Chapter 74 it's good to be back

Naruto was feeling great and very relieved at the same time. This day had not gone the way he had thought it would. Finding his dad in a coma had been one of the worst moments he could remember but Tsunade had fixed him up. Still that had been one hell of a bad time and he had been genuinely worried there the entire time.

"I'm glad that Kakashi-sensei will be okay," Sakura commented with a sigh of relief. She was walking with Naruto as well as Sasuke and Hinata. "I'm not sure what we would do if something had happened to him."

"Yeah no kidding," Naruto said in a more serious tone and looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke, you're brother's a dick."

Sasuke only gave a small grunt as an affirmative Naruto wasn't telling him anything he didn't already know. Although Sasuke was marking this down as yet another reason he needed to hunt his brother down and end him for good. The man had killed his clan and family and now attacked his sensei, if he didn't know any better he would swear that Itachi was trying to make this even more personal.

"I'm glad he's okay," Sasuke knew full well what might have happened he had gone through that same thing himself. Just the memory of it made him clench his jaw, he had been out of it for days before he woke up and when he had, the entire world had changed for him and would never be the same again. A part of him died that night so long ago and his childhood had ended back then.

He was glad that Naruto wouldn't have to go through the pain of losing family like that, watching them die before you and being completely helpless to change it was like acid in your stomach. It just ate away at you slowly over time.

"Thanks," Naruto nodded his head.

The four of them came to a fork in the road as they stopped.

"Well I got to go this way," Sasuke said going to the left. It had been one long trip and he felt physically and mentally tired after everything.

"I'll go with him," Sakura told Naruto as she didn't want to be a third wheel between Naruto and Hinata. She knew that Naruto had been eager to see her and she could bet that Hinata was the same. So she used this as an excuse to leave them alone as she caught up with Sasuke. She got in step with Sasuke and looked over her shoulder seeing Naruto and Hinata walk off together.

She signed kind of envious of the relationship, "Hope they have a good time because this is the long way home for me."

Sasuke glanced at her and then back at the two behind. "Knowing him he might already be trying something."

"He better not try something too bad," Sakura said dryly. "Given how he talked about her father chasing him around the city one night because of a misunderstanding."

Sasuke gave a small grunt of a laugh remembering hearing about that, he would have liked to have seen that in person. Sakura gave a small smile glad to see his mood breaking slightly, honestly she got worried about him at times, all this repressing his anger couldn't be healthy but now that Kakashi was out of danger she had time to think about it. Itachi had nearly taken away her sensei, not only that, she had known him as long as she had known Naruto. He had always been 'Naruto's dad' longer than sensei to her. She remembered him talking with her parents when he brought Naruto over to her birthday back in their younger days and he had always been interesting to say the least.

She couldn't help but feel a bit of anger towards Itachi now and what had nearly happened because of him.

"Naruto's right about your brother." She commented eventually.

"Tell me about it," Sasuke said in a dark tone. "Just another reason for me to stop him."

"Well you can count me and Naruto in on that," she told him sternly. "He got into our village and attacked Leaf ninja."

"It's personal Sakura."

"And it's not for us?"

Sasuke didn't want to start an argument here in the middle of the street and thankfully it looked like an intersection up ahead. He knew where she lived so she would have to go left while he could just go right and hopefully end this here. He really didn't want to get into anything at the moment, he just wanted to get home and rest up.

"I'm going this way," He simply said as he took his own path.

Sakura stopped and considered going with him but she really should get home as she bet her parents were worried about her by this time. She had been gone from the village for a long time and she couldn't give them any messages that she was okay. But she was still worried about Sasuke even though he was making it clear he didn't want to talk about it.

Sakura sighed knowing she wasn't going to get anywhere with him today she just wished that he would realize he didn't have to do everything alone.

Back with Naruto and Hinata, Naruto was busy talking animatedly about the whole mission in his usual flamboyant fashion. Hinata smiled as she listened to him go on, after all this time away she was just glad that he was back. She listened in on all the things they had to get through just to find Tsunade and by the time they got back to Naruto's home they had gotten to the part of his training in a new jutsu.

"So did you finish it?" Hinata asked him as they got to the front door.

