"Normal speech"

'Normal thoughts'

"Demon/Summon speech"

'Demon/Inner Sakura/Summon thoughts'

Jutsu name

(author comment) - not a lot of them

flashback/memory

~locations and transitions~

Hey readers here is the next chapter. Also if you haven't checked yet I have started another story, check it out

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

~Chapter 21: Welcome back

It was early morning and Team seven had finally made it to the gates of Konoha and most of the team couldn't be happier to be home. Making their way through, they met up with Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki, the gate guards also known as the eternal chunin. They are called that due to the fact that they chose to never take the title of jonin and being content with the easy job of watching the gate. Team seven had to sign into the roster so when the hokage went over the report, he would know who came in and out of the village

Izumo had brown hair, and dark eyes. His hair is combed down and covers his right eye. He wore his forehead protector like a bandanna along with the standard Konoha shinobi outfit which goes all the way up to his chin.

Kotetsu has long, spiky, black hair and dark eyes. He has a strip of bandage running across the bridge of his nose and a light-coloured marking on his chin. He was wearing the standard attire of a Konoha shinobi

Izumo looked upon the new addition that team seven had brought and gave a questioning look towards Kakashi

Kakashi eye smiled at the look and spoke "this is Haku, a wandering shinobi that would like to join up with Konoha but at the moment he needs to head to the hospital due to an injury he received a few days ago"

Kotetsu responded before Izumo could speak "you know protocol Kakashi-san. We need to screen him to make sure that he isn't a threat to the village"

Kakashi nodded his head "I know but the wound he received requires immediate attention. We were able to stall it for as long as we can but it is a fatal wound and it's only thanks to his own knowledge of herbs that allowed him to make it this far"

Izumo looked over to Haku and noticed that the sleeve of the arm that was in a sling had faint lines of red seeping through and the massive dark spot on the shoulder made him realize that the wound was in fact fatal. Placing a hand on Kotetsu's shoulder he brought this up "Kotetsu-san, I can tell that it is a serious injury and Kakashi-san isn't the type to bring a threat to the village so I think it would be ok to screen the boy later, after he has that wound looked at"

Kotetsu reluctantly nodded his head and gave the group the go ahead to enter the village

As the team made their way towards the hospital Kakashi began to think on what to do with Sakura. During their travel back to Konoha, during the night he could hear Sakura wake up in a bit of silent panic, and knew that she was having nightmares about what Naruto did during the bridge fight. A thought came to mind about it, Naruto didn't remember any of it, Sasuke wasn't conscious to see it and Tazuna was old enough to deal with it, maybe not perfectly, but he could. Sakura was the only other person to witness it so they might have to remove it. He would need to talk to the Hokage about it but that's for when he is giving his report on the mission.

After walking for about fifteen minutes they made it to the hospital and entered as quickly as they could

Naruto was the most vocal about it "hey! We need a doctor here!". All of the staff at the hospital knew who was talking and they all sneered at the boy choosing to ignore his request. That is until Kakashi walked in and ordered the same thing with a little bit of KI added to it.

Haku had noticed the looks that Naruto was receiving, not just from the hospital staff but on the way he saw that all of the villagers were giving him the same look. He had also noticed that when they entered the village, Naruto looked like he was on guard. Even though he had a smile on his face, the stiffening of his shoulders and the deliberate steps he was taking made it seem like he was ready for a surprise attack from somewhere. Haku chose to ask Naruto later, as right now he was being put in a wheelchair so they could take him to where he could get treated.

Sakura wanted to stay with Haku but Kakashi had told her that they would meet again

Once the team was outside Naruto stretched his arms in the air "finally back in the village! Now to get my RAMEN" and with that he began to run towards Ichiraku ramen…..or he would have if it wasn't for Kakashi grabbing the back of his jacket

Kakashi lifted Naruto off the ground with his arm extended "hold on Naruto-kun, we need to report to Hokage-sama" Naruto just flailed in the air as Kakashi turned to his team "Sasuke-kun you can head home if you want, Sakura-chan I would like you to join us for this"

Naruto flailed harder after hearing this "hey why does the teme get to leave! And why do you need me?!"

Sasuke scoffed and walked away not care about what they were going to do "hn I've got better things to do"

Naruto was tempted to knock the uchiha unconscious but he couldn't get out of Kakashi's grasp. He kept flailing as Kakashi began to walk towards the Hokage tower "let me go Kakashi-sensei! I'm going to knock that teme out before I get my Ramen!"

