We take a break from my normally depressing content to bring you a lighthearted chapter that will hopefully make you smile before things get really dark XD. This chapter will most likely be posted WITH the one after it so you can get like a shot of happy, then hardcore stuff.

Mentally prepare for the Chunin Exams arc, ladies and gents!

- Silverwolf735 <3

"The future doesn't belong to the lighthearted. It belongs to the brave."

- Ronald Reagan

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During the month between the Chunin exam finals and the preliminaries that they'd already completed, the kids completed Kakashi's harshest training regimens. Eventually, Naruto started training with his dad, too. They didn't have Lord Jiraiya, much to Naruto's chagrin, because he was busy working on an infiltration mission in a rogue nation a couple countries away, trying to find out everything he could about the Akatsuki. They were still quiet, but there were whispers that they'd be moving soon, and Minato wanted to know all he could about the organization before it turned into a big problem.

Naruto tried not to freak out about the idea of Jiraiya going places alone. He survived for fifty years, why worry?

But Naruto was anxiety filled anyway. Because even though his godfather came rarely for visits, as he was so focused on fulfilling his task and catching Orochimaru, their bond was exactly the same as it had been when he died. Naruto didn't know what he'd do if Nagato got to Jiraiya again.

Unfortunately during the time between the exams, there were a lot of memories stirred up. For example, Kakashi and Sasuke often pretended to slip off to do some private working to keep Fugaku and Itachi off their tails. After training, though, all four of them would sit beneath the trees of Konoha and stare off at the village, each one reliving everything from their past life.

Sakura and Naruto were as close as siblings could be. In every way, Naruto and Sasuke were brothers, and Sakura was just as much his sister. When she cried at night, he knew, and went over to her house to check on her. That was how close they were. It had somehow gotten worse when the exams started, because that was when Orochimaru had attacked their teammate. She always woke up with a blood curdling scream, Sasuke's name on her lips and tears streaming down her face.

Sakura always said she regretted how she treated him when they were younger, because she could've had an amazing friend when she needed him. Naruto just laughed. Her past thoughts of him didn't matter anymore, because they both had changed. They had evolved into siblings. Naruto never held grudges anyway.

Naruto's love for Sakura had transformed into the love it is when he was sixteen in his past life. The two of them were far too much alike to be compatible, and he was happy he realized that a long time ago. Now he rarely even thought about how he used to think of her, because by now she was just his sister. That was the reason both of them were so drawn to Sasuke and Kakashi. Their calm temperaments completed the team. Now they were closer than ever- Naruto knew Sakura's deepest, darkest secrets, and likewise.

Naruto could bypass all of the traps on Sakura's house and window when he needed to. He slid open her window and slipped in. He shut it behind him softly when he saw her curled into a tight ball on her mattress, rejecting her blankets and pillows. Naruto sighed, removed his shoes, and joined her in the bed. He straightened the covers, and adjusted Sakura's head so she was laying on a pillow beside him. She was probably aware of his presence by now, but her eyes were shut tight. Naruto sighed more in pity, before curling around Sakura, determined to keep the nightmares away from her.

"Go to sleep, Sak, I'll keep watch tonight." He whispered into her hair, trying to ignore how she was still shaking. Obviously this one had been a bad one. Naruto understood how she felt.

She nodded her head, and turned to face him. Her green eyes were open, now, and on his face. Naruto gave her a supportive smile, before leaning forward and kissing her on the forehead. Sakura smiled back at him, a little, and closed her eyes.

"I love you, aniki." She whispered, yawning a bit.

Naruto's heart swelled. Of course, Sakura was older than him, but somehow this was the way it worked out all the time. "I love you too, aneki."

Sakura never told anyone, but those were the nights she got the most sleep. With Naruto there, no nightmares or memories touched her. His presence was soothing. When Naruto fell asleep, it was the same way. He usually never had many dreams, but he always woke up refreshed. They comforted each other where they couldn't in their past life. Naruto was always away with Jiraiya, or practically untouchable, because he was out saving the village and whatnot. Sakura was always at the hospital (she even slept there, sometimes), or running errands for Tsunade, so the most they saw each other was during the rare times Sakura was on his team in missions. And she had been ill tempered back then.

Sasuke usually packed up and left the house whenever his father was being annoying. Itachi, apparently, fully supported it, because right after a fight with his dad, Itachi handed him a backpack and ruffled his hair. "You're so lucky you can just leave." He smiled at Sasuke, which in turn made Sasuke smile. It was more of a pity filled one. His brother was not as happy with his father as he seemed, but Itachi always stuck around to gather information. He never said it, but Sasuke knew it was for him. Whatever his father said about Sasuke, Itachi heard. He was the designated mediator, calming their father down, while Sasuke made a tactical retreat to his friend's house. Itachi really did everything for him.

