Ch. 29

Tsunade was strolling through the hospital, looking for Kakashi. She had to talk to him about something important, but she couldn't find him. She had checked Naruto's room, but no one was there. She wasn't too surprised. She knew that if Naruto woke up, he wouldn't be able to sit still. That's why she had sedated him. The next logical place to check was Sasuke's room.

She finally arrived at the hospital room and noticed there was a palpable joy in the room. Her eyes widened as she saw Sasuke lying down with his eyes open. "Sasuke?!" Everyone turned to see Tsunade standing in the doorway. After a brief respite, she said, "How are you awake?..."

After a moment of silence, Kakashi decided to try to explain things. He said, "Naruto decided to try to use Yin Yang Release to wake him up…"

Kakashi paused for a second, then said, "Actually, let me explain this another way. It turns out that the Rinne Rebirth jutsu trades the soul of the user to release the souls of the departed. When Naruto tried to save Sasuke, he was able to stop the effects of the jutsu on his body. That's why he remained in great physical condition. However, he wasn't able to completely stop the effects of the jutsu on Sasuke's soul..."

Tsunade looked a little confused and said, "How do you guys know all this?..." Kakashi replied, "Sasuke met the Sage of Six Paths…" Tsunade's eyes widened at that news before Kakashi continued. "He's the one who told Sasuke all of this. It turns out the jutsu was tugging at Sasuke's soul. Naruto couldn't get him back on his own, so the Sage of Six Paths helped…" Tsunade just stood there dumbfounded. She was in a council meeting for a little over half an hour, and so much had already happened. After recovering from her shock, she walked over to Sasuke's bed and gave him a quick look over. He seemed to be in even better condition than he was before.

She took a step back then said, "You look like you're in even better shape than before…" Sasuke just nodded as he wore one of his usual blank stares.

After a few more seconds, Tsunade said, "Fine. You get my clean bill of health." Then her head quickly swiveled to Naruto. "You on the other hand…" Naruto gave an uncomfortable smile, then put both of his hands up in a defensive position and said, "I'm fine, Baa-chan…"

Tsunade froze for a second before quickly regaining her composure. She started to think to herself, 'Something else had to have happened that I don't know about. Naruto doesn't use affectionate names anymore. I can't remember the last time he called me that. On top of that, he seems to be in a good mood. Maybe it's the new jumpsuit… Nah, if he was happy about it, he wouldn't show it… especially since it was Sakura who made it. HOLD ON A SECOND! HE'S WEARING THE NEW JUMPSUIT!'

Tsunade thought about using the jumpsuit to tease Naruto, but she realized she still hadn't found out what had everyone in such a good mood. She would have to save teasing Naruto for later. She started thinking about what could've happened to put everyone in such a good mood. Everyone seemed almost jittery. Like there was an electricity in the air. Not only that, Naruto and Sasuke were silently chatting up a storm. It was actually a little weird to see Sasuke chatting up a storm with someone else like a normal human being. He was always so blank faced and stoic, but somehow, Naruto was one of the few people he could just talk to. She shook her head and gave a small smile before turning to look at Sakura and Shizune. Their conversation looked a little less spirited. Whatever was going on was probably related to Naruto and/or Sasuke.

Maybe Naruto had completely gone back to normal and that's why everyone was so happy...Ok that was a stretch.

Tsunade felt herself getting a headache and thought to herself, 'I'll just ask Kakashi…'

Tsunade stepped outside, then motioned for Kakashi to join her. As he stepped outside, she said in a whisper, "Am I missing something?..."

Kakashi nodded in Sasuke's direction and said, "He's decided to stay in Konoha… indefinitely…" Tsunade's head swiveled to Kakashi as she said, "NANIIIII?!" Kakashi gave a slight smirk and said, "Yeah… I don't know what happened when he met the Sage, but whatever it was… it was enough to make him change his mind…" Tsunade wore a perplexed look as she pondered what may have happened, but before she could think of much more, Kakashi said in a firm voice, "Let's just be glad that whatever happened with the Sage, happened."

Tsunade slowly nodded then said with a smile, "That explains Naruto's chipper mood…" as she looked over to Kakashi.

Kakashi gave a small smile and nodded in agreement. After a short pause, he said in a hushed voice, "I think because we knew he was angry with Sakura, we just assumed that it was the only reason he's been acting so closed off all these years. But based on his attitude since Sasuke's arrival, I think their final battle had an impact on his attitude as well. Since Sasuke's return, he's changed...for the better..." Tsunade nodded in agreement as she looked into the room at Naruto who was being a lot more social than usual.

After a few seconds, Tsunade thought to herself then squinted her eyes at Kakashi. "By the way, when did Sakura give Naruto the outfit she made? Last time I saw her, she looked like she'd never muster up the nerve to give it to him..."

