Hey guys! Here's a new chapter, my longest one yet! (You guys deserve it) Please leave feedback and comments as I love reading them! Suggestions are also appreciated greatly, enjoy! :)
Chapter 16: Itachi's Return!
Since the village has been destroyed, many shops, housing and offices were temporarily moved to things like tents and shacks. Some houses weren't destroyed however, but most of the village was.
In the temporary Hokage's office, Tsunade's eyes were fixed on a pair of calm black eyes just a few feet from her desk.
"Itachi, I just can't believe that you helped defend our village and many of our citizens. Why did you choose to stray away from the Akatsuki and not stay?" Tsunade asked.
Although Itachi was apart of the Alatsuki, the Hokage's have been communicating with Itachi ever since he was forced out of the village. He cyphered information to the Leaf to foil the Akatsuki's plans and help defend nearby villages as well as their own. But nobody expected Itachi to appear in the Leaf Village to take down the Akatsuki's leader.
"He was talking about destroying the Leaf village, my home, and I needed to act fast. It's my home and so many people who I still have great respect and love for live here. I think the right thing to do was to help save my village and leave the Akatsuki." Itachi was calm yet showed great passion and respect for what he just said.
"Itachi, I have been talking to you frequently in our secret meetings, and I also sent you that scroll that Naruto and Hinata delivered to your location. I want to offer you to come back to the Leaf Village, as a Leaf Shinobi. Although many despise the Uchiha they will look up to you as the hero of our village." Tsunade was serious, and also very excited in the hopes of having a very talented, wise, and valuable Shinobi and citizen in the village again.
"I accept your offer, Hokage. I'm very fortunate to have someone like you in charge of this village. Many would shame me for what I've done, even people in the Leaf." Itachi was very happy on the inside, but still showed his calm usual face.
"I'm so happy your back Itachi!" Tsunade smiled at him. "You are now considered, from this point on, a Leaf Shinobi and citizen. Now there is just one more thing." Tsunade leaned back in her chair.
"Yes?" Itachi asked.
"It's about Sasuke." Tsunade narrowed her eyes. "Sasuke, as you know, went off with Orochimaru a while ago, and rescue teams have been dispatched multiple times to get him back. Now, I only ask you this as a brother of Sasuke, that it would be wise to join this team. You're very skilled and know him even better than Naruto and Sakura do."
"I'll join the team, Hokage. Sasuke is very important to me, he is my only brother and one of the only survivors of the Uchiha clan. I want him to come back to the village, just as much as Naruto does." Itachi replied back. "Which team will I be joining?"
"I was thinking you can join the Team 7 squad. After all Kakashi was your Anbu teammate and you do know Naruto pretty well. This way you will replace Sasuke for the time being and you can work great being a leader with Kakashi." Tsunade said.
"Sounds like a good idea." Itachi replied.
"I'll make a public announcement of your return tomorrow, so everyone knows you are not an enemy anymore, but rather a fellow Shinobi. As for residency I've already sent out news to Kakashi, and you can stay with him for a while."
"Thank you very much, Hokage. I'll be on my way." Itachi bowed and walked towards the exit.
"Itachi." Tsunade said suddenly.
"Yes?" He turned around.
"I have a good feeling we'll get Sasuke back." Tsunade smiled at him.
"I do too." Itachi smiled back.
"Also, please change out of those clothes." Tsunade said almost laughing.
"Indeed, I will." Itachi smiled again before leaving the Hokage's tent.
...
Although lots of the town was destroyed, some shops, housing, and other buildings and green space were not. Naruto and Hinata's apartment was not destroyed, along with many of their friends houses. Those who's houses were destroyed moved into temporary housing until the their houses were rebuilt.
Hinata was sitting on the couch in the living room watching tv, waiting for Naruto to come back. The last time she saw him was when him and Itachi killed Pain, which occurred almost 24 hours ago.
Naruto came through the door of the apartment.
"Hinata are you the-?" Naruto was interrupted by Hinata.
"Naruto! I'm so glad your okay!" Hinata ran over to him by the door and wrapped here arms around him, putting her face to his chest.
"Of course I'm okay Hinata, I wouldn't let something bad happen to me, I would hate to see you sad." Naruto put his arms around Hinata as well.