"Oh you bet I did," Naruto grinned as he couldn't wait to show it off. "Hey since my dad is going to be in the hospital for a bit how about I come over tomorrow and show you? You guys got that large training area so we can use that right?"

Hinata thought about it and although it was a family training area for the clan she could make sure that they could use it. "I don't see a problem."

"Great!" He suddenly remembered something else he wanted to do since he got back. He did a quick look around just in case and then quickly pulled his back down. Hinata's eyes widened as she felt his lips on hers as he kissed her for the first time since he left.

Hinata felt her face heat up as her heart rate increased to the point she thought it might pass out. Naruto pulled back smiling at her before pulling his mask back up. He had been wanting to do that for awhile now and he couldn't stop himself any longer.

"So I'll see you tomorrow right?"

"Uh...okay..." Hinata said feeling very light headed at the moment.

"Great, I'll come over tomorrow then," Naruto waved her goodbye as she gave a idle wave back watching him go into his home.

"Uh...okay," She repeated as she seemed to move almost in automatic with a blissful smile on her face. She walked home in a pleasant daze enjoying the sensation on her lips as the phantom feeling of Naruto's lips on hers slowly faded away. She walked right through the main gate of the Hyuga compound not noticing anything as she was lost in her own happy world.

It wasn't until Hanabi saw her older sister walking towards her, the young Hyuga noticed the odd behavior of her sister but she did seem happy. Her young mind could only think of one thing that could get her older sister this happy.

"Naruto is back I see," she simply stated.

That managed to get Hinata out of her daydreaming as she noticed her sister. "Huh?"

"I said that Naruto is back since you're so happy today." Hanabi could see her sister start to blush slightly as Hanabi only raised one of her eyebrows slightly. Apparently she was right but she was glad he was back, things were too quiet around here and a bit dull when he wasn't around. Konohamaru and his friends did help but Naruto seemed to bring excitement with him. Although some adults would say he brought chaos with him but that was a matter of perspective.

"Oh yes he got back today and Kakashi-sensei is also well now."

Hanabi was surprised to hear that but glad for Naruto's sake that his father would be okay. "I should tell Konohamaru-kun about all of this next time I see him."

"W-well I was going to ask father permission to use the training grounds here tomorrow for Naruto-kun. He had a new jutsu he wanted to show off that he learned on his mission."

Hanabi was interested in what it was but Hinata didn't know for sure as Naruto never named the jutsu. But he seemed pretty excited about it so it must be something really good. The two sisters decided to see their father together as they walked through the mansion. They asked around and found that he was in his study with their uncle. Now most would think that because of the Byakugan the Hyuga could just look through everywhere for someone.

That was a major misconception of the village, it was because of this that there was a rule that unless in emergencies you were not to use the bloodline while inside of the buildings. Outside of training areas they weren't supposed to use it. It was just so that everyone had privacy, when you were in a clan of people that could see through walls privacy was something everyone wanted. The last thing you needed was to constantly worry that someone was misusing the bloodline ability to spy on others.

They knocked on the door and waited as they had been taught. If their father was too busy he would say as much but would allow them in if he had a moment of free time. As head of the clan he had a lot of responsibilities so he was kept busy some days. They heard their father bid them to enter as Hinata slid open the door and closed it behind them. Both sisters walked in unison as they both bowed the same way as they stood before their father.

He was behind his thick wood desk that had papers on it for various matters. They could range from repair costs, supply requests, those submitting children to join the ninja academy, reports on clan supplies, incident reports. There were many different types as Hinata knew, her father took time now and then to show his daughters what it took to run the clan. It wasn't anything in depth as he would save that for when they were older and to the one that would lead the clan. But he wanted his daughters somewhat familiar with how the clan worked before that time.

Now they stood before him as a mirror image of their uncle stood next to them, both were identical except for the headband that was around his head that all Branch members wore to hide the seal on their foreheads.

"Yes?" Their father was straight and to the point.

Hinata bowed again before speaking as was customary. "I-I wanted to request that the training grounds to be reserved for t-tomorrow." She hated stuttering in front of her father but she felt very nervous when she was being so official with him.

"Oh, why is that?" Her father was slightly interested as she had never requested time usually she just went whenever it wasn't in use.

"N-Naruto-kun is back and he wants to show a new jutsu he learned while on his mission."

