Team 7 safely transported the evolved food supplies that survived their stay in the R&D building to their intended destination -- the Forest of Death.

It was the day before the official start of the Exams, and Temari and Baki had arrived in the morning. Now, the four just had to visit the Hokage's Office for their verbal report. Thereafter, they would be free of missions until the final tournament ended and all of the visiting shinobi departed.

Unlike other teams, that took this time to train and prepare for the upcoming Exams, Team 7 continued to charge through their missions as per usual. While Sōjirō busied himself with arranging for the tournament and secretly instructed his clueless shinobi forces (he did not trust the ANBU forces to mobilise themselves appropriately when it came to it), Team 7 completed missions at a ridiculous pace. At one point, their team ended up being split into two and started rushing around madly as if in desperation to fill their portfolios. The secretary would no longer look on flabbergasted whenever Team 7 came out of the Hokage's Office every morning without fail, carrying a large pile of mission scrolls.

The Hokage's Guard even started to place bets on how many missions the frenzied Team 7 would turn in at the end of the day.

Of course, no one knew that the trio did mean to bulk up their portfolio. During the previous timeline, none of them could mention their mission track record. Though there were no failures, their official files did not include their achievements during the Fourth Shinobi World War. It never became an issue since humans were pretty much extinct by the end of the war, but they had to deal with that if they wanted to continue their careers as shinobi. For one, being a genin Hokage (albeit in name only) was too shameful.

"We're back, Hokage-jiji!" Naruto yelled as he barged into the Hokage's Office.

He was decked in full orange shinobi gear. He wore a bright orange and blue bomber jacket with matching orange pants. It was so similar to the outfit Naruto favoured in the previous timeline that even Sakura and Sasuke were deceived into thinking it was the very same. Then again, that might have been because they did not pay much attention to what Naruto wore back then.

"Welcome back, Team Kakashi," Hiruzen welcomed them pleasantly, already used to the boisterous veneer Naruto now cast upon himself.

"Team Kakashi reporting, Hokage-sama!" Sakura and Sasuke announce, saluting as was taught in the Academy.

They were more accustomed to a different salute, one that was later modified from the traditions of various shinobi villages. It was the salute towards the one and only leader of the Allied Shinobi Forces. Naruto's proper title had been Rengōkage. He had taken the mantle of Hokage for less than a week before being appointed Rengōkage but his friends and teammates, Sakura and Sasuke continued to refer to him as their Hokage. He liked it back then since it made him feel as if Konohagakure was still intact -- even if it was not so.

"Report," Hiruzen instructed, waving a hand to signal them to be at ease.

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

A long hour later, Naruto returned to his home in the Forest of Death. He would have taken this time to bring Sachiko-chan back, but his ANBU guard was being particularly diligent as of late. He did not want to bring unnecessary attention upon himself by disappearing under their watch. Who knew what Sarutobi Hiruzen would do if Naruto just vanished into thin air?

He noticed when he got there that Anko was back early, possibly due to the phase of the Exams that she was proctoring. That aside, Naruto found it rather intriguing. The conditions were completely different now, and yet the Chūnin Exams would still be carried out in much the same way as they did during the previous timeline.

"Tadaima!" Naruto called out as he entered the building.

The "Academy dead last" mask fell as the door shut behind him, and he unrolled the orange shinobi pants that, absurdly, left his calves exposed.

It did not much matter, considering that his healing factor would have prevented such a move from incapacitating him for long, but it made him feel some discomfort revealing such an obvious weak spot like that. It was an aftereffect of war -- he would never have worn his clothes like that in the first place if he felt this way when he was younger. Only his professional ethics prevented him from failing to disguise himself as closely as was possible to the original.

He rubbed his cheeks, which were stiff from maintaining the unnatural expression of his dead-last persona.

"Okaerinasai," a male voice answered.

Naruto grinned and, this time, it was genuine.

"Gaara!" he greeted happily.

The novelty of having Gaara living together with him in the only place he could come home to never quite wore off, even months after the exchange programme began. He could not quite put it into words but something felt... refreshing about having someone waiting for him when he came home. Anko was always busy and, as a Tokubetsu Jōnin, worked odd shifts in the T&I Bureau even after she retired from ANBU duties. Her working hours were all over the place so, despite having a housemate, Naruto hardly came out to greet her when she came or left and vice versa.

