Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto! But I do, however, own Uchiha Keinai and this plot.

Here's chapter one! A thank you shout out to KunoijiJay for helping me figure out where to start this prequel! Enjoy peeps!


Chapter One

Squad Seven

Uchiha Keinai sat in a classroom of the Ninja Academy, surrounded by the people she'd sat in this very classroom with or years. The only difference was that today, they were no longer academy students; today, they were genin.

Keinai tucked her bluish black tresses behind one of her ears as she glanced at Uchiha Sasuke, her twin brother. His elbows were on the table, his fingers interlaced, with his mouth resting against his fingers; his eyes stared blankly at the front of the classroom. To anyone else, he looked bored, but Keinai knew different.

Keinai gently pulled one of his hands away from his mouth, causing him to glance at her and place his other hand in his lap. Keinai began tapping her finger against the back of his hand in a code only she and Sasuke knew.

What troubles you, Nii-san? She tapped. Sasuke blew air through his nose before answering in the same manner.

I'd say it was nothing, but you would know I was lying, he tapped, lips quirking slightly. I'm afraid we'll be separated.

I don't think Hokage-sama would do that, Keinai tapped. He knows we work best together. She smirked. And he knows how protective of me you are.

Sasuke's expression darkened. I can't lose you, too, he tapped. It would break me.

You won't lose me, Keinai tapped, smiling softly.

"I'm first!" two voices yelled, breaking their bubble. Sasuke glared at the blackboard as Keinai turned to search out the source of the commotion. She rolled her eyes when she found it. Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura were fighting over who made it into the classroom first.

"Tch," Sasuke growled, his glare intensifying. I hate fangirls, he tapped. Keinai hummed softly in agreement.

"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said, holding her hands clasped in front of her chest and blushing. "Mind if I sit next to you?"

Sasuke ignored her. Keinai could see his growing irritation as other fangirls began arguing with Sakura over who should sit next to "Sasuke-kun".

Suddenly Uzumaki Naruto was crouched on the desk before Sasuke, his face mere inches from Sasuke's, glaring at him.

"Naruto, stop glaring at Sasuke-kun!" Sakura shrieked.

"Wow, this is great!" one of the other genin a desk below said, leaning back and bumping Naruto with his elbow. "Oh, sorry, did I bump you?"

Everyone turned to see Naruto and Sasuke in a lip lock, both looking shocked. Keinai stifled a giggle.

"What the…?" Sakura began.

"I…uh…" Ino stuttered.

Naruto and Sasuke separated and began coughing and spluttering, holding their throats.

"I'll get you Naruto!" Sasuke threatened.

Naruto stopped abruptly.

"Danger," he muttered to himself, before turning to look behind him. All of Sasuke's fangirls were glaring death at him, leaking killing intent.

"Naruto," Sakura growled. "You are so dead!"

"Hey, whoa!" Naruto scrambled to explain, holding his hands up in surrender. "It was an accident!"

"You're finished," Sakura growled, cracking her knuckles.

Moments later, all girls were seated and Naruto was pretty bruised up. Sakura was gloating silently, having gotten the empty seat beside Sasuke. Umino Iruka now stood in the front of the classroom, demanding everyone's attention.

"As of today you are all ninja," he told them. "To get here you faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing; what comes next will be far more difficult. Now you are only genin, first level ninja. All genin will be separated into three-man squads, though there will be one four-man squad due to the number of genin; each squad will be lead by a jonin, an elite ninja."

"Well, someone's gotta be in Sasuke-kun's group," Ino told Sakura. Keinai rolled her eyes. "I wonder who?"

"I don't know," Sakura said, trying to sound indifferent even as she glared at Ino over her shoulder.

"We want each squad to be a balance of strength and ability," Iruka continued. "So that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads."

Keinai rested her chin in one of her hands as Iruka announced squads one through six.

"Squad Seven," Iruka called. "Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uchiha Keinai."

Sasuke visibly relaxed.

See? I told you they wouldn't separate us, Keinai tapped. Sasuke's lips quirked slightly.

"Next, Squad Eight," Iruka called. "Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino."

Sakura turned to Ino and held up two fingers in a peace sign, grinning like a Cheshire cat.

'How did you get in his group?!" Ino shrieked. Sakura didn't answer, turning back around.

