Mirage here. Hope you guys like the prologue. I will be doing the beginning author note and Blade will do the end part.
Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto. Otherwise Naruto wouldn't be the main character and Sasuke would definitely be with Sakura.
(Please review! We would like to know what you think. Your opinion helps us.)
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Two and a half years had passed since Naruto left to train with Jiraiya. Two and a half years since Sasuke had betrayed the village. Two and a half years since Naruto had seen any of his friends or comrades.
Naruto walked to the entrance to Konoha with Jiraiya behind him. He couldn't wait to see Sakura, Shikamaru, Lee, Ino, and the rest of them. He walked into Konoha and started to look around, hoping to find Sakura. He left Jiraiya to do his own thing. The first two people he saw were Hinata and Tenten. Hinata had grown really pretty over the few years that he was away and he found himself noticing her more than he usually did. Tenten had also become prettier. He wondered if it was because he hadn't seen them in a while.
"Hinata! Tenten!" shouted Naruto as he ran over towards them, waving ecstatically.
They both turned around and blinked in surprise when they saw Naruto. "Naruto? You're back?" asked Hinata. "How was your trip?"
Tenten shook her head, getting over the fact that Konoha's number one loud ninja was back. "Haha. It's been a while."
Naruto grinned at them both. "It was fun. I did a lot of training. I learnt a bunch from ero-sennin."
"That's good to hear. We were about to go and meet with a few of the others. You want to come along?" asked Tenten. "They'll be surprised to see you."
Naruto nodded enthusiastically. He couldn't wait to see the others, especially Sakura. So, the trio headed off to Ichiraku Ramen. Upon arriving, Hinata and Tenten were greeted by the other ninja. Kiba, Shino, Lee, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji were standing outside the place. Their appearance had changed quite a bit. Naruto poked his head out from behind the two girls and peered out at the crowd.
"N-naruto?!" said Kiba in disbelief. "You're back?!"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. It's nice to be back!"
"Naruto, it's good to see you again!" exclaimed Lee. He turned to face the others. "Our youthful comrade is back!"
Half of them sighed. They all were surprised to see Naruto was back and well. Naruto laughed at Lee's statement. He walked out from behind Hinata and Tenten; he searched for any signs of the pink-haired girl. He couldn't see her anywhere.
"You guys, where's Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto, clearly puzzled.
The whole group fell silent. Naruto was confused. "Naruto," said Shikamaru, "Sakura left the village a little over two years ago."
"………………WHA-?!" Naruto yelled in disbelief. He was shocked and fell over backwards. He quickly got up and stared and Shikamaru. "Y-y-you're k-kid-ding, right?"
Shikamaru sighed and shook his head. He knew Naruto would never believe it, even though that was his catchphrase. "I'm not kidding, Naruto. It's true."
Naruto stared and stared and uh….. gaped. He looked like a goldfish. "D-d-does that m-mean S-sakura-chan betrayed Konoha?"
Hinata nodded sadly. "We don't know where she is at the moment. We had a report of a pink-haired kunoichi in the Akatsuki but then they said she left after a year. We haven't had any reports of her death so we assume that she is still alive somewhere."
Naruto couldn't believe Sakura would leave like that. He promised that he would bring back Sasuke for her. He promised that he would protect Sakura as well. He thought she was smart enough not to join Akatsuki. Could that have been her? He wondered why she left.
"Sorry to dump the news on you so suddenly, Naruto," said Chouji as he munched on a packet of chips. "You appeared so suddenly and asked us, so we didn't know how else to respond."
"That's okay," replied Naruto. "At least I know what happened to her. Now I can go get her and Sasuke-teme back!" He grinned triumphantly and looked at the rest of them. The group was relieved to see him back his normal self. He blinked a few times. There was someone missing from this group. "Hey, you guys. Where's Neji? And what about Kakashi-sensei? Asuma-sensei and Iruka-sensei? Kurenai-sensei?"
Shikamaru blinked. "Well, um… How to explain?..."
--
The three ANBU appeared in Tsunade's office. One of them handed her a report. She took it and looked up at them. "You three are back already? That was quick."
The first ANBU nodded. "It was a simple mission. Easy enough considering the help we got from ANBU captain-san." He pointed at the second ANBU.
The second ANBU sighed. "It was nothing."
The third ANBU laughed slightly. "What do you mean 'it was nothing'? For you to become captain at your age and in such a short time compared to the rest of us…" She laughed again.
