Summary: Naruto convinces the team to pull the ultimate prank on Kakashi, and it backfires.

The Prank

The members of Team 7 had learned in their earliest moments not to mess with their sensei, and it started with Naruto's foolish chalkboard-eraser-on-the-doorframe stint. The young Genin-to-be already had an extensive history of pranks under his belt and had relished the amusement of catching a high ranked jonin in his trap. That said, the prank was pretty weak, even if their new teacher stepped right into it.

Back then, Sakura pretended to be disapproving of Naruto's antics. She would be hard pressed to admit, even to herself, that she actually loved stuff like that. Even though the prank had been a small success (measured by a fallen eraser that dusted their sensei's hair a duller shade of white-grey), from that moment on Sakura decided never to prank the infamous Copy Ninja again. It was the first and last time she wanted to hear Kakashi Hatake tell his charges that he hated them.

But the intimidation held by the aloof, mysterious Kakashi-sensei melted away after a decent amount of time. In fact, burning curiosity placed it completely. Even Sasuke Uchihua was on board with operation number two; see under Kakashi's mask. That involved quite a serious of rather lame, one-dimensional pranks in an effort to see underneath the underneath. All of them had been a failure.

And after nostalgically reflecting on the history of pranks, Naruto Uzumaki decided to revisit his mischievous roots. The tempting target was his sensei. Naruto had an idea, and he called it revenge.

"Don't you hate that Kakashi-sensei is always late?" Naruto suddenly asked his pink haired companion. He, Sakura and Sai stood in silence on Team 7 training grounds, waiting for the aforementioned man. Sakura could only roll her green eyes.

"What else is new?" She didn't quite like the intonation of her teammate's question, but refused to press him further. When she didn't, he did the predictable; he exploded with raw enthusiasm and excitement.

"Sakura-chan! Sai! Listen to me! You know what tomorrow is, right, right? It's April 1st! That means..."

"Don't tell me you participate in that stupid day! Grow up!" Behind her harsh words, curiosity burned in Sakura chest. Sai merely tilted his head, unfamiliar with the traditional customs behind Konoha's very own April Fools Day. Naruto whipped his head in all directions, making sure no one was eavesdropping on them in the grassy training ground. With one hand, he beckoned them closer.

"No prank we've tried has ever worked on Kakashi-sensei. I say we finally get him back for his antics." He watched Sakura frown and shake her head to mimic disapproval, but resolved to put her at ease. Even Sai seemed attentive when the blonde announced that he had thought of the most brilliant prank in the history of the village. Coming from Naruto, what could that mean?

"Don't you think we're too old for this now?" Sakura asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"So... you don't want to know, Sakura-chan? It doesn't matter how old we are, it just means we are more capable!" Sai smiled serenely.

"But you don't seem to have matured at all," Sai chimed in.

"SHUT UP!"

The pinkette was able to tune out their bickering and contemplated the potentially delightful satisfaction she might get from pulling one over on Kakashi-sensei, as long as there was no retaliation involved. Lately Kakashi had been quite distant from his students, despite the hard battles they fought together most recently. His every response was either non-committal, somewhat dismissive, lazy, or outright composed. Nothing affected him, nothing surprised him. She itched to get a peek of the old, laid back sensei they grew accustomed to out of battle. She wanted him to lighten up...

And pay her (ahem, them), some notice.

And plus, a prank! She finally conceded, and even Sai was at least open to hearing Naruto's plan.

"Alright, here it goes: Kakashi-sensei has ninken summons, right? So, one of us gets into the summons realm. The rest of us convince Kakashi-sensei to summon a ninken, and then POOF! One of us pops out and scares the shit out of him!"

Utter silence met his words.

"Naruto, you do know that's impossible, right? You need a contract to enter the realm of a summon-" Sai's factual rebuttal was cut off quite suddenly when Sakura doubled over, clutching her stomach. Cool black and blue eyes turned to the girl in urgent concern. She couldn't quite catch her breath, but when she did, she couldn't stop the laughter.

