Chapter 14

The sun indicated that the end of the afternoon was approaching fast. Their time was running out. The jounin saw the boy stand there at a medium distance. Kakashi got up from his spot under the shade and put his book away. He was not fooling around this time. The Konohamaru Ninja Squad special attack. He still had no idea what it consisted of, so he decided that it'd be best if he kept his guard up. The shinobi noticed that the kid came alone. Probably another attempt at distracting him before his friends struck a decisive blow. He also took note of the confident look on the kid's face. Cocky to the end. He said inside his head.

The genin made a hand seal and a small crowd of clones puffed into existence alongside him.

"More clones? They haven't been terribly effective so far." The Hatake commented, disapproving of the boy's tactics.

"This ain't some ordinary move you old man." What he assumed was the original calmly explained. Soon after, all of them put their hands together into another hand seal, as if preparing to release a jutsu all at once. "Get ready for the Konohamaru Ninja Squad special attack!" All of the clones exclaimed in unison, shouting as each concentrated their chakra.

It was then that a huge poof of smoke enveloped all of them.

The masked ninja got into his fighting defence. This is it! Let's see what's this all about. His mind declared as he braced himself for whatever it was that was coming for him.

The smoke started to clear and the older shinobi produced a kunai, readying himself for an attack. But... it never came.

Kakashi payed more attention to the smoke that was dissipating. He watched as a pair of legs came out from it. Damn, they were actually quite sexy-

Wait, what?

His entire body froze as his uncovered eye and another member too profane to be identified began to twitch. As the white smoke cleared, a bunch of young and naked women stood on its place. Each one of them a perfect copy of each other, includind their... 'intimate' parts, which were barely covered by stripes of mist. The words were caught in his throat as he felt a jet of blood coming out of his nose, gawking at the nude girls stupidly.

"What do you say about us getting naughty Kakashi-senpai?" One of them teased provocatively, to which the rest of the girls replied by giggling, saying 'yes Kakashi-senpaii!' and 'let me love you Kakashi-senpaiii!'. The poor horny jounin couldn't help but nod his head like a puppy and put his hands up, his fingers flexing in a grabbing motion as he giggled stupidly. He didn't know whether he should smell their hair, feel their skin or pay attention to the hissing coming from behind him.

Hissing?

"Huh?" He dumbly spoke as he turned back his head. Two blurs of speed in the form of a boy with round glasses and a girl with orange pigtails quickly created distance from a small sphere right behind him, curiously full of tags with the kanji for 'explosive'.

Oh-oh.

A loud boom sent him flying towards the other side of the training grounds before he could register. His presence in the air was cut short as a small crater had formed underneath the spot where he'd landed on.

His hands still twitched trying to grab the imaginary breasts inside his head, his silver-hair a complete mess and disheveled from the explosion which he could already feel in the form of a smoking burn on his back. He coughed, a bit of ash coming out.

These kids, learning such deadly jutsus nowadays. A voice said inside his head.

***XIV***

Even with the sun beating down on him on that platform, Naruto couldn't get enough of the view of the village. A huge smile plastered on his face as his gaze navigated every rooftop that he could recall. He wondered if he could see his apartment from there. Curious, he began searching.

"So are you just going to stand there getting sunburned like an idiot or are you going to come down and say hi to me?" He heard a female voice calling out for him and interrupting his search.

Naruto looked down and spotted a blonde bombshell with turquoise eyes. He only knew of one person with that eye colour. As his own orbs widened, the sixteen year old Uzumaki exclaimed. "Ino?!"

"Yo, it's been a while Naruto." She replied with one of her flashy grins.

"I guess you could say that haha." He laughed, dropping gracefully right in front of her.

"Finally, I was getting damn tired of walking around with these wimps under this hot sun." Naruto heard another young woman behind him.

As he turned to see to whom that voice belonged, another one added in, this time it was male and somewhat... lazy? "You're saying that when you were the one who offered to come with us?"

The Uzumaki turned back in time to see the woman - who wore a black kimono, a red sash around her waist and, most interestingly, a protector from Sunagakure - blush in protest. "I was just being polite! I didn't literally mean to walk around half the village!" Her face was rather familiar, but Naruto couldn't precisely remember her name.

"Tsk, you women are all bothersome." That guy on the other hand...

"Shikamaru you lazy bastard, how've you been doing?" He said, instantly recognizing that pineapple head of his.

"Yo, Naruto. I trust you remember Temari here?" The Nara replied, indicating to his companion in the black kimono.

