Overcoming the Odds.

Chapter 16

Chapter 16: Welcome Back

After traveling for about a week through the large forest, the group was finally on the trail back home. They walked on a long dirt road that was surrounded by trees and off in the distance they could see a tiny speck that they knew was the gates of the village.

A rush of excitement and nervousness filled Naruto's being upon seeing it and he found himself growing impatient as they slowly yet surely crept closer to the distant village. He bit the inside of his lip in anxiousness, then he looked to his left where he saw the rest of his group strolling along. He thought ill of how incredibly slow they all were moving and began to ponder on telling them to speed things up, but then he realized how selfish that would seem. So he kept quiet and they continued to walk at a slow pace while Jiraiya and Sakura conversed about things that were mundane to him at this moment.

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Shizune's muffled voice along with her light knockings came to the door of the Hokage's office.

"Tsunade sama, Lord Jiraiya and the others have returned!"

Tsunade's head jerked up from her cluttered desk upon hearing her assistant and she rubbed her eyes to battle the fatigue she felt from nearly falling asleep. She cleared her throat and voiced loudly for them to come in.

Shizune opened the door for the group and they all stepped into the office. The Hokage smirked upon seeing them enter the room and was just about to greet them when suddenly an all too familiar and annoying voice reached her ears.

"Hey granny! Hope you didn't miss us too much," Naruto said as the group walked up to her desk.

Sakura sighed and refrained herself from doing anything harmful to her teammate, but Tsunade fully accepted his insulting nickname. If she were being honest with herself, in his absence she actually sort of missed the boy and his name-calling.

Yeah not really. She still hated it, but for the sake of this being a good occasion, she chose to ignore him.

"Welcome back to the village you four. I see you're all in good health, which makes this mission's success all the more better," Tsunade said to the group.

Jiraiya spoke up, "So the ANBU made it back safely?"

"Of course they did, how else could they have brought back a jackpot of secret scrolls?"

He grinned at her. "That's a relief, I feared they might have been intercepted along the way."

"Yes, especially with something so critical as those scrolls. I'm surprised Orochimaru didn't bother to protect them better," she replied.

Jiraiya folded his arms. "Yeah, you'd think with something as important as forbidden knowledge and research, the fool would have hidden them or taken them with him when he left the hideout. Makes you wonder..."

"What is it?" Tsunade asked.

"The scrolls, has anyone analyzed them at all?"

"Yes, our scientists are looking at them as we speak. I'm expecting a report on their findings in a week or two depending on how fast they can get through the large amount, so when I hear from them I'll tell you about it."