"Talking"
'Thinking'
Jutsu/ Bijuu/ Summons
Flashbacks, Letters, and Setting
I don't own Naruto
Chapter 40: A Hero's Return
On the Streets of Konoha
"I heard he destroyed a whole regiment of shinobi by himself."
"A regiment? I heard it was a whole battalion!"
"You guys have been hearing nonsense. He destroyed a whole army! Alone!"
"Is it true that he defeated the Mizukage on the same day?"
"Wasn't the Mizukage the Sanbi?"
"He defeated a Bijuu?"
"That's crazy! He truly is the second coming of the Yondaime!"
"Guys! I heard he's coming today!"
"No way! We should go greet him!
Narumi's ears perked up to the rumors that were circulating around the town as she waited for her minions, nibbling on a stick of dango.
She tried to mind her own business, but she couldn't help but notice the massive crowd that began to gather, starting from the gates, all the way to where she was sitting.
"What's all this fuss about?" She wondered out loud to herself as she got up and began to crane her neck to see what was going on.
"He's here! The hero of the Kiri civil war! Our next hero of Konoha!"
Narumi tried to see who this person was, and tried to squeeze through the taller crowd, so she could see who they were talking about.
However, when she tried to squeeze through, she was roughly pushed back by angry and annoyed elbows and backs.
"Where do you think you're cutting in front of? Buzz off, brat!"
"I'm just trying to see who this hero is!" Narumi argued back as she tried to enter through another opening she saw.
"Get lost, kid!"
She was shoved back harshly, falling on her bottom. "Oww! Hey!"
"Boss!" Konohamaru, who had just appeared on the scene with his friends, yelled out when he saw his boss get pushed to the ground.
"Oh. Hey, Konohamaru-chan, Moegi-chan, Udon-chan." Narumi greeted them as she rose and dusted off her hands and butt.
"How dare they lay their filthy hands on our boss! Let's get em guys!" Konohamaru yelled out.
"It's fine. No need to make a big deal about it. It's probably some stupid stuff. My nii-chan always told me crowds were for sheep anyway. Let's get out of here. We've got training to do anyway, right?" Narumi told her three minions, trying to deescalate the situation.
The mention of training distracted Konohamaru right away, as he was excited to show Narumi the practice he had put in since their last training session.
Narumi giggled at Konohamaru's enthusiasm, and ruffled his hair. "Alright my minions! To training ground 7! Last one there owes everyone a stick of dango! Go!"
Narumi and the three children ran off, leaving the crowd with a cloud of dust in their wake.
"Those brats!" Some people coughed as the dust settled.
"Hey! It's him! The Blue Dragon of Konoha! The Demon of the Mirage!" Somebody shouted out, and grabbed everyone's attention.
Naruto walked down the streets, cheered by the population of Konoha. Though he hadn't been in a war Konoha was involved in, he was still a war hero, and the villagers of Konoha loved their heroes.
After the death of the Yondaime, the Sannin breaking up, the suicide of the White Fang, the loss of the Senju Clan, and the Uchiha Clan Massacre which alone resulted in the loss of at least 3 S-ranked shinobi, Konoha was hungry for heroes. So when rumors began to come up from Kiri about a Konoha shinobi who devastated entire armies alone and was able to defeat a perfect Jinchuuriki, the people were filled with pride. They finally had another army busting, world beating shinobi in their village again, which had always been a point of pride for them.
Naruto walked down the streets with a mostly blank face, only occasionally giving a slight nod to civilians that he remembered weren't assholes to Narumi, but he largely ignored the celebration around him. He hated their two-faced nature, their double-standards. How could they hate one child of the Yondaime, and worship the other?
He kept an eye out for a mop of red hair, but when he wasn't able to find what he was looking for, he got annoyed, and decided to ignore the unofficial triumph and fanfare for him, and go straight to the Hokage. He wanted to get this over with so he could see he sister as soon as possible.
At the Hokage's Office
Hiruzen sighed when he saw Naruto's cold reaction towards the villagers through his crystal ball.
Why couldn't he just be a little more cordial to the villagers? Naruto already had the power, ability, lineage, and achievements. All it would take for him to be unanimously chosen as Hokage would be a little bit of likability. Would it kill him to smile to the villagers every once in a while?
