So hey guys! Um, yep, basically I wrote this chapter out straight after I uploaded the other one! Was just too pumped to have them all finally interacting! I hope the characters aren't too OOC! Uhm, I am copying most of the dialougue from the episodes but then tweek it as I go along to involve the older Naruto and Sasuke... Although, I have the episodes on DVD! I DON'T HAVE ANYMORE EPISODES AFTER THIS ONE AND I CAN'T WATCH ONLINE! AH! Ahah, oh well... I'll find something!

Like I said, finally Sasuke is cracking a little and remembering his bond with Naruto (severed ties my ass). I hope you enjoy, I made sure this chapter was longer!

And remember! Reviews make me update faster! Woo!

Timeless

by ferriswheel95

Team 7 stood silent on the bridge, each leaning against the railings. All three could safely say that they were bored out of their minds although each should have been used to this by now. Sasuke decidedly savoured the peace and quiet; the only sounds surrounding him were either the calm running stream below them, the light chirp of birds above or the gentle rustle of the leaves disturbed by the breeze.

"Ugh! Say! Say! Say!" Sasuke; he who always speaks too soon. Sakura pushed herself from the railing, fists clenched, hair frizzy and face flushed from her sudden apparent rage. He glanced at Naruto who had jumped from the sudden outburst and stood back from both Sakura and the railing, but still close enough to be ever interested.

"Why is it that he's always the one that calls us out, only to make us wait!?" She turned to Naruto, knowing she'd be granted more a reaction from him rather than Sasuke.

"That's right! That's right!" Naruto agreed heartily as predicted, pushing a fist to the air. Sakura turned away, still with the full intention of ranting as she brought one of her clenched fists to her chest.

"What's he going to do about the feelings of a maiden who accidentally overslept and resigned herself to no blow drying!?" Naruto nodded enthusiastically with each word Sakura spoke, her voice raspy enough to resemble an angry growl.

"I overslept so I haven't washed my face or brushed my teeth!" Naruto tried to contribute but Sasuke and Sakura simply stopped to look at him with disbelieving expressions and Sakura's previous rage dissipated, sooner replaced with a mixture of disgust and shock.

"Y-You… That's dirty, Naruto" she reprimanded quietly and Naruto deflated with a small whine. Okay, maybe he had gone a tad bit too far; he hadn't overslept that much after all. Sasuke finally glanced away from the two to stare at the ground with an uninterested look.

Why're these guys so hyper first thing in the morning!? He grumbled in his head, obviously agitated but too indifferent to do or say anything about it. He was content with just leaning on the railing and filtering the other two's chatter out. Finally something caught his eye and he turned to see Kakashi arrive atop of the beams that stretched decoratively above the bridge they stood on.

"Hey, good morning" He smiled with a slight wave before continuing, "today I got slightly lost on the path of life…"

"That's a lie!" Sakura and Naruto accused loudly in unison. Sasuke rolled his eyes and pushed himself off the railing finally to join the other two who stood in the middle of the bridge, staring up at their teacher.

Though just as he did, Sasuke was alarmed to see two figures join Kakashi either side of him in the same fashion of a quick blur like Kakashi. They were clad in the typical Konoha Shinobi uniform but with masks covering their faces, resembling Anbu. The one to Kakashi's right had dark hair that spiked similar to his, only this man's seemed longer. He wore a dark blue undershirt beneath the green vest that reached his mid forearm and from there, the rest of his arm was covered in a very dark grey, tight arm warmer that reached almost to his knuckles. His mask was one of a hawk with dark lines that contrasted the white porcelain. Sasuke frowned and turned his attention to the other man, attired in the same uniform, only his undershirt was rolled to his elbows and his hands covered in fingerless gloves similar to Kakashi's. The young Uchiha took in the blonde mop of hair and the grinning fox mask until he realised, that this was the guy from yesterday.

"Who're these guys!?" Naruto yelled, the two men unflinching. Kakashi looked between them before leaping down and they followed. The older Naruto could tell that both Sasuke's were uncomfortable with the situation but he could only guess for two completely different reasons. Young Sasuke still in riles about being so easily snuck up on yesterday during their brief encounter and the Sasuke he knew now would be writhing internally from the discomfort of facing his past and what was.

"Um, well…" Kakashi started only to be interrupted by Sakura.

"He's the guy from yesterday!" Sakura announced and the blonde in the mask could practically feel the heat coming from a certain older Uchiha's glare. Realisation dawned on a young Naruto's face and his eyes lit up.

"Hey yeah! The guy that was laughing at us and said we knew him!" He added and the older Naruto felt as if he could practically combust from the heat of the angry Sharingan that was bearing (unbeknownst to anyone else) into his skull, he didn't have to see Sasuke to know that the Uchiha was about ready to jump him.

