ino-chan…"

-"Oasis Rest Stop"; Fire Country Border-

"No weapons in the bar… samurai."

The intimidating figure reluctantly handed over his swords and his arrows. "You lose these, I'll hunt you down and take every last ryo out of your ass. We clear, shinobi?"

The ninja raised his eyebrow and stepped to the side to allow the samurai to enter the bar.

The muted chatter of the rest stop was shattered when a notably tall man swung open the doors of the bar. The noise gradually became silence as the intimidating figure sauntered over to the counter.

He wore a grey cloak, with black and silver armor beneath it, marking him as a denizen of the distant land of Tetsu no Kuni. This however, wasn't what made the room stop, the menpo on his kabuto helmet resembled a skull and obscured his entire face, save for his eyes… both of which appeared like green lights in a sea of darkness.

The bartender stared up at the imposing Samurai for what seemed like an eternity.

"…Is there… something on my face?" His voice had a tinny sort of distortion to it.

This defused the tension in the room somewhat, but even then, all eyes in the room were on him.

The bartender twitched and let out a nervous laugh, and eventually, she managed to regain some semblance of composure.

"Right then. What can I get you today, sir?"

The Samurai paused for a moment. "Well, that depends… What's the legal drinking age in this province?"

"21… sir… how old are you?"

The samurai rubbed a smear of blood off of one of his gauntlets and replied in an amused tone. "Hn. Not old enough apparently… It's fine, I'll just have some rose tea and some pork dumplings."

The Samurai handed her a few coins and watched her as she began making him his tea. He noticed in his peripheral vision, that there were several pairs of eyes locked on him, he turned to his right to see all the patrons sitting at the bar staring at him, for apparently no particular reason, they had the look of a group of bandits.

A voice came from the side. "That's some nice armor you got there, shame if somethin' was to happen to it."

The young man slowly looked to his right. "The fuck're you implying Sasquatch? What, you see something you like?"

The largest of the group stood up, and despite the Samurai's apparent height, the large man was even taller.

The man growled. "No, not much… All I see is a young punk that's compensatin' for something."

The masked youth scoffed. "Oh, really? I'm failing to understand where you're coming from, seeing as you're dressed like a common thug. Lemme guess… bandits?"

The giant man cracked his knuckles. "That's a serious accusation to be throwin' around, kid."

The glowing green eyes twinkled with legitimate amusement. "Oh, excuse my coarse language, "aggressive redistributors"… that's what they're calling it now, right?"

The men started to become angry, a rather plain looking one spoke up. "Listen here, kid. People that cross us don't live very long, be they shinobi or otherwise. We're much more than common rabble, and you'd best hold your tongue before you go picking fights you can't finish... Especially when you accuse someone of being a thug."

The samurai leaned on the counter, his posture indicated boredom. "I don't make accusations, just observations… Like the fact that my codpiece is worth more than all of you put together."

The large man tightened his fists and glared down at the armor-clad individual, the sound of his knuckles cracking was audible to anyone within speaking distance.

The bartender glared at the two men and spoke sternly. "If you two are planning on fighting, take it outside! Otherwise you'll have to deal with them." She pointed to several leaf-jonin who were standing at the door to the bar.

The large man took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, he motioned toward one of his compatriots.

"Alright skull-face, if your codpiece is so expensive, let's see you put your money where your mouth is… Hario?"

A scrawny man whipped out a box and gave the samurai a shit-eating grin, he opened the box, revealing a set of dice and a small wooden bowl.

The large man crossed his arms and smirked. "You a bettin' man?"

The samurai scoffed again. "I don't bet trash, I burn it. Unless… What're the stakes?"

The giant smirked. "If we win, you give us all your armor and weapons."

The samurai nodded. "And if I win?"

The tall man bent over until he was eye to eye with the young man. "You get to live."

The samurai rolled his eyes. "I'm shitting myself. Seeing as you have nothing of value… I'll accept a formal apology."

The giant scoffed. "Whatever you say, samurai. Hario, set him up."

The men made some space on the counter for the dice game and the samurai glared at the dice and then gave Hario a suspicious look. The bartender handed the samurai his tea while she eyed the dice game with a sort of nervous intrigue.

Hario shook the tiny bowl and shook it around for a few seconds, he was intentionally building suspense, the attention of the various patrons began to shift toward the men at the center of the room.