"Gaara's sister!" Naruto exclaimed as if his memory finally clicked. Now he remembered her. "Yes, of course!"

A smiling and calm Jiraiya joined in and handed the backpack that the blond had left behind. "I'm gonna head to the Kage's building while you guys catch up, see you soon." He stated before leaving, all of the teenagers waving him goodbye.

The genin took a brief look at the three, noticing how different they looked from what he remembered. Ino especially. She'd seemed to grow from the bratty little kid into a girl with very nice 'womanly' features. He hit himself on the head mentally. Damn, that much time spending with ero-sennin really might've turned him into a perv. The short skirt and top she wore didn't help much too. "Wow, you guys all changed a lot!" He said almost too nervously as if to concentrate on something else other than...

"Well, apart from your change of clothes, you still look like the same dumb kid I remember." The blonde Yamanaka replied.

"Oh yeah? Why you look like the same stuck-up bratty girl that I remember, believe it!" He said, childishly crossing his arm in a sulky expression.

"You should show Ino some more respect Naruto." Shikamaru warned the shinobi, a sly smile forming on his lips. "After all, she is a chunin now."

"WHAT?!" Naruto exclaimed in dispelief. "A CHUNIN?! HER?!" He pointed at the purple-wearing kunoichi who simply stuck out her tongue in response.

"Yes. I think everyone of our class is a chunin now." He said thoughtfully. "In fact, Neji and Temari here are jounin."

"JOUNIN?!" The Uzumaki replied, this time pointing at the Sand ninja in disbelief.

"Pah!" The Sand ninja scoffed. "If this got you surprised, wait until I tell you about my brother."

"Brother? You mean Gaara?" He asked naively. "What about him?"

Temari could barely contain the smile at the thought of blowing that little fool's mind.

***XIV***

"I think I found him!" The girl's voice echoed. Soon enough, both Udon and Konohamaru arrived to its location. Their eyes spotting the small crater where the jounin stood in an awkward position, his uncovered eye comically wide open.

Konohamaru cocked his head and voiced a question. "Is he dead?"

"I don't know." Moegi responded, shrugging. The boy with the long blue scarf grabbed a nearby stick and poked the poor masked man with it.

"Oi, jounin-san, are you okay?" He poked him some more but got no reaction from the shinobi.

"What should we do now?" Udon spoke. Konohamaru caught a glimpse of two shiny objects hanging from the silver-haired ninja's waist and got an idea.

"I know what we should do." He said, a cocky smile on his face as he went to grab the little bells they'd be spending the whole afternoon trying to get.

Poof!

The trio's eyes widened as the jounin was replaced with a block of wood.

Oh-oh.

"YOU THREE!" The thundering voice of the copy ninja yelled behind them, his hands on his hips and a very angry expression on his face (it was quite clear even with it being almost all covered). The three cowered together as if being caught by their parents. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING USING A JUTSU LIKE THAT?!"

"We're sorry!" They tried innocently.

"Hmph, you're lucky that nobody else was around." The man seemed to relent, though being caught staring at the transformed form of an underaged boy by someone else could represent some serious trouble. "Anyway, it's already way past the afternoon, which means that you guys failed." He continued. "I guess it's back to the academy with you three."

"What?!" One of them exclaimed.

"No fair!" The girl added.

"No fair? I said you had until the end of this afternoon to get these bells and you didn't. If you can't accomplish a simple task like that, it means that none of you have what it takes to be a ninja."

"You're a piece of trash!" All of them turned their look to the spiky-haired ninja, the children's eyes widening at their friend's boldness of raising his tone against a jounin-class ninja.

"Excuse me?" The older shinobi said, as if not hearing correctly.

"That's right!" Konohamaru confirmed. "You're a piece of trash if you don't think me and my friends got what it takes. We've worked really hard to get here and we're not going to give up." The boy then pointed to his friends. "Udon will become the best ninja mathematician ever, Moegi will become the greatest kunoichi in the village and I..." He paused dramatically as his left thumb pointed towards himself, "will become a great Hokage like my grandfather!"

He saw the copy ninja raise an eyebrow at his statement, but Konohamaru wasn't finished yet.

"Even if we passed your stupid test, it would mean that one of us would have to go back to the academy, none of us was ever going to accept that. We on the Konohamaru Ninja Squad leave no one behind, am I right guys?" He turned to his friends that now had confident expressions on their faces as well.

"Yeah!" The girl said whilst the other boy nodded his head in agreement.

"We don't care if we don't pass, we'll just come and try again to become great ninja, you'll see!" He seemed to finish.

