Ain't Never Had A Friend Like Me

Chapter Two

Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows! I'll do my best to get back to everyone who leaves a review!

I may have forgotten that list at the end of last chapter, here it is: Genies and Genin by CuteKitty264. Can Your Friends Do This? by Watermelonsmellinfellon. As You Command by Oh My Cabbage. All worth the read, honestly.

Hermione's Apartment

A week Post-Willow

"Hermione, come on… It's not going to work," a red-haired man spoke softly to the brunette witch hunched over a desk with book sprawled ruggedly around her person. It wasn't only that that had the young man worried, it was the fact that the normally impeccable apartment was covered from head to toe in books.

Hermione had always been known for overzealous studies, but this was something else. "No," the young witch replied stubbornly, looking up to glare at the red-head. "Willow's alive. I know she is! I'm not stopping till I find her!"

"Hermione," Ronald Weasley said as gently as he could, trying to hide his pain at having to utter his next words. "The Minister said that Will was dead. She died doing what she always does – trying to help people. She died a hero."

"No," Hermione snapped again, ignoring his speech, flicking open the book hidden underneath a stack of other, already read books. "She alive. I just know she is! I need to find something that can help me track her down!"

"Why are you so sure?" Ron asked finally.

Hermione looked up from the book firmly placed in front of her – her red-rimmed eyes staring deep into the young adults very soul. "She wouldn't give up if it was one of us – and she never said goodbye. Willow always says goodbye."

Ron sighed. The brunette was right. Willow wouldn't have given up even if something as silly as logic was getting in their way. "Well, you're not getting anywhere with all these books," he said bluntly, ignoring her sharp glare. "If something fishy did happen, then the Minister's covering it up."

Hermione scrunched her eyebrows together. "What do you mean Ronald?"

Ron grinned. "We need someone who is on the inside with the Ministry and can dig up anything. Someone who owes Will a favour."

Hermione's eyes widened drastically. "You can't mean-!"

"Yes, come on! He can get into the Ministry faster than any of us could, it's in the weasel's blood!"

"I wish you wouldn't call him that," Hermione shook her head, momentarily allowing herself to close her eyes. Gods was she tired. "I like weasels."

Ron laughed lightly. "Let's see if we call find ourselves a Willow Faye Potter!"

Naruto's Apartment

Day Of Team Placements

Willow POV

"Do I have to do this Genie-nee-chan?" Naruto muttered, pouting, turning his massive blue eyes to her direction – pleading with her. Willow had to admit the fact that his lower lip was pouted out added to the overall effect, she still wasn't fazed.

"Yes, I don't know how you managed to live like this," she said slowly, her eyes straying to the… was that moldy cheese underneath his bed?! Willow cringed and silently banished the abdomen of life before she could fully react to it being there.

"It's not that bad, nee-chan," Naruto huffed before going back to scrubbing the wall by his window – that was covered in a substance that Willow still felt was of a questionable nature.

Willow simply raised an eyebrow at the kid, before grabbing what she assumed was a pillow case from his bed. "What colour was this when you first got this?"

Naruto looked at her again, eager to get away from scrubbing his walls clean. "Orange I think. It was a present from the Old Man Hokage!"

Willow nodded her head slowly, making a mental note that he seemed very close with the leader of Konoha – and the ninjas. "It's brown," she said slowly.

Naruto wrinkled his nose. "It's old that's all!" he protested.

"We'll see after it gets washed," Willow hummed, throwing it into the 'desperately needs a wash' pile.

"Bah, nee-chan you're so weird!" Naruto complained, moving back towards cleaning his wall. She could have gotten him to do something else, but it was easier to use her magic to fix things when the boy wasn't looking – and she had to admit. The walls were looking much, much nicer after he cleaned them.

Seriously, who let the boy live like this?!

"You'll thank me one day," Willow muttered under her breath and Naruto didn't appear to have noticed her. "Plus. Mess annoys everyone, remember that! Anyway," she said a little bit louder. "Don't you have team placements in about ten minutes?"

"Whaaaaaaat? Oh no! Why didn't you warn me nee-chan?!" Naruto screamed his voice going dangerously high-pitched. Willow resisted the urge to chuckle.

Naruto quickly dropped his cloth, and raced towards the headband he had resting on his dresser before tying it around his forehead. "Bye nee-chan!" He called only to be stopped by said girl with a quiet, 'wait!'

"Take that," The Potter gestured towards his small (thankfully clean) table where a small box, the resembled a westernized lunchbox sat. "It's a… traditional lunch where I'm from."

"You…."

"Hmm?" Willow peered down at the star stuck boy who was looking at the little box like it was the strangest thing he'd ever seen in all of his years. "I made you lunch. You seemed a bit busy," she added with amusement because she was the one keeping him busy. "I didn't really know what you liked – but it was one of my favorites so… If you don't want it, I could drop by something else later…"

"No!" Naruto said quickly, snatching up the lunchbox like his life depended on it. Willow blinked slowly. "Thank you Genie-chan!" Naruto called, an odd emotion running through his face before he quickly ran from the room.

What an odd reaction to a ham and cheese sandwich. With a shrug, Willow walked towards the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk, and one of Naruto's hastily cleaned glasses. She looked down at the expiry date and smirked lightly remembering the night before when she cast a preserving spell on it.

No need to waste good milk! Without a moments hesitation she placed the milk down on the table, and grabbed her wand out of her sleeve and cast a quick charm to get the rest of the house cleaned up in moments. She wanted to teach the kid responsibility of cleaning the house himself – after she was gone. But that didn't mean that she had to go and clean it all herself as well.

