Okay, I've decided to plan what I do from now on. Since I got this update up quickly, the chapter is going to be shorter. There will also not be a preview at the end. However, the next chapter will be as long or longer than the previous chapter and there will be a preview at the end! Basically, the odd numbered chapters will be short, and the even numbered chapters will be long, plus have a preview of the following chapter. All chapters will have the foreshadowing glimpse however. Soo...here's the next chapter of a story that I randomly thought up!

Chapter 3: Transient Overture

"So what did you think of Naruto?" Iruka asked his gray haired friend, leaning on the side of the Hokage building. He had awaited Kakashi's arrival so they could enter the building together.

"Hello to you too, Iruka-san." The jonin greeted lazily and put away the Icha Icha book. "Actually, it wasn't at all what I expected. He seemed mature, much more than he was a few weeks ago, or yesterday morning for that matter."

"How so?" Iruka asked, raising an eyebrow as they entered the building.

"It's a possibility that something happened between his trip from his apartment to the training ground but I'm guessing he's just showing how good of an actor he is."

He explained everything that had happened the day prior, from Naruto's apartment to dismissing them at the training ground. Iruka listened, nodding his head at several comments.

'Naruto has been acting strange lately, but so far it doesn't seem for the worse. He hasn't done anything much differently than usual either.'

"It wasn't just because of that." Kakashi continued. "When he first opened the door, I saw the same goofy prankster that we're used to. But once he saw me, his eyes changed. It was only for a split second, but I saw so much. They were still the eyes of an adolescent, but one that had seen bloodshed, had known carnage and pain, and even war. Grief, satisfaction, everything except love was there. And I saw it without even using my sharingon." Kakashi felt a chill down his spine. "But they weren't the eyes of the Kyubi. I still felt warmth in those eyes."

Kakashi had felt more than warmth. He felt accusations, but he didn't know of what. Even more confusing, he felt forgiveness.

"In any case, I feel that nothings wrong at all." Iruka stated obviously, making the copycat nin narrow his eyes. Then he sighed.

"I suppose you're right. Maybe he's just trying to cope with the knowledge of the Kyubi. Which is pretty much what you want me to say to the Hokage right?"

"I just think that a little more observation is needed before we can really say anything that will affect Naruto's future." For a split second, Iruka felt weird saying that. He didn't know why, but it felt like he had gone light headed for a second.

"You're right. Besides, it'd be far too troublesome to fill out all the paper work that would come with it."

"You've been hanging around Shikaku Nara a little too much." Iruka said with a chuckle as they both entered the Third's office.

Training Grounds

'Okay, not what I expected to see early in the morning.'

Naruto rubbed his eyes as he entered the training grounds, seeing Sasuke helping Sakura with kunai target practice.

'Is it me, or has Sasuke been in a good mood for the past two days…'

"Hey Naruto!" Sakura called waving.

"He-" Naruto winced and held his head as a sudden migraine stuck him.

"Just one little lapse of judgment and they're acting like jerks again!"

Naruto stood confused for a second. Was that…another vision? It was fuzzy this time though. And he hadn't seen it originally.

"You okay dobe?" Sasuke asked, Sakura actually looking concerned as well.

"Yeah…I guess…" He walked over and sat under a tree. "Maybe all that training last night wore me out."

"All what training?" Sakura asked curiously.

"I started a new training regimen last night. I was up until four trying it out."

"You shouldn't have done that! What if you're too tired for the test now?" Sakura scolded, but not as harsh as usual.

"No problem, I feel fine! Besides, I can just take a quick nap now before Kakashi-sensei shows up."

"What if he comes while you're sleeping?" Sasuke asked, actually thinking of doing the same thing.

"I have a hunch that yesterday is going to be a repeating factor."

As Naruto said, Kakashi showed up an hour later, and by then, all three genin had got in an extra 45 minutes of sleep. The masked nin looked over his team, seeing all three with confident smirks.

"So I see that all three of you decided to take the evaluation. But there is one more catch though. You have two choices. You can forfeit right now and go back to the academy to try and become ninja next year."

He paused for dramatic build up, watching the three pre-teens faces show now sign of quitting.