"You could come with me, Aunt Kushina adores you."

Itachi shook his head, but his eyes twinkled at the idea. "I've got an image to keep up... sorry."

"That's okay. Love you, bye." Sasuke vaulted himself through the window. "Tell Mother I'm not running away for good yet."

Itachi grinned at him and nodded. "Love you, otouto."

Sasuke had noticed Naruto's slipping away before, at sleepovers, but never once asked him where he was going. It wasn't that he didn't care, it was just that Naruto came back a few hours before morning more relaxed and peaceful, and the two of them usually had a good day after that. Sasuke always figured interrogating his friend would ruin his good temperament.

But when Kakashi knocked desperately on Naruto's window when Sasuke was trying to sleep, he wondered if maybe he shouldn't have asked.

Sasuke slid it open, letting Kakashi come in. He looked around the room, eyes finding Sasuke. "Naruto's missing. Come with me."

"He just slipped out of here a few hours ago, Kakashi," Sasuke said, sitting and laying back down on his pillow. He was exhausted, and Kakashi was back to bother him.

"Where did he go?!" Kakashi asked, panicked.

Sasuke shrugged. "Dunno. Didn't ask. Didn't care." He ignored his sensei's anxiety, dropping his face into his pillow and mumbling.

"Sasuke, this is important!" Kakashi sat him upright and shook his shoulders. "He could've been kidnapped!"

"Kakashi, chill the fuck out. He always comes back a few hours before morning." Sasuke sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Who'd want to kidnap that dobe, anyway? He's hard enough to be around unwillingly- much less actually attempting to spend time with him." Sasuke comes over for Kushina's food, and feels no shame for using his friend to get to his mom's cooking. Not that his own mother wasn't an amazing cook, but whenever his mother was out of town on clan business, Sasuke and Itachi went over to the Uzumaki's for dinner. Anyone would do the same. Sakura and Kakashi have both done the same.

"He does this OFTEN?" Kakashi yelped, before shutting his mouth and praying to Kami Kushina wouldn't find him here.

Sasuke leaned back on the bed and crossed his legs. "Yeah. Usually at least once every week, sometimes less."

"Sasuke, he's disappearing and you didn't bother to find out where he's going!?" Kakashi asked, looking more stressed out, somehow.

"It's not my business what that dobe does in his freetime!" Sasuke sighed exasperatedly, flinging his hands into the air.

"Ugh," Kakashi rolled his eyes, running a hand through his hair. He threw his bead back and looked at the ceiling. "C'mon, you have to help me find him."

Sasuke groaned, but didn't disobey. He knew better. He slipped on his shoes, and followed Kakashi. "Are you gonna use the Ninken?" He asked, shutting the window quietly behind him. 

"Probably not, unless I need to."

So the two of them looked and looked for an hour, trying not to set off ninja alarms so they didn't get caught by Ibiki. They called for him using the telepathic connection, but he didn't answer. Sasuke rolled his eyes and said he must be asleep somewhere. Kakashi insisted he could've been killed. Finally, they stopped at Sakura's house to see if she's seen him, but before Kakashi opened the window, he stopped. Sasuke was behind him, and didn't see what he was waiting for.

When Kakashi turns around, the panic is gone, and a small smile replaced it. "False alarm."

"No shit," Sasuke hissed. Then he went to the window to check, because why in the hell is Naruto at Sakura's house in the middle of the night, and more importantly, why is Kakashi grinning about it?

Sasuke sighed in relief when they weren't doing anything obscene, then his eyes narrowed when he realized they were both curled rather tightly into each other. Sakura looked happy and peaceful for the first time in a while. Sasuke had checked on her while she was sleeping before, and she was almost always awake, her eyes haunted. She didn't sleep unless Sasuke directly saw her taking the pills she manufactured for him and Kakashi. Sasuke was too scared to go in and talk to her, because she often made it clear that they would never be as close as that. While he liked that she was finally resting, he didn't know what to think about the fact that Naruto was there.

He leaned back and looked at Kakashi. His sensei wiggled his eyebrows at him. "Jealous?" He asked challengingly.

"Oh, fuck off." Sasuke sighed. He knew it. Kakashi had already seen this, and he'd tricked Sasuke into coming to see it. Sasuke knew for a fact that his sensei desperately wanted him and Sakura to get together, and often provided some... unwanted encouragement. "Can't believe you made me look for the dobe for an hour for this." He gestured to the window and turned around to head back to Naruto's house before Aunt Kushina noticed him gone. Naruto could get grounded all he wanted, but Sasuke wasn't ready to surrender his freedoms just yet.

