Naruto stared into the mirror the hospital staff provided him while reflecting on the last week and all the strides he made. The blonde was improving his Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, instead of trying to overwhelm his opponent with numbers the teen would have smaller squads of shadow clones assault the enemy in a coordinated attack. After placing the mirror on the bedside table Naruto looked at his developing muscles. It was surprising to the boy just how much stronger and faster he was able to get in a short seven days. Gai-sensei may have been a complete and total loon, but he was a loon that was unmatched in taijutsu. The green clad man didn't teach him any cool moves like Sasuke had, much to his dismay, but he did work Naruto to the bone and then make him go through all the basic stances and moves while correcting the boy's mistakes. Now the genin wasn't wasting as much energy or overextending while attacking. Overall his basic shinobi skills skyrocketed, Iruka would've been amazed.

Naruto couldn't help himself and picked the mirror up to look at the change his sharingan went through again. Instead of two tomoe circling around the pupil his eye had morphed into a red six-pointed star, formed by three intersecting ellipses and outlined in black. The boy was so entranced by the design he didn't hear the Hokage enter the room until the blonde heard, "Are you okay Naruto?

The blonde answered without lifting his head, "I'm fine old man, but Sasuke's eye went all weird, I think it's defective."

Naruto dropped the mirror onto the bed and turned to look at his adoptive grandfather to continue, but the look of shock on the old man's face stopped him and the Hokage gasped, "Mangekyou."

Confused by the man's reaction Naruto's eyebrows knitted together, "Do you know what's going on Hokage-jiji?"

Sighing as he looked at Naruto's mismatched eyes the aging leader sat next to the village's savior, "Naruto… what is in your eyesocket… well. That eye you have is perhaps the greatest secret and darkest legacy of the Uchiha. One that was probably better left buried, but it can't be helped now." 'And for a relative of the Senju to unlock it, Naruto you are a walking irony.'

Naruto waited patiently for the Hokage to continue and suppressed his questions. He knew from experience the old man wouldn't be rushed and when finished he would explain what the blonde didn't get, "That is an evolution of the sharingan, the ultimate form that would grant its user great powers. However the price paid for these powers is terrible. Most think it to be legend because the few Uchiha that do unlock it probably hide it from the village, and probably even the clan itself. You see… in order to unlock the mangekyou sharingan it was believed you had to kill your best friend."

The genin looked down at his hands in shock because of what he just learned. Tears streamed from his right eye while blood poured down the left side of his face, "So I guess it is my fault Sasuke died?"

To his shock the white and maroon Hokage robes engulfed him as the old man gave him a comforting hug, disregarding the blood staining his robes. The teen lifted his mismatched eyes and they widened in surprise at the concern visible on the Sandaime's face and the care in his voice, "Of course not Naruto. You just care greatly about your friends and place such impossibly large burdens on your young shoulders. I wouldn't be surprised if you blamed yourself for it so much that it felt like you killed him yourself." The Hokage gave the boy in his arms a crooked smile, "You call me old man, but if you keep that up your back will be worse than mine in no time."

Naruto didn't reply, his body just shook as he gripped onto the Hokage's robe like it was the only thing keeping him from losing himself. In return the old man stroked his hair soothingly while whispering comforts into the boy's ear. Eventually the genin calmed down and the questions came rushing into his head, "Oji-chan, what does the Mangekoo sharingan do?"

The kindly elder pulled back and ruffled Naruto's hair one last time. "It's mangekyou, not mangekoo Naruto. To tell you the truth I don't really know. My two sensei, the Shodaime and Nidaime, said that two Uchiha during their time were incredibly strong with unique powers. They said they saw these two men put people in comas with a glance and had the ability to use fires hotter than anything they've ever felt, and my teachers fought Yoton users."

The blonde could hardly contain his excitement as the Hokage's explanation continued. He was considering jumping around the room and celebrating, but he figured that wouldn't be very ninja like. Naruto turned to face the old Kage with his usual grin spread across his cheeks, "That's awesome jii-jii, I'm gonna be even more awesome than before. You better start clearing out that desk because I'm coming for that hat soon."

