Disclaimer: Naruto and all its characters are the properties of Masashi Kishimoto. No profit is made off of this fan-fiction story. Any additional original characters located in this story are designated at such and belong to the author, Jae (Dirtyangel).

Beta'd by: Allys (who forever has my love)

—.&.&.—

I.

Other Side of the Mirror

In the Country of Fire, on a road northwest of the Hidden Village of Leaf, there happened to be a commotion. It was not a disturbance of the destructive kind, but one of youthful enthusiasm. The type only a child could make. This commotion came in the form of a boy.

In a flurry of dirt clouds and giggles, he hurried his way down that unsuspecting forest path with a grin on his face. In his mind he was a participant in a diligent race, one that would determine the progress of their journey. It was important that they reached where they were going or else... Well, he wasn't sure what would happen but he was pretty sure it wouldn't be good.

The little bustle of orange, yellow, and blue glanced over his shoulder, and then frowned. He skidded to a graceless halt and turned around, squinting to look into the distance. A few moments passed before a figure slowly strolled into view. At that he smiled again and agilely climbed up a neighboring tree.

"Oi, oi! Why are you moving so slowly? You're not fifty," he shouted as he sat kicking his feet from atop a sturdy branch.

The man he had addressed continued to walk at a leisurely pace, waving a dismissive hand at his statement.

"You seem to forget that traveling with you takes a lot out of a person," the adult replied.

The young boy grinned and leaned precariously forward, "You're just saying that because you're getting old." He giggled when the other—a taller, lighter blond—looked up at him with his hands on his hips.

"Old," the man said indignantly, standing directly beneath the child. "I'm not even thirty yet and you're calling me old?"

Without a care, the younger blond slipped down from his perch and into his companion's arms. "Well, you're much older than me, so that makes you old."

He pinched both of the man's scarred cheeks and tugged at them playfully. The funny grunts and groans that came from his guardian had him giggling again.

"Besides, this is supposed to be our great, wonderful adventure around Fire Country. There's no time to be slow and old."

The man made a face and then swooped down for a counter-attack. The child squealed and tried to cover his face as a form of protection from the sudden onslaught of nose rubbing. Both blonds laughed at their own antics.

"Oi, oi, can I get a piggy-back ride?" asked the youth as he pushed the man's face away.

"A ride, huh? For someone who's so full of energy don't you think you can carry yourself on your own two feet?" the man pointed out, getting a better grip on the little person in his arms.

"Yeah, but since you keep moving so slow I gotta make sure you keep up," the boy smiled. "Remember, no being slow and old on our trip!"

"When did I raise such a brat?" the man sighed with feigned exasperation, but hoisted the boy onto his shoulders nonetheless.

The child smiled happily and grasped the straw hat that sat upon the man's crown and placed it on his own. He then hugged his guardian's abundant mass of golden hair and pointed ahead further down the road.

"Onward!" he cried.

Taking a moment to shake his head and tickle the boy's side, the man set off to their next destination.

—.&.&.—

He stood at attention with his hands behind him and patiently waited for the incessant scratching of the woman's pen to stop. A minute passed before it did, and when he felt he had her attention he spoke.

"The target was intercepted and disposed of fifteen kilometers northeast of Rice Country, Hokage-sama," he reported in a methodic and mechanical tone.

The older woman gave a short nod of approval and then reached for another document from one of the various piles on her crowded desk.

"Well done. Thank you, Sasuke. A message will be sent to Grass immediately," she said, quickly jotting something down.

Sasuke waited for her to continue. Finally setting her pen down, Tsunade sighed tiredly and leaned back into her broad armchair.

"Were there any complications during the mission?" she asked.

"None to make note of," Sasuke answered.

"Good," Tsunade folded her arms under her ample breasts and smiled at him kindly.

In her old age, the Sanin still continued to maintain her age-concealing jutsu. It was common knowledge that the Godaime Hokage was well into her sixties but no one had ever seen her without her youthful façade. Some villagers and even a few ninja would gossip that it was possible that she'd never aged at all or that she'd somehow come across a "fountain of youth" somewhere in her past journeys. Small children often said that she could possibly be a witch. The rest of the village knew better than to heed such rumors.

