I own nothing but my OC.

Chapter 4: Friend or Foe?

"Okay, this afternoon we'll introduce your jōnin senseis." Iruka said with a tense smile. Team 7 (well, mostly Naruto and Sakura) had been really noisy throughout the rest the team assignments. "Until then, take a break."

"Hey, Naruto, why don't you go invite Sakura to join us?" April suggested as everyone began dispersing for lunch.

"Eh!?" Naruto said, blushing a little bit as his heart skipped a beat at the thought. "You don't mind?"

"Well, she's a little annoying, but since we're a team we might as well try to get along, right?" April said with a small smile. "I'll be waiting with our bentos in the usual place.

"Yeah!!" Naruto said excitedly as he jumped up to go find Sakura. "Great idea!"

'He hasn't realized that means I'll also be inviting Sasuke yet, has he?' She thought wryly as she stood up and left to find their fourth teammate. 'Oh, well. He probably won't agree to it anyway…'

–∞–

Kakashi finished his visit to April and Naruto's apartments with plenty of time to spare. He was leaning against the side of the top level of a building near the ninja academy, looking at his bells and remembering his old team and how they had to pass a test similar to the one he was about to give, when he spotted a pair of familiar purple pigtails bouncing around on the ground below.

"Hey, Sasuke!" April called out, giving him a friendly wave as she approached the stoic Uchiha.

"No, I don't want to go out with you." Sasuke stated bluntly, furrowing his brow in annoyance as he shot her a look that would send any normal girl running.

"Well, that's a relief." April deadpanned in response, completely unfazed. He must have wandered to the edge of the school grounds in an attempt to shake his rabid fans. "Don't worry, I'm not interested in younger guys. I just wanted to invite you to eat lunch with us, since we're on the same team now."

'Oh, she's trying to lay some groundwork before our meeting. Not a bad idea.' Kakashi thought.

"Eat with you and that loser? No thanks." Sasuke said rudely, turning his back on her. A vein throbbed on April's temple.

"Hey!" She yelled after him. "I know you've been through something no person should ever have to go through…" Sasuke stopped. "But just because something horrible happened to you doesn't give you the right to be horrible to everyone else. Everyone's fighting their own battle! We all have dead people. So stop being such a victim and act more like what you are—a survivor!"

"Are you done?" Sasuke asked coldly, shooting her a glare over his shoulder before continuing on his way. She had no idea what she was talking about… everyone always said they understood, but they never did. She wasn't any different from the rest!

"Ah…!" April gasped in realization once he had rounded the corner and disappeared from sight, falling down into a squatting position as she held her head. "What the heck am I doing? You came here to make friends not, enemies!" She scolded herself.

"…" Kakashi stared down at her and watched as she picked herself up and walked off to go meet up with the others. What an interesting kid. Maybe he should take the opportunity to see what the rest of his team was like while he was at it…

"Hm?" April said, stopping for a moment to look around when she got the feeling she was being followed. She looked up, down, and all around, but didn't see anyone. 'Guess I just imagined it…' She thought with a shrug as she kept going.

'Not bad. I guess I'll have to keep my chakra suppressed around this one.' Kakashi thought as he slipped out of his hiding place and continued to follow her.

"No luck?" April asked as Naruto walked up, swinging her feet off the edge of the roof.

"Hmph! She said I was annoying, and she'd rather eat with Sasuke!!" He grumbled, scowling as he plopped down beside her. "What's for lunch today? Something normal, or some of that weird foreign food you like?"

"Don't take it out on me just because you're upset." April said calmly as she handed over his bento. "And I seem to recall you liking a lot of that 'weird foreign food', like pizza, omelet with rice, hamburgers, Salisbury steak, macaroni and cheese…"

"Okay, okay!" Naruto said as he opened his box. He got the point! "Hey, Octopus sausages and fried rice!" He said, lighting up. '… And veggies." He finished, deflating slightly.

"Of course! You need to eat a well-balanced diet, or you'll suffer from malnutrition." She stated reasonably. "Why do you think you're so short? It's because all you ever eat is ramen."

"Hey!! Lay off me, will ya!?" Naruto said defensively, flinching in shock. "I drank some milk this morning!"

'So he did drink it…' Kakashi thought, sweat-dropping.

"Oh, so you bought some new milk while you were out yesterday?" April asked, surprised.

"Huh?" Naruto said, furrowing his brow in confusion. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it was rotten." She said pointedly.

