Hello everyone. First, I would like to take the time to say thank you for reading my fic. A little note about the story: It follows they story of Shippuden's beginning with a few changes. But it's similar. Once it reaches the middle though, it branches off and becomes my own story from there. This is my first fic, and I was pretty nervous to upload it. But, I figured if I like to write stories, why not let the people of the internet see how I do. Your reviews would be very much appreciated. Seeing as it's my first fic, I'll accept flames. The harshest critics are normally the best ones. I will note that I do need to work on my comedy. I'm funny in person, but I can't seem to get it down in words. So any suggestions there would greatly help my writing. Anything else you guys spot, feel free to point them out, and I'll do my best to work it into my writing. Chances are you've been doing this for a while. Anyway, enough of my rambling!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or anything officiated to the series. It all belongs to Kishimoto-san

Notes: Italics: Someone is speaking inside their head.

"Quote marks": Someone is speaking out loud.

A break line: An end to a scene and moving to a new one.

Alright! On to the story! :D

Chapter 1: Naruto's Return

It was a sunny day in Konoha and Sakura Haruno was out taking a stroll around the village. She didn't know why, but today felt like a special day to her. Little did she know that her intuition was right. Her hair was as pink as a cherry blossom and flowed down to the end of her face on either side. It parted in the middle revealing a somewhat large forehead. Her forehead protector was situated on a red cloth that was tied around just above where her hair parted. She had a pair of beautiful emerald colored eyes. She wore a sleeveless red blouse which had a zipper that ran from the collar all the way down to the end of the blouse. She wore a light purple sash on both of her arms that reached from the bottom of her upper arm, to the top of her upper forearm. She also wore black leather gloves. Her mini skirt was the same color as the sashes on her arms and reached down to her thighs. Underneath the skirt, she wore a pair of black shorts that extended just past her mini skirt. To finish off her look, she wore a pair of open toed black boots that stopped just below her knees.

It was two and a half years ago that Naruto had left to train with Jiraiya of the Sannin. She wondered how her teammate was doing and how strong he had gotten over the years.

"It's been two and a half years already. Naruto will be coming home any day now. I can't wait to see him."

Meanwhile, a few miles out of Konoha, Two leaf ninja were leisurely walking in the direction of the village.

One of them was a boy about in his mid-teens. His hair was as yellow as the sun and spikey. His forehead protector was situated on a black cloth tied around his forehead. He had sapphire blue eyes and three whisker looking marks on either side of his face. He wore a jumpsuit that had the top quarter covered in all black, including its sleeves, and the rest was orange with a black line flowing down to his pants on either side of the zipper. On the back of his jumpsuit, a symbol was in the middle of his back. It was a small red circle, with a line that made a swirl to the middle of the circle. His pants were completely orange. He wore a pair of open toed, black sandals which is the most common footwear among most ninjas.

The man following him seemed to be in his sixties. His hair was white and spikey. The front portion of his hair was in the shape of a lion's mane, while in the back, it was tied in a pony tail that reached all the way down to his lower back. He had solid black eyes and a red line of face paint that ran from both of his eyes, down to the bottom of each side of his face. His forehead protector is much bigger than his blond companion's and has two spikes that jut out at the top corners. Although, instead of the traditional leaf symbol that is normally etched on the forehead protector of the leaf ninja, The Japanese kanji for oil is painted in black. He wears a light green gi for his shirt that ends just below his waste. Over his gi, he wears a red sleeveless vest that ends just about at his knees. There is one big yellow button on each side of the vest around his chest area. His pants are the same color and are rolled up so that they end just above his shins. He wears light chain mail armor underneath his shirt and pants and wears hand guards that protect the back of his hands. Instead of wearing open toed sandals that are preferred by most ninja, he wears a pair a red clogs. A giant red and green scroll is tied to his back.

The blonde seems to pick up the pace, seeming eager to reach his destination that much faster.

"Whoa slow down there kid! The village isn't going anywhere!" The old man chuckled.

"I can't help it pervy sage! I've been away from home for so long! I want to get there as fast as possible!" Said his young companion, looking like he was ready to start bouncing off towards Konoha.

"How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me that?! I am the legendary toad sage Jiraiya! I also happen to be one of the Leaf village's three legendary Sannin! So I think I deserve a little respect ya brat!" Jiraya seemed miffed but it looked like he didn't expect his words to get through to the blond boy.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Legendary blah, blah, blah. You want me to stop calling you pervy sage? Then stop peaking at women in bath houses. Can we just hurry up already? I wanna see all my friends!" The boy had a smile that reached from ear to ear.