To the few who took the time to notice, there were only two circumstances in which Tsunade's appearance would betray her true age. It was when she smiled or when she was in deep thought. Sasuke observed the wrinkling that occurred around the corners of her light brown eyes and the faint creases at the edges of her mouth. Her features looked tired and weary.

"I want you to take a two week vacation, Sasuke. You've worked consecutive missions these past four months and I believe you deserve the rest," she spoke again.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Sasuke bowed respectfully and prepared to leave the office.

"I expect you to rest, Uchiha," he heard her say from behind him. Her statement came as if it were an afterthought, soft and distant.

Sasuke glanced back over his shoulder to see Tsunade staring dolefully down at her desk. The few sheets of paper littering its surface had been pushed aside to reveal a small area of a desk calendar. Her eyes were fixated on one particular spot. Sasuke looked away. He knew what it was she was lamenting.

Wordlessly, he opened one of the office's thick oak doors and stepped out into the silent hallway. The door closed with a soft click and the ninja started down the hall.

It should be about eleven years by now, he thought idly. He wasn't quite sure, but then again, he'd stopped caring a long time ago. It was just more time and events that seemed to dissolve into the background noise he considered to be his life. Frankly, Sasuke hadn't found much that was worth caring for anymore. His existence, his whole purpose, had faded and turned trivial. Sometimes he wondered what the point of living was. Itachi was dead and his family avenged. There was nothing left for him.

Sasuke turned right and began to descend the flight of stairs that led to the Tower's lower levels. When he thought back on it he could clearly remember how disappointing slitting his brother's throat had been. The great wave of gratification he'd always hoped avenging his family would bring had never come. It was an empty accomplishment. The entire matter had been impersonal and passionless. Itachi hadn't spoken a word near the end and neither had Sasuke. In one flick of his wrist, Sasuke had ended it all and he knew that Itachi had wanted it that way. His older brother had known that the great legacy of the Uchiha clan had come to an end.

Sasuke had decided a long time before then that he no longer wanted a family. He didn't have the feelings left to put out for the effort. He had grown hard and cold over the years. Even his own father—whom Sasuke remembered as unmoving and always stoic—had been a man of some compassion, but as for himself, Sasuke didn't know.

That resolution had doused all past plans of reviving his clan. But again, all that didn't matter. Aside from his feelings, there were no women in Konoha he'd found worthy enough to marry. Most seemed little more than disillusioned whores while the rest were plainly too simple-minded. All they wanted was his name and had little to give for it.

Sasuke came to the ground level and made his way down a few more familiar halls. When he reached the Tower's reception area he found it to be mildly busy. He glanced up at a nearby wall clock. It was a little after one in the afternoon. Around the time most genin teams reported in for potential missions. Luckily, he'd never been assigned his own team.

Another reason why Sasuke felt he had no need for a family; he had a staunch dislike for children.

At that moment, the jounin's stomach gave a light grumble. Sasuke frowned, unimpressed with his own body's need for food. He had arrived back in Konoha no more than two hours ago and had had time only to drop his gear off at his apartment. Sasuke hadn't thought to eat or do much of anything else before reporting in. From the grumbling and groans his stomach continued to make, he couldn't just ignore the necessity to eat any longer. Decision made, he headed out the Tower's large glass doors and into the bustling streets of Konoha's main district.

|—.o.—|

Eleven years.

His mind dwelled on that assessment once again. It had actually been eleven whole years since that dobe had left. Time had truly flown by. Sasuke's dark brows furrowed and he scowled. It was true, a lot of time had gone by, but why was he thinking about this now? He hadn't so much as spoken the fool's name for the past five years.

