Yo everybody! The first chapter is done. Originally, I was going to the whole introduction and bell test in chapter, but I feel that it's grown too large so I've decided to split into two chapters. Now I know this chapter is pretty canon with no real changes beyond the inclusion of my OC, but bare with me. This chapter and the next one are merely setting things up for what will happen. Also, a few have asked me about the Wave Arc. It happened, I'm just not writing it, for two reasons. First, there isn't a whole lot I would change to the Wave Arc, so it would be more of this rather than the new stuff of my creation that most fans would want. Second, I really want to get to the Chunin Exams, where I can have a lot of fun with things.

And I will say this, there will be plenty of other changes down the road besides just my OCs. I will reveal that only two of the Chunin prelim matches from the canon will still happen. The rest...well, you'll just have to wait and see.

I'd also like to give a special thanks to Amiriah, who did an absolutely wonderful job as beta reader for this chapter.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, merely my OCs.

Chapter One: Enter Team Seven

Naruto Uzumaki grinned as he entered the classroom, his brand new (well, brand new for him) Konoha forehead protector holding up his spiky blond hair. He was ecstatic. Today was the day that he would be assigned his team and begin serving as a genin of the Leaf Village. After today, he'd be going on missions and learn all kinds of new jutsu, all the while coming closer and closer to becoming Hokage. Naruto couldn't wait!

Ignoring some of the surprised looks on faces of some of the other new genin, Naruto headed for the nearest empty bench, sitting down. It wasn't long before one of his classmates approached, Shikamaru Nara, the laziest guy in the entire Academy, if not the entire village. "Hey Naruto, what are you doing here?" he asked. "Today's class is for those who passed."

Naruto looked up at Shikamaru, a little annoyed at his words. "Take a look at the headband!" he exclaimed, a hand grabbing his headband.

Shikamaru shrugged, muttering "Whatever," as he walked off, far too lazy to deal with the hyperactive blond.

"Excuse me, may I pass?" another voice inquired moments later.

Once again, Naruto turned over to the voice and instantly blushed. It was Sakura Haruno, who, in Naruto's opinion, was the most beautiful girl in the class. She wore a red qipao dress with white circular designs and tight dark green shorts. Her forehead protector was resting behind her ears, holding her long pink hair in place.

As Naruto stared at her, annoyance flashed across Sakura's green eyes. "Move it Naruto!" she yelled, startling Naruto. "I'm trying to get around you!"

Naruto glanced behind him, staring at who was sitting at the other end of the bench… Sasuke Uchiha. Naruto scowled at him. Sasuke Uchiha, the Rookie of the Year, and a Grade A jackass as far as Naruto was concerned. Sasuke was cold and aloof, yet despite that, nearly every girl in class was attracted to him, including Sakura. The pale teen wore plain white shorts, a dark blue shirt with a red and white fan on the back, and like Naruto, his Leaf headband was rest resting on his forehead. His hair and eyes were black, like all the members of his clan.

At that moment, Sasuke's eyes moved, glancing at Naruto. He turned to face Naruto. "You want something?" he coldly asked.

"What's that suppose to mean?" Naruto exclaimed, annoyed by his tone. "Are you talkin' to me?"

Before either of them could react, Sakura pushed Naruto out of her way, moving in between the two. "Good morning Sasuke. Is this seat taken?" she eagerly asked, ready to sit down next to him.

Naruto sat back up as Sakura sat down. He shook his head, watching Sakura try to get as close to Sasuke as possible. "Excuse me, could you please move over a little?" someone else politely asked.

Naruto turned around, facing the person. It was Kenshi Mitsurugi, another of student from his class. He didn't know much about Kenshi, he was a bit on the quiet side and tended to stick to himself. They had only talked to each other a few times in the three years they had spent in the same class. But at least he wasn't like some of the other jerks in the class, namely Sasuke and Kiba. Standing an inch shorter than Sasuke, Kenshi's short brown hair was styled into spikes, held up in part by his headband which had longer ties than a normal one. He wore a pair of dark blue pants with shuriken holsters on both thighs and sandals on his feet while on his chest he wore a gray light jacket.

