Sakura snapped awake mere seconds before knocking sounded from her bedroom door, throwing her blanket off and jumping to her feet all in the same motion, kunai already in hand.

And then promptly overbalanced, still expecting to be in the body of an eighteen-year-old, not a twelve-year-old.

"Sakura?" Her mother's voice called through the door, worried. "Are you alright, dear? I just heard an awful ruckus."

"I'm fine, mom," she groaned, heaving herself back to her feet. "I'm just a bit too excited for today, I guess."

It wasn't too much of a lie, after all. The last time around she'd been so excited she'd barely slept the night before and hadn't eaten any breakfast, partly because of her so-called 'diet' but also because her nerves had had her stomach twisting in knots. All because there was a chance she could be on a team with Sasuke-kun, which would obviously just mean that it was fate, that they were meant to be together, but what would she do if stupid Ino-pig was put on his team instead?

Sakura sighed, forever grateful that she'd eventually gotten over that part of her life, and that she'd only have to pretend for a single day this time around. And knowing how much it would irritate her brooding teammate was just going to make it fun for her.

"If you say so," her mother allowed, sounding dubious. "But you'd better get up, love. You've got barely an hour left to get ready before you've got to leave."

"Okay, mom!" An hour? Who needed an hour to get ready for sitting in a classroom all day? She didn't even need that long to get ready for most missions!

Then again, she didn't spend most of that hour on making sure she looked near-perfect anymore, either. Who needed to have their hair brushed just right when they'd likely be beating the snot out of bandits and missing-nin soon, anyways?

She'd done a lot of growing since she was originally this age, she knew that she had, but there was a difference between knowing and seeing.

Which was proven even further when she opened her closet only to find the red qipao dress she'd worn as a genin. She could judge Naruto all she wanted for his fashion choices as a kid but it wasn't like hers were much better. The red might not be eye-searing orange, but it was still bright and would make stealth in any kind of environment more than impossible.

Sakura could get away with bright colors when she was older, because she had the skill to make up for it. And, more than that, she didn't go on too many missions anymore, spending the majority of her time either in the hospital or down in the bowels of R&D, working on the prosthetics she'd been building for her teammates.

But now, as she was? Her body was weak. Extremely weak. Just the one punch hours before had left her arm tingling and sore.

So, she'd put up with it today, and then she'd talk her mother or father into taking her shopping later on to get some more appropriate attire. Or, maybe she'd get them to just give her some money until she started on D-ranks, and then she could drag Naruto with her. She was pretty sure that if she didn't, he'd go about wearing his hideous jumpsuit for as long as he could get away with, simply to see the faces Sasuke made in response to it.

And her hair, she thought as she twisted her head from side to side and felt it brush against her back. She'd have to get it cut soon, or begin to put it up. Her body wasn't trained to be very fast at the moment and she knew that the boys wouldn't let such an advantage like that pass them by while sparring.

Her head felt heavy like this, anyway. She couldn't even remember the last time her hair had been this long - in fact, it was probably during the chunin exams, when she'd cut it that first time. After that, she'd only ever let it grow to just passed her shoulders before she'd get annoyed and chop it all off again.

So, she'd put up with the long hair and she'd do her best to act as she once had, back when she'd originally been this age, and tomorrow she'd be able to relax and be more herself and focus on things that were actually important, like getting her body up to snuff.

That thought in mind, she began tugging her dress on with barely a grimace.

.

.

Naruto had almost forgotten how bad it used to be.

Well, no, he hadn't forgotten at all, not really, but... It was difficult to fully remember what it was like, being faced with such blatant hatred and disgust, when he'd finally gained respect and love from the villagers who'd once shunned him. But here, now, he was no longer the one who'd defeated Gaara during the exams, who'd brought Tsunade back and then gone on to be exclusively trained by Jiraiya, who'd helped save the Kazekage, had defeated Nagato and saved the villagers, who'd fought against Obito, the Juubi, Madara and Kaguya and won, saving the entire Elemental Nations in the process.

