Part 2: Shippuden

Opening Song: "O2" by ORANGE RANGE (from "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion R2)

Ending Song: "Last Moment" by SPYAIR (Bleach)

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Disclaimer: Still applies

Chapter 31 - The Prodigal Son Returns(to Konoha)!

[Konoha Gate, Konoha]

Three Years Later...

For the people of Konoha it was clear afternoon day for their village as they went on with their lives. In the three years since the Uchiha's departure things had changed greatly but not in a manner that actually affected the people of Konoha in any significant and negative way, though some people were certainly bored with the situation and were wishing for something interesting to happen. This was especially the case for the guards stationed at the gates of the villages, Izumo Kamikuzi and Kotetsu Hagane, who were currently keeping the usual tabs on those who entered and left the village.

Needless to say, Kotetsu was bored out of his mind.

"Man, this is getting to be a real drag today," Kotetsu said as he leaned on his chair in the guard station, having just checked the credentials of a traveling merchant who had come for the upcoming Chunin Exams.

Izumo frowned slightly at this.

"Could you try to take your more seriously, Kotetsu? More importantly, if you're going to complain about your boredom at least try to not sound like Shikamaru-san while doing it," Izumo scolded.

Before Kotetsu could say anything he noted that his longtime friend's eyes suddenly widened in surprise as he looked on at something behind Kotetsu. Kotetsu turned around to see who or what his friend was looking at that could've surprised him. When he did Kotetsu himself was shocked by what he saw: two familiar faces passing through the gate.

"Izumo... is that-?" Kotetsu asked.

"Sure looks like it..." Izumo said in shock.

Walking past the gates... was none other than Sasuke and Kazuko Uchiha, having finally completed their journey, and training in Sasuke's case, and had now returned to Konoha. As the Uchihas entered the village, and passed Izumo and Kotetsu, the two guards looked at the returning shinobi before they turned to face each other, having gotten their first shock since Naruto's return to Konoha from Las Noches.

A Few Minutes Later...

Sasuke and Kazuko were currently walking up the main street on their way to the Hokage's office. As far as appearances go Kazuko had more or less remained unchanged as the only changes to her appearance was that she no longer wore a ponytail, allowing her hair to flow freely, a new blue sash tied around her to replace her Konoha headband which she now wore as an armband over her left shoulder, and a rosary-like pendant that was wrapped around het right wrist and forearm.

Sasuke, on the other hand, had changed a great deal in the past three years. He had grown taller, now reaching 5' 7'' in height, and had become somewhat more muscular. He now wore a sleeveless dark grey shirt, with an Uchiha crest on the back of said shirt, with dark blue pants, a black sash around his waist, and shinobi style sandals that were the same color as his shirt.

Sasuke now wore dark grey arm guards that covered his palms which reached halfway up the forearms while his elbows were wrapped in bandages that covered the upper part of his forearms and went a third of the length up his upper arms. He wore his Konoha headband, which now consisted of a dark grey cloth, around his neck and he also had a tattoo of the Kanji for the word "hawk" etched onto his right shoulder. Finally Sasuke had a kunai holster attached to his right thigh, two storage scrolls attached to his sash on the left side of his hips and, most curiously of all, he had what appeared to be a dark grey gunbai war fan that was as tall as he was slung over his back.

As the two Uchiha walked up the street they appeared to be reminiscing about the past.

"It's been quite a journey these past three years," Kazuko said.

"Yeah..." was Sasuke's reply as he stopped before a small tower.

Sasuke then climbed up the face of the tower and, upon reaching the top, silently gazed upon the village he had come home to.

"Hn... Konoha has changed quite a bit..." Sasuke said to himself as he noted the changes, most noticeably the face of Tsunade that had been carved into the stone of the Hokage Monument.

After a few minutes of gazing upon the village Sasuke was interrupted by a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Welcome back, Sasuke-kun! When did you get back?"

Sasuke turned around and focused his gaze to the ground below him. Standing next to Kazuko was none other than Sakura Haruno. Sasuke jumped from the tower and landed on the ground beside the two women before he answered.

"I just arrived a few minutes ago. Anyways it's good to see you again, Sakura," Sasuke said in usual calm and collected tone as he noted the changes in Sakura's appearance.

Sakura, like Sasuke, had also gotten taller as she was now 5' 6''. Sakura's hair had grown longer, reaching the small of her back, and she now had a more curvaceous figure.