"Namikaze-Uzumaki Naruto, here to make a report on ANOTHER successful mission." Naruto reported with a smug smirk on his face, as he appeared in a swirl of leaves.
Hiruzen chuckled as he put the crystal ball away. "Alright, Naruto-kun. I've already heard the rumors. Let's hear what the truth is."
"Hmm… I went, kicked ass, helped Kiri find its footing, then returned." Naruto replied tersely, keeping it vague on purpose as to hide the details of his relationship with Mei and his many jutsus that he kept secret.
Hiruzen pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed.
"I suppose you could make the written report more detailed? I'd like to hear what kind of opponents you faced, what kind of shinobi force Kiri is capable of fielding, and what it was like fighting the Mizukage. I want to see a report on what you did to help Kiri "find its footing", and I'd like to hear the truth behind such rumors like you beating an entire army alone with one massive fire jutsu."
Naruto shrugged. "I'll try."
Hiruzen sighed again.
"Alright. I understand you might be tired from your long mission, so you may go rest. I'll give you a month off, so you can catch up with your family and friends. Your pay for multiple S-ranked missions will be sent to your account." The Hokage told Naruto.
"Speaking of family…" Naruto began.
Hiruzen hid a discrete gulp. 'Oh no… please don't ask about Taki, please don't ask about Taki, please don't ask about Taki…'
"Remember my mission to Taki?" Naruto asked.
Hiruzen cursed the cruel gods up above.
"Of course. What is it?" Hiruzen asked with a nervous smile he put on to hide his fidgeting hands beneath the desk.
"I was wondering how that went. Is Narumi ok? How about the rest of my team? Were they able to catch Suien?" Naruto asked.
"Oh. Of course. Suien will not be a problem to anyone ever again." Hiruzen replied back vaguely. "As for your sister and your team, Kakashi has been taking care of them. If I recall, he was training them on the basics."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at Hiruzen's vague answer. He decided not to press the issue however, much to Hiruzen's relief. As long as Narumi and his team was alright, he didn't really care.
When Naruto seemed to accept the answer, Hiruzen changed his mind and thanked the kind gods up above.
"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Hiruzen asked, trying to wrap this meeting up quickly.
"No, Hokage-sama. That will be all. Thank you." Naruto replied.
He then saluted Hiruzen, and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
When he was sure Naruto was gone, Hiruzen slumped into his seat, and let out a breath he'd been holding back.
"Damn. I need a smoke. And a drink." Hiruzen mumbled to himself as he reached for the drawer under his desk. He opened the secret compartment. He needed the good stuff today.
On Training Ground 7
Sasuke and Hinata worked on their elemental control as they stood on top of water with a leaf stuck on their forehead, as they watched Narumi train her "students".
"Hyah! Hyah!" Konohamaru yelled out, as he spun around and smacked the wooden training dummy.
"No no. Not like that! You have to twist your whole body! Remember? You have to BE the whirlpool!" Narumi yelled out as she lightly slapped Konohamaru's out of place limbs with a thin stick to get them in the correct position.
"You want to keep your body moving. If you throw a punch, and they dodge it, keep your arm flying, so you can spin your body around, and smack them with your other elbow!" Narumi explained.
"Geez Narumi. They're kids. Stop wasting your time training them, and let them play. I want to spar so I can kick your butt again." Sasuke told Narumi.
"Hey! Training us isn't a waste of time! And we'd much rather train than play! Right guys?" Konohamaru asked Moegi and Udon.
"Ummm… I'd rather just play kickball, to be honest." Moegi replied as she panted from the exercise.
"Kickball, eh?" Narumi said as she rubbed her chin with an evil grin that Hinata and Sasuke had seen on Naruto's face before.
"Oh no… Sasuke-kun… those poor children…" Hinata mentioned to Sasuke.
"Leave them. If they die, they die." He replied nonchalantly in jest. Or at least what Hinata considered to be in jest from Sasuke.
"Alright! Listen to your boss, minions!" Narumi shouted out as she held a ball under her arm.
The three kids stumbled towards her, exhausted from their training already.
"Since you guys wanted to play with a ball so bad, I decided to add it to our training for today." Narumi began.
"Yay! Can we play kickball?" Moegi asked with excitement.
"Oh, we'll be playing kickball alright." Narumi said with a smirk that sent shivers up the children's spines.