She was preparing Naruto, she'd already been prepared. With a contented yawn she seated herself on the little chair she liked to transfigure into a bed come night time. Willow then finally allowed herself to relax and begin thinking through the situation that she found herself in.

How many years had passed while she was in that lamp? She hardly looked a day older, but Wizards were known to age at half the speed of a normal person. It was the longevity. She still barely looked a day over nineteen, but she'd been twenty-one when she was trapped…

What had happened to England? How had the creature's rights movement held up? How was Hermione? What was Ron doing? Did Andromeda take in Teddy now that his Godmother had disappeared off the face of the earth as well? There was just so much that she needed to know. Would using apparition to get back to England work?

She doubted it would, after all it wasn't meant for inter-state travel. She ruled it down for a last ditch effort approach. If she knew how to create a portkey it would become easier. She didn't have any flu-powder. There also wasn't much of a hint towards a magical community in Konoha. Only unnaturally powered Ninjas. Who could apparently do magical things just by making silly hand signs?

Willow sighed in aggravation, pulling the ends of her short red hair. Why couldn't she think of anything? If she could just get a message to Hermione, then maybe she would have a chance. Of course, she still had to wait for Naruto to use up his wishes.

He was such a sweet heart too. Deep down she knew he deserved anything she could give the little hellion. Willow hadn't noticed the time flickering by until she heard the door of the apartment creek open, and with a start, she heard two deep masculine voice muttering to the other as they opened the door.

Willow had a split second of panic, realising that she'd put her wand down across the room, it had rolled underneath the boys microwave, and someone was entering the apartment of a young boy – who should not be housing a twenty something year old witch. The door being pushed open was happening in such slow motion, almost like her mind at that moment.

What did she do!?

The door creaked open slowly, and Willow made a split second transformation into something she hadn't really fully mastered yet. Her animagus from. Please work! She hoped she'd managed to get the whole form correct. Normally she still had human characteristics. Oh dear Merlin! "Anyway, Kakashi-kun, this is Naruto's apartment."

An old grandfatherly type man entered the room, shortly followed by another man, just as tall – but with spiky silver hair.

"It's cleaner than I'd expect," this Kakashi commented, rubbing a gloved hand on the table that Willow in her transformation sat on. "Oh," he said, his only visible eye focusing on Willow. "Hello Kitty-chan!" His hand reached out and patted the fur on her head softly.

"Naruto got a pet cat?" The Old Man said with amusement. "Last time I saw him he thought that Ramen made a good breakfast."

Kakashi grunted, his second hand coming up to inspect the milk that she'd carelessly left on the table. With nothing else to do, she just hoped they pegged it up to Naruto being a pre-teen accidentally leaving the milk out. "He inherited that trait then, did he?" His hand moved to shake the box, before slowly lifted it up to his nose that was covered in a mask and sniffing the milk.

What an odd person. "He grows into a more unpredictable young man with each day. I did mention his test results being odd…"

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi interpreted, not seeming to be paying much attention to the Old Man's grievances. Willow settled herself on the table, her glowing eyes focused on the milk in Kakashi's hand. "Can you tell me if this milk is expired?"

"What?" The Hokage said. The Potter was just starting to realise who this person in Naruto's apartment was. Why was the leader of the country in Naruto's apartment, and who the hell was this Kakashi?

Why was she letting herself be dragged into Naruto's drama...? "It expired a week ago, but it smells fresher than most milk you buy from the stall."

"I don't think that's a concern, Kakashi-kun," The Hokage rolled his eyes. Willow's heart stopped – he noticed the spell she put on the milk! What would they do to her if they found out!? There was a reason that Muggle's didn't know about them! Distract them!

She started meowing, as violently as she could – she started to paw at the silver-haired man's hand. Digging her claws into his hand. "Ow!" He tried to retract his hand but she took a bite out of his hand.

God, what was she? Some sort of animal? Well… she kind of was, but that's not the point, was it? "Devil Kitty-chan. I think I'll call you Demon-chan now," he told her seriously, almost like he expected her to understand him.

"Kakashi…."

Kakashi straightened up, not moving his hand to go near her again and not placing the milk down. "Sorry Sir. It's a normal apartment, albeit a bit clean for a twelve year old."

The Hokage sighed. "I was hoping to gain some form of insight to Naruto's amazing marks from the graduation exam by inspecting his house."

Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, placing the milk back down in the exact spot he took it from. Not even an inch different. "Maybe he was playing dumb, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage looked at him seriously. "It's your job to figure that part out."

With a jolt Willow realised that for the first time, she'd managed a full transformation!

The Academy

Team Placements

Naruto POV

Naruto ran through the doors of the Academy with mere seconds to spare. He was so close to being late for the first day of the rest of his life and it was all because Genie-nee-chan was weird! Naruto wrinkled his nose thinking about all the cleaning, the hours, and hours' worth of cleaning that the woman made him do. Wasn't she his Genie? Didn't that mean she wasn't meant to make him clean!?

With a sigh, Naruto tugged up to the only empty seat next to the odd girl that always stared at him and a blonde girl that he thought tried to kill Sasuke last year. She was the only girl in the class who wasn't in love with Sasuke – and that made her cool. But she was really scary. Her eyes were lined black, and she would just glare at anyone who got too close to her.

