Her Experience Chapter 25: Bell Test II, a naruto fanfic

A/N: Sorry it's been a bit, I was working on my other fanfiction, KPD: Case Files, as well as some original stuff and also I'm in the middle of a weird moving situation so it's been a bit rough. Anyway, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it!

"Inner Sakura..."

"Sakura's thoughts..."

Memories...

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Orochimaru stared out at the sea of unconscious bodies littering the field. Some twitched here and there, but none could rise and continue to fight. Almost all were definitely, unquestionably, unconscious. It hadn't even taken him three minutes…he hadn't broken a sweat either. Sasuke was progressing quite nicely. But there was one thing that was troubling him.

"No fatal blows." He observed quietly.

Sasuke glanced back at him coldly. He really hated that demon snake and couldn't wait until he had enough power to leave. He was almost there…just a little bit more and he could be rid of that slimy creep.

"They aren't the ones I want to kill." Sasuke answered drawled coldly. Of course he'd never reveal it to anyone, especially Orochimaru…he barely even acknowledged it himself, but if he survived his battle with Itachi…he wanted to go back. To Naruto, Kakashi…he wanted to go back to Sakura. And killing Itachi was one thing, but he didn't think he'd be able to face his light and good teammates if he killed anyone else. He never set out to be a murderer. The idea of killing really was distasteful. Aside from his vengeance, he was dead set on not murdering anyone.

"You're still too soft…I'm surprised, Sasuke-kun. When we met three years ago today, I thought you'd be more…vicious." Orochimaru hissed softly. It was a little frustrating. He'd expected Sasuke to be more blood thirsty than this, but…he seemed to have his own code. And was one track minded. Sasuke was proving a bit harder to manipulate than he'd originally thought, but none of that mattered. Soon. Soon Sasuke would be ready, and once he took over Sasuke's body, the boy's will and honor code would no longer matter.

"Are we done?" Sasuke asked sharply, his mind latching on to the last part of Orochimaru's statement.

"For now…"

Sasuke sheathed his sword and swept back to the hideout. Once in his room, he sat down heavily on the bed. If he and Orochimaru met three years ago today, that meant it was three years ago today the first chunin exam took place, and the second exam started…that meant it was March 28…He didn't really keep track of the days or dates. If Orochimaru hadn't mentioned it, he wouldn't have known. But that date, from that one passing comment three years before the start of their first exam, was burned into his head. It was Sakura's birthday. He'd been doing a very good job of not sparing more than a briefly passing thought to team 7, or Sakura more specifically. Naruto was safer to let occupy his mental space because Naruto came with feelings of rivalry that he could translate into further motivation. But Sakura was a bigger risk to allow into his mind, because with Sakura came a desire to go back to Konoha to see her again. She came with the desire to simply sit down, abandon his training, and think about her more. If and when Sakura entered his mind, the few times she had, it was exclusively at night in his dreams, when there was no training to be done in the first place. But for the first time in a very long time, he allowed himself to think about her in the daylight hours, his eyes landing on the pink petals decorating the crane on the nightstand.

Was she celebrating her birthday for once, or had she forgotten it again? Naruto, Kakashi and that blond girl she was friends with must have reminded her…they wouldn't let her forget. But was she ok? It wouldn't be her first birthday without her mother—he hadn't been keeping track or awareness of the others, but still, birthdays without family were never easy. He knew that. Of course, all that presupposed she was still alive, which she very well may not be, a dark cold voice whispered. Sakura's maximum life expectancy, assuming her lifestyle as a ninja was still the same, was sixteen at most. She was fifteen today. There was a good chance she hadn't even made it that long…everything inside him felt icy at the mere thought.

"No…she can control it." He whispered, his fists tightening. "She'll survive. She has too. I asked her to…" He stared at the crane, which for the past two and some years, only brought up memories of his mother. Today though, a different, distant, memory came to mind.

Maybe it'll bring you something good.

He didn't know what sort of magic or superstition powered the crane, if any at all. But if it brought him anything, he hoped it was this: that Sakura continued to survive. That if by some miracle, he survived his showdown with Itachi, she would still be alive for him to go back to.

Itachi…Sasuke blinked. The thoughts he'd just allowed himself were dangerous. If he encountered Itachi tomorrow, the Tsukuyomi could invade those thoughts and his brother would know exactly how much Sakura meant to him…she'd be in danger. Or it didn't even have to be Itachi. Orochimaru had plenty of ways to break people. And if Orochimaru knew how his vessel desired to be reunited with her, after accomplishing his revenge…Sasuke considered himself strong enough to resist the sanin's methods, but he didn't want to take any chances. Not with Sakura's life.

He might not be able to keep himself from dreaming of her on occasion…but he'd never let his mind linger on her again in his waking hours. Not until it was safe to do so.

Time felt like it was simultaneously passing slowly and far too quickly for Sakura. Her birthday—the first she actually celebrated on time with team(s) Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai, (Kakashi had been on a mission…again)—had come and gone. It had been fun celebrating her birthday for the first time in a very long time, but even with the crowd of friends, she couldn't help acutely feeling the Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi shaped holes in the group. Other teams had been there celebrating with her, but not her own. And that brought an ache with it, the power of which she hadn't felt since taking the chunin exams a few months back without them. At least Kakashi tried to make up for missing it. When he'd come to find her after he got back, he took her out to a much nicer place than their usual "team dinners" to celebrate, and got her a gift as well: a new, much bigger weapons pouch that came with padded, organizational pockets. He'd told her she'd probably have more to carry, now that she was a medical kunoichi, what with antidotes, scrolls, jutsu formula, senbon, bandages, ointments, and who knew what else. He'd also gotten her some more decorative origami paper, which had confused Sakura at first. She hadn't mentioned that she continued her practice of folding paper cranes out of paper scraps and food wrappers when she had the time. She hadn't mentioned that to anyone. The only ones who knew were Tsunade and Ino, who'd caught her in the act—maybe one of them had mentioned it to him. She no longer needed a wish from the gods to heal her mother, but if it brought Sasuke back safe and with the closure he needed…if it kept the Akatsuki from getting to Naruto…it would never be enough on its own. She knew that. It was why she'd never put too much stock in it, not now, and not when it was for her mother. She had to train and work hard to make sure the worst never came about, and she did—but a little extra help from the gods couldn't hurt. All and all, while she never blamed or held his absence against him, Kakashi had redeemed himself for missing her birthday.

The days felt like they dragged by slowly, but Sakura was acutely aware of the speeding clock. The deadline for when the Akatsuki would start making a move on Naruto again was fast encroaching, if that intel had been accurate to begin with. And with it, came the other deadline: Orochimaru would be able to preform the body switch soon—a little more than half a year, and Sasuke would no longer be Sasuke. She was getting antsy.

And her antsiness was starting to get on Tsunade's last nerve, as she watched the girl pace around her office. After they'd finished her morning conditioning, which was pretty much the only training for her left to do at the moment, she was supposed to be helping Tsunade with paperwork before heading to her hospital shift. But Sakura's awareness of the ticking clock had her far less focused, and far more anxious than usual. Tsunade was glad she hadn't mentioned that Jiraya was on his way back with Naruto and that they should be arriving soon—Sakura might have suffered an aneurism from the anxiety and worry about his travel home.

"Weren't you supposed to be helping me with the mountains of paperwork I have?"

"The Akatsuki were going to make another move against Naruto in three years—or was it a little under that? That would make now their ideal time to attack! What if they already have?! Why wait three years and let Naruto get stronger?" Sakura pondered out loud, completely ignoring Tsunade's rhetorical question.

"If you keep pacing like that, you'll wear out your shoes."

"At least we know Orochimaru can't speed up his clock. He has to wait the full three years before he can use the body switching jutsu again. Sasuke-kun's probably been tortured and experimented on by that disgusting sadist in the mean time, but what if the Akastuki moved their timeline up?"

"Sakura." Tsunade cut in sharply, making the pink haired fifteen year old jump a little.

"Shishou?"

"What makes you think Sasuke's being experimented on?" Sakura had never revealed to Tsunade that she knew about Orochimaru's human experimentation. She wasn't supposed to know because she wasn't supposed to have seen his file.

"I need to come up with something, fast!"

"That's just what he does, right? The curse mark he gave Sasuke-kun was something he invented…it had to be, because I couldn't find any scrolls or books about it. That means it has to be something new, or a variation on something unique to him, that only he discovered…Based on my observations of how it effected Sasuke-kun, it's some sort of chakra-toxin mix that integrates itself with and reacts to the cursed party's chakra system to give them huge unrivaled power at the cost of their own body, like a parasite. The lack of records implies that it's his creation, and he would have had to have experimented to come up with it…given his personality and view that humans, even his own subordinates, are expendable…it's not hard to believe that he'd use humans as his test subjects." She reasoned out, feeling sick to her stomach as she did so. He truly was a disgusting excuse for a human-being, and she didn't think it was possible for her to hate anyone as much as she hated Orochimaru. Even Itachi…she still felt that there was some piece of the puzzle missing with him, somethings that weren't adding up, that prevented her from hating him entirely. But Orochimaru was a pure demon incarnate, as far as she was concerned.

Tsunade stared at her long and hard. It was difficult to tell with Sakura…Tsunade's instinct was that the girl was lying—that she'd seen something she wasn't supposed to. But Sakura was smart and her reasoning was sound. Underestimating Sakura's deductive intelligence was a huge mistake, one Tsunade had prided herself on so far never making, and she really didn't want to start now. It was perfectly possible that Sakura indeed had put all of that together on her own based on her own observations and analysis. After a long moment, Tsunade sighed.

"Well…I can't say you're wrong." Of course that only made Sakura more anxious, as she resumed her pacing, even faster this time. Tsunade sighed again, rubbing at her temples to soothe her exhaustion headache. No matter how many papers she signed, why was there always another stack to go through? "If you're so set on frantically moving around, why don't you at least be productive about it and go pick up the morning pedestrian ledger from Kotetsu and Izumo at the main gate. Get out of my office if you're only gonna distract me."