Having the fellow jinchūriki, whom he was close to, choose to stay here for these two months or so was a pleasant change. The redhead, besides the time he spent on his training regimen, stayed in the room right across the corridor from Naruto's. He also liked to lounge on the roof, snoozing while basking in the sun. It was a far nicer place to rest than the rooftops of Suna, which were too hot to remain on during the day. By comparison, the shade from the canopy of the Forest was truly delightful.

Not one to lose out, Anko bounded down the stairs and picked up Naruto to spin him around while screaming, "Okaeri! Okaeri! You're finally back!"

If he was anyone else, he would have been shaken dizzy by the excitable Anko.

"Yes..." Naruto only managed to speak when she finally stopped turning, though his voice was muffled by the suffocating hug, "I'm back. Hello, Anko-nee."

He caught a faint whiff of grilled meat and noticed the domestic sight of Gaara in a pink and frilly apron (a joke from Anko, no doubt).

"You've eaten?" Naruto inquired mildly, slipping out of Anko's reach with practised ease.

He did not expect Anko's reaction of complete and utter horror as she ducked behind him and shuddered, eyeing Gaara cautiously.

Naruto raised an eyebrow.

Naruto faintly recalled Gaara's cooking to be pretty decent. Anko was not usually picky about her food anyway, even if she was spoiled by his excellent culinary skill. She had a sweet tooth, much like Itachi, and enjoyed traditional Japanese desserts, especially dango.

Personally, Naruto had no special preference for sweets. He had a special place in his heart for Ichiraku Ramen, where he ate freshly cooked food for the first time. Teuchi was kind, offering a free bowl of ramen to the starving and half-frozen child he met on the streets. The man always came up with all kinds of excuses to treat him to meals after discovering that he would be turned away from other stores despite his allowance from the Sandaime Hokage. From being the so-called hundredth customer of the day to a special ramen coupon giveaway, the man never ran out of reasons to feed Naruto whilst treating the boy as a special customer.

Once, Naruto met Iruka while he was dining in the back of the shop.

At the time, Umino Iruka was still a newly-minted chūnin filled with hopes and dreams for the future ahead of him. He failed to recognise the boy who was dressed in shabby clothes and covered his head with the tattered hood of a worn cape as the fearsome Kyūbi jinchūriki. He could not imagine the small boy, malnourished but not filthy, to be the vessel of the terrifying monster that took the lives of his parents, turning him into an orphan.

Naruto had realised that there were also people who could look at him without prejudice then. If it was not for his encounter with Umino Iruka when he was six, he might have lost all hope for acceptance even before he started to attend the Academy. As he once told Sakura and Sasuke, he had been pressured by Hiruzen to start attending the Academy early. The elderly Hokage saw his potential, wishing to start honing Naruto's shinobi skills at a young age and enable the boy to make friends his own age.

If Hiruzen was the first spark of kindness in his life and Teuchi showed Naruto human warmth, then Iruka gave him hope. Iruka's appearance in Naruto's life made him feel greedy for the first time. Naruto was dazzled by the bright smile that Iruka could show, and the strong Will of Fire that burned within Iruka's eyes seemed to give Naruto strength as well.

He already knew about Kurama then. He was well aware that this young man had every right to hate him, even if only for the dreadful existence that he housed within his gut. He did not know the bijū that well yet, believing the disparaging words others directed at him and the invidious remarks that the villagers spoke about the "Demon Fox" that he represented. His very existence was abominable -- his birth was the greatest sin. If only Uzumaki Naruto had never come to be, the Kyūbi no Kitsune could have been killed that night by the Yondaime Hokage.

Naruto caught onto the truth behind his parentage very early. It was an accident that he was by the Hokage's Office when the Jōnin Commander, Shikaku -- a man who later become the Chief Strategist of the Allied Shinobi Forces for a brief period -- happened to mention his name while speaking of the village's hero. Even before that, when Naruto was first brought to meet Hiruzen by an ANBU operative who retrieved him from the "care" of the orphanage, he saw the old man painting someone with the same hair and eye colour as himself. His suspicions started then, and the possibility that he considered was cemented after overhearing that conversation.

