" It's rather unfortunate things turned out like this." said the Hokage.

" I'm kinda happy it did." said Naruto. " Why didn't you want me to know?" The moment that Naruto had returned with Iruka they sought out the Hokage. Naruto had many questions for him.

" I assumed you'd be happier not knowing your father nearly destroyed the village." the Hokage said apologetically.

" I'm kinda angry about that, but it's also nice to know who my parents were." said Naruto, crossing his arms. " Having their names is better than having nothing."

" There is more than just their names." said the Hokage, becoming to his assistant. The man walked over and handed Naruto a musty looking box. " Just in case I needed to tell you someday, I saved a few things."

Naruto's heart began to beat very quickly as he looked at the box. Without hesitation he tore it open. There was a paper folder, a orange robe, and a strange looking kunai.

" The kunai was your fathers." explained the Hokage. " It is like the paper seals used in the teleportation jutsu, but they can be used unlimitedly since there is chakra embedded in the steel."

" Nice." said Naruto, looking at the weapon. They was unusually sharp and well balanced. " I'm still going to have to make the paper ones, though, and that takes like a hour."

" I think you might be more interested in the other things, thought." said the Hokage. " In the folder are your mother and father's medical and service records, as well as pictures of them."

Naruto couldn't tear open the folder quick enough. The first thing he saw was a photo of his mother, a red haired woman who shared his smile and cheek marks. He felt tears begin to form in his eyes as he stared at it.

Then he realized his fathers was not far away. He took it out and was chagrined to see he was the splitting image of the traitor. That probably never helped me. he thought.

" You've noticed your resemblance." said the Hokage gravely. " While you look like your father and share his goal of being the Hokage, your personality is more like your mothers. She was a bit of a jokester as well."

" I guess that explains why everyone hates me." said Naruto, looking up. " I look like the last guy who tried to become the Hokage, so everyone figures I'm going to pull a Minato, right?"

" Unfortunately so." said the Hokage with a nod.

" Crap." swore Naruto. " I've got to change my dream now."

" Oh?" said the Hokage. " To what?"

" Proving I'm more like my mother than my father." said Naruto, closing the folder.

" A good start may be putting on that cloak." said the Hokage. Naruto took out the orange garment and unfolded it. On the back was a red spiral design. " The Uzamaki traditionally wore robes like that. The spiral design is their family crest. The particular cloak belonged to your mother."

" N-no way." said Naruto, holding the cloak tightly. He threw it on and found it far to long for him. " I guess I'll have to…"

He trailed off as it suddenly shrunk to fit him perfectly.

" Oh, and I may not have mentioned yet, that one is special. It's the cloak the clan head wore. Embedded chakra in it changes it's size to fit you, it's fire proof, and if you channel a little chakra into it it repairs itself."

" Sweet!" said Naruto. He was examining the cloaks interior. There were a number of pockets that would be useful for storing weapons and paper seals, plus what ever else he needed. " I guess I don't need my old jacket anymore." he said, looking at the worn orange coat. He removed the cloak, took off the jacket, and out the cloak back on.

I'm never taking this thing off. he decided.

" And one last thing." said the Hokage. " We have here four scrolls containing the history of the Uzamaki. I believe you might be interested."

" Yeah!" said Naruto, taking them. " I probably won't read them for a while, but thanks!"

" You might want to run along now." said the old man with a smile. " You need to go get read for team assignments."

" Thanks! See ya!" said Naruto, racing out the door with his cloak flapping majestically behind him.

0000000

" I thought you failed." said Shikamaru, looking up as he walked in.

" Nope." said Naruto triumphantly, taking a seat and kicking his feet up.

" E-excuse me." said a quiet voice. He turned and saw Hinata, who was tapping her fingers and blushing. " I-I like y-your new jacket."

" Thanks, Hinata!" said Naruto loudly. The girl blushed and sank into her seat. I like her. She's always nice. thought Naruto. He looked around. Sakura wasn't there, so he couldn't go ask her on a date. He considered going and trying to talk to Hinata for a moment, but then Sasuke entered.

