Disclaimer: I don't own anything Naruto related.
AN: Wow! I didn't know this story would gain so much attraction almost immediately! Originally, I was going to take years to write this story, but the reviews and favs/followers have motivated me to write some more! I will continue with the story, but I can't promise a daily update due to college and the such. I'll try my absolute best though to update at least once every week or two.
tiffanycr: I thought your suggestion about Naruto mentioning Sakura's breasts was quite hilarious and I managed to weave it into the revised first chapter.
Yojimbra: I also love NaruSaku. Honestly, I thought it was a lot more sensible and less forced than the original NaruHina shipping. And since the two now have something greater in common, they'll definitely come closer to each other. Thank you for your encouragement!
Mexcore: Hmm. Maybe this could be brought up in the future. Thanks for the suggestion!
Cao510: Thanks. There will definitely be changes with Gaara and the others. Who knows? Maybe Gaara will be able to control his One Tails like Naruto controls his nine Tails.
edboy4926: The Rasengan is quite difficult to learn, though probably not impossible with practice and determination. However, I don't think Sakura will be able to learn the Rasengan or use it effectively in battle, since it requires a lot of chakra to make and use.
Suzululu4moe: "Shannaro!" Poor Kakashi, it seems like his favorite student will now be the last place student on the team (ironically enough).
thedarkpokemaster: Maybe he'll still run off, maybe he won't. Who knows? And yes, Naruto is quite dense and stupid in regards to girls.
SaiyanWarrior200: I play this story to be quite different and I really haven't seen a time travel fan fic where only Naruto and Sakura are sent back to the past. So this should be pretty interesting. I'll keep you all entertained, I promise :)
And now... Onwards to the story!
"Ok this is getting really old now. I'm used to him being late, but I forgot that he was extra late on the day that we met." Naruto mumbled silently to Sakura so that Sasuke couldn't hear. His friend nodded in agreement. Kakashi had slightly fixed his habit and was "only" an hour or two late to everything in the future, but now the white haired jounin was running a solid 3 hours late to the first team meeting.
Everything was a lot more different than before, mainly because Sakura from the future was also by his side. The last day passed by uneventfully, with Naruto and Sakura grabbing ramen together and thinking of ways to prevent the calamities of the future while not changing everything too much so their knowledge of the future wouldn't be useless. Naruto wanted to head out immediately and battle future Akatsuki members, only to be immediately smacked by Sakura for his brashness. Sakura also wanted to change things, but knew that any rash attempts to change history could have large consequences, such as killing Gato or assassinating Kisame. Besides, she reasoned with the blonde, their powers were nowhere near their peak levels. For now, all they could do was to train and make small, positive changes.
Naruto looked at the clock on the wall and sighed. "Well, since our sensei is late, I'll just go set up a prank for him."
The third member of Team Seven, Sasuke Uchiha, only gave out a small "Hn" as the blond ninja stood up and gathered up some supplies within the classroom. Sakura eagerly joined him, as she didn't join Naruto the last time he did this prank due to Sasuke's disapproving glare. She only gave a small glance at the Uchiha and snorted. Who cares what he thinks? I'm not an obsessed fan girl anymore.
Instead of a simple blackboard eraser dropping from the sliding door, Naruto and Sakura constructed a very complicated prank that consisted of several different stages. Once the two agreed on the plan, they set out to work, with Naruto sending several clones to collect some supplies needed for the operation.
Unknowingly to the duo, Sasuke watched the two work with great interest, as he found the two working together so casually to be quite... odd.
Just up until yesterday, Sakura was fawning over me and stalking me while she pounded Naruto and called him useless. Now, it seems like they're suddenly best friends. Sasuke thought as he saw Naruto grab a wooden mallet from his clone. The Uchiha let out a "Hn" as he continued to watch his teammates. Maybe if this continues, Sakura won't bother me anymore and dobe will stay out of my way. After all, they're just people standing in the way of my final goal.
