Fanfic / Three's A Crowd (Naruto)

It wasn't supposed to be like this. If nothing else, Naruto was supposed to be safe within his own apartment, in his own village... but one night, he awakens to a wrenching pain in his stomach, as strangers in weird black cloaks hold him down. The pain gets worse and worse, and inhuman roars rip through his head, until—

Until Sakura wakes up inside her own bedroom, startled by the sound of sobbing. A pitiful wailing that she quickly realizes that is coming from inside her own head, as her inner self alerts her to the fact that somebody else has just joined her.

Three's A Crowd is a Naruto fanfic by ForeverDawn which explores a world where Naruto was murdered by the Akatsuki at the tender age of ten... but lingers on afterwards, stuck inside Sakura's head alongside Inner Sakura. Now the unlikely trio must try and navigate the utterly bizarre situation they've found themselves in, ideally without managing to make matters worse or drawing undue attention to themselves. The shinobi world can be incredibly unforgiving, after all; Naruto's already learned that the hard way.

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This fanfic includes examples of:

• Adaptational Backstory Change: The fic goes with the common concept of Sakura coming from a distinctly civilian background.
• Adaptational Skill:
  • Sakura winds up developing a lot of these over the course of the story. Some are abilities she looks into as a way of dealing with their unusual circumstances, such as Sunan puppetry techniques; others are skills she develops in hopes of defending herself if need be, or to help mask the research she's doing into topics that others might find strange or suspicious.
  • Naruto also develops these, despite no longer having a body of his own, such as learning how to make his own seals before they graduate from the Academy.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • Sakura and Kakashi's professional relationship is markedly different; while Kakashi considers her to be his favorite, this doesn't stop him from utterly failing as her teacher due to his personal hang-ups and blind spots. Both Sakura and Naruto are deeply frustrated by this, straining their potential bond even further.
  • Sakura's crush on Sasuke fades, replaced by mounting frustration the more she has to deal with him and Uo treating her like absolute shit.
• And Now for Someone Completely Different: There are a number of interlude chapters that take place from the perspectives of other characters, such as Asuma Sarutobi and Yoshino Nara. Shikamaru and Kakashi also get full chapters from their point-of-view.
• Apathetic Teacher: While Downplayed in the sense that Kakashi does care about the future of Team Seven, he isn't very good at showing any investment in them. Not only does he never bother showing up to training sessions on time, he inwardly despairs at Sasuke and Uo's stubbornness without doing anything to address their myriad issues, putting the onus on Sakura to try and pull their team together.
• Arc Words: "Nothing good happens to civilians who get too much attention." This phrase neatly summarizes Sakura's fears of sticking out and her desire to keep her true potential hidden.
• Armor-Piercing Response:
  • When trying to convince Sakura to mend fences with Ino, he breaks through with a very blunt statement that highlights his own issues - "If I had friends, I wouldn’t have let them go so easy."
  • When Sasuke accuses Sakura of dragging their team down, Sakura reminds him that she was the one to catch Tora in their last mission after he screwed it up so badly that the cat took shelter with her.
    Sasuke: You're dragging us down, Haruno.
    Sakura: (flipping him off) I'm not the one who can't even figure out how to catch a cat, asshole.
  • When Kurenai attempts to hit Kakashi with an Armor-Piercing Question implying he neglects Sakura, he fires back two of these:
    Kurenai: What about the girl? Or does she not even register to you?
    Kakashi: Sakura is a blessing and has never done anything wrong in her entire life as far as I'm concerned.
    Kurenai: That's not what I—
    Kakashi: No, you don't get it. If I could ditch the boys and take Sakura as my apprentice I would. She's exactly what I wanted in my students. Fuck, she's the only one of those little disaster genin who actually wants to work with a team. On top of that, I'm pretty sure she's the most advanced out of all of them. The problem is that if the boys don't get their shit together, she'll dump the team. (after a Beat) Or she'll murder them. Not sure yet.
    Kurenai: Oh.
• Arrogant Kung-Fu Guy: Sasuke, who considers himself to be above pithy things like the menial labor of D-Ranks and refuses to work with others, with Uo mimicking him.
• Blaming the Victim: According to Kakashi, it's Sakura's fault that Sasuke and Uo don't respect her, as they don't realize just how strong and capable she is. Sakura retorts that she was the Top Kunoichi at the Academy, which hasn't made any difference to either boy.