He muttered complaints all the way home, but when he got into bed, he didn't quite feel as tired as he was before he left.

Naruto woke up two hours before sunrise and stood up, stretching. Himself and Sakura had drifted so they were just laying close together. Naruto yawned, putting on his shoes, and opening Sakura's window. The way she was sleeping, she might finally get the full nine hours of sleep she's been needing.

Naruto grinned, happy. He'd seen how tired Sakura was, and was happy she could sleep now.

He shut the window behind him, and ran home. He opened his own window, and snuck off to his bed, but before he lay back down to sleep some more, he looked at Sasuke to see if he was okay, and almost had a heart attack. His friend was sitting criss cross on his bed, meditating. He hadn't even opened his eyes at Naruto's coming inside. Naruto narrowed his eyes, wondering if Sasuke hadn't simply fallen asleep like that, but something told him his friend was wide awake.

"Good morning," Sasuke said, voice blank.

Naruto winced. Shit. He's playing nice. I am so screwed. "'Morning, Sasuke," he replied cheerily, plopping onto his bed and looking at his friend. "Sleep well?"

"Not really," Sasuke didn't open his eyes once, and his voice didn't change. "Kakashi woke me up at midnight to look for you," he began, but didn't finish.

"Shit," Naruto said out loud. If Kakashi wanted to look for him, that meant he had already found him. "Are you mad?" Naruto asked, leaning forward towards Sasuke. "Please don't be mad."

"Why would I be mad?" Sasuke asked tonelessly.

"Shit. You're mad." Naruto sighed, rubbing the back of his neck and wondering how to explain this. One of Sasuke's eyebrows raised. He was clearly not liking the idea that be had tells. "Look, Sasuke, before you freak out, let me explain."

"Why would I freak out?" Sasuke didn't react in any way.

Naruto ignored that. "Now, you know how Sakura-chan has a lot of trouble sleeping? Like as bad as you?" That caused Sasuke to open his eyes. "Yeah. So one time I was passing Sakura's house to go see if Dad was in the office again, because he wasn't home yet, (he was, he was just working late) and on my way back, I looked through the window to see if she was home, and I accidentally saw her crying." Sasuke didn't say anything, and didn't react visibly aside from a small tensing of his shoulders. "I didn't really know what else to do, but I didn't want her to be sad anymore, so I went inside and tried to talk with her. It wasn't working out all too well, because she couldn't necessarily respond to my questions very well, so I just hugged her. I guess it helped a little because she just fell asleep on me. When I tried to leave to let her get some sleep, she didn't let me. Said my being there was helping." Naruto shrugged. "So I stayed there, and when she needed help, I came back."

Sasuke moved himself out of the criss cross position, instead choosing to stretch his feet out in front of him and support his back with his arms.

"So Sakura-chan and I aren't a thing, never have been, never will be," Naruto finished, a sheepish smile on his face. "Sorry for scaring you. You can come with me, next time, if you want."

"I wasn't scared," Sasuke scoffed, but Naruto could tell that Sasuke was easily more relaxed in his presence. Naruto threw back his head and laughed. Sasuke glared at him, eyes narrowing. "Hey, stop laughing at me, ursuratonkachi."

"Don't call me ursuratonkachi, teme!" Naruto replied, his laughter ceasing. He still had a playful tone.

"Don't call me teme, dobe!"

"Are you boys fighting again already?" Minato asked. Sasuke and Naruto jumped, looking at the door. Minato had opened it completely silently, not drawing Naruto or Sasuke's attention. He was poking his blonde head inside, giving them his signature sheepish smile. "Naruto, you know what your mother says about watching your language."

"But Dad!" Naruto whined. Sasuke resisted the urge to smile at that. Father and son were looking more alike than ever. Naruto was even letting his bangs grow out a bit subconsciously. "You never watch your language with Fugaku-jii!"

Minato smiled wider, looking thoroughly amused. Naruto knew that he wasn't in trouble. Minato was more lenient with his son. Kushina was always the one who punished him. Sasuke, personally, especially liked Minato, because he was wise, strong, and smarter than his son. He was one of the best Hokage, in Sasuke's opinion, and was happy with Kakashi's decision to save him instead of that old Jiji Sandaime, even though the Third was always nice to him. Minato reminded Sasuke a lot of the Shodai Hokage.

