CHAPTER 6: It's Been Awhile


Konohagakure, noon, 0 days since Naruto's arrival

As his friends turned to finally look upon him for the first time in nearly 3 years. He too was able to see how each of them had physically changed during this time.

Temari he was not expecting to be here. She had traded in her former threads for a short-sleeved, black kimono that reached down to her legs, with slits along the side and a more revealing neckline. She kept her red sash around her waist and now also sports black fingerless gloves.

Shikamaru looked the most professional out of all of them. He still has his flak jacket, but the clothes underneath was now the standard Konohagakure-nin threads. The only bit of customization that Naruto could see on Shikamaru was the mesh armor on his wrists and ankles.

Ino had now matured into a beautiful kunoichi in Naruto's mind. Her platinum hair now reached her hips with a bang that covered one of her eyes. She also grew a few inches, and her figure REALLY filled out. She now no longer sported bandages and now wore a purple sleeveless top that stopped at her stomach, letting her midriff show. The skirt she previously wore was now lengthened and went just below her knees. He also noticed some type of diamond just below her collar bone, but it wasn't being held up by anything.

Hinata had changed the most for sure in Naruto's opinion. She, like Ino, had grown a few inches but was no longer taller than him. She no longer wore her old sandals and now sported a nice pair of shoes. She still had on her navy-blue pants, but it was from the waist up that her looks had changed the most. She had long gotten rid of her overly big coat, and she now wore a cream and lavender shirt that fit the contours of her body and the mesh armor underneath. Much like Ino, Hinata's figure also filled in nicely, or maybe it was because she always wore that big coat, and no one noticed what lied beneath. None the less, Hinata looked gorgeous in his eyes like always.

After fully drinking in the appearances of the small group in front of him. Naruto, with his arms still folded in front of him, found that his smirk started to falter a bit.

"I was expecting another to be among you. I guess I'll go see them on their own later." Naruto uttered to the group.

There was supposed to be one more? Does he mean Sakura? I guess he wants to see her alone. Ino quickly thought.

"Anyways, I can't believe how much you all have changed!" Naruto exclaimed with joy in his voice.

Temari took a second to view the specimen in front of her and BOY was he a FINE specimen at that. Even though she was spoken for Shikamaru, she could still appreciate the male form from afar. "You have changed quite a bit Naruto. I didn't even recognize you since the last time I saw you." Temari finally said standing out from the group.

It was at this point that the 3 Konohagakure shinobi finally took in all the changes to Naruto's appearance. Gone were the orange coat and orange pants. He now sported a pair of combat shoes and black trousers. He now wore a black muscle shirt that was tight on his form. He complimented this shirt with a red coat that hung on his broad shoulders.

It just wasn't his clothes that drastically changed, it was his physical form as well. Naruto was now by every definition, a man. He had grown several inches taller and now stood above everyone in the group. His calves, quads, and hamstrings would be clearly shown if not for his trousers. His abs too would be showing if not for his muscle shirt. His pecs, delts, shoulders, biceps, triceps, every muscle in his upper body was clearly defined and gave him a v shape. His voice had also grown from its childish pitch before to one of a man. The only thing that had not changed much was his spikey blonde hair. In short, he was the man that other men wanted to be, and women wanted to be with.

The 3 Konohagakure shinobi had various internal thoughts on the blonde shinobi in front of them.

Damn, he's taller than me now. How could he change so much in just 3 years? Man, this is a drag. Shikamaru thought to himself

Kami! H-h-h-he's a hunk now! How did Naruto, the boy who was the smallest out of all the boys in the class and had virtually no attractive features outside his whiskers. Turn out to be this hot? I guess some people just need more time to bake. Ino couldn't help the blush that formed on her cheeks upon checking Naruto out. She could feel the droll pooling inside her cheeks.

I can't believe how much Naruto has changed. I always found him attractive but now he's drop dead gorgeous! I shouldn't be surprised though. It's Naruto after all! I always knew he was a special person! Hinata too had a blush on her face, though not as red as Ino's.

"Pervy sage worked me to the bone these past years to develop quickly. I sure hoped I changed!" Naruto stated to the group

"I'll say." Ino almost purred out. Wait, did I say that out loud? Calm down Ino. It's just Naruto. Hinata already has dibs on him, and you don't want to get in their way. Luckily for her, the rest of the group didn't seem to catch what she had said.

Shikamaru's curiosity about the conversation the 4 shinobi had before Naruto came into the picture was now too much for the Nara boy to handle. "Naruto how were you able to leave notes for all of us without anyone seeing you?"

"Oh that, it's one of the new jutsu I learned!" Naruto exclaimed with pride.

Shikamaru's brain racked upon hearing this. There was only one jutsu he could think of that would allow him to sneak in without any detection. A jutsu that only the 2nd and 4th Hokage's had mastered. "Don't tell me you mastered the Flying Thunder God."

There was a stir among the group. Everyone knew of the legendary jutsu the Flying Thunder God. It's what caused the 4th Hokage to be one of the few shinobi in history to have a 'run on sight' label attached to them.

"I wish I did. Flying Thunder God is beyond me though." Naruto corrects his friend.

"Well then, how did you do it?" Ino queried her fellow blonde.

Naruto now had a wicked grin on his face and replied. "Like this!" He then brings his hands up to his chest and forms the hare, horse monkey, and dragon signs in order. He then shouts out, "Swift Release: Swift Body!"

To the outside world, nothing changed at that moment. The wind was calm, the people were still milling about and gossiping, and the animals were following whatever nature set course for them. For Naruto though, time felt as though it had slowed down for everything else but himself. He poured just enough of the swift chakra into his muscles to get them moving, now that his mind was ready to go. With heavy steps he moved, every move forward was jarring to his frame. The human body was not designed to move at these speeds. Once he got near his friends, he could see them start to react to his movement. Even though to Naruto it looked like they were moving slowly, he knew they were reacting extremely quickly to the outside world.

To give them proof that this wasn't a time-space ninjutsu, he pulled out a marker and marked each of them on the palm of their hand. Even though he had only used this technique for a very short time, he could already feel his chakra reserves taking a massive hit, he knew he only had a few more of his 'seconds' before he would be forced to release the jutsu or else face exhaustion. Once his mark was left, he went behind them and released the jutsu on his body.