Naruto slumped in his chair. How he wished he could've been seated next to Sakura! She was so pretty! And nice… well, sometimes she was nice to him. She was still the cutest girl in the class! With her pretty pink hair and pretty green eyes! Genii-Nee-Chan had green eyes too, Naruto remembered absent-minded, but hers were a much darker, more vivid shade of green.

The Uzumaki wasn't very sure whose eyes were prettier. He wanted to say Sakura because she was just so cool. But, he couldn't say that with 100% honesty. Being too distracted by the thought of Genei-chan's eyes he didn't notice Iruka-sensei being in the room until he started yelling at the class.

Naruto wished he could be that loud. He could do some killer pranks and maybe he'd be able to talk to Genii-nee-chan from the other side of his apartment! Yes! That was it! He'd talk to Iruka-sensei after class!

"You are all now Ninja of the Hidden Leaf. Your about to be placed into three man teams, and placed under a Jonin instructor. You will need to…." Iruka-sensei started to lecture and Naruto sort of dozed off, staring off into thin air. What did Genii-Nee-Chan pack him for lunch!? Naruto hoped it was Ramen, but he didn't think the woman would have done that. Hadn't she said it was from where she was from?

Where was Genie-nee-chan from!? She wasn't from Konoha, was she from a special Genie land, where all the Genie lived? "Team Seven will be, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke and…. Hyūga Hinata, under Hatake Kakashi. Team Eight will be Haruno Sakura, Aburame Shino and…"

No! He wasn't on the same team as Sakura!? He was with the Uchiha!? Why him! What did he do to deserve this! Why! Why! Naruto slammed his head into his desk, ignoring everyone else around him. Who even was Hinata anyway!?

Why? Why? Why!?

"Alright, you have a half an hour lunch break before you need to meet your Sensei's here," Iruka went on to mention, before dismissing them. Naruto watched as kids seemed to pair off into the teams they were going to be in before going off to have lunch together.

Naruto's heart almost jumped. Was he… was he going to have a real friend? Other than Genii-Nee-Chan of course. But Genii-Nee-Chan didn't count. Not really. Naruto looked over at Sasuke who looked like he'd just swallowed a lemon.

Hehehehe, he should make Sasuke eat a lemon! Naruto started to cackle madly in his head. Almost reluctantly, Sasuke started to make his way over to Naruto. Did he have to be Sasuke's friend! Sasuke thought he was so cool, but he really wasn't.

"Hello Sasuke-san," a quiet voice from next to Naruto muttered, and Naruto turned to face her. What was her name again? Her cheeks tinted pink at the sudden movement. "I hope we can all be a great team, with Naruto-kun of course."

Sasuke nodded his head curtly, and took the recently vacated seat from the scary girl. No one said anything, and Naruto was starting to feel uncomfortable until Sasuke grabbed a Bento from inside his bag and started to eat. Hinata and Naruto both started to follow his lead…

It was so boring. They didn't say anything to each other and every time Naruto tried to say something, Sasuke would glare at him like he was an idiot! Naruto was relieved to finally have the rest of the class come back in, just so he could hear some noise!

Naruto slumped in his chair in relief! Noise! Now all he had to do was wait for his new Sensei to turn up! Hopefully he wouldn't be as bad as having Sasuke as a Team Mate! With the first half an hour of waiting, almost all the other teams had gone – by almost all the others, he meant everyone but them.

Maybe their Sensei forgot? Naruto almost did that this morning too.

After an hour had passed, Naruto figured their Sensei was kicking butt and saving a Princess.

After the second hour had passed, Naruto figured that their Sensei had a super-secret, important meeting with the Hokage because he was super powerful. Sasuke had started reading a boring, big book and paid both of his team-mates no mind, Hinata sat there doing nothing – and Iruka-sensei was grading work…

After the third hour, Iruka-Sensei said he couldn't wait with them any longer because he needed to be somewhere, and Naruto decided that their new teacher as an arsehole. He deserved to be treated to hell for making him sit still and be quiet for a whole three hours! Naruto quickly hatched a plan.

He grabbed Iruka-Sensei's chalk eraser and tripped his super-secret-strong holding glue onto the top and hoped it wouldn't dry by the time he got there and wedged it into the opening of the door so that it would fall onto his new Sensei's head. But he wasn't done there! He went through one of Iruka-Sensei's cupboards and stole loads of paper – which he started to tear apart.

"….What are you doing, you idiot?"

"Genie-nee says that mess annoys everyone… If he has the mess glued to him! Muhahahaha, he'll never be late again!" Naruto said manically, letting out a demented chuckle. Sasuke looked at him slowly, almost like he was going to be cautious with him from now on.

"Do you have a sister, Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked softly, and Naruto set the paper up so it'd hit him as soon as he walked in. He also started to coat the papers in his super-secret-strong glue. This guy didn't know what was about to hit him!

"Not really. She just makes me clean stuff and she sometimes makes me food," Naruto responded, not really paying attention to the progression.

"She sounds nice," she replied, even softer than the first time. Naruto looked over at her, to see that Hinata was bright pink.

Naruto smiled at her brightly. "Thanks Hinata-chan, she really is! Even if she makes me clean."

The girl went further into her redness and ducked her head, so he couldn't really see her face anymore. Man, she was really weird. More so than Genie-nee-chan! Naruto placed the finishing touches on his epic prank of epicness, and sat down quickly waiting for their Sensei to turn up.

"That's not going to work on a Jonin, idiot," Sasuke said coldly, his eyes on the dripping eraser hanging from the door. Naruto was bouncing, hehehe! That was only the distraction! It was the super-secret glue he should worry about!

