Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, or any properties in this work that I did not make myself.

Harold of Konoha

Chapter thirty-eight: Awesome quest (AKA They are Putting the band back together)

One day in the village of Konohagakure, Harold Fisher, one of Konoha's oldest active jonin, was making his way to the residence of Neji Hyuga and his family, which consisted of his wife Tenten and their daughter Tenji. Accompanying the Fisher patriarch were his two closest friends, Inoichi Yamanaka and Tsume Inuzuka, the latter bringing her talking Ninkin Kuromaru with her. The reason why the three seniors and Kuromaru were going over to Neji's place is because they wanted to check up on Tenten.

"How do you guys think Tenten's weight loss regimen is coming along?" Inoichi asked casually as he and the others made their way to see the weapons expert.

"Well the last time we saw her, she still had a bit of a ways to go," Tsume remarked, "But she had still slimmed down considerably, to the point where I can no longer call her 'Ten-ton'."

Looking up at his owner, Kuromaru said with a dry look on his face, "I don't think that you should have ever referred to Tenten by that name. It's rather mean."

"Look, guys," Harold said as he and the rest of the group reached the front door of Neji's place, "The point is that Tenten is close to her goal." After he knocked on the door, Harold said as he continued to face his friends, "I think that with just a little bit more of a push, Tenten will finally be down to a respectable HOLY S***!"

Harold deviated midsentence when, after he heard the front door open, he turned to see who answered the door. When he did, he was shocked to see a now perfectly slim and healthy Tenten standing there. Inoichi, Tsume and Kuromaru, upon seeing the now slim Tenten as well, all had similar reactions to what they were seeing like what Harold had. (1)

"Damn, Tenten!" Tsume exclaimed as she gestured to Tenten with both of her hands, "You look like someone had poked you with a pin, causing you to violently deflate or something!"

Tenten, with a look of mild amusement on her face, replied, "No, that wasn't it." Gesturing to her now slim body, the weapons expert said, "I was able to lose all of my excess weight thanks to the dance-based exercise regimen you guys had put me on."

"Well I'll be damned," Harold remarked in amazement, "I knew that the power of dance was a high-tier power, but to think that it would work so well in wringing out all of that fat that you had out of you so quickly." Turning to face his friends, the Fisher patriarch continued, "Bros, I just came up with the ultimate idea!"

Kuromaru, in a resigned and knowing tone (2), remarked, "And what is this plan of yours that you have, Harold?"

"We open up an exercise slash weight loss studio," Harold began, "Where we have the people who come in to work out use the dance-based exercise method that we used to get Tenten down to a healthy weight! With a success story like Tenten, we'd be bound to get a lot of members, who would pay for memberships, to come by!"

Kuromaru, upon hearing what Harold had said, remarked in a tone of mildly subdued surprise, "…Huh. That's actually not a bad idea at all, Harold." (3)

Turning to face Tenten, Harold asked, "What do you think, Tenten? Would you mind leading classes at the dance-based weight loss studio that the guys and I are going to work on?"

"Me?" Tenten replied, looking mildly surprised.

Pointing to Tenten, Inoichi explained, "Not only would you know the routines better than the people in the classes, but you can use your own success story to motivate and inspire the people who come by to work out. Harold's got a point on how you'd be perfect for the job!"

The weapons expert looked like she was thinking about the offer for a bit, keeping the seniors and Kuromaru waiting. After a short while, Tenten said, "Tell you what. You get the studio up and running, and I'll apply for a job at it as an instructor."

"Yes!" Harold cheered as he and the other seniors all pumped fists into the air, "This is going to be awesome!" As Harold and friends celebrated, Tenten could not help but smile. The weapons expert even cheered a bit herself, given what she had just finished getting through.

Later that day, Harold and company were walking along in the streets of Konoha, the prospect of opening up their own business-a dance studio no less-keeping the three seniors excited. As the three seniors and Kuromaru walked along, they spotted Shikaku Nara and Choza Akimichi, the members of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio that Inoichi belongs to, standing outside of a building that looked to have been a business of some sort that was shut down long ago.