"J-just because I saw you a-almost get seriously hurt from Pain... Or even worse... I don't want you to get hurt Naruto..." Hinata was blushing a lot, but also trying to hold back tears. She was very happy Naruto was home and uninjured.
"Yeah.. Haha.. That's as a bit scary, but I'd do anything for the village. I'm going to be Hokage! I need to start practicing now." Naruto lightened the mood a bit, but still had his arms tightly around Hinata.
The two good at the open door for a few seconds in complete silence, enjoying each other's tight grip around them.
"How about we go sit down? I have some things to tell you about." Naruto asked.
"Okay." Hinata let go of Naruto and turned around.
To her surprise Naruto swept her off her feet and started carrying her towards the family room.
"Aah! Naruto!" Hinata was smiling and blushing even more now, giggling as she was being carried.
"It's the least I can do when I made you worry about me." Naruto laughed as well. He set Hinata down in the couch and sat down too.
"Okay, first thing I need to tell you." Naruto started. "Before I came here I met with the Hokage, and she congratulated me for protecting the village and blah blah blah. But she also brought up the fact that we are going on another mission for Sasuke as Team 7, once the village is in stable condition."
"Does that mean I would be coming with you?" Hinata asked.
"Well I also talked to Granny Tsunade about that as well. You know how Itachi jumped in and saved my butt with Pain? Well he is now being welcomed as a Leaf Shinobi and a citizen just like us again! Tsunade said he would be a replacement for Sasuke on our missions for him. I asked Tsunade about you as well, and she said having a team of 5 is no problem."
"I heard about Itachi, and I think it's great he'll be a regular person like us again. He deserves so much for what he did to protect us. And I know how important Sasuke is for you and Itachi, so I want to help as much as I can too!" Hinata's soft voice changed to a determined one as she said that. She really wanted the best for Naruto and also all of Team 7.
"Well that's all I had to get you caught up on. It's getting kind of late, I was thinking of heading to bed." Naruto motioned towards the bedroom.
"Me too, I'm pretty tired." Hinata said.
"We can go out and do something tomorrow if the Hokage doesn't need our help. It'll be my treat for letting you worry about me!" Naruto smiled and gave Hinata a quick hug.
"Okay Naruto... That sounds great." Hinata blushed.
"By the way Hinata, did you notice you stopped calling me Naruto-kun?" He asked.
"O-oh... Yeah I kinda do... Is that bad?" Hinata looked kind of worried.
"No! No! Of course not. It seems more natural this way, like all of my close friends call me." Naruto smiled. "Anyways, I'm heading to bed, you coming too?"
"Yup, I'll just get changed first." Hinata went and grabbed her clothes from the bedroom and changed in the bathroom.
Naruto just laid in the bed on his back, staring up at the ceiling. Hinata came in with her purple baggy pants and white t-shirt, while Naruto had his typical orange pants and black shirt. They not laid down in bed beside each other.
"Goodnight Naruto..." Hinata whispered.
"Night Hinata." Naruto replied.
Hinata rolled over in the bed, facing away from Naruto. He went right up behind her and hugged her tight, going right up against her.
"Sweet dreams..."
...
Naruto woke up to see an empty place in the bed beside him. Although the bedroom door was closed, he could hear Hinata in the kitchen cooking food, and the instant he realized it got up and went for the kitchen.
"Good morning Hinata..." Naruto yawned and stretched his arms.
"Good morning Naruto." Hinata gave him a big smile. "I made breakfast."
"Smells amazing, what is it?" Naruto looked over to where she was cooking.
"It's a mushroom-rice omelette with a side of ramen. I hope you enjoy it." She placed the plates and bowls on the table and they both sat down to eat.
"Mmm this is amazing Hinata! Your an awesome chef." Naruto had a mouthful of food.
"Hehe... Thank you." Hinata giggled.
Naruto and Hinata sat enjoying their food for a few moments in silence.
"Oh, by the way," Hinata started. "Sakura stopped by earlier to tell us that she's officially announcing Itachi's return to the village at noon today at the centre of town. I think we should go, after all he will be our teammate right?"
"Oh, that's awesome! We should go to congratulate him for all he's done for the village, plus to introduce him to Team 7!" Naruto was pumped. "We should stop by Sakura and Kakashi's place to pick them up and go together."