Naruto and Sasuke lost no time in beginning their daily glarefest. As the Uchiha found his seat he looked a Naruto's coat for a moment.

" What's with the getup?" he asked, raising a eyebrow.

" Oh? This?" said Naruto, looking down at the jacket. " This is just something my mom left me. Pretty cool, huh?"

Sasuke paled. Naruto and he were both orphans, which meant they knew the same pain of loneliness. This also had left them a number of dirty tricks to pull on each other when mocking each other. One of Sasuke's best jabs was the fact Naruto didn't even know who his parents were.

" I thought you didn't know who she was." said Sasuke, recovering.

" I didn't. Found out last night, thought. Apparently she was from the Whirlpool country."

" So she betrayed us? Classy." said Sasuke. " We offered them…"

" ACTUALLY, if you'd paid attention in class, the Uzamaki helped save the village from their countrymen." said Naruto, pretending to be smart for a moment.

" So, what was your mother anyways? A servant? A whore?"

" She was the clan leader." spat Naruto. " And don't ever say anything about her."

" Like you could make me." said Sasuke, smirking. Got him. thought Sasuke. Now that he knows about his parents, I can hit him there too. He's not used to that.

" How's your brother?" Naruto asked cruelly. " Still alive? I really though that if you are such a genius, you'd have gotten back at him for killing your parents and mind raping you."

" BASTARD!" shouted Sasuke, leaping for Naruto. Naruto managed to grab Sasuke's arms but the two were knocked over, falling to the floor. People scattered as they rolled, but Sasuke managed to pin Naruto to the ground. However, Naruto was able to toss his teleportation kunai into the side of a desk before going down.

" Never fucking mention Itachi!" shouted Sasuke, punching Naruto in the face. He swung again but there was a flash of light and his fist struck the ground. Naruto had reappeared by the kunai and kicked Sasuke in the back of the head, knocking him into the desk.

" Itachi! Itachi!" shouted Naruto as Sasuke rolled to his feet. " Sasuke and Itachi, sitting in a tree!" he began to sing. With a snarl Sasuke charged again. Naruto blocked his punch and saw the kick coming. He focused his chakra for a moment, routed it though the seal on the kunai, and teleported again. He was about to catch Sasuke in a headlock when his body froze.

" Choji, get him!" shouted Shikamaru. Naruto noticed the boys shadow had spread across the floor to his, and as Shikamaru moved Naruto mimicked his actions. Sasuke began to swing at Naruto again, but Choji tackled him the ground.

And, anyone can tell you, having Choji tackle you stops you as well as any jutsu.

" Let me go!" shouted Naruto, trying to move. He couldn't even focus his chakra for a teleport.

" Get off me!" shouted Sasuke, pushing Choji off.

" Now look." sighed Shikamaru. " I know you two hate each other, but this is just too troublesome of a time for you two to fight. Wait until our teams have been assigned and then do whatever you want, but don't make this any harder than it needs to be."

" L-let Naruto-k-kun go!" said Hinata. Everyone turned to her in shock. She had spoken at normal volume, which was practically shouting for her.

" And get off of Sasuke-kun!" screeched Sakura, kicking Choji.

0000

Three hours later, they were still fuming. Sakura sighed. Why'd Naruto have to be on our team? He's useless. He's just going to be in our way.

" I think we should prank sensei for being so late. " said Naruto, standing up.

I love his pranks!shouted Inner Sakura. Quiet, you. thought Sakura, frowning. You keep quiet until we're fifteen.

" Naruto…." said Sakura with a sigh as he put the eraser in the door. " Our teachers a jounin. He won't fall for that."

" Let's just see." said Naruto, walking back to his seat. He took out his new kunai and began to fiddle with it.

" What's that?" asked Sakura, trying to make conversation.

" My dad's weapon." said Naruto, holding it up for them to see.

" What's the seal on it?" asked Sakura. " It doesn't look normal."

" It's not." said Naruto. " Its for use with a special jutsu."

" You mean that weird replacement technique you used this morning?" asked Sakura. Naruto had escaped her wrath twice in a flash of yellow light.