Sakura stopped her pacing and stared at her mentor, noting how tired Tsunade looked. Being Hokage, head of the hospital, and having an active apprentice you were responsible for training was hard work and a lot to balance, and Sakura couldn't help but be impressed with how well Tsunade juggled everything. It was even more impressive considering how much the woman drank…the village and hospital were running well and Sakura had been unarguably well trained, which is the opposite of what you'd expect from a woman nursing a hang over four out of seven days a week. Sakura's eyes softened, her anxiety side lined in favor of lightening Tsunade's stress, if only a little.

"Me? A distraction? I'm offended." She huffed playfully.

Tsunade's honey eyes glanced up at her fondly, a dry smirk appearing on her beautiful face. She knew what Sakura was doing, and she couldn't help loving the girl for it.

"Tell that to all the boys you've got pining after you."

Sakura went tomato red. "Shishou!" She whined.

Tsunade laughed. There was nothing quite like hearing mature and serious Sakura whine and act her age. "Get going, brat."

"Yes, M'Lady." She smiled, walking out of the office. As soon as the office door shut, her smile dropped and her anxieties slid back into place.

"Sakura-Neechan!"

"Hm?" Sakura turned to see Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon running towards her. They were kids who'd always looked up to Naruto and followed him around, and now they were officially genin. "Oh, hey Konohamaru!"

"Where are you off to?" Konohamaru asked.

"The main village gate. I have to pick up the morning pedestrian traffic ledger for Tsunade-sama. You want to come?" She invited. She'd gotten to know Konohamaru very well at this point, as he and his team always showed up at the hospital with various scrapes and bruises they'd somehow managed to acquire from their D ranks—mostly Konohamaru. It was a little scary how much he resembled Naruto sometimes…speaking of…

"Konohamaru, what happened to your face?" She asked, noting the long angry red scratches marring his cheeks, nose, and forehead…it was somewhat familiar.

"We had a mission where we had to catch a cat that ran away from its owner." Moegi answered, peering up at Sakura with big purple-blue eyes. She'd thought it for a while now, but Sakura was the coolest. She was so smart, kind, and pretty! But she was strong too! She'd won her match in one of the coolest ways during the chunin exams two and a half years ago, and she'd come back from the recent chunin exams and been promoted, despite being in a support role as a medic—that meant she had to be crazy strong too! Plus she'd always known how to put boys who were acting dumb in their place—a skill Moegi really wanted to learn from her because gods did she need that with how dumb Konohamaru could be.

"A lost cat, huh?" Sakura echoed nostalgically, flooded with the memory of the similar if not exact same mission her team had been given.

Udon recounted their disastrous cat chase around Konoha, with Konohamaru and Moegi pitching in to add detail or exclamations.

"And then that Tora cat suddenly starts scratching me like crazy!" Konohamaru completed. "Can you heal it, Neechan?"

"Maybe I shouldn't, so you learn to stop causing trouble on your D-ranks." Sakura teased, crossing her arms over her chest. He really was like a mini Naruto…gods help them.

"What?! Neechan! But it'll only take you like two seconds!" Konohamaru whined. He didn't want to go around with stupid cat scratches scarring his face for the next three days—or however long it took them to go away on their own. Beside him, Moegi started giggling. Sakura really did have a way with boys—she was so cool!

"It's not about how long it'll take me, it's about you learning." Sakura chided.

"You're a medic! You're supposed to heal people in pain!" The child argued relentlessly.

Sakura paused. He had a point, but she wouldn't really consider this "pain."

"Alright, hold on." She sighed. Konohamaru came to a stop, as did Sakura. He closed his eyes waiting patiently for green, soothing, medical chakra to encompass his face and wipe away the scratches, but it never came. Instead he felt something cool and think being spread along the scratches.

"Huh?" He opened his eyes to see Sakura's face hovering in front of him, and immediately felt himself go red. He couldn't help it, Sakura was really pretty and she was so close to him.

"There. This will help speed up the healing process and keep out harmful bacteria that might cause infection."

"Wait, that's it?! You're not going to actually heal it?!" Konohamaru demanded.

"That will heal it. But there's no point wasting chakra on cuts like that. And if those put you in enough pain to want medical ninjutsu to cure it, then maybe being a ninja isn't the right career path for you…the hospital could use another janitor." She glanced over at Moegi and winked, causing the girl to cover her mouth to hide her laughter.

Konohamaru's eyes widened comically. "Wh-What do you mean?! These don't hurt at all! Totally fine! No career chance required!"

Sakura laughed as they continued to the main gate. "Good. Then after this, stop by Ikehara's Apothecary and pick up some ointment. You'll need it if you keep getting banged up on D-ranks. Proper first aid is important."

"You should listen to her. She gives stellar first aid advice." A voice came from not too far in front of them. They'd reached the security check point at the main gate and Kotetsu had leaned out of the booth when he heard them approaching. "Still educating the youth on proper medical practice?" He smiled, recalling her first chunin exams.

"From what I recall, it wasn't just youth I was educating." Sakura bantered back.

Kotetsu laughed, and Izumo elbowed him throwing his best friend a look. "You should head into town." Izumo said, turning back to Sakura with a broad smile. "You'll see something interesting."

"Something interesting?" Udon questioned.

"What's that—" Sakura's eyes widened, her head whipping towards the main street. "He can't mean…!"

Sakura took off down the road, pedestrian traffic ledger completely forgotten. She heard gasps of surprise and the pounding of foot steps behind her, and could only assume Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon were following her. But the only thing that mattered to her at that moment was to see if her suspicions were correct. For Izumo and Kotetsu to have that sort of response, it could only mean one thing.

She skidded to a stop, staring up at an electrical pole, blinking uncomprehendingly at the figure on top of it.

"For real…?" She gasped, not wanting to trust her eyes lest her longing had made her delusional.

"For real!" Konohamaru declared, sliding to a stop next to her.

"He sees him too! That means…he's really back!"

"Naruto? Is that you, Naruto?!" She shouted up.

Naruto had been staring at the village from his high vantage point, caught in the nostalgia of it all…his first time being home in two and a bit years. Not much had changed, other than them adding Tsunade's face to the Hokage monument. But it felt so good to be home…not in some weird remote mountain or seedy hot springs village…He jerked when he heard a very familiar voice call up to him.

"Hm?" He looked down to see a head of soft floral pink, tilted up to call to him.

"When did you get back, Naruto?!" Sakura shouted.

"Just now, believe it!" He called back excitedly, leaping down from the electrical pole, and stepping closer to look over his long unseen teammate. "Long time no see, Sakura-chan!" She was just as pretty as ever!

Sakura blinked…she actually had to look up at him! "You've gotten taller than me!" She gasped…not that it would have taken him too much to overtake her. She'd always been rather small. But still, she couldn't help but notice that puberty had certainly hit Naruto. He'd shot up, compared to how tall he'd been when he left. Ninja's were usually on the muscular side anyways, but Naruto's mussels definitely filled out more. His clothes were different too, still an orange track suit, but instead of blue and orange, it was now a more mature black and orange, with a black headband as well. His hair was just a touch longer and spiker than before, and he'd definitely gotten tanner. He looked more manly, that was for sure. The most glaring difference though wasn't physical, it was his energy. He seemed, calmer. More tame. More Mature.

"Huh?" Naruto held up his hand, measuring the top of his head, and noticing that it definitely cleared the top of Sakura's. "Oh! You're right!"

"So…" Sakura blushed, feeling a little awkward…Tsunade had told her she'd definitely grown more beautiful and womanly, but she wasn't sure how accurate that was, since Tsunade was a bit biased, just like whenever her mother used to say the same thing. She knew she still didn't look as curvaceous and filled at as Hinata and Ino did. She needed a male opinion, one who hadn't seen her in a while. "You think I've become a bit more womanly?"

"You're fine! You haven't changed a bit!" Naruto answered brightly, giving a thumbs up. Cause she hadn't. Sakura had always been beautiful, and she still was. Maybe even more so. Her pink hair was as shiny and soft looking as ever, and just brushed passed her shoulders—a bit longer than the last time he'd seen her, but not by too much. Besides, it looked cute either way. Her eyes were just as bright green as ever. Her skin was still smooth and soft and practically glowing. She'd always been fairly well muscled for a girl, but her muscles looked more toned that before…ok, she had changed a bit. There were more curves on her, more muscles, she looked stronger, sturdier, and healthier than he remembered her looking. But she'd been super pretty regardless. She was then, and she was now. He had no doubt she always would be. It was such an obvious part of her that it hardly seemed worth commenting on.

Sakura twitched, her anger simmering.

"That idiot! Does he have any idea how he's supposed to talk to a woman?!" She huffed and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest in annoyance. "Whatever, it's fine if that's his response to me…but he better blow it with Hinata-chan! Seriously though! If that's how he responds when he doors wide open for him, how badly's he gonna do when she's too shy to even drop hints!"

Naruto blinked in confusion at Sakura's sudden annoyance, while Jiraya crossed his arms in exasperation and disbelief. This kid had been with him a whole two years, and still didn't understand woman?! Was he even really his apprentice?

"Naruto Onii-chan!" Naruto turned in surprise to see a puff of smoke, and a beautiful, curvy brunette woman. "Sexy Jutsu!"

Sakura whirled around in surprise and growing annoyance at Konohamaru's use of the perverted jutsu she hated oh so much!

"This is ridiculous! The kid's twelve and his transformation has a sexier body than me—wait shit no that's not the problem here, damnit!" She didn't even wanna know what Jiraya's—or The Pervy Sage, as Naruto called him—reaction was.

The sexy girl disappeared with another pop of smoke, and was replaced by a proud Konohamaru. "How about that, huh?! Pretty nice waist, hips and bust, huh?!"

Naruto let out a small chuckle, smiling serenely. "Konohamaru, I'm not a kid anymore. And you too…shouldn't be using jutsu like that."

Konohamaru saddened in disappointment and shame. Sakura glanced at Naruto in surprise.

"So it really isn't just the energy you're giving off…you really have matured…I…I may have felt a bit lonely, but maybe you training out of Konoha was for the best. You really have matured, haven't you Naruto? And knowing you, I bet you've acquired some really incredible jutsu."

