Naruto - Neglected Sage

They were in the front of a little booth on the left side of Konoha's gates, and they saw Kotetsu and Izumo the same as always, asleep.

Hinata couldn't help but laugh a little, while Naruto just rolled his eyes towards the two eternal chuunin.

'No wonder they got away even with Hinata's imperfect henge back then, damn slackers' he thought.

Coughing once Naruto addressed the two "Excuse me" no response came, he tried again but their snoring only got louder. Getting a tick mark on his head Naruto slammed his fist towards the two's head.

*Boom!* *Boom!*

""Gaaaahhhh!!/My Head!!!"" said Kotetsu and Izumo as they jumped out of their little booth while clutching their heads, then got into their battle stance.

"WHO!?" shouted Kotetsu in anger.

"Why are you here? what is your purpose in Konoha?" asked Izumo still disoriented.

"My name is Naruto and this here is my girlfriend Hinata" he said while pointing at the purple haired beauty "we came to Konoha to formally become ninja" said Naruto in an indifferent tone.

"Oh, so you want to join the village? Then why did you say so? Oh, and why'd you hit us?" asked Kotetsu as he lowered his guard. Its common for ambitious civilians to want to join the strongest ninja village there is.

"Because you were slacking off" said Naruto while Hinata giggled at the side.

Kotetsu and Izumo looked at each other then scratched the back of their heads; making excuses like "we were just resting our eyes" said Kotetsu "Yeah, we were totally alert you know" agreed Izumo

"Yeah well, anyways what do we need to do to join the village?" asked Naruto ignoring their excuses.

"Ah, wait- said Kotetsu as he went to the booth and took a pen and the village log- "just fill this up and well escort you to the Hokage Tower.

"Thank you, but we don't need the escort. We already know our way around the village" said Naruto as he took the pen and wrote down his name and purpose of visit, then gave it to Hinata.

"Have you been here before?" asked Izumo suspiciously.

"You could say that" said Naruto indifferently.

"Well, ok but please make sure you go to the Hokage Tower first before loitering around. You need to get approval and a temporary identification from Hokage-sama; otherwise local ninja might apprehend you" said Kotetsu.

"We'll keep that in mind" said Naruto as he turned and walked towards the tower. Hinata bowed to both chuunin before immediately catching up to the blonde.

While they watched the back of both newcomers leave, Izumo couldn't help but think they looked familiar and apparently he wasn't the only one "Hey Izumo don't they remind you of someone?" asked Kotetsu "Yeah, I have a feeling that were forgetting something important?"

After, a few seconds they both shouted in realization "NARUTO!!"

"Damn it, that was the Yondaime's lost son. How could we forget" said Kotetsu as he facepalmed.

"Quickly inform Hokage-sama" said a panicking Izumo while Kotetsu nodded and body flickered away.

*****

Walking on the streets of Konoha, Naruto and Hinata were gathering quite a bit of attention. The girls had heart shaped eyes directed towards Naruto. He heard whispers of 'So Handsome' 'Look at those muscles' 'I think he surpasses Uchiha-sama by far' 'I wonder if we could separate him from that girl' 'Ara ara Ufufu'

'Great, Fangirls' thought Naruto

From the boys there was a mix of admiration for Hinata, and jealousy for Naruto.

'That girl is so pretty' 'She's on par with the Namikaze Princesses' 'Lucky bastard' 'He's kind of cute I wonder if he's straight'

Hearing that last comment, sent shivers down Naruto's spine and he absentmindedly hugged Hinata by the waist and moved her bit more closer to him as if protecting her; all the while glaring at some of the guys looking at them.

"What's wrong Naru-kun?" asked Hinata, she was surprised by the sudden intimate contact of her beloved, not that it bothered her in anyway. Infact she actually appreciates it, but her mind kept on thinking about naughty things. 'No bad Hinata, Bad' she thought.

"It's nothing, Hina-hime" said Naruto with a scowl directed at the people.

