Chapter 24 – On the Way Home

"DEVIRTUALIZE; ODD!

DEIRTUALIZE; YUMI!

DEVIRTUALIZE; ULRICH!"

And the process continued as each figure on Lyoko disappeared in blue flakes, and were transported to the Elemental Nations using the network of trees. The last of the group stepped out of the tree scanners, and they started their way to the gates of Konoha. When they finally made it, Kiba was waiting, and without Akamaru… what he did when he was about to ask Aelita for…. You know. A date.

"Uh… hey." He said.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked, wondering if it was… something.

"Kiba, if you're going to ask Aelita out, then it's a NO. She already has Jeremie." Yumi said.

"What went on when we weren't here?" Ulrich asked.

"Actually, I-I wanted to ask you, Yumi." Kiba said, scratching the back of his head nervously like an idiot.

"WHAT?!"

"Uh, sorry Kiba, but I have Ulrich." Yumi said, blushing.

"Oh. Umm… Sorry to embarrass you." Kiba said, and he mournfully plodded home.

"I kind of feel sorry for the guy." Aelita said.

"Yeah…." Yumi said. "He's been a bachelor all this time…"

'Oh, come on!" Odd complained. "Why do I have to be the laughing stock when I say I'm lonely, but he gets respect!?"

Yumi turned to Odd, gritting her teeth. "We're the guests, Odd. We're supposed to be nice." She muttered. Odd went silent, realizing that if he held his grudge, he would die before he would be able to ask out Samantha. Yep, the two were getting closer, but Samantha was the one person that he was like Hinata around.

"Sooo…. What should we do?" Sakura asked.

"We're all tired. We should go home and rest up." Shikamaru suggested.

"I agree, and I think we all do. Right?" Naruto said.

"Yeah." The others, except for Hinata, said.

"Okay then… I guess that we'll see each other tomorrow." Naruto said.

"We should meet here, and take it from there." Yumi said.

"That sounds good." Ulrich said.

"Well, see ya!" Naruto said, and the group split off to get to their homes.

As Naruto and Hinata strolled on home, they talked amongst themselves.

"Umm… Hinata, are you… okay?" Naruto asked, turning his head to her after staring at the barren ground for such a long time.

"Y-yes, I am." Hinata said nervously.

"Are you sure? I mean, you weren't talking at all on Lyoko."

"I-I-I- "

"Your stuttering isn't making it any better, you know that. Now come on, tell me what's wrong."

Hinata knew. She knew how well Naruto could predict people's emotions based on their actions. The only hint he couldn't pick up was if someone loved him… but even he knew when someone was lying about it. And she couldn't avoid that fact.

"It's just… I'm not used to…"

"Living with me? I thought. You don't have to stay if you don't want to, y'know."

How…? She was just going to have to go with it.

"It's not that I don't like living there, I'm just not used to it…"

"I guess I can relate. I might've not lived with a relative, but it is kind of weird…" Naruto started scratching the back of his head.

Thank goodness he knew! It wasn't just Hinata…

"Well, we're both going to have to get used to it." Naruto said. "Thank goodness it's not just me though." Naruto smiled his big-mouth smile. Though it might've looked idiotic to someone who didn't really know Naruto (which was like, NOBODY), that was one of the reasons Hinata loved Naruto. Hinata smiled back. Just then, the couple approached their home.

"Well, we're here." Naruto said. The two entered, happy and relieved. They were still getting used to living together, but it was working.

Yo, Naruto, I noticed that you're always calm and happy when you're around Hinata… Kurama said with a snicker.

KURAMAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! NOTHING'S GOING ON WITH ME AND HER, I SWARE! Naruto thought.

Yeah, right, Naruto. Kurama said. It's obvious. Look, you're even blushing. You can't deny it.

Naruto had realized that his face felt like it was on fire, and his cheeks were as red as Sasuke's favorite food: tomatoes.

"Are, you okay, Naruto?" Hinata asked. "You're blushing."

"I-I'm fine, Hinata. Kurama just said… something… and it was… weird." Naruto said. Hinata giggled a little, because Naruto actually looked really cute blushing. She wondered if he thought the same when she was blushing too.

And even with all that peace, X.A.N.A. 2.0 was rearing an ugly head… coming up with ways to end the lives of the teens that killed its predecessor.

A/N:

HEY HEY HEY! How do you guys feel about Boruto (next week)?