No, right now he was just the demon brat who wasn't good for anything and should never have been given the chance to pass the Academy. He could see it on their faces, how angry they were when they caught sight of the Hitai-ate tied proudly on his forehead. They grouped together, watching him amble past through narrowed eyes, whispering amongst themselves behind hands that did nothing to hide the sneers underneath.

It was something that he'd grown used to long before he'd ever made genin the first time around and so hadn't been all that difficult to ignore. This time, however, he was definitely out of practice. It was all he could do not to curl in on himself, to not hunch his shoulders against the weight of their absolute loathing.

By the time he'd gotten to the Academy, he was already exhausted, emotionally, but kept his head held high regardless. It would only take a few hours for teams to be assigned and dispersed, and then it'd be just him and his teammates once more and he'd be able to relax. He'd be fine.

And if his grin was a little too wide, a bit too manic, well, it wasn't like anyone in the classroom right now besides Sakura or Sasuke would be able to tell anyways.

Speaking of.

"I got here first, Forehead, this seat is mine!"

"You did not! I was three whole steps ahead of you, Pig!"

Ah, the dulcet tones of screeching preteen girls.

Sasuke was sat in the very back corner of the room, leaving only one seat next to him available, and was glaring out the window and doing everything in his power to ignore the girls duking it out verbally in order to claim that open spot.

Avoiding the flailing girls entirely, having learned his lesson last time around, Naruto instead edged into the aisle directly in front of them, scooting as far as he could to the wall. His teammates both glanced his way, gazes lingering for a second on his large grin, but neither of them said anything, knowing it would be too out of character to pass off at the moment.

"Hey, Naruto," a voice called from beside him and he turned, facing a kid that he honestly could barely remember. It was obvious whoever he was, he'd never passed his genin test and had either dropped out or gone into the Genin Corps. "What the hell are you doing here? This is only for graduates."

"Can't you see the forehead protector?" He demanded in response, jabbing a thumb towards the scuffed but gleaming metal. "I am a graduate!"

"Yeah, right!" A girl from the aisle in front of him scoffed. "Who'd you steal it from, really?"

"No one!" He yelled before grinning. "And if I had the skill to steal it from a shinobi, I'd deserve it anyway, don't you think?"

"Whatever, Dead Last," the kid who'd originally spoken laughed before clearly losing interest.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the lot of them but let it go. As he was now, he couldn't really blame them for suspecting he'd stolen it instead of earned it. After all, he had failed the graduation exam.

Not that that was entirely his fault, either. Anyone with knowledge of chakra and jinchuuriki should know that there was never any hope that he'd be able to form a regular bunshin. With as much chakra as he had, it was just simply impossible for him to control it that much. It was like asking someone to pick up a single grain of sand, in the desert, with their bare hands.

A shout of triumph followed by a howl of rage brought his wandering attention back to the spectacle behind him. Sakura had obviously used some underhanded tactic and had claimed the open spot next to the Uchiha heir as her own, something Ino and all the other girls in class were definitely not happy about.

"You cheater!" Ino raged, face red in anger.

"What can I say," Sakura shrugged, smug in her victory, "all's fair in love and war."

If anything, this only seemed to piss the Yamanaka off further. "Like Sasuke-kun would love someone like -"

"Alright, everyone take a seat!" Iruka-sensei's voice called out as he ambled into the room, cutting off whatever scathing retort the blonde had been about to unleash. Sakura, having cultivated a bit of a vindictive streak over the years, simply smirked at her former and future friend and twiddled her fingers in a wave before scooting over until there was barely five inches of space between her and Sasuke.

The Uchiha sighed but didn't bother protesting, knowing that doing so would only egg his pink-haired teammate on further, and Naruto snickered at the look of pained resignation on his usually stoic face. Sakura was definitely going all out to play her role and was clearly having fun doing it.

"Starting today, all of you are real shinobi," Iruka-sensei spoke from the front of the class as everyone finally settled down and faced him, knowing by now not to test his patience too much. Naruto blocked out most of what the man was saying, having heard it before and knowing it wasn't really all that important, at least until he heard his name called. "Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke."