"Okay, just make sure you stay quiet around your mom." Minato walked further in, sitting next to Sasuke on the bed. Sasuke didn't know if it was subconscious, but Minato and Naruto together were a spiritually healing duo, and he immediately relaxed and began feeling more comfortable. Naruto might not have gotten a lot of mannerisms from his dad besides the looks, but his comforting aura and ease with making friends was definitely a nod to Minato Namikaze, as well as Kushina. "How did you sleep, Sasuke?" He asked, looking at his best friend's son with smiling eyes. He was obviously getting ready to leave, yet he always stopped in to say goodbye to Naruto.

Sasuke smiled back. "Fine, oji-sama." He said. "You?"

"Would've slept fine, but Kakashi stopped in late at night to give me a mission report." Minato said, rubbing his eyes a bit. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged glances, wincing.

"Kakashi-nii was gone on a mission?" Naruto asked innocently, catching Sasuke's eye from across the room.

"Hai." Minato said, looking at his son. He smiled again, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's why he's been gone for a bit."

"Aw." Naruto told his dad. "Tell him to stop by, I want to hang out with Kakashi-nii again."

"Alright." Minato smiled at him. He looked at Sasuke. "Sasuke-chan, your brother told me to tell you he said hi."

Sasuke's eyebrow raised. "He stopped by too?"

"No, but I saw him yesterday before I came home." Minato said. "He finally got back from that mission he was on with Shisui to the Land of Grass."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He'd known Itachi had left for a mission, but he didn't know anything about Itachi marching straight into Orochimaru's domain. "Sorry, where?"

"The Land of Grass." Minato repeated. He was trying to hide it, but he looked a little discomfited, like something Itachi told him was bothering him even now.

Sasuke looked at Naruto, and Naruto bit the inside of his cheek nervously.

Looks like we still have some work to do. Sasuke thought.

Yeah. Naruto replied to his friend. Dad looks freaked out. I wonder if Itachi ran into Orochimaru.

Minato yawned and stretched a bit. Naruto and Sasuke looked at him, and just for a moment, a split second, almost, Minato's shoulders sank. His eyes darkened, and his breathing came a bit heavily. Naruto looked at Sasuke, his eyes shining in concern.

"Dad, are you okay?" He asked Minato, scrambling off the bed and coming to stand in front of him.

Minato had gathered himself in that time, though, and was back to his smiling self. "Yeah, I'm good." He was good at hiding, but it was too late. Naruto and Sasuke had already seen his moment of weakness, and the damage was already done. "Just a little tired," He waved his hand dismissively. Sasuke and Naruto exchanged knowing glances. The job of Hokage was wearing more on Minato than anyone knew. Minato stood up, stretching. "Well, boys, I made coffee if you want some."

Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances, and were both up from their seats on the bed immediately. Though they usually preferred tea, Minato's coffee was legendary, and the things Obito and Kakashi had done to get coffee from him were borderline ridiculous. Kushina was seated at the table, reading a scroll, with a steaming cup in her hands when Sasuke (the resident coffee addict) tumbled down the stairs, Naruto falling right after him.

She didn't even look up. "Morning, kiddos." She commented, not mentioning the hectic race that they were currently caught up in. A crash signaled that their competitiveness had broken one of her mugs. "You little shits don't pick that up and you'll find yourselves sleeping outside." She commented, taking a nonchalant sip of her creamer-filled coffee (she hated coffee until Minato came to live with her- the bitter taste didn't agree with her. Eventually, she learned to drown the coffee part in creamer and it would taste nice, so now she pretended she was an avid coffee fan). She didn't even have to look up from the sealing scroll.

Sasuke bowed formally to Kushina from the kitchen while pouring himself some coffee. "Gomenasai, obaa-chan," he murmured, earning a nod from Kushina as Naruto slaved to pick up the scattered pieces.

"Of course, my beloved nephew." Kushina said, turning to look at him with her familiar scary look that reminded Sasuke eerily of their female teammate. "As long as you promise to come visit Auntie and tell her all about your training."

"I s-swear, Aunt Kushina," Sasuke said, grabbing his mug to disguise his shaking hands and sipping some of Minato's coffee. The caffeine hit him, and his eyes teared up briefly. He closed them, squeezing them shut, but when the moment of intensity went away, he took another sip.

Sakura, what are you doing today?

Nothing much, I don't think. Kakashi-sensei's giving us a day off from training, but I think Ino and Hinata are busy with their own teams. Choji and Kiba had to go stay with Kiba's older sister. What do you guys want to do?

Sakura's clear voice rang through their heads, and Sasuke looked at Naruto with a smirk. It appeared it just dawned on Naruto what Sasuke was intending, and a playful grin grew over his face. "Ferb, I know what we're going to do today." Sasuke said in a high, nasally voice.

Kushina looked over and laughed, before someone walked in the house without knocking. Sasuke recognized the person as Hizashi Hyuga, the father of Neji.