Naruto's fist tightened. "That's such a boring jutsu! Check out my freshly developed new Pervy Ninjutsu!" Naruto shouted, all fired up.

"Exactly. Like a new pervy ninjutsu—HOLD UP A MINUTE!"

"Here we go!" Naruto yelled, gathering his chakra.

A fist slammed right into his face, sending him flying face first into the dirt.

"Shannaro, you idiot!" Sakura raged, storming over to him and pulling him off the ground. " You haven't changed at all, have you, you jerk?! After seeing each other for the first time in two and a some years, you pull a stunt like that?! I was just in the middle of admiring you and all that crap and then you do this?! It's barely been two minutes and you already piss me off! What the hell is wrong with you?! Corrupting the youth in public with that damn jutsu of yours! Are you kidding me?!"

Jiraya watched with mixed feelings of nostalgia, fear, and exasperation. That short temper and incredible strength…She was a second-generation Tsunade. But Sakura was a Haruno, though…and she was raging like this…did the curse not work right on her? Or was her emotional threshold just ridiculously high?

Naruto dizzley resigned himself to being viciously shaken around. Just as he'd thought, Sakura hadn't changed at all…in fact, he had the feeling she was more vicious than before—her rants about his bad behavior hadn't normally lasted this long in the past. Weirdly, though, it was kind of nice. For the past two and some years, there'd been no one who cared enough to reign him in…Jiraya may have cared about him, but he didn't particularly care about his manners or general public conduct. In many cases, the sanin had encouraged bad behavior. He'd forgotten that Sakura cared about him and expected better of him—enough to smack him for getting out of line. He'd actually missed it more than anyone would think…having someone who cared about him like that.

"Sakura, before you kill Naruto, can we at least check in with Tsunade?" Jiraya called, feeling the rant had gone on long enough.

Sakura huffed and cast him a quick glare. She had no doubt it was his influence that had encouraged the creation of a brand new pervy ninjutsu. But he had a point. As much as her mentor might deny it, she knew Tsunade had an obvious soft spot for the rambunctious blond, and she'd want to know they were back.

"Yeah. Let's go see shishou…" She smiled. Even if she had just gone off on him for a solid minute and a half, having Naruto back made her feel a little more…full. Like she had a family again.

"It's been a long time, you two." Tsunade couldn't hide the slight relief in her voice. The Akatsuki were supposed to make their move soon and she'd been worried they might intercept Naruto and Jiraya on their way back. "I'm sure your training produced good results, right?"

"Do you think we'd come back without making any progress?" Jiraya asked, mildly offended. It was like she doubted his teaching skills! Not that their training hadn't been without…hiccups. The only time he'd come closer to losing his life was when Tsunade had caught him peeping many years ago.

"It went perfectly!" Naruto answered brightly, flashing another thumbs up.

"Then show me those results immediately." Tsunade answered evenly.

"Show you…?" Naruto glanced around the office. She didn't mean here, did she? That…might end in a lot getting broken. It definitely didn't seem like the smartest thing to ask for.

"You will take on a particular man." Tsunade clarified. "I didn't send him on any missions for the past several days, and had him on standby for this very purpose. Your opponent will be…"

Before she could continue, there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"

"Hello…"

Sakura turned at Shikamaru's dry greeting, as he came to a stop just past the threshold, one hand stuffed lazily in his pocket. Sakura's eyes drew to the side where a bored looking Temari stood close next to him, with a hand resting on her hip.

"Shikamaru! Temari-san! Look who's here!" She cried pointing.

"Hm?" Both followed her finger to where Naruto stood, their eyes widening in surprise.

"Naruto…" It took a second for Shikamaru's brain to process what his eyes were seeing. "Hey, that isn't you, is it, Naruto?!" No wonder Sakura seemed happier than he'd ever seen her. The joy nearly bubbled out of her, brightening her countenance in a way that was striking and unfamiliar. He'd never once been attracted to Sakura, and he still wasn't. But even he had to admit that she looked radiant when she was happy. Shikamaru couldn't help but wonder just how much Sakura would brighten if Sasuke ever came back.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto greeted happily. Out of all their classmates, with the exception of his team…and weirdly, Hinata…the one Naruto felt closest to was Shikamaru, and he was more than happy to see him.

Temari couldn't believe she was seeing that same little shrimp from those first chunin exams…the ones that changed everything for her and her brothers…they'd lost their dad but gained their brother in a way she and Kankuro had never thought possible. And it was all thanks to these two, Naruto in particular…He'd certainly grown up a lot.

"So your back?" Shikamaru asked, oblivious to Temari's surprise.

"Yeah! I got back this morning."

"You don't look as stupid as before…" He teased. "…I mean, hey, have you changed?" Shikamaru could help but notice that Naruto looked more mature and older…but with Naruto's wild card personality, you could never be too sure. It was easier to ask now and be able to account for it then getting surprised later when he was banking against it.

Naruto laughed, standing proudly tall with his chest puffed out.

"No, he hasn't." Sakura clarified flatly, before Shikamaru could misinterpret his response.

"Oh…I thought so." Shikamaru sighed, while Naruto deflated.

"Sakura-chan…" He whined.

Tsunade and Shizune both chucked. It had been a long time since they'd seen Sakura this lively and open.

Naruto was never one to pout for long, and that still held true. Hardly two seconds after Sakura's razzing, and he had brightened again. "Then, does this mean you're my opponent Shikamaru?"

"Opponent? What do you mean? I just came to deliver some documents."

"Huh? You're not my opponent? Then…?" Naruto's gaze trailed to Temari in confusion. She wasn't his opponent was she? Nah, she couldn't be. She had on a Suna hitai-ate…and…

"Who're you again?" He asked after studying her for a long moment and failing to generate an answer.

"You don't remember me?" Temari asked indignantly.

"Naruto!" Tsunade barked, drawing his attention back before he could say something that might ignite a war with Suna. "That's not your opponent. He's out there." She pointed a manicured nail to the window.

Naruto went to the window and pushed it open, looking out to the left.

"You sure got tall, Naruto." Kakashi greeted casually from where he was sitting on the roof reading his smutty books. "Yo!"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto greeted excitedly.

Sakura's eyes widened. "Kakashi-sensei? He's here?! I haven't seen him in a while! I thought he was out on a mission again! That liar! He probably did this on purpose for the surprise factor or something…"

"You haven't changed at all!" Naruto chirped excitedly, leaping out the window and on to the roof. "Oh! Right, listen, listen…I've got a present for you, sensei." He muttered, digging through his weapons pouch.

Tsunade joined Sakura by the window, looking out at the scene. Her eyes softened at her apprentices happy features. "This sure is a nostalgic sight."

"Hai…" Sakura agreed, her eyes misty with happiness. She could be mad at Kakashi for not telling her he was here later. For now, she was just happy to have two thirds of her team back.

"What?!" Kakashi almost squealed in shock at what Naruto held out to him. "You got me…th-this is…"

Naruto was holding a small turquoise book with a man in a thinking position on the cover, surrounded by thought bubbles of hearts with red lines through them, implying there was no love to be had. A promise of the tempestuous drama that the book held in its pages.

"This is the first new title of the Make-Out series in three years! I think it's totally boring, but you like this stuff, don't you sensei?"

Jiraya pouted inside the office. There was no that brat could understand the appeal, and on top of that it was a very rare item that hadn't even been officially released yet.

Kakashi opened the cover, heart racing with the excitement of what the story would bring.

"All right! That's enough fun for now, Kakashi!" Tsunade cut in sternly, turning away from the window and walking back to her desk, her heals clicking against the wood floor.

Kakashi glowered after her for a second, before deflating and snapping the book shut.

"Hm? Wait…that means you're my opponent?" Naruto asked, looking up at Kakashi from his squatted position.

"Hmmm, not quite." Kakashi made his way to the window and leaned against the frame, staring at Sakura. "It's been a little while…sorry about that, Sakura."

"I thought you were on a mission…you could have a least told me you were here…" Their rather empty team dinners meant a lot to her…it may not have seemed like much to anyone else, but to Sakura, they meant quite a bit…and she missed them whenever he was on a mission, and the last several days when he apparently hadn't been.

"Well…I wanted it to be a good surprise…" Kakashi leapt up, perching on the window sill. "My opponent will be Naruto and Sakura, the both of you!"

"Huh?" They both jolted at the declaration.

"Kakashi-sensei's our…" Naruto trailed off.

"I want to see what you can do against Kakahsi." Tsunade said, leaning forward at her desk. "I will determine your status in the future based on your results."

"Our status?"

"Sakura," the girl straightened at the sound of her name, "show me that you weren't just wasting your time training under me."

"Yes, M'Lady."

"She's such a slave driver! Haven't I proved that already, shannaro!"

"Well, let's get started…" Kakashi drawled.

"So soon?!"

"…is what I'd like to say. But since you just got back Naruto, you must be tired. I'll give you a short rest." He finished.

"I'm not particularly tired or anything! Believe it!" Naruto denied. He certainly hadn't lost any of his energy.

"Let's meet up at training grounds three later. See ya!" Kakashi saluted, smoke engulfing him as he made his escape.

"Why's he in such a hurry?" Shizune asked, confused.

"I have a pretty good idea…" Tsunade answered, her arms folding over her chest in irritation.

"He's going to read that book." Shikamaru drawled.

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed.

"With that look he had, there's no doubt about it!" Sakura agreed.

Jiraya smirked and nodded with pride. That was the type of reaction his unreleased book should elicit.

"You lot should get going." Tsunade ordered. "Although, Sakura. Stay a minute. There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Yes, M'Lady."

"I'll wait for you outside, ok Sakura-chan?" Naruto said, waving.

Sakura smiled, feeling warm. Her teammate was waiting for her after a meeting…it felt like ages since someone had done that.

Shizune, Naruto, Jiraya, Temari, and Shikamaru left after he'd dropped off the paper work, leaving Sakura alone with Tsunade.

"Sakura, your training, the formation of the strength of a hundred seal…don't tell Kakashi or Naruto about it."

Sakura shifted. "I haven't yet, and I won't since now you've made it an explicit order, but can I know why not?"

