I do not own Naruto. I do not own Naruto. I do not own Naruto. I do not own Naruto. I do not... do you get the point already?
Chapter VI: Return to Konoha Part I: Traveling
The thing crept up slowly on Naruto, waited a second, and then…
Pounced!
Naruto woke up with a yell that was half obscured with a laugh. It was just Kyuubi, back from his hunt. He wanted back in after that meal. He could smell rabbit and some other birds on his breath. But before he could get back up to seal him behind its cage, his door banged open and Hinata rushed in, attracted by the yell.
Her eyes softened when she saw the small red fox licking Naruto's neck, making him laugh. But in those softened eyes was also a trace of jealousy and longing. If only she and the fox could have switched places…
Naruto, on the other hand, was shocked. Kyuubi had never acted like this in all the years that he had known the demon lord. Usually, he was addressed by him as 'Baka' or 'kid'. He knew that young foxes were called kits, but to quote the Kyuubi when he asked this, "Kid, you're not a fox. Get over that and get on with your life."
He tried pushing Kyuubi off of him so that he could breathe properly, but the fox had different plans. He stretched like a cat, walked around in circles several times, and curled up with its tail completing the circle, looking like an overgrown cat for what it was worth. This was also new. Usually, Kyuubi just came up and stared at Naruto, demanding to be let back in.
However, despite the fact that the fox was light by most standards, he tried to push off the furry thing, but it just turned and nipped at his fingers in a playful way.
Hinata giggled. The little thing was so CUTE! She had no idea of how it could have gotten inside, but she was glad it did.
Naruto had just managed to get Kyuubi off his chest, but not before having a ten pound fox step on his family jewels several times. He grumbled several times and his eyes lost their luster as he started gazing at the ceiling of swirling marble.
Kyuubi trotted over to Hinata, who obliged and lowered her arm, upon which the small red fox quickly climbed up and curled up around her neck like a living scarf, tail hanging over her back. She looked at Naruto, who was still staring upward.
Naruto just kept on gazing at the ceiling. In truth, he knew perfectly well the answer to the question that he was trying to answer. However, the answer wasn't one that he really liked. So he was just laying there, trying to think of a better solution to his problem. But Kami had decided not to grace him with thought today, so he had to slug through things that would usually only take him a few seconds to do.
The question was what to do next. Now that he knew that Konoha was not destroyed and that he had a possible home to return to, he could return there. However, even with all of his friends, Kakashi, Tsunade, and even Iruka, he wasn't sure if it was worth it. The village still hated him for what was inside him and he wasn't particularly looking forward to being stoned by a crowd that would no doubt gather the moment that he set foot in the village.
There were a handful of other options available to him. He could go to so Gaara in Suna, but that would require them to pass through the land of fire. No doubt ANBU would be stationed all along the border. While he was confident that he could handle an ANBU squad without major trouble, it would no doubt draw attention to the fact that he was still alive, something that he had concealed quite well for almost a decade.
He could head for Oto, where Sauske, Orochimaru, and that baka Kabuto resided. He owed Kabuto a little something after he nearly died eight years ago. Sauske-teme need to have some sense beat into him, and Orochimaru… he wasn't really sure what he was going to do to him, but it would be nothing pretty. He knew enough about jutsus to the point where he could seriously maim Orochimaru, if not kill him.
He could head for the wave country and establish a hidden village there and start training a new generation of ninja there. However, that would just draw their attention there. Konoha would hear of it and come running in with the cavalry, and he would likely earn a one-way trip to the moon with the punch that Tsunade would give him as a punishment. He just didn't feel ready to integrate back into society yet.
But he had to make that transition eventually. He really didn't feel like having a Battle Royale with Akatsuki at the moment, and a showdown with Oto would prove just as boring. He had no doubt that Sauske could give him a run for his money at swordplay, and that Orochimaru knew more jutsus then he did, but what did it matter? Unless they fought him together, there would be no way for them to win. Unless Orochimaru had already taken over Sauske's body, in which case the fight might actually provide a decent amount of challenge.