" Yep." replied Naruto.

" So what's the point?" said Sasuke. " It looked like the normal body flicker jutsu, but without a hand seal."

" This, Sasuke-chan, is a time and space manipulation technique." said Naruto in a haughty voice. " The body flicker technique used for the replacement jutsu uses chakra to make you move incredibly fast for a short period of time. My jutsu allows me to instantly teleport from one location to another without moving between the two points. I'd explain the rest, but you wouldn't understand."

Sasuke's face contorted with rage. Naruto had not only insulted him with a 'chan', but insulted his genius too?

" Naruto, how dare you!" shouted Sakura, bopping Naruto on the head. " Sasuke-kun would be way better at that that you if he tried!"

" So we heard about your mother." said Sasuke darkly, regaining Naruto's attention. " And debated her occupation."

" She was the clan leader!" shouted Naruto defensively. " The Hokage said so!"

" So was your father some sort of house husband?" asked Sasuke. " Some weakling that invented a jutsu that helps him run away?"

" No. He was the bastard that killed the Fourth Hokage." growled Naruto.

Needless to say, Sakura and Sasuke were stunned.

" I just found out last night." said Naruto angrily, continuing. " Yeah, it's real nice. Apparently, my dad decided to go psycho and try and take over the village, kill Iruka-sensei's parents, and kill half my mothers family. Oh, plus, I got to find out that he only banged her for political reasons."

" M-minato Namikaze?" said Sakura shakily.

" Yep." said Naruto. " I even got to see a picture of him. I look just like him. It makes me pretty sick."

" I-I didn't…"

" I didn't know either, remember?" said Naruto, cutting Sakura off.

" Why are you using his jutsu then?" asked Sasuke with a scowl. Naruto….he's going to be trouble. I wouldn't be surprised if he became a traitor like his father.

" Because it's useful." growled Naruto. " And…"

" Can that wait a few minutes?"

They looked up to find a man with white hair standing by them, holding a chalk eraser in one hands.

0000

" Well then." said Kakashi. " Now that we're here, let's do introductions."

" I'm Naruto Uzamaki!" shouted Naruto. Kakashi cringed, glad he had taken them outside. Sensei's old boy….I hope I can keep him from going down his fathers path. He's wearing a Uzamaki cloak, though. That's a good sign.

" I like ramen!" continued Naruto. " I don't like stuck up jerks like Sasuke-teme and people who call me a loser. My dream…"

" Is to be the next Hokage." sighed Sasuke and Sakura in unison. We've heard it before.

" …is to restart my mothers clan and prove I'm not my father." said Naruto, giving them an annoyed look.

It was as if hell had frozen over.

" W-what?" said Sakura in shock. Finding out Naruto's father was the evilest man in Kohona's history wasn't nearly as shocking as him giving up on being Hokage.

" Everyone hates me because they think I'm like my father. He wanted to be Hokage. So, I stop trying to be Hokage, people might hate me less." said Naruto, explaining his plan. " And I also want to honor my mom and make sure there's more Uzamaki. I figure I'll go and found a new clan once I'm a famous ninja!"

" Your going to need to find a girl willing to put up with you." said Sasuke.

" Well….." said Naruto, thinking. " Yeah, that's true. But that's not for a while. And plus, I haven't read the history scrolls yet., so I don't even know too much about the Uzamaki.

" Are there a lot of scrolls?" asked Sakura.

" Like a hundred, and that's just for the main house." sighed Naruto, lying immensely.

" If we can continue," said Kakashi, glad his mask was hiding his smile. Good kid you got there, Kushina.

After Sasuke and Sakura went, things were rather awkward.

" I must admit," said Kakashi, scratching his chin. " You three have rather…erotic goals."

" What?" said Naruto, eyes bugging. Sure, Sasuke wanted to re-found his clan, and Naruto wanted to found a new clan, and Sakura was lusting after Sasuke…

" Oh." said Sakura, blushing.

" Well, I was planning on having you three do survival training tomorrow," said Kakashi, taking out a orange book. " But, I have to cover sex ed for you three at some point. Do you like color pictures?"