"U-Uh well! You see, I meant that as in –" Naruto stammered as he scratched the back of his head nervously, not only did he have to defend himself against the youngsters but he had to think quick or Sasuke just might rip out his vocal cords to stop the blonde from saying anything else stupid.

"As in you would know him as of today, as these two are your knew practical teachers. Isn't that right..? Uh…" Kakashi stumbled over his words, only partially saving the day but not being able to pick a fake name for Naruto quick enough. Naruto was finally with it however, a fake name already very much so imprinted forever in his mind. A fake name for a fake person and a fake smile.

"Sai, I'm Sai" Naruto bowed and the three blinked, unconsciously so did an older Sasuke. The older raven's brows knitted together and his stomach twisted at the sudden reminder of his replacement, it only tightened further when he realised that if Naruto had chosen that name then was Naruto thinking of Sai? It felt strange, to know or think that if any random name that was on the blonde's mind shouldn't it have someone like Tobi or Madara right now? Their younger counterparts wouldn't have recognised either of those, yet Naruto still thought of Sai.

"And this is…" Kakashi physically nudged Sasuke from his considerations with a quick and what appeared an outwardly friendly shake to the shoulder.

"Juugo…" Sasuke muttered with the slightest of bows. Two could play the new teammate game although something told him that Naruto didn't nearly think as much into their new names as Sasuke did.

"Ah! But you lied, you're not really here for the Chunin Exam then!" Naruto pointed to… Naruto.

"Never mind Juugo or Sai, they're only learning themselves, simply here to observe! Sai is a bit of a joker, he was probably just trying to mess with you Naruto" The two nodded in agreement and older Naruto laughed and scratched the back of his head again while the other three looked a little stunned by the intrusions to their still very new team. Naruto looked a little more confused than the others but that was probably because he was still trying to figure out what these two were doing here, not yet understanding the concept of practicals.

"Uh, this is sudden, but I recommended you guys for the Chunin Exam. So, here these are your applications" their Sensei held out three pieces of paper which each of their names written on them in ink.

"Chunin Exam…" Sakura trailed off, each of them looking more shocked at this revelation than they did when they were greeted by the two new teens.

"That being said, the recommendations are not compulsory. You guys are free to decide whether or not you want to take the exam." Kakashi informed lightly, the attitude towards the whole situation being very aloof and cool.

"Yes! I love you, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto yelled, obviously not getting the 'aloof' memo. He leapt from his spot and pounced on Kakashi, arms wrapped around his neck and swinging in excitement. An older Naruto had to contain himself from pooling into a puddle of embarrassment, his entire face and neck going pink while Sasuke simply snorted in amusement.

I can't believe I was like this… He whined quietly in his head.

"Hey! Cut it out! Get off already!" Kakashi warned, this being his first team he himself wasn't used to their affections that came with mentoring a trio of 12 year olds. Naruto finally slid down and was handed the application. Kakashi stepped back.

"Only those who want to take the exam sign that application and come to room 301 of the academy at 3:00pm five days from now. That's it!"

"Chunin Exam! Chunin Exam!" Naruto grinned as wide as ever, gazing longing at the application that was suddenly his ticket to being one step closer to Hokage. An older Naruto shifted uneasily however, stuffing his hands into his pockets. It was hard to see a younger him, so naïve an optimistic and it hurt for him to know that while he expected to be Hokage by now (at least he did when he was 12, which is entirely unrealistic!) he wasn't. He was still messing around, his entire world threatened by dark forces. He wished he could go back to when everything was so easy.

Kakashi eventually dismissed them, giving the team the rest of the day off to think over the Exam but he instructed them that 'Sai' and 'Juugo' would follow them, getting used to the team dynamics.

"Chunin Exam eh?" Naruto grinned as the five of them walked, the elders trailing not a meter behind the team. The young blonde was still grinning with excitement at the paper.

"I bet lots of strong guys will be there…" He mused out loud and Sasuke snorted from behind them again, making all three turn to look at him over their shoulders. Sasuke stiffened, their eye prying eyes all suddenly swimming with questions that Sasuke already knew he wasn't about to answer.

"Uh, Sai-san, Juugo-san – did you two take the Chunin Exam?" Sakura enquired completely politely and Sasuke rolled his eyes, knowing she was anything but to the people she chose not to tolerate.

"Mah! We both did!" Naruto answered, entirely too enthusiastic as he put his hands behind his head and even with the mask, he knew Naruto was grinning from the memories.

