The Return

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; however I do own Akemi, Yukiko and Rukia. And the Shīringu is mine and mine alone!

Summary: "When I died and came into the Naruto universe, I didn't think that I would be able to change much. I also thought that if I told anyone that they wouldn't believe me and I definitely didn't think that I would get a Kekkei Genkai either. But I was wrong on all accounts and I could not be happier." SEQUEL!

I want to thank all the people who favourite, followed and reviewed the prequel: The Retelling of Naruto! I have to say that I enjoy writing this story; it makes me feel happy and slightly tingly. I have received so many positive feedbacks and I want to thank you, it makes me so happy to see people liking what I write.

I know there are some people that wanted Kimimaro to live, and so did I. I sat there and debated if I should let him live. I wanted to make Akemi realise that not everything will go to plan and sometimes she can't save everyone. It made me sad to see Kimimaro go, but it had to be done.

Enjoy!

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

When I died and came into the Naruto universe, I didn't think that I would be able to change much. I also thought that if I told anyone that they wouldn't believe me and I definitely didn't think that I would get a Kekkei Genkai either. But I was wrong on all accounts and I could not be happier.

You'll probably expect me to say that the three years passed really fast and I didn't know where the time went.

WRONG.

Three years seemed to drag, full stop.

It was even worse when you had to listen to Haku and Yukiko argue all the time. I thought that they would have patched their differences up, but no. They decided to get at each other's throats. Do you know how many time I had to heal them?! I swear, that this was the time I wished that Orochimaru had kidnapped me, I wouldn't have minded. Well actually...

Training went well to say the least. Now I don't want to sit here and brag. That's Naruto and Sasuke's job. Speaking of those two, I had received a few letters while training, of course they didn't send many. But to be honest, I didn't expect that many, I know that they are focusing on training.

When I first left Konoha, I felt homesick constantly; I would be constantly looking at my team photo. The thought that I would be going back to them was the only thing keeping me going. Of course, Haku was there for me, and we would sometimes just sit there and reminisce about our time in Konoha.

Then Yukiko had to be a stone cold bitch and ruin the moment.

Over the years, I decided to change my appearance. My long black hair was gone; I had learnt from a bad experience that you can't have long hair on the battlefield. My hair went down to my shoulder blades and was now up in a ponytail. I also didn't have a side-fringe anymore; I opted for a spiky full fringe. Well what actually happened was Yukiko tried to cut my fringe and I tried to make it look nice. My skin had also become more tanned due to the constant training outside. I now wore a white sleeveless top that had a black zip down the middle. Around my arms are fishnets sleeves that end at my wrist and over my hands are a pair of black gloves. I had ditched my shorts and skirt and now wore white knee length pants that tucked in. I still wore my ninja sandals, but black ones and my black Hitaiate was still around my waist. Now being fifteen, nearly sixteen years old (mentally twenty-two years old), I had filled out from my childish body. My hips and ass was the best thing about me, while my bust was average. Let's just say that I am bigger than Sakura, but a bit smaller than Hinata. I definitely preferred this body over my other one; I was unfit back in my world. Just running up the stairs made me gasp for breathe.

Haku was now eighteen years old, yet he looked the same age as me. Damn those youthful looks. Unfortunately, Haku's hair was also cut in an accident. So now he just has long bangs and short hair at the back. I wonder how many fangirls are going to cry when they see this. Haku had also reverted back to his old clothes during the journey; he said that they were most comfortable. Haku had also become muscular, not like Zabuza, but now he was leaner.

Yukiko hadn't changed one bit, she was still a bitter old cow. And I'll just leave it at that.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

It was finally time to go back to Konoha. I had a certain spring in my step and the grin on my face that wouldn't go away. No matter how many times Yukiko told me to slow down, I couldn't. I want to get home now. I couldn't wait to see Naruto-kun again, or even Sasuke. Hell I wouldn't even mind seeing Sakura!

"I see you're happy imouto." Haku comments with smile of his own. He couldn't wait to get back either, but he was better at masking his emotions.

I look at him, the grin still on my face. "Of course! I can't wait to see everyone! We've been away for so long!"

"Well just calm down." Yukiko sighs.

Haku sends Yukiko a side glare, but he turns away from her and looks at me again. "What's the first thing you're going to do then?" Haku asks me.

"Bedsides hug everyone." I say with a grin.

Haku laughs slightly, "Yes, besides that."

"Well I have a few fights, one with Neji and then one with Naruto and Sasuke." I say with some thought. I was excited to see Naruto and Sasuke; it had been far too long since I had last seen them. Haku was excited to see Naruto too, he didn't say it out loud, but he made little hints.

"Well don't overdo it." Yukiko warns me as we continue to walk.

"Okay." I say absentmindedly. I wasn't going to listen to her, and she knew it. I seemed to have a knack for doing the opposite of what she said. Even when it came down to training, she would tell me to do something one way, and I would go the other. That's what mainly caused the arguments; Haku was on my side while Yukiko was completely against it.

I began to think to myself. I wonder if we were going to have to do the bell test again with Kakashi, and if we are, how will it play out. Sasuke and I were here, so I recon we could actually take Kakashi on if all of us work together. I was kind of apprehensive to learn how Sakura got on, she was my biggest worry. I hoped that she trained hard like she did in the anime, but it was unlikely that Tsunade would continue to train her if she wasn't dedicated.

The rest of the journey was mainly silent, for which I was thankful for. My excitement grew steadily when I saw the large open gate of Konoha. The grin on my face couldn't get any wider; it was starting to hurt my face.

As we came into Konoha, I waved at the guards. The guards had a shocked look on their face, Haku also waved at them.

"Do you know them?" I ask Haku.

Haku nods his head, "I've went on a few missions with them."

"Go say hi." I nudge him.

Haku looked reluctant.

Yukiko sighs and crosses her arms, "I'm going to Tsunade. So do what you want."

It wasn't like Haku had to be told what to do. Haku glared at Yukiko before smiling at me, "Alright, meet you back at the apartment."

