Chapter 73 Home again

Konoha Main Gate

"Finally we're back!" Naruto yelled out excited to reach the gates. It had taken them some time but they had finally reached home and it was a good thing because they were all glad to see their home again.

Tsunade looked at the village, she could see the damage still present in a few areas but overall it wasn't as bad as she could have feared. Plus walking through the gates gave her a sense of peace she hadn't felt in a long time. For the first time she actually felt like she was coming home and she liked how it felt. For a moment it was like she had never left and she asked herself how she could have forgotten this feeling.

Jiraiya looked at her with the corner of his eye and only grinned slightly to himself it was good that he could see that she was enjoying being home again and it was great having her home again too. This was where she belonged not wondering the world trying to forget her past. Here was where she could do the most good and where the village needed her most. The genin looked just as excited as well from the looks of them.

"Man I can't wait to show my dad my new technique," Naruto happily as they marched towards the check in station where all ninja had to check in and out so the village would have records on who left and arrived on what time and date. "Oh yeah plus Hinata-chan and everyone else, man they are so going to be jealous."

"You're not the only one that learned something," Sasuke told him not wanting to be left out. The trip back had given him enough time to get a handle on the ability of putting lightning chakra into the metal rods. He had been moving on up to his sword although he might have to get a new one. His blade wasn't made to have chakra bumped through it. Certain weapons were specialty made for this purpose, Jiraiya told him that once he mastered it, it wouldn't matter what the blade was made of as long as it had metal.

He would train a bit more to see if he could master it to the point that he wouldn't have to get a whole new weapon set for it.

"How about you Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked his friend. "Granny seems to be working you hard."

That earned him a bob on the head from Tsunade with a small tic of anger on her forehead. She really wished at times he would stop calling her that. Naruto glared up at the women but her own glare sent back simply told him not to push his luck. The woman could hit him clear across the village if she really wanted to.

"It's actually pretty great," Sakura jumped in quickly while mentally wondering why she always had to play peacekeeper at times like this. "I've been learning a lot."

"She's a quick study," Tsunade said proudly at the girl, Sakura had an uncanny natural ability to remember what she learned. Tsunade was starting to wonder if the girl had some kind of photographic memory or something but it was more than that, Sakura could also grasp the concepts not just remember them from what Tsunade could tell. That was much more important to understand the material because then when something unexpected happened you could adapt.

"I think in a month she might be ready for some more practical exercise." Tsunade told them all and then looked at Sakura. "That is if you're willing to take extra training under myself and Shizune when we have the time."

Sakura's eyes lit up, to train under them would be amazing there was so much she could learn. "Of course!"

They got to the check in when the two chunins on duty saw who the group was it was a shock, two of the legendary ninjas, one of them Tsunade who had returned home for the first time in so many years. It was one of those things that actually made this boring posting worthwhile at times. But as soon as they saw Naruto Hatake they were quickly reminded of another duty that they had. It was one of the things that no one wanted to do when they got this posting.

"Naruto Hatake," one of the men said to the boy.

"Yeah, something wrong?" Naruto wondered why the two chunin looked so uncomfortable. Tsunade and Jiraiya however picked up on something was wrong, they had enough life experience to notice the subtle signs in the two chunins.

"You should check in on the hospital," one of the spoke up.

"What, why?" Now Naruto was getting a bad feeling that something was wrong.

"Kakashi Hatake was placed there weeks ago, he's been in a coma ever since," The other one finished hating this part of the job especially to say something like this to a kid.

Naruto took only a second to process what was said before he rushed off, soon to be followed by everyone else.

-Konoha Hospital-

It had been an hour since they had gotten to the hospital and the entire team was currently waiting in the hall as Tsunade was working on Kakashi. Naruto had rushed over here as soon as possible and had demanded to be taken to his father's room. When they had finally gotten to the room and saw the still form of Kakashi, Tsunade had taken charge right then and there. She demanded to see the doctor on duty, to see everything on Kakashi's condition.

It wasn't long until a nurse had quickly dragged a doctor in, when Tsunade was in her medic mode you couldn't help but do what the woman demanded. Soon everyone else was kicked out of the room as she went to look on his condition and if possible to heal him.

