"You're in so much trouble" Sakura sighed as she crossed her arms and closed her eyes, hoping the scene before her was all but a dream.

The team had regrouped, everyone having a somewhat successful day in their training.

Except, Sai was bruised and battered. Sai was bleeding from multiple cuts over his body. Sai was not under Kakashi's jurisdiction.

Kakashi glanced at the Pinkette before shifting his gaze to the pale teenager and back to his only female student.

He closed his eyes and smiled.

An irk mark made it's way onto Sakura's temple as she frowned.

"Hello" Sai greeted as if nothing was wrong.

"Shut up" Sakura mumbled as she walked past the two and towards their old clan house.

The men simply followed after without another word.

It had been years since any of team 7 took a step within the Hatake clan house. Sakura frowned in sadness as she thought about all the memories they missed out on making. All the tears and laughter, the training, the bonding.

As she stopped in front of the all too familiar brown gate, her emerald eyes looked up to take in the state of the place.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, nature had tried taking over as vines grew over windows and doors but the wood seemed to be intact and no rot looked to be within the walls.

"Home..." She heard from the right. The Pinkette glanced at the blonde man standing next to her with a longing look in his eyes.

She smiled softly at him before glancing to her left and noticing the stoic Uchiha staring at the clan house as well.

"Well? Why are you three standing out there for? We've got some cleaning to do!" Kakashi waved at them from the front door. The trio sweatdropped as no one had seen him enter the property.

Yamato and Sai followed hesitantly after the group of four as they rushed in and made themselves busy with cleaning and reminiscing.

The brown-haired Captain wasn't sure if they would be allowed in without a proper invitation, therefore, waited at the door out of respect.

Meanwhile, Sai casually strolled in and began poking things that seemed ready to fall at the slightest indication of air.

Yamato eyed the pale boy with frustration as he, too, slipped inside after shaking off the mud from his shoes at the very least.

He noticed the original trio had disappeared, presumably into their old rooms to begin cleaning out but the leader of the pack remained in their proximity.

The silver-haired man stood in the kitchen with an apron around his waist and duster in his hand. He dusted with one hand and with the other, pulled out a cloth to wipe across the counters.

Yamato wondered if he had decided to stay nearby in order to keep a closer eye on himself and Sai or if he really did just need to clean the kitchen first.

"Kashi-Sensei!" Naruto called with excitement as he rushed down the stairs.

Kakashi glanced up at him with a raised brow.

"Have we still got ramen?" The blonde questioned with stars in his eyes.

Kakashi sighed, seemingly already too tired to handle the young Jounin's energy.

"I would think we do but it's been years. You can't be eating- What did I just say?" Kakashi snapped as he glared at the blonde already slurping noodles in his mouth.

The older Jounin was quick to smack the blonde over the head and remove the cup of noodles from his hand before the tiny green splotches surrounding the noodles could enter his mouth.

"What was that for?" Naruto muttered as he rubbed his head.

Kakashi sighed as he threw the cup and all the unopened cups away, enjoying the look of heartbreak on the teenager's face.

"Cup noodles don't last for more than a year. It's been three." Kakashi tried helping the blonde come to the conclusion himself but Naruto simply tilted his head with a blank stare.

Kakashi sighed "Go clean your room" He muttered.

Naruto huffed before leaving the room with crossed arms.

Yamato raised a brow as he walked up to the kitchen whilst Kakashi continued throwing away old food.

"Um...Senpai?" Yamato spoke up with a nervous smile but ultimately gaining Kakashi's attention "What exactly is it you're planning to do now?"

Kakashi blinked at the question and tilted his head in thought.

Yamato took this as a sign of confusion and continued "What I mean is, you've all worked hard to reach the levels you're at now but... now what?"

Kakashi smiled at the man "The question isn't 'what now' Tenzo" Yamato glowered at the man for using his original code name so freely "The question is 'Who's next'" Kakashi smirked.

Yamato frowned "What do you mean?"

Kakashi wiped his hands as he threw away the last of the moldy food "This team created a common goal when we parted ways three years ago. A goal that would ensure future generations continued."

Yamato truly felt confused now "What? Why wouldn't they? Life always goes on" Yamato tried assuring himself.