"Or if you take this test and fail, you will be denied entrance into the Konohagakure shinobi corps forever."

Sasuke and Sakura's eyes widened in horror. Naruto stared blankly ahead. If he was right, then no one would say anything. However, somethings had already changed. He didn't know what to expect at the moment. A quick glance at his teammates gave him his answer. Sasuke looked disgruntled but Naruto knew his Uchiha pride would never let him back down. Sakura, however, looked a bit too nervous. Naruto'sworse fears came to life as he saw her swallow and begin speaking.

"Kakashi-sensei, I think we should resign until next year. Naruto isn't ready for this yet!"

Sasuke's eyes grew wide, and out of sheer desperation, he did the unthinkable; showed emotion.

"That's bullshit! Naruto's ready, and so are we!" He screamed passionately.

The group grew silent, both Naruto and Sakura's jaw hitting the ground as they stared at the raven haired boy. A tiny blush crossed Sasuke's face and he folded his arms, turning away.

"Just saying…" He murmured. After the shock subsided, Sakura tried to put together a coherent sentence.

"B-but, Sasuke-kun-"

"Sakura-chan." Naruto spoke up, eyes on the ground and fist clenched. "Last night. Didn't you say that I wouldn't be dead weight?"

Sakura paused. "I…I meant…" She wanted to say in the future but for some reason she couldn't. For one, she knew it wasn't true, and after hearing the conviction in Naruto's voice, knew he was ready. Her love for Sasuke, and always comparing people to him made Naruto seem weak in her eyes again, and now she was regretting it.

"Well, whatever. Seeing as none of you quit, it's time to start the exercise." Kakashi spoke nonchalantly. The three genin tensed, and Naruto gritted his teeth.

'I wanted to show off a little before trying to implement the plan, but maybe now that they think I'm the weakest again, I can use this to get out of suspicion with Kakashi-sensei. The way he keeps glaring at me makes it obvious to see that he knows something is up…Besides, I don't have a second to waste, let alone a year.'

Kakashi explained the test, Naruto sighing in relief that it was the same bell test as before. He knew they wouldn't actually have to get the bells to pass, but it would be a good achievement if they could. From the training regimens that Naruto had done the night before, he knew that he was almost at his strength when he beat Neji, but not quite. He wanted to be able to do it without having to feel like he needed the fox. As it was, he had found out that he couldn't activate the fox's chakra anymore anyway, but by the way his body felt, he was running on one tail of chakra, constantly. That meant that the fox was now an eight tailed bijuu, and he was now in the training process to become naturally as strong as he was when he faced Sasuke at the Valley of the End.

"Are you three ready?" Kakashiasked, the bells dangling on his side but his book still in hand. Naruto'seyes widened. Somethingin his mind was tellinghim to move. He didn't want to, but it was like his feet were starting to pull forward on their own.

Naruto suddenly rushed at Kakashi and threw a kick. The jonin easily ducked, blocked the next one, and then twisted his arm as he threw a punch.

"Naruto, haven't you heard the term, Only Fools Rush In?" Kakashi was holding a kunai to his back. "I didn't say start yet."

"Naruto, you baka! I knew you were still an idiot! What if Kakashi-sensei failed us for that stunt!" Sakura yelled, inner Sakura screaming agreement.

Sasuke sighed. "Once a dobe, always a dobe."

'Just one little lapse of judgment and they're acting like jerks again…Wait! That's what my vision was! But…then that means I had a vision of the altered future? What the hell is going on here?'

Some things just aren't meant to change… A voice whispered out of nowhere.

'Wh-what? Who said that?' No reply came, and Naruto was left to ponder the statement.

"Okay, so if it's alright with Naruto, we can begin...now." Kakashi released Naruto, who jumped back with his team, all spreading out and hiding in bushes.

'Tactical, for genin, but not going to help if their plans collide.' Kakashi thought. He was right as well, as several attempts from each genin seemed to thwart one another. Naruto was letting some time pass to make it easier to sway Sasuke and Sakura. From all the failed attempts, their morale would be down. He was also avoiding Kakashi's 1000 years of pain. After Sakura's kunai were intercepted by Sasuke's fireballs for the third time, Naruto began to think of how to make his move.

