Ch. 20 Welcoming Back

Don sat on a log infront of a fire with an older man. "You've done good son." the man said. "It wasn't easy dad; I've been through a lot of hell since you've been gone." Don replied. "I know, I've been watching over you since I died, however I'm glad you managed to bring yourself back to life, it wasn't you time anyway to rejoin me, not yet." Don's father replied calmly.

"Yeah…" Don sighed. "Don, you don't realize it yet do you?" Don looked up at his father, "Realize what?" Don asked. "You are a better ninja than you give yourself credit for, you have such an overwhelmingly great future ahead of you, yet you take life as if nothing were there for you to take for yourself."

Don looked down. "You have good friends Don, even your girlfriend Temari, she's such a charming woman, you two look so happy together and you look so happy when you are with her." Don looked at his father, "Well, when I died, if you recall, my dying wish was that Shikamaru take her and keep her under his wing, she's been happy with him ever since." Don's father nodded. "I see."

"How's mom doing?" Don asked. Don's father smiled at him, "She's doing fine, she misses you a lot, and we both do. She wanted me to tell you how proud she is of you. You don't know how happy you have made us." "Even though technically I deserted our home village and now belong to another village?" Don replied. His father just nodded, "Don, life isn't always going to be how you want it; I trusted that you would be able to make right decisions at a young age, and one of your decisions landed you joining Suna and becoming one of their shinobi."

"It hasn't been all that bad Don, look at it; you have your own squad, not to mention you have affected two great villages and created a bond that can only be severed by you. Because of you Konaha and Suna have become closer allies which has brought this world one step closer to achieving peace, which is partially what we shinobi are fighting for."

Don smiled, "I suppose you are right." All of a sudden Don heard a loud knocking. "I think Hinata and Neji are here. I have to get going dad." Don said and he and his father stood up. Don's father patted him on the back, "Keep up the good work son, your mother and I will be watching and give Tsunade my best wishes." He said smiling.

Don woke up and hopped out of bed to answer the door. When he answered the door he saw Hinata and Neji at the door. "Hey guys, come on in." Don said happily. "Don?" Hinata said. "Yes?" Hinata looked at him timidly, "Well, Neji and I got a little over excited that you were back and after you left, we sort of told some friends." Neji cut in, "More like everyone we knew."

Don looked at them awkwardly. "Everyone…?" Don asked. They both nodded. Neji turned to the hallway, "Come on in everyone." Every single person that Don knew poured into the room including Temari and his teammates.

The room was filled with a loud uproar and they all began to shake his hand or hug him with joy to see that he had returned. "Maybe dad was right." Don thought to himself smiling. Don looked around the room in amazement. "I'm going to need more groceries." He said. He walked to the kitchen and wrote down a long list of things he needed from the market. "Temari, I need you to get me every single thing off of this list on the double. We're going to have a feast tonight."

Temari saluted him, "Yes sir." She said dashing out the room and going to the market. In the mean time, the spot light was on Don, people were talking with him and laughing with him and having a good time. It wasn't long before Temari returned with everything he needed. Don began to cook and a sweetening aroma filled the room. Temari and his teammates helped make a larger eating space and set up the table.

The table was filled with succulent looking dishes and sides with plenty of drinks to go around. Don sat at the bar and ate while everyone sat in the eating area. Then Temari came walking around the corner, "Hey there handsome, why are you sitting here all alone?" she asked. "Just thinking about how the last two years of my life has gone." He replied.

Temari looked at him. "There's a whole bunch of people over there that missed you, you should go see them." She said. Don looked at her and smiled back. "You're right; though I have a feeling one person missed me more than anyone else." Don said. "Who?" Temari asked looking at him puzzled. Don got up and kissed Temari deeply and held her in his arms. When they broke, Temari blushed.

He offered her his arm. "Shall we go?" Temari nodded and he led her into the main room where everyone was at the table eating and talking. Shikamaru looked up and saw Don and Temari together and smiled. "Nice to see she's in a better mood now that Don is alive." He thought to himself.

He got up and greeted Don with a handshake. "Welcome back man." He said. "Good to be back." Don replied. After a few hours everyone left and the room fell silent again leaving Temari, Don and his squad to themselves. Then a knock came from the door. Don got up and answered the door. It was an Anbu agent. "The fifth has requested your presence."

Don nodded and followed the agent out the door to Tsunade's office. Don entered Tsunade's office and took a seat in a lone chair that was placed infront of her desk.

"Now Don, we need to have a long talk."