Author's Note: First of all, a rather long intro author's note. There is one other thing I forgot to mention as I was posting this story. The Camouflage Jutsu I used in chapter 4 wasn't something I thought up out of the blue.

I was inspired by "The Way of the Apartment Manager" by Elizabeth Culmer. Without her story, I never would have thought of that sort of jutsu, and it was perfect for what I needed in chapter 4 when I was drafting it back in like January.

Unfortunately, I totally forgot about that when I was editing it for publishing, and it only dawned on me after I had posted chapter 5. This has caused me a great deal of distress and anxiety, no joke. So I'm saying it now. I was inspired by her story. I'm deeply sorry I forgot to mention it, since I should have.

In addition, I absolutely recommend her work. It's on fanfiction dot net and AO3 for those interested. Seriously, her stories, like "The Way of the Apartment Manager", are beautiful. If you haven't read them, make time to do so. You won't regret it, not for a single second. I'll also make the effort in the future to cite those who have inspired me, or just recommend really good stories I have found.

And now, responses:

Guest 1 for ch 5: Yes and no for talking. They can talk like they did in canon, but so far the two haven't met each other yet. As for the other matter, I can see why you think that and I hadn't actually considered it. But I am going to say no. I know that Naruto would not take kindly to being called that either. Although would you mind if I used that in my story, people calling him that I mean? Just wanted to ask.

ShadowImageComics: Thank you. I do have some plans for that, but don't worry about the suggestion. While I've heard of Bleach, I've never seen it, so I have no idea what you're talking about. XD

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I am just a fan.

Chapter 6: Changes

After several rounds of coordinating the day before, Team Seven, plus Iruka, found themselves leaving the village in at 11:00 AM, headed deep into the forest. There was a spring Sakura's step as she walked along the path.

The day previous had been, to put it very mildly, a storm of emotions. It was a storm Sakura had to deal with the minute she got back to her room. Fear, sadness, joy, it all just came out in the confines of those walls. Her heart broke for what happened to Naruto, broke for his circumstances now and for having to carry a monster inside him all his life.

After a torrent of tears she miraculously managed to keep her parents from noticing, she decided to pull herself together and stay positive. She had wanted a chance to start over, and now she had it. They were going to visit Naruto, eventually get him back into the village, and start figuring this mess out.

And besides that, she'd really just needed to stop herself from crying. She'd used up the only bottle of eye drops she had yesterday just trying to keep her parents in the dark. That, and she found applying eye drops herself to be a pain.

So it was with that renewed purpose that she walked down the road, a beaming smile on her face. Up ahead of her, her current and former senseis were engaged in conversation.

"I really hope you don't read that in front of your students," said Iruka, eying Kakashi's beloved book, fixed as it was in front of his masked face.

Kakashi just lazily turned the page. "I don't see the problem. There's nothing against reading any other books in public, is there? Or were you interested in borrowing it? I don't really want to lend you this copy, but I do have a hardback edition at home I could lend you."

Iruka just turned beet red, sputtering for words before finally settling on "How can you even read and walk at the same time?"

"I have years' worth of skill."

Iruka's frustrated expression made Sakura feel sorry for her old teacher. She supposed he wasn't really used to Kakashi like they were. She chose to lend him a hand.

"Kakashi-sensei, you're lucky your book didn't get damaged when Naruto kicked you down that hill" she said with perhaps a bit too much cheery volume.

Iruka looked back at Sakura, and then to Kakashi. "Oh that's right, you mentioned something like that." Iruka's mouth twitched. "You really got knocked down a hill by a genin?"

"A small one," replied Kakashi quickly.

"He also landed in a pond." added Sasuke. Frustration at their sensei's antics had been a bonding point for Team Seven right from the very beginning, as had the occasional, albeit rare, chance to get back at him.

Kakashi looked at Sasuke as if the boy had personally betrayed him. Sasuke meanwhile just stayed completely stone faced.

"Really? I don't think you mentioned that yesterday."

"Well-"

"He really did" answered Sakura. "We were all so focused on chasing Naruto, but looking back on it, it was kind of funny." A fit of laugher rose up from her chest at the memories from yesterday, separated now from the lens of anger and panic. "Kakashi-sensei had mud all over his face and in his hair. And he was trying to spit out water too."

Iruka broke into a fit of hysterics at the mental image, and Sakura laughed with him. Sasuke smirked.

Kakashi just turned red and glared back at his two students. "Remind me to make the both of you do five more laps on the obstacle course tomorrow," he grumbled.

Since they knew exactly where they were going, it was a shorter trip than before. Team Seven took the lead, Iruka trailing behind. As they approached the cave, Sakura didn't see any sign of Naruto. "Naruto? Are you here?" She walked closed to the cave, inspecting the entrance, but found nothing. "Where is he?"

"That idiot better not have left," grumbled Sasuke in annoyance. He moved over to a patch of trees. "Naruto!"

Sakura looked around the mountain clearing again. She didn't see a trace of their friend. Then, a gleam from the late morning sun caught her eye. It came from a tree on the left, something metal hidden behind the leaves of a low tree branch. It seemed bent, but not in the usual way branches tended to be.

Then something else caught her eye. It looked like... a wire? She followed it out from the tree to the ground, right where Sasuke was headed-No!

"Sasuke, tripwire!"

Sasuke's foot had already taken another step forward when she shouted. There was the sound of the wire being pulled, and Sasuke leapt backwards just as the branch flung forward, and several shuriken shot out, lodging themselves into the base of an adjacent tree trunk.

Sakura was next to him in a heartbeat. "Are you okay Sasuke?"

The Uchiha just shrugged. "I'm fine" before adding "Thanks for the warning Sakura."

