As they'd been doing for the past few months, Team 7 and Team 9 went for a meal after their joint training ended.

It had started when, during their first week training together, Sakura had passed out while training. She'd awoken, disconcerted to find herself on the grass with no idea of how she got there, to find Sasuke staring at her with that same blank look that she had grown to loathe and crave. Gai, concerned that Sakura was underweight and not taking care of herself, had decided to take her for a meal and make sure she ate.

Naruto (eagerly) and Sasuke (grudgingly) had tagged along. Lee ended up coming because Naruto's declaration that he could eat more could not be allowed to stand. Tenten came to watch the fun: Sakura resentfully being force-fed while Naruto and Lee happily ate themselves into a stupor. She pulled at Neji's sleeve as they were leaving the training ground; he frowned, looked up at the sky with a sigh, but followed.

Since then, Sakura had gained weight and muscle. She needed to be fit if she wanted to keep up with her team, that was motivation enough to make sure she ate. But the routine had stuck. Naruto's and Lee's challenges had shifted from who could eat more to who could eat 3 bowls faster. (This happened when Naruto ran out of money and tried to ask Sasuke to lend him some, so he could continue his challenges with Lee. That conversation had ended with Sasuke burning Naruto's eyebrows off. He had been aiming to set the whole of his blond menace of a team-mate on fire, but Naruto's reflexes were improving since he got kicked around by Lee a lot.)

But the routine had stuck and after their latest mock mission ended, they all ended up at Teuchi's.

Once Lee and Naruto had finished their challenge (Naruto always won when they ate ramen), Lee crossed his arms and pouted slightly. "I can't believe you tricked us to win the mission."

The others continued eating at their sedate paces.

Naruto thumped Lee on the back. "The score is 4 to 3 now, bushy-brows! You're falling behind."

"I don't think the way you won was very youthful."

Tenten rolled her eyes. "We're ninja Lee, deception is the trade."

Lee looked away, "I don't like it. It seems dishonest."

Sakura's chopsticks clattered against her bowl. Everyone turned to look at her. Her hands were shaking, rattling her chopsticks against her bowl. Her head was lowered and they couldn't catch her expression.

Sasuke snatched the chopsticks from her hand impatiently and glared at Lee. "I'm sure when one of your teammates dies for your honor in battle, you'll see the value in being dishonest."

There was a shocked silence.

"I didn't mean-" Lee began, but Sakura's shaky voice cut him off.

"It was the plan with the lowest probability of enemy engagement and team injury." She dropped her hands onto her lap to hide the shaking.

There was another moment of silence. Then Sakura looked up, directly at Lee. Her pupils were elongated, as they were whenever she was ready for a fight. Her voice was harsher, firmer when she continued, "And almost perfect probability of success, given your penchant for jumping into unknown situations with high confidence and low caution."

Spots of bright pink appeared high on Lee's cheeks.

Sakura calmly took her chopsticks back from Sasuke and resumed eating.

Later that evening, they collapsed onto the grass near the memorial stone. As they fought to catch their breath, Naruto suddenly burst into laughter.

"Did you see bushy-brows' face when Sakura-chan's scarier side told him off?"

He poked his index finder into Sakura's shoulder. "His face was pinker than your hair, I swear."

Sasuke sat up. "I thought the med-nin told you not to shift?" He asked Sakura.

Sakura sat up too, hands rising reflexively to push through her hair. She had impulsively shorn it at the base of her head and she loved the way it made her feel. She knew that just cutting her hair short changed nothing, but she felt different somehow, like she was some other person and not that old Sakura with the well-kept long hair.

"It's hard to stop shifting to Inner. When I feel overwhelmed, she takes over. It helps me deal with situations that I can't deal with."

"It's weird to see you shift from meek to bold in a second. What does it feel like?" Naruto asked, turning towards her and supporting his head on his palm.

"It's like... I lock all my doubts into a small box and lose the box somewhere in my mind so I can't see them. Then I have some information and an outcome I want. It's easy to cut my way through to the outcome just using logic, when fear and doubt are not clouding my mind."

"That sounds crazy." Naruto's serious blue eyes bore into hers.

She slapped him lightly and he smiled as he dodged. "It's not crazy. It just... makes the world more distant, smaller, less colorful, easier to navigate through."

"If you can be strong all the time, why do you shift to the weaker personality at all?" Sasuke asked.

Sakura shrugged. "It slips when I'm calm or peaceful. And it's nice to feel some things. Like the sun, or the color of the sky or eating a nice meal with Team Gai after a tiring day."

Sasuke scoffed.

Sakura's pupils narrowed. "Do you have something to say?" she asked, drawing a kunai.

In the next instant, the three of them had fallen into defensive stances. Then Sakura launched herself at Sasuke and Naruto tried to tackle her and the sparring began again.