"Here it comes…" Sasuke told Hinata, who looked worried, as opposed to Sasuke's face, which looked like he was about to see something fun.
"Alright, here are the rules. I'll kick the ball at you, and you have to dodge. If you get hit? You have to do the water bucket spinning exercise for 5 minutes." Narumi explained. "Now dodge!"
The kids spent the next few minutes throwing their bodies around to avoid getting hit by a ball which had been turned into a weapon by Narumi and the speed she kicked it at them. She had created several shadow clones to form a circle around the kids, who caught and kicked the ball towards them from different angles and sides.
Konohamaru jumped to the side to dodge the speeding projectile which promised pain. However, in doing so, he got in the field of vision of Moegi, who didn't see which clone caught the ball, and where it was coming from next.
When Konohamaru dodged again, Moegi was caught by surprise as one of Narumi's clones blasted a powerful shot at Moegi.
She was like a deer caught in headlights as the ball flew towards her face. Her eyes widened and timed seem to slow down as her body froze.
"Oh no! Moegi-chan! Look out!" The original Narumi yelled out when she saw that Moegi looked like she was unable to dodge, and the ball came at her face faster than Narumi had intended.
Moegi was blown away by the ball, and flew a short distance away before she rolled on the ground, until she hit a tree stump. There was no movement from her after that.
"Moegi-chan!" Narumi, Konohamaru, and Udon yelled as they rushed towards her body, while Hinata and Sasuke stared on with a shocked look.
Narumi was panicking. Had her clone kicked the ball that hard? It was just supposed to be enough to hurt, so they'd have incentive to dodge. It was an exercise meant to sharpen your reflexes that her brother had done with her, but she apparently had gotten carried away.
When the three worried people approached Moegi, she disappeared in a puff of smoke, and a log was left in its place, surprising everyone.
'Kawarimi?' The 3 Genin of Team 7 immediately thought to themselves.
"Now, now. I don't think you're supposed to throw the ball that hard, Narumi-chan." A familiar voice scolded in jest.
"Huh?" Narumi wondered as she looked over her shoulder behind her, where the voice came from.
Naruto stood a short distance away, with a surprised, but blushing Moegi in his arms.
Narumi stood there frozen, with her mouth hanging open.
Naruto put Moegi down, then put one hand on his hip as he shifted his weight onto one leg.
"So, are you going to come greet your nii-chan, or are you going to stand there with your mouth open as an invitation for bugs?" Naruto said with a smile.
"NII-CHAN!" Narumi yelled once she got over her shock, and she ran at him.
She leapt into his open arms, and wrapped her arms around his neck, and rubbed her face into the crook of his neck as tears began to flow freely.
"Nii-chan! I missed you so so so sooooo much!" Narumi cried out as Naruto held her in his arms. Despite almost being a teenager now, she reverted being back into her 7-year-old self when she saw her brother.
Naruto smiled as he patted her back with one arm, and stroked her hair gently and lovingly with his other hand. "I've missed you too, Imouto. More than you know."
Sasuke watched the scene, happy for his friend, and happy to see his sensei and hero again, but there was a sense of jealousy lingering as well. He had once wished he had this type of relationship with his brother, but now his brother was a missing-nin who had murdered most of his clan. Though he thought about Itachi less due to Naruto's words to him, his relationship with Itachi was not one you would describe as "friendly".
Hinata was not too different from Sasuke in terms of how she felt at the sight of the Naru sibling reunion. She was happy for her friend and happy to see her sensei and crush, but it evoked a feeling of sadness in her heart. She had the largest family out of the three, but ironically, she received the least amount of love and affection. While Sasuke's mother was busy with police work, she was still an affectionate and loving mother to Sasuke whenever she had time, while Naruto was 100% devoted to Narumi, and would drop anything and everything for Narumi. She wished her mother, who used to dote on her, was still alive.
"Umm… who is that?" Konohamaru asked Sasuke as he watched his amazingly cool boss cry like a little child in some blonde's arms.
"That's our sensei. Narumi's brother." Sasuke replied.
"Boss' brother?" Konohamaru wondered out loud.
"He's soooo cool!" Moegi commented with a blush as she sauntered back to her friends. "And handsome!
"What's so cool about him? Boss is so much cooler!" Konohamaru said in defense of Narumi. "And not to mention, much prettier!" He added with a small blush on his face.