" We'll do the survival training!" said Sakura and Naruto quickly.

" Ah, okay." said Kakashi, sounding disappointed. " Be at training ground seven at seven. Don't be late." He gave them a little smirk and vanished with a poof.

" That was close." said Naruto, blushing.

" Y-yeah." said Sakura, also blushing. " S-Sasuke-kun, I didn't mean things like that. I mean, I know that will happen when we get married…"

" Hn." said Sasuke, cutting her off with a grunt. The genin sat for a moment and then, unable to talk from embarrassment, left.

0000000

Needless to say, when Kakashi was late again, they were not amused.

" Sorry, sorry." apologized Kakashi as Sakura and Naruto glared at him. " I forgot which training ground we were at."

" Liar." grumbled Sakura.

" So, today we're going to do some special training." said Kakashi, taking out two bells. " And if you can't handle it, you go back to the academy."

" What?" shouted Naruto. " That's stupid! We passed the genin exam!"

" Which means you have the skills to be a genin." said Kakashi. " This test sees if you have what it truly takes to be a ninja. You must get one of these bells from me or you fail."

" There's only two bells." Sakura pointed out.

" Correct. Someone has to fail." said Kakashi, tying them to his belt. The genin tensed, steeling themselves. " Begin."

In a instant Sakura and Sasuke disappeared, but Naruto elected to charge straight for Kakashi, his special kunai drawn.

" I'm not going to lose!" he shouted, lunging for Kakashi. The jounin sidestepped the attack with ease. Naruto spun and attacked again, but Kakashi was too quick.

" Stealth is a ninja's friend." said Kakashi calmly as he took out a book and began to read.

" I can beat you right here!" shouted Naruto. Kakashi sighed as he kicked the boy in the stomach, knocking him into the lake nearby.

Damn. thought Naruto as he began to sink. He's way too good. This would be a good time to be smart. If I had Sakura-chan helping me she could think of something. But I'm not going to give up!

Kakashi had begun to look around, trying to find his other genin. He had a good guess where they were hidden, but he couldn't pinpoint them. Those two are pretty good at least. he thought. He turned his attention back to Naruto when he heard a splash.

Woah! thought Naruto, watching as the kunai sped towards his teacher. Just add a little chakra and that thing flies fast! Kakashi, however, was still too quick and ducked. Unfortunately, that was what Naruto wanted. There was a yellow flash of light as he appeared behind Kakashi.

" Got you!" he shouted, reaching for the bell.

He can use sensei's time/space jutsu? thought Kakashi, his normal eye going wide. What a kid! He almost felt like letting Naruto have one of the bells, but he couldn't do that. He flipped backwards, landing on Naruto's back and causing him to fall to the ground.

"Ooomp!" exhaled Naruto as he struck the dirt.

" Pretty good. I-"

Kakashi was cut off when Naruto vanished again. He looked to the kunai which had sailed onwards and stuck a tree, but the boy wasn't by it. He must have used a paper seal. I didn't think he'd taken any time to prepare. He might be better than I thought.

0000

" What the hell?" shouted Sakura as Naruto appeared besides her.

" Ow." said Naruto, rolling onto his back.

" Go away!" she said crossly. " You'll ruin my hiding place."

" Sorry, Sakura-chan." said Naruto, crawling off into the underbrush. Sensei knocked the wind out of me. I need to rest for a moment. he thought.

" Baka." mumbled Sakura, looking back into the clearing. Kakashi was still standing there, reading his book. How am I supposed to get the bell from sensei? He just beat Naruto with ease, and my hand to hand skills are only as good at that idiots. This isn't going to be…

At that moment, Sasuke stumbled from the woods near her. Sakura felt her blood running cold when she saw he had a large number of kunai stuck in him and was bleeding heavily.

"S-sakura…" he gasped. " Help me…"

She gave a scream and fainted.

