Chapter 1- Team 7

Mijitsu no Hato surveyed the class from her spot in the back corner of the room, next to Shino. Everyone came in sporting a new, shining headband with the prestigious leaf symbol etched into the metal, portrayed proudly in various locations. Today the newly promoted genin were being assigned squads, so Hato was studying them harder than ever before, judging weaknesses and strengths as well as personality and usefulness.

Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi sat a few rows ahead of her, the latter munching on his third bag of potato chaps while he chattered happily with his friend, who hummed answers as he tried to nap. Shikamaru, she knew, was excessively lazy, but with the IQ of a genius, despite his second to last placement on the grade list. The evidence of his intelligence was a barely visible gleam in his dark eyes and the way he would just look at something that baffled him for a second, than he would seem to understand and go back to sleep. She was almost positive the only reason he was failing was because the work bored him and he already knew all the material. Plus, it would be too much effort to lift a pen and write answers. Too troublesome.

Choji was pretty much average, excluding his abyss of an appetite. Her sharp eyes picked up on the muscle that was slightly visible through his heavyset stature and she knew he would grow into his size, as all Akimichi's did, and he would become a force to reckon with. He wasn't particularly smart, but his kindness set him apart from the rest of the population and his mercy would have to be tapered a bit for him to make it as a shinobi.

Hato wouldn't mind either of them on her team, they were both potentially powerful ninjas and she could stand them more than she could others.

Hinata Hyuuga sat on the front row. She was very shy and had a major crush on a certain blonde Uzumaki who had failed the test. Hato could see the budding power in the upcoming kunoichi, but her clan was holding her back, as well as her own bashful nature. Hato could tell that if Hinata could outgrow her stuttering tendency and learn to ignore the expectations of her father, as well as their insults, she would truly become a powerful ninja. However, she knew Hinata would not be on her future team. Her being a Hyuuga, and the heir no less, made that an impossibility, so she flicked her gaze to the seat next to the girl.

Kiba Inuzuka, with his partner, Akamaru. They had average grades, but outstanding teamwork. Kiba was outgoing and rash, but he was also passionate and loyal to a fault, that trait instilled in him since birth. His clan had a policy of never betraying the pack, that he had inherited. His canine's were sharper than normal, a trademark quality of an Inuzuka, just like the red markings on his tan face and the wolfish smile he displayed. She wouldn't mind being teamed with him, but he would be hard to manage.

Next there was Sasuke Uchiha. He was undoubtedly stronger than any other genin so far, but his superiority complex and isolated personality made her hope she wasn't paired with him. He was handsome, anyone could see that, but looks and skill weren't all there was to someone. They had to be tolerable at the very least, preferably likeable. Sasuke was neither and she fervently prayed that he was not on her team.

She glanced at the boy sitting beside her. Shino Aburame was logical and mysterious, but she knew that his kekkei genkai would be one to watch out for when he learned to control it. He was quiet, and had common sense that many of the graduates lacked. She would actually prefer him to anyone else. Not to mention that he was kind of friendly.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were currently fighting to get through the door and to their precious Sasuke-kun, pulling hair and clawing at each other violently in the name of love. Or, that's what they called it. Everyone else called it obsessive fangirlism. Hato couldn't stand either of them. They were both focused more on their appearances than anything else, as there well-groomed hair, pink and platinum, respectively, and their manicured nails proved. As did their never-ending diets and their clothes. They were a major no. A true, I might as well kill myself now if I get them on my team because I won't last much longer anyway.

She shuddered slightly, fingering her own electric blue hair. It was shoulder-length and choppy from a haircut by kunai a few weeks ago. Hato didn't much care about her looks, but she did know that they weren't anything to gawk at. She told herself that if she lived to chuunin, she could start caring about how pretty she was. Until then, she would focus on surviving.

An orange flash in her peripheral attracted her attention and she blinked, confused, when Naruto Uzumaki wandered into her view. He was the dead-last, and the prankster of the class. Never turning in homework unless it could double as a paint bomb, or was dusted with itching powder or something. She had a few theories about his situation, which she had noticed was less than good, but nothing popped up as to why he was here when he had failed the test yesterday. Frowning, she tilted her head forward so her bangs fell past her ears, hiding the veins that bulged when she activated her Byakugan.

The chakra signature was the same, with the unusual red flare that was buried in the regular blue, the amount itself escalating to levels on par with a jonin. His signature was special, no one could copy it, but how had he passed? Her gaze was drawn to the headband tied around his forehead and she narrowed her eyes behind the sunglasses. A hint of blood dyed the navy blue cloth and the lingering presence of Iruka Umino's chakra was visible to her kekkei genkai. So it was his headband? She knew her sensei had a soft spot for the village pariah, but to give him his headband? What had happened?

"Hato." Shino's deep, quiet voice snapped her out of her curiosity.

"Hmm?"

The Aburame heir indicated one of his kikaichu, which was perched on her finger. She blinked. In her concentration, she had failed to notice the tiny bug crawling on her.

"He senses a slight release of chakra coming from you. Is there a reason for that?"

Chuckling uncertainly, she deactivated her Byakugan. "Just a chakra sensing trick I picked up. I was making sure that Naruto wasn't an impostor."

"Ah, very well."

Hato grinned and turned to face the front again when she choked out an unintentional laugh. Naruto, the cheerful blonde, and Sasuke, the emo Uchiha were kissing and the fangirls didn't look like they appreciated it either. Before Naruto could get beaten to a pulp by overzealous genin, Iruka entered the room and ordered everyone to their seats.

She half-focused on his speech about how proud he was of us and how being a ninja wasn't easy, while she thought about her newest technique. She hadn't been trained in the Hyuuga techniques, but she had seen them often enough to recreate them and she had begun working on ways to make them more effective. She was currently trying to puzzle out a variation of the Eight Trigrams: Palms Rotating Heaven technique. A few years earlier she had realized that, while the jutsu's were powerful in their own right, they were way more potent when combined with an elemental affinity.

So that is what Hato worked on. She had no way of knowing that element manipulation was too advanced for a genin, nor that some of the Hyuuga techniques she knew were reserved for the Main Branch family only.

She tuned back in when she heard Iruka call her name.

"Team 7 is Mijitsu no Hato, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha." She frowned, while Naruto groaned loudly, and the Uchiha did not outwardly react. Retreating back into her mind, she thought about this. Naruto was tolerable, albeit annoying, but he was passionate about being a ninja and highly motivated. He had hidden potential, she knew. The Uchiha however, was one big pain in the butt. He would not be worth the trouble he would cause. He was too independent and self-righteous to truly accept them as teammates and his power-hungry temperament would drive a wedge between the whole squad. Rubbing her temple wearily she flashed a brief smile at Shino when he was assigned to Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga. Lucky…

Sorry for the short chapter. Wanted to post something soon, though. Hope you liked it.