Naruto nodded, moving over to allow Kenshi to sit down before turning his complete attention back to Sakura again, who was still utterly focused on Sasuke. Naruto scowled. 'What's so great about him?'

An instant later, he was kneeling on the desk, staring down Sasuke, who was staring back at him in return. Needless to say, Sakura was not pleased by this. "Naruto! Leave Sasuke alone!"

At that very moment, a boy in the row in front of theirs, moved suddenly, bumping into Naruto's leg. Naruto fell forward, his face hitting Sasuke's, pushing their lips against each other.

Somehow, in less than a second, everyone was staring at the lip-locked pair. Nearly every girl in the class was frozen in shock while most of the guys were just staring at them in disbelief, a few snickering.

Kenshi started laughing as Naruto and Sasuke pulled away, spitting and gagging. "Ha ha ha! Oh man! That is priceless! The two of…Ha ha ha…The two of you lip-locked like that!" he said, struggling just to stay up from his laughing. "I wish I had a camera! That was just so hil-Ow!"

"That wasn't funny!" Sakura shouted, standing over Kenshi as he held his head in pain.

"Yes ma'am," Kenshi replied, fearful of another hit.

Next to the two, Naruto collapsed over the side of the desk, his breakfast threatening to spill out.

"Naruto…" Sakura uttered, her attention now on the blond.

Naruto slowly and fearfully turned around as Sakura cracked her knuckles. "It was accident," Naruto pleaded.

But Sakura didn't listen…


Iruka entered the room, a clipboard in his hand. "From this day forward, you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but full-fledged shinobi. But among the ranks of the shinobi, you are mere novices, lowest of the low," he said to the gathered students…former students. "Your greatest challenges all lie ahead. The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of our village."

"Now, normally all of you would be sorted into three-man teams, however, due to a surprise graduate, there will be a single four-man team in addition to the three-man teams. Each team will be mentored by a jonin, who will guide and coach you as you become more familiar with your various assignments. Each team has been balanced so that their skills are about even."

Naruto only half listened to his former teacher, still bruised and sore from the beating Sakura gave him. It wasn't fair! Why did she care so much about Sasuke? What made him so special? What did Sasuke have that he didn't? 'I can do anything that arrogant jackass can do. No, anything Sasuke can do, I can do better! I even have the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Can Sasuke do that? No way!'

At that moment, Iruka's words pulled Naruto from his thoughts. "And Team Seven will be our four-man team. Members are, Kenshi Mitsurugi, Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki-"

Naruto cheered, ignoring Sakura's groan.

"And Sasuke Uchiha," Iruka finished, earning a groan from Naruto and a cheer from Sakura.

Kenshi merely shrugged, a slight grin on his face. 'The four-man team? I didn't think I would end up as a member of the Rookie of the Year's team, much less that team,' he thought.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was less than thrilled though his face bore no emotion. 'They better not hold me back.'

"Hey! Iruka-sensei!" Naruto yelled, shooting up from his seat. "Why are you pairing a great shinobi like me with that loser!"

Iruka sighed, rubbing the scarred bridge of his nose. "Of the twenty-eight graduates, Sasuke has the highest marks in the class. Both Sakura and Kenshi are overall in the middle of the class, while you are at the bottom of the class," he explained. "The idea is to balance out your different strengths. That's why you ended up together."

"Just don't hold me back, Dobe," Sasuke said.

"What'd you call me?" Naruto shouted back.

"Knock it off Naruto!" Sakura yelled at Naruto, once again annoyed by his antics. "Quit bothering Sasuke!"

With that, she struck Naruto again, her fists hitting him again and again. "Ow! Stop it! Ah! Ow! Help! Ow!"