Kakashi shook his head as he stared at Yamato sadly "We haven't only been training these past few years. We've been investigating. Searching. Before we left the village-"

"Kakashi Sensei!" The voice of Naruto interrupted the older Jounin.

Both men glanced over at the blonde that had made a sudden reappearance with wide eyes.

"I think something died in my room..."

Kakashi and Naruto stared at each other for a moment before Kakashi cleared his throat.

"As I was saying, we encountered the Akatsuki and we believe there is a bigger plot to their existence. If you'll excuse me, I suppose I need to go deal with...whatever died" Kakashi ended with a sigh and followed Naruto out of the room, leaving behind a thoughtful Yamato.

As soon as Naruto lead his sensei into his, he shut the door and clutched his head with a panicked expression on his face.

Kakashi simply watched him with boredom.

"What are we gonna do?! Okay! We can take him out easy, right? Hide the bo-"

"Calm down, idiot." Kakashi interrupted with an annoyed glare.

Naruto straightened and stared the man in the eyes "What are you doing? You're going to tell him that we're basically working against our own village?!" The blonde whisper yelled.

Kakashi shook his head at his student "Naruto, I've known Tenzo since he was a kid. He can be trusted but no, I wasn't going to tell him anything." Kakashi explained.

"Who's Tenzo?" Naruto whispered, more to himself than to Kakashi.

Kakashi, pretending to not hear him, stepped into the blonde's personal space with a threatening aura "Don't start doubting my decision-making abilities now." He muttered, staring him down.

Naruto gulped as he felt a drop of sweat roll down his temple.

Kakashi brushed past him and exited the room without another word.

Naruto's shoulder's slumped in relief before his heart received another shock when his two teammates appeared next to him out of nowhere.

"Where the hell-"

"What was that about?" Sasuke interrupted the blonde with his usual blank stare.

Naruto gathered himself before giving the Uchiha a blank expression "I don't know what you're talking about."

A sudden sharp pain on the back of his head distracted him from what he was trying to do as he glanced behind him to see an angry Pinkette glaring at him.

"Are you causing trouble with Sensei again?" She questioned.

Naruto glared back "I don't cause trouble with him!" He raised his voice.

He felt another sharp pain on his head and glared back at Sasuke.

"What the hell!"

"Don't talk to your teammate like that. Now, answer the question" The Uchiha blankly told the blonde.

Naruto rubbed his head vigorously as he glared at the two "It was nothing, you nosy couple!" He snapped.

Sakura's cheeks grew a light shade of pink as she looked away "We aren't a couple, idiot!" She muttered.

Naruto shot her a sly grin "Not yet".

Another sharp pain shot through his skull before he swiveled and glared fiercely at the Uchiha "Stop doing that!" He growled.

Sasuke simply returned the glare "Answer the question, Dobe".

Naruto sighed in annoyance "Fine! It sounded like Kashi-Sensei was going to tell Captain Yamato about our goal"

Sakura tilted her head "To bring peace to the shinobi world. Seems like a pretty general goal all shinobi share".

Naruto's eye twitched as he glared st her "obviously, I meant the details of the goal"

Sakura's eyes trailed from the steaming blonde to the Uchiha standing behind him only to find Sasuke's eyes already trained on hers with a thoughtful expression.

"You don't think..."

"No. From what I know, he's only told us about the Sharingan. Why would he risk everything we've worked toward then?" Sasuke answered Sakura's unspoken question.

Naruto gave him a creeped out look "How did you know he showed us his Sharingan? Were you spying?"

Sasuke turned away from the blonde with an irk mark.

'One of these days...' The Uchiha thought to himself.

"To. Be serious" Sakura scolded. Naruto straightened out and sighed.

"Alright, maybe he wouldn't tell the others but we also haven't seen him in years. He disappeared on us. On everyone... I guess I thought we wouldn't be classed with everyone else but we were just as much in the dark as they were" Naruto muttered as he frowned in troubled thought.

Sakura's eyes softened at the blonde whilst Sasuke rolled his own "You're always so dramatic. You'd think you'd be over this whole insecurity thing by now" The raven-haired man stated with an unforgiving glare.