Instead of smiling like the old man usually would after the proclamation a severe frown was directed at Naruto, "You should know by now that the number or strength of your techniques isn't the most important thing a shinobi needs. Secondly I don't want you to use that eye unless you absolutely see no other choice. It was rumored that those Uchihas' eyesight began degrading after they activated the mangekyou. Also that is a powerful tool. If word got out you had one, well, it wouldn't be the first time someone was kidnapped for a doujutsu."

The chibi Naruto dancing inside the blonde's head suddenly stopped his celebration and a horrified look made its way onto the real blonde's face, "What? I don't want Sasuke's eye to go blind, what am I going to do jii-jii." Naruto began pacing frantically before slamming a fist into his palm, "Yosh, I'll just never use it."

The Hokage's stern visage melted as he watched the genin's antics, "First try reducing the amount of chakra you have running to the eye." He paused as Naruto picked up the mirror and sighed in relief when his eye morphed back to the regular sharingan, except three tomoe circled the pupil now. Once he was sure the boy's attention was back on him Sarutobi continued, "I also wouldn't recommend never using the eye. You have been given a useful tool and shouldn't shun it. Sasuke gave you his eye to protect yourself and your comrades, so if the situation calls for it I'm sure he wouldn't mind you using the mangekyou. Just don't overuse it."

Naruto rested his chin on his palm and thought about the Hokage's advice before nodding sagely, "That makes sense, I wish I was as smart as you old man."

Placing an arm around the blonde's shoulder Hiruzen started walking them towards the door, "I'm not that smart Naruto. When you've been around as long as I have you just tend to notice thing. Also, don't tell any of your friends about the eye, it will only lead to problems and uncomfortable questions. Just say it was a minor complication with the transplant but everything is fine now."

Naruto slipped out from under Sarutobi's arm, "Okay gramps, and you're right. You aren't smarter than me, just old. Really, really, old." The genin laughed and dodged a playful swipe of the Hokage's wizened hand, "See you later old man, don't stay up all night doing paperwork. It's not healthy for someone your age."

The Hokage followed the genin at a more subdued pace while muttering, "Just wait boy, you'll get yours too."

Sakura could hardly contain her excitement as she practically skipped to the training grounds, ready to show her team how much she had improved. The kunoichi went to the flower shop everyday after studying basic first aid for training in the basics of herbology. The genin was mostly learning about the different types of plants and their effects and training to properly mix ingredients without wasting any.

According to the Yamanaka she was a natural and her movements were swift. The teen also trained with Tenten a couple times over the last week and was felt confident enough to use senbon needles in live training. A smile broke out across the pinkette's face as she patted her pouch that contained a prototype of a weapon designed by the weapons mistress.

Sakura arrived at the field and to her surprise Naruto was already hard at work doing pushups. As she got closer she noticed some were tree climbing, several were going over the basic taijutsu kata, and two were even playing Chinese checkers.

Curious the kunoichi walked up to her teammate and asked, "Naruto, why do you have Kage Bunshins doing all those things."

The blonde pushed himself up to his feet and gave the girl a wide smile, "Hey Sakura-chan, that's my new training method. I gain all the memories of my clones after they dispel."

"So by having them train it's like you're doing a bunch of different things at once." Said Sakura, finishing Naruto's sentence. She then stared over at the two clones playing the board game, "Okay, but why are they playing Chinese checkers over there?"

Naruto stretched his back while answering, "Oh, well Hokage-jiji once told me the hardest person to overcome was yourself."

Sakura sweat-dropped as one of the Kage Bunshin threw the table and board across the field before tackling his opponent into the tree which caused them both to dispel, "He might be on to something there."

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and changed the subject, "So how was your week Sakura-chan?"

Sakura sat down and signaled Naruto to sit next to her. Once he plopped next to her she answered, "You weren't the only one training hard, I worked my butt off last week and have some new tricks up my sleeve."

"Oh, what did you learn, I bet it's something really awesome."

Sakura smiled at the blonde's childish enthusiasm, "Well a kunoichi has to keep her secrets, but I can give you some hints. I read a lot about medical ninja, started learning how to use a new weapon, added a new facet to my ninja skills, and on top of that I even learned some basic first aid."

