"Blah" denotes speech.

Blah! denotes sound.

'Blah' denotes thoughts.

'BLAH' denotes Demon talking.

Sarutobi brought young Naruto out for Ramen, his treat of course. He had discovered early on that the boy had one thing that remained constant in his life, and that was his love for Ramen. Sarutobi had once tried to introduce healthier foods to the boy, but Naruto was adamant that Ramen was still the best and healthiest food of them all.

Suffice to say, the 3rd Hokage of the Leaf found, to his horror, that his taste in food had gradually became inclined to Misao flavoured Ramen despite what the medic-nins had to say about a balanced diet.

Still, he regularly invited Naruto for ramen, despite the protests from his doctors. His treat still, of course.

But this little trip to Ichikaru was not purely pleasure only.

Naruto was on his fifth bowl when he asked the question.

"Naruto," Sarutobi said suddenly, gaining the boy's attention. "Did you learn every technique in the Scroll?"

"No," The boy shook his head, "I got to the second last one before Iruka-sensei found me."

"Naruto, those jutsu you learnt," The Hokage's voice turned grave, "Promise me that you will NEVER use them unless you're in an emergency and even then, exercise restraint when using them."

Naruto gave the Sandaime his usual look of puzzlement, failing to comprehend his situation. "Why?"

"Those jutsu only cause pain to others, and I would not wish to see it be used for anything other than protecting the ones that are precious to you." He had learnt a bit of Naruto's complex for protecting people during these 'Ramen Excursions', as he liked to called them, and he was glad to know that the boy was thoughtful enough to give people who were strangers the benefit of doubt. Even though the environment he had grew up in was less than amicable to him. It made it much easier to prevent Naruto from doing anything he would later regret.

"Can I use the Kage Bunshin then?" The boy asked almost immediately and Sarutobi pondered for a moment. While the Kage Bushin was a Jounin technique, nothing prevented lower ranked shinobi from using it, save for the prohibitive chakra requirements. Besides, it was one of the few techniques in the scroll that did not cause destruction on a large scale and Sarutobi was willing to relax the rules in this case.

"Yes, you may." He answered, "Though I suggest you keep that fact to yourself."

"What about the healing jutsu? It helped Iruka-sensei. I don't see how it hurts other people."

"Ah," Sarutobi said a bit more cheerfully, breaking the growing gloom in the atmosphere, "You can use that though I suggest you use it sparingly like the rest. You felt a terrible strain when you used it, did you not?"

The only non-offensive jutsu was the Scroll of Seals had been a high level medical jutsu created by his now wayward student, Tsunade. It was capable of healing the most grievous of wounds though it demanded a great deal of chakra from the user; an amount that very few had to capability to give. It had been labeled a kinjutsu when it took the life of the fifth medic-nin who tried to use it. Naruto nodded at this before turning his attention to the sinfully delicious noodles.

"Wait!" He cried out suddenly, surprising both cook and himself, "That means that I have no jutsu to use!"

Sarutobi sighed, reaching into his robes to pull out a bundled scroll. "I have already thought about that, so I have written for you a instruction manual of basic Genin techniques that you should already know. Burn it once you finish memorizing them."

The boy accepted it before tucking it into one of his pockets. He paused for a moment, taking the time to slur up his noodles. "I promise you that I wouldn't use those jutsu freely, but on one condition…"

"What is it then?"

There was a large and rare smile on the boy's lips. "I want another five bowls of ramen!"

Sarutobi held back a groan; sometimes he forgot how much Naruto could eat ramen when he wanted to.

( I I I )

Nara Shikamaru was bored out of his mind, as he waited for Iruka-sensei to come in. Since today was the day where the Genins were to be assigned into their teams, they were allowed to come later as both the teachers and their prospective Jounin-senseis to be were preparing the team assignments.

'I should've flunked the exam like Naruto…' He thought. That way he wouldn't have to put up with his mother's incessant nagging for him to wake up every fricking morning.

The boy in question was not present, which was natural considering that he failed the test. A pity really, he was hoping that Naruto would be placed on the same team as he was, along with Chouji. After all, he preferred to have his shogi partner nearby when he wanted to play his favorite game.

Deciding not to waste precious time thinking, Shikamaru opted to drop his head into his arms for a quick nap. After a minute or so, there was a loud gasp of surprise and he woke up. He saw someone take the free seat next to him, wearing heinously bright orange.