In the blink of an eye, Naruto was behind the 4-some. This time though, they were all ready for it and were able to at least see some of his movement, even if it was just a blur to their eyes. Naruto didn't have to announce where he was. The 4 of them were able to see where he had stopped.

"Why don't you each take a look at your hand. I left you a present." Naruto spoke out loud with the same wicked grin from before. Each person in turn looked at their hand, and on them was thefamiliar swirl pattern on the backs of every Konohagakure Chūnin vest.

"How did you do that Naruto?" Shikamaru asked his friend with a look of puzzled astonishment.

Gleeing with delight at finally being able to show his friends his new jutsu, Naruto responded. "It's called swift release. I'm able to do it because I have both wind and lightning affinities, and I have the chakra reserves to use it. Most of the techniques I have learned mainly help me go fast but it's still wicked cool!"

"I'm sure it must have some limitations though. You can't be moving that fast for long periods of time." Shikamaru replied.

"You got me there Shikamaru. I can't only go at max speed twice a day before my chakra becomes exhausted. I can use it at lower speeds as well but that still takes a lot of chakra." Naruto answered back, unfurling his arms to his sides.

"Interesting." The one worded retort given to Naruto's explanation from the Nara boy.

"Naruto, I'm so glad to finally see you again after all this time!" Hinata finally spoke up. A look of utter joy plastered on her as she put her bow on her back.

Sheepishly he put his hand behind his head and closed his eyes as he announced. "I really missed you all as well. I was dreaming of the day I would see you all again and now that it's here, it's better than the dream."

This caused a blush to form on the 2 Konohagakure kunoichi that was completely missed by the blonde knucklehead shinobi. Naruto finally opened his eyes and finally took full notice of the weapon that was on Hinata's back.

"Woah, I didn't know you could use a bow Hinata!" Naruto said excitedly as he brought his hand back to his side.

Finally, being addressed directly by her love, she felt herself grow small for just a bit, but she did not shy away. That was the old Hinata. This new Hinata was way more confident and could stand Naruto's gaze. "I can now. Neji has been helping me train with it for about 2 years now. He said it was time to start new traditions in the clan."

Naruto took joy in hearing that the Hyūga clan was finally changing. Perhaps one day they will finally get rid of the bird cage and the distinction between main and side branches as well. "You will have to show me how you use it when we get the chance next! I'm sure you have some cool moves with it!" Naruto said as he slowly approached the group and more specifically Hinata.

His words of praise and his approaching her, made Hinata squirm in place, still not quite used to the words Naruto had spoken. This was not missed by Naruto, but he filed it away into his memory for later. "Yes, I'd love to Naruto!"

Grinning to the group, Naruto made his announcement. "I'd love to stay and just chat with you all, but I have other people I need to see. Namely a surely miffed Hokage, a sensei, and a teammate. How about we meet at Ichiraku Ramen for dinner tomorrow at 7? My treat!"

The mention of Ichiraku Ramen gave rise to a small laugh from the 3 Konohagakure shinobi.

"I guess some things will never change about you, huh Goldie." Ino said and paused a little to catch her breath. "Sure, I can meet you tomorrow at 7."

Giving Ino a deadpan stare, Naruto replied. "I see you still are calling me that even after all this time."

"I see it's still quite effective against you Goldie!" Ino laughedwhich caused Naruto to bow his head in defeat.

"If Temari is fine with it, we will both join you." Shikamaru said and glanced at Temari who have an affirmative nod at the question.

"I'd love to come as well!" Hinata blurted out with glee.

His attitude now lifted by all the positive affirmation. Naruto raises his head and speaks. "Awesome! I'll be seeing you all tomorrow at 7 then!"

XxX

Uchiha complex, 2 pm, 0 days since Naruto's return

Even though he had not been back home for some time, Naruto still knew how to navigate Konohagakure like the back of his hand. He was still trying to keep his return a secret to all but those he wanted to tell first and so he put his stealth skills to good use. He worked his way through the village and now stood in front of the Uchiha complex.

Naruto now found it odd that he had never actually taken a step inside this place. Deciding he had already taken too long getting here, he ventures forth into the unknown. The first thing he noticed was just how badly maintained the buildings were. They looked worse than his old apartment did which was saying something.

He kept up his brisk stroll through the complex until he found the one building that looked like it was maintained somewhat. He went up to what he thought was the front door and opened it. He immediately felt the urge to sneeze as a wall of dust hit his senses. Pinching his nose to stop the sneeze from coming, he walked inside and yelled out. "Sasuke, you here?"

No answer came, not even wind was blowing through the house, just silence. It was a little off putting to the blond shinobi and he continued his walk of the building. He finally came across a space that didn't have dust everywhere and that was the kitchen. Naruto still had no luck finding Sasuke. He eventually gave up his search of the main home and went out of the backdoor that was situated in the kitchen.

Seeing his teammate was probably at one of the many training grounds located in the Uchiha clan, he figured he would start to search out those places. As he was walking, he had both his hands behind his head, and he was in deep thought.

I wonder if Mr. Angst has gotten over his anger issues by now. I'm also curious just how much stronger he has gotten. No doubt Kakashi sensei kept up his training. Sasuke was his favorite after all.

Naruto had to admit that having a sensei who took his training seriously these past few years had colored his views on Kakashi. Naruto would be forever grateful for what Kakashi did to get Naruto off the ground. But he couldn't look past the faults of Kakashi in terms of his training methods and obvious favoritism of the Uchiha prodigy.

It took Naruto another hour of searching around the grounds before he finally found who he had been looking for. Naruto found Sasuke in a small pit-like area in the middle of the ground. This pit was big, and it offered plenty of space to move around in and was deep too. A perfect place to train.

Naruto heard Sasuke before he saw the raven-haired boy. He heard explosions coming from the pit and so the whisker faced boy walked to the edge of the pit and looked upon his teammate.

