She felt his presence a second before she was swept up into a bone-crushing hug. Gai shouted, right into her ear, "SAKURA-CHAN! IT IS HAS BEEN SO LONG!" She could feel his tears dripping onto her shoulder and she tried to pat him on the back comfortingly.

She managed to wheeze out, "Gai-sensei, air. I require it." His arms loosened and she dropped to the ground, only a little worse for the wear. Sakura smiled up at him, "You know, I saw you a week ago."

"Ah, but every day I see your youthful face makes it that much brighter, Sakura-chan!" He beamed at her and then motioned to the three children standing behind him, waiting in various stages of impatience. Sakura was happy to see that he had been assigned the same team, knowing that his influence had been good for all of them in different ways. "This is my brand new team of excellent students. Neji, Lee and Tenten."

Intellectually, she knew that they were alive in this time, but it was still thrilling to see her once dead friends again, even as children. "Hi, I'm obviously Sakura."

Neji snorted imperiously and said nothing. I forgot how snooty he was before Naruto beat it out of him. I wonder if that job falls to me this time?

Tenten and Lee were much more polite in their greetings, though she could see that the kunoichi was slightly bemused they were meeting her at all.

"Sakura-chan is my precious first student. When we met in the Forest of Death so long ago, I knew that she was destined for great things!" Lee's eyes were shining like stars, already in awe of his great and powerful sensei.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yes, I was really a great hero then, covered in leech guts."

Tenten wrinkled her nose. "Sounds horrible."

She nodded. "Yeah, I was working on some agility training before class at the Academy and managed to get myself entangled in a nest of them. I'm sure I would have made it out just fine, but Gai-sensei showed up and practically obliterated them." The man in question just gave them a thumbs up.

Lee was astounded at the tale. "Sakura-san! You fought off giant leeches years ago? You must be as powerful as you are beautiful!"

Ah, Lee. I see he hasn't changed a bit either.

"That's very kind of you to say, Lee-san."

Neji just stared. "Why aren't you at the Academy now? It's past when classes start."

She widened her eyes dramatically. "You look like a smart boy, Neji-kun. I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually." Tenten muffled a snicker and winked at Sakura approvingly while Neji just scowled. She hadn't actually worn her hitai-ate today, so perhaps she was being a little unkind, but enabling a bad behavior was the best way for it to get worse.

"Sakura-chan graduated two years early, Neji-kun! She is truly a credit to Konoha's Will of Fire." He raised an eyebrow, his milky white eyes taking in her short stature and pink hair skeptically. Like he can judge! Look at all that hair he's got.

She smirked at him obnoxiously. "Yes, feel free to address me as Sakura-senpai. I'm sure I have lots I could teach you." Tenten was outright laughing now, slapping Lee on the back while he whisper-yelled, asking her what was so funny.

At her statement, Gai's grin got impossibly wider. "My thoughts exactly, Sakura-chan! We should all strive to learn from each other with a passion that befits a shinobi of Konoha. Will you join us for our training?"

She smiled at him fondly. "Of course, Gai-sensei. I made a deal with your Eternal Rival to be here just for that." He wibbled at her words and she braced herself for another brief, but fierce hug.

Several years with Gai and an entire year of Kakashi's sadistic punishment training had meant that the morning with his team was actually relatively easy for Sakura. Gai may have been enthusiastic, but he was peripherally aware that limits existed for other people. It wouldn't do to break his brand new team after just one week.

Sakura surveyed the three others as they gasped on the ground, though Neji was making a valiant effort to look as if he weren't. Tenten was fanning herself tiredly, sitting in the shade against the one tree on the edge of the training ground. The five of them had spent most of their time with speed and stamina exercises, with Lee's eyes becoming more and more determined as he fell behind Neji in everything their sensei had assigned them.

"Sakura-chan! Would you like to spar with me while my team regains their youthful vigor?" She looked up at the sun, calculating how much time she had left before she had to meet Ibiki for lunch. She shrugged. He always makes me wait, anyway. Might as well indulge myself in a good fight.

"Sounds good, Gai-sensei. Any conditions?"

He smiled at her. "Of course not, Sakura-chan. Come at me with all you've got!"

"You asked for it!" She blurred out of sight and attacked him head on, knowing that she could never match him in taijutsu, no matter how hard she trained. Still, she'd give his team a good show.

Gai met her blow for blow, their familiarity with one another lending them an unusual grace. At times their speed was so great that their audience of three could only make out blurs of green and pink. When she had initially moved on Gai, Neji had sat up in astonishment and activated his Byakugan to watch. He could see that while Gai's chakra was moving normally through his body, Sakura's was changing constantly with her movements, almost as if she were performing a modified style of the Hyuuga house.

