Team 7 Deja vu!

Chapter 2: Getting To Know Ourselves

"So, uhh... Kakashi sensei," Naruto said from the post upon which he was tied. "Who are those guys?"

Little Sakura cocked her head as she examined the two ninja Master Kakashi had brought back with him. The girl looked a lot like her mother, but a bit younger and with more... edge to her appearance, certainly. Some previously unknown relative, she speculated. The man had blond hair, blue eyes, and whisker marks like Naruto... but aside from that, he was nothing like the little brat with whom she had had the misfortune of being partnered. This guy was way too cute.

Kakashi narrowed his single visible eye. "The same could be asked of you. Whoever you are, trying to impersonate my team, you got some outdated information."

"What?" Sakura asked. "It's really us! Listen, don't blame Sasuke for giving Naruto food. He's just too kind hearted to listen to someone starve like that. I mean, you should have heard Naruto. He was just pathetic."

Both Narutos twitched at the insult. The older blond took out a shuriken and announced. "Okay, there's only one way to figure this out for sure." He tossed the weapon at his younger self, and, with a loud thok, the boy was free of his post.

"Oh, hey, thanks..." the boy began, but he was suddenly launched into the air by a swift kick to the rear. "Owww! What was that for?"

Naruto growled at his younger counterpart. "You'd better get ready, you imposter! Kage Bunshin!" He immediately created eighteen copies of himself brimming with chakra.

"Oh, wow," Little Sakura sighed. "Whoever he really is, that guy is so cool."

The older Sakura glared daggers at her younger self. I can't believe I was so easily impressed, she thought to herself. Then she shook her head. No, there's no way I was ever that stupid, 'cause that's not really me, anyway.

Little Naruto landed squarely on his feet and looked with surprise at the shadow clones the older blond had created. "Impossible! I didn't think anyone else knew that trick!" He grinned. "But two can play at that game!" He went through the hand seals and ended up with easily twice the number of clones the older Naruto had created. "Let's see how you handle this!"

The eighteen Narutos easily zipped through the thirty six plus younger clones, poofing each into nonexistence as the original Naruto grasped his true counterpart by the nape of the neck and lifted him into the air, a kunai to his back. "Ha, nice try! You might have fooled anyone else with the fact that you know Kage Bunshin, but I can see right through you. I was never as weak as that!"

"Actually," Kakashi said, surveying the scene with his now uncovered Sharingan. "You were that weak at one point."

"Huh?" the older Naruto asked, dumbfounded.

"I can tell, now," the jounin went on, "That these are no illusions. These three indeed look like the younger forms of you two and Sasuke... whether this means that they are somehow from the past or merely physically altered... I can't say right now."

The older Naruto let his younger self go. "So... you're saying this might actually be me?"

"It certainly looks that way," Sakura said, coming to his side. "You know, I never realized it before, but you were kinda cute when you were twelve." She patted the young Naruto on his head and he blushed fiercely.

Little Sakura glared at her older self. "Well, you certainly can't be me. I would never say such a thing. And that guy doesn't look a thing like Naruto." Shannaro! He's way too hot! her inner self declared.

"Well, I'll admit," Sakura said, "He does look much more mature, now." Naruto's face was the picture of pride at the compliment. "But I can assure you it's only in looks." She giggled at the way her teammate's face fell.

Kakashi went to each of the three and studied their features, looking for the tell-tale signs of surgical alteration. Finally satisfied, he addressed his two students. "Well, even a genius like Kabuto isn't good enough to pull something like this off. Unless we're dealing with a med-nin of a calibur never before seen in the world, these three are definitely... Team 7."

Young Naruto scoffed. "Well, I could've told you that."

The older Naruto and Sakura slumped onto the ground. "Geez, I really don't need this kind of trouble right now. After that bell test, I'm so tired, too."

Naruto sighed. "Yeah, and it's still hours before the sun comes up. Maybe we should just camp out here and rest for a while before going back to the village."

Sakura grimaced. "Why don't we just go home and sleep in a nice, soft bed?"

"Well, I haven't been to my apartment in a couple years, and it's not really set up for three extra people. I doubt your parents would just accept you bringing in three kids with you. And as for Kakashi sensei..."

"My house is especially unsuitable for three twelve year olds," the jounin finished.

