Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter 4

Sorry for the wait but here it is! Chapter 4

By the time they arrived at Tazuna's small house, Kakashi immediately collapsed on a futon laid out by the bridge builder's daughter.

Sakura shook her head disapprovingly. It was so like him to over use his sharingan and collapse due to fatigue. She vaguely remembered the scared look on his face when she lectured him for two hours straight on the over usage of his sharingan after the Gaara rescue mission.

"What's wrong with him? He was fine just a moment ago." Naruto asked as he poked the sleeping silver haired man in the arm.

"He over used his sharingan and the fatigue just caught up with him." Sakura whispered as she pulled Naruto and Sasuke out of the room.

"Tch."

Sakura and Naruto both turned towards the Uchiha who had a small sneer on his face.

"What's your problem, Teme?" Naruto glared at his rival.

Casting a glance at the sleeping jounin, Sasuke scoffed again. "Fatigue after that brief usage of the sharingan? Tch."

"TEME YO-" Sakura clamped a hand over the blond's mouth and gave him a glare.

"Shush Naruto." She angrily whispered. Once Naruto fell silent, she turned her attention over to Sasuke. "Are you saying Kakashi-sensei is weak?" Her voice held a slight edge to it.

Sasuke gave the girl an impassive stare. "…"

"Are you?" Her tone grew quieter. Naruto stared between his two teammates with a curious expression.

"Hn." He turned to leave.

Sakura stared at the retreating back of the Uchiha. All of this seemed so familiar, it was exactly like the night he left. All she could do was stare at his back as he left her and the village behind. Her words at that time meant nothing to him.

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"You don't regret leaving do you?" It wasn't a question. She watched as his steps falter, without turning around he replied.

"No."

"You could have gotten stronger if you've stayed." Her voice slightly cracked. Why was it that everything that came out of the Uchiha's mouth, hurt her in some sort of way.

"Not likely"

"Itachi did." She watched as Sasuke completely stopped walking, she felt his chakra spike warning her to stop but she paid no attention to the signals. The only thing she wanted him to feel right now was regret for leaving the village. A part of her had always believed that Sasuke would come to regret all the decisions he had made, but it seemed as though even though they were given a second chance the barrier between Sasuke and the team was stronger than ever. "I may not have known everything that happened between you and him, but it was Konoha who got custody of the body. He was dying from an illness...so in the end you still were never able to truly beat your brother."

Sharingan activated, he turned and gave her a warning glare. "Sakura…"

It was her turn to sneer. "In the end Sasuke, while you went off to train with a criminal and you supposedly got 'stronger,' you never stood a chance against Itachi, the man who became ANBU at 17 solely from receiving training in Konoha." She mentally willed herself to shut up. This wasn't helping repair their broken bonds. But still, she couldn't stop herself, she wanted to through to him even if it meant using underhand methods.

She could feel his chakra completely going wild. Even Naruto felt the uneasiness of his rival's chakra and was trying to tug her away. Pulling her hand out of Naruto's grasp, she walked over to Sasuke. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that regret it or not. You made a dumb decision going off to Orochimaru. After all that man was pathetically scared of Itachi."

Next thing Sakura knew was that she was roughly slammed against the wall of the hallway, a hand tightly wrapped around her arm. "How could you be so certain that I would have gotten stronger if I had remained in Konoha?" He seethed. The three tomoe in his sharingan spinning faster.

Sakura glared right back. "And how could you have been so certain that you wouldn't have?" With minimal chakra she shoved the pissed Uchiha off of her. Watching with slight satisfaction with he collided with the opposite wall. "Oh and the reason why Kakashi-sensei becomes tired from over usage of the sharingan more so than you, is because of the fact that he isn't an Uchiha by blood. For any shinobi that isn't an Uchiha it'll be damn near impossible for them to even use the sharingan. Yet, Kakashi-sensei was able to use it and evolve it into the kamui form. So don't you dare look down on us Konoha shinobis."

"…"

"The reason we may seem weak to you, is because whenever we fought against you we never gave it our best. Despite everything we still saw you as our comrade, and we have values that prevent us from harming our comrades." Lowering her voice so only Sasuke could hear, she lean in. "The reason why you always beat Naruto was because he never took the fights seriously. You were his brother, his family, there was no way he could ever seriously fight you." She saw the doubt in him eyes. He still doesn't believe her. "You don't know this, but Naruto single handedly stopped the Pein invasion in Konoha. He took on the many followers of Pein and defeated Pein all by himself, and he was barely injured. After this he went to find Nagato another Akatsuki member and saved Konoha...All. By. Himself...oh and where did Naruto receive his training?" In a mocking fashion she tapped a chin in a thoughtful look. "That's right Konoha!"

"Why are you even tell me all this? Are you trying to get me to beg for an apology? It's not like you can change the fact that I had left." His lips were twisted upwards in a sneer, while his tone came out as mocking and sarcastic.

Sakura gritted her teeth. She seriously wanted to beat some sense into him or at least slap him, but knowing how he'd probably dodge, she vouched for glaring at him. "I'm not asking for any of that. I don't want or need an apology. The only thing I want is for you to stop belittling Konoha and it's shinobis. To stop seeing yourself as being stronger than every one in this village, because news flash Sasuke, you're not."

