I finished sketching and made my way towards Konoha. I couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke. Why did he seem so familiar to me? He really was attractive. I wondered what kind of work he did. He seemed so mysterious. I made it to the gate, and it turned out Naruto had told them I would be arriving. One shinobi at the entrance let me know that they had instructions to look for me if it got dark before I got there. They also had one of the shinobi escort me to the Hokage's office. They used rock/paper/scissors for that. I thought they were assigned such jobs. As we walked there, I noticed how much Konoha had changed. It was more modern and much larger than I remembered. The landscape seemed like it had changed too, but I remembered rumors of the nine-tailed fox leveling the city, and they had to rebuild.
I was escorted to the Hokage's office, and Naruto was waiting for me. There was also another man in with him who turned out to be his advisor, Shikamaru Nara. Naruto had countless papers stacked all around his office, and Shikamaru looked a bit annoyed at Naruto. Judging from the amount of paperwork around, I could guess why.
"Kazue, come in. Sit down. This is my advisor, Shikamaru Nara. Shikamaru, this is Kazue Senjurama. I taught her the shadow clone jutsu when she was eight. I was a sensei", he proudly said as I shook Shikamaru's hand
"Nice to meet you. I bet you've got your hands full with Naruto-sensei. I remember how much energy he had back in the day".
"Nice to meet you too. And yes, I do. Naruto is still as restless as he was", Shikamaru said. Naruto laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head again.
"So, you said you were trying to get published. What are you writing?" Naruto asked.
"I have a children's book. It might be the first of a series, depending on how it does. I'm going to try to find a new agent to help me get a book deal. It's a book retelling the heroic legends about the great shinobi and kunoichi in my family. According to the stories, the first Senjurama was the second Hokage's child. He did some heroic things in the Land of Earth, and all his descendants after him were great shinobi and kunoichi and war heroes. I rewrote the stories to make them more kid-friendly and did the illustrations for them. I've also been traveling around the Five Great Countries and collecting legends and old stories that I integrated into the book".
"That sounds really interesting. I thought for sure you would have ended up a kunoichi back in the day. You and Moegi managed to keep Konohamaru and Udon out of trouble most of the time. And I remember you were a fast learner".
"Yeah. I passed my Chunin exam and was a kunoichi for about four years but chose to travel afterward. After both my parents died in the war, I realized nothing was keeping me there. I got a bit more training and experience necessary to defend myself on the road, then sold everything and set off. Everything I have in my bag is what's left of the Senjurama Clan".
"Sorry to hear about your parents. So, did you plan living arrangements and everything? I would like to be able to help you. If you don't mind, we have boarding apartments you can live in until you get settled in."
"Wow. Thank you. I was just going to stay at a hotel until I figured everything out, but that would definitely help".
"It's no problem. I can't call myself Hokage if I can't help the citizens of the Land of Fire".
"So, what did you meet with your friend about? Or is it classified as Hokage business? He's quite interesting".
"Yeah. Something like that"
"Understandable. I told Sasuke he looked remarkably familiar. I swear I've either seen him before or seen someone just like him before. But then again, I have met hundreds of people, so he probably just has one of those faces".
"Sasuke. Yeah. He was in my team back when I was a genin and chunin. His wife was also on my team. I don't think you would remember them. His daughter is in the same team as my son now", Naruto said.
"Wow. You have a kid? Is he just like you? My mom used to tell me how you don't learn about yourself until you see your kids in you," I said. I heard Shikamaru chuckle. "I guess that answered my question. Let me guess. you've had to clean paint off the Hokage Rock a couple of times already?"
"I can neither confirm nor deny that," he said guiltily.
"Well, I should probably let you get back to your paperwork. It's been really great catching up. Is Iruka-sensei still here?"
"He should be in the academy office. He's the headmaster now, so you can find him there. I'll have someone find you and show you where you can stay".
"Thank you so much, Naruto-sensei. Shikamaru, it was nice meeting you. Sorry, I took up his time. Can't you just do shadow clones to finish all that up?" I asked, then stood and made my way out of the office.
I found my way to the academy's administrative offices and located Iruka-sensei's office. I knocked to see if he was in, and he was.
"Iruka-sensei! I just wanted to stop by to say hello. I was one of your students years ago!"
"I remember you, Senjurama Kazue. I think you got Konohamaru out of trouble enough to make you unforgettable. How have you been?"
"I've been great. Just traveling. I'm also trying to get a children's book published".
"That's great! It's always nice to hear my students do wonderful things!"
"I'm not there yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed."
"Well, I'm certain you will get there. You were quite the storyteller back then".
"Is that a polite way of saying I talked too much?"
"All good things. You spoke with purpose, and that's what matters".
"You do have a way with words, Iruka-sensei. I'm moving back here, so I wanted to say hello since I'm sure I'll be running into you occasionally".
"Is that so? Well, if you ever feel like teaching a writing class, let me know. We could use your kind of talent at Konoha Academy".
"I've never thought of teaching, but I'll keep that in mind. I'm an illustrator as well, so I can teach drawing".
"Is that so? We could definitely use an art teacher as well".
"Let me know. I'm still hunting for a publisher, so I'll definitely have a lot of free time on my hands while procrastinating on my writing", I said jokingly
"You're not supposed to admit to your bad habits to your sensei, Kazue."
"Oops. I'll talk to you later, sensei. I think I hear someone call me outside," I said as I rushed out. I gave Iruka-sensei one final wave while he laughed out loud in his office.