That was where everyone was at this moment, waiting in a hallway for some kind of word. There was a strange silence among the genin team but what really was getting to Sakura and Sasuke was just how quiet Naruto was. It was very strange to see the boy so still and quiet and it was starting to worry them. Sasuke glanced at the boy now and then but Naruto's face was more of a mask now (even though he wore a mask anyway) then he could ever remember. He did notice that Naruto kept clenching his fists now and then.

Jiraiya had gone to the Hokage's room to report in and set things up to make sure that everything would be set up in advance for Tsunade to take over.

Sasuke was looking at Naruto and he had no idea what or if he should say something to him, Naruto was a rival that he had ever since the first day they met. Naruto was the only person his own age that actually pushed Sasuke to get better and it was a rivalry that he had come to enjoy. Ever defeat spurred him to improve, every victory felt great but despite all that the boy had become his friend and Sasuke knew what it was like to lose family. It was a pain that never really went away, it dulled with time but the wound and scars of that always remained.

He didn't want Naruto to know what it was like to lose family, especially since Kakashi was the only family that Naruto had left. Ever since learning about his past, that Naruto had lost his parents without ever knowing them, Sasuke felt a bit bad that he at least had memories of his parents. Kakashi had become the only father that Naruto had known. The young dark haired boy also didn't want to lose their sensei, it was more than that Kakashi was the only one that could teach him about the sharingan, or what else he could learn from the man.

The man had become a bit more than a teacher, all those stories of Obito had given him a new look at his clan. He had been the first adult that Sasuke had really started to look up to and while on Team 7 he felt better about his life. He still wanted to kill his brother but lately he felt that maybe there might be more to it.

For Naruto he was in own little world as for the first time he really felt fear in a long time. He had gone through a lot but not once did he ever think that he might lose his dad. Kakashi had always been there for him, in all the times he needed a dad, Kakashi had been that dad. Helping with homework, making him do homework actually, making sure he ate more than ramen but treating him to ramen when Naruto did something good. All those memories rushed through his mind and he just couldn't see his life without his dad.

"Kid?"

Naruto looked to his left to see Anko, Hinata with Kurenai coming quickly over to the group. When word got out that Naruto and the others were back and that they had Tsunade with them at the hospital Anko had ran straight here. It was pure luck that she ran into Kurenai and Hinata and quickly told them what she heard. She only had slowed down because Hinata would want to come with them and Kurenai came as well.

Anko had been the one that had spoken to Naruto and the look in his eyes told her that the kid was holding but he was worried, well she knew that all too well. When she heard that Tsunade herself was at the hospital for the first time she had real hope. Hinata moved to his side a range of emotions running through her. She was glad that he was back but she was also worried for him.

She sat down next to him and when she looked into his blue eyes they weren't as bright as they normally would be. She could see the turmoil he was in and her heart ached from it. Naruto had always been the stronger one the one that always was there for her and made her happy. He was always the one that would be cheerful and hopeful but this was the first time she could remember when she couldn't see any of that in his eyes.

Hinata could still remember the day her mother had died, it had been the worst day of her life and yet Naruto had been there for her, through all the heartache and pain he had always been by her side as her best friend. But now they were more than friends and she wanted to be there for him, to share his pain and help him through what was to come. No matter what she didn't want Naruto to be alone so she sat down next to him and without a word gently placed her hand into one of his.

Naruto looked into her pale eyes and felt her soft hand in his own it felt so delicate and soft in his hand as he gently took her warm hand in his own. It felt a lot better to have her here as he waited to see what would happen. Her gentle nature seemed to have a calming presence on him but the worry was still there.

Anko looked at the two and couldn't help but feel a small smile tug at her lips, despite everything, this little warm moment showed her that relationships had many parts to it and being there for the other was part of it. Seeing the two young ninjas made her hope that neither of them would go through what she had been going through since Kakashi had been put into the hospital.

"How long has she been in there?" Anko asked the others.

"Over an hour now," Sakura answered as every single minute seemed to drag for eternity. It felt like eight hours by this point for her as she was deeply worried for their sensei.

"How did this happen?" Sasuke asked as they hadn't had a chance to ask anyone that question.

Anko felt a slow burning anger inside of her remembering how it happened and how she hadn't been strong enough to help. Kakashi had taken on everything to protect them all and now he was the one in a hospital. So she started at the beginning about how they had run into two strangers in the village and how it turned out to be Itachi and a partner of his. Sasuke took extreme notice when his brother's name had been said as a very long rage filled his eyes. It was an old pain and anger that had slowly burned for years and now it was slowly starting to burn hotter.