"Shikaku, Choza, my good men," Inoichi called out, getting the two senior men to turn to face him as he, Harold, Tsume and Kuromaru approached, "What brings you guys by here?"

"Oh, we were just heading to the bar to grab a drink," Shikaku remarked. Pointing to the building that he and Choza had stopped in front of, the older Nara patriarch continued, "We walked by this place here, and when Choza saw it, he made us stop to look and reminisce about when this old place was still open."

Curious, Inoichi and the others all turned to face the building that Shikaku and Choza stopped in front of. It looked to be a restaurant of some sort; it had a fairly big ground floor with a smaller second floor that was for private use, perhaps a (very) small and un-extravagant penthouse, with a staircase on the right-hand side (if you're outside and facing the restaurant) of the building as a whole. There were six square banners hanging in front, each adorned with a yellow kanji, and a red lantern on the left-hand side (again, if you're outside and facing the place) of the banners.

Looking at the old restaurant, Kuromaru said with a hint of realization in his tone, "Ah, this place does bring back some old memories." Turning to face the humans in his group, the talking Ninkin said, "Hey Tsume, guys, this place is Ramen Ichiraku. Remember how the four of us came here to celebrate Konoha successfully quelling the class war-inspired village-wide riot that took place shortly before the Konoha Car Crisis?" (4)

"Oh yeah, I remember," Tsume said as fond memories began to return to the forefront of her mind, "Harold had miso ramen, Inoichi had red-bean soup, I got you a small plate of beef cutlets, and I had a bowl of-" The Inuzuka matriarch stopped short, her fond, amused tone changing to one that was resigned and somber. "…Katsudon…" Tsume finished in a sad tone, looking down to the ground with a look of somber sadness on her face. Harold and Inoichi both patted her back in a comforting, reassuring gesture, in an effort to try to cheer her up.

Turning to look back at the long-abandoned Ramen Ichiraku, Harold said, "You know, from what my niece Sakura told me, Inoichi's boy Naruto used to love eating here all the time."

"Yeah, I remember being told that Naruto's favorite food is ramen," the Yamanaka patriarch remarked, "But I also remember hearing that Naruto hasn't had any ramen for well over ten years." With a look of contemplative concentration on his face, Inoichi continued, "From what he remembers, Naruto said that the last time that he had ramen was sometime before the Konoha Car Crisis."

"That would probably be because Teuchi, the previous owner of Ramen Ichiraku, was one of the close to ninety victims of the Konoha Car Crisis," Choza explained, "And that Lord Sixth had said that when he found out Teuchi was killed because someone told him during the mass vigil held to honor the victims of the crisis, he just couldn't find it in himself to ever have ramen."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Harold said, "Well, ain't that a bitch. It sucks that Wait a minute, hold on." Looking to Shikaku and Choza, Harold asked, "Didn't Teuchi have a daughter who helped him run the place? Wouldn't she be able to continue to run things?"

"You mean Ayame?" Shikaku replied, "Yeah, and she wasn't killed during the crisis. But from what I heard, she took off shortly after the mass vigil for the victims of the crisis."

Nodding in confirmation, Inoichi said, "I can confirm that." With his left hand on his hip, Inoichi said as he gestured to his friends with his free hand, "Ayame actually moved over to Suna, where she met Lord Kazekage Gaara's brother Kankuro. One thing led to another, and the two of them got married. Ayame gave birth to three kids for Kankuro. The first two are a pair of twins consisting of a daughter named Vera and a son named Chuck. Two years after that, Ayame gave birth to a second son that was named Dave." (5)

"Are you serious?!" Shikaku exclaimed as he, the others seniors and Kuromaru all looked at Inoichi with shocked expressions of surprise on their respective faces, "How do you know all of that, Inoichi?!"

Turning to properly face the older Nara patriarch, Inoichi replied, "Because I'm good friends with Kankuro, remember?" Reaching into a pocket located on the inside of his haori coat, the Yamanaka patriarch pulled out a post-card. Turning it around to show the front to everyone, Inoichi revealed a picture of Ayame with Kankuro; there were two ten-year-old kids, one a boy and one a girl, plus an eight-year-old boy, in the picture with Ayame and Kankuro.

