-Nope. I still don't own Naruto-
Comeback
Chapter 2: Team 7 Reunion
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Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.
-Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., Homesick in Heaven
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Troublesome, he thought to himself as he leapt from one branch to another. Shikamaru had the obnoxious blonde's arm slung around his neck, "Can the rest of you catch up?" He turned his head slightly, Yamato, Kakashi and Sai were panting heavily. It didn't take long for Shikamaru to figure out that all three of their chakra was close to depleted from travelling non-stop for the past few days to reach Konoha. Out of the five of them that his ANBU squad were told to escort, two were unconscious, their chakra signatures barely noticeable. Naruto being one of them.
Shikamaru looked down at the blonde he was carrying, he was bleeding heavily and his ragged breathing only proved to him that Naruto was in critical condition. Knowing the idiot, he would have battled the Uchiha brat to the point of exhaustion. He was unsure who had appeared as the victor since the Uchiha brat too was suffering from serious injuries.
Sasuke was being carried by two of his ANBU squad members for extra precautions. Even if he knew that the Uchiha wouldn't be able to run let alone stand due to his lack of chakra. Like the blonde, he too was bleeding profusely.
Shikamaru noticed that they were nearing their destination when he was able to recognise the Konoha gates through his thick porcelain mask.
Once he arrived, Yamanaka Ino was already at the gates with a small group of medical ninja. She was clad in her usual purple attire and a white coat. She nodded briefly at him, as he passed the unconscious blonde to a nearby medical ninja. Ino place Yamato's arm around her shoulder and placed a glowing hand on his chest. Yamato smiled weakly, as Ino reprimanded him in a stern voice. She turned her head and barked at the medical ninja, "Quickly carry these men to the hospital!"
Shikamaru closed his eyes; the woman was still as loud as ever.
As quickly as they arrived, his ANBU squad dispersed. Shikamaru sighed as he started to make his way towards the Hokage tower to report to the Godaime.
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Kakashi sat on the hospital bed. Despite his mask, he could still smell the sickly hospital smell he hated. The hospital reeked of antibiotics and death. He hated the hospital and wanted to get out as soon as he could. Kakashi's left arm was being bandaged by Ino. He silently wondered how his two important students were faring. The two of them had engaged in battle right after all four of them had defeated Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame. Kisame had managed to flee in the last minute leaving his partner to die in the hands of his younger brother. Of course, both his students had started to attack each other in the heat of the battle.
"Don't worry; they're being treated by her now. They're in good hands," Ino said cheerfully.
Kakashi blinked in surprise at how his thoughts were easily read. He was starting to get old. He smiled underneath his mask at the platinum blonde. Kakashi simply took the 'her' as Tsunade knowing full well that only the Slug Princess could completely heal his students' injuries. During their battle, they had gone all out and used their special attacks on each other. That would not doubt cause a lot of extensive damage that would require someone experienced to heal.
As much as he wanted to check on his students, he could feel his eyelids start to get heavy. And not long after that, he fell asleep.
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*~Two Days Later~*
Sasuke cracked one of his eyes open when he detected foreign chakra in his system. His vision was completely filled with white; the room was too bright for his sensitive eyes. He groaned inwardly and closed his eyes, to shield them from the bright light. His whole body was aching and his throat was dry. He attempted to open his eyes again.
He suddenly heard a loud groan coming from next to him. He blinked and tried to lift himself from the bed to a sitting position. He noticed that there was indeed foreign chakra in his system that caused him to feel all tingly. He noted that maybe the chakra had belonged to the medical ninja that had healed him earlier as his body showed no sign of ever suffering from any form of injury.
"You shouldn't force yourself, Sasuke," Kakashi spoke from behind the pages of his green issue of Icha Icha Tactics.
Blinking, he surveyed the room he was in and noticed that Naruto was in the bed adjacent to his. He too, was starting to stir from his slumber.
As if on cue, the door opened. Kakashi bowed respectfully towards the visitor, "Hokage-sama."
Tsunade eyed the Uchiha and the Kyubi container. She smiled, their condition was much better than she had assumed. She lifted the charts from the end of their beds.
"Baa-chan?" A voice croaked from one of the beds.
Tsunade's eyes twitched at the nickname Naruto had given her. The blonde sat up from his bed, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.
"Both of you can leave this hospital once you have completed the paperwork. Report to the Hokage Tower immediately after that," she turned her head to address Kakashi, "Make sure Yamato and Sai are present too. Try not to be late, Hatake."