"I don't get it," Nara Shikamaru grumbled from beside Ino. "What do you see in a guy like that? He's nothing special."

"You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru," Ino said. "Don't you get it?"

"No, I don't get it, 'cause I'm not a girl," Shikamaru grumbled.

Ino sighed, before smirking. "You're so full of yourself," Ino told him. "Jealousy's a terrible thing, I'd hate to be in your squad."

"Now Squad Ten," Iruka called. "Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Choji."

"Hah!" Shikamaru scoffed. "Did you say something about hating to be on my squad?"

Ino growled.

"Those are all the squads," Iruka said.

"Iruka Sensei," Naruto called, standing and pointing at Sasuke. "Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke?!"

Sakura glared at him, as did Iruka.

"Sasuke and Keinai had the best scores of all the graduating students," Iruka said. "Naruto, you had the worst scores!" Kids all around the room began laughing. "To create a balanced group, we put the best students with the worst student."

"Just make sure you don't get in my way, Loser," Sasuke said. Keinai dug her nails into Sasuke's hand, causing him to wince. The other students laughed harder.

"What did you say?!" Naruto yelled.

"Hard of hearing?" Sasuke taunted, wincing as Keinai applied more pressure.

Sorry, Sasuke tapped. I couldn't help myself. Keinai released the pressure. Iruka cleared his throat to get everyone's attention.

"After lunch you will meet your new jonin sensei," Iruka told them. "Until then, class dismissed."

Sasuke and Keinai stood simultaneously, both ignoring requests for lunch dates. When they got to their apartment, both sighed in relief.

"I hate fangirls," Sasuke grumbled, pulling rice balls out of the fridge.

"Fanboys are worse," Keinai sighed, grabbing a rice ball off the plate as Sasuke pulled out iced tea and two cups. "I once caught one sniffing my work out shorts."

Sasuke snorted, taking a bite of his own rice ball.

They ate in silence for a while.

"You know you're going to have to speak in public sooner or later," Sasuke murmured. "At least in front of our team."

"I know," Keinai sighed, lowering her cup from her mouth. "I just don't want to think about it." She turned to the sink. "I'll clean up, and then we can look for our idiotic team mates and head back to the classroom."

Sasuke sighed, but nodded and headed into the living room to wait.

Keinai took a deep breath and began to fill the sink with water. She knew Sasuke was right, but she hadn't spoken in public for years. Thinking about it drew up memories of that night, so she suppressed that worry for later, focusing on the task at hand. As she put away the last cup, she was drawn out of her thoughts by a dull thump in the living room.

"Naruto!" she heard Sasuke growl. She rolled her eyes.

"Pipe down!" Naruto ordered. She heard them roll around for a few minutes.

"Huh, nice try," Sasuke muttered. Then she heard more commotion.

"Hah, I gotcha!" Naruto cried. It was quiet for a few moments. Keinai walked into the living room to find Sasuke tied up on the floor. She sighed and untied him.

"What did that baka want this time?" she asked, taking the tape off of Sasuke's mouth.

"I don't know," Sasuke growled. "All I know is that he suddenly attacked me, tied me up, and transformed into me."

"He's probably after Sakura again," Keinai muttered. "When is he going to understand that she's not interested? Better yet, when is she going to realize that you're not interested?"

Sasuke snorted. "Never, for either of them," he said.

"True," Keinai sighed. "Let's go find those idiots so that we can head back to the academy."

Sasuke stood and nodded, taking Keinai's hand. They left their apartment and began looking for their squad. They found Sakura on a bench next to the road leading to the training grounds. She broke into a big grin when she saw Sasuke, completely ignoring Keinai.

"Oh, Sasuke, you're back!" she squealed. "Don't be so shy, you bad boy! Are you ready now, you know, mentally prepared? Because I am, I mean, I'm rearing to go!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, walking right past her. He began looking around for Naruto.

Told you, Keinai tapped. Sasuke rolled his eyes again.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sakura called. Sasuke stopped.

"Where's Naruto?" he asked.

"Oh, see, there you go changing the subject again!" Sakura said. "Anyway, Naruto just picks fights with you. You know why he's so annoying? Because he wasn't raised right. He doesn't have a mother or father, no one to teach him right from wrong. Think about it, he just does whatever comes into his head." Sasuke glared at her over his shoulder, but she didn't seem to notice. Keinai rubbed the back of his hand with her thumb soothingly.