The second ANBU raised his hand and waved it casually. "It really was nothing." He turned to face Tsunade. "Is that all you need, Tsunade-sama?"
"Yes," she replied. "You can take off your masks now and resume your normal life for a bit. The three ANBU obeyed, removed their masks, and somehow stuck them in their pocket.
"Tsunade obaa-san!" yelled Naruto as he rushed into the office panting heavily.
Tsunade was surprised to see that Naruto was back. "Welcome back, Naruto. I wasn't expecting you back already." She muttered to herself. Jiraiya should have warned me… Wait 'til I see him…
"Eh? I thought ero-sennin told you," said Naruto. He looked at the three people standing in front of her desk and stared. He recognized the outfits. They were ANBU and he recognized all three of them.
"Naruto!" exclaimed Tenten as she ran in after him, followed by the others. "What do you think your doing? You're not supposed to barge into Hokage-sama's office!" She glared at Naruto. "Are you even listening to me?"
"Naruto! It's rude to ignore someone," said Ino. "Oi!"
Naruto wasn't listening. He was too busy staring at the three ANBU. "Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, and……..Neji?!"
The three of them had turned around immediately when Naruto burst in. Kakashi was surprised to see his student back. "Yes, I'm here with these two. It's been a while, Naruto."
Kurenai nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's been two and a half years."
Neji just nodded slightly, acknowledging the fact that Naruto was back. "Did you leave your manners back in the mountains? Don't you know it's impolite to walk into a room without knocking first?"
"I know that!" exclaimed Naruto, glaring at Neji. "I was just surprised to hear that Kakashi-sensei, Kurenai-sensei, and you had become ANBU."
"Did he only tell you we became ANBU?" asked Kakashi. This is going to be interesting when he finds out…
"Yeah," replied Naruto. "Why?"
Kakashi shook his head. "It's nothing, don't worry about it. Let's go, Kurenai." He waved to Neji. "We'll be seeing you, captain-san." Kurenai nodded and they both disappeared.
"Captain!?!?" Naruto half-yelled. "No way!"
Neji sighed and gave Naruto an annoyed look. "You mean Shikamaru didn't say so? Tch." He looked over at Shikamaru. "You could have spared me the pain of listening to Naruto voice his disbelief."
"Well, excuse me," said Shikamaru sarcastically. "I thought Naruto would have at least learned not to yell when there is something he can't believe."
"Stop talking like I'm not here!" exclaimed Naruto.
Tsunade sighed and looked at them all. "If you must argue, can you at least do it outside?"
"Sure," replied Shikamaru. Neji nodded and walked over to a drawer. He pulled out a white cloak and draped it over himself. He saw Naruto's puzzled look. "This is to make sure that nobody else knows that I'm ANBU, especially ANBU captain."
They all walked out. Tsunade sighed again. "Well, things are going to get interesting since Naruto's back." She looked out the window and saw an incoming bird. She opened the window and took the message from the bird. The bird flew off as she read the message. "This is-!"
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The group was walking towards Ichiraku since Naruto was back and that was his favourite place to eat.
"Let's just drop the topic," said Tenten. "We're not getting anywhere."
"Fine," said Naruto. He looked around at the village. It had changed a bit since he was away. He saw three girls looking over at them shyly. He wondered if it was because he was back. They walked over quickly, holding an item that had been wrapped. The three girls walked over and stopped in front of Neji.
"Um…. Neji-san," said one of the girls. "T-t-this i-is f-for y-you." She held out the object and her two friends behind her whispered encouragement.
Neji blinked. "…Thanks…" He took the object from them. The girl squealed happily and ran off with her two friends who were excitedly poking her and telling her that she had done a good job.
"Shikamaru, what's that? The four hundred and forty second present?" asked Tenten as she took out a notebook and added another tally mark.
"I believe it is," said Shikamaru, looking over her shoulder.
Naruto stared. "Since when-!"
"Well," said Hinata. "Ever since Uchiha-san left, Neji-niisan has been getting more popular. Especially since he had become a jounin very quickly." She laughed. "Well, now he has more fan girls."
"………" Naruto was at a loss for words. Tenten laughed. She walked over to Neji. "My turn this time." He handed her the object and she unwrapped it. "Shikamaru, add another tally to the chocolate column." She held up a box of chocolate. She turned to face Neji. "Are you going to stick this inside the pantry again?"