Sasuke now wore black pants that came to the middle of his shins. His previous open toed sandals were now replaced with closed gray shoes. His hair was slightly longer than before, and it was wilder now. On his torso sat an open chested shirt that exposed his chest and stomach to the world. He also now sported a sword on his right hip. His figure had also filed out as well. He had leaned out much over the past few years and his body had many tight and compact muscles all over.

Naruto was happy to see his teammate again, despite what had occurred between the 2 all that time ago. Naruto was partially worried that Sasuke would have tried another escape attempt, but it appears his fears were unfounded. That was a good sign in Naruto's mind. Hopefully that meant that Sasuke would be willing to let the past go and start over fresh.

"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto shouted from above on the lip of the pit. Sasuke immediately stopped what he was doing and flinched ever so slightly. The voice of Naruto still grated on his nerves even now.

Sasuke turns his head up to lock eyes with his 'friend' and utters out "Naruto." Sasuke was conflicted right at this moment. The 'talk' he had with Sakura this morning was still fresh in his mind, making him rage ever more. The fact that the subject of said anger was now right above him made him think fate either loved him or hated him. Whatever the case was, he was not going to pass this opportunity up before he pursued his goal.

Naruto jumped down into the pit and marched to his teammate. "Wow Sasuke, I thought you looked emo before, but you have really outdone yourself now!" Naruto chuckled as he talked to Sasuke, hoping to lighten the mood.

"Naruto, fight me." Sasuke announced in a deadpan voice.

Naruto stopped in his tracks upon hearing this. "What do you mean Sasuke?" Naruto asked confusingly.

"I said fight me Naruto, don't make me demand it again." Sasuke's deadpan voice spoke.

"Look Sasuke, I just got back and I'm not really in the mood to fight right now. Can we take a rain check?" Naruto sheepishly asked.

"No." Sasuke then went through several hand signs and released the Great Fireball technique at Naruto.

Stunned by the sudden attack, Naruto quickly went through his swift release signs and poured the chakra into his legs to get out of the way quickly. The fireball exploded right where he had just been a split second before.

"What is your problem idiot? I just said I don't want to fight right now!" Naruto shouted, almost pleading with the last of the Uchiha.

"I do." Sasuke replied as he pulled out a fūma shuriken and infused it with his lightning chakra before throwing it at his rival. Naruto was a little taken aback by how fast the shuriken was thrown at him but had just enough time to dodge it.

"Fine, but you asked for this!" Naruto then shot out air bullets from his mouth right towards his opponent.

Sasuke stopped the attack by raising a wall of earth in front of him with his jutsu. He then jumped up high from behind the wall and sent a stream of electricity straight towards Naruto.

Naruto rushed forward, avoiding the stream while getting into position. He then jumped high, forming multiple shadow clones while in mid-air. These clones were in a direct collision course with the Uchiha.

Sasuke countered these clones by bringing forth a wall of fire and hitting most of the clones who turned into a puff of smoke. The clones that did manage to get through tried to hit Sasuke with all the strength their legs and arms could muster but Sasuke dodged them easily even while falling. By the time Sasuke hit the ground, he was all alone with no Naruto in sight.

Suddenly a hand popped from under the ground, grabbing a hold of Sasuke. Naruto had taken the time to hide under the ground when Sasuke put up his fire wall. Naruto tried to drag his friend underground, but Sasuke remained firm and resisted.

This is exactly what Naruto wanted. 2 of Naruto's clones then popped out of the ground on either side of the Uchiha with Rasengan's formed in their right palms and charged forward.

Sasuke broke the grip of the Naruto under the ground at the last second and jumped back, forcing the 2 Rasengan wielding clones to hit each other and disappear in a spectacular explosion. Having had enough of the Naruto under the ground. Sasuke forced him out with a jutsu that caused the ground to rise at different heights, exposing the true Naruto. Catching the whisker cheeked boy off guard, Sasuke created a spear of pure fire in his hand and chucked it at his 'teammate', squarely hitting Naruto in the chest.

On impact a great fireball engulfed Naruto and obscured all vision of the boy. When the flames died away, all that could be seen was the charred remains of a boulder that Naruto had managed to substitute himself with.

"That would have killed me your jerk!" Naruto announced out loud, clearly pissed off that Sasuke still seemed to have anger issues. He then jumped down from his elevated position to the pit floor with Sasuke. He then formed 100 shadow clones all surrounding the emo teenager and each one charged.

Seeing himself being surrounded, Sasuke decided he would bring out a new toy of his. One he had been working with Kakashi for the past year now. He brandished his katana from his hip and coated it with lightning chakra, ready to strike the many Naruto. Clouds of smoke now surrounded the black-haired boy. The Naruto's would try to rush him down, jump him, kick him, punch him. All failed and would become victims to the end of Sasuke's blade.

Seeing as Sasuke also is well versed in lightning release, Naruto decides its time he joined his friend. Naruto leaps high into the air and surrounds his leg with lightning, ready to bring his heel down to end this charade. Sasuke, however, sees it coming in time and uses the body flicker technique to get out of the way. Naruto's heel crashes onto the ground, leaving a massive crater where his heel connected.

Seeing the opportunity, Sasuke runs through a series of hand signs and once again blows out a stream of fire from his mouth. This time though the flames don't go straight for Naruto, the flames swirled around him until he was completely inside a fire tornado.

Feeling the heat of the situation, Naruto takes a page from Sasuke's book and forms an earth wall around him that completely insulates himself. Leaving the flames to scorch only earth. Once he felt the tornado had fizzled out, he dropped his earthen dome and saw 2 kunai racing towards him in the air. He quickly activated swift body again but this time with more chakra. Time slowed down like earlier at the main gate. Naruto at that moment thought of the coolest thing he could do. He sidestepped the first kunai but instead of simply letting it go past, grabbed it by the handle. He then proceeded to spin around the second kunai and grabbed that one as well. At the end of his spin, he threw them back at Sasuke.

Sasuke was not expecting Naruto to be that fast and didn't have time to dodge or block his own kunai. He was forced to use one of his final defenses for such a case. Immediately a flame shield surrounded him. Outside it was burning hot and burnt to ash everything it met. Inside though it was cool, but Sasuke was anything but cool.