"Heh. Pretty? You mean that violent mountain gorilla? Please!" Sasuke scoffed, as he recalled Narumi after his prank.
"You really think she's cooler than sensei? As if that annoying redhead can hold a candle to Naruto-sensei!" Sasuke said in defense of his hero.
"You take that back! Narumi nee-chan is a hero! She's super strong! I bet she could kick your butt! Yeah, I bet that's why you're hating on her!" Konohamaru shouted back.
"A hero? If anyone's a hero, it's Naruto-sensei. Haven't you heard the rumors?" Sasuke asked Konohamaru.
"What rumors?" Konohamaru asked in curiosity.
"The Blue Dragon of Konoha? He defeated an entire army with one jutsu! He's supposed to be stronger than the Kages of other villages for crying out loud!" Sasuke told Konohamaru.
The little Sarutobi's eyes widened in shock. "That's him? The Blue Dragon? The Demon of the Mirage is Narumi nee-chan's brother?"
Sasuke nodded with a smirk. "Yup. That's our sensei." He said with pride.
"Hey guys! I want you guys to meet someone!" Narumi said with a smile, though her eyes were still puffy from crying.
"This is my Onii-chan, Naruto! He's the bestest! Say hi!" Narumi told her minions.
"Hello, Naruto-san!" The three greeted, Moegi slightly blushing at her savior.
"Hello everyone. I'm Naruto." Naruto said with a warm smile. "And who are these kids, Narumi?" He asked.
Narumi's smile lit up with pride. "These are my minions! This one is Konohamaru, that one is Udon, and that's Moegi!"
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Konohamaru? As in the Hokage's grandson? He's your minion?"
"That's right! She's training us to be strong shinobi too!" Konohamaru added.
"Training little kids now, are we?" Naruto said with a sadistic smile.
Narumi, however, didn't catch on. Sasuke and Hinata did, however, and they tried to stop her, but it was too late.
"Yup! I think I'm doing a pretty good job too! They'll be kicking some major butt pretty soon!"
"I see. So, I'm assuming you've been training yourself as diligently as you've been training these kids, right?" Naruto asked.
"Oh, you have no idea! We're pretty strong now! Much stronger than when you left us in Taki! We learned a lot from that mission!" Narumi replied.
Sasuke shot her a glare to remind her not to tell Naruto what happened, which Narumi didn't fully catch on to, but realized she had been talking too much.
"Now that, I'm glad to hear. I'm sure you don't mind showing me right?" Naruto asked?
"Ummm…" Narumi began to stall.
"You know what? We're already here at our training ground! You three kids can stay and watch or go home now. I'm going to test my Genin on their skills." Naruto told Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon.
The Genin of Team 7 gulped but got ready to spar with their sensei.
"Good. Now show me what Kakashi's been teaching you!" Naruto challenged.
The three looked at each other nervously as they got in their stances.
"If you won't come at me, I'll strike first. Here I come!" Naruto shouted out as he rushed them.
ROOT HQ
Danzo didn't really ever show emotions, but he felt like destroying things today. He was displeased. Very displeased. How did all of his spies fail to figure out where Naruto had been this whole time?
That blonde bastard had been on a mission in Kiri, secretly building up a huge reputation for himself. A reputation that was strong enough to make him the new Hokage of Konoha.
Danzo's face looked stoic, but his clenching fist told a different story. All of that planning and work to destroy Naruto's reputation and turn the people against him, and he comes back after one mission, and is seen as the second coming of the Yondaime. The people of Konoha were suckers for heroes, and Naruto had established himself as a hero of the highest degree. Danzo doubted he stood much of a chance against Naruto if he ran against him as a candidate for the next Hokage.
That would be problematic. Naruto did not trust Danzo in the slightest, and Danzo suspected Naruto might have a clue about Danzo's involvement in the Uchiha Clan Massacre. According to the rumors, he was apparently too strong for Danzo to act against him without exposing all of his secrets, and worst of all, he could be absolutely ruthless, unlike Hiruzen, who let Danzo slide too many times. That part he begrudgingly respected, though it was bad news for him.
He wondered what his next steps should be. There was a big decision to make. Should he just scrap his plans and try to get on Naruto's good side? Or was there still a way to smear his reputation?
He stared at the chess pieces in front of him. White had him checked.