Was Naruto ever truly innocent?

He learned that the world was a cruel place at a very young age. After Naruto learned the truth of his birth, Kurama would mock him. The bijū did not hesitate to slander the deceased, aiming to escape the moment Naruto lost control. Perhaps Kurama could never have expected the child, so frail in appearance, to be so sharp. He caught the truth interwoven with Kurama's insults and tauntings. He discovered his ability to seize the bijū's chakra and that his surname of Uzumaki was that of the clan that has imprisoned the Kitsune for generations. Naruto managed to infer that Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage who was supposed to be his father, died for the village and sacrificed his son to seal the Kyūbi, a valuable asset that was indispensable to the continued supremacy of Konohagakure's strength.

Even so, he never understood love and protection.

A concept that was beyond his knowledge and experience, Naruto never imagined that anyone could have ever loved him.

When Naruto met Iruka, he was compelled to act out for attention for the first time.

Their encounter was short and did not leave a mark in Iruka's memory, and yet it was what changed Naruto's life completely.

He rushed to the Hokage's Office, an emotion he did not yet comprehend burning in his chest. He demanded to be enrolled in the Academy and for Iruka, a chūnin who had just completed his Chūnin Exams and did not yet qualify to teach students, to be his sensei. He refused to allow the Hokage to turn down this request, threatening to defect from Konohagakure to join some enemy village or another if he ended up with another chūnin as his teacher.

Hiruzen conceded to Naruto's demands.

Then, Iruka unwillingly became the teacher of the Kyūbi Jinchūriki. Despite his protests, Hiruzen did not budge. The Sandaime Hokage entreated him to give Naruto a chance, and Hatake Kakashi -- the same ANBU operative who wore the porcelain mask designed to resemble a dog who appeared to save Naruto from the villagers' hunt and brought him to the Hokage -- thoroughly disillusioned Iruka of his false assumptions. Therefore, Iruka met Naruto officially for the first time in a classroom setting.

As Naruto expected, the chūnin did not recognise him. His new clothes, a white shirt with an orange Uzumaki swirl and plain shorts, prevented the teenager from identifying Naruto with the kid in dark and tattered clothing in Ichiraku Ramen. The young man tried his best not to be too awkward with the six-year-old, but the whisker markings on Naruto's cheeks reminded him of the burden that the blond boy before him carried.

That was when Naruto realised that simply having Iruka as his teacher was not going to be enough. His liking of Iruka was one-sided. If things continued like this, their relationship would not exceed the strict professional boundary between teacher and student before he graduated.

That night, Naruto snuck into the records room and studied Iruka's files.

He learned what kind of person Umino Iruka was and read about everything that he has gone through in his life. Naruto realised that the fastest and most effective way to keep Iruka's attention on himself was to become a troublemaker. Iruka was sincere in his desire to teach. He was not particularly skilled in the shinobi arts, but he carried the Will of Fire in his heart that too many shinobi of Konohagakure now lacked. This characteristic was what drew even the Hokage's attention to a genin of mediocre ability, allowing him to smoothly transition into the next stage as a chūnin despite his lack of outstanding skills.

Konoha's biggest prankster and the number one unpredictable ninja was an identity that Naruto specially crafted to mirror Iruka's days in the Academy.

It worked. Otherwise, Naruto would not have gotten to where he was now. Some hiccups occurred during the initial stages of his plan and he never had a chance to properly take off that mask until they were all in the midst of the greatest war in shinobi history, but he achieved all of his goals and more.

"Naruto?" he heard a concerned voice by his ear.

He shook himself out of the flurry of memories and laughed it off sheepishly, "Sorry, I was just reminiscing."

Those were the events of the previous timeline. He was still closer to Iruka than the chūnin was to the other students, but the man did not see him as the child that he raised like before. He had neither the need nor the time to play around like that in this life. Besides, he was not that lonely boy starved of affection who would do anything to keep his sensei's eyes on himself anymore.

"Gaara's cooking should not be that bad," Naruto commented, returning his focus to the subject at hand.

