It has been a long 2 years of training and adventures with Jiraiya, finally returning home, Naruto can smell the fresh breath of air from his home village, the "Hidden leaf village" where he faced hardships, defeat, and Became a battle veteran at age of 12. The village gate is near, villagers are waiting for Naruto to enter the gate, they are ready to welcome him as a thank you for his contributions for defending the village against the attack of "hidden sound village" and "hidden sand village" from the chunin exams. As they take step, they can both hear the crowd noises, being unprepared, Jiraiya and Naruto are cautious.
"Naruto, be ware, I can sense something beyond the gate" said Jiraiya.
"I can feel it too sensei" Naruto replied.
As they entered the gate, they were surprised not only by the villagers but also by the genins, chunins, jonins and of course, the 5th hokage. The people are celebrating, Konohamaru surprised him, showing Naruto that he is now a certified genin.
"Big brother Naruto, look!" Konohamaru shows his headband.
"Oh so you're a genin now, keep working hard little guy" Naruto replied.
"I don't get it, why are people welcoming me?" said Naruto to lady Tsunade
"People are finally realizing your contributions, it's a slow process, but they are not ignorant to not recognize you for taking down Shukaku the sand spirit, Jiraiya, have you taken a good care of him?" said and asked by the lady fifth.
"Well, as his sensei I can assure you, he really learned a lot from a grandmaster like me" said by Jiraiya confidently.
"Welcome back, Naruto" the villagers shouted.
Naruto thanked the villagers wholeheartedly before getting adviced by Jiraiya to come over his friends Rock Lee, Sakura, and Shikamaru.
Tsunade then invited and walked Jiraiya to the hokage office.
"Time flies by, but you're still as beautiful as ever Tsunade" Jiraiya said as they entered the office.
"Oh shut up"Tsunade answered with a smirk, then sat down and looked at the hokage portraits.
Jiraiya then walked to the window and looked at the village. "Beautiful, isn't it?"Jiraiya asked.
"the village is in harmony, I wish it would stay the same, don't you wish it too, Tsunade?" He follows up.
"Yes, I don't want these younger generation to experience something worse than Orochimaru's attack two years ago, if only I didn't left, sensei would probably be still alive"Tsunade answered, "But it seems inevitable, one could only wish for conflicts to stop magically" she follows up.
"I still believe, it would happen, that's the wish that keeps me going, well, apart from you of course"Jiraiya answered.
The two sannin has been trough a lot, taught by the third hokage, became veterans of the shinobi world, renowned for their acheivements and contributions to the village, the two has seen it all, in the bloody battlefield, in the war victims' eyes, with mountains of corpse from both sides.
"About the akatsuki" Tsunade said as she turns to Jiraiya.
"Yes, I have learned a lot from them, that was one of your orders before we left"Jiraiya answered.
On the other hand, Naruto is at the Ichiraku ramen shop with his peers, ready to eat the mean they ordered. It's Sakura's treat for the day.
"You've become taller" Sakura said.
"I sure did, look at you now, you're so tiny"Naruto replied.
"Well, we're finally catching up" said Shikamaru.
Sakura pouts.
"So, how is your experience Naruto?" Sakura asked.
"Oh, Jiraiya sensei taught me a lot, it's hard to be trained by a famous and veteran shinobi too" He replied, "so how about your training with lady Tsunade?" He follows up.
"It was hard, she sure beat up for a good year before I'm finally able to keep with her" Sakura replied.
"The hero's return huh? That was unexpected coming from these people" Shikamaru said.
"One day Naruto, the village will also recognize me as a hero, isn't that right Sakura?" Lee stated with a smile and confidence in his aura.
All three of them munched their meal, and paid the Ichiraku ramen shop "thank you for the food!".
"Be sure to comeback" said the owner.
Going back to the hokage office, Jiraiya finished his report regarding the akatsuki and other informations he gathered.
"So there are less than 10 members, all of which are known to be criminals before joining the akatsuki, also there is a tension between the hidden mist and hidden cloud" Tsunade summarizes.
"Precisely"Jiraiya replied.
Tsunade then walked towards the door and opened it.
"I've authorized our janitor to clean your home, you can go now" Tsunade said.
"How cold" Jiraiya whispered.
"Oh please, as your comrade, and as a hokage, I won't be assigning you to any mission, rest for now" Tsunade said.
"I glady accept your rewards, my sincere pleasure, Lady fifth" said Jiraiya
"Welcome back, don't slack off" as Tsunade ends the conversation.
Jiraiyathen went home to rest.
"See ya" Naruto said to his friends. "See ya" they replied.
Naruto then went home and laid down for the rest of the day, with a big smile on his face, as the sight of people recognizing him warms his heart.
End of chapter