It didn't take very long for Mebuki to finish up cooking breakfast, even though she had to make extra due to Sakura's request. She had believed that Sakura was going to eat the other portion of food once she left the house, so that Mebuki wouldn't be able to see her eating so much, but was proven wrong when Sakura ate at her own pace and claimed that she was too full to eat any more. The older Haruno nodded in acceptance, understanding that with what little portions Sakura usually ate, this was a lot for the girl.
On the contrary, Sakura wanted to eat both portions of the meal. She knew that by eating more, she would have more energy, and when exercising, any weight that she might possibly gain from eating would be turned into muscle. She had to save the rest for Naruto, though, as she knew for sure that he wasn't going to be eating this morning, or lunch if things happened in the exact same fashion that they did before.
Naruto would charge in head first, fail miserably, and have the Sennen Goroshi Placed upon him in humorous fashion. While she and Sasuke would be hiding and watching, Naruto would unleash a barrage of Kage Bushin on Kakashi, who would replace himself with one of them to have the clones fight only themselves without knowing that Kakashi was elsewhere. After dispelling the clones, Naruto would find a bell on the ground near a tree and fall for the trap that Kakashi had set up for him. During this time, when Sasuke believed that Kakashi was distracted by the blond, he would launch multiple shuriken and kunai their sensei. Kakshi would use the Kawarimi Technique to replace himself with a log. While this was happening, Sakura would decide to wander off, and Kakashi would find her. Using a genjutsu on her to make her believe that Sasuke was dying, she would pass out from the shock. In the time that they had to complete the test, none of them would manage to get a bell, but Kakashi would allow them to try again later, leaving Sakura and Sasuke to eat while Naruto was tied to one of the three posts due to the fact that he attempted to rush at the food and eat it by himself. In the end, though, they would all pass and move along to other things.
Even without her built up reserves, and lack of muscle memory with this different body, Sakura planned on changing things this time, not wanting for Naruto to starve like he did. She would also make sure on getting the bells quickly and effectively with her team, now knowing what techniques Kakashi might pull on them. She couldn't change things too much, as people would begin to question why she knew what was going to happen and when, as well as the fact that they might drift off from her own timeline, starting something completely different with an act that would seem to do nothing. She had to be careful of what she did, as everything could change with a seemingly harmless act. It would be difficult to conceal her knowledge of the future, but she would have to do everything in her power to make it seem like she was still the Sakura that everyone else knew.
Finishing up the last scraps of her meal, Sakura smiled at her mother who was currently sitting across from her on the dining room table It seemed that she was eating as well, but had just begun to eat by the looks of how much was still on her plate. Mebuki looked up from her plate and to her daughter as she noticed her glances, happy to see that she didn't seem to be on a diet at the time. Mebuki hated those diets that many of the girls seemed to be going on because of Sasuke, and although she did feel bad for what the Uchiha had to go through, she wasn't wrapped around his finger like some others were, like many were on the civilian council. Sakura stood up from her spot at the table and took the small box that had the other portion of food inside of it. It was about as large as her own portion, and she willed herself not to rush out of the house and eat it. Mebuki smiled at her daughter and waved her goodbye as she saw that Sakura was walking over to the front door. Being a kunoichi herself, Mebuki knew how the world was, and hoped that her daughter finally understood that you needed everything that you had at your disposal to get through in life.
"Goodbye Sakura-chan!" Her mother called out to her as Sakura walked out the door, carrying the small box with her as she left. She bid her mother a quick farewell before closing the door behind her and leaving the Haruno household. Looking around, Sakura smiled as she took in the sights as if she hadn't been there in years. It was calm, peaceful, and was just about done rebuilding everything from when the Kyuubi attacked twelve years ago. There were no signs of war stress, only four faces carved into the Hokage Monument, and nine extra people still existed in the world.
