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Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Chapter 3: Trying to Get to Know Each Other

Sakura stood in her kitchen and listened to the quietness of the room beside her. It had been quite easy to convince Sai, Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto to come back to her and Shikamaru's humble abode. Sakura really hadn't known what Shikamaru had been thinking when he had invited the four over, but she couldn't stand the awkwardness of the situation; she sort of panicked.

The four male members of team seven had seemed down right pissed at Shikamaru, and really, she probably couldn't blame them. Shikamaru's teasing ways had come out clear as day when he and her team had been talking. As the group of six arrived at the apartment, Sakura had left Shikamaru in the living room with the rest of team seven; she really hoped he wouldn't dig himself into a bigger hole than he already was in. She really didn't want to have to clean up the blood her team would probably leave behind if Shikamaru were to open his mouth again.

Sakura really wasn't sure how to continue their previous conversation, if she could call it that, when they had finally arrived at the apartment. Sakura had escaped the tense atmosphere in exchange for the sanctuary of her kitchen. It didn't seem right leaving her roommate alone with the glares of her teammates, but Sakura figured Shikamaru might have deserved a few of them. Either way, Sakura was happy to have the focus off of herself; she was slightly uncomfortable with the stares she was getting from her previous teammates. They had never been this interested in her before.

She really needed to make tea, anyhow. Tea always seemed to help calm her nerves and clear her mind. She also hoped it would calm Sasuke down a bit; surprisingly, he seemed to be the most irritated out of the four. Being Sakura, she remembered Sasuke always liked to drink tea; it seemed to help calm his nerves just as it helped calm her own. Sakura was just hoping for anything to help the awkwardness of the situation at hand.

The kettle's hiss seemed to be alarmingly loud compared to the stillness in the apartment. Pouring the tea into separate cups, Sakura assumed the five males would be in the same position they had been when she had left.

Shikamaru would be sitting in the lazy boy while the four other boys would be glaring daggers at her roommate. Sasuke and Naruto would be sitting in her small love seat, which would have made Sakura giggle if it had been any other time (the loveseat was barely large enough for one person, and probably shouldn't have been called a loveseat). And Sai and Kakashi would be lazily sharing her three person couch; it was obvious that Sai and Kakashi had wanted her to sit next to them, but Sakura wasn't comfortable enough to do that yet.

Walking into the living room, Sakura noticed that her previous assumptions on their locations had been correct, though, Sakura hadn't anticipated the large smirk that was on Shikamaru's face. Sighing quietly, Sakura walked over to Shikamaru first and handed him a tea cup. The smirk on his face had only increased once she gave him the cup first; shaking her head lightly, she gave the next two cups to Kakashi and Sai, and then to Naruto and Sasuke.

For Sakura, it wasn't an easy choice deciding where to sit. It was obvious most of the males wanted her to sit next to them, but Sakura wasn't so sure where she wanted to sit. Deciding to rather be safe than sorry, Sakura sat on the arm rest of Shikamaru's chair. Her teammates were already mad at Shikamaru; this might have made their anger increase, but Sakura didn't care at the moment. It might even be more amusing to see what they were like when they were even more riled up than they were now.

Sitting down, Sakura sighed slightly when she looked to the males in front of her. What did they want again? Luckily, before she voiced her question, Shikamaru decided to let his voice be known. "So," Shikamaru drawled out lazily. "What are you guys doing here, again?"

"You invited us here," Sasuke sent a glare toward the Nara genius; it seemed the tea hadn't helped calm the Uchiha at all.

"Aa," Shikamaru stated while taking a sip of his tea. Sakura could practically hear the smirk in the brunette's voice; she didn't even have to look at his face to confirm her suspicions. "But that was only after you four interrupted Sakura and my training session."

"But, but, but-," It seemed like Naruto was trying to find something to say in their defense; Sakura was slightly curious as to what he would come up with. The last time they showed interest in her had been… well never actually. Shaking her head slightly, she decided to stop Naruto's struggling; he never could find the right words to explain something.

"I just want to know what you four were doing in the training field," Sakura said as she looked to the four males before her. Sakura watched as the four males exchanged a glance, and it was Kakashi who answered her question.

