A/N: I'm gonna glaze over the Mizuki betrayal scene, since it's been played and overused, and that's going to stay canon.

I'm not trying to bash Sakura. She's just going to be pretty bad right now. Don't worry, it'll get better. I avoid bashing in everything in general. Everyone has their downfalls.

Chapter 1

Get Out of my Team

With each tick of the clock, Naruto snapped his leg back against his bed. He heard dripping coming from the faucet in the bathroom- it was unfixable so he put a bucket underneath to collect the water. It didn't line up with the ticking of the clock. Sometimes it would come too early, sometimes too late, but occasionally it'd come right on time and line up unanimously. He savored those moments, snapping his leg harder to line up all the noises. Again, everything lined up, he banged his leg harder. "Shut up you fucking brat," he heard from underneath him. It'd be unsavory to bother his neighbors. Naruto nodded and let his legs fall, but it wasn't quite as entertaining as matching the rhythm of his legs to the ambient noises of his apartment.

He laid back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. There was nothing to do. He had no one to play with, no one to talk to, no one to even annoy. Every day he came home from the academy without any idea of what his life was for. Sometimes he would go out and punch a wooden post for an hour, until his knuckles bled all over the rope tied around it, until his arms burned and ached from strain, and his back creaked and groaned in pain. Other times he would just go home and eat some comfort ramen, the delicious salty noodles always filling a part of him nothing else could. But forever, forever Naruto would take care of his beautiful plants that grew around his house. He had so many, because they gave him purpose. He knew he was bringing life into the world, allowing it to grow and flourish underneath his hands, and he kept detailed schedules about which plant needed to be watered on what day, and that was the most organization he had. When he was all done watering plants, there was nothing else to do.

Naruto had taken to reading. Fantasy. Fantasy in particular. He dreamed of becoming a ninja, one that was so powerful that no one could dare stare angrily at him without running the risk of getting beat up. He watched loud heroes and heroins unabashedly yell at their villains and pull out legendary swords to defeat them. It became his next favorite activity. He had started reading when he was taught henge, and partially transformed his hair brown and the birthmarks off his cheeks. He hadn't fully mastered the jutsu, but as soon as he was taught it he realized that he could escape being a brat or demon spawn. He walked into the library for the first time, excited to read a little. He found a children's book for kids who were less than age and started reading, finding himself enraptured with the humans turning into animals to fight off aliens.

From there, he advanced his reading, read faster, found himself having something to do after classes. Without friends, without family, he could manage. He smiled as the hero pulled out the legendary sword from the rock, and became the king. Yeah, the king. He liked that. He liked that everyone doubted the boy too, and that he was a little weakling who knew many bullies. He liked that the little boy in the story had gained power so quickly.

He would show them. The ones who underestimated him. But he looked back up at the classroom. He heard the ticking of the clock. He looked around at the students concentrated on their work, the way they took notes. Some of them weren't taking notes. Shikamaru was sleeping as always. Naruto looked back up at Iruka-sensei who was lecturing on shinobi wars in the past. Ants trailed across the classroom. He heard the familiar dripping. He put his hands on the worn desk.

Sakura was yelling at him again because of his seating arrangement. He was sitting next to the only child who could possibly, maybe, in this whole huge world, maybe just relate to him a little bit. The boy had lost his parents long ago. The boy looked like a hawk, perched over, observing the class with hard eyes. What was so beautiful about this boy? He looked broken, dead, despondent, unable to gather any amount of care to even say a single word. Naruto felt this connection- they were both numb. He looked over at the boy again, Naruto could not find it in himself to subject this boy to someone who wanted to tear him apart. Someone who only saw the sickly porcelain skin and lifeless eyes. He turned to Sakura and shook his head. He would not move. The boy would shatter if subjected to any sort of pain.

Sakura raised her hand to hit him in the head. Naruto let her fist slam down, causing pain to shock through his body. He saw it coming. He knew he couldn't reach up and block in time. She huffed and sat down next to Naruto. Naruto would protect the boy. He ignored the thrumming pain echoing from his head. He felt proud. He may not have saved a world of people, pulled a sword out of a stone, but he saved a boy from breaking. He turned to look at the boy whom of which he protected.

The boy turned to look at Naruto. His eyes seemed to be a little less flat, a little more relieved.

Is that how being a hero feels?

The corners of his lips were tilted upwards.

When Mizuki offered him a make-up test, Naruto nodded. Yes, he would like to pass. As instructed, he stole the forbidden scroll

When it came time for him to realize that he had been betrayed, "You're the nine-tailed fox!"

Naruto stared at Mizuki. He cocked his head at him. So why did that matter? Naruto continued saying nothing. Why did it matter?

