Chapter 3 - He's Back!

I was out, training as usual. I had recently heard Naruto was coming back soon, so I’d doubled up my training. It’s not that I was unhappy with my progress, I just wanted to progress further before Naruto came around.
Sure, I’d become Chûnin, now wearing a vest to match my sensei’s, so that I was especially proud of. But still, I wanted Naruto to acknowledge me just as much as I would acknowledge him.
I suddenly heard a noise and then, “Hey! Bushy Brow!”
I spun around to see Naruto running toward me.
“N-Naruto!” I was ecstatic to see him, “When did you get back?!”
“Just now! I couldn’t wait to see you!” he hugged me and I noticed he was a lot taller than before he left.
His jacket was still orange, but it was tighter fitting and the top part and the sleeves were black. The cloth for his headband was black now too, and a lot longer. He still wore orange pants, but they weren’t folded at the end now and his zori were now black too.
“Wow! You got really tall, Bushy Brow!”
I laughed, “Well, I am a year older than you!”
“Still, I almost thought you were your sensei for a second!”
I smiled. Did I really look that much like him?
“Hey, come on!” he said, “Let’s go to Ichiraku, like we did before I left!”
I was surprised he’d remembered, but I followed him anyway. I was pretty hungry!
“Hey! Naruto! Long time, no see!” Teuchi said as we entered.
“Yep! I’ve been looking forward to eating here again!” Naruto said.
“So, what will you be having?”
“Miso ramen with pork!” Naruto exclaimed.
“Same.” I said. I had grown accustom to it after Naruto left and I decided to try it.
“Coming right up!” he said.
“So, you’re a Chûnin now?” Naruto asked.
“Yeah. I am sure you will pass when it comes around again!” I decided to exclude the fact that I’d cried when I realized him and I couldn’t pass the exams together.
“Too bad we couldn’t participate in it together!”
“Yeah...”
Are ramen soon came and he told me about his trip and all that. I loved hearing him talk about all this. It made him really happy to be telling it, too.
So, we were leaving Ichiraku and I was about to head home when Naruto stopped me.
“Hey, do you wanna come to my house. It’s gonna be pretty dirty, but we can clean it and hang out and stuff...” he said.
I smiled, “Oh, sure Naruto!”
He took my hand, “Well, come on then!”
I sighed. He was just as energetic as he used to be.... Oh well, I’d have been stupid to think he’d change. But I was glad he hadn’t. He was more fun like this.
I followed him to his house and it wasn’t too dirty. You know, excluding the dust.... So he and I got to work, dusting everything in sight.
By the time we finished, it was eight o’ clock at night, which made sense since we started at three.
“I guess I should be getting home...” I said.
“Wait!” Naruto grabbed my shoulder, “You want you’re souvenir, right?”
“Oh!” I laughed, “Sure!”
He reached into his backpack and pulled out a small box and took it out to put in my hand.
“One more thing...” he said and stood on his toes, to make him the same height as me. I didn’t know what he was doing so I pulled away slightly but he just leaned in until we were kissing... just like before he left.
I’ll admit, I gave in then. I kissed him right on back. And I have no idea why, but I was crying too.
Naruto pulled away from me, “Is something wrong?”
He honestly did look worried, so I said, “N-no... I-I just missed you so much!” I cried and hugged him. I had told the truth. I really had missed him... more than he knew... and more than I’d known until that point.
Naruto hugged me back and waited for me to calm down, once again. I knew I was over-emotional sometimes, and I apologized to him, but he said not to worry about it. And you know what? I didn’t.

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