Tenten and Lee had nudged themselves closer to him. "What do you see, Neji? They're so fast!" Lee was too captivated by the movements to look away, but he echoed her curiosity with a small noise.

Before he could respond, the earth shattered beneath the combatants with a bone-shuddering crack, startling the three of them into a shocked retreat. Sakura was on one knee in the middle of the crater with her fist against the ground and a grin on her face, while Gai looked over the edge at her.

"So close, Gai-sensei! One day it will happen!"

He threw his head back and laughed proudly. "Your spirit is beautiful this morning, Sakura-chan!" He immediately punctuated his statement by launching himself down into the crater with a kick aimed at her head. She blurred out of sight again and landed in front of his team, panting and smiling. Sakura pulled on the ties of her leg weights and tossed them to Lee. She said, "Hold these for me, eh?" before Gai was throwing another flurry of blows her way, faster than before.

Lee had caught the weights and immediately dropped to the ground with them, falling on his face painfully. The three looked at them curiously and Tenten recognized the fuinjutsu imprinted on the inside. "Ah, this must be a way to make them heavier without bulk! Very clever work." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I should ask Sakura where she got this."

Neji snorted. "Does it matter? Ultimately, she will always lose to Gai-sensei." The three of them looked at the still fighting pair, Sakura still failing to have landed a single significant blow on the older man.

Lee was immediately up in arms, warring between praising Gai's prowess and defending Sakura. "Neji! Do not insult Sakura-san that way!"

Tenten smiled at him dangerously. "I remember someone who didn't last five whole minutes against Gai-sensei, just a week ago. At least we could still see him beat you down then." She motioned to where the subject of their conversation was just a blur, with Sakura managing to match his speed enough to catch his powerful hits.

He scowled at her and she continued. "Plus, I've never seen either of you do that sort of damage to anything. Sakura is obviously strong. I'm glad Gai-sensei introduced us." She fiddled with the ties on the weights. "I would be nice to have another kunoichi around, even if it's only occasionally."

In the back of his mind, Neji felt a little badly about Tenten's obvious loneliness, but he said nothing. He had no comforting words for the inevitability of life's pain and suffering, having never received any during his own inescapable desolation when his father was sacrificed so many years ago. Neji only understood what it was like to endure, but he knew that Tenten would not find the sentiment reassuring. He himself was only resigned to it, rather than comforted.

They watched as Gai danced away from a punch that Sakura threw at his midsection, her fist obliterating the training posts that were behind him. Through falling shards of wood, she squinted up at the sky and called a halt.

"Sorry, Gai-sensei, I have to go meet Ibiki-san for lunch. He gets cranky if I don't visit often enough."

"I understand, Sakura-chan! Your presence is like a balm to the soul. You should share it with everyone!" She rolled her eyes and waved goodbye to him, intent on picking up her weights and leaving.

Lee jumped up at her approach. "Sakura-san! You're an angel of the training grounds! Please be my girlfriend!"

Her eyes widened, but to Neji and Tenten's surprise, she smiled. Yep, he definitely hasn't changed a bit. At least he's got more to go on than my looks this time.

"I'm sorry, Lee-san, but I'm not interested in dating right now."

Lee nodded vigorously and said, "I understand. I will train until I can become worthy of your love!"

"That's not exactly-" she was cut off by Gai's raucous laughter. He's going to encourage this, I just know it.

"Lee! My student, how the springtime of your youth shines! Come, team, let's celebrate this new love with a lively race around Konoha!"

Tenten handed Sakura her weights with a smile. "Feel free to come around whenever you like, Sakura. Your company is more than welcome, considering what I've been stuck with."

Sakura snorted. "I totally understand. One day, I'll take you to meet my team and maybe then we could run off together instead." Tenten giggled and left to meet up with Lee and Gai, who were already running in place. Sakura felt eyes on her back and turned to see Neji staring at her unblinkingly, his Byakugan still active.

"Don't be creepy, Neji-kun. If you have questions, senpai is always here for you."

He frowned. "Your chakra is strange."

"How rude, Neji-kun! Next you'll tell me my hair is ugly."

"I meant that you use it strangely. Who trained you?"

Sakura faked a concerned look. "Weren't you listening when Gai-sensei introduced me as his precious first student?" He kept frowning and staring. God, those Hyuuga eyes are unnerving. "A girl has her secrets, Neji-kun. I can't give everything away."