A young couple steered around him while a man walking near his right side carelessly brushed past, consequently causing his and Sasuke's shoulders to touch. However brief the contact might have been, Sasuke still shot a menacing glare in the man's direction. The stranger, having caught the look from the corner of his eye, hesitated for a moment and then quickly mumbled an apology. Sasuke didn't bother to acknowledge it and walked further ahead.

He wasn't fond of physical contact beyond his discretion. Sasuke saw it as a great insult when it did happen. That kind of invasion of his personal space was much too intimate for Sasuke's liking. Unfortunately, these streets were always packed with moving bodies most of the day.

He looked around. There were still no restaurants or food stands in sight. Five minutes had gone by since he had started walking and he was getting more irritated by the second.

Although he didn't care about much and was lacking in many areas where emotions were concerned, there was a deep-seated rage that always seemed to consume him. The dark-haired jounin had always been unapproachable since his youth; but as he had gotten older he was easily agitated and could be driven to a violent anger with the slightest push. This habit had caused past subordinates to fear him and worried those who were remotely close to him, especially Sakura. She often mentioned that if he needed someone to talk to she would always be there, but that was of no real concern to him. They both knew that Sasuke would never confide in anyone.

His feelings had slowly progressed to what they were ever since that idiot had left. Sasuke had been disgusted and angered by how hypocritical the other had been. He'd thought back to the Valley and the words that they had exchanged; and the many times he had been confronted and challenged to face his own demons, only to find out that his supposed friend couldn't do the same. Those moments were worthless now.

Eleven years had passed and there was no point in dwelling on them—which meant he couldn't feel hurt.

An aroma of spices and steamed noodles wafted through the air, catching Sasuke's attention. He glanced to the side, and then stopped.

Oh, for Kami's sake, he thought to himself. Whatever higher powers that may have been seemed to have a sick sense of humor. After about fifteen minutes of walking, the only food establishment Sasuke had come across turned out to be a certain damnable ramen stand. As if to emphasize the point of irony, Sasuke's stomach made another low grumble. He growled in frustration and glared at the stand's infernal red sign that clearly and boldly stated "Ichiraku Ramen."

Sasuke was just as unimpressed with this new occurrence as he was with his slowly growing need to eat. If he had allowed himself to, he would have laughed.

He surveyed the area, hoping to find another restaurant with less significance. When he found none, his ire grew. Sasuke would be damned if he'd let whatever twisted setup of so called fate push him to eat a meal in a place attached to unwanted memories, especially on this day. And because the date happened to be what it was he preferred to ignore his grumbling stomach and head back to his apartment to make a meal there.

About to continue on in the direction of his home, he refused to glance back at the shop. Sasuke had taken no more than two steps before something short and orange came barreling in from his right and careened its way around him. Sasuke deftly avoided being knocked over by the strange apparition and watched it make a beeline for the ramen stand.

"Sorry! Excuse me!" came the belated apology of what appeared to be an overexcited child.

Sasuke frowned in distaste at the rampaging boy, but the expression immediately changed when he caught sight of the youth's messy blond hair and a painfully familiar red swirl emblazoned on his orange shirt.

"There's no way..." he murmured.

Sasuke found himself following after the boy without thinking. In five quick strides he was at the shop's entrance and brushing aside the papery film of the store banner. There, perched on one of the bar stools, was the blond boy, bouncing up and down in his seat and enthusiastically shouting his order.

"Oi, oi, 'jiisan, 'jiisan, I'd like an order of Miso ramen, please!"

The old shopkeeper seemed taken aback by the boy's abundance of energy and at first only stared. He hadn't come across someone so lively in a long, long time. It only took a moment for him to smile good-naturedly at his young customer and slap a hand down upon the counter.

"Arisu!" he shouted toward the kitchen, at his granddaughter, "Start on some of our best Miso ramen for this bright young man here."

"Yay! Thanks, 'jiisan," the boy replied with a grin.

Sasuke stood, silently perplexed, but then left his stupor. Initially, he had thought he was seeing things when he had mistakenly believed the boy to be Naruto. (A much, much younger Naruto from what he last remembered.) However, he'd come to his senses.

