SasuSaku

"Sai: what are you doing?"

"I'm trying to understand this new team." Sai replied to Sakura's question.

Naruto simply looked at Sai's pondering face and doubled over laughing. While Naruto drew the attention to himself, Sakura managed to sneak a glance at Sasuke, admiring the changes he's gone through physically. She noticed that Sasuke seemed to be glaring at Sai, not approving of his presence now that he had returned. Returning her attention back to Naruto, she watched as he regained himself well enough to speak. Sai was watching Naruto laugh with a questioning look on his face- obvious that he was confused as to why Naruto was laughing. Naruto, on the other hand, found the whole situation funny. Seeing as he was the only one acting so obnoxiously, he decided to calm himself down enough to explain things to the rest of his team.

"What are you talking about, Sai?" Naruto scoffed, "This isn't a new team: we just got back a part that was missing. What's with you? You jealous of Sasuke or something?"

After Naruto finished, Sakura nodded her head in agreement to the point he was trying to make to Sai. Feeling Sasuke's eyes on her for a second, she suddenly felt an overwhelming rush of unusual sensations. Sai sat away from the group, observing their interactions with each other now that Sasuke had returned. He also made sure to make a mental note to keep a close eye on Sasuke until he proved that he could be trusted. While Naruto reminisced about previous missions with Sasuke, he drifted away from the conversation. Sasuke was watching his old team mates interact with each other. It sure wasn't how it used to be anymore and that was certainly evident. Although Sasuke's ego would never let him willingly admit it, deep down, he had really missed them: Sakura and Naruto and even Kakashi who was currently not here. In some ways, Naruto hadn't seemed to change much- he was still loud and obnoxious as he was before. Sakura seemed to be a whole new person almost completely and it was proving to be for the better so far. She didn't clobber Naruto for being so loud and slightly rude to Sai; instead, she sat there patiently waiting for Naruto to finish while faking a laugh to go along with it. She was trying to make things go back to normal or at least reduce the tension in the air. Sasuke also noticed that their outward appearances have drastically changed as well. Even though it's been about 4 or 5 years, he didn't think that they'd change so much. Then again, they were all adults now, not some stuck up teenagers who were still trying to find themselves. Naruto still wore orange but it wasn't his orange jumpsuit he had remembered. He even seemed to be a bit more equipped with kunai and shuriken. He was still that blonde headed dobe he remembered though- that was for sure. Sakura: he didn't even know where to begin with her physical changes. Her hair was still pink and about shoulder length still. Looking at her hair drew his eyes down and then he noticed her breasts, which looked like another thing that had seemed to grow. Sakura still had her beautiful green eyes but her style in clothing had definitely changed. Sasuke couldn't remember what Naruto and Sakura had looked like the couple of times they had a run in with each other, but he sure didn't remember Sakura looking so attractive.

"Glad to see that you're all bonding together so well, but I'm afraid we're going to have to continue this at a later time." Kakashi told them, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

"How come Kakashi sensei?" Naruto questioned right away, taking on a more serious tone.

Kakashi had everyone's attention by now. They all knew by the tone of Kakashi's voice that something was up. He gathered them around him as he began to explain what was going on and what needed to be done. After explaining the situation to his apprentices, he set them out into 2 groups. Sai went with Naruto and Sasuke ended up with Sakura. Kakashi figured that Naruto would be able to handle himself well enough and if not, Sai was there to cover his ass in case anything took a turn for the worse. He didn't want Sasuke going with Sai for obvious reasons of course. Kakashi also made sure to keep Naruto and Sasuke separated until he knew that they were able to work well enough together. Since Sasuke likes to get himself into trouble, he figured it'd be a good idea to send the medic ninja of the group, Sakura, with him. It also gave them a chance to be alone for a while to possibly better things between them. After all, they were the ones that needed to work things out even more so than Naruto and Sasuke. If Sakura wasn't pleased then no one would be. Kakashi knew his pupils: Sakura could definitely keep her cool when need be.

/Dawn\\

All 4 team members of group 7 met up at the Kohona gates just like their sensei had instructed them. For once, Kakashi had actually been right on the dot with his timing and they all knew what that meant. They were going to be sent out on a long and serious mission. Or, at least that's what Kakashi had wanted them to think.

"Alright, you know the mission team 7. If you guys aren't back in Kohona in 2 weeks, I'm sending out a search party for you. I want this mission to go smoothly and according to plan. Don't screw this up." Kakashi warned them all.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, "Tch- Kakashi-sensei, we can take care of ourselves. This mission'll be a piece of cake!"

"Let not get too ahead of ourselves. Alright, no more wasting time, let's move!"