In Suna
"So? Have you thought about my offer?" A hooded figure asked as he entered the Kazekage's office.
Rasa had a grim look on his face as he read through a scroll, keeping his guest waiting for a response.
He finally spoke after a couple of seconds.
"Have you heard the reports from Kiri?"
"News that the idiot Mizukage is waging a genocidal war against his most valuable assets? That boy is a fool." The hooded man replied.
Rasa shook his head. "No. News regarding the victory of the rebels."
The guest shrugged. "Now that's surprising. I assumed they'd lose. But what does this have to do with our plans for Konoha?"
Rasa threw the scroll at the guest, who caught it. "What the reports have to do with YOUR plans for Konoha, is that a Konoha shinobi, ONE Konoha shinobi, was apparently strong enough to change the entire tide of the war, and even defeat the Mizukage. He was apparently able to defeat several battalions by himself."
The hooded man read through the report.
"These are rumors. You know how people are, inflating and exaggerating the exploits of their "heroes." This means little for our plan.
"You mean like the exaggerated tales regarding your fight against Hanzo of the Salamander? This means quite a bit for your plan." Rasa replied rudely.
The man just smiled at the thinly veiled insult. "If you're so scared of this boy, leave him to me. I'll show you that my exploits in the battle are not an exaggeration. You and your shinobi can go fight the fodder. I'm sure you can at least handle that, right?" he said sarcastically.
"Are you mocking the power of Suna? How dare you!" Rasa shouted as he slammed the table.
The hooded man just smiled as he watched Rasa.
"You can take your plan and eat it. Suna is not interested in risking the lives of its shinobi for a hair-brained plan to stoke your own pride. Find someone else who's interested in being your pawn, because Suna will play no part in this foolishness." Rasa replied. "Now get out of here, Before I make you."
The man shrugged and left the room. 'So… he thinks he can talk to me this way because he's on his home ground? Kukukuku… It seems people have forgotten about the power of Orochimaru of the Sannin… I suppose it's time for me to make a return to the stage, and show him just how "persuasive" I can really be.'
On the Streets of Konoha
"Hey look, it's Naruto-chan! Kakashi-kun, I said look!" Anko told Kakashi who was reading his book, as she pointed at Team 7 walking together.
"Hmmm? Did you say something?" Kakashi said as he looked up at Anko.
"Hi, Kakashi-sensei! Dango-nee!" Narumi greeted with an upbeat attitude at having her brother back.
"Hey there, Ramen-gaki! Looks like you finally got your wish!" Anko greeted back. "Finally back, are you now, Naruto-chan? Well, you're too late now! I'm on a date with Kakashi-kun. All this could have been yours, but you just had to keep a lady waiting, didn't you." Anko said with a pout as she presented herself.
"Huh? What? Wh-what are you talking about?" Naruto said with a blush at Anko's assertive presentation of herself. Even after his relationship with Mei, he was still uncomfortable with overly flirtatious women.
Anko smirked when she saw him squirm. She loved doing that to people, whether if it was through her overly aggressive flirting, or through torture.
Meanwhile, when Sasuke spotted Anko, he went white and hid behind Narumi.
Kakashi mirrored Sasuke, and went white when he saw Naruto, but he tried to mask his nervousness. If Naruto found out about Taki… he didn't want to imagine what would happen next.
"H-hey Naruto! Long time no see!" Kakashi tried to greet nonchalantly with a two-finger salute.
Naruto's eyes narrowed when he saw Kakashi. "Hello, senpai." He said through his teeth in a cold tone, saying the last word with a bit of a bite to it.
Kakashi gulped. How much did Naruto find out already?
"Heh, you guys fall off a cliff or something? You look like crap!" Anko teased when she saw the state the Genin were in.
"W-we just had a spar with Naruto-sensei…" Hinata replied.
"You!" Narumi yelled as she pointed at Kakashi, when she remembered her gripe with the man. "Your training sucks! We were able to force him to use some jutsu the last time we sparred, but now he beat us all with just taijutsu! We got weaker!"
"Now, now, let's calm down here. First of all, I doubt you forced him to do anything. He probably decided to use a few jutsu for fun. Trust me. I know this." Kakashi replied, and Naruto nodded in agreement.
"Second, you've all drastically improved. Maybe not as flashily as you hoped, but your chakra control and elemental manipulation has improved by leaps and bounds. Your taijutsu is also much smoother and more precise." Kakashi continued.
