Disclaimer I don't own Naruto or any characters from whatever series I use.

The Dragon Container

Chapter 10: Team Placements

Author's Note:

Hello I'm back with another chapter, sorry for the delay I ending up finding I had resits with just over week before the deadline which isn't nearly enough time to get them done so I had to change my writing time to work time. It also didn't help that my writing sessions are usually late at night with blistering heat zapping my strength.

But next chapters here and is the one you've all been waiting for.

1 Week Later

Naruto was making his way to the Academy when a certain kid with goggles and scarf ran up to him.

"Naruto-Nii-san!" the boy called, making Naruto grimace a bit, remembering when his real siblings used to call him that.

"Hi, Konohamaru, what's up?" Naruto answered as the boy came to a stop in front of him.

Konohamaru looked the dragon slayer up and down. "Wow, nice clothes, Nii-san," he gushed with stars in his eyes.

Naruto's latest attire consisted of various items. First there was the Hitai-ate on his forehead, keeping his long hair in place, and the scarf around his neck with what looked like a scale like pattern that had a rainbow sheen coming off it as the sun hit. He wore an orange jacket with black lining and collar and only having one sleeve, and for pants he wore the standard issue black plain ninja trousers along with a pouch with matching ninja sandals. Each hand was covered by a ninja glove with a metal plate. It was an unusual fashion statement, but a cool one at that.

"Yeah, been saving these for once I become a ninja. Don't I look cool." Naruto pointed to himself before fingering the scarf; it was made with Iris' dragon scales, or at least the amount he could materialise when they first tried to get her out of the seal. But what mattered most was that it was a present from his Hime after they both got together and he was officially recognised as a dragon slayer.

Naruto sighed. He was barely able to see his Hime after his little prank thanks to her being on Hyuga lockdown and the only reason he managed to see her at all was thanks to the only other good Hyuga her Kaa-san. But finally, he would be able to sit and talk with her without her clan getting in the way, at least until the teams were decided which he doubted they would be on the same one.

"Nii-san?" Konohamaru questions as Naruto was in memory lane.

"Oh, right." Looking at the boy, Naruto was reminded of how they met. The boy had been following his siblings around on one of their birthdays, but as they were too busy to bother with the smaller child, Naruto being who he was took the boy in instead. At first, Konohamaru didn't believe he was one of the Yondaime's children due to how unknown he was. The kid introduced himself as Sandaime grandson, acted all cocky until Naruto had enough and hit him shutting the brat up and making him cry, stating the fact that he was the Sandaime grandson meant nothing.

Naruto got into huge trouble for it, but afterwards Konohamaru did the opposite of what most kids would do, which would be to get scared and start avoiding him, the boy started following him around and listening to Naruto when he told him to behave. Before he knew it, Naruto had another Otouto to take care of and one who treated him better than his real one.

"I can't play with you now since we have our team orientation, but maybe later." Naruto said with a smile.

"Okay!" Konohamaru followed Naruto all the way to the academy. There Naruto's breath almost hitched as he saw his beloved and a Hyuga guard, but he didn't care about him.

"Hinata-Chan!" Naruto calls running to the girl, the Hyuga guard trying and failing to prevent Hinata from meeting him halfway to greet him with a hug.

"Naruto-Kun!" The two wrapped their arms around each other, relishing the fact they were together. When Naruto pulled away, he couldn't help but drool over Hinata's new outfit. Her Hitai-ate was hanging from her neck which to him made her seem even sexier. The girl wore a lavender kimono with white hem and collar, at the sleeves of the kimono going all the way to her hands covering them halfway and a flame pattern was on each sleeve in a much lighter purple. The kimono clung to Hinata's figure leaving nothing to the imagination, the way her white sash was tied at her waist made it clear the girl had an hourglass figure. His eyes wandering a little too much, Naruto caught sight of the sarashi, wrappings holding her breasts in place and hiding them from view as best they possibly could. This only made Naruto wonder how she would look without the kimono. Matching her kimono shirt was a skirt that ended just above knee height with the same colour and flame pattern on the bottom of it. The outfit itself screamed modesty as if Hinata was trying to hide her beauty, but in doing so only further showed off her cuteness, her own shyness only arousing Naruto further before the bothersome guard interrupted.