If anything, his frown intensified and she was tempted to warn him against premature wrinkles. "I will find out."

It was getting late and she really needed to see Ibiki, so she just let it go and shrugged. "Okay, whatever you say." Her blasé attitude was exactly the opposite of what he had expected and it annoyed him even more. "Your team is waiting."

He pointed at her and said, "Next time we meet, you're going to fight me."

Was he always such a drama queen as a kid? God, maybe I should leave the sense-beating to Naruto again.

"Mm. Goodbye, Neji-kun." Sakura shunshined out of the training ground toward T&I, leaving him dramatically pointing at a swirl of leaves.

"You're late, kid."

She whined at him. "Ibiki-san, take pity on me! I just had my first encounter with the Hyuuga kind and he was all sorts of awful!"

He chewed his barbecue slowly, savoring the fact that he hadn't had to fight her for any of it yet that day. She had thrown herself into the booth minutes ago with her head in her hands and hadn't even picked up her chopsticks. He knew it was only a matter of time before she was snatching up all the best pieces.

"Did he do anything I need to murder him for?"

"What? No," she looked up from the table. "And I can do my own murdering, thanks."

"Then why are you whining at me instead?"

She rolled her eyes and finally broke apart her chopsticks. "Because for some strange reason, killing indiscriminately is heavily frowned upon in Konoha." She snagged a piece of beef away from his side of the grill with practiced ease and then said thoughtfully, "And most places, really. Except maybe Mist."

Ibiki grunted. "So what happened?"

"I met Gai-sensei's team today. He's got a little mini-me, a really nice kunoichi and a snotty Hyuuga. What were they thinking when they matched them up?"

"I hear that Gai's little doppleganger can't use genjutsu or ninjutsu at all. They probably needed to balance out the obvious genius of the Hyuuga."

Sakura muttered, "And poor Tenten was just shoved in there with no consideration for her talents, I'm sure."

Ibiki shrugged. "You're probably right. The number of kunoichi who stick through the Academy is pretty small compared to the boys who are just raring to go out and fight things immediately. Many times the girls are used as a buffer. Almost all of the jonin chosen to be teachers are shinobi too."

Sakura considered his words, thinking about her generation's set of teams. Ino's team had been the only one with a truly polarizing kunoichi and she had attributed that more to the village's insistence on creating another powerful Ino-Shika-Cho combination squad rather than any sense of "balance". Even Sakura's younger self hadn't been too concerned with being a true kunoichi until reality had knocked down the door to her idyllic fantasyland and shown her death and betrayal.

Ibiki had taken advantage of her thoughtful silence and stole a slice of pork belly. He pointed his chopsticks at her rudely. "It's too bad, y'know. Kunoichi are generally better with my department." He squinted his eyes in thought. "Unless they're like Anko."

"Ibiki-san, I don't think there's anyone like Anko."

"And the world should be grateful."

A week later, Sakura was taking a break while watching Naruto and Sasuke attempt to work together with their elemental affinities. It had been her idea, but it had been weeks since she could remember a day without some sort of scorch mark or burn to heal. She was honestly starting to hate herself for the suggestion.

"Sakura!" She saw Tenten's hair and eyes peeping out of one of the bushes near her. "Help me!"

Curious, she looked around before crouching down and whispering, "What's wrong, Tenten?"

"Gai-sensei put me and Neji against himself and Lee in an Epic Shinobi-Style Hide-And-Seek Battle of the Century." Sakura could just hear the capital letters as Tenten imitated her sensei's dramatic voice. "Neji just skived off without me and I figured, I'm kunoichi, why not use every resource I know?"

"That resource would be me, yeah?"

"Of course! Will you help?"

Sakura grinned. "Let's do this." She stood up and shouted to the boys. "Hey! I'm going to do girl stuff now! Stay here unless you wanna hear all the details!" There were general shouts of horror and frantic agreements sent her way. She bent back down and said, "That ought to keep them away for a while. They're such babies about it. Honestly, you'd think a shinobi would be used to the idea of blood."

Tenten giggled, a little embarrassed. "I hate to think about Gai-sensei's reaction …" They both shuddered and Sakura clapped her on the shoulder.

"Okay, first I'm going to use a genjutsu on us as we move, because I heard Lee is terrible at seeing through those. It will just be a light one, since I don't have anything strong enough to fool Gai-sensei and I don't want to waste my chakra." Tenten watched as she formed four hand seals quickly and felt the illusion slide over her smoothly. "Don't move more than ten feet away from me or you'll fall outside my range."