The kid couldn't be the person he'd thought. He was just a child. His straw colored hair was much darker and his eyes were a brilliant green. But his laugh was very much the same and so was his grin. Sasuke knitted his brows. The boy's whole persona was reminiscent of Naruto. Just who the hell was he?

Then a body came up beside him.

"Kanaye, what did I tell you about rampaging around like a wildman? I really hope I don't have to put you on a leash," said the person, a male.

His voice was deep and mature, so Sasuke surmised him to be somewhere over twenty. Both he and the newcomer turned to look at one another. But what the jounin hadn't expected was to see the distinctive features he'd wrongly assumed the boy to have. There they were: the right shade of blond, stark cerulean eyes, and the defining whisker scars of Uzumaki Naruto. All planted on a similarly shocked face as Sasuke's.

"S-sasuke?" the bewildered man stuttered.

I can't believe this! Sasuke thought, incredulously.

Uchiha Sasuke was at a complete loss for words. A severe series of events had just transpired and he was left befuddled and completely out of his element. He didn't like this uncertain feeling, so he grasped for the easiest emotion he could and acted on it. In one fluid movement, he pulled his fist back and punched the man beside him as hard as he could in the jaw.

—.&.&.—

Naruto had known that from the moment they had set foot in Konoha something had been bound to happen. Experience had taught him many times in the past that whatever could happen, would happen. That, however, had not made him any less shocked when he'd followed his rambunctious traveling partner into a familiar ramen bar and was attacked by a very familiar person.

It was within the last milliseconds of his assault that some distant voice in the back of his mind reminded him to move with the inertia of the punch if he wanted to prevent his jaw from being broken.

Naruto was forced back a few steps by the velocity of the ninja's punch. A pulsating pain had flared up in his jaw the second flesh had made contact with flesh. Sasuke had hit him pretty hard. Blood began to fill Naruto's mouth from where his lip had split. He quickly spat off to the side. There was nothing he hated more than the taste of blood.

"'Tousan!"

From inside the shop, Kanaye had called out for him. Naruto moved forward to reassure the boy that he was fine when Sasuke lashed out again.

This time the dark-haired man aimed for his abdomen. Naruto's instincts told him to step to the side and knock Sasuke's hand away. Acting on pure instinctual reaction the blond made to elbow his attacker, but then hesitated.

What am I doing? Naruto asked himself. He wasn't a ninja anymore so he didn't know why he was fighting with one.

While he thought this, Sasuke—with all the grace of an elite nin of Konoha—effortlessly avoided Naruto's would-be attack and swept his feet out from beneath him. Naruto fell back onto the ground with a thud.

"'Tousan!" Kanaye cried again, rushing out of the shop and to his father's side. The boy angrily shoved Sasuke out of the way and kneeled to clutch Naruto's chest.

"'Tousan, 'tousan, are you okay?" Kanaye asked, voice strewn with worry.

Naruto coughed around the dust that had filled his lungs and tried to sit up. Of all the people in Konoha he could have encountered, he had to have come across Uchiha Sasuke. The blond placed a hand on his son's shoulder and cleared his throat while getting to his feet.

"It's... all right, Na-chan," Naruto said, "I'm fine."

He ran the back of his hand across his bloodied lip and looked up when Sasuke shifted.

"Why are you here," the ninja demanded in a threatening voice.

Sasuke's posture was stiff but still on the offensive. Naruto glanced wearily at the hand near his holster. He didn't know why Sasuke had confronted him so aggressively but he didn't want this to go any further. Naruto stood straight and kept a hand on his son's shoulder.

"I'm traveling with my son, Sasuke," Naruto said, gauging Sasuke's reaction.

Sasuke's scowl deepened and his fists clenched. From the shop entrance, the owner peered out at the scene and his granddaughter looked on beside him. Outside the shop, a few passers-by stopped to observe as well. Sasuke took notice of none of this and continued.

"Exactly where have you been to get a son to be traveling with?" growled the dark-haired man.