"Sounds like a plan." Hinata continued eating.
The two finished their breakfast and got changed and ready for the announcement at noon. It was already 11 in the morning, an hour to get Kakashi and Sakura with them.
"Let's go get Sakura first, then Kakashi sensei." Naruto started walking in the direction of Sakura's house.
They reached her door, and Naruto knocked on it. Sakura answered a couple seconds later.
"Oh, hey Naruto and Hinata. What's up?" Sakura said.
"Hey Sakura, me and Hinata thought it would be a good idea to gather Team 7 up and go to Itachi's celebration at noon, you up for it?" Naruto showed his usual grin.
"Sure! Let me just grab a couple things and we'll get going." Sakura went back inside for a minute and came out.
Naruto lead the way to Kakashi's house while Hinata and Sakura dragged behind a bit.
"So Hinata, what's going on with you and Naruto?" She whispered.
"W-with Naruto?" Hinata blushed. She still got tongue tied when talking about him.
"Yes! Tell me, did he tell you he likes you yet? Does he know?" Sakura pestered.
"N-no he didn't say anything yet. I think he knows I like him a lot... But maybe he thinks we're just very good friends." Hinata kept blushing.
"When are you going to tell him? He needs to know!" Sakura was whispering much louder now.
"I-I don't know! We hug a lot and we play around too... I think he already knows on some level." Hinata said.
"Oh really? That's cute haha." Sakura giggled.
"Oh stop." Hinata giggled too.
"Guys! Cmon I wanna go get Kakashi sensei fast! Quit dragging behind!" Naruto yelled at them as he was already quite far ahead of them.
"We're coming! You goofball." Sakura muttered the last part under her breath. "Let's catch up Hinata."
The three of them arrived at Kakashi's around 5 minutes later. The three of them knocked on his door together. Kakashi answered the door a couple seconds later.
"Oh, hey Naruto, Sakura, Hinata, what's up?" Kakashi said in his usual soft, monotone voice.
"We're going to Itachi's celebration at noon, and wanted to see if you could come along as a member of Team 7!" Naruto did the talking.
"Sure, I'll be out in a second." Kakashi went back inside for a moment and then came out again.
The four left for the centre if the village. Although it was basically destroyed, lots of things have been set up in the central part of the village, such as a stage and some temporary food shops.
While the four were walking there, Kakashi brought up Itachi.
"You three know about Itachi joining Team 7, correct?" Kakashi asked. The three nodded.
"And I understand that Hinata will be joining us as well?" Kakashi asked again.
"Yes, I will be." Hinata nodded.
"I want us all to treat Itachi like a teammate. He was my former Anbu team member back a long time ago, and I know that you Naruto have grown on him as well. I hope that you, Sakura and Hinata, can also show the same." Kakashi looked at all three of them.
"We will Kakashi sensei." Sakura replied.
The four arrived in the centre of the village just at noon, and crowds gathered around the well sized stage. The Hokage walked on the wooden stage platform to address the citizens.
"Attention everyone!" Tsunade started. The huge crowd fell silent.
"As we all know, the Leaf was attacked just a couple days ago by the Akatsuki. However, one member decided that his home was more important to him than anything, and put his life as well as his own organization behind to protect it. Itachi Uchiha showed all of us that no matter how distant you are to your home, that it still has a place in your heart. This is why I'm very happy to announce the return of the former Leaf Anbu member, Shinobi, and Uchiha clan member Itachi!" Itachi walked up on the stage as Tsunade finished her mini speech.
The crowd started cheering and clapping, and it seemed that many didn't care about his past, but rather the person he was now.
"Itachi will be a permanent resident of the Leaf, as well as a fellow Leaf Shinobi. Please treat him as you would treat anyone else in this village." Tsunade shook Itachi's hand.
The crowd was cheering for the former Akatsuki member. Naruto was happy, Kakashi was happy, as well as Hinata and Sakura too.
"I'm very grateful for all of you accepting me back into the village. I couldn't ask for anymore than this, I hope all of you can realize how fortunate you are to live in a village like the Leaf." Itachi said to the crowd.
Itachi couldn't help but feel at home again, so he cracked a smile.