This is a work of fan fiction using characters from the Naruto, which is trademarked by Masashi Kishimoto. Everything aside from the original characters are created from the wonderful mind of Kishimoto.
Most of the following unrecognizable are original characters of mine, please bear with me I am still in the process of making the character profiles for an even better visualization.
Also, comments, suggestions, criticism, even just simple messages are welcomes, please feel free to message me anytime.
Thanks for reading and enjoy!
Chapter 6: An Almost Proper Homecoming
"You do know you're going the long way right?" a low baritone voice spoke from behind her. Ayako turned to find a familiar yet foreign person. There stood before her was the first honorable grandson, a boy, no a man she once called a friend and a teammate, and still will.
"Kazu?" Ayako was wide eye with awe; before she left Kazuhiko was already tall, but now he was almost as tall as his uncle Asuma, even probably surpass him after quite some time. No longer did he adorn his long boyish hair, instead he sported a cleaner, somewhat manlier look, and even his voice was a lot deeper now.
"Heard from Ten-Ten you were finally back today" he casually said, strolling up to stand closer to her, making the difference in the heights even more obvious as he towered next to Misaki's small form.
"Wow, you've grown!" Kazuhiko exclaimed ruffling Misaki's hair, making Misaki sweat drop.
"Next to you, I feel like I didn't grow at single inch" Misaki smiled, it wasn't that Kazuhiko was lying, it was just as she said, Kazuhiko had grown so much that her height hardly seems comparable, by a long shot.
"What's up with you, since you left we have heard a single word from you except from those cryptic 'I'm still alive don't worry about me' hidden and coded messages for Kaede-san and Hokage-sama, not even a word for me" Kazuhiko scolded at Misaki who merely brushed the back of her head, as she smiled nervously.
"What about you, member of the Interrogation Force and yet you receive word of my arrival from Ten-Ten" Misaki stared Kazuhiko down, or rather up due to the height difference, while smiling mischievously and suspiciously at the same time. Kazuhiko unconsciously blushed as he stuttered violently rejecting her claims.
"What no, I just happened to pass by her house and notice she was already home and-"
"Her house is like the opposite way of the Sarutobi clan house, you'd have to have some intent to be able to reach their home" Misaki countered, arms crossing in victory.
"Oh shut up, runt, I missed you" Kazuhiko said finally surrendering to Misaki's incessant teasing, heck if the girl didn't tease, she would have doubted if she was Misaki at all. Misaki didn't reply, but Kazuhiko already saw all the reply he needed in her eyes and in her smile.
Their catching up conversation took them to Misaki's favorite local sweet's store that opened back when she was younger.
"Oh, Misaki, I haven't seen you in a while, you've grown so much" the old lady who owned the place greeted her as she served an array of Misaki's favorite sweets.
"It's good to be home oba-chan" Misaki answered smiling at the gentle and sweet old lady.
"Are you staying this time? Of course you're staying! Girls your age should be concentrating on the future and your family by now, you're very beautiful Misaki I bet a lot of able bodied young men are lining up your way, then again Kazuhiko is always by your side, wait are you two-" the old lady didn't even give Misaki a chance to answer her question and instead went on her own rant in her own little world, completely ignoring the other side of the conversation, but before the old lady can even go past the point of no return, she had to stop her before she gets her hopes up and starts hinting every single time she is seen with Kazuhiko.
"Don't even go there oba-chan, Kazu and I are friends and teammates, besides he like someone, I bet you have seen him bring her here one too many times" Misaki said her hands raised in a defensive manner, trying to convince the old lady with a nervous smile on her face.
"Oh, you mean that girl with hair buns, oh you poor child, having to watch the man you love pursue someone else, don't worry, I'll get you free dangos for that" the old lady said tears in her eyes as she left to get the said dangos, again ignoring the other half of the discussion.
"Man, she's too far gone huh" Kazuhiko said, with a huge sweat drop on his forehead.
"Oba-chan is old, but I've never experienced difficulty having to talk to her, in fact she still has a pretty good hearing, but everything I say seem to fall on deaf ears" Misaki pinched her chin with her index finger and thumbs as she looked up at the ceiling in deep thought.