Kakashi paused, then smiled under his mask and said, "I may have given her a leg up…"

Tsunade shook her head and said, "You just can't stop yourself from meddling can you?..."

Kakashi paused for a few seconds, then smiled and said, "Not when it helps people I care about."

Tsunade paused for a second, then gave a small smile. Kakashi used to have this mysteriously dark persona because of his dark past, but that all changed when he started leading the famed Team 7. Leading that team had brought out the light side of him that he had lost so long ago. He had grown to deeply care about them and he was willing to completely break that dark, mysterious persona if it meant helping them. Tsunade was sure that in his heart of hearts, Kakashi considered himself to be something like a father to them.

After a moment of prolonged silence, Tsunade remembered what she had originally come to tell Kakashi. She turned to Kakashi and said, "As much as I want to celebrate Sasuke's return, we have some things to discuss." Kakashi said in a semi-concerned voice, "What happened?..." Tsunade looked into the hospital room and said, "It'll be better if everyone hears. Tell Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura to head to my office. We're going to have a meeting in 15 minutes." Kakashi nodded then walked into the room to relay the information. Tsunade decided to start heading towards her office. Hopefully she could get a swig of Sake before anyone else had arrived.

Shizune stayed at the hospital while Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura headed to Tsunade's office.

As the three journeyed onto the main path, Naruto noticed he was getting passing glances from some of the villagers. Sasuke noticed that he was getting some stares as well. The constant staring of the villagers created an awkward atmosphere between the four. They were staring at Naruto because of his new jumpsuit and they were staring at Sasuke not only because he was the former rogue ninja Sasuke Uchiha, but also because he was Sasuke Uchiha, with white hair.

Sasuke decided to relieve some of the tension by saying to Naruto, "Cool outfit." Naruto looked a little taken aback, but replied with a small smile, "Thanks…"

After a short pause, Sasuke said, "Who made it?..." He was already pretty sure it was Sakura, but he just asked to continue the conversation. As much as he liked silence, the constant staring was getting to him a bit.

Sakura heard what Sasuke had asked and was really hoping that Naruto would just find a way to drop the subject. She felt embarrassed enough as it was. Now Sasuke was about to find out she had made Naruto an outfit...if he hadn't figured it out already.

Naruto gave a small smirk, then nodded in Kakashi's direction and replied, "He said it was a villager that wanted to remain anonymous…" Sakura unconsciously started to slowly nod as she hoped Sasuke would leave it at that. Sasuke gave a small snort as he glanced at Kakashi who was conveniently reading Ichi Ichi Paradise.

Sasuke turned to once again face forward. He thought to himself that Naruto couldn't be that clueless. He had to know Sakura made it... right?...

After a few seconds, Sasuke found himself a little curious as to whether Naruto could really be that dense. He turned to Naruto and said, "So you have no idea who made it?…"

Naruto gave a small snicker and said in a low voice, "I never said that…"

Sakura could feel her face tinge with pink. The two of them were talking like she wasn't even there. This was all Kakashi's fault. If he had let her give Naruto the jumpsuit on her own time, none of this would be happening. She cast Kakashi a death stare. He was still conveniently reading Ichi Ichi Paradise, and looking more enraptured by the second. He wasn't fooling anybody. He'd been listening to the conversation the whole time. Sakura gave him a small eye squint. She'd deal with him later…

Sasuke relaxed a little. At least Naruto wasn't that dumb. Sasuke smirked, then said in a low voice, "If you couldn't figure that one out, you'd be a real dobe…"

"So are you saying you don't really think I'm a dobe?..." said Naruto in an inquisitive, but semi-playful voice.

Sasuke said, "Let me rephrase that. You'd be even more of a dobe."

Naruto turned to Sasuke and let out a sarcastic, "Hahaha…" Sasuke smirked and kept looking forward.

Sakura wasn't enjoying the attention her jumpsuit was getting, but they seemed to be moving away from that topic. As she watched the two converse, she looked at them with a glint of admiration. It was like old times… except for the fact that she wasn't included. That was her own fault though… She slightly dropped her head as she once again remembered why things couldn't go completely back to normal. She was about to lose herself in her thoughts when she heard Naruto say, "I think the villagers like my jumpsuit and your hair…"

Sakura decided to pay attention to the conversation that was about to unfold. It was better than letting her thoughts start beating her up.

Sasuke replied to Naruto with a smirk, "Hopefully it'll be gone soon." Naruto eyes turned into inquisitive circles as he pointed to Sasuke's hair and said, "You mean it won't stay like that?..."

Sasuke said, "With any luck, it'll grow back black instead of gray." Naruto gave a mischievous smile and said, "Afraid that you won't be able to get as much attention from girls if you're hair's gray?..." Sasuke snorted and said, "No, I'll be fine... Let's just be glad you're hair didn't turn gray, I'd be very scared for your future…"

Sakura let out a silent snort while Kakashi lifted his book up to his face to hide his reaction.