Suddenly, the door opened and a one-eyed, silver haired man poked his head through the door. Everything else happened so quickly that Naruto could barely even savour it. The eraser dropped and quickly attached itself onto his hair. Thus setting the chain reaction of all Iruka's papers being shot at him.

Their new Sensei didn't even try to dodge! He just let them hit him, one after one! Naruto started to cackle madly when he saw the tall man try and brush of the paper and fail. Naruto was laughing so hard, that small tears were coming to his eyes.

If he heard properly, he swore he could see Hinata lightly laugh at the scene. Naruto could see this team working! At least one member had a sense of humour! Sasuke was just glaring at everyone judgementally.

"My first impression… is that I hate you all," the man said shortly, sounding so bored that it almost put the blonde boy to sleep! "Meet me on the roof, three minutes ago."

The man disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Sasuke's eye twitched violently, and glared at Naruto. "You just had to put him in a bad mood," Sasuke barked before storming out of the classroom and towards the stairs.

"I thought you were very creative Naruto-kun," Hinata mumbled before following Sasuke out of the room. Naruto froze, he wasn't used to getting… complimented on his pranking. He was really shaping up to like Hinata as a team mate! With a wide grin, Naruto ran out of the room and chased his team mates up the stairs and onto the roof where all his other member of his squad sitting there waiting. For him.

Naruto's grin widened when he saw the eraser clinging to the starts of his new Sensei's hair. "All of you. It's time to introduce yourselves to each other. Right? Go."

"Can you please give us an example, Hatake-sensei?" Hinata asked, her soft sweet voice carrying out in the soundless air.

"Maa maa, it's Kakashi-sensei. Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have a few likes, I might dislike something. My dreams for the future are none of your business, and I… have one particular hobby." Kakashi-sensei seemed to pat his pocket after saying that.

….. "We learnt nothing form that at all!" Naruto almost yelled, pointing dramatically at the grandpa-haired man.

"Well then, how is it meant to go then?" Kakashi-sensei asked, raising his only visible eyebrow. He couldn't believe his sensei only had one eye!

Naruto pumped his fist in the air. "Right! My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup Ramen! I hate the thirty seconds it takes to cook cup Ramen! I like pulling pranks and getting people to buy me Ramen!... And avoiding cleaning. I hate cleaning! And one day I'm going to be the Hokage! Believe it!"

"…Riiight," the older man said slowly and turned to Hinata. "You next, little Miss."

Hinata bowed her head. "My name is Hyuga Hinata. I like gardening and flower pressing. I dislike… I don't really dislike things. My dream is to be a good leader for my clan and my hobbies are gardening as well," she said softly, and Naruto realised that he talked allot louder than Hinata did.

"Next is you then," Kakahsi-sensei shrugged towards Sasuke and Sasuke grunted to return.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are plenty of things I hate and I don't like that many things. I don't have a dream, I have an ambition, to restore my clan and to kill a certain person," Sasuke said, a small dark cloud hovering over his facial expression before he quickly hid it. Naruto shuddered lightly.

Kakashi clapped. "Right, now then…."

Naruto's Apartment

9PM, after Team Assignments

Willow POV

"Then, then, he walked around with an eraser stuck to his hair!" Naruto crowed and Willow smiled at the young boy with amusement. This had to be the same Kakahsi that had come by his house earlier. He was the kid's new teacher, which might explain the sudden barging in of apartment.

"Then what?" Willow asked the blonde, looking from her pot of noodles over towards the boy that was sitting on the counter – his legs swinging out from underneath him.

"Then he made us introduce ourselves but he only told us his name! And Sasuke is sooo uncool, I don't know why all the girls like him so much!" Naruto complained, a glum expression forming on his cute little features.

Willow gave him a small smile, before moving over to her second pot that contained meat that needed her own sauce. Naruto was about to get a dose of Westernised food. She was making him spaghetti. "Now the girls love him, but when it comes down to it – all the girls love a guy that's going to make them laugh in the end," Willow said, winking at the boy.

Naruto perked up a little bit. "You think so, Nee-chan?"

Willow scoffed a little bit louder for effect. "Think so? I am a girl, I know so!"

Naruto ginned at her widely. "What'cha making Nee-chan? Is it Ramen?"

Willow rolled her eyes. She's been there for little over a week and Naruto never shut up about Ramen! One would think it was the food of gods with the way he talked about it! "It's called spaghetti, it's from where I come from."

"The magic Genie land!?" Naruto asked, his eyes wide and curious – ready to drink up any information that she would be able to give him.

"Yes, the magic Genie land," Willow repeated feeling faintly amused by Naruto's notion of where she came from. The blonde kid rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

"Did your Kaa-chan teach you how to cook, Nee-chan?" Naruto asked, every ounce of his body portraying the innocence held by a child untainted by the world.

"No, I never really meet my parents. My…. Aunt taught me," Willow explained, trying to phrase it delicately.

Naruto's blue eyes widened drastically. "I… I never meet my parents either. The Old Man says that their dead… They were fighting when the Kyubi attacked when I was born… and…"

Willow dropped her spoon which she was using to stir the meat and turned around to fully face the pre-teen fully. He looked so lost and confused. He reminded her so much of her at that age. Willow slowly moved forward. She was glad that she really didn't have to awkwardly duck her head to remain at eyesight level to talk to Naruto.

"I'm sure your parents loved you Naruto," she said, looking at him in the eyes. His clear sapphire eyes looked at her with such insecurity that she just wanted to grab him and hug him with all the intensity that she could.