Sasuke gave no outward reaction what so ever, while Kenshi backed away from the pair. "I'm… gonna sit this one out. She can hit pretty hard."

Iruka quietly chuckled. 'They'll work things out eventually. Even Naruto.'


Their jonin-sensei was late…really late, leaving the newly established Team Seven waiting in the classroom for over an hour. Sasuke sat at one of the tables, waiting quietly for the jonin to show up. Kenshi sat on another bench, his sandaled feet resting on a table, half-napping. Sakura was leaning up against the same table while Naruto paced back and forth impatiently.

Suddenly, the blond growled in frustration and rushed to the door, opening it up a crack and peering into the hallway, looking for some sign of the jonin. "That's it! I can't take it anymore!" he shouted out in the hall.

Naruto rushed over to Iruka's desk, grabbing his chair before grabbing an eraser from the blackboard, carrying the two back to the door. He climbed atop the chair, jamming the eraser into the practically open door.

"Knock it off Naruto," Sakura said, annoyed at his antics. "You're going to get us in trouble."

"Let him do it," Kenshi replied, his eyes closed. "It's better than having him pace around the room like he has been."

"Hmph. There's no way a jonin could fall for such a simple booby trap," Sasuke added.

However, Sasuke was about to be proven wrong. A one-eyed, silver haired man opened the door, the eraser hitting him on the head. Naruto started laughing uncontrollably. "Ha ha ha ha! Gotcha!"

Kenshi started laughing as well, though not quite as much as Naruto. "That actually worked!" he exclaimed. "I…I don't believe it!"

"I'm terribly sorry sensei," Sakura apologized, hoping to avoid any punishment for Naruto's actions. "I tried to stop him, but Naruto…"

Internally however… "Hell yeah!" Inner Sakura shouted. "That was awesome!"

'So this is our elite jonin leader,' Sasuke thought, staring at the man who had fallen for such an utterly simple trap. 'He looks completely hopeless.'

"Hmm… How shall I put this?" the man pondered, his calm and laid back, hiding any annoyance he may have felt. "Based on my first impression…I hate you all."


A short while later, the jonin and the genin were sitting around on the roof of the Academy. "Now, I'd like you all to tell us a little about yourselves," the jonin said, leaning against the guard railing.

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"You know the usual. Your likes, your dislikes, dreams, ambitions, hobbies, stuff like that."

"Help us out here sensei," Naruto complained. "You go first. Show us how it's done."

"That's right. After all, you're a complete stranger to us," Sakura added.

"Oh…Me? My name is Kakashi Hatake," he said, introducing himself. "Things I like and things I hate...I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future... never really thought about it. As for my hobbies...I have lots of hobbies."

'All he said was his name…' the annoyed genin thought at the same time.

"How about you next," Kakashi said, pointing to Naruto.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen and when Iruka-sensei treats me out to ramen at Ichiraku's. I hate the three minute wait after you pour the boiling water for the ramen."

'He appears to have nothing but ramen on his mind,' Kakashi thought as Naruto listed off his likes and dislikes.

"And my dream is to be the greatest Hokage!" Naruto yelled out, his voice loud and determined. "That way, people will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody. Someone important!"

Kakashi studied the boy carefully, intrigued by his words. 'Well, hasn't he turned out interesting.'

"My hobbies are…pranks and practical jokes I guess," the blond finished.

The silver haired jonin nodded his head. "Alright, next."

Kenshi was the one sitting next to Naruto, so he spoke up. "My name's Kenshi Mitsurugi. I like chocolate pocky…well, anything with chocolate in it, working at my mom's shop and the feel of a finely crafted ninja tool or weapon in my hand. I dislike when people try to pass off a clearly inferior crafted piece of equipment as something superior."

'He's definitely his parents' child,' Kakashi mused, remembering past missions where he had fought alongside Kaitou and Shuzaya Mitsurugi, recalling their particular love of weapons, both creating and using them. 'All he's missing is a weapon of his own.'