"Got it. Can you teach me that technique after we win?"

Sakura grinned at her confidence and said, "Of course! I'm all about sharing with my fellow kunoichi." She tapped her temple and said, "But don't bother using it on Neji. Those creepy eyes of his will unfortunately see right through you."

Tenten sighed. "He isn't called a prodigy for nothing."

"Bah, being a prodigy is no excuse for such a poor personality." The brunette tried to stifle her laughter as Sakura nudged them in the direction of the Nara Forest. She knew that Shikaku wouldn't mind if they took refuge there for a short time, especially if she fed the deer before leaving. Tenten hesitated at the edge, aware that it was off-limits and Sakura waved her in. "C'mon, I know a guy who knows a guy. We're okay to be in here."

Tenten brightened. "I knew you'd be the perfect resource!" They walked through the forest quietly and Sakura signaled her to stop when she felt the herd close by. She pulled out one of her oat-based ration bars and split it in half, giving one part to Tenten.

"Hold your hand out and just stay still. Let them come to you." She stood next to her, hand in the same position. A large doe approached Sakura first, obviously familiar with her presence. Once they determined that Tenten wasn't a threat, her fawns arrived on coltish legs and nibbled at their fingers. The girls stroked their downy necks carefully once the ration bars were gone, until a loud shout spooked them into fleeing.

Sakura raised an eyebrow and said, "Sounds like Gai-sensei and Lee are within oh, several miles of us."

Tenten was slightly panicked. "I'm sure Neji hasn't been caught yet! What do we do?"

Sakura just tugged her arm further into the forest. "Don't worry, I have a plan. How good are your bunshins?"

"I graduated, didn't I?"

"Fair enough. Make as many as you can and I'll create some henge'd ones as well. Show me all the weapons and equipment you have on you - we're going to hide some surprises."

Tenten's eyes gleamed. "I like the sound of that!"

"Gai-sensei, it's been two hours and I haven't found either of them! Our team is strong!"

"It is indeed, Lee! I have been very blessed with such a youthful team as my first!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Lee spotted a fast moving pink blur and recognized Tenten's shirt. "Ah, but it looks like Tenten's luck has run out now!" He moved to intercept her, but before he could, Gai-sensei was pulling him back his collar and Lee watched in disbelief as his teammate exploded all over him, raining down kunai and- "Cherry blossoms?"

Gai laughed loudly. "Looks like Tenten has enlisted Sakura-chan as an ally! Now we're really in for a vigorous chase."

Lee clasped his hands together joyously. "Sakura-san is playing? Today really is a great day!"

Gai let Lee lead them on a merry chase after Tenten for several hours, with his student never realizing that his real teammate was on the Hokage monument, watching herself explode with interest. In that time, they had accidentally stumbled on Neji, who Lee had forgotten about in his excitement.

Neji had entered into a meditative state to stave off the boredom of hiding and was startled by Lee tackling Tenten's bunshin, where it dissolved into a heavy fog and started to strangle him. The Hyuuga had activated his Byakugan automatically when surprised and dismissed the obvious genjutsu, alerting Lee to his presence. "Neji! I have found you out!"

He sighed. "It's more like I let you find me. This was getting tedious."

Gai appeared as if out of thin air. "Ah, but that is only because you did not participate with the same spirit that young Tenten has employed! She has even found a partner!"

Lee nodded in agreement. "Sakura-san is truly a great kunoichi, to aid Tenten in our most glorious battle for Hide-And-Seek Champion!"

Neji grit his teeth at the mention of the girl, the new bane of his existence, though she was unaware of it. He had suffered through Lee and Tenten's conversations about the pink-haired annoyance for the entire past week, until he thought he would explode. Tenten was interested in the tanto that she had seen Sakura wear and wondered about her fuinjutsu weights. Lee was interested in Sakura's everything, alternately sighing disgustingly and determinedly training to "gain the right to her heart!"

He used his Byakugan to look through Konoha for Tenten's now familiar chakra presence, scanning for a few moments before spotting her sitting on the Yondaime's head. "She's over there."

Gai clapped him on the shoulder, tone serious for once. "Ah, Neji-kun. It's not good to turn on your teammate like that. You were supposed to help one another."

He felt frustrated. "This game has gone on long enough, Gai-sensei. Besides, our presence together would have been twice as obvious a target. It was a better strategy to split up."

His teacher nodded, "Yes, that seems logical. Tell me, would you have helped Tenten get away before Lee saw her?"

"Only if I could do it without getting caught."

