A sigh of relief escaped me when Naruto walked into the classroom, smug smile on his face as he very deliberately adjusted the forehead protector he now wore. Letting things play out close to Canon had been a bit of a desperate move on my part. Every work around for the clone jutsu I'd thought up had fallen short of expectations.

Increasing the clone count wouldn't have worked, even if it was the most simple. Naruto could easily make a thousand standard clones and not even sweat. However, the three clone requirements were very specific. Three, no more, no less. The test was as much about control as anything else and Naruto really wasn't there. Twenty had been his lowest count so far.

Finding a more chakra intensive variant was even harder. Spying on ninja training tended to end with you being dragged back to the academy before any real data could be gathered, especially on jutsu. The Shinobi Library was a fortress and the attempt to get past the academy section had left me twitching for a week.

So, Canon it was. I had faith in Naruto and Iruka to get through that whole experience safe and sound. Well, as safe and sound as could be expected in this world anyway.

"We've all got one Naruto! Quit bragging." I called to him, grinning at him mischievously.

He deflated comically at my call, giving me a dirty look. "Sakura." He groaned petulantly as he began walking towards him.

"Shut up and get over here, idiot." I replied with a roll of my eyes. When he finally slid in next to me I was quick to drag him into a headlock, rubbing my knuckle into his head as I did. "Why are you so late? You had me worried there, y'know!" I accused fondly.

"Okay! Okay! I'm sorry!" Naruto squeaked, flailing to get out of my hold. I let him go after a second. "I overslept okay!"

I made a show of thinking over his apology before smiling and pulling him into a hug. "Congratulations Naruto, you made it."

"Sakura…" He grumbled, but I could hear him welling up as he said it. Too bad for him, I was gonna hug him every day as long as I had arms. Two years so far and I wasn't about to stop now.

I'd woken up in the Naruto world. That was already a terrifying prospect, living in a world where at any moment you could have your throat slit. Granted that was a possibility anywhere but here, that was a bit more common than my tastes liked. Still, depending on when I'd ended up here it could have been a fairly nice experience.

I'd probably had the worst start I could imagine. I was Sakura Haruno, main heroine of the series and designated damsel in distress, two years before the start of the series. A prepubescent girl who thought more about her crush than training to be a ninja.

One week of trying to take her role had been all I could stand. Being kicked into the dirt by a background character had been too much for me to handle. I didn't even recognise the kids name, they were that unimportant.

In retrospect I might have swung a bit much in my change in personality. Love sick Sakura Haruno who stalked Sasuke Uchiha and dieted at her own detriment died overnight. In came Sakura, the girl who trained like a menace and ignored everyone around her. I suppose the teachers just assumed that spar had been a wake up call for me.

It had been great, being free of those restraints of following Sakura's path. Within a month I saw just how dumb chakra made improving your physical conditioning. I went from only managing to run two miles to ten. The weights I began lifting doubled in weight.

Then he'd appeared. Naruto Uzumaki. Abused Main Character and Ray of Sunshine, who also had a huge crush on Sakura Haruno.

Sakura in the series had been a little… extreme in her rejection of his crush. Granted for comic relief but in practice it felt wrong to openly attack a kid for professing a crush. I was an adult and I wasn't going to kick a kid already down on his luck. I'd let Canon take its course otherwise but I wasn't participating in that.

I took to ignoring the young blonde, as I did with everyone else. Hopefully he'd lose his crush when he received nothing in return. We could become friends when we were on a team, when it wouldn't cause too many changes. I thought it was working.

So imagine my surprise when he appeared in front of me on my way home. Once again he shouted off a declaration of wanting to be my boyfriend.

"No Naruto." I replied simply, side stepping him and walking past him.

I was stopped when I felt him grab the back of the hoodie I'd begun wearing, stopping me from leaving. A sigh escaped me as I began to turn around and remove his hand from me. That's when I noticed the tears in his eyes.

"Please Sakura-chan. Just hit me, like you always do." He begged, tears falling down his whiskered cheeks as he looked at me like his last hope. "See, it's easy, like this!" Naruto insisted, taking hold of my wrist and puppeteering it to slap him weakly across the face.

I stood there horrified as he tried his hardest to get me to hit him. Then everything clicked in my head and I felt sick to my stomach. Naruto was that lonely, that emotionally desperate that he took Sakura hitting him as some sort of connection. Like the fact Sakura deigned to hit him made him worthy of existence.

My arms were around him in an instant, giving him the biggest hug my small body could manage. It broke my heart when he stiffened, his wariness palpable at the unexpected affection. Little Naruto Uzumaki, hero from the day he was born and left abandoned by the village he saved everyday, was scared of a hug.