"I guess my hobby would be drawing in my free time." A grin spread across his face. "And my dream is to become the greatest weapon master Konoha has ever seen."

"Next," Kakashi said, turning to Sasuke.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything," Sasuke said, his tone cold. "What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone"

'…That's kinda creepy,' Kenshi thought, subconsciously inching away from Sasuke.

A few beads of cold sweat slid down Naruto's brow. 'Hope it's not me.'

Sakura on the other hand, was in awe of her crush. 'Whoa… Sasuke's so cool!'

Kakashi stared at the Last Uchiha for a moment. 'I thought as much.' With that, Kakashi turned to his final potential student. "And now for the young lady."

"I'm Sakura Haruno. My favorite thing is…" The girl took a glance at Sasuke and blushed. "Well, it's not a thing; it's a person, a boy…" Her blush darkened. "Let's move on to my dream…" She blushed the hardest at that moment. "I hate Naruto!" Sakura then proclaimed, earning a groan from Naruto.

Kakashi rolled his eye. 'It sounds like girls are more interested in love than in ninjutsu these days.'

The jonin cleared his throat. "Okay, I think we all understand one training begins tomorrow."

"Alright! Our first real ninja mission!" Naruto cheered, eager and ready for anything.

And he wasn't the only one. Both Sakura and Kenshi were grinning as well, nearly as excited and eager as their teammate. Sasuke, however, appeared in different to everything, hiding how he truly felt. "So what's going to be our mission sensei?" Sakura asked.

"It will involve just the members of this team," Kakashi answered.

"So what will our mission be?" Naruto asked.

"Survival exercises."

Kakashi's announcement earned looks of surprise and confusion from the genin. "Eh? Survival exercises?" Naruto spoke up, voicing what was on all of their minds.

"But we've had tons of survival exercises back when we were in the Academy," Sakura added.

"Ah, but this time, you'll have to survive against me," Kakashi pointed out.

A sense of dread began to creep in the four genin. Something deep down in each of them began to say that this wasn't going to be a simple exercise. "What kinda practice is it?" Naruto asked, a faint hint of nervousness in his voice.

At that moment, Kakashi tried and failed to suppress a snicker.

"Why are you laughing Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura inquired.

"If I told you, you'd chicken out," Kakashi calmly replied.

"What? Why?" Naruto demanded, insulted by the notion that he would ever chicken out of anything.

"Out of the twenty-eight graduating members of your class, only nine, or perhaps ten, of you will actually be accepted as genin. The rest will be send back to the Academy for a year," Kakashi explained. "The test you're going to take tomorrow has a sixty-six percent failure rate."

A sixty-six percent failure rate… Those odds did little to assure the genin. Doubt and fear began to grip them, even the stoic Uchiha. The idea of their ninja careers potentially ending after only two days was affecting them noticeably. Their skin paled as they broke out into cold sweats, the panic and worry visible on their faces. Kakashi chuckled some more. "See, you're chickening out already."

"That sucks!" Naruto shouted, angry that he had to go through another test. "What about the graduation tests we went through?"

"Oh that? We just wanted to eliminate the utterly hopeless from those who have actual potential," Kakashi said with a wave of his hand.

"What?" Naruto shouted, realized that he had technically failed that test.

"In any event, I've reserved one of the training fields for us tomorrow so I can evaluate your skills and weaknesses," Kakashi explained. "Be sure to bring all of you ninja tools and weapons. You'll need them. Oh, and don't eat breakfast before hand, you'll only throw it up." At that moment, the jonin produced four sheets of paper. "These handouts have all the info you'll need. Memorize them, and don't be late."

'I can't fail! That would mean leaving Sasuke!' Sakura thought, reaching out and grabbing the paper. 'This is like a test of my love!'

