Forward: This story is basically an experiment into how the characters in Team 7 would react to their past selves and how their past selves would react to who they grew to be. It will begin with what amounts to a novelization of the beginning of Naruto: part 2 and the first Naruto bell test, and in the second chapter is where it will really pick up. I hope everyone likes how I portray the characters, as this is how I see them, and this is, above all, an exercise in character portrayal. Thank you for reading, and please review.

Team 7 Deja vu!

Chapter 1: Bell Test

"Haha. He's certainly cheerful, today, isn't he?" Jiraiya murmured, looking up at his blond pupil, who now stood atop a high post taking in the village of Konohagakure.

"I missed this place!" Naruto shouted. "It hasn't changed one bit!" He put his hands on his hips and looked about excitedly, taking in the familiar sights. One, however, was not so familiar. "Heh, heh, heh. So they've added Tsunade's old mug to the mountain. Ha!" He was so absorbed in his discovery, he didn't even notice the figure sneaking up on him until it was too late...

"You've grown a lot, haven't you Naruto?"

Naruto whirled around, his heart having nearly stopped at the voice coming out of nowhere. It had come from down there, a white haired, masked figure who had his hand raised in greeting as he looked up from his novel. "Wait! Oh yeah!" he shouted as he hopped down to his old teacher. "Haha! You haven't changed at all, Kakashi sensei!" He grinned mischieviously as he rummaged through his backpack. "Hey, hey! I have a present for you, Kakashi sensei!"

"Hm?" the Jounin raised his eyebrow, curious as to what his former student could have gotten him.

A pink haired kunoichi looked fondly out of a window in the Hokage's compound. Her hand touched it longingly as her thoughts drifted back more than two years ago. She hadn't thought of them much recently. She was too busy training under Tsunade. But today, for some reason, she couldn't help but think about that boy. Where was he, now? Was he alright? Was he thinking of her, too? She shook her head. It shouldn't matter, should it?

"Sakura..." her teacher's voice intruded on her introspection, and she turned to the deceptively young looking woman's attention. "That Naruto kid... it seems he's returned to Konoha."

She froze. He was back? Here? A smile came to her face as she walked toward the Hokage. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"You... h-how... th-this is..." Naruto had never seen his old teacher so flustered in all his life. The boy revelled in it. "Whaaaaaat?!"

The boy smiled as Kakashi took the book he had held out to him. "This is the latest Icha Icha series after three years!" he explained. "It's really boring, but you'll still like it... I think!"

Jiraiya, nearby, harumphed at his student's rough critique of his work. Idiot, he thought to himself. A kid like you wouldn't understand the beauty of that book... it's still an unreleased rare item, too.

Immediately engrossed in his new book, Kakashi happily followed the boy and his master into town. More specifically, Naruto was interested in Ichiraku Ramen. After all, he hadn't been there for nearly two and a half years. As they walked, however, Jiraiya took the moment to speak with his best student's only remaining pupil. "As promised, I'll leave Naruto to you from now on." Kakashi looked up from his book, inwardly pleased that he would be able to lead his favorite knuckleheaded ninja again, but also sensing trouble in the toad hermit's words.

"I fear Akatsuki has been growing impatient... they may make an attempt on Naruto soon," he informed the Copy Ninja. "I'm going to head around and gather as much information as I can..." he was cut off by a sudden shout.

"Sa-Sakura chan!" Naruto said in shock as the pink haired kunoichi turned around. At first, she hadn't even recognized the boy who had let loose that excited cheer, but one good look at those cheeks and those eyes told her everything she needed to know.

"Eh? Naruto?" Incredible, she thought. Naruto had been a boy in her mind when she'd thought back on him just minutes before... but he was undeniably a man, now. She blushed, wondering if his reaction to her was the same. She decided to find out. "How do I look?" she asked shyly. "Do I look more like a woman, now...?"

"You look fine! You haven't changed at all!" Naruto responded cheerily. Yes, he thought, she looked just as beautiful now as she had when he last saw her. There was no way she could improve on perfection.

"You still don't understand a woman's mind," Sakura deadpanned with a hint of aggravation.

Naruto looked confused at the comment.

Sakura noticed something else at that moment with surprise. "You've... you've gotten taller than me?!" Unbelievable! He had always been the shortest one on the team, and even though she had grown several inches, he was at least a foot taller. Her surprised expression then softened to fondness as she saw him try to measure himself. Hmmm... she thought... Naruto... you've become really strong since I last saw you...

"Naruto niichan!" a new voice interrupted.

The five gathered ninja turned to the new presence. It was... a... naked woman?! "Oiroke no jutsu!" the shorthaired brunette breathed seductively.