"Kushina, you told my wife you wanted to talk to me. Is something wrong?" He asked, not addressing the boys, and walking straight over to his friend. He turned to them, long brown hair swinging behind him. "Ah, gomenasai, good morning boys."

Sasuke and Naruto both bowed politely. "Good morning, sir," they said in unison. Naruto held a respect for him because Hizashi and Kushina were good friends, so he saw rather a lot of Neji and Hizashi. Sasuke respected Hizashi because Neji turned out alright, somehow.

"Ah!" Kushina exclaimed, sitting up. "Yes, yes. You, of course, remember how I saved your ass when your older brother was going to sacrifice you to Kumo for that clan bullshit because they took little Hinata-sama?" Sasuke and Naruto exchanged surprised glances, listening intently. They'd both known that was how Neji's father died in the original timeline, but they hadn't known that Kushina had saved him AND Hinata.

Hizashi sighed, long suffering. "Yes, Kushina, I remember that well."

"Awesome. So, not to be pushy or anything, but I ran into Hiashi the other day, and he had the younger one with them- what's her name?"

"Hanabi?" Hizashi suggested, already looking done with this conversation. Naruto's eyes widened more at the mention of the familiar name, and Sasuke's eyebrows arched higher. He leaned against the counter, sipping his coffee, and watched with interest as the Hokage's wife blackmailed the Hyuga clan leader's brother.

"Yes, that one." Kushina said dismissively. "I decided that since Lady Hinata will be the heir, and getting all of the attention, I'll take that little girl under my wing and teach her about seals, but I know Hiashi's gonna have a stick up his ass about it like he always does, going on about tradition. I need someone close to him to be an inside man for me. And since I saved your ass, and am just a darling, you'll do this for me, right, my friend?"

Hizashi sighed loudly, running a hand through his hair. "Kushina, you know you could just ask me these things and not pull out every little thing you've done for me out of that little notebook you have of favors."

Kushina grinned sheepishly and shoved the little notebook under the scroll. Naruto and Sasuke exchanged amused and surprised glances. Naruto hadn't known his mother had such a book, but that explained how she always guilt tripped him into doing the dishes by bringing up a time where she cleaned him when he was, like, two years old. "When Naruto was little, Mikoto told me that was how she gets things out of her sons, so I just figured it works with friends too." Sasuke's eyes widened comically, and he gaped, absolutely scandalized. He, his brother and his mother would be having a chat when he went home.

"Yeah, well, she's a vindictive jerk." Hizashi said, sounding like he knew something only Kushina knew. "Remember that one time she nearly killed me because I told her that her shorts were too short?"

Kushina frowned. "Okay, but you were being an ass."

"That didn't mean she needed to put me in the hospital!"

"I see your point, and I'll raise you a come back. A hospital couldn't surgically remove the stick that is usually shoved up your arse, so I don't see why Mikoto getting a little revenge would hurt your feelings so much." Kushina shrugged, folding her hands over her stomach as if that was all she had to say.

Hizashi gave her an unimpressed look. "You're just defending her because she's your best friend."

"Mikoto's a bitch, but I love her so, so, so, so much." Kushina said, flashing Sasuke an apologetic look. "Sorry, Mikoto-spawn. She WAS a jerk." Sasuke would've probably at least tried to be offended if he hadn't heard his own mother 'affectionately' call Kushina some rather nasty things herself. Their nicknames for each other were almost as bad as his and Naruto's, but they were close enough to be sisters. Everyone knew that. They hardly ever fought, which was odd, considering they were both extremely strong personalities. Their relationship was like the female version of Naruto and Sasuke's, minus all of the fist swinging.

For them, Mikoto would randomly throw a kitchen knife at Kushina's head, and Kushina would have to duck. Then, Kushina would retaliate by making a childish seal that would burn Mikoto's apron, or let Mikoto's bum stuck to the chair until she apologized, or something. Mikoto would stubbornly sit there until she threw another knife at Kushina.

But then they made up over sweets and tea and literally told each other absolutely everything.

"See? This is what I'm talking about. Favoritism is real."

"And because I don't like you." Kushina finished, nodding decisively.

"Yet you somehow always find ways to get favors from me, huh?" Hizashi asked, sounding a lot like Neji for some reason. Sasuke looked at Naruto and smirked in amusement at this whole situation. It was amazing how whenever Kushina was around her friends, her carefully collected, pristine language went out the window in favor of cursing like a sailor, and she still beat Naruto for calling him a bastard.

"Oh yeah." Kushina boasted. "I have friends in high places."