" Sakura-chan!" shouted Naruto, racing over. He found the kunochi out cold, but he couldn't see any injuries on her. What happened? he thought, looking around. He could see Kakashi had finally left the clearing, so he began to look around for the jounin, wary of attack. I've only got two more paper seals. he thought. I'm glad I put one on Sakura's belt pouch when she wasn't looking, but I need to be more careful with them.

Then, he saw a burst of flames a short distance away. Sasuke and Kakashi were locked in combat, with the young Uchiha doing quite well. Kakashi was being pressed in hand to hand, though he was not going for serious injury like Sasuke was, and had to resort to ninjutsu.

" Looks like your not different them the others after all." said Kakashi as Sasuke sank into the ground. He looked up as Naruto leapt from a high branch towards him. " Good that you tried to use surprise this time." said Kakashi as he delivered a kick to Naruto's midsection, launching him into the air. However, Naruto had expected that and had been holding the teleportation kunai loosely. As his momentum changed to up, the kunai continued going down.

Sasuke blinked as the blade landed inches from his face.

There was a flash of light as Naruto teleported underneath Kakashi. He tried to bring his fist up in a uppercut, but Kakashi deflected his fist and knocked Naruto away. Sasuke was struggling hard to get out of ground and beginning to loosen the dirt, but it was too late. Kakashi vanished with a poof.

" Damn." swore Naruto, picking himself out of the dirt. He teetered to the side, catching himself on a tree. " Ouch. That took a lot of chakra."

" And you failed." said Sasuke, freeing an arm from the dirt.

" You did too." Naruto snapped back.

" But I managed to touch one of the bells."

" Ooo, look at the great Sasuke. He's so proud of touching sensei's bells."

The air was soon filled with obscenities.

000000

" Well, you gave it your all." said Kakashi, handing Sasuke and Naruto the bento boxes. " And you have until evening."

" What the hell!" said Sakura, struggling under the ropes. " Why am I tied to this thing?"

" Because you did the worst." said Kakashi, a hint of disappointment in his voice. " While Naruto and Sasuke did get beaten up…"

Kakashi glanced over to the two boys. Sasuke had a few welts he was sure he hadn't caused and Naruto had a black eye and burnt hair that hadn't been there before.

" …by me and each other," he continued. " at least they didn't scream and faint from a simple genjutsu. You're a smart girl, Sakura, and you are a genjutsu type ninja. You should have been able to figure it out."

" Look, showing me Sasuke-kun dying isn't fair!" shouted Sakura. " In a real fight-"

" The enemy would know." sighed Kakashi. " You constantly fawn over him, ignoring your training. I've seen the reports. If you'd applied yourself, you'd be as good as Sasuke."

Sasuke, who had been eating a piece of sushi, nearly choked.

" Really? Wow, Sakura-chan is awesome!" said Naruto, giving her a smile.

" Now, I'm going to go do a quick errand. Don't give anything to Sakura." said Kakashi, turning and walking away.

" Don't worry, I'll be fine." she said with a fake laugh. " I'm on a diet any-"

She was cut off by a large rumble from her stomach. I didn't eat breakfast OR dinner, and I had a half salad for lunch yesterday. she thought, cringing.

" I'm not really hungry, Sakura-chan." said Naruto. " Do you want my lunch?"

" Naruto…." said Kakashi, who was roughly ten feet away. " If your going to disobey me, wait until I'm gone. If you give your lunch to Sakura, I'll send you back to the academy."

" Well….." said Naruto, thinking deep. " She sounds pretty hungry. What if I trade places with her on the post? That way nothings different."

D-did he just say what I think he said? thought Kakashi turning. I might get to pass these guys if the other two join in! Come on, you losers! Say something!

" Naruto, I'm fine." said Sakura with a thankful look. " I don't want you to get in trouble."

" Thanks, Sakura-chan!" said Naruto with a big smile. " Hey, after we pass this afternoon, want to go on a date? I'll buy dinner at the ramen place!"

" No, Naruto." said Sakura, sweat dropping.

Say it, you emo bastard! thought Kakashi, staring at Sasuke. Hell, just talk! Talk! Talk! Talk!

Sasuke, unfortunately, continued to eat in silence. Kakashi sighed as he turned to walk away.

