New times.. New teams.. Can they be friends again? I'm not gonna tell you.. ;) So read on.

And Kishi owns Naruto.. :)

A Team Again..

Naruto woke up to the annoying beep of the alarm. He put a pillow on his ear, hoping to muffle the irritating noise. It was not helping at all. Yawning, he sat up and turned off the damn thing. That was when he noticed the time. 10:00!

"Oh nooo... they are going to kill me!" Naruto gulped.

Quarter an hour later, he was racing through the streets, aiming for the Hokage building.

"Damn it! I am too late.." He clashed into someone who was coming straight at him.

"Hey- Konohamaru! I'm in a hurry! Catch ya-"

"Naruto nii-san.. Tsunade sama is waiting for you! She was real scary!" Konohamaru, now a chunin by the way, yelled after him.

"I know!" Naruto yelled back, now really worried. Tsunade had called for a meeting this morning. It was 2 weeks since the Great Ninja War had finally come to an end. And Sasuke was back in Konoha. Their fight had went to such a terrible scale that they had been in coma for 5 days. But it had all ended well. Naruto was glad for that. He was still not entirely the Sasuke he once knew. Sasuke was keeping his distance from him, Sakura, and Kakashi sensei. It felt as though he was avoiding them entirely, but still, he had come back.. And that was enough to make Naruto happy.

He burst into the office of Hokage, to find himself facing cold glares. Tsunade was seated in her Hokage chair, Shizune was behind her holding TonTon. And facing her stood Kakashi, Sakura, Sai, Sasuke, Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo.

"Uh-hmm.. I'm sorry I'm late.. Ya know.. I was sleeping you see-" Naruto dropped a sweat.

"NARUTO! I'm tired listening to your silly excuses. So shut up and listen. We are already late." Tsunade was scary, alright.

"Y-Yes Granny Tsunade!" Naruto gulped and walked to Sakura's side, glancing at others. Sakura was looking at him disapprovingly. Kakashi and Sai seemed more sympathetic. Sasuke was not looking at him at all. Karin seemed curious and was almost smiling. Suigetsu was openly grinning with his weird pointed teeth. And Juugo was looking concerned for him.

"Alright. Since everyone is here, let me begin. We will be discussing on your future missions and responsibilities. Sasuke, as I have already told you, you will receive an official pardon soon. But don't take it to your head that all those crimes you did are justified. We are letting you go for the sake of Uchicha clan, and Itachi, who suffered such a brutal fate. You are being given a chance to clear the name of Uchiha, but not only that. You will have to prove your willingness to see yourself as a member of Konoha and protect the village with your life on line. Am I clear, Uchiha Sasuke?"

"Yeah." Sasuke replied, his face a mask.

"Is there anything you want to tell?" Tsunade asked, a little more softly now.

"I have something to say against the rules which were forced upon my clan." Sasuke said.

"Go on." Tsunade prodded.

"For one thing, we have been forced to live in that compound at the edge of Konoha. I realize that this was done purposefully to keep us separate from the rest of Konoha. I don't want that rule to exist any more."

"That will be done. Any thing else?"

"And at least one Uchiha should be a member of advisory council."

"Hm. Let me think on it. I agree with you, but it will take some time to enforce that rule. Alright, we will move on to deciding your teams. Suigetsu, Karin and Juugo.. As you wanted, you three are now cleared to stay in Konoha as the ninjas of Leaf. Your official appointment will be done within a week, and you will be Chunins for now. But once you gain our trust, you will be promoted to Jounin level. Is that alright?"

"Yucks! Me? A chunin?" Suigetsu grimaced.

"Alright with me, Tsunade-sama!" Karin adjusted her glasses.

"Fine." Juugo said.

"Then that is settled." Tsunade said. "Sasuke, Sai, Sakura and Naruto. Starting today, you are all jounins."

"Wow really?" Naruto grinned.

"That's great news! Thank you, Tsunade sama." Sakura smiled.

"We will have to decide the teams now. I will split it up evenly. Kakashi, you will be captain for the team of Juugo, Suigetsu and Karin until they become Jounins. It should be fine with Juugo since he has learnt to control his transformation. Is that alright, Kakashi?"

"Sure. No problem." Kakashi smiled.

"Then that is fixed. Now Sakura, Sai, Naruto and Sasuke will form the other team."

Naruto smiled. They were a team again! Well, except for Kakashi-sensei.

"Alright!" Naruto cheered. He glanced at Sasuke, who was being expressionless as usual.

"And Sakura, you will be the team captain." Tsunade added.

"Wha- me?! But Tsunade sama-" Sakura glanced at Naruto and Sasuke.

"Only you can manage this team, Sakura. If either Naruto or Sasuke gets to be the captain, they will end up killing each other. And Sai is not yet emotionally knowledgeable. So it has to be you. You have good analytical abilities and can be neutral when required. Can I count on you, Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

"Y-Yes! Tsunade-sama!" Sakura said.

"That is settled then. Any questions?" Tsunade waited a moment before she dismissed them. "You can go now."

I couldn't split them up any other way, could I? XD If you have any suggestions/reviews, let me know.. :) :) The real plot is just getting started in the next chapter.. so read on..