Sakura lifted her head to see Naruto's expressive blue eye shone with amazement and she had to fight down a blush, though her cheeks were still tinged pink, "That's so cool Sakura-chan, you did all that new stuff in a week. I didn't even learn anything new, just did a bunch of basics with Kaka-sensei."

Sakura couldn't suppress the blush after hearing Naruto's honest praise, "It's not that cool, I only learned the basics too." Sakura's stomach twisted in nervousness as she asked her next question, "Actually Naruto, I was wondering if I could practice some first aid on you, it's hard to see if you're doing it right when practicing with a tree branch."

Naruto tilted his head confusedly at Sakura, "But I'm not hurt Sakura-chan, why would you want to practice on me."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched as she forcibly suppressed the urge to hit her teammate knowing it would just make him dumber in the long run, "I know that baka, but you don't want the first time you use the technique to be on a person that really needs it."

Naruto's mouth formed a large O before he answered, "No problem Sakura, I'd love to." He unzipped his orange jacket and tossed it to the side, "What do you need me to do?"

Sakura looked to the ground in embarrassment before saying, "Well I'll need you to take your shirt off too."

If the girl was looking up she would've seen Naruto's face light up to a Hinata red as he stuttered and poked his fingers together, "W-well umm, I guess I could. M-maybe."

Sakura lifted her green eyes just as Naruto lifted his shirt. She expected him to be a bit pudgy because of all the calories, carbs, and salts in Ramen, but he seemed on the skinny side for a civilian his age. "Naruto do you only eat Ramen? If you were a villager I'd say you were in shape, but a shinobi needs to have more muscle mass. Next time you go to the store get more meats, grains, fruits, and vegetables." The pinkette frowned at the scowl that stretched across Naruto's face when she mentioned the store, noting that it looked quite unnatural after seeing him smile like an idiot for so long, "Can you not afford it?"

The blonde just turned to look across the field as he put his shirt back on, "I don't want to talk about it."

Sakura just sighed knowing that even if he was her teammate she didn't have the right to make him talk, especially with how she used to treat him. The kunoichi could only respect his wishes and stare at his back with worry etched across her features.

Kakashi stared at the memorial stone, staring at the newest name while contemplating the change in his morning ritual, "I guess my luck with the Uchiha clan isn't the best. First Obito, and now Sasuke." The silver haired man lost track of time as he continued to stare at the stone over his orange book. Eventually he took his gaze off the stone and looked up at the position of the sun. "Well I think they've waited long enough. That was more than enough time to catch up.

Instead of using his customary shunshin Kakashi decided to enjoy the early spring weather and walk. As he lazily strolled the legendary shinobi thought of the last week and the upcoming ones as well. His blonde student had improved by leaps and bounds and would probably be ready for some jutsu today. The man stopped before deciding to teach him a defensive one to be on the safe side.

Kakashi also checked in on Sakura from time to time and she appeared to have discovered all the motivation she lacked and then some. Still, her chakra levels were below average, and control could only take her small stores so far. The kunoichi would need to raise her chakra capacity before she moved onto more advanced subjects.

The real surprise came when the Hokage called him up after the funeral to discuss Naruto's sharingan and described the Mangekyou. The one thing that really bothered Kakashi was if Naruto unlocked it why didn't he. There situations were remarkably similar and the man surely blamed himself for Obito's death too. Deciding that there was no use trying to figure things out based on speculation the jounin shook the thoughts from his head and noticed that he was nearing the training ground. After snapping his book shut and placing it in its life proof pouch the man disappeared in a puff of smoke.

He reappeared in front of his two students in a strange situation. Naruto was staring off into the distance, ignoring Sakura, while she stared worriedly at his back. The man was worried he had somehow ended up in some sort of alternate universe when their voices shouted, "You're late!" in unison.

The jounin-sensei just smiled and was glad that some things still stayed the same. He ignored their false accusation, Kakashi always arrived exactly when he meant too, and gave them the excuse that came to him last night in a dream, "Sorry I'm late but I saw several chickens crossing the road and I couldn't figure out why." Nobody said it was a good excuse.

His students' voices rose in chorus as they yelled "LIAR!"