• Book Dumb: Naruto's struggles with academia are implicitly deconstructed. It's noted that his teachers hated him and never made any effort to help him improve when he had trouble, which probably contributed to his issues.
• Broken Pedestal: Implied with Kakashi, though Downplayed to some extent: he was already well aware of Hiruzen having a major blind spot when it came to his old friend/rival Danzo, and suspected the Sandaime was acting willfully oblivious to Danzo's raw ambition. After learning about Akiko's disappearance, he's left even more acutely aware of what Hiruzen has likely been ignoring.
• Chekhov's Gunman: Shikamaru namedrops Kimura Uo in Chapter 9 as somebody in their class who actually needs tutoring, unlike Sakura. Uo eventually ends up as the third member of Team Seven.
• Conditioned to Accept Horror: Despite not knowing why, Naruto had already grown accustomed to others treating him cruelly before his death, and reassures Sakura not to worry about getting credit for any of his ideas, since it's not like they would have been recognized or acknowledged as good if people knew he was the one suggesting them.
• Death by Adaptation: Naruto is the main hero of the franchise who lives long enough to reach adulthood and sire at least two children in canon. Here, he dies before even making it out of the Academy.
• Death of a Child: The fic opens with the assassination of the ten-year-old Naruto.
• Deconstruction Fic:
  • Thanks to Naruto being Locked Out of the Loop regarding the existence of the Kyuubi, he wound up dying before ever learning about its existence, murdered in his own apartment. He has no idea why this happened, or why most of the adults in Konoha were so constantly and consistently cruel towards him; he just knows that he was practically Hated by All.
  • While Sakura is unaware of the origins or name of ROOT, or who's responsible for its existence, she does know that civilians who "get too much attention" have a tendency to disappear, further influencing her decision to try hiding her situation and the full scope of her growth.
  • Kakashi's teaching methods are thoroughly picked apart, as he is heavily criticized for his tendency to adopt a lackadaisical approach as part of his Trickster Mentor persona. He also keeps Dramatically Missing the Point due to his Psychological Projection, failing to recognize that the new Team Seven is nothing like his original genin team. Even when Kakashi does start finally taking measures to correct their team's issues, this mindset is still in play for a good while, meaning that his initial (admittedly well-intentioned) attempts at getting the boys to respect Sakura only inflame tensions between them, and he does nothing to earn Sakura's trust, to the point that she has a panic attack at the prospect of him recognizing her skills. His actions temporarily cement him as a potential enemy rather than somebody she can trust until he finally gets his act together.
• Disappointed in You: Invoked by Kakashi against himself in Chapter 27; while studying a picture of Minato, he questions whether his old teacher would be disappointed by his inability to follow his example, swiftly concluding that yes, he would be.
• Double Standard: Kakashi expects Sakura to serve as The Heart of Team Seven and do all the heavy lifting of pulling the group together, scolding her for Sasuke and Uo's refusal to work with her. She repeatedly calls him out on this; sadly, he's clueless on how to fix the group dynamic outside trying to force the boys to respect her.
• Dramatically Missing the Point:
  • Both Sasuke and Uo miss that the bell test is supposed to be teaching them how to cooperate with each other. Ironically, Kakashi doesn't realize that Sakura's actions throughout the test were her trying to put this into practice, and so ties her to the stump while mentally complaining about how she didn't even try to get one of the bells by herself, not recognizing that she understood from the start until she starts explaining how obvious the lesson was.
    Sakura: Genin work in three man cells unless they are taken on as apprentices, which would have been determined before our team assignment. You were never going to send only one of us back. Either we all pass, or none of us do, asshole. Besides, you're a jonin. It's not like any of us would actually be expected to be able to get one on our own. (goes back to angrily muttering)
  • When Sakura finally calls Kakashi out for his refusal to do anything about the boys' issues, spelling out for him that she doesn't trust either of them to have her back during missions, Kakashi responds by trying to motivate the two through jealousy of her accomplishments. When she berates him for putting her on the spot, he wonders why she doesn't want to show off, not getting that he only made matters worse.
• Fanboy: Uo admires Sasuke to a fault, to the point of imitating his standoffish Ineffectual Loner attitude and being incredibly rude to others.