"I'm sorry, Naruto." I told him, holding him tightly. "I've been so horrible to you and I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have hit you and I'm a bad person for doing it. You have every reason to hate me and I am so fucking sorry!" I was sobbing by the end of my words.

He was stiff for a while before his arms finally came up and wrapped around my back. I could feel his smile growing as he let himself take the hug. We stood there for a long time, hugging in the middle of the street. Villagers around us no doubt made snide little comments about the little girl hugging the demon but we ignored them.

Finally leaning back, I put my hands on his shoulders. "I'm never going to hit you like that again, okay. But I can't be your girlfriend." He looked crestfallen at that but I shook my head. "I will be your friend though, if you'll have me?" My smile was a little hopeful.

Naruto blinked at that, tears that threatened to fall drying quickly before he gave me the most blinding smile I'd ever seen. Screw Canon, I was giving Naruto a good childhood even if it killed me!

"Dobe! Forehead! Move so we can sit next to Sasuke!" A shrill voice took me out of my reminiscing, forcing a sigh from my lips as I let go of Naruto and looked past him with a tired look. Low and behold, here were the fangirls, Ino Yamanaka front and centre. The group was glaring at us like we'd committed a crime by existing. Considering we sat between them and their crush, we probably were in their eyes.

I'd at least attempted to be friendly with Ino, lingering memories from Sakura making me miss her company somewhat. Part of Sakura had hated that they'd drifted due to their mutual crush. I certainly didn't hold feelings for the dark haired prodigy so I'd hoped to fix their friendship.

That had gone down like a lead balloon. Apparently my ploy to "act more like Sasuke" to get his notice wasn't going to work and she saw right through me. She was convinced of her belief and only seemed to believe it more over time. It seemed like in Canon I'd have to wait for her to grow up a bit to repair that bond.

"Ino. Extras." I replied neutrally, gaining cries of anger from the Extras. Ino smirked, obviously thinking that I saw her as the only real threat. Which… I suppose she was in a shinobi sense; though I imagine that wasn't where she considered the conflict.

"You and the Dobe should find different seats, Sasuke doesn't need riff raff like you around him." One of the extras said with a glare. What was her name? Ame? Amy? Andy? I couldn't remember. She wasn't important.

"Oh?" I asked, amusement showing on my face. Turning towards the aforementioned Uchiha I saw the glance he gave, a message clear in his eyes. Don't dare let them sit next to him.

"See, me and Naruto here payed good money for these seats." I began, wrapping my arm around said blonde who nodded in agreement. He was such a good partner for messing with people. "We can't just be giving them away for free, not for free."

"Let's start the bidding at a hundred ryo! Do I hear a hundred!" I called, emulating all those storage auction shows I'd watched in my previous life.

"A hundred!" One of the girls, sporting blue hair shouted. "One fifty!" Another called and quickly the bidding war began.

It wasn't long before they were fighting amongst eachother, arguing over their bids. It probably didn't help that I let people through only adding a single ryo to their bid as the number climbed. It was chaos and I was loving it.

"Five thousand!" Ino finally shouted, blowing all other bids out of the water. Benefits of being the clan heiress, I supposed. The rest of her group seemed dejected at the declaration, most of them being civilians or from small clans who couldn't flash that sort of cash.

"Five thousand! Going once! Going twi-"

"I'll buy you and the Dobe dinner for a month, Isōrō!" An exasperated voice called from behind me, causing a grin to form on my face. Sasuke had put down his own bid and it was a good one. He really was getting too clever.

"And sold, better luck next time!" I declared with a grin, turning and shaking Sasuke's hand. The fangirls seemed to be in stunned into silence, making me smirk at them. They'd not anticipated Sasuke buying the seats, had they. "So, who will you be giving these gifts to, big spender?"

"I'll deal with you two being loud, thanks." He replied with a frown before turning to look out the window. It was brood o'clock after all.

"Well, you heard him." I said, turning to give them a small wave and a condescending smile. "Take care now, bye-bye then."

They looked fit to explode and most likely would have had Iruka not walked in at that moment, telling them to take their seats. With one final glare, they left to find empty seats.

"You're welcome." I whispered to Sasuke with a grin.

"I'm not going to thank you after you just rinsed me for more money, Isōrō." He grunted with his little glower which was more cute than anything else.

Isōrō. Freeloader. He'd been calling me that for a while, ever since I'd decided to not leave him stranded either.

I'd been considering how to deal with Sasuke for a while after I became friends with Naruto. Though I might not have liked him for a good chunk of the series, I knew where Sasuke was coming from and couldn't help but feel sorry seeing him for myself. This wasn't the asshole who decided to abandon those who cared about him in a quest for revenge. This was a little kid who'd been through something traumatic and needed someone who never came.