"The less people know you're working on it, the less that very well kept secret has a chance to leak. The less risk you run of becoming a target for enemies after the secret. And more than that…the less resistance and underestimation you'll face from Kakashi and Naruto. If they knew, they'd surely insist on leaving you behind or out of missions based on what they think you'll be able to handle. I doubt you want that."

"Absolutely not."

"That's what I thought. Have you told anyone?"

"Um…I told Shikamaru…and Ino and Choji know I'm going through some grueling, energy consuming training but they don't know the details."

"Shikamaru, huh? That's fine, he can keep a secret and knows how to think tactically without letting emotions cloud his judgement."

"I'm sorry shishou, I was overwhelmed and needed to tell someone, at the time…"

"It's fine. You picked the right person. That's all I wanted to tell you. Keep the seal from Naruto and Kakashi. And don't break it during your fight, or anything that might follow…just like with the chunin exams."

"I understand Shishou." Sakura nodded gravely. It wasn't like maintaining the seal had gotten easier since the chunin exams. It very much hadn't. She was still perpetually exhausted. She just knew she could call on her willpower to generate more chakra should she really need it.

Tsunade nodded then smiled warmly. "Well, go on! You and the brat have a lot of catching up to do!"

Sakura broke into the most beaming smile Tsunade had seen from her since mastering the mystical palm, before running out of the office.

Sakura met up with Naruto, Shikamaru and Temari outside of the Hokage residence, and they began their walk through the village.

"That Kakashi-sensei. Is that stupid book more important to him than the results of our training?" Naruto grumbled.

"Well, it does give us time to discuss our strategy." Sakura supplied optimistically. It was a bit of a challenge. As far as taijutsu went, Kakashi knew about her dancer's style. He'd helped her train it. He didn't know about her enhanced strength though, so she still had some tricks up her sleeve that he wouldn't expect. And Naruto was and always had been one giant wild card.

But while Naruto's attention span had grown over the years, it wasn't by much, and he soon become distracted from strategy talk by the couple trailing behind them. He slid back towards Shikamaru and Temari with a mischievous expression on his face.

"So, are you guys on a date?" He asked Shikamaru, without an ounce of subtlety.

Sakura would have been pissed at Naruto's lack of focus, but she was kind of curious as well, and enjoyed the annoyed slightly flushed look on Shikamaru's face at the suggestion.

He grunted. "It's not like that at all."

"Heh! Why would I be on a date with this guy?" Temari agreed, a little too readily in Sakura's opinion. "It's almost time for the chunin exams. I've been going back and forth between Suna and Konoha for meetings concerning the exams."

"Although it's a real drag, I've been put in charge of the chunin exams…I've been told to act as a guide for the Suna ambassador."

"Chunin exams? Again? So soon?"

"Already?" She asked, unable to keep the questions in her head.

"They did used to happen twice a year every year before that hiatus." Shikamaru answered.

"Chunin exams, huh? That sure takes me back…" Naruto murmured nostalgically.

"Oh right…so what are you going to do, Naruto?"

"About what?"

"About the chunin exams." Shikamaru explained. "You're the only one from our class who hasn't become a chunin."

…

"WHAT?!" Naruto shouted, before whipping around bewildered to face Sakura. "Th-Then you're also a chunin, Sakura-chan?!" It wasn't that it was unbelievable. It was just…well…Naruto couldn't believe it. Everyone in the class except him?! Including Sakura?! How?!

Sakura wasn't sure whether to be offended or amused by his disbelief, but she decided to act on her amusement, chuckling. "That's right." She answered playfully, holding up a V with her fingers in victory.

"And just for the record, Kankuro, this person here, and Neji who's one grade above us are already jonin."

"This person here?" Temari muttered dryly, her arms folding as she glared at Shikamaru.

Naruto was practically short circuiting trying to process it all. "But…then…what about Gaara?!"

"Well, he's the Kazekage." Temari explained. Maybe she was just used to it by now, or maybe because she'd always known there was a chance, given how the Kazekage-ship was inherited in Suna, but it wasn't that surprising to her. At least not anymore. What was surprising was how good and well suited for the role Gaara was, especially given how he was in the past. But the fact that the seat went to him, that wasn't shocking to her.

Naruto however, felt like the wind had been knocked out of him for a second. "So Gaara became the Kazekage, huh?" His fist tightened at his side. He was happy. He was so proud of how far Gaara had come. That he'd somehow made it work. And he was also incredibly jealous. It wasn't a race. It never had been, but he felt like Gaara had beaten him to the finish line, none the less. But still he was happy—thrilled. He'd just have to work harder. He'd get there soon too—in no time at all really!

"I won't be outdone!" Naruto declared happily, pointing at the Hokage monument. "I'll become Hokage no matter what! Just you wait, Gaara!"

Sakura smiled fondly. It was about how she'd expected he'd take the news, maybe a little better.

"I guess he really has matured a little after all…It's been such a long time since I've heard him say that…who would have thought I'd miss his constant shouting about being Hokage?"

"Come on, Naruto. We should leave these two alone and get planning. We've got a sensei to beat!"

"You got it Sakura-chan!"

Sakura and Naruto waved goodbye to Shikamaru and Temari and headed off to where else, Ichiraku ramen.

"We could always try just going after him together." Naruto suggested, slurping down his third bowl of ramen.

"It's not that that wouldn't work, it's just that we aren't familiar with each other's abilities right now, so it'll be harder to work with each other and not get in each others way."

"But telling each other everything takes the fun out of it, Sakura-chan! Don't you wanna be surprised by how much stronger I've gotten!"

Sakura sighed. Naruto never really had been one for preplanning. He worked best in the moment, so maybe overthinking this was the wrong call. "Alright, you've got a point. So rather than preplanning, what do we know about our opponent."

"Well, Kakashi-sensei's a jonin, so he's obviously got skills. He's great at taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu. Plus he's got the sharingan…"

"The real question is, is he going to use it…" Sakura pondered.

"Ne, Sakura-chan! This is boring! We'll just work it out as it happens! We're team 7 after all!" Naruto's expression turned sad and a little serious. "It's been a little over two years…how have you been?"

Sakura blinked, taken aback by the abrupt change. "I've been…" she looked down stirring her ramen pensively. "I've been alright. Really busy…I work at the hospital now as part of the medical staff…I'm one of the youngest there to be allowed to do full surgeries." Sakura smiled proudly. "And Ino-chan and Hinata-chan, Shikamaru, TenTen, Kiba, Lee-san…they've all been really great! Especially Tsunade-sama…she's the best. But still…it's not the same without you guys…" She ended softly, her eyes downcast.

Naruto saddened as well. There was no doubt the 'you guys" was about him and Sasuke…and maybe Kakashi, who was probably on missions more than he was here. "Sorry I left, Sakura-chan…" He said softly. It must have been so hard for her…to be without any of them…he knew what loneliness was like and it wasn't something he'd ever wish on her. But he'd left and contributed to it, none the less. He never wouldn't be sorry for it…he'd just have to make it up to her by keeping his promise and bringing Sasuke back!

"It's fine, Naruto! Your training was way more important. I'd never stop you from that." Sakura waved off. "Besides, you're back now! You won't believe how much some people have changed! Neji mellowed out a lot! And Hinata-chan's freaking gorgeous now!" Sakura gushed brightly.

Naruto smiled. Sakura always had been a tough one…and someone who took her responsibilities very seriously. Of course, she'd forgive him leaving her to train…it was part of his duty as a ninja. "How about your kekkei genkai?" He asked after a slight pause.

Sakura shook her head lightly. "It still sucks having an attack, but I can manage them now without being knocked out…still," she dug into her medical pouch and pulled out a pale purple sedative, handing it to Naruto. "I shouldn't need it, but having a contingency plan never hurt. I'll probably scream at you if I need it, but I should be ok…an attack shouldn't kill me at the very least." Of course, genjutsu simulations were no where near the real life threatening ones…there was no telling if she'd be able to keep herself in control or not…but she trusted herself…and she'd have to make sure she lived. She was a medical ninja now. If she died, who would take care of everyone else? And speaking of taking care of everyone else…

"What about you? Have you been ok? No run-ins with the Akatsuki?"

"What them?" Naruto looked at her, surprised. "Nah! I probably would have forgot they were a problem if the Pervy Sage didn't keep reminding me." Naruto answered easily, while taking extra care with tucking the sedative into his pouch. He wasn't about to let his normal carelessness cost Sakura her life…though it was a relief to hear that she had it mostly managed.

"It's probably for the better that he did…hey, you didn't do anything…inappropriate while you were away, did you?"

"Uhhhhh…" Naruto swallowed nervously, his mind jumping back to all the peeping Jiraya and he had done in the name of Jiraya's "research."

"You totally did, didn't you!" Sakura muttered, her countenance darkening.

"W-Well ya see, Sakura-chan—"

"Gods, I can't leave you alone for two minutes, let alone two years! That Pervy Sage is a bad influence on you! You shouldn't be allowed alone with him! Ugh to think you've been steadily corrupting yourself—"

Naruto started chuckling, despite Sakura's dangerously fiery temper.

"You think this is funny?!"

"N-No it's not that Sakura-chan, it's just…I missed you is all! Believe it!"

Sakura blinked, her anger derailed.

You said it yourself, I've never had anyone to reign me in…But that's why if I say or do something stupid, you need to slap some sense into me. I'm never gonna learn or know better otherwise.

"That's right, for two years it was just him and Jiraya-sensei. He must have been lonely too…"

"Were you…ok? Two years is a long time with only one other person…"

Naruto glanced over at her, smiling broadly.

"I was alright! The Pervy Sage is actually pretty cool when he's not being a mega perv! He was really nice to me…it was kinda like…well I imagine that's what having a grandpa or uncle kinda feels like…but still, I missed you guys too. Team 7's my family, y'know?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I get it." Sakura smiled sadly.

Naruto took one last slurp of ramen, clearing out his fifth bowl. "Well I'm all fueled up! Let's go kick Kakashi-sensei's ass, Sakura-chan! Time to show what team 7 can do!"