"Kankuro sent me this Christmas card last year, showing me how he and his family look right now," Inoichi remarked before he put the Christmas card back where he got it from.

"Well now," Shikaku began to say, "Ain't that a-"

"Dudes!" Inoichi practically exclaimed as if he had a sudden idea, "I got it! What if we went over to Suna to visit Ayame to try to convince her to come back here to Konoha to open her late father's old ramen place back up?"

Sighing in a mildly annoyed tone, Shikaku said, "You just told us that Ayame has a family now, you moron."

"She can bring Kankuro and the kids with her," Harold pointed out to the older Nara patriarch.

"Aren't you also forgetting that Kankuro is the brother of the current Kazekage?" Shikaku countered, "I'm pretty sure that Lord Gaara wouldn't be comfortable with the idea of one of his siblings moving out of Suna and living elsewhere!" (6)

With a shrug, Tsume said, "We can just say that Kankuro is Suna's ambassador to Konoha, and that Kankuro can move into Konoha, so as to better keep an eye on things here in Suna's allied village." Giving Shikaku an amused look, Tsume added, "We can find a way to make this work, Shikaku. Trust me."

Turning to face Choza, Shikaku said, "Choza, man, you've got to help me out here."

Choza, with a mildly apologetic look on his face as he turned to regard Shikaku, replied somewhat sheepishly, "…In all fairness, it's been ages since I've last had the pleasure of dining at Ramen Ichiraku. If I can try ramen of that quality just one more time, then who am I to not take the necessary actions to help bring it to fruition?"

Shikaku saw that he was not going to win here, much less get his point across. Sighing in a tone that showed he was admitting defeat, the older Nara patriarch said, "Fine, we'll head on over to Suna and see if Ayame would be interested in returning here to reopen Ramen Ichiraku." The rest of the seniors all let out cheers as they all pumped fists into the air. Kuromaru simply gave Shikaku a sympathetic, understanding look.

Although the trip took a fair bit of time, the group eventually made their way over to the village of Sunagakure. Upon reaching Suna, Harold stretched his arms into the air. "Holy balls, we've finally made it!" the Fisher patriarch exclaimed. Lowering his arms, Harold turned to face the other seniors and Kuromaru. "Yo, Inoichi," Harold began as he spoke to his closest friend, "Do you have any idea where Kankuro lives?"

"I believe he lives in a house located near the Kazekage estate," the Yamanaka patriarch replied. Pulling out his cell phone, Inoichi added, "Luckily I have Kankuro's number on speed dial, so I can just call the dude." Kuromaru and the other seniors watched as Inoichi dialed up Kankuro's number before holding the phone up to his ear.

"…Hello?" Inoichi said after the other end of the line picked up, "Kankuro? Dude, it's me, Inoichi. Yeah, I'm actually here in Suna with a couple of my friends. You remember Harold, Tsume, Kuromaru, Shikaku and Choza, right? …Yeah, the lot of us came here because we want to discuss something with your wife Ayame. What's your address again? …What was that? You're actually out at the moment? Well where are you? …At a local grocery store called Spice Mart? Well where is it? …You can see us?"

Surprised by what Inoichi said, the rest of the group began to look around. It was Harold who spotted Kankuro standing outside of a grocery store called Spice Mart; Kankuro was using his right hand to hold a cell phone up to the side of his head, and his left hand was holding onto a bag of groceries. After spotting the older brother of the current Kazekage, Inoichi ended the call, put his phone away, and led the rest of the group over to Kankuro.

"Well ain't this a surprise, my good man," Kankuro said to the Yamanaka patriarch when the seniors got close enough. After closing his phone and slipping it into a pocket on the front of the pants he was wearing, the puppetmaster ninja said, "So Inoichi, tell me. What brings you and your friends here over to Suna?"

"Kankuro, I'm going to have to cut right to the chase," Inoichi said, his tone taking on something of a serious hint, "I need you, your wife Ayame and all of your kids to move to Konoha."

The older brother of the Kazekage stared at his older friend for a few moments, a looks of stunned surprise on his face. "I…" Kankuro replied in a tone of subdued stun, "…I beg your pardon? What do you mean?"