Kenshi brought the paper up to his face, gulping as he began to read it. 'Survival exercises against a jonin? Oh man… Now I know why mom was so quiet this morning…'

Naruto's eyes raced back and forth across the page. 'No way will I let this hold me back! I'll kick Kakashi-sensei's ass! And then I'll finally start getting some respect around here.'

Having read and memorized the paper, Sasuke crumpled it up. 'I won't let this, or anything else stop me from getting stronger.'


The Next Day

"Good morning class," Kakashi cheerfully said to the waiting genin as he approached.

But the genin weren't happy in the slightest. "You're late!" Naruto, Sakura and Kenshi shouted at him in annoyance while Sasuke quietly glared at him.

Ignoring their glares, Kakashi pulled out an alarm clock, setting it on one of the three logs that were standing in the field. "I've set this alarm to go off at noon," he explained, turning to the genin while pulling something out of one of the pouches, a pair of small bells on strings.

"I have here two small bells. Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails doesn't get any lunch. Instead, you will be tied to a tree stump, so I can eat your lunch in front of you."

'So that's why you wanted us to go without breakfast…' the genin thought, their stomachs growling in hunger.

"Since there aren't enough bells to go around, at least two of you will be going without lunch today," Kakashi continued, giving the bells a brief ring. "But not only that, those who do not have bells at the end of the test, will fail and be sent back to the Academy. You may use any tools, weapons and jutsu you have, but be sure to come at me with the intent to kill, otherwise, you will never get one."

"But that's dangerous sensei!" Sakura protested.

"Yeah Kakashi-sensei," Kenshi added. "One of us could get seriously hurt here."

"Oh? Are the two of you chickening out now?" Kakashi asked, his eye focused on the two. "If so, than leave now and go back to the Academy."

But they didn't, they couldn't. It would mean spending another year back there, around younger kids. It was an utterly humiliating notion, and something neither of them were willing to do.

"Ha! Bring it on! You couldn't even dodge an eraser!" Naruto yelled, confident in his ability. "You're gonna get killed!"

The jonin rolled his eye. "Only the weak speak loudly," he replied to Naruto's boast. "Let's just ignore the dunce. We'll start when I say go."

'Dunce! I'll show him a dunce!' Naruto growled, grabbing a kunai from his holster, pulling it back to throw it at Kakashi.

Suddenly, a pair of hands reached out from behind him, one grabbing his head, the other grabbing his wrist, pulling it and the kunai back behind Naruto's head. "Not so fast. I didn't say go yet," Kakashi dryly said, now standing behind him.

Sakura was in awe of Kakashi at that moment. 'Whoa… I didn't even see him move.'

'So this is a jonin,' Sasuke thought, studying the man carefully. Though he wouldn't admit it, he hadn't seen Kakashi move either.

Kenshi just stared at the jonin. 'If he's this fast, how are any of us suppose to get a bell?' he wondered.

"But at least you had the intent to kill me," Kakashi continued, pushing Naruto forward. "So…how do I put this…I'm beginning to like you guys. Get ready…and…start!"

The four genin took off, hiding among the brush and trees of the training field. Kakashi looked around, observing their hiding places. "Ninjas must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively," he stated, reciting the first sentence of the stealth section in the Beginner's Guide to Ninjas, the first book they read in the Academy. "Well, they understand that much. They've hidden themselves well."

But he had spoken to soon…

"You and me! Right now, one on one!" Naruto shouted, standing in front of the jonin. "Let's go!"

'I should have known…' Kakashi thought, eying up the hyperactive blond in disbelief. He found it hard to believe that any new genin would so brazenly seek to fight him up front, rather than ambush him. Clearly, Naruto was… different. "You know…you're a little weird."

"Oh yeah!" an annoyed Naruto yelled out, running at Kakashi. "The only thing weird here is your hair!"

Kakashi reached into a small bag on the back of his waist. "Ninja Lesson Number One: Taijutsu, Body Techniques," he said, pulling something out.

Naruto stopped, waiting to see what the jonin was bringing out to use, wondering why Kakashi would use a weapon when talking about taijutsu.