"Finished!" Naruto let out a whoop. "Now that dumb jounin sensei will be punished for being late!"
Sakura let out a small laugh and gave Naruto a high five. Sasuke merely sat still with his hands still crossed in front of him. "Even with the new additions to the prank, there's no way a jounin would fall for a stupid booby trap like that."
Naruto gave the raven haired boy a grin. "Wanna make a bet, Sasuke-teme? I bet you a bowl of ramen that our sensei will walk right into our booby trap!"
The Uchiha prodigy only glared at him, his body posture remaining completely the same.
Within minutes, the doors of the classroom slid open to reveal the silver haired jounin of Team Seven. Kakashi had already seen the blackboard eraser, but decided to walked into it to give his little pupils a little satisfaction before he worked them to the bone. He opened the door and was immediately hit by the blackboard eraser, which was filled with ink instead of chalk powder. Blinded by the ink dripping into his right eye, he stepped backwards, only to be struck by a large wooden mallet to the back of his head. As he stumbled forward, he tripped on a tripe wire set up right in front of the door and fell right into a small pit of flour while a bucket of water slammed into his head at the same time. Realizing that this was not a simple blackboard eraser prank, Kakashi slowly rose up with the bucket still on his head, only to have someone slam two cymbals that vibrated the bucket and caused a ringing sensation to echo throughout his head.
After several minutes of a violent headache, Kakashi calmly took off the bucket on his head and looked at his uniform. His usually clean uniform was now stained with ink and covered in wet flour. His hair was a mess and his mask felt very uncomfortable with all the flour and ink inside.
The leader of Team Seven coughed and looked at the three Genin assigned to his team. He knew that Naruto would possibly pull a prank, but a prank on this scale was something he didn't anticipate. And looking closely at the pink haired girl, he could also see that she helped him with the prank due to some flour marks on her hand. Only the Uchiha looked and seemed innocent and even he was staring at his instructor with a look of amusement.
"How can I say this?" Kakashi said as he dusted himself off and rubbed his chin. "My first impression is... I don't like you guys. You guys are bullies."
Only Sasuke looked slightly troubled and annoyed. Naruto and Sakura were both grinning. Yep, the two idiots that set this prank. Kakashi thought.
"Now meet up on the roof. We're gonna do introductions." "Kakashi" disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. If I'm right, then Kakashi should be feeling the burn about... now." Naruto said with a smile still on his face. Right on time, there was a small yelp above them. "Come on! I don't think the sensei will be in a good mood, so we should hurry."
Up on the roof, Kakashi was already rubbing his head, thankful that he had sent a clone down instead of meeting the Genin himself. I'm in for a rough time ahead...
"Well then!" Kakashi said cheerfully, though there was a hint of danger in his voice. "Let's begin with introducing ourselves to each other!"
Naruto raised his hand. "What do you want us to say?"
"Excellent question. I just want to know some of the basics. Your likes, your dislikes, your dreams for the future and stuff like that." Kakashi answered.
The blond haired teen nodded. "Then you go ahead first sensei. You're the leader."
Kakashi tilted his head for a moment. "Oh... Me? I'm Hatake Kakashi... I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes, though I do dislike brats that bully their sensei on the first day." His words were pointed directly at Sakura and Naruto. "Dreams for the future? Hmm... As for hobbies, I have lots of hobbies..."
Even though Naruto and Sakura knew exactly what Kakashi would say, they still shook their head as Sasuke joined in on the display of disappointment with a scowl. "So basically, all we know about him is his name..."
"Now it's your turn, let's start from the right. Blonde, go first." Kakashi waved his hand for them to start.
Naruto adjusted his hitai-ate and spoke. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! What I like is eating ramen, training, and eating ramen! What I dislike is... um... someone who turns their back on their friends and betrays their comrades. My hobbies are training, eating ramen, and learning new jutsu! My dream is to become the greatest Hokage and bring peace to the entire world!
