Naruto uchiha

chapter 19

On seeing Hinata's expression and her brisk walk towards them, Kakashi stood up from the ground to stand beside Naruto. He had decided against waking the blonde, so he could see his friends' reaction. After all, it had been almost five years since Naruto had met anyone from his class. Kakashi was sure everyone would be glad upon seeing him again

"Hinata? What's wrong?" asked Sakura as she saw her move towards their sensei quickly. Following after her, even Sakura quickened her pace but stopped abruptly beside her with a look of disbelief etched on her face. Sasuke, however, walked at a relaxed pace not concerning himself with his teammate's antics. But his interest had slightly piqued on noticing the still form of Sakura and Hinata.

"NARUTO?" yelled Sakura in surprise. Kakashi had to almost cover his ears at the loudness of her voice but did not voice his thoughts. Naruto shot his eyes open on hearing the familiar voice and immediately got up from the ground. A silly look appeared on his face and he scratched the back of his head as he realized he had dozed off. It wasn't his fault, it wasn't even seven in the morning yet. As he looked around, his eyes widened slightly on seeing Sakura and her. How long had it been he wondered. He took a step towards them but stopped when he heard Sakura speak again.

"Is that really you, Naruto?" this time Sakura asked quietly, unable to believe her eyes.

"Hai, it's me, Sakura…" He replied with a small smile. Sakura blushed a little on seeing how much Naruto had changed. His body had become completely lean and she could clearly see his defined muscles across his chest and arms. Naruto had lost most of his 'baby fat' and looked physically strong. He had also grown to a height of five feet and seven inches. He wore a black high collared long sleeve shirt with the Uchiha Clan crest at back, black pants with bandages wrapped around his ankles, standard shinobi sandals, black gloves over his hands and a jounin flack jacket. He had also let his hair grow over the years and it was now waist-length with shoulder length bangs framing the sides of his face and covering most of his right eye.

She suddenly came out of her daze when she saw the blonde wave in front of her face. "Eh, Sakura? You good? You dozed off for a few seconds." Naruto said with a chuckle. She jokingly slapped him across the shoulder all the while sporting a huge smile on her face. Today was one of the best days of her life up till now.

"So, are you jounin now?" Sasuke asked casually. He wasn't all that surprised to see the blonde. Naruto had been spending quite a lot of time back at home now the past few weeks although Sasuke wasn't aware of anything else.

"Yeah, I left the Anbu a few weeks ago. I'm now an official jounin of Konohagakure. And, I will also be a part of team seven from now on… I didn't really want to lead a genin team and Hokage-sama thought this would be the best course of action." Naruto replied calmly. He was glad that Sasuke seemed to be a lot calmer than before and more powerful too, judging by how strong his chakra seemed.

Lastly, he glanced towards Hinata who had remained quiet up to this point. He hesitated to move towards her, not really sure how she would react. He hadn't really parted with her on good terms. He felt saddened on seeing her moist eyes. He certainly did not deserve those tears from someone like her. Everyone kept their eyes on the blonde as he slowly moved towards Hinata. She averted her gaze as he now stood before her. There were so many emotions coursing through her heart and she felt conflicted on what to say to him. Would their relation be the same after so much time? Would they be able to talk to each other normally? What if he did not care about her anymore? She shut her eyes as such questions kept recurring in her mind. Unknown to her, similar waves of questions were also flowing through Naruto's minds.