"Why the hell do you care?"

Her eyes softened. "Because I care about you, and what you think of team 7 and Konoha. Call me weak or annoying, but I want you to find a family in team 7 and a home in Konoha. You didn't give our team or Konoha a chance the first time round, so give us a chance this time." She stared at his impassive face and sighed. Sometimes she wished she could just take a step back and not care about him so much. It would make her life a hell of a lot easier

Turning around she grabbed a stunned Naruto and dragged him out of the house.

"Eh? Sakura-chan?"

"We're going to train."

"EH?!"

Sasuke pushed himself off the wall, stuffing his hand into his pockets he also left the bridge builder's house. A scowl present on his face, as he glared at the setting sun. Why the hell did she have to care so much? He wasn't her brother or boyfriend so why does she have to care so much for him.

It seemed like no matter what he did to her, how much he pushed her away or how much he hurt her, she would always find some way to forgive him. 'Annoying girl'

Angrily he kicked a small stone and watched it embed itself into a nearby tree trunk.

He had always been so clear and focused on his objectives yet, she always found some sort of way to make him doubt himself. It had been like this the first time round, when he had vowed to kill Itachi. That goal had been so precisely set in his mind and nothing could change it, yet she and Naruto managed to find a way for him to momentarily forget his vendetta with Itachi.

It was the same this time...

When he had found out a few days ago that he was given a new chance to change the future, he had a goal in mind. He had everything planned out. He was going to find Itachi and in the process of doing so he planned on remaining unattached. Yet, within two days she managed to tear up his plan. Within two days she managed to convince him into telling her about his clan. The bonds he didn't plan on having this time round formed yet again.

The orangey red hue colored the horizon, as a cool breeze rolled though the air. He sighed, why was it that every time Sakura asked him something he would always explain himself to her? It was like this the first time, in the midst of war, he explained his motives for helping Konoha - not in detail - but nonetheless he explained himself more so to her than anyone else.

Running a hand though his hair, he stared off into the sky. It seemed like no matter how much he tried to break these bonds or not form these bonds, they would always find a way into his life.

The gods were probably laughing at him, because no matter what he did, no matter how many chances he was given, his life would always find a way to become intertwined with Sakura's and Naruto's, it would always find a way to form a bond with them, no matter how much he tried to prevent it.

Pinching the ridge of his nose in annoyance, he fell back against the soft grass. Closing his eyes he slowly fell into a deep sleep, something he hasn't been able to do since he had left Konoha for Orochimaru.

"READ MY MOVEMENTS" Sakura shouted to Naruto, when he had failed to evade another one of her punches.

Rubbing his butt, Naruto stood up again. The determined look on his face never leaving.

Walking towards the blond, Sakura placed a hand on his shoulder. "Naruto, every ninja have little quirks, whether it's favoring a certain hand or a foot. As we progress in the ranks, we learn to hide these quirks better, but they never disappear. So, you have to study your opponent and find out what their quirks are." She lectured her the same way Tsunade had did to her when she first started training under the hokage. "Now, let's try again."

Jumping backwards, Sakura pull out three shurikens from her ninja pack and threw them at Naruto, who deflected them with a kunai.

"KAGE-BUSHIN NO JUTSU." Ten Narutos surrounded Sakura. All together they launched themselves at the pink haired girl, who smirked and flexed her fingers. Turning her body, she dodged a fist flying towards her face. Raising her leg, she aimed a kick at a near by clone. It poof-ed on impact.

Gliding through the clones she destroyed all of them. Once all the smoke cleared the real Naruto emerged, slightly panting.

"Pay attention!" Sakura leaped towards Naruto and aimed her fist at his chest. Cerulean eyes widened when he saw the flurry of pink hurl towards him. Diving out of the way, he barely managed to dodge her attack. The ground where he stood just moments ago slightly cracked.

Flattening her hand on the ground, she hoisted herself into a handstand and launched her feet at Naruto who just got up. The force behind her kick send him flying to a tree.

"Dodge Naruto, dodge." Sakura shouted again, as she watched Naruto push himself off from the tree, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Grabbing a kunai from his ninja pouch he made another ten clones. Letting out a war cry, he ran towards the pink haired girl once again. Once he was nearing her, he threw the kunai, all the clones soon followed his action.

"Kawarimi no jutsu" Sakura muttered, as her body turned into a log. The kunais lodged themselves into the log.

Naruto cursed, and he reached for another kunai and got into a defensive stance again.

"SHANNARO!"

The boy looked up to see his female teammate with her leg outstretched ready to slam down on him.

Jumping out of the way, he created another clone and threw that clone at Sakura who slammed down on the ground.

"HA." Naruto gave a victory shout, when his clone landed a hit on the girl.

"Good job Naruto." Sakura smiled at the eager blond boy, as she healed the small bruise that formed on her cheek from the Naruto clone.

"That was awesome!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran towards the girl. "Where did you learn to fight like that?"

