From Wells and Scrolls
Written for HalfBlackWolfDemon for the prompt, "Special Summoning Technique"

Naruto paused right outside the gates of Konoha and took in a deep breath. The crisp warmth of autumn, the smell of ramen noodles being stretched, the sounds of a market just beginning to bustle… It was home and caused something inside his chest to lighten and something to lodge in his throat. Tears almost came to his eyes.

But it was probably just indigestion, knowing himself.

He sighed and slung his arms around the necks of his two companions for the last sixteen months. He grinned when Shikamaru and Sasuke didn't pull away immediately. "Back in Konoha, at last!"

"Tch." Sasuke twisted Naruto's arm off his person and walked ahead. "No thanks to you."

Shikamaru sighed and slipped out from underneath Naruto's grip. "I think you should explain to Temari why we're so late coming back from this."

"Aww, man, that's just mean. Staying longer with Bee was actually the smart decision!" Naruto yelled after them. "How else would we have uncovered that plot to assassinate E?"

The only answer he received was a rude hand gesture from Sasuke. "So ungrateful," Naruto muttered, not unkindly, as he hefted his traveling pack up higher on his shoulders and ran after them. Just like old times. Home was always the best place to return to.

It was later, much later than Sasuke and he planned, when they came to their second (and last) stop of the day. Their debriefing took longer than intended as the new Hokage was late (typical Kakashi-sensei), and then there was the whole matter of their prolonged absence of four extra months. Not to mention the arguments that happened no less than three times as Naruto and Sasuke fought over mission details, to which Shikamaru was no help in resolving their disputes.

By the time they left, most places had closed for lunch and wouldn't open for dinner for another couple of hours.

Naruto's stomach growled as soon as they landed on the balcony just outside of Sakura's new apartment. "Man," Naruto said as he rubbed his stomach, "d'ya think Sakura-chan has food for us?"

Sasuke sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot of that day. "For you? No. Go bug your girlfriend."

That gave Naruto pause. He glanced over in the direction of the Hyuuga compound for a moment too long, possibly, as it caught Sasuke's attention. He had never told anyone what happened when he left a little over a year ago when he said goodbye to her, and he never really planned on it. He would have thought that Sasuke would have noticed the fact that he never wrote to her, only to the Hokage, Sakura and Kagome. Unfortunately, he knew Shikamaru noticed because he noticed everything.

And he also heard the unspoken, "and leave me to greet my girlfriend in peace," in Sasuke's words. That was why he smirked at Sasuke when he turned back to meet his gaze. "But Sakura-chan is my friend, too."

And his smirk turned into a gleeful smile when Sasuke only grumbled and slid open the partially open door. It was a muggy night in Konoha, and he could smell the ozone on the air.

But that wasn't what he noticed first. It was the sound of laughter coming from the main room. He knew Sakura's laugh as he had grown up around it, doing things that would get her to laugh at him getting in trouble. And, despite only actually being around the other person for just a few months, he found that he knew her laughter just as well. His heart started to beat faster.

Sasuke's mood darkened even more and Naruto couldn't stop himself from giving him a haughty smirk. Ha! He wasn't the only one determined to ruin whatever Sasuke's plans for greeting Sakura were (as if they were romantic).

He fast-walked in front of Sasuke when he saw his best friend start to hesitate. It was hard to return after being gone so long, they both knew for different reasons. But Naruto couldn't wait any longer. He slid open the shouji separating the two rooms with a grand flourish and his best (and most impish) grin. "Guess who~!"

Both women jumped up with various jumbled words falling from their mouths. Glass shattered and Naruto and Sasuke both wrinkled their noses at the sharp smell of nail polish that filled the room. Both women looked down at the mess, then at each other.

Sakura didn't hesitate. She said, "I don't care," and then flung herself at Sasuke, wrapping him up in an embrace. Then, after a second too long, she let go just enough to wrap an arm around Naruto as well, bringing him into a strange little embrace.

And he smiled. Because this was home to him just as much as the village was. But even then, he couldn't stop looking at Kagome, and found that she couldn't either. While he was pretty thick, even he noticed that there was something between them, more so than he ever did with Hinata.

Yet, he found himself feeling as unsure as she did. No one knew about his relationship status, and there had been too many letters in the last sixteen months for just a normal greeting between friends. He still had all her letters, and he reread them often when they went too long without contact with those they left behind in Konoha.

He didn't know if Sakura let him go, or if he stepped away from her, but somehow he found himself in front of Kagome. And he didn't know what to do.

She looked up at him, smiling softly. "Welcome home, Naruto-kun."

He rubbed the back of his neck and chuckled out of nervousness. "Ehehe, yeah. Thanks, Kagome-chan."

And a strange silence fell over them. For once, he couldn't find words to fill up a silence and make it less awkward. Just like she couldn't, apparently. He didn't remember things being like this between them before he left.

"Ah, hm… Would…" she trailed off, glancing at their friends too wrapped up in each other to notice their fumbling.

His stomach growled again.

She laughed. "Come on, Naruto-kun," she said, "let's go get you some food. I'll open up Ichiraku for you."

He smiled and slung an arm around her shoulders, rubbing cheeks with her just like he used to do. "Aw, Kagome-chan! You know the way to my heart! Ichiraku has been all I've wanted for, like, months."

And he almost missed how she blushed. "You're not a hard person to figure out."

Thank you for all the reviews, faves and follows! I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much as the others!

There will likely be only one or two more chapters to this story, just so you all have a heads up.