"If I did things like Naruto, forget it!" Sakura went on. "I mean, my parents would get mad and I'd get in trouble, so of course I don't do it. But if you don't have parents to tell you, how would you know?" Sasuke's glare intensified. "He's selfish and bratty. He's all alone."

"Alone," Sasuke repeated. "Isolated."

"Huh?" Sakura said stupidly.

"It's not about your parents scolding you," Sasuke muttered. "You have no idea what it's like to be alone." Keinai stared at him sadly.

"W-why are you saying that?" Sakura asked.

"Because you're annoying!" Sasuke told her, glaring at her. Sakura gasped.

With that, Sasuke lead Keinai away, searching for Naruto.

That was a bit harsh, Keinai tapped.

"She deserved it," Sasuke muttered, glaring at nothing. "She has no right to talk about Naruto like that. Yes, I think he's an idiot, and I enjoy teasing him, but I wouldn't get on him for being alone. We both know all too well what that's like."

Keinai placed her head on Sasuke's shoulder comfortingly.

Soon, Naruto dashed out of one of the public bathrooms, running in their direction. His eyes widened in shock as he slid to a halt in front of them.

"Sasuke?!" he said. "What are you doing here? How did you get loose?"

"Did you forget I live with my sister?" Sasuke asked, rolling his eyes. "Though I could've also used the escape jutsu."

Naruto sweat dropped.

"Why'd you do that, transform into me?" Sasuke asked, though he already knew the answer; he just wanted to see what Naruto would say.

"I thought it would be fun to try out my moves on you, so I did," Naruto said, jumping into the air. He performed the Kage Bunshin jutsu.

"Aw, the same jutsu again?" Sasuke asked, annoyed. Keinai clicked her tongue, sinking into a crouch the same time Sasuke did.

"This time you'll see what I can really do!" Naruto said.

"You're going down for the count!" one of his clones said.

"Then you'll have to admit that I'm the best!" another clone said.

"Get ready, Sasuke!" Naruto said. But just as Naruto and his clones were about to attack Sasuke, they all dropped to the ground, holding their stomachs. They all started yelling about it happening again and began fighting over the bathroom.

"Idiot," Sasuke muttered, shaking his head.

Dispel the jutsu, duh! Keinai tapped, rolling her eyes.

"We'll see you back in the classroom, Loser," Sasuke called as he and Keinai walked away. Keinai glared at him disapprovingly.

Soon everyone was back in the classroom, waiting for their jonin sensei. Not too long afterwards, sensei after sensei walked into the room.

"I'm Yuhi Kurenai, and I need Squad Eight," the woman jonin that just walked into the classroom said. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino stood, following her out of the classroom. After they left, a man smoking a cigarette walked into the room.

"I'm Sarutobi Asuma, and I need Squad Ten," he said.

"Great," Ino muttered as she, Shikamaru, and Choji stood. "Not only do I get Lazy and Food Boy, but my sensei smokes. Great, just great."

"Quit complaining would ya?" Shikamaru grumbled. "Troublesome." They followed Asuma out of the room. Keinai sighed.

I have a feeling we'll be waiting for a while, she tapped out.

An hour later, Naruto was starting to get impatient.

"He's late," Naruto grumbled, his head sticking out the door and looking back and forth.

"Naruto!" Sakura growled. "Just sit down!"

"I don't want to!" Naruto said defiantly. "How come our sensei is the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll, believe it! The other groups already met their new sensei and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka Sensei is gone too!"

"We know okay?" Sakura grumbled. Naruto grabbed a blackboard eraser and pulled a chair over to the door. "Hey! What are you doing?!"

Naruto stood on the chair and placed the blackboard eraser in between the door and the frame. Sakura walked over to him as Keinai rolled her eyes.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled.

"That's what he gets for being late," Naruto said, hopping off the chair and putting it back where it was. "Surprise!"

"You're asking for trouble," Sakura scolded. "You know you shouldn't do that."

"Hn, our sensei's a jonin, an elite ninja," Sasuke said. "You think he'd fall for that?"

"Yeah, Sasuke-kun's right," Sakura said. Keinai rolled her eyes again. "You're so clueless Naruto!"

Keinai perked up when a hand grabbed the door and slid it open. The blackboard fell onto the head of a man with white hair that defied gravity and a mask on the lower half of his face.

