Yay! An author's note! I'd just like to say this is my first fic, and I'd appreciate any constructive criticism, NOT flames. I've been working on this story for quite a while and I'm currently writing chapter twelve and am considering a Shippuden Sequel maybe in the future. However, right now my thoughts are on this story and this story ONLY. At the same time though, I'm still unsure of how this story will play out in the future and if people will actually read it. I'm going to try my damn hardest to make sure that this story get's finished though because I know I get pissed when a good story is forgotten and never finished. So without further ado, I give you THE DISCLAIMER!

Disclaimer: I own only the OCs in this story. All the canon characters and setting and plot belong to the incredibly talented and amazing Masashi Kishimoto.

I sat uneasily on the swing outside of the academy. I had been swinging back and forth for the past half hour, waiting for my favorite little knucklehead ninja to make his way out. I was nervous because today was the day they assigned teams for the new Genins. That meant Naruto would (hopefully) be joining us as a real Genin. I knew he was probably more nervous than I was, but that didn't change the fact that I was extremely nervous. I bit my lip and tried to focus on something else.

My teammates Togaru and Tanoshii, they've been incredible. Togaru was a little odd at first, but now I feel like he's one of my best friends. He's very reserved and keeps to himself, but he has great potential and is an amazing ninja. He's more of a genjutsu specialist while I'm more of a ninjutsu. Tanoshii is quite far from being reserved. He's more social than Togaru I'd say, seeing as he constantly flirts with the kunoichi, much to Ino and Prin's annoyance. He's more of a Taijutsu specialist and not very good with Ninjutsu or Genjutsu. My clan is good with Ninjutsu, but we're also good with Senjutsu, which is accomplished by combining chakra with "Natural Energy" that can only be obtained by harmonizing with nature. This is particularly hard because the natural energy can overwhelm ninja who have yet to perfect it. My clan, however, can perfect this jutsu sooner than most ninja. When senjutsu is perfected, a ninja can perform jutsu with much greater power and efectiveness.

"Mizukara! Mizu! Hey!" I heard her faintly from a mile away, and I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts. I crained my neck around to see my bestfriend trotting towards me, her beautiful white hair and piercing blue eyes too hard for anyone to forget. I smiled and waved half heartedly in her direction. She stopped in front of me and put one hand on her hip and the other on the tree that the swing was hanging from.

"Any sign of blondie?"

"No.. This is seriously killing me." I let out a groan and she giggled at me.

"I really hope he made it. I bet Kazue Sensei will let us train with him and his team," Prin sighed as she crossed her arms across her chest and leaned her back against the trunk of the large tree. We both sighed.

"I don't know. It really depends on who his sensei is." I shrugged. "I'm pretty sure Juro Sensei wouldn't let my team train with them." Juro Sensei was very serious about our training. He was no Might Guy, but he knew how to beat us down to nothing when it came to training. Prin, Kauru, and Hane's sensei Kazue was a little less strict, letting them have two or three breaks every day when we only got one. She was a great sensei, nonetheless, seeing as we had trained with her team before.

Before we could say another word, we heard the chattering of the academy students exiting the building. However, one was more of a jittery holler from the very back of the crowd. Me and Prin stood straight up and on our toes trying to look for the blonde ninja.

"Mizukara! I did it! I'm a Genin!" the blonde yelled as he came sprinting towards us at an alarming pace. Me and Prin looked at eachother with gleeful shock.

"Holy-" I was cut off as the ninja tackled me to the ground and began laughing and talking at the same time, his words incomprehensible`.

"I'm with you guys now! I'm going to train like you guys and everything!" I shoved the overly hyper ninja off of me and we both stood to our feet.

"Thats great Naruto," Prin smiled at him warmly and he blushed lightly. I couldn't blame him. Prin is unnaturally beautiful, and really takes pride in herself, shamefully. Even adult women envied her beautiful hair that was as smooth and glossy as anything I'd ever seen. Her eyes were the lightest colour of blue and when she was staring at you it was dreadfully hard to look away, they were just that captivating.

"Yeah, well it was nothin'.." he chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. I laughed at him under my breath.

"So who're your teammates?" I asked him and he suddenly grew gravely serious, much to my and Prin's shock.

"Sasuke Uchiha.." he snorted. "And Sakura-chan!"

"Well.." Prin started. " that last one's pretty good for ya, right?" He nodded his head with that goofy smile of his and we all had a good laugh. As we all grew quiet, we couldn't help but hear the sound of Naruto's stomach growling, and so we decided to go out for Ramen to celebrate, Prin's treat. Her family owned a popular bakery so she had quite a bit of money to spend, not that she cared. She could care less how much money she, or anyone else for that matter, has.

We took our seats at the ramen bar and let Naruto order for us, seeing as we come here often together and we all know who likes what. Prin made sure he knew to order as much ramen as he wanted, not that he needed to be told twice. I ate my ramen quietly for the most part, my mind wandering from one thing to the other and eventually lingering on the Uchiha. It seemed like everywhere he went he had this sour look on his face, like he had a bad taste in his mouth. He's one of the best ninja to graduate the academy this year, from what I hear, and he's a little bit of an overachiever. The sight of him for me just hit a nerve, the way he looked down on everyone else. I could only imagine what Naruto would have to go through, working with the little punk. But I guess if my brother went and slaughtered my whole clan, I'd be pretty messed up too.

