AN: Oh yeah, I'm back! I've been reading other fanfics for inspiration. Not like I'm copying anyone. What I mean is reading other fantastic stories that make me want to make my story even awesomer that it already is. Alright, enough of these explanations, onto the story!

Naruto gawks at me, his finger pointed in my face, "Ah! POPORI WHAT THE HELL?"

He then proceeds to tackle me to the ground. Everyone is so surprised at this, that everything except Naruto's ragged breathing is silent. I stare up at him, gazing into his unreadable eyes with my neutral ones. I don't know what he is planning to do to me . . . But I'm sure that I will deserve it.

Kankuro snaps out of his shock first, "HEY! Naruto what the hell are you doing?"

Kakashi takes a step forward after hearing Kankuro's outburst. I look over Naruto's shoulder and can see that he plans to throw Naruto somewhere when he attacks me. That's a bit reassuring, but Naruto is still on top of me.

Then, he does something I was expecting at all. He hugs the life out of me and starts babbling about things I could care less about.

"Oh Po-chan! You're alive! You're okay! Your family and Team were so worried about you! But I knew you'd come back! After Shikamaru told me about what happened, I knew you were only going to convince Sasuke to come back! Aw, man, everyone is going to be so freaking ecstatic to see you back! Well . . . Except for a few people. Ino is a little pissed off. . . And Neji doesn't like that you ran off on your own, but Tenten and Lee have convinced him that you would never do something so hideously evil. Oh and-"

I silence him by pushing his face away from me so I can breath. "Gah! Naruto you're going to kill me either by suffocation or talking my ear off!"

I can see Kakashi and Kankuro relax beside us. Naruto helps me up then pulls me into another bear hug, lifting me off the ground in the process, since I'm now shorter than him. I growl at him and he puts me down with his goofy grin on his face. I sigh then flash him a crooked grin.

He chuckles then asks with a smile, "So, where's Sasuke?"

The Sand Siblings and I all stare at him. I sigh then grab my shoulder and look him in the eye. Better tell him now, rather than later.

"Sasuke. . ." I began, not knowing how to tell the poor boy this. "Naruto, Sasuke isn't the same kid we knew. He's not coming back, and there isn't anything anyone can do to change that . . . I'm sorry."

Naruto blinked then looked down at the ground, "Oh. . . I see." He looked up at me and smiled, "Well then I'll just have to find something that will make him change his mind."

"Naruto-" Kakashi starts, but it cut off by Kankuro.

"Did you not hear her? There is nothing you can do, Naruto! He's not coming back! He's completely blinded by his darkness!"

Naruto finally gets over his denial and clenches his fists and teeth. "Shut up! Just - just shut up!"

I frown, then take a step closer to the younger blond teenager, "Naruto, settle down. It's not your fault. Sasuke's life was destined to end up this way from the start."

Naruto glares at me then makes a fist and punches me in the mouth, knocking me on my butt. Kankuro goes to lung at the blond, but I hold up a hand to stop him. I wipe the blood from my mouth then look up at Naruto.

"How can you just give up!" He belows at me. "Sasuke needed you! You were supposed to give him sense, but you didn't! You gave up on him! And now there might be a chance that he won't come back for real!" He's quivering with rage now. He seriously believed that if I had tried harder, Sasuke would have changed.

I look at him with surprised eyes for a moment, then smirk at his obliviousness. I shake my head and lose my smirk. "Naruto. . . Even if I was still with Sasuke, the only thing that would accomplish would me being there to witness his submerging further into the darkness." I look down as I clench my fist and claw at the dirt. "He called me worthless. And he never addressed me as Pori-chan like he used to. Wake up Naruto. Sasuke is gone. . . and not even you can bring him back."

My voice cracks at the end of my statement and Kankuro kneels beside me and holds me as the tears start once more. The sight of me crying must have gotten to him. He knew full well of my promise to myself about shedding tears. He said himself that he believed I would never give up on that promise because I was so stubborn. I can see the easing of the emotions going through him as he watches me sob into Kankuro's chest.

He sighs quietly then kneels next to me as well. I pull away from Kankuro and wipe my tears away and clear my throat. Naruto places a hand on my shoulder and smiles sadly at me.

"I'm sorry, Po-chan. I shouldn't have hit you like that. It was uncalled for." Naruto says quietly.

I smile smally, "Don't worry about it. I deserved it anyway."

Both Naruto and Kankuro roll their eyes at me then say, "Shut up! No you didn't."

I snort then shrug, "Yeah, sure. Whatever you say." I stand and brush myself off. I raise a hand to my lip and decide that I won't need anyone to heal it then turn to Gaara.

"Our little conversation is over, we can get down to business now." I tell him.

He nods then turns his gaze to Kakashi then explains everything that happened at the summit. Naruto listens with his mouth open. It looks like he's seriously surprised. If I hadn't just been punched in the mouth, then I would have snorted again.

"Wait...so Sasuke did all that?" Naruto asked.

I nodded, "Yeah..." I look around then notice there is a fourth person in Naruto's group. It's that boy that was supposed to replace Sasuke. I saw him at Orochimaru's hideout that one time. He did a lot of talking of bonds.