That sounds fairly normal... Except his dislikes sound odd... Bringing peace to the world, he's already dreaming big. "Alright, next."
"My name is... Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I really don't like anything. And... I can't really call it a dream... But I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and... to kill a certain man." The raven haired boy answered solemnly.
Itachi. Maybe this time around, we can save him. "That's it?" Naruto asked his "rival."
For the first time in a long time, Sasuke blinked in surprise. "What do you mean, dobe?"
"Your entire life is just going after one guy and killing him? That "resurrecting my clan" thing sounded pretty cool, but your only other goal is to kill someone? Geez, and what's gonna happen after you kill him?"
Sasuke actually looked like he was considering what Naruto said as Kakashi raised his hand and silenced them. "Naruto, your introduction was only slightly better, but stay silent and wait for everyone to finish. Now, let's wrap this up with the girl."
"My name is Hanuro Sakura. I like a lot of things, but I mainly like to study medical ninjutsu, hang out with friends, and read. I dislike double crossing traitors that turn their backs on their friends and close ones. I also dislike rude people who disregard others as inferior. My hobbies are studying and training to constantly improve myself. My dream is to one day surpass Tsunade the Sannin as a medic and help build an alliance in which ninjas of all villages can live in peace together!"
Huh... She doesn't sound like the fan girl that people make her out to be. In fact, if anything, she sounds almost like Naruto in a lot of aspects... Kakashi thought in his head. Though, I'm not sure if that's a bad thing. If she actually has goals and dreams instead of being motivated solely by the Uchiha boy, it'll help her improve early on...
"Alright. That's it for the introductions. Tomorrow, we'll officially start our duties as shinobi of the Hidden Leaf." Kakashi announced to his Genin squad. "But before we do anything, we'll be doing something with just the four of us. You can call it a survival training. This won't be a normal training. During this training, I will be your opponent."
Seeing that the three Genin were impassive, Kakashi chuckled a bit to himself. "You three look awfully calm even after I told you that you will be facing me during this training. I hope you guys don't freak out when I tell you this, but of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen to become Genin. Everyone else will be sent back to the academy. So basically, your chance of failure stands at a solid 66% as of now."
Even after he said this, he received no response from his students. His eyes wandered to Naruto, who looked very relaxed and gave only a slight glance towards Sasuke, then towards Sakura, who was punching the ground softly, causing small fissures to appear, and lastly towards Sasuke, who was still in his own world of thinking and was sitting with his hands crossed with indifference all over his face.
"So I guess you guys aren't freaking out. I'll have to admit that you're the first team to not freak out after hearing that. Anyways, tomorrow you have to show your real skills on the training ground. Bring all the shinobi tools you have. Make sure to skip breakfast too, you might throw up from the training you'll get tomorrow." Kakashi told the group. "I was gonna give you a small brochure to give you a small hint of what's to come tomorrow, but since you set that really mean prank on me, I'll just let you three freak out till tomorrow. Till then"
And with a small wave of a hand, he disappeared into a cloud of smoke.
"Yo Sasuke, wanna grab lunch together and train for tomorrow's survival training? Sakura is coming along too!" Naruto asked the Uchiha with his trademark stupid grin.
A simple frown and a "Hn" answered the question as Sasuke walked away from the two without even waving good bye. Naruto scrunched up his face and shook his head. "He still has a stick up his ass, the bastard."
Sakura gave her teammate a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "He'll come around in the future. After all, he hasn't been corrupted by Orochimaru and he's still redeemable. We just need to figure out a way to break his avenger mode and convince him that it'll be worthwhile to stay in Konoha with us."
"You're just being soft on him because you love him." Naruto grumbled. "At least our goal of keeping Sasuke in Konoha is easier because he's still here in the village as a shinobi instead of being a missing-nin."
