Squad 7 Reunites/Big Surprise

Einjeru huffs for breath after training with Anjera and Tenzo. In the village, Kakashi is running Sasuke into the ground in training. With Jiriaya and Naruto taking their time walking back to the village, Naruto says to Jiriaya "Hey Pervy Sage? Why are we taking our time?" Jiriaya laughs and says "We're waiting for a couple of friends to catch up." Naruto groans and hops up in a tree.

Einjeru collapses and says "Aren't we done yet?" Anjera nods and helps Einjeru up. Tenzo sees a messenger bird fly in and goes to see the message. He chuckles upon reading it knowing the levity involved. He comes back and says "Naruto grows impatient waiting for us." Einjeru chuckles and gets ready to head out. Anjera comes up and says "Don't use your mark unless absolutely necessary. Your body still can't handle it."

Einjeru looks down sullenly at her uncovered forearm and pulls her forearm protector and un-fingered glove on her right arm and hand respectively. Tenzo looks at her with a warm, ginger smile, waiting for her to take the first steps towards the Hidden Leaf and a certain blonde. She took her first steps outside the cave that didn't involve having to go to another demonic region and learning about to fight other types of demons.

Sakumo decides to walk back with them under the guise of Shirobuki. Einjeru groans after the lost argument with her mother about him walking with them. Sakumo gives a gentle smile and says "What's wrong with seeing you home?" Einjeru huffs and refuses to speak knowing that she would say something disrespectful. She storms ahead leaving Tenzo to talk with him.

Sakumo smiles sadly and says "Well I don't blame her… I give her more leeway and trust than her own parents… She is stronger than she is given credit for. Because of that she has self-doubt." Tenzo nods and thinks "All that training she put herself through, she never complained, she just did under me and Sakumo, but when it came to her mother, she complained every step of the way." Sakumo looks at him with an inquisitive look and keeps his comment to his self.

The sun is at the highest point in the sky signaling high noon. Tenzo notices Einjeru reach for her fanny pouch and grab some food pills. He walks up to her and says "You know those are for missions right?" She ignores him due to her hunger. He grabs her arm and hands her a protein bar for energy. The words he didn't speak she understood through his facial expressions.

Meanwhile, Naruto hangs in a tree saying "Einjeru is proving to have a worse track record than Kakashi sensei." Jiriaya says "It is a distance. Also, knowing you if you were her, you'd probably be hungry, so in her case, they probably stopped for something." Naruto groans. At this point Shibura came up with a scroll around her neck. Jiriaya takes the scroll and reads it.

He sighs and hands the scroll to Naruto. Naruto reads the scroll and says "Come on! This isn't fair!" Einjeru says the same thing when Tenzo suggests stopping. She then says "Haven't we kept master Jiriaya and Naruto waiting enough? I already can bet he's saying that I'm worse than my father!" Sakumo chuckles and says "He can wait a little more. Your health comes first."

Jiriaya looks at Naruto who starts walking in the direction that Einjeru is supposed to come from. Jiriaya grabs him and gives him a look that was already understood, but all of a sudden a poof of smoke appears and Naruto appears walking in a direction opposite of the Hidden Leaf. Jiriaya looks at Naruto, stunned that he was able to do that at that kind of speed and not be noticed switching out.

Einjeru notices the movement and sighs. "Yup, he definitely thinks that I'm worse than my father… I'm going to kill him." She starts walking again to this time have Sakumo walking by her and Tenzo hanging back. Einjeru sighs and gulps. "You know… Grandpa, I can take care of myself." Sakumo nods and says in a reassuring voice "I know you can my little Silver fang, but there are people and demons that can and will target you. You're of that age now. Not only is the Hatake clans fate resting on your shoulders, but the royal bloodline." She groans and continues onward. "I hate having this conversation. At this point, I would've preferred to be an orphan."

All of a sudden, a certain head of blonde, spiky hair appeared. Einjeru noticed and sniffed the air. Upon catching Naruto's ramen filled scent, she ran up to him excited. Naruto saw a familiar blend of black, silver and purple coming up to him faster than he can react. Before he realized it, he was on the ground with Einjeru on top of him and nuzzling the mark she left.

Naruto looks at her and his eyes widen. Jiriaya comes up and sees Einjeru's figure. "Wow! A lot has changed about since we last saw you! Your figure is a 10!" Naruto jumps up and says "Pervy Sage! No!" Sakumo comes up and Jiriaya cowered. Naruto smiles instantly and points at him. "Shirobuki! It's been a while!" Sakumo nods and expected some sort of a hug. Naruto looks at him confused and Einjeru says, "He's a hugger. When he knows someone he hugs them."

With the height difference, Naruto when he hugged Sakumo in his Shirobuki form, inadvertently picked him up off the ground. Sakumo says "Well you've grown some." Naruto chuckles and sets Sakumo down. Tenzo comes up to them and looks at Naruto in a critical manner. "So… How do you do? We never officially met." Einjeru pales realizing he's using his Yamato persona.