"Hai." I reply. With my reply, Haku gives me a hug before he walks over to the guards and begins talking to them. I smile slightly as watch as Yukiko walks away into the direction of Tsunade's office. I was now alone but I was in Konoha, my home. I look around Konoha as I walked deeper in. Some people had stopped and stared at me, I waved at them and some waved back. The grin was still on my face, I couldn't believe I was back!

"Akemi!"

I turn my head to see who the first person was to greet me. It was Lee. He was running full speed at me. I thought I was going to have to jump away to avoid him, but he suddenly stopped when he was a couple feet away from me.

Lee huffs slightly before he grins at me, "You're back!"

"I am." I say with an amused grin. Lee looked just like he did in Naruto Shippuden; Lee still had his black bowl cut and bushy eyebrows and was now seventeen years old. He still wore his hideous green jumpsuit and orange leg warmers. The only difference was the Chunin vest and the fact he was a lot taller, he was at least a head and a half taller than me. "I see you made Chunin." I say with a raised eyebrow looking at his vest.

Lee nods his head enthusiastically, "Yes! My powers of youth allowed me to reach this level!"

"Lee, who are you disturbing?" Someone says from behind Lee. I look behind the person to see Neji and Tenten. Neji who was now seventeen years old was a lot taller, a few inches shorter than Lee. The Hyuuga wore a white kimono-shirt with long, loose sleeves, matching pants, a navy-grey apron tied around his waist, and black sandals. He had also stopped wearing the straps that framed his face, instead allowing his now longer hair to do that instead. Damn, his hair is better than mine...

Tenten was wearing a white and red version of my top that I wore three years ago. She is also wearing red puffy pants that look like a hakama, with the exposed parts of her legs near the waist covered in bandages. Her Hitaiate was still around her forehead and she too wore sandals. Tenten was about a head shorter than Neji and was now seventeen years old.

"Sup!" I salute them.

"Akemi!" Tenten exclaims with wide eyes. "When did you get back?"

"Just now." I say, I looked to Neji. He seemed the least shocked, but what did I expect from him? He's hardly ever fazed.

Neji nods his head at me, "Good to see you."

I nod my head back, "Good to be back. You still owe me a fight." I remind him with a grin.

The edges of Neji's lips twitch slightly, "I haven't forgotten."

Tenten and Lee look between us confused; they blinked a few times before shrugging and started talking to one another.

"So is Sasuke or Naruto-kun back?" I ask Neji. I was dying to know.

Neji nods his head, "Uchiha-san is back, but Uzumaki-san isn't yet."

I purse my lip; it didn't surprise me that Naruto was late out of the three of us, especially since he had Jiraiya as a mentor. Of course Sasuke would be back first, Itachi was strict and isn't late for anything.

"So tell me," I say, "what are you now?"

"Jonin." Neji answers with a stoic look. It was really hard to read him since his eyes were just blank. At least Hinata made facial expressions.

I nod my head, an impressed look on my face.

"Everyone else has also made Chunin." Neji informs me. But he was looking directly at me, gauging my reaction.

"That's great!" I exclaim. I was genuinely happy for everyone else. Besides, I know that there is a Chunin exams coming up. I was hoping that I, Sasuke and Naruto-kun could take them this year, and we would be in Suna.

Neji nods his head and crosses his arms, "What do you plan to do now then?"

I put my finger on my chin, "Well I was planning on going around the village, but what do you say we have our fight now?" I ask him with a devilish grin.

Neji walks away, leading me into the direction of an abandoned training ground. I followed him without a second thought. Lee and Tenten also followed us. When we reached our destination, Neji and I moved away and stood opposite each other.

Tenten looks at us unsure, "Is this alright? You just got back."

I wave her off, "I'll be fine. It's Neji you should be worried about."

"Neji is too youthful to lose!" Lee interjects throwing his fist in the air.

"Are you saying I'm not?" I question Lee with amused look.

Lee looked conflicted and lowered his fist.

"I've learned a few tricks." I say with a smirk on my face. I look to Neji, "When you're ready then."

Neji nods his head and activates his Byakugan. With his furious veins on show, he attacks at vicious speed that normal people wouldn't be able to keep up with. Neji aimed for my arms, he was aiming for my chakra points. I dodged and aimed a kick in his gut with my knee. At the last minute Neji dodged and tried again.

I jumped away from him and made a tiger hand seal, "Suiton: Suiryūben!" An orb of water appeared besides me. With one thrust of my arm, hundreds of weapons made out of water appeared, all aimed for Neji. This was one of the Jutsus that I had used against Kabuto. I wouldn't touch this move for months, but now I felt comfortable using it.

Neji dodged all water weapons flawlessly by spinning around and manoeuvring around them. With his own kunai, he was slashing from left to right. However, he had made a mistake. While he was distracted, I sent a Water Clone behind him in the trees, aiming for his blind spot with their chakra signature gone. Thank you anime for showing me that the Byakugan has a blind spot and where. I just hope that I distract him long enough for him to not notice my clone.

While my clone was aiming for his blind spot, I jumped into action and attacked Neji with Taijutsu. Neji aimed a gentle fist at me, aiming for my heart, like he did with Hinata. However, this time it was different.

I stood there and let him hit me. Neji looks at me shocked at the fact nothing had happened, "What's going on?" Neji asks shocked.

I grin at him, "Something called a chakra shield." I say aiming a chakra infused punch into his gut causing him to spit up a bit of blood. Tenten and Lee gasp from the other side of the field. Neji was sent back, but he recovered a lot quicker than most and aimed to attack me again. Over the three years, I had developed the chakra shield. But that would be revealed for later.

I reached into my ninja pouch and took out some senbon needles.

Neji looks at them sceptically.

"You don't know how deadly these are." I say with him. I was remembered of Haku and how he used them, he was bloody lethal with a senbon. I threw the senbon needles with ease; I was aiming for his chakra points now. Neji used his rotation method to dodge the needles, but he missed my Clone's needles.

Neji froze where he was. He stood there with a shocked expression on his face, "W-what?"