Sakura now wore a sleeveless red top that reached just below her ample bosom, underneath which she wore a short-sleeved (the sleeves barely cover anything past the shoulders) mesh shirt that stopped just above her bellybutton, and a red miniskirt with slits on the sides underneath which she wore very short black shorts with mesh extensions that reached halfway down the length of her thighs, with the miniskirt reaching just below the mesh extensions; part of her right thigh was also covered in bandages were she attached her kunai holster. Sakura still wore her Konoha headband behind her bangs, which now reached well below her collarbones, though she had changed the blue cloth of the headband to a red cloth, and her standard shinobi style sandals had been replaced by knee-length, open toed, black boots; Sakura had also chosen to wear fingerless gloves that stopped right before her elbows and were a burgundy red in color.

Finally Sakura had chosen to wear both a small silver chain necklace with a pink sapphire pendant and a pink sash around her waist where she held a medical pouch, a few storage scrolls as well as two small daggers, one on each side of her hips, with simple black grips and pink sheathes.

Sakura blushed slightly at the sight of her longtime crush.

"So, Sasuke... what do you think of my-" Sakura began.

"Not now, Sakura; I just got back home,-I guess some things never really change-" Sasuke said after sighing in exasperation at his teammate's continued attempts to woo him even after he left for three long years.

Sakura head hung downwards as a comical aura of failure permeated around her. Kazuko, who lightly chuckled at the reactions of her fellow Uchiha and his teammate, decided to enter conversation.

"I'm glad to see you're still lively as ever, Sakura-san; now, if you don't mind, we need to report in to Tsunade-sama now that we've arrived," Kazuko said. Sakura lifted her head at this.

"If you have to see her now I can take you there. I need to give a report to shishou so I was headed there anyways," Sakura suggested.

"Hn... well after you," Sasuke said as he and Kazuko followed Sakura to the Hokage's office.

Thirty Minutes Later...

Needless to say it took a longer time to reach Tsunade's office then Sasuke, Sakura, and Kazuko had expected. Naturally those who recognized Sasuke stopped to greet him. Among those who they trio bumped into along the way included Choji, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Guy, Ino (this reunion took longer than the other, no surprise given her crush on Sasuke), and Shikamaru who was escorting Temari through the village in preparation for the upcoming Chunin Exams. It was during his reunion with the latter two that Sasuke had learned what had more or less had happened since his departure.

Probably the most shocking, and by far the most tragic, news that Sasuke and Kazuko had learned was that Hiruzen Sarutobi had tragically passed away over a year earlier. He had finally succumbed to old age and had passed away peacefully in his sleep. The reaction to the Sandaime's passing was about what you'd expect in Konoha, with the long period of mourning and the large gathering for the former Hokage's funeral. The Uchihas were rather surprised by this piece of news; not only was it somewhat surprising, but not unexpected give Sarutobi's age, but that they had not heard any news about his passing, something that would've been big news across all of the Shinobi nations.

Besides this tragic passing a lot more had happened since the Uchihas were away. For one thing everyone from the Konoha 12 had at least reached the rank of Chunin, with Naruto, Neji, as well as Haku, Temari, and Kankuro, Tiraran, and Jango, having reached jonin while Gaara had taken it a step further and was now the Kazekage. Sasuke also learned that Naruto had personally Gaara to control Shukaku shortly before Gaara had made the rank of Kage.

Sakura then revealed that another Jinchuriki had now moved to Konoha almost a year earlier after they were kicked out by their village due to their fear of being attack by the Akatsuki. Sakura revealed that the Jinchuriki was Fu, a Takigakure kunoichi who, coincidentally, had met Sasuke and Kazuko a few months before she had been kicked out. Sakura also revealed that Naruto was the reason that she moved to Konoha, having convinced the leader of Takigakure, a young man named Shibuki, whom Naruto had befriended at some point and who only kicked the person out after the village elders forced him to do so and that the young Uzumaki had also taught Fu how to control her Tailed Beast, Chōmei, who is better known as the Nanabi.

And speaking of Naruto...

"...where is he?" Sasuke asked Sakura.

"Well... you're probably not going to believe this but... ok, do you remember when Naruto mentioned reviving the MPF before you left?" Sakura asked to which Sasuke and Kazuko nodded.