"Ohoho!" Jiraiya cheered, barely containing his nosebleed.

The girl vanished an instant later in a puff of smoke to leave a slightly taller Konohamaru giving his role model a thumbs up. "How was that?!" he boasted. "A real drool of a jutsu, wasn't it?"

"Hehehe..." Naruto smirked with a slightly condescending air. "Konohamaru, I'm sorry but I'm not a kid anymore," he informed the young ninja. "From now on, you shouldn't use that jutsu either."

Sakura's cheeks tinged and she put a hand to her heart, touched by Naruto's blatant show of maturity. So... she thought, Naruto hasn't just matured in appearance... this makes me feel a little sad. You really have become amazing... Naruto. I'm sure you've come back with a lot of great new jutsu, too, right...?

As if to confirm her unasked question, Naruto clenched his fist with determination. "Such a jutsu is mediocre, Konohamaru! Behold! The new perverted ninjutsu I've been developing!! Here we gooooo!"

"Aha! A new ninjutsu you say," Sakura gushed. She'd known he wouldn't come back empty handed. "A new perv..." Wait... "PERVERTED NINJUTSU?!" she screeched driving her fist into the blond's face. "You idiot!!!" She may have used a bit too much of her enhanced strength with that punch, but he deserved it for leading her on. "I was wrong, you haven't changed one bit!! I haven't seen you for two and a half years and you jump straight into that! Idiot!!" She shook the unresponsive young man angrily, continuing her rant. "What about that wonderful feeling of respect I had for you just now?!! Ahh! As if I could feel sad that I wasn't grown up like you!!"

"Hey, Sakura, calm down," Kakashi said soothingly, honestly a bit worried by her extreme reaction. "Konohamaru here's terrified," he went on, gesturing to the kid hiding behind his leg. To be honest, he thought, I'm a bit terrified...

Tsunade sighed. "Jiraiya..." she addressed her former teammate. "Naruto... has grown more and more like you in these past two years, hasn't he?"

Jiraiya, however, was much too shocked at the young kunoichi's brutal outburst to respond. That beauty and strength, he thought, It would seem as if you've raised another Tsunade.

The Slug Sage certainly knew what the old man was thinking from looking at his face, and she decided there was little else to be said about that. "...Right. The nostalgia ends here, though. Kakashi."

The jounin snapped his new book closed, albeit with some reluctance. "Well... it has been a while, hasn't it?" The Copy Ninja's two students looked quizzically at him. "From now on," he explained, "The two of you will come with me on team related missions. It's different than before. It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today, we're equal Konoha shinobi." He held out two bells. "Well... first, I'm a bit curious as to how you've developed. The rules are the same as when I first met you two. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed in getting the bells!"

- - -

"Attack as though you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance."

Sakura protested, "But... but that's so dangerous!"

Naruto, on the other hand, laughed contemptuously. "You couldn't even dodge an eraser!! You're gonna get yourself killed!"

Kakashi sighed. "Only the weak speak loudly. Now, let's ignore the dunce, and we'll get started on my signal!"

At that word, Naruto snapped. Call him a dunce, would he? Underestimate him, would he? He'd see soon enough that no one underestimated Uzumaki Naruto! He pulled his kunai from its holster and twirled it around on his finger before catching it in preparation to throw. He aimed straight for his teacher, intent on putting the blade right between his cocky eyes. He would have gotten him, too, if he hadn't... suddenly... not been there. Instead, he was behind him, holding the kunai to Naruto's own head.

"Not so fast. I didn't say 'go.'" He looked appraisingly at the blond kid at his mercy. "But at least you struck to kill... so, it seems you've begun to respect me." He grinned under his mask. "Heh, heh, heh... maybe... just maybe... I'm starting to like you three." He ruffled Naruto's hair before letting him go. "And now... ready... steady... GO!!!" With that, the three potential shinobi flew into the trees, and their final test to become gennin had begun.

- - -

Sakura looked around the training area. After Naruto had turned Kakashi's old kunai-to-the-back-of-the-head trick around on him, the jounin had disappeared. She couldn't see him in any direction. If he wasn't anywhere up above, she reasoned... "Below!" She punched the ground and it exploded into a hundred pieces, revealing Kakashi hiding in the rubble.

Wha... what insane power, her old teacher thought to himself as he sat in shock among the wreckage. Godaime... you didn't just teach Sakura medical ninjutsu, did you?

"Found you," Sakura stated, pleased with herself.

Naruto gazed with pride at his partner. He thought to himself, I should stop playing around in front of Sakura... she could kill me!