Hiashi sat back a moment, he knew that Naruto had been with Jiraiya himself and had most likely learned something from him. That would be interesting to see, not to mention that if Naruto wanted to officially court his daughter he would have to prove himself to the elders. Not an easy task but it could be used to his advantage. Although he still wasn't sure he liked the boy dating his daughter, oh sure he liked the boy well enough, when the boy wasn't causing mischief or mayhem that is. But this was his daughter after all but as his own brother pointed out, Hinata was happy with the boy so he would bite his tongue until he had to step in.

"Very well, we'll reserve time for it, but what of his father? The last I heard he was still in a coma."

"Kakashi-sensei woke up today with the help of Lady Tsunade," Hinata reported.

"Oh so she has returned then," Hiashi looked to his twin brother as he could tell that a new leader for the village had to be on the way. There was a rumor that the Third was stepping down and handing it over to one of his students.

"I was wondering if I could invite Konohamaru-kun and his friends," Hanabi put in. "He close to Naruto and would like to see him as well."

Hiashi nodded his head towards his youngest giving his consent. "Is that everything?"

"Yes father," both girls said together.

"Good, you may leave and I'll see you both at dinner tonight," Hiashi watched them leave before putting down his papers.

"This should be interesting," Hizashi commented with a small smile. "Knowing that boy he'll be showing us something interesting."

"That boy is anything but predictable," Hiashi told his brother before going back to work. He just hoped that whatever the boy planned on showing them wouldn't cause some kind of damage to the area, it got expensive to repair and this was a boy that could employ exploding shadow clones of all things.

-Konoha Hospital-

Hiruzen Sarutobi had been around for nearly seventy years and at this moment he felt every minute of it. He was still in his own hospital room as Tsunade was using a chakra skill to look over his injuries he had gotten from his battle with Orochimaru. He had been stuck in this room ever since the attack as his injuries prevented him from moving around much.

"How is it?" He asked her when she removed her hands from his chest seeing the blue glow fade away.

"You have spinal damage as I bet you've been informed."

He nodded as he couldn't feel much of his legs and could barely move them.

"There are still things even I can't heal," She wanted to add in that maybe if she had been here she could have done a better job of his injuries then whoever had worked on him. That isn't to say that whoever it was did a bad job, it's just that she knew she would have done better. After checking out the injuries only his spine was the thing that really concerned her.

"With surgery I could help but I can't cure the amount of damage," She told him being upfront to a patient was something she believed in. The patient should know everything that they were in store for as she went on. "Even if I can react some of the nerves through chakra I can't fix them all. Since the time of the injury some parts of the damaged nerves have died or are too damaged for me to do anything."

"If this works you'll only get partial movement again and you would need months of rehab to learn how to walk. Even after all of this, you'll never be able to run, jump or move very quickly. You also might need a cane to get around."

Sarutobi sighed hearing all that as the doctors earlier had told him that the sword wound he got from Orochimaru had been very damaging. Although at least Tsunade was telling him he might walk again on his own but it was just as he knew it would be. His ninja career was over for now, there would be no coming back from this which was why he had Jiraiya get Tsunade back here.

"I see, well I was prepared for the worse," he looked at his student and although she had on that illusion of her younger self there was a feeling of age about her. Her eyes were older than her twenty-something appearance and in the way she moved. But there was something new in her, a fire that he hadn't seen in her in a long time seemed to be back.

He smiled at her glad to see the return of the 'old Tsunade' that seemed to be back. "It's good that you returned and it seems that a certain weight has been lifted off your shoulders."

"Hmmph, maybe so," she grinned slightly looking out at the village. "So I'm going to be looking ever this whole place soon."

"I could think of no one better."

She reached for the amulet around her neck thinking on that, sometimes she though this necklace was cursed and that whoever she gave it too who said they were going to be Hokage it killed. Maybe because they were unworthy or some other strange reason, looking back she realized it was just a necklace and that it didn't have that kind of power. It was her own fears playing on her mind she could see that now.

Looking over the village as she thought about all the lives that rested in her hand but she was a medic she was used to that. Plus there might just be one more person that she might be able to entrust the future of the village too. The same lout mouthed little boy that had stood up to her and helped show her what it meant to be Hokage through his words and actions.