"On the Konohamaru Ninja Squad, no one is left behind huh?" The jounin repeated his masked face with a seemingly thoughtful expression. About what he was thinking though, the trio could only wonder. He turned his back towards them and started to walk away much to their dismay.

"Hey, where the hell do you think you're going?" Konohamaru called out after him.

"Someone once told me that those who break rules are called trash. But, those who don't treasure their companions are worse than trash." He spoke. "Meet me tomorrow at the village's park after lunch." The trio's eyes widened in surprise. "Congratulations... you pass." He calmly finished

And with that, the veteran shinobi shunshined out of there. He could hear the three genin celebrating as he jumped from tree to tree and felt the wind on his face. A huge grin forming underneath his mask. Now he knew why Lady Tsunade had chosen them. Those three kids were going to be worth it.

***XIV***

"Kazekage?" He repeated.

"Yes, you've said this like some twenty times already. Gaara has become the Fifth Kazekage. Can we keep moving now?" An annoyed Ino explained again, pulling Naruto by the hand to move a little bit quicker.

"Couldn't you have gone a little easier on him? Naruto is a bit... 'slow' to adapt." The chunin with a pineapple-head whispered into the Sand ninja's ear, to which she grunted in agreement.

"Good, we're finally here." Ino stated as they arrived in front of a simple looking shop with some tables outside, parasols casting nice shades over them. The Uzumaki took a moment to look at the place. He wasn't too familiar with this shop. But then again, he wasn't too familiar with anything else other than Ichiraku's Ramen Stand.

"Thank god, my feet were starting to hurt." Shikamaru said, making himself comfortable on one of the tables.

"What kind of lady feet do you have?" Temari teased the Nara whilst she sat next to him, the shinobi responding to her comment with an annoyed 'tsk'.

A couple of moments passed, all of them arranging themselves around the table and making some smalltalk. Naruto asked about Chouji and Asuma and how they were doing to which Shikamaru responded by saying that they were out on a mission. A shame. He kinda missed the fat boy he knew since the Academy.

"Ino?" The blond heard another familiar female voice from behind him. "Is that who I think it is?"

"Might be, I'm still not sure if he's a spy or not." The Yamanaka girl replied teasingly. Not bearing the curiosity anymore, the genin turned his head to meet that voice. His eyes revealed the image of a young woman wearing her hair in two buns and a long-sleeved, high-collared white blouse with maroon edges whilst also holding her own cup of tea. He was sure that he knew her. The picture of a bushy-brow shinobi surged inside his head.

"Tenten?" He spoke.

"Hey Naruto! It's so good to see you again!" She exclaimed and then turned to the other three ninja alongside him. "You guys mind if I sat here with you?"

"Not at all!" Ino responded making room for her fellow kunoichi.

"What are you doing here?" Naruto asked the ninja tools specialist, surprised at the coincidence of finding her there.

"What do you mean 'what I'm doing here'? This place is one of the most popular spots among ninjas after a long day of missions and training!" The young female exclaimed. Really? He asked himself inside his head. Naruto guessed that this shop was set up only after he left, this was the only explanation why the hell he didn't remember it. From the corner of his eyes, he saw a boy around their age approaching, holding a simple notepad.

"Hello Ino, want me to take your order?" He said in a neutral tone.

"Took you long enough this time Toshiro." She responded passive-agressively, to which the waiter quietly grunted in response. Naruto wondered what that was all about, but decided to remain quiet.

As they all began to order, the Uzumaki realized that this was some sort of sweet shop. He decided to go for some simple green tea and dango, nothing too fancy that he wasn't really used to. The shinobi told the brown-haired waiter and watched as he gently nodded his head and went back inside the establishment. Before he could take another look at the shop, Tenten asked him how he was doing. Before long, they were all fully engaged in conversation. Talking about what they've been up to since his departure. Naruto proudly talked about his training and travels, all of the adventures he was able to experience while he was out of the village. Ino was a bit jealous, given that she'd never even left the Land of Fire. Temari, on the other hand, did her best to remain unimpressed whilst trying to understand why her brother Gaara held that loudmouth in such high respect.

Those moments turned into full minutes. Tenten was talking about her chunin exams when their orders finally arrived. Naruto took a sip of his tea. The liquid felt heavenly on his throat considering the late afternoon heat of Konohagakure. His thirst quenched, he decided to have some of his dango. It felt soft as his teeth came down to bite the dumpling, the red bean paste giving it a sweet taste. It actually tasted really good, unlike anything he'd ever eaten before.