Kakashi leapt to the surface, analyzing the Fifth's protege. She could build up the maximum amount of chakra in her fist and release it in an instant, which required extreme chakra control. She had medical ninjutsu, plus that amazing strength... and the fact she was originally a genjutsu type meant she could perhaps surpass Tsunade. "Alright, this time I should also do something on my end."

- - -

"Noooo!" Sasuke shouted as his feet sank into the earth.

Kakashi reemerged from the earth and crouched over the Uchiha. "Shinobi battle technique, lesson number three--ninjutsu. But at least, as you predicted, your performance was head and shoulders above that of your companions."

"Crap!" Sasuke's head cursed as he tried to free the rest of his body from its earthy prison.

"Oh, well," Kakashi said as he left the boy to his struggle. "You know what they say! The nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down, right? Heh, heh, heh..."

"I thought I was so close," the boy sulked. Then he noticed a familiar pink haired kunoichi run by. Hope entered his body once again. She might be annoying and ignorant, but she certainly wouldn't leave him in this predicament. But... what was with that expression? And why was she sweating like that after seeing him?

"Eeeyaagh!" she screamed. "It's Sasuke's head... it's been severed!!!" And she collapsed backward, foaming heavily from the mouth.

"What was that all about?" he pondered.

- - -

"I already knew it," Sakura sighed. "But the Sharingan really is amazing... and not only that, but his seal making speed... it's too fast for me to follow. If we could somehow stop him from using both hands, we could get to the bells."

Naruto grinned. While he was exhausted from fighting straight into nightfall, it was quite a rush. "Yeah... Kakashi sensei is unreasonably strong. He's smarter than Shikamaru... and he has a better sense of smell than Kiba... he has better Sharingan than Sasuke... and better Taijutsu than Thick-brows..."

"But even Kakashi sensei has to have weak point," Sakura argued, a glimmer of hope coming into her face. "If we think it over well..."

Naruto pondered it. "Ah! He has a weak point!" he realized.

"Eh?!" Sakura exclaimed, surprised that he had been able to figure it out before her. "Re... really?!"

Meanwhile, in another part of the training area, Kakashi sat equally exhausted as his students. "Hmm... using the Sharingan this much... if I use it, soon I'll run out of stamina. That's my weakness." He peeked out from his hiding place. "But... their growth is brilliant. Maybe I shouldn't be so cheerful. Maybe I should be on the lookout for signs of how they'll approach." It wasn't more than a few minutes before he smelled the distinct odor of the two ninja. "They're here!" He looked up to see them leaping straight for him. "They have to be joking," he said to himself. "Making a direct attack."

"Now, Naruto!" Sakura shouted.

"Let's go, Kakashi!" Naruto challenged, and he proceeded to do something that would shock the jounin to his very core.

- - -

"This rocks!" Naruto shouted. "It means all three of us..."

"Are hopeless." Kakashi concluded, quickly killing the three ninja's buzz. "More schooling would be pointless. None of you will ever be shinobi!!!"

"What do you mean 'give up?!'" Naruto demanded. "Give me a break! Okay, so maybe none of us got our hands on one of your stupid bells... but why the Hell should we quit after that?"

"Because," Kakashi explained. "Not one of you has what it takes!"

Sasuke grimaced, his cool exterior breaking down as he came to grips with what this guy was saying. He wouldn't have it. He had to get revenge on that guy. He had to become a ninja no matter what it took. He leaped to his feet and shot straight for the jounin, intent on beating the rank of gennin out of him if he had to, but the white haired scarecrow took him down with one swift move.

"What you are is a trio of spoiled brats..." Kakashi went on.

Sakura squealed in protest. "Don't step on Sasuke! GET OFF OF HIM!"

"Are you trying to make fun of the shinobi with your behavior?" Kakashi growled. "Well, are you? Did you ever stop to wonder for one minute... why you were divided into teams?"

"Uhh... excuse me?" Sakura asked, confused.

"Obviously not," Kakashi answered for them. "So you missed the entire point of the exercise."

"It had a point...!?" Naruto exclaimed in dumbfounded amazement.

Kakashi sighed. "Of course, and that point determines whether or not you would succeed."

Sakura quirked her eyebrow in confusion. "But... you haven't explained what it is!"

Kakashi shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe this."

"Aw, come on, already! Tell us!!!" Naruto pleaded.

"It's... TEAMWORK." the jounin roared.

The three ninja hopefuls sat shocked at the declaration.

"If the three of you had come at me... together... you might have been able to take the bells," Kakashi explained.