"Namikaze-San, please get away from Hinata-Sama. She cannot be seen doing such acts with you in public," The guard told him. Naruto recognized him as Ko, Hinata's bodyguard and retainer.

Rolling his eyes, the blond dragon slayer reluctantly let go of his Hime. "It's Uzumaki. Didn't you see the sign last week?"

A cross could be seen on the Hyuga's head. While the sign was long gone, there wasn't a person in the village who didn't see that embarrassment.

The Hyuga was about to repeat his words when Hinata injected. "That's enough, Ko, you may leave."

"But, Hinata-Sama..." Ko started to say before getting cut off by his charge.

"You were ordered to escort me to the academy. I can't have you sitting in as we get our teams as that would affect my reputation."

It was obvious he wanted to argue, but couldn't as his lady was right, her reputation would be affected if he stayed and would only show that there was credibility to Uzumaki-San's prank.

Ko left Hinata and Naruto to enter the building. Hinata had her Byakugan active and as soon as she thought it was safe, she and her beloved linked hands.

Inside, Naruto looked around for an empty seat so he could sit with his Hime. His poor ears were greeted with a shout of "Onii-san!"

The shout shook the room, as a girl with fiery red hair waving in the air stomped up to Naruto, her eyes almost as red as her hair.

"What are you thinking!?" Naruto rubbed at his ears, making sure the booming voice didn't make him go deaf while also noticing her new ninja gear. His Imouto was sporting a red sleeveless ninja kimono with a white collar and hem guard with a matching ribbon was on her back. Underneath she wore a fishnet skirt that along with her kimono struggled to contain her ample bosom.

At age 12 she already had quite a womanly figure that was amplified her own natural beauty and was tempered further by her ninja training. Her hips were slim with a perfect hourglass figure, her C cup breasts second only to Hinata. She wore a mini skirt that left her legs free for movement and perfectly showed her toned calves and rosy soft skin. The rest of her legs were covered by fishnet tights diapering in blue ninja sandals. Her crimson hair was done into two pigtails, matching with her heart shaped face could make almost any man think of her as the perfect girl.

Akami continued, not caring as she pretended not to have heard. "How could you have moved out without telling anyone first!?" After they graduated everything was like normal for the first three days until finally Kushina mentioned Naruto hadn't been home for three days. After looking into it, they found out that the oldest child had moved into an apartment of his own. Kushina found it shocking, but her husband calmed her down, saying that it's no surprise he wanted to be more independent at this age especially now that he was a ninja. However, ever since her Onii left it hadn't been the same. Kaa-chan seemed to be tired, her Otouto was angry all the time and her Tou-san didn't seem to care.

Naruto rolled his eyes, ticking Akami off. "It's not like you care and besides Kaa-san saw me before I left. It's not my fault that she never paid enough attention to see the backpack I was carrying," he spat back. They didn't care about him at all and now that he suddenly left, they cared. Well they were too late; two years too late.

"Just because she saw you leave doesn't mean she knows you're moving out. And what about Otouto or Tou-san and me? You shouldn't have just up and left!" the female Jinchuuriki shouted, Naruto giving her glare as she did.

"Your pranks are going too far lately, if you want Tou-san and Kaa-chan's attention, then start being responsible instead of making trouble for your family all the time." Oh no, that was the wrong thing to say. Hinata's wide eyes looked to her beloved he was shaking, putting a hand on her love he shoved it off, before sending his Imouto a glare with slitted eyes.

"It's not like it ever made a difference! You and everyone else can fuck off!" Akami backs away in surprise, never having heard her Onii swear let alone so angry at her.

"I'm doing this for me and no one else because my family obviously doesn't care enough to even bother! They only care about you and Menma as far as they are concerned, I'm an unwanted child!"