"Eh? Naruto?" Shikamaru squinted, his vision blurry. There was something different about this Naruto...Ah! He had a hitai-ate, he realized at last.

Normally, Shikamaru did not ask questions that he already knew the answers to, but he wanted to make sure the boy in front of him wasn't a hallucination. "So you passed?"

"Yeah."

Looking around, he saw a lot of his classmates sharing the same incredulous looks as they stared at Naruto. He would be doing the same too, if it wasn't so damn troublesome.

"So same time, same place today?" The boy asked, and Shikamaru turned his attention back onto him once more. "Yeah, and bring a few cups of Ramen for me and Chouji. I got a feeling that the game is going to take quite a while." He uttered back lazily. It had been quite a while since their last 'epic' match and he had a feeling that this match would probably be the only one he would be playing for a long while because of new ninja…responsibilities.

God, how he hated that word.

Naruto nodded silently, just as Iruka-sensei walked into the room.

"Okay, everyone, listen up!" The man yelled, ceasing all conversations between the students. "I will now begin to read out your Team assignments. Your Jounin-Sensei will be coming to pick you all up soon. Team 1…"

This continued for several minutes, and soon the class population dwindled down to a few, the rest having been picked up by their respective Jounin-sensei. Those who were still in the room were Naruto, Shikamaru, Ino, Sakura, Chouji and Sasuke. The pine-apple haired boy was fervently hoping that Ino wasn't going to be on his team. She had nagged and grumbled about him almost as much as his mother had done.

But of course, calling upon miracles wasn't his specialty.

"Next, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino!"

Shikamaru groaned, slapping a palm to his forehead. He turned to Ino, who was shocked. She noticed his gaze and gave a look which demanded total obedience from him, or else there would be hell to pay, especially on his part. He had known that Ino was pinning after the Uchiha and was utterly upset that she was paired up with her child-hood friends. Not that the status mattered much, he dryly noted, seeing that Ino was perfectly fine with using extreme methods to get things the way she wants. Especially with her so called 'friends'.

'Maybe I should've failed that test.' Shikamaru thought, eyeing the glaring girl nervously, 'Girls can be so troublesome…'

( I I I )

They waited for half an hour, two hours, and then Iruka-sensei had to go back to do some paperwork which was due in by the evening. Finally, the clock hand turned.

Ding!

As it now stands, they had waited for three hours, a new record in tardiness for the new and apparently anonymous Jounin-Sensei.

Suffice to say, Uchiha Sasuke was not amused.

After seeing that his 'team-mates' consisted of a dead last drop out who, by some form of divine intervention, managed to pass and a seriously annoying kunoichi who kept gushing over him, Sasuke had serious doubts to their abilities.

Letting himself be objective once more, he tried to find at least some redeemable qualities in the pink-haired girl. After another minute of silent stares from her part, Sasuke gave up trying.

But unlike the shallow perception he had on Haruno, he found Uzumaki to be quite a strange one. Ever since his first days in the Academy, he had seen Naruto be a recluse, a lone wolf, just like himself. But that was where the similarities between them ended. Sasuke had been the top student in the class whereas Naruto was dead last. Academically, he scored quite high for the written exams but his success failed to be carried over into the practical side of things. Other than the abnormally large amount of chakra that the boy possessed, Sasuke could not see anything noteworthy about him that could make him into an average ninja.

In any case, he would have to wait and see whether these 'team-mates' of his were going to be hindrances to his…goal.

( I I I )

Sakura could not feel any better even if she tried.

Sasuke-kun was on her team! The thought sent a shiver of excitement down her spine.

Tentatively, she spared a glance at the brooding boy's façade and almost squealed.

'Sasuke-kun is soooo cool!' She thought, as she began staring at her Sasuke-kun once more.

'HELL YEAH!' Inner Sakura added her opinion.

She was, however, quite put off that their Jounin-sensei has yet to show up. What kind of teacher would willing let their students wait for an ungodly amount of time before showing up, if not at all. A lousy one if this was anything to go by.

Forgetting about her precious Sasuke-kun for a moment, her thoughts turned to the other member of their team, and she was a bit puzzled. From what she had seen yesterday, Naruto was not able to pass the standardized test. And if so, why was he allowed to graduate?

