Chapter 14

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Team seven is on its way home. They had parted with Haku, who was on his way to help out in the civil war in Kirigakure. Naruto is feeling great. Land of Waves is safe and sound. Tazuna and his workers had completed the bridge connecting The Land of Waves and The Land of Fire. They also named it after Naruto. It was Inrai's idea. So it was appropriately childish. Naruto was also happy to be on his way home. Haku gave him some things to think about before he left; Why was he trying so hard to get strong? Does he really only have one meaningful person in his life? Why is Sasuke so mad at him? But all these things could wait until he got home. Haku had first been very sad about his master's death after a burial and a pep talk from Naruto. Then, he had agreed to honour his master's by continuing his mission and fight for the bloodline rebels.

Team seven arrived at a bustling Konoha in the middle of the day. Naruto and his team said their goodbyes. Naruto wanted to go to his favourite flower shop. However, he wasn't sure if it was to meet Ino or see the flowers. Probably both. As he weaves through the busy streets with practised ease, he soon finds himself in front of the flower shop. He walks in. When he isn't met with a girl his age, he is slightly shocked. Instead, he sees a woman with brown hair and eyes in her middle ages. "Welcome," she says in a warm and kind voice. "Thank you. You must be Ino's mother, right? You look younger than I expected," Naruto asks and compliments. "Why, thank you, and I am. My name is Inomi. You must be Naruto," She says while holding up a hand covering her mouth. The flowers in the shop had gotten more lively since Naruto stepped into the shop, something Inomi noticed. "How did you know?" Naruto asks. "Ino speaks a lot of a blonde boy with whisker marks," She answers. She was filling away something behind the counter, so she didn't see Naruto walking up to the counter. "Really? What does she say?" Naruto says, a smile forming as he sets his elbows on the counter and rests his chin in the palm of his hand. "Oh, I couldn't say that. She would be quite mad." Inomi says a teasing smile spreads on her face. "Ehh... Come on, now I've got to know," Naruto says.

Ino's day couldn't have been worse. She had done a D-rank. Which was bad enough, but she also had to drag her lazy teammates and sensei. Now she was spent. She just wanted to go home and sleep. She walks through the streets of Konoha, almost bumping into the people in her way. She soon stands in front of her home and flower shop. She is surprised to see her mother talking at length with a customer. Most of the time, they get intimidated by her regal aura and stick to more short and polite conversations. "Ehh... Come on, now I've got to know," Ino hears a familiar voice say. She panics. She did not want Naruto to know of the rantings she had made to her mother. He was already teasing enough. She opens the door and sees that her ears didn't play a prank on her.

Inomi sees her immediately after the small chime goes off. The smile said more than what she would ever want to know. Ino runs over to her mother and pushes her away from the counter. "Well, Ino if, you wanted to tend to the shop that much, you could have just said so," Inomi says, a teasing smile on her face. "No, I just don't want you to talk to him," Ino seeth out of her teeth. "My. He is such a nice boy," Inomi says, a hand on her cheek. "JUST GET OUT!" Ino shoved her mother back into their home. 

Ino was now alone with Naruto in the shop. "So you talk about me with your mom," Naruto says teasingly. Ino blushes slightly. "I just complain about how annoying you are," She says, crossing her arms and looking away from Naruto. "Hoh... is that so," Naruto asks. He reaches out to the plant he reached out to before. "I've taken good care of since you last saw it," Ino says. "I can tell," Naruto answers, a small smile on his face.

Team seven stands on a bridge waiting for Kakashi. He hadn't told them why he wanted to meet them. Naruto sits on the railing in a lotus position. Sasuke is leaning on the first pole of the bridge, a bit away from Naruto. Sakura is standing on the bridge but leaning on anything. Kakashi was only 15 minutes late at this point, so team seven didn't count on him coming for at least 45 minutes more. 

But contrary to their expectations, a swirl of leaves clued them that Kakashi Shinshuing to them. "Hello, my cute little genins," Kakashi says as soon as he becomes visible. "You are not as late as you usually are. Who are you, and what have you done to Kakashi?" Naruto says as he raises a finger pointing accusingly at the supposed Kakashi. "You wound me, Naruto. Aren't you supposed to be a pretty good sensor?" Kakashi says as he lays a hand on his chest to show where he is hurt. "Anyway, I am here to talk to you about the upcoming Chunin exams," Kakashi continues, recovering from his banter with Naruto. He pulls out three pieces of paper. "These are your entry slips. You are supposed to go to room 301 at the academy at 1300 hours in two days. Good luck," He says as he leaves in another shunshin.

Naruto doesn't have anything to do, so he walks down the street. He soon felt three presences behind him. "Oi, Konohamaru, you aren't fooling anyone with the sqaure rock look," Naruto says as he stops. Then, an explosion went off behind him. Konohamaru and two other kids stood on all four, coughing. "Konohamaru you used too much gunpowder..." The other boy says. "As expected of my boss," Konohamaru say, ignoring the other boy's misgivings. "Come on Konohamaru, aren't you going to indroduce me to your friends?" Naruto asks. "I am the cute and sexy Moegi," The girl introduces herself. Naruto sweatdropped. "I am Udon, I like algebra," The other boy says. "And I am Konohamaru," Konohamaru states as if Naruto didn't already know. "And together we are the Konohamaru corp." they all finished together with choreographed poses in the end. They were all wearing matching goggles on their head. The same ones Naruto had been wearing before he became a ninja. "Nice introduction..." Naruto says as he takes out his tumb. "I knew you would like it, boss," Konohamaru says, rubbing his finger under his nose in a satisfied manner. "Anyway why don't you play ninja with us, Boss," Konohamaru says. "Sorry but I can't..." Naruto starts. Sakura, who had come out after the explosion in front of her family store, interrupts him. "Being a ninja should disqualify you from playing ninja," she sounds smug. Konohamaru ignores the pink-haired woman, leans in, and whispers: "Oi, boss is she your..." to Naruto. Naruto took a few seconds before understanding what he meant. "No no no no no. No way," he answers. "Yeah, you could do a lot better than her. Her forehead is huge," Konohamaru says loud enough for Sakura to hear. She gets furious at him. "Konohamaru you should run." Naruto says.

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