A/N: First, gomen for not updating for so long!!!! Hey, who knew I'd catch chickenpox right after exams? Anyways thanks to those who reviewed:

Cookie6 – Thanks for your review!

Moll Flanders – Thanks for telling me!

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Let's not waste anymore time!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

"…" talk

… thoughts

Changes in scenes will be indicated in bold

Chapter 3: First Impressions

Hidden Sand; Sabakuno Residence

It was still early dawn when Ten Ten awoke that morning. At first, she sat up for a while in the unfamiliar surroundings. This is the first time I woke in somewhere that's not Konoha. Well, not the first; she had taken missions that require her to camp out. But those were different. At least, in the end, I'll always return to Konoha. I'll be here for some time… Ten Ten grabbed a towel and some toiletries. She headed towards the bathroom, and proceeded to let her hair down. "Now, let's get you cleaned up."

Kankuro woke up groggily and stole a look at his alarm clock. 6.45? I want to sleep…but I've got a mission today… The puppet master lazily dragged himself out of bed. He was seemingly only half-conscious as he shuffled to the bathroom. Kankuro slid open the first shoji and dumped his towel and clothes onto the rack. In his state, he did not take much notice of the sound of running water from inside the bathroom. He slid the second shoji aside. The figure inside the tub turned quickly to face him. Kankuro's sleepiness vanished instantly as he remembered that he had guests in his house now, and he's staring at one of the right now. Ten Ten and Kankuro froze; both staring wide eyed at each other. Two seconds later, Ten Ten screamed, "HENTAI!!!!" She began pelting the intruder with anything within reach. Kankuro tried to evade the items thrown at him, but to quote Gai; Ten Ten could hit a hundred targets in a hundred tries. She never misses.

Some time later…

"He what?!" Hyuuga Neji was close to strangling Kankuro by now. Ten Ten hastily added, "It was an accident!" Kankuro was currently massaging the various bruises on his body. "I'm so sorry!" apologised the brown-haired girl. Kankuro waved his hands, "No! No! I'm the one who is sorry! I was still sleeping, and I forgot that there was someone else in my house." Neji snorted and said something that sounded like, "How convenient." Kankuro stood up angrily, "Hey, I really didn't mean it, okay?" Neji turned to fully face the other shinobi. They glared daggers at each other. Ten Ten noticed this and sighed. Why did things have to turn out this way?

Konoha; Naoru residence

On the contrary to Neji and Ten Ten's first morning in Hidden Sand, Gaara and Temari had a smooth start to the day. Both were having breakfast, or rather, Temari was trying to force Gaara to eat. Gaara just clamped his mouth shut tightly. "Come on, Gaara. You still got to eat." Temari was almost pleading. Gaara ignored her. Temari's cooking was inedible, if not horrible.

"Please…just one teeny bite."

"No."

Temari's temper flared. If not for the sand barrier, she would've whacked him across the head. "Ohayou, Temari-san, Gaara." Both turned to see Kina walking down the stairs. Temari was quick to offer Kina breakfast. Gaara opened his mouth to stop Kina but the blonde had already taken a bite. Gaara and Temari watched as her face turned green and she clapped a hand over her mouth. Kina dove under the table. Gaara silently felt sorry for the girl. When Kina sat back up again, she looked sick. Temari frowned, "What's wrong with it? I cooked really carefully this time." Kina sweatdropped, "I'm sorry. It was rude." Temari looked up, concerned, "Was it really that bad?" Kina and Gaara nodded.

Kina stood up and said, "I've got to get to the hospital now. Don't worry, I'll get breakfast along the way. I'm sorry I can't guide you around the village." Temari shook her head, "We know our way quite well, thank you." "Well then, ja ne!"

Konoha Hospital

Kina's hair glinted gold under the sun. As soon as she reported in, she reached for her schedule. "Kina-chan, ohayou." Kina turned around, "Ohayou, Hinata-chan!" Kina leaned over and peeked at Hinata's schedule. "Good, we're not too busy today. And we're off on the same time too. That means we can grab lunch together!" Hinata smiled at her friend's cheerful attitude. A small rustle and Kina produced a paper bag. Hinata blinked. "Didn't you have breakfast?" Kina looked up. "Well, Temari-san cooked but, um, I don't know if it's good to say things about her…her cooking skills are really lacking." Hinata giggled softly. "You must've had quite a shock, then."

