A/N: This is going to be a long chapter…

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (or Fairy Tail, except Fairy Tail isn't in this chapter)!

Chapter 2: Best Partner

"Wake up, you lazy pineapple-headed idiot! It's past noon and Tsunade-sama is about to pick the contestants for the S-Class Mage Trial!"

Pineapple… noon… Tsunade… S-Class Mage Trial?

Shikamaru blinked and saw that Choji and Ino had invaded his home again. Choji he didn't mind since they had been friends since they were little kids, but Ino was really troublesome and annoying. The only reason he even talked to her was because they were on the same team.

The shadow mage sighed and crawled out of bed, then shooed the invaders out of his home and walked to the bathroom to take a shower.

/

Sasuke Uchiha joined the chatting crowd inside Konaha Leaf just as guild master Tsunade climbed onto the stage. He caught a glance of his teammates, Naruto (who was just being plain annoying) and Sakura (who looked really nervous) as he sat down at an empty table and turned to the stage

"Quiet!" called Tsunade, taking the microphone.

"As you all know, it has long been the custom for Konoha Leaf to have its S-Class Mage Trial every year with Fairy Tail. And now, we will announce the contestants!"

"The venue for the trial will be Tenrou Island, where our Hokage is buried."

"As always there will be 4 participants, and this year they will be:"

"Uchiha Sasuke"

"Nara Shikamaru"

"Haruno Sakura"

"and Hyuga Neji! Each of you will pick a partner to go with you. In ten days' time, we will meet with the contestants from Fairy Tail and sail to Tenrou Island. Good luck!"

"Hey! Why not me?" came a loud voice from the back of the room.

"Quiet down, Naruto! It's not time for you yet!" Naruto's mentor and team leader, Kakashi, grabbed his arm to pull him back. "Maybe next year."

"It's not fair! Sasuke and Sakura were both chosen!" came the protest. But it was lost in the noise of the crowd as people congratulated the participants and asked to be their partners.

Tsunade walked off the stage, and immediately went to order a drink from the bar.

/

"Sakura! Let me be your partner!" yelled Naruto. "I can't believe I wasn't chosen, but I can help you become S-Class!"

"No! Sakura, I'll help you become an S-Class Mage! I will protect you until you die!" said Rock Lee, bounding over.

"Hell no! Ewww! I wouldn't be caught dead partnering up with one of you!" shrieked Sakura, running away from the two boys.

"I don't want to partner up with you, but Sasuke and Pineapple both rejected me so I thought I'd ask."

Sakura whirled around and found herself face-to-face with Ino. What was she doing here, asking to be partners? It was true that they had been friends a long time ago, but it was clear that the two were now rivals that really wanted to kill each other and get Sasuke.

Should I, or should I not? Ino isn't that strong, but she isn't weak either, and…

"I'll take that as a no. Bye, billboard brow," said Ino coldly. She turned on her heel and was about to stomp off when Sakura grabbed her ponytail and screamed "WAIT!"

"What do you want?" demanded the annoyed mind-body switch mage.

"Can you be my partner for the S-Class Mage Trial?" asked Sakura.

"I thought you just made it clear that you didn't want me!"

"Did not! I was thinking!"

"About what?"

"If you don't want to be my partner, then fine! I'll probably get stuck with somebody like Naruto!"

"Uh… I'll be your partner," decided Ino. "I'll try to help you, but if you fail, it's not my fault. Billboard Brow."

"OK," said Sakura. Then, she did something that surprised both of them: she stuck out her hand for a shake. After a moment's pause, Ino took it and they had a brief handshake, to promise that they would not try to kill each other on Tenrou Island.

/

Sasuke sat at his table, absentmindedly swatting away the idiots that came and asked to be his partner. None of them were strong enough, and he needed to become an S-Class Mage badly, to prove his strength and eventually defeat his brother.

