Naruto & Sakura: A Second Chance
By: Jho

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Kishimoto-San. I get high on a couple of reviews. I wonder what it's like for Kishimoto-San to get paid for Naruto manga and all those fan-mails too. Lucky Guy.

Chapter 2: Team 7 Reintroduction

Italics indicates a person's thoughts, flashback, or action/s
Bold Italics refers to Kyuubi/Inner Sakura talking

"All I want is for you to acknowledge me," whispered Sakura. "I'm serious, I would do anything because I like you," she blushed. Naruto felt his heart skip a beat. 'I feel like I finally understand why I like her,' he thought as their lips drew closer together…

Naruto blushed at the memory that happened long ago. He thought really hard about his current situation. Hmm…I'm back in the past, I can change Sasuke's destiny this time and finally keep my promise to Sakura-chan. I was so damn close to kissing Sakura-chan that time. There's no way she would kiss me as Naruto. Maybe if I tried what I did last time…I can steal a kiss! Naruto weighed the rewards and the consequences with his left and right hands. As he lifted his left hand, the blonde grinned perversely. This would definitely be worth it.

The blonde took a quick peak around a building wall, noticing that Sasuke was eating alone just like last time. Sorry Sasuke, I just can't have you getting in the way. Taking advantage of Sasuke's unguarded self, Naruto quickly overwhelmed him with a couple of Kage Bunshins. Naruto left a couple of Kage Bunshins with the raven haired boy, remembering how quickly a tied-down Sasuke broke out of it the last time; hopefully it would buy the blonde the extra time he needed. Hehe, Sakura-chan, here I come! No stomach ache to stop me this time!

The pink haired medic was in quite the contemplative mood as she was sitting down on a bench. She thought back to that last mission with Naruto where she was certain that they had lost their last chance to save Sasuke. Now here they were, given a miracle fresh start to set things right from the beginning. But thinking about all the different possibilities made her head hurt. There were so many things to consider from making sure Sasuke didn't join Orochimaru to making sure that the Sandaime would live. Sakura sighed; no point in stressing too much about it, Naruto and she will just take it one step at a time. As she looked up from her thoughts she froze. Oh no, I forgot about this.

There looking straight at him with his cool and handsome eyes was Sasuke. He calmly walked over to her side. Looking down at her with his piercing dark eyes, he said, "You sure have a large charming forehead. Makes me want to kiss it." Shannaro! Sasuke-kun's mine!

Naruto blushed down in anticipation as he waited for Sakura to respond. A rosy hue colored her cheeks as she looked up to him. Sparks of electricity seemed to pass between them as their lips drew closer. Naruto gulped and closed his eyes in nervousness just before they were about to kiss. He felt a slightly moist and warm sensation on the left side of his cheek. As Sakura broke contact, she whispered into his ears, "Nice try, Naruto-kun." 'Oh crap.'

With a shout of, "Go to Hell!" Sakura unleashed one of her famous Naruto-punches that sent the young Kyuubi container flying away from her. After she punched him, he lost the Henge form he had of Sasuke. As he started to lose consciousness, Naruto couldn't help smiling inside his heart. Sakura seemed to be really stressed out since they both returned to their past. Now that she was hitting him again he felt that everything was going to be okay.

Sakura walked over to Naruto's still form and looked down on him with disdainful eyes. As she bent down, she took a quick look around to make sure no one was looking and softened her eyes. Sakura held her green chakra filled hands to heal the bruises she left with her monstrous punch. After that, she leaned in to kiss Naruto's forehead lightly. Thanks, you silly baka.

The pink haired girl didn't realize there was someone who was watching them from a tree. Their raven haired teammate was curiously inspecting the scene that just unfolded before him. What does this all mean?

When he regained consciousness, Naruto picked himself up and headed back into the academy. As he cautiously stepped into his classroom, the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight up. He looked at the two occupants of the room and couldn't help but suppress a shiver. Sasuke was glaring daggers at him while Sakura gave him what looked like the look of doom.

