Naruto: Path of Uchiha

Chapter 22: Back Home

After three long years, 12-year-old Naruto is now finally back to Konoha, his home.

As he reached the gates of Konoha, he breathed in the air he missed so much all these years.

'Ready?', Jiraiya asks, noticing the hesitation on the boy's face.

Honestly, Naruto was a little nervous, fiddling with his fingers. He was scared that what if everything and everyone had evolved, yet he remained the same?

'I didn't know you were such a scaredy cat',
'I didn't know either',

Although reluctance was shining in Naruto's eyes, 'yes', he replied.
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Naruto's POV

My first stop was the Hokage's office. As much as I wanted to go home first, my duty as a ninja prevented me from doing so.

'You just want to go home first to prevent the hassle of meeting everyone separately.'
'That's... correct'

I guess meeting Obito Nii-san first isn't going to be so bad.

I entered the tower, making my way to the Hokage's office. As I reached my destination, I knocked on the door.

'Come in', I hear.

I step into the office; Obito Nii-san doesn't notice me; it seems like he is engulfed in paperwork.

'Who is-', he begins to say, looking up and meeting my eyes.

'Naruto!', he exclaims, getting up from his seat.

'I'm back', I say, a smile spreading over my face.

He embraces me in a hug.

'Ahh, I missed you so much!' he says. 'You've gotten so much taller', he adds, scanning me head to toe.

'I missed you too, Nii-san', I reply, the smile still attached to my face.

'Have you met everyone else yet?', he asks, glancing over his paperwork.

'No, I figured I should come here first, reporting to the Hokage and all', I reply, scratching my head.

'That's nice of you. How about you go meet everyone else? I'll catch up to you over dinner', he says.

I guess he's gotten super busy over the years; I don't mind his dismissal.

I'm sure he knows I would understand as well.

'Yeah, we will catch up later', I say, leaving the office.

My next stop is my home, the Uchiha compound.

I entered through the gates, getting greeted by the guards.

Strangely, I find the house empty.

'Where is everyone?', I ask Kaiyo, one of the servants.

'Oh, Fugaku-sama and Mikoto-sama have gone on vacation. As for your brothers, they've been out the whole day on a mission', she replies, a wary smile on her face.

That's weird. I informed them that I would come back today.

Being unsuccessful in finding my family, I make my way over to my friends houses, hoping to find them there.

I stop by the Hyuga compound first, but get to know that Hinata has gone on some clan business along with Hiashi-san.

Bummed out, I make my way to the Nara compound. Shikaku-san informs me that Shikamaru is gone on a mission as well.

'Something is up',
'I don't know; it's strange of all of them to be absent from the village at once.'

I plan to return home, where I would wait for everyone.

On the way, I encounter someone.

'Oh Naruto? You're back', it's Shino.

I haven't been in contact with Shino during my journey, but I would call us friends, who chat from time to time.

'Yeah, I just got back. I can't seem to find anyone though', I say, my shoulders slumping.

'O-oh yeah, they're all gone', he says rather abruptly.

'You've graduated?', I ask, pointing towards his forehead protector, even though I already know.

Sasuke wrote to me about it in a recent letter.

Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Hinata are all now Chunin after taking the exams a second time.

Shikamaru is no longer part of our team. He's part of the Ino-Shika-Cho team under Asuma sensei.

Sakura, who's gotten closer to Hinata, is part of Team 10 with Kiba and Shino.

'Yeah, our whole class has now; we're all genin', he replies.

'Congratulations then; I'll be off', I say, bidding him goodbye.

I make my way towards home, and as I reach, the darkness surrounding the house weirds me out.

'There must be ghosts inside'
'Who's a scaredy cat now, huh?'

Hesitantly, I make my way in.

'Welcome back!', I hear the cheers of several people as the lights turn on.

Rubbing my eyes to adjust to the brightness, I see my whole family: Mama, Papa, my three elder brothers, my teammates, Jiraiya-sama, Tsunade-sama, literally everyone.

'Don't cry now', Kurama says, but the tears already spill out of me.

'I thought you all... I thought you all forgot about me', I say, fighting my sobs.

'How could we, my dear son? We just wanted to throw you a surprise welcome-back party', Mama says, coming towards me.

I run towards her before she reaches me, enveloping her in a tight hug.

Papa joins us; 'You've gotten so much bigger, my boy', he says, ruffling my hair.

'I missed you two so much', I say, my tears still threatening to come out.

'We missed you too, Naruto', they both reply in unison.

I break from the hug, my gaze going towards my best friends, to find them already looking at me.

They don't hesitate to run towards me, all three hugging me at once.

'I was looking all over for you guys', I say, still not breaking from the hug.

'We're sorry, I didn't know you were such a softie', Sasuke is the first to reply.

I step back, taking my time to look at the three of them.

'I missed you all. The most', I say, rather honestly.

'We missed you too, Naruto', Hinata is the one to say.

I grin at her; her hair has gotten longer. She looks very pretty.

'Congratulations on becoming Chunin, by the way', I say, making them all raise their eyebrows at once.

'Naruto, that's the least important thing right now', Shikamaru says, making all of us chuckle.

As much as I want to spend the rest of my life in this moment, I go towards my brothers.

I see Obito Nii-san smirking. He was successful in fooling me, I frown as I think. He notices and sticks his tongue out in return.

So much for being Hokage; I love him though.

'Welcome back, Naruto', Itachi Nii-san says, his voice soft like always.

'Thanks, Nii-san; I missed you all so much', I say, grinning ear to ear.

'That's the most you have smiled in your whole life.'
'Literally. My cheeks hurt',

'We missed you too, Naruto', Kakashi Nii-san replies.