Killing intent waves off Naruto and tears well up in Akami eyes. Before Naruto knew it, his cheek was stinging, his Imouto having slapped him. "You've changed, Onii."

"No, you're the ones who've changed. I'm just not letting you get away with it anymore."

As his Imouto stomped off, Naruto rubbed his hurting cheek, sadness welling up in his blue eyes. Feeling the hand of his beloved he turned to see calming lavender eyes. Yes, he wasn't wrong, they were the ones to change first, they were the ones to abandon him. But she was right too; he did change, he was no longer taking their abuse and soon Akami and the rest of their family would see who the real him was, that the so-called failure wasn't one.

A tear fell. Even though they hurt him so much, even though they did nothing but hurt him over the years it still hurt seeing her cry. It hurt knowing he made his Imouto cry, someone he once swore to protect no matter how much it hurt, but she and his Otouto made it clear they didn't need a Onii anymore. They didn't need him.

Menma was glaring at his Onii as he entered the room alongside his fiancée, he watched the interaction with his Onee-san.

The youngest Namikaze child was wearing a dark crimson jacket that matched his red hair, which was held back by a black banded Hitai-ate. The jacket had a black collar with the zipper and lining the same colour that broke up the crimson with a pocket on each side and on the back was his clan symbol in black. While unseen when his jacket was zipped up, Menma had a black shirt underneath with the Uzumaki crest in red on the back. His pants were the reverse colour scheme of his jacket with black being primary and red for the lining. He had his ninja pouch on his holster and his shuriken holder on his right leg just above his red ninja sandals.

He finished his look with his own personal touch: fingerless opera-length black gloves wrapped in studded red leather straps.

Looking across the room, seeing his Onee-san cry made him angry, but he was already going to make Naruto pay and after today his Onii will no longer be interfering with his relationship with his beloved.

Naruto sat down, his Hime next him. Catching the glare of his Otouto Naruto returns said glare.

Finally, after a staring contest Iruka walked into the class, a clipboard in his hand. "Alright, everyone, here are your teams I will only state them once so make sure you pay attention."

A few seconds and some unimportant teams later Iruka finally got to the important teams.

"Team 6 will be… Hinata Hyuga!" Naruto and his Hime focused all their attention on their teacher for once.

"Akami Uzumaki Namikaze and…" Naruto held his breath, wanting his sensei to call his name, even if it meant being on the same team as Akami she was at least the least annoying member of the family.

"Menma Uzumaki Namikaze!"

"NOOOOOO!" It was the worst fucking team they could have put his precious Hime on, a team with both his siblings.

In the corner of his eyes Naruto caught a smirking Menma, the look on his face telling Naruto all he needed to know. It was all set up, planned from the start. His Tou-san made it so those three would be put on a team together.

"Sensei, this is bullshit!" Hinata would have been much better on a tracker team. He knew his sibling were powerhouses, but no matter how he looked at it they didn't fit with Hinata's style of fighting.

"Sorry, Naruto, I only read them out. While I do give advice, the final decision is up to the Hokage."

Hokage, Hokage, Hokage! Naruto hated the word, abusing his authority like this. Oh, he was going to enjoy knocking his Tou-san off his high horse.

"Your Sensei will be Jiraiya The Gallant!" Iruka read off, embarrassed that they actually put a title in it. And they had a sannin to boot, it's not like he hasn't them taught for almost 10 years already increasing Naruto's annoyance further.

"Team 7! Your team will be Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze and Sasuke Uchiha! Your Sensei will be Kakashi Hatake!"

Naruto head fell to the desk, laughter could be heard from his irritating Otouto. His team wasn't bad besides Sasuke's too good for everything self. He was on par with his sibling's grade wise and Sakura while being a fangirl did take medical classes and was top of the class like him.

"Team 8 will be Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Yakumo Kurama! Your Sensei will be Kurenai Yuhi!"

Iruka continued naming all the teams before they broke for lunch and to make sure they came back to meet their senseis.