Do I really still love him? Sakura wondered to herself. It's good seeing him again but... The last few encounters with him weren't exactly pleasant. Besides, even after all those years of chasing him, he showed no signs of returning my feelings or even a hint of returning to Konoha again. "I think the best way to keep Sasuke in the village is to become powerful ourselves. If we stay constantly ahead of him and show that we have something to offer and teach him, he won't see as obstacles to his goal and maybe see us as partners. Maybe if we told him the truth about the Uchiha Massacre, it'll turn off his avenger mode and allow him to develop a better goal for himself. Obsession over revenge isn't really healthy for anyone."
Naruto hesitantly nodded. "I think we should tell jiji about everything soon. Maybe after we re-learn some of our stronger jutsu and after we do the Wave Mission. It's only after the Wave Mission that we earn Sasuke's respect and friendship, and he'll be more willing to hear us out after that."
"Not a bad idea for the Dead Last." Sakura answered with a grin. "Let's grab lunch somewhere other than Ichiraku's Ramen and test out our current strengths. We need to prepare ourselves for tomorrow's test. I really want to flatten Kakashi-sensei's face and be part of the first Genin team to take a bell from him."
The duo laughed as they walked away, not noticing a familiar figure reading an orange book on the side of the academy building.
After eating at a small sandwich shop near the outskirts of town (partially due to Naruto's request on avoiding the more populated areas), Sakura and Naruto made their way to the Third Training Ground, where the "survival training" would be carried out the next day. While Naruto was focusing on re-mastering the Rasengan, Sakura was doing physical and chakra control exercises.
"Agh! This is so frustrating." Naruto shrieked as the 29th attempt of a Rasengan dissipated in his hand. "I definitely remember how to do it and can almost feel the jutsu on the tip of my fingers, but I just can't do it!"
"It took you a week to complete the Rasengan last time, didn't it? You should be able to finish it faster this time around since you already know the stuff you need to do to make the Rasengan." Sakura was standing upside down from a tree branch while she practiced her chakra control.
Naruto punched a tree, only to find that he wasn't as strong as he was before. He let out a small yelp as his fist began to turn red while the tree trunk was completely intact. "I hate this stupid, weak body. I really need to train extra hard, but the bell test is tomorrow!"
Sakura pouted. "You do know that there are other ways of fighting Kakashi, right? Do you remember how we beat him last time?"
Naruto thought for a second and smiled. "Right... I pretended to know the ending of the Icha Icha Tactics and forced him to cover his eyes and ears. Do you think it'll actually work this time around?"
"I mean, why not? He won't expect it this time around because we haven't actually done it yet. Besides, we need every edge we get since we don't have our full strengths. I think I should be able to enhance my strength using chakra control, but that's about it. Maybe if we had more time..." Sakura told the blonde.
The son of the Fourth Hokage only grinned. "It's fine. It's not like we need to beat Kakashi or get the bells. We just need to have a plan and show teamwork in order to pass. And I think I have a plan that should have Kakashi running for his money."
"You? With a plan? The world must be ending or this must be a genjutsu!" Sakura looked at Naruto incredulously.
"Ha ha. Hilarious." Naruto replied dryly. "The plan should work if I manage to master some lower rank justsu and have Sasuke follow along with the plan."
Pulling her close, Naruto began to whisper the plan into her ear, with the pink haired girl nodding with an approving look. "Not bad Naruto. I think that plan could actually work if everything went well."
"Well that's why we're training Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied with a smile. "We need to be prepared for tomorrow!"
The two continued to train, with the rest of the training being uneventful. Though, towards the end of the practice, a boy with jet black hair watched carefully as the duo train intensely...
"I feel so drained..." Naruto complained as he walked down the marketplace with Sakura by his side. "I haven't used up this much chakra since... Well, the fight against Ten Tails."
After training, Naruto mentioned that he needed to go to the marketplace to stock up on some food after encountering an empty refrigerator the day before. Not wanting the blonde to only stock up on ramen, Sakura insisted on going to the marketplace with him so he could buy some healthy and nutritious food ("Ramen is nutritious! I mean, I was like pretty much everyone else's height even after eating ramen daily!" Naruto whined, only to be punched by Sakura).