Sakumo then asks Einjeru why she was paling. Einjeru gestured to Tenzo/Yamato. "I know him as senpai or Tenzo. He asks me to call him Yamato in front of others, but it's unbearably uncomfortable." Sakumo nods and stands next to her. "It'll get somewhat better because I have a feeling he'll be leading you and the rest of the team you're on in the future." Einjeru pales even more and Jiriaya notices.

In the village, Sakura was retrieving the pedestrian report for Tsunade. She gets to the main gate and sees Izumo and Kotetsu. "Hey Izumo, Kotetsu. Any news on our shinobi returns?" Izumo shakes his head. "I wish I had some news on Naruto and Einjeru. Kakashi came here earlier as well." Sakura looks at them and shakes her head. "Kakashi sensei was here too?" Kotetsu nods. "He was with Sasuke. It's quite weird, it's been almost nine years since we saw him with one of Jiriaya's books. Thinking about that, around the time he ditched the books was when Einjeru came into his life."

Sakura chuckles and says "Well, thanks for that interesting tidbit. I have to get this back to Lady Tsunade now. See you guys later!" She starts heading towards the hokage tower. At the same time, a certain cat was evading the latest group of genin. Konohamaru and company were nothing but silhouettes in the sun. The cat ended up running into an alley and trapped itself.

Two of the three stood in front of the cat. The boy who was standing there had glasses and had a nasally voice. "Konohamaru. We have the cat in our sight, but I don't know for how long. Hurry!" The girl confers this and Konohamaru jumps down saying "Udon! Moegi! You two worry too much and GOT YOU!" He grabbed the cat to have his face clawed out.

A few minutes later, the trio stands in Tsunade's office giving the brief. Their sensei, Ebisu lectured them about how long it took them to find a lost cat. Konohamaru sat down saying "I already know where this is leading sensei. Kakashi's team seven has the record for the track down of Tora, and how we were supposed to have beaten that already. We're not a five-man team nor do we have two tracking specialists on our team."

Ebisu immediately got on the defensive and says "I wasn't going to say that! You little brats have no idea what it means to be shinobi!" Konohamaru sighs and Tsunade gets ready to assign them to a new mission. Konohamaru flat out rejected it. Ebisu apologized and Sakura came in to give the pedestrian report. Tsunade smiles and says "You three will be given D-Ranks until you beat team Kakashi's record of 20 minutes."

Konohamaru smirks with a definite affirmation. "I will beat team Kakashi's record. I'm going to be 7th hokage someday!" Tsunade nearly spat out her tea. "What about 6th?" Konohamaru laughs and shakes his head. "That's Naruto's!" Sakura smiles thinking, "Naruto did always say he wants to be hokage. I wonder how much he's grown. I wonder what Einjeru has done since her 'death promise' visit."

Tenzo, Jiriaya, Sakumo, Naruto and Einjeru are walking to the village in utter silence. Tenzo pulls Einjeru back and gives her that creepy look. "Look at me and call me Yamato in front of the others." Einjeru instantly averted her eyes and says "I already do, but it's very uncomfortable senpai." He looks at her sternly saying "Call me Yamato. I know I am your senior, but everyone outside of you, Kakashi and ANBU, know me as Yamato."

Einjeru nods saying "Yes Yamato…" He looks at her and makes a wooden wolf. She looks at it and takes it in stride. She goes to catch up leaving Yamato to think "She still has growing to do, but she won't do it alone." As pictures of the people of the leaf that have interacted with Einjeru in a positive way popped in his head he started to move forward saying to himself, "Kakashi senpai, thank you for the chance to raise your daughter as my junior."

Back in the village Kakashi had a sneeze. He continued as though nothing happened. "Is someone thinking of me?" Crossed his mind as he continued doing his mission. Sasuke gives his traditional apathetic demeanor as he followed. They get to the hokage office and give their report. Tsunade looks at them and says "They're coming home today." Sasuke humphs saying "What does that mean for us?"

Tsunade then turns to the window saying "It means your squad will be whole again, and you guys will take proper missions again." Kakashi underneath his calm exterior was excited to see how much Naruto has grown. Sasuke shrugs saying "May I be excused?" In getting the nod, he heads for the door to open it just to see Sakura.

"Oh! Sasuke! How have you been?" Sasuke looks at Sakura, surprised that she didn't squeal or do anything like when they first graduated. He then says to her, "Just a check in with the hokage. I could ask the same of you." Sakura nods saying "I'm the hokage's apprentice. I go around the village assisting her while she works in the office."

Tsunade decided to have the three of them go and greet them when they get close. "You guys will be going to meet them as they get close. I have a feeling Izumo and Kotetsu will attack Einjeru because they don't know what she looks like now. They didn't even recognize her in civilian clothing." Three of them nod.

Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, and Asuma return from a mission. Choji starts off with his famous line "Let's get something to eat." Ino groans and says "This is why you're so Fa…" Her mouth was covered before that last consonant was said. "I'm sorry Ino… Did you say something?" Shikamaru thought to himself, "Even Naruto and Einjeru avoid using that word around Choji. You'd think that Ino would understand that by now." Ino then said "No! Not a word."

