A/N: Oh, goodie…first chapter that will really attempt to feature both teams. This is probably going to end up being long…

Naruto sat on the bank of the river, tempted to take off his shoes and relax in the warm grass. His training as a ninja, however, which required him to be ready to fend off an attack at any time, managed to keep him fully clothed. The same could not be said for his students.

Daisuke, Hikaru, and Hanako were all waist deep in the river, wearing swimming suits. Their fishing rods lay abandoned on the ground, long since replaced by bare hands.

Team Three's first D rank mission was a request from an elderly fisherman who lived on the outskirts of Konohagakure. He had broken his leg in a fall a few days before, and was unable to catch fish. In order to meet the various contracts with restaurants around the village, he had hired the shinobi to catch fish for him until his wound healed.

Although his team had not been excited at first by the idea of fishing for an entire day (particularly the energetic Hyuuga, who had very little patience for such slow paced activities), Naruto had been able to make it seem like a much more enjoyable task.

First, he had pointed out that they would be able to spend most of a hot summer day swimming, or at least near water. As this summer had been full of record-breaking heat, the three genin had reacted favorably to this idea. Also, trying to catch fish with bare hands was excellent training for hand-to-eye coordination. At least, that was what Naruto told his team.

Well, they seem to be enjoying themselves, thought Naruto. They took to this like…well…like fish to water. Laughing to himself at his own lame pun, Naruto remembered how the day had started out.

Flashback

Naruto leaned on the tree, watching his two male students approaching. Daisuke was chatting happily. Hikaru, while not being completely unresponsive, was letting Daisuke do the vast majority of the talking.

"I see that most of my students are here," Naruto said. "I see that you are wearing your swim trunks, like I asked." The boys were wearing bathing suits instead of normal short. "I suppose that you two can get started while we wait for Hanako."

The two got into the river and began attempting to grab the fish, Daisuke talking without cease. After about twenty minutes, Hanako ran down the path and came to a halt in front of Naruto, panting.

"I'm sorry I'm late, Naruto-sensei," gasped Hanako as she tried to regain her breath. "I had to discuss some matters with my father, and they took longer than I expected."

Naruto chuckled a bit. He knew Hiashi by reputation, having heard many stories about him from Hinata. His opinion of the man…was not high, to say the best.

"It is fine, Hanako." Naruto grinned. "At least you aren't as late as my sensei used to be. He comes up with really lame excuses, too…" Naruto started laughing, remembering old times. Then, he remembered something. "Hanako, where is your swimsuit? You don't want to get your jacket wet, do you?"

Hanako shook her head.

"I'm wearing it under the jacket, sensei."

With that, she walked down to the water to join her male teammates. Once they had seen her, Daisuke and Hikaru walked over to the bank to greet her. They had just arrived when she began to pull her jacket over her head, revealing her swimsuit underneath.

When she had pulled the jacket completely off her head, and was able to see again, neither of her teammates was visible. Some air bubbles rushed up from underwater, and a small cloud of red from the two boys' nosebleeds clouded the water.

Hanako looked around for a moment, confused. Then, she squealed, a loud sound that made Naruto wince in pain, even through his laughter.

"Are they drowning! AHHH!"

End Flashback

A/N: I couldn't resist putting that in there. Sorry.

After a lot of confusion on the part of Hanako, and embarrassment from the two boys, the fishing had resumed, and Naruto had continued to watch. He himself had experienced no nosebleed, his time with Jiraiya having purged him of any such tendencies. He began laughing to himself, imagining what Jiraiya's reaction would have been if he had been there.

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Just outside of a women's hot spring, a sudden flurry of sneezes erupted.

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Shikamaru frowned as he crouched behind a box in the alley. His students were just around the corner, and had been the past fifteen minutes. He had been in his position as they all arrived, and he had not heard any of them speak a single word.

This is troublesome, thought Shikamaru as he leaned against the wall. He felt his jounin vest stick to something, and regretted his leaning instantly. That exercise yesterday didn't work as well as I thought it would.

Thinking back, Shikamaru had realized that he may have made a mistake using his test instead of the original bell test. The bell test united the students against a common enemy. While his test did encourage teamwork, Shikamaru had forgotten to take into account that his students would not quickly forget that they had been fighting against each other.