Kakashi just continued like he wasn't interrupted, "In one week we officially start rehab duty and after some calculations I've found it will take sixteen D-ranks a week to make what we were on medical leave so we'll do three or so missions a day to supplement our training when that starts." Kakashi unrolled a scroll and another set of weights appeared in a puff of smoke. He shot a warning glance at Naruto before saying, "Put these on and channel your chakra until I say stop."

Sakura quickly strapped the metal bands around her wrists and ankles before forming the ram seal and trickling her chakra into them. Once it began to look like she was struggling he interrupted her, "Okay stop, that's not bad for now but it's still pretty light."

He inwardly laughed at the look on Naruto's face and Sakura's cheeky mumbling before explaining the rest of her regime, "Okay, now I want you to go over there and do two hundred sit-ups, push-ups, and pull-ups. Then you will run around the field while I throw dodge balls at you because as a medic-nin your evasion skills need to be top notch. After the physical exercise you will continue tree-climbing until you can't do it anymore. Then we'll break for lunch and we'll continue training until around four and then do our D-ranks."

His students stared at him with their mouths agape before Sakura managed to say, "B-but we won't be home until like ten."

Kakashi rested his chin in his empty hand before nodding sagely, "Yes."

Knowing that their sensei was a stern taskmaster when it came to actually working Sakura just started her exercises while he turned his attention to Naruto, "I trust you already did your physical regime." After getting a crisp nod the Jounin tossed Naruto three scrolls as he continued, "Good, One of those scrolls contains a chakra control exercise and the other two contain a suiton and futon jutsu each. They're both low ranked jutsu, the water is defensive and the wind one is multi-purpose. If you have questions feel free to ask, after lunch we will begin working with the sharingan and continue our clone battles. Now, hop to it."

The jounin stepped back and watched his students work. Sakura appeared to have more energy than usual and he hoped that meant she put an end to her dieting as well. Kakashi shifted his gaze slightly to the left, and Naruto, as expected, had completely ignored the control exercise. Instead he was intently reading the scroll about the water jutsu. Naruto put the instructions down and began going over the sequence several times. Kakashi prepared for some free entertainment, and he wasn't disappointed.

The blonde began gathering chakra and rapidly formed the short sequence before slamming his palm into the shallows and yelling "Suiton: Suijinheki" (Water Release: Water Encampment wall). A jet of water shot into the air and arched over the blonde's head as the sunlight reflected off it. The stream continued on its path before splashing into Sakura as she was doing her sit-ups.

Kakashi was in the process of getting his ten chuckles when the air temperature dipped below freezing. Now it was quite nice for the time of year, in the high sixties and not a cloud in the sky, so the temperature change was unexplainable. The shinobi looked around frantically for the source before an awful killing intent saturated the air. However that only calmed him down because it was awfully familiar.

Sakura rose from the ground in all of her righteous feminine fury. Water dripped down her lithe frame as her eyes shone white with rage and the very air around her seemed to absorb light. The jounin was reminded of the simpler times when he was a genin, when Kushina thought his sensei had an affair… that was an ugly day for everyone.

Naruto shot Kakashi a pleading look and the man only shrugged in return as Sakura yelled, "SHANNARO!" and sent Naruto skipping across the lake like a stone until a tree came out of nowhere. She stomped away and the blonde pitifully pulled himself out of the water and tossed the suiton scroll into it before unrolling the water walking exercise. Soon enough twenty-one blonde genin were trying, and failing, to stand on the water.

Figuring now was as good a time as any the jounin pulled out Icha Icha and began reading with a perverted giggle.

Kakashi led his tired students back to the training field. Sakura had joined in on his and Naruto's game, but she barely did better than the blonde. The pinkette may have been more book smart, but that only allowed her to better understand the parameters they were given. When it came to actually forming the plans hers were rather cookie cutter and often lacked that element cunning good plans needed. Naruto on the other hand came up with ideas that weren't lacking in deviousness, but they weren't linked together by an overall strategy and more often than not didn't work to achieve a larger objective. In other words he reacted more than anticipated and maneuvered.

Still that wasn't even the point of the exercise. Kakashi said that he would answer any question, and that included asking him for ideas. The most important thing that they would learn is to never assume anything no matter how farfetched, once that happened everything else would come in time.