In order to not draw attention himself or Sakura, Naruto used the Henge no Jutsu to disguise himself as a brown haired, brown eyed ninja. He blended in perfectly with the crowd of civilians on a busy weekday night, unlike his normal appearance that distinctively stood out due to his blond hair.
"So, what are we even gonna buy Sakura? I don't have much money since we haven't started missions and ramen is cheap too! That's why I always buy it in bulk." Naruto said.
Sakura threw him the look, but it was much softer than usual. So that's why he ate so much ramen when he was younger. He didn't have any money to buy actual food and the habit of eating cheap instant ramen stuck on forever. "It's fine Naruto. I have some allowance money that I can use to help you buy food. It's not like I pay for my own food back at home. You can pay me back after we start doing missions."
The disguised brown haired ninja smiled. "Thanks Sakura! Though, I still would prefer ramen..."
A tick mark appeared on Sakura's forehead and it stopped Naruto from making any further comments. They walked into a small grocery store where Sakura usually went to buy fresh fruits and vegetables for the Hanuro household.
"Ishikura-san! Are you here?" Sakura shouted into the shop as the two entered. Although the shop was quite small, the shelves were crammed with everything from fruits to chips.
Ishikura Ai, the owner of the shop, stepped out from the back. The shopkeeper, a woman in her early sixties, welcomed Sakura warmly. "Good evening Sakura! Buying groceries for your parents again? You're such a kind soul. How can I help you?"
"Actually, I came here to help my friend buy his groceries. He's been living off of cup ramen and I want to buy some healthy food for once." Sakura answered with a bow.
The woman turned to Naruto and smiled. Naruto smiled back, feeling relieved that he wasn't being chased out or yelled at due to his henge that covered his real face. "Well hello Sakura's friend! What's your name?"
Naruto hesitated before answering. "My name is... Nagato. Pleased to meet you."
"Well Nagato, I know that Sakura will be able to help you easily! She's been coming to my shop for years, ever since she was a little girl, to buy her parent's groceries!" Ishikura said as he shook the boy's hand. "Since it's your first time here and you're a friend of Sakura, I'll give you a small discount. After all, young boys like you need to eat and grow!"
The brown (or blond) haired boy thanked the woman and went back to Sakura, who already had a basket full of assorted vegetables, fruits, meats, and dairy products. She knew the bottomless pit that Naruto called his stomach and had to buy at least double the amount of what her entire family would eat for him to survive the next week or two. "Here Naruto. There's a mix of every food class in the basket, enough food to last you a week or two I think." She handed him a small piece of folded paper. "Just make sure to eat the appropriate amount of servings written on the paper each day and it'll keep you healthy."
Naruto nodded, but his eyes still wandered hungrily to the pack of instant ramen on one of the shelves. "Sakura-chan... Can I just get one pack of instant ramen?"
"Maybe if you do well for a week Naruto. You can still go to Ichiraku's Ramen once a day since they actually make their noodles and use fresh ingredients, but you have to avoid the instant and cup ramen. They have a lot of artificial ingredients..."
"Yeah yeah. I got you Sakura. I'll eat the food." Naruto took the basket from her and pulled out his wallet. "Because I know you're looking out for me."
She gave her teammate a small tap on the back of his head and smiled. "And maybe after eating healthy for a few months, you'll be finally taller than me and the others!"
"Oi! I'm not that small!"
Naruto went up to the shopkeeper with the basket and wallet in hand. "How much for all of this?"
Ishikura looked over the contents of the basket for a few minutes and calculated the number on a piece of paper. "That will be 20,000 Ryo with the discount!"
With a small gulp, Naruto turned towards Sakura. "You said I can borrow some money from you, right? I only have 5,000 Ryo. I promise I'll pay you back after the first few missions thought..."