Whatever the reason, Shikamaru could tell that his team wasn't bonding. He knew that if they were to function well as ninja, which could affect their survival, they needed to be close. Something had to be done. Hopefully, their first mission would help with that, even if it was a D rank.

Shikamaru slowly stood up, stretched himself out, and walked around the corner. He tried to appear as though he just arrived, and had not been eavesdropping for the past twenty minutes.

"Good morning, kids," he said with a yawn. "Excited about your first mission?"

There was a silence. Kiyo looked as though he didn't care, Haruka simply wore the emotionless mask that she always did, and Goren wasn't the type of person to speak up. Surprisingly enough it was Haruka that broke the silence.

"Sensei…" Shikamaru perked up. Was she going to say something about her teammates? About the mission?

"…you have a large amount of chewing gum on your back."

Shikamaru looked around, and sure enough, there was a large pink blob on his back. With a sigh, he plucked it off and flicked it to the ground.

"Thank you, Haruka. Your mission today, actually, has a lot to do with that gum." Shikamaru could see that his students were slightly confused. "You need to clean up this alley, and this street."

Kiyo finally looked up, paying attention for the first time of the day.

"Shikamaru-sensei, how does this help us become stronger ninjas?" Shikamaru gave a small smile.

"Quite frankly, it doesn't help you become stronger." Shikamaru held up a hand, knowing what Kiyo would ask before he even said it. "We are doing this, Kiyo, because there is more to being a ninja than simply strength. We are here to protect this village, and this mission is to remind you that you are here to serve."

Wow, thought Shikamaru, I almost bought that excuse myself…

"Anyways," Shikamaru said, straightening his vest, "You guys get to work. I'll be here to check up on you in about an hour." As he turned to leave, Shikamaru glanced back at his team.

"By the way…whatever is going on between you guys, clear it up now. If there's still tension from yesterday, forget it. If you three get this moody every time you spar, then you will be a failure as a team. You are going to trust each other with your lives, and you need to function as a team."

Leaving the team to reflect on those words, Shikamaru jumped out of sight. The clouds were beautiful at this time of the morning…

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"Ow! Owowowowowowow!"

"Oh shut up, Daisuke-san," said Hikaru. "The fish wasn't even that big."

"It's teeth were," muttered Daisuke, as he threw his catch onto the pile.

Hanako looked at the small wound on Daisuke's arm anxiously.

"Daisuke-chan, you're bleeding!" She pointed at his arm dramatically. Daisuke and Hikaru stared at her.

"I know that, Hanako-kun," said Daisuke. "It is my arm."

"Aren't you worried?"

"About what?" Daisuke was slightly puzzled.

"Sharks come after blood!"

Daisuke and Hikaru stared for a while. Finally, Naruto spoke.

"Um…Hanako?" The girl turned to face her sensei, smiling brightly.

"Yes, Naruto-sensei?"

Naruto was frowning slightly.

"You do know that this is a freshwater stream, don't you?"

Hanako nodded.

"Of course I do, I've been swimming in it all day!"

"Well…sharks are saltwater fish." Hanako continued staring, not catching Naruto's drift. "There are no sharks in this river."

"Oh…"

There was another long moment of uncomfortable silence, as everyone stared at Hanako. Finally, Daisuke cleared his throat.

"Well, the bleeding is stopping anyway. Let's get back to work."

Glad to have the spotlight taken off of her, Hanako dived back into the water. Within a few moments, the team had gone back to work, with Daisuke and Hanako chatting, and Hikaru mostly observing.

Naruto had watched the entire exchange, and what he saw pleased him. Daisuke had known full well that Hanako was uncomfortable with everyone staring at her, and had acted to help spare his teammate embarrassment. That showed good teamwork.

It looks like my team is bonding well, thought Naruto. I wonder how Shikamaru's is doing…

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Haruka bent over, and picked up a small piece of a newspaper, and put it inside her trash bag. The alley was beginning to look cleaner, but it was obvious that they still had a ways to go.

When Haruka stood up straight, she turned to look at her two teammates. The trio had been working for almost twenty minutes, but not a word had been said. Obviously, there was tension over something.

Haruka suspected that the boys felt awkward over their battle yesterday. She did not understand these feelings, but from her brother's stories of schools, she had deduced that many males had quite large egos. She had never seen evidence of such an ego in her brother, but he was, after all, an Aburame.

