Yep. That's My Student...

Chapter Twenty-Two

“Hn,” Sasuke added in helpfully.

“Long time, no see, Naruto! Sakura! Sasuke!” An old man, a bridge builder, yelled as he and his grandson approached the three teens.

“I never thought I'd see you heroes again, Naruto!” The young carpenter, Inari, said as he wiped some sweat off of his face with a white towel.

“Are you…?” Sakura trailed off as she and her two teammates looked at the two males native to another country.

The three jumped up as Naruto yelled excitedly, “Inari and Tazuna! Inari… You're all grown up! And you look even older, Jii-chan!”

“Give me a break,” Tazuna grumbled.

“I'm a carpenter now. We're here to help rebuild Konoha. And I thought I'd come and say hi to you guys while I'm here,” Inari explained before giving a closed-eye grin. “You look so pretty, Sakura!”

“Oh… Really?” The Haruno blushed as she brushed back some of her pink hair. Lately, she had been parting her hair off to the side like Ren had once done. She had received compliments for her new hair style, especially from Naruto.

Tazuna bowed his head down, forcing Inari to do the same. “I'm sorry about what happened with Gatô… But thanks to you, Nami no Kuni is a prosperous nation now.”

“So now it's our turn to help you out!” The young carpenter exclaimed eagerly.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. “Inari… Thanks…”

Sakura gave a closed-eye smile as Sasuke grunted in reply.

 Kakashi came meandering over and noticed the two by his students. “Huh?! Oh, you're here already?”

“Hey, Kakashi! We came as soon as we heard Konoha was in trouble!” Tazuna explained.

“I see…” The silvernette muttered as he walked over to the five.

The man from Nami no Kuni blinked once before asking, “Huh...?”

“What is it?” Kakashi inquired, “If there's anything you need, just let me know.”

“Where's Ren? I wanted to speak with him too,” the bridge builder said as Inari nodded.

“Oh…” Kakashi didn't know what to say in reply.

A pang of pain shot through Sakura’s heart at the mention of her twin. She glanced over at her former crush, Sasuke, and glared fiercely.

The Uchiha in question looked down and away from the group. Guilt was clear in his eyes as he remembered what Ren said before taking the blame for his foolish actions.

Naruto looked between everyone silently and realized no one knew what to say.

“Uh… The thing is… Ren’s… uh…” Kakashi was grasping at straws.

“Ren and I had an… altercation,” Sasuke started slowly, earning another glare from Sakura. “Now he's…”

“Ren is away from the village until he cools down,” Naruto piped up with a fake smile. “You can say hi when he gets back!”

“I'm sure Ren would love to talk to you when he gets back. Right, Sakura?” Sasuke questioned.

“Y-yeah,” the girl agreed after a pause.

“What was the trouble?” Tazuna inquired. “Some sort of overprotective brother versus lover?”

“Of course not!” Naruto laughed as green eyed narrowed venomously at the Uchiha.