DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO, THAT RIGHT BELONGS ONLY TO KISHIMOTO! But I do own Kozuya (old man, grandpa of Mizukage haha)
A/N : I'm so excited to take you guys deeper into this story! I hope you're enjoying so far even though it's boring! This is the chapter where you finally get glipmses of some of your favorite Naruto characters!!! :D I hope y'all enjoy and please stay with the story! :)
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CHAPTER 2
Rebuilding and Reconnecting
Metal hitting wood, wood being sawed and metal meeting metal were all the sounds that surrounded the Northern side (near the mountain with the Hokages faces) of Konoha. The rebuilding of the destroyed Leaf village would begin from the Northern area and make it's way into the central, Eastern and Western area after dividing the workers into three equal groups, before they finally reach the Southern part of the village where the gates will be rebuilt.
The plans were being made as they went — especially the specifics with Jounins such as Might Gai, Sarutobi Kurenai, Hatake Kakashi and Yamato collectively decide where to place certain parts of the village such as homes, the new Academy, the extension of the currently small (and perhaps temporary) hospital and even the training grounds. Everything had to be taken from scratch, which meant that the brains of the task had to work twice as fast as the hundreds of people working on constructing. No one should be allowed too much idle time.
"Kakashi!"
At the call of his name, the gray-haired copy nin raised his eyes from studying the main blueprint of the entire Konaha rebuilding to meet his self-proclaimed rival's eyes.
"Yo, Gai. What is it?" He asked, not removing his hands from the edges of the blueprints where he held them.
"Kurenai and Yamato were wondering if it's really a good idea to put the Academy at the center of the village with the residences surrounding it. Some of the shop owners complained that putting their stores on the outskirts of the village will affect their businesses."
Kakashi thought about it for a moment. The original plan had in mind the safety of the children, and with the new Academy so close to the residences, it may be easier for kidnaps and other problems to be avoided. He forgot to consider the shop keepers. "Well, what do you think about it?"
Gai shrugged. "You know these things aren't really in my realm of... expertise."
Kakashi sighed and frowned a little. "Why are you so serious today, Gai? None of the youth and spring time fountain cheers?"
Gai smiled a little but regained his expressionless face as he looked Kakashi in the eyes. "There's been word that a new threat is brewing. The Kages have been conferring about it over the last few days and maybe even longer. Tsunade-sama has been unnerved since the news began turning up."
"What threat?"
"Nothing has been finalized yet, but it seems like the Raikage is at the heart of the investigation."
"Kakashi senpai! Gai-san! What's taking so long?" Yamato's voice broke through the heaviness that suddenly weighed upon the rival jounins.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there!" Kakashi replied before making sure that Yamato's attention was away from them before turning to face Gai.
"Where did this information come from?"
"I went to speak with Tsunade-sama earlier today but instead I received a fumbling and rather jumpy Shizune trying to send different scrolls at a time and receiving others. She mentioned conferences being held one after another. Something is definitely wrong."
"Yeah, seems like it. Tsunade's been having trouble sleeping lately. I can see it in her eyes whenever I visit the temporary hospital."
The two were quiet for a moment. Then Kakashi straightened himself. "Alright, I'll go plan a new scheme of the center with Yamato. Look for Kurenai, she might need help figuring out where to get new materials for the construction."
"Sure, sure. And Kakashi," Gai turned around, making sure Kakashi didn't see the worry lines etching his face. "Don't let any rumor reach Naruto's ears."
"Understood," Kakashi replied.
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"Good morning Hinata-chan!" Sakura's cheery voice pierced the calm that Hinata was feeling as she sat underneath a tree on the outskirts of the village.
"Oh, good morning Sakura-chan! What brings you here?"
"I was just taking a morning stroll on my way to Sasuke's apartment actually. I still can't believe he's finally home, you know?"
"Oh yes. I'm glad that he is too. It makes Naruto-kun very happy knowing his best friend is back."
"Yeah," Sakura smiled wistfully, looking upward as another breeze pushed her hair out of her face. In this light, Hinata could see the beauty that Naruto had always liked in Sakura, and to an extent she was jealous of it - of the memories they had growing up that she would never know because she wasn't a part of team 7.
"Are you okay?" Sakura's voice broke Hinata out of her negative thoughts, and she smiled quickly and turned a faint red at the thought of being caught with such sentiments. Sakura smiled, understanding.
"Don't worry. He's naive and a bit stupid, but deep down Naruto cares so much about you, Hinata. Trust me." At this, Hinata blushed even deeper, unsure of how to respond.
"Oiii!! Sakura! Hinata!!" A voice shouted as a figure in gray ran towards the two girls. A bark was heard and a huge white canine was running alongside the man. Sakura waved her hand in a greeting and Hinata stood up from where she sat.
So much for a quiet morning. She thought to herself, smiling nonetheless at the prospect of seeing Sakura and Kiba while everyone was so busy rebuilding the village.
"Kiba-kun," Hinata greeted with a smile and Kiba grabbed her into a tight hug.