Once the trio returned to the field Kakashi broke down the afternoon, "Okay Sakura our main priority now is to build your chakra capacity. I would teach you water walking but it wouldn't do anything for your chakra control so just continue tree climbing. Once you start to get tired I'll attack you with shuriken and taijutsu, but you have to stay in the trees."

Sakura walked over to a patch of trees and Kakashi created a Kage Bunshin that began blowing up a balloon as he turned his attention to his sensei's son, "Okay Naruto we're going to be having another one of our clone battles. I can use one shadow clone, two water clones, and an earth clone." He took the inflated balloon from his clone and wrapped it in a blanket before handing it to Naruto, "You can use three Kage Bunshin and yourself. Your objective is to guard that balloon which represents a baby. If at any point during the exercise it pops you have to join Gai and Lee on their post pre-breakfast snack, pre-dawn workout."

The genin cradled the package tightly to his body and shivered in fear because he knew there was no way to avoid that workout, his sensei was just humoring him. He took off towards another patch of woods and Kakashi's clone platoon followed, eager to use him as a punching bag. Seeing that his two students were set he pulled out the greatest thing since sliced bread and gave a brief thought to the rest of the afternoon.

After making sure Naruto didn't just blindly react to what the sharingan showed him they could work on some basic hypnosis and genjutsu because God knows how bad he'd be at them without the doujutsu. Then they'd move onto identifying different elemental chakra before studying the flow of it in and out of the body.

Kakashi sighed because that was his basic plan with Sasuke before… the jounin turned his attention to his book before he could mope further because the man had already filled his daily quota, "Akiko-chan you dirty girl, are you really going to do that with Haruo?"

Sakura watched the sun set and the sky change colors as she walked home. The pinkette let the cool breeze rush over her aching body as she lost herself in thoughts. Today was everything that she expected, it felt good to see Kakashi and Naruto again. At the same time today was nothing like she expected.

Without focusing all of her attention on Sasuke the kunoichi was able to notice things about her other teammate that she didn't before. The blonde was incredibly open about a lot of things but would clam up about certain subjects or deflect them with a goof moment.

Sakura had to stop thinking and wave to Tenten when she heard the brunette's voice, but the older girl had to catch up with her team before she could do anything else. She ignored the shouts of fire and youth that echoed down the street, but realized her train of thought was lost. The pinkette shrugged it off and promised that she'd treat her teammate better and shifted her thoughts to her earlier training.

Sakura really wished she didn't hop on the diet trend as a child because she needed every advantage possible coming from a civilian background, but it wasn't anything that couldn't be fixed, especially because she was starting now. It was going to be hard though, the girl couldn't remember the last time she was this sore, but that was palpable proof the kunoichi was on the path to getting stronger and improving her family's lot in life.

Naruto looked down at his filthy hands, he knew he was improving a lot, but it still seemed like he was only playing at being a ninja. The shinobi remembered when he soaked his teammate with the water jutsu.

Flashback

Naruto stood in the shallows of the lake confident that he understood the basics of the jutsu, after all that's what he did with the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and he learned that in an hour. The blonde sped through the hand seals and slammed his open palms into the water causing a wall of it to explode upwards like the scroll said it would, however the barrier didn't stop at eight feet. The water arched over the genin's head and he admired the sparkling light shining through it, but then it splashed onto Sakura and he wondered how it didn't freeze on contact because he couldn't stop shivering.

A wave bloodlust far greater than any he'd ever known crashed over him and the animals in the training ground fled for safety. Naruto tried to follow but found his legs wouldn't move because his knees were shaking so much. The blonde watched as Sakura stood and water dripped down her body. He gulped after getting a glimpse of her features and tightened his sphincter. Sakura's face was red, not the cute shy blush that he only ever saw around Sasuke, but an angry 'I'm going to rip your spleen out your asshole' red. Her eyes shone a demonic white that promised untold pain, and Naruto could do nothing but watch as the terrifying beauty stalked towards him.