My clone had managed to hit Neji in his blind spot, but with paralysis needle. After Tayuya I never want to be paralysed again, so I now dabbled in it. I dabbled in poisons, paralysis and all sorts of remedies, and my healing makes it a lot easier.

"What just happened?!" Lee exclaims in shock. He was looking at Neji in shock, he just stopped and it looked like he couldn't move.

"I've paralysed him," I say walking over to Neji with my new Sais in hand. I had lost my old pair and got a new pair. These were now the size of normal Sais, but had a gold and purple handle.

"Do you yield?" I ask Neji holding my Sai to his neck.

Neji looks unhappy, but he nods anyway. I put away my Sais happily, I had won and I didn't even break a sweat.

"But how?!" Tenten shouts looking shocked.

I removed the senbon from Neji's back and then injected the cure. "The Byakugan has a blind spot; I just found it and hit it." I explain to them with a shrug. I really did love knowing these things.

Neji looks at me with a glare, "How did you figure it out?"

I tap my nose twice. Neji rolls his eyes and huffs slightly.

"You just beat a Jonin!" Tenten exclaims, the shock evident in her brown eyes.

I shrug absentmindedly; the fight would have been different if I didn't have that chakra shield. I would have been down for the count, but I was used to fighting people of Jonin level and above. I killed Kabuto, spent three years with Haku and Yukiko training. But Neji was a fearsome opponent; I did have to watch out when fighting with him.

"Neji-nee-san?" Another voice said. This voice was feminine and gentle and definitely one I recognised.

My head perked up at the voice, the grin made its way to my face again, "Hinata-chan!" I shout as I run over to the Hyuuga Heiress and hug her. Hinata looks shocked as I hug her, but she soon hugs me back fiercely.

"When did you get back?" Hinata asks me with a happy smile on her face.

"Just now." I answer.

Hinata looks over to Neji, who was tending to his bruised ego. "Did he give you any trouble?" Hinata asks me.

I shake my head, "None at all."

Neji huffed and turned away from us. It looks like I bruised his ego even more...

I pulled away to get a good look at Hinata. Just like in the Shippuden, she had let her hair grow to reach her lower back, while the short strands that frame her face had grown to shoulder-length. She wore loose fitting, lavender and cream hooded-jacket with lavender cuffs over mesh armour with navy blue pants and black, low-heeled sandals. She wore her Hitaiate around her neck, but it was now black.

"You look great by the way." I wink at her, causing her infamous blush to make its appearance.

"A-arigato." Hinata says looking to the floor. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lee, Tenten and Neji turn to leave. They must be leaving to give us some privacy.

"So, did you hear from Naruto-kun?" I ask with a grin on my face.

The blush on her face darkens, "Y-yes."

I squeal and clap my hands, "How many letters did you get?"

"About thirty." Hinata admits shyly. With each letter, she would read carefully and then answer. She was a blushing mess whenever one of his letters appeared. She was disappointed whenever a letter didn't arrive, but when one did she was ecstatic.

Now this ticked me off. "That bastard!" I shout making Hinata jump.

"What's wrong?" Hinata asks concerned.

"That bastard only sent me five!" I shout, but not at Hinata. I could never shout at Hinata, but Naruto was a different story. Oh when I see him I'm going to pummel him into next year! I see where his priorities lie. Even Sasuke sent me more than him, which was surprising in itself.

NARUTO SHIPPEDEN

The rest of the day was spent with Hinata. I soon got over the fact that Naruto sent more letters to Hinata and soon I became happy. They were talking more than they did in the anime, so hopefully it might happen sooner.

I and Hinata walked around the village most of the day, yet I still didn't see Sasuke or Itachi. I saw Kiba, Shino, Shika-kun and everyone else bar Sakura. They all looked like they did in the anime. Kiba was still the loveable idiot, Akamaru was very happy to see me. He was bloody huge! I kept away from Shino, I and bugs don't mix, enough said. Shikamaru told me how he was organising the next Chunin exams along with Temari in Suna, which I couldn't wait for. I was going to tell Sasuke and Naruto about this and see what they thought. If they agreed then we could enter the Chunin exams together.

By the time I got back to mine and Haku's old apartment the sun was setting. I open the door knowing that Haku was already inside. When I open the door, I see Itachi and Haku sitting on the couch talking. Itachi hadn't changed in the slightest; I don't even think his hair grew. But he now wore a new black Hitaiate around his forehead.

"Hey Itachi." I greet him with a grin.

Itachi nods his head at me.

Damn these Uchiha looks...

"Am I being ignored?" Another voice said in the direction of the kitchen. I look to my right to see Sasuke.

Hot... damn...

A now sixteen year old Sasuke stood tall, but not at tall as Itachi yet. I only reached his shoulders, damn my height. His dark hair had grown slightly and his facial structure had become more defined. His onyx eyes were still blank, no change there. Sasuke was wearing black pants that tucked into his black ninja sandals. He also wore a black sleeveless top with the symbolic Uchiha fan. On his arms were black fingerless gloves that end on his upper arm and his Hitaiate was around his arm instead. He basically looked like he was in ANBU. But hot damn, he was good looking. Damn Uchiha genes!

I roll my eyes, "Now why would I ever do that?" The sarcasm was thick in my tone.

It caused Sasuke's eye to twitch, but he soon smirked slightly, "Oh how I've not missed you."

I place a hand over my heart, in mock hurt, "Oh how you wound me!"

"You didn't miss her?" Itachi questions his brother with a raised eyebrow.

Sasuke glares at his brother, "Shut up." Sasuke hisses at him.

"I knew you missed me!" I shout running over to Sasuke and hugging him. Sasuke tried to push me away, but I infused chakra into the hug so he couldn't get me off.

Haku chucked as he watched us.

I jumped off Sasuke making him sigh in relief, "So, how did the training go?" I ask.

Sasuke shrugged, "Fine."

I look to Itachi for information since Sasuke wasn't giving me any. Itachi smirks and answers me, "You'll see eventually."

I pout, "You Uchiha's are so mean!" I stomp over to the couches and sit by Haku who just patted my head in affection. Sasuke joined his brother on the other couch.