She walked to the doors, "It would be advisable not to underestimate her. She's no longer the weak girl you left behind."
Sasuke lifted his head to look at her, his face as emotionless as ever. Both Naruto and Kakashi stared at her in confusion. With a final smirk, she closed the doors.
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Sasuke had his hands in his pockets as he awkwardly stood in the middle of the Hokage's office. His dark onyx eyes studied the pale man that stood a few steps from him. He eyed the artist suspiciously, was this his replacement? He mentally scoffed, making sure at the same time, his face still showed no hint of expression.
Yamato stood next to Sai, his dark eyes staring warily at the office doors.
As usual, Kakashi was late.
Suddenly, the office doors opened. A tall, silver-haired man entered the room, his hand scratching the back of his head. Sasuke was sure he could see the all too familiar sheepish smile behind his mask.
"Sensei! You're late!" Naruto shouted, his finger pointing accusingly at his sensei that was currently making up an excuse.
"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke muttered.
"Teme! You have no right to tell me to do that, ttebayo," Naruto retorted, the volume of his voice a notch higher.
"You're bursting my eardrums, dickless," Sai spoke, a smile plastered across his face.
"What? I should-"
Before Naruto was given a chance to complete his sentence, Tsunade had smacked her palms flat on her table, "Silence!" The room instantly fell silent. The group eyed the Hokage apprehensively; ticking her off was not a very good idea.
Tsunade sat on her chair, and poured herself a cup of sake. She took a sip of it, "Since most of you are here now. I'll get down to business."
"Uchiha, you left the village without permission, associated yourself with one of the most dangerous criminals and forced me to send out some of my most talented ninja's to bring your ass back here. Tell me, besides execution, what could possibly be the most suitable punishment for you?"
Kakashi and Yamato widened their eyes in shock. Naruto, being the idiot, decided to protest, "But baa-chan! Sasuke's back and he didn't actually hurt any-"
"Shut up, Naruto. I'm not talking to you," Tsunade shouted in her booming voice which immediately silenced the boy and caused the occupants of the room to wince.
"From today onwards, you are not allowed on any missions but D and C-ranked missions. You're weapons will be confiscated and you will be under 24/7 surveillance. One wrong move Uchiha, and I will not hesitate to be less merciful," Tsunade continued, her voice screamed authority and made sure that no one was able to protest.
Sasuke closed his eyes and swallowed his pride. He bowed respectfully, "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
Naruto's cerulean eyes widened when his head was suddenly pushed down by Kakashi, joining Sasuke.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke, "Also for healing them."
Tsunade raised one of her eyebrows.
"Kakashi-san, it wasn't-" Shizune was cut off when Tsunade raised one of her hands, signalling her to stop.
"You think that I'm the one that healed these two morons?" Tsunade questioned, before laughing.
Yamato blinked in surprise, "Naruto and Sasuke were in critical condition. No one else has the same amount of medical expertise as you, Hokage-sama."
"Well, sorry to disappoint, but it wasn't me," she took another sip of her sake.
"No? Then Shizune-san?" Sai asked looking at her other apprentice.
Tsunade glared at the pale artist, "You're healer and saviour that literally brought you back from the dead was Haruno Sakura."
Tsunade smirked, taking pleasure in the shocked expressions on Naruto, Yamato and Kakashi's faces. She also noted the slight widening of Sai and Sasuke's eyes, taking into consideration that these two were unable to express their emotions very well.
Sakura certainly was being greatly underestimated. Tsunade shook her head slightly. "As you noticed, which I sincerely hoped you did, Sakura has not been seen since all of you returned. She spent a whole day healing both of you before I sent her on a solo mission."
Naruto immediately bolted towards her desk, "Solo mission? That's dangerous, baa-chan!"
She sighed, it was certainly difficult for them to accept the fact that Sakura was much stronger than before, "Unlike you and the Uchiha brat who are still Genin, Sakura has already successfully became a Jounin and is part of the ANBU medical team."
She smirked behind her cup of sake, oh their faces were priceless. She couldn't help but continue, "Besides, if Hatake isn't around, Sakura would make a perfect candidate to become the next Hokage."
She sipped her sake, hiding her accomplished smile as Naruto started to panic and his cerulean eyes grew large.
"Sakura-chan becoming the next Hokage? There's no way I'm ever allowing that to happen, ttebayo!" He shouted in determination before wilting like a dead flower and continuing, "But, I have to support Sakura-chan."
"Dobe, there's no way Sakura could become the next Hokage," Sasuke spoke. Tsunade turned to glare daggers at the Uchiha.