"Ha! Take that, Ino-pig!" Sakura shouted, jumping to her feet in order to more effectively point at the scowling blonde.

"You better be able to keep up with me and Sakura-chan, Teme!" Naruto couldn't help but throw out, turning in his seat to grin at his grumpy teammate, snickering when he saw that blank face twitch in annoyance.

"Yeah, right, Naruto! Sasuke-kun's the greatest shinobi ever! There's no way you'd be able to beat him!" Sakura cut in, glaring, but Naruto could see the way her eyes were dancing with mischief, probably the same way his own were. A year ago, the two of them probably would have never prodded at the Uchiha this way, simply grateful to have him back and wary of doing anything that would jeopardize that. Now, though, after days of beating the snot out of each other and airing all of their grievances, they'd finally reached a point where they had no fear of poking a bit of fun at each other.

Didn't mean it didn't still piss the guy off, though, if the way he was beginning to scowl said anything, and they'd probably be paying for it the next time they sparred.

Totally worth it, though.

"Alright, alright! Settle down!" Iruka-sensei yelled before they could continue on, voice stern in a way that said if they didn't sit down and shut up, there'd be chalk flying at faces soon. "We still have team assignments to get to. Save it for later."

The both of them subsided reluctantly, sad to have their fun put to a stop so soon, while Sasuke's tense posture relaxed a bit in relief. Usually, he was able to give as good as he got when it came to teasing. As it was now, though, he couldn't do so without breaking his character in a big way. Uchiha Sasuke at twelve years old didn't tease or joke or even talk unless he had to, especially not to an annoying fangirl and the class' Dead Last.

He couldn't wait until after today. Sakura and Naruto might look as if they were having fun playing their own roles, but he could tell that they were chaffing to let loose with each other just as much as he was.

None of them were very used to being anything but themselves anymore.

Lunch came and went and, before long, the genin members of Team 7 were all that were left in the classroom.

"Damn him, just what does he think he's doing?" Sakura growled, cracking her knuckles in irritation. Naruto and Sasuke, sat on either side of her, inched away slowly. "He hasn't been late like this since that time he went missing for a week when Tsunade-shishou called him in for a meeting."

"Well, yeah. That meeting was to inform him that he'd been chosen as her succesor," Sasuke scoffed. "He couldn't get away with tardiness as easily after that."

"Eh, I think it had more to do with Obito and my dad than anything," Naruto disagreed absently, his attention currently on the seal he'd been slowly constructing for the last ten minutes. These hands weren't used to the smooth, sure movements required, not anymore, and so it was taking much more patience and concentration then he'd like. "He got a lot of closure during the war. He didn't have to spend so much time at the memorial anymore and so he wasn't as late to things."

"And, what, now all of that's worthless?" Sakura grumbled but frowned in thought at his words. It still surprised her, sometimes, just how perceptive he could be when it came to people, especially those he considered precious.

"Nah, this is probably more for old time's sake than anything. Besides, he's got a role to play, too, you know. It's pretty common knowledge that he's always late to everything. If he just suddenly started showing up on time, everyone'd get suspicious."

"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement. "What are you working on?"

"Well, I can't just put an eraser in the door," Naruto told him, tone implying that it should be obvious. "I did that last time and I don't ever do the same prank twice. So, I've got to spice it up a bit."

The fox-like grin twisting the blond's face told Sakura that she was better off not asking. Unfortunately, she was far too curious to just let it go, though she kept her tone wary when she asked, "Spice it up how, exactly?"

"Weeeell," Naruto hedged for a moment, debating just how much to reveal, "I'd thought about doing it literally, at first. But knowing Kaka-sensei, he'd ignore it until he died instead of just taking that damn mask off, no matter how hot the spices I used were. So, I decided to take inspiration from my mom instead."