"Sure, Kushina." He stretched. "Alright, I have to go. Neji wants me to spar with him and Hinata-sama today. I'll see what I can do about Hanabi for you, you ungrateful brat. Tell Mikoto I'll be seeing her, Fugaku, Hiashi, you, Minato, Inoichi, and Shikaku for lunch on Friday."

"Tsume and Choza?"

"Out on missions."

"Bummer." Kushina frowned. "I was really looking forward to throwing shit at Tsume."

"I'm sure you were." Hizashi said, not masking his disapproval.

"Okidoke." Kushina yawned, without even standing up to escort her guest out, as she normally would. "Thanks for stopping bye, 'kay? Come see me 'n Minato more often. Bye, love." She gave a halfhearted wave, then went back to reading her scroll. Sasuke and Naruto bowed respectfully again as Hizashi passed, and he whispered something to them as he shut the door that made the two of them smile.

"I don't know how you boys ended up normal with the maniacs for mothers like you have."

Apparently, the previous generation had been almost as chaotic as their own generation, and Naruto and Sasuke couldn't be more amused.

<>

The moonlight shone through the window as the girl performed the surgery. Her master had gone through many eyes keeping himself alive, yet his kekkei genkai still kept him alive. It was impressive, yet terrifying. If he wasn't invincible already, he soon would be.

<>

Kakashi was unhappy when he woke up. He was laying on his stomach, sleeping in a short sleeved shirt, his mask, and sweatpants. He was swaddled in blankets, and had a cold air conditioner facing his direction. He liked to sleep cold, then get warm through the blankets, though sadly that made it infinitely harder to escape from his bed.

He hadn't gotten any good SasuSaku content in a while, and his betting pool was suffering for it. He'd stayed up until five in the morning reading and now had a massive headache, and he had just remembered that he'd promised to help Shisui patrol the Finals Arena one more time. Not only that, but he'd forgotten to turn off his damn alarm.

The annoying thing was ringing like crazy, and Kakashi could not stand it. He swatted his hand out, and reached for the button, pressing it roughly, exasperated. He turned his face so his left cheek rested on the pillow so he could see the alarm clock, and winced at the light from the window behind it, abruptly closing his eyes. He felt sleep tugging at him again, before he winced. He forgot to close the curtains, too, apparently. No wonder he had a headache.

But instead of turning it off, it simply played something else. He heard aggressive fake coughing coming from somewhere, which made him lazily open one eye to glare at the alarm clock.

"Kakashi-sensei~" a familiar singsong voice came through the speakers. Sakura seemed far too cheerful for this early in the morning, and the fact that she was broadcasting through Kakashi's alarm clock made the Jonin nervous. He lifted his head off his pillow and raised an eyebrow at the clock, wondering briefly if he was delirious and dreaming.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's voice shouted from further away. It suddenly sounded like he was getting shoved for something. "Ow, you bastard!"

Kakashi sighed, collapsing back onto his bed and putting his face in his pillow. All three of the nuisances had come together to bug him first thing in the morning, then.

"Kakashi," Sasuke's voice sounded a lot closer than both Naruto and Sakura's. Kakashi assumed that Sasuke was holding whatever it was they were using to communicate with. "We stole your books. It's going up for auction by noon. You'll have to get it back before then."

Kakashi sat up straight in bed, staring daggers at his alarm clock, before his eyes frantically scanned his room. Sure enough, the bookshelf by the door was emptied of all of his special erotica. "Damn it!" He muttered to himself, getting out of bed hastily and putting a shirt on. "Damn kids." He muttered. "Should've left them in the Forest of Death to die the first time I met them. Too much of a handful. Don't know how their parents handle them."

He slid on his shoes, practically hopping out of the front door. As he went to close it, his foot somehow got stuck, and the door yanked on his toe painfully. He winced, and groaned. "Shit!" he exclaimed loudly, then froze when he heard the telltale gasp of a child behind him.

His neighbors had kids. He forgot. He turned around awkwardly, almost comically slowly, before staring unabashedly at the kids that were playing on the sidewalk, but were now all looking at him with awed and startled gazes. "Fuck." He muttered under his breath. "Hi!" He cooed, putting a friendly smile on his face and waving at the kids.

The kids grinned back, and Kakashi sighed in relief, thinking he must've done something decent in his past life (past, past life, not the time travel life) to have gotten him his good luck. He unjammed his foot from the door, and limped out of his sidewalk and down the street. He made mild small talk with the kids, but before he was completely out of earshot, he heard one of the younger ones say something mildly distressing. "Shit!"

Kakashi groaned, rolling his eyes up to look at the heavens. "Please, Kami, have mercy and just kill me here."

