28 months after the Hidden Mist war
Gate of the Hidden Leaf Village
Kotetsu and Hayate were sitting at the front gate filling the daily ledger. "This must be too boring for you Hayate" Kotetsu remarked jokingly as he looked at the obviously bored expression of Hayate.
"I must admit that just sitting here the whole day is really boring. But what can I do? My health isn't good enough to be on active duty. Luckily I can be a part-time instructor at the academy." Hayate said as he put the papers in front of him aside.
"Yea, I heard its a good job especially with you getting a new assistant." Kotetsu said as he raised his eyebrows.
"He isn't my assistant but Iruma's. Suddenly after coming from the hidden mist Shino once came home with Karin and asked me to take him to the academy with me. Since he is too young to do this he does the chores around the academy on weekends and takes care of the kids in the park.
The Kid saw war at a age where he shouldn't have. His Kurenai and Iruma thought of this as a way of coping with the trauma so they didn't object to it as well. Luckily just 6 months after that he only went to the academy when he was free and started doing missions again as well." Hayate said.
Kotetsu nodded and said "Seems like Kurenai was able to convince her student at last and bring him back to do missions."
Hayate chuckled and said "No...from what I have heard from Karin, it seems like Hinata went to Shino's house personally and said something behind closed doors. Karin even told me that Hianata was angry when she went in. I can't imagine the Hyuga princess displaying any kind of anger."
Kotetsu shook his head and said "Oh, don't underestimate those Hyugas. They can be aggressive when they want to be. Oh look, Karin's here" Kotetsu said as he pointed in the direction of the village.
Hayate also looked in that direction and saw the redhead Karin walking toward the gate with a stack of papers in her hand.
"You are early today." Hayate said as he handed over the papers he had just set aside to Karin.
"Yess...yesterday Lady Tsunade got a letter from Kakashi telling that he and Sasuke are coming back from their training. I wanted this to be a surprise for Sakura so I had her sit at the reception outside Lady Tsunade's office and came here to receive them."
"Wow...it's been more than 2 years since they have been gone for training." Kotetsu said when Hayate pointed out "Naruto and Jiraya-sama have been gone longer. I wonder when they will turn up."
Karin nodded her head and said "I have to clean that idiot's house every week since he has been gone. Tsunade sensei did say that he will come back from his training soon as well."
"You don't have any missions lately?" Kotetsu asked Karin to which she said "Neji is busy training with Hinata because her father is teaching some crucial jutsus to her younger sister Hanabi. As for Lee, he is determined to beat Yami since he heard what Yami has done in the hidden mist."
"Oh Yes..any news about Yami?" Hayate asked to which Karin shook her head. Tsunade never told her or the others except for Sasuke and the 4 jonins about Yami's condition.
"It's good to see three familiar faces just as we come back." Kakashi's voice appeared to the group side as they all looked toward the open gate seeing Kakashi and a teenager standing with him. The teenager was wearing a grey kimono with a purple belt holding the katana on his waist.
"Wow...Sasuke you have really grown up huh?" Kotetsu said as he looked at Sasuke up and down. He had almost reached the height of Kakashi.
Hayate then noticed something behind Kakashi and said "Kakashi when did you start using a short sword again? It's been a long time since I have seen you with one."
Kakashi gave a small laugh and said "Hehe...training him really made me realize that I can add the shortsword to my arsenal. How is everything in the village?"
"Peaceful...and seeing the things happening outside in the shinobi world..this is the best we could ask for.
Kotetsu answered. He knew what was going on in the outside world. With the news that Orochimaru had joined the organization named Akatsuki the wound that the hidden leaf shinobis had was opened. Itachi did tell Tsunade that Orochimaru had left the organization and pain and the others were hunting him but Tsunade didn't disclose this information to the others.
"Sasuke how has training with Kakashi been?" Hayate asked not expecting him to answer. He knew how Sasuke was and liked to stay quiet but surprisingly Sasuke replied "It was good. I got to know the shinobi world outside and also learned a lot of things from Kakashi sensei."
Even Karin was shocked seeing Sasuke talk so causally.
Kakashi looked at his student and said "Sasuke go home. We will meet at Ichiraku Ramen in an hour and then go to meet Lady Tsunade."
Sasuke nodded and body flickered away.
Seeing him leave Hayate asked "You really taught him a lot huh? The kid talked more than a couple of words." Kotetsu and Karin laughed as they heard this.
"I didn't just teach him jutsus and skills but also some things that only an Anbu should know. I taught him information gathering and infiltration between enemy lines. He had to get better in his communication skills to do that." Kakashi said.
"And the stubborn one agreed to do that?" Kotetsu asked as he raised his eyebrows.
Kakashi chuckled as he heard that and said "Actually no…when I told him that his younger brother was able to change the course of war based on his infiltration skills, Sasuke was practically begging me to teach him."
"You are witty as always." Hayate said as he shook his head knowing how good Kakashi was in turning things into his favor.
"Karin from a small petite girl you look like a fiery girl." Kakashi said. In his mind the figure of his sensei's wife Kushina flashed which made Kakashi smile genuinely under his mask.
"Tsunade sensei and Guy sensei have been teaching me constantly." Karin said with a tired expression thinking about the exercises Guy made her do and how embarrassing they were.
"I will meet Guy later. I am sure he will challenge me to a race as soon as he finds out I am back in the village. I will go meet Lady Tsunade now." Kakashi said and bid his goodbyes to the 3 shinobis and rushed toward the Hokage tower. He first wanted to meet Tsunade alone and then with Sasuke. Everyone must have been told that he came back after the training but in reality it was Tsunade who had called him and even sent a letter to Jiraya to come back to the village with Naruto.
Kakashi decided to go directly form the window and since the guards are all Anbus and know him already, they won't even stop him.
Kakashi stood outside the window and knocked on it. Tsunade didn't even look at him and signaled Shizune who opened the window.
As Kakashi was entering the office through the window, Tsunade placed the pen in her hand aside and turned back.
"Huh? You came alone? where is Sasuke?"
"I sent him home and told him to meet me for lunch later. Seeing the letter that you sent me and the secrecy with which you sent me made me think that you might want to take to me alone first." Kakashi said in a serious tone.
Tsunade nodded and said "Yes I want to talk about two things from which one we will discuss now and the other one tonight."
Tsunade said so because the other thing was introducing Itachi back to Kakashi. Although it will come as a shock to him and he may even react differently, Itachi insisted on telling Kakashi the truth first before letting anyone else know about it.
Kakashi didn't see a reason to deny her statement and asked "Alright lady Tsunade what is it that you want to talk about?"
"First tell me about Sasuke...how is he now and how is he taking his brother's death?"
"I didn't expect it but he cried for a few days at first. Many times I thought that if Yami was here then maybe the situation could have been better. But now seeing Sasuke it seems like he has given up on his revenge. He says his new aim is to establish the Uchiha clan and restore it to its former glory." Kakashi said with a small smile but the last sentence just caused a headache to Tsunade.
(We have our entries of Sasuke and Naruto back and they are ready to test each other's strength. Chapters regarding this are posted in my P@treon)
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