"We can't just leave them wandering around like this," the blond asserted.

"It was noon last time we checked," the young Naruto protested. "We're not tired at all."

Kakashi sighed. "Well, it looks like you have little choice, they've already started setting up." Indeed, the two ninja had already set up sleeping bags, a campfire, and makeshift tents by the time he had finished his sentence.

The six ninja settled around the fire, the older Naruto holding a spit of marshmallows over it.

"Where on earth did you get those?" Sakura asked.

"Heh, heh," the blond chuckled. "I brought some along just in case. Here," he held the bag up to her. "They're beef ramen flavored."

"EEEWWW!" both Sakuras squealed. "That's so gross!"

The younger Naruto, however, was quite thrilled. "Hey, toss some over my way!"

"At least someone appreciates my refined palate," Naruto said as he tossed the bag to the other.

"That's just proof that he's you," Sakura said. "No one else would possibly like that crap."

The younger Sakura nodded in agreement. "You've got that right. Naruto has no taste at all..."

"Maybe that explains why he likes you so much..." Sasuke muttered under his breath. Fortunately for him, neither Sakura heard the comment, though the young Naruto did. He simply shot his rival a nasty look and continued to ignore him.

"But I'm not so convince you guys are really our future selves," the young kunoichi went on. "I mean, what's with that hair?"

The older Sakura touched her short 'do self consciously. "Wh-what's wrong with my hair?"

"I would totally never get my hair cut like that," Little Sakura said. "Everyone knows long hair is the way to go... isn't that right, Sasuke kun?" She playfully tossed the pink strands to lightly whip the Uchiha across the cheek. He winced with annoyance, but continued to ignore her.

The older Sakura growled deep in her throat. How dare her younger self insult her like that? And to be so blatantly vain... was she ever really that shallow?

"Ummm," Little Naruto stammered. "I... I think short hair is cute on a girl. Especially on you, Sakura."

The older Naruto blushed at his counterpart's childish attempt to flirt. He might not have much class when it came to girls now, but that was pretty lame even to him. Of course, the young Sakura was quite oblivious to the compliment.

"Well, no one expects you to now anything about being refined or anything," the pink haired kunoichi shot back. "I mean, without anyone to raise you right, you're hardly better than an animal when it comes to society. That's why no one in the village wants to hang around with you."

Sasuke's eye twitched at the comment, and the two Narutos flinched. The older Sakura, on the other hand, stood straight up, walked over to Little Sakura, and gave her a solid backhand across the face, sending her flying several feet... almost out of the clearing, in fact. When the girl struggled up to all fours again with tears in her eyes, she found her mouth was bleeding profusely. "Wh-wh-what was that for?!" she whimpered.

Sakura's eyes burned with anger. "Don't... don't you ever talk about Naruto like that again! You IDIOT!!" Shaking with rage, she turned and stomped off into the woods, occasionally uprooting a tree with a powerful punch.

The younger Naruto rushed over to his teammate and offered a handkerchief to wipe the blood off of her. "Aw, geez, Sakura. I think a few of your teeth might have been knocked loose. Are you in much pain? Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"G-get off, Naruto," the girl said shakily. "I'll be fine. Wh-what was that all about, anyway?"

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Well... every one of us has certain things in our past we regret. Things we did... ways we acted. I think Sakura may just have more of those than most."

The younger Sakura looked a bit confused.

The older Naruto got up and said, "I'm going to see if... um... Sakura san is alright. I don't want her to hurt herself... again." With that, he walked off in the direction his teammate had gone.

Sakura, meanwhile, finished wiping herself clean of the blood and did her best to staunch the bleeding in her mouth. Naruto was right about some teeth being loosened by that blow. She didn't think she had that kind of strength in her. She looked at Naruto guiltily. Now that she thought back on her words, they hadn't been very kind at all. She'd thought she was going to try to be better to the loudmouthed blond, even if he did annoy her sometimes. After all, she knew it hadn't felt good to be talked down to by Sasuke. Not that her and Naruto's relationship was anything like her and Sasuke's. She and Sasuke were Meant To Be, after all. But still...

"Um... I think I'm going to go... for a quick walk," she said to the others. "Clear my head."

Naruto jumped. "Do you... do you want me to go with you? You took a hard hit, and you might pass out."

