Someone you loved

Chapter 20

I completely forgot I had this chapter ready for a while now! Exam time really messed with my head, but it's over now! I don't have to bother with maths again!

Now that this is over, updates will come more regular again.

Thank you for your comments and votes, I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this one.

Love, Stella

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"Hurry up, dattebayo!" shouted Naruto lively as he skipped towards Konoha's gates. "You're so slow, Baa-chan, Ero sennin."

"I'm going to strangle him," hissed the blonde woman, rubbing her temples soothingly.

"Don't be like that, Hime. The brat's just excited to see his teammates again," said Jiraiya comfortingly, though he didn't feel all that great either.

He had thought the trip would bring him closer to his godson and that the child would rethink he's decision over joining him on a three-year-training-trip, but that hadn't been the case. The boy had shut down any talk about the topic immediately and couldn't even be tempted by the prospect of learning fuinjutsu, saying he already had a teacher. Someone more competent than Jiraiya! As if that was possible with the Uzumaki all but extinct. Someone named Sora, whoever that was.

Naruto didn't hear any of the grumbling of his traveling companions, far too excited to see his pack again. He and Sakura had exchanged a few letters via Takeo and Hisa but those had been far and few in between. None of their packmates had woken up until now and they both put their entire hope on Tsunade, the Slug Sannin and Senju Hime of Konoha.

For the first week or so after finding the Sannin, the blond had flinched every time the old pervert had called her Hime, it being far too familiar in the way Kakashi-sensei had called Chiasa-nee. Thinking about them made him quicken his pace, barely keeping himself from just running towards the hospital.

The two Chunnin on gate duty waved them through, staring disbelieving at the two legendary Sannin trailing behind one energetic Uzumaki.

Not even the glares and whispers on the streets could bring the blond down today. Soon, oh so very soon, Kakashi-sensei and Chiasa-nee and Sasuke would wake up and he could tell them all about his trip. Chiasa-nee would be proud of them for defeating the Ichibi together and fighting in the invasion, she'd tell them they had done well and hug them tightly. Naruto had missed her warm hugs, they felt like home and family and love.

He hadn't realised he had reached the hospital, only when he abruptly came to a stop in front of a familiar white door. The scribbles on the door frame were unmistakably his own, carefully painted barrier seals thrumming in a steadily light blue hue.

Grinning brightly, he threw the door open, exclaiming: "I'm back, Sakura!"

A pink flash taggled him to the floor, eliciting a cheerful laugh from the boy that quickly turned into a shaky sniffle.

"Missed you too, Sak'ra," he whispered into his packmates hair.

"What took you so long, Naruto? You said you'd be here two days ago!" murmured the pink-haired kunoichi, tightening her hold around her packmate.

It had been terrible, being the only one of their pack in Konoha and having to watch her unconscious pack day in and day out. At least when it had been only Chiasa-nee she had the blond and Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei to share her worry. But from one moment to the next she was alone, and while she had confidently told Naruto to go, she hadn't been prepared for the loneliness. At least she had Inner but even she was more subdued than usual.

"Sorry," muttered the blond guiltily. "Baa-chan stubbornly wanted to visit another bar and wouldn't accept a no. She even threatened not to heal them if she didn't get any sake soon! And Ero-sennin wasn't any help either."

"Ero-sennin? Baa-chan?" wondered Sakura as she sat up to let the other boy up.

"Yeah, Tsunade is really old, dattebayo! So, she's a Baa-chan. And Jiraiya is a super pervert! We must keep him away from Chiasa-nee, dattebayo!"

"Oi, who are you calling old, gaki?!" exclaimed Tsunade, glowering at the children as she stood impatiently before the hospital room of Team 7 and their senseis.