"Look Kankuro, here's the deal," Kuromaru began to explain, "Inoichi and all of his friends here want to try to reopen the ramen place that the late father of your wife Ayame had open before the Konoha Car Crisis. They need Ayame, as they believe that she can carry on her father's legacy and create ramen of a quality similar to, if not identical, to what her late father could make."

Folding his arms over his chest, Kankuro remarked to the seniors, "That sounds pretty ball'in, dudes, and I'm actually on board with the idea. However, not only do we have no idea if Ayame would be on board with this plan, but what makes you think we can convince Gaara to let me move out of Suna? I'm pretty sure he wouldn't feel comfortable with most of what family he has left living in a completely different land."

"We can tell Lord Gaara that you can serve as Suna's ambassador to Konoha," Harold began to explain, "And that you could do the job more effectively if you lived in Konoha."

"Hmm…" Kankuro hummed as he wore a look of consideration on his face. After a few brief moments of thinking, the puppetmaster ninja said, "Alright then, that ought to work."

The seniors (aside from Shikaku and Kuromaru) all cheered excitedly, happy that their plan was one step closer to fruition. Gesturing for the group to follow him, Kankuro said, "Well what are you all waiting for, dudes? We ought to get started on getting Gaara and Ayame on board with the plan of me moving out of Suna!"

It didn't take Kankuro and the seniors too long to reach the Kazekage's estate, where Gaara lived with his family. Strolling right up to the front door and opening it, Kankuro said, "Gaara and his family don't mind it when I just let myself in. After all, I'm the cool, fun uncle of Gaara's two kids Ayumu and Shinki! (7) Those two always love it when I come by for a visit!"

"Well so long as we aren't intruding," Choza remarked as he and the others followed Kankuro into Gaara's house. After making their way inside, Kankuro led the rest of the group to the living room area. The seniors were expecting a rather lavishly decorated living room, given that Gaara is the Kazekage. However, what they instead saw was a living room that, aside from being a little bit bigger, was more or less identical to the set up that Naruto had in his living room.

Looking around the living room, the seniors and Kuromaru didn't see anything too noteworthy, until Kuromaru spotted a girl roughly the same age as Natsu sitting on the sofa, completely absorbed in the book that she was reading. This girl even looks very similar to Natsu, in terms of hairstyle, height, body type and so forth. The only differences was that this girl's hair color was a sandy brown color, her eyes were regular (no eye-based kekkei genkai) and a greenish color similar to what Gaara had, her outfit, which even looked similar to what Natsu usually wears, uses red where Natsu uses orange, and she wore a Suna shinobi headband in the same manner that Natsu wears her Konoha shinobi headband.

"Oh, there's Ayumu right now," Kankuro said to the seniors as he pointed to the girl sitting on the sofa. Turning to face the girl that he had identified as his niece, Kankuro said, "Hey, Ayumu! I'm here with some friends of mine from Konoha!" The seniors and Kuromaru all expected the young Suna kunoichi to respond to her uncle right away, but instead she simply continued to read her book, as if she didn't even hear Kankuro.

"…With all due respect Kankuro," Shikaku said to the puppetmaster ninja, "Your little niece over there is kind of rude."

Gesturing to Shikaku, Choza said, "Maybe she has a hearing problem? It would explain why she also failed to respond to the noise of the front door opening, given that she should have clearly heard it otherwise."

Pointing over to where Ayumu sat, Shikaku continued, "If her having a hearing problem is the case, then how come that girl is a ninja? Having a handicap like hearing impairment is a serious problem that could really mess things up in the field!" Folding his arms over his chest, the older Nara patriarch remarked in a mildly disappointed tone, "Is Suna so strapped for shinobi due to the ongoing war against Kumo that they're passing people who aren't completely fit for active duty? This is something that-"

Shikaku was cut off when Kankuro gave the older Nara patriarch a light smack upside the side of his head with the back of his left hand. "Dude, quit being an insensitive prick," the puppetmaster ninja scolded, "Ayumu has autism, so it takes her a while to get going." (8) Turning to face where his niece sat, Kankuro casually yet gently approached her. Getting right next to his niece, Kankuro gently reached forward and tapped Ayumu's left shoulder with his right hand, finally drawing the young Suna kunoichi out of her reading.