"Mizu-chan..!" Naruto whined, bringing me back to reality. He smiled goofily at me.

"What..?" I asked him as I chewed on my ramen. He stuck his bottom lip out in a pout.

"I wanted to know if I could come train with you and Prin.." he looked up at me with pleading eyes. "I asked you before."

"I wasn't paying attention, sorry.." I pushed my half eaten bowl of ramen to the side and looked up at the ninja who was taller than both me and Prin. "Sure Naruto."

"Yeah! I promise I won't let you down! I'll do my best, believe it!" he hopped from his seat and turned to face us. We turned in our seats to watch him curiously.

"Naruto, don't worry about letting us down.." Prin giggled. "We're just going to spar and stuff. We'll probably just goof off most of the time anyway, so.." But the spikey haired blonde was already out of the ramen bar and around the corner. I gave her a shrug, and we layed down the payment and left.

"That idiot.." Prin growled under her breath. I gave her a questioning glance. "He has no idea where we're doing this at. We better go tell the dumbass.."

"How about we don't and say we did..?" I replied, and we shared a laugh as she agreed, throwing her arm over my shoulder as we skipped off towards the Ibaraka Bakery where me and Prin shared a shift to work when we weren't training. I enjoyed working there because I got to hang out with Prin, and since her parents owned the bakery and knew me well, I got paid good and got the chance to goof off with her. When we were left alone at the bakery we usually gave our friends free sweets and let them hang out behind the counter with us. Prin didn't much care since it gave her an excuse to make some more. She loves baking.

"So we'll work untill just before sun set, then we will go get our stuff and head to Juro's training spot," I told her as we strolled through the comforting warmth radiating from the sun. She nodded in response.

"I really love doing this," she said. "And best of all, Kazue and Juro love us for training when they aren't around! Kazue praises me all the time." She had a faint glow in her eye as she let out a relaxed sigh.

I snorted. "Well we aren't going to just joke around this time, you know. Your Taijutsu is seriously shitty." She put on a mask of fake shock and hurt, bringing her palm to her chest in a deep gasp. We laughed the rest of the way to the bakery.

About an hour after we started working, Prin's parents had to leave for the rest of the day, meaning we had to close up. Business had been booming there for a while, but as the sun kept getting farther away, people had been coming in only rarely. I whiped off the counter and cleaned off the small tables that littered the bakery while Prin made a fresh batch of daifuku.

Throughout the day, we had had random Genin come in asking for a free snack. Apparently, after we gave Kiba and Akamaru a free treat, word spread quickly. We even had Rock Lee come in earlier after his training for one of Prin's Daifukus. They'd been doing well today for some reason.

I leaned on the counter and glanced over the empty bakery. "I'm still shocked Naruto hasn't showed up."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Prin shouted from the kitchen. "Seems like we've seen almost everyone else but him." I went into the kitchen and snuck up behind Prin, who was bent over getting something out of the oven.

"I think we should close up early." She jumped at the sound of my voice and I sniggered at her as she slapped me in the back of the head.

She let out a sigh and said, "Yeah, sun's about to set anyway. I'll meet you there in about an hour. You can go ahead and head out." She put the pan on the counter and started putting the treats on a seperate platter.

"Alright. See you there." I waved over my shoulder as I jogged out of the kitchen. I was eager to get out of the cramped old bakery and get a little fresh air. I burst out the door and took in a deep breath. I heard someone gasp in surprise and I glanced to my left to see the stranger.

His milky coloured eyes were slightly wide from my suddenly bursting through the door. His long, blackish brown, silky hair was shining in what was left of the sunlight as he whipped it out of his line of vision, any trace of surprise suddenly gone from his face. I guessed he must have been about to go into the bakery.

"Sorry Neji," I apologized. "were you fixing to go in the bakery? I didn't mean to burst out like that.."

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye and replied simply but sternly, "No."

"Oh.. Uh, okay." I stepped around him and started walking. "See you around. "He grunted in response. I continued walking awkwardly back to my house, wondering why the hell Neji would be standing so close to the door if he weren't interested in getting anything from the bakery. It was quite a few feet from the street where the villagepeople walked, so it wouldn't make since for him to just be passing by. I shrugged and forgot about it as I entered my house and went straight up to my room. My parents weren't home at the time, so I just grabbed my things and headed out quickly. Before leaving, I made sure I had all the essentials in my pack as I left my compound; shuriken, kunai, and medical supplies just in case. I planned on pushing Prin pretty hard this time, but I still wanted to have fun doing it.

As I shut my pouch and rounded the corner to my usual training spot, I met the same cold stare of Neji Hyuuga. When he quickly looked away, I did too, heading straight for the usual training spot. Was he stalking me or something? And when he looks at me, why does it feel so.. awkward?

"Mizu-chan!" I jumped and spun around to face Naruto who raised an eyebrow at me in confusion. His confusion was quickly replaced with a goofy smile. "I knew you'd be here!"

"Uh, yeah," I replied faintly, feeling the Hyuuga stare holes in the back of my head as me and Naruto entered the training grounds.

I hope my definition of Senjutsu was understandable.. I'm very much just learning about it, and if anyone out there is willing to help me with some of the details surrounding Senjutsu, I'd greatly appreciate it. :) Please read and review. Many more chapters to come!