"Well he actually rebuilt it and Tsunade-sama decided to make him the head of the group. And because Tsunade had also decided to make the head of the Military Police Force a member of the council Naruto is now one of the council members. Between his work in the council and the Police, as well as his usual missions and his many 'excursions', as he calls them, Naruto has had a lot on his hands lately," Sakura explained, which caught the two Uchiha by surprise, though only slightly.

Sasuke had told the female Uchiha during their journey that the former Uchiha-controlled Konoha Military Police Force (KMPF), simply known as the Military Police Force or MPF for short, had been disbanded in the wake of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. At the time of Sasuke's departure the duties of law enforcement in Konoha had unofficially been transferred to the Hyuga clan and there was no other organization that was able to keep tabs on the ANBU, specifically Danzo's underground ROOT Faction. It was latter issue that Naruto used to convince Tsunade to approve for his reestablishment of the KMPF which would perform the official duties of the original organization.

A few seconds after Sakura's explanation Sasuke let out a low whistle.

"Sounds like Naruto has accomplished a lot since I left," Sasuke said.

"Well what else did you expect from Naruto-sama?"

Sasuke and the others stopped at hearing the familiar voice which almost came from out of nowhere and turned around to where the source of voice had originated from. The person was none other than Tiraran who was standing beside Jango. The two fraccions looked exactly as they did three years earlier, with the only difference being that they were now a few inches taller. They were not the only ones there, however, as Sasuke noted the person standing beside the Fracciones.

The person was a female that appeared to be in her late teens to early twenties with hazel eyes and long wavy green hair, which reached slightly below her waist, traits that gave her a striking resemblance to Tiraran who shared the same traits. The women had a very curvaceous figure, with a bust that easily rivaled Tsunade's in size, a large scar that went from her forehead to her nose, and a crimson line that stretched horizontally across her face just below her eyes.

The woman wore a white kimono-style blouse with black-lining, underneath which she wore a short-sleeved mesh shirt that, unlike Sakura's, reached down to her elbows, that was held together with a large green sash as well as black stretch pants and white shinobi style sandals. The woman was using the sash to carry a katana with a green sheath that had a light green hilt and a tsuba that resembled a pair of crescent moons joined together at the back.

What was probably the woman's most unusual feature, however, was a skull-like mask fragment that sat on top of her head. It had what a pair of what appeared to be curved ram horns and, most curiously of all, it had the appearance of being partially repaired. The skull mask was missing four teeth on its left side and there appeared to be a thin line, which was slightly darker in color to the rest of the mask, that also ran along the side of the mask which, to Sasuke, meant that the was had cracked open along that line at some point. In addition the repaired crack appeared to line up almost perfectly with the scar on the woman's face, giving the impression that both the crack and the scar were create by a single blow.

"I wonder what could've caused a wound like that, especially when it cracked something that appears so sturdy," Kazuko thought to herself as she also took notice of the wound.

It took a few second for the woman to realize that the both Uchiha were focusing on here and few more seconds to figure out why they were looking at her.

"That's right... this is the first time we've met. (she bows respectfully) I am Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, though most people tend to call me Nel for short. It's a honor to finally meet you, Sasuke and Kazuko Uchiha. I've heard a lot about the both of you from Naruto-sama," the now-named Nel greeted.

Sasuke and Kazuko respectfully returned the bow.

"The honor is all ours, Nel-dono; I take it that you must be one of Naruto's personal followers, correct?" Kazuko deduced.

"I am now, anyways; he asked for me to join him after he helped me... regain myself. After I asked him to prove his worth by sparring with me, and succeeded in defeating me, I accepted his offer and, well, the rest is history," Nel explained.

At this point Tiraran interrupted the conversation.

"And why did you have to have that spar with Naruto-sama anyways, onesan? You never liked violence so why do you use it to see if someone is worthy of being your commander?" Tiraran asked in an irritated tone, to which Nel sighed.

Sakura, on the other hand, paled slightly at seeing that Tiraran was in that mood.

"I think it's time we moved on," she said to the two Uchiha.

Sasuke, remembering the horrors he experienced the last time he Tiraran was in that mood, wisely agreed with Sakura and continued following the young Haruno alongside Kazuko, the trio being determined to get as far away from the area as they possibly could.

[Hokage's Office, The Academy]

A Few Minutes Later...