"I told you that it's not peaking! It's essential research for my books!" Jiraiya retorted.

"Yeah. Research so you can take advantage of a woman's body when she isnt looking." Naruto snorted.

"You're never going to let this go are you?" Jiraiya sighed, a look of defeat written all over his face. "

Fine, Naruto. Let's go." With that, Jiraiya's demeanor changed and he now wore his own smile.

"YES!" Naruto shouted. "ALRIGHT, LET'S MOVE!" After shouting at the top of his lungs, Naruto Uzumaki made a dash for Konoha as if a bear were chasing him. Jiraiya raced after him.

Back in Konoha, Sakura had been walking towards the village's main gate. She thought that she would check with the guards on duty to see if they had received any word that Naruto might be coming back soon. She really hoped today would be the day he finally came home. She wouldn't admit it to anyone, but she desperately missed her knuckle headed, goofball of a teammate. Not only that, but while he was away for all those years, unbeknownst to him, Sakura had finally developed feelings for him and she didn't think she could contain them much longer. She wanted him to come home that very instant so she could finally tell him.

At the main gate of Konoha, two ninja sat inside the small guard station looking as if they were inevitably going to die of boredom.

"Damnit Izumo! Why is it that we are always stuck with guarding the gate?" Said one of the men. His hair is black, spiky, and stops below the middle of his face and at the bottom of his neck in the back. His forehead protector is situated on a blue cloth and is tied around his forehead. He has black eyes and a white sash that wraps around the middle of his head and rises just below his eyes from the bridge of his nose. He has a small goatee that starts a little below his mouth and ends at the bottom of his chin. Since he is sitting behind the guard stand, only his upper body can be seen. He wears a long sleeve blue turtle neck and a standard leaf village flak jacket that are awarded to ninja who reach chunin rank.

"I don't know Kotetsu. Maybe the Hokage thinks we're so good at our job, that she doesn't see a need to assign any other ninja to do it." The man named Izumo joked, trying to lighten the mood. Like his partner Kotetsu, Izumo wore a blue long sleeve turtle neck, but his went all the way up to cover his chin, and leaf flak jacket. Unlike Kotetsu though, Izumo chose to wear his headband like a bandana. It is attached to a blue cloth like Kotetsu's. Izumo has black eyes and has brown hair that is combed down. His hair covers his right eye.

"Well isn't that just fanfriggintastic?" Kotetsu said, obviously annoyed.

"Complaining won't do any good. Let's just do our job and who knows. Maybe we'll see something interesting for once." said Izumo trying to keep his calm.

"Twenty bucks says we won't." Kotetsu challenged.

"You that desperate to lose your money?" Izumo smirked.

"We'll see who's crying by the end of this bet." Kotetsu smirked back.

They both shook hands sealing the deal. Not even ten seconds later, Naruto rushed through the gates and came to a screeching halt in front of the guard station. He turned to look at the two ninja who seemed to have a look as if they were trying to process what just happened.

"Hey Izumo! Kotetsu! How you guys doing? Naruto asked with his famous grin.

Izumo was the first to speak after finally breaking free of his dumbstruck trance.

"Hey Naruto! Long time no see! Izumo said with enthusiasm.

"Yeah Naruto! It's been awhile! You look really grown up now." Kotetsu matched Izumo's enthusiasm.

"We're just trying to keep ourselves from dying of boredom around here. Looks like our prayers have been answered!" Izumo said excitedly.

Naruto rubbed his nose while grinning and chuckling.

"Thanks guys! I'm glad I could bring some life back into your boring job."

Both Izumo and Kotetsu laughed and said goodbye as Naruto ran off into the village.

Just then, Jiraiya sped by not even bothering to greet the two. As the wind died down from Jiraiya's speedy entrance, Izumo and Kotetsu just stared straight ahead not sure of what to say. Then Izumo held out his hand towards Kotetsu.

"Pay up." He said in a monotone voice.

Izumo could have sworn he heard Kotetsu mumble a few curses while he dug in his pocket for the money and slammed it into his hand. Izumo smiled triumphantly; looking at the money he won from his partner, while Kotetsu sat in the corner of the guard station and sulked.