Anko finished things off by how she wasn't sure what happened, but Kakashi had ended up taking some kind of assault that landed him in a coma and he had been in there ever since.

"We still don't know what happened," Kurenai finished as she had been there. "Kakashi told us to keep our eyes closed the entire time it happened."

"A sharingan technique," Sasuke spoke up for the first time. "It's the only thing I can think of."

"Do you know what kind?" Kurenai didn't know much about sharingan techniques, not many did outside of the Uchiha clan.

"Yeah I have a pretty good idea," Sasuke's jaw clenched remembering the last time he had seen his brother on that bloody day. He had seen those red and black eyes that were unlike any sharingan he had ever seen before. The next thing he knew he was spending three days in hell, living the deaths of his family and clan over and over again in a never ending torment. Sasuke remembered waking up in the hospital over a month later.

It looked like he wasn't going to say anything else to everyone so they didn't push they could see the anger written all over the boy's face.

"We've been visiting every day," Hinata told Naruto if only to get rid of the silence that had started to build up.

"We?" Naruto asked speaking since he had left the room for the first time.

"W-well myself, my team, Kurenai-sensei, Asuma-sensei and Anko-Sensei was here a lot too." Hinata counted off mentally of those she could remember off the top of her head.

Anko turned away slightly if only so no one would see the slight blush on her cheeks, she hated being looked at as 'soft' by others and now she had everyone looking at her at once. Normally she liked attention just on her terms.

"What?" Anko challenged anyone to say anything to her at the moment. At least the kids had the good graces to know when to avoid her look. Although Anko did look at the closed door to Kakashi's room wondering how things were going, her heart felt like it was hammering in her chest as any moment Tsunade could come out of there with either good or bad news.

It was fifteen long silent minutes until the door finally opened with Tsunade and Shizune walking out as the blonde woman looked slightly tired but in a good mood.

"You got fifteen minutes to talk to him but not more, he needs to recover and-" She couldn't finished before Naruto rushed by her into the room making the woman smile. It felt good to help others again and to make sure a family stayed together filled her with a great sense of accomplishment.

Kakashi groaned feeling like his entire body was stiff and his head felt like someone dropped a mountain on it. He couldn't remember how he had gotten into the hospital exactly but as he thought about it, it was slowly coming back to him. He started to remember Itachi and then those three days in hell, he remembered Anko being there too and a slight panic hit him as he tried looking to see if she was in the room.

He wasn't sure if that had been a trick or if she had also been pulled into that world, it felt like a nightmare that he had dreamt but also he felt like it had been so real. His memories blurred from that moment as time while in that world had been stretched and twisted to the point that he couldn't tell how much time had passed. What had seemed like an hour turned out to only be a minute, it sure felt more like months than days.

The first thing Kakashi saw when waking up had been a face he hadn't seen since he was a lot younger, Tsunade herself seemed to be back. She gave him a quick check and he complied as best he could but he felt totally drained. Most likely from not eating solid foods since he had been in a coma for starters and he didn't even want to think what his body was like having not moved at all in all this time.

Soon after Tsunade had left a small blonde, black and orange blur ran into the room and landed onto his chest. Kakashi nearly had the wind knocked out of him as Naruto collided into his chest.

"Dad!"

"Hey there, sorry you had to come back and see me resting like this," Kakashi joked wrapping an arm around Naruto. It felt good knowing that Naruto was back home and safe, he remembered how Itachi had been after him, he wasn't sure about the full reasons for it but it wouldn't have been good for Naruto.

Naruto pulled himself out smiling that his dad was okay, "I was worried dad."

"I know, sorry son," Kakashi placed his hand on the boy's head. "So anything interesting happen on your mission?" He knew that changing the subject would help and Naruto's eyes lit up as well.

"Oh yeah I learned this really cool new technique!" Naruto happily said as he started to go into the whole story. He was interrupted halfway through when Anko pulled him off, she had waited for the father and son reunion but she couldn't wait anymore.

"Hey what the hell?" Naruto protested.

"Tsunade said only fifteen minutes brat," Anko told him. "You can tell him the rest tomorrow let some of us have a moment too."