And with those final words, then all disappeared in a flash, heading their separate ways. Sasuke went with Sakura and Sai with Naruto. Kakashi had set out on his own separate way. Their objective was simple: survive off the land. You have one companion to help you on your way and you have 12 days to stay healthy and survive. By the twelfth day, if you weren't back, you had 2 more days to get back before a search party would be sent out. Sai and Naruto were set off east while Sasuke and Sakura were sent west. Kakashi decided to head north in case he needed to check on either of them. What team 7 didn't know was that Kakashi was not only going to be keeping an eye on them to see how they would work together, but test their trust in each other as well as their abilities in combat under such conditions. It was a simple mission that should have been easy to pass, but they hadn't had a challenge like this since they passed the forest of death in the chuunin exams. Kakashi had nothing to worry about but better safe than sorry in case something was to happen. Besides, it gave him a chance to relax in the outdoors: something even he himself hasn't had the chance to do in a while. Since Lady Tsunade wasn't going to have any missions to do for at least 2 weeks, he figured he'd put his team to work anyway. The jonin was curious to see how Sasuke would react to working with his old team mate… and crush. There was a reason that sly devil chose to pair him with Sakura and it had more to do with then just gut feeling.

Sasuke & Sakura

"Wait Sasuke, that's not-" Sakura tried to warn him.

The tent that he was trying to set up had just finally stood until he moved the bar that was supposed to be placed in the ground. The tent stood for about a second then collapsed on the ground altogether. Sasuke's eyebrow twitched, showing how frustrated he really was with this whole 'survival mission'. To Sasuke, it was all just a bunch of crap that he felt they really didn't need to be wasting their time on. Nevertheless, he was stuck with it and he had to see the mission through whether it meant just deal with it or work on actually gaining some trust and respect to the Uchiha name back. Sasuke was a man of his word and he had decided that he was going to try to gain some of Sakura's trust and respect back. Sakura on the other hand, wasn't even worried about Sasuke: she was just happy that he was back in Kohona going on missions with team 7 like the old days. Not once did a thought of fear or nervousness cross her mind while she was around him. Since Sasuke couldn't get the little tent set up, she figured that she might as well set it up. While Sasuke worked on getting the fire set up, she quickly but neatly set up the small but manageable tent. When she was finished setting everything up inside of the tent, she stumbled out to see that the fire was lit. Wiping her brow, she stared up into the sky noticing that dark was very imminent. She didn't like the silence that had settled between her and her old crush, but she knew that he was never one for much conversation. Then again, maybe all that strict solitaire had moved him to want to talk and be social able. She sat down in front of the fire, enjoying the tickling warmth that licked at her bare legs. Sasuke decided that now would be the best time to try and make conversation with Sakura so he plopped himself down next to her. His elbow rested on his knee and he blankly stared into the fire, trying to think of a conversation starter.

"So, Sakura," he started off, thinking of simple small talk, "How has Naruto been?"

She replied with a simple answer, not once turning from the fire, "He's been really good actually. You won't believe how strong he's gotten over these past few years Sasuke. I'm really amazed how strong of an individual he can be. Loosing you really made him get a hold of the important things in life and turn things around. I mean, everyone in the village really respects him and the little ones even look up to him now."

Sasuke was intimidated by her words of his team mate that was once such a looser. Naruto, the trouble maker of the leaf village had brought himself around to be the village's idol. Sasuke was secretly jealous of the blonde haired fox. I mean: what had he done to be talked about? Hardly anything good, that's for sure. The only good thing he's ever done was kill Kohona's top enemies and that wasn't even for the Leaf village. That was for his own selfish reasons. Sighing, he let out some of his frustration, running his hand through his hair.

"Wow, that's outstanding, even for him." Sasuke replied, honestly shocked.

"Well, Sasuke," she started, shifting; "You really made a big impact in his life when you left us like that. I'm no cry baby anymore, but he not only did it to win me over, but to bring his best friend back home."

Sasuke chuckled, "So, how'd he do with winning you over then?"

She blushed and gave a girly giggle, "Well, let's just say that he hasn't completely won me over just yet."

Sasuke froze at what she said. Naruto was actually winning her over? Since when did that dobe become good with girls let alone understand their feelings? Knocking him out of his trance, he heard Sakura bust out laughing.

"You actually believed me? Ha ha ha! I've been on a date with him one time and I'll never go again! Naruto is more of a brother then anything, you should know that."

Sasuke sweat dropped at her humor, putting his head down to hide his smile. She continued to laugh at how gullible he was for believing her.

'And to think,' Sasuke thought to himself, 'this night has just begun.'

To be continued!