" Hey, Sasuke." said Naruto, changing subjects. " You're the last Uchiha, right?"

" Other than my brother, and I am going to kill him." said Sasuke in a sour tone.

" Sweet." said Naruto, taking a bite of rice. " Since my clans going to be really important, it'll be nice to have the head of the Uchiha owe me a lot of favors."

" W-what?" sputtered Sasuke.

" Well, I figure I'm going to save your live a bunch of times." said Naruto in a matter of fact tone. " So you'll owe me."

" Naruto, Sasuke-kun won't need you to save him!" screeched Sakura.

" But we're a team." said Naruto, looking annoyed. " We work together and watch each others backs. Sasuke always tries to look cool and never pays attention to anyone else, so I bet you and me wind up saving his live like a billion times."

" I won't make a mistake and need saving." said Sasuke angrily.

" Yeah you will, teme." growled Naruto. " Your not perfect."

" Na-"

" Sasuke-kun…" said Sakura softly. " He has a point. That's why they put us on these teams, so we'll make sure the others stay alive."

Sasuke looked like he had been slapped. Sakura? Agreeing with Naruto? Dammit, their right too.

" Fine, your right." he sighed, conceding the point. " But what I'm saying is that since I'm the strongest on the team, I'll probably have to watch out for you."

" Strongest?" laughed Naruto. " Come on, teme! I kicked your ass!"

" I set you on fire!"

" You mom's on fire!"

" SHUT IT!" shouted Sakura. " Both of you drive me nuts! Your both the exact same, and it pisses me off! Quit picking fights with each other and eat your goddamn rice!"

Naruto and Sasuke blinked at her in unison.

" How are we the same?" said Sasuke in a low, dangerous tone.

" How? How?" said Sakura with a laugh. " Both of you are orphans, for one. And there's the fact that you both think you have to become the greatest ninja alive. Your both completive jerks who can't stand people being better than them and demand attention!"

" Then why won't you go on a date with me, but you would with him?" asked Naruto, pointing to Sasuke.

" Because I'm a idiot, alright?" snarled Sakura. " Sasuke's just prettier than you, got it? And while he does his little 'oh look at me, I'm so tragic' thing all the time for attention, at least he doesn't make as much noise as you!"

Kakashi had stayed firmly put. There was nothing as fun as watching a kunochi vent at someone else.

" Shut up." said Sasuke in a huff, turning away.

" Don't tell Sakura-chan to shut up!"

" Be quiet, you idiot! Just because I'm mad at Sasuke-kun doesn't mean that I'll let you be rude to him!"

" Sakura-channnn….."

" Wow." said Kakashi. " There's no way I'm ever letting you three pass." he said as he walked back over. " Naruto has the teamwork I want, but Sasuke, what the hey? Naruto and Sakura are literally begging you to be a decent human being and your turning them down!"

" I'm an avenger!" shouted Sasuke. " I-"

His sentence was cut short by a bitch slap across the face.

" Shut up." said Kakashi, rubbing his hand. " You think you're the only one to lose people important to them? So your family was murdered, big deal. Almost a fourth of the ninja in the village are orphans. And at least their death wasn't your fault."

" What would you know?" shouted Sasuke. " How would you like it if I killed someone important to….."

He trailed off as Kakashi revealed his Sharingan, which was spinning quickly. He looked into Sasuke's eyes and the boy went silent.

" What are you doing?" said Sakura in alarm.

" I'm showing him what I've had to go though." said Kakashi, sounding bored. " Finding my father after he committed suicide when I was four, causing the death of my best friend when I was fourteen, watching the woman I loved die in my arms, and seeing my teacher go insane and murder hundreds. I've been though a lot."

He pulled his head away and Sasuke blinked. He was sweating and short of breath.

" H-how long…."

" It took about twenty seconds. You experienced about two weeks." said Kakashi. " Being a ninja means having people you love die. Believe it or not, I'm lucky. There's some people I know who actually had to kill their loved ones themselves."

" Sasuke-kun, are you all right?" said Sakura, voice laden with worry.

