I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ITS CHARACTERS, I OWN THIS STORY AND ANY CHARACTERS I CREATE.
Thanks for the reviews
I decided to do a full 4 year time skip instead of the 3 year, mainly to make them seem age appropriate for leading roles in the village.
Chapter 10: 4 years apart
How we've Grown
It had been a long week for Sakura, first Naruto left on his journey with not real indication on how long he'd be. Which was fine, Naruto was always like that and since he got promoted the Chunin he wasn't a kid anymore, had he remained he would be leading squads on difficult missions instead of following Kakashi Sensei. However when she learned Sasuke would be going away for 3 months, "This suck's" she weeps. Perhaps the best thing that came from the invasion was the fact Sasuke acknowledged her, however in doing so Sasuke came to the decision to leave and train with Itachi and Shisui to improve his Sharingan and Jutsu prowess.
_-Flashback Yesterday evening_-
Standing across from the Hokage always gave Sakura butterflies , despite his gentle and calm exterior Sakura like many others from her age group have grown up on stories of Minato Namikaze "The Yellow Flash" of Konoha. Stories on how he defeated entire squads of Shinobi in a blink of an eye, even to this day his mere presence was enough to keep the thought of war at bay. Orochimaru never truly engaged Minato during his invasion; she had heard how he transported attacks that would have done major damage the village. He was truly something else "Um...you wanted to see me?" she says after a moment of silence.
"Yes, the Medical Shinobi at the hospital has praised you for your tremendous talent with Medical Ninjutsu" he says and she blushes lightly.
"Does that mean they will allow me to be an apprentice?" she asks with hopeful eyes, if she could learn from an experienced Medical Shinobi she wouldn't lag behind Naruto and Sasuke.
"No" Minato says bluntly and she slumps her shoulders "Don't take it as an insult, the current head of the Medial team has told me you wouldn't benefit much by learning from them because your Chakra Control is already higher than most" he explains and she nods "I called you hear because I'll be sending you and Team 8 on a mission lead by Kakashi" he says and she nods "You see a number of Shinobi and villagers have been infected by a powerful snake venom, and our Medics have exhausted all their knowledge trying to cure them" he sighs "Right now the infected are under induced comas and have slowed their heart rate down to slow the poison in their blood stream, this along with constant healing will keep them alive another week, the Shinobi may last longer but this treatment will have lasting effects...if they survive" he says.
"So...what are we looking for?" Sakura asks curiously, she had seen patients in critical care, however she didn't realise the extent of the problems.
"The final member of Konoha's legendary Sannin" Minato states "The Slug Princess Tsunade Senju, there is no better Medical Shinobi throughout the Elemental lands, however to simply refer to her as a Medical Shinobi could be considered an insult, she is extremely formidable and the last of her Clan which Lord First was also a member...as well as her grandfather" he says and her eyes widen
"Wow...I had no idea someone so strong existed" Sakura comments "Why isn't she in the Village?" she asks and Minato looks away.
"Let's just say...she needed time away after some bad moments" he states, if Tsunade wanted Sakura to know she'd tell her, no point incurring the wrath of a woman who could punch a mountain to death.
-_End-_
So she packed her bag, she wasn't sure why she was going on this mission, Kiba, Hinata and Shino where all expert trackers and apparently in his ANBU day's Kakashi was quite the tracker as well "Still, maybe I can get some pointers off Tsunade" she smiles looking at the picture of her, Sasuke and Naruto along with Kakashi in their team photo. The two male Genin had stoic looks, calm and composed; she was smiling with the enthusiasm that came from being in the same picture as Sasuke.
"So the next stage in our journeys as Shinobi begins" she smiles heading out the door
_Sasuke_
Sasuke was panting heavily; it seemed Shisui was annoyed about not being there for Konoha, and as a result his training intensity reflected his frustration "N-No more, I need a break" the young Uchiha says, laid out on the ground.
"Psh...you'll have your work cut out for you if we keep at this pace" Shisui scoffs crossing his arms "So many people died and I couldn't do anything to help" he thinks sitting down "Still once I feel you are capable I'll leave you in charge while I hunt Orochimaru down"
"My father may have made you head of this branch but remember if you want to go after Orochimaru you'd need the approval of both your commander and The Hokage" Itachi states sitting beside him "Orochimaru has lost the use of his arms and can no longer access many of his Jutsu...finding him will be impossible" he adds.