Sakura's memories, unfortunately, told me more than I'd have liked. It seemed she'd taken to stalking him on his way home a few times, in hopes of confessing her feelings to him. Putting aside the slight creepiness of that, I was able to glean some details from what she'd observed.

Sasuke lived alone, no caretakers or anyone keeping track of him at all. At least openly, there were probably ANBU watching him but it didn't seem to extend to actual interaction.

Not only that, he still lived in the Uchiha District. The place where he'd seen his brother slaughter his clan and his parents in front of him. I didn't need to he a shrink to know that living there was probably unhealthy. Hell, while the bodies and blood had been cleared, there was still quite a bit of damage not repaired since the massacre. A constant reminder of what happened.

Once again, the village had failed one of its best prospects for the future. Even with the ruse that the Elders had cooked up, you'd think they'd at least make sure their last Uchiha was stable. They already were negligent with Naruto and he had the possibility of going off like a nuclear bomb if pushed too far. Now they didn't even have the excuse that he was a "clanless orphan" like they used for Naruto.

So, one night after training, I'd headed towards the Uchiha District rather than home. It was much further away from the training ground I used and I was nearly dead on my feet when I got there but it helped in my plans.

Getting into Sasuke's home had been easy, he hadn't even locked up. It wasn't like anyone else lived here, after all.

He was in bed when I arrived, trying to get to sleep before I opened the door to his room.

"Haruno! What are you doing!?" He screeched, eyes wide in shock.

"Trained too hard. Need to crash here." I listed off quickly, rolling out a futon I'd grabbed on the way through the house. "Night!" I said, falling face first into the futon and instantly falling asleep.

He must have tried to move me at some point, if the fact I'd been rolled over three times was anything to go by. Apparently he'd eventually given up and threw a blanket over me. I appreciated the gesture, all things considered.

The next morning I woke up to the smell of him cooking, my feet carrying me towards the kitchen. "Sasuke! Feed me!" I called through a large yawn.

"No, get out of my house!" He replied with a glare.

"But I'm a guest!" I complained dismissively. "You're supposed to be nice to me and offer me breakfast. It's good manners Sasuke."

"You're not a guest! You broke in!" He replied, voice squeaking like the ten year old he was. It was a good point, however…

"Feed me! Feed me! Feed me!" I chanted, ignoring his point. It was obviously getting to him, his shoulders getting taught as he tried to tune me out. "Feed me, Sauske! Cause if you feed me Sasuke, I can grow up. Big. And strong~" I sang, butchering Little Shop of Horrors as I went, not that Sasuke would know that.

"Fine! Just stop singing!" He begged, placing the plate of food he'd been making for himself in front of me. "Isōrō." He grumbled as he turned to make more food.

It took two months before he stopped complaining about me showing up. I took that as a sign we were friends. By Uchiha standards anyway.

"You cheated." Sasuke accused as the final team was announced, handing me a handful of coins. We'd been betting on the team placements and my knowledge had saw me to an easy victory. Knowing half the teams already helped.

"You're just mad I won by one point." I countered, slipping the ryo into my belt pouch.

"Teme's a bad loser." Naruto said sagely, nodding his head like he'd just told some universal wisdom. He kinda was.

"Like you could have won, Dobe." Sasuke sniped.

Naruto just gave him a flat look. "I'm not dumb enough to try against Sakura like you, Teme."

"Alright boys, stop flirting." I laughed, enjoying their spattered denials. "Iruka-sensei looks like he's gonna blow a gasket."

They quickly shut up, especially when they saw the red face of their sensei. After a second Iruka calmed down. "Thank you, Sakura." He said with a sigh. It was a rare thing, considering he usually told me to stop riling them up. I needed entertainment somewhere.

Clearing his throat, Iruka began to speak. "Teaching this class has been some or the best times I've ever had. I'm immensely proud of all of you." Oh god, was he welling up? Was I welling up? "Whatever may happen in the future, I want you all to know that my door is always open for a chat." He looked specifically at Naruto at that, who was trying and failing not to cry. I gave his hand a squeeze of support.

"Good luck in your future and thank you for letting me be your sensei." He finished with a bow. We all gave him a round of applause. Iruka had been a good teacher and I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't miss him. He was a pure heart and that was rare around here.

Wiping his tears away on his sleeve, Iruka gave a small cough. "You're senseis will be arriving after Lunch. I suggest you use this time to bond as teammates." With that, he left the room, soon followed by a few teams.

I turned to Sasuke and jumped on him, wrapping my arms around his waist. "Sasuke! Feed us!"