Naruto was leaving with Hinata, half a mind to barge in and complain to his no good Hokage, but knew nothing would come of it.

"Hinata-Chan!" his annoying Otouto called. "Do you want to eat lunch with me since we're teammates?" With the innocent way the boy asked, you wouldn't think he had a mean bone in his body. But Naruto and Hinata knew that Menma wasn't really as innocent as he acts most of the time and that his question was also meant to rub that fact in Naruto's face.

Naruto was about step in and tell him to go away, but Hinata waved him off, silently telling him to let her handle this.

"Sorry, Namikaze-San, but I have other plans." Hinata smiled politely, just the way the Hyuga taught her to turn down an offer they didn't want. Oh, if only her Otou-sama saw that she was using it to turn down his favourite prospect for her future husband.

Turning to rejoin her beloved she was stopped as the Jinchuuriki grabbed her hand. "Wait, Hinata-Chan! Why not? Why are you calling me that way and not Menma like you used to? We are close enough for that." At first, he thought it was just being polite in public since they became engaged, but even when they were alone, she persisted on only using his clan name. But there was more to it. Menma had enough Hinata was his so it's only right she treated him as such. "Not only that, but why are you friends with that loser Naruto and treat him with so much care even after he embarrassed us last week." Referring to the sign that declared her and Naruto dating. "I am your fiancé! I refuse to let you hang around with other men!"

Hinata pulled away in outrage, glaring at Menma with her Byakugan active, the bulging veins and pupiless eyes scaring him a bit.

"Not by choice! You are selfish, you knew I had feelings for Naruto-Kun, but you still used your clan position to force me into the engagement and you want me to be happy with that!" She had enough, she was going to make it clear that she never had and would never be his, there was only one person she loved and it was not him.

"You never once cared about what I wanted, the only thing you were interested in is what made you happy and only you!" Her shout made Menma back off, the boy reverting to his stuttering and shy self.

"B-But I trained really hard … to become a powerful ninja. It was all for you, I'm the only one worthy of you." Menma's voice was weak, the boy looking like he was about to cry, not understanding why he wasn't good enough after everything he did. Hours upon hours of training all to get his Hinata-Chan's attention, to protect her and keep her by his side. So why! Why wasn't it good enough!?

"Did I ever say I wanted a powerful ninja as a husband? You say it was for me, but it wasn't. I never once cared for you that way and you becoming stronger was never going to change that. Just because you're stronger now isn't going to make me you love you! The one I love and the only one worthy of me is Naruto-Kun who instead of being spoiled by his family was with me, while you were getting stronger Naruto-Kun was the one protecting me not you!"

"Whoever told you that becoming stronger would make me like you more, obviously had no experience with women because it doesn't matter how strong you are if you don't have a good heart behind it! Now if you would excuse me, I have lunch plans with Naruto-Kun!" Hinata spat, making Menma shed a few tears, his fists digging into his hands painfully enough to draw blood.

"You can't! You are my fiancée. I refuse to let you spend time with him when you should be spending it with me!" the Jinchuuriki shouted, eyes a bloody crimson. Hinata was his no one else's, Naruto has done nothing, but lazy around while he trained his butt off to get Hinata to look his way. Hinata was his!

Menma was about to force Hinata to be with him, when the girl turned around once more. "That is another thing I hate about you. You treat me as some sort of possession, you can't control me! I will choose who I do and do not hang out with, now please leave me alone, Namikaze-San!" She left with her beloved Naruto-Kun.

Menma was glaring at his Onii's back. 'This is your fault. If you weren't here Hinata-Chan would be mine! You did something to her. Well, it won't last. I'll show you that you are nothing but a loser and take my beloved back. It's a promise and I don't go back on my word.'

Menma was thinking of only one thing: to completely and utterly destroy his Oni… no the failure of the family at the Chunin exams. 'You better hope we don't face each other, because I have no intention of letting you off easy for trying to steal my Hinata-Chan'

He was soon joined by his Onee-Chan who sensed his chakra raise but arriving too late. If only she arrived sooner, she would have seen just what her Otouto was really like and maybe have been able to prevent the ruin of her family.