"How was training with Yukiko?" Itachi asks me.

I grimace, "Hell."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

I point to Haku, "Him and Yukiko decided to argue for three years."

Haku looks affronted, "We didn't!"

I send him a look. "We might have argued quite a bit." Haku admits with a sigh.

"And your training?" Itachi asks.

I smirked, "You'll see." Neither Uchiha appreciated this as both Itachi and Sasuke's eye started to twitch. Obviously they didn't like not knowing.

"Well let's just say I beat Neji." I say proudly.

Sasuke scoffs, "I could have done that."

I glare at him, making him smirk at me.

Haku has a thoughtful look on his face, "I heard he was a strong Jonin."

Sasuke looks a little surprised, but he quickly masked it, but I saw it. I smirk at Sasuke with a victorious look making him huff.

"Apparently even Sakura has made it to Chunin level." Itachi says with an expressionless face.

This time, Sasuke's eyes widen and he didn't bother to hide it. "What?!"

I nod my head, "I know, she decided to take the exam with Ino and Choji."

"So this happened in what you saw?" Sasuke questions me.

I nod my head, "Yep."

"What do I become?" Sasuke asks me.

Knowing that he wasn't going to like the answer, I smirk. "You stay Genin."

Sasuke's eye twitches madly.

"But didn't you say that was because he was a rogue ninja?" Haku asks me with furrowed brows.

"Well that isn't going to happen." Itachi says looking at his younger brother expectantly. Now with Itachi here, Sasuke had no reason to leave the village to get revenge. Revenge had already taken place when Itachi killed Danzo.

"I was hoping we could take the exams this year." I say looking at Sasuke, "You, me and Naruto-kun."

Sasuke scoffs, "Definitely, I'm not being left behind."

"And Naruto will definitely say yes," Haku says with a smile on his face.

"Especially after he finds out Gaara has become the Kazekage of Suna." I say. Naruto would be a bit jealous, but it pushes him to want to be Hokage even more. What worried me a bit was the fact that Konoha had had less interaction with the Sand Siblings; I just hoped that this didn't affect any relationships in the future.

Sasuke looks at me shocked, "Gaara? He becomes Hokage?" Sasuke remembers the monster they fought in the forest of Konoha. He remembered feeling scared at his sheer power. How had he become Hokage?

"He's got better." I explain to the young Uchiha.

"Better how?" Sasuke demands as he glares at me.

"His seal was stabilised," I say to him returning the glare. "And he's realised that he doesn't need to kill to live. I'd say that's progress compared to what he used to be like."

Sasuke begrudgingly accepts my answer and huffs.

Haku clapped his hands, "How about we have some dinner?" He suggests looking at us, "I'll cook."

"No!" I say immediately standing up, "I'll do it. Why don't you get some food so I can cook though?" I still haven't told Haku that his cooking stinks, that face stops me. He gives a puppy dog-pout and then he looks at me with those big eyes. I couldn't crush him, but I couldn't let Sasuke and Itachi die from food poisoning.

Haku looks a bit disappointed, "Then I and Itachi will get the shopping." Haku and Itachi stand up and head to the door to get the food. Once Haku was out of sight, I sighed in relief and flopped onto the couch.

Sasuke looks at me with confusion written on his face. "Why are you so relieved?"

I look at Sasuke, "His cooking is inedible."

Sasuke's eyebrow rises, "What do you mean by 'inedible'?"

"I mean that if you eat it then you'll die." I say with a serious expression on my face.

Sasuke rolls his eyes, "I'm sure it's not that bad."

"Who cooks in your house?" I ask him.

"Itachi." Sasuke answers. Sasuke couldn't cook that well, he managed on his own for ages, but he mainly got a take-away. Ever since Itachi came back, he had been doing all the cooking, which was very good.

"Now would Itachi ever put chocolate in meat, or sprouts in cakes?" I ask him looking at him with a serious look. Haku had out these things in our food. I thought he was getting better at one stage when I came home and there was a cake. Haku said that he had made it and I pleasantly surprised, but then I tasted it. I was on the toilet throwing up for three days.

Sasuke's face turned a little green.

Sasuke and I continued to talk about what happened in those three years. It seemed that Sasuke had come out of his shell because he wasn't as cold as he was. He seemed more relaxed and less tense. Maybe it's the fact he doesn't have to extract revenge now. His face was still expressionless, but I'm starting to think that it's all Uchiha's who are like this.

Haku and Itachi soon came back and I started dinner, Itachi helped a bit before I sent him out of the kitchen. I and he had a different matter of opinion of have to cut potatoes, making me irritated and kicking out my kitchen. After twenty minutes, I had prepared out meal and we all sat down together.

It was around midnight before both Uchiha's left.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

When I woke up next morning, Haku told me that Tsunade wanted to speak with me. I walk out mine and Haku's apartment and headed for the Hokage Tower. But along the way I came across someone with pink hair.

And I only know one person with pink hair.

From where Sakura was standing, I could tell that I was taller than her by a few inches. A fifteen year old Sakura is wearing a red sleeveless shirt with a zip down the middle, similar to mine. She also wore black gloves, black, low-heel, calf-high boots, black shorts underneath a short light pink apron skirt, and light pink elbow protectors. Instead of a blue Hitaiate she now wore a red one like a head band. To my surprise, Sakura's hair was not cut and was left long; personally I thought she suited her short hair, but she let it grow out from the Chunin exams. Just by looking at her, I could see that she had also grown into her forehead.

Sakura seemed to know someone was looking at her. She turns her head and her green eyes widen when she sees me, "A-Akemi?"

"Yo." I salute to her. I was a little apprehensive about this meeting, I just hoped to dear god that she has matured.

Sakura walks over to me, "When did you get back?" Sakura asks.

"Early last morning, but I didn't see you yesterday." I answer her. Was it me, or was the atmosphere a little awkward?

Sakura nods her head solemnly. She just looks at me with a critical look, was she sizing me up? Suddenly a blush made her way to her face, "Have you see Sasuke-kun at all?" Sakura asks looking at the floor.