• Hypocrite: Despite insisting that he values teamwork and that "those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash", Kakashi proves to be an utterly disastrous excuse for a teacher, as he takes a largely hands-off approach to Team Seven's education, forcing them to waste hours waiting for him to show up to training sessions and refusing to teach them anything new. Instead, he expects Sakura to "lead by example" despite the boys clearly not showing even the slightest shred of respect to her or anyone else, resulting in a lot of frustrating D-Rank missions that continuously reinforce the team's inability to work with each other.
• I Hate Past Me: After learning about the sheer depths of the cruelty and isolation Naruto endured in life, Sakura deeply regrets how she used to treat him. She's also irritated by her former crush upon Sasuke, especially after they're assigned to the same team and she's stuck dealing with his blatant disregard and disrespect for her.
• I Need a Freaking Drink: Faced with an unappealing ultimatum regarding the Chuunin Exams and the future of Team Seven, Kakashi joins Kurenai and Asuma for drinks, throwing back his while venting out his frustrations. Once his companions fully understand what's going on, Asuma orders another round.
• In Spite of a Nail: Played for Drama with the Chuunin Exam; despite Sakura rejecting the C-Rank mission to Wave and making clear that she doesn't believe her "team" is anywhere close to functional, it's made clear that Kakashi has no choice but to enter Team Seven when the Sandaime outright overrides his declaration that they won't be attending.
• Ineffectual Loner: Sasuke cops this sort of high-and-mighty attitude, acting as though he's naturally superior to everyone around him and doesn't need to work with anyone, least of all his own teammates. Making matters worse is that Uo behaves the same way.
• Internal Reveal: In Chapter 30, Sakura finally confides in Kakashi about what happened to Akiko.
• I Was Beaten by a Girl: Kakashi's attempt to convince Sasuke and Uo that Sakura is worthy of their respect by forcing her to demonstrate her tree-walking skills only serves to deepen their resentment of her due to this trope.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Much like Danzo, Koharu and Hiruzen take Kakashi to task for his inability to manage Team Seven's issues and craft them into a viable team.
• Jerkass Realization: It takes the Sandaime issuing an ultimatum to Kakashi in Chapter 27, combined with Asuma and Kurenai confronting him afterwards, for Kakashi to start admitting just how badly he's mismanaged Team Seven. Specifically, Kurenai accusing him of neglecting Sakura for sexist reasons spurs him to open up and reveal his true feelings.
• Lethal Chef: Sakura attempts to bake Naruto a birthday cake. The kitchen ends up looking like a war zone by the time she's through with it.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Naruto died without ever learning about the existence of the Nine-Tailed Fox, or that he was a jinchuuriki. As a result, he has no clue why he was murdered, and one of the reasons why the trio keep their circumstances hidden is because they fear somebody coming after Sakura to "finish the job".
• Medicate the Medium: Thanks to her experiences with Inner Sakura, Sakura fears that if they sought anyone's help with her newfound "condition", she'd just be deemed crazy and locked up in a sanitarium.
• The Mole: In Chapter 30, Kakashi realizes that Uo is working for ROOT.
• Mundane Utility: At one point, Sasuke attempts to use his fire jutsu to make a fence Team Seven is painting dry faster. Despite Sakura warning him against it seven times. It doesn't go well.
• Must Have Caffeine: When Sakura volunteers at a hospital, she is told that filling the coffee pots is one of the most important tasks in the building.
• Never My Fault:
  • Sasuke and Uo are both incredibly rude and disrespectful to Sakura, Kakashi, their clients... practically everyone they interact with. Naturally, they blame Sakura for not wanting to take the risk of going on a C-Rank mission with teammates whom she doesn't trust to have her back in a pinch.
  • Kakashi also fails to understand that the responsibility of shaping his students into a functional team falls upon him rather than Sakura, scolding her when she's unable to pull the group together by herself, without any backup from their nominal teacher.
• No Listening Skills: Neither Sasuke or Uo is willing to listen to a single word Sakura has to say. Kakashi isn't much better about this.
• Only Sane Woman: Deconstructed with Sakura, whose status as the only level-headed member of Team Seven puts an undue burden on her to try to keep them functional. After the group is offered a C-Rank mission, Sakura finally hits her breaking point and tells Kakashi in no uncertain terms that she's tired of playing peacemaker and that they need her more than she needs them, finally forcing Kakashi to try to shape up.
