Hello everyone I am back. I am sorry I have made everone wait so long for this chapter. Things have been crazy in my life over the last few months. Work has changed my schedules more times than I care to count. I have also been going to school and the classes have been more demanding and relentless. This has left me little time to write, study, work, and spend time with the family. I am hopeing things will calm down soon so I may resume writing chapters with greater amounts of frequency.

Now in case you have forgotten this is the infamous fifth chapter. This is where I take a look at the brighter side of my story and try to focus more on other characters. This may be Naruto, but he would still just be another annoying blonde if it wasn't for the supporting cast. I have also added some other characters, as a sneak-peek of some possible side stories in future fifth chapters. Let me know what you think.

Shout Out:

hawkeyeriku: The developments you are looking forward to will take place in the next chapter. It will be tense and entertaining like always. You will also get to see a little bit of Naruto's bad side in it to.

Speed Ke'Dai: I'm glad you are happy with the story so far. It has been a great release for me. Do not worry about missing something about the Uchiha's in earlier chapters. I kept them under my belt and planned on adding them there for about the last ten chapters. The will be a great group to use in the future and I hope you stick around until then.

Kingkakashi: It is always one of my greatest honors to get a review from you. You are great insperation for me as well. There will he a meeting of the minds with the Hyuga elders per say, but it will not just be for thier well being. A slight spoiler, something unexpected comes from or happenes to Hiashi.

Hektols: It isn't really a plot hole per say. The view of the council or elders does not in all actuallity reflect the view of the village. After all how many people in our country alone do not agree with our own government, but the government views that what they know is better for us. In an after thought, the Sakura side of the story will start to take more of a back step to allow for greater focus on the main story, and the intended couple.

Hinata-Win: I am very proud of the Uchiha clan existing in secrecy within Uzu. That was something I had never seen before. t will play much later on. The prior chapter was not much of a filler chapter, but more of a reintroduction, something that had to be done. This one will seem more as a filler though, that is because I wanted to focus on one thing in particular before a lot of people started to make complaints about, saying I had plot holes. I do things on purpose and I think of most everything, though I am not perfect, somethings may get through regaurdless. Something will hapen to Hiashi that I think that everyone will not see coming, but will enjoy none the less.

Without further ado: I do not own Naruto, but I hope you enjoy my imagination.

Reunion Dinner

The doors opened up in the restaurant and a large group of people entered the spacious and unusually lavish establishment. Normally this wouldn't be enough to gather the attention of the clientele of diners, but the noise coming from the group was loud enough to bring everyone to a halt. They all seemed to forget what they were doing in that precise moment.

"I told you to quit embarrassing her Pig!" the pink haired woman said.

"Really Forehead, have you seen her face? It still turns beat red, just like it used to, like she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar," the blonde woman said as she leaned in closer to her friend's ear. "Fortunately for her the cookie jar was Naruto's pants," she whispered, trying not to be overheard.

"Ino," the pinkette shouted. "You don't have to be so vulgar".

Ino just shrugged her shoulders, "You don't have to be such a prude. It is not anyone else's fault that you haven't even so much as taken interest in having a boyfriend since Naruto-kun disappeared". Ino made sure to trill the blonde's name, making sure to get the desired reaction she wanted.

Much to Ino's delight she was having a difficult time controlling her mind and voice. Her face blushed furiously, as if she was still just a school girl. "B-b-but, I-i-i had m-more important t-things to d-d-do".

"That's enough you two," an older woman called out to them as she entered the establishment. "If you don't settle down we will have spar training after an exhausting day of enhanced medical chakra control exercises. You will still have to finish your shifts as well".

The young man that was walking beside her in his white Kage robe was half paying attention to what was going on in front of him; Gaara was standing next to him talking to Hinata who was carrying Kushina, and dragging a still stunned Kiba behind them. Hinata was still blushing heavily as she was the recent topic of conversation of the two gossipers. "They aren't harming anything Baa-chan," the Uzukage said.

"I don't want to hear anything coming from you. We still haven't settled the issue of you giving that book to the pervert. Believe me when I tell you, it isn't finished either," the woman said.

"Choji-kun," The young blonde woman yelled as she raced off to a set of double doors one could only assume led to the kitchen area.

"I swear, she acts just like a school girl when she is around him," Sakura stated with exacerbation.

"Naruto-kun!" Hinata spoke up.

"Yes, Hime," he responded.