Before he could cross the street, he saw an old lady struggling. He looked at her, and her sad face as she looked at the road melted his heart a little bit. She clearly felt useless, and Kakashi resented that. "Hey, miss," he said, his tone polite and friendly. "Mind if I walk with you?" He asked, holding out an elbow. "I got my foot stuck in the door, and I've been limping all morning." He told her honestly, chuckling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh, of course I'd help such a nice young man." The old lady said, a cute, grateful smile on her face. She slung her arm through Kakashi's and walked with him.

Kakashi shrugged. "Sorry, ma'am, I've just been having a day."

"What's the matter?"

"My students are just being annoying." He told her, shaking his head. "I'm a genin instructor."

"Really now?" She asked with interest. Kakashi filled her in on all of the comings and goings of ninja while they crossed the street, and she told him that her son and grandson are ninja. She didn't provide him with names, although Kakashi suspected it was because she had a rather short attention span, and not on purpose.

When they split up, Kakashi felt a little bit better, but then he remembered exactly what his students had done to demonstrate their annoying-ness and sped through the village with renewed urgency.

He saw an actual black cat walk in front of him, and frowned at it, figuring he didn't really need more bad luck. Not that he was superstitious or anything. "Shit," he murmured, taking the long way. All of this was making time go by frighteningly quickly.

Kakashi wandered the village all morning, checking in every meeting room or official building he knew. He asked around if they'd seen three imps with mismatched hair and spunky attitudes and was somehow pointed in the direction of Deidara...? There were multiple exchanges for the exams, an a lot of them usually stayed in Konoha during the month of training to watch the fights. Deidara was actually going to be fighting- one of Kakashi's cute little students, in fact. Kakashi didn't know how he felt about that. He found the blonde boy eating with Gaara and Temari in a dango shop, waved awkwardly at them, and ran away to find his students.

He checked in black market places, and auction houses, and somehow didn't find them. They didn't respond to his telepathic complaints.

Guys, this isn't funny. Those books keep me sane!

Kakashi got desperate. He made shadow clones. Even summoned all of his ninken, and they couldn't find the books.

Finally, when the clock struck twelve, Kakashi gave up, knowing the books would've been gone by then. He sighed, dejected. Some of those had Jiraiya's signature and everything. He supposed he'd have to track down the Perverted Sannin with his other books, eventually. He'd have to buy all new ones.

He went home, absolutely saddened by this turn of events, and pushed open the door, removing his vest and slumping on his couch. He put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, his eyes were drawn to the bookshelf beside it by a flash of color.

All of the sudden, there was a bright flash of green, and the illusion that there were no books on the shelf was gone. It was exactly as Kakashi had left it- which meant genjutsu. Probably either Sakura or Sasuke. All of his Icha Icha was where he left it last night, and the book that had been on his nightstand was back on it.

He'd just been sent on a wild goose chase.

Kakashi groaned loudly, sinking back into his bed without even taking his shoes off. "Honestly screw everything."

<>

Sakura sat cross cross in front of Naruto and Sasuke, holding her hands out in front of her. Sasuke looked at her skeptically, while Naruto groaned loudly, but continued his task.

"Tell me why we're doing this again?" Naruto complained, hovering his own hands a few centimeters above Sakura's, and on the other side, Sasuke's. Though his hand was further away from Sasuke's than Sakura's. Sasuke looked disgusted at even the suggestion of touching the blonde.

"We're doing this because your chakra control sucks." Sakura reminded them, flexing her brilliance by picking up a stick nearby using only her chakra, sharpening it with a chakra scalpel in one hand, then throwing it at the tree without actually touching it with her hands- it was thrown using chakra. It embedded itself inside the tree, and that drew one's attention to the fact that there were already multiple sticks in the tree. A bunch of them were clustered near the middle (a makeshift bullseye that so far only Sakura had been able to hit), while there were a lot of them discarded on the floor, and on the outermost edges of the tree.

Sasuke's chakra scalpel was a tad bit more stable and efficient than Naruto's was, but where the blonde lacked in sharpness, he made up in chakra power, and his sticks were usually shoved through to the other side of the tree. If only his aim wasn't terrible. Sasuke almost got skewered by a stick a couple minutes ago.

"My chakra control doesn't 'suck'," Sasuke repeated mockingly. "I worked with Orochimaru for a long time to fix my chakra."

"Yeah, and it was pretty good in our last life, and it's good here, but it's not good enough. To learn new, more specialized jutsu, you'll need to have precise chakra control. That's what I, your beloved Sakura-chan, am here for." Sakura said, removing her hand from the air above Naruto's to swing some of her long, loose hair behind her head.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, sharpening his stick with one hand and throwing it. It hit the bullseye, briefly, but didn't stick. He'd thrown it too hesitantly with his chakra, and that had messed him up. "Shit."