Kina grinned, "Kinda. But hey, at least I didn't have it bad. Gaara practically lives with her. Poor guy, no wonder he looked like he was underfed." Kina glanced at her watch, "Whoops, time to fly! Ja, Hinata-chan!" Hinata waved the blonde goodbye. Kina was always such an optimistic person. She always thinks about how others are more unfortunate. And speaking of blonds, Hinata wondered what Naruto was doing right now.

Ninja Academy

The atmosphere was silent as all the students listened attentively to their pink-haired teacher talking about chakra control. It was common knowledge that Haruno Sakura was one of the best teachers in Konoha. Her class produced quite a lot of smart students, because they understood what she taught. The many pairs of eyes followed a duster that sailed through the air before landing with a thud on one of the students' head. The respective head shot up, its owner rudely awakened from his nap. Everyone stiffened as the ki emanated by the teacher became dangerous. "Goshio! Get over here!" Goshio gulped hard as he descended to the front of the classroom. Yes, it was common knowledge that Sakura was one the best teachers, but it was also known to all academy students that Sakura had a wrath that one should not incur.

Sakura's right eyebrow twitched with annoyance. "You seem to be sleepy, Goshio." She said in an overly sweet voice. The other students took this as a hint of forthcoming danger. Two seconds later, there was a whiz and Goshio jumped around avoiding the shurikens. Sakura had a look of fury on her face. "That should wake you up! Remember not to nap when I'm teaching!" The trembling boy whimpered and nodded before flying back to his seat. Sakura faced the students again. The whole class promptly sat straight up, fully alert now. When the last bell had rung and the last student filed out of the classroom, Sakura sat back down, arranging the stack of homework in front of her.

"Haruno Sakura, said to be the best teacher in Konoha. Her knowledge of the shinobi countries, histories and theories are profound. Students taught by her are said to be well-educated and smart. Now I see why." Sakura grinned as Naruto dropped from the ceiling. "It's not that the students are studious and attentive. They have to be." Sakura glared half-heartedly at Naruto. "Here, I believe this is yours," said the blond as he tossed a few shurikens to the pink-haired Chuunin. "You knew I was here. You've gotten better." Sakura smiled, "Of course. So, what brings you here today, Naruto?" The blond leaned against the desk, "Before that, Sasuke, why don't you join us?" The raven-haired shinobi stepped out of the shadows, a smirk on his face.

Sakura raised an eyebrow, "My, my. Are we having a reunion today?" Naruto grinned. "No. More importantly, the Jounin exam is in two months." Sasuke observed the green-eyed girl, "Are you taking the exam, Sakura?" Silence filled the room. Naruto and Sasuke knew that she was remembering the last Jounin exam. Sakura was the only one in team 7 that didn't make it to Jounin. The reason? She lacked the hardiness and did not have enough stamina to achieve the appointed task. It was a separate exam so her two teammates could not help her. "If you want to participate, we'll train you." Naruto offered. "No." Sakura said blatantly. Naruto looked surprised, "Eh? Nande tte ba yo?"

"It's not that I've given up." Sakura said softly. "Tashika ni, I really wanted to be Jounin then. But now, I discovered that I really like teaching. I guess…I've grown attached to the kids." She ended with a confident smile. Naruto gave her a grin while Sasuke just smirked. "Well, what about you, Naruto? Are you going to try for Special Jounin? Sasuke already managed to get appointed." Naruto flashed Sakura and Sasuke his famous fox grin. "No. My current goal is higher than that." Naruto had a dangerous yet confident glint in his eyes. "My aim…is ANBU."

The Monument of the Fallen Shinobi

Temari walked slowly through the shades of the trees. The dark clouds above rumbled; a foreboding of rain. Don't rain on me! As if to defy her purposely, the clouds groaned, and it began drizzling. Temari cursed silently as she hastened her pace. While passing a monument of some sort, she caught sight of a lone figure standing in front of it. Shikamaru? She approached the shadow master silently, curious as to why he would stand in the rain. "Shikamaru, what are you doing here?" Said boy didn't say anything. His black eyes were fixed onto a name on the monument. Temari accompanied Shikamaru in the rain, both parties not exchanging words. Temari shivered slightly from the cold; the drizzle had become steadily heavier. "You know," Shikamaru suddenly started, "This is where they carve the names of heroes who died in missions." Shikamaru knelt down and ran a thumb over Chouji's name. Temari saw the pain in his eyes; she understood that Chouji was Shikamaru's best friend. "Let's get back." "Aa."

Translation

Hentai – Pervert

Nande – Why

Tashika ni – It's true that…

A/N: Hmm…it turned out rather nicely. Well, I hope I'm not rushing things too much; other than that I have a major change of plot and antagonists. Well, please review to tell what you think! Thanks!