Leo: Happy New Year minna! So here's the next chapter in the wonderful tale of our slightly sarcastic but courageous heroine. Disclaimer!

Jiraiya: Leo does not own Naruto and probably never will.

Leo: Probably! There's a still a chance! :D Off we go!

Misaki's POV

I groaned and rolled over in my bed feeling terrible. This is my I hated crying so much. The weakness is revealed was appalling but the aftermath was worse. Puffy, red eyes, stuffed nose, and the general exhaustion afterwards were not attractive.

I swung my legs off the bed as I went about my usual routine; brush my teeth, shower, do my hair, eat, and get dressed. After this I stepped outside the door, my heart already sinking.

Naruto leaves the village today.

I gulped swallowing back the already brimming tears just threatening to overflow at the thought of my best friend and roommate leaving for 2 years. It was hard to wrap my head around. Team Seven was falling apart. Sasuke had defected from the village. Sakura was studying to become a medical nin. Naruto was leaving. I would be left here all alone.

I swallowed and pushed the thoughts from my head, I should be happy for Naruto I'm his best friend and that's what best friends do. We share the joy; it isn't fair to Naruto for me to be like this. Even so, as much as I tried I still couldn't bring myself to push the sadness away. Team Seven isn't the same without Naruto.

I shook my head one more time, this time determined to be happy. Gaara and his siblings were leaving for Suna today; it'd be rude to see them off with a long face especially after Gaara had comforted me.

I walked to the gate enjoyed the sounds of civilians chattering in the street just like any other normal day, that's what made Konoha special. Everyone always gets back on their feet.

Finally, I arrived at the gate; Shikamaru had already arrived before me. To see Temari off I assume. There was a tense silence as I arrived on the scene, my hands shoved in my pocket as I locked eyes with Gaara.

Surprisingly, I found myself smiling, "Thanks." That's all I had to say for Gaara to get the message of what I was trying to convey. He nodded stoically, his face giving away nothing.

"What do you mean thanks?" Kankuro asked curiously. I scoffed.

"Nothing you need to know about right now. Thanks for helping us out. We really couldn't have done it without you. Really." I rubbed the back of my head in embarrassment.

Temari chuckled at my obvious discomfort and clapped me on the shoulder, "Hehe, if anything happens we'll you out again. Is that, okay?" she stepped closer and whispered in my ear, "Imouto."

I jumped and flushed scarlet sputtering nonsense while Temari laughed heartily. I glanced at Gaara as he gave me that same stoic look though I could see a spark of confusion in his eyes.

"We'll take our leave. See you later, crybaby." Temari smirked at Shikamaru before sauntering off after her siblings.

Shikamaru scowled before turning to me, "What'd that troublesome woman say to you?"

I flushed before snapping back at him, "Nothing." He just shrugged and walked off back to train or something. I breathed in a deep breath before turning to face the gate of Konoha again. Now, I only had to see Naruto off.

I closed my eyes and stood for a few moments waiting for his arrival. Finally I heard the familiar voice.

"Misaki." I turned to face him, he was packed up and ready to go Jiraiya at his side. The silence was deafening as we stood and stared each other down.

"Hey, Naruto." I said carefully. I cracked a small smile.

"Don't miss me too much, Misaki." He returned my smile with one of his signature grins; the kind that had been growing on me for so long, since our academy days together. I inhaled sharply before I rushed forward and wrapped him in a hug.

"Dumbass. Of course, I'm going to miss you like hell. You're my best friend, idiot." I cursed him burying my face in his shoulder. I didn't see it but Naruto's smile dropped off his face.

"Yeah… But I'll be back and stronger than ever. You'll be the first one to know when I get back." He murmured as his arms came around to embrace me in a friendly hug.

I breathed out and swallowed the lump in my throat, "No shit I'll be the first." I released him and wiped my tears away. I stood up straight and gave him my best grin and held out my knuckles for him to bump. "Now get the hell out of this village so you can hurry up and become Hokage!"

He grinned easily and bumped my fist, hard. "Believe it!"

And with that he walked past me toward the gate. Jiraiya shadowing him quietly. I smiled trying to tame my mix of feelings: happiness, sadness, joy, loneliness, pride, loss, hope and most of all, the desperate urge to yank him back or at least follow him.

"MISAKI!" I snapped out of my trance and turned to face him.

He thrust his arm into the air giving me a proud thumbs up, "You better be stronger when I get back or I'll kick your ass, idiot!"

I was shocked for a second before I laughed heartily and returned the thumbs up, "You bet your ass I will!" He turned and sauntered out of the gates laughing while Jiraiya chuckled quietly.

I clenched my fist, feelings of loneliness replaced with determination, "He's got some nerve calling me an idiot. I'll prove him wrong!"

TIME SKIP

Naruto's POV

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

"Heh, he sure is energetic today, isn't he?" Jiraiya snorted.

I made one final jump landing flawlessly on a pole in the middle of the street, "ALRIGHT! IT HASN'T CHANGED A BIT!" I spread my arms wide as I took in the sight of Konoha for the first time in two and a half years. "I MISSED THIS PLACE!"

"Yeah, yeah…" I breathed out happily resting my hands on my hips when I spotted something in the distance. Tsunade's face was carved into the side of the Hokage Mountain. "Eh? Haha! So they added Tsunade's ugly, old mug to the mountain!"

"You've grown a lot, haven't you… Naruto." My ears perked up at the sound of my name and I turned to face the owner of the drawling face. My eyes lit up immediately.

"Kakashi-sensei!" I jumped down from my post unto the rooftop he was sitting on, "You haven't changed at all!"

"Yo!" He held up his hand like always. I grinned before remembering something.

