Naruto was excited, he was a freaking ninja!

On the outside, however it looked like nothing of importance had occurred that day.

After all those years (wasted years in his opinion), he was finally a ninja. He was currently walking down the streets of konoha on his way to the academy, it had only been 3 hours after the graduation test, and after a short recess to get lunch, the new genin were required to enter the class room one last time to be assigned their jonin sensei.

As he entered the classroom, he spotted Sasuke sitting next to Hinata conversing quietly with one another. Naruto naturally decided to sit next to his friends, and on the short walks to the chair next to him, he heard tidbits of the conversations of his various classmates.

"So forehead, whose team would you, rather is on, Naruto's or Sasuke's?" Ino asked in an interrogating sort of way (you know, the way that little girls sometimes ask questions). Sakura, quite used to being called forehead by Ino responded in an offended tone, "Sasuke's of course, Narutos got nothing on Sasuke-kun, pig."

Ino was about to respond to her reply, but Sakura was on a role today, "and don't start with the crap about Naruto having the bluest eyes you've ever seen or how rich he is, or how none of the Uchiha has ever made Hokage. Sasuke-kun is more handsome and way cooler," she finished with a huff.

"Well at least I have a chance with Naruto," Ino muttered in a low tone.

"What did you say Ino-pig?"

"I said, at least I have a chance with Naruto, the platinum blonde responded in a slightly louder tone, "why would you even try to ask out Sasuke, I'm pretty sure he's finally gonna make a move on Hinata sometime soon."

"He'll come around," Sakura responded confidently.

"Right, I seem to remember when you said that and we were 11 (everyone is 14 except for team Gai)," Ino stated sarcastically.

And from there the discussion progressed to a full-blown argument.

Naruto continued walking towards the seat in the back of the class and as he walked up a couple steps, he walked past a sleeping Shikamaru, and a potato chip killing machine Choji. Choji's okay I guess, but I would ABSOLUTLY loathe being on the some team as Shikamaru, lazy bum, Naruto thought a disapprovingly.

As he continued past them, he also noticed Kiba trying to get Shino to laugh.

"What do you call a boomerang that doesn't come back?" Kiba asked.

"I don't know," Shino replied in a voice void of emotion.

"A stick," Kiba replied while laughing, but he quickly stopped when he noticed Shino wasn't laughing. Humph, I'll definitely get him with this one, Kiba thought confidently.

"Two atoms were walking down the street," Kiba started, "one of them suddenly stops and says, "I think I lost an electron." The other looked at him and asked if he was sure, and the first atom responded, "Yes I'm positive!" Kiba finished on the verge of tears from laughing so hard.

Again, however Shino failed to laugh, or even crack a smile.

Kiba's laughter quickly died down and he thought, ok if he doesn't laugh at this then Shino isn't human.

With a new sense of determination, Kiba started his final joke, "Three men stood before the gates of heaven, waiting to get in. the gatekeeper had been informed by Kami that only 33% of people would be allowed in to heaven.

So to decide which man would enter, the gatekeeper wanted to know which man died the worst death. The gatekeeper looked at the fist man and asked how he died.

The first man responded, "Well, I suspected that my wife was cheating on me for some time, so I decided to come home early to catch her in the act. I arrived home and found my wife in the tub taking a bath, so I looked all around the house but didn't find anyone. The last place I looked was on the balcony, and low and behold, I found the fag trying to climb back in! So I ran up to him and started stomping on his fingers so he would fall off. He yelled and he screamed, but he didn't fall off, so I then ran, grabbed a hammer and proceeded to pound his fingers until he fell off.

As soon as he fell, I thought the deed was done so I looked over the edge only to find that he had managed to land in a bunch of bushes! I then grabbed the fridge, it was unusually heavy, and pushed it off the balcony where it then fell and crushed the fag beneath. I was so consumed with grief over what I had just dine so I went into my bedroom and committed seppuku."

"The gate keeper nodded his head in understanding," Kiba continued, "the gatekeeper then looked at the second man who seemed to have his fingers thoroughly destroyed, "what about you?" the gatekeeper asked.

"Well I lived on a 28th floor of an apartment, and was doing some exercises on my balcony, then I lost my balance and I slipped.

