Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters

Thoughts in a Hallway

There was only the sound of footsteps as the three figures made their way down the hall. Haruno Sakura was nervous yet at the same time she couldn't be happier. Not because of where they were headed, no because they were headed to the final hiding place of one Uchiha Madara and to stop the maniac from unleashing his final plan despite being beaten and driven back to this one room. It's also not because they're chances of pulling it off were high. Chances are even if they managed to stop the crazed patriarch of the Uchiha clan not all of them, if any, would make it out alive. No, she was happy because of who she is with as she is walking towards the doors at the end of the hallway.

Looking to her left she sees her one time crush and former lost member of her team, Uchiha Sasuke. After all the fighting and all the battles, the tears ,the yelling and everything in the between he is now back with Team 7 – even if it's just one more time as they face their mutual foe. She doesn't know what exactly finally got through to Sasuke. Was it the fact that he finally figured out that he was being used my Madara? Was it that during said betrayal that Madara attempted to kill that red-headed girl that was with Sasuke? Was it that it was Naruto who jumped in front of the attack to protect said girl because in his Naruto-ish thinking she's a friend of the bastard so she's my friend too! Or was it because Sakura herself kicked Sasuke in the head and finally knocked something back in place?

That final thought caused the girl to giggle a bit and it didn't go unnoticed by her companions.

"What's so funny?" asked the dark haired teen.

"Nothing really, just thinking about the fact that it's the three of us that are here and now and back together." was Sakura's reply.

"Was there any doubt Team 7 would be back?" came from their third companion, "but I think you kicking him in the head also helped" he finished with that patented smile.

Sakura turned to her right to look at Uzumaki Naruto, the son of the 4th Hokage and heir to whatever titles the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans may hold. He was also one of her closest friends and probably more but she's still not ready to go any farther. Not just yet. There was much yelling and shouting and other things until they both came to the understanding that there was more than friendship between the two and that they would need to work it out after everything was done. And Sakura will at least admit that she was still a little annoyed with him for showing up to stop her from tracking down Sasuke in Iron country and knocking her out and dragging back to Konoha. But that was months ago and now things have changed and she knows she wasn't lying to herself this time when she told Naruto how she felt. Now they need to finish the talk and then deal with the other woman in Naruto's life, in other words Hinata and what she said to him during the Pein attack and how he'll try to let her down easy. But that would be later, if they made it; now all she can do is just worry about the here and now and do her best to get both her companions through this.

"No but there were times I thought it would be impossible" was her response.

"I never thought it would happen and I doubt it will be any longer than this current situation"

"Bah", came from the blond, "You're coming back to the village bastard when we're done and we will all be there too"

"What makes you think I'll want to go back there much less that we'll live through this?"

"Because if you don't I'll drag back"

"As if you can idiot" but this time it's said with a smile and not a sneer. A smile that says Sasuke is happy that he's here now with Naruto and Sakura. That he's ready to work with them again, that for here and now they'll be a team once again just like they were before the days when Sasuke left them behind. There are other questions that come to Sakura's mind but now she's trying to get herself focused on the task at hand once again.

Of course leave it to Naruto to ruin that idea.

"Of course but we'll work that out after we kick this crazy guy's ass and save the day!"

"Naruto you baka don't try to act cool when you don't know if we could even win". This of course wasn't exactly true as Sakura was fully aware that Naruto's confidence was well founded after fighting off Pein on his own and all.

"Of course we'll win Sakura-chan. We have to win because how else will the bastard over there revive his clan with Kari-chan and how else will I become Hokage if we fail? Most importantly, we have to win because you'll be going on a date with me afterwards"

That last bit got a blush and an elbow to the gut from Sakura and earned a quiet "idiot" out of Sasuke. But in Naruto's mind there was no doubt here. They would just go in, kick ass and walk out just like they did in their younger days, just like they did in Wave Country. Besides, they are a lot stronger now then they were then. For some reason, all her doubts and she thinks Sasuke's just went away after Naruto's mini speech.

"Just don't get in my way and I'll handle the rest" was all that Sasuke said as they reached the door.

"Just as long as you don't forget we're on the same side" came from Naruto

"And don't forget what Naruto said and what we're all fighting for" and then she turned to Naruto "even a date" as she stuck her tongue out at him which earned a smile from Naruto and a near quiet chuckle from Sasuke.

They then pushed open the door and the reformed original Team 7 walked into their meeting with Destiny.

Author's note: This didn't turn out the way it seemed when I first thought of it and worked it out but it's a quick story (and quickly written) to help me get into gear and start writing again. Anyway, I hope someone actually enjoyed it.