• Plot-Triggering Death: The story opens with Naruto getting murdered inside his own apartment, with his consciousness somehow ending up inside Sakura.
• Point of Divergence:
  • Due to coming from a civilian family, Sakura attended special classes centered around helping those from non-ninja backgrounds become more familiar with how the shinobi system works. As a result, she befriended Akiko, another civilian-born girl who proved quite adept... and mysteriously disappeared one day, alongside her parents. Sakura swiftly realized that their teacher's claims that they'd moved away to deal with a "family emergency" weren't exactly true, and that "Nothing good happens to civilians who get too much attention," leading her to distrust adults and authority figures.
  • Sakura also implies to Naruto that the existence of Inner Sakura led to some awkward interactions with adults that taught her the importance of keeping things to herself.
  • All of the extra training and research Sakura does as a result of their condition makes her significantly more skilled compared to her canon counterpart, including learning tree-walking before graduating. Despite her best efforts, this doesn't go completely unnoticed, either...
  • Naruto's death means that Uo winds up as their class's new "dead-last", making him the third member of Team Seven.
  • Since Sakura doesn't trust Kakashi, Sasuke or Uo enough to accept the mission to Wave, Team Ten winds up going on that assignment instead.
• Poor Communication Kills:
  • Sakura's fear of what might happen to her if anyone learns about Inner Sakura and/or Naruto's presence inside her head, alongside fears of suffering the same fate as Akiko, naturally makes her reluctant to seek out aid or trust anyone that might not have her best interests at heart. Thanks to Kakashi's poor teaching methods, she swiftly identifies her own jonin instructor as somebody she can't trust for quite some time, unaware that she's actually his favorite.
  • Kakashi also runs headlong into this with Shikaku, whom he mistakenly suspects has potentially terrible designs on Sakura.
• Psychological Projection: This bites Kakashi in the butt when Team Seven forms, as he tries to see the kids as being mirrors of the old Team 7. He reflects on this in Chapter 27, concluding that he was off the mark and really needs to change tactics if he wants to improve as a teacher and fix his team:
  • He recognizes that Sasuke is similar to a younger him in the sense that he thinks he's better than his teammates, but incorrectly assumed that said arrogance would dissipate if shown Sakura was indeed capable like his did, rather than double-down.
  • He expected Sakura to act like The Heart of Team Seven like Rin had before her, but not only are the team dynamics are too different for that to work, but Sakura and Rin also don't share as many personality traits as he initially thought.
  • Subverted with Uo, as he immediately realizes that he has nothing in common with Obito at all outside them both having been dead last in the academy.
• Rage Breaking Point: Sakura hits one when Kakashi blithely dismisses Sasuke setting a client's fence on fire after ignoring all her warnings by declaring that teenage boys are "bound to be idiots."
• Rage Against the Mentor: Kakashi's Head-in-the-Sand Management of Team Seven results in Sakura having several such moments, calling him out on his Betrayal by Inaction.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
  • Sakura winds up giving several of these to Kakashi over his questionable teaching methods, repeatedly stressing to him that he needs to shape up and actually address their issues before Team Seven falls apart.
  • Kakashi hits Sasuke with one after being ordered to take his team on a C-Rank mission before the Chuunin Exams, finally calling him out on his Ineffectual Loner attitude and utter failure to build any kind of positive rapport with his teammates.
• Replacement Flat Character: Played With through Uo, who has many traits that are typically associated with the usual roster of Team Seven.
  • Like Naruto, Uo struggled in class, to the point that he wound up as the new dead-last after the blond's passing. His academic struggles were seemingly overlooked by teachers, and his abilities have naturally suffered as a result — though he learned the three "main" techniques required for graduation, he doesn't seem to know much more than that, but is grimly determined to prove himself regardless.
  • Like Sakura, he comes from a civilian family, and effectively replaces her as the member who deeply admires Sasuke. Though said admiration takes a different form...
  • ...In how Uo mimics Sasuke's Ineffectual Loner attitude, treating everyone around him as though they're beneath him and not worth his time. This mimicry of Sasuke also creates a parallel with Kakashi, given how much of Kakashi's public persona is based off of his teammate Obito.