"Ah, you were talking about Gaara's cooking? The problem shouldn't be about his ability to prepare meals. It's just... the kit's food preferences are a little unique," Shukaku piped up, cackling.

Naruto raised an eyebrow in intrigue.

"What did you cook, Gaara?" he asked.

Before the redhead in question could respond, Anko exclaimed indignantly, "Sunagimo and Tanshio. And the gizzards he prepared were spicy! I couldn't eat the rice either -- he ruined perfectly good rice with black pepper!"

Naruto muffled a snort.

"I forgot about that," he replied, unsympathetic. "Anko-nee can't take spicy food."

"If ye don't head into the kitchen and fix a proper meal for me, it's off with yer head!" Anko growled menacingly as she drew a kunai.

Neither Naruto nor Anko expected Gaara's rationality to snap when Anko playfully held the sharp blade to his neck. Naruto did not feel threatened since he knew Anko well enough to know that she would never hold ill-will towards him and had forgotten how this move of hers, as normal as it was, would appear to onlookers. Anko did not think that the red-haired kid her legal ward brought home would go crazy when she proceeded with her usual antics that all of her colleagues and acquaintances would know better than to take seriously.

Gaara formed a barrier between the kunai and the thin skin above Naruto's jugular vein and, with a speed that outclassed most jōnin, reached the blond's side. He swiftly pulled the blond behind him, the chakra of the Ichibi leaking from him as he bared his teeth in a snarl. If not for Naruto's swift reaction time, Gaara would have protected him within a sturdy shell of chakra-reinforced sand before aiming for Anko's life.

Naruto caught Gaara's wrist as the redhead withdrew his hand from Naruto's shoulder to claw towards Anko's throat, carefully suppressing the agitated sand that surged from the expanded pouch at Gaara's waist.

"Calm down, Gaara. That woman means no harm -- there was no killing intent. Remember, she is Mitarashi Anko and a tokubetsu jōnin of Konohagakure. She is my guardian, she's always done that as a joke. I am safe," Naruto persuaded, gently trying to coax Gaara out of this bout of insanity.

He was not quite clear on what to do since this was his first time faced with a friend who was losing his wits for him, but he was indeed touched and hoped the teenager would calm down.

The faint yellow that bled into Gaara's irises receded, and water misted over the entrancing seafoam hue.

Naruto helplessly watched as tears streaked down the cheeks of his fellow jinchūriki. He never remembered Gaara to be quick to shed tears. The young Kazekage was steadfast and strong, shouldering the burden of Sunagakure despite being the only remaining member of the village's leadership. Even when Gaara heard the news of his siblings' deaths, he did not cry. He was saddened, devastated even, but he continued to fight with everything on the line.

Gaara died bringing back vital information on Zetsu's movements.

He was the reason why Naruto's team made it in time to stop Madara from casting some Mokuton jutsu upon the people he had entrapped in the Infinite Tsukuyomi after recovering his Rinnegan. Well, the Jūbi was still resurrected and the rest of humanity perished soon after. However, it was thanks to Gaara that Zetsu never had an opportunity to awaken Kaguya as he planned to do in this timeline.

Naruto could only recall one occasion during which Gaara cried -- when he finally faced his father the Yondaime Kazekage Rasa and learned of his mother's love for him.

Gaara was not unfeeling. He was very much attuned to his emotions and cared a lot about those around him. He never blamed others for the suffering of his childhood and was kind to everyone.

For some strange reason, the other jinchūriki also seemed to consider Naruto his saviour.

Naruto frantically dug around and found a napkin, which he used to dab at the wet tracks trailing from Gaara's green eyes.

"Naruto," Gaara choked out, "don't treat your life so lightly. Even if it's just as a joke, never let someone hold a knife to your neck like that."

Naruto was truly befuddled but could do nought except agree numbly.

"I won't let anyone threaten me from now on, alright?" Naruto promised, completely powerless against the force of a cherished friend's tears.

It was not hard for him to do such a thing -- he simply needed to dodge or block any of Anko's playful strikes from now on. Anyway, he just could not bring himself to ignore the redhead's plea. Not when Gaara made this request for his sake, at least.

