I got the keys to my boarding house and had one of the shinobi escort me to the room. Once I was alone, I realized how exhausted I was and lay on the bed, resting my eyes. My thoughts drifted back to Sasuke. I was a bit disappointed at the fact that he was married. How unfortunate. Now that I decided to have a stable place to stay, I might start dating. During my travels, I had gone to dates but never stuck around long enough for anything to develop. I took a nap, and by the time I woke up, it was a bit later at night. I took a shower and put on a pair of skinny jeans, a white tee, a grey zip-up hoodie, and my blue sandals. My curls were still damp but not dripping. I decided to try and find Ichiraku Ramen. I knew they were always open late, and that was the one food item I had really been craving since I left Konoha. The city was still lively at night. I guess the people of Konoha never sleep.

I managed to locate Ichiraku at its new location. It had more seating, and it looks like I had come in when a lot of shinobi and kunoichi went out for drinks. Most of the tables at Ichiraku were full, but I was there to get takeout, so I didn't care to find seating. As I was waiting for my order, I heard someone call me. "Kazue?" I turned around to see who said my name. It was a guy around my age in glasses and a leaf village headband on his forehead. He was cute, but I did not recognize him.

"Kazue? I can't believe you forgot me! Udon!"

"Holy crap! UDON! Look at you! You certainly grew into your looks. The last time I saw you, you were still blowing snot bubbles, and now you're pretty hot! You can't blame me for not recognizing you!" I said to him while giving him a hug. He started blushing, and I noticed a couple of people around were looking at us.

"It has been a while. I just came back from a mission a couple of hours ago, and someone at the gate mentioned you were moving here. I was hoping to run into you".

"Yeah! I'm moving back! I've been traveling for the past few years and finally decided to come to settle down here. How have you been? What are you up to? How are Konohamaru and Moegi? Sorry, that was too many questions. Pick whichever you want to answer".

"Well, I've been great. I'm a Jonin, so I have been training my own team and going on missions. Moegi and Konohamaru are both on missions with their teams right now".

"Wow! That's amazing!"

"Takeout Order for Senjurama!" the waiter at the takeout counter called out. I went and grabbed my order.

"What are you up to right now? You can walk with me".

"Sure. I just have to say bye to some friends first".

"Oh no! Don't let me pull you away from your friends. We can always catch up later!"

"I can introduce you! Come on!" he grabbed my hand and pulled me towards a small group of shinobi and kunoichi.

"Hey, guys!"

"Whoa! Udon is holding hands with someone hot! That's new!" one of his friends shouted

"This is Kazue. We were friends back before I was a genin. She moved away and looks like she's moving back! This is Anko, Shino, Kiba, TenTen, Mirai, and Hanabi", he introduced everyone.

"Hi! Nice to meet you all".

"So, when did you move away? I don't think I remember seeing you before".

"I was eight, so I don't expect people to remember me. It has been a long time".

"Whoa! That was a really long time. So, are you a kunoichi?"

"Former kunoichi. I've just been traveling for the past few years. I decided to come back here and settle down".

"Where did you travel to?"

"Probably where didn't I travel to would be the better question. I was going through villages all over the five countries and collecting folktales and legends. I'm going to try to write a children's book series with those stories from each nation".

"That sounds like a pretty cool idea!"

"Yeah. I have to settle back into a life of writing and drawing, though. My life is going to slow all the way down, but I don't mind that too much".

"So, were you traveling on your own?"

"Most of the time, it was. There were times I met up with other people traveling and tag along, but most of the time, I was by myself".

"That sounds fun but dangerous at the same time. Weren't you scared?"

"I can handle myself. I was a Chunin and had a couple of years' experiences before I left. I definitely got to work on my jutsu through hands-on experience".

"That's definitely scary".

"It was a great exercise in character building. Anyway, I hope you guys don't mind. I have to get home while my ramen is still hot. It was really nice to meet all of you! Hope to see you all around".

"Great to meet you too!" They all said.

Udon walked with me to my front door as we caught up some more. He told me he'll speak to Konohamaru and Moegi and arrange so we can meet up. I got back to my apartment, ate dinner, then went back to bed. I had to wake up the next day, figure out what I needed, and get some new clothes.