But again, even if he managed to take out Orochimaru, it would act like a signal flare to Konoha and Akatsuki, who would come running. Well, ok, not running. Akatsuki would probably just send Itachi again, and knowing Tsunade, she would send the Konoha eleven. Despite the fact that he was good at stealth, there was no way in hell he could avoid being detected by a ninja hound, two sets of Byakugan, and thousands of chakra bugs that would latch onto his chakra signature. Hinata knew about him, but he could easily make her forget with a physical blow.
Everything seemed to lead back into one thing. Return to Konoha.
Naruto knew that he had learned everything that Jiriaya had wanted him to know and some more after that. However, there were now secrets flying around his head that he really didn't want anyone getting their hands on. Add that to the fact that he had changed so much in the last decade. If he went back, then that would mean he would have to get used to people again, and working in a group.
Naruto finally sighed and sat up, rubbing his eyes out of exhaustion. Despite what he had told Kyuubi earlier, he would have to go back to Konoha. Even if he sent Hinata back to Konoha without knowledge of him, any further action against Orochimaru or Akatsuki would draw Konoha to them like buzzard to the kill. It wouldn't be a pleasant return, not with those two threats still looming over him, and there was the final threat from the last Bijuu.
Whether or not he wanted to or not, he had to return to Konoha. If he didn't, there was a good chance that he would be dragged back. If it was anyone else, then he would have cut the offending hands off, but he would do that. Anyway, even if he didn't want to, Tsunade might be interested enough to come herself and knock him out before dragging his mangled body back to the village herself.
Naruto stopped rubbing his eyes and opened them. Hinata was staring at him, worried but without a blush on her face this time. He gave her another foxy grin which made her blush, then got out of bed with only a pair of sweatpants on.
Hinata saw that he wasn't wearing a shirt and turned even redder, which increased in severity to a nosebleed, then finally with her passing out. Kyuubi managed to jump off her shoulders just before she would have flattened him.
Kyuubi shook his head once and snorted. Naruto also rubbed the back of his head and laughed. He stood up and extended his arm to Kyuubi, who climbed up as gently as he could, since any injuries would just shorten his existence in this world, and curled up around Naruto's neck.
Naruto picked up Hinata, bridal style and walked her back to her bed. He placed her in it, tucked her in, and then noticed something wrong with her ankles.
Reaching into his pocket for a summoning scroll, he bit his thumb to draw a little blood and wiped it across the surface. At once, a series of strange objects began to pop out. First out was a small pistol, which Naruto tossed aside with a muttering of 'nope'. It was followed by a small grenade, which met the same fate. Next up was a series of small amber crystals, which he gently put down- he couldn't afford to break those; they were expensive, and finally a pair of sunglasses.
Naruto stuffed the other three things back onto the scroll and closed it up. With a small poof, all of the objects were sent back into the dimension that he kept them in. Donning the sunglasses, he pressed a button on the side and they immediately spread to reach the back of his ears. He pressed down the same button and said, 'Medical Diagnosis Engage'."
With a small whir, he was looking at Hinata's ankle in a whole new light. Literally. He could see the muscles and tendons of her ankle, what he was aiming at, and it didn't look really good. All of the muscles were badly bruised and the tendons were stretched, some to nearly the point of breaking.
Naruto bit his lip. He had never got the knack of Medical Ninjutsu, and he didn't really want to start trying now. He could heal his own injuries to the point where he wouldn't die of blood loss or be paralyzed from the waist down, at which point Kyuubi would kick in and heal everything else. But for a delicate joint like the ankle, and especially on a Kunoichi like Hinata, and especially on a Hyuga, with their special form of fighting, which required them to be fast on their feet.
He sighed and deactivated his sunglasses, stuffing them into the scroll as well. He rummaged around under Hinata's bed and pulled out a small medical kit. Extracting strips of cloth and self-molding cast, he wrapped her ankle and put a cast around it. She shouldn't put much pressure on that ankle for several days, which gave him plenty of time to train. Of course, she couldn't train, but she could still rest up for the trip back to Konoha, which was a three day journey at top speed. Even with the cast off, it would take them about a week.