Disappointment, that's all I felt. She still had a crush on him. "Yes, he and Itachi had dinner at our apartment yesterday." I say with a blank look.

Sakura frowns at me. Jealousy flashed in her eyes, but she covered it.

"How did your training go?" I ask trying to get off the topic of Sasuke.

Sakura smiles, "It went well, I'm a lot stronger than what I used to be."

'That's an understatement.' I think to myself, but I don't say it.

"We'll have to test that, shall we?" I suggest, I wanted to see how well of a job Tsunade did. Also, I wonder if my chakra shield would hold up against her strength.

Sakura went to answer but she stopped. That's when I felt it. It was a very familiar chakra signature that had just entered the village. Naruto, Naruto Uzumaki was home. I look at Sakura with a massive grin on my face. She knew who it was as well; the excitement in her eyes gave it away.

"Race ya!" I shout running off in the direction of Naruto by jumping on the different roofs of Konoha.

"Hey!" Sakura shouts but she soon runs after me. While running I noticed that she was catching up to me. I send her a side look, she was smirking at me. But she frowned when I smirked back. I pumped more chakra into my legs and I sped off.

"Cheater!" Sakura shouts at me trying to catch up to me, but was ultimately failing.

Within minutes, I made it to the front to Konoha. I saw Naruto on top of a lamppost overlooking the village with a nostalgic look on his face. I jumped off the roof and landed near the lamppost that Naruto was standing on. A sixteen year old Naruto stood taller than me by half a head, his facial features now more defined and almost manly. His hair had grown a bit longer, and he now wore a black Hitaiate around his forehead. It was much longer than the other one, the ties of the Hitaiate flowing down his back slightly. He still wore orange track suit though, that much was expected. The jacket was more form fitting and was mainly black. The pants were completely orange and he now wore black ninja sandals.

"Oi, get down here!" I shout up to him.

Naruto looks down; confusion was written all over his face. He jumps down anyway, when he lands in front of me, I jump at him and hug him.

"It's great to see you Naruto-kun." I say pulling away.

Naruto was still looking at me confused.

"What's wrong?" I ask him. Naruto would have hugged me back, but he didn't.

"Who are you?" Naruto asks me.

My eyes widen, "Seriously, you don't remember me? Akemi?" I say my name hoping that he would remember me.

Naruto's eyes widen and he looks at me in shock, "Akemi-chan?!"

I sigh in relief, he does know me, but why didn't he know who I was?

"You look so different!" Naruto exclaims looking at me.

I look to Jiraiya who was looking at Naruto with disappointment, "Do I look that different?" I ask the toad sage.

"You're growing to be a beautiful woman." Jiraiya compliments. He gave Naruto and expecting look, like he wanted him to compliment me, but we all knew that wasn't going to happen.

I smile at him, "Thank you Jiraiya." Personally, I don't think I've changed that much, I've grown more into a women, but come on!

"Naruto..." Sakura had finally caught up and was now looking at Naruto. When Naruto stared back at Sakura, Sakura blushed slightly.

'Back off, he's Hinata's!' This is what I wanted to shout at Sakura when she blushed at Naruto, but I withheld myself.

"Hey Sakura-chan!" Naruto greets with a grin on his face. I look at Naruto with an offended look on my face, but I calmed myself. I mean who else besides Sakura has pink hair and knows Naruto?

"Do you think I've changed?" Sakura asks the blush still on her face.

Naruto looks at her, "No."

Jiraiya slaps his own forehead in disappointment.

Sakura twitches in anger, the angry vein making its appearance already. "Baka." Sakura mutters angrily.

"So the dobe is back." Sasuke says appearing next to me and Naruto.

Naruto glared at Sasuke, "Shut it teme."

"Oh how I've missed this!" I say with a grin on my face. I don't care if they're fighting or insulting each other, anything is better than listening to Yukiko and Haku fight.

Sakura looks at me with a confused look, "They're insulting each other."

I wave her off, "This is how they show affection for each other. They love each other really."

"We do not!" Naruto and Sasuke both shout at me.

I hold my hands up in surrender, giving on. But even as they said this, I was thinking about the kiss they shared in the Academy. I'm glad they haven't brought that up and how I could have prevented it. I think I would be dead if they clicked on.

"Anyway I need to go and see Tsunade, are you coming Naruto-kun?" I ask the Jinchuuriki of our team.

Naruto nods his head, "Yeah!"

I look to Sasuke and Sakura. Sakura was looking at Sasuke with a heavy blush on her face.

"So, do you think I've changed Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asks looking shy.

"No," Sasuke answers, "you're still annoying."

I had to stop myself from snorting in laughter. Not at Sakura's expression which was filled with hurt, but at Sasuke. He didn't even look at Sakura when he said this and I don't even think he looked at her. I wonder if they are going to get together at this rate.

"Are you two coming as well?" I ask my other two team mates.

Sasuke nods head.

Sakura spares Sasuke another glance before she says, "Sure!" I seriously don't know why she keeps coming back to him. Sasuke just literally insulted her, and she's right back to him! He insulted me in our bell test and he had a bruise on his face. That sure taught him a lesson, he hasn't insulted me since.

"Race ya!" I shout running away from them.

I heard one outraged cry, one scoff and Sakura yelling at me to slow down.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

I, Naruto and Sasuke barged through Tsunade's office door. Sakura was a while behind, but she would catch up. Unfortunately, Sasuke was the one to win that one, by a millisecond! I came in second and Naruto came in third. Let me just say that he wasn't happy.

Tsunade's head shot up from her desk, she had been asleep, nursing a pulsing hangover. She glares at us from the door, "What?" Tsunade snaps at us rubbing her temples.

"I'm back!" Naruto exclaims with a grin. The sheer volume of his voice made Tsunade wince and lower her head onto the desk.

"And you needed to speak with me." I say.

Tsunade groaned and lifted her head off the desk. "Right, right." Tsunade winces again.

"Why don't you just heal yourself?" I ask her.

Tsunade glares at Shizune in the corner of the room, "She won't let me."

Shizune sighs and walks over to Tsunade. "This is punishment for drinking when you know you shouldn't."