Naruto quivered in fear and waited for death, but instead a sickly sweet voice reached his ears, a voice that implied if the answer wasn't satisfactory then retribution would be swift and brutal. He pleaded with Kakashi using his eye, but the man ignored him. Knowing there was no help coming he racked his brain for an acceptable response, unfortunately for our blonde hero the answer didn't exist, "Umm w-well you s-see. Umm you looked really hot and, and I thought you'd like it if I, uh cooled you down."

The blonde instantly knew it was the wrong answer when he heard "Shannaro" and her fist slammed into his cheek before it felt like he was bouncing across concrete. The genin opened his eyes and could only see a green and brown blur that was rapidly approaching. After impact the boy was able to confirm it was a tree before it inexplicably became night and the stars came out.

Unbeknownst to him Sakura just stood on the other side of the pond blushing as Inner Sakura said, "Did you hear that? He called us hot, cha!"

Flashback End

After Naruto dragged himself back to shore Sakura apologized profusely before lecturing him on using untested jutsu around other people. She then suggested he try controlling his chakra instead of just shoving it into the jutsu and hoping it worked. After realizing the kunoichi was right Naruto ditched the Suijinheki scroll, he was too scarred to learn that jutsu, and opened the water walking one.

The boy looked back at his dirty hands and realized it wasn't enough. He was improving true, but it wasn't fast enough. The genin was behind everyone else after the academy so he had to step it up. The blonde looked up and realized he was at his apartment building and before he stepped inside made a silent promise, 'From now on it's time to get serious, I'm going to work harder than ever. I'll get up early to work with the fuzzy brow group, then I'll work extra hard on my strategy, jutsu and sharingan, and by the end of the week I'll hit a still target in the bulls eye ten out of ten times.' Feeling better the blonde walked into his building so he could collapse into bed.

The next three weeks flew for team seven. Naruto kept his word and trained hard six days a week. He would've trained seven but Sakura, Kakashi, even Gai and Lee insisted that he take at least one day to recuperate. Every day after practice the blonde would work with the spandex wearing duo, it was going so well that he increased his weights twice and was learning a new taijutsu style.

Gai called it Uzuken, he said he forgot exactly where he learned it but it was one of the styles that he based his Goken off of. The premise was to keep your opponent off guard with quick attacks and constant motion. When they did strike you wouldn't block but try to increase their momentum and put the target off balance, creating openings to strike. It didn't stop there though, when the jounin demonstrated it on Naruto he had the genin spinning like a top.

The eyebrow brigade also discovered Sasuke's gift when his headband got knocked off during a spar, or 'getting my ass handed to me by Lee time' as Naruto liked to call it. As soon as they found out Lee proclaimed Naruto his second eternal rival for having such intense flames of youth. Even Gai cried manly tears because Naruto was learning the style without using the eye's copying ability.

Once Naruto was able to use the doujutsu in spars his skills with it skyrocketed. He was able to process the information and react how he wanted to instead of blindly following the eye. One time it told him to jump over Lee's kick, but he smashed his head into a large branch above his head. Normally the blonde would've used the tree to dodge, but the eye said it was easier to jump so he did out of reflex, knowing a branch was above him, and smashed his head. The genin's skill with hypnosis was improving as well, although his genjutsu was still abysmal. And if you add in the fact that he got lunch most days it wasn't a bad three weeks for the blonde.

Sakura also managed to stay busy. She learned how to make some non-lethal poisons with Ino's mom, although the pinkette could only make the liquid ones as of now because they were easiest and safest to work with. But soon she would be able to work with the powdered forms and could branch off into gas from there.

Kakashi also said her medical skill was well above the novice level. Currently she was focusing on dodging, improving her accuracy, and strategic thinking while fighting with Naruto's clones. She even managed to slightly increase her weight bands.

The kunoichi had also managed to weasel a genjutsu from their sensei and could use Magen: Kokoni Arazu no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: False surrounding techniques) well enough to throw off her opponents in spars and create openings. Once she had the stamina to tree walk for an hour and a half Kakashi said he would find a tutor for the pinkette.

All in all it was a successful three weeks for team seven and they were finally ready to resume their duties.

Sakura sat in the shade of a large tree in the center of team seven's new training ground, eagerly awaiting Naruto's return with breakfast. The girl blew an unruly bang out of her face and wondered when she had become so fond of the knucklehead. They just had a half hour conversation as they waited for their sensei and Sakura found herself enjoying it.