That is, if the ANBU didn't try stop them first. He was technically a missing-nin, and that would be excuse enough for them to attack him. Of course, ANBU wouldn't provide much of a challenge, but having half a dozen dead or dying ANBU slung over his back might not make the best of welcoming gifts.
Ah, fuck it. He had to get back, if need be, he could just throw a kunai halfway to Konoha with the help of some chakra boosters and just Haraishin there. However, he had never been able to figure out how to take other people along with him. Inanimate were all good and dandy, but even the smallest creature would fall off. Nor did he think that summoning Kyuubi for her to ride. It would be dangerous in case he lost control of that much chakra and he doubted that he would consent be used as a taxi service.
The only thing left to do was to go the slow way. He really didn't want to, but if Hinata was to get back in a timely fashion, he had to wait. In the meantime, he would train and begin to seal this place up.
Naruto yawned, walked back to the table, and gestured for Kyuubi to stand on the same place where he was summoned. Kyuubi obliged, and he made the ram seal. Kyuubi disappeared from the ground with a puff of smoke and Naruto felt his tenant return to the spot behind his cage.
"Ah… that was good. So, kid. What happened when I was out?"
Naruto shrugged internally. "Nothing really, just the fact that we've got to return to Konoha earlier then I wanted. I figure that it's only a matter of time before the Akatsuki find this place anyway. I really don't want to fight their leader again. Do you remember what happened last time I tried that?"
"Yes, although that was rather amusing, watching you try to crawl out of bed to get something to eat. Pain really did a number on you back then, but wasn't that two years ago?"
Naruto growled and stuck out his tongue at the fox, showing off his inner child. "Yeah, I know. I could probably put up a good fight now if I fought him alone, but with the rest of his temes there, it could get really ugly, really fast. We both know what he's really after. I don't think that I can beat him without having to resort to my new powers. You know how dangerous they are to both of us. Anything done by them can't be fixed with demonic healing."
Kyuubi didn't bother answering, instead just throwing him out of the caged area again. Naruto sighed. Despite the fact that they were on better terms now, the fox was still prone to show contempt toward him on occasion. But that was to be expected from such a powerful Bijuu.
Naruto yawned again and plopped down into his own bed, determined to get some sleep before he put himself through the torture that he called his training.
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Naruto stretched from his spot, yawning like a fox. He got out of bed and yawned some more. He had never been much of a morning person, and he wasn't going to start being one now. He trudged out of his room and peered blearily into one of the pots of leftover ramen from the night before. After deciding that the contents would do for a decent breakfast, he lit the stove and put the ramen on to boil.
Grabbing his towel, he walked through his portal and quickly stripped off. With a groggy peek around to make sure that no one was watching, he dove into the chilly water.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Needless to say, he was awake.
Naruto quickly realized that the water was much colder then usual, so he jumped out much more quickly then usual. After making sure that there was nothing alive in his hair, he quickly went back inside, grabbed a bowl of ramen, and practically drank it down.
Stacking the bowl on top of last night's dishes, he quickly wrote out a note and posted it on Hinata's door. Then he grabbed all of his stuff, and while whistling, hopped through the portal and jogged off to his training grounds.
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Third-person Hinata POV
Hinata woke up slowly, still tired from yesterday's events. The first thing she remembered was the wonderful dream that she had. The next thing that she noticed was that the ceiling wasn't painted like her room was, a bright blue, and neither was it the painful white of the hospital. It was… swirling?
She sat up quickly, blood rushing in her haste. She was in a room hewn from solid marble, that was definitely not her own. The Hyuga were a rich family, but even they couldn't afford this. And even if they could, why would they give it to her, who wasn't even officially the heir anymore.
The dream… she thought, wasn't just a dream. I did see Naruto-kun… we ate together… the first time in seven years… I'm not dreaming! This is real!
The first thing she noticed when she tried to move out of bed was that one of her ankles was immobilized in a cast. The same one she had twisted while fighting off those men yesterday. She limped out of the room, noticing the note on her door.