The old woman looked at the young ninja. "Nagato, do you not have enough money?"
"I apologize Ishikura-san. Nar..Nagato is my teammate and he's an orphan that lives by himself, so I told him that I'll let him borrow some of my money. Here, I'll pay for him instead." Sakura interjected, already pulling out her wallet."
Instead of accepting the money, Ishikura shook her head. "No, it's fine Sakura. Nagato, since you're an orphan and you're living alone, I'll let you have the groceries today for free. But do come back and buy more in the future when you have money. Just, keep this a secret. I don't want the villagers to come to my store and ask for free food! That would be terrible for my business!"
Nagato didn't know what to say. He had never really been treated so nicely before he defeated Pein, in which he earned the respect and trust of the villagers. "Thank you Ishikura-san! I'll definitely pay you back in the future!"
The old lady laughed as she placed all the items in a bag. "That's the spirit! Now run along you two and have fun on your date."
"We're not on a date!" Both Naruto and Sakura answered in unison, with their cheeks tinged pink.
After leaving the shop, Naruto grabbed the bag and ran off. He still had a slight tinge of pink on his cheek. "Bye Sakura! Thanks for everything today! I'll see you tomorrow!"
Sakura watched as her teammate ran away. When she was about to walk away herself, she realized that he had dropped his wallet in his haste. "Baka always making me look out for him."
Naruto arrived back at his apartment and hurried inside. He shoved the food that he had bought, or received, into the refrigerator and immediately went to take a quick shower before continuing with anything else. Within a flash, Naruto washed himself and dried himself with a towel. He slapped on some shorts and undershirt for comfort and walked back into the kitchen. He looked at the small piece of paper that Sakura had given him and scratched his head.
"Around 3 servings of grain every meal, which is around 3 slices of bread or a cup of rice... 2 servings of vegetables per meal, which is about 2 cups of vegetables or a full cup of vegetable juice..." Naruto rambled on. "Damn, this list is long! I didn't know I had to eat so specifically when I agreed to do this!"
He pulled out some of the food that he bought from the refrigerator and placed it on the counter, only to stare at the food for a solid 5 minutes. "Now what? Do I eat these raw or?"
A knock on the door didn't answer his question, but formed another question in his head. "Who would visit me right now? And how do they even know I live here?"
Naruto peeped out the small fisheye that allowed him to see the person visiting him outside. The person was a pink haired girl with a red shirt and black shorts.
"Sakura? What are you doing here?" Naruto asked the pink haired ninja.
She rolled her eyes and shoved the wallet into his face. "You dropped your wallet baka. Do you have to be irresponsible even when you're 17?"
The undisguised blonde scratched the back of his head. "Well... No, I was just in sort of a haste after that oba chan said that we were on a date. I didn't want anyone else getting the wrong idea."
Sakura sighed at his response. "It's fine. It's not even that big of a deal. You didn't need to run away so fast. Besides, it's not like Sasuke is my boyfriend or anything."
"But you love Sasuke, Sakura!" Naruto exclaimed. "So it's not a good idea if the villagers started spreading some rumor that you're dating some brown haired ninja dude."
"Honestly Naruto? It doesn't matter. I don't care about that at all. I'll figure out what to do with Sasuke later on. For now, we're all teammates looking out for each other." Sakura replied with a shrug. I probably shouldn't tell him that I'm not really seeing Sasuke the way I used to see him.
Naruto nodded, understanding what she said. "Before you go Sakura. Can you show me how to make a proper meal? This is kinda new to me... I never really tried it."
Sakura stared at the Uzumaki as if he was lying. "You can't cook. Like anything?"
"I can cook rice!" Naruto defended himself. He often put rice in his ramen to enjoy the soup. "And ramen!"
"That's it? You, a possibly S-Ranked ninja, can't even cook something as simple as eggs or meat?"
Seeing her teammate from the future shake his head made her facepalm. "Guess you can't be good at everything."
