DISCLAIMER: Despite my threats, complaints, pleas, and plans, I don't own Naruto.

Thanks everyone for your kind words and support. I'll do my best to keep this going good for you all! Please keep them coming. They feed my soul.
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Naruto, Hinata, and Shino followed their new Jounnin instructor to the roof of the academy. She decided that she was going to play by ear to decide what she would do today with the squad. She needed to give them the test to see if they were ready to be a team, and it would be helpful to know more about them as well. Once they reached the roof, she instructed them to have a seat before.

"Alright, let's get started shall we?" she said to the Genin. "My name is Kurenai Yuhi, and I'll be your new Jounnin instructor on our team. I'm going to come on out and say that you all are the first team I ever led, but get one thing memorized if you learn nothing else: I'm not here to baby-sit you all. I have better things I could be doing, so I expect you all to behave like grown shinobi, got it?" she asked. She glared at Naruto for a moment who wasn't even paying attention. He was busy balancing a kunai on the tip of his nose. "Anyways, why don't we get started by introducing ourselves? Tell me your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and any goals."

"Why don't you start us off?" Naruto asked. "We at least slightly know each other from class, but we don't know squat about you…" Kurenai cursed Anko for raising Naruto to have her personality, but had to admit he had a point.

"Fine then." Kurenai replied. "As I said at the start, my name is Kurenai Yuhi. My likes are tea, my friends, and reading. My dislikes are people who harm others for fun, cold weather, and people who treat friends and teammates with disrespect. My hobby is reading, and my goal is to be successful with my first Genin team. Now, let's move on to you." she said, pointing at Shino. "What's your name, likes, dislikes, and hobbies?"

"Shino Aburame." the quiet boy replied. "Bugs, people who hurt bugs, and training with my bugs."

"You're like an open book, ain't ya?" Naruto asked him. Shino simply pushed his sunglasses up on his nose.

"How about you next then?" Kurenai said looking at Naruto.

"Fine by me!" Naruto replied. "My name's Naruto Mitarashi! I like my friends and mom, ramen, snakes, and dango! My dislikes are liars, people who think they're better than everyone else, fan girls, people who mistreat snakes, and the three minute wait for ramen to cool. I my hobbies are eating ramen, training with my friends and mom, and learning new jutsus!"

Kurenai looked at Naruto as he grinned. He reminded her so much of Anko. She had the same obsession with snakes when they were Genin on the same team, but that was a long time ago. Kurenai snapped back into reality and asked Hinata to introduce herself.

"M-my name is Hinata Hyugga." she answered quietly. "I like my three best friends, flowers, and training with my friends. I hate people who judge someone before they get to know them, and my hobby is pressing flowers."

Kurenai thought for a moment. Her team consisted of what seemed like a miniature Anko, a girl who was incredibly shy when put on the spot, and a boy with little to no emotion. It was quite an unusual team. She nodded for the team to rise and she smiled.

"Now that we've finished introducing ourselves, It's time for a test to see if you're ready to become Genin." she told them.

"A test?!" Naruto shouted. "I thought we already took the graduation exam! What the hell do we need another test for?!" Hinata gave Naruto a look for his loud outburst trying to get him to calm down, while Shino simply sighed.

"Let me finish." Kurenai said. "This is more of a survival test of sorts. Meet me at training ground 11 in about an hour, and I'll go into more there." Kurenai disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the three Genin standing on the roof.

"An hour, huh…" Naruto replied. "Alright, come on Hinata and uh… I guess you to bug-boy."

Naruto grabbed Hinata and took off, with Shino walking slowly behind. As they reached the bottom floor of the school, they passed a silver haired Jounnin who had his nose stuck in a book. He was mumbling to himself as he walked up the stairs.

"Let's see… Lost on the road of life? No… Maybe saving people from a fire?" he asked himself.

"N-Naruto-kun, where are we going?" Hinata asked.

"We're looking for Ten-chan and Bushy Brow…" Naruto replied. "They were both Genin a year before us, so maybe they know what this survival test is about."

"They have a different Jounnin leader though…" Shino spoke up. "How would asking them about it help? I doubt they Jounnins give the same tests…"

"Shino maybe right." Hinata replied. "Besides… I don't want to interrupt them if Gai-sensei is training them…"

"What? I'm sure he wouldn't mind giving them a break for a few minutes." Naruto replied. "Besides, I've never met their teammate yet."

"I think we don't need to meet them." Hinata said. "Why don't we just grab some lunch and then go meet Kurenai-sensei?"

"Fine… If you say so." Naruto replied.

He had to admit that he was slightly curious about Hinata not wanting to see if Gai's team could tell them anything, but let it go after she offered to by the team lunch at the dango restaurant. The made small talk, mainly Naruto and Hinata, while Shino remained as silent as ever. After killing enough time, they arrived at the training ground to see Kurenai already waiting on them.

