Make Believe
Chapter one
by evil-mittens
Two figures raced swiftly through the forest jumping off branches. Moon beams weaved through the leaves, leaving them a pale complexion. When they finally stopped, they were on top of a hill looking over a small village. Even in the dark, they could make out the monuments of the past Hokages. Lights sprinkled across the village, making it look magnificent.
"It really has been too long has it, senpai?" whispered the 19-year-old kunoichi.
"It has been," agreed the tall, well-built shinobi. It has been three years since they have left the village of Konoha, and four years since the split of team seven.
Suddenly, a warm gush of wind interrupted their thoughts. It seemed like a good sign. The shinobi's wispy silver hair wavered. 'Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea to come back here,' he thought. He looked over at his pink-haired friend. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of the village. 'I guess she doesn't think so…'
A million of flashbacks clouded her mind. 'I knew it was a bad idea coming back here' she thought in frustration. Four years ago she wouldn't dare to think of leaving Konoha, but four years was a long time ago. She has mature over the years and worked hard to gain acceptance as a true shinobi from her former sensei. 'I'll show them,' she thought darkly. The pair slowly made their way down the hill, kicking the snow with heavy thoughts.
Silence passed between the as minutes ticked away. The copy-cat ninja took out his Icha Icha Paradise and started reading it, but all he could hear were their footsteps and the wind blowing softly in his ear. He glanced at the kunoichi in surprise, usually; she would kick him very hard in the shins, leaving him pain for days. He chucked remembering how he had to hobble around for days, his leg bruised and battered.
A soft voice broke through his thoughts, "What's so funny?"
"Oh, nothing," he lied.
"Good, we're nearing the village. Oh, and Kakashi? You might want to put away that book before I burn it." Kakashi quickly shoved his precious book into his back pocket. 'She never used that one before…'
They reached the village gates, a voice rang out from above, "Who goes there?"
"Hatake Kakashi and Haruno Sakura," Kakashi replied in a lazy voice. There was silence; they heard a big thud and many footsteps.
"Open the gates," someone commanded. The gates opened, a group of young chuunins rushed down with a tall jounin.
"Your passes?" asked the tall jounin. Kakashi and Sakura took out their passes and showed them their passes; the jounin looked impressed.
"Inform the Godaime of their arrivals," he ordered. A chuunin quickly rushed off to the Hokage building. "You may enter," he told them. They stepped through the village gates for the first time in three years. A sudden cloud of smoke revealed the skilled chuunin and two jounins.
"The Godaime has been informed; she'll be waiting in her office." The two jounins escorted them to the office; their arrival was already spreading through out the village like a wild fire.
Somewhere in the village, a sleepy blonde was disturbed by rapid knocking at his door. He staggered to the door, but before he had a chance to open it, the visitor pushed it open, slamming him in the face. "Naruto-kun, they're back!"
Meanwhile, somebody else was else was informed of Kakashi and Sakura's return. "Sir, Hatake and Haruno have returned to the village."
"So Hatake Kakashi has finally returned. Well…" he drawled. "I think it's time to finish this game."
Sakura and Kakashi climbed up the stairs towards the office. When they finally reached the Godaime's office doors, the doors threw open and the two were engulfed in a hug.
"Tsunade-sama…" Tsunade finally let go of the pair and ushered them inside the office. Paper and books were all over the place. A big cup of coffee stood on top of the stuff on the desk.
"Sit down." The pair looked at the chairs she gestured to; paper and folders were all over them.
"Ano…"
"Just push them on the floor," Tsunade shrugged, "I'll get some genins to clean it up." Sakura and Kakashi looked eyed each other, and carefully pushed the stuff onto the floor.
"You two look well," Tsunade commented. "How did the training go?"
"Very well, I believe Sakura's ready to become a jounin," answered Kakashi. "No, scratch that, she's ready to become an ANBU," he finished firmly. Tsunade blinked several times, and looked at him blankly.
'Stupid Kakashi, we agreed that we would tell her the ANBU thing later…' Sakura thought in annoyance.
Tsunade raised her eyebrows in surprise, "ANBU? Isn't that a bit too soon?" She waved her arms around, "She's not even a jounin yet!" Tsunade looked at Sakura sharply. "Are you sure you're ready to become an ANBU?"
"She's ready," Kakashi said in a bored tone.
Tsunade glared at the famous one-eyed Sharingan user, "I wasn't asking you Kakashi."
"Yes, I am ready Tsunade-sama," answered Sakura.
Tsunade's eyebrows furrowed as she thought about this. "Fine," she finally said. "We'll put you in the next ANBU exam, Sakura. It's in two weeks, so be ready," she gave a small smile. "You'll make a great addition to our ANBU team."