"It's been too long! Where have you been?"
"Eh? Was she gone?" Sakura asked, unsure of why Kiba would not have seen Hinata in a while considering they were both from the same team.
"Ha? Didn't you know Hinata was on an inter-clan conference somewhere in the Village of Waterfall with her father and sister? They were gone for a week!"
"It's okay Kiba-kun, I didn't inform anyone else but you and Shino that I was leaving for a while."
"Sorry Hinata," Sakura apologized with a small smile, mentally scolding herself for not knowing that one of her friends was not in the village. "I wish you'd told us though, so we could have at least sent you off!"
"No, it's really okay. My father preferred that we travelled as secretly as we could."
"Ne, Hinata, do you want to go grab something to eat with me and Akamaru?"
"Sure! Sakura-chan, would you like to come with us?"
"No, no, I'm fine Hinata-chan. I was just on my way to Sasuke's remember? You two have fun."
"Suit yourself! Let's go Hinata!" Kiba shouted and started tugging on Hinata's sweater before completely pulling her with him before she could protest.
"Oh-kay! See you later Sakura-chan!"
Sakura laughed and shouted a final goodbye before turning around and heading towards the direction of Sasuke's apartment. One of the few places in the village that wasn't destroyed by Pain was the Uchiha compound because it was located practically outside the village walls, and Sasuke had specifically decided to return to this place rather than reside in one of the new buildings constructed because he believed in maintaining what the Uchiha clan had already started.
Sakura admired Sasuke for that - being unable to waver from who he really was and his roots. She smiled happily to herself as she walked, hoping to catch Sasuke in a good mood.
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Naruto lay on his back atop the heads of the mountain with the Hokages' faces, recalling the war that had just ended and thinking about what he learned from both Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama. It only reinforced his belief that bonds are what makes a person stronger. He thought of Sasuke and how he finally decided to return to the village — albeit in order to become a Hokage like himself, but at least he returned.
Naruto sighed, thinking of everyone in the village working hard to rebuild what was broken... And all he could think about were a pair of clear, pale lavender eyes. And ramen. He missed old man Ichiraku's ramen, and wondered when it would be finished building.
He wanted to take a break from everything now that he had suddenly become a celebrity with everyone wanting to be around him and all the girls who keep following him around. He wanted none of that — and now he realized why Sasuke was always in such a bad temper while they were growing up having gone through the same thing.
He thought of those lavender eyes again, and how it's been a week since she left. She was probably back by now. Hopefully her trip went smoothly, he thought. So much had changed, and he couldn't be happier. Sasuke's home. Team 7 is complete. Most of his friends had survived the Great War... And now he's considering a new goal... More than being Hokage, he wanted what his parents had — love. More than friendly love, more than the sibling love he and Sasuke, or he and Shikamaru had.
He sighed and sat up. Staring at the village, thinking that somewhere in that mass of wood, metal, stone and soil, there's a girl with lavender eyes walking around with his heart.
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"Hinata-chan!!!" A blue-eyes Ino screamed as she tackled the Hyuuga heiress to the ground upon entering the small restaurant the villagers built near the central construction site.
"Ino!" Hinata replied just as enthusiastically, falling over with a thud and hugged her closest friend back.
"Did you just get back?! How are you? How was your trip? Did you meet anyone special?" Ino pried and asked one after the other without giving time for Hinata to actually answer. The two formed an odd pair, being complete opposites of each other. But they hit it off after seeing each others' lives and being able to appreciate their own more for seeing how it is on the other side.
"Ino, stop hogging her! I want a hug too!" Tenten yanked on Ino's hair and after pulling Hinata up went on to hugging her. "I missed you Hinata-chan!"
"You pulled on my hair, Tenten! What the actual fuck?"
"Oi oi, we came here to eat. Let the lady go." Kiba spoke up, quieting the now arguing Ino and Tenten.
Hinata smiled and proceeded to hug both Ino and Tenten together. "I missed both of you so much!! I brought home gifts for you and they're at my house. We can go there after a meal so you can choose what you like, okay?" Among the buildings in Konoha, the Uchiha and the Nara compounds had suffered the least damage. The Hyuuga compound had suffered minor damage but the head, Hiashi had gone on having the compound rebuilt and fixed before any of the villagers had started planning how to rebuild the village. As a man who believed in strength, Hiashi believed that his home was supposed to be a reflection of the strength that the Hyuuga held. Hinata had frowned disdainfully, knowing full well how Hiashi had simply wanted to show off the power of the Hyuuga wealth. Still, she hadn't spoken against her father for fear of being told that she should have died in the place of the Hyuuga prodigy, her cousin Neji.
"Thanks, Hinata!" Both girls echoed together breaking Hinata from her negative thoughts. They proceeded to ushering Hinata, Kiba and Shino into a booth before serving them their meals.
"I missed this!" Kiba sighed as he looked around seeing friends gathered, enjoying meals and chatting after the Great War. It was indeed great to be back home.