Chapter Seven

"Ten-chan... Ten-kun... Ten-koi, oh my Ten-koi."

I was goading her and she knew it. Yet she remained silent. It was fine though, I had my genjutsu waiting in place, a new personal creation. The senbon were in a perfect circle, dissecting the clearing and forest next to it. All she had to do was step.

"Geez Sakura-chan, you could at least go easy on me with the genjutsu," TenTen whined and stuck her tongue out at me.

Before I could reply a "Yosh team! That will conclude our youthful practice!" rung out through the forest. I laughed at my eccentric sensei before looking back at Ten.

"Ready for lunch? I was thinking of picking up Hinata."

"I already invited Hina-chan," TenTen admitted with a slight coloring on her cheeks.

"Hina-chan?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I... I mean Hinata-chan."

There was the blush again.

"You guys been hanging out a lot lately?"

"Ye-Yeah we have. Since Neji-san wouldn't spar with me when I went out to the Hyuuga complex. We've been working on our stuff together and uhh I swea-"

"Ten," I looked at her with sincerity in my eyes,

"We're family no matter what, you know?"

She had a gleam in her eyes, but I knew no tears would fall. TenTen has been through too much to shed anymore tears, even out of happiness.

"Kami Sakura, you're so sappy. Besides... it's... nothing like that."

But do you want it to be? I ask her silently.

She meets my gaze evenly before looking away.

My mind wandered back into that conversation with TenTen when Naruto so charmingly interrupts.

"Ne, Sakura-chan, how do you always get the pretty girls to eat with you?"

Naruto had been whining into my ear for the past couple weeks and it was about to drive me insane. Don't get me wrong though, I'm insanely relieved he stopped crushing on me, but a girl has to draw a line. Between training with Gai, Kurenai, and Kakashi-sensei, Hinata and TenTen had started an easy friendship. We took to eating lunch together a week after my fight with Ino, which was about four months ago.

Progress was slow, but steady. I finally feel like I can start to keep up with Naruto and Sasuke, at least when we're running warm-ups. I have much heavier weights and a decent chakra pool. When it comes to combat, I still have a long way to go.

"Are you implying that I am not pretty, Naruto?" An amused smirk took over my mouth as Naruto-kun struggled to take back what he said. The results? His foot getting shoved further down his throat.

Taking the blonde prankster is a one-armed hug I led him to the ramen shop, pulling Sasuke with us for some quality lunch. Over the long training we had grown seemingly closer. Sasuke smiled a bit more freely now, but only in the privacy of team meetings or training. He and Naruto had formed a deep bond, one I was both envious and proud of. They worked to push each other to new limits everyday, and Sasuke seemed less and less intent on throwing away his life to murder his brother.

Team Demolition had grown a long way. Despite our improvements, Naruto still insisted on ramen atleast once a week. I couldn't really blame Naruto, however. The ramen stand owner and his daughter were some of the kindest people he knew. With carefree smiles and playful pushes, we finally made our way to the growing shop. After the Hokage had met with us for our weekly ritual sales have been booming at the stand.

I expected a large lunch time crowd, perhaps a villager or two brave enough to glare at Naruto. What I did not expect to see was Ino sitting with Hinata and TenTen, giggling over something the normally shy Hinata had said.

She had started to grow out of her shell, Hinata that is. Her friendship with TenTen has done nothing short of a miracle for her self-esteem. Letting her hair grow out longer and shedding her gigantic, fur-lined jacket, Hinata finally started walking and talking with an air of confidence. TenTen, being the stubborn girl she was, took my words to heart and had been abusing poor Hinata at the training grounds for hours and hours to find what was missing from her fighting form... and perhaps a couple of other things.

It was an interesting relationship they shared; TenTen often looked over-protective after the Hyuuga heiress, but Hinata did not seem to mind at all. In fact, she seemed to have softened TenTen up a bit. Don't even say that to her face though, you'll leave with a shinobi vest littered with holes and burns.

Naruto had been begging for excuses to meet my female friends, and a couple weeks ago we had a lunch date. Now he took every excuse to sit with them, dragging poor Sasuke with him.