"Thank you Tsuande-sama." Sakura gave a small sigh in relief. For a moment, she wasn't sure if the fifth Hokage would agree. That old fart Kakashi had to piss her off.
"Kakashi, you should learn from your pupil! She's so well behaved and you're just…"
"Kakashi?" a voice finished off Tsunade's statement.
"Exactly! You're still that lazy, always late hentai! You were supposed to return to the village 1 year ago!" Tsuande exclaimed. She looked at the door to find Maito Gai standing there with his loyal subordinate, Rock Lee by his side.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow at his 'rival'. "Gai," Kakashi said coolly.
Gai surveyed Kakashi before giving a curt nod. "Kakashi, I, the great and famous amazing shinobi Maito Gai, challenge you, Hatake Kakashi, the coward to a great battle! You will be the loser," Gai said boastingly, pointing his finger towards Kakashi. 'I swear that he's going to be the loser. If not, I'll run seventy laps around Konoha and do two hundred and ten push ups.' "It's time to finish this silly game," he drawled.
"You suck at acting; it's making my ears bleed." Kakashi quickly moved to the side as his furious rival tried to attack him. Gai sailed over the desk and landed face to chest with Tsunade's big chest. Tsunade looked down, her eyes narrowed until they were tiny slits. With a swift punch, Gai went sailing over the desk again and smacked into the wall next to his faithful student Lee.
"He'll be out for a few good hours." Tsunade looked at Lee and gestured to Gai. Lee's lips trembled as Tsunade glanced at him; he looked down at his beloved mentor and quietly heaved Gai outside and closed the door.
"As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, the exam is in two weeks. Now, you two must be very tired, I'll find you a place to stay. Unfortunately your apartments have been rented out quite a long time ago, so we'll have to find you a temporarily one to stay in right now. Come, we'll see what Shizune found for you." Tsunade walked out of the door, and motioned Kakashi and Sakura to follow. They were pleased to see that Shizune found a nice apartment with two rooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and a small living room. Sadly there wasn't any furniture in it.
Tsunade rubbed her nose in annoyance, "You'll have to sleep on the floor tonight until you can buy furniture tomorrow. Here's the key, and here's the address. I'll see you here in five days at eight o'clock to overview Sakura's status. You are dismissed."
The pair walked down the winding stairs, until the reached the general floor. Suddenly a blob of sun-kiss hair flashed by and knocked Sakura down from the behind. 'What the hell…' "SAKURA-CHAN!" Naruto gave her a tight hug and broke out into a big grin. "I can't believe you're finally back! Obaasan said you should have come back a year ago! He paused and thought for a moment, his eyebrows furrowed in worry, "Sakura-chan! Are you becoming another Kakashi?!?!"
Sakura looked at Kakashi, "I actually wasn't aware that we were supposed to return last year." Everyone turned their heads towards Kakashi. "Heh heh, I thought I told you. It must have slipped out of my mind, when we were helping that old lady in Snow Country." He scratched his head and his eyes crinkled as he gave a smile.
The pink hair Kunoichi snorted, 'it "slipped" out of his head.' "Naruto, how did you know we came back so fast?"
The blonde shrugged. "Everyone knows; it's spreading around the village faster than the flu can spread. I was upstairs, looking for you; did I just hear that you're gonna sleep on the floor tonight?? You can always stay with Hinata and I, we have plenty of room."
The pair of newly arrivals looked at each other. "We'll be okay; we've been sleeping in the dirt a lot for the pass three years anyways." Kakashi shrugged, "it's no big deal."
Naruto gave them a worry look, Sakura quickly changed the subject. "Where is Hinata?" She looked around, but she couldn't spot the raven haired girl anywhere.
Naruto gave them a funny look. "Ano… she's outside, she didn't want to interrupt the meeting." Kakashi and Sakura exchanged amused looks.
"Ne, let's go find her and go for ramen. I haven't eaten Konoha's famous Ichiraku ramen for three years!" exclaimed Sakura enthusiastically. Naruto looked at Sakura in shocked, wondering how she could actually not eat their ramen for so long. His expression quickly changed, "Let's go then!"
The trio walked out to find the Hyuuga heiress standing there. "Sakura-chan! K-Kakashi-san! Welcome back!" Hinata gave both Sakura and Kakashi a hug.
Naruto walked over to Hinata and gave her a quick kiss. "Let's go for ramen, they haven't eaten at Ichiraku for three whole years!"
Hinata nodded, "Naruto, you can only have three bowls."