"He's right. You've all improved quite a bit. I'm actually quite impressed." Naruto admitted.
"Then how come you were able to beat us so easily this time? I even had my Sharingan this time!" Sasuke asked.
"You see, I went harder on you this time, because you guys were way too confident for your own good. I needed to teach you to be humbler and more cautious. Also, I brushed up on my taijutsu during my time away." Naruto explained.
"But about that Sharingan…" Naruto turned to look Kakashi in the eye.
"If I recall, Sasuke here didn't have his Sharingan yet when I left." Naruto began.
Sasuke cursed under his breath. He forgot he wasn't supposed to give any clues as to what happened in Taki to Naruto. He was just so excited to fight against Naruto, that he revealed his Sharingan.
Kakashi gulped. Shit.
"So do you mind explaining why he has his Sharingan now?" Naruto asked in an ominous tone.
Anko smiled mischievously as she watched Kakashi rack his brain for an answer, and Sasuke panicking as if some great secret had been revealed.
"Oooohh! Looks like somebody's in trouble! Was Kakashi-chan a bad boy?" She teased to escalate the situation, much to Kakashi and Sasuke's annoyance, who wanted to do the opposite.
"Umm… well you see…" Kakashi began, trying to stall for time as he thought of an excuse.
"Naruto-kun!" A yell interrupted Kakashi.
Naruto turned around to see who called him, and saw Izumi waving at him, as she walked up to them with Mikoto.
"How have you been? We heard you were back, and wanted to find you earlier, but we were busy with work." Izumi explained as she walked up to Naruto.
Kakashi thanked the gods up above. 'I owe you one Izumi-san.' He thought to himself.
"I've been alright. Just glad to be back home." Naruto replied.
"It's good to have you back too! Narumi-chan here has been missing you a lot you know!" Izumi replied.
Narumi held on to Naruto's arm and leaned into him as she nodded.
Naruto smiled and patted her head, seemingly forgetting about the interrogation he was conducting on Kakashi.
"Are you busy? Tsunade-sama and I were wondering if you were available for dinner." Mikoto asked.
Naruto smiled. "I always have time for you, Oba-chan. Where are we eating?"
Mikoto smiled back. "That's sweet of you, Naruto-kun. We were thinking Yakiniku Q. Why don't we head over there now? Izumi can go over to the hospital to bring Tsunade-sama and Shizune-san, while we head over first and order."
"That sounds good with me." Naruto replied. "Alright Team! Let's go have a team dinner!"
The Genin were glad to hear that, because the strenuous spar from earlier had worked up an appetite in each of them.
As Naruto was led away by a Narumi who was excited for some food, he turned around and gave Kakashi a glare.
"We'll continue our conversation some other time, senpai."
Kakashi paled, but nodded.
As Team 7 and the two Uchiha women walked away, Kakashi let out a sigh.
"Heh, I haven't seen you that scared before. What was that all about?" Anko asked.
"Anko? Do you happen to have any poisons that will put me in a false death state?" Kakashi asked desperately.
Anko rubbed her hand on her chin. "Hmmm not really, but if you're interested in poisons that will kill you, I'm your girl."
Kakashi sighed and hung his head. "Hopefully your poisons hurt less than what Naruto will do to me."
Anko gave him a mischievous smile and raised her eyebrows up and down. "Kinky. Nice!"
At Yakiniku Q
"Sweet! I haven't had yakiniku for so long!" Narumi commented as she entered the restaurant and took a smell of the delicious aromas wafting inside.
Mikoto chuckled at Narumi's enthusiasm, and put her hand on her shoulder. "If I knew you liked yakiniku almost as much as you liked ramen, I'd have brought you sooner."
"How's that seat over there, Kaa-san?" Sasuke asked as he pointed to an open room.
"That looks fine, sweetie. Let's go in." Mikoto replied, causing Sasuke to blush at being called that in front of his friends.
"Kaa-san!" Sasuke complained.
Narumi sniggered. "Alright now, sweetie, hurry up and go sit down." She teased.
"Oh? I didn't know you guys had that kind of relationship. Congrats!" Tsunade commented as she entered the restaurant with Shizune and Izumi. "He's quite the looker isn't he?" Tsunade added as she gave Narumi a wink.