Asuma sighs thinking "How these three made it to be chunin is beyond me. I hope Kakashi's team isn't this dysfunctional after being apart for so long." He walks to the hokage tower to give his report. On his way, he saw 3 of the 5 members and said "Those two are due soon huh?" Kakashi nods saying "We're heading to the gate now to receive them. Lady Tsunade is afraid that Izumo and Kotetsu will attack Einjeru because of her appearance change."

Asuma nods and says "Has she really become a mini-you Kakashi?" Kakashi nods saying "In a sense, but not completely." Shikamaru walks up hoping to just talk with Asuma for a few. He sees Sasuke and Sakura thinking "I forgot those two were still gone. Those guys are the ones I like the most."

At this point, Einjeru and Naruto are having a race to the village. "Catch me if you can Uzumaki! At this point you're going to eat my demon dust!" Einjeru laughs getting in reply from Naruto "In your dreams Einjeru!" They get close to the village gate, a cloud of dust behind them. They get to the gate simultaneously, Naruto saying "I won! I won! In your face!" Einjeru shakes her head in the negative saying "This was a draw."

Izumo and Kotetsu immediately recognized Naruto and looked at Einjeru as if she was a foreigner even though she was wearing her hidden leaf headband. Jiriaya, Tenzo and Sakumo came up behind saying "You guys are too quick for your own good." Sakumo chuckles saying "That dust cloud could rival Guy and Kakashi's when they race."

Tenzo then sees Kotetsu and Izumo looking at Einjeru like she was an outsider. He sighs, clearing his throat and says "Einjeru, you need to pull out your ID." She pales, forgetting that her appearance was different than the last time she was seen by most of the villagers that knew her. She wasn't suppressing her chakra like she was on the visit prior, so they know she has shinobi capability. She pulls it out and shows it to them.

Izumo and Kotetsu immediately get on the defensive saying "You have to be kidding me. No way that Kakashi's brat grew like that after two years." Tenzo tenses thinking "This will end badly if Einjeru has to defend herself. Anjera told her to fight every time as if her life is on the line." Naruto looks at Einjeru in a questioning manner, before Sakumo yells out "Get out the way you two!"

As soon as it was yelled out, Einjeru was dodging a fist to her face. She back-flipped with the agility that she was gifted with. "Izumo, Kotetsu calm down. It's me." Kotetsu then says "Oh really? Then tell me where Kakashi's books are!" He comes at her with a kunai and she deflects it with the white light chakra saber. "Is my dad still on that?! I will never reveal the location of those repulsive books!"

Sakumo laughs at that and Tenzo sighs. All of a sudden 4 familiar voices ring out; one of them being Kakashi saying "Stop it! This is not the way hidden leaf acts towards those coming in. Einjeru, put the white light chakra saber away." Upon hearing Kakashi's voice, Einjeru withdrew the white light chakra saber. "I was only defending myself. Izumo and Kotetsu attacked first."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Kakashi sensei! It's true! She was talking with Yamato and Shirobuki!" Sasuke, Sakura and Shikamaru came up trying to piece together why Izumo and Kotetsu were attacking someone like that. Sasuke comes forward saying "This is Einjeru. I'm surprised you guys can't tell the resemblance between her and Kakashi." Sakura comes up with a killing intent similar to Tsunades. Kakashi shakes his head saying "Einjeru, Naruto, get settled into the village. All four of you, meet up at the 7th training ground in two hours."

Naruto and Einjeru nodded in the affirmative, and walked towards their apartment building. Sakura and Sasuke decided to follow them and catch up. With Naruto and Einjeru, they were just walking quietly. It was as if they were in a silent trance that only they could break and summon forth at will. Sakura and Sasuke immediately think to themselves "What has those two so quiet?"

Einjeru sighs internally thinking "I am not going to hear the end of using the white light chakra saber… Oh well." Naruto was having a mental talk with Kurama. All of a sudden, Naruto had a sudden outburst. Einjeru's eyes widened in shock of her internal silence being broken. Sakura and Sasuke look at those two and say "What's up with this?"

Einjeru shakes her head as if silently saying "You don't want to know." She takes an over-exaggerated sigh, continues walking to the apartment and thinks to herself "Naruto must be having an argument about something. His chakra is rushing around his coils." Naruto is trying to calm himself down after his loud outburst.

In his mindscape, Naruto is yelling at Kurama saying "Kurama! What the hell?! You made me embarrass myself in front of everyone!" Kurama gives a deep, hearty laugh saying "I did nothing but state the obvious. Whether or not you take it with a grain of salt or not is up to you. You're the one who can't keep his raging hormones under control. Not to mention that bite that the Hatake brat gave you. It reacts in different ways based on her mood. I'm surprised you didn't notice."

Naruto has a question mark appear on top of his head. Kurama face-paws and says "When she's in pain, your mark burns. When she's near you and happy, a warm sensation washes over. When she's feeling lonely, the mark hurts you like a bruise." Naruto says "So that's why it was warm that day, I saw that girl. That girl was Einjeru." Kurama face-paws again. "Either way, you are dense and need to get sharp again."

At the apartment building, Einjeru unlocked the door to the landlords' apartment, walking in and seeing it as clean as she left, but dusty. She inhales some of the dust and coughs. "Dear Kami dad! Ever heard of dusting the apartment?" Immediately, the window was opened and Einjeru grabbed the duster. "I have 2 hours. No one knows that I learned a transportation technique. I can be at the training grounds in 2 seconds, but this apartment needs serious dusting."