Gaara nodded, mumbling in warning, "If I ever hear otherwise, I'll throw this away."

Even though he said this, his fingers tightly clutched the pendant hanging from his neck. It was unsure if this punishment that he spoke of was targeting himself or the blond before him. Rather than Naruto, it seemed that Gaara would be the one who will suffer more from discarding the trinket.

"I will keep myself out of harm's way wherever possible," Naruto assured.

He did not mention that he could make a new one any time or that it did not matter even if Gaara lost the accessory.

"I suppose I can tell you this first. If you cover that stone with blood and channel your chakra through it, it will bring you to a secret realm that is both separate and connected to this dimension. You can go there if you are ever in danger or need somewhere to be alone. I am always just a telepathic connection away," Naruto apprised of the unclarified function of the pendant that he did not originally plan to tell his allied jinchūriki about so soon.

He intended to keep it hidden until they were brought back to life after they were robbed of their bijū by the Akatsuki. The organisation was significantly changed from the past, but Naruto did not want to think too much about what this implied to the bigger picture just yet. If Pein and his Paper Angel companion had it their way, the Akatsuki would never start its bijū collector business. However, Naruto did not want to consider what that meant for him as a jinchūriki or his blood clone Akihiko just yet.

Gaara looked down at the large greenish-blue aquamarine at the centre of the shiny pendant he was holding.

"As expected, there was more to this gem," Gaara muttered, tilting the stone to refract light through the "一" encased within.

Naruto laughed sheepishly.

It was good that telling Gaara that inane bit of information was enough to get his mind off the matter upon which he had been so hung up. That trick would never have worked if this was Sakura he was trying to fool. In hindsight, the sorrow of a friend made him back down far easier than any amount of pushing and pulling. Without any force, he would surrender as soon as the waterworks came.

It was fortunate that this newly discovered issue did not extend to enemies.

He might feel sympathy towards them or find them pitiful, but it was not going to distract him enough to make a difference in a battle.

"Anyway, I'm famished. I'll go ahead and eat first. As for Anko-nee, there should still be some leftovers in the fridge. You can reheat that if you can't stomach Gaara's cooking," said Naruto as he stepped past the spiky-ponytailed woman towards the source of the fragrance of grilled meat.

Anko gawked at the two jinchūriki as they passed her.

"You know chilli is the bane of my existence!"

Naruto dutifully ignored the outraged cry of his supposed guardian.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

"Shishō! We're heading off!" Kankuro shouted, bowing to the orange-clad genin.

He did not bat an eyelash at the ostentatiously bright clothing that the blond wore. If asked about it, Kankuro might have gone on a tirade about how his great shishō was beyond mortal comprehension. Naruto dully considered the thought of Aoi meeting Kankuro -- they would certainly get along splendidly.

Gaara nodded and waved goodbye.

"We'll meet during the Chūnin Exams," Gaara stated, partly as a reminder to his elder sibling.

The two moved swiftly using shunshin and were soon out of sight.

"Well, Anko-nee, I guess it's time for me to take my leave too. Bye," Naruto bade to the dark-haired woman as he balanced the fox mask that was originally hung on his hip on his head.

"I'll be seeing ya soon, squirt," Anko answered, reaching out as though to ruffle Naruto's hair.

Naruto ducked out of the way, knowing better than to believe that.

"Hey!" she protested, pouting childishly.

Naruto stuck out his tongue at her and slipped his dead-last persona on.

He told her brightly, "It's not happening, Anko-nee. I made a promise, dattebayo!"

She was going to place him in a chokehold to grind her knuckles against his head.

It was usually harmless fun, but he avoided it now due to the vulnerable position such an action would place him in.

"Mata ne!"

As he disappeared too fast for even Anko to keep track of his location, he left that phrase hanging in the air.

"That brat," Anko sighed fondly.

She recognised that mask at first glance.

It was her gift to celebrate his fourth birthday.

ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ

Sakura and Sasuke were in their usual outfits, not making the effort to dress the way they did in the previous timeline.