"I'll be fine," the kunoichi said irritably. "Just... I need to be alone for a moment, okay?"

- - -

"Sakura? Are you okay?"

The pink haired kunoichi sniffled and wiped her eyes before turning to the blond ninja who approached her. "Naruto... I'm sorry. I overreacted, I know."

Naruto scratched the back of his head bashfully. "Umm... yeah, a little. I guess I should thank you for standing up for me, though."

"Ugh... I just couldn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. I mean... my mouth... I guess." She held her head as if she were developing a migraine. "I dunno... when I think back to those times, I can remember how I felt about you. How I thought you were annoying and always got in my way. I guess I never really realized how unfairly I treated you. Or how cruel some of the things I said were. Seeing it come from her... now... it just really pissed me off, I guess."

The blond ninja sat beside the girl. "Well, yeah... it was always kind've hard knowing you didn't see me as important... especially when you meant so much to me." He blushed. "I've always wanted everyone to acknowledge me... but I really wanted you to think well of me the most."

Sakura looked away, embarrassed. "Naruto... I really do think you're a great ninja. You'll definitely be Hokage, someday. I believe that. And..." she smiled and turned back to him. "You're the best friend I could have." She laughed. "Well, I guess there's Ino, too. Maybe I have a thing for blonds?"

"Oh, do you?" Naruto asked slyly.

Sakura pouted and socked the young man on the arm lightly... which was enough to cause a bruise, actually. "You know what I meant. You really have spent too much time with Ero Sennin!"

Naruto shrugged the comment off. "Maybe so..." he fell silent for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. Almost at random, he spoke again. "I think there's something I should tell you."

"Hm?" Sakura turned toward him, curious.

The blond ninja's face took on an almost guilty expression. "Listen... do you remember the day we got our team assignments?"

"Yeah... I remember that very well. I tried to get Sasuke to eat lunch with me that day," she recalled. "He was really nice to me at first... but then... then I said something about you being an orphan, I guess. He told me to shut up... and that I was annoying." She frowned. "I can understand why he said that, now. I was pretty stupid."

"Nah," Naruto said. "No secret that I'm an orphan. Maybe if I had parents, I wouldn't have been such a louse." He shrugged. "Maybe it explains why I did what I did that day."

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.

"When you first met Sasuke... when you were sitting on that bench, looking so lonely... that was me," he admitted.

"What?"

Naruto sighed. "I was using henge to impersonate Sasuke. I'd ambushed him earlier and tied him up just so I could get closer to you. It was really selfish... but I didn't mean for us to almost... well... you know..."

Sakura shook her head. "I... I can't believe it."

"I know, it was crazy..."

"No, I mean I really can't believe it," Sakura said. "I mean, how could you have tied Sasuke up like that? How did you use henge so well? And... how... how..." How could you have been so smooth, she asked herself.

Naruto cleared his throat. "Well, I don't know if it would prove anything, but..." he formed a few hand seals and transformed into Sasuke. It wasn't quite the Sasuke he had made back then. Definitely a bit older looking and garbed in the black outfit he had worn at the Chunin Exam finals, but it was unmistakably Sasuke. Then he got up and leaned against a nearby tree, making bedroom eyes at her.

"You have such a noble brow," he murmured seductively. Grinning wider as he thought of something else to ad lib, he went on, "So charming... I could kiss it."

Sakura blinked. Then her face contorted as if she were trying to hold back tears.

"He-hey, Sakura... I didn't mean anything by... d-d-don't cry or anyth--" Naruto stammered fearfully as he saw the girl double over with her face in her hand, shaking visibly. Then, to his great confusion, she burst into a fit of laughter.

"Omigawd! That was so great!" She gasped between convulsions. "Wait... wait... do the 'I'm an avenger' thing!"

"Ummm... okay..." the boy acquiesced hesitantly. Taking his role seriously, however, he settled into a classic "cool" pose, creating henge curse marks, and said harshly. "Remember, Sakura... I'm an avenger. Bitch!"

The pink haired kunoichi could hardly contain herself as she pounded on the earth, making small craters with her fist, while she clutched her stomach, aching from her uproarious guffawing. "Oh... oh, wow... that's great..."

