Chapter 1: The One with the Plus Two
Kotetsu was bored out of his mind. He was looking over at his partner, Izumo, while at the entrance to Konoha wondering what they could do to pass the time during their assigned guard duty. He noticed Izumo was returning his bored expression back at him with a frown.
"Izumo… what do you think were the chances we would get stuck with guard duty again?" he asked in exasperation.
Izumo sighed. "I don't know Kotetsu, but it feels like we get it more than most other Chunin."
He slumped in his seat. While Konoha ninja are generally able to pick the missions they take, less exciting responsibilities like guard duty were often rotated between different available Chunin. Otherwise, only the laziest ninjas would dominate those types of missions. Thinking of that made him think of Shikamaru and how the lazy ninja would love to do nothing more than lay down and watch clouds all day. Were it not for the fact that they have to track everyone that enters and exits the village all day this would be a perfect way for him to partake in his favorite hobby while still getting paid.
While he was sitting there musing about Shikamaru he noticed Izumo straighten up out of the corner of his eye. Turning to where he was looking at, he noticed four figures walking on the path towards the gate. As they got closer, he recognized the figure of Jiraiya of the Sannin as they approached. It was hard to miss him given his height and unique attire. Looking over to the figure to his left he knew that person could only be Uzumaki Naruto. Between the spiky blonde hair and the black and orange track suit there was no doubt who the second person was. Glancing over at the third and fourth figures to Naruto's left he whispered to Izumo, "Who do you think those two are?"
"I have no clue," Izumo whispered back.
The first one was a kunoichi with brown hair almost slicked back as if windblown with two long bangs going down from her temple. She was wearing a short, backless, red, full-body wrap over mesh armor, along with a pair of arm-length gloves and a light orange sash, with a blueish green apron skirt which opened at the front. She was also wearing bandages on her wrists and on her right leg as well as her left thigh and leg. An extremely long katana was also strapped to her back.
The second one was not as easily identifiable under the beige hooded robe but he could see the glint of a forehead protector under a curtain of black hair and based on the figure guessed it was another kunoichi.
As he made to wave them over to register, he saw Naruto turn to Jiraiya to shout, "I want to see how much Konoha has changed!" With that, he rushed off deeper into the village leaving an exasperated Jiraiya and their two companions behind.
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Sakura was in the middle of walking towards the gates of Konoha when she heard a shout. "Sakura-neechan!" She turned around to see the Konohamaru Corps running towards her. As Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon came to stop a before her Konohamaru asked, "Where are you going?"
"The main village gate," she replied. "I have to pick up the morning pedestrian traffic for Tsunade-sama. Would you like to come?"
"Sure!" Konohamaru replied excitedly.
As he started telling her about their latest mission to catch Tora, she couldn't help but to giggle thinking back to when Team 7 would have to catch that crazy cat. "It really takes me back to when we used to have missions like that," she replied wistfully.
"By the way, have you heard anything about when Naruto-niichan will be back?" Konohamaru asked.
"Nothing yet," she answered.
"I see…" Konohamaru trailed off.
"He should be back soon, though…" she reassured him quietly.
As they got closer to the station at the entrance to the main gate, she waved over at Izumo and Kotetsu as they watched them approach. "Good afternoon, Izumo-san, Kotetsu-san."
They had a look on their faces like the cat that caught the canary. "Oh, look who's here!" Kotetsu greeted. "Why don't you head into town?"
"You'll see something interesting," Izumo added.
"Something interesting?" She repeated back to him questioningly.
She turned towards the village guessing at what they were hinting at. "Don't tell me…!" She almost whispered in realization.
Izumo grinned at her expression, handing her the traffic report before she rushed off back towards the village, Team Konohamaru trailing right behind her. She couldn't help the smile that formed as she was running, He's back! She thought to herself.
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Naruto ran up to the top of a large telephone pole only to throw out his arms in exultation when he reached the top. "Wow! The village hasn't changed at all!" As he looked out at the village, he couldn't keep himself from shouting, "Everyone! Uzumaki Naruto is BACK!" He had to chuckle as he noticed the Godaime Hokage's face had been added to the Hokage monument. "They added Tsunade no baachan's face to the mountainside while I was gone!"
He heard a shout below and turned to Sakura yelling up at him. "Naruto! Is that you, Naruto?" she called. "When did you get back?" she continued yelling up at him.
"Just now!" Naruto called back. Jumping down the pole to greet her. "It's been a while since I last saw you Sakura-chan!"
As Naruto was walking up to her Sakura noticed Naruto had grown quite a bit since she last saw him. "You've gotten taller than me, haven't you?"
Naruto looked back and forth between them using his hand to try and estimate if he really was taller than her now. "I guess you're right," he answered.