Narumi and Sasuke's faces both turned red. "W-what?! Sasuke? Oh gosh! No! Ewww! How could you even say that, Baa-chan?!" Narumi shouted out.
"Me? With this violent mountain gorilla?" Sasuke asked in shock like it was preposterous to even consider it.
"Mountain what?" Narumi turned around as she gave Sasuke a death glare.
"A-a violent mountain gorilla's favorite beautiful f-flower of course! Y-you didn't let me finish my sentence."
"Hmmph! That's right! And leave out the first part next time you describe me to others, you jerk!" Narumi pouted angrily. "I'm going inside. Come on Hinata-chan, let's go."
Hinata gave Sasuke an empathetic look as she was dragged in by Narumi.
Sasuke stood in his spot not understanding what just happened. Wasn't she the one who was disgusted at the prospect of dating him first?
He looked at Naruto wondering if what just happened had actually happened.
Naruto just shrugged. "I'm staying out of this one." He answered as he entered the room.
Sasuke followed in after Naruto, shaking his head. "Shikamaru was right. Girls ARE troublesome."
Tsunade, Mikoto, Izumi, and Shizune stood outside and giggled.
"They'd be so cute together, wouldn't they?" Izumi asked the other women.
Shizune rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh stop it, Izumi-san. Don't tell me you're going to try to pair them next."
"What? Did I say something wrong? Don't you think they'd be cute together, Mikoto-sama?" Izumi asked, looking for backup.
"While I would love to have Narumi-chan as part of our family, I'm going to let Sasuke find his girlfriend on his own." Mikoto replied in a roundabout way, not directly answering Izumi's question.
"Heh, I wonder what kind of man Narumi's going to end up with one day. I pity the poor soul who has to deal with Naruto." Tsunade commented, as she walked inside with Mikoto.
"Geez, how come nobody answered my question! They're super cute together!" Izumi insisted.
"Sure, sure. We'll go along with that for now." Shizune teased. "Let's head on in."
"Hey! I'm serious! And don't forget what I said about you and Naruto-kun either!" Izumi pointed out.
Shizune began to blush, and she covered Izumi's mouth with her hand.
"Shhhh! Don't say that out loud here! What if he hears?" Shizune whispered in near-panic.
Izumi smirked as she removed Shizune's hand from her mouth. "Oh ho! So you're warming up to the idea already, aren't you!"
"N-no! Of course not! I'm just worried he might get the wrong idea." Shizune stammered, while Izumi just responded with a cheeky smile and raised her eyebrows up and down.
"Just hurry up and go in!" Shizune told Izumi before she pulled a grinning Izumi into the room.
At the Namikaze-Uzumaki Household, After Dinner
"Oof! Now that was a good meal! And the best part is that I didn't have to pay for it! Bless those two kind women!" Naruto commented as he opened the door to his house for the first time in months.
He was greeted by the sight of an absolute mess in his house. A stark contrast to how he had left it, which was neatly and in perfect order.
"Looks like you've been doing your chores excellently." Naruto said sarcastically.
"Hehe… oops?" Narumi said as she scratched the back of her head.
Naruto just gave her a stare that said "You're not getting away with that." in response.
"Ummm… I'll clean it all up! Right away! I promise! Watch this!" Narumi quickly told Naruto, to prevent him from nagging.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
10 clones of Narumi suddenly filled the living room.
"Alright clones! Get cleaning! Hurry!" Narumi ordered as she clapped her hands.
They rolled their eyes at her and grumbled as they began to work.
"Great use of the Kage Bunshin, Narumi-chan." Naruto told Narumi, impressed at the lengths she went to be lazy and make up for her procrastination. "You'll be helping them too, right?"
"Umm… of course! I meant to help out from the beginning!" Narumi lied, but fooled no one.
"Right." Naruto replied. "Well then get to it! I'm gonna wash up and try to salvage my room." He then headed towards his room.
Narumi's clones sniggered as they watched Narumi sigh and begin cleaning.
"Oh shut up, you guys. Less laughing and more cleaning!" Narumi ordered.
The clones stuck their tongues out at Narumi, but then went back to cleaning.
When Naruto opened the door to his room, he was shocked by how clean and spotless his room was. There wasn't even any dust anywhere.
'Huh. That's strange.' Naruto thought to himself as his trained eyes scanned the room for clues as to what happened.