Naruto upon entering his apartment had the same deal with the dusty apartment. "I wonder how Einjeru faired with her space." He sounded like he was hacking up a lung, coughing out the dust from the apartment. "I don't have time to dust and clean right now. Oh well." He looks at the old squad photo and smiles thinking of the fond memory.

An hour and a half passed and Einjeru had finished the dusting to see the squad photo had cracked. Her eyes widened as she knew something of this nature was like an omen. Kakashi came in the door to see Einjeru practically frozen. "Hey pup. What's wrong?" Einjeru's eye twitched as she continued looking. "The squad photo… it's cracked." Kakashi looked and saw it was centered around Sasuke.

Naruto started heading out the door when all of sudden, CRASH! He looks to see the picture of the squad on the floor. "Oh man… The squad photo broke!" He picks it up and sees spider web like cracks surrounding Sasuke. "That's really weird. I wonder if this happened with Kakashi sensei or the others." Kurama sounded off saying "This is an omen brat. Watch your back around the Uchiha."

Kakashi looks at Einjeru and says "Head to the training ground. If Sakura is there, you are to ask her if her picture cracked." Einjeru nods and performs the signs for the teleportation technique. She appeared in the 7th training grounds, and sees Sakura and Sasuke. She walks up to them as if everything is normal and asks Sakura to come with her under the pretense that it was a girl problem.

When they got far enough from Sasuke, Einjeru said to Sakura "I lied. I need to ask you if…" Sakura immediately cut Einjeru off as if she knew what was going to be said. "You're going to ask if my squad photo cracked, aren't you?" Einjeru nodded in the affirmative. She gave a body gesture, expecting Sakura to say more. She took the gesture as a means to continue. "The crack… it was centered around…" She couldn't find the heart to say what needed to and Einjeru sighed in defeat. "Sasuke?" Sakura nodded sadly asking "You too?" Einjeru nodded back and heard an obnoxious blonde coming.

Naruto yelled out to them. "Einjeru! Sakura! Kakashi sensei is waiting on us!" Einjeru nods coming up to him. He whispers "Did your photos crack too?" Einjeru groans thinking "This is really bad." They walk back to Sasuke and Kakashi who immediately looked at Einjeru who nodded back to him. As in a silent understanding, Kakashi continued on as if nothing was going on. "First of all, welcome back to the village Naruto and Einjeru."

Sakura looks at Kakashi, Einjeru and Naruto confused. "Sensei? Why are we here? Isn't something going on?" Einjeru looked at Sakura with a genuine look. As if there was nothing to be mentioned, Sakura looked in Einjerus eyes, curious. Her body gestures basically said "Remain calm, he is aware. Sasuke is not to know. For now, we act as if everything is normal."

Kakashi looks at them, a watchful look in his eye. In his mind he says "Einjeru is making sure damage control is taking place with Sakura through bodily gestures. Sakura seems to be paying attention intently. Naruto is acting like nothing happened meaning Einjeru showed him through actions and Sasuke is completely in the dark. This should be okay." He then says to them "Time for a test!" They look at him like he's nuts.

Sakura then says "What test?! I mean Naruto and Einjeru just returned." Sasuke smirks saying "Another bell test? They're getting old Kakashi." Einjeru laughs at Sakura and Sasuke saying "If they're so old, we should be able to get the bells then, shouldn't we?" Naruto says "We'll get those bells, believe it!" Einjeru thinks to herself "No one has personal interests this time around, so no doubt we'll get them. Let's see how our teamwork has been influenced after two years apart, shall we?"

Kakashi looks at his determined squad saying "The rules are the same as last time. Do anything you can to get these bells away from me. I don't care how. If…" "We don't come at you with the intent to kill, we'll never get them! We got it sensei." Einjeru and Naruto tighten their headbands with smirks on their faces. Sakura pulls her gloves on and Sasuke readies a kunai.

"What are we waiting for!" Naruto charges in throwing kunai, which were immediately deflected by Kakashi. Naruto ends up jumping into the air to have kunai coming at him. He makes a shadow clone to pull himself out of the way and lands on the ground with shadow clone transforming into a demon wind shuriken. Einjeru's eyes widened as Kakashi got behind Naruto, one hand holding Narutos hands which were holding the demon wind shuriken, and the other hand holding a kunai to the back of Naruto's neck.

Kakashi smiles thinking "His strategical mindset has improved and his transformations too." He then says "Did you inherit some impatience while you were gone? I thought Einjeru was impatient." Her face immediately got red and she was about to kick him when he said "Scatter!" Kakashi disappeared and Naruto said "Where did he go?!"

Einjeru snarled saying "Damn it… A shadow clone…" She sniffs the ground to see if she could pinpoint where the real Kakashi was. Sasuke says "How's the sense of smell working?" Einjeru eventually said "I'm not picking u-u-a-ah-choo! Oh man…" Naruto walks up and says "Cold?" He got a nose wipe in return. Sakura then says "If it's a cold, I could try and relieve the pressure in your nose so you don't sneeze so much."