  • Aside from all these traits, Uo is largely seen by others as The Generic Guy, as though nothing is especially notable about him despite everything listed above.
• The Resenter: Sasuke and Uo go from disliking Sakura to actively resenting her after she rejects an opportunity to take a C-Rank mission due to her fears that her self-absorbed teammates wouldn't have her back. Things only get worse after they learn that she knows how to tree-walk when they don't.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons: Played With when Kurenai accuses Kakashi of playing favorites with Team Seven. She's correct that he only sees potential in one of his students; however, she mistakenly assumes that he's fixated on Sasuke while ignoring Sakura's potential because she's a girl. In reality, Sakura is his favorite. Sexism has played a major role in his team's issues, as he expected her to act as The Heart despite the boys outright refusing to work with or respect her, but not in the way Kurenai assumed.
• Right Hand Versus Left Hand: Not only does Kakashi unintentionally convince Sakura that she can't trust him to have her best interests at heart, he grows suspicious of Shikaku, of all people, preventing all involved from being on the same page.
• Sadist Teacher: Sakura and Naruto recount some of the senseis at the Academy. Some are declared to have been awful in general, while others singled out Naruto for contempt.
• Secret-Keeper:
  • While they remain unaware of everything regarding Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino and Chouji gradually learn about several of Sakura's secret studies.
  • Shikaku and Yoshino eventually learn about them as well after catching her practicing puppetry, with Shikaku offering her advice on how to adjust her hobbies in order to keep said secrets concealed for as long as possible.
  • After Kakashi starts being a better teacher, and with Shikaku's encouragement, Sakura lets him in her abilities and her reasons for hiding them as well.
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Shikamaru, to an extent. While he's just as unaware as everybody else that Naruto is residing in her head, he is aware that the boy's death is the reason for Sakura's newfound behavior. He keeps this knowledge a secret both out of respect for Sakura's privacy — especially after he's made aware of the civilian disappearances — and because he also can't fathom why Naruto is the cause for Sakura developing a new outlook in general, much less the girl's new interests in puppetry and medicine.
• Silent Treatment: Naruto subjects Sakura to this for several days in the aftermath of a fight they have over Sakura ignoring Choji (who refuses to spar with her seriously). When Sakura finally does make up with Choji and Naruto begins talking to her again, she breaks down in tears of relief while Naruto promises never to hurt her like that again.
• Sink or Swim Mentor: Rather than directly confronting Sasuke and Uo about their refusal to treat Sakura (or anyone else) with anything approaching a veneer of respect, Kakashi starts off hoping that Sakura will just figure out how to wrangle her unruly teammates and show them the importance of teamwork on her own. Naturally, this doesn't work out, and Sakura repeatedly entreats Kakashi to do his job and actually try to teach the boys himself.
  Sakura: Despite what you may think, I don't need this team. There are at least four medics at the hospital that would likely take me on as an apprentice, especially if I showed them the skills that I've already taught myself. So from now on, I will not be the only one to put any effort into this team. Either you do your job as a sensei and make them work as a team, or you break up the team and call it a failure.
• Smarter Than You Look: Naruto displays an uncanny talent for lateral thinking at odds with his struggles with academia. His ideas can sometimes come across as odd non-sequiturs though, necessitating that Sakura and Inner patiently wait for him to backtrack and properly explain his thought process.
• Split-Personality Team: Sakura already knew how to work with Inner Sakura before Naruto showed up inside her head. While his presence takes some getting used to, the trio settle into this dynamic over time, with Sakura and Inner Sakura coming to regard their new passenger like a brother.
• Stealing the Credit: Early on, Sakura worries about this after being praised for sharing one of Naruto's ideas. Naruto reassures her that he wouldn't have gotten the credit even if he was still alive; unsurprisingly, this doesn't help her feel any better.
• Stolen Credit Backfire: After noticing that Sakura's been using homemade explosive tags, Kakashi informs her that he's going to be supervising her for sealing lessons. Not only is she afraid that her own teacher will make her "disappear" for being too skilled for a civilian-born ninja, there's also the wrinkle that Naruto has been making the seals, and she's terrified that Kakashi will recognize the disparity.