Tsunade waves her off and looks us, "I wanted to see how much you three have improved, see if it was worth leaving the village for three years."

I hear Sakura before I see her. I hear her breathing from the other side of the door. She soon joins us a bit out of breathe, "I'm here as well." Sakura announces walking over to us, next to Sasuke. Sasuke just looked at his team mate with a look of distain but schooled his expressions.

Tsunade nods at her student, "Glad you made it Sakura."

"So what's the test?" Naruto asks with a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

Sakura looks at all confused, "What test?"

"To see if your training has paid off." Tsunade answers her student before looking back to us all, "Originally, I was going to make all you do the bell test again, but I've decided not to." Tsunade looks at me with a knowing look.

I send her an innocent look in return.

"So what are we doing then?" Sasuke asks with a stoic expression.

Tsunade smirks, "You guys are going to be fighting each other."

"What?!" Sakura shouts in shock. I, Naruto and Sasuke spare each other a glance. We had wanted to fight each other anyway, so this wasn't a bad idea. Sasuke smirked while Naruto and I grinned.

"Sounds wonderful." I comment with a wide grin.

"However, you're going to be in teams of two." Tsunade says looking at us.

I grab onto Naruto's, "I want Naruto-kun!" Naruto grabs my arm as well and we start to give Tsunade the puppy-dog eyes to make us a team.

Sakura holds her hand up, "I want Sasuke-kun!" Sasuke looks at Sakura with an unhappy expression and crosses his arms.

"No." Sasuke says.

"I'm picking the teams anyway." Tsunade says rolling her eyes, "so cut it out!" Tsunade shouts at me and Naruto.

I and Naruto pout and separate from each other.

"The teams will be Akemi and Sasuke, and Naruto and Sakura." Tsunade says.

Well at least I didn't get Sakura. I don't think we would have worked well together anyway. I look to Sasuke and grin at him. Sasuke just looks at me with a blank expression. Well at least he isn't glaring at me like he did Sakura.

"This will be interesting." Someone says from the open window of the office.

We all turn our heads to see Kakashi reading his perverted book. "Kakashi-sensei!" I shout running over to him and giving him a hug. I nearly fell out the window, but Kakashi caught me.

Kakashi patted my head, "Nice to see you too."

I pull away from him, "Are you coming to watch us?" I ask him.

Kakashi nods his head, "I wouldn't want to miss my students fighting now would I?"

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaims walking over to us. As he gets closer, Naruto pulls out a book, Jiraiya's new book to his perverted series. "Jiraiya give me it to read over, but I didn't find it interesting so I thought you might like it."

I felt my eye twitch. How dare Jiraiya try and corrupt Naruto?! We need more of Naruto not more perverts!

Kakashi's visible eye glazes over, "It can't be..." Kakashi reaches out for the book and strokes it delicately, as though it was the most precious thing in the world.

Oh how sad it was to watch, "How about we leave him with his perverted book?" I suggest to the team. Naruto and Sasuke both nodded while Sakura just smiled. There was a glint of excitement in her eyes; she could wait to show us how much she had improved.

Everyone else started to move, before I could leave, Tsunade called me, "Akemi, could you stay behind?"

I turn to look at Tsunade; she had a certain glint in her eyes. This was serious, most likely about the Akatsuki. I look back to Sasuke and Naruto, who were looking curious. "I'll catch up." I tell them with a smile to reassure them. They both nodded and left. Sakura looked at me and Tsunade with a suspicious look before leaving.

When we couldn't sense their chakra signatures anymore, we got down to business. "It's about the Akatsuki, isn't it?" I ask Tsunade with a straight face. I hadn't even asked about the Akatsuki for three years, Jiraiya had been left in charge of that. We could have communicated over letters and scrolls, but that would be too dangerous as it could have been intercepted. Before we left the village, I and Yukiko had worked together to make some special scrolls for the Akatsuki to be stored in so they couldn't be accessed through the Re-animation Jutsu. Hidan's head may be in the Nara forest, but his body was stored in a scroll. However, Yukiko would sometimes have to travel back to Konoha to seal the bodies into the scroll so she would sometimes leave me and Haku for some time.

Tsunade nodded her head, "It is. As you know, Hidan is already dead and his head is being protected."

I nod my head.

"Deidara is also dead, and he had been stored in that scroll." Tsunade says.

"Anyone else?" I ask hopeful. It had been three years so I hoped that there was another person to the collection.

Tsunade pursed her lip, "We haven't been able to get Sasori. Every time the ANBU are about to get him, he slips away."

Damn that Sasori, I knew he was smart but I was hoping he wouldn't have got away. He's one of the two that kidnaps Gaara. Deidara is dead so we don't have to worry about him.

"However," My head perks up when Tsunade begins speaking again. "We have just recently been able to eliminate Kakuzu." Tsunade tells me.

My eyes widen, Kakuzu! In the anime he was killed my Kakashi and Naruto. I definitely didn't expect him to die yet.

"The team we did send only had one survivor." Tsunade says. The grim look on her face made me feel guilty. I didn't like the thought of sending people off to their deaths, which is why I could never be Hokage.

"What has their pattern been like?" I ask.

Tsunade leans back in her chair, "They have been still capturing the Jinchuuriki and at a fast rate which is worrying. However, Gaara has yet to be captured."

I nod my head, that means someone will be coming for Gaara, and soon.

"I and Jiraiya have sent ANBU down to Suna to help just in case." Tsunade says while sighing.

"I'm going to guess they didn't like that." Looking at Tsunade's exasperated expression I'm guessing that Suna asked a load of questions, questions that were hard to answer.

Tsunade pursed her lips, "They did. They thought we were insulting them."

"Well hopefully I, Naruto-kun and Sasuke should be doing the Chunin exams, so we will be able to look out for Gaara." I say to Tsunade.

Tsunade nods her head, "They start within the next two weeks, so I'll be sending you three down sooner."

"Hai." I say.

Tsunade stands up, "Now come on, you have a fight to attend."