At the bell from our entrance, Ino looked up and directly into my eyes. A steely look crossed her face and lessened into something indecipherable.

A frown tugged at the corners of my mouth as I mumbled an excuse to get away from the blonde girl sitting with my friends. Naruto had a worried gleam in his eyes, but he shot me a comforting smile and nodded. Sasuke, much to my surprise, shot a glare at Ino before making his way to the table.

As I made my way out of the warm ramen shop and back into the beginnings of a Konoha winter, A hand shot out to grab my bicep. Without thinking, I pulled the hand forward, using the attacker's momentum to throw them over my head before taking a fighting stance. I looked down into the amused and shocked face of Ino.

"Sorry," I mumbled, helping her up and then turning to hurry away. She reached out a second time.

"I'm sorry Forehead, alright?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

I know I was being immature, but I just didn't have the heart to fight with Ino any more. I had gotten my hopes up before, only to be snubbed for months. Like I had said earlier, there was only so much a girl can take.

"Always the stubborn one, eh Saku?"

And then she smiled. It was the sunny smile of wistful remembrance of easier times. My heart melted a bit and I nodded in agreement, a slight blush on my cheeks. My stubbornness was legendary among my peers, supposedly.

"Come eat with us?" She asked, voice so soft I could have imagined it. There was no imagining the pleading look on her defined face though, my old friend completely and a stranger in the same breath.

"Sure."

I took her hand and she led me back into the shop, with the only group of people I knew as my family.

"So did you two kiss and make up?" TenTen smirked, waggling her eyebrows at me. I scowled at her, fighting a blush from my pale face. Naruto spit out his ramen, laughing loudly at the jab, before stuffing more into his mouth.

That was perhaps why TenTen and Naruto got along so well. They were both natural pranksters at heart; TenTen a more verbal joker while Naruto was a hands-on type of dobe.

I turned to shoot TenTen a glare, noticing the light blush barely staining Ino's cheeks. Deciding to mess with both of them, I drew my childhood friend closer to me.

"You know we always do," I let my voice lower into something a tad inappropriate and rubbed Ino's arm suggestively. Her blush turned deep, flooding her face a tomato color.

Naruto's mouth hung open a bit, a ramen noodle sliding down his chin. Sasuke smirked, a chuckle on the edge of lips but refrained in public. Ino and TenTen looked equally stunned. Hinata sat silent, looking back and forth between us.

"Wh-Wha I d-di-didn't..."

It was about the same time Naruto's noodle hit the counter top and Ino tried to stutter her way through an awkward sentence that I busted out laughing.

"Oh man, you should have seen the look on your face," I got out between hearty laughs.

"I think you have been hanging out with Naruto-kun a bit too much, Sakura-san," Hinata's shy voice cut through my laughter. I grinned and sat down next to them, pulling a still-stunned Ino down with me.

"So, what's the special?"

After lunch I headed back to my apartment. The old man had helped finance it after the whole family issue. That is not something I want to relive again though.

Looking around the room with shinobi precaution, I disabled the three well placed traps and pulled out the rugged leather composition book and it's twins. I stared hard at the cover for a few moments before strumming my fingers through the dogeared pages. These journals was my most coveted possession, The first one arrived back, when I was starting to get my act together.

Then, ever other month I had received a new one. Some pages were filled with theories and law, a way to shape a village up from its core and keep it steady. Others had equations and prophecies, trying to figure out everything from the perfect kunai to the best techniques. Some were in relation to a bingo book, or a textbook, and yet others were personal and deep.

I shook my head, putting up the motion traps around my quaint apartment. Better safe then sorry, I mumbled to myself, before flipping open to the last read passage. It was time to start a new chapter of the newest edition. And it was there I spent my entire noon and evening, reviewing the literature placed before me.

"Mission day, mission day, Sakura-chan it's mission day!" Naruto was practically prancing down the street, a huge grin enveloping his entire face, much to the chagrin of the ill-tempered villagers. A biting scowl covered my face, aimed at the civilians looking to start a fight with the "demon". They quickly backed into their shoddy shops, grumbling loudly to one another and tossing their rocks aside.

