Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Chapter 14 – Reunion

"Where is she?" Lee bellowed to the now annoyed Tsunade.

"Yeah! Where?" Kiba added.

"We need to see her!"

"Just spit it out, lady!"

More came and it all passed. It left a very annoyed and irritated Tsunade. She isn't amused with all the racket that they made.

"Are you done now?" she asked through gritted teeth. A series of answers which is yes was heard.

"Okay. Now, that you're done, can I speak now?" Tsunade said in the calmest way she could.

"You are speaking," Shikamaru said.

"Shut up! Well, as you all know, all 4 of them fought in the competition. They needed medical care so they're in the hospital," Tsunade stated.

"Are we allowed to visit them?" Neji asked.

"No," Tsunade answered. "As of right now, no visitors are allowed to visit them."

"Why didn't you heal them yourself?" Tenten asked.

"The medics can handle their injuries. There was no need for my assistance seeing that they aren't that hurt. Now, if you don't mind…..GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" Tsunade yelled which caused all of them to run hurriedly out of the door.

At the hospital…

"Ne, Sakura-chan. What was that thing that you did back in the competition?" Naruto asked curiously. That question also seemed to interest Sasuke too.

"Oh, that. It seems like I have this hidden bloodline ability that I didn't know about until I left. I found out how to control it with Kakashi's help," she answered with ease.

"Why do you call Kakashi-sensei 'Kakashi'?" he asked once again.

"Because I told her not to," Kakashi answered for Sakura. "It makes me feel very old seeing that you guys are already 'matured' teens," he continued.

"Oh, I see," Naruto said as if contented with their answers.

"Do you think we could get out of here by tomorrow?" Sasuke asked quietly.

"I think so, seeing that we don't have major injuries, they'll probably let us go by tomorrow," Sakura answered him.

"I see," Sasuke answered while staring intently at Sakura. That didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi.

'Hmm…. I think this'll be very interesting!' he thought while smiling.

"Why are you smiling, Kakashi?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing," he answered innocently. 'How could she see me smiling under my mask?' he added as an afterthought.

Next day…..

"Yehey! We are out of the hospital. I missed my precious ramen sooo much!" Naruto exclaimed with much enthusiasm which made the three of them sweatdrop.

"Naruto, we've been in the hospital for only one night. How could you miss ramen so much?" Sakura asked.

"But, Sakura-chan, I didn't get to eat my precious ramen last night. That's why I miss it so much!" Naruto answered which made the sweatdrops on the three's heads go bigger.

"Do you want to go with me to Ichiraku?" Naruto asked Kakashi, Sakura, and Sasuke.

"Um"

"Er"

"Hn"

"I'll take those as a yes," Naruto said while smiling childishly.

At Ichiraku……

"One more!" Naruto said as he finished his fifth bowl.

"Woah! I've been gone for two years and you're still the same when it comes to ramen. This is so troublesome," Sakura said as she looked at Naruto.

After she said that there was a 5 seconds moment of silence that passed by. The sound of a strong gust of wind was also heard. Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto just looked at her speechlessly and said, "Did you spoke just like Shikamaru!" all three of them exclaimed at the same time.

"Uhm…I guess so. Is it such a big deal?" Sakura asked innocently.

"Yes, it is!"

"Yeah!"

"Of course!"

"Why?" Sakura asked once more.

"Because it's like you're close to him although you're not. It's like you've spent some time with him although you haven't. You know how it goes," Kakashi answered her.

"But I did spent some time with him before," Sakura answered innocently. Unknown to her that answer caused a certain Uchiha to get alarmed all of a sudden.

"You did?" Sasuke asked quickly.

"Yeah. We used to play shogi or just hang out and stare at the clouds," she answered once again.

"Oh, I see," Sasuke answered as relief flowed inside of him. 'For a second there, I thought Shikamaru tried to hit on Sakura…. Good thing he didn't…..or else' Sasuke thought.

'Oh, shit! This is a whole lot better than those sappy love stories that girls love watching. Hehe! I wonder what Sasuke will do next?' Kakashi thought as he ate his ramen happily.

Just then some people entered Ichiraku. Guess who those people are? Well, if you still don't know, they are none other than Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. Shikamaru is holding Ino hand in hand as they walk.

"SAKURA! KAKASHI-SENSEI!" all three of them yelled out of shock, surprise, and delight.

"Oh! Hi!"

"Yo!"

"We've been looking for you guys everywhere! Actually, not only the three of us, Neji, Tenten, Lee, Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were looking too. Too bad they aren't here, though," Ino said.

"Who said we aren't here?" a voice from their back said which came from none other than Kiba. He was followed by Hinata, Shino, Tenten, Neji, and Lee.