"Ah. I see." Gai was still uncharacteristically quiet and Neji actually felt slightly nervous, uncomfortably so. "It seems we still have a ways to go as a team, Neji-kun."

Gai turned and pointed. "To the monument!" Before Neji could question him, Gai and Lee were gone. He sighed and followed. When he arrived, his teammates were talking excitedly, with Tenten using large arm motions to punctuate her conversation. Gai and Sakura were nowhere in sight.

"Where's Gai-sensei?" They still needed to be dismissed by their superior before they could technically leave for home.

Tenten answered, refusing to look at him. "He dragged Sakura off to have a 'Very Important Discussion of Team Dynamics' as soon as he arrived with Lee." She crossed her arms impatiently. "More importantly, Lee tells me you gave me up to them using your Byakugan. What gives, Neji? I know you didn't want me around, but you didn't have to tell them where I was!"

He was startled. "Didn't want you around? Tenten, it was better if we split up. We agreed on that at the beginning."

His teammate pointed a finger at him angrily. "No, you agreed on that at the beginning and then disappeared! I didn't even get a say in it." Lee was looking between the two of them helplessly, not sure how to solve the dilemma in front of him. Tenten continued. "Did you ever even think that I could be helpful to you in this at all?"

Neji didn't want to lie, though he knew it would be what she wanted to hear, so his answer was a little weak. "Yes?"

Tenten was not appeased. "Yeah, right. Neji, we're supposed to be a team! Lee gave his all to this exercise and you probably just went and did whatever it is you do, not that you tell us anything about yourself!"

Now he was starting to get a little angry too. "What about you? If this was a team exercise, why did you go off and find Sakura immediately? She's not even part of this!"

Tenten sniffed. "There were no rules that said I couldn't use any resource I had available. I did what I needed to win, since my teammate was no help."

"Neji! Tenten! Please don't fight!" Lee was wringing his hands now, clearly upset.

Tenten patted him on the arm consolingly, though she still glared angrily at Neji. "It's okay, Lee. Sometimes fights have to happen, if people aren't willing to talk about their issues before it becomes a problem."

Neji snorted. "Oh, did Sakura-senpai tell you that?"

"Actually, I figured it out all by myself, but thanks for the vote of confidence, Neji-kun." Tenten sagged, clearly exhausted by the argument. "Look, can we just agree on working together the next time Gai-sensei throws us into one of these things?"

"If it gets you to stop badgering me, fine."

From behind him, Neji heard, "Well, it's a start." Sakura and Gai had managed to sneak up on them as he and Tenten were arguing. He eyed them suspiciously.

"A start of what?"

Sakura grinned at him just as obnoxiously as he remembered and shouted, "Why, the start of beautiful, youthful teamwork! It is truly wonderful to see the power of friendship and love!"

Tenten rolled her eyes, but Gai and Lee nodded fervently. "Well said, Sakura-chan! We will become greater than ever!" The older man smiled at her. "We will definitely beat my Eternal Rival with our teamwork!"

Sakura waggled a finger at him. "Don't you start with that, Gai-sensei. Team 7 is the best around, even if they are a bunch of idiots."

As if on cue, they could all hear someone shout "SAKURA-CHAAAAAAAAN!" from below the monument. The group looked down to see Naruto waving frantically at her while Sasuke and Kakashi stood nearby, watching the blonde with variations of resignation and amused annoyance.

Sakura just laughed. "Oops! Looks like it's dinnertime. I'm going to make the boys take me out tonight." She nudged Tenten and stage-whispered. "See? There are some benefits." Sakura turned to jump, but looked at Gai seriously for a moment. "Don't forget what I said, sensei. I think it will help in the long run."

He nodded back to her just as solemnly. "Of course, Sakura-chan. You are wise beyond your years." She disappeared over the edge of the monument and Lee skittered over to see her hop gracefully on the rocks to land beside Naruto, where she pinched his cheeks fondly, if somewhat painfully. The four of them headed toward the restaurant area of town without much further discussion, already anticipating Sakura's request.

"I say we celebrate our newfound collaboration!" Tenten and Neji groaned, already knowing that Gai's idea of celebration usually included handstands and races and sore muscles. Lee's eyes were sparkling as usual, but even he was surprised when Gai said, "To Yakiniku Q!"

Tenten boggled at him for a moment and then grinned at Neji and Lee, her earlier ire replaced by happy enthusiasm. "This could be the start of a beautiful team after all."

Note: Neji is hard to write, you guys.

As always, comments & reviews are highly appreciated.