The blonde was a true goofball and it seemed he could bring a smile to her face anytime he wanted. To make things better he didn't even know the definition of the word judgmental, and for the first time in awhile the pinkette didn't feel any pressure to be a different person. Sakura's laughter tinkled through the clearing, if the ten year old Sakura somehow travelled in time and saw her know she'd get slapped… actually the ten year old version of the girl probably wouldn't be able to touch her now.

The kunoichi had finally begun to take her duties seriously and it seemed her life was improving with her skills. Because of Sakura's new commitment she made a friend in Tenten and they were quickly growing closer. They would get together and just do normal things when their teams weren't busy like go get some food, go to the hot springs, or watch an old Princess Gale movie. The girl sighed as she recalled the rumor the next movie that was getting filmed in Yuki no Kuni had gotten cancelled.

Perhaps the biggest surprise this past month was Naruto, though that shouldn't be surprising. They switched roles after their first day of training and Sakura followed the blonde around and pestered him about grocery shopping until he caved and 'introduced' her to Gama-chan, who was pleasantly plump from Naruto's savings, and she was given some money for groceries.

When Sakura brought the first delivery she was surprised at the state of Naruto's apartment, mainly the lack of debris covering the floor. The pinkette was expecting a warzone, but there was no mildew, rodents, cockroaches, odor, or any type of mold, it was just… messy. Clothes were strewn about the apartment, gardening supplies for the plants by the window were left haphazardly in random places, and his kitchen was filled with old Ramen containers and some dirty dishes. She didn't let him know that she was somewhat impressed and proceeded to scold the boy about bringing guests back to a messy apartment because somebody needed to look out for him.

They proceeded to have an impromptu cleaning session and it was actually somewhat fun.

Flashback

Sakura looked over at Naruto while he washed the bathroom sink and mirror. They had just finished cleaning the toilet and the pinkette was cleaning his shower while he finished the other surfaces. The blonde pouted while scrubbing the glass and the pinkette stifled a giggle, he looked like a petulant child that just got denied a toy. 'It was actually kinda cute.'

Sakura was oblivious to the thought as an idea popped into her mind. She plugged the drain and filled the tub with some water. Once it had a decent amount of water in it the teen cupped her hands and launched some at Naruto. He turned and started grumbling when he saw her smile before turning back around while grumbling. She pouted that he didn't take the bait and reached for the plug, but an arm snaked around her waist while another grabbed her shoulder and began to lower the girl into the tub face first. Deciding she wouldn't go without a struggle the kunoichi reached back and grabbed the arms wrapped around her and pulled the blonde in too.

After throwing their clothes in the washer, changing into some of Naruto's old clothes, and recleaning the wet bathroom they zoomed through the rest of the house. When they were finishing up and taking care of the blonde's bedroom he hit Sakura with a pillow while she was making the bed. The kunoichi turned her head and saw Naruto's blue eye gleaming with mischief so grabbed the other pillow on the bed and let out a war cry before charging.

After a brutal and underhanded war the two fell back onto Naruto's bed laughing. Sakura turned to smack the boy's face with her pillow but gasped and let it go instead. The light from the sunset was pouring in through the windows and covered Naruto like a blanket. His golden blonde hair seemed to glow, and the sweat glistening on his tan skin was highlighted as his chest rose and fell rapidly. He turned to the kunoichi, his blue eye filled with happiness and content, and Sakura fought the urge to stroke his whiskered cheek as her stomach twisted. It wasn't an uncomfortable feeling though.

A blush covered the girl's face when the blonde's hand reached up to brush some of the hair away that was sticking to her cheek, "Sorry, that was annoying me."

The knot in her stomach tightened even more when something brushed her inner thigh. Sakura looked down to see that Naruto's leg moved in between hers when he shifted. It felt like steam was blowing out of her ears as the kunoichi's brain shut down and she reacted purely on instinct… and slugged Naruto in the face.