He was seething. The dead last had forced him to use this jutsu so early. He was forced to show his hand against someone who was beneath him.

The flame shield went away quickly and standing far apart from each other, both combatants simply stared at one another. Both were measuring each other's abilities that had been shown and figuring out who would make the next move.

This time Naruto took the initiative. With his swift body still active but almost running out, he blazed forward at such speed that Sasuke only saw an after image until he felt a fist in his gut. He was now bent over and coughing, trying to catch his breath.

"What...was...that?" Sasuke moaned out, his body still trying to get air into its lungs.

"Swift Release. I can move at incredible speeds but only for short periods of time. I wasn't expecting to use it twice today, but you forced me to." Naruto replied to his teammate.

Sasuke was still clutching his abdomen in pain, his wrath increasing every second and all directed toward his 'friend'. It was at this moment that Sasuke knew he had to leave as soon as possible. Being stuck in Konohagakure had stunted his development. Losing to the loser was proof of that.

Naruto after a minute put his hands in his red coat pockets and jumped out of the pit. "I'm going home now. I see you still have issues even after all this time."

"I...am...not...finished!" Sasuke shouted, having regained his breath, his voice carried the malice of his soul.

"Well, I am. Goodbye Sasuke." With these parting words, Naruto left the pitiful boy in the pit, who could only punch the ground in anger.

XxX

Hokage's Office, 5 pm, 0 days since Naruto's return

Tsunade was not in a good mood. For one, she knew Naruto had gotten back into town this morning. The letter sent by Jiraiya had confirmed their ahead of schedule arrival. Even though the 2 of them had arrived back home, NEITHER had come to see her yet. She had wanted them to report to her as soon as possible so she could see if Naruto was ready for what was to come. Even though the knucklehead aggravated her to no end, she cared for the boy more than she cared for anyone else in Konohagakure.

The second reason she was not in a good mood was all the damn paperwork. There was just no end to it, no matter how many forms she signed or rejected, 2 more would take its place. She had no idea how the previous Hokage managed such a workload AND took rounds across the village. She wished her sensei was still around so she could pick his brain but alas it wasn't meant to be.

The last reason she was in a foul mood only made the first 2 reasons worse. She had forgotten to resupply her stash, her secret stash, and her SECRET secret stash with sake. She was currently a stressed-out woman with no booze to help her for a few more hours at least. She pitied the next poor soul who ran afoul of her.

"Hey, Granny Tsunade!" Naruto announced from the Hokages window, ducking an empty sake bottle thrown his way. "Geez Granny, you need better aim." Naruto said sheepishly as he ducked his head again, only this time having to dodge a full sake set.

"You brat! It seems your time away hasn't improved your manners in the slightest." Tsunade said to the youth as he dropped down from the window and started heading to her desk.

Naruto gave his Hokage a shit eating grin and responded. "I calls thems as I sees thems."

Tsunade could only close her eyes and put her head on her desk groaning. "Can you at least explain why it took you so long to come see me?" She grumbled with her face doing its best to eat her desk.

"Hehe, well that's easy. I wanted to see Hinata, Ino, Shikamaru and Sasuke and see how much they have changed." Naruto said with joy.

No mention of Sakura. I guess Jiraiya's report on him moving past her was accurate. I hope it won't affect them working together in the future.

Not knowing the thoughts in Tsunade's head, Naruto continued. "I also stopped by to see Iruka sensei. Also ran into Konohamaru on my way to Ichiraku Ramen. He wanted to show me the progress he made on his jutsu."

"What jutsu did he want to show you?" Tsunade had now by this point lifted herself up from her desk and was lazing back in her chair.

Crap! shouldn't have said that. Tsunade would kill me if she ever found out about the Sexy jutsu or its ultimate form, harem jutsu!

"Oh, his jutsu was... incomplete. It was supposed to be a henge of some kind, but I don't know what the end goal was." PLEASE buy that.

"Hmmm, ok, so any reason why you headed to Ichiraku, or did you just HAVE to have it before you saw me?" YES, I live another day!

"I'm planning a get together tomorrow night at 7 and I'm inviting all my friends to Ichiraku. You are more than welcome to come Granny Tsunade." This time TWO sake bottles were thrown at the boy and the boy dodged.

Clearing her throat, Tsunade replies. "I'll see if I can make it. The paperwork for this job just seems to multiply. This job just keep's giving me more to do." Tsunade puts her hand on her forehead as she leans on her elbow.

At this moment, the two blondes got a new visitor. This one also was at the window, but he had silver hair. "Greetings Hokage." Kakashi said as he pulled himself through the window. Once he noticed Naruto was in the room he added. "I see you came home early. It's good to see you again my young student."

Tsunade grumbled under her breath about there being a door for a reason. Not paying any mind to what Tsunade said, Naruto uttered out. "It's good to see you too Kakashi sensei. Pervy sage and I thought it would do us both some good to get back home a little early."

"I see." Kakashi stated and then looked up and down his genin. "You sure have grown during this time. I wonder what Jiraiya has taught you."

Naruto with a snicker says. "I learned a lot from him. Despite his pervy ways, he knows his stuff. I can't wait to go on my first mission with you sensei, so I can show you what I can do now!"

"I'm looking forward to it Naruto." Kakashi said giving a big eye smile.

"Why are you here Kakashi?" Tsunade interjects, hoping to get back to work as soon as possible so she can get to her precious sake quicker.

Turning to face Tsunade, Kakashi replies. "I'm here because of Sasuke. He's earned a little more freedom around the village."

Naruto scoffs at this a little and retorts. "The jerk still has anger problems from what I saw when I visited him just a few hours ago."

Wanting clarification on the situation, Tsunade asks. "What has brought you to this conclusion Kakashi." She raises her eyebrow when speaking.

"So far, he has done everything asked of him since he returned. He's kept himself inside this village without any hint of another defection. Even on missions where he was required to leave the village, he never once took a chance to escape. Yet, he's still on the same leash we put him on since the start. I'm afraid if we don't throw him a bone so to speak, he might start regressing in his progress." Kakashi spoke at length, hoping to give his young charge a little more freedom.