Walking to the training ground, Sakura had some time to think about how she could make things better, and how they might change things in the future. She knew that it was possible that she could have already started changing things by agreeing to eat this morning, but it was just a simple meal to help her with the upcoming bell test. Something that simple couldn't have a large effect, could it? Shaking her thoughts away from breakfast, she began to think about her friends and how they changed over the years. The first one to come to mind was surprisingly Hinata, who had been set on Naruto since the day that she saw him. Sakura sighed softly as she frowned and looked at the ground." I'm sorry that I have to kill your dreams this early on, Hinata, but I can't let your feelings grow for him anymore… You two grow up to be great friends later on, so hopefully that will stay the same..." She thought to herself, remembering how she had even once thought about getting the Naruto and Hinata together before his death. After that, Sakura knew that she needed Naruto more than Hinata. Sure, she thought that it seemed a little selfish, but he couldn't help herself, and if everyone was still young, she still had a chance of keeping the Hyūga as a close friend to Naruto, but nothing more.
Stopping her thoughts abruptly, Sakura reached the bridge that led to training ground three and saw her two teammates. Sasuke was standing around and brooding as per the usual, and Naruto was doing something different, a usual for him. Currently, the blond was just simply pacing around the open field on the other side of the bridge. He wasn't training, or spouting out that he'll be Hokage someday, just… walking. She didn't remember him doing that originally, so maybe she was already starting to change things. Then again, Sakura did take some time to eat breakfast, which left Sasuke and Naruto along for about half an hour to do what they were doing now. Remembering the food, Sakura called out to her teammate. "N… Sasuke!" She called out, reminding herself that she hadn't even begun to treat Naruto fairly yet. She couldn't just simply change things like that. She needed to ease the change in, by starting being nice to Naruto early on, and become nicer and grow closer to her than before. Sasuke hardly moved at all, but Naruto looked over at Sakura and smiled his foxy smile when he saw her. She couldn't help but blush when she saw Naruto smiling at her, and quickly turned to Sasuke, holding out the box of food out shyly to him. She didn't want to give it to him, but she wanted to seem like she still adored him like before. "Um.. Sasuke-kun… would you li-"
"No." He said simply, not even bothering to look at Sakura. Although the appeared defeated on the outside, she was cheering on the inside that he didn't accept the food. That meal was for her Naruto-kun and nobody else. She didn't even bother to deny or hide it in her head. She knew that she loved Naruto, and wanted to be with him as much as possible. That was the whole reason that she came back to change the future, so that they could be together.
Noticing the look of defeat on her face, Naruto looked at the rosette curiously and walked over to her, taking in the box that she had in her hands. He wasn't sure what exactly was in it, but by the smell, he was sure that it was food. "Ne, Sakura-chan." Naruto spoke up, causing said girl to look over his way. She was trying hard to keep up her outward appearance, but it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep herself from letting go of the box and squeezing him to death in a bone crushing hug. "What's in the box?" He was curious to know, but judging by the smell, he already had a good idea of what was inside of it. Even if it wasn't Ramen, he was still getting hungry just by the smell, and mentally berated himself for not eating breakfast when he had the chance to. He could have simply gone home and eaten whatever he had, but he didn't know that Kakashi was going to be four hours late.
Opening the box, Sakura showed its contents to Naruto. The box contained a small portion of rice, a small section of a fish, an omelet, and soy beans. It was still warm, and now that Naruto had seen what was inside the box, he was hungrier than ever. His mouth was practically watering as he struggled to speak actual words to the love of his life. "Sakura-chan… If Sasuke isn't going to eat that, then can I?" He asked someone shyly as he took a step back, preparing himself for the possible beat down he might get for asking to take Sakura's food 'meant' for Sasuke. Standing there for a moment, giving off the appearance of heavy thinking, Sakura nodded at him with a small smile handed him the box. This had surprised Naruto greatly, but took the box and nodded thankfully as he dug into the meal, enjoying every bite as he had little to eat the night before, and nothing in the morning.
"Thanks Sakura-chan!" He said with a mouth filled with food. Sakura's smile grew as he nodded to him and watched him eat.