Naruto reflexively drew Kanaye closer to him, but the boy wriggled away and stepped forward to glare chalengingly at Sasuke.

"What's it to you, jerk?" Kanaye said. He pointed angrily at the older man. "If you ever hit my 'tousan again, I'll kick you in the—"

"Woah, woah, Kanaye. Calm down," Naruto said firmly, moving a hand to sit on the boy's head.

Kanaye looked up at him with a pout, but did not say anything further. He silently fumed while still glowering at Sasuke. Naruto smiled and ruffled the child's hair, letting him know he wasn't upset. Kanaye's pout slowly melted away.

A sequence of emotions flashed across Sasuke's face but they were gone within an instant. He stood normally and looked Naruto directly in the eye. The blond man looked back worriedly and tried to puzzle out what the ninja was thinking. He was surprised when Sasuke simply turned around and walked away.

Naruto watched his former teammate's retreating back disappear with the thinning crowd. He felt uneasy. The current situation was not good.

He hadn't expected to end up in Konoha again. When Naruto had left he'd done so with the intention of never returning. That had been the plan that he'd followed for the past eleven years; but—as with all things involving his son—his plans had changed. He glanced down at Kanaye and the boy looked up.

When Kanaye had first caught sight of Konohagakure's West Gate Naruto's stomach had dropped. In his careful preparations for their excursion around Fire Country, he had made certain that their route wouldn't take them near any commercial roads leading to Konoha. No way had he anticipated Kanaye's occasional wandering to lead them there.

There had been no dissuading Kanaye from wanting to visit the village. Naruto had after all promised him a year ago that he would take the boy to see all of Fire Country outside their home, and Naruto always kept his promises. It was simply unfortunate that luck wasn't on his side this time.

Regardless, he'd now been identified by a Konoha nin and that would soon lead to bigger problems. He and Kanaye needed to leave. A determined look set on his face, Naruto turned to the shop owner, old man Teuchi, and smiled charmingly.

"Oi, 'jiisan, I think we'll need that ramen to go," he said.

—.&.&.—

Sasuke breathed heavily through his nose as he walked without truly paying attention to his surroundings or the people he passed. He saw nothing past the pulsating heat of his own tumultuous emotions. Inwardly, his inner voice berated him to collect himself. He was a highly ranked jounin of Konoha, a former ANBU captain, and the last of the prestigious Uchiha clan. He would not lose his composure like a newly instated genin throwing a temper tantrum.

Sasuke might have been quicker to anger in his adulthood, but his pride never let it surpass the point he was willing to show. However, seeing Naruto had done that, like it always had. He stopped and took a deep breath, the pedestrian traffic weaving around him. Sasuke felt himself calm down and his shoulders relaxed slightly. His outward appearance had not deferred drastically from how he usually carried himself, aside from the small twitch in his jaw, but he was able to think clearer now.

Naruto was in Konoha, traveling with his son. A feeling of incredulity came over him once again. Naruto was back in Konoha with a son. Sasuke couldn't believe it. The idiot had appeared out of nowhere and with a child. Standing there watching the two of them had been too much to take in his state of shock. When he had looked over at the man beside him in the ramen bar and seen that it was Naruto, a great sense of relief and betrayal had hit him all at once. It had left him so confused and unprepared that he had done the most familiar thing that would have brought stability.

What the hell is going on today, Sasuke mused. He began walking again and leapt up onto the nearest rooftop. Although he was still processing this new development, his analytical mind had already been set in gear. If Naruto was back in Konoha that meant that he was likely to leave again. The blond was by default a missing-nin, regardless of never being officially labeled as such. Sasuke was obligated to prevent him from going.

He faced the direction of the ramen bar. The closest exit from that point was the West Gate. Sasuke would have to start there.

—.o.—

When he reached the gate station things were quiet. Some meters off from his position was the gate's checkpoint—all shinobi and visiting civilians had to be cleared there before entering Konoha. Sasuke headed toward it. At the reception area sat two chuunin, a dark-haired male and a female with a strange set of pigtails atop her head. Sasuke sorted through his memory and remembered the woman as having the name Moegi. She was good friends with the late Sandaime's grandson.