Naruto had a shell-shocked expression, "only three?!?!"
Hinata shrugged, "that or none for the rest of the month." Naruto's mouth hung open like a gaping fish. He thought it through and finally nodded.
Sakura and Kakashi exchanged glances. 'Naruto sure changed a lot; he's a lot more mature than before.'
Naruto kicked a pebble into a garbage can. "AHAHAHAHA! SCOREEEEE!!!" Hinata gave him an irritated look before mumbling something to herself.
Sakura shook her head, but then again, something's never change. They walked into the famous ramen bar and ordered. They ate and chatted within themselves. While waiting for Naruto to finish his third and last bowl of ramen, they were interrupted with a sudden shriek. Standing at the doorway was Sakura's long best friend Yamanaka Ino and her boyfriend Nara Shikamaru.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE BACK!! WHY DIDN'T YOU WRITE TO ME FOREHEAD GIRL?!" Everyone backed away from the overly loud, happy girl.
"Ino, we can hear you perfectly fine, there's no need for you to break our eardrums." Shikamaru mumbled something that seemed to be "mendou kuse," and sat next to the red-eye genius.
"Excuse my boyfriend, he just got his PMS. So Sakura, what did you do for the last three years? Tsuande said something about training I think… but still! How could you not write to me?! I thought you were dead or something!"
Sakura laughed, "It's nice to see you too Ino." Meanwhile, as the girls talked, a certain lazy shinobi was complaining softly to the other lazy ex-ANBU.
"Jeez, how many times do I have to tell Ino not to be so loud? Women are so troublesome; I don't even know why I decided to go out with her in the first place."
Kakashi nodded in agreement, "I know, I had to live and train with Sakura for three years."
Naruto spoke suddenly in a rather loud voice, "I know what you mean! Women are so bitchy when they have their PMS, they want this and that. What's the big deal anyways?" Shikamaru and Kakashi looked at Naruto in horror.
Ino advanced on Naruto; her eyes glinted, in not a good way. She raised her clasped knuckles. "Sorry Naruto-kun, care to repeat what you just said?"
Naruto's eyes widened as Ino, Sakura, and surprisingly an angry Hinata began to walk towards him. There was a definite POW that echoed around the small ramen booth.
Naruto groaned as his hands immediately clasped over his eyes. He gingerly patted his burning eyes. That one hit stung like hell. Naruto looked through his blurry good eye. The woman in Ichiraku nodded approvingly. Did he really say that, that loud? Naruto got up, swaying slightly to his right side and stumbled out the door; his ramen was left unfinished.
The other customers in the Ichiraku began to diminish slowly. The five were still chatting animatedly. They had a lot to catch up on.
The old man at the ramen bar wiped his hands on his apron. "The restaurant is closing now, I suggest you five to leave soon," he said with a big heave.
They slowly got up, tidying their coats and scarves. "Sakura, Kakashi, why don't you stay over at my house for a few days, until you get all the furniture in your apartment." Hinata suggested. "It can be a little sleepover or something."
"Can I come? We haven't had a sleepover since forever!" asked Ino eagerly. Shikamaru shuffled a bit, grumbling at Ino's loud voice.
"We have an important mission tomorrow Ino. We have to leave the village by three o'clock sharp. We should go home and rest."
Ino sighed in annoyance, she had forgotten about their mission tomorrow. She had such a good time. "Fine, but when we get back, you guys better have another sleepover and invite us! Shika-kun, let's go home." They said their good-bye's and walked away.
"Do they live together now? I never would have thought Shika and Ino would be an item. Ino's so… loud, and Shikamaru is just… well, he's just Shikamaru."
"Don't mind Ino's loudness Sakura-chan. She's usually not like that, she's just happy that you're back. Let's get you settled down. I don't trust Naruto-kun with the house by himself." The trio walked along the empty streets of Konoha. The streetlights gave the streets an eerie glow. It was a few minutes before they finally reached a medium size house on the outskirts of the main busy streets.
Hinata had moved out of the Hyuuga mansion right at the age of eighteen. After the departure of Sakura and Kakashi, Hinata gained the courage to talk things over with her father. They talked through things for hours, and at the end, the gained what Hinata always wanted: an understanding between the father and daughter relationship. Even if all the grudges have vanished, Hinata wanted to leave away from the Hyuuga mansion. She also discussed her relationship with Naruto with her father. It seems, after a while, Hiashi let go of the fact that Naruto has the Kyuubi in him and that he was just a normal boy; except for the fact that he's very noisy. Hinata and Naruto's boyfriend/girlfriend relationship might turn into something more.