When Iruka's life was in danger, Naruto used the technique he had learned from the scroll. His clones easily defeated Mizuki. Naruto helped Iruka up. Look. He was a hero. He even earned his forehead protector from his teacher.

We need to get Sakura off of the team, Naruto wrote to Sasuke. Sakura was glaring at the two of them from a different seat.

Sasuke was surprised, he had never been approached directly from Naruto. His eyes widened.

Sasuke wrote back, We need Hinata on the team, she's a better ninja and she doesn't have meaningless crushes.

You bring it up, I'll convince the teacher with logic.

What logic?

I thought you'd have something.

Say love interest interferes with the missions. Sasuke seemed pleased with his idea. Naruto thought about it. He continued to think of a way to word a logical sentence to get Sakura off the team.

He had plenty of time because their sensei walked in and stared at them an hour later. "Meet on the roof in five minuets," he said, than disappeared.

They all took the stairs.

"Alright introduce yourselves, you first blondie,"

Naruto stared at their Jonin-sensei who was three hours late.

"Sensei- shouldn't you introduce yourself first?" Sakura inturrupted. She was sitting next to Naruto- reluctantly. Naruto would never let her sit next to Sasuke.

"Oh, yeah. My name is Hatake Kakashi, I have some likes and dislikes, I've got a lot of hobbies, and I don't have any dreams," the now introduced as Kakashi said. He pointed at Naruto. Naruto continued to stare at him.

"Sensei," Sasuke interrupted.

"Yes?" Kakashi asked reeling around to look at the Uchiha. He seemed determined to get an introduction from Naruto to keep pointing at him.

"Naruto doesn't talk," he said.

Sakura seemed to not know this, and turned to the quiet boy. Naruto knew exactly what was going through her mind. She had hit him every single day for sitting next to Sasuke, and he had done nothing but shook his head at her. He knew she thought that he spoke, but he knew she couldn't recall a time when he did speak to her. All of his sensei never picked on him anyways. The first time he had been picked on was in Iruka's class- where Naruto handed his teacher a written answer. Iruka looked surprised, but after a written explanation that Naruto simply did not speak, Iruka refrained from picking on him so that Naruto could live his life in the silence he so desired.

"Interesting," Kakashi scratched his chin, "can you introduce him for him?"

"Can I introduce him for him?" Sakura had a brilliant idea to be funny. Kakashi shrugged. She started, "My name is the idiot Uzumaki Naruto, I graduated dead last of my class, I like annoying Sakura, and I dislike her. I dream to graduate my stupid status," she started giggled.

Kakashi gave her an eye smile, but he didn't seem to find anything funny.

"Well, if Sakura introduced Naruto, can I introduce Sakura?" Sasuke smirked.

Sakura widened her eyes to know that her gorgeous future husband was going to introduce her.

"My name is Hanaro Sakura. I'm annoying, I have no talents outside of studying, and I like stalking Uchiha Sasuke and hitting people because I have no friends and nothing better to do. I dislike when Sasuke doesn't want to sit next to me which is all the time."

Sakura looked like she had been slapped in the face. Tears started leaking out of her eyes, she wanted to deny the truth, the fact Uchiha Sasuke found her annoying was unbearable.

"Naruto this is all because of you!" she stood up, crying.

"Why don't we stick to introducing ourselves?" Kakashi thought that the team was already a disaster.

"I would like to request Hyuuga Hinata for our team instead of Sakura,"

"We can't just split up tea-" Kakashi began to say. Naruto handed Kakashi a slip of paper.

It would be foolish to have a love interest on the team, it would make it dangerous to go on more dangerous missions, because someone might abandon the goal for a chance to impress or do something extremely stupid that might cost lives. Please reconsider.

"Well..." Kakashi couldn't deny that logic.

Naruto flipped the page of his tiny notebook.

If she took the spot on Kurenai-sensei's team, she could learn much better without a constant distraction, and also have a strong kunochi to look up to who doesn't let love interest get in the way of training, and also with Sakura's limited chakra reserves, she would make an excellent genjutsu master.

They had paid attention when the other sensei took away their kids, which one Hinata was on. Each had told the kids their specialties, and walked off. Hinata was well desired as a serious kunochi. She, like Sasuke and Naruto, seemed to have no life to their eyes. They liked it. They preferred it.

"Well..." Kakashi drew out his words, "on one condition."

"Yes?" Sasuke asked in anticipation. Sakura pulled up her knees to her face to hide her crying.

"Work together for a month. And try to work together, don't just pretend to. But first you must all pass my test,"

They passed because Naruto fed Sakura.

We're supposed to be working together genuinely, right?