"T-t-that's so stupid! C-Could you imagine his f-face?" she gasped in between laughter. A huge smile lit up Naruto's face, and then he, too erupted in unstoppable laughter. Sai smiled, because he thought it was appropriate given his comrade's social cues. But he couldn't understand what was funny.

For the others, the possibility of Kakashi's reaction to such a ridiculous feat would be more priceless and forbidden than something like hugging Neji Hyuga. A ninja forced out of composure was an odd but amusing thing. Particular when it could be their very own Copy Ninja himself.

The remnant of Inner Sakura pumped it's fist.

Somehow, they did it. Naruto was dead serious about pulling Konoha's most privately epic prank before he became tied to in the job of being Hokage (his words). And with Naruto's newfound powers, he could do almost anything. With the help of some other jonin who were clueless to their plans, they found the adequate scroll and contract to make with ninken. Since Sakura did not yet possess a summon, they decided that out of the three, she should do the deed.

It was too easy to get Lady's Tsunade's approval to make a contract (especially when she had one too many cups of sake). The woman never even asked which summon Sakura planned on trying, and simply assumed it would be with Katsuya. That would come later. For now, the ultimate prank beckoned.

Of course, all three members of Team Seven had to beg the mutt Pakkun to keep his mug shut to Kakashi when Sakura had finally made the contract and therefore opened a door to the ninken world. Fortunately for the trio, the pug's loyalties did not seem partial to Kakashi in this situation. It might have been because Naruto agreed to massage his soft puppy paws for ten minutes. With Pakkun's help, Naruto knew everything would fall into place.

Kakashi entered his apartment with nothing urgent nor peculiar on his mind. A film of sweat covered his upper body, warm beneath his standard jonin gear. Training with Sakura, Naruto and Sai actually worked him up more than it usually would, but he blamed it on the warm weather. Without further thought, he unzipped his flak jacket, unpeeled his shirt, and tossed the layers on his couch.

Just one thing stood out as strange, but Kakashi didn't let it linger in his mind. It was something Naruto had said, and something about the way all three of them acted. Something about remembering this particular day...

Kakashi sighed. Well, if Naruto was up to something, it wasn't like he had the grace or tact to pull anything that Kakashi wouldn't immediately see through. Sai was too oblivious and Sakura wouldn't partake in any mischievous stunts, as far as he knew. The Copy Ninja made his way over to the window and cracked it open, willing the heat to dissipate from his somewhat cramped apartment. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. With two fingers, he dragged his mask to below his chin.

"Ne, Kakashi-sensei, wait up! I have a favor to ask you!"

Naruto had hunted him down right after he dismissed his subordinates. Kakashi was wary about what might come next; would he have to turn down another invitation to Ichiraku? Naruto's face always looked too crestfallen when the jonin sensei declined his offers.

It wasn't like he didn't want to spend time with his students. But, well, that's exactly what it was. Sakura and Naruto in particular had grown so much without him over the last year. It made him proud, impressed, and yet wary to think of it. In some ways entirely, each had surpassed him. And Kakashi certainly didn't want to stifle that growth.

Naruto and Sakura had done so much better without him. Sure Kakashi supplied the battle experience, strategy and intelligence, but each student still had a ways to go on their own path. Yet Team 7 had dependency issues; they clung to what was nostalgic. They would never let go of Sasuke, which he admired them for. But his students would not give up on him, either. They hung around him quite a bit and called him sensei despite the fact that he was certain he had not much else to teach them. And so, Kakashi forced himself to place some distance between himself and his students so that they could grow without him.

Unsurprisingly, they didn't think it was fair.

"Kakashi sensei, well, Pakkun helped me with something the other day and there's something I need from him. Do you think you could summon him today so he can deliver the message? Not now! Later, I'll be ready."