"Old Man says that too…." Naruto mumbled looking down. Willow's heart broke for the boy. She grabbed him in a fierce hug.

"They must of, how can they not have? You are the sweetest young boy that I've ever had the pleasure of meeting," Willow said seriously, losing her hold on him so she could look at those sparkling eyes. "You are an amazing young kid Naruto. You show your intelligence with the brilliancy of your pranks. I used to be friends with Twins that were just like you – and they were two of the smartest people that I knew."

"Really?"

"Yep," Willow nodded her head, smiling down at the Uzumaki. "They were the best pranksters I knew – plus, they were never really good at tests either."

"But… I didn't really pass the test, Genie-nee-chan, you did it for me!" Naruto said, his shoulders dropping.

"It was all you, Naruto. You just have to focus, and learn from your new teacher – and one day, you'll make it to being the Hokage," Willow said, honestly believing every word that she spoke.

Naruto wrinkled his nose, letting Willow know that her words had pierced his skin. "But Kakashi-sensei really sucks."

"I bet you he doesn't really. Maybe he just wanted you to think that?" Willow probed, causing Naruto raise both of his eyebrows instead of just one. Willow tried not to think about how cute it was.

Willow knew the silver-haired man was intelligent. He'd noticed the milk straight away, like he was analysing the room the second he walked into it. Damn intelligent people. "…So he could beat us at the survival training!" Naruto concluded loudly. "Does that mean I should have breakfast, even though he said not to?"

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day Naruto, remember that!"

Naruto nodded his head with determination. "Yes! Nee-chan!" he gave her a mini-salute, which made the young witch chuckle.

Maybe staying with Naruto, and giving the young boy three wishes wasn't going to be such a terrible thing. The boy quite obviously deserved a break, and why shouldn't she be able to give it to him?

Naruto's Apartment

Day of the Survival Training

Willow POV

Willow was staring at Naruto – it felt kind of creepy watching a 12 year old as they slept. Though, it didn't feel that terrible whilst she did it. He was so small, innocent when he was sleeping. How could anyone not want to help take care of this kid? He was just so…happy. Despite everything, this kid was just plain old happy.

It was an odd occurrence. The red-haired woman slowly reached towards the boy till her hand had made contact with his shoulder, upon which she used it to shake him till he woke. Naruto groaned loudly. "Rise and shine Sleeping Beauty!" she said cheerfully. "Breakfast is ready."

"Kakashi-sensei said not to eat breakfast," Naruto mumbled, digging his face further into his now soft – and orange encased pillows.

"Breakfast is the…."

"Most important meal of the day," Naruto repeated like she was some sort of military dictator. Naruto still wouldn't get up. With a sigh, Willow quickly tried to yank the pillow out of the boys grip. He had a strong grip though, because he didn't let it slid even an inch out of his fingers.

Willow's eyes narrowed and let go. Fine then. He wanted to play it that way? Since the boy's eyes were still closed she got her wand out from its normal hiding place in her sleeve and pointed it at the boy. "Aguameni," she stated with a slight amount of amusement. The stream of water shot from her wand and hit the boy squarely in the face.

Willow quickly hid her wand again as the boy resurfaced spluttering. "What'ya do that for Nee-chan?!" Naruto demanded, pushing the water out of his eyes using his palm – or at least attempting to.

"Breakfast is ready," she chimed, walking backwards and not explain herself. "I made French Toast. I think you would like it."

"Food from Genie land, again!" Naruto cried before springing out of his bed, not like he'd been asleep two seconds prior.

Willow shook her head in amazement, where the hell did all this energy that boy had come from? Willow followed the blue-eyed boy into his small kitchenette where she could see him slowly start to devour all the slices of bread she'd prepared him.

"Eh, Nee-chan-,"

"Don't talk with your mouth full," she reminded him, cutting off whatever he was going to say. Naruto chewed his mouthful quickly before swallowing it.

"Neh, Nee-chan. Where do you get all this food from? You said you couldn't create food…." Naruto trailed off, before taking another bite of the Toast set out before him. Willow saw the hidden question because he thought she didn't have any money, and he quite obviously had nothing in his cupboards but this cup ramen.

"I brought it of course. Chew with your mouth closed please," she reprimanded. That was technically a lie, she had technically went down with the pretence of buying the food, but she didn't have much money – or any on her when she got locked in the lamp, and this kid didn't seem to have much. So she confounded the shopkeepers into thinking she'd paid.

It wasn't like she got everything from the same shop, she spread it out – to be fair, but it wasn't like she could pay. And hell be damned if her or that kid were going to starve, (or live off cup ramen.)

"Ah-okay," the boy said, after carefully swallowing his next bite, and then proceeded to eat slower so he could talk between bites.

Willow smiled, she might be able to impart some manners onto the boy yet!

Training Ground Seven

Survival Training

Naruto POV

When Naruto got to the training ground after eating so much of Genie-chan's amazing cooking, he was about half an hour late. And oh boy had he panicked! He'd run the whole way there! He hoped that they hadn't started without him!

He got to the training ground, and he saw Sasuke and Hinata sitting next to each other quietly. Sasuke had his eyes closed like he was sleeping and Hinata was playing with the grass. But Naruto couldn't see Kakashi-Sensei anywhere. For which he was grateful.

He wasn't late!

"You're late," came the acidic voice of the last living Uchiha.

"I'm here before Kakashi-sensei," Naruto defend loudly, crossing his arms over his cheat and glaring at the boy for even thinking to mention it.