"I have to admit that there was a time I thought I never wanted to come back here."

"Glad that things changed then," he smiled. "Or should I say good that a certain someone helped?"

"Whose idea was it to send the brat anyway?"

"Who do you think?"

Tsunade shook her head she should have known that it had been Jiraiya's idea. "Although what makes you think he had anything to do with my mood change?"

He gave her a knowing smile in return. "He said that Naruto has a special way with people and I have to admit he does. The situation with Gaara of the Sand for instance comes to mind and he was also resulted in another matter with a rogue ninja." He wanted to say more but you never knew at times who was listening even in the village. Anyways he knew the real story of Zabuza and that the man was actually still alive in the country of Wave.

If she wanted to know more she could always look up the sealed reports that only the Hokage could get into which would be her right soon enough.

"He does seem to have something about him," Tsunade nodded her head in agreement. "In fact the entire team impressed me. Faced with overwhelming odds and they pulled together and didn't hesitate."

"You should read the reports on them in the chunin exams, they all preformed very well and also in the battle after it. Kakashi once told me he wanted to make the next team that would be this generation's Sannin."

"Oh really?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow at that comment.

"Of course he was just trying to put himself on the team but if he's going to make such a claim he better well damn do his best to pull it off," The old man grinned he hadn't been fooled by Kakashi's boast but he let the man run with it. So far it was proving most interesting and the results he had to admit showed some promise.

"Well the brat certainly has unique qualities about him," She grinned looking out the window thinking of her old team and this young one. She couldn't help but see some of the similarities in them but they were still very unique. "The Uchiha boy showed some impressive skills with his bloodline and combat abilities. While not the same type as his brother, I think with the proper training he could be a great ninja. The girl Sakura, she's shown a remarkable aptitude with the more subtle arts of using chakra."

"Oh really?" he thought back about her and what he could remember in her file. "She has been shown to be very good with manipulation of chakra."

"Good? She's already got some basics down of medical jutsu and she did the tree climbing in one go." She told him.

"That brings me back," he thought back to his days as a jonin sensei. "You were the only student I could remember doing the same thing and you were rubbing it in their noses all the while the other two were trying to catch up to you."

Tsunade chuckled at her more youthful days back when the world hadn't seemed to scary, dangerous and painful. "I'm thinking of taking the girl under my wing, with Shizune's help of course. I know I'll be busy but the girl shows to be a natural to be a combat medic and from what I heard of a few stories those two teammates of her will need someone to patch them up after they jump in head first into the action."

"I thought Shizune was going to be your only apprentice?"

"Don't get me wrong, Shizune can't be replaced but there are some things even she could never master. She's never gotten the hold of the jutsu I learned for my strength techniques for instance but Sakura might have the skills needed to be able to learn it fully."

Now that was a surprise for the old man, to think that maybe with some training under Jiraiya and Tsunade and who knew who else, maybe Kakashi's boast might come into being. That would certainly be something to see, another team that could go to the heights of the Sannin was something he thought he wouldn't see again in his life time. Well now it looked like he had something interesting to look into in his new retirement. That was another thing he would have to think about, he would have to think on what to do now.

Perhaps he could teach or something? He was named the 'Professor' for a reason, plus he could spend more time with his grandchild which would be nice.

"You alright?" Tsunade noticed him getting a little quiet all of a sudden.

He only gave a small smile in reply. "Just thinking about the future is all. So when is the big day for yourself?"

Tsunade made a face, "You know I always hated ceremonies, can't I just take the damn hat and get to work? After all you did leave me a pretty big mess to clean up for you old man."

"Tsunade," he chastised her like she was a genin again.

"Fine," She sighed slightly annoyed she had to go through it all. "Jiraiya is dealing with the issues now he's supposed to get back to me later today about it."

Tsunade looked over her village at some of the damage she could see, it would be repaired as buildings were easy to replace. Part of her wished she had been here, she might have been able to save some lives. She stopped herself thinking that, for too long she had spent trapped in the past, thinking of what could have been. She knew now she couldn't change the past only learn from it and move forward. Looking at the mountain with the faces of two of her relatives on it she made a promise to those first two stones faces.

She promised that she would never forget the village again and she would make them proud of her as Hokage.

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Next up Chapter 12: Good Times