"Oh yeah! Hey, hey, hey! I have a present for you, Kakashi-sensei!" I fished in my pocket before pulling out the item. "Here!"

Kakashi's eyes widened as he laid eyes on it, "Wha-what? This- this is…"

"It's the latest in the Icha Icha series after 2 years. It's really boring but you'll still like it…I think." I put it in his hands, watching as he obviously internally fangirled over it. "Heh, no need to thank me!" I proudly rubbed my nose.

Suddenly, Kakashi looked up, "Oh yeah, don't you want to see Misaki?"

I grinned widely, "Haha, you got it!"

"Too bad. I'm not sure where she is."

"Hmm…I wonder…" I looked up at the sky in thought,

Misaki's POV

"295…296…297…298…299…300." I panted heavily as I hung from a branch doing upside down sit ups in the forest. I grabbed the branch before nimbly swinging off and landing in a crouch. I stood up taking a deep breath ignoring the tight feeling in my abdomen; "Next is ninjutsu then-" I started before I noticed a presence in the vicinity.

I turned warily to see none other than Shikamaru standing behind me. Ever since Naruto left I started to hang out more with him. We were friends before but now we were a lot closer now.

"Hey Shikamaru, what's up?" I smiled.

"Hey, Misaki. Just came to tell you Tsunade confirmed that Naruto's back." He smirked obviously awaiting my reaction. It took me a moment to process what he was saying.

"Y-You're lying, right? I won't be fooled." I asked uncertainly. He chuckled and shook his head leaning against a tree nearby.

"Nope, absolutely serious." He clarified. Slowly, I broke out in a huge smile.

"YEEESSSS!" I shouted in excitement sprinting past him and into town. Once I made it to the center of the village I looked around frantically searching for a glimpse of orange or yellow.

Finally, I spotted him. He was taller and he had a different jumpsuit but I found him. "Hey." I took quick strides up to him, "Naruto." I smiled.

He whipped around quickly enough, recognition registering in his eyes, "Misaki?"

"In the flesh." I grinned as he automatically tackled me into a hug. "Good to see you too."

After a moment, he stepped back and looked at me intensely. I cocked an eyebrow.

"What?" I asked.

"Y-your hair!" A look of horror crossed his face as he noticed my new hair style, "It's short!"

I lifted a hand to my head to feel my hair; I no longer sported the waist-length low pigtails from 2 years ago. My hair now just barely brushed my shoulders; my bangs were swept slightly to the side but for the most part were straight. It was short in the back, stopping at the base of my neck, though it was an inch or so longer in the front. Basically, the only thing that stayed the same was the color, navy with purplish streaks.

Instead of my usual outfit I now sported a dark grey short sleeved shirt, with a dark blue knee-length cloak. I still wore capris but I now wrapped my visible shin with bandages at the bottom. I still donned my forehead protector around my neck though.

"Yup, it's short now. Long hair is tedious. I can see why you didn't want to grow your hair back out Sakura." I commented off-handedly. "More importantly, I can't believe you're taller than me now."

Naruto crossed his arms and nodded triumphantly, "Yup, sure did. I'm not the same person who graduated from the academy. I'm stronger now."

"Oh? Getting cocky there, aren't we? I'll take you on any day." I smirked as we stared each other down.

"Boss!" The sound of a child broke our silent competition and we turned to see who was yelling so loud. There stood Konohamaru already making seals for a jutsu.

"Sexy no Jutsu!" There was a poof and in front of Naruto stood a naked woman with wispy clouds covering the parts that needed covering. After a short moment there was another poof and Konohamaru was back to normal, "How was that?! A real drool of a jutsu, wasn't it?"

Naruto looked down, his bangs shadowing his eyes, a smirk on his face, "Hehe…" He looked up meeting Konohamaru dead in the eyes. "Konohamaru, I'm sorry but I'm not a kid anymore. From now on, you shouldn't use that jutsu…"

Konohamaru looked surprised than it quickly shifted to crestfallen. I bit back a laugh. Naruto couldn't be serious for more than a moment, he was planning something.

Sakura, clearly oblivious to this fact, looked on with admiration clearly thinking about how much Naruto had matured and how he must have gotten much stronger and blah blah blah…

"A jutsu like that is MEDIOCRE, Konohamaru. Behold! My new perverted jutsu I've been working on! HERE WE GOOOOO!"

Sakura growled angrily before slamming her fist into the side of his face. "YOU IDIOT!" Naruto instantly went flying into the fence next to him, blood gushing from his nose. She grabbed him by his collar and proceeded to attempt to shake some sense into him while I laughed on the sidelines. I must admit, I missed this. Team Seven was almost back to normal.

"Sakura, calm down. Konohamaru over her is terrified." Kakashi finally successfully calmed Sakura down. "From now on, we're a team again. But this time it won't be teacher and pupil; starting today, we're equal Konoha shinobi… But I must say, I'm curious how everyone has developed over the last 2 years…" Kakashi held up two golden bells.

"The test again? Sounds fun." I smirked up for a challenge.

"The rules are the same as when I first met you two. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill you will never succeed in getting these bells!" Kakashi explained.

"Heh, this should be good." Naruto grinned determinedly.

"Let's go guys." I grinned confidently.

And so Team Seven reunites.

Leo: Shipuuden! Our story will have to come to an end eventually. Please read and review, thanks!

Misaki's Hairstyle: 3. bp. blogspot -TIzAGmTovsc/ TZKprG39F _ I/AAAAAAAAAKc / TjXYLvicM20 / s400 / Choppy+Hairstyles+With+Short+Layers . jpg

Erase the spaces, it's this pic except navy in the blonde spots and dark purple in the brown streaks.