Sakura's justification was that she, as Kunoichi of the Year, will only be an embarrassment to Konohagakure if she showed up in civilian clothing. If she had to wear that same red qipao without any defensive or offensive value, she would have been most irritable. She hated any reminder of her uselessness during her Academy days. She wore her usual blue and white battle kimono, with Aoi's vessel treated as an obidome threaded through the obijime. Her white hitai-ate was still around her neck and she wore the white slippers made by Naruto alongside a different pair of white fingerless gloves that did not have coloured embellishments. The silken material had a unique texture that resembled snowflakes, similar to her clothing. It was a speciality of the Phoenix Realm, procured for her by Ice King Oswald. In Aoi's words, the fabrics that were woven by the proud peacocks never stain or rip and could be considered one of the most miraculous materials in the world. Her weapons pouch was secured to her thigh and a poison and antidote kit was fastened to her obi next to a senbon holster.

Sasuke had been forced into navy-blue hanfu accented with silver by his meddlesome familiar, who thought his usual getup consisting of a loose collared shirt and baggy white ANBU pants was too unfashionable. It was undeniable that Sasuke had a terrible sense of fashion but the identical sets of clothing that filled his wardrobe at the moment were not the worst that Sasuke has ever selected for himself. The problem was that once he decided on a particular outfit, he would get multiple sets of it and wear it for all occasions. He would even wear it to bed and sometimes would just walk out of his house like that without any sort of morning routine. If he listened to the young Kirin, he would know that he was only made to change into this because his familiar was just fed up with seeing him run around in his pyjamas. The round-necked robe he was wearing was a style called Ming Yuanling, as opposed to the Yishang he donned previously when he finally left the Kirin Realm after a training period. His contracted summons seemed to be the only force in this world capable of getting the stubborn Uchiha clan heir to change his outfit. Twice, at that.

Of course, the changes to his wardrobe never lasted for long -- just like how Sasuke's previously flattened hair always sprang back to the classic "duck butt" style that his teammates teased him for.

In other words, his hair was always ruffled in that manner because of his sleeping habits. His trademark hairstyle was just his bedhead. When he woke up early enough, he would have the time to fix it, but he often did not think of it before leaving his residence. He briefly considered the thought of leaving his hair long -- Itachi's hairstyle did not look like the rear of any kind of fowl at the very least. He was then reminded by Naruto, who seemed to have read his mind, of the existence of another Uchiha clan member from the Warring States Period whose hair was very similar to his own except for the length. Indeed, the man that Naruto mentioned was none other than Uchiha Izuna -- the younger brother of Uchiha Madara. Sasuke could only give up and accept his fated connection with ducks.

Naruto suppressed a snicker.

The last part was made up, but Sasuke did not have a choice. Neither Naruto nor Sakura was willing to come up with some hair product to tame his disobedient hair. It was simply not worth the effort, and it did not make sense that Sasuke was so self-conscious about his hair anyway. It was an inherited Uchiha trait that never bothered his ancestors before him, after all.

That was also a lie. Naruto knew why Sasuke was so bothered by his hairstyle. It was because he kept ending up as the butt of his teammates' jokes.

Naruto wiped away the "sweat" that emerged from his eyes from his fit of suppressed laughter.

"Yo!" he copied Kakashi's greeting -- Naruto lacked the breath required to muster any other salutations.

Kurama and Shukaku cackling loudly within his mindscape certainly did not help his case (they did say laughter was contagious).

He then discovered that, while he was stuck on the fact that Sasuke's hair was still a duck butt no matter how hard the Uchiha tried to change it, he had missed Sakura's change in hairstyle. Her long cotton candy-pink hair was pulled into a French braid, the crown feathers of a young ice phoenix adorning it. It was then that Naruto realised that it was his first time seeing anyone put their hair up into a braid. In his experience, braids were used to turn threads into usable cords. Now he mused that it seemed to function well in keeping long hair in place as well, preventing it from becoming a weakness easily exploited by one's opponents during combat.

"'Ruto... What's with you bringing that mask around recently?" Sakura queried.

"Remember the act," Sasuke reminded with a scowl as he grumpily adjusted his belt.

His sword, a chokutō created by Naruto using chakra in memory of the Sword of Kusanagi he once wielded, was nowhere to be seen. He had misplaced it somewhere and was distracted from finding it by his Kirin familiar who swooped in to switch his clothes out. His mother proceeded to kick him out of the Uchiha compound when Sakura came to look for him out of habit.