That was indeed an enigma coming from the orange-clad shinobi. It was true that Pakkun had been summoned a few days ago and spent some time talking to Naruto - about what, he didn't know. He would have to interrogate the ninken about it.

His feet carried him over to the sink, where he filled a bowl with water (Pakkun wouldn't stand the heat in this apartment) and placed it on the floor. Fully appreciating the privacy of his own home, Kakashi also stepped out of his pants and bindings, now clad in only his undershorts.

For a moment, the man stiffened. Two chakra signatures. One was hidden quite well, and one was poorly stifled. What were Naruto and Sai doing by his apartment? Naruto probably came to ask him about Pakkun. He felt the signatures draw closer and shift towards the grassy yard near his complex. The shinobi frowned and went to close the window, drawing the blinds. If Naruto was up to his old antic of trying to unmask him, well... he was too tired for that.

I might as well call on Pakkun now if Naruto's near, Kakashi thought wearily. He bit his thumb lazily and pushed it on the floor.

"Summon!" A cloud of thick smoke invaded the floor, but cleared quickly.

What.

The-

Poison in the water? What could possibly be causing him to see a pink color in the place of a ninken? He rubbed his lone eye and blinked for a second, convinced he had hallucinated.

Sakura was sitting on the floor.

Sakura couldn't wait to see the look on Kakashi's normally detached face (or what they could see of it). She sat in position, exactly when Pakkun had told her to in the ninken realm. When she suddenly become enveloped in smoke, she knew everything had gone according to plan. Naruto was supposed to have hunted down Kakashi after training and convinced him to do a summon right then.

The smoked cleared from her vision, and she thrust out a finger.

"You're late!" she chimed sappily. She didn't know what else to say. But then she couldn't say anything else-the sight knocked all breath from her lungs.

Kakashi's eye widened, shocked under his smooth white brows. His other eye was closed but exposed, as no headband laid over his forehead. A mess of silvery hair fell over his brow, instead. The other piece of cloth that was starkly absent would be, oh, his mask. A bare face. His eye wasn't the only thing that betrayed surprise - try a mouth, a perfect mouth, slightly agape. She saw his mouth.

Sakura was staring at Kakashi's mouth. Because her eyes were afraid to move even a millimeter anywhere else. She couldn't look her sensei in the eye, let alone anywhere else, when he was completely bare, devoid of clothes save for a pair of pale blue boxer shorts. In her peripheries, a perfectly tone, lean body tempted her gaze.

Kakashi was never one to be paralyzed for too long- his mind was too analytical, even if he still couldn't absorb how he managed to summon a small pink haired medical ninja in place of a ninken. Hell, that could prove to be incredibly useful. But in this current, compromising position-

Sakura shrieked. She covered her eyes, then uncovered them to gape at his face for a moment more, and then disappeared quicker than Hinata's consciousness when around Naruto. It was only more awkward that she had to take the time open the window before leaping out of it, accompanied by her dignity.

Kakashi snapped out of his paralysis, threw up his mask and managed to pull on most of his other garments in a few seconds (a learned skill, thanks to his time in ANBU).

"Sakura!" He turned towards the window, sure that there had been some grave mistake that needed correcting immediately. How in the world...?

In another instant, Naruto, accompanied by Sai, crashed through Kakashi's window to greet the now clothed jonin.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto pointed with a huge grin, barely containing laughter. "April fools!" Sai was smiling, but seemed more in tune with the off situation.

Kakashi found himself thinking something he hadn't thought in years about his students.

I think... they really are idiots. I hate them.

"Why do I have an suspicion that you two know exactly what just happened?" Kakashi asked in a voice not too kind. Naruto whipped his head around.

"Did Sakura really jump out the window? Why isn't she here?"

"Why don't you explain yourself, seeing as you invited yourself in..." Sai happily supplied the information by unpacking the joke in its entirety.