"Looks like someone hid a wire in this pile of leaves, and quite well I might add," explained Kakashi as he bent down to examine the trap. "Judging from their trajectory, those shuriken were meant to hit whoever triggered this in the leg."

Sakura looked at the cluster of five shuriken embedded in the tree. If those had hit, Sasuke probably wouldn't have been able to stand, let alone walk.

Suddenly, Naruto was running up to them. Today he only wore the tattered pants and boots, the latter not even secured with rope. "What happened? Are you guys okay? I heard the noise and..." his eyes locked onto the shuriken. "Oh." He cursed under his breath.

"Naruto!" cried Sakura. "We've been looking for you. We thought for a moment that you'd left."

"Naruto, I don't remember this being here yesterday. Did you make this?" asked Kakashi.

Naruto's feet shuffled, grinding up the leaves underneath. "Um, yeah."

"Naruto, why did you make a booby trap?" From his tone, it sounded more like Kakashi was scolding a child for taking something apart rather than arranging crippling projectiles.

"That thing almost hit me, idiot!" yelled Sasuke.

Naruto just met Sasuke's glare before moving his attention back to his sensei. "After you guys left, I decided to put one together in case anybody else showed up. I meant to disarm it today, I swear. I just didn't think you'd be here this early. I'm sorry-" He froze, his ear twitching. "There's somebody coming." Before they could stop him, he ducked behind a tree.

"It's okay Naruto," said Sakura, trying her best to soothe her teammate. She could practically see his tension, even behind the tree's wide trunk. "We brought someone else to see you."

It was then that Iruka stepped forward to join them. "Naruto?" he asked softly.

"...Iruka-sensei?" breathed Naruto.

"Yes. It's me Naruto." Iruka inched closer. "I overheard them when they were going to the Hokage's office. They told me what happened to you. Please, come out."

Slowly, Naruto came back into view, arms fixed at his sides, ears pulled back, and tail dragging behind him. He took one look at his old teacher's face before simply averted his eyes towards the ground, as if looking at him physically hurt. "Iruka-sensei, I-I'm sorry I made you think I was dead. I didn't want you to see me like this. I... look like the thing that killed your parents. I thought maybe you'd hate me."

Iruka just stood there in stunned silence, taking in Naruto's appearance. He looked away for a moment, before letting out a chuckle. "Naruto..."

When he looked back up, tears were welling up in his eyes, and the next thing anyone knew, he had his arms around the boy. Naruto just looked up at him in complete surprise.

Iruka laughed again. "You should know by now Naruto. I'd never hate you, no matter what you look like." He kept holding onto the fox-boy like he was afraid he'd disappear once again. And for all Sakura knew, maybe he did.

After a few moments, Naruto broke the silence. "Iruka-sensei?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Thank you. But..." Naruto let out a groan. "Could you move please?"

Iruka pulled back, looking hurt. "Huh?"

Naruto just winced. "You're standing on my tail."

Sakura looked down, and saw how Iruka's right foot was planted firmly on the mass of red fur. The idea of it being there at all was still so bizarre. She'd have to watch her own footing around him. Was it like stepping on someone foot? I really hope I didn't do that too yesterday. Maybe he didn't want to say anything?

Iruka just blinked before looking down himself. "Sorry Naruto." He gently lifted his foot before letting Naruto go completely.

Naruto just massaged the sore appendage. "It's alright." Then he just sat down on one of the many rocks in front of the cave, just like yesterday. And also like yesterday, they all joined him.

"So," he began. "What did the Hokage say?"

"He wants you to come back to Konoha," replied Kakashi.

Naruto shot to his feet. "What?! Did the old man lose it or something?! He expects me to go back to the village like this?"

"Sit down Naruto," said Sasuke flatly. "The Hokage is planning on sneaking you in to someplace private."

Naruto sat back down, taking a deep, cleansing breath, but didn't take his eyes off Sasuke. Behind him, his tail has started to twitch. "How?"

"He hasn't worked that out yet," answered Kakashi. "But it shouldn't take longer than a few days. He feels it's necessary to have you examined. We need to make sure the seal on the Nine Tails is still intact."

Naruto seemed to consider it, before slowly exhaling. "Guess that's good enough reason..."

Even if she hadn't been right next to him, it was clear he still wasn't entirely okay with it. His posture was still very rigid, and his fingers twitched continuously, along with his tail. Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder. "You won't be alone this way Naruto."

He jumped at the contact before looking over at her. His muscles seemed to relax. "Thanks."

"Hey, I bet you're probably wondering what's been going on since you've been out here," said Iruka quickly. Clearly he was trying to distract Naruto from whatever he was feeling. But she certainly didn't have a problem with the obvious tactic. And neither, it seemed, did Naruto and the others. "Konohamaru has actually taken up your title as village prankster."

That got Naruto's attention. "Really? How's he doing with that? He probably gets away with a lot more than I did, being related to the Third."

"Well... yes and no. Honestly, his pranks are getting more out of hand lately."

Naruto leaned closer. "What do you mean?"

"Just recently he used a bunch of firecrackers to surprise classmates by hiding them in desks. He ended up setting about half a dozen of those on fire. We had to close down the whole room for repair and cleaning."

"That's what it was?" asked Sakura in disbelief. She'd heard that the fire brigade had been called to the academy, but she hadn't gotten the details on what the reason was. For obvious reasons, she didn't like hearing details on that sort of news. She'd simply been satisfied at the time to know it wasn't a raging inferno.

"Firecrackers set to go off in a desk? That's asking for trouble." muttered Sasuke in agreement.

Sakura just shook her head. "He's the Hokage's grandson. Didn't he pay attention at all in class?" Since they lived in the Land of Fire, and affinity for that kind of jutsu was more common, fire safety lectures at the academy were a regular thing. Better to start early and hammer it in before someone did something stupid. From what she'd read, it had been a regular feature since the academy was founded in one form or another.