With concern in her eyes she continued "You may want to hide in case they decide to become violent again, like they were in the academy".

"Har, har, har. We were not that bad Hinata-chan," Sakura said in defense of herself.

"Oh my goodness. Did Hinata actually make a joke?" Ino added as she came out of the kitchen area with Choji close behind. "You have no room to defend yourself Forehead. I just yelled at him most of the time. I think you hit him enough times to drop his test scores".

Although it was nice to have Hinata defend him and to watch her interact with their old friends, Naruto couldn't help but feel his intelligence was being insulted. With tears in his eyes he walked past the long haired blond and made his way to his large friend. There was some remorse in his face as he saw the rotund young man walk with a heavy limp. Naruto had heard reports of a member of the Akimichi clan being severely injured during a mission, but he hoped that it was not his childhood friend.

"Choji, it is good to see you. How have you been?" Naruto asked while rubbing the back of his head. He didn't want to bring up the injury so he tried to make the conversation as normal as possible. What he didn't expect was to see the tears well up in his friends' eyes as he was inspected visually from his friend.

"N-naruto," Choji said through choked tears. He then wrapped up the Usukage in a tight bear hug. "I'm so happy you are alive. We all thought you were dead".

Panting through painful breaths Naruto tried to squeak out for help until Choji noticed his friend was turning blue in the face. Finally he let him go, and Naruto fell to his knees while gasping for breath. "S-s-sorry about t-that Choji. By, by the way, do you have some place I could prop him up at until he comes to," Naruto asked while holding the back of Kiba's shirt.

Choji looked to what Naruto had in his hands then shook his head, "Sure, right this way". He then led Naruto toward a private dining area that they would be in for their meal. Naruto followed, while Tsunade and Gaara passed by the gossiping girls that were currently catching up while fawning over the little girl in Hinata's arms.

"He really hasn't changed all that much since he disappeared, has he?" Tsunade inquired.

A slight smirk appeared on Gaara's lips at the fondess he had for his first friend. The knowledge that he was still alive did wonders to relieve stress that he did not know he carried while he believed the blonde was dead. "Around his friends he seems the same, but there is a definite difference within him".

"Hmm," Tsunade inquired.

"I was there when Sasuke attacked his village," Gaara stated bring up the memory. "There is something different about the power he puts off now. It is hard to explain, but it feels like the Kyubi's chakra is being used without limit". Gaara looked to the wide eyes of the Hokage before he continued. "It seems more focused somehow, like the reckless hatred has been removed or filtered somehow and he has full control. In my own experience all I could feel from my own biju was pure and unadulterated bloodlust. Even from the distance his felt calm, relaxed, and as if it was warm and inviting".

There was a sense of apprehension from the aged Kage. Since the two's disappearance there was little available information of the effects of the Kyubi on the young blonde. During the battle with Pain, the Kyubi had nearly fully escaped and she didn't even know how it was resealed. She wasn't too sure if the seal was even still present. She was pulled from her thought again by the Kazekage when he spoke again.

"As troubling as that is, my concern actually lies more with his wife". Tsunade looked at him confused before she turned her head enough to catch a glimpse of the midnight-blue haired young woman who was currently sporting a deep crimson blush. "Although I could clearly detect the chakra signatures of everyone during the battle, something strange happened to her chakra during her battle".

"What do you mean? It is not like someone can just change their chakra, well, except Naruto," Tsunade added.

"I do not know the details myself, but I could easily feel the Kyubi's chakra flow from her. It was the same feeling that one would get when Naruto would tap into it when he was younger. From what I have gathered though, there is a seal involved," Gaara quickly inserted.

If a seal was involved in the change there is no telling what took place. It has become painfully obvious that with them rebuilding Uzushiogakure it was likely that they stumbled across some of the greatest sealing techniques that the world has ever seen. Stories of the past, of her grandmother ran through Tsunade's head, trying to will the information into existence.

There was a loud thud as Kiba was thrown into a chair, while Naruto took another chair making sure there was enough room for Hinata and Kushina next to him. Tsunade sat on the other side of the young blonde while Gaara sat on the opposite side of the large table. After some idle chit-chat the three young women made their way to the room and sat, quietly easing their way into the conversations that were taking place. Naruto was currently recalling the travels that Hinata and he took to make it to Uzu no Kuni.