It irked her to no end that there was another person paired with her, but she dare not voice her opinion to the quiet and mysterious boy. Even though he had been the ridicule of the whole class, many had done so out of apprehension of the boy, and they had found it easier to use laughter to deal with that unnatural fear. And they found many things unsettling about him. For one, Naruto had a stare which left many on the receiving end feeling as if they were exposed for the whole world to see. She too received one of his stares and it unnerved her greatly. He was also very silent in class, often the only people he spoke to on a regular basis were Shikamaru and Chouji, and even that was rare. But what was most disturbing about him was that look of impassiveness he always had, never changing and always there, looking as if nothing truly mattered.

And truth to be told, like the rest of her former class-mates, she was afraid of Naruto.

Not that she will ever admit it.

( I I I )

Naruto frowned. It had been three hours since the last batch of students have left, leaving him along with his new team-mates. He was never particular close to his class-mates though, barring Shikamaru and Chouji, both of whom were cloud watching companions and the occasional shogi partner.

To start it off simply, he knew that Sakura had graduated with top honors as the best Kunoichi. He also knew that Sasuke had come in first with the highest marks in the whole class, whereas he scored the lowest, a contrast between the two. He was not bothered by it however, like many other things in his life, he accepted it and tried to make do in best way he could.

Unlike the rest of his fellow ninjas, Naruto did not wish to strive for greatness. And for a long time, he only wished to experience what it was like to be in the outside world after experiencing the dull monotony in his cell back in the deep corners of the ANBU.

Kyuubi, had resented being trapped in that cell and explicitly forbade him from ever entering there again. He had read up on the history of the demon which was sealed within him, often sneaking into the public library to read, but it did not explain its desire for freedom. It had once told him that it was a Kitsune, and he made use of this knowledge as he researched it. It was then he realized that freedom was essential to them, and they hated cages simply because it takes away freedom of choice.

He wondered whether the Kyuubi hated him, as he was a cage to bind him after all. As if on cue, the demon in question spoke out.

'YOU ARE VERY PATIENT FOR ONE YOUR AGE.'

Naruto blinked, before frowning. 'Am I not?'

'COMPARED TO YOU, THE REST OF YOUR KIND ARE LIKE OVER EAGER MUD-RATS.'

At this, Naruto could have sworn that the Kyuubi was smirking, and decided it was as good a time as any to ask his question.

'Kyuubi…you do hate me for holding you?' He found the name foreign and unfitting for the presence which had been unnamed for so long within his mind. It gave a sense of realization that the voice was not just a part of him but rather something that he would never understand. And he was afraid of what he could not understand.

The demon didn't answer and it was at that moment, the door to the classroom opened and a grey-haired head popped in. His face was concealed by a face-mask while his hitai-ate covered his left eye.

"Ara, are you guys my new students?" He said with a hint of good cheer. Naruto suspected that this wouldn't be the last time the man would be late.

Naruto stared at him along with Sasuke and Sakura. Their faces were much less calmer than his; Sakura had a severe glare directed at the masked man who was now apparently their sensei and though Sasuke was a little less obvious in showing his discontentment but anyone with half a brain could tell from his stare. It seemed that patience was not their strong suit, he noted.

Their still unnamed teacher sweat-dropped.

"Perhaps we should go to the roof..."

( I I I )

Kakashi watched as his new team made themselves comfortable. He took this opportunity to evaluate them.

'Let's see…we've the silent type, brooding boy and the fan-girl. Cherry Pink this time. Wow, I always get the weird ones huh.'

Finished with his half-hearted examination, he cleared his throat before beginning to speak.

"Anyway, the name's Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire whatsoever to tell you guys what I like or dislike. My dreams for future...? I can't really tell you guys but what you can know is that I have many hobbies..."

He ignored the looks of disbelief and irritation at his blatant attempt at secrecy. If they wished to know more about him, they should work for it, not wait for it to be handed on a silver platter.

Taking advantage of their shock, he started. "You there. Name, hobbies, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future. Whatever." He pointed Sakura who was startled out of her staring. Narrowing his only visible eye slightly, he noted that the girl at this age was probably more concerned about love than the practical stuff that compasses a ninja's life. He shrugged. That would have to change. IF they pass his little test. that is.

"Well, I'm Haruno Sakura and my dream is…" She broke off, her eyes averting from the ground to the oblivious raven-haired boy who sat nearby. The girl did the same thing with every sub-catalog he had given except for the 'Dislikes' part. She was blushing quite badly by the end of it.