" You look like crap." said Naruto, examining his rival. " Was it like watching a movie or what?"

Sasuke looked to them in horror.

" T-t-they look like…."

" Obito and Rin." said Kakashi. " Yes, and your rather like me. Funny, isn't it? I wonder how you would have felt after training with them for a few years, only to get to watch them die. You'd be surprised how much you'd miss them, even if you don't like them now."

" Wait, who do I look like?" asked Naruto.

" Obito Uchiha. He saved my live by pushing me out from under a falling rock." said Kakashi in a monotone. " It crushed him. That was the second time he saved my life in only a few minutes."

" I never remind people of anyone good." grumbled Naruto.

" Well, see you next year." said Kakashi, turning and walking away. " I'm off to tell them you failed."

" Wait!" shouted Sasuke. Kakashi turned and looked at him. " Don't fail them because of me."

" It's too late for that." said Kakashi. " Your just grasping at straws."

" Fail me. Don't fail them." said Sasuke. " I failed this test, they didn't."

" Too late." said Kakashi, walking away.

" I guess you can come down now." said Naruto, slicing though the ropes that held Sakura back.

" Thanks, Naruto." said Sakura with a smile. " Sasuke-kun, don't worry. It's not-"

" It is my fault." he said, standing up.

" Hey, teme, shut up." said Naruto. " We failed once. Next time we pass the exam, we're gonna kick ass!"

" That's not the point!" shouted Sasuke. " I failed! Me, a Uchiha! We never fail! I'm the brother of the greatest progidy my clan ever known and I'm a idiot! It took me four years to pass the genin exam, only to fail later! I can't even activate my Sharingan yet, which my brother did when he was eight!"

" Sasuke-kun, stop it!" said Sakura. " You're a genius!"

" By normal standards. By my clans standards I'm nothing." said Sasuke.

" So you're a loser?" said Naruto with a laugh. " Great!"

" What?" said Sasuke, confused.

" Come on, Sasuke." said Naruto. " You said it yourself. You're a loser. Your brothers the genius who everything comes easy to. You have to work hard to get better. That's why you'll kick his ass."

" That doesn't make sense."

" Yeah it does." said Naruto. " Name one movie where the hard working guy doesn't beat the natural."

" Movies don't count."

" Name one manga."

" Manga doesn't count."

" Fine then! The Forth Hokage!" said Naruto. " My dad was always hailed as a genius, you know that. We read about him in history class. But Arashi was made the Hokage. He didn't have genius or a bloodline, he just worked hard. And when they fought, it took ten ninja or backup for Minato to beat the Fourth."

" How do you know all this?" asked Sakura.

" The Fourth is my hero. Duh." said Naruto. " Wait, sorry, Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to be rude."

" You almost have a point." said Sasuke, putting his hands in his pockets. " Which is surprising, considering you're a idiot. I guess I'll just have to train harder for next year."

" Hell yeah." said Naruto. " And next time we'll…."

" We won't be on the same team." said Sakura. " They'll put us on different teams."

" That's too bad." said Sasuke, soundly slightly sad. " I'd like to be able to make up for getting us failed."

" You could buy me ramen…." said Naruto, drooling.

" I'll do that." said Kakashi, appearing in a blast of smoke.

" What? I thought you were leaving?" said Naruto in alarm.

" I was, but your little melodrama was interesting to listen to." said Kakashi, smiling widely. " So, I figured, what the hell. I'll let you three pretend to be ninja for a little longer."

" Y-you mean…" said Sakua, smiling widely. " We passed?"

" Barely, and only due to pity." said Kakashi.

" That still counts!" said Naruto, jumping into the air. Sasuke sighed in relief.

" But don't think your out of the woods." said Kakashi. " I still think you three suck. You each have skill deficiencies and the only thing that brought you together here for the sappy little moment is me mind raping Sasuke and failing you. If you three screw up, I'm sending you back."

"…"

Why does everyone say 'mind rape'? thought Sasuke with a scowl as Naruto and Sakura began to laugh at him.

0000000

See you in the wave country!

ROCK ON, PRINCESS.