"Oh okay," Naruto scratched the back of his head realizing that Anko would want to talk too. "Okay I'll be right over tomorrow dad."

"I'm not going anywhere," Kakashi grinned as Naruto and the others left. Soon it was only Anko and Kakashi there in the room alone.

Kakashi looked her over, she seemed a little ragged but well. It looked like Itachi might have just used an image of her after all, that made him feel better. He could take torture but the torture of those precious to him was a lot harder and it was extremely hard to have seen her gone through it. He could still hear her screaming in pain and although it had been an illusion it still rang in his ears when thinking on it. Kakashi also started to realize something else, Anko meant a lot to him.

He had never felt like this about anyone, she was in his thoughts daily and a face he always looked forward to seeing. Yes he found her beautiful but it was more than that, she had an energy about her that made life fun. She walked over to him smiling and he couldn't help but smile in return.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked and saw some confusion on her face. He wanted to make sure that she hadn't suffered because he hadn't been strong enough to protect her. "With the fight after I went down?"

"Oh that, yeah Gai showed up just after...well whatever Itachi did to you." Anko could see him visibly relax and wondered what he was getting at. Well whatever it was she had someone more important to say to him while she had the time. "You know there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh yeah?" Kakashi looked at her intrigued as she leaned in closer. He had to admit that he was glad that it seemed she had never experienced the hell he had gone through and the thought of her lips was a welcomed change. Too bad that he was so occupied with her lips that he didn't notice her fist connecting into his stomach, he forgot how hard she could punch before that moment.

He coughed out as he tried to breath, the next thing he knew she was thrown over him and he wasn't sure what was going on.

"Anko?" He asked carefully.

"You idiot!" She yelled at him. "Do you have any idea how hard it was seeing you like this and not know if you would ever get better?" She pulled back and for the first time in Kakashi's memory he could see tears in her eyes. Anko never cried, at least he had never seen her cry, not once. Yet here she was although it wasn't the water works you would expect, maybe a couple and that was it but that was a couple more than he could ever remember.

"You dick I was so worried," She balled her fists and wiping her eyes she wouldn't cry anymore she had cried enough as it was and she didn't like it.

"Sorry," Kakashi couldn't think of much else to say he was still surprised that Anko had actually shed tears and for him no less.

"Don't do that to me ever again you got that?" Anko gave him a steeled look that she meant it. "I know that our lives are dangerous and I know that but I just need to hear you say it, that you'll never do this to me again. It's stupid I know but..."

He managed to reach up and cup her face, "I know and I'm sorry to worry you. Tell you what, as long as I have you to return to I'll keep fighting and never give up seeing you again."

Although the sentiment was his, he actually took that from one of his books. It was actually one of his favorite lines and he doubted that Anko would know it. Besides he wasn't sure what he could say to her that would make her feel better but this whole thing did remind him of one of his favorite scenes. Despite what many thought he was a bit of a closet romantic, which was one of the reasons he read those books, again, one of the reasons.

He was actually surprised to see her blush slightly it was kind of cute seeing her a little more feminine at times like this. She tried to hide it and he wanted to say how cute she looked in that moment but he got hit once already by her.

"Idiot," She whispered out but his words did make her feel better. She heard a knock on the door as Tsunade's voice telling her that Anko's time was nearly over. She learned and gently pulled down his mask to give him a gentle but long kiss. She was just so relieved that he was awake and that he would be okay. All this time she had been an emotional wreck but it did put things into perspective for her and she saw things about herself and her feelings for Kakashi went a lot deeper than she thought.

Slowly she pulled away putting the mask back up.

"I love you," She whispered to him and quickly got up and went to the door before he could see how red saying those little words made her face. She had forced herself to admit the truth and now she had finally said the words. She didn't care if he said them back, well okay that was a lie, she did care a bit but at the moment she wanted to give him time to process that.

Kakashi blinked not sure he heard her correctly, "Wait Anko what did you just say, Anko...Anko." He called after her but she closed the door behind her.

So there he was tired, his body streaming for rest and decent food but all he could think about was what Anko had just said to him. He just stayed awake for hours after that thinking on it and trying to pin down how he felt about it by the time he thought through it he also came up with a plan on how to respond to Anko.

Next up Chapter 11: It's Good to be Back