'Alright, let's see...' He could sense Sakura's chakra several yards away and moving swiftly in one direction towards Kakashi. 'This must be when he puts her in that genjutsu.' Sensing around even more, he felt Sasuke sitting in a tree, obviously overlooking the two. 'Give him a show, I guess.' Naruto dashed in the direction Sakura was going, moving much swifter than a genin should've been able to. He reached her moments before a battered and bloody Sasuke came out of the bushes. Her eyes dilated but Naruto only glared, coming up behind her.

"OH NO! SASUKE-KUN!" She wailed and was about to pass out until.

"Sakura-chan, get a hold of yourself!" Naruto shouted loudly.

"S-Sakura...Naruto...help...me!" Sasuke reached out to them. Sakura didn't pass out due to Naruto's yell, and prepared to run to him.

"Kai!" Naruto called and the Sasuke vanished. Sakura stopped in her tracks.

"Wha? A genjutsu?" She said looking around.

"Of course it was! How come you didn't notice that Sakura-chan?" He was actually accusing her but made it sound like he honestly wanted to know. Sakura blushed, and scratched the back of her head.

"Uh, that's because...I knew, but...I was going to trick Kakashi-sensei! Yeah, that's it!" She chuckled nervously. 'Fall for it, please.' She thought in her mind, not wanting to be laughed at by Naruto of all people.

"Eh, sure. C'mon, let's find the real Sasuke! I think I have a plan! Oh, and Sakura, behind you." Sakura was going to ask what type of plan could he possibly think of, however, Kakashi loomed over the rose haired girl. She turned around slowly, and looked up at her sensei.

"How are you doing Sakura?" He asked politely.

"Uh...heheh, fine?" She stuttered absolutely scared shitless that her sensei was able to sneak up on her without a single sound.

'Oh for the love of...' Naruto rolled his eyes and created a clone, sending it rushing at the two. It jumped over Sakura's head and kicked Kakashi in the face just as Naruto ran up and scooped Sakura into his arms and began to head towards where Sasuke was watching.

"What the hell do you think you're doing! Put me down!" She yelled, bopping him on the head. As she rose her fist to hit him again, a loud explosion sounded behind them and wind blew around the area. Her eyes widened as she glanced back.

"So..." She began. "That Kakashi-sensei was a clone?"

Naruto nodded.

"And said clone just exploded?"

One more nod.

"Oh." She paused. Then she fainted in his arms.

Naruto reached Sasuke, setting Sakura down gently at the base of the tree. Sasuke dropped down next to them.

"How'd you know that was a clone of Kakashi-sensei?" He immediately asked. Naruto had already thought of the excuse, but could only hope Sasuke would fall for it.

"I didn't! I just wanted to hold Sakura-chan and that was the perfect chance!" He threw in a chuckle at the end to make it seem legit. Sasuke only narrowed his eyes at him before dismissing it with a 'hmph'.

"Hey, but I do have a plan, but it's going to take all three of us!"

"You have a plan?" Sasuke was about to make a snide remark until he remembered the day Naruto tied him up and then henged into him to try to get a kiss from Sakura. Better to go along with it. But he would get revenge for that later. "What do you have in mind?"

Naruto's fox smile gave Sasuke shivers. "Alright, wake Sakura-chan up and..."

Kakashi sat in one of the trees of the forest, still reading his beloved Icha Icha Oasis. The main character was about to enter the portal that lead to a hidden oasis where his sexy little sister was being held captive. He looked up momentarily.

'Hmm...It's gotten quiet. What are they-' He dodged out the way as several kunaistruck the tree where he had currently been sitting. As he touched the ground, his eyes widened as he came face to face with Sasuke.

"Katon: Goukakyou no Jutsu!" Sasuke intentionally fired the large flame slightly towards Kakashi's left. He smirked as he saw Kakashi jump right. 'Bingo!'

Kakashi landed right on a vine trip-wire. Eye blankly white, he looked up. 'I never thought I'd say this, but...' He used substitution with a stray log several feet away just as a giant boulder slammed down where he had tripped the trap. 'These kids are gonna kill me!'

"I have you now Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura's voice echoed above. Sakura stood on a tall tree branch, brandishing one last kunai. She launched it, but Kakashi was able to simply step aside.