She'd been in attendance for them, and so had Naruto all the other genin. Sasuke actually hadn't been. But when she'd asked Iruka-sensei, he just told her that the Uchiha, being fire specialists themselves, gave their own lectures on fire safety.

"Yeah," agreed Naruto. To Sakura, it might have been one of the first times the three of them had ever agreed on something, especially on whether that something was a bad idea.

"He's definitely got a problem with restraint. I've told the Hokage and he's going to try speaking to him about it. I just hope he doesn't try full on fireworks. If he does, he might blow a hole in a wall."

"If it were me, I wouldn't have done something like that. Or maybe just smoke pellets," said Naruto as he looked off into distance, clearly going through his memories. "I never used firecrackers. I tried one I found once. Somebody had dropped a bunch of them. Didn't even realize they'd fallen off their cart. I thought maybe it might be fun to use. But I realized they were way too dangerous. Gave the others to an ANBU that passed by."

"At least you had some sense," stated Sasuke with a nod of his head.

Naruto turned an irritated eye towards the Uchiha, but actually chose to let it pass. "Yeah. And, well, I couldn't really get my hands on them anyway, other than that accident."

"Didn't I also hear something about an incident involving a live snake at the academy?" Kakashi cut in. He was back to reading his book, but true to form he appeared to be half paying attention.

Iruka nodded his head. "Yeah, that was Konohamaru too."

Naruto tilted his head. "A snake? Konohamaru brought a snake into class?"

Iruka just nodded again. "Yes. But..." he chuckled. "I have to admit, it was actually kind of funny." His cheeks turned pink. "Maybe I shouldn't sharing this."

Naruto scowled at the older man. "You can't just start something like that and leave it there Iruka-sensei." By now he'd folded his legs on top of the rock.

"Yeah," added Sakura. An opening like that had piqued her interest as well. "And besides, it's not like we're academy students anymore. There's nothing wrong with sharing the story with us."

"Alright then." Iruka cleared his throat. "Do you remember Kouji Matsumota, the taijutsu instructor?"

"He was the one with the really big arms covered in tattoos, right?" asked Sasuke.

"So he was an instructor?" spoke Kakashi again. "I passed him on the academy grounds when I was going to meet one of my failed teams. He seemed more like a sailor to me. I thought perhaps he had a student there."

"Yeah, I remember him" said Naruto. "He was a jerk. He yelled at me a lot."

Sakura nodded. She too, remember Kouji-sensei from those early academy days. His class had been a nightmare. If Kakashi was sadistic, Kouji-sensei seemed downright cruel at times. He yelled at her too. "He insulted my hair color a lot of times" she grumbled. As if she could help what she was born with! In general, the man just didn't seem to be nice to anyone. She even heard he liked to kick small animals, and Sakura honestly believed it, even now. And judging by the unhappy expression on Sasuke's face, she suspected he had much the same impression of the man as the rest of them.

But then, something else popped into her head. "Wait, wasn't he put on suspension?"

"Yes, he was." confirmed Iruka. "But one of our taijutsu instructors moved back with his family, and we don't have many ninja qualified to teach taijutsu-only classes. So we had to bring him off suspension. We've talked to him about his attitude, but it just doesn't seem to stick."

Sakura frowned. "Okay, but where does Konohamaru bringing in a live snake fit into this?"

"Well last week I was passing by his class when I heard this scream. From the sound I thought it was one of the kunoichi, and that maybe Kouji crossed a line. So I rushed in. And there he was, sitting there screaming at this tiny little snake, maybe six inches long, a nonvenomous one. Konohamaru said he slipped it into his pocket. I thought he was going to break glass with those screams."

Sakura couldn't help it, she laughed. The mental image of that big brute screaming away at a tiny little snake threw her into a furious fit of giggles. Sasuke settled for smirking very hard, and Kakashi hid his own laughter behind his book. And Naruto broke into complete laughter. He was laughing so hard that he just managed to catch himself before he lost his balance on the rock. "Can't say the guy didn't deserve that" he said between trying to keep himself steady.

The smile that had already been on her face grew twice as large. It had been so very long since she'd heard that sound. For a long time, she was convinced she'd never hear it again. And now here it was. Don't cry, she told herself. You'll never be able to pass off the red eyes when you get home.

Her own rock was close to a tree, and she leaned back against the bark, trying to settle down the laughter still bubbling up from her insides. Her fingers brushed against something. Looking down at the bush beside her, she saw an object sticking out. Pulling it free revealed the item to be a sturdy wooden bow. "Hey, what's this doing here?"

Naruto's laugher died down as he looked at the item in her hands. "Oh, that's mine. I knew I left it around here. Thanks for finding it."

Iruka turned to Naruto with curiosity. "You can use a bow and arrow Naruto?"

"Yeah," answered the fox-boy matter-of-factly. "The quiver's back inside," he said as he pointed at the cave.

Now that was definitely a surprise to Sakura. She'd never seen him with a bow before, not in all the time she'd known him. And she knew he didn't learn it at the academy. They'd had weapons training of course, but arrows were so infrequently used by ninja that they hadn't even been among the selection.

Sasuke smirked again, eyebrow raised. "Doesn't archery require patience?"

Naruto leveled his gaze with the dark-haired boy. "What's your point?"

Sasuke's smirk got bigger. "You just don't seem like the type. That, and your aim never was very good."

"Oh yeah?" challenged Naruto. "Have you ever used one, jerk? I bet I'm a better shot that you! No, scratch that, I know I'm a better shot than you."

"More likely you're the lousiest shot ever."