Even Sasuke was smiling, no one able to deny Naruto's infectious mood for very long. As we made our way to the Hokage tower, a thought stuck in my head. I had to inform the Hokage of something I read. The tricky part would be how to divulge this particular section without letting the old man know I had the journal.

"Before we head to the Hokage tower, I need to talk to you three."

Kakashi-sensei's voice was oddly serious. We stopped under a canopy of lively tall trees, shielding us from the end of a Konoha fall.

"As you may or may not know, the Chuunin exams are coming to Konoha this month. I am registering all three of you as a team to join. This is your decision to make, as individuals and as a team. Ninja have died in this exam, it is no light joke."

"Sensei, if one person does not want to go, can the other two go?" I asked meekly. I was still not up to Naruto and Sasuke's strength, and I wouldn't want to hold them back.

Kakashi smiled warmly at me.

"Naruto, Sasuke, go to the Hokage tower, we will meet you there."

"But sensei what about-"

"Let's go dobe."

"I'm not a dobe you teme! Race you to the tower!"

I shook my head at their behavior, a small smile on my face. I caught Kakashi trying to smother a smile of his own, apparent through his eyes.

"Sakura-chan, you realize how much progress you've made, no?"

"I just don't know if it's enough sensei."

When I looked up from my sandals, I saw Kakashi staring off into the distance.

"You know Sakura, you three are quite troublesome. But... you are my team. I've watched you grow and know what you are capable of. The reports from Kurenai and Gai speak for themselves. Do not underestimate yourself."

He paused, caught up in his mind or his words,

"And I would never let my precious people die again."

"Again?"

Sensei was quiet for awhile before shrugging and taking out his little orange book. I smiled up at him again before we set off for the giant tower for a new mission.

"Team Demo reporting for an awesome mission, dattebayo!" Naruto announced while throwing open the mission door.

Iruka-sensei frowned at his behavior and started yelling, as always. Naruto has his sheepish grin and his arms bent behind his head, as always. I smiled at Sasuke who faked a scowl and covered his face in his palms.

It was such a transformation, I thought. Just looking at the Sasuke now and the one from the academy. Obviously he looked physically different and he had different attire, but the greatest change had to be in his attitude. I would like to think I had some part in it, with all of the bonding trips and Team 7 time. But I'm pretty sure the main change in Sasuke was due to Naruto. Sasuke of the past was an angry, vengeful boy with dreams bigger then his ego. Sasuke of today was a growing young man with ideals and value, and most importantly, a family.

It's kind of ironic in my mind to think that I had no feelings for this Sasuke, this new and improved one; yet I had fawned day in and day out over the old, messed up one.

"Team Seven, I had your mission here," the Hokage motioned over to us, smoke billowing from his wooden pipe.

"Old man! Is it an A rank? Are we going to kill some big powerful nukenin and save-"

"Naruto."

"Yes Kaka-sensei?"

"Let Hokage-sama talk."

"Oh."

"Like I was saying. Team Seven I have an intel mission for you. Normally I would not send a team of... such demolition out," He winked as he said this, emphasizing the phrase. Hokage-sama must want the nickname to stick.

"But I'm afraid it might end in unnecessary violence. The mission details are in your assigned packets. This will be a tentative C-ranked, but will most likely be upgraded. Team Gai and Team Eight will be your company teams. You are to leave tomorrow morning. Pack for week long survival necessities."

And I smiled, noticing that I have been a lot happier here then I have in a very long time.

Oh man guys. It's been awhile huh? I would apologize but I'm pretty sure you don't care. Let's just say a lot of things happened, and a lost a lot, including inspiration. So I sat down a couple hours ago and pushed this out.

Sorry the chapter is so short, I'm moving in a different direction with my writing and I think it's showing in this chapter. Also, I'm a tad bit rusty.

If anyone wants to beta for me drop me a PM. I think it would help me stay on track a lot. Changes are on the front page, aka chapter one, involving couples and plot devices and are in bold.

So, what did you think?

-Dak