"A-Ah… Was it… Hard?" Sakura stammered and Sasuke remembered this all too well, this was the peel of her self-doubt stage and he recalled a younger him having the full intention of improving his pink haired teammate's self-worth with subtle encouraging comments and such but as of now, he just found it weak and annoying.

"Of course it's hard" he snapped and Sakura flinched, her emerald eyes swimming with a sudden dread. Naruto growled low in his throat, an almost silent warning for Sasuke to stop being such an asshole to Sakura-chan! Then again he had tried to kill the girl not all that long ago…

Then again he had tried to kill me – twice… His mind recollected before he turned to his younger self. The young Naruto's expression said it all; although they were strong, Naruto was imagining absolutely crushing Kankuro and Sasuke, one foot on their unconscious piled bodies as he stood victorious with a flurry of confetti falling around him. He looked to Sasuke, who had turned from the other two to stare pointedly at the ground. The young raven's expression was dejected at first but then slowly morphed into an angry yet determined scowl and Naruto could only guess who he was thinking about. He wasn't deluded enough anymore to hope that Sasuke was provoked at the notion of a fight with Naruto, no, Sasuke was only interested in Gaara at this point.

The raven's head glanced over his shoulder to the masked men, more decidedly the blonde one, with the same glare. Naruto gulped when their eyes locked and he quickly glanced away. Okay, so now maybe Gaara wasn't the only one on Sasuke's 'to defeat' list.

"How long are you guys going to follow us for?" Naruto finally dragged his attention from his application to walk backwards so he could stroll and address the two new nin at the same time. Naruto and Sasuke glanced to each other, both without an answer before Naruto shrugged.

"How long are you guys going to be together for?" An older Naruto enquired and the younger pursed his lips in thought.

"How about we go to the dango place and get something to eat, since it's only late morning" Sakura suggested and young Naruto grinned with promise that, that was a great idea.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted, obviously not completely opposed to the idea otherwise he would have voiced so. Although as usual, he would always rather be alone, he wanted to be around these other two for a little while; try to pry some information about the Chunin Exam from them.

"Dango it is!" Sakura smiled.

"How old are you two anyway?" Naruto grumbled from across the table with a mouth full of dango. Sasuke and Naruto sat across from their old team, Naruto with three spikes of dango, Sakura the same and Sasuke simply with team. The older two mimicked their younger selves with their choices and when Sakura had asked earlier why they only got tea they simply said 'they don't like sweets' in harmony.

"16, turning 17" Naruto answered as he picked up one of his sticks and tried to figure out how to eat it without revealing his face. He expected Sasuke had the same problem as he hadn't touched his tea.

"Wow, you two are so young and already Chunin…" Sakura mused a little sadly, that same self-doubt swimming through her eyes. Naruto lifted his mask slightly at the bottom, enough to fit the dango in and take a bite but not enough to expose himself.

"I never said we were Chu-NIN!" Naruto chocked on his dango from a swift elbow to the rib. After a bit of trouble swallowing he turned to glare at the offending Uchiha who now merely looked ahead.

"If you're not Chunin, then how are you taking practicals already?" Sakura frowned, suddenly very confused and of course she had every right. Sasuke's own brows knitted together, the two of them being the inquisitive ones of course they would pick up on details like that while Naruto of course continued eating, only to stop when he picked up on his teammate's suspicious moods. The older Naruto stammered around his words for a few moments before settling for –

"We're just that strong" and Sasuke felt like he could have thrown his tea over the idiots face. Declaring his strength like that, Sasuke knew all too well that it would get his younger self suddenly itching for a fight and of course in a bad mood at the outlook of being the weakest at the table.

"I bet you're not that strong, I bet I'm way stronger! Maybe even Sasuke will be stronger then you" the young blonde scoffed, finishing his last sweet. Sasuke's features hardened and Sakura suddenly became uncomfortable between the two of them, both radiating the need to fight. To Naruto's surprise, it was the older Sasuke that scoffed sardonically at the threat.

"Hey! What's with that attitude!? I could take you right now if you wanted to!" Naruto howled from across the table, the older Sasuke unmoving while it was obvious (to Sasuke at least) that 'Sai' was suddenly uncomfortable.

"Naruto!" Sakura chastised quietly.

"I'll take this guy any day!" Naruto continued.

"If you fought me right now, Naruto, you would definitely die" Sasuke said unmoving, only the way Sasuke practically purred his name made the mature blonde know there was a double meaning behind his threat. And as far as Naruto saw it, there was no need for it! The younger one grit his teeth, thrown off by such a serious warning at first but as usual, too big headed to earnestly acknowledge. A low growl formed in his throat as he prepared for more but Sakura beat him too it.