"Training…?" Kakashi's tone made his statement sound more like a question; either way, Sakura knew what he said had been false. Sighing slightly, Sakura looked completely unimpressed; he could have at least made up a better lie.

"Really now?" Sakura questioned as she gave each male a once over. She could tell Naruto and Sasuke looked a lot better than when she had last seen them, but she knew they were more than likely still hurting; drugs could only do so much. She was irritated at the fact that the two males she had just healed were waltzing around like nothing had happened, and like the two had not just been knocking at death's door. Sakura knew Tsunade should have left the two in the hospital for at least a couple more days; she would have a talk with the Hokage later. "There would be no way the Hokage, or myself would okay you two dumb asses to start training yet."

"… We just wanted to go for a wonderful walk in the woods?" This time it was Naruto who tried to answer her question, but the tone in his voice had made it sound like another question. Kami, Sakura rolled her eyes at the four males; were they really too stubborn to tell her the truth? Sakura really wouldn't put it past them, but she had another idea to find out the truth either way.

"Seriously," Sakura muttered with a slight glare towards the four. "It really can't be that hard to tell the truth, even when you've been in Kakashi's company for probably too long."

Sakura had tried to joke there; the atmosphere had been too uncomfortable for her. Too bad the joke didn't go as planned. The group of four looked at her with large round eyes, and Kakashi looked slightly offended. Sakura looked to her silver haired sensei, and couldn't help the giggle that escaped her at the look on his face.

The rest of the apartment was quiet as Sakura continued to laugh. Really, it had been too long since she had last seen these four; she really wished she could have gone with them. That thought seemed to calm down her laughter, and sobered up her mood instantly. Of course she had wanted to come with them, they just hadn't let her. And even though leaving her behind had meant she had become stronger, she was still not going to forgive them so easily.

Looking to Sai, Sakura decided she would get the most honest answer out of him. "Sai, what were you guys doing at the training grounds?" Sakura questioned with a slight frown.

The three males looked alarmingly at the ex-root member, and Sakura had to fight off the grin that came to her face at their fear. "Dickless, Traitor, and Kakashi came to me a few hours ago. They had stated that you had become a jounin level ninja, and that they wanted to see your level of growth in person. That is why we were watching you at the training field, Ugly."

He had to know how much that nickname pissed her off; he had to remember didn't he? Or had he been gone for too long to remember? Frowning, Sakura tried to think of how many times she had tried to beat the crap out of him for calling her that. Smirking slightly, Sakura thought it was about time to give Sai the punch he was long over due for.

The males watched as Sakura looked down at the floor; they couldn't see her eyes because her pink bangs were blocking them from view. In an instant, Sakura stood from her seat beside Shikamaru; the Nara genius was smirking at the look of fear on the males before him. Shaking slightly with unknown anger (or so the males thought), the males watched as Sakura walked towards Sai. Sai, seemingly indifferent, just tilted his head to the side as she walked toward him.

Naruto looked like he was about to say something, but was halted in his effort by Sakura's fist glowing an intense blue. Raising an eyebrow, Naruto watched as Sakura slammed a fist into Sai's gut. The raven haired male cringed in pain, and everyone looked to Sakura who had seemed to calm down after the small fit of anger.

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that Sai?" Sakura commented as she turned and started to walk back to her seat beside Shikamaru with a smirk. It had been hard to hide her laughter as she walked back to her spot, but seeing that Shikamaru was shaking slightly in what was also hidden laughter had made it even harder for her to hide her own. It was obvious the four hadn't heard about Sakura's inhuman strength; it was nearly as infamous as the Hokage's.

Sighing, Sakura calmed herself as she looked back to the three males that were staring at her in shock; Sai was still holding his stomach from her punch, and that caused her to smile. If her teammates wanted to see how powerful she had become, she was ready to show them.

"I don't understand why you guys just didn't tell me what you were doing before," Sakura commented as she took a long sip of her tea. "You guys should have just asked me for a spar."