His brother, Itachi Uchiha. The person he hated with a passion. It was Sasuke's life goal to kill Itachi, and he would not rest until that thirst for revenge was quenched. Years ago, Itachi had killed his entire family except for Sasuke, and then left to join a dark guild. After searching for weeks with no result, the young copy mage had stumbled upon the guild Konoha Leaf and joined.

I will become S-Class. I will become stronger. I will kill you, Itachi.

"Sasuke? Have you picked a partner yet?" asked Kakashi, suddenly appearing behind him. "Sakura's already chosen Ino, and you need someone too.

"None of the people who asked me are strong enough," replied Sasuke, "I need a good partner to become S-Class."

"What about Naruto?" Kakashi suggested.

"That idiot? Please! He'll just get in my way!"

"Teamwork is essential to become an S-Class mage, Sasuke. Yes, Naruto is quite idiotic, but he also has a lot of potential. You two are on the same team anyways, and your combined power would be quite a match for anyone. Consider it, you need to have a partner within 10 days." With that, Kakashi disappeared again, leaving Sasuke alone.

By this time, more than half of the mages in Konoha Leaf had left already. Sasuke supposed that the others had already picked their partners or just didn't care, and he got up to leave too.

He opened the door and started down the road to his apartment, thinking about the S-Class Mage Trial, insulting Itachi, and wondering who he should ask to be his partner. Who would actually be able to help me? Shino's pretty strong, but we barely know each other and he is sort of creepy. Kakashi mentioned Naruto, but it's common knowledge in the guild that he's an idiot who does nothing except for pull silly pranks on people. Rock Lee has no talent, Neji is a participant himself, Hinata's weak, Kiba is just like Naruto, and the list goes on… There's nobody who could really help me. Maybe I'll ask Shino if there's nobody else. I will get you back, Itachi…

Arriving home, Sasuke opened the door and sat down on a wooden chair by the window. He looked out at the evening sky and was thinking about asking Kakashi to train him tomorrow when –

BANG! BANG! BANG!

What kind of idiot knocked like that? It sounded like his door was going to break and fall off his hinges if he didn't do anything soon, so Sasuke got up and went to the door. It was unusual that anyone was here, he never got visitors. Sighing, he undid the locks and opened the door, to find that the annoying person who kicked and punched his door was none other than Naruto Uzumaki.

"What do you want? If you've come to fight me then I'll get it over with quickly." The copy mage quickly punched Naruto in the stomach before he could defend himself, sending him flying into the wall. A neighbor poked their head outside their door to see what was causing all the noise, but one look from Sasuke had them scurrying back into their apartment.

"God, Sasuke! I wasn't going to fight you here!" protested Naruto from the floor as he recovered from the hit.

"Well, that's a first. Didn't you just say this morning that you wanted to fight me today? Now get out, NOW!" Sasuke slammed the door and redid all the locks, then headed into the bedroom in case Naruto tried to knock down the door again.

After a while, it seemed that Naruto had given up and gone, so Sasuke got up from his bed and headed back to his windowside chair. However, he couldn't shake the feeling that Naruto was going to come back sooner or later, because he was not the type of person to give up.

This thought had just crossed his mind when the banging at his door started again.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Stop it, Naruto."

Was that Kakashi's voice?

Groaning, Sasuke went to his door again and started to open it. Suddenly, the door flew into his face and he was lying on the floor in his apartment, with Naruto grinning down at him.

"What do you want?" the very annoyed copy mage asked.

"Oh, I was going to ask to be your partner for the S-Class Mage Trial," said Naruto, who was still grinning widely. "Kakashi's just outside, by the way.

"I'm not going to let an idiot like you be my partner!" exclaimed Sasuke. "You're weak, stupid and useless!"

"What did I tell you this afternoon?" asked Kakashi, opening the door again and coming in.

"You told me to have a partner within 10 days. I'm going to ask Shino tomorrow!"

"Shino? Is that bugs dude?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, he's the insect mage," said Sasuke irritably. "And I'm sure he'd be a way better partner than you. In fact, just about anyone would be better than you!"