Tsunade ponders this for a bit before asking another question. "Do you really think he will regress if we don't give him some more freedom?"

"Hai, I do. The anger that's rising in him now is because he thinks what he's doing isn't changing his circumstances. I'm not asking you too completely let him off the hook. Maybe have less surveillance on him." Kakashi further states his case.

Kakashi may be right. Inoichi's reports have been positive. Well as positive as they could be from Sasuke. It's true he's given no outward indication that he is wanting to defect again.

Tsunade thinks about this long and hard before coming to her conclusion. "Alright Kakashi, if you think this will help then I'm willing to loosen the leash on him. I'll think about it over the night on how I'll be doing that."

"Thank you, lord Hokage." Kakashi says with relief in his voice and bows his head.

"Great, now that the Mr. Sulking business is done, would you like to join the get together I'm planning tomorrow sensei?" Naruto asks his teacher.

"I'd really like to Naruto, but I have other plans already for tomorrow night." Kakashi replied.

"Don't tell me that pervy sage already gave you his new book. Kami I still don't get what you see in that smut sensei!" Naruto said this with conviction. Tsunade felt a rush of pride fill her upon hearing Naruto say this. It seems Jiraiya's perverseness had not rubbed off on the boy.

Kakashi could only sigh at that statement. "It seems Jiraiya wasn't able to teach you to respect art when it's there. For shame." This time, a brick came flying from Tsunade, but Kakashi easily dodged it.

"I'll take that as my queue to leave." Kakashi states as he heads back to the window. "It really is good to see you again. Our next mission will be a memorable one, I can feel it." He then hops out the window and across the rooftops.

"Honestly, we have a door for a reason. Am I going to have to weld the windows shut to stop you all from using them?" Tsunade says half joking on the welding part.

"We are shinobi, avoiding the front door is our thing." Naruto utters in a playful mood.

"Grrrr" Tsunade can only mutter out her frustrations. After letting her feelings wash out of her, she brought up a topic that would more than likely upset the boy.

"I noticed earlier you didn't mention Sakura on your people to visit." This caused the joyful expression on the blonde genin to turn downtrodden.

"I-I don't really feel like seeing her just yet." Naruto stuttered out.

"I know what happened between you two before you left." Tsunade said with care in her voice.

This caused the boy to flinch just a bit. The memories of that day still hurt him even now. He had done well to bury the hurt as best he could but sometimes it just rose up to torment him.

"I know she hurt you badly, probably more than any other person. I'm not saying to forgive and forget or to give her a second chance, but I will say she has changed dramatically since you left. It's because of you she has changed." Tsunade stated about her pink haired apprentice.

In truth, Tsunade was worried about Sakura. The pink haired medic-nin was good at hiding it but Tsunade saw the signs of depression in the girl, and it all started when Naruto had left. Her not being able to say sorry had eaten her from the inside out.

Naruto for his part had tried his best to forget about his former teammate. Jiraiya had told him he needed to move on as she had made her position very clear. Naruto now thought it foolish to think he could ever forget her. Still, he didn't want her close to him. She would just rip him apart again and he didn't think he had it in him to rebuild himself a second time.

"Even if she did change, I-I-I just can't deal with her yet. I-I need a few more days back with friends before I even think I could see her again." Naruto stated the hurt still in his voice.

"I mean, how could someone do that to a teammate, to a friend! How can you hurt someone so much when they have been nothing but kind to you!" Now a different tone came from Naruto, one of anger. His time reflecting during this past almost 3 years had replaced some of the hurt with wrath. He had to admit it did fuel his training to take him to greater heights.

Noticing Naruto starting to get angry, Tsunade thought it best to bring up some news to the boy. "Regardless of your feelings towards her, She and you are still part of Team 7, and you will be working together still. As long as you 2 can keep things professional at a minimum, I can accept that."

"Hai, I will be professional with her, but no more than that." Naruto didn't know if he could trust her again after what she did. He would need to trust her on some level during the missions though.

Saying her piece about one of her apprentices, Tsunade moved onto another topic. "Now why don't you tell me what Jiraiya had you doing all this time."

This got Naruto out of the funk he was in. Stroking his nonexistent beard in deep thought, Naruto responds. "Outside useful ninjutsu and Fūinjutsu, He also taught me a brand-new release that apparently I'm one of the few who can do it!"

This caused another raised eyebrow from the Senju princess. "What release is that Naruto?"

"Swift Release!" Naruto replied to his Hokage.

It took a few moments for Tsunade to grasp just what Naruto had said. She had heard of the release before but had never seen it in action.

"Show me."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"Used it too many times today already."

"Of course you did you brat." Tsunade's head once again fell onto her desk with a thud.

Deciding to give his Hokage a break and some good advice, Naruto voiced out. "You know, I'm surprised you haven't thought up of a faster way to do all this paperwork."

"What do you mean faster?" Tsunade queried the young shinobi.

Knowing that Tsunade would be upset at his suggestion, Naruto started making his way to the window he came in. "You know the shadow clone jutsu right?"

"Of course I do!" Tsunade said in a huff, raising her head from her desk.

"And you know how clones share the memories and experiences with the original?" Silence greeted Naruto for a long time. Tsunade only had a stone-cold face for the longest time, till she put up the sign that Naruto knew all too well and produced her own shadow clones.

"Stupid, Stupid, STUPID!" Tsunade shouted as she pounded her fists on her desk, thinking about all that wasted time doing paperwork.

Once Naruto got to the window, he turned back to make one last quip at his fellow blonde. "Wow granny, and people call me stupid."

Naruto had just leapt from the window when he saw Tsunade's desk be thrown at him.

XxX

Konohagakure main hospital, 4 pm, 1 days since Naruto's return

"Thank you miss Haruno. I would be dead if not for you." A shinobi in Sakura's care said to her. She was checking in on one of her recent patients that had recently come through the emergency room. The shinobi had come back from a mission badly poisoned. She had been able to remove most of the poison from his system after a few hours of work, but she knew it would only buy her time.