"Good, you're all on time." she said as they arrived. "Now that you're here, we can begin the test."

"What is this test anyways?" Naruto asked.

"Simple. I'm going to go hide, and you all have three hours to find me." Kurenai replied.

"That's it?" Naruto asked. "We're playing hide and seek? What the hell kinda test is that?"

"Oh right… My apologies… I forgot to mention, if you don't find me and catch me in three hours, you all get to go back to the academy. Time starts… Now!" Kurenai said with a smirk. She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Ok, so I'll go find her, and you both do whatever." Naruto shouted. He took off running into the nearby forest.

"Sad… He's so excited that he doesn't even realize she went this way…" Shino said. He turned and headed in the other direction.

"Wait… Naruto-kun? Shino?" Hinata called. "I guess I'll go this way…"

Hinata ran through the field looking around. She looked all around, but didn't see her anywhere. Kurenai was a Jounnin, so both Shino and Hinata knew that this wasn't going to be easy tracking her down, but Naruto was sure that this would be nothing for him. After wandering the field for the third time, Hinata stopped for a minute and activated her Byakugan. She took a look around the field, and then saw her. Kurenai was using genjutsu to disguise herself as a bush. Hinata smiled and leapt into the trees. She would sneak up on the woman, and catch her from above. Hinata made her way stealth fully through the leaves, pausing on the branch above Kurenai. She smiled and then jumped down, aiming straight for her.

"Sorry, Hinata." Kurenai said with a smile. "It's going to take more than that."

Kurenai disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Hinata to catch nothing but air. Hinata reactivated her Byakugan, and scanned the field again. She was nowhere to be found. Hinata quickly ran forward, and began to track her down. She moved some into the forest and looked around.

"Where did she go…?" Hinata asked herself.

She scanned the forest. She saw rocks, trees, logs, and a bear. Then hit her, that there weren't any bears this close to the village. She ran forward, and sure enough, the bear was revealed to be Kurenai. Kurenai sighed.

"Seeing me is one thing, Hinata, but it will take more than that to catch me." Kurenai said.

Once again, Kurenai disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Hinata to search for her again. However, Kurenai had grown bored of Hinata, and decided to see what Shino could do. The bug user was standing at the center of the field. A calm, relaxed face was on him, or as much as one could be seen, which wasn't much. Shino looked over his shoulder, and bugs began to fly out of his jacket. He looked at them all and nodded, sending them all flying in various directions. One group of bugs flew by a tree and spotted something, the group remained behind, while one flew back to Shino.

"I see…" he said.

He slowly walked over to the tree, and sent a mass amount of bugs from his jacket, to the trees. The bugs flew up and soon, Kurenai came falling down from the trees. Shino walked forward, just in time for the woman to explode, sending Shino skidding away from the tree. The bugs followed behind him, and returned to his jacket. He stood back up and looked at the area of the explosion.

"Genjutsu… She disguised a kunai with an exploding tag as herself." Shino muttered. "Working alone will not make this easy."

Naruto was going nuts. He had been at this for nearly an hour and still hadn't seen heads or tails of Kurenai. He was making his third lap through the forest near the training grounds, when he got an idea.

"Man… I can't believe I didn't think of this!" Naruto shouted. He made several hand signs and then performed Kage Bushin. Ten shadow clones appeared around him. "Alright, here's what we'll do!." he told them. "Everyone split up and find her."

All the shadow clones nodded and turned to look for the woman, only to drop their jaws when they saw her standing right in front of them. The real Naruto jumped forward and smiled.

"We got you now, Kurenai-sensei!" he shouted. "Let's get her!"

The clones jumped forward and began to catch her. Two jumped at her, but Kurenai simply ducked underneath them, causing them both to crash into each other and vanish. Another three ran forward, but Kurenai grabbed one of them and slammed him back into the other two. Naruto nodded to the remaining four and all of them leapt to her. Kurenai sighed as she leapt into the air and tossed her kunai at all three at rapid speed, causing them all to vanish minus the real one who got the kunai in his ass. Naruto leapt out of the forest and landed right in front of Shino and Hinata.

"Damn it… I almost had her." Naruto complained sitting up.

"This isn't working… We only have twenty minutes left to catch her." Hinata replied helping him up.

"Tch…" Naruto mumbled. "Give me five more minutes and I'll get her…" he pulled out a kunai with one of Anko's sadistic grins on his face, only for Shino to stop him.

"It won't work." he replied. "The object here isn't just to catch her. If it was, we would have done so already."

"So it's teamwork then?" Hinata asked.