"Hell yeah! Shannaro!" The two dropped money on the counter, and set off for training ground three.

Sakura leaned against the fence tiredly well Naruto paced in front of her, antsy.

"Ugh! Is Kakashi-sensei going to make us wait forever?!" He finally exclaimed when they'd past the hour and a half mark. He'd grown out of practice with Kakashi's tardy ways, having been away from it for over two years…not that he'd ever been good at handling it to begin with.

"Well, he has always been like this…" Sakura reminded. She was fairly used to it, as he hadn't ditched that habit of being late to her dancer style training sessions either. She also always used to be late as well, though that had largely been due to her circumstances with her mother, and any residual late habits had been painfully kicked out of her by Tsunade.

Naruto deflated, plopping down on the ground. "Geez, it'd be nice if he showed a little improvement."

There was a puff of smoke as Kakashi materialized on top of the fence above them.

"Yo! Sorry about that. As it happens I ran into an old woman in trouble on my way here and—"

"Lair!" Both Sakura and Naruto shouted, very reminiscent of the past…although back then, Sakura only ever thought it, not joined in.

They followed Kakashi onto the grounds to a clearing by a river with three thick posts sticking up out of the ground.

"This place…kinda takes me back…" Naruto murmured fondly. How could he ever forget the bell test that taught the three of them to be a team?

"Oh come to think of it," Kakashi answered casually, his nose buried in his new book, "this was your first training ground, wasn't it?"

"Team 7…" Sakura said, a small sad smile on her face.

"Our three man cell, huh…" Naruto agreed sadly. Both felt the absence of their missing member as if it was their own heart missing.

"We had Sasuke back then, didn't we…" Kakashi sighed…and then looked up to see both Naruto and Sakura curled on the ground, with a distinct air of gloom around them.

Sakura hadn't been prepared for it. She hadn't realized that having both Kakashi and Naruto there would make her feel Sasuke's absence even more acutely.

Sakura…thank you…for everything.

Don't die while I'm gone, Sakura…please.

It was an emotional blow, but she felt it physically, as distinctly as if she'd been stabbed, the knife continuously twisting.

"Ow…"

Naruto saw it all in his mind's eye. His best friend…his brother, turning towards him, half his face covered in curse mark, one eye monstrously black with a yellow iris.

"Yo Dead Last…"

It hurt…knowing his best friend was drowning and wouldn't accept a lifeline. It hurt knowing he'd so thoroughly misunderstood. It hurt knowing he hadn't been able to bring him back. Hadn't been able to keep his promise to Sakura.

Kakashi stared at his two students moping on the ground, and made a mental note that Sasuke's name was off limits to these two, at the moment. Well…the moment passed, it was time to snap them out of it.

A jingling sound made Naruto and Sakura both look up, seeing Kakashi hold up a familiar pair of bells. Both of their eyes widened. So that was what they'd meant by Kakashi being their opponent. This was a retest!

"Well…let's see how you've grown. You haven't given up on Sasuke, have you?" He asked casually, knowing it would spur their fighting spirit. Sure enough, they took the bait. Both straightened, pushing themselves up from the ground.

"Absolutely not!" Sakura declared passionately. "But you knew that already, Sensei."

"Yeah! That's why I continued to train so hard!" Naruto agreed.

Kakashi smiled and nodded, tying the bells to his belt. If there was one thing that had always been true of his team—particularly Naruto and Sakura—it was that they never gave up no matter what. It was never over until it was over for them.

"The rules are the same as the first time. I don't care how you do it. Just take the bells away from me. If you don't—"

"Come at me with the intent to kill—"

"We won't be able to get the bells.' right?" Naruto and Sakura quoted back verbatim to him.

"Heh. Exactly." Kakashi agreed. "If you don't come at me with the intent to kill me, you won't be able to get the bells. You have until sunrise tomorrow."

Naruto smirked and tightened the tie of his Hitai-ate.

"That gives us approximately thirteen hours." Sakura's hands curled around her leather combat gloves, before pulling them onto her hands.

Kakashi snapped his book shut. "Now then, shall we begin?"

"You're not going to do it while reading your book this time, Sensei?" Naruto asked with a challenging smile.

"Or have you already finished reading?" Sakura finished, pulling on the second glove tightly.

"Nope…" Kakashi answered, tucking the book into his weapons pouch. "I thought I'd save the fun for later. Besides…well, I kind of get the feeling I may have to get a bit serious this time around." He answered, lifting his Hitai-ate to reveal his sharingan.

"So he is gonna use it after all…at least that means he considers us both a threat…"

Kakashi shifted, the bells ringing tauntingly.

Naruto made the first move, chucking a handful of shuriken at him. Kakashi ducked under the majority, catching one and returning it with ease. Naruto leapt into the air, but Kakashi through more shuriken at him…he was stuck, he couldn't dodge in midair…but this had been a part of his training with Jiraya, more inventive ways of using his clones.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Another Naruto appeared next to him and tugged him out of the way of the throwing stars. He hadn't even fully landed when his clone transformed into a giant shuriken, and he was already winding up to release it when a hand grabbed the back of his head the the hand gripping the shuirken, bending his arm back so his own weapon was pointed at the back of his head…well, this felt familiar.

"Still the impatient one, eh…I still didn't say start yet…" Kakashi remarked, but he glanced behind him at the shadow clone holding a kunai to his back…Naruto's use of shadow clones and his timing had both drastically improved, he hadn't even caught that one during the initial summons…

Kakashi couldn't help but remember the first time this happened…back then, Naruto hadn't been skilled or smart enough with his shadow clones to even think of pulling a maneuver like this. He really had matured,

"Alright," Kakashi smiled, "start!" There was a poof of smoke, and Kakashi was gone.

Tsunade and Shizune were watching, unbeknownst to the Naruto and Sakura, from a tree a little distance away, Jiraya seated on a different branch.

"Not bad." Tsunade commented, referring to Naruto's improved skill.

"Told you we made progress." Jiraya said proudly. The kid had felt more and more like his own grandson every day he spent with him, he couldn't help feeling proud of him. Plus he was certain Naruto was the child of prophecy…The kid may not have been a genius but the potential was there. The one he had doubts about was Sakura…was letting a cursed Haruno out into the field really the smartest idea? She wasn't like Naruto. His chakra and spirit had the potential to be able to suppress the kyubi and keep it at bay. There was precedent for it…after all, his mother had managed it. But Sakura…you couldn't stop yourself from having an emotional response to something, and once her chakra reacted, there was no precedent for controlling it. The tale of the Haruno clan was that they all died screaming as their chakra ripped them apart. Forming an attachment to that girl was asking for heartbreak.

Tsunade was oblivious to Jiraya's doubts and even had she known them she wouldn't have cared. She watched with interest as Sakura scanned for Kakashi. Now what was her apprentice going to do?

Sakura checked left, above, right, and behind. No sign of him anywhere. That only left one option.

"Below!" Sakura gathered ten percent of her chakra into her shoulder and sent it down in time with her fist, releasing it into and through the ground on impact, to channel the debris and fallout so as not to have it kill her sensei, only shift to reveal him. The ground split around her, in a ten meter radius with a loud, quaking boom.

"Woah!" Naruto gasped nearly losing his balance. What?! What was that?! Since when was Sakura…He made a mental note never to piss Sakura off again. She'd kill him.

"Peek-a-boo!" Sakura sang mischievously.

Kakashi stared at her with a mixed look of shock, horror, and respect. He thought he knew all of Sakura's moves. He trained with her, and helped her turn her dancers barrage into a full fighting style. She'd never employed this sort of monster strength during any of those training sessions…What raw power! Seemed like medical ninjutsu wasn't the only thing Tsunade taught her…and here he'd been expecting Naruto to be the only wild card…Sakura had always been more than adept at chakra control, but to rapidly manipulate maximum chakra and instantly concentrate it into one's fist was no small feat. It took incredibly amounts of control. Maybe he should have expected it with how proficient she was with chakra weights. And she'd always been adept at genjutsu…if this display was any indication, she'd end up a greater kunoichi than the fifth Hokage!

What Kakashi didn't know, was that that wasn't even her maximum chakra, nor that she'd changed up the standard way of using chakra enhanced strength into something uniquely her own.

Tsunade smiled proudly. "Yes! That's my girl!" Shizune smiled supportively, in total agreement. There was also something gratifying about seeing both Naruto and Kakashi surprised. Watching people get what they deserved for underestimating her apprentice gave Tsunade an odd sense of second hand gratification. She knew Sakura had trained with Kakashi, while training with her, but she hadn't realized the girl had hid her chakra enhanced strength from him, and the look on his face upon witnessing it had been priceless. Anyone who underestimated her kid was in for it.

Jiraya couldn't help his sigh of exasperation…that short temper and monster strength…Tsunade had done an excellent job of raising a mini version of herself. But a short temper could be particularly dangerous for her…didn't Tsunade get that?

Kakashi stepped out from the wreckage, the bells jingling at his side. "All right, now I guess it's my turn, huh?"

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a glance, and then both took off for the woods. Kakashi was surprised by the sudden departure, but even more so by the fact that despite being apart for two years, it only took one glance for them to understand each other. Recovering quickly from his shock, he followed after them into the woods, as the sun sank staining the sky and surrounding forest a burnt pink.

Kakashi settled in a bush, looking carefully over the area. Naruto was up a tree, hiding behind a trunk. Sakura was a few meters away at the base of another tree, also hiding behind a trunk. Both monitoring him carefully. The basics for a shinobi were to eliminate their presence and remain hidden. That had been the one thing they'd all managed last time—accept Naruto. But this was totally different from back then. Naruto wasn't just standing out in the open demanding a fair fight this time, but neither were working hard to hide their presence, trying to draw him close to them.

Kakashi snapped to attention when several kunai suddenly flew at him. He leapt out of the way throwing his own kunai to deflect one he couldn't dodge, and flipped to rebound off a tree straight for Naruto, meeting his charge. The two clashed kunai in midair, and flew past each other, Kakashi twisting to throw three more kunai at him, which he dodged by flipping himself behind a tree branch.

"Now!"