Naruto, still a bit bewildered by his teammate's reaction, but becoming quite pleased with himself, went for the kicker. This time he created a shadow clone and transformed it into Temari as he had last seen her after the failed attempt to rescue Sasuke. Temari unhooked her gigantic fan from her back and unveiled the three tomoe. She then bit her thumb and dragged the blood across her fan. "Now," Temari shouted. "Summoning: Quick Beheading Dance!" She waved the fan at Sasuke. "I summon you, my uchiwa no itachi!" Suddenly, another Kage Bunshin appeared in a puff of smoke which had already used henge to transform into a perfect replica of Sasuke's brother, Uchiha Itachi.

The clone Itachi puffed himself up, looking like Iruka about to blow, and shouted, "You lack hate, foolish little brother!"

Naruto as Sasuke shrieked and curled into a fetal position. "Oh noes, whattle I do?!" he cried.

Sakura froze, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging open with a half smile on her face. She clutched her heart rigidly and sucked in a loud, gasping breath. "Oh... Naruto... stop... you're... killing... me!" She collapsed theatrically.

"Sakura!" Naruto dispelled his clones and leapt to his teammate's aid. "Don't worry Sakura, I can save you! After all," he transformed into a familiar white haired jounin, "I won't let anyone die on my watch..." He leaned his ear close to listen for the kunoichi's breathing. "Hmmm... can't hear anything... now to feel for a heartbeat." He began to lower his hand toward the girl's left breast.

Sakura grabbed his hand before he got there, and smirked up at him. "I think you've got that backward... sensei."

"Silly me," the Kakashi wannabe laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "I guess I got lost."

"Liar," Sakura laughed, pushing the disguised Naruto onto his butt, which cause him to break the illusion. The girl giggled lightly. "I guess all those pranks you used to pull had a certain theatrical advantage, huh? You could be your own play."

Naruto chortled at that. "I dunno if it was so much the pranks. I didn't do too many impressions..."

"Why?"

Naruto sobered suddenly. "Well... let's not talk about that."

"Okay," Sakura recanted. "But stay here with me for awhile, okay?"

"... Okay, Sakura chan."

- - -

Sasuke ignored the dunce as he went into the woods to take a leak. This gave him ample time to ask Kakashi a question that had been eating at him. "Kakashi sensei... where am I?"

"Hmm?" Kakashi looked up from his book. It was rather surprising that he could read by the dim light the fire cast, but apparently he was intent on making the most of his time awake. "In the village of Konohagakure... or rather on the outskirts of it... in Fire Country."

Sasuke scowled. "That's not what I meant. I mean, Naruto and Sakura's future selves are here... so where am I?"

Kakashi looked away for a moment. "Your future self... is around."

"Did I fail the test?" Sasuke asked suddenly.

"Eh?"

Sasuke gave the jounin a hard glare. "Only two were supposed to pass the bell test, right? Was I the one who was sent back to the academy?"

Kakashi shook his head. "No... no, you passed the test just as the other two did."

"Then why am I not here... with my team?" the Uchiha inquired.

The older man sighed. "Sasuke kun... it's not always a good thing to know the future."

Sasuke growled under his breath. "That's not an answer..." he stopped when Little Sakura emerged from the trees. She looked a bit more out of it than normal. "What's wrong with you?" the boy asked gruffly.

The girl looked at her comrade strangely. "Nothing, Sasuke kun. Umm... do you know where Naruto kun is?" She scanned the clearing.

"I'm right here, Sakura chan!" Naruto said, walking out from behind a tree and zipping up his pants. "What'd you need?"

Sakura's eyebrows crinkled up at the sight of him. "Oh, it's nothing really. Um..." she walked up to him with a very odd grimace plastered to her face, and Naruto was afraid at first that she was going to hit him. The fact that her hand was clenched in a trembling fist and rising was a clue, too. Her hand shot forward and Naruto winced. However, after a moment, he opened his eyes to Sakura plopping her hand onto his shoulder. "Naruto... you're not such a bad guy, I guess."

"Um," the blond muttered, a bit confused. "Thanks?"

The pink haired kunoichi sat down on one of the sleeping bags and lay down in it. "I think I'll take this opportunity to rest, even if it's only afternoon by our clocks. There's... there's probably no need to wait up on our future selves. I don't think they'll be coming back for awhile."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at that, but shrugged and put his book away, preparing for a good morning's rest.