Sakura was pretty sure that Sasuke hadn't used one either, at least not in their academy years or after. She was torn between Inner Sakura's irritation at what appeared to be another one of her teammates' arguments, and the warm feeling in her chest at seeing these fights again at all. In the end she suppressed Inner Sakura and settled on the warm feeling. This sort of thing would probably go back to driving her nuts soon enough, but for now, she could live with it.

"Now, now you two," said Kakashi as he came between them. "Let's stop before you two start throwing punches."

"Hn."

Naruto pulled back, eyes narrowed. He seemed to be thinking of a reply. "Be right back."

Naruto walked back inside the mountain cave, and a few minutes later, he emerged with a quiver strapped to his back and, to her confusion, carrying several small logs, all of them clean of branches and about the same size. He had them all bundled in his arms, minus one precariously balanced on his tail.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "What are those Naruto?"

"Targets," was all his said. It was then that Sakura noticed the deep X that had been carved, seemingly with a kunai, into each and every one. He set those down before going back into the cave, and returning with more.

Sakura looked down at the bow that still sat in her lap. It looked like a longbow. But it didn't seem hand made at all. "Where did you get this Naruto?"

"I... stole it" admitted the fox-boy. "Didn't have much of a choice." He glanced at Iruka, who responded with sympathetic smile.

Sakura just nodded. She'd thought as much. "What about those shuriken?"

"Not those. People lose those things all the time out here. I just pick them up. Oh yeah, that reminds me." He went back into the cave, carry a couple more targets and a small bag. He set the bag down in front of Sasuke. "These are all those shuriken and kunai you tossed at me."

Sasuke picked up the bag, examining the contents. "Hnn."

"There" he declared after one more trip. He stood before a pile of now a dozen identical targets on the ground. He turned toward Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, could you make some shadow clones and throw all of those in the air for me?"

Kakashi's eyebrows shot up into his hairline. "You want to try to hit all of these in the air?"

If Naruto thought it was a bad idea, he didn't show it. He just nodded.

Sakura just tiled her head. Was this just one of his impulsive decisions? It didn't seem like it. He seemed really relaxed, something he never was when he charged into learning a new technique. There was a quiet confidence there that just perplexed her. He'd never shown that sort of thing back in the academy, or when they'd been on Team Seven. What was he thinking?

Getting no further answer, Kakashi did as he was asked and summoned five shadow clones. With a target in each hand, they stood ready. Naruto took the bow back from her and walked over so that he stood a distance away from the row of clones.

Reaching into the quiver, he notched one of the arrows and drew back the string. His face was pure concentration. "Ready when you are."

The Kakashi clones threw all of the targets into the air at once. And just like that, Naruto sent the arrow flying. It struck one of the airborne targets with a thud. Sakura watched as more followed in quick succession, one after the other after the other, Naruto eyes fixed on the free falling logs as each one was struck down.

The last target was so close to the ground now, passing by one of Kakashi-sensei's clones. Naruto craned his head, tracking its fall carefully, before letting another shot fly out. For a moment, she thought it would strike her sensei in the face. But the arrow just sailed by, missing the clone by only a hair's breadth before slamming into the target.

Sakura sat there, dumbfounded. Every single target lay on the ground, each with an arrow stuck firmly in the very center of the X. Twelve bullseyes, from the air. Her brain sputtered. How did he? When did he?

Around her, everyone else seemed to be thinking the same thing. Kakashi dispersed the clones, but still looked like it had been the real him that had almost been hit with the arrow.

Finally Iruka broke the silence. "That was incredible Naruto! When did you learn to do that?"

Naruto just turned back to his old sensei. He scratched his cheeks, and Sakura thought that maybe she saw them turn a shade of pink. It was so difficult to tell under the already deep red fur. "I picked it up while I was here." Then he looked over at Sasuke and smirked at him. "What were you saying about me being a lousy shot Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned his head sharply. "Fine. I was wrong, and you're really good."

Naruto grinned. "Yeah. I-" he stopped suddenly before yawning. He blinked a few times, rubbing his eyes. "Man, I'm tired."

"What? Did that wear you out?" retorted Sasuke, still sore over being shown up.

"Nah," said Naruto. "I-" he yawned again. "I was up part of the night. Big thunderstorm. No lightning or anything, but the constant booming kept me awake. Guess it all caught up with me now." He stretched his back, reminding Sakura very much of a cat. "Look guys, I'm going to go sleep for a while. I..." he let out an even bigger yawn, "uh, thanks for coming out here."

Sakura didn't want to leave. She had so many more questions. But one look at Naruto and how heavy his eyelids were getting told her that it was best to go. He'd probably be unconscious in the next ten minutes at most.

"It's no problem Naruto," replied Iruka. He hugged the boy one more time. "You go get some sleep."

Naruto just nodded before heading back inside. Team Seven, plus Iruka, just gathered up their things. As they walked away, Sakura took one more look back at the mountain cave.

Pleasant dreams Naruto.

It was two days later when Team Seven returned to the forest. Iruka wasn't with them this time, since he had class. As they walked up to the clearing, it seemed as empty as it had before. This time, they all approached with more caution, in case Naruto had set anymore trip wires. There didn't seem to be any suspicious piles of leaves this time around.

"Naruto?" called out Sakura. No answer came.

"Maybe he's still asleep" suggested Sasuke.

Sakura looked at her watch. It was 1:30 PM. It was less probable that Naruto would still be sleeping, but she supposed the cave interior was the easiest place to check first. "Let's go see," she answered.

The trio made their way into the cave, flashlights in hand. Sure enough, there was Naruto, still sleeping away on the floor. How he found that comfortable she didn't know. She'd always used a sleeping bag on missions.

Kakashi walked ahead of them. "Alright Naruto, time to wake up." He reached out and shook the boy's shoulder.