It was here that the samurai abruptly clamped his hand down on Hario's bowl, the men stood up, as if ready to fight.

The skull spoke. "Stop being an ass."

The spindly man just stared in confusion for a moment before speaking. "Uh, right… take your bets."

The samurai spoke with a hint of venom in his voice. "Deuces."

The giant followed suit with a smug grin. "Snake eyes."

Hario slowly lifted the bowl and the silent bar was gradually met with the laughter of the samurai.

The group of men stared incredulously at the dice, which both showed 2, making the samurai the winner of the bet.

The giant slammed the top of the bar. "Think this is funny? Best 2 out of 3!"

The Samurai shrugged and replied in a mocking tone. "Are you sure you wanna do that? I'm feeling lucky."

The giant slowly twisted his face into a sneer. "… You're cheating. I don't know how, but you're doing something."

The samurai shrugged and inspected the gauntlet on his free hand. "Is it really cheating when the game is rigged?"

The question was punctuated by a cracking sound and a scream. Hario's fingers had been broken, his hand was a heap of bruises and twisted bones.

"You clowns are using magnetic dice."

The scrawny man bent down and clutched his hand while the larger prepared to punch the samurai in the face. The samurai in turn, rushed forward and head-butted the oncoming fist, there was an audible *ping* and a crunching sound as well. Now, two men were crouching on the ground, clutching broken hands.

"What're you idiots doing?! Kick this punk's ass!" The giant motioned toward the samurai, and two of them rushed the samurai, however, the rest of the men seemed to hesitate.

One of the bandits whipped out a tiny knife from his sleeve, he aimed his strike at he gaps in the samurai's armor.

The samurai countered by nonchalantly taking his bow off of his belt and slamming it into the attacker's temple. There was a crunch, and the man fell to the ground in a heap.

The second attacker, who had moved behind the samurai, was preparing to knock him out from behind. The samurai responded with the world's most disinterested back kick, connecting perfectly with the thug's face. The man was sent skidding out the door, nearly knocking over one of the ninja standing guard outside.

It was here that the leaf-ninja rushed back into the bar and restrained the group of thieves, as well as the samurai… however; the term 'restrained' is a generous description of how the armor-clad warrior was being detained.

A kunoichi, who was literally half his size, was trying to restrain him by holding his arms in place, but to no avail.

"Exuse me miss. I wanna at least finish my tea before you all throw me out. I did pay for it."

The samurai reached for the steaming cup on the counter… with the jonin lady still attached to his arm, her feet were dragging along the wood floor in an attempt to hold him in place.

"Uh… Guys? This one's a lot stronger than he looks! A little help please?"

Another jonin, still a head shorter than the Samurai dashed behind him and grabbed him by the torso.

"Hey! Skull-face! Slow your roll before we have to hurt you!"

The samurai grabbed his tea and dumplings, and then he sighed. "I haven't eaten in 36 hours, if you try and stop me, I'm gonna have to fight you… As you can tell I'm not in a particularly good mood… Besides, these limp-dicks were harassing me."

The Kunoichi on the samurai's arm snapped. "We know! We're trying to keep you from killing them!"

The other ninja added his two cents as well. "You samurai always answer disrespect with excessive violence! You can stay, if you promise to leave this were it is, we'll escort these men outside."

The Samurai took a deep breath and agreed to let the rest of them leave with their ability to walk. The group of jonin walked toward the door, but not before one of them turned back and ushered one last warning.

"Keep it clean metal-head."

The young man chuckled, taking his tea and dumplings from the counter. He tossed some extra money to the bartender.

"Sorry about the commotion, miss."

The woman accepted the money, but was visibly weary of the tall suit of armor.

"Thank you, and word to the wise, watch your back around here, young man. This part of the world has a nasty history with the samurai, people will want a shot at you simply because you have that armor on."

The young man clanked his gauntlet on his chest plate. "I'm a samurai, it comes with the territory."

It at first appeared there was nowhere to sit down, but off in the furthest corner of the bar, he saw a single unoccupied seat across from a strange man. He shrugged and walked over, sitting down and making eye contact with the strange man.

The Samurai placed his teacup on the table and fiddled with the leather straps on his greaves while he addressed the man at the table. "I'll be outta your hair soon enough, just passing through…"

The samurai trailed off for a moment when he noticed the distinctive mask that the man was wearing.

"Nice mask, but if you're trying to avoid drawing attention to yourself, bright orange isn't the best of colors."