It wasn't too long before Shikamaru and Temari joined the festivities after receiving their invitation. To the lazy Nara it was apparent that his best friend had decided to let the staff handle the establishment to include serving the large party that was sure to gather for the celebration of the village hero's return. It was hard to tell to the untrained eye, but Shikamaru knew Choji better than the chubby man himself did, and there was a genuine smile to his chubby face. One that Shikamaru had not seen in a long time. Of course Choji was happy with his current life as the owner of the restaurant, and he had the love of their former teammate, but Choji had taken the loss of 'the boy who defied everything' pretty hard. Unfortunately, that had caused his injury when he saved his comrades during a mission, resulting in the end of his shinobi career. Seeing his best friend with Ino on his lap, and laughing at Naruto's expense, Shikamaru couldn't help but think this was the best turn of events for the rotund Akimichi.

The strategist wasn't the only one beaming on the inside for Choji. Ino who was enthralled with the current topic, stole glances at the man she never knew would fill her dreams and heart, enjoyed the happiness that Choji was finally showing. Ino couldn't help but think back to when Choji was admitted under a Code Blue status to the hospital when there was a rush from a returning mission team. She had been there during the operation, while Tsunade fought desperately for hours on end to at least be able to save his leg. Of course Ino was just handling a support role, but her concern for her teammate was breaking her every nerve as the minutes ticked by. Every time that Tsunade would curse Ino's heart would drop, as if the thought of never seeing her friend again would be the end of her.

Three Days Post-Op

Walking through the halls doing her rounds, checking fluids, seeing to the next doses of medication, Ino was lost in thought. It had been routine for so long that her mind seemed to work on auto-pilot during this time. The only thing that changed was the names and conditions from time to time. Sometimes she would call a nurse in to clean a room or patient, but those duties were usually scheduled unless a patient had an 'accident'.

This left a lot of her mind to float through her thoughts and her life. Currently her mind was divided between two topics; neither was pleasant to dwell on. Yesterday Choji had awoken after the surgery for the first time and Tsunade was there to give him the report of his status. Since Ino was on duty at that time, as lead physician, she was also present for the news.

Choji was currently sitting up in bed with a cast that went from his ankle to his hip, keeping the entire leg immobilized. "Choji," Tsunade started. "I am very proud and honored by what you have done to ensure that your comrades were safe," the older blonde continued with a slight crack in her voice. Ino hated these 'BUT' speeches. It always started with praise for the injured and ended with 'your life as you know it, is over'. This particular one grated on her nerves, it being Choji on the receiving end. If Choji had not had his attention drawn in by the Hokage then he would have seen tears well up in the young blondes' eyes, threatening to spill over.

"I was able to stabilize your leg and you will remain in the hospital for a few weeks depending on your rate of recovery and therapy," Tsunade stated, bracing for the bad news. Ino wanted to turn around and run from the room as quickly as she could. "Even though I was able to save your leg, the damage to it was extreme. The bones above and below the knee were crushed. The knee itself was unrecognizable and took a lot of effort to attempt to rebuild. I'm happy to say that you will be able to walk again". Here came the defeating blow. There was always a buildup and hope, but this was going to be like dropping that boulder back on Choji, just onto the psyche this time.

"But," here it came, "you will be removed from active duty status effective immediately, and permanent hence forth. There was too much damage to your leg and you will have trouble walking, and running will likely cause severe pain in the future. There was also damage to your chakra network and it is likely that you may not be able to adequately mold chakra in that leg at all". Choji sat there in silence with a far off look in his eyes. It was as if someone had placed him in the middle of the sea with no land in sight and he came to the realization that his life had just ended. Ino hated that look, everyone that got that news had it, and she didn't hate the person for making it, which was only natural. What she hated the most was that it was the precursor to despair and depression. Tsunade had just told a ninja exactly what they never wanted to hear.

"You should get plenty of rest; it will help the healing process along faster. If you need anything the physicians, like Ino here, and the nursing staff will be here to help. I will be back every so often to check up on you," Tsunade finished. The older woman turned quickly and left the room with Ino following behind her. It seemed cruel to just leave him right after the news, but it was beneficial on two grounds. Ino couldn't handle the sight of her friend in such a way, at that moment. Two being that talking to Choji at this particular time would have given less results than speaking to the 'Hero's Memorial' stone.

If that wasn't bad enough her thoughts had also drifted to just a few weeks prior. She and Kiba had started to drift apart over the last few months. Ino started to spend more time in the village to concentrate on her medical training, and her demand from the T&I department left her little time to go out on missions, let alone a love life. They had agreed to spend some time apart to figure out if the relationship was worth more effort. She should have known that there was more to the idea when it was suggested by Kiba. It wasn't long before rumors started that Kiba was seeing another girl from a shop he visited frequently.