"Knock it off Naruto!" She hissed, "People are looking and that's seriously embarrassing!" She added lowly. The five of them glanced around and true to Sakura's word they were causing quite a bit of commotion.

"Mah… Sorry Sakura-chan…" Naruto whispered, defeated as he nervously scratched the back of his neck. The young Sasuke suddenly tensed as he watched Naruto scratch, something he would almost call a habit of Naruto's. Though, something he was realising was that it was also the habit of a certain other blonde, 'Sai'. He looked between the two with a glower, scrutinizing every inch and movement between the two with his calculating eyes. Slowly some things were starting to get eery. Their equally hoarse voices; albeit 'Sai's' being deeper and more matured. Their minor quirks, such as the nervous neck scratch, their choice in food and of course their wide grins. Although Sasuke couldn't technically see it behind the foxy mask, he could tell, he knew he could.

"–kin at?" A voice drawled and finally pulled Sasuke from his thoughts.

"Hn?" He grunted like he had just been woken. Eyes rolled behind a mask.

"I said, what're you looking at, teme?" And in that instant the entire table froze. An older Sasuke glared mercilessly at Naruto, who suddenly just wanted to earth to open and eat him whole, anything would be better than facing a very pissed off older Sasuke later over his mistake.

"Ha! See Sasuke!? I'm not the only one that thinks you're a bastard!" Naruto grinned and the older funnily enough mentally thanked himself for the quick save.

"Hn…" The young Sasuke dismissed and both elders relaxed somewhat. Eventually they had finished at the restaurant and currently stood outside it. The three of them seemed comfortable with going their own ways now, but Naruto had other plans.

"How about a sparring session!?" He suggested a little too enthusiastically and an older Sasuke eyed him warily. Naruto wanted to keep the group together for as long as possible, still completely guarded of the fact that Tobi is entirely unpredictable and could chose to attack at any time. So the longer they had them together, the more at ease Naruto would feel. The team glanced around the each other before Sasuke shook his head.

"I train better by myself." He excused, hands in pockets before he turned and started to head off. Naruto's stomach twisted anxiously but he couldn't think of anything quick enough that wouldn't make the raven suspicious and keep him there at the same time so Naruto let him go. But just to be on the safe side…

"Hey!" Sasuke growled, glaring at Naruto for the elbow to the ribs.

"You glare way too much" Naruto commented before flicking a hand in Sasuke's direction. The older one finally caught on, he wanted to groan in detest of trailing a 12 year old but of course it was all for the sake of his future. He started off quickly to catch up to his former self while Naruto stayed with the other two.

"What're you doing?" Sasuke snapped when he saw 'Juugo' fall in step beside him.

"Walking you home…" He answered lamely and Sasuke stopped to glare at him. The elder rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"I live this way, not far from you and I'm going home too" he finally bit out, slightly less lame. A silence fell over the two before the younger one finally grunted and started to walk again. An uncomfortable silence fell between the two and Sasuke noted that it wasn't like he was walking side by side with himself; he was walking beside a complete stranger. The younger him was so weak and immature, he had even deluded himself into thinking that he might actually be able to the strength he needed and stay in Konoha. He also thought his brother was a murderous monster… This kid was definitely a stranger, a young angry, revenge driven stranger with nothing but naivety and juvenile hopefulness clouding his better judgement. But if Sasuke had it his way, and he usually did, his future will remain the same and this stranger will slowly develop into the S-class Shinobi he is now.

"Look, I don't know who you two are or what you're up to but I'm on to you" Sasuke finally threatened after 5 minutes into their walk and alerting Sasuke from his train of thought. However, the older raven remained impassive although it was hopeless behind his mask; ironically his mask was of no use because he was wearing one.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" He grunted back lowly and Sasuke stormed out in front of the other, stopping in front of him and glaring until the other stopped as well.

"I think you do. I don't know what that Sai guy is doing by copying Naruto either – " He started darkly and older Sasuke was impressed with himself for picking up on behaviours the two blonde idiots shared.

"I'll say this once and once only, don't mess with my team, don't mess with Naruto" He hissed through clenched teeth before turning and leaving before he let his anger better him, leaving a wide eyed and slack jawed Sasuke behind, shocked by his own protectiveness.

When Sasuke got back to Kakashi's place it was getting dark and the silver haired nin was gone, only Naruto sat on the couch, flicking through channels on the TV. He watched the back of the blonde's head for a small while before Naruto decidedly turned, blue eyes gazing expectedly at the still masked raven.

Don't mess with Naruto…

Since when had Sasuke cared so much?

"Sasuke?"

No, since when had Sasuke stopped caring?

See!? Sasuke does care! Or eventually will if I have anything to say about it! R&R PLEASE!