"Uchiha-san," both greeted him.

Sasuke nodded but then got to the point. "Has anyone left through this gate point recently?"

Moegi shook her head. "Other than a genin team, no, Uchiha-san. Is there something wrong?" she asked.

"I'm looking for a civilian pair, a man and a child. Both blond," Sasuke said. "The man is an unreported missing-nin."

The two shinobi at the desk looked at each other and became a little more alert. This time the dark-haired chuunin spoke: "No one like that has left from here, but a few tourists checked in today. There was a man and his son. The boy was blond and so was the man. Although, you couldn't catch much of his face from beneath his hat."

"We can keep a look out for them," Moegi said after her partner.

"Do that," Sasuke instructed. He entered the booth and went directly for the communication radio in the back. He grabbed the receiver and switched to the appropriate channel.

"Com Center, this is Uchiha Sasuke, do you read me?"

"This is Com Center, Uchiha-san, over," came the immediate response.

Sasuke spoke again; "I need a message quickly relayed to the HQ manager, Umino Iruka. Tell him that Uzumaki Naruto has been spotted."

The sound of a chair toppling over came from behind him. Sasuke didn't bother turning around to see that Moegi had stood abruptly and stared at his back in shock.

"I'm sorry, Uchiha-san, but exactly who is Uzumaki Naruto," the operator asked.

Sasuke scowled. "Stop asking stupid questions and just do it!" he said more authoritatively.

There was a pause on the other end. "O-okay, Uchiha-san, message will be relayed."

From there, Sasuke signed off. He looked back at the two up front. The male chuunin looked confused and Moegi seemed on the verge of crying. At Sasuke's disapproving frown she embarrassedly tried to get herself back together.

"The man that you'll be watching for is blond-haired, blue-eyed, and has three distinctive marks on either cheek," the jounin said to her partner.

The other man nodded but glanced over at Moegi worriedly. Sasuke said nothing further and strode out of the booth, hurrying off to the next closest gate point.

—.&.&.—

"What!" Iruka had shot up out of his chair the minute he had heard the message.

"That's what Uchiha-san told me, Iruka-sensei," the young man, Taku, replied.

Iruka looked down at his desk, trying to properly assess the new information. Naruto was in Konoha again after over a decade. Dear God, that couldn't be true, could it? He addressed his radio operator again.

"Is Sasuke still there?"

"I don't know, sir. He signed off so suddenly."

Iruka quickly walked from behind his desk and out of his office.

Six years before, he had retired from teaching and had taken on the position of Communications HQ Manager from an old friend of his. Iruka loved teaching at the Academy but had felt he'd needed a change. Over fourteen years, he'd taught various students, and had watched them grow and flourish to become respectable ninja. However, there had always been the guilt that reminded him of the one student he'd held over the rest and how he'd let him down. The disappointment was forever with him.

Iruka entered the radio room—down the hall from his office—and grabbed the nearest station.

"West checkpoint, this is Umino Iruka. Please respond," a sense of urgency rippled through him. He had to confirm Sasuke's message. If it were true that meant they would need to act fast.

"Iruka-sensei, this is West checkpoint. Moegi, speaking."

"Moegi, I received a message from Uchiha Sasuke stating that Uzumaki Naruto has been spotted in Konoha. Is this true?"

"Y-yes, Iruka-sensei," Moegi's voice quivered, "Sasuke-san came by earlier and had described a visiting civilian as being Naruto-niichan."

Iruka's heart gave a hopeful leap. Then it had been true. Relief washed over him in waves.

"Is Sasuke still there, Moegi?"

"No, sir. I think he left to search for Naruto."

"I see. I want you and your partner to be on the look out."

"We're already on it, Iruka-sensei."

