Heavy silence lay over the Hokage's office with a strong aura of tension in the air and a lingering smell of sake. Tsunade had been drinking. Only a little, she told herself. She deserved it, after all. 

One of her best shinobi just appeared out of nowhere, seemingly back from the dead. So, she felt she needed something for the hallucination to go away. Only, he was still standing in front of her with an amused glint in his eyes. As if he knew what she was thinking, she could make out the faint outlines of a smirk behind his navy mask. 

If she weren't so focused on drinking away the hallucination, she'd smack that smirk off in a heartbeat. 

"What do you want?" The Hokage questioned as she poured herself more sake.

Naruto quirked an eyebrow at the strange behaviour of the woman he'd grown so fond of.

Sasuke didn't care much how she was acting, he simply wanted to leave with his team and catch up, maybe even spar to show their sensei how strong they'd all become. 

Sakura, on the other hand, stood next to her sensei with a small smirk on her lips. She knew exactly where Lady Tsunade's thoughts were because those thoughts were hers not long ago. 

"He's real, Lady Hokage" Sakura mumbled to the woman in a low voice in order to save her some embarrassment. Though the men heard the pinkette, they pretended as though they didn't.

Tsunade paused for a moment, glancing at Sakura in surprise, before shifting her eyes back to the older Jounin.

"BAKA!" Tsunade bellowed as she flashed in front of the masked man. He stumbled back in shock, not expecting her response to be like that. Tsunade didn't stop there as she filled her fist with chakra and slammed it into the male's chest. He flew back and through the walls of the Hokage building. 

Anbu had filtered out around the Hokage in a protective manner. Their eyes held confusion at the scene and shock upon seeing Kakashi Hatake laying on the roof of the building next to the tower.

Tsunade grit her teeth as she took deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

Sasuke and Sakura took cautious steps away from the woman, unsure why she was attacking their sensei, whilst Naruto stared mockingly at his sensei with a wide grin.

"Oh, sweet revenge" He muttered as he remembered the time Kakashi did the same thing to him.

Tsunade, having heard the teenager, grew an irk mark at his ability to joke in serious situations before she took a fist to his head and he ended up next to his sensei with a groan.

Kakashi slightly turned his head to the blonde with a glare on his features. Naruto sweatdropped, he'd surely be killed by the end of the day.

The two male's stood with shaky legs, their eyes falling on their Hokage.

Tsunade had calmed down considerably now and signalled the Anbu to stand down. Surely, everyone had heard of their return by now.

___

"Lady Hokage-" Kakashi bowed.

"Shut up. Where the hell have you been?" Tsunade cut him off with a fierce glare as Anbu stood behind the team.

The Jounin grit his teeth at being interrogated so harshly. He was still a shinobi of the village and he was being treated as a threat.

"In the land of wolves" He simply stated as he straightened up.

Tsunade eyed him for a long moment that he thought for sure she would lock him up for further interrogation but when she dismissed the Anbu, he couldn't help but frown in confusion. 

Tsunade sighed as she turned to his charges "You're dismissed" She ordered with a serious glint in her eyes. 

Sakura and Sasuke glanced at their sensei before turning to take their leave while Naruto took a step forward in resistance to her order. 

A quick glare from his sensei was quick to fix his stance as he, too, left with his teammates.

Silence weighed down on the two powerful shinobi in the room as Kakashi's team left. Tsunade eyed him as though he'd disappear in front of her eyes as soon as she blinked. So, she didn't.

Kakashi cleared his throat, feeling a little awkward at her unblinking stare. It was starting to become a tad creepy.

"First of all, I want you to know that while I respect you as a shinobi of the leaf, I cannot ignore the suspicious circumstances that lead to you being MIA for over three years, Kakashi" Tsunade spoke as she finally blinked, a small amount of relief washed over the masked Jounin as his shoulders sagged.

"I understand the seriousness of the situation, Lady Hokage" Kakashi stated, standing up straight as he readied himself for a tension-filled conversation "If you let me explain what happened, perhaps you'll see that I am as much threat to this village as I was before I left" He gave a closed-eye smile but upon seeing the deadpanned look from his Hokage, he realized many did think he was a threat even before leaving.

He chuckled nervously, his case not starting off great.

"When we left the village, Orochimaru took that opportunity to attack. I parted with team 7 before we reached him and went on ahead." Kakashi takes a moment to sigh as he looks down, ashamed.

"We battled for hours, I had almost defeated him-" Tsunade's eyebrows shot up in shock "-when Kabuto Yakushi seemingly came from the shadows and caught me off guard. He managed to disable my chakra flow enough for Orochimaru to take advantage. He cornered me and struck me down, about to finish it" Kakashi's expression suddenly lightened up giving Tsunade a mild whiplash.

"Luckily, a bright light blinded the area and when I regained my sight, I was in the Land of Wolves". Kakashi stopped his story as Tsunade held up a hand to him, her eyes closed in thought.

The woman sighed and slowly opened her eyes before gesturing for him to continue. Clearly, she needed a moment for her mind to catch up.

Kakashi cleared his throat "What I found waiting for me wasn't anything I expected to ever happen but as the light faded, three figures stood before me. The island's leaders-" Tsunade's eyebrows, once again, shot up as she realized who he was speaking of.