Einjeru smiled and said in a nasally voice, "It's very much appreciated. I never got a chance to ask, but how was training under Lady Tsunade?" Sakura immediately put her hand over Einjeru's nose and a green healing chakra manifested. Upon feeling the pressure relieved, Einjeru took a deep whiff. "Mm mm… Cherry blossoms." Sakura chuckled and removed her hand.

Naruto comes up close saying "Now what?! Kakashi sensei is nowhere to be found!" Einjeru put her hand up like Kakashi would when he signals them to be quiet on missions. She took another whiff and caught his scent coming from the trees. "Sasuke, can you check to make sure it's not a genjutsu?" She got a "Hn," while he triggered his sharingan.

Kakashi from the trees thought "Einjeru isn't putting all of the eggs into the basket of her sense of smell. She's using Sasuke's sense of sight to back it up. They have gotten the bells from me before. It's time to up the ante." He starts to use the Demonic Illusion genjutsu on Einjeru wondering what her worst fear was. "I know she had some pretty bad ones, but what's her worst?"

A flash of leaves rushed around Einjeru. Upon the leaves disappearing, she noticed everyone gone. "Where'd everyone go?" Naruto and Sakura look at her funny and Sasuke said "She's under a genjutsu." Naruto then says "Why can't we break her out of it?" Sasuke then says "She's perfectly capable of breaking it herself, but she has to realize it first."

Einjeru starts walking around and sees her worst nightmares flash before her eyes. "No… This isn't real." She puts her hands together in a seal to break the genjutsu. She forced a large amount of chakra out to break Kakashi's hold. Upon breaking it, she noticed that she broke out in a cold sweat. Kakashi from his hiding place nods saying "So that nightmare is her worst fear. The nightmare that had her restless and ragged. Yikes."

Naruto came up to her and says "You know where sensei is?" Einjeru whispered in his ear and told him to pass it to Sakura and Sasuke. "That's evil, even for you Einjeru." "That wolf of a father is going to get a massive amount of fangs for making me live out that nightmare!" She leaked out a volatile amount of killing intent. Sakumo who was watching with Tsunade thought "This is her real killing intent. Kakashi really screwed up using that genjutsu."

Being as sneaky as she was, she had a vial of Kakashi's blood hidden in case she needed it. She now needed to wait for the smell of blood to fill the air. Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke were deep in the forest and surrounding the area where he was. Naruto defying the plan due his impatience, charged in with a kunai in hand. Sasuke sighs and goes in after.

Sakura remains hidden and Kakashi chuckles saying "Shinobi battle skills rule number one: taijutsu." Einjeru hears that, plus the hits landing and said to herself "Oh dear… Dad must be really serious about this one. He was like this when I was still in the academy." She dashes towards the forest knowing that her plan would have to wait. Sasuke, sharingan ablaze, was blocking like no one's business.

Einjeru gets near Sakura and says "Why aren't you helping?" Sakura says "I guess the plan is off?" Einjeru nods and says "Dad is going at us hard. I'll have to hold off on my little revenge plan for now." As soon as that was said, Naruto came flying into the trees. "Sakura…Einjeru… We could use a little help." Sasuke was holding off for the most part. "Ready to join the fight Sakura?" A silent plan was made to help and relieve Sasuke.

Kakashi pushes Sasuke backwards and Sakura comes down from above with a chakra-infused fist. Sasuke gets out of dodge leaving Kakashi to think "If that even touches me I'm done." He jumps up just before she makes contact with him. She punches right through a tree. All the guys look at her with the comical anime white eyes of fear. Einjeru smirks and says "Nice Lady Tsunade, you made a junior you. Now it's time for me to continue the plan."

Einjeru body-flickers near Kakashi, ready to use the wolf style. Kakashi landed in the open thinking "Now where's Einjeru? She's been hiding too long. This isn't like her." Upon completing that thought, Einjeru appeared on cue. She says in a cheeky tone "Did you miss me?" "Not by a longshot pup. Also, you have a long way to go if you're going to get me off guard." All of sudden, poof. A shadow clone pops and out comes Einjeru with one of her hands transformed.

Kakashi's visible eye widened in surprise. Einjeru's extended hand managed to graze his mask before he kicked her, putting some distance between them. Her feet grinded against the dirt before she came to a stop holding a scrap of his mask. Both of them smirked at each other before Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke came out. Looking at the four of them, Kakashi then said with confidence while revealing his sharingan, "Shinobi Battle Skills Rule number 2: Ninjutsu."

From the sidelines; Jiriaya, Sakumo, Shizune and Tsunade watched in amazement when Einjeru got a piece of his mask. Jiriaya says to Sakumo "Shirobuki? What did you do to her? She's able to graze Kakashi now." "Sorry master Jiriaya. Clan secrets. Can't reveal them." Shizune then says "Well 2 years seems like a lot more if Einjeru can keep up with Kakashi as much as she is." Jiriaya and Sakumo replied, "You have to remember Shizune, both Naruto and Einjeru have the ability to use shadow clones to their fullest extent. So in their case, 2 years is actually a lot more with shadow clones."