What happened next was a blur of motion. Naruto bolted awake, yelling before grabbing Kakashi's arm and pulling the surprised jonin to the ground. A kunai that had been hidden in the darkness hung above their sensei, ready to strike. A growl echoed off the walls. With equal speed, their sensei rolled out of the way just as the kunai came down, burying itself into the floor.

"Naruto!" she screamed.

Naruto blinked, breathing heavily before turning to look at them, eyes widening as realization and wakefulness seemed to hit him. The kunai had clattered to the floor when he let it go, and the fox-boy scrambled backwards away from it. "Kakashi-sensei. I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... don't startle me awake like that! I... it w-was a reflex."

Kakashi pulled himself up. "I guessed that."

"There, um, have been some predators out here and I really didn't mean to-"

"It's okay Naruto," insisted their sensei as he dusted himself off. He looked back up at the fox-boy. "There's no need to apologize. I probably should have known better than to do... that..."

Sakura knew what had distracted her sensei. She saw it too. She'd been fixed on it from the very second he'd rolled away. A glance at Sasuke confirmed that he too was staring. "Naruto..." she whispered.

"Your eyes." finished Kakashi.

There in the darkness, partly broken as it was by the beams of their flashlights, was Naruto's face. But his eyes. They were green, green and glowing in the dark, the pupils so incredibly large, larger than a normal person.

Naruto just blinked, his face changing from one of fight to simply confusion. Finally, the two green lights just rolled. "Oh, that" he replied. "They glow in the dark. I know."

"You mean this is normal?" cried Sakura.

Naruto just shrugged. "I noticed it the first night here. You get used to it."

Her body slumped a little. How do you just get used to glow in the dark eyes?!

A realization seemed to hit Sasuke. "Your eyes don't glow in the dark Naruto."

"Oh yeah? Then what do you call this?" he argued, pointing at his eyes.

"Eyeshine."

Sakura's eyes widened. "Oh of course, eyeshine!"

"What?"

"Let's have this conversation out in the sunlight," interrupted Kakashi. Without argument, the group walked outside. Sakura's shaken nerves started to settle as they exited. What exactly had Naruto meant by predators? It would be something to ask Naruto about later. But since their sensei didn't seem to want to bring it back up, she didn't see any reason to start asking herself.

When they left the mouth of the cave, Naruto blinked at the bright sunlight. "Is it already afternoon?"

"It's 1:30," answered Sakura. In the daylight, his eyes had gone back to blue, the pupils reduced to normal, human size.

"So what's eyeshine?"

She looked to Sasuke, and he just gestured for her to continue. "It's something a lot of animals have. They have a shiny part in their eyes called the tapetum lucidum. In low light, it reflects any light shining on it, creating a glow effect. It helps improve sight in the dark. Haven't you ever seen a cat at night?"

"Oh right..." muttered Naruto.

Sakura supposed the eyeshine was just another fox thing in Naruto's odd new physiology, though she'd never seen enough real foxes to know if they had it. Ultimately, it was another thing in a list of things she needed to get used to. But suddenly, something else occurred to her. "Hey Naruto, if you have eyeshine, then how come we didn't notice it under your hood?"

"I know how to angle my face so you wouldn't notice it. I learned how to do that after I ran into somebody and they saw my eyes. The guy thought I was a ghost." He chuckled. "I decided to play along. Scared him off." Naruto stopped when he spotted their gear sitting just outside. "What's that?"

He was pointing to the large basket Sakura had brought along. She smiled at him. "I had this idea that since we're going to be out here again, we could eat lunch together. So I brought a picnic."

"You did? Thank you Sakura. Do you, um, need any help getting everything out?"

It occurred to her that this might have been the first picnic he'd been invited to. The thought pricked her heart. All the more reason to include him. Sakura smiled. "Sure."

"While you do that, I think I'm going to give my nin-dogs some exercise" stated Kakashi.

"You're not going to help us?" asked Naruto.

"Why Naruto! I'm just thinking of my dogs" Kakashi countered, voice dripping with hurt. "Proper exercise keep them in fighting shape and helps the bond between the summoner and the summon."

"Yeah right, you're just lazy," muttered Naruto under his breath. Sakura suppressed a laugh.

Their sensei summoned his back of dogs, appearing by his side in a puff of smoke. Pakkun sat atop Bull's head, scanning the area to orient himself. His gaze landed on Naruto. "Kakashi told us what happened to you kid, but I guess you have to see it to believe it. Hey, do you want to touch my paw?"

Naruto just frowned. "No thanks."

Pakkun's face fell. "No one ever does..."

"I'm going for a walk," said Sasuke suddenly.

"Be back in ten minutes. We should be done by then" she told him.

"Fine." He turned back to Naruto. "You didn't set anymore traps did you?"

Naruto shook his head. "No. But if you're going to walk around, avoid going southwest. There's a really big hornet's nest there. They're nasty enough that they'll attack you just for getting close."

The two went their separate directions, and Sakura started taking out the blanket under a tree for shade. "Help me spread this out. You take the other side."

Naruto took the blanket as he was told. "You really don't mind them not helping?"

"No. This isn't that hard. The two of us will be enough."

After the blanket was spread out, she went back to the basket to start removing the contents. She'd gotten her mother to help put everything together. Her mom usually made food in excess, and this had been no exception. Thankfully Sakura was in good enough shape now to carry the big thing around without too much trouble. When she came back to the blanket and set down the food in her hands, she looked back up to find Naruto staring intently at her. "What?"

Naruto cleared his throat. "I just... I've been wondering... when did you cut your hair?"

Sakura fingered her pink tresses, the ends falling around her chin. "About four months ago."

"Why'd you do it though? I thought you liked it long."