Haruka supposed that someone should do something to resolve the tension. The team really would not be very efficient if none of them talked to each other.

Then again, she thought, I have never been very good at relating to my peers. I suppose I shall wait for Goren or Kiyo to make the first move.

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Goren wiped a bit of sweat off of his brow. The trash cleaning was not causing him to sweat, as it was far easier than the majority of his ninja training. The sun, however, had begun to burn brightly, and the temperature was rapidly rising.

Goren began to find himself becoming ill-tempered as time wore on. He didn't mind working when he knew that he was accomplishing something, but Shikamaru-sensei had come right out and said that this task had no purpose!

As he dumped his full bag of trash into a nearby trashcan, Goren let out a sigh. He had become slightly tired of the silence that gripped the group.

Of course, from Haruka he hadn't expected a lot of noise. She was an Aburame; if she had talked, it would have actually been a bit scary. Kiyo, however, was another story.

In class, Kiyo had not been outspoken, exactly, but he spoke occasionally as well. Goren had never really thought of him as being that different from the other children in the class. The fight yesterday had changed all of that.

Kiyo hadn't acted like a normal boy. He had been far too serious, far too determined. Above all, he had been far too strong. He was a completely different person from what Goren had expected.

Goren had never considered himself to be weak, despite his nerdy exterior. However, Kiyo had defeated him easily, and it rankled. Goren had no idea why Kiyo was refusing to speak, but he knew full well why Goren refused to.

He was being a sore loser.

As he realized this, Goren stopped working, and looked at Kiyo. Haruka and Kiyo continued working for a few moments, before they realized that he had stopped. Slowly, they stopped as well, and turned to face him. When Goren spoke, it was directed towards Kiyo. He knew that Haruka wasn't the problem.

"You beat me yesterday."

Kiyo blinked.

"Um…yeah. I did. You just noticed?"

Goren ignored the sarcastic remark, and continued speaking. From the corner of his eye, he saw Haruka nod in what seemed to be an approving gesture.

"I think that I've been holding that against you."

Kiyo kept looking at Goren.

"Are you going to say anything important?" Kiyo began to look slightly annoyed. "If not, then I'm going to go back to cleaning. I want to get this stupid mission over as soon as possible."

The next time Goren spoke, it was slightly louder.

"You are my teammate." Kiyo's smirk faded away. Goren seemed much more serious now, something inside of Kiyo prevented him from ridiculing him. "You beat me, but I can accept that. We are going to be trusting our lives to each other, and we need to work well together."

"You do realize, you almost exactly quoted Shikamaru-sensei." Kiyo's remark was sarcastic, but there was no bite to it. He was chewing on his lip thoughtfully. Goren once again ignored the semi-insult, and walked towards Kiyo. To Kiyo's surprise, he extended his hand.

"I don't want any of my comrades to die," said the nerd. "I want to be your teammate, and maybe one day, your nakama. I don't want there to be tensions between us."

Kiyo was frozen, staring down at Goren's hand.

Nakama...I had nakama. They're gone now.

Kiyo shook slightly, as he remembered his friends, and his family. All gone…he missed the feeling of having loved ones. But if he had loved ones…he could lose them again.

After a long moment, Kiyo came to his decision. He reached forward, and shook Goren's hand.

"Comrades, then." Kiyo let out a small grin. "Nakama, maybe."

Goren smiled too.

"That will do, for now."

Off to the side, Haruka let out a slight noise that may have been a chuckle. Kiyo and Goren both glanced at her, having forgotten she was there during their little conversation.

"Boys…" Haruka chuckled again, and picked up a piece of trash. Kiyo let out a slightly wicked grin.

"Oh you don't think that we'd leave you out, do you?"

Haruka stiffened in surprise.

"What do you…"

Before she could complete her sentence, Kiyo ran over to her and hugged her. Goren sweat-dropped.

"Kiyo, what are you doing to Haruka-san?"

"Well, she is our comrade, and potential nakama, isn't she? I'm sealing the deal, only with a hug instead of a handshake." Kiyo made a mock frown. "It's different for girls than guys. Unless you wanted me to hug you…"

Goren let out an exasperated sigh, and Haruka looked extremely uncomfortable. Before he could say anything, however, he heard a slight chuckling noise come from behind him. He turned, and saw a laughing Shikamaru.