Then Kakashi pulled it out…

…a book, entitled 'Make-Out Paradise'.

"WHAT?" Naruto exclaimed, staring at the jonin in utter shock and disbelief as he began to read.

Kakashi glanced up from the novel. "Hmm? Is something wrong? I thought you were going to come at me?"

"But…but you're reading a book!"

"I know. I've been dying to find out how it ends," Kakashi replied. "Carry on. It won't make any difference considering who I'm up against."

Insulted once more, Naruto roared, leaping up at Kakashi with a raised fist. But his punch was effortlessly blocked by the palm of Kakashi's free hand. Naruto spun his body, trying to kick the jonin, only to watch Kakashi duck down, avoiding the foot. Frustrated, by his failure to land a blow, Naruto landed on his feet and lunged at the jonin.

But once again, Kakashi disappeared in a burst of speed, appearing behind the blond genin, his hands together in the sign of the tiger. "Hidden Leaf Secret Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!"

Naruto screamed out in pain, grabbing his rear, flying into the nearby stream.

From his hiding spot, Kenshi rapidly blinked his eyes a few times in disbelief and disgust at what just happened. '…What was that? And who would ever actually use that technique?'

Sakura felt the same way. '…No way that's a real technique. All he did was shove his fingers up Naruto's butt!'

Sasuke was less than impressed by Kakashi's 'technique' as well. '…They're both nothing but buffoons.'

"I still find it hard to believe that we have a four-man team this year," Iruka said, as he sat at the table. "In the four years I've spent teaching in the Academy, that's never happened until now."


Across from him sat the Third Hokage, whom Iruka was having morning tea with. Since classes were over for the next couple of weeks and he had little else to do, the chunin had been helping the Hokage and the others dispense missions to the various teams. It was rather dull and easy compared to managing a classroom full of hyperactive children.

Iruka couldn't wait for classes to resume.

"Yes, it is a rare occurrence nowadays. The last time that happened was about…oh six years ago," the Third replied. "But it is not a freak occurrence; a teacher like yourself should know that Iruka."

"Every once and awhile, we have an odd genin or two, or a shortage of jonin instructors, forcing us to have larger team or two in response, so that all of the students have a fair chance to prove their worth." Sarutobi paused, sipping from his cup of tea.

"Of course, back in the older days, when things were far less peaceful, larger genin teams were more common due to the fact that most of the capable jonin were needed for highly dangerous missions. Even during the last Great Shinobi War, there were years when we had to use larger genin teams because of the shortage of jonin. I remember my own…" The Third paused for a moment, looking back into the past.

But once it passed, he shook his head and set down his cup, staring intently at Iruka. "But you did not come here to drink tea with me and talk history, did you Iruka?"

"No…" Iruka admitted, hesitating to speak his concern. "The jonin you assigned to Naruto and the others, what kind of teacher is he? Is he strict? Will he judge them fairly, based on their abilities?"

Sarutobi chuckled. He knew that Iruka, like he himself, was quite fond of Naruto and was clearly quite concerned about how the boy and his team would fair against their final test, undoubtedly wanting nothing more than for Naruto to become a genin.

The Third pulled out a book from his robes. "Here, see for yourself," he said, offering it to the chunin. "This is the roster of all of Kakashi's previous teams, who passed and who failed."

Iruka took the small booklet, flipping it open, scanning over the pages. After a moment, he paled, realizing the disturbing truth of the matter. "This…this says…"

"Yes," the Third Hokage said, nodding his head. "There's no denying that Kakashi's test is a bit more difficult than the rest."

"A bit more difficult?" Iruka exclaimed, picturing Naruto coming back, his spirit broken by failure. "Not a single student has ever passed his test!"

"That's true. While many have tried, none have yet to meet Kakashi's standards," Sarutobi admitted. "They've all failed."


And done. Now to finish up the other half for your enjoyment.