Seeing the act, Sasuke smirked and scoffed at the two. "Yeah, eat up Dobe. A dead-last like you could use all the energy you need. I don't need that food. I could beat a ninja like Kakashi without even trying." Little did he know, Sakura was mentally smirking and laughing at the so-called "Prodigy." "You have no idea how wrong you are, Sasuke… Kakashi-sensei could take you down with only one-handed signs. He doesn't even need his Sharigan to match up to you." Nobody had heard her thoughts, and she was glad, since Sasuke would have done something stupid to show off his "power" and end up risking the lives of his teammates. She wouldn't be able to fight him like she was now, but with enough training; she could get up to his level.
Naruto glared at Sasuke when being called a Dobe, but said nothing since he was still eating the food. Neither he nor Sakura said anything in response to Sasuke, and Sakura even played it off as if she hadn't heard anything. Sakura simply stood there facing Naruto with a pleasant smile on her face, and when catching on to what she was doing, Naruto relaxed his facial muscles and continued to eat, acting as if the Uchiha wasn't even there at all. He wasn't sure why Sakura was being to different today, but he wasn't complaining in the least, as she hadn't hit him yet for doing something that he shouldn't have.
Obviously irate by the actions of his teammates, Sasuke grunted and turned back around, looking at the water under the bridge as he brooded. Sakura wondered why she had ever fallen for Sasuke, as he hardly ever changed his brooding ways, and was always thinking himself as a god compared to everyone around him just because of his name and eyes… that he didn't have yet. Sasuke didn't have his eyes until the mission to wave, but if she did something to maybe keep him from getting his prized eyes during that mission, the maybe he might be a little different. She surprised herself by already thinking of things that could change everyone for the better, as Sasuke might not be as stuck up as he was when he got his eyes, but then again, Orochimaru would offer him a way to unlock his eyes, and Sasuke would agree to whatever needed to be done. In the end, it would end with Orochimaru getting to Sasuke and giving him the curse seal. Maybe she couldn't simply change whatever she wanted, as things like that would happen no matter what.
From a nearby tree, a silver haired Jonin was watching the events unfold with his students. It was odd to see that Sakura was being friendlier with Naruto, and even more to see that she was ignoring Sasuke after he insulted Naruto. She certainly didn't seem like that the day before, and he wondered what the change was about. He would have to ask her some time, as it seemed that Naruto was too busy with stuffing his mouth full of food. He was also glad to hear that Sakura had decided to eat this morning, and to some extent, Naruto as well. Even if he didn't actually eat at his home, he was still eating and that was the important part. "If Sasuke were to pull that stick out of his ass, then this would be a great team. Even though Sakura doesn't have that much when it comes to reserves, she has killed control, and could easily use that for medic purposes or genjutsu. Naruto, thanks to the Kyūbi, has a near infinite amount of Chakra, and can push out those Kage Bushin like nothing. If he wised up, he could become a real force. Personality aside, Sasuke is just as good as Naruto, with a large handful of clan techniques, and maybe even the Sharingan sometime in the 're all good, but none of them are without faults. I guess that's why I'm here!" The Cyclops Ninja thought with one of his famous eye smiles. He truly did think that the team had potential, and with Sakura now treating Naruto a bit more fairly, they might actually get through the test. With a Sushin, Kakashi left the tree in a swirl of leaves.
Reappearing some distance from the bridge, Kakashi walked lazily to the training ground where his students were currently at. When he neared the trio, none of them seemed to have noticed him, as they didn't point him out to all of the others. In something unexpected, Naruto slowed down his eating quite a bit and continued to look at Sakura, but was actually trying to focus on Kakashi without actually looking at him. Once he believed that he could focus on his instructor well enough, Naruto threw one of the chopsticks like a Kunai, aimed for Kakashi's head. Catching the chopstick with it only being about an inch from his forehead protector, Kakashi looked at Naruto lazily, but was actually surprised by the sudden attack and she speed that it was thrown at.