They all come forward. Noticing all three have come at once, they frown.

'I'll go first', Kakashi Nii-san says.
'No, I will. I am younger', Itachi Nii-san says.
'No, I will. I am older', Obito Nii-san counters.

At last, Itachi Nii-san is the one to win the argument. He ruffled my hair, followed by Kakashi Nii-san, then Obito Nii-san.

Obito Nii-san had to go last since he was the first to meet me.

It seems even his Hokage authority didn't work here.

'You all are such kids', Tsunade-sama says, making her way towards me.

'Pleased to meet you again', I say, bowing rather playfully.

'Mhm, I am pleased as well', she says, lightly smacking my head.

After the greetings, we all had dinner together, and it was the best dinner in my life.

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It's been a week since Naruto has returned to the village; he has spent most of his time with his parents, his brothers, or his friends.

Currently, Naruto was sitting at Ichiraku's with his friends. Having ramen, that he missed greatly the past three years.

'You have told us about your training through letters, but I want to see it in real life', Shikamaru says, earning the interest of the other three.

'Yeah, me too! What about a spar? Between Sasuke and Naruto', Hinata says, a playful smile on her face.

'A spar? I wouldn't have it any other way', Sasuke says, his ego too high to refuse the challenge.

'Fine, I will accept as well', Naruto replies, his ego even higher, wanting to impress a certain someone.

'Just say Hinata.'
'I didn't know foxes could be so nosy',

***

Naruto and Sasuke's spar was about to begin. It was not a normal spar for everyone but them two, as they all had gathered to watch it take place.

'It feels like this is a mighty battle seeing how everyone is here', Sasuke says, looking around the crowd.

'Yeah, I would not even fight you even if it meant preventing you from becoming rogue or something like that', Naruto says.

His eyes go towards the crowd as well, taking in the familiar faces of literally everyone—his family, brothers, friends, two Sanin, even the Hokage was here.

'Haha that would be funny. Me going rogue? I can't even imagine', Sasuke shrugs.

Both the brothers take their position, ready to take each other on.

'Ready, Sasuke?', Naruto asks, his voice laced with excitement.

'Let's see what you've got, Naruto', Sasuke replies, his lips curving into a slight smirk.

With this, they charged at each other.

The spar started with simple taijutsu, Naruto being slightly better.

Though it advanced quickly as Naruto unleashed the Kyubi chakra and Sasuke his sharingan.

Their movements were a blur of speed and precision. Naruto, a whirlwind of chakra, unleashed a barrage of shadow clones, each a mirror image of his own energy.

Sasuke, his Sharingan analyzing each clone, moved with deadly efficiency, his shuriken, a blur of silver as he deflected Naruto's attacks.

'Still relying on shadow clones, Naruto?' Sasuke chuckled, his voice laced with amusement.

Naruto, his grin widening, countered, 'And you're still relying on your shuriken, Sasuke. Let's take it to the next level.'

This caused Sasuke to raise his eyebrows.

Naruto, using one hand, just as he practiced, formed the rasengan.

Noticing that, Sasuke didn't waste time making a chidori himself.

They both ran at each other, causing both the rasengan and chidori to clash.

Rasengan, being the stronger jutsu, caused Naruto to stay hold while Sasuke gets thrown back.

The impact sent shockwaves through the air, the ground trembling beneath their feet.

'You giving up?' Naruto asks.

'Never' was the reply he got.

Naruto's superior jutsu gave him the upper hand, but Sasuke, ever resourceful, attempted to trap Naruto in a genjutsu.

However, Naruto, having trained to counter such attacks, easily broke free.

Without missing a beat, Naruto forms another rasengan and charges at Sasuke.

Sasuke, surprised, didn't expect it, thinking one was Naruto's limit.

'Alright, alright, stop. I give up; I don't have a jutsu to counter this one', Sasuke says, accepting defeat.

However, Naruto had already formed his rasengan. Not knowing what to do with it, Naruto decides to aim it on the ground.

'No- don't!'

Came not only Kurama's voice but also Jiraiya's, who's sitting in the audience.

It was too late now, as the rasengan had already met the ground, causing Naruto to fly in the air from the force.

Before anyone could react, Naruto landed on the ground with a thud.

'Ah! You could've told me before!', Naruto says, rubbing his head.

'I didn't know you were going to just whip up another rasengan! I could barely manage a single chidori right now', Sasuke argues.

Just then, Kakashi comes in between them, 'alright that's it, you two. Winner of the match, Naruto Uzumaki', he says, ending the spar and raising Naruto's fist.

'You have gotten much stronger, much much stronger', Sasuke admits.

'Thanks, Sasuke; your chidori's not too bad either; without the rasengan, I would have been dead meat', he shrugs.

'Whatever. Nice match; I will defeat you next time', Sasuke says.

'I will be waiting as well', Naruto replies.

Meanwhile in the audience, Fugaku stares down at Jiraiya, 'You didn't overexert my boy, did you now?'

'Noo I didn't. It honestly surprises me as well that he learned this much in just three years', Jiraiya says.

Obito, having heard their conversation, asks, 'Naruto has even more tricks up his sleeve, doesn't he?'

'Definitely. I would say he was holding back just now', the Sanin replies.

'Damn', Tsunade says, having joined this conversation as well.

'I second that', Itachi says, causing everyone to laugh.

This match was not just a normal one. It allowed the village to see just how strong the next generation is. It caused Hinata, Shikamaru, and Sasuke to realize they have to train even harder to catch up to Naruto, and it made Minato and Kushina, who were watching from above, incredibly proud of their son.

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Author: Thank you again for the views! We are nearly at 2k :) I am posting early to celebrate !! Hoping you enjoy this chapter! 💘