Naruto burst out laughing, pointing at the jonin. "I got him! He totally fell for it!"

"I'm sorry, Sensei," Sakura said, trying to butter up to their new sensei. "I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen! I would never do anything like that!"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and Keinai rolled hers for the third time. The jonin picked up the blackboard eraser and placed it on the desk.

"Hmm, how can I put this?" he asked, placing a hand on his chin. "My first impression of this group: you're a bunch of idiots."

Naruto and Sakura gained a depressed look while Sasuke's and Keinai's brow twitched.

"Let's all go to the roof," the jonin said. They obeyed. The jonin leaned against the railing while the four of them sat on the step before him.

"All right, why don't you introduce yourselves, one at a time," the jonin said.

"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked incredulously. "Well, what are we supposed to say?"

"Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies," the jonin said. "Things like that."

"Why don't you tell us stuff first?" Naruto said. "I mean, before we talk, tell us about you so we can see how it's supposed to work." Keinai rolled her eyes, again.

"Me?" the jonin asked, pointing at himself. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. 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."

"That was really useless, all he really told us was his name," Sakura grumbled. Naruto nodded in agreement. Keinai rolled her eyes, again.

You can't expect him to tell you his life story, she tapped onto Sasuke's hand. I mean, he's an elite; he's not stupid enough to spill his guts to us before he deems us trustworthy. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"Okay, your turn," Kakashi said. "You on the right; you first."

"Believe it, I'm Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto said, playing with his headband. "I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka Sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody; somebody important!"

"All right, next," Kakashi said.

"I'm Haruno Sakura," Sakura said. "What I like…uh...I meant the person I like is…" She blushed and glanced at Sasuke, who began to get irritated, though it didn't show on his face. "Uh, my hobby is…uh…" She glanced at Sasuke again and giggled. "My dream for the future is…" She glanced at Sasuke once more and squealed. Kakashi sweat dropped.

"And," he said. "What do you hate?"

"Naruto!" Sakura said. Sasuke, Keinai, and Kakashi sweat dropped.

"Next," Kakashi said.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke said. "I hate a lot of things, and I only really like one thing, or should I say person, and that's my sister. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and destroy a certain someone."

"Last one," Kakashi said.

"This is my sister, Uchiha Keinai," Sasuke said, translating the tapping she performed on the back of his hand. "She likes training and spending time with me. She hates speaking in public, as well as fangirls and fanboys. Her hobbies are singing, playing the piano, and learning new jutsu. Her dream is to restore our clan, and make it better than before."

"Good," Kakashi said. "You're each unique and have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

"What kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"It's a task the four of us will do together," Kakashi said.

"What, what, what, what?" Naruto asked.

"A survival exercise," Kakashi said.

Keinai narrowed her eyes slightly, speculating and observing.

"Huh? A survival exercise?" Naruto said skeptically.

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more training," Sakura said angrily. "We already did this stuff at the academy, that's how we got here."

"This is not like your previous training," Kakashi informed them. Keinai watched him observantly.

"So uh, so uh, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked, confused. Kakashi started chuckling. Keinai narrowed her eyes.

"Hey, hold on, that's a normal question," Sakura said. "What's so funny?"

"Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it," Kakashi warned them.

"Huh?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Of the twenty-eight graduates who just came here, only ten will be accepted as genin," Kakashi told them. "The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass fail test. The chance that you'll fail is at least sixty-six percent."

Naruto and Sakura gawped at him while Sasuke and Keinai glared at him.

"See? I told you that you wouldn't like it," Kakashi said.

"That's crazy!" Naruto yelled angrily. "We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?!"

"Oh, that," Kakashi said. "That was to select candidates that might become genin; or not."

"What?!" Naruto yelled.

"That's how it is," Kakashi said. "I decide if you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five a.m. And bring your ninja gear. That's it, you're dismissed. Oh, tomorrow you'd better skip breakfast; you'll puke."

Naruto and Sakura stared at Kakashi, wide-eyed, while Sasuke glared at him.

"Ja ne," Kakashi said, disappearing in a puff of smoke. Keinai stared at the spot he'd disappeared from with narrowed eyes, before smirking. Tomorrow was going to be fun.


Well? Was it good? Did I copy too much from the show? Reviews please!