"Well, Kakashi said… HEY KAKASHI! TELL HIM THAT I SHOULD TOTALLY BE HIS PARTNER!" yelled Naruto.

As Sasuke got up from the floor, Kakashi stood between him and Naruto to prevent a fight.

"I really do think you guys would be good partners, however it's your choice Sasuke," he said, and then disappeared into the hallway. "Come on, Naruto. You should get going now.

/

The next morning, Sasuke walked down the street towards Konoha Leaf. Shikamaru and Choji were sitting outside the guild, eating and talking. Choji had apparently agreed to be Shikamaru's partner for the S-Class Mage Trial, which Sasuke thought was a stupid choice. Why choose someone who would spend the entire time eating?

I have to get a partner today, thought Sasuke as he entered the guild to find that Naruto was already there, fooling around with Kiba. He had just sat down at a table when something small and furry collided with the side of his head.

"Kiba, can you control that annoying dog?" asked the copy mage.

"It's not Akamaru's fault, he's only a puppy!" protested Kiba. "By the way, Naruto has something to -"

"HEY SASUKE!" yelled Naruto, bounding over. "DECIDED TO BE MY PARTNER YET?"

"Your partner? I'm the one who's going to Tenrou Island, and you're definitely not coming with me!"

"I WANT TO FIGHT YOU!"

"That can wait until I become an S-Class Mage."

"WHICH YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO WITHOUT ME 'CAUSE I'M AWESOME!"

"Shut up, dumbass."

"WE ARE GOING TO BE PARTNERS! KAKASHI SAID SO!"

"It was just a suggestion. I'm going to ask Shino to be my partner."

"There's no need to, I'm not going," said a voice behind them, making everyone jump.

"What?" asked Sasuke, "how did you get here?"

"I walked," said Shino. "Anyways, I've already decided I don't want to go to Tenrou Island."

"Oh," said Sasuke, while Naruto yelled "WHY?"

"My entire team is staying here to help Tsunade," explained Shino. "Almost all of the other teams will have at least one member missing, and Kurenai decided that it would be good to stay. Sorry."

"I guess I have no choice then," grumbled Sasuke.

"Yeah! I'm going to be your partner!" yelled Naruto, jumping up and dancing around.

"How do you know I'm not going to ask Lee?" asked Sasuke. Of course, he had not planned on asking Lee to be his partner at all, but that was going to annoy Naruto…

"Because…. Because… because Lee can only use physical attacks and I'm actually a proper mage!" said Naruto, shocked. "um… are you going to ask Lee?"

Sasuke grinned smugly before saying "I'm going to discuss this with Kakashi."

/

Naruto couldn't stand the wait. He really wanted to go to Tenrou Island for some reason, and he had been so sure that Sasuke was going to partner up with him that morning. Instead, Sasuke had put it off saying he was 'going to discuss this with Kakashi'. Discuss with Kakashi? Kakashi hadn't even come to the guild at all today! No, Naruto decided that Sasuke just didn't want to acknowledge his awesomeness and was really dying to work with him for the S-Class Mage Trial. That had to be it.

As if on cue, Sasuke walked to Naruto's table followed by Kakashi who had somehow magically appeared like a ninja (A/N: well, they're all ninjas but in this story they're mages) and said in a flat emo like voice, "We're training for Tenrou Island. Come on, otherwise you're not going."

"Wh-what?" exclaimed Naruto. "You mean I am going?" He gaped at Sasuke and Kakashi, not quite believing his ears despite his previous imaginings.

"Didn't you hear me, dumb ass? You're only going if you come and train RIGHT NOW!" yelled Sasuke, getting annoyed already at the 'dumb blonde' sitting in front of him.

"OK! LET'S GO!" shouted Naruto, bolting up and running out the door like a maniac. "WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR?"

He doesn't even know which training place we're going to, thought Kakashi, shaking his head at the over excitable mage as he and Sasuke went to catch up.

YES! Finally done! I really think this deserves some reviews, don't you?

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