It read:
Hinata
I've gone out to train. Have something to eat and then try to take it easy. If you want to come and watch me train, then just follow the river downstream with your Byakugan active. You'll see another portal that takes you to my training grounds. Come in but DON'T do any training yourself. We need to get back to Konoha as soon as possible and I don't know any safe Medical Ninjutsu to fix you up.
Believe it
Naruto
Hinata smiled as she folded the note up and stuck it in her pocket. She sniffed the leftover ramen with disapproval. It wasn't that she didn't like the stuff; she just wanted something besides noodles at every meal.
Hunting around in his cupboards, she came across some eggs that he used in making ramen, a loaf of passable bread, and strips of dried venison. All of which she quickly turned into a breakfast that a normal person might find palpable.
After eating as quickly as her upbringing would allow, this wasn't really all that fast, but she still managed it in less then ten minutes. She stacked the dishes in the sink and tried to wash them, but couldn't figure out how to open the water supply. Making a mental note to ask Naruto how to open the water, she limped out the portal and toward his training grounds.
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Naruto breathed in heavily. He hated this part of his training, but he had to do it. Jiriaya had taught him the art of summoning, but in order to further his power with the frogs and use jutsu with them, they had to be in sync. The reason that he could use some combination jutsus with Gamabunta was that his attacks were so large in size that he could easily react and enhance them. However, with a smaller toad, like Gamakichi or Gamatatsu and their weaker attacks, he had to pulse the chakra or launch his attack at the same time to increase their strength.
Biting his thumb to draw blood, he rapidly made the seals that were all so familiar to him now.
"Summoning no Jutsu!"
A huge cloud of smoke poofed into existence. After it cleared, Gamakichi stood there, well over three times the size of Naruto.
"Hey, kid. What's up?"
Naruto hopped up on its back. "You know very well what. It's time for our training. Eh… where's Gamatatsu?"
Gamakichi pulled the pipe out of his mouth and sent it back to his world, where it would be waiting for him. It would only get in the way here. "He's busy right now. Either someone else summoned him or pop's got him doing something. Either way, he's not coming today. Oh, and do you have my sake?"
Naruto face vaulted and came up with a sweat drop. "Sake? Do you really think that this is the time for sake? Do you remember what you and Gamatatsu did to my house last time you two had the sake that I summoned?"
Flashback:
Gamakichi and Gamatatsu were sitting on Naruto's couch, having first used a jutsu to shrink themselves down so that they could fit in the house. Naruto had summoned them both not to train or fight, but to have a celebration of sorts.
Despite the fact that Naruto was still underage for drinking, both toads insisted that he summon a barrel of sake for them all. What a stupid idea.
The moment that they had gotten more then two glasses, they started partying. And not just regular partying. They proceeded to trash the place. They broke the table, shattered water jars, broke lamps, and even managed to make his bedroom partially collapse when Gamatatsu sneezed and ejected several high-speed water bullets at the walls and ceiling.
Needless to say, they were never allowed inside his house again.
End Flashback
Naruto shook his head. "No, no more sake for you or Gamatatsu until you can prove to me that you won't get drunk and tear apart my house. Now, let's back to training." He dropped his bland expression and put on a foxy grin as he drew out the hilt of his sword. "Swordfight?" he asked.
Gamakichi blanched and shook his head furiously. "No thanks, kid. Last time we did that, you practically gutted me with that chakra blade of yours. I really don't feel like going to pops and explaining why my guts are all over my robe."
Naruto shrugged and placed the hilt back into his leg pouch next to his kunai and shuriken. He eased out a solder pill and tossed it to Gamakichi, who promptly crushed it under one webbed toe.
"Again, no thanks, kid. I know you want a round of Taijutsu, but my ass still hurts from the last time."
Naruto pouted. "Aww, man. You're no fun. At least Gamatatsu would have taken the pill and fought for a few minutes before demanding another snack. Well, I really don't feel like doing combination training today, so you can go back. Give my regards to Tatsu and Bunta."
Gamakichi nodded. "I'll be sure to tell them that. Later, Naruto."