Sakura just blushed. Cutting her hair like that had been a big thing for her. She'd thrown herself into training, trying to live up to the optimistic, but firmly held belief of a teammate she thought was dead, and whose death haunted her in her sleep time after time, coming a month after she'd firmly thought Sasuke had died.

She'd been shaken so badly during the search, feeling that for every day with nothing to show that she was slowly sinking into an abyss of fear, misery, and pain. The funeral and the nightmare it helped spawn only served to plummet her even further into those black depths.

She'd needed to feel like she was rising above the surface of it all, like she could rise above the surface. She'd had to do something, a fact made abundantly clear when she'd started spacing out at the mere sight of lit candles.

Of course people had been suggesting that she do something about her hair for a long time, even before Naruto had "died". Initially she'd ignored it because of her titanic crush, a crush that became very hard to focus on under the weight of her nightmares and the guilt that would come to flood her like high tide with time and reflection. Even as she trained harder, she'd kept it the way it was, having gotten quite used to the length and feel of it. But as days turned to weeks, and weeks to months, eventually, she'd decided to make yet another change, to make a statement about herself starting anew, as the old metaphor went.

Although her decision might have been forced by a minor mishap...

August 1st, 12:45 PM

Sakura let out a curse as she sat there on the grass. The day had started out simple enough. They'd gotten a D-rank mission at a small rural community a few miles to the southeast of Konoha. It was just simple farm work. The proprietor was a middle aged woman who was built like a brick wall, but who always seemed to have a kindly expression on her face. She'd thrown her back out and needed help with various chores on her property.

They'd been done in a couple hours. But as they were finishing, the woman's daughter came up to tell her mother that her pet rabbit had wandered off.

The little girl had begged Sakura and her teammates to help find him, and she'd employed the largest, saddest eyes Sakura had ever seen. She gave in first, and then Kakashi. Sasuke lasted about twenty seconds, but even he folded when faced with that look. But in all fairness, the client did offer to pay a generous extra for their efforts.

So they'd all started searching, and Sakura took a patch of trees. And now, she truly wished she hadn't, because she was completely stuck here. This piece of woodland had an absurdly large thorn bush as a resident, as big as her. She'd checked it to make sure the poor animal wasn't caught in there and...

Sakura looked back at the pink mess behind her. Her hair had gotten hopelessly ensnared in the thorns.

She gave a tug, but all she got for her efforts were stars in her eyes. She couldn't see it well enough to untangle it herself, and especially not without turning her hands into pin cushions. The giant thorn bush had equally giant, extra sharp thorns to go with it. So she was sitting here, completely stuck. Her muscles relaxed out of habit, but as had happened a few minutes prior, a thorn pricked at her back, making her wince again. She'd been here for ten minutes.

Sakura knew Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke would eventually come looking for her. The idea of either of them, or both, finding her like this was mortifying. She was supposed to be improving as a ninja for goodness sake and she'd gotten tangled in a thorn bush!

She had to get out of this before they found her if she wanted to keep any of her dignity. Of course she knew she could just cut the tangled strands, but she'd gotten to like her long hair, crush or no crush. Besides, it would give away the mess she was in. There had to be some way out of this.

She gave another tug. The thorn bush held firm. If she didn't have issues with open flame, she'd be tempted to ignite this malicious bush once she was free of it. She pulled again. Still nothing.

"Great..." she muttered. "What else could go wrong?"

As if in mocking answer to her question, a rabbit hopped by her. An adorable little tan rabbit with a blue ribbon around his neck and a square-shaped white patch on its back. This was the missing rabbit.

She held out her hand. "Hey, come here," she called out gently. The rabbit turned to look at her, and then proceeded to hop away.

"Come back here!" she screamed. But the rabbit didn't do anything but continue hopping far, far away.

Her hands tightened into fists. That was it. That was just it. She pulled out a kunai and held it behind her. She was getting out here. Without any hesitation, she thrust it into her hair.

It was a little while later when she got back to the main house. The rest of her team was there. Both were seated and waiting, Kakashi engrossed in his book since the client's daughter was nowhere in sight.

"Ah, there you are Sakura," said Kakashi. "We managed to catch that rabbit, so it's about time...we..." The rest of his words just seemed to vanish when he looked up at her. Sasuke was staring too. She stood there in the doorway, fists clutching several inches of severed pink hair that she'd collected, deciding that stupid thorn bush didn't deserve to have a single strand after it forced her to butcher it. The remaining hair sat on the edge of he left shoulder, and an inch past her right. Her face was one of dark, murderous rage.

"What-" her sensei began.

"Not. A. Word." She growled. "From either of you." She glared at Kakashi and then at Sasuke. At the moment, she didn't care that she was threatening her sensei and teammate. And from the looks on their faces, she'd guessed they didn't want to argue with her. She just stomped past them to get her bag.

The trip back was one of awkward silence.

When she'd gotten back to the village, she'd made a bee-line for Ino's house. Her blonde friend had simply gasped before taking her to get the choppy mess evened out. She'd ended up telling Ino what happened, but made her swear on her dead clan ancestors never to tell anyone. And after she'd calmed down, she decided that maybe it was time to make another change anyway. So she ended up taking away more than the thorn bush did.

Not that she would ever tell Naruto about that incident. After all his ridiculous mishaps, he'd probably never let her live it down.

Realizing she'd left Naruto waiting for an answer, she focused back on the present. "I decided to make a change. And I like it this way now." That wasn't a lie. Suddenly, she was overcome with self-consciousness. "You don't think it looks bad, do you?" Better ninja or not, she still had some vanity and self-image issues, so sue her. Being teased mercilessly about an overly wide forehead through childhood would do that to you.

Naruto seemed at a loss for words. Was it just because it was her asking or was he just rusty with people? Finally he just shook his head. "No. Not at all Sakura. You always look pretty."