"Oh well, I guess we get free dangos out of this" Misaki snapped her fingers, with a huge grin on her face.
"Glad to know you can still be optimistic" Kazuhiko rolled his eyes, leave it to Misaki to see the good out of the worst scenarios.
"That brings me back, so you're bringing a girl with buns now huh?" Misaki said wagging her eyebrows at Kazuhiko in a playful manner.
"Here we go again" Kazuhiko groaned as Misaki sent her a barrage of question regarding him, TenTen and the both of them.
"…then Ayako is the wind user girl from the renowned clan of assassins Isago,?"
"Yup" Misaki said patiently as Kazuhiko recalled the characters of the story of her adventures, in this case her friends.
"And she created a wind technique that would defeat fire ones?" Kazuhiko asked, is had been a few moments since they left the sweets shop, and Misaki wasn't even half way done introducing her friends.
"I know, it's insane, we didn't believe it the first time, but when she tested it against Natsumi's flames, -"
"Wait, this Natsumi girl is from the Hino clan right, aren't they like the flame powerhouse, is it true their flames are unique?"
"It's unique alright, she has this – "
"Oh isn't that Naruto?" Kazuhiko stopped from his tracks to point at the rowdy blond known for causing ruckus.
Like right now as he seems to be going against a pale dude with black hair, standing together with Shikamaru and Choji.
"Oh look, seems like they already got reacquainted" Misaki said in amusement.
"Looks like he didn't have trouble being reintroduced with the local crowd" Kazuhiko chuckled good naturedly.
"Uh-uh, he even made a new friend, but who's that guy they're playing with?" Misaki asked, curious eyes focused on the guy Naruto is currently cross blades with.
"No idea, though I get the feeling I have seen him somewhere" Kazuhiko said thoughtfully.
"You think we should join them?" Misaki said looking at them.
"Nah, I'm sure they can resolve it on their own"
"Wow, this Kazumi person sounds like an amazing person" Kazuhiko sighed as they walked towards the Namikaze clan house.
"Yeah, she really is, but believe it or not she was very different from the time we first met her, she –"before Misaki could finish, all her efforts were reverted into dodging a huge mannequin flying towards her way.
"Whoa! What the hell was that!" Kazuhiko exclaimed looking at the crater on the ground, imbedded with what used to be a mannequin right where Misaki was just standing a few seconds ago.
"That was probably mom pissed at me" Misaki laughed nervously as a flash of yellow rushed towards her.
"Misaki! Where have you been, Tsunade-sensei has a mission for you, you need to get to the team briefing right now!" Kaede said not waiting for a reply and dragging Misaki away from her old friend.
"It was nice talking to you Kazu, let's hang out some time later okay!" Misaki said waving cheerfully as if she wasn't being dragged away against her will. Kazuhiko sweat dropped and consciously waved back at the red head.
'I see nothing has changed' Kazuhiko thought.
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"As of now I will be taking Kakashi's place in team Kakashi" Yamato announced as he, together with Naruto, Sai and Sakura stood in a small circle like formation. Instantly, Naruto glared at the guy he once crossed blades with, amplifying the tension from a ten to a thousand. For a while everybody stood, completely motionless with the strength of the tension, until a small voice shattered it completely.
"Eh, I'm not too late for the briefing am I?" Misaki said rubbing the back of her head, effectively earning the attention of everyone that would be joining this mission. However, their focus on Misaki was short lived the moment Sakura opens her mouth.
"Naruto, do you know this guy?" Sakura asked, noting that Naruto was almost visibly shaking with vehement anger directed towards the younger stranger.
"Yeah, he's the guy who attacked me earlier, when I was with Shikamaru earlier?" Naruto announced, shocking everyone present.
"You mean to say you're not friends, and you weren't playing earlier, but actually fighting?" Misaki gasped in shock, it would a completely understatement to say that she had misread the entire situation.
Sakura just sweat dropped at Misaki's reaction whilst Naruto and Sai took hold of their own weapons.