Okay, forget about being merciful.
"I almost forgot to mention, Uchiha. Besides, a group of ANBU that would be following you're every move; you would also be required to be babysitted by one of your teammates."
Sasuke turned his head to look at her, "I refuse to live with either Naruto or Kakashi. I would rather have the number of ANBU doubled than live with them."
Kakashi and Naruto looked mortally wounded by his remark.
"I didn't say that you would be staying with either of them," Sasuke eyes widened slightly.
The door of the office suddenly opened, a pink-haired beauty entered the room. Sasuke instantly recognised her despite the large changes. Her hair was longer and tied loosely on one side of her head. She was clad in her usual biker shorts that were shorter, her boots went pass her knee and her heels were slightly higher. Her medic apron was still tied around her petite waist. She was also wearing a tight mesh shirt and a tube top that only managed to fully cover her chest area. Besides that, she had the customary chunin vest that was unzipped.
Her attire was not the only thing that had changed, her figure had changed entirely. She had definitely matured over the years, Sasuke thought. His eyes roamed over her curves and long, toned legs.
Noticing this, Sasuke inwardly grimaced at his shameful act and his eyes snapped back to her face. Her skin looked smooth and unblemished, gone were the childish features he vaguely remembered. The only thing that didn't change was her sea foam coloured eyes that held buckets of emotions.
"Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, unsure. Naruto was sure his jaw had literally hit the ground.
She smiled, making her much more irresistible, "Konnichiwa."
"Sakura, you're back from the mission! Did you get rid of them?" Tsunade spoke breaking the awkward silence and the stares the hormonal men in the room were giving her prized apprentice.
Sakura walked towards her Shishou, and passed a small scroll to her, "They were rouge Kirigakure ninjas. Probably not past the level of Chunin."
"How many were there? What was their purpose?"
"Three. They were killing and stealing from the travellers and Konoha ninjas. I've got rid of them."
"Good. The stupid pests were making it difficult for merchants to travel to Konoha. It's not good for the economy," Tsunade took another sip of her sake and read the scroll on her hands, "Oh. Sakura, don't forget to welcome you teammates."
Sakura turned around to face her team after completely ignoring them. Naruto was shuffling his feet uncomfortably and his eyes were downcast.
Sakura couldn't help but smile, "It has been a long time, Naruto, Kakashi-sensei, Yamato-taichou, Sai and Sasuke." The way she spat the last name made the occupants in the room uncomfortable. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at her. He noticed that the suffix '-kun' had been dropped.
"As ugly as ever, hag," Sai spoke with confidence.
Sakura's patience snapped. With the speed of an experienced ninja, she grabbed the collar of Sai's shirt. Taking advantage of Sai's shock, she threw him out of the window of the Hokage's office.
Her Shishou sighed out loud, "Sakura, that was unnecessary."
She puffed out her cheeks like a child and huffed, "That was very necessary, Shishou."
"I guess I should be happy that you chose not to punch him through the walls. It would be very costly to repair them."
Sakura smiled gratefully at her Shishou before looking back at her other teammates, "So, who's next?"
Tsunade roared with laughter, "Now, now, Sakura. That's not the proper way to welcome your teammates."
"S-Sakura-chan! All of us missed you!" Naruto shouted, in hopes that he would not be flung out the window.
The rest of her team joined him.
"Yes. We missed you," Yamato and Kakashi chorused.
"Hn."
Tsunade smiled, "Since all of you just returned, you will have a week of vacation before returning to work. Naruto and Sasuke on the other hand, will go straight to completing D-ranked missions."
"But baa-chan!" Naruto whined.
"No buts! How long are both of you planning to stay Genins?" Even though she knew that their skills were past Chunin level, she also knew that they were still ranked as a very low levelled ninja despite their skills. As the Hokage, she wouldn't be able to assign missions past the C-rank if they were still Genin.
"All of you are dismissed! Oh. Uchiha, you're babysitter will be Haruno Sakura."
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Tsunade sighed as she took another sip of her sake.
"Tsunade-sama, what was the point of assigning Uchiha Sasuke a babysitter?" Shizune questioned as she picked up Tonton from the ground.
Tsunade smirked, "Out of all the people, I think Sakura would do a wonderful job at torturing that Uchiha brat."
Shizune smiled, "Then, Sakura being the next Hokage?"
Tsunade looked up at her from her desk, "That wasn't a complete lie."
Shizune couldn't help but laugh at the Hokage's antics.
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