"Still...It bothers me that I was unable to stop this from getting out of hand" the teleport Shinobi sighs "Yeah I know this job is important too" he adds seeing Itachi give him a look "Though I guess if a peace treaty comes from this between Suna and Konoha I guess it'll mean a really good step towards real lasting peace" he stands up "Come on Sasuke" He say's motioning for Sasuke to stand.
"Yeah, was getting tired of listening to you complaining anyway" Sasuke smirks standing up; he saw the annoyance in the older Uchiha's eyes. "Naruto will always be Naruto so his strength will continue to grow exponentially...and Sakura is proving herself to be an excellent Medic...so I can't rest on my laurels" he thinks, his major goal was simply to study Shisui's movements and make his own fighting style from them, then it was back to Konoha to practise Fire Jutsu from the Uchiha files.
"Don't wait for me...I'll surpass you both"
_Naruto_
Sitting across from the Pervy Sannin who was writing material down for his Make out series, Naruto was also writing stuff down, he was planning his first training Routine for tomorrow. "So Naruto, while I'm off doing some...research what will you be doing?" the elder Sannin asks looking up from his notes.
"Well...While you're off being a pervert" he glances at Jiraiya who was pouting "I plan on using my time away from Konoha to perfect the Rasengan with a change in Chakra nature" he says suprising the Sannin, this was something Minato was unable to do, Minato never had the perfect Chakra control to accomplish such a feat. "Then I plan on learning Sage mode" he smirks seeing Jiraiya sigh
"Gamatatsu" they both say simultaneously, "I don't plan to return to Konoha until I've mastered both these goals" Naruto says with determination "I also plan to learn more about Tailed Beasts and Jinjuriki" he thinks
"Then hopefully I can remove the burden from Mom"
4 Years Later
/Quick note, their appearances match Shippuden before the war + the Chunin Flak Jacket. Sasuke's Appearance matches his look in "Jiraiya Shinobi Handbook: The Tale of Naruto the Hero" I looked for a description (since I suck at describing clothes) but couldn't find one, if you need a visual just google Sasuke Police Uniform and you should be fine/
Minato read though the last letter he received from Naruto
The lead I was chasing came up with some good results, I won't go into detail through a letter so I will be returning to the Village within the next month or so, otherwise I am bathing regularly and eating proper meals now that I can cook for myself. Tell Mom I haven't spent any time with girls before she bombards me with questions about my...virtue, I also haven't been corrupted by Pervy-Sage (That will never happen)
From Naruto
"This was just under 2 months ago" Minato says, he had tried to teleport to Naruto but it seems he had left the Kunai in a hotel within the Land of Wind, he neglected to tell Kushina about how he scared the living hell out of two girls who had rented the room...or the fact they were naked.
"Naruto is fine, knowing him he stopped to do more training" Jiraiya says casually, he left Naruto on his own after 3 years of travelling together, but did keep tabs on him just in case for a little while. Minato couldn't help it; Kushina had been asking him nonstop about Naruto since the last letter came.
"I trust him, I don't trust this world...and I put him on a dangerous mission without even letting him come home first" Minato states looking at the copy of the mission report he gave to Naruto.
"Naruto is a Shinobi before anything else, you are the Hokage" Jiraiya sits on the table "I thought the days of me teaching you were long in the past" he looks over his shoulder with a Smirk
"As long as we live...there are lessons to be learned" Minato states and Jiraiya laughs loudly
"So corny!" he chuckles "My point is you only assigned Naruto this mission after he had decided to stay on his Journey" he stands up "Naruto has grown exponentially strong on his adventure, he's your son alright" he explains.
Minato had wondered how Naruto had progressed; Jiraiya made vague comments like "Writing his name in the History books" while Naruto didn't even mention his training simply how he was and what he was eating.