There was a slight creak behind the blonde as Hatake Kakashi made his appearance. He put up one of his hands in a wave and said, "Yo." The jounin took a moment to look at his young charges. "I am your instructor. Let's go up to the roof."

Once they reached their location, the Genin went to take a seat while their teacher leaned his back against a side railing. Kakashi started, "Okay…let's begin with some introductions. Tell me your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that…" With no one responding Kakashi pointed at Naruto to start first.

Naruto smiled and said, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto." I like Sakura-chan. "I like cup ramen! What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei treats me to ramen at Ichiraku Ramen." What I dislike is Orochimaru and Akatsuki. "What I dislike is waiting three minutes for cup ramen to cook." At this point a sweat drop appeared on Kakashi's head. Does he think about anything besides Ramen?

"My dream…" It's only when there is something special to protect. That's when you can become truly strong! "…is to become the Hokage and gain the strength I need to protect this village and my most important people!" Naruto's eyes conveyed a sense of strong determination and his smile was full of confidence.

'Ohh,' Kakashi thought as his eye widened at the blonde's statement. He's definitely grown in an interesting way…

"My hobby…is to kiss Sakura-chan and get her to go on a date with me!"

Bam!

"Hehe, please ignore this baka," Sakura laughed nervously as she pulled her hand from the blonde's stomach. Naruto grinned as he massaged his belly.

"Next," Kakashi said as rubbed his head in amusement.

Sasuke folded his hands as he spoke in a grim voice. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike but I don't really like anything. And…I don't want to use the word 'dream,' but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan…and to kill a certain man."

'Not surprising,' Kakashi thought. He folded his arms and nodded his head towards Sakura. "And lastly, the girl."

Sakura closed her eyes for a moment as she considered what she wanted to say. When she opened her eyes she gave a self-assured smile as she started. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like spending time with my friends. I also like hitting Naruto when he's being an idiot…" The blonde quickly jumped in, "I protest!" Sakura shoved his face to the side 'gently' as she continued. "I dislike those who try to harm my friends and I especially dislike people who make fun of my forehead. My dream is to one day become a medic ninja that surpasses the legendary Tsunade."

Kakashi rubbed his chin in thought. Very surprising. She's not like the girls her age; she seems to be a lot more mature.

"Okay! Well that's enough of that. Why don't we-" Kakashi started to say until he was cut off.

"Hold on a sec Kakashi-sensei. You didn't share anything about yourself," Naruto whined.

"Oh me?" I guess I can open up a little after what they shared. "Well I like broiled saury with salt and miso soup with eggplant. I dislike tempura. My dream…hmm…My hobbies, well you'll find that out soon enough." Kakashi finished with a peculiar smile.

The air seemed to change as Kakashi put on a serious face. The three genin noticed the mood and gave full attention to their teacher. The jounin looked each of them in the eye. "We will start our duties tomorrow. First we are going to do something with just the four of us…Survival Training," the jounin tried to say with a sense of disaster. Sasuke narrowed his eyes while Naruto and Sakura grinned on the inside.

Not sensing any response, Kakashi started to crack up with giggling. "You guys are going to flip when I tell you this. Of the 27 genin, only 9 genin will be chosen. The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a super-difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66 percent." On the inside the jounin was impressed as he took a glimpse of them. They don't appear to be shaken from my scare tactics at all.

Kakashi looked over the genins one last time as he gave final instructions. "Tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all your ninja tools. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll throw up." Sasuke hardened his eyes as he prepared himself for the test tomorrow. I must succeed.

End Chapter 2

Author Notes: Thanks to all my reviewers so far. Already over 10 reviews and almost 1k hits, that's pretty cool lol. I'm sorry to say these quick updates won't be able to continue because I'm starting school again soon, but I promise that I won't abandon this story and I'll do my best to keep at it. Finally with the background set in, we can start with some fun action scenes. I haven't written action scenes that much so bear with me as it might take some trial and error.

For those that don't know, saury is a kind of fish.

Started: 1-28-07
Finished: 1-29-07

Next: Chapter 3: Survival Training Surprises