"Wow! This is the best dango I've ever had in my life, no wonder this place is so popular!" He exclaimed, doing short work of the poor sweet.

"See? I told you this place was great!" Tenten playfully punched the blond on his shoulder.

"I've been trying to bring Chouji here more often, but he's too hooked on that barbeque place." Shikamaru said as he took a large sip of his own tea.

"The fastest way for him to get a heart attack." The Sunagakure ninja commented with her usual dry sense of humour.

"I think it's more likely that he'll get a heart attack if he doesn't go there at least once a week." The teenage Nara replied with his own witty comment, earning a chuckle from everyone on the table.

They talked and talked for some time. The waiter from before cleaning their table and bringing them their check before leaving them. As Naruto reached for gama-chan, the silly toad wallet, a sweat of embarrassment dropped from his temple. Being away for so long without doing any missions turned his gama-chan into a very skinny frog.

Ino turned her eyes to the orange-clad shinobi. "Problem?"

"Oh nono, not at all!" He replied hurriedly. "It's just that I might not uhmm... hahaha." He tried his best to hide his embarrassment.

Ino shook her head with a small smile on her lips and started to get more money from her pouch. "Since you're returning, I guess I can pay for you this one time," she began, "but... you'll be the one to get it to the cashier." She had a devilish grin on her face. Naruto had no idea why though, not noticing the worried expression on Tenten and Shikamaru's faces, he didn't think it'd be much of a problem.

"Of course! Thanks Ino, you're the best, believe it!" He expressed his gratitude with his typical enthusiasm.

"I know." She simply replied. "Run along now."

"Okay!" He exclaimed with a toothy grin and a thumbs up.

***XIV***

He entered the small establishment nonchalantly. There were some tables with a few ninja in a similar fashion like outside. The boy searched and found a counter at the end of the place. He casually walked over to it while holding the bill and the ryo to pay for it.

"Hi," he began, arriving in front of the cashier, "I'm here to pay for the table outs-"

Naruto interrupted himself as he got a better look at the girl sitting behind the counter. That pale and soft skin, those jade eyes, that pink hair. It couldn't be...

"S-sakura-chan?"

The girl's eyes widened. A brief moment where she simply didn't seem to know how to speak. Did she recognize him?

"H-h-hi Naruto." She stammered, indicated that she definetely did. Her face holding as much shock as his probably was.

Naruto wanted to hug her and tell her all about the things that he'd done, about how much he missed her, about how beautiful she was looking. However, he remembered the people around him and then worse... the last time he talked to her. Scratching the back of his head nervously, he contented himfelf with a simple. "Y-yeah, hi." As if to keep their conversation going, the orange-clad ninja inquired. "You work here then?"

"Yes, I kinda own this shop. Didn't you see the 'Haruno's Sweets and Tea' sign on the entrance?" She replied a bit flustered and trying to avoid his gaze.

"Oh... I guess not." He dumbly stated.

He couldn't help but notice how much changed about her and yet remained the same. Picturing her inside his head was one thing, but seeing her in person was something entirely different. He lost track of his surroundings as he took in the gorgeous image of the Sakura he hadn't seen in such a long time. She still wore that red clan dress that he remembered. Her pink locks still went all the way to her shoulders. Her jade eyes as dazzling as ever. Though he didn't fail to notice that she'd matured over the years that he was gone, it showed on both her face and body. His heart started beating faster and the palms of his hand became sweaty. He felt a bit shameful and pathetic that she had such an effect on him. But before he could contemplate on her image more, her soft voice brought him back to reality.

"So... you're really back?"

"Uhmm, y-yeah. I won't be travelling with ero-sennin for a while haha." He answered, trying to keep his anxiety under control.

"Oh, that's... nice." The girl on the wheelchair spoke. Naruto saw something on her expression though. It was almost as if she didn't seem very pleased with his return. It was then that the memories of the last time they were together came rushing again in full force.

She still hated him.

The blond turned his cerulean gaze away from her, looking down at his own feet.

"Uhmm, anyways. I just came to pay for the tab-""

"Is everything alright?" The brown-haired waiter from before interrupted him before giving the pink-haired girl a peck on her cheek.

Naruto's eyes widened, his hands automatically curling into fists as he felt a tremendous anger coursing through every inch of his body like wildfire. He had to control the urge of immediately murdering the poor boy right there. Who the hell did this guy think he was?

As if Sakura could read his mind, she told him the truth.

"Uhm, this is Toshiro... my boyfriend."