Her cheeks turned red. "Thank you Naruto." Clearing her throat, the two of them got back to setting out the food. By the time ten minutes had passed and the rest of their team returned, the entire picnic was out and ready. Sakura was already seated on the blanket, looking over everything with an air of satisfaction like a hostess at dinner, or lunch in this case. "Kakashi-sensei, Sasuke, we're done here."

Her team sat down around the blanket. "Oh wait," interrupted Sakura. "I forgot one last thing." Reaching into the now significantly lighter basket, she pulled out a container covered in large pen-written letters. "This is for you Naruto."

Naruto blinked several times. "For me?" He sniffed the air, and his eyes went wide. "I-Ichirarku Ramen? Thank you!"

Sakura beamed at him, watching him eagerly open the container. "Iruka-sensei suggested it to me. We knew you'd like it." Iruka-sensei had even made sure to tell her all of Naruto's favorites so they would be included. It had taken some convincing to get the two ramen chefs to agree, since they normally didn't do takeout. But with some pleading, they'd finally agreed and left it ready to pick up this morning as she was headed to the village gate.

Naruto was already starting to eat. He was handling the chopsticks clumsily, letting food slip out and plop right back into the container several times. "Naruto, would you like some help?" she offered.

"I'm not feeding him," said Sasuke as he took a sip from his water bottle.

"I'm fine," said the fox-boy as he finally managed to get the hang of it. He chuckled, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. "I guess I'm a little rusty."

"Take your time Naruto," laughed Kakashi. He was using his book to hide his mouth while he ate. "We don't want you to choke after all."

Naruto just nodded before he kept eating, savoring the taste of it in his mouth. "This is good," he muttered.

Lunch went on like that for a few minutes. Despite Naruto being told not to rush, the ramen in front of him vanish quickly, even if Naruto's attempts were still less than coordinated. Once he'd polished that off, he leaned back against the tree. "That was great!" Then he blinked, before looking over at his teammates. "Hey guys, what did you do about the Chunin Exams? They happened already, right?"

"We didn't enter," said Sakura as swallowed a bite of her dumpling.

Naruto's face fell. "Oh. I'm sorry about that..."

"Don't be," interrupted Sasuke. "It wasn't just us. Nobody entered."

"Huh?"

"The Chunin Exams were canceled this year" answered Kakashi.

"What?! Kakashi-sensei, why'd they cancel the Chunin Exams?"

"There was an international incident. I can't really go into all the details, but the Fourth Kazekage, that's the leader of the Land of Wind's hidden village Naruto" he interjected at the boy's confused expression, "was assassinated. His body was discovered by accident approximately nine days after the murder. Word got out to us two days after that. Once the news spread to all the elemental nations, the exams were canceled."

"Seriously?" Naruto leaned back, arms crossed over his chest. "That's really messed up. Who'd want to kill the Kazekage?"

"It's being looked into, don't worry."

Sakura had thought the same thing. It had been the morning of June 21st when they'd gotten the news. Sakura had been planning to cheer for Ino and the others, and Sasuke had settled on watching the first and third rounds as a learning experience. The news of the Fourth Kazekage's body had thrown her sensei, and everyone else's sensei, in an uproar. The ANBU seemed twitchy for a week after that. Not that she blamed them.

She was pulled from her memories by a munching sound, and turned to see Naruto biting into one of the apples she'd brought with her. And he really was biting into it, not just nibbling. Sakura raised an eyebrow. "Naruto, since when do you eat apples?"

Naruto swallowed another bite. "Since this." he gestured at himself. "You can't be too picky out here. And I found out I really like them." He discarded the apple core and picked up another. "These are really juicy Sakura."

"All that time trying to get him to eat healthier. Why didn't I try apples?" grumbled Kakashi.

"There are apple trees around here?" she asked.

"I saw a few while I was walking," answered Sasuke. Naruto just nodded his head as he took another bite.

"There are several different fruit trees and berry bushes scattered through the forests in the Land of Fire," explained Kakashi, taking a break from his reading. "They were planted deliberately to provide extra rations for ninja coming back to the village in case theirs ran low. Enough variety was planted so something is always producing fruit at any given time of year."

"Yeah," said Naruto as discarded the second apple. "There are apples trees that way, and some oranges over in that direction. And there's a whole ton of berry bushes about a mile that way..."

As Naruto went on, Sakura took time to ponder his knowledge of the area. He seemed to know it all so well. Then she remembered how well he'd navigated through here when they chased him. He must know this place like the back of his hand after all this time. She supposed that she hadn't really grasped the idea of living in the wild for so long.

Naruto sniffed the air. "Hey, Sakura? I just realized... you sort of smell like Sasuke." He moved closer to her. "Did you finally get him to ask you out or something?"

Sakura turned red, shoving the boy and causing him to land flat on his back. "It's not like that Naruto!"

"We were sparring this morning, idiot, of course you'd smell something" added a glaring Sasuke.

Naruto sat up. "Ow. I forgot how much you could hurt..." he muttered. Looking up at his teammates, he blinked, processing the words. "Wait, really? Did he hurt you Sakura?"

Inside her head, Inner Sakura raged. Does he still think I'm made of glass or something?! But Sakura just took a deep breath. She had to remind herself that Naruto had been out of the loop. "No Naruto, I'm fine," she said flatly, with more of an edge than she intended.

"Speaking of sparring," interrupted Kakashi. "Perhaps it would be beneficial if Naruto were to spar with each of you. Naruto, what do you say?"

"Really? Um, why?"

"I'm interested to see what else you can do," replied Kakashi. "And I think it would be a good experience for the three of you. And, Naruto, it has been a while since you sparred with either of them."

To Sakura, it sounded like a great idea. They were finished with lunch anyway. Getting up, Sakura dusted herself off and looked around the clearing. "There should be good," she said, pointing to a space across from them clear of any rocks. "Who should go first?"