"Good. Umino out." Iruka flipped a few switches on the circuit board and tapping into the connecting channel between the other three gates. "North, South, and East Gates, this is Communication HQ Manager Umino Iruka of Sector Three. A report has come in of a sighting of missing-nin, Uzumaki Naruto. I repeat, be on the look out for Uzumaki Naruto."

Iruka paused and thought of what description to give. It had been over eleven years and he didn't know what Naruto looked like now. He could only go by what he remembered and what he could assume the blond looked like as an adult.

"Description: male, blond, blue eyes, possible athletic build, and three markings on either cheek. If seen, orders are to apprehend but no deadly force is to be used."

Those had been the orders the Hokage had given years back when she had thought Naruto would return. Iruka knew they still stuck now. He also knew he had to report this to Tsunade as soon as possible. His attention came back to the radio when all three gates responded to his message. Iruka switched the connection off and turned to the three other operators in the room.

"I want you all to keep me updated if any other reports come in," he said.

When they nodded he rushed out of the room and to the other end of the Tower. The Hokage needed to be informed.

—.&.&.—

Tsunade sat back in her chair and listened to the mission report of the jounin team she had dispatched a week ago. Among the members were Hyuuga Neji and Hyuuga Hinata.

"As far as we could tell, Hokage-sama, the group had been attem—"

There was a loud knock at the door. Each occupant of the office turned to stare at it. Tsunade frowned at the interruption. Who in their right mind would interrupt her during a debriefing?

"Who is it?" she demanded, irritation clear in her voice.

"Tsunade-sama, I apologize but I have some pressing news to report," it was Iruka's muffled voice on the other side of the door.

"Come in, Iruka."

One of the oak doors opened and a frazzled looking Iruka quickly stepped in. He bowed respectfully and started to speak: "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki Naruto has been spotted in the village."

"What was that?" Tsunade's eyes had widened and she gestured for the jounin standing in front of her to move aside. Iruka came closer.

"Approximately fifteen minutes ago a message came in via the West Gate from Sasuke saying that Naruto was in Konoha," Iruka said again.

The Hokage leaned closer and stared him dead in the eye. "Has this been confirmed?"

"Yes. Moegi at West Gate confirms that a civilian fitting Sasuke's description of Naruto had been cleared to enter Konoha earlier today."

Tsunade's lips pressed into a thin line. Eleven years on this very day the brat had left and now he'd appeared again just as suddenly as he'd departed. She turned to the two Hyuuga cousins that had been silently observing the exchange.

"You two," Tsunade said, "I want you to go and help Sasuke."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," they said in unison.

Both immediately left through a window Tsunade usually kept open. (This was mainly because some of Konoha's outlandish ninja refused to use the doors when they came to her office.) She glanced back at the remaining members of their team.

"You will have to finish your report at another time. Go home and rest."

They also left as ordered. Iruka watched them go, a concerned expression still on his face. Tsunade proceeded to inquire if an alert had been sent out to the other gates, to which Iruka replied yes. She nodded approvingly and told him to keep her updated. The chuunin agreed and then exited her office afterward.

That left Tsunade alone with her thoughts. She sighed and massaged her temples while swiveling around in her armchair to face the panoramic view of Konoha's skyline her office provided. A myriad of emotions were welling up in her but she knew she had to remain calm. She was the Hokage and needed to retain control at all times. Her emotions would have to wait until later. When she saw Naruto she would deal with the boy...

Naruto is no longer a boy, Tsunade corrected herself. (He was supposed be about twenty-seven.) The once guileless boy she'd known was a grown man. That thought turned over in her mind a few times. Eleven years worth of growth and development and she had missed it. A small part of her felt cheated.

Tsunade smiled lightly. She wondered how he would be now and how he'd matured. Is he still as sad? she thought. When she did see him Tsunade would hug him as tightly as she'd wanted to since she'd read his letter. She remembered reading the note and feeling her heart break. Why had he not told her before? Tsunade narrowed her eyes. She would also punch Naruto's face in hard, as she'd wanted to since he'd stupidly left.

—.&.o.o.&.—