Luckily, I only fell a couple floors before I managed to grab another balcony. I tried to pull myself up but some mad man ran up to me and started stomping on my fingers. I didn't fall however, but when he brought out the hammer, I quickly fell.

I landed in some bushes though, at first I couldn't believe my luck, but then I looked up from where I fell and saw an elfin' fridge falling towards me.

And that's how I ended up here," the second man finished.

The gatekeeper nodded again and looked at the final man, who seemed to have many broken bones, "what's your story?"

The final man started, "imagine your hiding, naked, in fridge…," Kiba finished with a hearty laugh.

The final joke did manage to get Shino crack a very small smirk that Kiba didn't see. Kiba just looked at him with an anime sweat and walked away.

That last one was actually funny, but he didn't notice Shino's smirk? I would hate to be on Kiba's team, he seems really annoying… Naruto thought.

Naruto finally arrived next to Sasuke, who was sitting next to Hinata, but before he could get to converse with them, Iruka-sensei walked into the room and addressed the whole room.

"Congratulations those of you that passed the graduation exam…"

Naruto wasn't really paying attention, but was in stead daydreaming about who would be on his team, and a conversation that he had with a civilian council member two days ago.

Flash back starts

Naruto was walking back to the Namikaze mansion and was currently passing through the market of the village.

Why the heck did I decide to pass through the market when everyone was on their way back to work, IDIOT! Naruto thought.

Everyone gave him a wide berth to walk through, but that didn't really help all that much.

At least I'm not being jostled around by the crowd.

He was steadily making progress towards the exit when he saw someone trying to beckon him.

Might as well go, I'm not really in much of a hurry.

He walked up to a rather short man who had on the most expensive robes that could be bought in all of the Land of Fire.

Realizing that only royalty or someone extremely rich could afford the robes, Naruto also realized that he must be a council member by the way that he addressed him.

"Good evening Namikaze-sama."

Yep, definitely a council member.

"Good evening Councilman-san."

The council slightly bristled at not being given the same amount of respect that he gave a 14-year-old boy, but he quickly put back on his friendly façade.

"Tonight the village council will be deciding on teams, and I…"

"I want Uchiha Sasuke on my team." Naruto cut across.

He'll probably come looking for favors when I become a chuunin and part of the council. Naruto deduced.

The councilman looked at him and gave a slight laugh, "I thought you might say that, I'll suggest it at the meeting."

"Good day Namikaze-sama," and with that final note he gave a slight bow and melted into back into the crowd.

Naruto truly hated the way that he was treated in the village, everyone saw him as the Yondaime's son, not as Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze.

It has its perks, he thought to himself.

Flash Back end

Naruto wasn't paying attention till the teams were starting to be assigned.

"Team seven will be: Sakura Haruno (who looked up in anticipation) Riku Yuuto, and Manami Kana."

Iruka directly addressed Sakura and said, "you are the replacement for a member of the team that was recently killed on a mission, they are waiting for you in room 349."

"H-Hai." she said, extremely disappointed that she wasn't on Sasuke's team, and walked down the hall towards her new team.

I hope Ino-pig doesn't end up on Sasuke-kuns team, she thought bitterly.

"Team eight will be: Kiba Inuzaka, Shino Aburame (Kiba gave an anime sweat at being put with Shino), and Hinata Hyuga. Your Jonin instructor will be Kurenai Yuhi, and she is waiting for you in room 350."

"Hai," the three of them answered simultaneously. Hinata was slightly disappointed, that she wasn't put on Naruto or Sasuke's team but she understood that the teams were designed to work optimally, and she doubted that Kiba would get along with the boys.

"Team nine is still active from last year," Iruka continued, "Team ten will be: Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara.

Choji nudged the sleeping Nara and told him they were on the same team, while Ino protested being put on the same team as the lazy bum, and fat Choji.

Sasuke was now really curious as to who would be on his team now, he was a little miffed at first since he couldn't be on the same team as Hinata but quickly realized that team eight would be an excellent tracking team.

Naruto will probably be on my team, but what about the third member?

Naruto was likewise thinking along the same lines, except he wasn't AS miffed about not being on Hinata's team.

Looking around, Naruto realized that everyone else except he and Sasuke had been assigned a team and had left.