With that informal sentence, Gamakichi disappeared in a poof of smoke. Naruto sighed and crossed his fingers in the age-old seal. "Multi Shadow Clone no Jutsu!"
Immediately, roughly five thousand clones poofed into existence; fully armed. The original Naruto glanced over the sea of blonde heads and whisker marks, raised one hand, and yelled, "You all know what to do! Fight! Fight! Fight!"
It was quite a scene. There were thousands upon thousands of Narutos, all fighting each other, each pushing themselves to the limits to try to gain the upper hand. Every few seconds, there would be a cloud of smoke as one clone vanished, only to return the training to Naruto. On occasion, an infuriated clone activated the Kyuubi's Chakra, which caused any clone within twenty yards of the affected one to converge and attack, neutralizing the threat.
Two hours, dozens of Kyuubi transformations, and thousands of poofs of smoke later, Naruto stood sparring with half a dozen clones. All seven of them were breathing heavily. Without warning, one of the clones raised its hand and began concentrating on something.
With wide-eyed looks of panic, all of the other Narutos raised their hands as well and began forming Rasenshuriken. In the space of five seconds, the deafening sound of seven Rasenshuriken in an enclosed space tore at Naruto's ears.
After a moment, all seven of the Narutos jumped back and threw the Rasenshuriken at the space in the middle. The real one pumped what chakra dared into his feet around the air, increased his speed, and took off at several hundred miles an hour. Or rather, he would have.
Just before he put on the spurt of energy that would take him out of the Rasenshuriken blast range, he detected a chakra signature that wasn't his own. That meant that someone else was inside the blast range. And that person wasn't one of his clones. Only one person knew about this place… Hinata.
Well aint this just a dandy. He thought as he increased the weights on his legs to take him down.
Without even bothering to make his presence known, he grabbed Hinata around the waist from behind and kicked off from the ground, putting all of his available chakra into the jump. Even as he spiraled like a corkscrew through the air, he knew that they wouldn't completely make it in time. So he did the only thing that he could.
Putting her into an airborne bear hug, Naruto sheltered her slight frame from the brunt of the blast.
With an explosion that could have leveled the Hokage Monument, and a quarter of Konoha to boot, the seven Rasenshuriken started digging into each other with furious shrieks. Swirling tendrils of energy started spiraling outward, chasing the airborne ninja. It was going to be close. If one of those tendrils hit Naruto, then he could lose one of his limbs, depending on where it hit him.
The Rasengan at the core of the Rasenshuriken only had a small sphere of influence and he was well beyond that point. The only purpose of the Rasengan was to carry the primary weapon and have some grinding power against armor and the such.
However, the primary weapon of the Rasenshuriken was the amount of wind elemental chakra that was put into it. Mastering a jutsu such as the incomplete Rasengan was hard enough, but to be able to balance it and add more of a different kind of chakra into the mix was nearly impossible.
When one Rasenshuriken detonated, it practically killed anything and anyone in the solid blast radius. However, like the arms of a spiral galaxy, tendrils of wind chakra would spiral out from the focal point of the blast. Anything that got touched by it would suffer the full effects of the wind chakra as if they were in the blast themselves.
But this wasn't one Rasenshuriken. Six of his clones and himself had fired them at the center of the circle. This meant that the blast radius would be around five times larger then usual. That also meant that the power would be intensified that much more. If he got so much as brushed, then he could lose both his legs. Not a good thought.
Kyuubi… now would be a VERY good time to help…
The fox sweatdropped in his cage and did a face vault at the same time. Next time, could you make it closer? I think I've too much time right now.
Just coat my body with chakra. I've got about two seconds before the first of the Rasenshuriken blades catch up with me. Would you rather heal my entire chakra network system later?
The fox just grunted and expelled a decent amount of chakra. Naruto immediately 'grabbed' this and coated his entire body in the red chakra. He looked like his one-tailed form, just without the tail.
He wasn't a moment too early. As soon as the chakra enveloped him, the first of the wind blades came up and struck his lower back. Without the protection of Kyuubi's chakra, that would have easily cut him in half. The next bolt hacked at his legs, then his neck.