"We don't want to hurt you Sakura-Chan!" Naruto yelled before he could stop himself. Sakura's eyes narrowed as she looked to the blonde; it seemed her session with Shikamaru had not shown her true power to her team then. Sighing in what seemed to be disappointment, Sakura looked to her team.

"Really?" Sakura questioned with a frown. Her teammates looked to her roommate at her sudden change in moods. Shikamaru raised an eyebrow at the males, but then shook his head; if they couldn't understand Sakura, then he wasn't going to explain it to them.

Looking to the four, Sakura's eyes moved from one teammate to another. "Do I have to show all four of you just how strong I have become?" She questioned again; Sakura was starting to get annoyed with all the doubt from her teammates. They had not seen what she could really do for a year; Sakura was almost tempted to give each of them a punch similar to the one she had just given Sai.

"Alright then," Sakura said to the silence; it was obvious they were still afraid they were going to hurt her. "I guess we'll have to start somewhere. Naruto, I challenge you to a sparring session."

The blonde gapped at the pink haired female; what was she doing? Was she really so confident in herself that she could beat him? Naruto wasn't so sure. "Um… Sakura-Chan?"

"Are you too scared to accept my challenge, Naruto?" Sakura asked with a slight smirk; when Sasuke and Naruto used to challenge each other, this always used to give Naruto the push he needed.

"It's not that!" Naruto yelled back to the pink haired woman.

Sakura raised an eyebrow before she nodded. "I understand," Sakura said with a nod of the head. "You just got out of the hospital, and need more time to rest. I shouldn't have suggested a spar just after you were so close to death; let's wait for a week then."

"Sakura-Chan, that's not what I meant either!" Naruto grumbled as his cheeks reddened. Sakura's smirk increased slightly at the embarrassed look on his face. "Fine! Let's spar right now!"

"Oh no, Naruto," Sakura said with a shake of her head as she stood. Picking up her and Shikamaru's empty tea cups, Sakura started to walk back toward the kitchen. "I wouldn't want to hurt you in your current condition. I want to wait to beat you when you have your full strength. Maybe then you can finally understand how strong I am."

Ignoring the blonde's cries to come back, Sakura walked to the kitchen. Setting the tea cups in the sink, Sakura fought off a smirk when she felt a presence follow her.

"It's not nice to tease him, Sakura," Shikamaru stated with a slight grin as he brought Kakashi and Sai's empty tea cups toward the sink. Sakura raised an eyebrow in question at his statement, but couldn't help it as her smirk came out full force.

"Well you know how they are Shikamaru," Sakura said while moving slightly to give Shikamaru room to put the cups down. "This will make him even more determined. It's like they see me as the same girl they left behind a year ago; I'm not that little weak girl anymore."

"I know that," Shikamaru sighed as he set the cups in the sink. Turning so he was looking the pink haired woman in the eye, Shikamaru lightly smirked. "But they don't. They still see you as that girl, Sakura. You need to make them see who you are now."

"Hence the sparring sessions," Sakura commented while walking back towards the living room. Sakura ignored the slight raise of Shikamaru's eyebrow as the two started to walk back to the other room.

"Sessions?" Shikamaru questioned quietly as the two started to walk into hearing distance of the other four.

"Yes," Sakura said with a smug smile. "I plan to challenge the rest of my teammates in the same manner."

"How does that not surprise me?" Shikamaru muttered while stepping back into the living room. It seemed, that the four had been talking while she and Shikamaru had been in the kitchen. Knowing those four, it probably had something to do with her sparring request; Sakura wouldn't be surprised if the other three had threatened pain on Naruto if he didn't go easy on Sakura. Sakura would make him pay dearly for not taking her seriously when the two actually started to fight.

"If it'll make you feel better, Sakura-Chan," Naruto seemed to say in defeat; it seemed the others had gotten to him. No surprise there. "I will spar with you next week."

Sakura allowed a triumphant grin to show on her features and looked to the four males. "Sounds good to me. So now, why don't you four tell me what you been up to for the last year? I haven't really heard much of anything."

The four males seemed to be surprised at her sudden shift in moods, again. But it seemed that when Sakura got something she wanted, then her mood shift would be happy; go figure. "Well um," Naruto started as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I guess it's been pretty eventful."