Sakura, Sasuke, Einjeru and Naruto face Kakashi intently and Einjeru notices a little scratch on Kakashi's face. She smells blood and smirks. She pulls out a scroll and the vial of blood saying "Keep him busy." Naruto uses the Gale Palm to put some distance between them and Kakashi. Sasuke then comes up with an idea and says "Naruto! On my signal, use the Gale Palm again." He started to flash through the signs for the fireball jutsu. "Fireball jutsu! Now Naruto!" As soon as the Gale Palm came into contact with the fireball jutsu, the field became a raging inferno. Kakashi had flashed into the trees, with Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke chasing after.

Einjeru at this point smeared the blood on the scroll and was waving it around like a ribbon dancer. "Dad, meet the rest of my ninken pack." She wrapped up the scroll and started weaving the signs for the Earth Style: Summoning: Fanged Pursuit jutsu. When finished she slammed the scroll on the ground and let the markings from the scroll flow into it.

With Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke, they were managing to keep Kakashi at bay. "What's keeping Einjeru? She's had more than enough time to prepare!" Naruto said before a rumble was heard underground. 8 ninja hounds including Shibura and Raito popped out from the ground, restraining Kakashi. Einjeru walked up with a smug look on her face saying "Did you miss me again?" All eyes were on Einjeru at this point.

Naruto looks between Kakashi and Einjeru saying "I know I saw this jutsu before." Sasuke then says "Kakashi used this technique during our first mission outside the village. However, the dogs are different this time." Sakura looks and says "Shibura is among them." Einjeru nods and looks at Kakashi expecting him to say something.

"I see you've learned this jutsu, but how did you learn to manipulate earth style?" Einjeru chuckled and said "Silly dad, did you forget about my ANBU guardian?" Said ANBU was in the trees watching as Einjeru continued saying "Since I've rendered you unable to move we could just take the bells, but that would be too easy. Oh no, I have plans that involve Master Jiriaya's latest book." She disburses her ninken and calls Naruto over to her.

Kakashi slumps over and says "Fair enough, but you have very little time left." They all look at the position of the moon in the sky. "Shit! Going to have to pull this off rather quickly." Naruto starts screaming out all of a sudden. He then curled up in a ball like he was being kicked. Einjeru thought "Naruto's worst fear was getting caught by the villagers and beaten… Doesn't dad know any other genjutsu?" She puts up a one-handed seal and says "Release!" Tapping Naruto on the shoulder and pushing the chakra into him.

He relaxed and looked at Einjeru saying "I fell prey to Kakashi sensei's jutsu didn't I?" The whole time that Einjeru was scheming and tending to Naruto; Sakura and Sasuke were going at Kakashi hard. Kakashi used the water dragon jutsu to have it deflected by Sakura using a water wall. Sasuke then used the fireball jutsu to create steam and mask their presence.

Naruto and Einjeru finalized their plan of using the latest installment of the Make-out series to force Kakashi into submission. Einjeru thought back to the returning journey to the village.

Flashback:

Naruto and Einjeru were walking ahead of their three guarding companions, talking about what happened since they last saw each other. All of a sudden, Einjeru finds herself walking into a red haori and finding a giant, meaty hand on her head. She looks up and sees Jiriaya. "Is there something you wish to say, Master Jiriaya?"

Jiriaya in his boisterous manner starts off saying "I am aware you hid your fathers' books, but since he read through all of them already and has been awaiting a new book; I thought I'd just rub it in your face that I just finished the latest Make-out book: Make-out Tactics!" Einjeru immediately sighs and takes the book, putting it in her weapons pouch.

Jiriaya was surprised by the behavior. "I thought you'd throw it away." Einjeru shrugs and says "I think it was dad's way of coping. When I came into his life, his mind was a mess… Part of it you already know master Jiriaya." He looks at her. "So you do know about that?" A nod was noticed by Jiriaya, and Einjeru was giving subtle hints without saying everything. "I saw his old squad photo. He would tell me that he was a worse prick than Neji Hyuuga. He also said that it was a reminder of his past mistakes, and that he would never forget them as long as he lived."

Jiriaya chuckles and says "His sensei left a long lasting legacy with Kakashi. Also his birthday is coming up. What are you going to do?" Einjeru pulls out a mini calendar and notices that it was the day before Kakashi's birthday. "I think he'll just be happy that I'm back home in the leaf. What'll be even better? Kicking his butt and giving him this book."

Presently:

They went over immediately as they heard an explosion coming from that direction. Once they got over there, Kakashi chuckles saying "Shinobi Battle Skills rule number three: Genjutsu." Einjeru rolls her eyes and pulls out a green book. Kakashi notices the title and the call-card symbol of the 'do not do x, y, z' "I don't believe this. This is the weakest mind trick I ever seen Einjeru. Don't tell me I need to put you back with Ibiki. Release!" Unfortunately for him, the book didn't disappear.

Einjeru and Naruto smirked. "So dad… Master Jiriaya gave me this book to tantalize you with. In your face!" Naruto grins evilly. "Check this out Kakashi sensei! I was the one proof-reading the manuscripts, so I know every juicy detail. It turns out…" A certain silver haired jonin started to flip. "No! Spoilers!" He covers his ears and still ends up reading Naruto's lips. "No! With the sharingan, I can read his lips!" He then clinched his eyes shut and curled up in a ball.