Sakura launched her own kunai, making Kakashi back handspring away. Naruto dropped down next to her as the two squared off against their sensei.

"Let me teach you two somethings. Shinobi battle skills part one…taijutsu." He knew Sakura was the most dangerous one on this front. He could predict her moves with the dancer's style, but only just barely, and if she added her chakra enhanced strength to it…finding out how Naruto's taijutsu improved was a far more appealing idea.

Kakashi ran at Naruto, round house kicking, which Naruto ducked. He punched at Naruto who dodged again, and also dodged Kakashi's subsequent kick by jumping up in the air.

"He's left himself open and Naruto's clear! Now's my chance!"

Sakura called a song to mind and leapt forward, spinning before sliding into a front roll passing Kakashi and pushing out of it with two hands, her feet rocketing toward him in a double kick, her chakra racing in tandem with her movements.

Kakashi inwardly cursed, twisting out of the way just in time. Sakura rebounded fast, pushing off her hands and landing lightly like a cat, before sliding her leg out wide, pivoting and punching up. He only just kept out of the way of the continuous stream of dance turned attack, but none the less, he did keep out of the way.

"I just need one shot!" She muttered.

"It won't mean a thing if you don't hit me." He hadn't realized that she'd pushed him back into a tree. He was trapped with her fist coming at him. At the last second he cartwheeled left, saving his ass as her fist collided with the tree, splitting the bark down the center and knocking it down.

"Phew, that was a close one." He gasped in relief. He almost regretted helping her perfect her dancer's style now that he was seriously on the receiving end of it coupled with chakra enhanced strength.

Sakura was breathing heavy, already feeling the chakra depletion. "Ok, note to self, work on cutting chakra flow at the last second if it's clear opponents going to dodge…I can't afford to waste any chakra like that anymore! Shannaro!"

"Shadow clone jutsu!" Several Naruto's came bearing down on Kakashi before he could even fully recover, and Sakura was more than happy to let Naruto tap in for a minute while she refocused her chakra.

"All right, bring it on." Kakashi said, readying himself for the storm of Narutos.

He kicked and punched all of them away, one came close to grabbing the bells, but he redirected him by throwing the clone into a tree, and leaping after it.

"You won't get away!" One of the Naruto's shouted, three following after him. But they were shocked when Kakashi appeared at their backs following their flight pattern.

"Dancing leaf shadow?!" One gasped, recognizing the move that first Lee, then Sasuke had employed during various stages of the chunin exams.

Tape shot out of Kakashi's sleeves, encircling the three clones, and binding them into a spinning comet heading head first for the ground.

"This is bushy brow's jutsu!" One Naruto cried.

"It's Kakashi-sensei's copy ninjutsu! He must have copied it from Gai-sensei at some point!" Sakura guessed.

Kakashi straightened, glancing around. "Now…where's the real one?"

"Right here!" Naruto shouted, leaping out from a bush behind Kakashi's back and sprinting at him. He brought his hand's together in a hand sign, "secret finger jutsu! A thousand years of death!" Naruto shouted, jabbing his fingers sharply towards Kakashi's rear.

It was honestly comical, how terrified the legendary copy cat jonin looked. Kakashi leapt out of the way in the nick of time.

"Damn it, I missed!"

"That was a close one…in a different sense." Kakashi muttered.

"Shannaro!" Sakura came dropping down out of nowhere, leg extended, slamming and felling the tree Kakashi had been in front of moments ago. He now stood four meters to the right, breathing heavily.

"This used to be a lot easier…" He sighed, recalling how he'd been able to read his book the entire time Naruto attempted to fight him, and how Sakura had fainted from one mid level genjutsu. It wasn't just that their individual skills had radically improved. Back then, they'd had not semblance of teamwork, attacking alone or motivated by their own goals. But their goals were aligned now, and they piggy backed off of each other's attacks so effectively. They weren't giving any quarter. And here he'd really wanted to find out what happened next in his book…

"Multi shadow clone jutsu!"

Kakashi was surrounded by a whole army of Narutos. They were everywhere. Filling the clearing, the trees…as always, the sheer number of clones Naruto could conjure never ceased to amaze him.

"Let's go!" One rallied.

"Yeah!"

All the clones went charging at Kakashi, and he began to weave and flow his way through attacks, popping clones with each strike. He leapt high into the air, but Sakura was there, bearing down on him with her leg raised, her heel ready to act as a hammer. Shit. Sakura's foot connected but it wasn't with Kakashi, but a log, which shattered on impact.

"Subsitution jutsu!" She recognized, her momentum pulling her down fast enough to leave a crater in the clearing even without the use of chakra, causing some of Naruto's nearby clones to disperse.

"Good grief," Kakashi muttered, from his new spot in the clearing, still surrounded by clones. "Looks like I won't have any time for reading."

Jiraya and Tsunade wore similar smirks of pride at their student's skills. And neither could deny that they were impressed by the other's student. Tsunade had to admit that Naruto had grown considerably in skill. His shadow clone jutsu was immense, and his timing and creativity with his clones was something else entirely. And he hadn't even pulled out his rasengan yet, which she knew Jiraya must have drilled him on. It must have been overwhelming for Kakashi, being stuck fighting the never ending parade of Narutos…

And even through his hesitance, there was no denying Sakura was…ridiculous. The girl's skill was absolutely ridiculous. He'd never seen anyone fight as beautifully as she did—it wasn't fighting, it was dancing. But she'd made it fighting…and she had enough chakra and body control to apply her chakra enhanced strength to that. Ridiculous. Kakashi could barely dodge it with his sharingan activated. And she was so fast…that didn't even touch the actual medical ninjutsu Tsunade must have painfully drilled into her. He could understand why the others wanted to allow her to continue so badly. It wasn't quite the same as Naruto's, but there was no denying the obscene amounts of potential she had.

"Things are getting interesting." Jiraya commented.

"Naruto and Sakura are pretty good, aren't they?" Shizune agreed excitedly. She wanted nothing more than team 7 to be reinstated for Sakura's sake.

"Things are just getting started." Tsunade said. After all, they were only on lesson one. Taijutsu.

Kakashi considered the two quietly, having finally worked his way through the never ending assault of clones.

"Now then, what should I do?" A retreat seemed in order. Kakashi took off deeper into the forest, hiding his chakra and erasing his presence.

The sun had officially set, casting the forest in the silvery light of twilight.

"I'm sure I heard the sound of bells from this way." Naruto said, leading Sakura through the woods.

"There's a possibility he rang them on purpose." Sakura warned. "Be careful, it might be a trap."

"Yeah. It's Kakashi-sensei, after all." Naruto agreed.

They hadn't walked much further when Sakura felt something faintly tickle at the back of her neck. She knew that feeling.

Sasuke stumbled out from behind a tree, blood dripping out of his mouth and kunai sticking out of his back, badly injured.

"Sasuke!" Naruto gasped.

Sakura sighed. It wasn't even a good illusion. This Sasuke still looked twelve. Kakashi hadn't aged him at all.

"Naruto, Sakura…Help me." Sasuke stumbled forward, taking steps closer to them. "I got away form Orochimaru. Help me. Naruto…Sakura…please."

Naruto scowled, his jaw clenching. Sakura just sighed sadly again.

"Sorry Sasuke-kun, but there's no way that's what you look like now. Kai!"

The image of Sasuke grew glitchy and faded away.

"You didn't really think that would work on me, did you? You should no better. It's gonna take a much stronger genjutsu than that to fool me!"

A kunai flew by them both, making them whirl around. There stood an older Sasuke, sharingan activated, black marks swirling over half his face.

"Sasuke?!" Naruto shouted. He knew the first one hadn't been real. He felt the genjutsu too…he'd gotten more aware of them. But he hadn't felt another one being cast, and this Sasuke looked their age…and he was still on Orochimaru's side…could this one actually be real?!

"Oh. Clever. He layered the genjutsu. They were both cast at the same time. An obvious one, and a far less obvious one. I felt both but just assumed it was the first one I saw."

"Naruto…It's almost time. Orochimaru will give me the ultimate power…there's just one loose end I need to tie up. I should have finished you that day."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Kai!" The second image of Sasuke faded away, same as the first.

"I'm not interested in your illusions." Sakura growled, fed up with all the fake Sasukes, and angry at herself that her heart kept skipping a beat at the sight of him, despite knowing it was just genjutsu.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" A second Naruto popped into existence and immediately started focusing chakra into Naruto's outstretched hand. He was finally pulling out his rasengan. The fake Sasuke's had made him angry as well, an acute reminder of his failure.

"Naruto, Kakashi-sensei's behind that tree there." Sakura identified, nodding to a tree ringing eighteen meters away from them.

"Got it!"

"Oh no," Kakashi muttered.

Naruto charged the tree, pushing his ball of chakra straight through it and at his sensei. "Rasengan!"

Kakashi leapt backwards, out of the way, landing several meters away from them. Once again, Naruto and Sakura squared off against him.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Huh?"

"You have something to say, don't you? I think I may have missed it before?" Sakura teased challengingly. The first time around, she'd been passed out in shock and fear from his genjutsu of her mother dying.

Kakashi deflated at her teasing. "Shinobi battle skills, part two…Genjutsu." She had fallen for it so easily back then. She sure had come a long way. But how could she not have, given how she trained her curse. Sakura had to be able to recognize genjutsu in an instant, with how often she'd been put under them…and not just any genjutsu, but those cast by an expert. And she could break out of Kurenai's illusions with ease. Any opponent who tried to use it against her would find themselves sorely outclassed.

"Kakashi-sensei, you better get more creative, cause the same old tricks won't work on us."

"That's right! That's right!" Naruto cheered.

"No, that's not necessarily the case." Kakashi disagreed casually.

Just then, Naruto caught sight of the bells on the ground.

"All right! He dropped the bells!"

"Naruto! Don't!" But it was too late. The snare trap that worked on him as a genin caught him yet again.

"See? Naruto still fell for the same trick."

There was a poof, and Naruto vanished. It had been a shadow clone.

"Huh?" Kakashi's eyes widened.