Seeing, as they were the only two people in the room besides him Iruka called the two boys up to his desk to assign them their team.

The two boys walked up to his desk, and Iruka addressed them, "Your team will be team eleven, both of you will be on the same team, and your third member is an orphaned boy by the name of Sai," Iruka-sensei finished.

And as if on que, just as soon as Iruka finished a very pale looking boy entered the room, and gave the boys a weird fake smile while addressing them, "Hello Uchiha-san, and Namikaze-san."

The Sasuke just looked at him, quickly ignored him, and asked Iruka-sensei which room they were to meet their Jonin leader in.

"Room 371, good luck," Iruka finished as he led them towards the door.

The three boys exited the classroom, and even it looked like Sasuke and Naruto were ignoring the pale boy, they were each shooting him appraising glances.

I wonder what sort of jutsus he knows.

I wonder how good he is with that ninja-to.

What the heck is up with that dang smile!

Iruka watched them leave, and walk down the hallway classroom, They are not even talking to their new teammate, this could cause trouble.

The boys arrived at the room, and quickly went inside.

They waited, and they waited, and they waited some more.

By the time the second hour had gone by, Sai had started drawing, and Sasuke and Naruto were playing Unit 13 on their Playstation Vitas.

After another hour went by, Naruto and Sasuke were still ignoring Sai, when a tall white haired man walked in.

Naruto immediately recognized him and asked, "you're gonna be our Jonin teacher?"

When Kakashi Hatake nodded, Naruto exclaimed, "sweet!

"Meet up on the roof in ten minutes," Kakashi said as he shushined away.

"How do you know him?" Sasuke asked Naruto as they climbed the stairs to the roof.

"He was on my dad's Genin team back in the third ninja war."

"Really, is he any good?"

"Heck ya!" Naruto responded, "he graduated from the academy when he was like, 6, and has been an Anbu captain for the past couple of years."

"Wow, this is gonna be awesome!" Sasuke said excitedly.

This guy must be pretty powerful; he'll probably have loads of stuff to teach me, and Naruto.

When they arrived at the roof, the three boys took a seat on the steps facing the scarecrow, who was leaning up on the railings.

"Alright, what's your likes and dislikes?" Kakashi asked in a bored tone while he was reading his orange book.

"Hatake-san do you mind doing it first so we could see how its done?" asked Sai in a polite voice. All three boys looked at Kakashi in anticipation.

"Fine, my name is Kakashi Hatake, I don't really have a lot of likes, I have a lot of dislikes, and my dream is none of your business.

We only learned his name, all three boys thought at the same time.

"How 'bout you, mister fake smile, he Kakashi said while gesturing towards Sai, while never looking up from his book.

"My name is Sai, I enjoy painting, I don't have a dream or many dislikes."

Wow, he's way to apathetic to be a normal teen aged boy, I'll have to find out who this kid is, thought Kakashi.

"Ok, your turn 'Namikaze-sama'," Kakashi said in a sarcastic tone, he hadn't even looked up from his book.

Naruto slightly scoffed at Kakashi's sarcasm, but continued nonetheless, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, I like the Konoha, the Old man, I guess I like Sasuke my…"

"I didn't know you cared," Sasuke remarked

"Shut up you, spaz, my dislikes are fan girls, and people who would threaten my home, my dream is to become Hokage just like my Dad." Naruto finished.

Kakashi wasn't really paying attention until Naruto said he wanted to be Hokage; he looked up from his book and noticed the determined look in boy's eyes.

Its only natural that he would want to be Hokage, Kakashi thought.

"Your turn," Kakashi said while pointing at Sasuke, as he returned to reading his book.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I don't have many likes except for Naruto and Hinata, I have many dislikes that include fan girls, and scheming councilors. My dream is restore my clan, both in its members and in its honor, and to kill my older brother."

"Well good to get to know you guys, we'll be having another test tomorrow so meet at the training field at 7 A.M. and with that final note Kakashi shushined away.

"Good bye, Naruto-san Sasuke-san," Sai said as he walked away.

Both boys ignored him however and just jumped off of the roof of the building. When they landed on the ground in the middle of the street, Sasuke looked at Naruto and said, "I'm gonna head home and work on some jutsus then go to sleep."