"Stop it Naruto!" Yamato said, intervening between the two younger shinobi who are seconds away from initiating a fight.
"Come to think of it, who are you mister" Naruto asked curiously, lowering his kunai lightly, but not completely retreating his weapon.
"Could it be-" Sakura speculated out loud.
"I am the replacement captain while Kakashi is in the hospital, you can call me Yamato" Yamato introduced himself, walking closer to his would be team members.
"Yamato-taichou" Sakura confirmed earning a nod from the captain.
"You're comrades of the same team, so you guys need to get along" Yamato chastised the younger members of the team, causing Naruto and Sakura to look at the pale guy with uninhibited shock.
"Comrade, this guy!" they exclaimed and stuttered at the same time, whilst Misaki merely smiled cheerfully at their newest addition. It had taken a few moment before Sai removed the look of angst from his face and completely retracted his weapon whilst his face reverted to a smile to friendly it was almost painfully fake.
"I'm sorry for earlier, I knew we we're going to be teammates, and I was just trying to find out how strong you were" at this Naruto finally retracted his weapon back to its hidden place within its sleeves.
"You didn't have to do that" he said looking at Sai curiously, almost in a whole new light…
…that is until he opened his mouth once again.
"But because of that, I now know you are a guy with a small equipment" Sai said with an even friendlier smile, Misaki knew even she couldn't muster, causing Naruto to explode once more, with only Sakura holding him back, much to Misaki's curiosity.
"You're kind of a rotten guy, aren't you? People won't like you if you say stuff like that" Sakura explained, pushing Misaki further into the depth of obliviousness.
"I don't understand why you'd get so worked up Naruto, he was just talking about you're weapons. Besides, I've never seen you use anything larger than a kunai" Misaki said curiously as she walked up to Sai.
"Anyway, it's nice to meet you I'm Namikaze Misaki, and by the way…" Misaki pulled Sai closer to her, standing at the very tip of her toes just to be able to accomplish her objective as she placed her lips closer to Sai's ears.
"…you don't have to smile if it's not real, you're creeping everybody out more than anything, besides…" this time Misaki stooped back down to her original height, albeit with heels still much shorter compared to the pale lad.
"…no one makes good friends out of pretending" Misaki smiled, flashing him one of her thousand watt smile, making everyone curious of what Misaki had whispered.
"At any rate, we're going to be teammates, people won't like you if you keep saying stuff like that you know" Sakura explained, Misaki watch with bathed breath as Sai's fake smile moved bigger.
"I like nice…ugly women like you" Sai said, and this time it was Naruto and Misaki's turn to stop Sakura from killing Sai.
"Well that went well" Misaki said in a tone more amused than anything else as soon as everybody has completely calm down, for the most part.
"At any rate, all of us are going on a mission, what's up with this? I don't have the time to put you all in on cage until you get along, so introduce yourselves"
And introduced themselves they did, with a bitter taste in their mouth like they have just eaten the bitterest thing in the world, except for Sai.
"That's enough getting acquainted for now, I will now explain our mission as team Kakashi. All of us will now be heading to the Tenchi Bridge, capture the akatsuki spy who infiltrated Orochimaru's organization, and bring him back here, we will obtain a precious source of information, on with which we can use to orchestrate a plan to assassinate Orochimaru, and the retrieval of Sasuke" Yamato explained, and at the mention of Sasuke's name, both Naruto and Sakura's minds quickly got rid of anything else but the thought of getting Sasuke back home. The complete opposite of Misaki, who extracted any and all kind of things from memory just to not see that image; that image of a boy she once knew slowly fading from view as he went further and further away from her.
They say that time heals wounds, so why is hers still bleeding?
Misaki had been so busy putting a metaphorical pressure on the metaphorical wound to stop it from bleeding that she didn't realize that the team were four members shorter.
"Oh, looks like I've managed to completely space out once again" Misaki sweat dropped, rubbing the back of her hair embarrassed in front of no one in particular.
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"I wonder where Naruto and Sakura went, but then again they might both be preparing for the mission" Misaki wondered out loud to herself, as she stared at the fluorescent white ceiling of the hospital hallways.