"No way will I fall for a trap like this!" Naruto shouted, charging Kakashi from behind. As if Jiraya hadn't pulled that trap on him several times over while training him to always be on guard and use his shadow clones more creatively.

He decked Kakashi in the face, but there was a puff of smoke, and a long appeared in his place.

"Substitution jutsu!"

"Damn it!" Naruto whined.

"That was a really good move though, Naruto! I didn't even see you cast the jutsu!" Sakura complimented bracingly.

"Thanks Sakura-chan! Pervy Sage pulled crap like that on me all the time, so there's no way I'm falling for it now…still fell for the substitution though…" He grumbled. How many times had Kakashi pulled that stunt during the first bell test? Like, a bajillion.

Kakashi smiled from his hiding place in the trees above them. So they wouldn't fall for the same tricks huh? But Sakura was right. That had been a very clever stunt Naruto pulled. He'd almost gotten him…

"And what does he mean by 'you pulled that crap all the time?'" Tsunade asked casually.

"Exactly what it sounds like. The kid had to be more aware. So I'd set up random traps or randomly attacked him, and only let him use his shadow clone jutsu, until he effectively predicted it."

"Sounds intense."

"Like you're one to talk. I don't even want to think about what you put that little girl through. And why's she so good at genjutsu? That was never your thing."

"No but it is Kurenai's. She had to train herself to manage her kekkei genkai. Genjutsu simulations were how she managed it."

Jiraya blinked in surprise. Well damn. They'd both insisted she had ways to manage it, but he hadn't thought the kid came up with those herself by subjecting herself to emotional torture…

"Naruto…Do you think he'll be alright against them?"

He didn't have to ask what Tsunade meant.

"Honestly, not on his own, but with supervision, I think he can manage. What about her? You think she'll be alright if she meets one of the Akatsuki?"

Tsunade was silent for a long while. "Depends on which Akatsuki." She said, finally. "I think she can keep her cool, at least against most of them. But at the moment…as she is now, she can't defeat one on her own."

"Neither could Naruto. But that wasn't what we were expecting was it?"

"No. It wasn't."

It was getting late. It had to be at least 10pm, and they were still no where near successfully snagging the bells.

A volley of kunai came at Naruto. "Over there!" He quickly through his own back, forcing Kakashi to dodge into a clearing. Sakura immediately came running at him, but he caught her fist immobilizing her…something was strange though, she wasn't moving like herself and she wouldn't have attacked like that…Kakashi's eyes widened. He quickly pushed her away and kicked her. She dispersed into nothing. It had been a shadow clone layered with a transformation jutsu. He looked up to see Sakura flipping towards him from the sky, her leg raised to hammer down on him, no doubt charged with chakra. If he even so much as got grazed by it, it was game over.

He leapt out of the way just in time as Sakura's foot slammed down, and rearranged the terrain.

"Tch." She hissed. She was feeling her lack of chakra acutely, and was keenly aware that she needed to produce more. They had to pass this test, or maybe Tsunade would rethink letting her on missions and preform surgeries. Her determination flooded her, allowing her to produce and refill her smaller reservoir more quickly.

Naruto was already chasing Kakashi, and Sakura took off behind him. Kakashi came to a stop by the clearing near the river, and once again squared off with his two former students.

"Shinobi battle skills part three. Ninjutsu." His hands moved so quickly they were just one big blur.

Sakura's jaw dropped. "The speed of his seal forming…"

Naruto's had as well. It was way too fast.

"Fire style! Fireball jutsu!"

Kakashi sent a roaring mass of fire at them, and they were forced to separate to get away. When the fireball dispersed, it had left a scorched tunnel of earth in its wake. Both Naruto and Sakura looked around the area, but neither saw a hint of their sensei.

"Earlier he went underground…he wouldn't do the same thing twice, would he? Can't hurt to be cautious…"

"Jump Naruto!" She ordered leaping into the air.

"Huh?" Naruto never had been in the habit of questioning Sakura, so even though he didn't understand the instruction, he quickly made to follow…

…Only he was too late. There was a hand wrapped around his ankle preventing him from jumping. "Earth style! Headhunter jutsu!" Kakashi's voice sounded from underground, and he was pulled down into the earth, only his head sticking out.

Kakashi leapt out from underground, and stared down at Naruto. But Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A shadow clone, huh?" The kid really had gotten quite good with them. He wasn't even entirely sure when Naruto cast the jutsu.

Naruto appeared from behind a tree, joining Sakura. "You got really good at that!" She complimented.

"Thanks Sakura-chan!" He answered proudly as they both charged at their sensei.

Once again, Kakashi's hands were an untraceable blur of motion. He leapt back onto the water, giving Sakura a very bad feeling.

"Um, Naruto…you remember that water jutsu Kakashi-sensei used against Zabuza?"

"What about it?"

"I think we're about to learn how Zabuza felt…"

"Water style! Water dragon jutsu!" Cords of water rose up all around Kakashi converging above him into a water dragon and crashing down onto Naruto and Sakura, sweeping them away in a massive wave.

Sakura and Naruto took to the trees once they managed to get their heads above the massive crush of water. They raced through the woods in a tactical retreat trying to come up with a new plan.

"Using Fire style, Earth style and Water style consecutively. Ordinarily that's impossible!" Naruto grumbled.

"He isn't called the copy ninja for nothing…I knew he was good but I never fully understood how amazing he was."

"Yeah."

Jiraya, Tsunade and Shizune, stood watching the beat down Naruto and Sakura took.

"This is going to be a long, drawn out affair." Jiraya muttered, beginning to have doubts that the kids would succeed. Not with Kakashi going as hard as he was.

"But there's still plenty of time until dawn." Tsunade counted. She had full faith in both of them. Naruto was going to be the Hokage one day. She firmly believed that. The kid had managed to pick up the Rasengan in a week at twelve years old. She'd made the mistake of betting against him once…never again. And Sakura…there was no mistake to be made. Even as crappy a gambler as herself could tell that Sakura was the type of girl to never bet against. Odds meant nothing to those two. The more impossible the challenge, the more those two would rise to meet it. Honestly, it was a little scary. "Things might just be settled sooner than you'd expect," she chuckled.

Sakura and Naruto ducked behind a large tree, settling at the base of the trunk to regroup. She was breathing hard and sweating, acutely aware of her lack of chakra. She closed her eyes for a second resting her head on the trunk.

"I've used up a lot…I only have 15% left available. And I can only force more rapid chakra production so many times—it's exhausting in its own right. Seems like three times is the limit on that trick…I'm pretty maxed out…no more chakra enhanced strength for me tonight…ugh, I'm hungry too."

Sakura opened her eyes and glanced over at Naruto. His stamina certainly hadn't depleted over the years…if anything it grew. And it had always been so ridiculously large to begin with…all those shadow clones, transformation ninjutsu, a rasengan, and a lot of taijutsu and running, and he wasn't even breathing hard. Her spirits sank briefly. Two and a half years and she was still the weakest link…

"That's not it, shannaro! I have different strengths damnit! So why don't I use them instead of just moping and feeling sorry for myself! My future's on the line!"

"I knew it would be hard, but that sharingan sure is something…" She said, her eyes growing focused. He'd never used it offensively against her during their training, the few times he had it had always purely been for taijutsu. "Plus his sign weaving speed is so fast we can't keep up. We've got to disable his arms somehow."

"Yeah…" Naruto agreed, checking around the base of the trunk for any sign of Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei's as strong as ever. Smarter than Shikamaru, keener sense of smell than Kiba, more adept with his sharingan than Sasuke, and his taijutsu's better than bushy brow's…"

"But he's got to have some weaknesses…" Sakura murmured absently, her brow creasing in thought. Something Naruto had just said…

More adept with his sharingan that Sasuke…

Sakura had done a lot of research on the sharingan from a medical standpoint, and one thing she did know was the sharingan required a lot of chakra. As part of the Kekkei genkai, the Uchiha biology had adapted to it, so for an Uchiha, the standard sharingan was less taxing. But Kakashi wasn't an Uchiha and he only had one sharingan, on the side as the scar running over his eye…Sakura was positive it had been implanted. She'd wrote as much on her pages of notes on the sharingan and proper healing technique for doujutsu. That meant Kakashi's sharingan took more out of him to use than Sasuke's did. And there was evidence. Sasuke had never flat out collapsed from chakra depletion as a result of using his sharingan.

"Sakura-chan? What is it? You're making that face you make when you're thinking." He may have been gone for over two years but it was comforting to know that she really hadn't changed much at all…her expressions were still the same.

Sakura shook her head. "He does have a weakness."

Naruto's eyes widened excitedly. "I knew you'd figure something out! What is it, Sakura-chan, what's his weakness?"

"…It might not help us though…"

"So? It can't hurt to know. Just tell me. We'll work it out together, remember?"

But Sakura-chan, you might not always get an answer before things get bad—so just tell me from now on. We'll figure it out together as a team, believe it!

Sakura smiled softly. "Yeah, don't worry, I haven't forgotten. His weakness is his sharingan."

Naruto looked at her confused. It seemed to him, the sharingan was one of Kakashi's greatest strengths. How could it be his weakness?'

"Kakashi-sensei's sharingan takes too much chakra. Remember when he fought against Zabuza? He was out for a week after using it too much." She explained without prompting. "He can't deactivate it, since he's not an Uchiha. That's why he keeps it covered with his hitai-ate most of the time, because when it's out, it's active and draining chakra."

Naruto brightened. "That's right! I forgot about that! So if we can outlast him, he'll tire out and we can get the bells!"

"The problem is that we're on a time limit. We only have until sunrise and that's a little over six hours away. Kakashi-sensei has a lot of chakra…he might not tire out enough for us to get the bells before our time is up. And I don't have as much chakra as either of you, I'm already running low, so the longer this drags on, the less I'll be able to assist. No matter how strong either of us have gotten, I don't think we're at the level to take him alone, and the point of this is still teamwork. So we can't count on outlasting him. We need to either disable his arms or disable his sharingan, or we don't stand a chance."

"Hm…" Naruto pondered that. He hadn't realized that Kakashi's sharingan was always active and that's why he covered it. Sakura must have learned that while training with him over the past two years. He'd always thought Kakashi just did that to look cool and aloof, with his head always buried in that book—the book!