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

We all stood in training ground seven. I and Sasuke were on one side while Naruto and Sakura were on the other side. We were all looking at each other with a serious expression, even Naruto was looking serious. Tsunade, Kakashi, Jiraiya, Yukiko, Itachi, Haku and Shizune stood at the side; they were going to observe the match.

"The first team to defeat the other wins." Tsunade announces to us.

"Just don't try and kill each other." Yukiko says with a stoic expression on her face.

Tsunade took one last look at us before she raises her hand, "Begin!"

In a flash, both teams disappeared into the trees. I and Sasuke concealed our chakra and hide. Once we were well hidden, we began looking around for the other team. "Any plans?" Sasuke whispers looking around cautiously.

"Sneak attack." I answer also looking around.

"Any tips?" Sasuke asks.

"Sakura is good against Genjutsu, so don't do that, also don't get hit by her punches." I inform Sasuke in a whisper form. Sakura's punches were now deadly; even I don't use as much chakra in my punches as she does because I don't really need it. However, it is cool to have.

"Naruto-kun has the best healing facture out of us all. He'll most likely use the Rasengan and his Shadow Clones." I look to Sasuke to see he was looking around the area with his Sharingan activated; well he wasn't wasting any time.

"I don't think their team work will be very good." Sasuke says.

I nod my head, "It'll be terrible, if Naruto-kun says one bad thing about you, Sakura will go off on one." Right on cue, we hear Sakura start screaming at Naruto. I and Sasuke share a look before jumping from our position in the tree and headed towards the sound of Sakura screeching at Naruto.

"What do you recon we should do?" I ask Sasuke as we ran.

"Separate them," Sasuke answers.

I nod my head; we then decided that I would deal with Sakura and Sasuke with Naruto. When I won my fight with Sakura, I would come help Sasuke. He didn't know I was going to do this though, so I couldn't wait to see his surprised face.

We arrived at where they were. Sakura had punched Naruto, so he was semi-unconscious, "You baka!" Sakura shouts at Naruto.

Naruto holds his head in pain, "What did I do?!"

Sakura just glares at Naruto and goes to shout at him, but she didn't have the chance. I threw a kunai at her, but she dodged in time, imbedding it in a tree behind her. Sakura whirls around in time to catch a punch I was sending her. She caught my fist and looks at me with shock.

"Surprise!" I shout aiming a kick at her stomach which sent her into a tree. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Naruto and Sasuke fighting, but they soon disappeared from my view.

Sakura gets up from the broken tree and wipes her face. She glares at me, "What?" I ask her in confusion. She was looking so serious.

Sakura puts her gloves on and punches the ground, making the earth crack. I jump away from the broken floor and into a tree where it was safe. I make the tiger hand seal, "Katon: Karyūdan!" Fire came shooting out of my mouth and at Sakura, but at the last minute she dodged and jumped for me in the tree.

I jump away from her and back onto the ground, one that hadn't been uplifted by Sakura's punch. Sakura threw shuriken at me, but I easily side stepped them and threw my own senbon needles at her. Unlike me though, Sakura wasn't able to dodge them all and ended up with one stuck in her arm.

Sakura looks down at the senbon and removes it. "Senbon needles?"

I grin at her, "Haku may have taught me some tricks."

Sakura growled at me and came running at me, aiming a punch at me. I decided to test my chakra shield and stayed where I was. Sakura punched me on my shoulder, which would have been dislocated, but thanks to my chakra shield, it absorbed the shock. It still hurt like a bitch, but it could have been worse.

"Much better punch than three years ago." I say thinking back to the time three years ago when I made her punch me.

"Why didn't it do anything?!" Sakura shouts in outrage. She had been working on this for three years and yet it didn't even touch me.

I grin at her, "It's something called a chakra shield." I decided to show my new little trick, this is what I spent my three years doing. I make a hand seal with one hand, Sakura recoils and gets ready for my Ninjutsu.

But I wasn't performing a Ninjutsu. The chakra shield around me vibrated and become visible for a moment. The chakra around my wrists expanded, blades made out of pure chakra appeared on both my wrists. They looked like shark fins and were sharper. They could be seen unlike my chakra shield. Through the three years, I developed the chakra shield to expand at my will; it was a bitch to do though. I had ended up in a hospital once or twice, but it was all worth it. I began experimenting with it wondering what else it can stop. After two years of constant training, on top of the training I was already getting, I made the chakra shield into an offensive weapon, not just a defensive weapon.

Sakura looks at my blades in shock and goes to step back, I run after her and attacked. It was like it was normal Taijutsu, but it was far from it. Sakura was trying to make sure she didn't get cut by my blades. But this is the mistake people make when they encounter my chakra blades.

While Sakura was dodging my left blade, I managed to cut her with my right chakra blade. I managed to cut her on her arm. Sakura quickly jumped away and healed herself, but while she was doing this, I activated my Shīringu making my eyes turn purple. When Sakura sees my eyes, she looks nervous. She didn't know what they did other than the fact I can see through things. I run at Sakura with my chakra blades ready. Sakura dodged while I attacked. This pattern continued until I got bored and decided to end this soon.

Sakura's movements began to get sluggish and she didn't know why. She was used to training for hours on end now, but she felt tired all of a sudden. Sakura looks at me and her eyes widen. "What's happening?" Sakura asks uncertain. She didn't know what was going on, but she knew that it had something to do with my Shīringu.

"I'm draining your chakra." I answer her; I was taking her chakra to end this fight. I wanted to go fight with Sasuke and Naruto so I decided to finish this quick.

Sakura fell to the floor on her knee drained of chakra. When I felt all her chakra was nearly gone, thus replenishing mine, I stopped and deactivated my Shīringu. "Thanks for the chakra." I say before knocking her out with a pressure point. Sakura fell to the floor with a thump.

With that, I run away to look for Sasuke and Naruto. But it wasn't that hard to find them, you just have to follow the sound of fighting and shouting and you'll find them. I found them easily as I knew I would. They were in a large clearing and the area around them was completely destroyed. The ground was up heaved and trees were broken.