Hinata unlocked the wooden door and let them in the flourish house. A beautiful wooden staircase winds up from the ground floor to the next. Hinata took off her shoes, put on some slippers and padded across the wooden floor.
"Naruto-kun? Where are you?"
Naruto's voice drifted out to the genkan. "In the kitchen Hinata-chan!"
"Figures," mumbled Hinata. "Come, I'll make you some tea." Hinata slipped into the hallway and slid open the fusuma and revealed the cozy kitchen. Inside, Naruto was making himself rice balls. All the bruises on Naruto have already vanished; his eyes still looked a bit tender though.
"So you did decide to stay over!" Naruto stuffed a rice ball in his mouth. "Want one?" he offered with a full mouth.
"Naruto, don't talk with your mouth full!" Hinata scolded. She walked over to the kettle and poured a few cups of hot green tea into the ceramic teacups. She took the cups and placed them on the table. "Would you like something to eat?"
Kakashi shook his head, "I'm pretty full from the ramen, but thanks anyways." They sat around the table letting the green tea warm them up. They chatted until they finished their tea. By that time, it was fairly late.
"Why don't I show you two your rooms?" Hinata suggested. "Naruto, you did clean the guest rooms up and set up the futons right?"
Naruto laughed uneasily. "Of coarse Hinata-chan! There still might be a few things lying around… I'll go pick those up right now! Why don't you show them the rest of the house first?" Naruto rushed out of the room and ran up the stairs.
"I'll show you around." Hinata walked out of the kitchen and led them to the room next to it. She slid the shoji open, inside was a wooden desk, a bookshelf full of books and some flower arrangements. "This is our office, there's not much in here."
"A lot cleaner than Tsunade's," Kakashi mumbled.
Next, they followed Hinata into the living room. It was the most beautiful room Sakura had ever seen. A low wooden coffee table was in the centre front of the room with another beautiful flower arrangement on it. Surrounding the table were two white sofas. On one end of a sofa was a beautiful end table. A bamboo lamp was sitting on it, giving off soft beams of light. A large cabinet was leaning against the far wall, every detail was carved delicately. A cherry blossom shoji screen separated the living room and the dining room. The dining room was fairly simple; it consisted of a table and a few cushions around it. A few plants and hanging scrolls scattered through out the two rooms.
"It's beautiful Hinata!"
Hinata smiled, "Arigato Sakura-chan, come I'll show you your rooms." They walked up the stairs found Naruto waiting for them.
"I want to show them their rooms Hinata-chan!" Naruto bounced into a well decorated room. "This room is for you Sakura-chan! Hinata decorated the room in a cherry blossom theme, so it's perfect for you!"
Hinata gave them a gentle smile. "Naruto-kun, could you get the futon out from the closet please?" Naruto looked down at his feet quickly, as if he were searching for answers. "Sure!"
Naruto walked slowly over to the wooden. He glanced back at Hinata nervously. Her face was passive. She knew. Naruto yanked open the wooden door. Inside, a few random objects fell out, scatter out onto the floor.
"Naruto," Hinata said in an even voice, "what did I tell you about shoving things into the closet?"
"Never shove things into the closet because it can fall out and hurt somebody." Naruto looked at the floor looking as if it was the most interesting thing. He silently picked the objects off the floor and brought them to his room.
Hinata sighed. "He never learns; that's why we have separate rooms. Kakashi-san, your room is next door. I'm afraid that it's a little plain because I didn't have time to decorate yet."
Kakashi gave a shrug. "I don't mind, I'm rather used to plain rooms. I lived in a plain apartment before we went to train a few years back," he said in a matter-of-fact voice.
Hinata brightened. 'Good, he didn't mind.' Hinata motioned them out into the hallway. "It's just the next room down, on your left," she told them. Kakashi gave one last look around the cherry blossom decorated room and followed Hinata out the shoji door. They walked briskly down the hallway. Hinata found the light switch to the room. A light flickered on and Kakashi poked his head in.
Kakashi's eyes widened. The room wasn't as decorated as Sakura's, but it was far more decorated than his old room. Kakashi looked around the room attentively. The beige of the tatami mats gave the room a soft look. There was a vase full of blooming flowers sitting on the small side table. The room on the empty side, but it was clean.
"I actually like it," he told Hinata certainly.
A small smile escaped Hinata's lips. Everything was finally settled for a good nights sleep.
A/N: Finally got up my first Naruto fic! This isn't my first fic though; I deleted my other one because it sucked as much as my old pen name did. Anyways hope you enjoy this first chapter! Big thanks to my beta swt-angel-babi3 for all her help.