"Wait Sakura-chan! I just thought of another weakness!"

Sakura jolted. "Wait you thought of another?! What is it?"

Naruto chuckled mischievously. "You can probably figure it out if you think back on his actions!"

"Huh?! We don't have time for that just—" Despite her protest, her mind immediately started to reanalyze every action Kakashi had taken that day, at Naruto's prompting. Her eyes widened. "Oh no way! You really mean—"

"That's right!"

"Who would have thought he'd have a weakness like that…leave it to you to come up with the unconventional."

"It makes so much sense if you think about it though!" Naruto laughed.

"You're not wrong." Sakura chuckled. They didn't even need to discuss it. She knew Naruto well enough to know what he was thinking. "And if we pull this off, not only will it occupy both of his hands, but it'll also force him to close his sharingan! It's everything we need in one!"

"We can seize the opportunity and snag the bells! Believe it!"

Sakura smiled and nodded, and with that the two were off to find their sensei.

Kakashi sat with his back against a tree trunk tiredly. To think they'd make him use his sharingan this much…his hand rummaged through his weapons pouch, taking inventory. He still have shuriken and kunai left, so he should be able to hold out until sunrise. His fingers brushed against his book, and he had to battle the urge to pull it out and keep reading. This wasn't like before. They were too strong for him to fight while reading. He'd just have to hold off until the test was over. But he really wanted to know what was next! It seemed like the main character was harboring a secret and he wanted to know what it was!

He sighed and leaned back against the trunk, staring up at the moon. Those kids were taking up his reading time. Still…he'd been so pleased with how much they'd grown, that he ended up getting a little carried away. Last time he'd made all the first moves. This time he'd wait and see what sort of move they made.

It didn't take long. Not even twenty minutes later, he smelled them coming. Naruto and Sakura jumped out of the trees into the clearing, bearing down on him.

"You're underestimating me. To think you'd attack me head on like that." And here he thought they should have learned better by now. He was a little disappointed, especially with Sakura. She should have been able to come up with a better plan than this.

"Now Naruto!" She shouted.

"Here we go, Kakashi-sensei!"

What? There was more to this than just a head on attack? What were they planning?!

"At the end of 'Make-Out Tactics…"

Wh-What?!

"As it happens, the main character…"

He was giving away the ending! No! Kakashi immediately clapped his hands over his ears to block out Naruto's shouting, but his sharingan still traced every word his mouth formed. Oh no! He still understood what Naruto was saying! He could read his lips with the sharingan! Kakashi turned his head, squeezing both eyes shut.

Naruto nodded to Sakura and she made her move, dexterously snatching the bells from his belt and passing one to Naruto, so smoothly and silently, they didn't even ring. She hadn't been a pick pocket all those years for nothing.

After a moment, Kakashi opened his eyes to see Naruto and Sakura simply standing in front of him. Naruto was no longer speaking. His eyes widened as he uncovered his ears and glanced down at his bell-less belt.

Sakura and Naruto both broke into proud smiles, holding up their bells, giving them a slight ringing bounce.

"A ninja is supposed to look underneath the underneath, isn't that right, Sensei?" Naruto teased.

"Heh, you got me." Kakashi sighed, putting a hand to his forehead in embarrassment.

Sakura giggled and held up a V with her fingers, victoriously, while Naruto laughed. Kakashi couldn't help but join in. It was good to see Sakura this animated again, and he'd missed Naruto and his wild card tendencies.

"I never thought this would be my reason for losing." Kakashi murmured, holding up Make-Out Tactics. "I should have just gone ahead and finished the book."

Naruto laughed. "I don't even get how you can read such a boring book."

"Huh?"

"The Pervy sage loaned it to me, but it was so boring I didn't even make it ten pages. So of course I don't know how the book ends." He teased much to Kakashi's shock. The Jonin completely deflated.

"Of course, even without Naruto knowing the ending of the book, we figured you'd respond if we mentioned the title, 'Make-Out Tactics!' Pretty good strategy, huh? Although, knowing everything you do about Naruto, I don't know how you didn't guess it was a lie…as if he'd ever read to the end of a book."

"Sakura-chaaaannnn!" Naruto whined, though he was still laughing from the joy of their win, and he'd be the first to admit she was right. He never did have the patience for reading. Why read when you could train?

"You two definitely showed me your growth." Came the stern voice of their Hokage. Naruto and Sakura both turned to see Tsunade walking towards them through the wood, Shizune trailing behind her.

"Shishou!" Sakura called happily.

Tsunade hadn't been there during the chunin exams to see Sakura manage her seal while battling in harsh conditions. Maybe this test finally dispelled any leftover hesitance she had to put Sakura on missions or in the OR.

"Kakashi, do you have something to say?" She asked calmly.

"Well," he shrugged, "they did a great job taking the bells away from me, so…"

"Yes." Tsunade agreed seriously.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a glance, unsure of what was going on.

"What're you talking about?" Naruto asked, glancing at Kakashi, while Sakura studied her master carefully.

"We're talking about your status for the future." Shizune explained.

"Our status…?"

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

"Huh?" Naruto tried not to gulp at the Tsunade's harsh tone.

"Answer me!"

"Oh, uh, Yes!"

"Haruno Sakura!"

"Yes M'Lady!" Sakura answered, far more used to Tsuande than Naruto was, at this point.

Tsunade looked over both of them. One Jinchuriki with enemies on the prowl, and one cursed Haruno in the process of forming the byakugo seal…it was a risky team, but she'd bet her life on them both.

"The two of you and Hatake Kakashi…the three of you will form Team Kakashi!"

"Team Kakashi?" Sakura questioned softly.

"Does…Does that mean I'm gonna be sent on missions? With both of them? With…with two thirds of my team?! Hell Yeah!"

"S-Say, what does that mean?" Naruto asked excitedly, cause to him it sounded a lot like Team 7 was reforming.

"The two of you will form a team with me and we will carry out missions together." Kakashi clarified, as both his former students whirled towards him. "That's what that means. It won't be like the old days. We're no longer teacher and students. We will work together as equal Konoha shinobi. Got it?"

"Sure! I got it! Believe it!" Naruto agreed eagerly, but still serious none the less.

Sakura felt her self doubts beginning to resurface, but she quickly internally punched them away. She couldn't be scared of missions while maintaining her seal, but also want to be a part of them and surgeries at the same time. She couldn't have it both ways. She'd wanted this for so long—even if it wasn't the full team 7 it was still something—there was no way she was backing out now. Besides, Naruto and Kakashi were two trusted, powerhouse comrades. Feeling her confidence return to her, Sakura's fist tightened and she smiled and nodded her affirmation, determination burning through her eyes.

They were almost a complete team again.

Authore's note: Not too much is changed in this chapter from canon. I went by the anime a bit more for this one because the anime version of the second bell test is a bit more fleshed out. I added the Sasuke scene for another update as to where he's at, since I believe the last chapter didn't really include any. Since I'm really only showing moments where Sasuke thinks or dreams about Sakura, it might seem like a fairly regular occurrence, but it's not. These are isolated incidents spread out over like two years and four months. And like I stated he really doesn't allow himself to consciously think of her. It's almost always in a dream, so this really was a bit of a change up for him to be awake in his right mind and actually letting himself wonder and worry about her. Also I fully believe that Sasuke hates Orochimaru. Like in all the light novels and manga, he really doesn't seem fond of him, and I 100% believe while training with him Sasuke was constantly like "I can't wait til I'm strong enough to just fucking leave."

The Ichiraku outing before the test was added. The two missed each other too much to not have any sort of catch up session, and I wanted to show just how worried they were about each other. Both of their circumstances are very dangerous for very different reasons and they both worried about how the other was handling. Since it's Sakura-centric, we saw that clearly, but Naruto's been worried about her too, and did feel bad for leaving her, even if she never acted like it was something that might bother her in front of him.

As far as the actual bell test went, much of it is the same. The changes were Sakura's dance style taijutsu, since that's original to this story. She and Naruto have slightly better/more communicative team work, and she's more complimentary of him. The extra genjutsu was added, because there's no way after helping with her kekkei genkai training, that Kakashi would believe that basic genjutsu would work against her. He's not as skilled at genjutsu as Kurenai so he'd probably try a layering trick instead of a high level simulation. Plus, it's partly a test for Naruto too, since he is pretty susceptible to genjutsu in the anime/manga. But again since he and Sakura are working so well together, and it's one of her strengths, she's the one to constantly release them.

Sakura's never really tested how often she could speed up her chakra production. So far she's only had to do it once in two circumstances. It's a bit of a hack to say she can do that indefinitely and doesn't really make sense, so I set a limit on how much she could "reload" herself. I think no more than three is fair...I imagine it's something that takes a lot of willpower and energy in its own right so it'll leave her pretty exhausted if she does it too much. It's like a non-reaction triggering adrenaline spike, and with adrenaline, there's always a crash. So the more she does it, the harder she's gonna crash by the end of it. She was sort of testing it out here, so she wasn't being as careful with chakra allocation and everything. And still true to what was earlier stated about her character, she perpetually self analyzes and self teaches. It was her first time trying to apply CES to her dancer's barrage and even just using it in a not simple battle, and she's flagging ways to reduce chakra waste and do it better as she tries it out.

The other change is at the end there when she and Naruto are coming up with their way to win. In the anime/manga, Naruto jumps right to using the book against him. In this Sakura has a moment to point out his weakness with the sharingan. She's been studying it and is very analytical with a perfect memory, so I find it hard to believe she wouldn't brainstorm a single weakness of Kakashi's, and the weaknesses she would think to look at would be in a battle context. Using Make-Out Tactics wouldn't occur to her. Whereas with Naruto, the information that Kakashi can't deactivate his sharingan plants the idea for Naruto to use the book against him. And he's more of the wild card prankster, so that is a route he would take.

The next part will be rescuing Gaara, which will probably be pretty long unless I figure out a good way to split it up. Thanks so much for your patience and support! Please continue to fav/follow/and review! They help me write better.

Thank you for reading this far :)