After a rather peaceful lunch, Naruto and Hinata went to the class to meet their senseis. The room was tense thanks to the Namikaze siblings, but luckily or unluckily depending on whose view you used Team 6's sensei was the first to arrive.

Jiraiya entered the room with an exaggerate dance making everyone else doubt his sanity. He called his team over with a smile of pride, Hinata reluctantly following behind. Turning to her beloved, they shared a sad look, knowing that after today their time together will be sparse.

The tension cleared as Team 6 left and soon after Team 8 and 10 followed, leaving Team 7 to wait and wait and wait…

"Bloody hell, what's taking him so long!" Naruto shouts after three boring hours of waiting.

"Naruto, I'm sure he just has important business to take care of, he is a Jonin after all," Sakura argued, but inside was agreeing with the blond boy. 'YEAH WHAT THE HELL IS HE DOING? IT'S GREAT I GET TO BE PRACTICALLY ALONE WITH SASUKE-KUN, BUT NOW HE'S IN A BAD MOOD.'

Sakura looks to the Uchiha that haunted her dreams. While his face was impassive, the slight twitch gave away the fact that even the Uchiha was annoyed.

As for said Uchiha, he spent the time thinking about the team. While he was slightly glad it was one of the better fangirls that was the member of the team, he would have preferred Hinata, the only girl who wasn't all over him. As for Naruto, the Uchiha didn't really care. The boy was just above average, but nowhere near the level of his siblings. Considering himself far above the two, but then remembering the earlier words of his Nii-san not to underestimate the, in his Nii-san's words, blond devil.

"I wouldn't count on it, Sakura, the guys a friend of the family and this is pretty normal for him." He listened in as Naruto spoke, making him dread what kind of person his sensei was. Kakashi Hatake. Sasuke was positive he heard the name before and any ninja that heard once was a name worth remembering. But despite this the fact their sensei was late annoyed Sasuke to no end. 'How the hell am I supposed to surpass my Nii-san and the Namikaze twins sitting around here doing nothing.'

At that very moment Naruto got up, taking a small sphere with white markings on it and jamming it on top of the door. It didn't even take a second for the two other members of team 7 to realise what he was up to.

"Naruto stop that you're going to get us into trouble!" Sakura shouted, however…'I HOPE THAT LITTLE SPHERE IS SOMETHING GROSS AND ICKY, HE DESERVES IT FOR MAKING ME AND SASUKE-KUN WAIT.'

"Our teacher, regardless of his punctuality is a Jonin and would never fall for something like that," the raven head stated, his eyes looking out the window. He was currently in a staring contest with what he believed to be one of his Nii-san's crows.

"Sasuke-Kun is right, that would never work…" The only girl of the group agreed with her crush, though she did want their sensei to pay for being late.

At that second, the door opened. All eyes turned to see a man with gravity defying white hair and his Hitai-ate covering his left eye and a mask covering most of his face. To most people he would be the cool and mysterious sensei that they would love, the same would be for team 7 if it wasn't for the sphere that fell and exploded on his head with red smoke going everywhere.

The smoke seemed to do nothing as the man nonchalantly turned to the new genin. "My first impression of you is that you're a bunch of idiots." Simultaneously cross marks appeared on the genins' heads, each glaring at the late Jonin as he left.

The team followed, but Naruto was looking at the teacher's back with suspicion. The bomb he used was the same one he used a week prior on the Uchiha duo, if a bit weaker. But even with a mask on, their sensei shouldn't have been able to shrug it off so easily, but he did. Which also meant he most likely took the prank on purpose.

On the roof of the academy the three genin waited for their sensei to start with their patience running thin.

"Alright, introduce yourselves," Kakashi said, staring at his three new students.

"Introduce ourselves," Sakura repeated with a look of confusion.

