xxx

"It's going to be really hot today," Sakura muttered to herself as she walked down the street. It was still early in the morning and the villagers were just starting their day. The gennin stopped as three children, one girl and two boys, ran out in front of her. She smiled as she watched them go and wondered what had them so excited.

"GET BACK HERE YOU LITTLE BRAT!"

Sakura turned towards the familiar voice to find her blonde teammate fuming and covered in pink paint.

"Naruto!" Sakura laughed. "What happened to you?"

"Konohamaru and his friends went after my dad again and got me instead," Naruto explained as he grumbled to himself. "Now I have to shower again, dattebayo!"

"We have to get to the meeting-"

"Kakashi's not gonna be there for another two hours or so anyway," Naruto said. "I was gonna stop by Sasuke's place. You wanna come?"

"Eh?" Sakura blinked. "I- I shouldn't impose-"

"I always have breakfast at his place when dad has to go in early, which is pretty much always," Naruto sighed. "It won't be a problem. Let's go!"

"But I already ate-"

"Than you can hang out! Come on already!"

"Eh?" Naruto grabbed her wrist and began pulling her along. "W-wait! I can walk on my own! Oi!"

xxx

"Oi! Teme!"

Sakura stared in awe at the house. House… more like a mansion. She never knew that places like this existed in Konoha!

"OI! GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE! OIIIII! TEEEEEMMMEE-eh?"

The door slid open. The two were greeted by a man that made Sakura freeze. He looked like an older Sasuke, well, almost. He was definitely a lot scarier. He gave Naruto a glare that would have given Sakura a heart attack to have been at the receiving end of, but Naruto was unfazed.

"Naruto," he said, "Why are you here like that…?"

"I'm borrowing your shower," Naruto said. He pushed his way past the man and entered the house. The man turned to Sakura and Sakura stiffened.

"I don't believe I know you," he stated.

"Eh? Well… that is… I…"

"Fugaku! Aren't you forgetting something?" a pretty woman said as she handed the man a bento. "And who might this be?"

"Oh! I'm H-Haruno Sakura," Sakura said and bowed formally.

"Ah! You must be Sasuke and Naruto's teammate! I'm Sasuke's mother, Uchiha Mikoto and this is my husband, Uchiha Fugaku," she introduced. "I'm sure he hasn't bothered introducing himself yet."

"Hn."

"You're going to be late," Mikoto pointed out. "You, out. Haruno-san, would you like something to drink? Have you eaten?"

"I'm fine, really," Sakura said. Fugaku left without another word.

"Well, come on in!" Mikoto said. "I'm sure it will take a while for Naruto to get all that paint off. Would you like some tea?"

"Tea would be… nice," Sakura said as she followed her in. "Thank you."

"Oka-san! Is Naruto here?"

"He's borrowing the shower," Mikoto said as Sasuke entered the room. Sakura blushed when she saw that he was shirtless. Sasuke froze when he saw her.

"MOOOM! ONII-CHAN'S WALKING AROUND NAKED AGAIN- oh hi!"

A little girl came up behind Sasuke. She couldn't have been older than 5 and had long black hair tied up into twin ponytails with red ribbons. She had large, obsidian eyes that almost seemed too big for her head. Despite this, she had to have been the cutest kid Sakura had ever seen.

"Sasuke, shouldn't you go put your shirt on?" Mikoto suggested.

Sasuke turned bright red. Keeping a straight face, he turned and walked away stiffly. He ran into the door frame and stumbled back a couple of steps before leaving the room.

"Hey! Stop drooling over Onii-chan and tell me who you are already!" the little girl pouted.

"Don't be rude!" Mikoto scolded.

"Onii-chan?" Sakura echoed.

"He's my Onii-chan, not yours!" the girl screamed.

"Stop it, Hitomi!" Mikoto smacked her on the back of the head. "This is your brother's teammate, so be nice!"

Tears began to well up in the girl's eyes and seconds later she was wailing at the top of her lungs.

So this is Hitomi they keep talking about?