Sakura followed behind after giving one last look towards the hospital. During the walk towards hokage tower, Sakura kept stealing glances at Naruto, who now just hung crossed his arms and brought in his legs while grumbling about how unfair it was for him. Everytime she looked at Naruto she could see the actions he did on the bridge, the blood that was spilled and the sadistic smile she saw him give while he was transformed into that…..monster 'what are you…Naruto?'

~Hokage tower~

Most of team seven now find themselves in front of the Hokage. Kakashi stood behind Naruto and Sakura.

Hiruzen looked at the three in front of him and wondered why it was only the three and not the four. Looking towards Kakashi he noticed that he had a serious look on his face "well Kakashi-san, would you mind telling me what caused you to be so serious on a mission report?"

Kakashi cleared his throat "well Hokage-sama the mission was a bit more hectic than we originally thought". Kakashi began to explain what had happened during the mission and once he got to the bridge he altered some of the events to keep up with the lie he made for Naruto

Sakura gave Kakashi a shocked look when she heard the lie and her eyes kept passing from Kakashi to Naruto wondering why he was lying but she kept quiet because she trusted there to be a reason for it

Once Kakashi had finished, Hiruzen looked at the three and noticed the slight nervous look on Sakura's face but Naruto looked like he wasn't concerned at all but it was thanks to his years of being a shinobi and the knowing the boy to tell that he was holding it in "well that's an interesting turn of events Kakashi-san. You say that this Haku came all this way to join Konoha, although there are procedures for it I can wait until this young man is ready for screening. I will however have an Anbu squad keep an eye on the boy until I am sure he is trustworthy" Hiruzen than leaned back into his chair "well thank you for your report Kakashi-san, I will send out a messenger hawk to the land of waves to discuss their missing portion of the payment, for now you will receive your C-rank payment but the record will show it to be an A-rank. Now you are dismissed"

Once Naruto heard this he jumped in the air "YES, Ramen here I come!" and he ran out the door

Sakura began to make her way out but before she reached the door she was stopped by Hiruzen calling her "Sakura-chan, may I have a moment of your time please?". Sakura turned around and went back to her spot in front of the hokage

Hiruzen pulled out his pipe, put in his favorite tobacco, lit it and took a puff of it "now Kakashi, why don't you tell me what really happened". Hiruzen had a feeling that Sakura had witnessed what really happened and needed her here

Sakura really didn't want to remember what had happened on the bridge but she stood there and listened to Kakashi tell the real story on what happened

Kakashi had finally finished up the story leaving out some details Sakura didn't need to know and his conversation with Naruto. And once he finished he felt like this was the perfect time to bring up his idea "Hokage-sama. I actually have something I wish to ask both you and Sakura-chan"

Hiruzen nodded his head as he himself thought of what he could do to keep Naruto's secret from spreading

Kakashi then spoke "I want to ask if we should erase the memory of Naruto from her mind"

Sakura looked both shocked and horrified by what Kakashi had just said and looked at both the hokage and Kakashi hoping that this would be some sort of joke

Hiruzen noticed the panic on the girls face and went to quell it "Kakashi you should really find a better way to say things like that. Sakura-chan I believe he wants to erase only the scene you had witnessed on the bridge since Naruto himself has no recollection of it but I will ask you….would you like to forget what you have seen?"

Sakura still felt a bit of fear on the idea of losing her memory but she also felt like it would be a blessing if she could forget about what she saw. She felt conflicted, on one hand she would remember everything but never be able to look at Naruto the same way or she could forget it and have some peace. It was a small little voice in her head that helped make her decision "I….will keep my memory"

Kakashi and Hiruzen both raised an eyebrow at this and both asked at the same time "why?"

Sakura just looked down and shook her head gently signalling that she didn't want to tell them. In truth it was fear of the unknown that influenced the her. 'What if Naruto became that monster again and went to kill me? If I don't remember I will be too shocked when it happens that I will be hopeless…..'

Kakashi didn't like the idea of having her traumatized by this but the Hokage had made it her choice so he couldn't say anything

Hiruzen just sighed and nodded his head "very well. You have made your choice but know that after awhile we will not be able to do anything about the memory and you will have to live with it. Also you are not to mention any of what you have seen to anyone! This is something that no one must know about EVER! It's an SSS-class secret and you know of it only because you witnessed it. Is this understood?"