Despite the fact that Kyuubi was protecting him, even he couldn't completely stop elemental chakra on such a scale. Wherever the scything chakra hit, the immediate area would get bruised and sustain dozens of small scratches and cuts. Nothing really serious for someone with healing caliber as high as his, but they still hurt.
With a last blade of energy, the protective shell that Kyuubi had provided was shattered. However, they were still inside the blast radius. Not good. If anything hit them now, they would cut right through him. He didn't know if Kyuubi could regrow severed limbs, and he really didn't feel like testing the theory.
Naruto pumped what little chakra he had left into his arms and threw Hinata as hard as he could away from the blast. That slowed his own movement down- simple physics. He swirled around and looked back at the blast that he had created.
Sure enough, the waves of chakra were dying down, but there were still several large tendrils of energy wandering around. One of these was heading straight for him. He was out of chakra to accelerate his own movement, and there was no way he could adjust his trajectory enough to avoid it.
Naruto stuck out his palms, and after another brief shouting match with Kyuubi, coated his hands in demonic chakra. The moment that the stream of wind energy got near him, he used a hammer blow to smash it away. It worked, but at the cost of losing his chakra shield and a very severe rattling.
By this time, Naruto was exhausted. Making thousands of shadow clones, producing seven Rasenshuriken, and using Kyuubi's tailless energy was still pushing the limits of his abilities. He might be damn near unstoppable, but even he had a barrier on how much his body could physically take. While that barrier was growing every day, stressing it like this isn't what he usually did.
He spotted a lake nearby that he took quick dips in after his morning training. Using the last vestiges of his strength, he altered his course so that it would take him directly into the middle of the lake. It wasn't really all that big, but it was really deep. That made it the perfect place for a crash landing.
Naruto hit the water head-first, not even bothering to raise his arms to streamline himself- he didn't have enough energy left. A trail of bubbles followed his progress. After traveling like a human torpedo for several hundred yards, he surfaced and blew out a stream of water comically.
He was content just to lie there, thinking the day away. Next time, no more clone Rasenshuriken. I need to test my other abilities. Besides, that Jutsu is just too tiring to use so much. So I'll just use a Rasenshuriken and have the clones attack me from there. Yeah, that sounds about right. Now, what happened to Hinata?
The moment that he finished thinking about it, a blur came falling from the sky. Without even thinking, he drew a deep breath and refocused his depleted chakra on his stomach, making a soft landing spot and reinforcing it at the same time.
Hinata came falling from the sky like an angel that had lost its wings. She smacked right into Naruto and sent them both under. After some confusion underwater, a current started as a beaver dam broke upstream and blew them out onto the shore… in a very awkward position.
Naruto turned slightly red, and that was enough for Hinata to pass out cold again. He sighed and picked her up again, taking her to her room and tucking her in again. Afterwards, he summoned twenty more shadow clones right outside the portal and engaged them in his daily weapons training.
By the time he finished, it was approaching darkness. Not feeling in the mood to cook, he popped a solder pill and went for a dip in the stream.
Feeling thoroughly refreshed, he stripped off and jumped into bed. Before closing his eyes, he made sure that his weapons were never too far off.
The rest of the week passed in a similar fashion. Before long, they camped out in the living room, Naruto having sealed away the bedrooms with dozens of seals. Hinata slept on the couch while Naruto simply summoned Kyuubi and told him to let him use his tail as a pillow. Not too pleased, Kyuubi did as he was told, but made an effort to shake his tail every couple of hours just to wake Naruto up.
That morning, they both got up early and had a quick breakfast, sealing off the kitchen after they had finished. Hinata jumped out the portal first, quickly followed by Naruto, who drained the chakra from the portal, leaving just enough for him to get through. After climbing back to the entrance, he went inside and placed several seals on the trapdoor, left the antechamber, and then sealed up the entire place with two binding seals that responded only to his chakra.
After making sure that all of their tracks were covered, they set off out of the forest and jumped back onto the main road that would lead them to the wave country. They wasted no time, and by the time night had fallen, they were lodged in two separate rooms in a roadside inn just past the capitol.
