Naruto's Best Friend

Return of Team 7

Sorry it's short, not feeling well

Ryoko sat patiently in front of the gates, awaiting Team 7's arrival. She knew today was the day Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura would come back to the village and report to the Hokage of their success.

The two-tailed cat was happy, to say the least. So happy in fact that she stood outside the gates since 2 am and definitely doesn't regret standing in the middle of the gate entrance for more than 10 hours. Asuma was too busy to check in on the lovable fluffball and the Hokage was stuck in his office all day, so Ryoko had to stand outside on her own.

They trusted her not to get hurt by whatever may want to harm her, but they couldn't say they trusted her to not run off before Team 7's arrival in search for said group.

Doubts began to form at 3 am. Most were about the condition of the team, some even about how early each would wake up, but nonetheless, the cat stood like a statue in front of the gates.

Passerbys would give odd looks or narrow their eyes at the motionless beast. The gate guards even tried to feed Ryoko some food and water, but she refused to take her eyes off the road ahead.

It was 3 in the afternoon when a tiny orange, blue, green, and red dots appeared in her vision. She blinked multiple times, making sure her eyesight wasn't just playing tricks on her, before finally realizing what those blobs of color were.

"RYOKO!!!" The blonde boy suddenly felt a burst of energy jump inside of him at the sight of his friend. Running towards the patiently waiting cat, Naruto ditched his team to join his furry friend's side with a wide smile on his face.

Ryoko was snatched from her spot and placed in a warm and tight hug. The cat was happy that her friend was back but couldn't help but try to wiggle out of the blonde's tight hold.

Noticing the movement, Naruto loosened his grip and grinned at the two-tailed cat.

"Glad you're home, Naruto." The cream-colored cat said calmly, feeling the exact opposite on the inside. She would never admit it, but she was feeling as ecstatic as the blonde in front of her.

"Thank you for trusting me." Ah yes, the words that suddenly made Ryoko remember every single time she wanted to do nothing more than follow her friend and protect him from every rabbit that looked at him.

"Y-Yeah, no problem. I always knew you were strong enough to protect yourself, I mean, duh, right?" The cat chuckled nervously as sweat dribbled down her head.

Naruto, oblivious as ever, laughed and hugged her once again before setting her down and waiting for the rest of his team.