"Nice try, Sakura."

"It's not over yet!" She called, sticking her tongue out at him. The kunai she had thrown puffed into smoke, revealing Naruto. He threw another kunai behind Kakashi. The jonin looked back and saw the kunai aimed too high to hit the string of the bells. He would congratulate them on effort, but their plot was all for-

The kunai Narutohad thrown also puffed into smoke, revealing the real Naruto. He was right above Kakashi in an aerial somersault. In mid-air, he snatched the book right out of Kakashi's hand.

Thunder crashed immediately. Kakashi's eye was ghostly white. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke stood in the tree, book open.

"Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. It would be very wise of you to give that back, right now!" Kakashi's ki was tearing through the area, however, Naruto was subtly releasing his own to shield Sasuke and Sakura.

"Hey, Icha Icha Oasis? Isn't this the one we read last night?" Naruto started.

"Oh yeah!" Sakura exclaimed. "The one where in the end, the little sister is at the oasis being forced to-"

"NOOO! DON'T SPOIL THE ENDING!" Kakashi yelled.

"But don't you think it was amazing that the brother was the one to-" Sasuke's voice was cut off as Kakashi put his hands over his ears.

'Oh no, I can still read his lips!' Kakashi closed his eye tight. After several seconds, he opened them. The three stood right in front of him, Sakura in the middle holding the bells.

"Wh-wha? But..."

"Looks like we win Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura giggled, sticking her tongue out at him again.

Kakashi stared wide eyed at the three as they celebrated their victory amongst each other. He sweat dropped and before anything else, he snatched the book back from Naruto.

"Well, even though you didn't actually have to get the bells, you all pass."

"What? We didn't have to get the bells?" Sakura asked.

"The objective of this training was purely...teamwork. Our squads are made up of a three genin cell and their jonin captain. If you had to work individually, we'd have no point of a team, and you'd all be chunin or jonin. If a cell can't function properly together, then they will eventually die, and soon, the village loses protection. Once the protection is gone, the village falls, and as you can see, that hasn't happened yet."

"What if a team has a liablitly?" Sasuke thew in, making Naruto wince.

Somethings just aren't meant to change...

"Listen carefully. If you're on a mission to recover stolen documents vital to the village, what would you do after you've recovered them?"

"Bring them back here of course." Sakura stated the obvious answer.

"Now what if the weakest member of your team is injured and unable to continue on his or her own?"

"Leave them and finish the mission. Send back help after the job is done." Sasuke answered, confident in his answer.

"If that had been my evaluation, you would have failed. By then, the enemy could have captured, interrogated, and killed your comrade. As well, our shinobi's are just as vital to the village as any document. Documents can be replaced, but human life cannot. Not only could the enemy find out what's on the document at a later date, but they could also find out even more information by torturing your forgotten comrade. Remember this well. Those who disobey orders are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash."

'He seems more serious than I remember. Maybe because we proved ourselves even more this time by actually getting the bells?' Naruto shrugged the thought off. Afterwards, Kakashi informed them that they would be receiving their first real mission in two days. They were dismissed, Sasuke walking away instantly. Then, something else weird occurred. Sakura stopped just before she was about to follow Sasuke. She glanced back at Naruto, whom was looking up at the sky with his hands in his pockets.

'He thought of that whole plan...and he saved me when Kakashi-sensei was using genjutsu. And when he created that clone...' Looking closer, she saw a tear in Naruto's eye. 'Maybe...' Sakura once again found herself at a lose for words. Instead she shook her head and ran down the path after Sasuke. After he knew that she was gone, Naruto began to walk along slowly.

'I wonder what that was about...' He sighed. 'Two days huh? Plenty of time for training, but maybe I should get a move on. The next big things that happens is...' A flash of Haku and Zabuza enters his mind. 'What should I do then? I know I can beat Haku, and probably talk him into coming with us, but what about Zabuza? He'll cut me clean in two if I come near him...' Naruto passed the thought up, hoping that by the time they get the mission, he'd be able to fairly, or at least, almost fairly fight the barbaric swordsman. 'Maybe I can find...Hinata-chan? I can sense her chakra somewhere near here...over there.'