Sakura and Sasuke swooped in grabbing the bells with a questioning look on their face. Naruto chuckles while Einjeru slipped the book into his pouch whispering into his ear, "We didn't read it. Happy birthday dad." Naruto at the same time said to Sasuke and Sakura, "I never got past page one. I have no clue what it says!" They all started laughing at Kakashi's expense.

Eventually, said silver-haired ninja got up and walked over to them and says "You guys got the bells using a cheap shot, but you guys have proven to be able to work together after all this time. Your jutsu arsenals have improved and so has your planning skills. Congratulations." Einjeru chuckles and says "Don't reveal such an obvious vulnerability then. It feels good to be back home."

Tsunade, Shizune, Jiriaya and Sakumo come out from their vantage point. Sakumo smiles thinking "Anjera, she's grown. She can hold her own against Kakashi." Jiriaya looks at Naruto and Einjeru thinking "What a couple of evil brats for doing that. As a shinobi you have to be prepared though." Tsunade gave a smile saying "This little test just showed me that you guys can be a squad again. The chunin exams take place in the leaf in six months. I'll be sending you guys on missions to prepare you, but for now welcome home Naruto and Einjeru."

All of them looked at each other and Kakashi says to them "The days of sensei and student will be coming to an end soon. We will soon be looking at each other as equals." Naruto smiles saying "Who's up for some Ichiraku ramen!" Einjeru said "As much as I love that ramen… I haven't eaten any kind of meat in 2 years. I want BBQ." Sakura and Sasuke look at her scrupulously. Kakashi looks at Sakumo thinking "What has she been eating?"

Sakumo gestures for Kakashi to follow him and they went to a wooded area. "Kakashi, we were expanding her palate a little. Anjera didn't really eat meat and was trying to get Einjeru to look into other sources of food. I did sneak her in some, but it was only a teaser to what she wanted. We all know that her inner wolf dominates her appetite." Kakashi shakes his head saying "Well the BBQ restaurant is going to be shut down for a few days. When she wants it, she eats more meat than Choji." Both of them gave a sad laugh. "As much as I'd love to see her eat that much, I told Anjera that I'd be back after Einjeru's test."

Kakashi nods and the two of them walk back over to the four teenagers who were still debating, but it started turning into a fight. Naruto keeps saying "I want ramen…" Einjeru snarls saying "I want meat damn it!" Sakura says "BBQ is healthier when you think about it." Sasuke says "You have ramen on the brain, I'm surprised you grew as much as you did." Naruto then said "What? I didn't hear you."

Two of them had their collars yanked on by Kakashi saying "You two are as feisty as usual. You two are coming with me to see Shirobuki off." Einjeru didn't argue, but her stomach growled. "I'm hungry…" Naruto's stomach went off again. "Ramen… I want… Ramen…" Sakumo smiles and says "You'll eat soon you two, but I need to go home. You guys are my favorite people." Einjeru sighs saying "Alright Shirobuki, but promise me that you and Kuroko are coming to the chunin exams."

Sakumo smiled and said "We wouldn't miss it. Just make it to the third test so we have something to brag about." They all started heading near the main gate to see him off. Before leaving, he handed Einjeru a scroll and said "Open it." Upon doing that, she noticed a blood seal. She nicked her thumb and let a few drops of blood drop on it. A sword appeared and Sakumo said "No one else noticed the difference with the sword, but I'm pretty sure you did Einjeru."

Einjeru looked at him saying "The chakra wasn't blazing a trail." Sakumo chuckled and said "Yeah, I broke the blade when you were sleeping a few days ago to make a better sword. Take a look at the handle." She looks at the intricate black and silver designs and looked at the tail of it. The braiding of the tail led to a silver colored fang. Upon looking at it closely, she noticed that it was the first fang that she lost. "Shirobuki… How did you?"

Kakashi chuckled and said "I'm curious about that." Sakumo said "I wanted something to signify that it was yours. I did call you little Silver Fang after all. What better way to say it than a silver fang? I know people that can cast whatever you want in anything." Einjeru smiled saying "Thanks. I won't let anything happen to it." "The sword has more added properties that you'll discover in time. Now give me a hug." Sakumo got a big squeeze and he whispered in her ear. "Never give up my little Silver Fang." He grabs the necklace from her neck and replaces it with a new one. "I used the second fang you lost for this necklace. Like before, your necklace and the sword react with each other." He got a nod in return before she let go and whispered. "I'm going to miss you, grandpa."

Sakumo starts walking away and Kakashi says to Einjeru "What are you going to do with the old sword?" She hands it to him saying "It was originally yours, so I guess I give it back to you." Her stomach growled again and she said "I believe we told Sakura and Sasuke to meet us at the BBQ restaurant." They head over there to see the two in question outside.

They all go in to hear a massive "SURPRISE! Welcome home you two!" Shikamaru and Choji were in the front saying "I heard the rumors that you two had grown, but seeing it for myself, it's hard to believe." Einjeru then says to Choji "I challenge you to an eating contest Akimichi!" Choji chuckles saying "You're on Einjeru!" Everyone looked at those two and the staff said "Time for the contest platters."