They'd been in there working on their chakra control ever since they finished setting a genjutsu in Kakashi's apartment and connecting his alarm clock to their radio. As much as Sasuke hated to admit it, the exercise was good. It was sharpening both his aim and control.

Plus, the scalpel was a handy new trick that might give him new ideas with his Raikiri.

Their hands were hovering inches over each other because Sakura was also teaching them to feel for differences in a person's chakra without using tracking jutsu or Naruto's sage mode. Whenever Naruto and Sasuke felt her chakra spike, they picked up a stick and sharpened it, then they threw it. They usually had around fifteen seconds to do so and return their hands to the pile. Sometimes Sakura went an hour without spiking her chakra. Sometimes she made them throw five sticks in quick succession. There was no pattern, Naruto and Sasuke had to be aware of everything. If Naruto missed one of the intervals, Sakura would slap him over the head with one hand. Sasuke only missed it once, so he only got slapped once.

Sakura was a genius, teaching them two things in one exercise, and both of her pupils knew so. No- three things. Patience, too.

"I'm hungry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto complained, throwing his head back and closing his eyes like she was forcing them to do something hard.

"You would be, failing that much works up an appetite, huh?" Sasuke taunted, when right then his stomach started growling.

Sakura tossed him a knowing smirk. "C'mon, I'm sure Kakashi-sensei found his books by now." She stood up, stretching. "Maybe it's even safe enough for us to go get some food."

Naruto shrugged, grinning. "Worth a try."

The three of them stood up, collected their weapons, and headed back into the village. They walked side by side. "Where do we want to eat?" Sakura asked, looking around.

Naruto looked at Sakura and Sasuke with a shit-eating grin.

Sasuke knew what that look meant, and despised it. That was the look Naruto got right before he forced his will onto other people. "No." He said, a warning tone in his voice.

"Yes."

"Naruto, come on, there are other places to eat, you know!" Sakura protested, a little bit sick of ramen herself.

"We're going to Ichiraku's. I don't know why we're even having this conversation, 'ttebayo."

Sakura threw up her hands in exasperation. "Sasuke and I can just split off, and you go eat lunch alone!" She threatened. Sasuke nodded in stubborn agreement. That idea was almost preferable- even after two lives, Naruto was a slob. Just watching him eat ruined Sasuke's appetite.

"And have people accuse you two of dating? I don't think so." Naruto grinned wider. "In order for you two to get to hang out, without teasing from Itachi-nii-chan or Kakashi, I need to be around. And I want to eat Ichiraku's."

Sasuke winced, looking at Sakura with a guilty expression. "He's right."

Sakura sighed. "Damn."

<>

Oddly enough, they had friends already at Ichiraku. Sitting on stools already, Gaara, Temari, and Deidara sat eating ramen, talking, and laughing. Sakura saw Temari and beamed at the sight. Being the extroverted person she was, she lunged forward to hug her. Temari grinned when Sakura threw herself ar her. She stood up and spun Sasuke and Naruto's female teammate around the little stall. Sakura laughed. "I forgot to tell you this a long time ago, but I saw you sparring with the boys earlier and your fight was awesome, babe!" Temari said, letting her down and shaking her shoulders. Sakura smiled at the compliment.

The seating order was Deidara against the wall of the stand, Gaara in the middle talking to him, Temari on the outside. Sakura plopped herself down next to Temari, so Sasuke and Naruto shrugged and took seats beside her- Naruto on the outside so he could talk to Teuchi and Ayame, and Sasuke on the inside, beside Sakura.

"Okay, but YOURS! Remember when that Waterfall ninja tried to kick you and you rammed her without even opening your fan-" Sakura's eyes sparkled, recalling that awesome fight from just before Temari, Kankuro and Gaara made it to the tower.

"Sak, Sak, that was nothing compared to that kick you did when you broke out of the genjutsu trap." She said, bringing up the thing she saw Sakura do in the forest of death, when her teammates were attacked by another team.

"When should we expect wedding invitations?" Sasuke asked cynically, not even looking up from the menu.

Without missing a beat, Sakura turned to look at him. "Well, I would've asked you to walk me down the aisle, but thanks to that comment, you're not invited." Teuchi and Ayame placed their bowls down before them, exchanging amused, knowing glances at the scowl on Sasuke's face.

Sasuke looked up, scandalized. He looked at Temari as if expecting her to side with him. Temari just slung an arm around Sakura's shoulders, tilting her chin up with a proud smirk. "What my fiancee says goes."

Sasuke groaned, going back to eating, peeking up every now and then and wondering how people like Temari caused Sakura so much happiness when all he'd ever done was make her cry.