The man in question peered up from his book and closed it. "I suppose you have a point…" he trailed off, signaling for the Samurai to provide a name of some sort.

"Kouta, Just... Kouta. I'd ask your name… but I don't particularly care."

The masked man seemed somewhat amused. "At least you're honest... No matter, my name is of no importance… Tell me, what brings a Samurai this far East? I'd assume family, seeing as you're obviously not a Tetsu no Kuni native."

Kouta removed his kabuto helmet and placed it on the table, revealing a tan complexion with ebony hair, it was tied in a short wolf tail with the rest shaved off on the sides.

Kouta gave the man a strange look. "So, what else can you deduce from just looking at me?"

"It's quite simple really, between your eyes, complexion, height… and well, this bow…"

The masked man immediately placed Kouta's bow on the table for emphasis.

"I'd mark you as a Tachibana…"

Kouta discreetly checked his waistband, only to find it missing his precious bow; he gave the masked man a suspicious look before reclaiming his weapon from the table.

Kouta frowned. "I would have noticed if you tried to take that from me… Whatever you just did wasn't a matter of speed or stealth."

The masked man looked out of the window at the road. "You're not wrong… simply put, there's more to anyone than they appear to let on. Most of which, you can find in their eyes…"

Kouta smirked. "Agreed… Case and point, you seem like the kinda guy who's out to change the world... you've also got the eye of a man that's been stolen from… Am I wrong there?"

The masked man snapped his head to Kouta and locked eyes with the young samurai, they just stared at each other in silence.

Kouta took a sip of tea and leaned backward. "I'll take that as a yes."

There was another silence until Kouta broke it. "So, what's someone like you doing in this area?"

The orange mask turned to face Kouta, and if he could see the man's face, there'd probably be a look of suspicion adorning his features.

"I come here to think… I have plans for the future... That's all… I came here as a genin once, however, those days are long behind me."

Kouta adjusted one of his shoulder plates and sipped his tea. "Hn. Seems like everyone has a "special place" except me… Hey, gramps."

The masked man cocked his head to the side. "Gramps?"

Kouta smirked. "Well, yeah. Regardless of how old you actually are, you look like you've seen enough shit to be eligible for that title. Hell, spiritually, you're at least old enough to be my dad."

The man shook his head in amusement. "Heh. Perhaps that's the point."

Kouta chuckled and raised an eyebrow. "I'm impressed, you don't look like the type of guy that has a sense of humor."

"I'm not a joyless man… There's just not much to smile about these days."

Kouta smirked. "So, I'm guessing your so called "plan" has something to do with correcting that."

The masked man crossed his arms. "Perhaps it does…"

He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling for a moment, then looked Kouta directly in the eye.

"Do you have someone close to you?"

Kouta sputtered and struggled to swallow a dumpling. He washed it down with some tea before replying.

"Yeah. She's back in Tetsu no Kuni. What of it?"

The masked man turned to look at the sky outside the window. "Hold on to her, and don't let go. You may end up regretting it for the rest of your life…"

"What brought this on gramps? You gonna destroy the world or something?"

The man slowly stood up from the table. "No… Just change it. Take care, young Tachibana."

Kouta took another sip of tea and gave the orange mask a suspicious glare.

"Likewise, gramps."

With that, the man headed toward the exit, as he was passing the bar, he flipped a coin to the bartender and walked out the door. Kouta noticed that he had a slight limp on his right side, which gave him a lopsided gait; on top of that, he walked without a sense of purpose.

Kouta found this confusing, seeing as the masked man seemed to have no shortage of conviction based on the way he carried himself.

The Tachibana raised his cup of tea and tried to delude himself into believing that it was sake for a moment.

"Here's to us never crossing paths again, gramps. Guys like you are always bad news."

He downed his tea in one gulp and looked out the window.

"Konoha, here I come."

Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, Mitsuki, Kakashi, and Temari were standing in the plaza with their backpacks and the rest of their travel gear. Since they were rested up and also didn't have to worry about saving their energy in case they got into a fight, they could probably make it back to Konoha within a couple of hours.

Mitsuki was sitting on the fountain next to Naruto, she had a sort of spacey look on her face, while she held a cold compress to the side of her head, they appeared to be chatting about something. Sakura was staring at Naruto intently, intently enough to pique Kakashi's interest.

"Did you two talk yet?"