"It is my chakra system, dattebayo," Naruto explained cryptically.

Sakura held up a fist, her eyes narrowing.

"I'm practically a humanoid chakra beast now, so I need this to make it look like my chakra circulation system is normal."

Sasuke gawked at the blond.

"Why can't I tell?" he demanded.

The Rinnegan could see chakra and its flow within the body. It was not as if he never looked at his teammates through his dōjutsu. He would fleetingly glance at Naruto and Sakura with the eyes activated. On those occasions, he never noticed anything amiss.

"I have always hidden it with a mix of chakra control techniques and fūinjutsu. These chakra system seals are new."

"Shouldn't you wear the mask properly if that's the case, Usuratonkachi?" Sasuke questioned, exasperated.

"I didn't even realise what was missing until you said it, dattebayo! It's been too long since you last called me that. How nostalgic, dattebayo," Naruto spoke cheerfully.

"Naruto," Sakura said acutely, "tell the truth."

Naruto opened his eyes, which he closed to maintain the vulpine squinting appearance of his prankster persona.

"There isn't much to it, though? I just have to be in contact with this thing for it to work so it doesn't matter if I wear it or hang it on my utility belt, dattebayo," Naruto replied honestly.

Sakura massaged her temples.

"It's very hard to take you seriously when you keep saying dattebayo this and dattebayo that..."

"Then don't."

Sakura glared at Sasuke for his dumb comment and adjusted Aoi's vessel.

"Let's go. We'll miss the exam at this rate," Sakura admonished, hurrying her male teammates along.

"Teme, you can't keep snatching my role!" Naruto complained, clearly referring to the part where Sasuke said something useless and upset Sakura.

"Do you want to be hit that much, Naruto?" Sakura asked sweetly, smiling very gently.

"No," Naruto squeaked, covering his head. "You hit hard, Sakura-chan!"

The trio was replicating their dynamics from the previous timeline to the best of their ability. If one knew the inside story, one would know Team 7's performance was a show they were putting up for one particular snake Sannin.

"Quit making a fuss and hurry, Naruto!" Sakura growled and turned to look at Sasuke with hearts in her eyes.

They walked into the building and stopped abruptly at the lobby.

"It seems like we forgot something?"

The three genin-in-name looked at each other at the same time and cursed under their breaths.

They never agreed on what they would do during the Exams.

"Won't it work as long as we follow everything we did before?"

"And let you get a hickey from Pedo-Hebi?"

At Naruto's wry counterargument, Sasuke winced.

Sakura rolled her eyes -- her raven-haired teammate's pride was getting in the way again.

"You can opt out of that if you don't want it, you know? It's your body -- your choice. You wouldn't ruin our plans by not receiving the curse seal. Didn't we agree those years ago that things will be different this time?"

"Then it will be that much harder to justify me following a missing-nin. Without the excuse of growing stronger with the seal, I have no reason to abandon what I already have to chase after a mirage."

"You were doing exactly that the last time, though?" Naruto remarked, looking askance at the Uchiha.

Sasuke's eyelid twitched, and yet he had nothing to say to refute that. His younger self must have been blind. For him to choose apprenticeship under an exiled shinobi instead of staying loyal to Konoha was possibly the worst decision he has ever made. It not only thwarted Itachi's efforts to help Sasuke keep his place in Konoha despite the Uchiha clan's plans to usurp the village leadership but also destroyed whatever reputation he had as a shinobi. Due to his folly, the Uchiha name became dishonourable and was dragged through the mud with him.

"I can prevent Pedo-Hebi from really biting you and make him still think he succeeded. Ironically enough, I am the only one on this team who can effectively use genjutsu."

Sakura forced a strained smile -- she was not incapable of casting genjutsu per se. Strictly speaking, her technical ability -- when it came to the illusion arts -- was certainly there. Sakura's chakra control was impeccable, transcending even that of Tsunade during her prime. If it were not for her chakra and body being imbalanced for the majority of her childhood due to their trip from the future, she would never have been surpassed by Naruto's attainments in chakra control. Sakura even consulted the Phoenix race's Great Elder about it out of curiosity -- the session ended with her having more questions than she started with.