Sakura felt a lump in her throat and gulped before she nodded her head "h-hai Hokage-sama. But can I ask…...what is he….?"

Hiruzen looked into her eyes with a dead serious expression "that is not something you need to know"

Sakura nodded, bowed and slowly left the room leaving Kakashi and Hiruzen alone as both felt like this could cause problems later on

~Ichiraku Ramen stand~

Naruto looked down at his bowl of ramen with his chopsticks in his hand but he wasn't eating. In fact it was his first bowl and he had been staring at it for half an hour. He had been thinking about what was said to him back in Wave when he asked Kakashi what had happened. He didn't say anything then but he knew…..he had been lied to. Ever since then he had felt fear coming off of Sakura and it was directed at him. He had asked Rama-tou-chan about what really happened and he said that he (Naruto) was knocked unconscious during that time so nothing really happened. Naruto wanted to believe him but the fear coming from his teammate was causing him more stress because he feared that his secret might have been found out

Ayame was worried about Naruto. This was the first time that he DIDN'T eat ramen that was right in front of him. She wanted to ask what was wrong but she didn't know if bringing it up would make his mood drop or not 'I wonder what happened?'

As Naruto sat there he didn't notice someone else coming up from behind him

"A-a-ano, N-n-n-naruto-kun?"

Naruto jumped a bit and turned to see Hinata standing behind him with what he could feel was worry "oh hey Hinata-chan. Whats up?"

Hinata began to poke her fingers together trying to find the words she wanted to use in her question "um…..are you a-alright N-n-naruto-kun?"

Naruto put on his usual smirk, hiding his depressed state "yeah of course Hinata-chan! I mean I finally got back from my mission!"

Hinata looked at the smirk that Naruto gave her and subtly looked at the bowl of ramen on the counter and saw that it was still a full bowl and there was no steam coming from it, which meant it was cold, which made her worry for him. Moving her gaze a bit to look at Ayame who was looking at the two and Hinata could see the look of worry that the waitress was giving the boy. Hinata knew that Naruto wasn't fine and she wanted to help but she couldn't think of much that would help him so she went with the only thing that came to mind. "O-okay. um…..N-n-n-naruto, w-w-w-w-would y-y-you l-l-l-l-like to train with me?" she asked with a blush on her face since this was the first time she asked him

Naruto looked a bit surprised at being asked this but he began to think that training might help him out of the depressing feeling he had been feeling "sure Hinata-chan, sounds like a good idea". He jumped off the stool and placed his payment on the counter but what he didn't realize was that he placed what he would normally pay for his usual visits, eighteen bowls worth "thanks for the meal Ayame-neechan, see you later"

Ayame watched Naruto walk away with Hinata and hoped that the young Hyuga girl could help him out of his depression. She picked up the money and realize that it was too much for what he ordered, even if he didn't eat it. Running out to the stand she wanted to call to Naruto but she couldn't see him anymore "*sigh* I'll just give this to him next time he comes by. I really hope you feel better Naruto-kun"

As Naruto and Hinata walked to one of the training grounds Naruto caught a scent that both made his heart skip a beat, even if he didn't know why, and made him feel a pain in his heart as well. It was the scent he knew just as well as Hinata's scent. It was Ino and based on how strong the scent was getting, she was getting closer. He wanted to see her, talk to her, but he was also afraid, after what they last met he avoided her and everytime he caught her scent he always went in another direction. He missed her but he was keeping his promise to her and this was making him feel worse. "Hey Hinata let's go another way" he said before he grabbed her hand and walked to their right, into an alley that cuts to another street path

Hinata blushed at holding Naruto holding her hand and didn't even think of responding

~Ino~

Ino was walking down the street not really going anywhere, she was just taking a walk since it was her day off from working at the flower shop and there was no team training today. As she walked, she began to think, about how her training was going, what their next mission might be and how her friends are doing. She stopped that train of thought because she might start to think of something she regretted. Throughout the past month, Ino hasn't even thought of Sasuke like she used to because if she did, she would be reminded of what cause the argument she had with her closest friend. She tried to avoid thinking about team seven since it always went to Naruto. "*sigh* Why did I say all that? I haven't even seen him around to apologize and even if I find him…..I know he wont talk to me anymore. Why was I being so stupid!". When she finished, she looked up, to see Naruto, with Hinata a good distance away but she could recognize his blonde hair anywhere. She felt happy to see him but her happiness soon vanished when she saw him, grab Hinata's hand and walked into an alleyway in another direction. She reached out and wanted to call out to him but her voice wouldn't come out. She stood there arm stretched out for a few more moments. Dropping her arm she dropped her head, she knew about Naruto having a good sense of smell and he once told her that he found her once by smell, so there was no way that he didn't know she was close by. Her shoulders began to shake as she held back the hurt she felt. She wanted him to talk to her again, she wanted him to smile at her again, she wanted him to come by the shop again "...I want him back"

