The Last Chinoike [A NARUTO LOVE STORY]

Citizenship

Thankfully, the trip back to the Leaf was uneventful. The shinobi of Konoha caught Hayami up on any exciting missions they had that she missed over the past few months. To say a lot happened was the understatement of the year.

"And then this giant turtle with three tails on him came up from the water and then- WOOSH! He came out of this lake and it was just, POW-" Naruto was cut off by his pink-haired teammate giving him a hard slap on the shoulder. "Ouch, what was that for Sakura?"

"Please, I'm sure Hayami doesn't want to listen to you describing the mission like a three-year-old! Tell it normally if you're gonna tell it!" The girl raised her fist, threatening the blond in hopes to encourage him to tell the story without inserting sound affects. 

Hayami snickered, watching the two reminded her of all the time she missed out on while in the Cloud. "What about Master Jiraiya, what has he been up to?"

Naruto hummed while placing a hand on his chin in thought. "Ah, Pervy Sage went on a mission right when we left here to come get you! He told me to tell you hello and that he wants to see how much stronger you got when he gets back."

"That pervy old man is sort of considerate when he wants to be, isn't he?" The two shinobi laughed along at the memories of Jiraiya. Of course, Naruto spent so much more time with him and had an unbreakable bond. However, Hayami would always be grateful to Jiraiya for seeing something in her and bringing her back to Konoha with them, even if it was a tumultuous road at first. She couldn't wait to thank that old geezer for being someone she looked up to.

Eventually, the two teams of shinobi along with Hayami arrived back in the Leaf. Immediately, her eyes flocked to the vibrant and pigmented colors that constructed the village. To her, Konoha looked like something straight out of a painting. And even though, her mind was muddled with conflicting thoughts all she could think about right now was home happy she was to be back. The teenagers around her noticed how mesmerized she looked while she stared at the gates and the buildings that soon followed.

'It's sort of funny, the last time I was brought to this village by some Leaf shinobi I ended up being detained for a day...' The girl snorted quietly before continuing on with the others. 'But now, well, I guess I still feel lost. But at least I know I have a home here.'

The group continued to walk through the streets as they headed toward the Hokage tower. There was a certain blonde Sannin who was anxiously awaiting the return of the search and rescue party. Hayami was, albeit a bit, nervous to see her sensei. It was hard enough to choke out those words of what happened to Kakashi- someone she hardly knew- but to relay it all to her sensei? It'd be a miracle if she didn't breakdown during it.

'I don't know if I can tell Tsunade-Sensei what happened. It was easy to just write it down and attempt to send it in a letter since I didn't have to tell her face to face, and deal with those emotions right in front of her. And I don't think I can get away with just sliding her a letter to read like I did for Naruto's sensei.' A thought she was pushing away reared its ugly head. 

Hayami sighed, her feet shuffling a little slower than the rest of the group. 'Oh Naruto... he's bound to notice if I'm acting different. But he's just going to look at me with those big blue eyes, filled to the brim with worry and confusion. He'll give me that sad look and then I'll get even more upset. I have to tell him but-' 

"What's on your mind, Hayami?" Of course, the exact person she was dreading spilling her thoughts to came up and nudged her with his shoulder. She looked up to see everyone else a few paces ahead of the two of them. The young lady noticed she was lagging behind and even a simple glance at her face revealed she was worried about something.