She then spent the next few hours analyzing the poison, trying to come up with an antidote for the poison. Lucky for her the shinobi, Sakura was able to identify the compounds that would neutralize the poison and allow it to pass through his system without further damage. Once she synthesized the antidote, she gave it to her patient, and he finally came out of his coma.

"Oh, it was nothing really. That's what I'm here for. To save lives." Sakura started and continued. "I'm glad you are doing better. I need to go now though. I have other patients I need to check on."

With another thank you from the shinobi, Sakura left the hospital room and closed the door. She put her hand over her chest and left out the breath she was holding. The shinobi had no idea just how close he had come to death. She didn't want to scare him and so had put on a brave face when facing him. Now though, she could let the mask drop.

Moving on from her previous patient, she now moved onto her latest surgery patient. The procedure she had done was a kidney transplant and she had been nervous. She was always nervous during any surgery. Anything can go wrong with even 'simple' surgeries, and she always made sure to be 110% prepared.

The patient, Kento who was only 16 years old, got through the transplant without any complications and Sakura had made sure to make the scar not even noticeable. Sakura now reached Kento's room and stepped inside.

"Sakura, what brings you here?" Kento said, his brown hair unkept and partially obscuring his blue eyes on his hardened face.

"I'm just checking in on my patients to see how they are doing." Sakura said sweetly.

"I'm still in pain but it's better than it was yesterday. I have to say though, I think I may hate the food more than the pain." Kento chuckled while trying to make light of the situation. This caused him to gasp a little bit and grab his side in pain.

"You still have to take it easy Kento. You have gotten past the hard part and now just need to rest and recover." Sakura uttered as she checked the machines to make sure all Kento's vitals were in normal range.

"You should speak for yourself, those bags under your eyes are telling. Despite that, you still have a beautiful face." Kento tried to flirt with his doctor. Sakura wasn't interested. She didn't feel she deserved a man until she made things right with her past.

"I'll take your advice into consideration Kento. If you keep up this pace of recovery, I can see you out of here by the weekend." Sakura stated as she backed away from the machines and appeared by the bedside. "I'll see if I can up your dosage of pain killers in the meantime."

"Thanks Sakura, you deserve the best with how kind you have been to me." Kento uttered, trying to cheer up his physician.

Sakura knew he meant well but she didn't feel like she deserved kindness, not yet. Saving her patients was just a small act of atonement for her. She knew that she was suffering from depression, but she didn't think it to be that serious yet. If things turned out bad in the future though, she would seek out help she told herself.

"Now then, if there is nothing else, I'll be taking my leave. Take care Kento." She waved goodbye to the boy as she exited the door. Once the door was closed, she gave out a heavy sigh. It wasn't the first time she had been flirted with; it happened quite frequently. She just didn't want a romantic relationship yet.

Her scars still needed healing from her recent conversation with Sasuke and the realization she had finally come too. She didn't trust herself to yet to pick the right guy. She saw what happened with the last guy she picked. Even if she ever did find a guy she liked, she knew they deserved better than her. She still felt like the lowest of the low.

"Hey Sakura!" yelled Ino. She had just seen Sakura leave the room and wanted to talk to one of her best friends. She gingerly strolled up to Sakura with a smile on her face.

"Hey Ino, how are your rounds going?" Sakura put on a genuine smile as she spoke.

"Terrible, lots of pervs trying to flip my skirt. It's taking all my willpower to not extend their stays here." Ino retorted, raising her fist in the air to make her point.

"I've only had to deal with flirting, no one trying to flip up my skirt yet." Sakura replied

"That's because you don't wear skirts girl. You really ought to go on a shopping trip with me soon so we can get you a new wardrobe." Ino said excitedly, bringing her other hand to grasp her other in a pleading gesture.

"One day Ino maybe. Right now, though I'm not feeling all too great." Sakura said in a depressed tone

Ino picked up on the tone and went into her caring mode. "Did something happen Sakura? You weren't this down last time I saw you."

Fidgeting in place, not really wanting to have this conversation in the open. She motions to an empty patient room and walks there along with Ino. Once they were both inside and the door shut, Sakura finally spoke. "I went to Sasuke and talked to him yesterday morning."

"Oh geez, why would go and talk with him? He's not the best conversationalist. It's why I stopped visiting a long-time ago." Ino stated, folding her arms in front of her in annoyance.

"That's the thing, I didn't talk WITH him, I talked TO him." Sakura stated.

"What do you mean TO him?" Ino questioned her fellow apprentice.

Sakura now turned her gaze downwards. Not wanting Ino to see her eyes when she told Ino the truth. "I've done a lot of self-reflection since Sasuke came back. Especially after the last time we had a true conversation almost 2 years ago. I came to find some truths about myself. I finally understood why I was so obsessed with him." Sakura paused at this moment to strengthen herself before continuing.

"The Sasuke I said I loved wasn't the Sasuke in real life. I loved the version of him in my mind and projected my dream into reality. It was... not a pleasant experience to come to that conclusion. That's why I took off those 2 days last week. I had to come to terms with it. Yesterday was part of the process for me." Sakura finished for a bit to allow Ino some time to take it all in.

"What did you tell him then?" Ino asked as she unfolded her arms, curious at what her friend had told the last of the Uchiha.

"I told him that a part of me would always love him, but I needed to move on. I told him that when I'm with him I become a different person. A person I do not like. I told him that I needed to live my own life and stop chasing a childhood fantasy. I told him that the person he truly was frightened me. I also told him that I hoped he got off his path of vengeance and that if he did, I would be there for him, but as a friend only." Now a second person knew of Sakura's truth. For the pink haired girl in question, it felt much easier saying it the second time around than the first. For Ino, she had the biggest smile of her life plastered on her face.

Ino immediately, after Sakura was finished, brought her friend in for a big hug. "I never thought I would see they day you would tell off that jerk!" Ino lifted her friend up from the ground and twirled her around.

"H-Hey put me down please Ino!" Sakura said surprised at the sudden loss of gravity.

Ino gently put her down and spoke. "I mean wow, here I thought you would just be waiting for him forever and die as a spinster."

"HEY, I wasn't that bad...was I?" Sakura said at first mad but then getting embarrassed as Ino's words started to hit home.