Flashback End

Sakura finally realized what she liked about Naruto, he made the boring and mundane entertaining. Suddenly the sound of footsteps reached the pinkette's ears and she looked up to see the boy who was occupying her thoughts walking towards her while munching a stick of dango. When Naruto reached the kunoichi he handed her the bag while saying, "Sorry it took so long, but I was waiting at the bakery for a fresh bag of sticky buns."

Sakura's eye shone with unbridled joy as she pulled one out of the bag and bit into the frosted treat, 'He even brought me my favorite breakfast. Yes Naruto is officially my friend.'

While nibbling on her delicious bun the blonde asked, "So what do you think our new teammate will be like?"

Sakura licked the frosting off her fingers while pondering, "Well the next class hasn't graduated meaning it will probably be somebody off the reserves lists, so they'll probably be older."

Naruto tossed the last empty stick of dango over his shoulder, "That sounds right. You're so smart Sakura-chan. But do you think they'll be a loser? I was the dead last and still managed to pass, what does that say about this person?"

The girl let out a sigh, "Don't jump to conclusions Naruto, you're a special case." Sakura missed Naruto's nervous look as she closed her eyes and savored the next bite of her breakfast, "If you worked as hard as you do now in the academy you might've been the rookie of the year. Besides there's a lot of reasons people were in the reserves. Some people lose a team member like us, while others don't pass the test because they don't understand the concept of teamwork and undergo a crash course. For all you know we'll get an older, stronger teammate, with more experience too."

Naruto blushed at Sakura's unintentional compliment as a puff of smoke appeared from nowhere and their sensei stepped out of it saying, "Sorry I'm late but I was on my way here and I saw an old lady whose rabid dog was stuck in the tree. Naturally I had to rescue it, but before I could give it back to its owner I had to discover the cure so she didn't get infected."

Sakura's eyebrow twitched as her and Naruto's voices rose in unison, "LIAR!"

Kakashi ignored the false accusation as his lone eye took in the discarded bags and tears began to stream from it, "Oh woe is me, my students are too cruel. They get breakfast for themselves and none for their kind and wise sensei."

Sakura's response was cut off when a soft voice with no inflection spoke up, "Why didn't you mention anything of this dog to me? Also why did you not tell them about the mysterious person that was calling your name and caused you to look all over the marketplace for two hours?"

A pale boy with inky black hair and charcoal eyes stepped out from behind Kakashi. He appeared to be about their age and wore a plain skintight black shirt that only had a sleeve over the right arm, grey standard issue shinobi pants, a small black backpack, and a ninja pouch secured to his right leg. The boy's dull eyes roved over his two teammates with no interest while they stared curiously. Kakashi took note of the awkward silence and pushed the teens together, "Sakura, Naruto, why don't you two introduce yourselves to the new member of Team Seven?"

Before they could the boy bowed formally, "Hello my name is Sai and it is nice to meet you both. I have heard that when somebody is your friend you give them a nickname, if you don't mind I would like to give nicknames to the two of you as a sign of our new friendship."

The teens shared a questioning glance before Naruto shrugged and Sakura replied, "Why not?" Having no idea there was a perfectly good answer to that question.

Sai gave the two a more thorough inspection, "I have also read that you should give nicknames based on physical traits." Sai stepped closer to Naruto and gave him one more lookover, "I think the perfect name for you would be… oh I know, Dickless."

Naruto went from smiling to frowning in under a second. It looked like he was going to pummel Sai so Sakura restrained him, "Don't overreact, I bet it's a joke. Right Sai?"

She turned to the boy only to see he was ignoring her and while staring intently, "And I shall call you… ugly."

Now it was Naruto who was holding Sakura back, although she was slowly dragging the blonde across the ground, even though his heels were anchored in the dirt. However the Jinchuuriki's efforts ended when she turned her glare on him and he let go before running behind their sensei's legs in fear. Sakura stopped in front of the pale boy, who might not get paler after she killed him, and spoke in a sickly sweet voice, "That's nice. Now I have something to give you."

A plastic smile covered Sai's face, but it was quickly wiped off when "Shannaro" echoed through the village and Sakura's fist impacted with his cheek. Sai flew into the distance till he was a speck on the horizon and Sakura turned and flashed a victorious peace sign. Later that night many villagers would lay on their rooftops and look for shooting stars because one was visible during the day.