'Is she actually serious about becoming a shinobi?' Kakashi set his lips into a grimace, though it wasn't visible to them; one of the advantages of a face mask, he supposed.

"Ok, what about you, the one on the left?" He pointed to the raven-haired boy who Sakura was drooling over. Kakashi noted that the boy's face was set as if permanently in a frown, which was always bad in the long run. Children were supposed to act like children and let life run its course. Not one of those 'Grown Up' children he had seen before had lasted long. "Any hobbies, likes, dislikes or dreams?"

Kakashi reckoned that the boy was going for a full frown this time, and judging from what he read up on the boy, he expected it.

He wasn't disappointed, as he idly listened to the angst ridden rant until Sasuke came onto the part he was half-dreading or awaiting, depending on one's point of view.

"I cannot call it a dream, no, my ambition, is to revive my dead clan, and," Sasuke declared, his hands folded in front of him which muffled his voice, "And to kill a certain man." Kakashi didn't need to guess who the boy was referring to. He nodded faintly, before turning to the last of the group.

"What about you?"

The boy stalled for a moment. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I dislike pain and suffering. And I like ramen." Kakashi waited for a moment before realizing that he was finished.

He frowned. Out of all of his students, Naruto's past has been the most obscured and there were many a discrepancy within what records that were not forbidden. And from what he could see, Naruto was someone who had plenty of hidden secrets. Well, looks like time will tell if he manages to find out anyone of them.

"Ok, that will be all for today. Meet me tomorrow at Training Field 7 at nine'o clock tomorrow, and don't eat breakfast either." Kakashi glanced at his watch. "You will throw up. It's survival training so bring all your tools too. Team dismissed."

( I I I )

"Your move." Shikamaru said, before taking a sip at his can of green tea. This time victory will be his!

Clank!

"Naruto," He sighed, "I really, really hate you." Or not.

The blonde in question merely raised an eyebrow. "Duly noted." They were at their cloud-gazing spot, far enough from anybody who would disturb them but close enough to go back once their done relaxing or in this case, playing. It was late in the afternoon and air was cool enough for them to play comfortably in the open.

Clank!

"Really, sometimes I wonder how you think of all your moves," The pineapple boy said, resting his elbows on the wooden box the shogi set was on, "I suspect that you've some sort of mind-reading jutsu, like Ino."

"Anyone could do it," He quietly said, his fingers directing another one of his pieces, "All I needed to do was pre-empt whatever you want to start."

Clank!

Chouji sat nearby, trying to make heads and tails of what is happening on the board before he gave up and began slurping up his noodles with a wet flourish. Hoping to avert the conversation from shoji, he spoke, "Neh, Naruto, how's your sensei?"

Clank!

Naruto frowned. "I'm starting to think that he has a chronic illness for tardiness. Lazy person I gather, no offense, Shikamaru." The boy muttered something which suspiciously sounded like 'None taken'.

Clank!

"How's yours?" Naruto asked out of politeness, eyeing Shikamaru's encroaching pieces without pause.

"He's okay, though Chouji and I will have to see what he does in the future,"

Clank!

"Ah."

Clank!

He let a ghost of a smile grace his lips.

"Otedzume." Checkmate.

Shikamaru groaned.

( I I I )

They arrived at the designated time the next day, to find the spot empty and missing one grey-haired Jounin-sensei. Left with no choice, they waited, waited, and waited. Naruto was silent as usual, lost in his thoughts. Sakura was trying to chat up Sasuke though her attempts were met with almost outright refusal. She stopped trying after an hour or so and retreated to a shady spot under a nearby tree.

Time passed once more and it was a quarter to eleven when Sasuke had enough of waiting. He could spend his valuable time by training than sitting around and doing nothing at all. Vastly annoyed, he glanced at his team-mates. An idea suddenly struck him.

"Oi, Uzumaki!" Sasuke called suddenly, standing up to face the blonde. He wanted to find out how good the boy was, no matter what the scores had said. He wouldn't hurt him too bad. Sakura was just too weak for him, and besides she was a girl. "Want to spar?" He asked with a casual arrogance in his voice.

Naruto looked a bit confused at the request, before standing up himself. "Isn't it best to conserve our strength?" He asked, face betraying only puzzlement.

Sasuke scowled, his irritation at the current situation besting him. "That man whom we call teacher," he spat out the last word with annoyance, "Is still not here yet. Besides it's going to be Taijutsu only."