"I wonder if I forgot something at home, mom would have a huge fit if I left something at home" Miskai said browsing through the items Kaede had left a note for her to put together. It seems that amongst the hospital duties, taking care of Kakashi and her ninja duties, Kaede is unable to wedge a time to get home, so she asked Misaki to bring.
"Mom, I got everything you asked, for I even bought an extra blanket for you, so you won't feel uncomfortable when you stay the night here with Kakashi. Perhaps, I should have brought you a futon or someth-" Misaki stopped in her tracks as she held the door in one hand and the bag of things in the other. There, standing right before her is a blushing Kakashi and an angry, barely containing herself Kaede…
…Together with Jiraiya, Yamato, Shizune, Tsunade and of course Tonton who had raised eyebrows, looking curiously between her, Kaede and Kakashi.
"I, -err, should I go, this seems to a bad time" Misaki said slowly backing away from the awkwardness of the room.
"No, you came at the precise time" Jiraiya declared, his hulking figure towering over the petite girl as she lead her closer to the center of the conversation.
"Now, what were you telling us about Kaede and Kakashi sleeping toget-" Jiraiya wasn't able to finish his sentence as Tsunade buried her knuckles on the top of his head.
"What we were supposed to say was that you came at the precise perfect time, because Kakashi was just telling us how you suppressed Naruto from taking form of the nine tail's cloak" Tsunade explained, cracking her knuckles in irritation at Jiraiya's antics.
Everybody waited in solemn breath as Misaki's expression completely changed from an amused one, to a deep and thoughtful face as she stared at the ground, visualizing the precise moment it had happened.
"I don't remember much of it, or how it exactly happened, but before Naruto could lounge at Kakashi, I caught him in between in a hug. All I remember thinking was wanting to push the chakra away from him" Misaki explained, imaging the events in her mind as if she was trying to see it from an eagle's point of view.
After a while of silent though Misaki raised her sights to look at her seniors in the eye as she spoke.
"I have thought about it over and over again on our way back to Konoha. There are several factors that could have affected it, for which one that worked, I have no idea, or if it was of several factors. All I knew, no I felt that I could keep Naruto from manifesting the tailed beast's cloak" Misaki explained.
"She has a point, it could have been any of thos factors, or the result of two or more factors together." Jiraiya affirmed.
Tsunade crossed her arms and thought for several moments before nodding, turning to look at both Misaki and Yamato.
"It could be true, but I'm not taking any chances, that is why I am sending both of you, for this specific reason" a statement to which, both Misaki and Yamato nodded in acknowledgement.
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Between Kaede's errands, the brief meeting at Kakashi's hospital room and catching up with Kazuhiko, Misaki didn't have enough time for a few minutes at the Namikaze compound, heck she didn't even have enough time to put down her katana, however, the disadvantage worked out fine since she was already travel ready.
"Oh, Misaki!" Naruto yelled at his twin as Misaki approached their team, Misaki just waved back and smiled silently as she made her approach towards the gates of the village.
"Huh, aren't you ready yet?" Sakura said looking at Misaki who looked exactly the way she arrived.
"Yeah" Misaki said making a thumbs up at her old friend.
"Aren't you going to be bringing provisions" Sakura asked once more, looking at her equipment, or the lack thereof.
"I'll be alright no need to worry about me" Misaki said reassuring Sakura with a pat on her shoulder as she lined up with the rest of the team.
"Okay, Team Kakashi, let's head out" Yamato said and lead the small team farther and farther away from the village gates.
The farther they got from the gates of Konohagakure, the more unsettled Misaki grew.
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Once again, I am sorry for the looooonnnnngggg delay, but here is it chapter six.
Next chapter would be more on Misaki and Naruto. Also, the reunion is just around the corner, and I've been drafting a lot of different scenarios about their meeting for the first time in years, trying to gauge the reaction from not only the two of them, but also from the people that would be surrounding them.
until then, Ciao!.
P.S: Feel free to talk to me in the messages and ask questions (except for math) and I'll try to reply faster than my uploads