"We were successful in eliminating my brother," Sasuke spoke from beside Naruto. Sakura almost smiled at the Uchiha; had he changed as well? He seemed more open with his emotions, which Sakura considered to be a good thing. She hoped this was done by Naruto's influence.

"That is what Shikamaru said when I talked to him earlier," Sakura said with a small smile as she looked to the remaining Uchiha. Maybe finally completing his goal after so long was what had Sasuke in a lighter mood. "We should go out and celebrate sometime."

"Aa," Sasuke commented with a nod of his head. It seemed he was still good at using one word sentences; Sakura was just happy he had forgone his usual 'hn' when responding back to her.

"Well, what else has happened?" Sakura asked as she looked to Kakashi and Sai. It was surprising to her that Sasuke had talked before Kakashi; was there something wrong with her sensei?

"Nothing much Sakura," Kakashi commented with a slight wave of the hand. "It took us nearly a year to finally track down Sasuke, and that was only because we had gotten word of Itachi's whereabouts."

"So you three just continuously searched after Sasuke for a year?" Her team never ceased to amaze her. She wondered if anyone else would chase after a teammate for a whole year, if not more. No, they probably wouldn't. Team seven was a special breed, and Sakura had known this from day one.

"More or less," Kakashi answered almost lazily. Sakura could see that there was something the males of team seven were not telling her, but she wouldn't worry about it now; at least things were starting to get a little less awkward. That, and she could probably get the truth from Sai later; Kami she loved his blunt honesty sometimes.

"Um, okay," Sakura said as she brought a finger to her chin and looked thoughtful. "Any questions for me?"

"When did you become a jounin!" Naruto blurted out before he could restrain himself. Sakura sighed slightly, but decided the males had a right to know.

"Hmm," Sakura said as she thought back to the exams. "It was about five months ago, right Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru seemed to be slightly surprised that he had been brought into the conversation so suddenly, but he knew why. Sakura was trying to be civil and talk to her teammates, but it was becoming increasingly awkward for her to talk to them. He knew for a fact that Sakura knew the exact date she had become a jounin.

"Six, actually," Shikamaru commented as he looked to the males before him with a small smirk. "That was when you, Neji, Shino, and I passed the exams."

"Wait!" Naruto almost screeched in rage. "That jerk Neji is a jounin now too?"

"Of course, Naruto," Sakura said as a smile came to her face; it was nice that Naruto was still Naruto. She would have been concerned if he wasn't. "He and Shino were on my team when all three of us became chuunin. Tsunade-sama had said something about putting her best three genin together in hopes of blowing away the competition; we ended up doing so."

"Ugh," Naruto grunted with a glare towards the floor. "I can't believe that Teme is a jounin before I could even be a chuunin!"

"He told me he has aspirations for becoming the next Hokage as well," Shikamaru commented as he watched Naruto for a reaction. It was really so much fun playing with Sakura's teammates. For them pretending to be as emotionless as they were, the four were all big phonies. "He said something about a certain blonde inspiring him to change the world."

"He can't take my dream!" Naruto yelled as he stood from Sakura's loveseat. Sakura shook her head slightly as she watched Naruto race out her door. Maybe he was too much like the Naruto of the past. "I'm going to kick his ass!"

Sakura watched as Kakashi and Sasuke stood to follow after the blonde. It was obvious Neji had gotten stronger if he had become a jounin; they were sure Naruto was in no condition to fight a jounin such as Neji.

"Thanks for the tea Sakura," Kakashi said as he looked back to the pinkette. "We'll grab lunch tomorrow."

Without even hearing a response from Sakura, Kakashi and Sasuke headed out her apartment door. Sakura frowned but looked to her last teammate that said comfortably on the couch; it seemed he didn't want to go after the blonde.

"They will understand your strength," Sai said as he stood from his spot. Looking to Sakura, he bowed his head slightly before he turned towards the door. "You are stronger, Sakura."

Sakura took in a surprised breath; had he really used her name? Smiling, Sakura thought maybe the punch to his gut had been needed. Maybe that was all the rest of her team needed as well; either way she would be delivering said punches soon enough.