Naruto looked towards a tree surrounded by thick bushes. His sharp hearing picked up on a faint 'eep!'.

Hinata hid behind the tree, heart racing. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat and took deep breaths.

'Oh my! Did...Naruto-kun see me?' She slowly peered from behind the tree again. "He's gone! Where did he-"

"Whatcha doing, Hinata-chan?" Naruto called behind her. Hinata 'eeped' again, spun around and tripped backwards out of the bushes.

'Wh-when did he get behind me? And did he call me-'

"You okay Hinata-chan?" Naruto asked, offering the tomato faced princess a hand.

'He did it again! This better not be Kiba playing a prank!' Hinata thought and closed her eyes, putting her hands together in the ram hand seal. "Kai!" She called.

Naruto chuckled. "This isn't a genjutsu Hinata-chan! C'mon, get up." Hinata opened her eyes and her face couldn't be anymore red.

"Kids these days! Have you no shame? Doing it in the bushes too?" An old lady said as she walked by.

"Everyone's doing it! Boys are doing it with girls! Girls are doing it with other girls! Some people even get into groups and do it!"

"Ahem!" Naruto cleared his throat, now blushing as bad as Hinata. The two old people shrugged and walked away. Hinata took Naruto's hand, forcing herself to stay concious.

"A-arigatou, Naruto-kun. Wh-what are you doing?"

"Actually, I was hoping to find someone to train with me for the rest of today. Are you free?" He asked hopefully. Hinata's heart skipped a beat.

'Naruto-kun wants me to train with him? What do I say?' Naruto saw Hinata space out and chuckled, waiting patiently. After a moment, Hinata took a breath and turned to him. She bowed. "It would be a great honor to train with you Naruto-kun!" She spat out without a stutter. Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment.

'Holy cow, that's the second complete sentence I've ever heard her put together!' He paused again. 'First...' He corrected himself sadly. The first sentence that he was reffering to was when she had admitted her love for him in the future. Tears welled in his eyes again. Why was this future thing so frustrating? Yeah, he had seen into the future but every experience he went through was fresh to him. No matter what he thought he knew, it all could be altered, and not just by his efforts. Hinata gasped and touched his cheek.

"Naruto-kun, is everything alright?" She asked, starting to blush again from the physical contact.

"Y-yeah...C'mon Hinata-chan, we can practice at my place since I cleaned up!" Naruto started to run towards his house, slowly stopping after he saw that Hinata wasn't following. Looking back, he found the Hyuga heiress passed out on the ground.

'Maybe I should've thought that one through...'

Elsewhere...

Sakura walked silently towards her own home. She had lost Sasuke, as usual and was left to sulk. But this time, she wasn't completely sulking over losing Sasuke.

'Naruto...what's wrong with this picture? How come he's the dead last but...it doesn't feel like it anymore?' She reached her house and went silently straight to her room. Laying in bed, she buried her face in her pillow. 'Sasuke-kun...what am I doing? Why won't you carry me like Naruto did?' She wondered. Then she began to think of that one moment. The way Naruto held her without a second thought, and even when she hit him, he never dropped her nor scolded her.

'That was nice of him...He didn't have to put up with me after I hit him...' She thought even more, back at the academy. 'It seems so weird...he's nothing like he was back then...no, that's not true.' Her eyes began to water. 'He always was that nice. And he's determined too...'

She rolled over, looking up at her ceiling. The blank roof seemed transient, and she felt as if she was able to look into the sky. Sky blue eyes...

A blush crossed her face and she didn't try to deny it.

Even if just slightly.

Even if just remotely.

Even if just for the moment.

She was falling for Naruto.


"Where is he? Did you guys see him anyewhere?"

"No...I looked everywhere, even in Suna! They haven't seen him either."

"There is one place we haven't went yet. If we want to stop him, we have to hurry though."

No one moved.

"I love him."

"So do I."

"I always have."

More silence. The wind blew, blossoms of spring whirling in the air.

"What...what do we say if he still wants to leave us?"

"There's nothing to say. We're just going to go with him whether he likes it or not!"

All three nodded and took one last longing look at their home, before dashing off towards the last place their love could've been. The Valley of The End.