Sakura was approaching the main gate, when she saw that the two guards were oddly giddy about something and chatting away like there was some new gossip she didn't know about.

"Hello Izumo, Kotetsu. How are you doing today?" Sakura greeted to the two guards

The two ninja looked at Sakura and smiled knowingly at her. Sakura looked a bit confused at them.

"Well well look who it is." Kotetsu said smiling at her.

"Huh?" Sakura asked.

"There's a surprise waiting for you back in the village." Kotetsu hinted.

"Yeah! It's pretty unbelievable! You gotta go see!" Said Izumo excitedly.

Realization struck Sakura immediately.

"No...could it be?"

Naruto wanted to get a better view of the village, so he ran up a tall pole using his chakra. When he got to the top, he took in his surroundings, a feeling a nostalgia setting in.

"Wow. It's just like I remembered. The village hasn't changed at all."

Then something caught his eye in the distance. On the Hokage monument, the Fifth Hokage's face had been added.

"Ha, looks like Grandma Tsunade got her face up there too." Naruto said with a smile.

"Just you wait leaf village. Someday, my face is gonna be up there too." Naruto smiled at his thought.

Jiraiya looked up at his student and smiled to himself.

"Honestly. This kid. He's back not even five minutes and can barely contain himself."

Naruto stood there staring out into the distance letting old memories flow through his mind of his home.

"NARUTO!? IS THAT YOU?!"

Naruto was snapped out of his daze and looked down to see that Sakura had run up next to Jiraiya.

"Sakura? Yeah it is!" Naruto said while jumping down from his spot on the pole.

The second Naruto hit the ground, Sakura wrapped him in a tight hug. To say Naruto was surprised would be an understatement. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his mentor smiling pervertedly and giving him a thumbs up. Naruto gave him an awkward smile and hugged Sakura back, noticing that he was standing there like an idiot and not hugging the girl of his dreams.

"I'm so glad you're back. I've missed you." Sakura said, not letting go.

"Really Sakura? I've missed you too."

Naruto felt like he was in a dream. The girl he loved the most was hugging him and telling him that she missed him. But he dismissed the last part to being a fellow teammate missing him because he'd been gone for two and a half years. Although he loved her with all his heart, he knew that she still loved Sasuke. This was enough for him though. Sakura let go of Naruto and looked up at him.

"Hey Naruto, you've gotten taller than me haven't you?"

Naruto thought about it and realized that he had. He now looked down on her a little bit.

"Huh. I guess I have." Naruto stated giving her one of his trademark grins.

"You've gotten a lot handsomer too Naruto." Sakura thought to herself.

"Wow. Sakura's become a lot more beautiful over the years." Naruto thought, thinking similarly to what Sakura was.

Sakura blushed a little at her thoughts. She looked at Naruto with a cute and innocent look in her eyes.

"So Naruto. What do you think? Do I look more womanly to you now?"

Naruto was caught off guard by the question. Sure he had learned how to compliment women in his time with the pervy sage. But when it came to Sakura, he knew he had to be careful. One wrong word and he knew she would get pissed at him. So he decided he would play it safe.

"Heh, you haven't changed a bit Sakura!" Naruto stated while giving her a thumbs-up."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched and Naruto could have sworn he saw a vain pop into view above it. Sakura quickly turned away from him and give him a "hmph" to show her disapproval with his choice of words. Naruto knew he screwed up at the moment. Jiraiya face palmed at the words of his student.

"What an oblivious idiot. Has he really learned nothing from me over the past few years?" Jiraiya thought disappointedly.

"Oh well. That's just Naruto being Naruto. I actually find his obliviousness adorable. It's another one of the reasons why I've fallen for him. But I can't let him off the hook that easily. I still gotta tease him every now and then." Sakura giggled at her thoughts.

"I blew it, I blew it, I blew it, I blew it, I blew it, I blew it, I blew it!" Naruto screamed in his head as he mentally slapped himself repeatedly each time he repeated the phrase.

"I'm sorry Sakura; I didn't mean it like that! I think you look even more beautiful than before!" Nartuto practically blurted out.

His words caused Sakura to turn around surprised. She smiled shyly and blushed slightly. Naruto stood shocked at the words that just came out of his mouth.

"Crap." Naruto said in his head.

Meanwhile, Jiraiya praised the boy in his mind for a nice save.

"Maybe he did learn something after all."