However, he had to admit that both him and Hinata look quite good together. They look more m.a.t.u.r.e than their peers and even act more m.a.t.u.r.e, since they needed it in order to survive the world outside.

Passing through the Akimichi BBQ shop, they heard familiar voices calling to them.

"Hinata? and is that you Naruto?" said a pineapple haired teen.

"Hmm, Naruto?" asked his big boned friend.

Hinata and Naruto looked towards the duo and smiled.

"Hello there Shikamaru-san, Choji-san. How've you been?" greeted Hinata, while Naruto just nonchalantly waved "Yo"

"So it really is you guys. Where have you been all this years? The whole village is practically looking all over for you" said Choji.

"Well, we've been around" said Naruto indifferently. Shikamaru and Choji were one of the few people he actually befriended, but because they were both clan heirs they started to get distanced with Naruto, when they started to train their clan jutsus. Hinata knew them since she was a former heir. She saw them in her birthday parties, but never really got to close to them.

"Troublesome, I'm guessing you've returned to take the academy's Graduation exam?" asked Shikamaru.

"Sharp as ever Shikamaru-san. Yes, we are here to take the graduation exam and finally become ninjas" said Hinata.

Choji and Shikamaru were taken aback, Hinata just answered confidently with no signs of stuttering.

Noticing their reactions, Hinata asked "What?" while tilting her head. Both of them actually blushed at the gesture. They didn't notice it immediately, but Hinata had m.a.t.u.r.ed quite beautifully.

"W-we are just taken aback by your transformation, I mean back then you always stutter" explained Choji while opening a bag of potato ch.i.p.s that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Yeah, specially around Naruto" added Shikamaru.

Hinata blushed embarrassed as she looked at the blonde, while the latter was teasingly grinning at her. The purple haired beauty pouted a little, but after a quick kiss on the cheek from our blonde hero she regained her composure and answered "Well as you can see, a lot of things can change when you've got a very encouraging and supporting Boyfriend"

"R-right" answered the two as both of them were surprised by how intimate the duo were, but did not question any further because it was 'troublesome'.

"Anyways, where are you guys going?" asked Shikamaru snapping out of his daze.

"We're going to the Hokage tower to get registered for the graduation exams" said Naruto.

"Then it's a good thing you guys returned today" said Choji in-between mouthfuls of ch.i.p.s.

"What do you mean Choji-san?" asked Hinata.

"Troublesome, what he means is that the graduation exams has been moved tommorow. If you were a day to late you might've been too late" explained Shikamaru.

"Really?" asked Hinata.

"Yeah, really" said Choji.

"Well it's a good thing we didn't get sidetracked" said Naruto with a wry smile on his face, while Hinata just rolled her eyes at him, remembering the first thing her beloved wanted to do when they returned was to party.

"Anyways, it was nice seeing you guys again. Were going home now, since Dad wants us to practice our teamwork with Ino" said Choji. He then waved goodbye and turned to leave.

Shikamaru followed right behind him, but paused for a second, turned then said "Welcome back" before leaving to follow his big boned friend.

"Guess we have to hurry to the tower now Hina-hime" said Naruto as Hinata nodded in confirmation. Both then turned towards the tower, and walked a little faster than their previous pace.

*****

Hokage tower

While Minato and Kushina were busy l.i.c.k.i.n.g each others wounds. A knock on the door broke them out of their daze.

Minato composed himself and sat down on the Hokage chair, while Kushina stood beside him like a secretary.

A few more knocks and Minato told them to come in. Kotetsu when given the signal immediately rushed in seemingly out of breath.

Raising his eyebrows, Minato asked "What is it, what's wrong Kotetsu?"

Catching his breath, Kotetsu composed himself as best as he could before answering "Hokage-sama I have great news!"

"Ok, then spill it" said Minato gesturing to continue.

"Naruto-sama has returned to the village!" Kotetsu said as both Namikaze couple froze.