Naruto quickly followed suit. "Yeah, Teme. Feed us!"

"Why should I do that!?" Sasuke groused with a glare.

"Because you're rich and we're poor and we're soooooo hungry!" I moaned dramatically.

"Yeah! We're a team now so you get to pay for our food now!" Naruto agreed enthusiastically.

"I get to?" Sasuke asked incredulously. "And you're not poor, Isōrō. You're parents own like five stores in the village."

"But I spent all my pocket money!" I was wailing now.

"Not my problem!" He returned, steely glare in resolute denial. Oh you poor, poor boy.

I gave an evil smile and his pale skin seemed to turn paler. "Naruto, number seventeen." I said, my voice sickeningly sweet. Sasuke started sweating.

Naruto snickered before speaking. "And a one and a two…" He led in before we both started singing.

"I know a song that'll get on your nerves! Get on your nerves! I know a song that'll ge-"

"Stop! Fine, I'll pay." Sasuke shouted desperately. "But I'm choosing."

"Correction, we're going to Ichiraku's or Naruto will be moaning about it all day." I said with a grin. The fact that I also enjoyed the food from that stand was neither here nor there.

Sasuke let out a sigh of defeat. Good, he was learning.

Predictably, Kakashi was late, just as in Canon. After getting back from lunch, which luckily for Sasuke had been on the house, we'd slowly watched all the other teams filter out. Kurenai and Asuma picked up their teams, as expected. The real interest was in the other jonin who'd turned up to take teams, characters that wouldn't be formally introduced until later.

Hayate had appeared, taking a team of civillian kids, looking as sickly as the manga would suggest he was. It was kind of impressive he was able to be a sensei with that sickness of his, said a lot about his actual skill. Genma had also shown up and wow, he was a pretty boy. The show didn't do justice to just how handsome he was. I definitely didn't find myself drooling.

Anko had actually been a sensei, which was shocking. I didn't think she was a full jonin. Though, considering who she had as potential students I think she was just there to fail them. They'd already gotten into a fist fight before she'd even turned up.

I'm willing to admit I was a bit jealous of them. I'd always liked Anko, especially with some of the portrayals she'd recieved in the fandom. Her whole "fuck you I do what I want" attitude and general demeanour were great and I imagine she'd be a great drinking partner.

Her self proclaimed title of the "most sexy kunoichi" also turned out to be totally accurate. If I didn't have a bit of a crush on her before, I most certainly did now. What a woman.

"Are you really drawing hearts with your initials and that fishnet woman's." Sasuke asked from my left side, obviously growing bored of brooding.

"Yes." I said simply. "What of it?"

"I think she'd be liable to eat you rather than date you, Isōrō." He murmured. Aw, he was concerned for me.

Apparently he didn't appreciate my attempt for a hug as he was suddenly on the other side of the classroom. "Get back here and let me love you, you broody duckling!" I called, though my grin gave me away.

"I think I preferred you when you were a fangirl." Sasuke retorted, crossing his arms and turning up his nose.

"No you don't." I replied simply.

"No I don't." He confirmed; the ghost of a smile on his lips. Score, adding that to the tally when I get home.

Looking past me, Sasuke let out a sigh. "Dobe, what are you doing?"

"Setting up an eraser trap Teme, duh." Naruto replied like Sasuke was stupid.

"He means what for, Naru." I supplied absently, getting back to my hearts. I knew where this was going.

"Well this sensei thinks he can leave us here for hours so I'm gonna show him what for." Natuto explained.

"He's a jonin, that's not gonna work." Sasuke said dismissively, though I could tell he wanted the prank to succeed. Vengeful little dork that he was.

Kakashi was almost definitely listening. Hell, he'd probably been there since they'd gotten back from lunch, observing us. Deliberately late he might be, I didn't doubt he used his generally accepted laziness to gather information. People get chatty when there's nothing to do and smart phones aren't a thing.

I probably shouldn't try and goad him, right?

"If it does work, I wouldn't be that surprised." I said with a shrug, not looking up. "I've heard some of the other ninja say Hatake has gotten fat and lazy recently. S-rank bounty for a B-rank Jonin, I think they said."

As if I'd said some ancient summoning spell, Kakashi was at the door. His sudden appearance sent Naruto falling backward, crashing behind the desk he'd been standing on. The eraser fell until there was barely a centimeter between it and his shoulder before he caught it. Ah, he didn't appreciate my comment, it seemed.

He probably wouldn't like my next one, as I looked up to gaze into his single uncovered eye. "Wow, doors must suck for you, huh, Cyclops?"

Thus began the first meeting of Team 7.