Sasuke grunted, not bothering to move. Naruto deflated slightly and sat down next to Hinata because she was such a cooler teammate than that idiot. She didn't tell him off and she even thought he was creative, and she laughed at his prank! Yes, Hinata was a better teammate than Sasuke.

Naruto huffed, and twitched whilst he waited for his Sensei.

One hour…

Two hours…

Three hours…. God damn it! Kakashi-sensei was getting pranked, and his arse kicked! How dare he make someone like him wait for three hour, two days in a row! No! Not him! Before Naruto could grumble any more, the silver haired man appeared before them in a swirl of leaves.

Finally! "You're late!" Naruto yelled dramatically, stumbling back onto his feet and point at the Jonin dramatically.

"Really?" He asked, his only visible eye wide - like he had no idea. "Sorry, my alarm clock decided to go on a brief vacation to Suna, and he didn't think to get himself a replacement."

Naturo's jaw dropped. This guy wasn't for real was he!? "Anyway," the Jonin carried on in a cheerful voice, content in ignoring his younger students. "I managed to get another alarm, but it decided it only wanted to go off at noon, so here it goes. I guess you have till then to finish this exercise."

"Why didn't you use that clock to wake you up?" Sasuke drawled, one of his dark eyebrows arching like he was questioning the sanity of the man.

"I said that it decided it only wanted to go off at noon, it does the same thing, every day," Kakashi explained, waving his hand at the boy like it was of no real importance. Naruto was watching the man almost stupefied. Was he for real?

"Oh wait," Kakashi started to dig through the pouch attached to his left hip and Naruto was starting to get excited again. So what if his Sensei was an idiot, maybe he could still teach to be an awesome Ninja! The silver haired man slowly drew out two things, and Naruto's keen ears distinctively heard a light twinkle of bells.

Kakashi held up two bells for the three Genin to see, and his eye curved into an upside down U shape. "These my students are bells-"

"We're not stupid," Naruto interpreted a little bit deviously.

"Says the one with crumbs on his cheek, did you eat breakfast Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked wagging his finger, letting the two bells jingle lightly. Sasuke turned the glare at him and Hinata looked down, going pink. "Did you want to throw up?"

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, remember that!" Naruto said, quoting Genie-nee-chan.

Kakashi blinked slowly, smiled again, and dropped the whole conversation. "Well, that's true. Anyway! You guys just need to take these bells off me before the timer stops! If you fail, you don't get lunch and you get tied to those pretty tree stumps and get to watch as I have these custom made bentos. All. To. Myself."

As if on cue, Sasuke's stomach grumbled. Kakashi-Sensei looked at Hinata with a raised eyebrow. "Ah, someone else decided that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?" Was it just Naruto, or did Kakashi-sensei seem delighted?

"My farther insisted," Hinata mumbled, almost so quiet that Naruto couldn't even hear her! "I apologize Kakashi-sensei."

Kakashi waved her off. "Oh, I forgot to mention. The one getting tied to the stump will just have to go back to the Academy. You can use whatever tools that are at your disposal, attack me, kill me. Try your best!"

"We could kill you!" Naruto almost yelled, his bright eyes open wide with surprise. The blonde boy was shocked that his other teammates didn't seem to share in his objection. Maybe Hinata was too shy, and Sasuke too much of a prick.

Kakashi laughed, like really laughed. So much so that he grabbed his middle, like he was holding one of those laughing stitches that he sometimes got when he laughed too much. "You can try."

Naruto's eye twitched and he wanted nothing more than to throw something very sharp at the Jonin but something that Genie-nee-chan had said was ringing through his ears. Kakashi-sensei really sucks. I bet you he doesn't really. Maybe he just wanted you to think that? Her voice was ringing in his ears.

Naruto didn't hastily throw a sharp pointy object at the Jonin. Maybe Nee-Chan was right, she was right about everything else so far. Maybe Kakashi-sensei wanted them to think that he was really a big idiot, so that he didn't have to fight as hard and could be really lazy. Maybe he didn't want to pass them and wanted to send them all back to the Academy!

Hell no! That wasn't going to happen! Naruto just clenched his fist and their Sensei stopped laughing. "Right, remember… aim to kill… Go!" He called and both of his other teammates disappeared into the forest.

Right, he just had to outsmart him. Naruto was frozen. He didn't actually know what he should do! He just stared at the man who looked at him with a raised eyebrow. What did Naruto do? He didn't really know anything! He couldn't fight a Jonin! He'd never been very good at the spars. The only Jutsu he knew were the substation and the henge.

Well… his own modified version of the henge. What was he good at? Traps and pranks! How could he do that!?

"Are you just going to stand there and stare at me?"

Almost like his words sprung him into action, Naruto charged at the elder man, a Kunai slipping into his hands. He needed a weapon didn't he? "Ah good," Kakashi said cheerfully as he side-stepped Naruto's swipe. "I was beginning to think I'd petrified you."

Naruto clenched his teeth, not bothering to respond – only to throw a few knives at the man's feet, hoping that maybe he'd tip over – but he just jumped over them, and angled his legs so he was about to kick Naruto from above. Naruto quickly got himself out of the way, but he was only just fast enough to avoid getting nicked.

His Sensei was fast, really, really fast! Kakashi stilled and looked at him like he was a puzzle. Naruto threw himself towards the man again, as fast as he could possibly go and Naruto's speed was one of the best things about him. He'd needed to be really fast to avoid all those ANBU chasing him about his pranks!

