*2 and a half years later*
"Sakura-chan!"
Mayumi ran quickly down the streets in search of her teammate. Sure enough Sakura was just walking down the street. Probably doing something for Tsunade no doubt.
"Sakura-chan! Tsunade-sama!"
Sakura looked back as her, "Yes?"
"What cha doing?"
"Stuff, Mayumi-chan."
Mayumi laughed slightly at her and tugged at one of her shoulder length blue pigtails, "Ummm... I gotta tell you something!"
"Me too... Did you know Naruto's back in town," she said smiling, pushing her short hair back.
"Really! Where is he!"
"Sakura-chan? Mayumi-chan?"
Both girls turned around to see the boy staring at them.
"...Naruto?" They both questioned.
Sakura turned to him fully, "How do I look? Do I look more like a woman now?"
Mayumi made a face.
"You look fine!" He assured her. "You haven't changed at all!"
The blue-haired girl quickly hugged her female teammate, "What he meant was, of course Sakura-chan!"
Sakura sighed, "You've... You've gotten taller than me?"
"Yeah..." He started measuring himself between his two teammates.
"Naruto-niichan! Oiroke No Jutsu!*" *Sexy Jutsu
Jiraiya's face suddenly went red as he stared at a naked woman,who was covered in only by puffs of smoke over her secret areas. She disappeared in a puff of smoke to reveal Konohamaru.
"How was that? A real drool of a jutsu, wasn't it?"
"I beat the crap out of you last week for doing that, what did I tell you!" Mayumi snapped at him.
Naruto laughed slightly then looked at him seriously, "Konohamaru, I'm sorry but I'm not a kid any more. From now on, you shouldn't use that jutsu either..."
Mayumi glared at him, "Who are you and what have you done with Naruto-kun?"
Sakura blushed, '...So... Naruto hasn't just matured in appearance... This makes me feel a little sad. You really have become amazing Naruto.'
"Such a jutsu is now mediocre Konohamaru!" Naruto shouted. "Behold! The new perverted Ninjutsu I've been developing! Here we goooo!
"Woot woot!" Mayumi cheered throwing her arms up, "Show him Naruto-kun! He don't know what he's doing!"
"Aha, new ninjutsu you say," Sakura said, still blushing. "A new perv-"
"Perverted Ninjutsu?" She screamed as she punched him angrily. "You idiot!"
Everyone remained silent as she picked him up and started shaking him around, "I was wrong! You haven't changed one bit! I haven't seen you for two years and within two minutes, you jump straight into that! Idiot! What about that wonderful feeling of respect I had for you just now? Ahh! As if I could feel sad that I wasn't grown up like you!"
"Hey hey Sakura," Kakashi spoke. "Calm down, Konohamaru here's terrified..."
She looked over to find the boy hiding behind her sensei.
"Jiraiya..." Tsunade spoke, frowning at Naruto. "Naruto... Has grown more and more like you in these past two years, hasn't he...? Right. The nostalgia ends here though. Kakashi."
Kakashi shut his book, "Well... It's been a while, hasn't it? From now on, the three of you will come with me on team-related missions. It's different than before. It's no longer teacher and pupil. Starting today, we're equal Konoha shinobis." He pulled out the three bells from before, "Well... First I'm a bit curious as to how you've developed. The rules are the same as when I first met, well, Sakura and Naruto that is. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed in getting the bells!"
*Later that day*
"The rules are the same as before," Kakashi reminded them. "No matter how, try to get the bells from me. You have until sunrise tomorrow."
"Well..." Naruto muttered, smiling as he looked around. "This place... I've missed it."
"Yeah," Sakura agreed.
Mayumi hugged one of the stumps, "I've missed you!"
"Ah, that's right," Kakashi said looking at his three students. "This is where you first trained, isn't it?"
"Cell number seven..." Sakura muttered.
"The four of us..." Naruto added.
"...Billy..." Mayumi nodded sadly thinking about her tree...then spider, then fly, which a teammate who she refused to think of killed... Oh! She couldn't forget poor Henry! God bless his poof soul...
"...Back then... We had Sasuke too, didn't we..." Kakashi said looking down from his book.
Everyone went silent, Naruto and Sakura started to mumble about Sasuke and Mayumi frowned slightly and turned away, not wanting to think about her old teammate and friend. However they all snapped around when Kakashi closed his book rather loudly.
"Anyway... Lets begin..."
"Hehe... Not gonna read this time... Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.
"Or have you finished it already?" Sakura questioned.
Mayumi remained silent as she zipped her jade green jacket up.