"Training." Sakura said as she scanned the boy's body for any injuries that needed to be healed. A brow raised when she saw that all the wounds inflicted on him was already starting to heal. 'Wow the kyuubi chakra is really incredible.'

"Good teamwork, helping each other train."

Naruto and Sakura turned towards the new voice. A silver haired man emerged from the shadows, a twinkle present in his visible eye.

It was night by the time he woke up. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up from the futon. Groggily he stared around at the small room.

"Are you awake, Kakashi-san?"

Turning to his left, he gave a nod to the short raven haired female, who placed a cup of tea down by his side. Giving her a small thanks, he reached for the hot liquid. "Where's my team?"

"I think they went into the back forest to train."

Placing down the cup, he swung his leg off the bed. Quickly putting on his blue sandals, he stood up. "I guess I'll go find them."

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When he stepped out the small house, he briefly enjoyed the night breeze. Placing his hands on the back of his head, he walked down the wooden steps of the bridge builder's house. Once he walked across the grassy front yard, he noticed through his peripheral vision a sleeping Uchiha.

Cautiously walking over to his sleeping student he crouched down.

"Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty"

He watched in amusement when the usually stoic Uchiha eyes widened as he immediately shot straight up.

"I hate you." Sasuke's widened eyes returned back to their normal size, as he gave his teacher a light glare.

Chuckling Kakashi stood up. "I'm hurt." He placed a hand mockingly over his heart. "Let's go find the rest of out team."

"Aa" Sasuke grunted, as he hoisted himself up. It shocked him, how he didn't feel Kakashi sneak up on him. After those years of training with Orochimaru, he was sure that he honed his senses so sharply that any sound or any change in environment were signs of danger that easily roused him from his sleep. Yet, it seems that despite all this, his body still blatantly dismisses team 7 as threats.

And this slightly bothered him...

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The two ninja walked in complete silence as they trudged through the thick forest. In the not so far distance they could hear the sound of kunais clashing.

Kakashi had a small smile behind his mask when he felt the chakra of his other two students.

Once they approached the pair, Kakashi noted the tired, but excited look on Naruto's face and the soft smile on Sakura's face.

"Good teamwork, helping each other train"

The two heads of his students turned towards him. Large grins spread across their faces.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU'RE UP!" Naruto shouted as the silver haired jounin and his rival got near. "Guess what Sakura-chan taught me!"

"Oh?" An interested brow raised. "What?"

"WATCH!" Naruto turned to face the tall oak tree before him. Gathering chakra to his feet, he ran towards it. When his feet touched the truck, the bark on the tree cracked and he fell head first on the ground.

"Concentrate Naruto." Sakura reprimanded as she helped him up. Giving her a sheepish laugh, Naruto prepared for a second go at it. This time without losing concentration, he ran up the tree to it's highest branch.

"SEE, HOW AWESOME I AM! NEXT THING YOU KNOW I'LL BE WALKING ON AIR-" his shout was cut short when his foot slipped.

"NARUTO!" Two worried shouts and one worried look crossed the three observers on the ground.

"HAHAHA, YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN YOUR SCARED FACES!" Naruto shouted again, as he was hanging upside down on the branch. "I'M THE GREAT-" This time he actually did loose footing on the branch, and he was soon barreling from the tree.

"Shit!" Sakura and Kakashi both raced towards the tree, but instead it was Sasuke who blew past the both of them, and ran up the tree first. Once he was nearing the falling slash screaming blond, he leaped of the tree and grabbed the blond, before zig zag-ing down. When he touched down on the clearing, he dropped the kitsune and dusted of his hands.

"Dobe."

The shocked expression left Naruto face and was soon replaced by one of anger. "WHAT'D YA SAY?"

"Dobe, dobe." Sasuke smirked at the furious expression on the blond's face.

"WHY YOU STUPID TEME I-" Naruto was cut off but a smack on the back of the head.

"ARE YOU STUPID NARUTO, YOU COULD HAVE DIED!" Sakura grabbed the collar of Naruto's obnoxious orange jumpsuit and shook the scared boy. "WHAT, DO YOU JUST NOT THINK? AND WHAT DID I TELL YOU ABOUT KEEPING CONCENTRATION!"

Kakashi watched the three genins with an amused look. He saw the smug look on Sasuke's face, the pissed but worried expression on Sakura's and the 'ready-to-pee-himself' look on the blond's.

Staring up at the full moon that hung in the night sky, he held back a chuckle.

'Maybe they aren't so bad as a team.'

So done this chapter!

btw anyone read the latest Naruto chapter such a nice bonding moment for Naruto and Sasuke, especially Naruto and Sasuke's expression after Naruto's failed attempt at unleashing the kyuubi's power. HAHAHA

and anyone here watch Free! that swimming anime? because if anyone is, can someone please explain to me WHAT THE FUCK IS REI THINKING GOING INTO THE FUCKING OCEAN LIKE THAT? I swear to god if he gets Makoto or Haru killed I'll murder him myself.

Anyways for those who's anticipating a sasusaku moment it's going to be awhile, BUT there will be many subtle moments between them if you look carefully.

And as always thank you for reading. Please review :D