"Naruto came up with an idea to play a "prank" on you in retaliation for your seemingly cold mannerism. He asked you to do a summon while Sakura waited in the ninken realm after she made a contract. When you meant to summon Pakkun, you would summon Sakura instead and it might scare you in a way that is comical to Naruto, probably due to an uncharacteristic lack of composure. An elaborate prank, I wasn't sure it would work, but Naruto thought it necessary to punish you for always being late."

"Sai, do you have to say it like that?!" The pale boy cocked his head.

"Although I don't know if it quite went to plan..."

Naruto exploded with laughter, even if sensei's eyes did radiate the look of pure derision. Kakashi placed a hand on his head.

"I cannot possibly begin to understand the idiocracy behind your so called prank," he said evenly, but the two were sure he wasn't very mad. Kakashi shook his head. "But Sakura..."

"Where did she go?"

"Well, Naruto, this just proves how inadequate you truly are with planning or tactical skill. The joke is entirely on you."

"Huh!?" Both Naruto and Sai's gazed snapped up to the Copy Nin, a tiny smirk under his mask.

"Sakura-chan saw my face."

Dumbfounded silence.

"Was it so scary that she fled out the window?" Sai asked innocently.

"No," Kakashi coughed, perturbed. He turned his face towards the window. "I think she's embarrassed..." He neglected to mention that the girl saw much more than his face. Which was worse?

It took Sakura about twenty minutes to depart from her current activity of hyperventilating behind a tree to step into the street. She needed a jutsu to put a mental block on her mind, anything to distract her from the prank that backfired to epic proportions. There was too much to process and yet too much to try to forget. One thing was for certain.

Naruto was dead.

"Oy, Sakura..."

The target in question froze at the sound of her name, and the voice who had called it. Unfortunately there was window to flee from this time.

She turned around slowly and faced Kakashi. A fully clothed Kakashi.

She stared, and he sighed. Nonetheless, he approached her.

"April fools, huh? You know, I always knew Naruto was like that, but you..." His eyes widened as he watched his student hunch forward and begin apologizing profusely. It was just like when they first met, he noted inwardly.

"S-Sorry Kakashi-sensei, it wasn't supposed to be like that! I-I-!"

The Copy Ninja raised a hand to his chin and turned his face away, mocking deep thought.

"I also thought we only had one pervert on the team," he said. Sakura blasted off and immediately lost the battle to keep a fervent red blush from staining her cheeks. How could he!?

"What? N-N-no way, it's not like that! I wasn't-! I-!" Her defensive protests were only interrupted by the smirk in Kakashi's eyes, and a light hearted chuckle. Indignity plastered his student's face. "Wait a minute! You're accusing me of being the pervert on the team! How do I know this wasn't all one big trick played on me?"

Kakashi nearly snorted. As if he, one of the most privacy-loving shinobi of Konoha, would reveal almost all of himself to his female student.

"Well, that would be a clever way of thinking if Sai hadn't revealed the true intent of antics. Something about wanting to punish me for being too cold?" Caught, Sakura's face fell and a frown tugged at the corner of her lips. Damn it Sai, always saying too much! And yet, her teammate was the one to break the ice.

"Well, Sai has a point I guess," she dared to admit. It was her turn to be amused on her sensei's perplexed expression.

"Fine. Consider this a truce, Sakura. You did see my face, so that counts, doesn't it?" Once again, the color of cherry blossoms in full bloom spread over the entirety of her cheeks. Involuntarily, her eyes drifted to the part of Kakashi's mask that Sakura now knew contained a perfect mouth. If Kakashi noticed, then what he said next served as dreaded retaliation.

"So let's get back and you can explain to me how you managed to enter the Summons realm. That part was somewhat impressive. And after that, you can explain to Tsunade-sama all about how you made an unauthorized contract with ninken to try and peek at your sensei."

Sakura was ghost. She wanted to hit him. She should have known that behind the cool demeanor, Kakashi was still lazily light-hearted, if not cruelly witty.

When it came to maintaining their relationship, they had both learned their lesson.