Sasuke and Naruto were in the middle of the destruction. They had gone all out against each other, their clothes were ripped in places, they were covered in cuts and scrapes and they were panting in exhaustion. Naruto's cuts were healing a lot faster than Sasuke's, so out of the two, he looked the best.

"Room for one more?" I say getting the boys attention. They turned to face me, Sasuke scowled when he saw me, while Naruto was looking curious.

"You beat Sakura?" Naruto asks me.

I nod my head, "Yep, she's unconscious in the training grounds."

"I don't need help." Sasuke says to me, glaring at me with Sharingan activated.

I raise an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

Sasuke scowls at me and rolls his eyes.

"I think that's enough for today anyway." Tsunade says appearing behind me along with the rest of our audience.

Naruto pouts, "But we didn't finish fighting!"

Jiraiya sighs, "I think you've done enough damage for today."

"Same with you Sasuke." Itachi says looking to his brother.

"But Aniki..." Sasuke tries to protest, but one glare from Itachi shut him up.

"Bedsides," Tsunade says, "Sakura needs rest."

I walk over to Haku and hug him, "How did you think I did, Onii-chan?" I ask him.

Haku smiles down at me, "You did great, I was surprised when you revealed your chakra blades though."

I shrug, "I wanted to spice the match up." I was disappointed that I couldn't fight Sasuke and Naruto, but I'm sure I will one day. Besides, it would have been an unfair match.

"Well you did wonderfully." Kakashi compliments me, but then says the same to the boys. With the shine in his eyes I could tell that he was proud. I was surprised that he watched the match though; I thought he'd be reading his perverted book.

"Thank you." I smile at him.

I noticed Yukiko looking at me, "What did you think?" I ask her.

Yukiko looks at me with a passive expression, "You need to stop showing off."

"I did not show off!" I shout at her in indignation.

Haku waves Yukiko's words off, "Don't listen to her, she's just a bitter old woman."

Yukiko glared at Haku and Haku returned the glare.

"How about some ramen?" I suggest wanting to break the two up.

"No." Yukiko answers before walking away from us. I just watched her go shaking my head, even after three years she didn't come out of her shell.

"Ramen!" Naruto shouts, an excited gleam in his eye. Jiraiya hadn't let him have ramen often on the journey, mainly because they couldn't find any stands.

"After you two have been healed." Tsunade says making Naruto pout and sit on the floor so he can be healed. Following Naruto's lead, Sasuke also sat on the ground to be healed. Shizune and Tsunade walked over and healed the two. Kakashi disappeared, most likely to read his book.

I look at Itachi, "So, what do you think?"

Itachi nods his head, "You did well."

"Not that Sakura was much of a challenge." Haku comments with a little grin. People didn't know this, but Haku could actually be quite sadistic if you couldn't tell.

NARUTO SHIPPUDEN

We had made it back to mine and Haku's apartment after we had had some ramen. Sasuke, I and Naruto sat on the couch while Haku and Itachi stood in the kitchen to talk. Sakura was taken home for some rest by Kakashi. I'm surprised he even noticed her, especially with that new book.

Now that all three of us were alone, I decided to ask, "Hey, Naruto-kun."

Naruto lifts his head to look at me. Sasuke also looks at me. "How do you feel about doing the Chunin exams this year?" I ask him. Sasuke had already said yes, and now we just need Naruto to make a team.

Naruto grins, "Let's do it!"

"Good, because I don't want to be the only Genin from our group." Sasuke says referring to the Rookie Ten.

Naruto looks at Sasuke confused, "What do you mean?"

"He means that everyone from the Rookie Ten has become Chunin." I explain to Naruto.

Naruto sits up straight, "Even Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke nods his heads and scoffs, "Don't know how, but she did."

"She, Ino and Choji became a team." I say with a sigh. It was kind of depressing that we were the only Genin left from out group.

"What about Lee's team?" Naruto asks with furrowed eyebrows.

"Neji's become a Jonin." I say, "Tenten and Lee are still Chunin."

"And Gaara is the Kazekage of Suna." Sasuke says looking at Naruto. I was also looking at Naruto to see his reaction. He took it well in the anime, but he had more interaction with Gaara in the anime than he does now. Naruto looked a little sad at first, but then he smiled.

"That's great; does that mean that they accepted him?" Naruto asks.

I nod my head, "The Suna villagers will come to love him definitely."

Naruto seemed happy with this and relaxed into the couch.

"If we are entering the Chunin exams then we'll probably get to see him." Sasuke says.

"That would be nice; we haven't seen them in a while." I say with a thoughtful expression.

Naruto nods his head, "I can't wait for it now."

"Well Shika-kun and Temari are the ones who have planned this year's exams, so it will definitely be about strategies and how smart you are." I say. I had run into Shika-kun and Temari, they told me about the exams. I already knew about them, but they didn't know that. I was curious to know what Shika-kun and Temari would be doing for the exams though.

"Then the dobe has no chance." Sasuke smirks.

Naruto growls at Sasuke but chooses not to say anything.

"Well if it's on team work then we'll definitely all fail." I mock groan and put my head in my hands. I felt Sasuke glare at me along with Naruto, but I ended up laughing and had to sit up before I fell of the couch.

That's when I remember; I picked up a book from the table and threw it at Naruto. Naruto dodged at the last minute and looked at me with panic in his eye, "What did I do?!" Naruto shouts.

I glare at him accusingly, "You sent Hinata more letters." I wasn't angry; I just wanted to mess with Naruto.

Sasuke's eyebrows raise, "Did you?"

Naruto looks at us confused, "Yeah, what's wrong with that."

"Sasuke sent me more letter than you!" I point my finger at him accusingly.

This time Naruto looks at Sasuke, "You sent her letters?"

Sasuke stares at Naruto. "So what if I did,"

"I just thought you'd send more letters to your surrogate family." I say crossing my arms and looking away from Naruto.

Naruto's eyes widen, "S-surrogate family."

"That's what we are, isn't it?" I ask Naruto turning to look at him. I felt as though we were all a family, maybe I was the only one.

Naruto smiles at me softly, "Thank you."