Seeing who was there, Ayumu sat her book aside and threw her arms around Kankuro in a hug. "Uncle Kankuro!" Ayumu said, "You came by for a visit!"

"Yes, I did," Kankuro replied as he gave his niece a gentle rub on the top of her head, ruffling her hair a bit, "How you bez, little lady?"

Nodding a bit, Ayumu said, "I'm doing better, according to that psychology doctor that mom is having me go see regularly ever since the failed chunnin exams over in Konoha." (9) As she spoke to her uncle, Ayumu spotted Harold and the others. A bit jumpy, the Suna kunoichi hid behind her uncle. "Who are those people, Uncle Kankuro?" Ayumu asked, clearly sounding like she was scared, "That man with the black hair in a ponytail looks especially scary."

"Oi," Shikaku responded, sounding mildly offended. The other seniors, and even Kuromaru, all chuckled a bit, finding some amusement in Ayumu's assessment of their Nara friend.

Chuckling a bit, Kankuro merely patted Ayumu on her head. "They are friends and business associates of mine, little lady, and they are here to discuss matters of great importance with me and your father. Speaking of, where is he?"

Before Ayumu could open her mouth to speak, the front door of the house opened, making everyone turn in the direction of the door. As such, they saw Gaara himself walk in, as if it was on some sort of cue. The Kazekage paused when he saw all of the people in his house that, although he was familiar with some of them, he was not expecting them, and so many at that, to be in his family's home.

Looking around a bit with a look that was a mix of confused and mildly unsettled, Gaara soon spotted Kankuro over by Ayumu. The very familiar sight of his older brother gave Gaara some much needed clarity. "Kankuro, why are so many of your pals from Konoha here?" asked the younger Sand sibling brother, a firm look on his face demanding answers and offering no room to argue, "And why did you bring them here? You know that Ayumu is no good with unexpected things popping up."

"Sorry, lil' bro," Kankuro replied, "But it's something that just came up." His expression relaxing from mildly embarrassed to casually hopeful, the puppet master ninja continued, "But believe it or not, Inoichi and the others are here to discuss something with you."

This prompted the Kazekage to turn his gaze over to the senior ninja and Kuromaru. Arching a wry eyebrow, Gaara said, "You guys…wish to discuss something with me?"

A few minutes later, Gaara, Kankuro, the senior ninja and Kuromaru were sitting around in the living room, with Harold, Inoichi and Tsume having done most of the explaining while Choza, Shikaku and Kuromaru provided the occasional comment or correction. "…Thus we're going to need Ayame to return to Konoha and reopen her late father's old business," Inoichi said as he finished the explanation as a whole, "This will necessitate Kankuro and the kids that he has had with Ayame to come along for the ride as well."

"While Ayame runs the revived Ramen Icharaku," Harold added, "Kankuro can fulfill the role of Suna's ambassador to Konoha. Or something along those lines."

Gaara, with his arms folded over his chest, gave the Konoha natives a serious look of consideration, never removing his gaze from them. "…You know," Gaara began, "Temari was living in Konoha at the time of the Konoha Car Crisis. Who's to say something similar to what happened to her won't happen to Kankuro? Or his wife? Or any of their kids?" Letting out a resigned sigh, Gaara continued, "I'm…worried that I may lose some more of what family that I still have left."

"Lord Kazekage, relax," Tsume pointed out, "Due to all of the inspections and what-not that the vehicle manufacturers in the Land of Fire have to go through, there's no way that there will be anything along the lines of a second Konoha Car Crisis." Folding her own arms over her chest, the older Inuzuka matriarch continued, "Besides which, your brother Kankuro here has way too much awesome to get killed so easily. And it's a protection that I am certain also extends to cover his wife and all three of their kids."