Sakura couldn't help but notice that Naruto had filled out quite a bit in the time he'd been away. In addition to being taller than her now he seemed a little bit more mature. Maybe he grew up a bit while away from the village so long? She smiled fondly at him as she asked, "So, do you think I've become a bit womanlier?"
Naruto was quick to reply with a grin and a big thumbs up, "Heh, you look just like I remember you."
Sakura turned away in a huff as Jiraiya bemoaned his clueless student. You still don't understand women at all Naruto… The figure under the robe seemed to be trying to stifle a laugh at their interaction when the woman with the katana decided to interject herself into the conversation, "Naruto-done. Aren't you going to introduce us?"
For the first time Sakura and Team Konohamaru seemed to notice that there were two other people there with Jiraiya and Naruto. As they turned to face them Naruto gestured towards the figure under the beige hooded robe and the kunoichi with the long katana, "This is Amaya Shizuka and Hosaka Tokiwa. They are kunoichi from the Nadeshiko Village. Shizuka, Tokiwa, this is my teammate from Team 7, Haruno Sakura, the grandson of our Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Konohamaru, and his friends Kazamatsuri Moegi, and Ise Udon."
At this, Tokiwa could only shake her head slowly in mock disappointment.
"Naruto-dono, while you are improving you are still far too casual about these things…"
With that, she gestured to herself saying, "I am Hosaka Tokiwa, the personal attendant to Amaya Shizuka-sama." Turning to her companion she put out her palm towards her facing upwards saying, "Shizuka-sama is the future leader of our village… and the betrothed of Uzumaki Naruto." It seemed like she enjoyed saying that last part a little bit too much if the smile on her face was any indication.
Sakura, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon's jaws all dropped down in unison in stunned shock at this declaration. "NARUTO IS ENGAGED!" They yelled together in perfect harmony. As they slowly turned to stare at Naruto and Shizuka, mouths still agape, Naruto started to scratch the back of his head in embarrassment at their shock and attention. Shizuka then moved to remove the hood from her robe, revealing fair skin, green eyes, and waist-length black hair in a hime-style cut tied in a high ponytail with short bangs and chin-length strands framing her face. Her black forehead protector showed a star in the center with five petals jutting out from the five points of the star. She was also quite buxom, with her uniform's plunging neckline revealing a significant amount of cleavage. A small smile formed on her face as she addressed the people she just met, "It is nice to meet you all. Uzumaki-san has told me so much about everyone here in Konoha, so it is nice to finally be able to meet you all."
"It's not what it sounds like! I can explain! I swear!" Naruto exclaimed to the entire group, his gaze lingering on Sakura as he pleaded for understanding after such an outrageous declaration from Tokiwa.
As Sakura and Team Konohamaru continued to gape at Tokiwa and Naruto, Shizuka started to subtlety look over Sakura as she reviewed what she remembered Naruto telling her about his teammate. So, this is the girl he was chasing after… The one that loves his other teammate Uchiha Sasuke…
She inclined her head in a short nod to Sakura, "Thank you for looking after my fiancée Haruno-san, I appreciate it."
Sakura thought she heard something challenging in Shizuka's tone of voice when she said 'my fiancée'.
"Of course! Somebody has got to keep this idiot out of trouble!" She replied with saccharine sweetness.
Naruto pouted at Sakura whining quietly, "Sakura-chan, I'm not an idiot…"
Sakura chose to ignore Naruto's whining to continue focusing on Shizuka, an impromptu staring contest between them almost generating a line of electricity between their gazes, when Jiraiya decided to interrupt.
"Okay everyone, that's enough." He said as he clapped his hands together.
"We need to go see Tsunade to report in with her."
Naruto sighed the sigh of the damned as his excitement at returning home was deflated at the prospect of having to go to Tsunade to explain the presence of Tokiwa, and especially Shizuka, to his surrogate grandmother, not to mention everyone else he knew.
"Troublesome," he whispered to himself.
He was starting to understand why Shikamaru used that word so much.
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A/N: I've had this story idea for several years now, but I finally decided to publish it in honor of Shampoo being introduced in the Ranma 1/2 remake this past weekend. I would guess that Shizuka's character was likely inspired by Shampoo, or some other comparable character, given the similarities in their backgrounds (Episode 235 in Naruto Shippuden for reference).
While I like NaruHina as a pairing, I've always felt that it was very forced in canon because they barely interacted together and suddenly Naruto was no longer in love with Sakura and magically in love with Hinata in The Last: Naruto the Movie. Having said that, I have made no decision on a final pairing. The only thing I can say is that a harem ending is highly unlikely. I don't see it as realistic that multiple women would be willing to share their partner with each other unless it is in some sort of special circumstance such as an environment where that is the norm of the society.
Also, yes, the chapter title is a reference to Friends.
Amaya Shizuka (Ama = Heavenly, Ya = Valley) and Hosaka Tokiwa (Ho = to protect/defend, Saka = hill).