"Of course." Naruto replied. "Why else would we be divided into groups of three?"

"Anyways…" Shino sighed. "We need to combine our strengths to catch her. Naruto tell me, how many shadow clones can you make at once?"

"Right now I can make about 10." Naruto replied.

"Can they perform the Seneijashu?" Shino asked.

"Of course! They have all the abilities I do." Naruto responded.

"Hinata, you can keep track of her with the Byakugan, correct?" Shino asked.

"Yes." Hinata replied.

"Good… Then here's what we'll do…" Shino whispered.

Kurenai was sitting on a rock in the forest, wondering where the others were. They only had about five minutes left, and she was getting rather bored. She really had hoped that the three of them would pass, but perhaps they just weren't ready. Suddenly two snakes slithered by. Kurenai smiled, however that smile quickly faded. Two groups of five Narutos jumped out of the bushes on the left and right. Kurenai was preparing to get some space to deal with them, only to see Shino and a wall of bugs blocking her path. She then turned around, only to see Hinata standing in her path, with more of Shino's bugs with her.

"Close, kids…" Kurenai said. "You forgot about teleporting though."

"And you forgot about my snakes!" Naruto shouted.

Kurenai looked down to see snakes wrapped around her hand, making it impossible for her to make her hand signs needed to escape. Kurenai looked down and sighed, but then a smile slowly crept across her face.

"Alright, then… Looks like you all successfully caught me." she exclaimed. "You all pass." The bugs returned to Shino, and the clones and snakes vanished. Kurenai and the Genin all returned to the training area to listen to what she had to say.

"Congratulations on passing. Now, can anyone tell me what the point of this lesson was?" Kurenai asked.

"To get us to work together as a team." Hinata answered.

"Correct." Kurenai replied. "The only bad part was that you failed to realize this until near the end. Hinata, you were to shy to ask for Shino to help, and let Naruto do whatever he pleased. Naruto, you were so busy showing off, that you disregarded Shino and Hinata when they needed you. Shino, you need to be more open. If you find something odd or having trouble, don't keep it to yourself." All three of the Genin nodded and Kurenai looked at her watch. "Alright, we'll be getting our first mission tomorrow, so make sure you all meet back here at 9:00 A.M."

They all nodded and Kurenai left to fill her report on the success of Team 8 to the Hokage. Shino also excused himself, saying that it was time for him to head home. Naruto and Hinata decided to meet up with Lee and Tenten in the usual spot, and headed for the ramen stand.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Naruto asked as he and Hinata sat down. Naruto ordered miso ramen, while Hinata was there just to socialize.

"About time you two showed up!" Tenten replied. "Where have you been?"

"We had our first meeting with our Jounnin leader today." Hinata answered. "Kurenai-sensei made us take some test to see if we were ready to be on a team."

"YOU PASSED WITH FLYING COLORS NO DOUBT!" Lee shouted. "I CAN SEE THE FIRE OF YOUTH BURNING IN YOU BOTH!"

"Yeah…" Naruto said. He held his left ear in which Lee just screamed in. He reached onto a plate and pulled off his sixth stick of dango. "She said we gotta meet her at the training grounds tomorrow at 9:00 A.M. for our first mission." Naruto looked at his watch and realized he was late. "Damn, I gotta go, or else mom'll make do the target practice test again."

"Anko sure does make you train a lot." Tenten replied.

"I guess that's normal though when you're mom is a Jounnin though." Naruto answered. "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

They watched as Naruto sped away from the restaurant. He made his way to the Forest of Death, back to the tower he and Anko called home. He opened the door just in time to see a kunai whiz past his face. Naruto sighed as he pulled it off the door frame and walked towards the balcony. Sure enough there was Anko leaning against the railing with a huge grin.

"Can't you just say hi like normal parents?" Naruto asked as he through the kunai back at her.

"That wouldn't be much fun, now would it?" Anko replied. "Besides, you're late."

"Yeah, sorry about that…" Naruto answered scratching the back of his head.

"So? Did you pass Kurenai's test?" Anko asked.

"Of course!" Naruto shouted. "Though it was weird… I mean our test was like a giant game of hide and seek."

"Really…" Anko said. "That's the same test that our sensei used to give us when we were on a Genin team. It took us all three hours to find him."

"That's right you were on a Genin squad too." Naruto replied. "Who did you have on your team?"

"Hmm? Don't you know it's not nice to pry into someone's past?" Anko asked with a smile. She suddenly kicked Naruto over the railing, back to the floor below. "Besides, you got training to do."

"You know, I can make it down here without you kicking me like that…" Naruto mumbled.