• Talking to Themself: Sakura with Inner and Naruto, naturally. If she's somewhere in public, she usually talks to them mentally so she can pass it off as daydreaming or zoning out, but there are rare times where she isn't paying attention to her surroundings and vocally responds to them while others are in earshot. This has lead to instances such as when she's explaining to Naruto why she finds a spar that Sasuke and Uo are having to be boring, only to be startled when Kakashi overhears her half of the conversation and praises her observational skills.
• Team Member in the Adaptation: With Naruto unable to take up his usual role in Team Seven, the empty slot is filled by Original Character Kimura Uo.
• Teacher's Unfavorite Student: Played With through Team Seven's dynamics:
  • Sakura believes herself to be this, when in reality she immediately became Kakashi's favorite thanks to her analytical ability, work ethic and varied skillset. In fact, Shikaku explicitly ordered Sakura to manipulate her grades in school precisely because he knew this would land her on Kakashi's team and that the man would quickly latch onto her, eventually telling Sakura directly that Kakashi can be trusted with her secret. But poor communication and Kakashi's shoddy teaching methods leave her distrustful and resentful, with the main point preventing her from outright despising him is how Naruto recognizes him as one of the ANBU agents who used to care for him.
  • On the flip side, Kakashi sincerely doesn't like Sasuke, due to the Uchiha's immense arrogance, overinflated ego, and the pressure Kakashi's under to mold him into a model shinobi when Sasuke has absolutely no interest in learning how to work with others. But those very same high expectations most of Konoha has for Sasuke leads to a general presumption that he's giving Sasuke preferential treatment... or that he should be, anyway.
  • Then there's Uo, who Kakashi largely ignores or writes off as having the same issues as Sasuke, without considering that there might be more going on with him beneath the surface.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Sasuke and Uo start off treating Sakura with contempt, which eventually spirals into outright resentment after she makes the team decline a C-Rank mission. As Sakura herself explains, the trio barely qualifies for this trope as it is, and while she trusts that Kakashi would be able to protect her if things went off-the-rails, she isn't willing to risk her life for the slim possibility that a near-death scenario will successfully turn them into Fire-Forged Friends.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Naruto still adores ramen, and tries to convince Sakura that she should eat it more often. She sometimes uses this as a way to try and cheer him up, though she's annoyed when he and Inner Sakura pressure her to list it as one of the things she likes during Team Seven's introductions.
• Tragic Keepsake: Kakashi keeps Naruto's toad-shaped wallet as a reminder of how he failed to protect his own mentor's son.
• Trickster Mentor: Deconstructed with Kakashi, whose overreliance on such methods, coupled with being a Sink or Swim Mentor, means that Team Seven flounders heavily due to his refusal to address problems in a straightforward fashion.
• Villain Has a Point: While Danzo only cares about Sasuke's potential as a "loyal soldier and servant of Konoha", his pointed remarks about Kakashi's failure to make any progress after the formation of Team Seven hit their mark in no small part because of the Copy-nin's lackadaisical approach.
• Villain Takes an Interest:
  • Mizuki notices Sakura's improvement and offers to tutor her in taijutsu, and is noticeably displeased when she finds an alternative way to work on her skills in that area, hinting that he had ulterior motives for the offer.
  • Shikaku also hints to his son that this is why he wants him to keep Sakura's interest in Sunan puppetry techniques a secret, for fear of the attention she might attract if that became widely known.
  • Implied to have been the fate of Akiko, a civilian girl who used to be top of her class before she and her family mysteriously disappeared.
    Sakura: I went to her house one night. We were supposed to do our homework together. But, when I got there, the house was empty. The door was open, and there was furniture in the house, and food in the kitchen, but Akiko and her parents weren't there. The next day, the teacher announced that Akiko had an emergency in the family and they decided to move out of Konoha.
    Shikamaru: What actually happened?
    Sakura: I don't know. But she wasn't the only one. Nothing good happens to civilians who get too much attention.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Even after mending fences, Sakura and Ino continue to refer to each other by their disparaging nicknames "Forehead" and "Ino-pig".
• What the Hell, Hero?: Chapter 27 has Kakashi being taken to task by the Council and Hiruzen for Team Seven's lack of progress, followed by Asuma and Kurenai taking him out for drinks and to grill him about what's been going through his head.
• You, Get Me Coffee: When Sakura volunteers at the local hospital, her first task is organizing the break room and keeping the coffee pots refilled. According to the receptionist, the latter is one of the most important jobs in the hospital.

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