"But it tasted fine." Naruto insisted. April stared at him, appalled.

"… There is something seriously wrong with your taste buds, my friend." She told him, sweat-dropping. "I'm amazed you're still okay."

"This lunch is good, too." Naruto said as if he hadn't heard her, scarfing it down.

"Th-Thanks…" She said a bit hesitantly, starting to wonder about her cooking skills. She couldn't trust Naruto's judgment on taste anymore… "Don't eat so fast, or you'll choke." She chided him, handing him a can from the vending machine. "Here, have some juice."

'She's really mothering him…' Kakashi, observed. While some people might consider that a good thing, especially since Naruto didn't get much of that growing up, there was a danger he might become too dependent on her if she started doing too much for him.

"By the way, why did you let Sakura hit me before?" Naruto asked.

"Well, if I saved you every time, you'd never learn from your mistakes." April replied matter-of-factly.

On second thought, maybe Kakashi didn't have to worry about that after all.

"But that happens a lot." Naruto said frowning.

"That's because you make the same mistake like five times." She stated calmly.

"Well, I want to be sure!" Naruto said defensively.

'Sure of what?' Kakashi thought, sweat-dropping.

"Oh, look. It's the prince of darkness himself." April said, changing the subject when she spotted Sasuke eating some rice balls on the roof of the building opposite them, leaning against the window ledge of one of the rooms they used to store sports equipment in.

"Hehe, I've got a great idea…" Naruto said with an evil grin.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I know what you're thinking, and I'd have to disagree... but since you won't listen to me anyway… have fun!" April said with a smile and a little wave. "I'm just gonna sit here and finish my lunch."

"All right, see you later!!" Naruto said with a grin as he jumped down to the next level.

"Don't forget to come back for the rest of the meeting!" She called after him. "Hmm… This is either going to be a great success, or he's gonna have a great story to tell…" April shrugged. "Oh, well. Either way, I have a front row seat, so I guess I'm about to see something 'great'." She said with a smile, eating another bite of fried rice.

April and Kakashi both watched as Naruto snuck up on Sasuke from behind and pulled him inside through the window.

"Argh! Damn you, Naruto!!" Sasuke yelled as the sounds of a struggle were heard.

"Don't resist!!" Naruto shouted.

'Oh, wow. That sounds so wrong after that accidental kiss earlier…' April thought with a wry smile. And then, silence fell over the room for a moment before the victor emerged.

"Hehe… idiot." Sasuke said with a smirk.

"…" April said furrowing her brow slightly. 'Well, that could be anyone…' She had her answer when 'Sasuke' paused to shoot her a grin and a 'V' for victory before hurrying on his way.

'So, that one was Naruto.' She and Kakashi thought. That was a little unexpected.

'Naruto must've used the shadow clone jutsu again.' April thought. 'I wonder what he did to him, though…' She packed up the empty bento boxes and jumped down and over to have a look for herself. "Pfft!" She bit her lip to keep from laughing too much. Naruto had strung Sasuke up like a Christmas turkey and slapped some tape over his mouth. 'Oh, man! I wish I had a camera…!' She thought as Sasuke glared up at her. "Hey, don't look at me. It wasn't my idea." She told him. "But… maybe if you make an effort to be a little bit nicer, I might consider not only untying you, but I won't breathe a word of this to anyone else." She suggested slyly. Of course, what Naruto did was his own business. Sasuke furrowed his brow. "I'll take that as a yes." She said, smiling brightly, as she climbed in through the window to untie him. While April took care of that, Kakashi decided to see what Naruto was up to.

When he found Naruto, who was still transformed to look like Sasuke, he was sitting on a bench with Sakura.

"Sakura, there's something I was to ask you." Naruto said.

"Huh?" Sakura said, blushing.

"Ah, well… what do you think of Naruto?" He asked a bit nervously.

"Naruto?" She asked. Why did he want to talk about that? "He's always getting in the way when I want to do something important." She said bitterly, referring mainly to her attempts to get close to him(Sasuke). "He enjoys seeing me suffer. Naruto doesn't understand anything about me, he's just annoying. All I want… is for you to acknowledge me." She said, looking up at him. "I'm serious about this. I would do anything… because I like you a lot."