"-Hideo Sarutobi, Honoka Uchiha and Kazuma Senju" Kakashi finished with a content expression on his features.

Tsunade this would be all she would be gaining from the man as of now. It didn't much matter to her either way as she needed time to adjust to the information. 

"You're dismissed" She sighed with a tired expression before glaring up at the man "but I want you back in my office tomorrow morning." She muttered, waving him off.

Kakashi hesitates for a moment, feeling uneasy about her casual dismissal. She seemed to notice and chuckled.

"I won't have anyone follow you but Sakura will keep an eye on you. I trust her to report back with any suspicious behaviour" Tsuande's eyes held the truth to her words, she held compete trust in the Pinkette.

Kakashi relaxed and nodded before disappearing from her sight leaving the woman in silence.

Her eyes fluttered to the sake bottle on the edge of her desk. She deserved it, after all.

___

"I can't believe how quickly we got back together" Sakura says as she stares up at the sky with a content expression.

Three sat comfortably in the shadows of the trees, near the cottage their sensei had taken them once upon a time.

Naruto smiles softly as his gaze left the rays of sunlight and moved to his two old friends.

They hadn't changed much in his opinion, simply grew into their preferred styles.

"Hmm" A hum came from the Uchiha as enjoyed the breeze flowing through their hair with his eyes closed.

Naruto turned back to watch the rays of sun shining through the thick foliage and enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere.

His expression shifted however as he noticed a figure in the distance coming towards them.

Naruto simply shifted and sat upright while he waited patiently.

Sasuke and Sakura continued in their peaceful states though no doubt Sasuke has sensed him by now whilst Sakura simply didn't care to wait and instead continued enjoying herself until he actually arrived.

Naruto grinned as Kakashi stopped in front of them. The others looking up as he looked down at them with a small smile.

"How did it go?" Sakura questioned with a playful glint in her eyes.

Kakashi shook his head at her "Well enough".

Naruto jumped up in sudden excitement "let's spar, sensei!" He grinned with his fist raised in determination.

Kakashi hardly gave him a side glance as he eyed the Uchiha, more interested in how things had gone between his reunion with Itachi. If it ever happened.

"No need. I already know how far you've come. I saw you during the Kazekage retrieval mission" Kakashi explained casually as he sat down by the base of a nearby tree.

Naruto visibly deflated in disappointment "That's not fair" he muttered before taking his previous seat as well.

Kakashi shook his head at the blonde, silently glad to see not much had changed.

Sasuke, on the other hand, also felt upset about the conclusion to having a spar. A common goal they all shared was to beat their sensei one day and how can they when he won't give them a chance.

Kakashi noticed the forlorn expressions and sighed "We can spar soon." He muttered, instantly gaining positive reactions "but for now, tell me how your training went" Kakashi smiled, though the young Jounin only felt a sinister aura coming from him.

They had a feeling age had nothing to do with discipline training.

___

"You've all improved" Kakashi smiled casually as If he hadn't just made the three undergo the worst training of their lives.

No longer were they the small chuunin that thought they could take on the world with the training they received back then. They were Jounin now and Kakashi no longer felt as though he needed to go easy on them. It was only after almost losing their heads more times than thrice that they realised just how easy their sensei had been going on them.

Naruto huffed with his hands on his knees and looked up at his sensei, careful not to show any anger toward the man who was in a disciplinary mindset.

Even after all this time, he'd only gotten stronger and could still beat them all albeit with more quite a bit more effort.

Sasuke panted next to the blonde with his arms crossed, trying to look as unaffected as possible but the sweat dripping down his forehead stated otherwise.

While Sakura, stood on Sasuke's right, staring up at the sky as she tried to regain her breathing.

In some strange wicked way, the three missed the older Jounin's disciplinary training. It kept them in line and at the same time, made them so much more dangerous.

"KAKASHI!!" Came a sudden bellowed cry. The small group knew instantly who it was as the fast drumming of feet against dirt was too fast for any normal Jounin.

Kakashi sighed, not even looking in his direction as he muttered "Gai..."

Kakashi didn't bother dodging the fiery green beast of a man as he lunged at the copycat and pulled him into the tightest embrace he'd ever received in his life.

Kakashi coughed as the oxygen left his lungs and squirmed before he hit a pressure point on Gai's arms. He panted as his charges did when he finally got loose.

Rubbing his neck where Gai had been squishing him as well, Kakashi glanced over at Gai to see big crocodile tears rushing down his cheeks.

The Jounin sighed before facing him "it's good to see you, Gai." He gave a closed-eyed smile.

This, in turn, created more tears before Gai, somehow, regained movement in his arms and crushed the Jounin in a hug again.

The trio smirked at the man's obvious discomfort.

"My rival has finally returned!" He cried out whilst Kakashi glared at his charges for finding amusement in this.

"Get off, Gai" The Jounin muttered with a sigh.

Gai begrudgingly let go before suddenly grinning at the man and his team, his usual sparkle shining through his teeth and hair. That was not a sentence he ever thought he'd think about.

Kakashi shook his head at the man "well, you've certainly not changed" He muttered with an undertone of fondness.

This, of course, brought Gai to tears. Again.

"Kakashi!" "Hey!" "Look there they are!" "Hey, guys!" "Sasuke!"

Came a chorus of voices trailing closer and closer. The members of team 7 looked at one another and sighed.