I do not own Naruto Shippuden or any of the characters. This takes place just after the Three-tails arc.

Celebration

Naruto walked into the village with the others and instantly branched off toward Ichiraku's. Sakura and Ino both exchanged grins knowing how much trouble he'd be in when Tsunade found out where he was going. The others all went to Tsunade's office and gave her their report.

"Naruto!" Teuchi said. "Welcome back. How'd it go?"

"We almost lost Hinata," Naruto said.

Teuchi froze momentarily hearing worry, fear, and even guilt in his voice.

"Is she okay?" Teuchi asked.

"She's fine," Naruto said. "I'll take one bowl of the usual."

Teuchi nodded and a moment later he brought Naruto a bowl of ramen. Naruto ate it slowly barely noticing that he was eating it at all. When he finished it, he left his money on the bar and left. Ayame leaned on the bar to watch him go then looked at Teuchi questioningly. He simply shrugged.

"He did what?" Tsunade asked after Sakura had finished explaining why Naruto wasn't with them.

"He went to Ichiraku's ma'am," Sakura said.

"When I get my hands on him..." Tsunade said marching toward the door.

"No don't!" Sakura said grabbing Tsunade's arm.

"Why?" Tsunade asked.

"He didn't seem like himself on the way back," Sakura said. "He seemed...distant."

"Now that you mention it," Kiba said. "He's seemed like that ever since-"

"Kiba," Sakura said sternly. "If you know, don't say. That goes double for you Lee."

Lee nodded and Kiba also nodded. Tsunade sighed and understood what it was.

"He took it a lot harder than he let on," Sakura said.

"You're all dismissed," Tsunade said. "Sakura. Tell me what's wrong with him."

Sakura nodded and once the others were gone she began.

"Naruto feels that he was simply late," Sakura said. "He feels that if he had been faster, he could have saved her and she wouldn't have almost died."

"I see," Tsunade said. "Poor kid. He takes things onto himself even without meaning too. Try to cheer him on but without leading him on this time, okay hooch?"

"I'm not a hooch!" Sakura said offended.

"If you say so," Tsunade said. "Just stop leading Naruto on, okay?"

"I don't-" Sakura began.

"You're dismissed," Tsunade interrupted.

Sakura left before she lost her anger and Tsunade pulled out a bottle of Sake. Shizune walked in and rested her hand in her face for a moment then continued with her business.

Naruto walked to the nearest weapon shop and went inside. When he was inside, he looked around and didn't see anything he liked so he walked to the back. There were two displays of twin swords. One was a pair of ninjato and the other a pair of chokuto. One chokuto was black and the other was white. The white one had the Kanji for Love in black on the grip and the scabbard. The other chokuto had the Kanji for Death in the same places but in white. Both ninjato were navy blue with sky blue Kanji. One said Yin, the other said Yang. Naruto smiled and had a very strong urge to buy them. He debated it, but in the end, he bought both sets.

He left that store and went to the armor shop. He didn't particularly care for armor but he decided that he was getting tired of the color orange. He was glad that the armor shop doubled as the best clothing store in the village. He tried out several outfits before deciding on a pair of black cargo pants, a black long-sleeved shirt, a pair of black gloves with metal splints on the backs, and a red cloak with black flames on the bottom.

"Not bad," Naruto said.

He decided to put his jacket back on then put the cloak over it. He payed for a few more sets of the outfit then left. He began to wander through the village in the general direction of his apartment. When he got there, he found a note attached to the door.

The note read, "Naruto, meet me at Yakiniku Q. Sakura."

Naruto sighed and dropped his new swords off in his apartment then headed to the restaurant. When he arrived, it was empty. Just as he was about to leave, all of his friends jumped out and shouted "Surprise" before Sai pulled a table with a six foot tall cake out. Naruto smiled then realized there were only two people he knew of that cooked in the group.

"Who made the cake?" Naruto asked.

"Good question," Neji said.

"I did," Sakura said.

"Pass," everyone except Hinata, who had never tried Sakura's cooking before, said.

"I'm not that bad," Sakura said. "Am I?"

"Have you ever tasted your medicine balls?" Naruto asked.

"Well, no," Sakura said.

"I suggest you take a very small bite, for your sake," Naruto said.

Sakura began to pout until Lee, trying to cheer her up, stepped forward and cut himself a slice of cake.

"I wouldn't do that," Naruto warned.

"I have faith in Sakura's cooking!" Lee said overly loudly, as usual.

Lee took a very large bite and instantly regretted it. His face turned lime green and a moment later, he rushed out of the building. Naruto couldn't help but grin and regretted it when Sakura pounded her fist into the top of his head multiple times in a row. Finally Kiba and Neji managed to pull her off and Naruto slumped into a booth holding his head. Ino healed his concussion then went to the back and brought out a table of food.

"Don't worry this food is safe," Ino said.

"How do you know?" Naruto asked.

"Because Hinata made it," Ino said.

"Hinata cooks?" Kiba asked.

Hinata blushed slightly and Naruto smiled.

"Let's eat," Naruto said.

Everyone took some food and began to eat. Naruto used his manors, even though everyone seemed surprised, because he was thoroughly enjoying the meal.

"I gotta say Hinata," Naruto said. "You're a really good cook. You'll make someone an excellent wife some day."

Hinata's face turned so red that the apple she was holding looked pale in comparison. The apple fell out of her hand onto her plate then Hinata began to tip over backward. Kiba held out his hand and caught her then gently leaned her against his shoulder. Then he continued eating. The others all did the same except Naruto whose worry about Hinata's safety returned. The first time he had actually felt it, that he could remember, was when Hinata had fought Jiga to protect Naruto. Then he had felt it again when she had fought the Queen Bee herself. Then he had been confident in her abilities and hadn't been very worried until she had been encased in crystal. Then the worry had returned.

Naruto continued to eat but very slowly. Finally, he decided he was finished even though he hadn't even finished his first plate. He thanked them for throwing the celebration for him then left. He went to his apartment and retrieved his swords then went to the top of the Hokage Monument and Yamato arrived a moment later since Naruto had sent a clone to fetch him.

"Yes?" Yamato asked.

"Can you teach me to use these?" Naruto asked.

"Sure," Yamato said. "But you'll need to be patient."

Naruto nodded and drew the black chokuto. Yamato smiled and tossed him the black ninjato to start with. Naruto nodded and switched swords and Yamato drew the white ninjato. Yamato started off by teaching Naruto the basics of sword play. Then they began to spar and Naruto failed miserably at first. Then he began to get better quickly when Kurama gave him some memories he had of his first Jinchuriki learning to fight with a sword. After about half an hour, Naruto was as good as Mito Uzumaki had been.

THE END

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