"Your mom?" Both teammates perked up at that. It wasn't that Naruto was reluctant to talk about his parents. More, he didn't do it often. They both knew that, while he'd come to terms with the fact that they were gone, he'd always mourn how he'd never gotten the chance to really know them. Stories from others only told him so much, after all, and he tended to hoard every new fact he learned about them jealously.

Out of the rest of their generation, Sakura and Sasuke were fairly sure they were the only ones who ever heard Naruto talk about his parents in anything more than a passing mention.

Instead of explaining further, though, all Naruto did was finish his seal off with a flourish and answer them with a vague, "You'll see," before attaching the paper to the chalkboard eraser he'd used last time around and positioning it in the door.

"Do you really think he'll let that happen twice?" Sasuke asked, more curious than derogatory.

"He let it happen the first time around. No way did he not notice it. The seal isn't obvious and he knows I wouldn't do anything actually dangerous. There's no reason for him not to."

And, an hour later, he was proven correct. Kakashi slid the door open and stepped through as carelessly as he had the first time around, doing nothing to avoid the eraser that fell on his head and released a massive cloud of chalk dust.

"Really, Naruto?" Their sensei drawled. "Reusing pranks now? I'm disappointed."

"Yeah," Naruto choked out, "you caught me red-handed."

That seemed to be all he or Sakura could handle before they both collapsed into a fit of giggles. Even Sasuke was smirking more than usual.

This all led to Kakashi realizing he'd missed something. "What did you do?"

Watching their teacher pat frantically at his hair, as if making sure it was all still there, just sent them into further hysterics. It took minutes of Kakashi pouting before they were able to pull themselves together.

"What can I say?" Naruto, wiping tears of laughter from his face, asked in a sly voice. "I took a lot of inspiration from the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero this time."

Even Sasuke snorted at that one.

"That isn't making me feel any better at all," Kakashi informed his student dryly. "Your mother was an absolute terror when it came to pranks, most of which ended in grievous bodily harm."

"Eh, it's fine," Naruto waved him off like only someone who'd never been on the receiving end of an Uzumaki prank could. "Just check a mirror when you get the chance."

Kakashi sighed but decided that, even now, Naruto didn't really have it in him to lie to his teammates, even about something like a prank. If he said it was fine then it wasn't going to be anything harmful. "Maa, maa, if you insist. Meet me up on the roof."

Without waiting for a response, the copy-nin disappeared in a puff of smoke and a flurry of leaves.

"I'd never noticed before just how sloppy he made his shunshins," Sasuke remarked as they all made their way leisurely out of the classroom and towards the stairs.

"Kakashi-sensei's always been a bit of a drama queen," Sakura shrugged. "Why do something seamlessly when you can do it with flair instead?"

"Plus now someone's gonna have to clean up those leaves, and it's not gonna be him," Naruto pointed out, stretching his arms up into the air before crossing them behind his head. "It's probably gonna be Iruka-sensei. No wonder he would always glare at Kaka-sensei like that."

"I'm sure the chronically late mission reports didn't help, either," Sakura agreed dryly.

Their sensei was, of course, already perched on the railing of the roof when they made it up there. He quirked an unimpressed eyebrow at them but made no comment on their speed, or lack thereof, and simply waited for them to take a seat before saying, "So, how about we introduce ourselves?"

There was a moment of absolute silence while all three gaped before Sasuke demanded, incredulous, "You have got to be kidding me."

"Now, now," Kakashi scolded, amusement clear in his voice but a warning in his lone eye, "you three have spent the last few years in the academy together but I know next to nothing about you."

The implications were clear: somebody was watching and so they were still playing their parts. As far as their audience was concerned, this was the first time Kakashi had ever met the three, and vice versa.

The answer of who would be stupid and/or brave enough to spy on Copycat Kakashi was also pretty obvious. The only one the man would let get away so easily with that was the Hokage.

Honestly, all three of them had completely forgotten about the customized crystal ball that the old man had used to keep an eye on the village. It hadn't lasted past the first week of Tsunade's reign, having been destroyed when Jiraiya had asked if he could have it to help with his 'research'. Tsunade's answer had been to throw her entire desk, and the ball along with it, at him and, subsequently, out the window after him.