"Nope... Just saving it for later. Besides I the feeling that..." He pulled his forehead protector up showing his sharingan. "This time I'm going to have to make more of a serious effort."
They all stood and stared at each other for a long while. That was until Naruto tossed several shuriken at Kakashi. The silver-haired male dodged them easily. The Hatake tossed his own shuriken at the blonde who doubled himself in order to push himself out of the way. Sakura smiled at his way of saving himself from getting hit, while Mayumi dropped her mouth. He grabbed a hold of his clone, turning it into a large shuriken which he quickly whipped around to throw at his sensei. However he was stopped as a hand grabbed his which was holding the shuriken, pushing it behind his head, and then another grabbed the back of his head. Kakashi smiled when he noticed Naruto's second clone behind himself.
"Heh..." Kakashi laughed slightly. "Still the impatient one eh..."
Naruto smirked and laughed a little.
"All right... Go!"
Kakashi quickly disappeared from his students. Mayumi noticed Sakura looking around and quickly backed up when she too, noticed that Kakashi wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Below!" Sakura shouted out as she pulled her fist back and hit the ground.
Beneath her the earth quickly broke apart around her. Naruto cried out as he tried to keep himself on the ground.
"Peek-a-boo..." The Haruno girl muttered when her eyes landed on Kakashi.
Naruto stared in amazement at her power. Kakashi quickly jumped out of his little hide out. Mayumi sprang forward quickly passing Sakura and stopping in front of Kakashi. Before he could move she pulled out a kunai and placed it to his throat while her other hand reached towards the bells. He quickly pulled away from her but not without getting a slight cut from her blade.
"...Shit..." She muttered as she glared at him.
Kakashi stared at his students. Naruto had clearly matured with his time away from Konoha, he was more effective with his attacks now. Sakura's strength was something to talk about, at the rate she was going, she could end up better then Tsunade. And Mayumi's speed, clearly her time with her clan had paid off, for the speed could possibly rival his own if she put more effort into it. All in all, they had grown up when he hadn't been looking, and were now giving him a run for his money.
"You had your shot, kids..." Kakashi told them
*Later that Night*
Naruto, Sakura, and Mayumi sat huffing behind a tree.
Sakura looked over at Naruto from her spot in the middle, "I knew it would still be hard, but that sharingan sure is something... Plus Sensei's sign-weaving speed... He's so fast you can't keep up... His arms... We've got to disable them somehow... Tie them up..."
"Yeah... Kakashi-sensei's as strong as ever," Naruto agreed.
"Smarter then Shikamaru-san," Mayumi added. "Keener sense of smell than Kiba-"
"You would know..." Sakura muttered.
Mayumi gave her a confused look but continued, " More adept at sharingan than Sasuke-san, and his Taijutsu's greater than Lee-san's."
"But he's got to have some weakness!" Sakura said, looking back and forth between her teammates. "Come on, think..."
"Maybe if we throw bunnies at him and call him stupid and fat, he'll cry and he give up!" Mayumi suggested, clearly liking her idea.
Sakura shook her head, "Only you would throw rabbits at our Sensei..."
"Oh...! There is one weakness..." Naruto mumbled.
"What?" Sakura asked. "We aren't throwing rabbits at him if that's what you're-"
"No..." Naruto laughed. "Come on think, both of you! Think carefully and you'll see it too..."
"Oh would you please quit stalling and just spill it Naruto!" Sakura snapped at him.
"Heh heh, all right."
*With Kakashi*
Kakashi rested against a tree, 'They really do make a formidable team. Can't wait to see what they'll come at me with next..."
*With Sakura, Mayumi, and Naruto*
"I see!" Sakura exclaimed. "I didn't even think about that...! If we strike just right... Not only would it disable his arms... It'd block his sharingan, too!"
"Naruto-kun..." Mayumi smiled at him, "You still are the number one maverick ninja!"
Naruto smiled at her and gave a thumbs up in return, "Then what are we standing here looking at each other for? Are you girls ready?"
Mayumi nodded.
"Yup! Lets do it!" Sakura agreed.
*With Kakashi*
Kakashi sniffed the air and quickly smelt his students. He stood up and prepared himself as the three jumped out from the trees. He stopped himself from shaking his head in disappointment at their choice.
"Now, Naruto!" Sakura told him.
"Here I go! Hey Kakashi-sensei... Make-Out Tactics' final plot twist! The main character is really..."