"Interesting"
_Kushina and Mikoto_
"Relax Kushina" Mikoto hushes the red head's worried rant about their son being dead of kidnapped or...married without her knowing "Naruto is a strong level headed young man, like his father" he says "He may share your temper but he is much better at controlling it" she teases and Kushina raises an eyebrow.
"I have a temper? Remember when Itachi proposed to Izumi? Or when" she is cut off by a dangerous aura coming from the Uchiha "A-Anyway this is just a mothers thoughts getting out of hand...I know he's fine I just can't help but worry about him" she says as the two stare out of the entrance to Konoha at the big green gates.
"Well I guess lay those worries to rest" they both turn to see a hooded man dropping the hood revealing the Namikaze trade mark Blonde spiky hair, Naruto's hair had grown out mirroring his father's for the most part with the major difference being that instead of two jaw-length bangs framing his face, Naruto had a single Braided bang held with accessories which hung over the side of a new elastic headband, the braid was decorated with Orange beads, the braid reached just under his chin. His face had become more refined losing a lot of the baby fat in his cheeks and chin giving him a more mature look, his clothes where covered by a long black coat he was wearing an judging by the dirt it hadn't been washed in a long while. His right hand was completely taped up including the fingers; Kushina was able to spot a black arm guard under the robe as Naruto tucked the braid behind his ear.
Looking Naruto up and down seeing his taped up calves, and his black sandals she saw Naruto had grown into a fine young man "NARUTO!" she rushed in and hugged him tightly "I was so worried when you stopped sending letters" she rambles out between tears as Naruto wraps a single arm around his mother.
"I missed you to...mom"
_The Hokage Mansion_
"Naruto" Minato said hugging his son who returned the gesture "You've gotten so much taller" he says with a wondrous tone like he never pictured Naruto being able to look him in the eye "How have you been, what happened to the letter informing us of your impending return? I would have brought all your friends here" he says and Naruto motions form him to sit down.
"I was following a lead on the Akatsuki like you asked" he begins deciding to go into detail "It's like you suspected, they're targeting tailed beasts" he says and Minato nods "However I haven't been able to deduce why" he adds and Minato sighs.
"Don't worry about it Naruto" Minato says showing his son some documents "Using sighting reports I've tried to capture a member alive but they are incredibly elusive" he sits back, he sees Naruto smirk for a moment.
"Well I guess I have a present for you then" he bites his thumb and places his palm on the table "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" and a poof of smoke appears, as the smoke disappears a familiar Gourd Toad is sitting on the table "I didn't have the skill to question him" he says as the toad spits up a man in a Black cloak decorated with red clouds "Meet Jūzō Biwa of the Mist...former Swordsman of the Mist and enforcer of the Akatsuki" the younger blonde lists out as the Akatsuki member was still out cold.
"Amazing Naruto...how did you catch him?" Minato asks curiously examining the man, steady pulse with dilated eyes, clearly trapped in a Genjutsu.
"He stole The Executioners Blade from my hotel room not to long after I started my investigation" Naruto begins "Of course since I had it marked it wasn't like I was worried or anything" he jokes lightly "Still, once I confronted him I heard another member mention this" he raises his left hand showing a ring on his thumb, it had a yellow center and the Kanji for "south" written on it "I feel this ring is more important that anything this guy has to say" he says handing his father the ring "There is a weird Chakra signature attached to it but...that's something Research can look into" he sits back "other than that I can tell you The Akatsuki have successfully obtained three of the tailed beasts, the Five Tails, the Seven Sails and most recently the Four Tales" he lists off "They have 9 members in total now that this guy is in custody...and their main base...somewhere between the Land's of Lightning, Fire and Wind" he shrugs "There was a seal on a cave entrance I couldn't get past because I needed 5 other people" he explains.
"No need to explain anymore, you have given us plenty more Intel on the Akatsuki than Danzo's ANBU have in the 4 years you've been gone" Minato says reaching over and patting his son on the shoulder.