'S-Sakura-chan…' Naruto thought, blushing, as she moved in to kiss him/Sasuke, but before he could meet her the rest of the way, something went terribly wrong deep in his gut. "!!" He gasped, flinching, as his stomach did a flip and his bowels let out a warning growl. It was so loud that even Kakashi could hear it from the tree he was hiding behind, but Sakura was so wrapped up in her little fantasy, that she hadn't even noticed. Naruto wrapped his arms around his torso as he stood up, as if that would help hold it in.

"Sasuke-kun, what's wrong?" Sakura asked, wondering why he was suddenly trying to leave.

"I-I'll be right back…!" He said, making a run for it. It felt like his butt was about to explode! 'Diarrhea, at a time like this!?' He cried internally.

'That look on his face…' Kakashi thought as he watched Naruto run away while somehow managing to hold the transformation. 'The expired milk must have finally gotten to him.'

"Phew…" April breathed a quiet sigh of relief. 'For a minute there, I thought I was going to have to jump out and intervene… That would've been awkward.' Sakura might be a little annoying, but no matter how much Naruto liked her, it was totally wrong to steal a girl's first kiss while pretending to be someone you weren't.

"!" Kakashi said a little surprised to see her there. She was only a few trees over, but she had somehow managed to slip in without him noticing. Was it just a fluke? Either way, he had to give her points for stealth. She had concealed her presence well. He might not have even realized she was there if it wasn't for that sigh. It looked like she was about to try to sneak away, when Sasuke came back. Only, this time, it was the real one.

'Oh, great. Now I'm stuck.' April thought, chagrined.

"Honestly! You're so shy, Sasuke-kun." Sakura said playfully. "I hope you're ready now, because I sure am!!"

"I have to go." Sasuke said brusquely. "Where's Naruto?" April had run off the moment she released him in case he was still mad about being tied up.

"Hehe, don't change the subject." She said with a forced smile, tensing. Not this again! "Who cares about Naruto? All he does is pick fights with you! It's probably because he wasn't raised properly. He doesn't have parents, you know!" Sasuke stopped in his tracks and his eyes widened slightly in shock. "That's why he always gets to do what he wants." She continued, completely oblivious to the adverse effect her words were having on Sasuke. "If I tried to do that, my parents would yell at me. It's so nice to be alone! You don't have any parents to pester you. That's why he gets to be as selfish as he is."

'Is she serious…?' April thought, furrowing her brow. Did she forget who she was talking to? Sasuke didn't have any parents either…

"Loneliness…" Sasuke said darkly.

"Huh?" Sakura said, puzzled. Why did he suddenly have such a scary look on his face…?

"It's far worse than feeling sad because your parent scolded you!" He said sternly as he turned away from her.

"Wh-What's wrong? What's this about?" Sakura asked, not understanding what she did wrong. Sasuke glanced back at her over his shoulder with a harsh glare in his eyes.

"You're… annoying." He told her coldly. Sakura stared after him as he walked away, stunned. She sat back down on the bench, staring down at her feet.

'Sasuke's words seem to have hurt her pretty badly.' Kakashi observed.

'I wonder if this is what Naruto felt like…' She thought sadly, remembering how she had basically done the same thing to him earlier. "Maybe next time… I can be a little nicer to him."

'Well, it looks like she may have learned her lesson…' April thought, rubbing the back of her neck. Well, she was pretty sure Sakura didn't mean to be as callous as she came off… she was just lucky enough to be ignorant of how it felt to go through that kind of hardship.

'Hm?' Kakashi thought, a little surprised when April stepped out of her hiding place to talk to her.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Eh? April-san!! Where did you come from!?" Sakura asked, startled. How long had she been there!?

"… I know we don't exactly get along, Sakura-chan… but if you like Sasuke, then you shouldn't say stuff like that around him. For some people, the word 'alone' is the most awful word in their dictionary. Murder doesn't hold a candle to it, and hell is only a poor synonym…"

"…" Sakura said, staring at her with wide eyes. "Wh-What are you talking about!? You are so weird!!" She exclaimed, grabbing her lunch and running away.

'Sakura doesn't get it at all…' Kakashi thought, shaking his head.

'Geez… You try to give someone a little friendly advice, and they treat you like a freak!' April thought with a huff. All she did was loosely quote Stephen King… Maybe it was her bad paraphrasing? "Whatever, if she can't understand that much, she'll never understand that little ball of angst she has such a huge crush on." She said with a shrug, deciding to just head back to the classroom.

"They're amusing, but they lack teamwork." Kakashi commented as he stepped out into the open. "I don't think they can pass my test."