The Windmill Turns Both Ways

Night

A splintered piece of beam fell down onto the debris.

Everyone started talking at once. But then a voice rang out from the chatter.

"Sakura!"

Naruto saw Ino look in through the hole out to the street. She climbed into the room and jumped lightly over the barricade of splintered wood to reach Sakura. Shikamaru and Chouji were standing in the street looking shocked and concerned, but they soon followed after her.

"What happened?" Ino landed lightly in front of her best friend and gripped her by the arms. "Are you okay? We were just passing by and heard this huge crash—"

"I'm fine," Sakura reassured. "But there might be people buried in the collapse that need help."

"Hey!" one of the cooks called anxiously. "There were four or five shinobi sitting out here."

Sakura turned to them, stretching her neck to see over the large pile in between them. "Can you guys get out? Were there any civilians in the dining room?"

"I don't think so. The maid left hours ago, and all of us cooks were in the kitchen getting dinner started."

"Oi! Anyone under there! If you can answer, speak up!" Ino shouted, cupping her hands around her mouth.

"I'm here!" called a voice weakly from somewhere in the mess.

"Help me," pleaded another. "I... I think my leg is broken."

Sakura cursed to herself and clamored gingerly toward the voice. "Hold on! We'll get you out!"

"Now you've done it, Sakura-chan." Naruto climbed up out of the hole and dusted himself off.

"Naruto?" Ino looked down at him confusedly from her at-least-a-head-taller height, holding out a hand to compare the difference. "What happened to you?"

"Eheh... long story?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

Ino just blinked at him. Like Sakura, she'd grown taller and fitter and some of the childishness had gone out of her face. However, unlike Sakura, she had grown her flax-blonde hair back from when she cut it in the exam.

Shikamaru didn't look different at all, though he'd grown taller, and he did look sort of funny in a chuunin vest. It was hard to imagine him being promoted. Chouji was as big as ever, but his proportions had evened out a bit and he had grown his hair out. He now wore a more traditional-looking Akimichi outfit with armor plating. Naruto was relieved that all three seemed more concerned with the matter at hand than his own appearance at the moment.

"Chouji," Shikamaru said, nodding toward where Sakura was kneeling and peering into a hollow.

"Yeah," Chouji held his hands in his family's signature Expansion Jutsu sign and reached out with a huge hand to lift debris off of the unfortunate shinobi. Sakura wasted no time in attending to the man's leg. Chouji carefully dropped it all to the side and reached out to continue clearing the room.

"Naruto, we could use a few dozen of you to help clear this stuff out, alright?" Shikamaru spared him a glance. "Ino, let's get everyone out of the building, starting with those cooks. If the structure was damaged, it could come the rest of the way down any time. Be careful where you step." He jumped over the pile to the doorway of the kitchen.

"Right!" Ino said, following suit.

"Osu!" Naruto concentrated on his chakra. It seemed to flow more naturally each time he used it, like a sputtering tap that had once dried out. Thirty clones popped into existence and he set them to task. Naruto himself picked carefully toward where he thought Sai could be. He saw the table from his room and headed toward it.