Meanwhile, Hinata had just arrived home. She quickly ran up to the bathroom in her room, bathed and freshened up, and then headed downstairs for dinner. Her father, Hiashi, along with her sister Hanabi and cousin Neji were already there when Hinata arrived. There was silence as the meal began. Hinata was probably the quietest there, barely making any noise, almost as if she was not even breathing.

"So, how was your day, Neji?" the head of the main family finally asked.

"Same as always." Neji replied. "Some light sparing with my teammates, opening little room to improve myself."

"Yes, I could see where a stronger team may benefit you." Hiashi replied. "Tomorrow morning I will see if any of the other Genin teams have an open slot. Hinata, what about you? How was your first day as Genin?"

"It was fine, father…" Hinata quietly replied.

"Who is on your team?" he asked.

There it was. The question Hinata had been dreading. She knew that he would not care about Shino, but her father had long ago displayed his dislike for Naruto, when he flat out stated that Hinata should avoid any contact with the boy. He never said why, which made her even more curious.

"Shino Aburame and Naruto Mitarashi…" she replied, looking down at her plate.

"How did he make it to Genin?" Hiashi asked. "The Mitarashi boy failed the exam, or so I've been told."

"He passed the exam later…" Hinata looked down. "H-he was able to make more clones then anyone. D-during the t-test with Kurenai-sensei, he m-made 10..."

"After dinner you shall spar with Hanabi." her father suddenly said. He got out of his seat and walked away. "I will not of a monster like him upstage the Hyugga Clan…"

Hinata watched as Hanabi went after her father, and Neji just mumbled something under his breath before leaving. Her mind though was on Naruto. Why did almost everyone refer to him as monster and demon? What did he do to deserve so much hate?

Things were a little more reserved and, as to be expected morbidly quiet at the Aburame house. Shino was asked about his day and team. However, his family was mainly quiet when informed of Naruto Mitarashi being a teammate, or at least to his ears. Upon finishing his dinner and retiring to his room for the night, Shino's parents talked about the repercussions of Naruto being involved with their son could have on him as well as the family. They would ask the Hokage in the morning about keeping close watch on Naruto, to prevent the power inside of him from harming him. Shino didn't need to hear it however. The mere mention of Naruto's name caused a slight detection of worry on his father's usually emotionless face. The gears in Shino's brain began to turn, making him wonder what it was that made the adults worry at the mention of Naruto…

"I trust all the tests went well?" the Hokage asked the three Jounnin as they entered his office.

"More so than I originally planned." Asuma replied. "I even here ol' Kakashi finally passed a team."

"Only because they were the first to truly understand the point of the bell test." Kakashi added. He wasn't really paying attention that much. He appeared to be more interested in his new book.

"How about your squad, Kurenai?" the Hokage asked.

"They all did quite well. In fact their innate skills seem to correspond well with each other." she replied. "The combined force of Hinata's Byakugan, Shino's bugs, and Naruto's shadow clones and snakes are…"

"Shadow Clones and snakes?" Asuma repeated. "Shadow clones are a Jounnin level technique, and there are only two people I know who can use snake style jutsus…"

"He learned the shadow clone jutsu the night the scroll was stolen." Kakashi answered. "As for the snakes, it is to be expected, seeing as how his mother is Anko, who also teaches him at night."

"So he's the one who stole the scroll?" Asuma asked.

"I forgot you were on a mission when the event happened." Kakashi replied.

"Make no mistake; he was lead to steal by Mizuki's orders, who was his sensei at the time." Kurenai replied. "Do not think any less of the boy, as he was simply following orders at the time."

"Are you kidding?" Asuma replied. "The fact that a newbie Genin is able to perform shadow clones is enough for me to respect him."

"That's good to know…" Kurenai thought. "I'm curious as to why she's teaching him HIS jutsus though…"

Kurenai thought.

"Kurenai-san? Is something wrong?" the third asked.

"No… Anyways, I believe you have the first missions for us?" Kurenai replied.

"Of course." the Hokage replied. "These are the basic jobs for newly formed Genin teams: home repair, shop aid, babysitting, things of that sort. All of you pick one and have the teams report to my office once they finish."

All of them picked out one of the cards. Kakashi got one about running a flower shop for the day. Asuma picked out one about a trio needed to watch a set of triplets. Kurenai picked one out about a missing cat. She remembered how the team had to pass a test that involved finding her, and now their first mission would be finding a cat. She could see Naruto drawing out his kunai to slice anything that crossed him. She sighed at the thought as she went home, to rest up for a full day with her new team.

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NEXT CHAPTER: A REAL MISSION!

I apologize if this chapter seems weak. I was facing massive fatigue and tiredness while writing it. I promise to do better next time. I'd also like to answer one question people keep asking. Yes there is a pairing in this, and no it isn't Hinata or Sakura. Thank you, and I shall see you in the next chapter!