"Alright, see you tomorrow, oh, and I wouldn't come to the field before 9:00, I asked the old man if he was chronically late and he said yes."

Sasuke gave him a nod and walked down a dark street on the way to the Uchiha compound.

I should get some ramen to celebrate my graduation!

With his mind made up, Naruto sped through the streets towards Ichirachu ramen.

Arriving at the stand Naruto quickly entered and took his seat.

"I'll have four vegetable ramens!" the boy said excitedly, he was starved.

"Hey Naruto, did you pass the graduation?" asked Teuchi while preparing his ramen.

"Hell yeah I did," and he showed the chief his new shiny headband as proof.

"Oh hi Naruto," Ayame said as she entered the ramen stand, just returning from doing a few errands.

"Hi Ayame," Naruto started, "I passed my exam, look"

"Sweet," she said while looking at his new headband,

when she was younger she had wanted to be a ninja, but her father had asked her not to be one after her mother died. Instead of returning to work in the kitchen, Ayame just sat down next to Naruto and started conversing with him.

"So who's on your team?" she asked starting the conversation.

"Its me, Sasuke, and this other weird kid who has the fakest smile you've ever seen."

Ayame laughed at Naruto's description of his other teammate but continued on, "what's his name?"

"His name was Sai, I think, I wasn't really paying attention, Naruto said sheepishly.

"Boys," muttered Ayame while she rolled her eyes, "how could you not pay attention to your new team mate?"

"Hey I was still pissed that Hinata couldn't be on me and Sasuke's team, and trust me, after you see this guy you'll think he's the weirdest guy you've ever seen," Naruto finished in a defensive tone.

"That's no excuse, you guys will probably end up saving each others lives."

"Ya, so? That doesn't mean we have to be friends."

"It would help," Ayame responded.

"I don't think it would, I'll be nice to him but that's about it," Naruto finished as his ramen was placed in front of him.

"Thanks old man," and on that final note Naruto dove into his Ramen.

Boys, there so unreasonable, thought Ayame. Truth be told, Ayame had developed a little crush on the 14 year old, it all started back when he fist entered the ramen stand 5 years ago.

Flash back starts

It was a particularly slow day at the ramen stand, the same customers, the same orders, it was about 3:30 in the afternoon and Ayame (then ten years old) wished she could go outside to play with the other kids.

A couple minutes later, a dressed in a black leather coat, black jonin pants, and a shock of blonde hair walked in.

She knew who he was, everyone in the village did.

Naruto Namikaze had been milling about the village with nothing to do, and no one to play with.

He had a dejected look about him and he seemed to be bored out of his mind. He quietly took his seat, and immediately several of the people in the stand quickly paid for their meals and left.

Ayame didn't know what his burden was, but she was really curious as to why the other people left, they hadn't even finished their ramen yet.

"Hello and welcome to Ichiraku'," the young girl started, "what can I get for you?"

"I'll have three miso ramens, please."

Three! He must really be hungry!

"Coming right up!" she said while she ran to the back to get his order.

When she brought out his meal, he thanked her in a small quiet voice, and much to her astonishment, quickly polished off his meal.

He paid for the meal and left a generous tip, that was really good stuff, but before he could leave, the girl grabbed his arm and asked him words that he wanted to her for a long time.

"Wanna go to the park and play, I get off work pretty soon and you seem pretty lonely."

"Sure," he said in a non-caring tone.

On the outside it seemed like nothing happened, but on the inside he was jumping for joy, she wants to play with me! Someone actually wants to play with me!

Teuchi had watched the whole scene play out, and he couldn't have been more proud of his little girl.

Flash back ends

After that day, the two had been instant friends. At first Naruto was kinda shy because he never had a friend before, but slowly and surely, Ayame managed to see a side of him that VERY few people got to see.

On the outside he tried to remain stoic, and calm, but on the inside he was a very lonely kid that desperately wanted attention. Most kids his age avoided him, and the ones that didn't only wanted to gain from being his friend, but Ayame was different, and aside from Sasuke and Hinata, she was his only friend.

After conversing for about an hour, and polishing off 10 bowls of ramen later, Naruto left the Ramen stand and headed towards home to get some rest for the test the next day.

I'll be ready,

Me and Sasuke will pass this test with flying colors!