"Yes, yes you were that bad. I mean, how long did you go visit the emo after he got back? Everyone thought there was no hope for you after visiting for a year straight." Ino replied to her friend's statement.

"Uggh, fine. Maybe I was that blind. At least I can admit it now though." Sakura said in a huff.

"And I'm so proud of you for doing so!" Ino spoke with delight. "But why were you down in the dumps today then? Shouldn't you be happy now that you know yourself more?"

Sakura was exasperated upon hearing that. "Ino, he was a big part of my life. A part I'm letting go of now. It feels like a hole now exists in me, wanting to take Sasuke back."

Ino glared at her friend. "You better not go after him again; you deserve so much better than him."

"That's the thing Ino, I don't think I'm deserving of anyone just yet. Even if I did think I was deserving, I don't trust myself to pick a guy that's right for me." Sakura said, doubts creeping into her.

"Well lucky for you, your bar for guys is set pretty low right with your last choice." Ino grinned now as she uttered this.

This brought a small laugh from the pink-haired medic-nin. "You aint wrong there girl."

Ino, still in a happy mood, decided she wanted to talk about the get together in a few hours. "So, you going to wear anything special for the get together tonight at Ichirakus?"

"What get together?" Sakura asked her friend in confusion.

Ino paused at this, herself now also confused. "Wait, you didn't know about the get together at 7 tonight? He didn't tell you?"

"No, I didn't know about this, and who didn't tell me?" Sakura stated in further confusion.

Wait, did Naruto mean he was expecting Sasuke to meet at the gate yesterday and not Sakura?

"Why, Naruto of course! He returned home yesterday!" Ino stated with great pleasure.

Hearing this caused Sakura's train of thought to derail. Naruto wasn't do back for a few months. That's how she had been planning her eventual reconciliation with him. Sakura HAD to know she wasn't hearing things. "You must be messing with me. It hasn't been 3 years yet."

As serious as she has ever been in her life, Ino responded with, "He's back early, and he invited all his friends to this get together."

So, I didn't hear Ino wrong. Naruto really is back. Ino said he was inviting his friends to this, but I was left out. I guess he doesn't see me as a friend anymore. I can't blame him though; I wouldn't want to be friends with me either if I were in his shoes. Damnit, I'm not ready for this! I wanted these next 2 months to think of what I wanted to say to him.

Seeing her friend went numb at hearing her best male friends name, Ino tried to reassure the pink haired kunoichi. "Hey, I'm sure he just got busy with something and expected me to invite you. Don't take it personally."

Sakura was taking it personally though, but she still couldn't blame Naruto at all. Sakura turned her face down once again, trying to hide the pain in her eyes from her best friend. She failed in this endeavor. Sakura was shaking and she couldn't hide it.

Ino took both her hands and held Sakura's shoulders still. "Look, I know you 2 didn't leave on the best of terms, but I think it would be best if you did show up tonight. You two need to work through this. Knowing Goldie as I do, I know despite the hurt you brought him, he still cares for you."

"Goldie?" Sakura questioned her friend as she lifted her head to meet her friend's gaze.

Did I call Naruto my pet name for him without him here? Why did I do that?

"Oh, it's just a name I gave him. He really hates it when I call him it and I get a kick out of it." Ino muttered out, covering up her thoughts.

"Must be nice being so close to him. You don't really know how good something is till it's gone." Sakura said downtrodden.

Ino let her hands fall from Sakura's shoulders back to her sides. "Ya, He's a really great guy. That's why I know he will at least hear you out."

"I'm worried though Ino. What if I show up and just hurt him again? I can't even think about what I'll do if I bring him anymore grief." Sakura blurted out.

"He might be hurt initially, but in the long run it will be best for both of you. I mean, you both are still on Team 7. You can't run from this forever and the longer you do, the harder it will be for the both of you." Ino stated as a matter of fact.

"I-I'll think about coming tonight. I just need some time to think." Sakura said still feeling blue about the situation. She knew Ino was right, they needed to come to some mutual understanding on where they stood with one another.

"If you don't come tonight, I'll make sure to kick your ass tomorrow." Ino said in a playful manner, trying to make Sakura feel a little better.

"Hehe, thanks for that Ino." Sakura said chuckling to herself just a bit, happy at the bit of distraction. "Regardless of my decision, we do need to finish our rounds and the sooner the better. See you later Ino."

"See you tonight, Sakura!" Ino shouted/pleaded to her friend before she left the room.

XxX

Ichiraku Ramen, 8pm, 1 days since Naruto's return

Naruto was having the time of his life. Most of his close friends were here and the only ones missing were Iruka sensei and Kakashi sensei. Even Tsunade had managed to make it. The shadow clone jutsu had sped up doing her paperwork to the point she had some free time.

"Another bowl Teuchi!" Naruto announced out loud, already on his 5th bowl.

"Coming right up Naruto!" Replied the store owner, preparing another bowl for his best customer.

"Man Naruto, you really can pack that ramen away. I don't know if I should be in awe or disgust." Temari smiled as she quipped her (boy)friends' friend.

"Chōji's eating is disgusting, this is tame in comparison." Shikamaru added in.

Leaning back and patting his cut stomach, Naruto bellowed out, "He's probably the only one who can out eat me in ramen.

"I see some things will never change about you Goldie." Ino gave a small laugh while saying this.

Hearing his pet name, Naruto grumbled out. "Seriously Ino? It's been 3 years, and you still insist on calling me that. Man, you are troublesome." This got a snicker from Shikamaru

"Might as well get used to it Goldie, I call it like I see it."

"Once Ino has made up her mind, you can't change it. I speak from experience on this Naruto." Chimed in Shikamaru.

"HEY TEUCHI! Another sake here!" Shouted Tsunade, already on her 3rd sake bottle in an hour.

"Umm, lady Tsunade, maybe you should slow down a bit?" Questioned Hinata.

Spinning on her stool to look at the young kunoichi, Tsunade says, "Honey, one day you will learn the true value of sake and how it makes your life better."

In a huff, Hinata retorts, "My life is already better now."

Sensing a perfect moment to tease one of her best friends, Ino did not pass up the opportunity. "Oh, and why is your life better all of a sudden?"