When morning came, they took advantage (much to the owner's horror) of the free breakfast. Naruto just shoveled down plate after plate of food, taking gulps of milk in between bites. After biding goodbye to the owner, who let them go with a relieved look, they took off for Konoha. They wouldn't make it that day, but they would get pretty close. After camping on a tree branch, Naruto finally spoke for the first time since he sealed up his house.
"Hinata… I have to ask you a favor."
Hinata looked up from the flames and started twiddling her fingers. "Y-Y-Yes, Naruto-kun?"
Naruto frowned. "When we get to Konoha, don't tell anyone of my identity. I want to keep it a secret from everyone until I feel they need to know who I am."
Hinata nodded and looked back at the fire. She had her Naruto-kun all to herself for the last week, but he had changed so much. She knew that Ino and Sakura were both single. Ino had been dating Sai until she couldn't take his lack of emotions anymore and dumped him. They would try to steal her Naruto away from her. That couldn't happen. She was the one who had been waiting for all of these years. Naruto would be hers.
Breathing a deep sigh of relief, she snuggled down in her sleeping bag and dozed off while Naruto kept watch. Despite the fact that they were deep in Konoha territory now, enemy ninja could still be lurking nearby.
The following morning they left without breakfast. They could eat when they got back to Konoha. The moment that they got within sight of the gates, Naruto's pulse suddenly spiked and he stopped.
Hinata stopped next to him and looked at him, concern in her eyes.
Naruto, however, just reached into his pocket and drew out a scroll. After some rummaging, he pulled out a pair of sunglasses and slipped them on. He then drew a kunai from his pouch that had a strange symbol on it. He threw it high over Konoha and said to Hinata, "Go on, I'll catch you at Baachan's office." And without a further word, he disappeared, leaving behind only a brief yellow flash.
After greeting the guards, two members of the expanded Konohamaru Corps, she reported directly to the Hokage's office.
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Tsunade was in a bad mood. There weren't enough Jonin in the village anymore to carry out all of the high-ranked missions that needed to be done. She sighed and pulled out another bottle of Sake, which Shizune promptly snatched from her fingers.
"No, Tsunade-sama. No more sake until you finish all of this paperwork." She gestured at the stack of papers that nearly buried her entire office.
Tsunade sighed and grabbed an inkpad, her stamp, then began stamping like a madman, ink flying all over the place and paper slipping. In thirty seconds, all of the papers were stacked in the corner and she was sipping sake. Shizune's jaw had dropped off of her face, and there came a knock at the door.
"Come in." said a still shell-shocked Shizune. The Hokage was still sitting there, calmly drinking.
Hinata walked in, a piece of paper held in her hands. Since Tsunade didn't have time to hear everything the leader had to report, she had them transfer it into paper, which she read, or rather, didn't read, at her leisure. Only snags or things out of the usual were to be reported verbally.
"Hinata-san. I trust you had no problems?"
Hinata nodded. "Yes, except for one thing."
Tsunade sat up, interested. Nothing ever happened on Hinata's missions. What had happened now? "Go ahead."
She smiled, blushed, and pointed behind the Fifth Hokage. "I-I-I brought you a l-l-little p-p-present…"
Tsunade turned around. There, hanging upside down on the ceiling, was a figure that she had never even hoped to see again.
Naruto Uzumaki gave a foxy grin and said, "Boo, Baachan."
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Author's note
Heyo.
Sorry about this REALLY late update.
Yes, i know its nearly been two weeks since i updated this story, but i had some writer's block but lost the blocks on my digestive tract... umm... Anyway, I finally got the inspiration to finish this story about six hours ago. Then add on the first part (which had to be replaced, since MS word messed up... again)
Anyway, you will be very nicely. This chapter is over 6K words, easily the longest chapter.
There will be some competetion between the girls next chapter. Yes, i couldnt resist. And no, Naruto isnt going to get all three, even though he legally could. I'll explain more of that in a later chapter.
Anyway, expect the next chapter in 1-2 weeks.
With the best of regards
Xingster