Naruto aimed a kick to his shin and at the same time he threw two kunai at the man's head, thinking that maybe he wouldn't notice one of them. They hit with a resounding thank. The boy stilled in amazement not thinking that it would actually work. That was when he actually looked at it and realised that it was actually just a plank of wood with a smiley face planted on it.

Hadn't Nee-Chan said that Kakashi-sensei would be a lot cooler than he thought he would be? Sensei was just playing with him!

"Never leave your back unattended!" A voice called out from behind him, and the boy did the only thing he could at the point…

Naruto did the only thing he could think of. He ran. "Huh?" he heard his teacher mutter as he ran through a thick of trees.

What could he do!? His taijutsu wasn't even good enough to beat the other Academy students! Could he use Kunai? He could put them in a trap… or multiple traps surrounding himself, and hope Kakashi-sensei couldn't get through all of them!... He'd still need to be able to get a bell though… Maybe he could wish himself into another team… Naruto shook his head. No, he couldn't do that.

Naruto looked at the tree next to him, and began to money climb upwards. Making sure to create various traps to one that would try and climb the tree. This must've taken him a few minutes at very least, and Naruto was glad that his Sensei didn't seem to be following him up the tree. Naruto sat down, for what seemed like forever and he realised that he couldn't just sit here and wait.

Kakashi-Sensei was trying to keep the bells. Why would he come towards Naruto? Naruto quickly started to ponder what he could do. There were two bells right? What if he got one of his other teammates to help him and they split it in half!? He'd go ask Hinata because she was so much nicer than Sasuke was and then Sasuke would have to go back to the Academy!

Hahaha! Yes! Naruto jumped down from his tree, making sure to avoid his own traps and scratched the back of his neck. Where would Hinata be? He just decided to walk back towards where he'd left Kakashi.

He got there rather fast, but he hid under a bush and peered out through the leaves. He didn't want Kakashi-Sensei to see him after all! What Naruto saw surprised him. Kakashi-Sensei was leaning against a tree reading a little orange book that Naruto was sure he'd seen in the old man Hokage's draw once. Hadn't his teammates tried to battle him? Naruto looked at the trees around him and couldn't see either one of his teammates.

…What did he do now?

"That's not a very good hiding spot," Sensei said, suddenly disappearing from his sight and reappearing behind him. Naruto threw himself out of the bush and stumbled through the thorns that he hadn't already seen, leaving vivid red marks all over his skin. Kakashi-sensei looked at him from over the top of his book. "You know I expected more from the one who scored the highest on the graduating exam."

Naruto fought to keep himself upright and not rub the numerous little cuts the bush had given him in their small fight. Had he scored the highest!? Naruto wished he could have felt better at hearing those words but he knew that it wasn't him. It was Genie-chan. Would he have even passed if he hadn't wished it so?

"Neh, Sensei. Can you just give me a bell," he passed for a moment. "Please?"

"Not after I spent the entire night trying to get a chalk board eraser from my hair," Kakashi replied bluntly, looking back towards his book. Was he even going to fight him?

"Are you going to fight me?"

"The question is are you going to fight me?" Kakashi asked, tapping his finger on his book. Naruto had to think really hard. Nee-chan had said that Sensei was trying to be stupider than he was, and that might extend to him being super powerful and that would mean that Naruto really didn't have a chance!

Naruto kind of hoped he could talk his way through! Yeah! "You're a Jonin," he said.

"You finally figured it out, huh? I mean, I thought it was pretty obvious but…" Kakashi sighed before trailing off. Was this is? Was he just going to talk to his teacher until he failed at getting a bell and was sent back to the Academy?

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Genii-Nee said that you could be super powerful and I don't wanna die, cause' you said that the aim was to kill so…."

"Fair conclusion, so you'd go back to the Academy?"

Naruto shrugged, he could always wish his way out again. "I guess…"

Kakashi smiled lightly, and in the distance Naruto heard a shrill ring. Kakashi closed his book and slid it into his pocket. "Well I guess it's time to see what's happened to your other teammates, ne?"

Naruto nodded his head and followed Kakashi-sensei albeit a little bit moodily. He was going to have to go back to School! That meant he had wasted a wish but, going up against Kakashi-sensei, Naruto decided that maybe he wasn't ready yet.

When Naruto had tugged back he saw Hinata sitting down dejectedly, her hands twisted in her lap and looking like she was on the verge of tears. Sasuke on the other hand was covered in dirt and was wearing a really grumpy look on his face. Naruto sat down between his teammates and looked up at Kakashi.

He appeared to be thinking hard. "You," he pointed towards Sasuke, and held up a piece of rope. "By default, you're getting tied up for being the only one to not eat breakfast."

"You told us to not eat breakfast," the black haired boy protested, as the Jonin secured him to a wooden post. His eye twitched.

"I was challenging you to think for yourself. Just because your superior tells you to do something, it doesn't mean you always have to follow that rule," Kakashi said sternly. "As Naruto said, breakfast is a very important meal. Imagine what you could have done with the energy they had from actually eating?"

Sasuke went silent and put his head down slightly. "I've changed my mind. None of you should go back to the Academy."

Naruto's head shot up is disbelief, was he still actually going to be allowed to become a ninja?! Really! "No, you should just quit altogether! You don't have what it takes! You, Sasuke, blindly follow orders and don't think to analyse your opponent's capabilities before you charge in. You think you can do it alone, that's a lie. Hinata, you are much to gentle, I told you that you wouldn't get anything unless you aimed to kill… and Naruto, you tried to fight me and once you realised you had no chance, you tried to talk your way into a bell. Not all enemies are going to leave you alive long enough to allow you to do that!"