Naruto slowly squinted his eyes and turned to Sasuke as he realized what Sasuke was actually saying. A small vein formed on his temple as he said, "Look who died and woke up a comedian…"

Sasuke smirked and didn't say a word.

After a few minutes of walking, Naruto wore a dubious smile and winked at Sasuke. Sasuke looked a little taken aback but just nodded back. He had no idea what Naruto was up to, but he remembered that Naruto winking meant he had some type of weird plan.

After a short while, Sasuke turned to Sakura and gave her a silent stare for a few seconds. As he looked away, Sakura found herself wondering what was going on. Naruto and Sasuke had been talking almost the whole walk, but they suddenly fell silent. Maybe they were planning something.

After a few more seconds of silence, Naruto turned to Sasuke and said, "In all seriousness, do you really think your hair is gonna grow back black?..." Sasuke paused, then said, "I hope so..." Naruto said, "Yeah me too. You look like a grandpa…"

Sasuke smirked as he realized that Naruto was just trying to mess with Kakashi. Kakashi was somewhat sensitive about his hair, so Naruto must be trying to get under his skin to get his head out of that book that he was pretending to read.

Sasuke decided to reply in a serious voice, "Yeah, I do look pretty old, and it's almost like the hair makes me feel older too…"

Kakashi slowly lowered his book so that just his eyes were peeping over the top.

Sakura noticed Kakashi was now paying attention and realized that the two were just trying to get under his skin. Perfect! She had her own issues with him so she'd join in and make sure to make his skin crawl. He was very proud of his hair, and throwing rocks at it indirectly was an excellent way to get under his skin.

She hid her devious expression and said in a carefree voice, "Yeah, you do look old. It'd probably be better if you went bald…"

As soon as she said that, she saw Naruto's cheeks slightly puff up as he tried not to laugh at the mental image of Sasuke being bald. That only made it harder for her not to laugh. Sasuke was struggling as well, but managed to say in as serious of a voice as he could muster, "I think I could actually make bald work…"

Now Naruto and Sakura were trying even harder not to laugh. Naruto's cheeks started puffing out more while Sakura looked away from Kakashi so he couldn't see her struggling not to laugh.

After regaining his composure, Naruto said with a squint of his eyes, "Yeah, going bald might not be a bad idea. White hair sucks. At least if you were bald, you'd be our best bald shinobi…"

A small vein started forming at Kakashi's temple, then Sakura decided to make things worse, "I think Naruto's right. Bald is the way to go. Right now you look as old as Kakashi-Sensei."

Kakashi finally lowered the book down below his chin. He could deal with them constantly bashing white hair in general, but now they had mentioned his name.

He turned to Sasuke and said in as calm of a voice as he could muster, "For the record, I think you're hair looks spectacular, Sasuke… I think going bald would be a little extreme. You could try a variety of styles... I mean, my hair is white and I always get compliments because of how it looks." he said with a hint of pride.

Sasuke smirked at Naruto. Success. Sasuke looked forward as he wore a slight grin, then said, "Those people who complimented you, did they rank below you?..."

As Kakashi let out an annoyed eye squint in Sasuke's direction, Sakura let out a very audible giggle, then Naruto inhaled hard to try not to laugh. It was no use. After a few more seconds, he burst out into laughter. Kakashi looked at him and Sakura who were now laughing, then to Sasuke who was smiling so much that it looked abnormal. Kakashi squinted his one eye, then said, "I see… This was all just a ploy to get under my skin…"

Naruto said in a jovial voice, "By acting like you were reading, you kinda made yourself a target." Naruto turned to Kakashi and said in a mocking voice, "A ninja must be able to see through deception..."

Kakashi said, "Touché" as he realized that everything was simply for fun.

He wore a small smile and said, "Well done…" After a short pause, he smiled and said in a jovial voice, "The bald part was what really got me…"

Naruto let out a chuckle, then said, "That was a good one, Sakura…" Sakura wore a small smile then looked down sheepishly. Things weren't perfect between them, but at least they could talk to each other.

The four continued to talk as they walked down the road. After a while, they finally reached the Hokage's office and walked in. They made their way to Tsunade's office and opened the door to find her already there putting away a bottle of Sake. Kakashi just looked at her with droopy eyes.

She froze for a second, then decided to just wave for them to all come in. They all knew she had her little secret stash anyway.

She sat down behind her desk, then reached under it and pulled out a small box. She placed it on her desk, then said, "We have some things to discuss…"

Author's Note

PLEASE feel free to leave reviews on this story. I do enjoy reading reviews and if I see good ideas as to where the story can go, I do listen to them. Reviews are not only very encouraging but they also help me get better. Be sure to drop a follow and a favorite because I will be updating this story consistently. This story will be completed. Believe it!