Ino was infuriated and confronted him on the matter and things went downhill from there. An argument ensued and she ended up making a spectacle of herself. Try as hard as she might, Ino did end up crying in front of everyone. Eventually Kiba did admit why the sudden change, they had been dating for quite a while but had failed to make a final leap within their relationship. It was not that she didn't want to, she was just scared. Just because she was outgoing, it didn't mean she wanted to be easy.

She was brought out of her musings when she passed by a room and heard sobbing. Picking her head up from the clipboard and looking around, she strained her ears to find the source. It was only then that she realized that she was standing outside of the room that Choji was in. Hoping that it was just her ears playing tricks on her, maybe an audible memory of her musings, she leaned into the door to listen closer. As she did so her heart was breaking with each choked sob from the other side.

Slowly she opened the door and peered inside, there sitting on the bed was her former teammate, failing at his attempt to quietly cry. Opening the door wider Ino walked inside in an attempt to comfort her friend. "Choji?" she called out in a hushed tone. No response came as she stepped closer to the bed. Obviously, the young man was too entrenched in his own mind to realize she was in the room. The blonde had made her way to standing next to him before gently placing a hand on his shoulder, "Choji?"

If the cast hadn't weighed him down Choji would have jumped clear out of the bed due to fright. "I-I-Ino?" Choji sniffed out. He was quickly trying to dry and wipe away the tears that were more than evident on his face. "What are you doing here?" he asked in an attempt to make everything seem normal.

"I work here, at least occasionally," she replied. "How are you feeling Choji?"

"A little tired, but fine," he lied.

A saddened look crossed her face. She had seen it too many times for her liking. Despite the brave face, every shinobi that had to face the truth in the fact that the life of missions, jutsu, and training came to an end with injuries that they had suffered. "It's ok Choji. You don't have to hold anything in. Especially not from me, we have known each other since we could walk," she added with a comforting smile.

Choji had always been one to wear his emotions on his sleeve and looking into the young woman's eyes started to break the brave face he was putting forward. Slowly as he searched for the words his lips began to quiver. Despite all the tears he had shed before, they started unhindered once again. Once he started sobbing again Ino put an arm around him and allowed him to cry into her. She waited for him to calm down and gather himself once again.

Several minutes had passed and Choji started to quiet down before he found his voice, "What am I supposed to do now?"

It was almost a whisper but the sound of desperation was deep within it. Ino did not know how exactly to respond. She never paid that much attention to others in the same predicament. Her job was to tend to them while they were in the hospital, what they did to regain their life's purpose was beyond her knowledge. She pulled him in closer and he rested his head upon her chest, gaining a sense of warmth from offering comfort to her friend. "I don't have that answer Choji," she returned.

"I just wanted to be like him," Choji muttered.

This confused Ino, for the life of her she couldn't guess who he was talking about. "Like who?"

"Naruto," Choji clarified. "I just wanted to protect everyone. That is all he ever wanted, and since his passing," there was a pause for him to sniffle, "I wanted to continue his dream. It was the least I could do".

"But you did that Choji. You saved everyone on your team," Ino was quick to point out.

He looked at her with a bewildered look, as if she didn't understand. "I can't do that anymore. So what do I do know? I can't protect anyone anymore".

"Maybe you're not supposed to anymore," she tried to reason the best she could. By the look on his face she wasn't doing the greatest job. "What I mean is maybe you already did what you were supposed to do".

"I appreciate the attempt Ino, but you're not helping," he said with a slight smile. He knew Ino very well and she was good at many things, but one thing she always lacked was a deep sense of connecting. She was doing the best she could, he knew that, but it still didn't distract from the fact that his shinobi days were over.

"You could always do something else," she tried to continue. "You could always teach like Lee-san".

Choji shook his head, "Most of my techniques are clan based, and even then they require me to be able to mold chakra throughout my entire body".

"What about working with your family?" she inquired.

He almost sobbed again at the idea, "That is exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life. Work under the eyes and roof of my parents for the remainder of my life".

Ino could tell with every suggestion his heart was dropping lower into depression. "There has to be something you can do Choji. Not everything could be that bad?"

"Let's face it Ino," he hung his head low. "I will likely grow old and alone with someone taking care of me, like the cripple I am. After all who would want to be with someone who is fat and useless? What a joke, a shinobi that can't even protect anyone anymore".