They sit down in front of the grills and the staff said "For the rules; no eating off each other's platters, you have to signal with two fingers if you can't continue with the platter, and if you both finish; it's whoever finished first without throwing up that wins. Ready? Start!" Einjeru grabbed the first type of meat and filled the grill to the edge. Choji grabbed different types of meat to fill the grill.

Naruto and Sakura were cheering loud saying "Win us that free food Einjeru!" Sasuke shakes his head thinking "She's highly competitive and hungry. There's no doubt that this will be close." Ino decided that she'd try to outclass Sakura by shouting louder. "Come on Choji! Show this brat how eating BBQ is done!" Shikamaru groans internally. "What a drag… I can't decide who to root for. These guys are both friends."

Einjeru turned her meat and said "How are you doing Choji?" Choji was stuffing meat in his mouth and piling more onto the grill. "I'm doing great! You should hurry up though." "Uh Choji… You're going to make yourself sick like this." She picks up her meat and eats it. "Mmmm…" She set the next type of meat on the grill and burps loudly. Everyone looked at her in a surprised fashion. "Excuse me…"

An hour and 30 minutes have passed since the first pieces of meat had been eaten, and both of them have a little bit of meat left on their platters. Einjeru has some ribs left and Choji has an assortment of chicken, beef and pork. She placed her last pieces on the grill and patiently waited. All the shouting had died down due to the three who were losing their voices. The BBQ staff noticed this and said "You guys are the only two that have made it to the near end point in this. Already Einjeru has put the final pieces of her platter on the grill, and shows no signs of throwing up. Choji is not that far behind, but his recklessness and halfway cooking the meat is catching up with him."

Choji starts looking a little green and Einjeru looks at him, concerned. "Choji… Did you undercook your chicken?" Choji nods and continues cooking the food. Einjeru polishes off her food and smiles sadly. "Choji, you're giving yourself food poisoning… You need to stop." Choji finishes and says "Great contest Einjeru!" Einjeru smiles in a satisfied fashion. "It was. Thanks for entertaining the friendly competition." Choji nods and says to Ino and Shikamaru, "Don't we have a mission tomorrow?" He got a nod in return and they headed home.

Sakura says "Lady Tsunade wants to see us first thing tomorrow. Shall we meet at training ground seven like always?" Einjeru nods and says "Expect me to be late. I need to drop some flowers at the memorial stone, plus I'm going to fight with my dad to get him there." Naruto says "Why don't we meet up at the memorial stone then." Sasuke nods.

Einjeru says "Sounds like a plan. I'll see you guys at the memorial stone tomorrow at 7:30." They all part ways and head to their respective homes to rest after a long time. Einjeru upon getting into her bedroom fell onto her bed without changing her clothes. A faint snore can be heard coming from her room. Kakashi was walking around in a pair of baggy pants and a form-fitting shirt and heard the snores. "Well… This is the fastest I've seen her fall asleep. She must have eaten a lot. Well I better get some rest."

He heads off to bed and lays there thinking of Obito, Rin and Minato. "Minato sensei… Naruto has grown so much and so has Einjeru. I wonder how you would feel about her. I could only imagine Kushina sensei doting over her. I wonder what Obito would think of his goddaughter." Naruto in his apartment sneezes as well as Minato in the reapers belly. Kushina wherever her spirit lies, giggles saying "Someone is thinking about me. I wonder who." In a dark cave, Obito gets a strange feeling and lays down on the lone bed with the aptly called swirly and white zetsu watching him.

Sasuke gets into his apartment and takes a shower. Orochimaru's voice rings in his head saying "You'll come seek me out Sasuke." Sasuke shakes his head. "I need to talk to Lady Tsunade. This hasn't gone away since the chunin exams 2 years ago. The only one who was promoted was Einjeru and even now that promotion is considered special chunin." He goes to lay down and the curse mark pulses. His body convulses in pain.

Sakura comes in to her parents saying "You're late again Sakura. It's also your turn to do the laundry." She shakes her head saying "I know, but I have to meet up with Team Kakashi first thing tomorrow. Our test took longer than expected and we decided to celebrate Naruto and Einjeru's homecoming with a little BBQ." Her father chuckles saying "Nothing says welcome home like a good meal. Well it's good that you are able to enjoy some time with your team. You should rest, I'll take care of it." Sakura smiles and says "Thanks, but leave it for tomorrow. I'll take care of it then."

Naruto lays down in bed after clearing the dust out of his apartment and having a cup of instant ramen. "It's not like Ichiraku, but it's still ramen." He looks at the squad picture again and thinks about Sasuke. "I hope he's doing okay… This crack makes me feel uneasy."

The moon shines in all of the windows of the hidden leaf. Its' beautiful glow highlighting the next generation, as if someone above is watching over them, preparing them to take their places in the future. However, it doesn't seem like they're going to be ready in 24 hours. In the hidden sand however, a treacherous action begins to take place, and the kazekage is going to have to rely on the hidden leaf to help.