According to the elder, it was perfectly normal for one's chakra control to be affected after a transition between an adult's body and a child's. Either way, it was nigh impossible to be unaffected after a leap through time. Her very soul changed after passing through time and space, and it was refined in a manner comparable to distillation. If she could see human souls, the Great Elder told her, she would be able to perceive the qualitative difference between the souls of time travellers like herself and ordinary mortals as well. However, it took time for a time traveller's condition to stabilise. Even when the body one possessed was one's own, a soul was no longer the same after crossing through that boundary.

In other words, it would take even longer for a time traveller to settle into their new bodies -- they were just too different from other humans.

It was truly baffling for Sakura when she asked about Naruto's situation. She did presume that the blond jinchūriki was an exception to this, with her friend being so special in every way. Nevertheless, while she indeed received an affirmation that it was indeed the case, the way the phoenix elder spoke of Naruto made no sense.

She still remembered the nonsensical words that the Great Elder uttered.

"That exalted personage is naturally exempt to the rules of creation. You might not know this, but the Master of Mugetsu has a fate far greater than your wildest imaginations."

Sakura had taken that as a personal insult at first.

Sakura was simply unimaginative. Her creativity was lacking, so to speak. She was not unintelligent, either. She has always been smart enough to quickly grasp new concepts. For one, after Shikamaru and Naruto, she was the first to comprehend the language system that the two creators called English. She was just bad at thinking out of the box and picturing realistic scenes that she did not see before.

Her recall ability was amazing but her photographic memory was, impressively, worse than that of an average person.

She soon realised that the Elder was never looking down on her.

"Is it possible?"

Sakura was jolted from her reverie as she registered that they were still standing by the entrance.

It would have been unusual to see the mass of genin walk around them naturally as if not seeing the three standing in the middle of the walkway and having a stare-off, but Sakura knew Naruto was right. He indeed had the best skill in crafting illusions within Team 7. Although his teammates consisted of an Uchiha and the Kunoichi-of-the-Year, the jinchūriki of the team was best at genjutsu.

If Naruto were not Naruto, Sakura might have felt utterly humiliated by the sheer ludicrousness of this.

"As long as you wish for it, I can make that happen."

Sasuke nodded slightly, the movement so slight it was almost imperceptible.

He noticed the genins trickling through the door they partially blocked and once again felt awe at Naruto's unbelievable ability to defy expectations. There were so many shinobi here and yet not one realised that something was amiss even as they left a narrow berth around Team 7. It did seem quite plausible for the blond future Hokage to trick just one Orochimaru.

"Thanks," he mumbled under his breath.

Naruto flashed a foxy grin at him and flashed a peace sign reminiscent of a certain green-wearing duo.

"You can count on me, dattebayo!"

Sasuke perked up when he surmised that their actions within this area would not be seen by outsiders.

"Ruì [叡]. Bring me Kusanagi," Sasuke ordered his familiar, who appeared at the call of his name.

The young Kirin, who was the size of a large dog, had a small bump on his forehead that would grow into a majestic horn in the future. His coat was soft and downy, covered in dense fur that would be covered by scales once he reached majority. With his hooves and soft appearance, he looked more like a foal than the young of a mythical species.

"Sasuke, the summoner of unicorns," Naruto mumbled, inaudibly, under his breath.

Sasuke did not hear him, though he felt something amiss.

Naruto mutely decided that, perhaps, Sasuke did not really need a duck contract after all.

'Uchiha Sasuke, the great Sage, majestically riding into battle on a unicorn.'

...

Shukaku and Kurama, who saw Naruto's vivid mental image materialise within his mindscape, burst into laughter.

In Naruto's imagination, Sasuke was not majestic at all on his unicorn mount.

'Of course not,' Naruto answered the narrator. 'He makes a wonderful Disney princess.'

"Who are you talking to, Naruto-sama?" Chōmei wondered, perplexed.

"Anyway, it's about time we start making our way to the examination hall," Naruto said out loud, changing the topic.

"Naruto-sama?" Chōmei called out once more.

She was, confusingly, unceremoniously ignored by the person in question.