Jiraiya saw the way Sakura reacted to Naruto's words and knew how Sakura felt immediately. He also knew that now would be a good time for him to leave the two to themselves.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna head to the Hokage's office to let her know that Naruto and I are back." You two go catch up. We can meet up later."

And with those words, Jiraiya vanished in a poof of smoke. There was a moment of silence between the two, until Sakura broke it.

"Well you heard him. Let's go catch up. I wanna hear all about your trip. How about some Ichiraku? I know that's probably the first place you wanted to go right?" Sakura asked the blond knucklehead.

"Sakura, you can read me like a book." Naruto responded giving her a big grin. "Wait...Sakura, does this mean…we're going on a...date?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Sakura giggled at Naruto's hopefulness. Little did he know that Sakura planned to go on a date with him regardless if Jiraiya told them too or not.

"Maybe~." Sakura sung and winked at him.

She started walking in the direction of Naruto's favorite restaurant while walking in a way that would make any man want to follow. It took Naruto a few seconds to register what just happened, but he snapped out of it and ran to catch up to Sakura.

Naruto told Sakura everything that happened over the past two and a half years. Sakura was impressed to hear how much he had improved. Although, she had to see it first hand to believe it. Sakura told him all about her medical training with Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage and another member of the three legendary Sannin. Naruto was happy to hear that Sakura had improved as well.

"That's great Sakura! You really are amazing!" Naruto told her excitedly.

Sakura blushed at his comment. Naruto noticed.

"Hey Sakura, you ok? Your face is a little red." He put his hand to her forehead. "Do you have a fever?"

Naruto looked worryingly at her and Sakura couldn't help but love it.

"Even when he's dead wrong about something, he still worries about me like I'm the most important person to him ever."

"No Naruto. I'm ok. I would know if I had a fever. I am a medic after all." She said that last part a bit smugly.

"Oh. Right. Heh heh. My bad." Naruto grinned and rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Well I'll tell you one thing. It's great to have my number one customer back! Honestly, Naruto this place seems dead when you're not around." Said Teuchi, the stand owner. Teuchi wore a white, diamond shaped paper hat, and a white chef's robe. His hair is covered by the hat and his eyes are squinted closed.

"It's great to be back old man!" As Naruto likes to call the stand owner. "I had a lot of ramen while I was away from the village, but no ramen can top yours!" Naruto stated with pride.

"It makes me happy to hear that Naruto! Thank you! Now how about that ramen? Here you go you two, on the house!"

THANKS! Both Naruto and Sakura shouted

Being the proud owner of a black hole for a stomach, Naruto finished all thirteen of his ramen bowls before Sakura could finish her one bowl. He would have eaten more, but Sakura was ready to leave at that point. Naruto, not wanting to upset his date, obliged. They both thanked Teuchi for the food and left. Naruto was really enjoying the time he was spending with his teammate and secret (or not so secret) crush. Much to his relief, Sakura had seemed to enjoy it too.

"Hey Naruto?" Sakura looked over to Naruto.

"Hmm? What is it Sakura?" Naruto had a puzzled look on his face.

"That was a great date; remind me to go out with you again sometime soon." She put her arms behind her back and held them together while smiling with her eyes closed.

Naruto was dumbfounded. Here was the girl he wanted most in life, who had never once accepted a date offer from him, and now she was asking him to take her out again. And sometime soon no less.

"Uhhh,,,sure thing Sakura! But what's changed? I've asked you out for years but you've never accepted any of my offers. In fact, you would take pleasure in shooting me down." Naruto joked while chuckling at the memories of his countless rejections.

"That was then Naruto. We were little kids. I'm grown up and more mature now. I can tell when a man has good intentions, and you, you have the best of anyone guy I've ever met. Plus there are extra bonus points when the guy is a looker." She smirked at him.

"Eh?" Naruto tilted his head confused.

Sakura laughed at his cluelessness. Here she was, practically dropping hints with explosive tags on them, and Naruto still didn't have a clue what she was doing. That only made Sakura more determined. She would get her point across whether she had to flat out say how she felt or not.

"Never mind Naruto. Hey, why don't you come over for dinner tonight? I've told my mom a lot about you and I'm sure she'd love to meet you."

Naruto accepted the offer with gratitude and they headed off in the direction of Sakura's house. Sakura tried flirting some more, but it all went over Naruto's head. But she wasn't giving up just yet.

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review! :D