Neji nodded. "I think there's room for another one."
With Naruto leading the group after the weird incident, they once again headed off to Ichiraku. Naruto noticed two girls standing outside the stand, staring at the banner. They seemed to be deciding on whether or not they would go in. The first girl had bangs that were a light shiny brown colour and hair that framed her face. It went halfway down her back and were done up in pigtails. She had silver coloured eyes. She wore a red t-shirt and beige coloured shorts. She also had a pouch on her waist.
The second girl had long glossy black hair that cascaded down her back. She wore a sleeveless plain black t-shirt with a collar and black shorts.
"Maybe we won't go in…" said the first girl as she cast a glance towards the other.
"I don't really care. Just pick a place already. I'm getting annoyed," replied the other girl.
Naruto immediately ran over to them, leaving the others behind, since he heard that they were doubtful of going inside Ichiraku. "Are you two deciding whether to eat here or not? This place has the best ramen!!!"
"…" The second girl blinked as Naruto stated his opinion.
"Oh," said the first girl. "Does it really? My cousin and I have never eaten here. We are visiting here from Tea Country. I am sorry for our ignorance." The other girl pointedly ignored what she had said. She glanced at the other girl and then turned to look at Naruto with an apologetic look. "Please don't mind her; she doesn't really like to talk much."
"That's okay!" exclaimed Naruto. "You have got to try some ramen from here. It's the best you'll ever have!" The first girl looked reluctant so he took her arm and dragged her in. "Come on! You and your cousin will love it!"
"Hey, Naruto," said Kiba as he caught up with him. "Why did you run over here so fast? Idiot, you left us behind!"
Naruto turned around and looked sheepishly at Kiba and the others that were behind him. "Sorry about that. It's just that there were these two girls that were deciding whether or not to go in so…" He turned to face the two girls. "By the way, what are your names?"
Everyone sweatdropped. "You mean you didn't even bother to ask earlier?" said Tenten in disbelief. She sighed. "Just like you…"
"Oi!" exclaimed Naruto. He turned to look back at the girls. "So, what are your names?"
The first girl nodded. "Well, my name is Tsuki. My cousin's name is Lunady. I am pleased to meet you, and hopefully my cousin is too."
Most of the ninja went inside and ordered something to eat. Neji and Shino stood outside and waited. They were also listening the conversation being held inside.
"So, what brings you two to Konoha?" asked Hinata curiously.
"Oh, well we just decided to visit. We heard that Konoha was a very nice place," replied Tsuki. (I don't know if they allow other villagers to visit, but for the sake of this fic, we'll say they do) Tsuki blinked. "By the way, who are all of you?"
Naruto told the two girls all of their names. "Oh, I see," said Tsuki. They kept talking about interesting things that were going on in Konoha. They talked about other random topics, but they mainly focused on Konoha since Tsuki was interested in the village. She said that she found a ninja village more interesting than her own plain village.
"Are you all ninja?" asked Tsuki.
"Yes," replied Hinata. "Lee, Ino, Shino-kun, Kiba-kun, Chouji, Tenten, Shikamaru, Neji-niisan, and I are jounin." Well actually, Shikamaru and Tenten are ANBU and nii-san is ANBU captain, but I can't really say that… "Naruto is still a genin though since he hasn't taken any exams yet…"
"What?!" exclaimed Naruto. "Oh yeah. Ehehe…." He laughed sheepishly. "I forgot."
Everyone sweatdropped at his response. Tsuki pushed her empty bowl away from herself and stood up. All of Lunady's ramen was gone as well. They walked out of the stall.
"Wasn't it great?" asked Naruto excitedly following them. The others followed as well. "It's the best!" His hand was held out in front of him with the 'V' sign.
"Yeah, I suppose," replied Tsuki dully.
"What do you mean, I suppose?" asked Naruto half angry.
"Urgh," groaned Tsuki. She turned to Lunady. "Lunady, I don't think I can keep up this façade. It's so damn hard to be so damn nice to these idiots. Especially to the ramen-loving Kyuubi brat."
"I know what you mean," replied Lunady coolly. She turned to face the shocked Konoha ninja. "I'm sorry, but we'll be taking our leave. Right after we take the Kyuubi brat."
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Blade here. I hope you liked this chapter. We will see Sakura later. Please review!