Naruto stood silent for a while before turning away from the Uchiha. "I feel that fighting now is unnecessary, Uchiha-san." Sasuke felt anger at the casual brush off.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me!" He rushed at Naruto, a fist raised to strike the boy. Naruto just side-stepped, grabbing the fist and an elbow for good measure before tossing the Uchiha at a tree. Sasuke stopped himself from crashing, landing with as much finesse as he could. He smirked.

"Better, Uzumaki." At this, Naruto frowned, dark eyes staring at him.

"I have no wish to hurt you." Naruto said quietly, his feet settling into a basic defensive tai-jutsu stance that was taught at the Academy.

"Don't worry; you won't," He said before charging once more. The pair exchanged blows and counters, neither of them getting pass each other's defenses.

'For one who's been a dead last, he's not bad…'

'But not good enough,' He thought, as he brought a fist crashing into the side of Naruto's face. 'Score one for me…'

It was a blink but Sasuke thought he saw a sudden change in Naruto's eyes and froze for a moment. Did they just turn…crimson? He didn't have time to think as the boy vanish from his sight for a second.

There was a slight rustle from his right.

'There!' He turned to find no one.

'What the...' His skin tingled and he moved, barely able to dodge a blurred shape.

Crack!

The trunk of the tree was badly cracked, showing a fist sized crater. Sasuke frowned, that couldn't be right. Trees in Konoha were much sturdier than in most countries and its strength was often compared to that of steel. If Naruto had this strength, why didn't he feel it in his punches? Instantly, Sasuke felt incensed and strangely, gleeful. 'How much did Naruto hold back just now…?'

The boy in question leapt back a good distance away, slight panting from the exertion of the fight.

All the while, Sakura sat under her tree, unable to move as she watched Sasuke and Naruto fight. While she was rooting for her Sasuke-kun, she was quite worried for him as well. Who knew what Naruto was capable of? Seeing Naruto fight made it even clearer for her. She also knew that trees in Konoha were as hard as they could get and Naruto, a dead last Genin, managed to make a hole in it. Naruto was dangerous like the others have said.

Sasuke, however, was less observant. "Why the hell did you stop!" He shouted, wanting to defeat this new obstacle.

"Sensei's here." Naruto said in that quiet tone of his, eyes now back to their normal blue lucidity.

Sakura blinked before turning to look behind. True enough, Kakashi was standing there with something akin to amusement in his eye.

"Yo." Kakashi waved with nonchalance. "Had fun while I was away?"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura yelled. In truth, she was rather relieved for him to be here.

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. "Err…I was helping an old lady, you see..."

The stares from his three students already told him what they thought of his excuse. He waved them off. "Now, that I'm here, I suppose that I will brief you further on what you're all supposed to do."

"I will be frank with you. This training is super tough." He said. Sasuke smirked while Sakura did not look convinced. Naruto just remained silent.

'And now for the coup de grace...'

"But this is no ordinary training; you will have to fight me if you wish to remain as Genin. And this test has a sixty six percent chance of failure and those who fail will be sent back to the Academy. In other words, of the twenty seven graduates, only nine will become full Genin."

At this, both Sasuke and Sakura paled considerably. Naruto had a look of surprise which more or less satisfied Kakashi.

"Not so easy now isn't it?" He asked pleasantly.

"W-Wait a minute!" Sakura burst out, her green eyes frantic, "I thought that we've already become Genin!"

"Correction, graduating from the Academy only makes you eligible for Genin-ship," Kakashi answered calmly, "This, however, is the real thing."

He set up an alarm clock at one of the tree stumps in the clearing before he held up two golden bells for all to see. "You will have an hour to snatch these bells from me. The only way you guys can get them is by coming at me with killer intent, otherwise don't try it at all and anything beyond the one hour will result in the loss of lunch. Lastly, the one who fails to get a bell will be tied to one of these lovely stumps. Understand?"

They nodded, their bodies ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

Kakashi smirked, and this time they could see it in his eyes.

"Let the games begin."

A/N: This is the last of my...'Pre-written Chapters', so Chapter Four's going take a few days to get posted. If you have any suggestions about the plot or anything else, please leave a review and I will get back to you as so as possible. Many thanks to those who have reviewed. For those who have read this little project of mine and didn't review, PLEASE REVIEW! I tend to work faster when I know people are reading what I churn out, and especially when the idea's fresh. (End Rant) Till then. Possible errors due to lack of reliable beta-reader.