Naruto hung his head. It was true. But… "That doesn't mean we should give up though!" Naruto glanced over to Hinata who looked like she was trying to hold back tears. "Giving up means quitting! Which would make all our work for nothing!"

"Do any of you know the true meaning of this test?" Kakashi asked in retaliation.

"To get the bells?" Naruto asked hesitantly when he noticed that his other two teammates weren't at all inclined to talk.

"No," he said coldly. "All three of you weren't a match for someone like me by yourself, but, together you would have had the power of three Genin over one."

Naruto blinked not really understanding. "Teamwork, the meaning was teamwork," Sasuke grumbled. Naruto's eyes widened.

"You'd all die on your first mission," Kakashi said coldly, shaking his head, before throwing two bentos at the three soon to be Ex-Genin. "I might give you a second chance. But don't feed Sasuke."

He turned around and disappeared. Hinata grabbed one of the boxes with her hand shaking violently. Naruto grabbed his at a slower pace. Was Kakashi-sensei right? He didn't really know much… but he could change that! He just needed some kick-arse Jutsu and some cool as training and he'd be fine.

Naruto opened the bento and realised that they were the pre-made ones he sometimes brought from the little restaurant from the corner of the street next to his. He liked those people, they never turned him away… He wondered why people hated him so much. Hinata turned her food over, and she looked like she was actually going to eat it – she looked like she really wanted to cry though.

Naruto felt uncomfortable. "Don't worry Hinata-chan! We'll pass! Believe it! We'll all work as a team and get those bells!" He smiled at her and threw her a thumbs up. Hinata went slightly pink, but at least she didn't look she wanted to cry anymore.

She looked at her food for a few moments before offering to Sasuke. "Huh!? What are you doing?" Naruto asked her.

"If we work together, we're all going to need to be well fed. I've eaten breakfast and I don't really eat that much…" she trailed off, nervously looking around. "I checked, Kakashi-sensei isn't in the radius. So… please take some!"

Sasuke nodded with a half grin on his face, and Naruto sighed before pushing his towards the prick too. "Fine. Hinata-Chan's right. We need all three of us to kick Kakashi-sensei's arse!"

"What are you doing!?" Kakashi loomed in and Hinata's eyes widened in confusion. "I said to not share the bentos! That's it! You….Pass! Congratulations!"

"Wait what?!" Naruto stood up pointing at the tardy Jonin and started to yell. "You can't just do that to us! It's not nice!"

"I'm not a nice person," Kakashi shrugged with a laugh, turning around. "See you all here at seven tomorrow morning, when we actually become Team 7! And just remember this! In the ninja world those who don't follow the rules are trash but those who abandon their team mates are below trash."

Naruto's Apartment

Post-Bell Test

Willow's POV

"-And then, and then Kakashi-sensei was all like 'I'm not a nice person'! And then he just went 'poof'! Do ya think he'll teach me how to do that!? It would be soo cool!" Naruto raved, accidentally knocking over his glass of milk. The glass fell over the side of the table and loudly smashed against the ground.

"Oops."

Willow waved the kid off, just happy that he was so excited. She'd repair it later when she could actually use her wand without the kid noticing. Maybe it would be easier to start trying to not use her wand? That way she could keep up her pretense without the difficulty. "Why don't you go grab the milk?" she asked the young boy.

"But why Nee-chan?"

"It's a surprise," she said with a sly wink, the second he turned around though, there was a wand in her hand and she wordlessly repaired the cup, slipping her wand back up her sleeve.

Naruto turned around again, only to stumble in surprise. "You fixed it!"

"I can do that," she replied dryly. "Come on. Tell me more about your team. What are they like?"

"Well, Hinata-chan is really quiet but she's way nicer than Sasuke-baka cause' he's just a prick. He was the only one to not have breakfast and that made him really grumpy but he doesn't talk a lot so-"

Willow smiled indulgently and continued to let Naruto natter on about his day.

The Hokage's Office

Post Genin Exam

"So, Kakashi. What do you have to tell me about our resident troublemaker?" The Hokage asked the silver-haired Jonin slouched comfortably in front of his desk.

Kakashi shrugged. "He's obviously very, very good at playing dumb or I'm just not seeing it."

The Hokage intertwined his fingers and rested them on his desk. "What happened during the test?"

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head, but obliged. "He was loud, and... he acts very similar to his mother. He first attempted a contact battle right away, I would rate his skills at below Genin – he didn't use any Jutsu, so I can only conclude that he can't use them in a battle. Once he realised he was outclasses he ran, and only resurfaced to ask me for the bells."

"Interesting," the Hokage said slowly, closing his eyes and wondering where all of this drama was coming from. "You passed the team, correct?"

"It's not like I had much of a choice," Kakashi grumbled, shoving his hands into his pockets.

The Hokage tilted his head to one side. "That is true… Did Naruto mention anything amiss?"

Kakashi hesitated. "He did mention someone called 'Genie-nee' telling him not to underestimate me as an opponent."

The Hokage sat up straight. "Genie? That's a very curious name. I want you to find out about her, and report it back to me within the next week. Dismissed, Kakashi."

"Maa, yes sir," Kakashi's voice was on the border line of a whine. Why was he dragged into all this trouble? Was it too much to ask for a lazy day when all he had to do was read Icha Icha and not bother with a trio of annoying Genin?

Was it too much to ask for?! Kakashi resigned himself to having an interesting few months ahead of him. Kakashi resisted the urge to groan. Why was Naruto such a confusing kid!?