Naruto's sharp blue eyes snapped to his with a stunned but angry look.

"Sasuke!" Sakura scolded with a soft gasp. He had gone over the invisible line that made up Naruto's ego.

Sasuke didn't budge, however. His teammate needed to hear this. Needed to understand that his insecurity of team 7 leaving him was unneeded and frankly, quite silly.

"You'd think you'd be over the mountain that is your head by now but here you are, still worshipping yourself like you're some deity sitting at the top." Naruto snapped.

Sakura gave the blonde a cringe glance at the comeback but said nothing as she worried their slight argument would turn into something more. With hormones and ego ruling over their reasoning abilities recently, the Pinkette thanked her past self for studying medical ninjutsu.

"Hn. At least I'm not still biding over a family that is not coming back" Sasuke snapped back, once again taking another step over the invisible line that was Naruto's heart.

Before Sakura could step in and scold the two, Naruto had already landed the first punch. Sasuke's body flew through the blonde's wall and out into the backyard of the clan home.

By now, the others would have heard the commotion but the two men seemed to care little for anyone at the moment.

Sasuke was quick to get up and glare at the blonde as he retrieved his sword.

Without another word, the two dashed toward the other, clashing and landing harsh blows to the other's body.

Sakura watched carefully as they fought. There wasn't much she could do now unless she wanted to join in and have them attack her as well. All she could do is watch for any vitals being struck and hopefully, stop the fight in time.

"What's going on?" She heard from behind her. Shifting her head to look behind her, Captain Yamato, Sai, and Kakashi Sensei jumped out of the wall in Naruto's room and landed beside her.

Sakura straightened and glanced at her sensei "They took some words too far." She mumbled whilst subtly glancing at Yamato.

Kakashi caught on what the argument was about and hummed to himself as he watched the two continue fighting.

Their blows were starting to get deadlier. Normal Jounin would have been hit with at least one fatal blow by now but the two carried on with cuts appearing every so often though nothing vital.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" Yamato questioned with a serious expression, his palm outstretched and ready to jump in.

"Why? They haven't had a chance to test each other's strength since we all reunited" Kakashi smiled at the Captain.

Yamato's stunned expression brought a little joy to Kakashi's life as he turned back to watch the men.

Sai was silent as he watched the two fight for strength. They were both dominant men and a true battle between them would be something Sai would pay to see but they weren't going all out. It disappointed him.

Kakashi sighed and before the two could land another blow on the other, their Sensei's body stood between them with his hands hold on their wrists, stopping them with a simple pinpoint of the body's nervous system.

The two grunted as they struggled to move.

"The paralysis will wear off in a few minutes. In the meantime, why don't you two say sorry?" Kakashi suggested like a passive dad looking over his two sons fighting.

"Hn."

"No!"

The two grunted and looked away from the other. Well, their eyes did. They still couldn't move their heads.

Sakura sighed, glancing at their two new teammates with a sheepish expression. She hoped this didn't ruin whatever good impression they had of the team though by studying Sai's expression. That image was as good as dead.

"Very well, If you want to fight it out, then do it" Kakashi relented, stunning everyone. The older Jounin crossed his arms "But not in the backyard. We already have enough cleaning to do" He muttered before glaring at both the men.

"You can continue after this place is clean" He ordered before disappearing back into the clan house.

Yamato sighed, feeling exhausted from the day's activities before glancing at Naruto's wall. He would probably have to fix it which was enough cause to send a glare to the blonde.

Sai blinked at the group, feeling confused at all their behavior but left it alone for the day. It was beginning to get dark and he still needed to report to Danzo. Though there was a seal on his tongue from spilling any of Danzo's secrets, that didn't mean Sai couldn't have a few of his own.

He'd keep team 7 covered in the root. At least for now.

Sakura, on the other hand, steamed at the boys. Her hair lifting with anger.

Naruto and Sasuke swallowed as they struggled to move quicker than before.

Now that they were reunited, it truly was a matter of time before the two men would want to test their strength against the other. Though it started over a silly argument no one really knows how it started, the fight was on and neither would back down simply because they were teammates.

They owed it to each other to give it their all. Their teammates could only hope for the best and do all they could to protect everyone around them when the time came.