It turns out that all of them went to different places in hopes to find Sakura and Kakashi. Of course, they all got hungry so they decided to take a break. For some unknown reason, all of them thought of eating at Ichiraku. Fate must be really toying with them.

"If you, guys, were really looking for them, how come you are all here?" Sasuke asked as he observed them.

"Um… we got hungry so we decided to have a break," Hinata answered without stuttering.

'Hmm…Hinata-chan didn't stutter. Well, that's unusual. I wonder why?' Sakura thought. Just then she saw Naruto give Hinata a quick peck on the cheek. 'Oh! So that's why.' She thought as she answered her own question.

"Enough with the chit-chat, I'm hungry!" Kiba complained as he took a seat. Everyone also took some seats but they were too busy talking to each other. To be exact, the girls were talking to Sakura, and the guys were talking to Kakashi.

With the girls……

"Oh, I missed you so much!" Ino said while hugging Sakura like a teddy bear.

"Me too." Tenten said as she hugged Sakura after Ino.

"I missed you too." Hinata said as she hugged Sakura tightly. "If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave without telling anyone, anyway? Why did you have to fake your own death? I mean, there must be a reason, right?" Hinata asked after their hug.

With the guys……..

"It's been a long time since I saw you, Kakashi-sensei, how are you?" Shikamaru asked him politely.

"Uh… I'm fine," Kakashi answered.

"OH! I hope your fire of youth is still burning after those years that had passed!" Lee exclaimed with fire burning in his eyes. All the guys just sweatdropped at what he did.

"After all the years we've been friends with this guy, I'm still not used to the whole fire of youth shit," Chouji whispered to Shikamaru.

"Tell me about it," Neji muttered. Of course, nobody heard him which is a good thing.

"Oi, Uchiha!" Neji called Sasuke.

"What, Hyuuga?" Sasuke answered.

"They're at it again," Kiba whispered to Shino.

"Hn."

"Here we go again," Naruto said with a sigh.

"I hope they won't do it here," Chouji said.

"Last time they did this, the place we were at nearly got destroyed! How troublesome." Shikamaru said.

"You up for another battle tomorrow?" Neji challenged Sasuke. They are still fighting each other to know who is stronger, but they are still friends.

"As much as I want to, I can't," Sasuke answered.

"Why not?" Neji asked as he frowned in confusion. Never in their whole fighting rituals did Sasuke refuse to fight him.

"I have my reasons," Sasuke answered calmly as he looked at Sakura. Neji who followed his gaze understood what he meant.

"Just don't hurt her. She's one of my friends and I won't let you hurt her," Neji warned him.

'Well, that was unusual yet it was so relieving,' the guys -except Kakashi- thought.

'Well, that was interesting. I wonder what that was all about.' Kakashi thought.

"Well…are you going to answer us?" Ino demanded.

"Uhm….okay, but I'll need Kakashi's help with the whole explaining thing, okay?" Sakura said.

"Sure, just tell us what really happened," Ino said with a sigh.

"Hey Kakashi, the girls want to know about the reason why we left Konoha for 2 years. You need to explain some parts too, so I guess the guys will have to listen too. They probably want to know why too," Sakura told him.

"Sure," he answered.

Naruto and Sasuke didn't pay too much attention to what Sakura and Kakashi are telling the others since they already know about it. Naruto just ate happily while Sasuke was lost in deep thought.

After the whole explanation….

"Well, leaving the village alone was really risky, Sakura. Anyway, I'm just glad that you're back," Shikamaru said while giving her a smile in which she returned warmly.

"I totally agree with him!" Lee exclaimed.

"Well, that's done. I'm going to eat now," Kiba said. Everyone else did what he did since they sort of forgot their hunger when they saw the two.

"Erm…um… guys, we need to go. Sorry if we're leaving so fast but we have to go somewhere else," Sakura said while Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi stood up from their seats.

"It's okay. We're just really glad that you guys are back," Neji said quietly.

"Thanks, Neji-kun."

"Hn."

Tbc….

I am so sorry for the super LONG wait for me to update. I had other things to attend to, and well, I can't squeeze in any time to finish this sooner. Oh well, at least I did update… Anyway, Thank you to all those who reviewed! I really appreciate it.

For those people who asked me if I'm a Filipino:

Oo, pinoy ako. Wait lang, actually dapat Pinay! Haha! Anyway, proud ako na Pilipino. Di ba dapat proud tayo? Ay, basta pag hindi kayo proud maging isang pinoy, bahala kayo sa buhay ninyo! XD E... la na ko masulat...