Seeing the confused look on Gaara's face, Kuromaru sighed and said, "That's just Tsume trying to, in her own way, reassure you that you have nothing to fear." With an 'hmph', the talking Ninkin added, "Besides, Tsume also has a point in how Kankuro has, as Tsume had said, 'way too much awesome to die so easily'. Your brother is very similar in various ways to Tsume, Harold and Inoichi, and those three idiots have survived things that normally would kill a lot of people many times over. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if Kankuro was immortal."

Leaning to his side to bring his face a bit closer to Gaara, Kankuro remarked, "I have inside me blood of kings." (10)

Gently face-palming, Gaara remarked, "I will concede the point that Kankuro has gotten in and out of scrapes that I doubt even I can get out of unharmed, even with my auto-protecting sand." Giving the Konoha natives a serious look, the Kazekage continued, "If Kankruo and his family are willing to move to Konoha so that you guys can borrow his wife for your plan to revive a local ramen joint, then I suppose it will pose no problem. But I want your complete assurance that you'll look after them." Leaning back where he sat on his sofa (Gaara sat on the far left side, putting him next to his daughter), Gaara said, "They are my family, you know."

"If Kankuro and his family does move to Konoha, I have no doubt that Kankuro will be hanging out with Tsume and her pals a hell of a lot more often," Kuromaru remarked, "That being said, it shouldn't prove to be difficult for us to keep an eye on them."

Nodding in agreement, Gaara said, "That's fair." Harold and the others began to cheer, as they more or less got the okay from Gaara for Kankruo to move to Konoha with his family so that Ayame can re-start Ramen Ichiraku; Gaara was a hurdle that, in all honesty, would be more of a challenge to clear than convincing Ayame herself, and she's the one the seniors were really after if their plan was to work.

A week or so later, Harold, his group, and a large crowd of onlookers were gathered around a newly refurbished Ramen Ichiraku. Standing next to Kankuro was his wife Ayame, the daughter of the late Teuchi; other than wearing glasses and looking a bit slimmer than she did before she had moved out of Konoha, Ayame looked pretty much the same as she always did. Vera, Chuck and Dave were somewhere in the crowd (11), watching as their mom stood in front of what is bound to become a family business for them.

Holding a megaphone in front of his mouth, Harold called out to the large crowd, "Hello, people of Konoha! We're here today to celebrate the return of a blast from the past! Behold!" Holding his free arm out and up at length, the Fisher patriarch exclaimed, "RAMEN ICHIRAKU!" The gathered crowd began to cheer wildly, excited that one of Konoha's lost staples has returned to the village at large. A newspaper reporter even snapped a photo of Ayame as she cut the large red ribbon in front of the doors to the revived ramen joint with a large pair of scissors.

…

Inside of the revived Ramen Ichiraku, Harold and his group, which got Choza and Shikaku back, were standing around after entering, taking in the sights of all of the people who came to dine at the blast from Konoha's past. As the seniors and Kuromaru looked around, Inoichi perked up when he heard Naruto's voice call out to him, "Hey, dad!" Turning around, Inoichi and the rest of the group saw Naruto approach them, followed by his wife Hinata. Gesturing to Inoichi, the Hokage said with a mildly amused smirk on his face, "So this is what you and your friends were up to when you left for that little trip to Gaara's village a week ago."

"What do you think, Naruto my boy?" Inoichi asked as he gestured to around the inside of the new Ramen Ichiraku, "The boys and I figured that you might get a kick out of this."

With a chuckle, Naruto said, "You know, it's been ages since I last had any sort of ramen. I actually forgot what it tastes like."

"I'm surprised that Ayame was able to get enough employees gathered to help her run this place so soon before its grand opening," Hinata remarked.

"Well let's just say that we know a few people who were looking for good work," Tsume replied. Arching an eyebrow out of piqued interest, the older Inuzuka matriarch said, "By the way, where's that daughter of yours?"

Chuckling a bit in amusement, Naruto said, "Oh yeah, about Natsu. Apparently, Gaara came here with his family to see the grand opening of Ayame's Ramen Ichiraku, since Ayame is Gaara's sister-in-law. Natsu met up with Gaara's daughter Ayumu, the two recognized each other from that disastrous chunnin exam, and they got to talking. The last that I saw, both girls were playing against each other on their Playtendo Swap Lites."