"Hey, what is your name?" I asked bluntly. I had forgotten it, and if I was to travel with them back to the Leaf, I would need him name.

The boy looked at me with a blank face, his dark orbs locking onto mine. "Sai." He said flatly.

Wow, this guy reminded me of myself; well for a few weeks with Taka I was like that...

I nod then look to Gaara, "My apologies, Gaara Kazekage-Sama."

Gaara's eyes soften and he lets out a small sigh, shaking his head.

Yamato spoke, "Danzo..."

Kakashi sighed, "I never really liked the whole Hokage thing, but even if I have no choice now I still have to go back to Konoha and inform them of this."

Temari spoke, "Madara said he was going to start a war. There is no time to waste."

Yamato crosses his arms over his chest, "I think everyone will agree, you should act as Hokage for now, Kakashi-Senpai."

Kakashi looks back at him and says a little lazily, "I suppose you're right, thanks."

"So about Sasuke..." Yamato said, sounding a little unsure of starting on the topic.

"If he attacked the summit," Kakashi sighed.

Gaara looked to Naruto, "Just so you know this will be a war to protect both the Hachibi and the Kyuubi, in other words, you. For the sake of the ninja world, and as the Kazekage, I will guard you will my life. If Sasuke acts as a member of Akatsuki and stands in my way, I will show no mercy."

Naruto looks really depressed after this is said. I really want to tell him that I was lying and that Sasuke is indeed coming back. But, that won't happen anytime soon.

"Naruto you told me you wanted to become Hokage. I have become the Kazekage." Gaara begins. "If you are prepared to bear the title of Kage, then do what you must as Sasuke's friend." He puts a hand on the blond's shoulder and the two lock gazes for a while before Gaara removes his hand.

"We've said what we came to say. Let's go, Gaara." Temari says. "We're going back to Suna now. We will assume that you Hatake Kakashi is Hokage now. I pray there will be no miscommunication."

Kakashi nods his understanding. "Alright."

"I think of you as a friend," Gaara says to Naruto with his back turned. "I used to think it was just another word. Nothing more, nothing less. But when I met you I found the important thing was the word's meaning." He looks over his shoulder at the blond. "Think about its meaning. And about what you are trying to do for Sasuke."

I stare at Gaara. Is that something I should have thought about when I was with him? Was I doing it right? I followed him, I followed him as his best friend. I didn't try to talk him out of anything, though. I went along with him. Would anything turn out differently if I had done that? I sigh, probably not. He would most likely get irritated with me and throw me away.

Kankuro takes my hands in his, "You're going back to Konoha?"

I nod with a weak smile, "Yeah. I guess I'll see you later..."

He sighs, his other siblings have already left him to say his goodbyes to me. "Well, after this war business is over and done with, I'm going to prove my love to you, okay?"

I blushed and shook my head, punching him in the chest, "Shut up! There are people here with us you idiot!"

He smirks and cups my chin with his hand, the other wraps tightly around my waist. "Like I care," He mutters before kissing me passionately. He pours all the need for me he had when I was gone, and all he will have when we leave each other's side once again. I wrap my arms around his neck and press my body as close to him as I can, kissing him back with just as much passion. I don't really care that there are four other men there that will probably bug me about this while we are heading back to Konoha. I just want my Kankuro.

But somehow, Shikamaru's smirk slips into my mind. I haven't told Kankuro about what I said to Shiky-kun, or what I did with him. Oh god, how will he take it? He'll be upset no doubt. I'll have to figure out my feelings first, though. There has to be a reason that I have this gut-wrenching feeling in my stomach every time I think about the lazy man. There has to be a reason I don't want to kiss Kankuro now that I'm thinking about Shikamaru.

My eyes open and I pull away, offering a fake smile as a departing gift to Kankuro. He eyes me for a moment, then sighs and pulls me in for a tight embrace then kisses my forehead.

"Bye, love." He says before following after his siblings.

I turn to the men to see them all smirking at me. Well, Sai is just staring at me, and Kakashi looks to be blushing.

"Oh shut up, all of you," I mutter, my cheeks getting red with agitation.

Sai speaks to me, "Just so you know, I don't entirely trust you. I have no reason to, and therefore I will keep my suspicion of you until I have reason to get rid of it."

I nodded, "I understand. I don't blame you, and I didn't expect anyone's trust when I came back."

Kakashi walks over to me and places a hand on my shoulder. "Welcome back, Popori Ikame."

Naruto chuckles then gets a serious look on his face, "Kakashi Sensei, what about Sakura?"

I arch an eyebrow, "What about Sakura?"

AN: Alrighty then, woo another chapter has been pumped from my brain! Okay, I have a few questions for you guys. Would it upset some people if I predicted the outcome of the big ninja war and assumed that the series was over? Because that is what I'm planning to do. I'm going to resolve the whole war and the Sasuke problem. So if you don't like it, then tell me.

Secondly, it was pointed out that the story did in fact start out with Kankuro, and should end with Shikamaru. I know the majority of you like KanPori more than PoMaru, but would you be uber upset if she ended up with Shikamaru? I'll give you a few chapters of Popori getting settled back into the village, then you guys can make the final decision on how both couples act when around each other. ^^