~Training ground seven~

Naruto and Hinata had arrived at the training ground and Hinata thought it was a miracle that she didn't faint from holding Naruto's hand the whole way. Naruto was so focused on getting to the training ground that he forgot to let go of her hand. Once they arrived he finally let go of her hand and took a deep breath, feeling better now that he was off the streets of Konoha, away from the hatred. Turning to Hinata he smiled at her, one that was a little bit more real "ok Hinata-chan, what do you want to work on? You wanna try that move of yours we worked on last time or do you wanna try something else?"

Hinata snapped out of her daze when he asked the question, looking to Naruto she shook her head. Taking a couple deep breaths, something Kurenai told her would help with her nervousness "no, I think we should work on the one y-y-you showed m-me….". She felt a sense of pride for not stuttering so much in her sentence

Naruto rubbed the back of his head , when he remembered how the last time he tried to do the move, it was a mess and if it wasn't for his accelerated healing he would be in a coma due to head trauma "well I haven't gotten any better since last time" he said as he rubbed the back of his head giving a dry chuckle

Hinata could see that he was feeling better than he did back at the ramen stand and wanted to keep this up so she said something that Naruto had told her before "well Naruto-kun, how will you ever improve if you don't keep trying"

Naruto looked back at her in a bit of shock. Not only did she say the same words he said to her before when they first trained but she said it without a single stutter. He got pumped after hearing what she said with new found determination he got ready. He knew he had to get stronger, for the people he cared about because something deep in his heart told him he needed to be strong enough to protect them

~that night, Naruto's apartment~

Naruto walked into his apartment tired from the training he had with Hinata. He felt a lot better when training with her and she always seemed to make his day a bit brighter. Walking in he immediately scrunched up his nose at the smell "what the hell?". Looking towards the kitchen he began looking for whatever food he left out that might be causing the smell. Not finding anything on the counter he looked towards his table but didn't see anything…...that is until he saw the flower he put in the center of the table…..it had wilted and died. Looking back into the kitchen he saw the flower he had there was also dead "...oh no". Running to his bedroom he saw that the flowers that were placed in different spots had also died as well as some of the plants. He looked up and prayed for any sort of miracle that the ones in his sleeping area were still alive. Jumping up he quickly released the rope, pulled the door down, released his hengeand leapt into his sleeping area. It wasn't just the idea of letting his flowers and plants die, he felt that he still had a connection to Ino if he took care of them, that she was still part of his life even if indirectly from the flowers he got from her family shop but it was the same in his sleeping area. In seemed his flowers had taken up some sense of his life, at one time colorful and bright, now dim and dieing. He felt that no matter what he would always lose something he cherishes

Sitting on his haunches he held his head down, with his ears drooping and tails just laying on the ground. After a few minutes, he dropped to his bedroom and picking up a water pail with his tail he went to his kitchen sink, filled it with water and went to water all the dead flowers and plants, hoping he could bring them back and regain his connection to Ino 'I miss her'

~Meanwhile in Ino's room~

Ino held a purple water pail as she water the flowers she had on her window sill. Once she was finished she found herself looking at the purple tiger lily and the orange begonia as they were placed right next to each other. She gently ran her finger on the petals of the begonia as she had one thought 'I miss him'

End of chapter

Wasn't really feeling it for this chapter. It was just a small filler chapter

Team seven have gotten back to the leaf. Haku is now getting treatment, Sakura has chosen to keep her memory out of fearing Naruto. Fear can cause people to be irrational

For Ino, I had a saying in my head for her part "absence makes the heart grow fonder" but I also think on how they last met it would cause a lot of hurt as well. For Ino, she is starting to understand how important Naruto is to her. For Naruto he already sees Ino as important but he also thinks that Ino would be happy if she didn't see him but he doesn't know the hurt he is causing

Anyways next chapter will be the beginning of the chunin exams. Something I have been looking forward to

Please read and review