Sitting in the classroom, Haruka stared ahead, waiting for Naruto to arrive. Their time limit had been reached. They could publicly be friends once more. Slowly, one by one, everyone filed in. Naruto bounds in, automatically taking a seat by Haruka, tugging gently on her waist-length deep black hair and giving her a cheeky smile, he put his feet up on the desk.

She only tsked him and rolled her dark blue eyes, watching as Sakura and Ino barreled in, fighting over who would be sitting with Sasuke. The pair scoffed quietly at the two girls and tuned the world out, being content to finally sit near each other. They only pulled themselves from their world when teams were being assigned.

"Team seven is...Sakura Haruno.." Iruka-sensei started, "Naruto Uzumaki.." He was interrupted by Sakura's groans and protests. He waited for her to settle down, giving her a pointed look. "Sasuke Uchiha.." He continued, this time being interrupted by Sakura's cheers. Iruka-sensei cleared his throat, the girl going quiet once more. "And Haruka Shiroshi." He finished, Haruka and Naruto fist-bumping under the table. After the other teams were called, they were instructed to wait for their new Jounin sensei after a short lunch break to get to know their new teams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Naruto and Haruka sat together in silence while eating, a companionable silence. They didn't need words to know what the other was thinking anymore. They watched as Sakura sat on a bench a bit away from them. Haruka turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Will you continue with your mask?" Was her unasked question. Naruto seemingly thought it over and gave a small nod. He slowly and carefully put his food away then bounded over to Sakura, seeming to overflow energy. Haruka simply shook her head and continued with her meal. Any trouble he got into now was his own doing. She refused to be responsible for it.

She cleaned the area after she finished and decided to go wait in the classroom. Naruto would find his way to her, he always did. After an hour or so he sulked in and sat beside her as the other seats started to fill. She offered up her palm were he pinched a message of what had transpired. He wasn't to terribly concerned with his transformation of Sasuke going south.

Haruka gave an amused snort as he finished, rolling her eyes. Of course he'd find a way to get into a predicament like that. Finally everyone had filed in and waited for their Jounin-Sensei. Slowly everyone left in their groups, leaving Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto and Haruka alone together to wait.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"This is going to be great!" Naruto exclaimed, setting up a blackboard eraser above the door so it would fall on the next person to enter. Haruka began to tune them out. She could only listen to Naruto and Sakura arguing for so long.

She heard the door opening and turned just in time to watch the eraser hit their Jounin-Sensei's head and then fall to the ground. It was quite for a breath and then Sakura began apologizing profusely. The man had spiked up silver hair and the standard Jounin uniform, his masked pulled over his left eye and a face mask. "My first impression? You're all idiots." The Jounin smiled and then told them to meet him on the roof.

Haruka lagged behind everyone at a leisurely pace, hands behind her head.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was Haruka's turn to introduce herself after not having paid attention to anyone else's. She blinked slowly, not really wanting to share anything about herself with the outsiders in the group. Naruto nudged her with his foot after a while, no one noticing.

"I am Haruka Shiroshi. I like strawberries and frogs." She started to blush and looked away. "I'm not fond of waiting or talking." Haruka continued, not happy with this situation and refusing to look at anyone. "My hobbies are baking and training." Thinking of her dreams for the future she sat up straighter and looked who she learned was Kakashi-Sensei in the eye. "My dream for the future is to be the future Anbu guard for the future Hokage." Haruka finished, leaving the meaning of her words hanging.

They all knew who she was referring to when she said future Hokage, surely. Kakashi-Sensei cleared his throat and put on a smile. "Good. You're all different." He started and explained that they would have a training exercise the next day.

As Sasuke and Sakura went their separate ways to go home, Naruto and Haruka stayed at the same pace and slowly walked home together. "Are you going to eat breakfast or skip like he said?" Haruka asked as they came upon their apart complex.

"Ah. I should probably skip." Naruto replied, leaning against the wall next to her door, waiting for her to open it. "So you're going to keep the mask up for as long as possible?" She sighed, pushing open the door after unlocking it. "Yeah. They'll underestimate me. We'll use it to our advantage." He nodded, immediately making himself at home and flopping onto her couch.

"That's true, I suppose." Haruka sat beside him, leaning into his side. "What's for dinner?" Naruto gave her a cheeky grin as his stomach gave off a loud rumble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was delicious Haru." Naruto praised the girl, helping her clear the dishes they just finished with. "Thank you Naru. I'm glad you enjoyed it." Haruka smiled at him, truly happy that he had enjoyed it. She loved to take care of him. He was her best friend after all.

After clearing the table and doing the dishes Naruto tugged at her long sleeves, a silent question in the air. "I changed the bandages this morning. I might need your help tomorrow before training though. I want to make sure they don't accidentally come loose." Haruka answered Naruto without him verbally asking. She was referring to the bandages covering her body from her ankles to her wrists to her neck.

It's why she wore black turtlenecks and long black leggings under her deep blue skirts. She couldn't let anyone else know her secret. Not just yet. "I'll be over at four." Naruto stated, happy to help. They always helped each other. They always had, they always will.

Haruka nodded, letting him know she understood. "We should probably get some sleep then." She pointed out and then walked him to his door. "Have a good sleep Haruka. If you need me come get me." Naruto said, as he does every time they spend the night apart. "I know." She smiled at him as he opened his door.

"Good night Queen." "Goodnight boss."