Kakashi's hands quickly covered his heads but then he remembered that because of his sharingan he could read lips so he closed his eyes as well. He heard a jingle and turned his head quickly. There in front of him, stood his three students, each holding onto their own bell and smiling.
"Heh heh... Shinobi read the hidden meanings within the hidden meanings..." Naruto told him.
"Remember, Sensei?" Both girls questioned as they gave peace signs.
*With Tsunade and Jiraiya*
Tsunade sighed as she stared at the blonde who was happily showing his teammates his bell while telling stories, "I see you raised another version of yourself Jiraiya..."
"I could say the same to you Tsunade... Beauty and strength, but also a bad temper..."
Tsunade shot a glare at him, "Sakura is a great student, I'm sure she'll sure pass Naruto, after all... She is a Chuunin while Naruto is still a Genin..."
Jiraiya made a face, "That doesn't matter, because no one can train better students then me, Master Jiraiya!"
"You raised that," she said, pointing towards Naruto who just happened to be messing with his hair while yelling at Mayumi who making a face at him.
"My niece was far better then your two...things..." Arakaki Katsuro stated.
Both Jiraiya and Tsunade snapped their heads back to look at the lead of the Arakaki clan.
Tsunade glared at him, "You're lucky I allowed her back in the village..."
"Would you really have kept her away from her friends, Tsunade?"
When the Hokage didn't answer him Katsuro walked away with a smirk plastered on his face.
*With Team 7*
After Kakashi failed to impress his students he quickly noticed how much they truly had grown up. Sakura was clearly just as good in her medical-ninjutsu as she was with her chakra control. Naruto seemed to have grown not only with his techniques but also with his own maturity. While Mayumi clearly wasn't the little girl that he had raised; she was more distant from him and he found himself wondering what her new likes were, missing his little girl.
He came back to reality to realize that they had completely left him behind, he felt as if he could cry, 'They aren't my cute little genin anymore; who looked up at me in amazement...'
"Well I have to go! I have to work on my new jutsu some more, Mayumi-chan, don't forget, six tomorrow morning."
The Arakaki nodded and with that he disappeared.
"Hey! Sakura-chan! Would you finally got out with me for some ramen?" Naruto asked her excitedly.
"I would love to Naruto... But I really don't want to pay..."
"Oh that's okay I'll pay!"
"What am I? Chop liver over here?" Mayumi snapped when they started to ignore her.
Naruto smiled at her, "No..."
He digged in his little frog bag then frowned, "Damn Pervy Sennin took it all for his "research"..."
Sakura made a face, "So then you can't pay?"
"Well maybe we can get around paying! The man loves me! And because I just got back he should give us a free bit if we ask!"
Sakura sighed in frustration, "Maybe another time Naruto..."
Naruto looked over at Mayumi, "What about you? Do wanna go out for ramen?"
A light blush spread across her cheeks, "W-What?"
The Haruno sighed again, "He didn't mean it like that Mayumi..."
She shook her head but the blush didn't fade, "Y-Yeah... Of c-course he didn't..."
Naruto stared at her oddly but decided to ignore it, "So do you want to or not?"
"I can't..." Mayumi muttered, still blushing slightly. "I have to go with Sakura-chan..."
"Why?" He asked/whined.
"Because she's staying with me for the time being... Tsunade-sama didn't think it would be right if she stayed with Kakashi-sensei alone when he's a grown man and she's not actually his daughter..." Sakura explained.
Mayumi nodded, "I have to follow her..."
Naruto dropped his head sadly, "Okay..."
"I would tomorrow though if I wasn't going to be busy... I have to train with Kakashi-sensei for an hour tomorrow then I have to help Kiba look after a newborn batch of puppies after that... Hey maybe afterwards we can go get some ramen! How's that sound Naruto-kun?" Mayumi asked, smiling brightly.
Before he could answer Sakura grabbed her arm and started to drag her away, "And now would be a good time for you to help me with my medical-ninjutsu! Bye Naruto!"
The two girls took off running away from their male teammate.
Okay that was chapter 17, I hope it was okayish. If it wasn't please don't kill me! I have yet another poll up for this story that you can see on my profile page and it will be up for awhile but I could take it down at anytime. And the ones that I ask you not to vote on make me uncomfortable and think of suiside so PLEASE don't VOTE on those *cough* Sakura *cough*. Don't ask me why I put them up there I just felt that I should give you a wide option, I'm not going to tell you what it is on so that you must go and look for yourselves. Also I am now looking for beta. Anyways before the Author's Note becomes longer then the chapter please review/vote and to those of that do/have thank you and until the next chapter!