…

Gaara, along with his wife Homika and their (adopted) son Shinki were seated at a table in the new Ramen Ichiraku. Sitting next to Gaara was his and Homika's daughter Ayumu, and sitting across from Ayumu (and next to Shinki) was Natsu. Both young girls were holding Playtendo Swap Lites, and it was clear that they were playing against each other, or maybe with each other, in some game that allowed multi-player.

"Wow, you're really good," Ayumu remarked to the Uzumaki/Hyuga girl sitting across from her, "I kind of wish there were more people in my age group over in Suna like you."

"I kind of wish there were more here in Konoha like you," Natsu replied, "I mean, with all due respect to Haru and the boys he hangs out with, they…are pretty much complete and total noobs compared to you and me."

As the two girls gamed, Shinki looked to his adoptive parents. "…Is this normal?" Shinki asked clearly; the two girls were so absorbed that neither were aware of anything else.

"I'm just glad that Ayumu was so quick to socialize," Homika remarked. Appearance wise, Homika is basically a pallet swap of Hinata, much like how Ayumu is a pallet swap of Natsu; replace Hinata's hair color with Ayumu's, replace the colors in Hinata's outfit with colors that are normally found in Suna fashion, and replace Hinata's Byakugan with normal red eyes and you got what Homika looks like.

With a bit of an amused chuckle, Gaara said to Shinki, "It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Ayumu and Natsu get along so well. After all, I'm very close friends with Natsu's father." The adopted son of the Kazekage nodded in understanding, looking over to where his adoptive sister and the Hokage's daughter were playing with each other.

Seeing two shinobi kids, one from Suna and the other from Konoha, getting along so swimmingly put hope into Shinki that the alliance between Suna and Konoha will stand strong. It would really seal the deal if Ayumu and the Hokage's kid got another shinobi kid from Iwa into their group, as Iwa is allied with Suna and Konoha against Kumo in the Fifth Great Ninja War, even if Iwa's participation in the war was limited exclusively to providing materials and supplies to Suna and Konoha. (12)

…

Back to where Naruto and Hinata were talking to Harold and the others, Naruto let out a bit of an amused chuckle. "Heh, yeah," the Hokage remarked, "Those girls are going to help secure the future of Konoha's friendship with Suna. Mark my words."

"Marked they are, Naruto my boy," Inoichi said, "But we'll talk more about that later." Jerking a thumb over his right shoulder to point out the counter, the Yamanaka patriarch said, "Now how about we sit at the counter and get a few bowls of ramen?"

Smirking a bit in amusement, Naruto said, "I haven't done that in years. Sure, why not?" Thus, with Naruto and Hinata at their side, Harold and the rest of his group walked over to the counter in the newly revived Ramen Ichiraku, their quest having succeeded.

END, CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

Author's notes:

1. Kuromaru was the only one who did not use any swearing that is normally censored.

2. Given that one of the three main seniors said that they came up with a plan, Kuromaru was expecting the worst.

3. One of the very few times Kuromaru was happy he was proven wrong.

4. See chapter 12 of 'Guess who's back?' for more on this.

5. A reference to one of Ayame's favorite songs.

6. Over in an alternate timeline where she is still alive, Temari sneezes.

7. Gaara's adopted son from the series proper.

8. Kankuro's got a point.

9. Thank you, Ibiki. Thank you very much.

10. He has no rival, no man can be his equal, take Kankuro to the future of you all!

11. I'll try describing what they look like later if I remember. I'll also consider suggestions for what they look like; just remember that they all have fair skin and none of them have any sort of weight problem.

12. Iwa is too low on manpower to send troops to fight in the FGNW, remember?

You didn't think that Harold and his friends always did stupid stuff, did you? No, they know how to do good things to bring warm fuzzies to the hearts of Konoha citizens at large. In fact, they've also brought some business to Konoha, if you think about it; Harold and friends are going to start up that workout studio/gym that teaches the dance-based weight loss regiment, and now they've revived Ramen Ichiraku. Who knows what Harold and friends will do next?