As it had been a one-of-a-kind creation, it had never been replaced, which was probably a good thing, all things considered.

Here and now, though, it was still in the possession of its original owner. And of course the Third would be using it to check up on Team 7. It was important that they pass, after all, given the fact that Sasuke was on the team. And the old man had always shown that he had a soft spot for Naruto, regardless of some of the more stupid decisions he'd made in regards to the jinchuuriki's life.

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" Sakura chirped once it became clear that neither boy would.

"Ah, well, my name is Hatake Kakashi," he told them in a bored tone, shoving his hands in his pockets and slouching. He'd kill to have his book out right now but he was pretty sure that would only result in Sakura losing her temper - again - which was definitely something to be avoided. If anyone in Konoha was bound to recognize Tsunade's strength technique, it would be the woman's former teacher. "I like Icha Icha. I dislike crazy megalomaniacs. My hobbies include reading and training. My dream for the future is to never become Hokage."

All three rolled their eyes in tandem. An impressive show of teamwork, in his opinion.

"Now, from the right, go."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto!" The blond grinned wide, bouncing with what appeared to be extreme excitement. "I like ramen, especially when Iruka-sensei buys it for me. I dislike rabbits and the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook. My hobbies are training and pranking. My dream for the future is to become Hokage and find true peace."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," the boy in the middle continued, voice monotone. "I like tomatoes and dislike being manipulated. My hobby is training. My dream is to find justice for my clan."

"I'm Haruno Sakura. I like..." her eyes drifted towards the boy beside her and she forced a blush and giggled, only becoming more encouraged when he sighed and looked to the sky, as if praying for patience. On his other side, Naruto hunkered down and did his best to look annoyed while fighting off laughter. "I dislike zombies. My hobbies are... and my dream is..."

"I see," Kakashi grinned in amusement, confident that his mask would hide it, as the girl's giggles tapered off. "Well, now that that's out of the way, we can move on to what'll happen next. Tomorrow, the three of you will be meeting me in Training Ground Three, where I'll be testing you to see if you really have what it takes to be genin."

None of them were worried, of course. There was absolutely no way Kakashi would fail them, even if he could. Which he probably couldn't, given the way the Council was likely breathing down his neck over having him train the last Uchiha. Still, it wasn't like any of them were supposed to know that, and so each of them forced themselves to react beyond the unconcerned shrugs they wanted to give.

Which meant tensing, in Sasuke's case, squawking indignantly in Naruto's and demanding answers in Sakura's.

"But, sensei, we already passed the genin exam!"

"No, you passed a genin exam, not my genin exam." Kakashi eye-smiled at the three of them, tone perfectly cheerful as he explained. "Each jounin-sensei has their own test to administer to their prospective teams. Whether you all pass or not is up to you. Out of the 27 that passed the Academy's exam, only 9 are likely to keep their rank and not be sent back to the Academy."

"What? No way!" Naruto wailed dramatically, shooting to his feet. "We'll show you! We'll definitely beat your test!"

"We'll see," Kakashi replied as vaguely as he could. He really hoped that the Hokage would be satisfied with his spying after this and would leave the test itself alone. He wanted to find out just what they were all capable of now, in these younger bodies, and there was no way they'd be able to do that if there were eyes watching their every move. "Meet me in the morning at seven. Ja ne."

A second later the man was gone, leaving the three genin alone on the roof and blinking at the now empty air in front of them. The silence lasted for only a few seconds before it was abruptly broken by Naruto snickering.

"I wonder how long it'll take him to realize his hair is dyed bright red?"

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A/N: This is the last of what I had pre-written for this fic. The next chapter is... a third of the way done? So, hopefully it won't take me too long to get it out.

Anyway, hope you guys liked it, and thanks for reading! Please follow, favorite or review and let me know what you think!

(Also, thank you so much to those of you that already have! It means the world to me!)