"And what was that about?" Kakashi asked Naruto as he slowly moved the Chopstick away from his face. Setting the box of food down, Naruto looked at Kakashi and threw the other chopstick with seemingly more force and speed, but only going just as fast as the previous one. As he threw it, he yelled "YOU'RE LATE KAKASHI-SENSEI!"
Kakshi caught the other chopstick as well with his other hand, and was surprised to see that it just wasn't a lucky throw that happened to be fast and accurate, as the chopstick would have landed in the middle of the spiral of the Konogakure symbol if it had actually made contact. With a slight shrug, Kakshi spoke to his team, noting that Sasuke didn't even bother to look away from the stream under him. "Sorry I'm late, I'm afraid I got lost on the path of life." He spoke with his eye smile, forcing a grunt out of Naruto as he mumbled out "Liar…" out from under his breath.
Kakashi looked at the empty food box that was now on the ground. He then looked back up at Naruto and glanced at Sakura. From what he had seen from his spot on the tree, Sakura seemed to have eaten beforehand, and offered her food to Sasuke, who refused. When Naruto noticed the box, he asked Sakura if he could have it, and she allowed him to eat its contents after a moment of thinking. "So I see that you were eating just now…" Kakshi spoke in a low tone, as if he was going to punish Naruto for going against what he had said. Naruto flinched only slightly as he heard the low tone of his sensei. Under normal circumstances, Sakura would have flinched as well, but she knew what was going to happen, even if it didn't happen in her own time. When she lived through it the first time, Kakshi had told them that they should have eaten, even though he told them not to the day before. With a slow nod, Naruto silently answered Kakshi.
In a moment of silence that caused even Sasuke to look at his instructor and teammate, Kakashi stood there with a blank and unreadable expression. In a sudden act, he eye smiled at his student. "That's good to hear." He told the team, getting wide eyes from both Sasuke and Naruto. "You should have eaten this morning. When you're on the battle field, you'll need every ounce of energy you have. Food has energy, and by extension, you'll have more energy by eating food." He told them all, unknowingly proving Sakura right by telling them what she had told herself earlier. The way he was explaining it was as if they had never heard it before, and as if he were talking to children younger than them.
Nobody said anything for what seemed to be an eternity. From the look on Naruto's face, he was thinking heavily on this. There were a minuscule amount of times in his life where he had eaten something other than ramen, but those days were long gone, and now ramen broth was practically flowing through his veins. Even Teuchi and Ayame had told him that eating too much ramen wasn't the best thing for a ninja, and had actually recommended that he eat something more healthy every once and a while. He was their best customer, and they were telling him to eat something else. Now, that was saying something, since anybody else would have let their best customers continue eating their food for an eternity without saying anything. If he were to eat healthier, then maybe he would have more energy and even be stronger!
Both Sakura and Kakashi had caught onto the look of deep thought on Naruto's face, and looked over to Sasuke to see his reaction. Without much surprise, Sasuke appeared as if he didn't care, as he still believed strongly that he didn't need breakfast to pass whatever test Kakashi was going to throw at them.
Looking over his team, Kakshi eye smiled at all of them and took a step forward. "If nobody has anything else to say, then let's start the test!"
Chapter two done and bigger than the previous one! I will be taking more time to make each chapter bigger and better polished, so expect a week or week-and-a-half before each chapter. Also, If anyone would like to beta this for me, please say so. I want to make this as good as I can for everyone.
On another note, I could have posted this yesterday or even the day before if I wasn't being lazy, but because of you guys and all the people that are reading it, I want to make it as good as I can. Within the next week or two, expect a bigger post that has the bell test and a little something extra.
Just so you all know, when Kurama appears in her true form, he isn't going to be like "I'm so sorry I caused you pain, Naruto." Nononononono.. "She'd going to be like "Oh you got tortured and beaten for your whole life? You're a jinchuriki, you're stronger than they are and just deal with it." I'm not saying she's going to be a complete ass, but she will be kind of mean in the beginning, and eventually get nicer along the way.
See you all next time!