"Fine, I'm sure my mom won't mind. You can come over to my house for dinner and learn how to cook some basics by helping her cook." Sakura announced to her teammate. I'm a decent cook, but my mom would probably teach him better. Besides, if he comes, I won't need to help mom cook for today.
"Really? Then let's leave now!" Naruto yelled excitedly, literally dragging Sakura out into the hallways.
"SHANNARO!" Sakura punched the blond as he was hit with a familiar sensation. "At least put on some decent clothes! You're literally in your pajamas right now!"
"Wow so this is your house? It's pretty nice actually." Naruto stared at the comfortable sized house in front of him. He had his black jacket and black shorts on, and also carried a small notebook and a pencil. "I never visited your house before, even before Pein blew up the village."
"Inviting you for dinner was the last thing that crossed my mind with all the things that were going down at the time." Sakura shrugged. "My dad is a pretty rich merchant, so we have some money. He's off in the Land of the Wind for some business, so it's only me and my mom in the house right now."
He nodded as the duo stepped inside. "Mom, I'm home! I brought a friend with me too!"
Mebuki Hanuro peeked out the opening into the kitchen. "Oh! It's a boy!"
She scurried over to Naruto to shake his hand. "You must be Sasuke Uchiha that Sakura always talk about. I'm Mebuki, pleased to meet you!"
Before Naruto could say anything, Sakura stepped in. "Mom, this guy isn't Sasuke! He's one of my teammates, his name is Naruto! Naruto Uzumaki!"
The friendliness in Mebuki's eyes didn't die as she patted the boy's head. "Even so, he's pretty cute. Are you going after multiple guys at once now, Sakura?"
Sakura looked flustered. "Mom! I brought Naruto over so he can learn to cook and eat dinner with us. He's not my boyfriend or anything!"
"Ah, I see." A hint of disappointment flashed in Mebuki's eyes. "Well then, Naruto. What would you like to learn?"
She guided Naruto to the kitchen while Sakura went upstairs to her room. Why has everyone assumed that I'm dating Naruto for the past 2 days?
Dunno, because you two suddenly became super friendly with each other out of nowhere? Someone in her head answered. I mean, it's not unreasonable. You've been acting close with him all the time.
Sakura froze for a moment. "Inner Sakura? Why are you back?"
That's my question to you. I don't exist unless you will me to.
"I haven't heard your voice in forever... And I didn't hear your voice when I came back. Why are you appearing back in my life right now?"
Like I said, I don't know. Maybe it's because of the time travel. Maybe it's because you have issues to settle.
The only daughter of the Hanuro family groaned. "Great, I already have a lot of things running through my head. You don't need to in my head also."
I'm your inner self that you refuse to reveal. Maybe in the future, I'll disappear like last time.
"Maybe..."
She read a book on medical ninjutsu testing out some of the exercises described in the book and pushing her abilities further. Her studying session came to an end in 10 minutes when her mother shouted at her.
"Sakura! Come down! We're having dinner!"
As she made her way downstairs, Sakura noticed that the smell coming from the kitchen actually smelled good. She expected that with Naruto helping her mother make the food, dinner would be mediocre at best. Yet the dinner, consisting some salad, fried rice, and some sliced chicken teriyaki, actually seemed pretty good. She sat down next to Naruto and began eating, impressed with the fact that the cooking tasted better than usual.
"Your friend Naruto is a natural cook." Her mother said with a smile. "He's very good with the knife and he's very good at memorizing ingredients. His shadow clones were very helpful and managed to help me finish dinner within minutes!"
"So is that why dinner was finished in 10 minutes?" Sakura asked. "That's not fair... That's basically cheating..."
Naruto shrugged as he shoved some chicken and salad in his mouth. "Maybe you should learn to cook from me one day."
That's a horrifying thought Sakura shuddered. "No thanks. Just eat your food and stop talking Naruto, you're going to make a mess!"
