A/N well, as I promised, here is chapter 3! No notes today, just the story!

I'm home…

That's what Naruto was thinking as he walked towards the gate. ' I'm home…'

Had it really been that long? Had he really been gone three years? Nothing seemed to change, really, except...

" Oh my God!!! They put Obaa-chan's head up there! Hahaha!!" Except for the addition of Tsunade's face on he Hokage Mountain. It wasn't until he had calmed down that he realized Ero-sennin was gone, most likely to the bathhouse for his " research," but whatever. Naruto didn't care too much.

" Uzumaki Naruto! There's a dispatch for you!" said the gate guard. " huh?" Naruto asked. Before the guard could say anything, he walked over and grabbed the piece of paper. Naruto quickly read the short message and stuffed it back into the guard's hands. " o.k. See you later!" he called. He ran off into the direction of the Hokage tower, leaving a slightly bewildered Gaurder of gates.

When he walked into Tsunade's Office, he couldn't have been more surprised. The entire rookie nine, (and Team Gai,) were there. Naruto couldn't believe it. There were banners and streamers everywhere, he was getting hugs from everyone, and suddenly, he remembered what this feeling he was feeling now was.

It's love.

" Hey Naruto! Long time no see, man!" said Shikimaru. Unlike anyone else in the room, Shikimaru's outfit had not changed. " It's good to be home." Naruto said

" Naruto-kun!" Said a feminine voice behind him. Naruto couldn't put his finger on it. When he turned around, he saw Hinata, who had gotten rid of her stutter. Her voice was much, MUCH more confident, which is why Naruto couldn't recognize her. " Ahh, Hinata-Chan! How have you been?" he asked " I've been dong great, actually…." We have stop here because it was at this point, Naruto noticed what she was wearing. She had, hmmm, how should we word this? Filled out, when Naruto was gone. Now, Naruto was unwaveringly loyal to his Sakura-Chan, but that didn't mean he couldn't appreciate a beauteous female. Also, she had gotten rid of the hoodie, and replaced it with a tight black shirt, a chunnin vest over that, however she did keep the pants she had worn, and these new clothes were… had… hmm, they showed off her….shapely curves,

It was when she said "…dating Kiba," That Naruto's attention snapped back to what she had been saying. " You and Kiba are going out?" he asked. " You bet, man!" came another voice, obviously belonging to Kiba. Kiba had grown taller (although Naruto was still slightly taller than him,) and had grown his hair a little longer, but besides that (and that he kept his hood down,) there wasn't much of a difference. However, there was a huge, (and I mean HUGE!) difference in Akamaru. As Naruto remembered him, he had been able to fit inside Kiba's Hoodie, but now he was nearly the size of a small horse Kiba saw Naruto staring and laughed. " Oh yeah, Akamaru got pretty big. Apparently he had some Bull mastiff in him, and it made him HUGE." He laughed again.

Naruto, after he had recovered from shock, looked at Kiba and Hinata standing together and smiled. Not one of the big giant goofy ones, the one he used when he was faking it or someone had told a joke, but the one he used when he was really happy. " You guys look really good together, I'm really ha-" Before Naruto could finish, Lee had jumped on his back (with his weights on and everything,) " Naruto! You have remained so youthful, being able to hold up my immense weight! The flame of youth burns strongly in you!" Lee exclaimed. Everyone in the room sweat dropped.

" Ahh, it's good to see you too, Lee, but… If you could please get off my back…" Naruto panted. Lee quickly jumped off. Naruto was surprised when he saw what he was wearing. He was wearing a traditional Gi (think of him as his younger self, except he has the bowl cut still,) instead of the green spandex. " Uh, wow, what's up, Lee?" Naruto asked. Just then TenTen came over " Hey, Naruto!" she said quickly, then over her shoulder, " Neji! He's over here!"

After Naruto had talked to everyone, told them a couple stories about his training journey (they loved the one where he had to fight his way through a mob, who were after Ero-sennin and himself, disguised in his oiroke-no jutsu.) They had all left, telling him where they lived, or where they could talk, and that they would all meet up in a couple of weeks, and Tsunade had crushed him in a giant bear hug, he went out and sat on the steps of the Hokage tower. It was getting late, around 8:00, and he was depressed. He had been glad to see all of his friends; he considered them to be his family, really. But, Sakura had not shown up.

He pulled out a carton of cigarettes, and pulled out his second one over the last two years. He had picked up the habit in the Grass country, where he had injured himself during training. They went to a special doctor, who gave him a special cigarette, made not out of tobacco, but of several different herbs, which not only eased his pain but made him feel more relaxed and at ease, which would keep him from trying to train while injured. He had been given two packs, smoked the first, and kept the second. Right as he put out the cig, he felt arms wrap around him, from behind " Naruto…" It was Sakura. His Sakura-Chan. " Sakura-Chan!!! How are you!" he exclaimed. He turned around to see Sakura Haruno, who was the most beautiful woman he knew. Sakura gave a small smile. " Naruto, it's so good to see you! I'm really sorry I didn't show up for the party, bu-"

"Oh, don't worry, Sakura-Chan!" Naruto said with a big grin plastered onto his face.

Suddenly, the grin fell off, changing into his inquisitive look. " Uh, Sakura-Chan?"

Sakura, however, didn't notice, she was caught up in the way Naruto looked. He had grown much taller than her, and without that stuffy orange jumpsuit, he looked….

"Totally hot!" exclaimed inner sakura

"N-no! More like, cute." Sakura thought.

Whatever, I know you want him!

Shutup! Sakura thought back She snapped out of her thoughts, to see Naruto staring at her. His eyes caught her in place. The way that they shone… but she snapped out of his gaze, and coughed. " Uh, umm, actually, the reason I'm so late was because I have a surprise for you…" Naruto looked a little bewildered. " For me?" he said. Sakura giggled. " Of course, who else would it be?" she asked. " Uh, o.k. That sounds like a good plan!" Naruto exclaimed. " Alright, follow me!" Sakura said, dragging him by his hand.

'This seems like a pretty good day…." Thought Naruto.

A/N: ok, so not much naruxsaku, but I'm gonna try to take it slow. (I know the whole, ' I know you want him,' thing was probably a bit too much, though.) Anyway, I want you guys to vote on the other pairings (besides Narusaku, of course) and yes, you can change Kiba Hinata if you want, I have plan for that if you do. I'll let that go till chapter 5. So, anyway, Sayonara!