Sakura snapped out of her stare and looked at the jonin. "We did… though it wasn't about what you're thinking."

"So you two've got matters more pressing than this one?"

Sakura adjusted her headband while she replied. "Sort of… It was about the day we completed our mission in wave country… Haku is back, and she's under Orochimaru's control."

Kakashi grabbed his chin. "I see. How's he holding up?"

Sakura looked toward Naruto, visibly worried. "If you'd asked me that three years ago when we first became a team, I'd say he was fine… But thinking back to when we spoke on Tazuna's roof, I get the feeling he's trying to keep up a brave face for everyone."

"That's Naruto for you. Keep an eye on him these next few days… I may have to... leave for a while after we get back to Konoha. If anything goes wrong with his seal, tell Tsunade immediately."

Sakura gave her sensei an inquisitive look. "What? Are you leaving now?"

Kakashi nodded. "Yeah. I came up on some important intel concerning Sasuke's brother as well as the Akatsuki. Hokage-sama should see this ASAP, and I don't want to risk sending it by carrier pigeon, it might get intercepted."

Sakura nodded. "Oh. Well, I hope you're back soon; we haven't really done anything as a team since Naruto came back... Are you sure you wanna travel solo?"

Kakashi turned and prepared to jump away. "I move faster on my own anyway… Maybe I'll treat the two of you to barbecue next time I see you, later."

The jonin offered a peace sign and blasted off through the gate, his silhouette gradually disappeared from view as the desert and heat distortion took over his retreating shape. After a few seconds, Sakura decided to walk over to the fountain and check up on both Naruto and Mitsuki's conditions.

Shikamaru and Temari stood in front of a vendor cart, looking at what he had on sale.

Temari grabbed Shikamaru's hand to pull his attention from the collection of dried fruit.

"You gonna be stopping by anytime soon?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "I'm not sure. I've gotta get back and debrief, then, I've gotta organize an official "welcome back" function for blondie over there… mataku."

Temari smirked. "So, I'm guessing it'll be a while then… Hmmmm. Well, I guess we can't see each other anymore."

Shikamaru gave her a blank stare. "… I can never tell if you're messing with me or not."

The girl flicked his ponytail. "I'm joking, I've been trying to drop hints for the past few months and you just now put it all together. I'm not letting you get away now!"

Shikamaru smirked, handing some cash over to the merchant, in exchange, he recieved a bag of dried fruit.

Shikamaru popped some into his mouth. "It's your call in the end, once I have a bit of free time, I'm up for anything."

Temari took a dried pineapple from the bag. "Well then, I suppose I'll leave you to your work… for now."

Shikamaru stretched his arms upward. "Yeah, well… don't be a stranger."

"That's what I'm supposed to say… Mr. Sunshine."

It was here that the group came together to begin traveling, Temari began to turn tu leave until a swirl of sand appeared in front of the team. Seconds later, Gaara, Kankuro, and Chiyo appeared in front of them.

The group converged on the newcomers and Naruto was the first to speak.

"Gaara-chan! I never got to say goodbye, thanks for coming to see me off."

Gaara raised a finger to speak, but appeared to hesitate, she instead just hugged Naruto.

Naruto smiled and hugged her back. "I'll miss you too Gaara-chan."

"… No, you won't."

Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru, and Mitsuki gave each other confused looks concerning Gaara-chan's reply.

Naruto let out a nervous chuckle. "Gaara-chan, I... don't understand."

Chiyo and Kankuro were both smirking, the old lady spoke up first. "The young Kazekage has been trapped in the tower working for the past two years, and, as such…"

Kankuro continued. "Old Lady Chiyo pulled a couple of strings with the Suna council and well…"

Gaara looked up at her fellow jinchuuriki, and despite her blank expression, she gave of an aura of contentment.

"... Naruto, I'm going back to Konoha with you."

~FIN~

If you can't figure out who Kouta was talking to, either I'm a terrible writer, or you don't watch Naruto. On top of that, I've decided to allow Gaara to return to Konoha with Naruto instead of having her be a recurring character.

Anyway, don't forget PROLOGUE ORANGE IS OUT. Go check it out if you can't get enough, and also, check out my profile for a new poll. I've decided to leave the release pattern to you guys.

Do you want:

2 chapters of Flash and 1 chapter of prologue?

3 chapters of Flash and 1 chapter of prologue?

Or a random release schedule?

VOTE NOW at the top of my profile page.