"If we were expected to function as a team, why did you only have two bells?" Sakura stomped. "Even if we worked together, one of us still would have had to go without lunch. You're preaching teamwork, but you played us against each other!"

Kakashi remained silent for a moment before responding. "Of course. This task was designed to cause dissension in your ranks."

"What?" Naruto shouted.

"The situation was set up to reveal which of you would set aside you individual interests and propose to the others that you work together for the good of all," Kakashi told them. "Instead of which... you, Sakura, ignored Naruto, who was right in front of you... while you focused your attention on Sasuke, though you didn't know where he was. Naruto tried to do single-handedly what should have been the work of all three! And Sasuke had already decided that the other two just got in his way... and he was better off playing solo." He scoffed. "You are a team! Learn to act as one! Yes, it's necessary for ninja to have individual skills, but... what is even more important is teamwork! Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger. You might as well kill them yourself. Here's an example..." He shift position on Sasuke and held a kunai to the Uchiha's throat. "Sakura! Kill Naruto. Or Sasuke dies."

"What?!" Naruto spazzed. He wasn't entirely sure Sakura wouldn't do it.

"The day could come," Kakashi said, getting off of Sasuke. "When one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice."

Sakura's shoulders fell in relief. "Give me a heart attack, why don't you?!"

"Why you are on a mission," the jounin went on, "Your lives will always be on the line." He began to walk toward a stone marker. "Look at the marker... all the names on this stone. Heroes of our village. Ninja."

"Wow!" Naruto shouted. "That's it! I just made up my mind! There's where I want my name to go! I'm not going to throw my life away! I want to be like them--a hero!"

Sasuke grunted his indifference.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "But the ones listed here aren't just any heroes..."

Naruto leaned forward expectantly. "Really? What kind of heroes are they?"

Kakashi looked back, but said nothing.

"Come on! Come on!"

"The dead kind," he finally said. "They died in the line of duty."

Suddenly, Naruto didn't feel so sure about getting his name on that stone. At least... not any time soon.

"This is a memorial. It includes the names of my best friends," the jounin explained. "Pay attention! I'm giving you all one last chance. One that will be far more difficult than our last little game with the bells." He turned toward them and instructed, "If you're prepared to continue, you may eat one of the bento boxes. But no sharing with Naruto. He goes hungry."

"Why," Naruto protested.

Kakashi sniffed. "He brought it on himself when he tried to sneak lunch for himself. If either of you feeds him, you fail the test right there." He glowered at the trio and affirmed, "My word is law. Do you understand?" Before they could even begin to answer, he had vanished.

"Hey, this'll be a breeze. I can go without lunch, no problem," Naruto said as his stomach chose that moment to make itself known. And continued to do so. It seemed the world was falling into darkness... as dark as night.

"Here," Sasuke said, offering his lunch to Naruto, mostly because he was finally fed up with the growling.

Shocked, Sakura protested around a full mouth. "Bu... but Sasuke kun, Master Kakashi told us..."

"I'm not worried," Sasuke assured her. "He's probably miles away by now. And we'll all need our strength if we're going to work together to get those bells." He then addressed Naruto. "You're no good to me if you're just going to be a liability."

Sakura was touched by Sasuke's generosity and felt a bit guilty, now. She gulped down the food in her mouth and offered the rest to Naruto. Besides, if he was going to fail for this, she might as well do it, too, right?

Naruto was especially moved by Sakura's kindness. He excepted gratefully.

"Hehe... a ninja should look underneath the underneath," Naruto reminded his master as he held up a bell.

"Right sensei?" Sakura affirmed, holding her own bell along with a "V for victory" sign.

Kakashi frowned at his former students. "Such tactics... unforgivable."

Naruto laughed as the three headed back toward the training ground's clearing. "There was no other way, sensei."

Kakashi sighed, taking the lead. "I suppose applause is in order for those who have grown so wise."

Naruto and Sakura smiled at each other, proud of their accomplishments and impressed with how strong the other had grown.

As the three made it into the clearing, they heard the sound of... very loud eating. Then a high pitched voice shouted, "Oh, no, it's Kakashi sensei!" and another voice, only slightly more masculine, shouted wildly.

Kakashi stood transfixed at the three children in the clearing, one blond tied to the center post. He looked from the pink haired girl to the whisker marked boy and finally to... "Sasuke..."

Naruto and Sakura stopped in their tracks. "Eh?" A feeling of grim hope took them and they raced ahead of their master to take in the sight as well.

Naruto, tied to the post with rice still sticking stubbornly to the corner of his mouth, was the first to say what was on everyone's mind at this point. "What the Hell?"