Believing the important business work was over Kushina burst in and practically ripped Naruto's coat off, dying to see his fashion sense, she was surprised to see the most notable change is the custom black Chunin Flak Jacket with the collar exposing the Orange polyester shirt, judging from the sleeves the shirt was slim, hugging his figure under the jacket. He was wearing a necklace with the Leaf symbol as the pendant, his left arm looked pretty bare, he had three bracelets hanging from his wrists with an orange, black, and orange colour scheme. However his right arm was completely covered with bandages, a black forearm pad which looked as if its purpose was to prevent his arm from exploding, around his right sleeve was a black armband with the red Uzumaki crest on it, he wore black pants with an orange band around the right thigh where his weapon's pouch was tie, he wore black sandals and the tape around his calves where exposed as the legs of his pants had rolled up slightly
"Yep my boy knows his fashion" Kushina gives him a thumb up of approval while Naruto mumbled "You ruined my Coat". "So did anything earth shattering happen to you that you kept out of your letters?" she asks holding his shoulders with a look of "TELL ME ALL THE GIRLS YOU'VE BEEN WITH!"
"Yeah...I was thinking of having a party or something so we could all catch up at once to save time" Naruto says, he saw Kushina's eyes flash with excitement.
"Good idea so much has happened so it'll be easier if we all meet up and talk as a big group of family and friends" she says looking at Minato who nods. For the last few months Minato has been very busy, coming home at all hours in the morning, overall not having much time to be the husband he was, which she understood, the relations between Konoha and Suna had improved immensely thanks in large part to the new Kazekage.
"Cool, Dad where are Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura? I want to surprise them" he turns to his father who thinks back to the last mission report he assigned them.
"Well...they should be back from their escort mission sometime today" he states scratching his chin "Normally when Sasuke is in charge they get home quicker since he needs to report to his father" he explains seeing Naruto's confused look "Sasuke is no longer a member of Team 7, he is Sergeant Sasuke Uchiha of the Konoha Police and technically Jonin of the Leaf" he say's and Naruto's eyes widen at how impressive Sasuke's titles are.
"How many of my class are Jonin?" Naruto asks curiously, he wasn't worried about rank since he knew his journey had done the job of getting him to the level he wanted...for now.
"Just him" Minato says suprising his son "The only other Shinobi of your age Group to be promoted is a Hyuga from one of their branch clans, his name is Neji" he explains, while many of his age group were close to obtaining the rank of Jonin they all lacked the specific quality right now. Minato was looking forward to testing Naruto's progression...
That would be for another day of course
The Gate
"Come on, stop dragging Kakashi" Sasuke says leading the group of 4 down the path leading to Konoha, now wearing his Police Uniform which was a big contrast to his old style, adjusting the band on his sleeve which symbolised his rank within the Police force he turned to see Sakura close by like always, a former member of Root named Sai who had filled Naruto's place in team 7 and finally dragging his feet Kakashi 'The Copy Nin' Hatake.
"I was wondering when you guys would show up" the gate guard says pointing into the village "You won't believe who came back" he grins seeing their shocked/happy faces light up.
"Talk about spoilers" they all turn to see Naruto waving at them casually "Yo" he gives a small smile, Sasuke was about to walk over and shake his hand however the pink haired Kunoichi had other plans.
"Naruto!" she runs to him hugging him tightly lifting him clean off the ground causing Naruto to look at Sasuke with wide eyes and mouthing 'What the hell happened?' to which Sasuke covers his mouth to hide the chuckle.
"You've been busy Sakura" Naruto says rubbing his chest looking around to make sure no one saw a skinning pink haired girl lift him clean off the ground, "Who is this?" he walks over to Sai.
"My name is Sai, ANBU former Root agent and current member of Team 7" he extends his hand to the blonde who accepts the shake "I read in a book this is common courtesy when meeting a colleague for the first time" he adds and Naruto raises a brow nodding.
"R-Really...uh cool" he says turning to Sasuke and the two fist bump "Congrats are in order, twice...1 for becoming a Jonin and the other for becoming a Sergeant in the Police Force" he states and Sasuke grins "What made you join the Police force?" he asks and Sasuke scratches the back of his head glancing at Sakura
"I-I'll tell you later" Sasuke says and Naruto who saw the glance exchange shrugged and nodded accepting the answer.
"Speaking of Later" Naruto says going into detail about party he was planning...
