Once More by ItsHardToFindAPenName

Chapter 3: Team 7... Again

"Hey... Is that... Naruto?"

"No way! When did he become so hot?"

"He looks even better than Sasuke!"

"Pfff! There's no way he could be cooler than Sasuke-kun!... Right?"

Naruto groaned, and slammed his head on the table. 'It's all your fault, Mata-chan! Now I'm going to have fangirls!'

'You have just overestimated yourself there, dude,' Gyuki chuckled.

'Ugh... fangirls...' Naruto could feel Isobu shudder in his mind. 'They're a nightmare. Remind me of the time Yagura became Mizukage...'

'What? Yagura had fangirls?'

'Duh! You think he's always the homicidal maniac who wants to destroy bloodlines? Before Madara got a grip on him, he was quite a popular boy. Genius, handsome... Just like the duck-ass over there.'

Naruto was in his classroom, waiting for the team assignment. It had been too long since he last sat in this room. Everything was still the same, from the board, the tables to his classmates...

This time, he carefully chose a seat far away from Sasuke. He did not want to experience his "first kiss" once more.

'But you liked it~!' Kurama sang inside his head. Naruto gagged mentally.

'Urk! That's disgusting, Kurama! I told you to never remind me of that again!'

But there was no way his tenants would leave him alone with that.

'Ooh, ooh! I almost forgot about this! Is he a good kisser?' Chomei chimed in, obviously interested, much to Naruto's horror.

'Oh, you don't even know anything...' Kurama grinned evilly.

'Damn you, Kurama!' Naruto shouted in his mind, while his face reddened in the real world. The five girls in his head giggled.

'Sigh... Girls are so troublesome...' Goku drawled, and then yelped as Matatabi bonked him on his head.

Speaking of Sasuke...

The boy was sitting at the desk five row down from his, in his "emo mode", as Naruto preferred to call. Looking at him, Naruto's stomach felt twisted up. The images of Sasuke's defect, the battle at the Valley of the End, their meeting at Orochimaru's hideout, the battle at the Samurai Bridge, Sasuke sacrificing himself to protect him from Madara... everything rushed back into his head like a tsunami, and he had to try his best to stop himself from collapsing and bawling like a baby again.

This time, I won't let that happen. Believe it.

Sasuke seemed to notice Naruto staring at him. He scoffed, and turned away.

The mood was ruined immediately.

'Hmph! Ungrateful bastard...' Naruto huffed in his mind, which earned a giggle from the girls inside his head.

Loud stomping noises started to rise from the corridor outside. It must be Sakura and Ino, battling for the seat next to Sasuke... again.

Three... two... one...

CRASH!

... and there they are.

"Ha! I win, pig!" Sakura declared triumphantly, laughing at Ino who was gasping for breath next to her. Both their hair were tattered and their clothes were messed up, maybe because of the catfight when they were in the corridor. But when Sakura saw Sasuke...