'Hmm… the bed is made, but there's a small human frame imprinted on the blanket. The photo of me and Narumi is not in the location where I normally put it, but it's within reach from the bed.'
His eyes went to the trashcan in the room and saw that it had empty bowls of instant ramen inside.
'So Narumi has been using my room. Strange though. She doesn't even keep her own room this clean unless I nag at her.' He wondered.
"Hey nii-chan, the milk carton says it's past its expiry date, but it doesn't smell that bad yet. Should I throw this away?" Narumi asked as she approached him and gave it to him to smell.
Naruto didn't even take the carton before he responded. "Yes. You should definitely throw that away." Naruto replied with a grimace.
"So you've been using my room, eh?" Naruto asked Narumi.
Narumi blushed a little at being caught. "Hehe… well the room reminded me of you, so I used your room a few times. But I kept it clean! I promise I didn't break anything! Oh yeah, except for one of your sealing brushes, but I replaced it! Promise!"
Naruto didn't mind her using his room in the first place, but the reason she used it melted his heart.
"Alright you little rascal, come over here." He told Narumi, who nervously inched closer, wondering what he was going to do.
She was surprised when Naruto gave her a warm hug. "You don't have to worry about using my room, Narumi. And thanks for keeping it so clean."
Narumi responded back by hugging his waist, and leaning her face into his chest, where her eye level was. "You're welcome, onii-chan!" She told Naruto with a giant smile on her face.
After they split from their hug, Naruto came out with Narumi into the living room, and scanned the area.
"Alright, why don't I help you out so we can finish this faster." Naruto offered, and Narumi immediately agreed.
A couple hours later, the house was spotless and neatly organized like Naruto preferred it to be. The two then headed to their rooms to sleep.
Naruto was in his bed, settling in to sleep, when Narumi entered the room with her stuffed fox doll in her arms.
"Nii-chan? Do you think I could sleep in your bed tonight like I used to when I was younger?" Narumi asked shyly.
Naruto smiled. She might be a Genin now, but she'd always be his baby sister. "Sure, why not. Hop on in." Naruto offered as he scooted to make space in his bed.
Narumi grinned and hopped right in. "Hope you don't mind that I brought Kyuubi-chan with me!" She said as she put the stuffed fox doll between her and Naruto.
Naruto chuckled. "Sure, why not. Kyuubi-chan can stay too. Thought I still don't get why you call that Kyuubi-chan when it only has one tail."
Narumi giggled. "Oh you know. Just thought it was a cute name."
She snuggled into Naruto, and fell asleep faster than usual, feeling completely safe and comfortable in her brother's protective arms.
Naruto looked up at the ceiling and drifted off to sleep, feeling completely content. He was glad to be back home, and back with Narumi.
Meanwhile, as the two siblings slept peacefully, one being was not at complete peace.
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT! I'M THE MIGHTY KYUUBI, NOT SOME SNUGGLEBUG!" The Kyuubi roared angrily and defiantly in Narumi's mindscape.
Narumi giggled as she slept. "But it's such a cute name…" She mumbled in her sleep.
*Author's Note*
And that's the end of the chapter! Naruto's finally back in Konoha!
Not a ton happened in this chapter, but that's kind of expected since it's one of those chapters in between arcs. That's what made it a bit tougher to write, but I got to add more Naruto Narumi scenes, and have him have his welcome back party. I'm happy with how it turned out, and I hope you guys enjoyed it as well!
It didn't show up in this chapter, but I want to talk about some of the mechanics of jutsus in my story. For one, I'm going to put a distance limit to the Hiraishin. It's way too broken if he can just zip around to other countries. I'm going to put the limit at how far he can sense. Since he's a very skilled sensor, he'll still be able to go quite a distance, but it'll still have its limits. Expect to see other jutsu that have been tweaked to fit the story. It's an AU, so I think I should have some creative liberty, but I'll try not to make it to the point that it feels wrong.
Lol the abandoning the story thing was a joke. So don't worry.
That being said, in the next week or maybe the week after that, I might have to take a break from writing, due to some circumstances. I'll be back by April at least, and hopefully before that. I'll keep you guys updated in my discord channel.
Anyway, thanks for reading another chapter of the Jinchuuriki's brother! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please leave a review or comment if you did!
Hope you guys all have a great day, and stay safe.
Until next time!