Chapter 44

                                    

                                          
"Wow, it's sure been a while since we've been back, huh?" Naruto smiled warmly as he looked at the Leaf Village in the distance. 
"We would have been back sooner if you would have stopped messing around so much." Kurama spoke harshly to Naruto, but his voice had no malice in it. "...And to top it off, you just had to use that idiotic jutsu when talking with Jiraiya."
"Haha! That was the easiest way to get Pervy Sage to listen, ya know. It's always been like that." Naruto started laughing quietly as he thought back to when he trained with Jiraiya. "At first that was the only way I could get him to talk to me long enough to learn anything at all."
"You don't have to tell me that. I was there. I had to suffer through all that as well."
"Sorry, Kura. At least I didn't have to do it forever."
As they bantered back and forth reminiscing about the past, Naruto made his way to the entrance of the Leaf Village. He seemed to walk with a purpose as he walked through the gate. Now that he was back after such a long time, there were things that he felt he needed to do before anything else. 
Knowing where he was going, Kurama spoke up, questioning Naruto's priorities. "Shouldn't you go and see Minato first to let him know that you're back?"
"Nope! He can handle himself for a little while longer." Naruto had a smile on his face as he spoke. "This is more important right now."
Before too long, Naruto found himself standing outside of the Leaf's orphanage holding bags of gifts. He hadn't been there since before his mind had been controlled by Madara, and he wanted to make sure everyone was doing okay.
As soon as Naruto opened the front door he was suddenly bombarded with a hoard of children and he soon found himself lying flat on his back.
"Naruto! We missed you so much!"
"What took you so long to come back?!"
"Are you going to stay and play with us?!"
"Look how much taller I am!"
"Why didn't you tell us you were leaving?!"
All the young kids were asking question after question, not allowing Naruto to answer any of them. "Hey guys, come on! Haha! Let me answer, ya know!" It took some time for Naruto to calm all of the kids, but once he did, he sat up and started telling them his story. "Well you see, I had to go on a very top-secret mission and I had to leave right away, so I couldn't come and say goodbye. Also, the mission ended up taking a lot longer to finish than I thought it would, so I'm sorry I haven't been back in so long. You guys have all gotten so much bigger."
"Are you gonna stay and play with us for a while?" 
Naruto turned his head to the familiar voice. "Haru! Wow, you're so much bigger than the last time I saw you! And yeah, I'm gonna stay. I also brought all of you some gifts." All of the kids sat impatiently as Naruto opened up the bags that he had brought with him. He pulled out coats and scarves of different sizes, handing them out to all of the kids. 
"Wow Naruto! These are so cool!"
"What are these for?"
"Oh man, this is my favorite color!"
"I love it when you come to visit!"
The kids all had bright smiles on their faces as they picked out their warm clothes, and Naruto watched with happiness as he saw every last coat and scarf get chosen. "It's starting to get cold, so hopefully these will keep all of you warm once winter finally gets here."