"Mfpphhh." Naruto said with his mouthful. Sakura knew that he was just doing that to irritate her, but she couldn't punch the idiot in front of her own mother. So she lifted her foot and stomped on his foot.
Food nearly shot out of Naruto's mouth as he stumbled forward from pain. Mebuki seemed unaware of what her daughter had done to Naruto. "Naruto! Are you alright?"
Seeing the smirk on Sakura's face and her fist clamped shut, Naruto quickly nodded. "I'm fine! I just, chocked on some of the chicken."
The meal was quick and short, with Naruto being bombarded by a few personal questions that Naruto answered without revealing anything of importance, a skill he learned from Kakashi. After several minutes of chit chat, Naruto rose to leave. "Thank you for the food and the hospitality, Hanuro-san."
"You're being too formal Naruto-kun! Just call me Mebuki-san." Sakura's mother smiled. "Do come visit often and help me cook. Maybe Sakura can actually learn a thing or two from you."
Naruto grinned and waved to Sakura, who waved back with a smile on her face. When the doors closed, Naruto brought out a piece of paper with some instructions written on it and ran back to his home.
He was going to wake up and test something out tomorrow...
"Where is Naruto?" Sakura was pacing around in a circle while Sasuke was leaning against a tree. "It's almost time for Kakashi to come!"
Sasuke's position did not change as he gazed out into the distance. Sakura sighed. He's still some wannabe emo. A lot better than that bloodthirsty block head in the future though. We'll make sure that he doesn't kill his brother and betray his village.
There was a rustling noise from one of the trees as Naruto jumped out of a tree suddenly and landed in front of his other teammates. "Yosh! Sorry I'm late, but I already predicted that Kakashi-sensei would be late because of yesterday. In the mean time, I was making you guys breakfast to prepare ourselves for the training!"
Sakura looked puzzled. "Breakfast?"
"Yep! Made some bento boxes with rice, some eggs mixed with some vegetables, and some fishcake with sauce. One for each one of us!" Naruto announced. "Here, try some!"
She took one of the bento boxes and opened it. She was surprised to find that Naruto had actually managed to cook everything right and began to munch on the food, shooting a nodding thumbs up to Naruto. "These are really good Naruto!"
"Thanks! Only took me like 2 hours of testing and trial!" Naruto replied with a laugh. He handed a box to Sasuke. "Yo teme. You should try some too!"
"Didn't you listen to the sensei yesterday, dobe?" Sasuke answered monotony. "He said not to eat breakfast."
Naruto scoffed. "Yeah, but he's gonna probably put us through some tough training and I would rather suffer through hell with a full belly than an empty stomach. So eat up! Before the sensei comes."
Sasuke looked at the box and took it out of Naruto's hands. He opened the box and dug into the food, seemingly enjoying the breakfast.
After the three had finished, Naruto carefully stacked the bento boxes back into his backpack and laid back. "And now, we wait!"
"Hey guys, good morning!" Kakashi waved to his pupils
All three of them glared at him. "You're late by 4 hours sensei! It's 10 AM right now!"
He merely shrugged. "I got lost on the road of life, what can I say?"
Kakashi led them all to an open field with four stumps at the edges of the field. He placed an alarm clock on one of the stumps and motioned for them to place their backpacks near the other stumps. "The clock is set for noon."
"Here are two bells." Kakashi said as he pulled two small silver bells from his pouch. "Your task is to take these from me before the time's up. And the person who doesn't take a bell fails. So at least one of you here will be sent back to the academy."
The silver haired jounin continued. "You most likely won't succeed in this test if you don't come at me with the intention to kill."
He looked around as if he expected an outburst from one of the Genin, but all three were silent with their kunai out in front of them.
"Ok then... Let's get going..."
"Ready..."
"Begin..."
All three Genin in front of him disappeared from sight, the test had begun.
AN: And you will see the actual bell test happen in the next update!
For now, I'll end the chapter here! If you have any criticism or suggestions, feel free to drop a comment down below!