Chapter Nine

Sakura squealed when Naruto suddenly grabbed her around her waist from behind to spin her in tight circles around the P.F.T. field.

"We did it Sakura-chan! We passed the exam!"

Sakura laughed loudly as she playfully kicked her legs and tugged on his arms. "Yes Naruto, we did! Now put me down you idiot!"

Naruto smirked. "If you insist!"

"What are you—Ow! Naruto!"

Naruto just laughed and took off at a sprint in order to avoid his angry cousin as she stood up from where he had dropped her on the ground.

"I'll teach you, you baka!"

"Eep!" Naruto said as he dove behind Ino and Hinata to hide. "Save me!"

Ino scoffed. "And why would I do that? You know I can't stand you."

Naruto mock-pouted at Ino's teasing tone. "Awe come on Ino, don't be so heartless." He smiled brightly at Hinata. "You'll protect me right Hinata-chan?"

Hinata blushed heavily and looked down. "N-Naruto-kun…"

The rapid approach of the steaming Sakura cut off anything Naruto had been about to say as he dove behind the girls again, this time grabbing Hinata's arms from behind as if she were a shield.

"Save me Hinata-chan!"

"That's just low, Naruto!" Sakura said. "You know that no one would ever do anything to Hinata! She's too cute!"

"That's the point! With her cuteness to guard me I'm perfectly protected!"

Fortunately before Hinata had the chance to feint (again) their fun and games was brought to an end by Iruka calling them all back into the classroom. Once they were all seated back where they were earlier Iruka waved for them all to be silent before he lifted another clipboard from his desk.

"Alright, are you all ready to find out who you will be with for the next few years?"

Soft murmurs of excitement followed that statement causing Iruka to smile.

"Alright then. Team One: Amano Shin, Akihara Kayko, and Hitowari Niku. Team Two: Kinakawa Minami, Sakurai Daisu, and Himatari Shinji. Team Three: Ogawa Reiko, Nomamura Eiji, and Kuwabara Shuiichi."

Sakura's lips were pressed tightly together as she unconsciously squeezed Naruto's hand beneath the desk.

"Itai," Naruto said softly. "Are you trying to break my hand Sakura-chan?"

"Ah! Gomen Naruto." Sakura whispered back. "I'm just nervous."

"-ken Iota. Team Seven: Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Sasuke."

Sakura and Naruto exchanged surprised glanses before Naruto smirked and leaned forward on the desk to look around his cousin at Sasuke.

"Looks like you're going to have to try keeping up, Teme."

"Just don't slow me down, Dobe."

Before the argument could escalate Iruka was already moving on to the next team.

"Team Eight: Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata. Team Nine: Mitsuaki Hanako, Takahashi Rai, and Kanzaka Tetsuichi. And finally, Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji, and Nara Shikamaru." Iruka smiled at the excited group but he held out his hand for quiet.

"Your jounin instructors will be arriving soon so I would ask that you all rearrange yourselves into your teams to await them. They shouldn't be long. As for those of you who did not pass the exam I would ask that you please leave at this time. Also, don't forget to report to the office on your way out to make sure that you are signed up for the next semester."

Ami angrily stood and slapped her palms hard to her desk causing everyone to stop moving to look at her.

"My grandfather will be in touch with you Iruka-san." Ami said, her voice dangerous before she made her way down the stairs of the classroom and out the door.

Naruto's face was hard as he watched the dark haired girl slide the door shut with a bang; only relaxing when Sakura rested her hand gently on his shoulder. He looked over at her, his diamond hard eyes softening.

"Don't worry," Sakura said with a gentle squeeze. "Iruka-sensei will be fine. Wahiawa-sama may be on the council but even they don't have limitless powers. Ami is just blowing hot air."

Naruto gave his cousin a lopsided grin and nodded. "Yeah, your right."

But as Sakura dropped her hand and turned to talk to Sasuke, Naruto couldn't help but add silently: "I hope."

XXXXXXXXXXX

For almost three hours Team Seven sat in an irritated silence as one by one their former classmates were collected by their own instructors until finally they were the only ones left. At long last Naruto's patience ran thin and he yanked at his spiky blond hair with a yell.

"What is taking him so long! This is stupid!"

"Shut up Naruto," Sakura said. "He is a jounin so he's probably really busy."

Sasuke said nothing but silently he agreed with the obnoxious blond. This guy was taking way to long. His thoughts were interrupted once again by the scrape of wood against wood as Naruto dragged a chair over to the door.

Sakura sighed in exasperation. "What are you doing Naruto?"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" He asked. "I'm going to teach this guy a lesson for being so late!"