Ino didn't know why, but what Choji said had infuriated her. Even though her heart was breaking at the despair present in the room, a fire was burning within her gut. "Choji?"

"Hmm," he inquired while raising his head to look at her.

CRACK! The sound reverberated against the walls of the room. "Don't ever let me hear you say anything like that again!" she yelled.

A look of confusion was plastered across his face as he stared into her blue eyes. "Ino, we both know that is the likely outcome. Other than being a shinobi, I have no other talent".

She grabbed him by the cheeks to keep his focus on what she said, "You are not worthless, you have a lot of other talents than being a shinobi. You have been a great friend to all of us and we will all be here for you. You will never be alone". She was getting lost looking into his eyes. It started as a way to try to bring him out of the slump, but she started to feel a higher pull toward him. She started to lean in close to him and there was a noticeable amount of fear in his eyes, she wanted to take it away. "I will never leave your side," she whispered. Closing the gap she pressed her lips firmly against his, first believing it would feel weird and wrong considering they knew each other most of their lives. Even to the point of feeling that they were close as brother and sister would be, but then she was amazed at what she felt. The fiery anger she had felt when he thought so low of himself was quickly replaced with a stronger flame, one of burning passion.

Back in the Present

Ino was dragged back to the present by the sound of new guests arriving, and a snarl from the Hokage when they were recognized. Through the privacy doors entered the future Hokage and his soon to be wife, Kakashi and Kurenai, who were holding little Hinata.

All the females present stood from their current positions to greet the arriving mother and child, none more excited than Hinata who was still holding Kushina. Kakashi quickly maneuvered out of the way to avoid the stampede to take a seat near Choji. The five awake males began to catch up on old times and current events, leaving the women to their gossip, most of which continued to revolve around Naruto and Hinata's love life. If one was to carefully listen in on their conversation they seemed to be giving their best effort to see if they could cause the former Hyuga to faint.

Over the next half hour more people began to filter in. The next group to arrive was the soon to be family of Neji and Tenten, followed by Tenten's parents. There was another great deal of gushing over the pregnant young woman, and well-wishes were exchanged between them on having their first or another child. Ino wanted to wait until her and Choji were married of course, while Tenten was happy with the one she was currently carrying. Kurenai wanted to wait until Kakashi was settled into his new position before they even made an attempt. Sakura was enthralled with the idea of having a child, but was at a loss of who she would be willing to have a child with at the moment. Temari showed a little apprehension at the idea, thinking that it would be difficult raising a child that had Shikamaru as a father, but Ino quickly countered it with the idea that if the child was anything like the father, it would likely sleep its youth away.

Hinata showed a lot of pride at being a mother and openly admitted that she wanted two more, hopefully boys. Hearing from the distance Naruto could only feel a sense of warmth for his family at the thought of it expanding. Fear crept into him a little knowing what the near future would bring, but was excited at the prospect none the less. Many of the other men there paled at the thought of children entering their lives and Naruto could do nothing but chuckle at the sight of a few turning a light green.

One of the biggest surprises of the night was when Anko decided to make an appearance. Being a proctor for most of them there during their first chunin exams and a mentor to Ino during her time with the T&I Department, she was right at home. The biggest surprise was her attachment to the babies. She wanted to hold as many as she could at one time, but the young mothers demanded restraint and forced her to be content with one at a time, starting with Kushina.

Naruto's biggest surprise though was when his former teacher walked through the door, but on his arm was the hand of a young woman. She was strikingly beautiful and had long hair similar in color to Hinata's. Iruka introduced her as Yugao Uzuki, but by the swell of her stomach and the ring on her finger that name was likely to change very soon.

After what seemed like forever, when everyone had finally arrived, including Konohamaru and a blushing Hanabi, dinner was underway. As much as they tried not to, Naruto and Hinata spent most of the evening telling story after story of their time away. They would have liked to hear more about the others, but everyone's thoughts of them returning from the dead seemed to dominate the subject matter.

Halfway through the dinner though, everyone was interrupted by a reverberating scream, "Please don't hurt me Naruto!" Everyone turned to the direction of the sound to see Kiba shoot up from his chair and assume a guarded position, as if someone was sure to strike him. It wasn't until Kiba's mind registered laughter in the room that he lowered his guard, resulting in confusion on his whereabouts, and why so many people where gathered into one place.