Kiyo and Haruka saw him, too, and adruptly realized the position they were in, with Kiyo hugging her. Hastily, Kiyo released Haruka. He cleared his throat, and straightened his shirt, attempting to look innocent. It didn't help that Shikamaru wouldn't stop laughing.

"I see that whatever hostility issues you three had have been…settled." Shikamaru began grinning wickedly. "I must tell you though, try not to become too friendly. Nothing can drive a team apart faster than a love triangle."

Kiyo and Goren began choking, and Haruka let out a slightly offended gasp.

"Shikamaru-sensei!" Her emotionless mask had slipped slightly, and a hint of her anger shone through. "I wouldn't…" She saw, however, that he was laughing, and bit off her retort. Once his laughing had subsided, Shikamaru took a look around the street.

"Well, this looks fairly clean." He turned back to face his team, and smiled. This time, however, it was a warm smile, instead of a slightly mocking one. "Congratulations. You just completed your first mission."

Goren and Kiyo both let out a small cheer, while Haruka merely stood, still fuming slightly over the "love triangle" remark. Shikamaru laughed as he saw them, remembering his, Ino, and Chouji's first mission. It had been a D rank, fairly similar to this one.

"Hey," he said to the trio. "I have to fill out the paperwork for the mission. You three should go out to eat together, it will be a bonding exercise. I actually know a good place…"

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Daisuke, Hikaru, and Hanako sat on the bank of the river, next to their catch of fish. Naruto had to admit, it was a decently sized pile. The fisherman would be happy. Turning away from the pile of fish, he looked at his genin.

The three were laughing, and talking. Even Hikaru had opened up as the day went on. Naruto knew that Shikamaru was having trouble with his team working together, but the opposite was true here. Naruto grinned slightly.

This is perfect…when I'm through with them, they'd do anything for each other! Naruto sobered slightly as he followed that thought to its inevitable conclusion. They'd die for each other…

Forcing himself away from such somber thoughts, Naruto walked over to his genin.

"Hey, you three! Nice work with the fish! Daisuke, don't worry, your arm should be fine." Naruto laughed at the look on Daisuke's face at the word should. "I am going to file the paperwork for our first mission! You guys should go have a celebration dinner. I know! You can go eat at Ichiraku's!"

Hanako and Hikaru looked slightly puzzled, but Daisuke lit up.

"I know where that is! Let's go, guys!"

Daisuke ran off, and Hikaru and Hanako jumped up to follow him. Naruto watched as they receded into the distance. Once they were out of sight, he began thinking.

Naruto had paid particular attention to Daisuke over the course of the day. He had not forgotten his instincts concerning the boy. However, his observations weren't rewarded. Daisuke had acted like an ordinary kid, maybe even a bit of a goofball.

Was I wrong? Was yesterday just a fluke? Naruto was slightly confused. He decided to work on his paperwork in a small café, only across the street from Ichiraku's.

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Shikamaru took a small sip of his tea, and grinned. Sometimes, it was incredibly difficult to not become smug over his intellect, particularly when he was watching a plan come together. This smugness was only confirmed when he saw a bright orange jumpsuit rounding the corner of the street.

Naruto got a drink at the counter, and was about to sit when he spotted Shikamaru. He walked over, and grinned as he spoke.

"Oi, Shikamaru-kun! What a coi-" Shikamaru cut him off quickly.

"Quiet, baka! They'll hear you!"

Naruto sat, confused.

"They? Who do you mean?"

Shikamaru grinned.

"I'm pretty sure that I am correct in assuming you sent your team to eat here. Well, I thought it would be a good thing for both of our teams if we were to induce a little…friendly rivalry."

Seeing that he was being too subtle for Naruto, Shikamaru sighed and elaborated.

"I sent my team to the same restaurant. The two will meet, and if I am right about their personalities, they will probably clash."

Naruto gaped at Shikamaru, incredulous.

"You did this without telling me? How could you?"

Before Shikamaru could reply, Naruto froze. Over Shikamaru's shoulder, he saw his team approaching. From the corner of his eye, he also saw Shikamaru's team.

Naruto groaned, and sank into his chair.

Kami-sama knows how this will end, thought Naruto as he wished he had a huge bowl of ramen to steady his nerves.

Yep! Longest chapter yet! Read and review!