Sasuke and co. had finally reached Tsunade's office where, by chance, Kakashi, whose appearance had also remained unchanged, since was currenty located as he had been summoned by Tsunade on unrelated business. After Sakura finished giving Tsunade her report the Godaime turned her attention to the two Uchiha after they had exchanged greetings with the Copy Ninja.

"It's been a while, you two. (she turns to Sasuke) I can assume that your training proved to be fruitful?" Tsunade asked, to which Sasuke flashed a slight smirk in response.

"I wouldn't have come back if that was the, now would I?" Sasuke replied back.

"Heh... I'm glad to hear it that it went well. Why don't we put you and Sakura to the test, then?" Tsunade suggested.

Both Sasuke and Sakura raised an eyebrow at this.

"And how would we do that?" Sakura asked.

At this point Kakashi reached into his right pocket and pulled something that the two young Leaf chunin recognized all too well: two silver bells.

"I see... so that's how it going to be. Are you sure you can handle the both of us, Kakashi?" Sasuke asked.

To the surprise of both of the younger members of Team 7 their sensei began giggling while flashed an eye smile at the two.

"Now that wouldn't be much of a challenge, would it? Your opponent isn't in this room, though he's probably listening to us as i speak," Kakashi explained very vaguely.

Sasuke was about to question Kakashi when an invisible force suddenly pressed down on everyone in the room for a few seconds. Sasuke's eyes widened slightly upon recognizing this feeling as he walked towards one of the windows in the room, opened it, and looked up inyo the sky.

Standing several feet up in the air as if he were literally walking on air... was Naruto Uzumaki,

Naruto's appearance, as with his teammates, had changed a great deal since Sasuke last saw him As far as height Naruto, who had previously been the shortest member of Team Seven at around 5', had the biggest growth spurt out the three younger members of said team and was now 5' 10'' in height, which now made him the tallest member of the three. In addition to his height Naruto's blond hair had become longer and shaggier (think Menma's hairstyle fron Road to Ninja after he was corrupted by Tobi if it had not turned black) and he now had a more athletic build.

The color scheme for Naruto's attire was now an inverse of what it was three years ago. Naruto wore a black, shortsleeved, collarless coat with a white flame pattern along the hemline. Emblazoned on the back of the coat were two symbols: a white Uzushioi symbol and a white reverse crescent moon design (the reverse crescent moon is the moon seen in the skies of Hueco Mundo).

Underneath the coat Naruto now sported black-colored Konoha flak jacket with a white Uzushio symbol emblazoned on the back. Naruto did not wear a shirt underneath the jacket but he did have bandages wrapped around his lower abdomen. Naruto now donned black pants with a white trim, which were also less baggy then his old pants though they were still somewhat baggy, black zōri sandals, white tabi socks (it's the same footwear that he wore in Part 1 of this story but with an inverse color scheme), and a white sash that was tied around his waist that he was using to carry his zanpakuto.

Naruto's Konoha headband, which he still wore over his forehead, still used a black cloth but the cloth was now longer, with the ends of the cloth reaching as far as his waist. Naruto still wore the First Hokage's necklace that Tsunade gave him around his neck. As for the rest of Naruto's attire he no longer wore the spaulders on his shoulders and he had swapped his old gauntlets with black vambraces (basically metal forearm guards) which had the same skull design as the gauntlets. Though hidden by the sleeves of his cloak Naruto also had some tattoos etched onto his shoulders; the symobls of Uzumaki Clan and Konoha were etched into his right shoulder while the images of a reverse crescent moon and two blades locked together were etched onto his left shoulder.

From where he was standing Naruto, with his hands in the pockets of his pants, looked down at Sasuke and allowed a large smirk to form on his face.

"It's been a long time... Sasuke..."

Next Time - The New Power: Team Seven's Growth

Important A/N (PLEASE READ!): Any questions regarding something in the plot that I have not fully explained, especially regarding character appearances or absences, will almost certainly be addressed at some point in the story so please limit those questions unless you feel that they should've already been addressed.

Also the appearance of any new female characters at any point in this story such as in this chapter, and any changes made to any of the other female characters, DOES NOT imply any attempt by me to introduce a pairing(s) of any kind. All of the characters that appear in this story only appear because I wanted to add them for whatever reason I had in mind so DO NOT start asking me things like "Will Sakura be paired with Sasuke?" or "Can you have a Naru/Nel pairing?" because the answer will always be a big NO!

Anyways enjoy the chapter! :)