Hinata immediately recognized her mistake. Despite being much more comfortable around Naruto now, she still didn't want her feelings about the blonde to be public knowledge. If only she knew it was obvious to everyone except said the blonde knucklehead in question.

"U-U-Uhhh m-m-my training. Ya, it's been coming along extremely well."

Uh huh, training, ya. Definitely the training and not a certain blonde hunk who's with us right now.

"Speaking of your training Hinata. I heard from Neji you have completed all he's asked of you. I can't wait to see how a shinobi with a bow does in the field. Just be careful about them knee's." Tsunade spoke aloud while getting her next sake bottle and pouring herself another drink.

"Why's that Lady Tsunade?" the Hyūga princess questioned her Hokage.

"it's an old Samurai saying. You will learn from experience eventually." Tsunade says as she sips her sake.

Satisfied with this answer, Hinata swiveled in her chair to face the object of her desires. "So Naruto, you showed us a little of what you learned. Do you have any stories you want to tell us?"

Naruto took his time to think about a particular interesting story. Eventually he remembered one and started his tale. "Do you all know who Yukie Fujikazeis?"

"Isn't she the actor who plays princess Gale?" Ino answers with a question of her own.

"Yup, that's right. What would you say if I told you I got to meet her?" Naruto said, proud of this story.

"NO WAY!" Both Ino and Hinata exclaimed aloud.

"Yes way. We were contracted to be her bodyguards during the filming of the latest princess Gale movie. What we didn't know was that Yukie was an actual princess of the land of snow." Naruto stated, recounting his story.

"You can't be serious Naruto. Why would she hide the fact she was an actual princess?" Hinata queried her crush.

"Turns out that her uncle assassinated her father when she was little and was forced to flee. Her uncle thought her dead and so didn't search for her. The reason she returned to film her movie was so she could eventually take over leading the country. That's why she hired pervy sage and me." Naruto stated as Ayame put another bowl of ramen in front of him.

"The both of us decided to help her retake her thrown. We fought some guys who knew Ice Release, much like Haku. Lucky for pervy sage and myself, these shinobi the princess's uncle hired were nowhere near our level and we easily defeated him and restored her to her throne."

"Well Goldie, it seems you finally fulfilled your dream of saving a princess." Ino said back in astonishment.

"That's not the full story. She is still going to continue her acting career. The film crew asked us after we put her back on the thrown if we wanted to stay and help the filming and be paid accordingly. Since we had time, we decided to take them up on the offer. I had already by that time learned most of what I could from pervy sage so we had time." Naruto paused for a moment, a smile on his face as he started to eat some of his ramen

"What did they have you help with Naruto?" Hinata asked.

After he had swallowed his food, Naruto replied. "Hehehe, if you think me meeting a famous actor AND princess is unbelievable, then you won't believe this next part."

"Come on Goldie, just spill it already. I can't take the suspense!" Ino said, her attention fully on her best male friend.

After finishing slurping up some more ramen, Naruto continued. "Alright, I won't keep you waiting any longer. The director was so impressed with what I could do and coupled with the fact that the male lead quit early on because of the rouge shinobi. He put me in the lead male role."

"WHAT!?" said everyone in the shop, including the owner and daughter.

Tsunade got up from her seat and stepped in front of Naruto's, grasping his shoulders so he couldn't run away. "How did you manage that Naruto? You don't even have any acting experience!" She spoke.

Naruto closed his eyes and put his hand behind his head, his grin never leaving his face. "The director said the character in the movie was also a shinobi and he also said I acted exactly like the main character naturally. Plus, they were on a tight schedule and didn't have time for another round of auditions."

Tsunade somewhat satisfied with this explanation, let go of Naruto and went back to her chair, finishing her bottle of sake in record time.

Hinata, if you don't snag this boy soon. Some other girl will!

"Wow Naruto. I can't believe you are an actor now. I don't think I could handle having so many people staring at me." Hinata said, squirming at the thought.

"Goldie, you MUST take me to the premiere! I can rub it in all the other girls faces that I went to a real live movie premiere!" The blonde kunoichi spoke with stars in her eyes.

"Take me as well Naruto!" The lavender eyed kunoichi followed, not even thinking about all the eyes that would be on her at the premiere.

"Hehehe, I'll gladly take you both. Although it won't be for a while. They still need to edit the whole thing." Naruto uttered sheepishly.

The shock of Naruto's announcement by now had worn out. Everyone had gotten back to eating their ramen and catching up with friends once gone but here again. For Naruto, it was a perfect night. He was eating his favorite food, surrounded by the people he cared deeply about, and everyone was having a jolly good time. Yes, nothing could ruin this evening for the whisker cheeked boy.

"H-H-Hi Naruto."


AUTHORS NOTES

I do apologize for the lateness of this chapter. Anime Frontier messed up my writing schedule and truth be told; I wanted to take my time with this chapter. I'm REALLY looking forward to the next chapter and so I was worried I would be rushing this chapter. That's probably the biggest factor in why this chapter was late.

On that note, I can almost guarantee next chapter won't be posted in a week. I REALLY want to get next chapter right as it's finally time for Sakura and Naruto to have their conversation. I plan on that conversation to probably be my single largest scene I write for a while. There are a lot of things they need to work through and I'm excited as fuck to think about it.

Taking extra time for the next chapter will also give me more time to think about the changes to the canon I'm planning on doing. I plan on a major change in the next arc of my story which would be the first arc of shippuden. I have other major plans as well but those are aways away.

Another note, I know I'm focusing a lot on Sakura right now but that's because she needs the most work. Hinata didn't need to be broken down and rebuilt, she was already perfectly situated where she needed to be. Sakura has ALOT of baggage to sort through before she's where I need her to be. I'm hoping that will finally happen next chapter.

One last note, it was hard for me to come up with a song for this chapter title. I was going back and forth between It's Been Awhile by Staind, My Sacrifice by Creed, and The Man Comes Around by Johnny Cash. Ultimately I went with It's Been Awhile but man it was hard. Anyways, merry Christmas to all my fine readers and take care yall!