"That will never work Naruto, he's a jounin."

"Maybe he sucks."

"Whatever." Her voice was disinterested but Inner Sakura cheered loudly for Naruto's success which was rewarded by their instructor pulling open the door so that the eraser fell with a plop onto his head.

"Ha!" Naruto said. "Perfect shot!"

"Shut up Naruto!" Sakura said as she smacked her fist into his skull. "Sorry sensei, he's kind of obnoxious."

Sasuke just stared deadpanned at the supposed jounin. This was supposed to be their teacher?

"Hm," The jounin said. "Based on my first impression I would have to say…I hate you."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright, well, I suppose that if we're going to work together as a team we might as well introduce ourselves first. So go ahead and tell us all your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams and stuff like that."

"Why don't you go first sensei," Sakura said. "You can show us how it's done."

"Hm, well, my name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your business and I have a lot of hobbies. Alright, next is the blond boy."

"That's it?" Sakura said. "But we didn't learn anything!"

"You learned my name didn't you?"

"….."

"Alright so I guess it's my turn!" Naruto said. "Well let's see. My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like my family and friends and instant ramen! I love it even more when Iruka-sensei takes me to Ichiraku. I hate the three minutes it takes for my ramen to heat up and Sasuke-teme. My ultimate dream is to become Hokage and prove to everyone that I matter!"

"You do matter Naruto," Sakura said. "You know that."

"Yeah, but I'm sick of people treating our family badly because of…that."

"…I see," Kakashi said. "Your turn."

"Alright," Sakura said. "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are my family and friends and learning new things. I especially like learning medical jutsus. I don't really hate anything. My dream is to one day be able to stand outside of my sister's shadow at last."

"And finally, you."

Sasuke lifted his folded hands to hide the lower half of his face as his eyes narrowed slightly.

"My name is Sasuke. There isn't much that I like and there is even less that I don't dislike. I hate the Uchiha council and I have no need for dreams. I do have a goal and that is to uncover the truth behind the Uchiha Tragedy and be reinstated to my clan."

Kakashi nodded, he had assumed as much. He gave a small smile at his new students which remained hidden behind his mask. It looked like this time around might actually be interesting.

"Alright, that is everything for today. Tomorrow I expect you to report to training ground Seven for your initiation test at seven am sharp."

"Initiation? But didn't we already pass our test?"

Kakashi stifled a snort. "No. You are only genin cadets. The academy test was only used to weed out the unworthy from those with potential." He gave them a cruel smile. "To be honest most of you won't have those forehead protectors for longer then twenty-four hours."

"What!" Naruto said. "But why? We earned them fair and square!"

"Only so that you could participate in tomorrows test. I won't lie to you. It will be very difficult."

"How difficult?" Sakura asked.

"The test has only a 33 success rate. At best only three teams from this years graduating class will actually become full shinobi. The rest will be sent back to the academy to enroll in the next semester to try all over again." At their shocked faces Kakashi chuckled. "Well, I guess I'll see you all bright and early tomorrow. Oh, and I would also suggest that you not eat breakfast."

"Why not?" Sakura asked.

"Because more likely then not you'll just throw it up. Have a nice evening!"

The three members of team seven stared in horror as their instructor disappeared into a cloud of smoke before they finally stood and made their way off of the roof to head home. They needed to prepare for tomorrow and they couldn't do that just sitting where they were.

"Hey guys," Sakura said. "I have an idea."

"What's that?" Naruto asked.

"We need some place where the three of us can go with out any one knowing where we are. We can train there and stuff too. What do you say?"

"Do you have a place in mind?" Naruto said. "Cause I don't know of one."

Sakura sent a glance at Sasuke before she slowly nodded. "Yeah, I have a place in mind. That is, if it's okay with Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke was silent for several seconds before he shrugged. "Hn."

"Alright then!" Naruto said. "Let's go!"

Sakura and Sasuke stood in silence as they watched their teammate rush off.

"So," Sakura said. "How long do you think it will be before he realizes that he has no idea where he's going?"

Sasuke just smirked.

End Chapter Nine

Kaliea: Just in time for Christmas! I hope that you all enjoy. Don't forget to review!

Review Answers:

grim reaper sakura: I'm glad that you think so. With so many stories going at once I sometimes feel like they lose some of their quality.

kalerei-fury: Things will become clearer as time goes on but until then they will only get worse. Hopefully though you'll be able to follow it well enough.

Drasonz: I never said that. Only that you would probably not expect the way the teams will be set up.

Dragon Man 180: Um…I don't understand what you mean. What part of Sakura's interaction makes you think that her family is abusive?

Kaliea: I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter! Merry Christmas!