"I'll go first," said Sasuke as he got to his feet.

Everyone moved to the soon to be sparring ground, she and Kakashi sitting down on more of the multitude of rocks around the small mountain. Sasuke stood ready across from Naruto, slipping into a fighting stance. "Ready Naruto?"

Naruto looked a little less certain, but nodded anyway. "Go right ahead, jerk."

Kakashi signaled for them to start, and the two charged at each other. Sakura took the time to study Naruto's movements, especially since she'd be sparring next.

As she recalled, Naruto's taijutsu had been rather sloppy. And here too, it wasn't great. The general form was off, and his movements were fairly simple. This stood in contrast to Sasuke, who stuck with a mix of his own family's fighting style with pieces of standard academy taijutsu, just like Kakashi-sensei had taught him. But Sakura felt that Naruto's poor taijutsu was more from lack of use this time. Despite the lack of proper style and form, he was actually holding out very well against Sasuke.

The difference seemed to be that Naruto now possessed a great deal of speed. Sasuke was fast and Naruto was keeping complete pace with him, and then some. And he was extremely agile. He leapt out of the way of punches and kicks with ease, sometimes with somersaults, only to counterattack. Of course he displayed as much in that chase through the forest, but it was another thing to see it here.

Sakura also took note of his coordination. The young blonde ninja had been horribly klutzy. But Naruto was, well, graceful, as he fought Sasuke. He was so sure on his feet, never faltering, not even stumbling on any of his landings. It was a very far cry from the sparring matches at the beginning of the year. She also couldn't help but notice he hadn't tried to use any shadow clones.

This Naruto in front of her seemed so different in ways from the boy she remembered, and not just in body. From newly acquired skills or even dietary habits, to even attitude at times. She had thought her team had changed so much in the time he'd been dead. But it seemed that Naruto had too.

"You notice the difference too, don't you?"

She looked over at her sensei, and just nodded.

By this point in the fight, Sasuke had decided to use his Sharingan to help with Naruto's quick movements. His red eyes, orbited by two tomoe, flickered back and forth as he tracked Naruto. They had definitely moved the match more in his favor. Naruto threw another punch. Sasuke stepped out of the way, grabbing Naruto's tail to pull him back.

"OW!" roared Naruto.

Naruto yelled, grabbing his tail and pulling it free of Sasuke's grip. "Geez that hurt! New sparring rule. Don't yank my tail! I really hate when that happens." He cradled his tail in his hands.

"You can't be serious," said Sasuke, turning off his Sharingan. "You're complaining because I pulled your tail?"

"Yes! It's connected right to my spine you jerk! How do you think that feels?!"

"I'm surprised you even know that," Sasuke retorted.

"I know what animal skeletons look like!" Naruto shot back. Then he paused, before adding, "You know, survival class? Animal bones?"

"Alright, that's enough. I think this round of sparring is over," said Kakashi. "Great work you two. You're up Sakura."

"Yes sensei." She walked over to the sparring ground while Sasuke took her spot on the rock.

Naruto was still panting, so Sakura just reached into her pocket and slipped on her gloves. While they weren't the same pair, they were still the same kind as the ones she'd worn for the poison ivy.

When Naruto walked over to face her, he seemed less certain and less eager than he'd been with Sasuke.

"You ready Naruto?" she called out.

"Ready."

She threw the first punch. Naruto evaded it easily, as well as the one that followed. He kept doing that, not even bothering to hit back. With Sasuke he'd already counterattacked. He still must be holding back for my sake, she realized. The thought made Inner Sakura stir. She swung again, and Naruto avoided it by leaping up and into a tree branch.

Sakura just smiled. She put her hands together, letting them glow chakra, before she sent them smashing into the tree trunk. As she'd expected, the tree shook, but only lightly. Still, the shock of it was enough to send a startled Naruto off the branch and to the ground.

Once he'd gotten his bearings, he looked up at her, wide eyed. "Sakura! What was that?!"

She just gave him an enormous grin. "I sent chakra to my hands for a quick burst of strength" she declared proudly.

It was something she'd developed in her training. She had been making significant progress with her reserves, and had wondered if she could apply her chakra control in ways that would help her hold her own in battle. At the time, their second C-rank mission had been coming up, and she'd really wanted to hold her own better without a full team, Kakashi-sensei or not. She'd already figured out how to send chakra to her feet for a burst of speed when it dawned on her that perhaps she could do the same to her hands for strength.

It wasn't all that impressive with her still developing muscles. Even that hit to the tree required two hands, and she felt a little taxed, but it was helping to throw more power behind her punches. It had certainly been beneficial during sparring matches and on more than one mission.

"That's amazing Sakura," replied Naruto. "Guess that explains the gloves."

She nodded. "Naruto, I know you used to hold back with me. So what do you say we make a deal? I won't pull your tail if you try not to hold back." She held out a hand to help him up.

He took it, getting to his feet. "Deal."

With renewed vigor, the two threw themselves back into the fight.

Author's Note: Just a few technical notes and one story mention. I was inspired about Sakura's use of strength by the story "The Charm is Broken Utterly" by barspoon. It's on both FF and AO3. It made me realize that Sakura, if she'd been serious and given the time, could've thought of something like that. Read the story, it's fantastic, and was one of many that gave me what I hope is a good sense of Team Seven.

On a technical level, I wanted to say that when I wrote this, I hadn't really noticed (or maybe it wasn't clear at the time) that Kurama's forelegs ended in hands. I thought they were paws, hence Naruto's hands. So in this universe, let's say they are paws.

Second, this is late, but my image of his apartment building and where apartment was is far different from canon. I know. I didn't know that when I came up with this.