"Hey!" Sasuke yelled as he returned. "You better not be making Hitomi cry, Sakura!"

"I didn't do anything!" Sakura snapped.

"Why is Hitomi crying this time?" Naruto asked as he entered the room with his shirt in his hand.

"Why is everyone running around naked!" Hitomi cried.

"I'm not naked!" Naruto snapped. Naruto grinned mischievously and reached for his pants. "But if you really want me to-"

"NOOOOOO!" Hitomi screamed as she fled the room. Naruto chuckled as he slid his shirt over his head.

"Go ahead and leave your clothes here," Mikoto said. "You can pick them up on your way home."

"But then you'll end up cleaning them," Naruto said. "I have time; I can take them home-"

"Leave. Them. Here."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now! Everyone sit down. Breakfast is almost ready!" Mikoto announced. "I'll have your tea ready in a second. Let me know if you change your mind about having breakfast with us."

"Thank you."

"I'm hungry!"

"Shut up, dobe! You're too loud in the mornings!"

"You shut up!"

"You're already fighting?"

xxx

"Will they really be okay?" Yondaime muttered.

"They are stronger than you think," Kakashi said.

"They've only been genin for a couple of months," Yondaime argued.

"And they proved themselves during their mission in Nami no Kuni."

"They should never have gone to Nami no Kuni," Yondaime said. "You should have brought them back when you discovered Tazuna-san had lied."

"Everything worked out fine," Kakashi said. "Besides, I think they learned something important from it. They can handle this as well. They are ready."

"You better be right."

xxx

"Good morning, everyone!" Kakashi greeted his team. "I got lost on the road to life-"

"LIAR!" all three gennin shouted.

"Well, anyway, this is sudden, but I've nominated you for the chuunin exams," Kakashi said.

Sasuke stiffened.

"YOU THINK THAT MAKES UP FOR-"

"Here are your applications," Kakashi showed them the papers in his hand.

"-I LOVE YOU SENSEI!"

"Hey, get off of me"

Kakashi handed them each their applications. Sakura took hers gingerly.

"Whether or not you take the exam is up to you. If you want to take it, sign the application and take it room 301 of the address on there by 4pm tomorrow."

Sasuke looked between the application and his best friend. Naruto was practically shaking with excitement.

"Why?" Sakura asked. "We've only been gennin for a couple of months. Isn't it too soon or something?"

"You all meet the minimum qualifications," Kakashi said. "Besides, even if you fail, it will be good experience for the future. I believe you are ready."

"Of course!" Naruto grinned proudly. "I'm the Yon-"

"-daime's son after all. Yeah, yeah, we know," Sasuke finished.

"Take the rest of the day off to think about it and prepare," Kakashi said.

Sakura looked at her application. Were they really ready? Was she?

"What's wrong?"

Sakura looked up to see Sasuke looking at her.

"Eh?"

"I asked what's wrong," Sasuke repeated irritably.

"It's nothing. It's unusual for you to worry about me," Sakura said with a forced smile.

"Hn."

"Hey, Sasuke! Let's go tell Ita-nii!" Naruto jumped up and down in excitement.

"He's away on a mission," Sasuke sighed.

"Awww. Than let's go celebrate at Ichiraku's!"

"Calm down before you hurt yourself, dobe."

"Wanna come, Sakura?" Naruto asked.

"Eh?" Sakura blinked. They never invited her. Naruto smiled at her hopefully while Sasuke eyes his friend suspiciously. Sakura gaped at Naruto for a little bit, not sure how to react. For a reason unknown to herself, joy welled up inside her and she smiled.

"Sure. Why not."

xxx

I doubt there are very many reading these who don't know what Onii-chan means (Onii meaning brother and chan being an endearing honorific), but I think it's worth noting that Onii and Oni are two different words (this is of course the romaji for the characters). Oni means demon. It's pretty funny reading stories or translations online that use Oni-chan/san instead of Onii.

And I don't think I've translated this one yet, so Nami no Kuni means Country of Waves.