_The Evening party_
"Congratulations Itachi" Naruto says looking into the crib "She's perfect" he adds and Itachi nods, Naruto was surprised to hear Itachi and Izumi were married, but even more so when he learned they welcomed their first child into the world 2 months ago, Izumi snuggled into her husband as she was simply there to take care of her baby since she was a new mother she had been asking Kushina and Mikoto hundreds of questions.
"Akane Uchiha" Sasuke begins raising a glass "First born of Itachi and Izumi Uchiha, future Clan head" he says and they all raise their glass in toast.
Hearing about what everyone has been up to over the last 4 years was interesting; Shino had taken up time as a teacher at the academy. Kiba's only real boasting came in the form of having a girlfriend, however after learning that the girl in question was a cat enthusiast made Naruto laugh a lot longer than it should have. Hinata had spent the last four years learning about her Clan and the Jutsu related.
Ino and Sai were dating, and had been for a while...their interactions where interesting due to Sai's off beat personality. Choji was stoked about finally becoming Chunin, and Shikamaru had become somewhat of an ambassador for the Leaf when meeting with Suna.
Before Naruto could ask Sasuke and Sakura anything, he was the one being asked a question...
"So Naruto" Kiba begins clearly wanting to get back and Naruto for laughing at him, "I got to know...what's with the braid?" he asks, with his overall style the braid did suit him but he never figured Naruto for an accessory kind of guy.
"Well..." Naruto glances at Hinata who looks away slightly "While I was travelling with Jiraiya...the old perv got into some trouble with this weird Village called 'Nadeshiko Village', where only the Girls were Shinobi" he begins thinking back, Kushina and Tsunade are surprised by the mention of this village since it was hard to find, "Needless to say I got pulled into the problem, this girl named Shizuka had me cornered while this other woman named Tokiwa chased after the idiot who caused all this trouble" he spares a glance at Jiraiya who at this point was sweating so much the people behind him were drowning. "Anyway after I pinned Shizuka down I learned that Nadeshiko village has a very...interesting law" he smirks seeing his travelling companion mouthing "Please no more" at him, clearing his throat "See if the woman is defeated by a man she must bring that man to her village to be her husband" he stops seeing Kushina go full "Tentacle Hair Rage Monster Mode"
"I'll kill you Jiraiya!" she yells chasing the terrified Sanin out of the restaurant as Tsunade followed to enjoy the show.
"So...what happened then?" Sakura asks for Hinata who was still in shock, Sasuke had leaned over Sakura to listen; this story had taken an interesting turn.
"Well as Shizuka explained this to me, I told her I had no interest in the laws of her village, her mentor, who had lost Jiraiya tried to capture me and force me back to their village" he fiddles with the braid "Once I had her beat as well I tied the two up and left... turns out their village specialize in tracking because two weeks later I saw Shizuka again, she tried to convince me to marry her by explaining how she had given up on the idea of Love and that she simply followed the law of her village" he pauses seeing Hinata's sad look "But... I told her that I haven't given up on the idea of Love...which is why I couldn't marry her"
"So romantic" Ino swoons, thankfully covering for Hinata who was blushing feeling Naruto's gaze fall to her for a moment "So...why the braid?" she asks
"It's a promise..." he simply says "The promise is a secret" he adds seeing them all groan in frustration "A promise to find real Love" he thinks looking at Hinata again while everyone's attention was lost in the moment.
"So Naruto" Sai begins with an innocent smile "Did you sleep with her?"
...
While Sai recovered on the ground after the beating Sakura, Kushina and Ino dished on him for spoiling the moment Naruto turned to Sasuke "So Sasuke, why did you join the Konoha Police force...and why does it have to do with Sakura?" he asks bringing up how he looked at her earlier on when questioned.
"Well...we wanted to tell you in private but I guess now is fine" Sasuke says fiddling with the glass for a moment before taking in a deep breath "You see I joined to Police force because..."
"Sakura and I are together"
The End
Hope you like the part 1 of the time skip, the next chapter will start the Rescue the Kazekage arc but will also cover
Why Sasuke and Sakura dating meant he had to join the Konoha Police force, Neji and Hinata's aggressive training sessions and how Hinata has had a lousy 4 years over all...
Till Next Time
~DoTheBartMan