"Yeah. Name, what you like, what you hate, hobbies and dreams for the future, that kind of stuff."

"Maybe you should go first, sensei, so we can see how it's done." Clearly seeing an eye roll from the man made the girl want to sock him one.

"Alright, I'm Kakashi Hatake, as for my likes and dislikes I don't have any in particular. As for hobbies, well, I have lots and I don't feel like telling you my dreams for the future." The Jonin's voice was indifferent as he told the genin, all of them sweating as the only useful thing they got was his name.

But then another voice spoke up coming from right beside the two genin. "Sharingan no Kakashi, student of the Yondaime Hokage and last surviving member of his team. Likes to read perverted smut in public and his hobby is making up ridiculous excuses for being late." Naruto smirked as the Jonin was glaring at him for ruining his mysterious image.

Oh, why did have to get paired up with the troublemaker of all of people?

Flashback

Kakashi was standing in between two other Jonin while waiting to get his team assignments. It was probably the first time since his last S rank mission that Kakashi finally arrived early. Under his mask Kakashi had a smile that no one else could see. He knew which team he was going to get, his sensei promised him ages ago and it was only right as the village's best Jonin he got the best genin team.

But when he heard the formation for Team 6 included not his own but another name, Kakashi was utterly shocked.

"Sensei, I thought I was supposed to get Akami and Menma. I have the ninjutsu experience to teach them many jutsu and the Sharingan to calm them down if needed." Kakashi was referring to the unlikely event of a Kyuubi incident happening. He waited and waited for his chance to train the twins, so busy with missions and Anbu he barely ever got to spend time with them let alone train with them. And when he did get to train them, Minato or the Sannin were always taking the lead and he was nothing more than an assistant.

"Kakashi, I know that, but we obtained information that the twins will be targeted and while I don't doubt your skills, I'm not taking any chances with my musume and musuko. Jiraiya can deal with the Kyuubi and any attacker. But don't worry, Kakashi, I'm trusting you with Naruto. He needs all the help he can get." Minato smiled with confidence, his words that of a father concerned with his children. The fact Kakashi never passed the team and had zero teaching experience didn't have anything to do with assigning his wayward musuko to Team 7.

Nodding at his sensei/father figure, Kakashi accepted the reasoning, but he was far from happy. Menma and Akami were diamonds and if it weren't for the changes made a few years earlier they would already be out of the academy and probably would have been Chunin or a higher rank by now.

Naruto, on the other hand, was the class troublemaker and the black sheep of the family, not having an ounce of his siblings' talents. As an elite Jonin, it was no surprise his sensei wanted to entrust the most troubling child to him, but it didn't change the fact that Naruto would never become anything to brag about nor at the level of his siblings.

Sighing depressingly Kakashi muttered an "Alright" before zoning out as Team 8 and 10 got their assignments.

End of Flashback

If only he had Akami or Menma instead of Naruto... they would at least go along with his introduction.

Sakura and Sasuke, on the other hand, were staring at the boy in shock that he actually knew enough to introduce their Jonin sensei. Sasuke was even more so because as soon as heard the moniker he put two and two together: Sharingan no Kakashi, the only person to bear the Sharingan without being an Uchiha. Many clansmen were enraged by the fact, but his father left the issue be due to the circumstances of how Kakashi obtained the eye. Also, his Nii-san once said that Kakashi's use of the Sharingan was exceptional even among the majority of the clan. Sasuke's attitude did a 180. He could forgive his sensei's eccentrics now. It wasn't often that you got a Jonin sensei who could teach you your own Kekkei Genkai. After all, clansmen were usually never put on a genin team together.

"Alright then, Blondie, since you were willing to introduce me, you can go next," their sensei stated with an eye smile.

"Sure. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen and Hinata-Chan, I hate people who show favouritism or are arrogant and my hobbies include gardening, while my dream for the future is to marry Hinata-Chan." Through his speech Naruto's face went from smiling, to enraged, to a dreamy grin.

Kakashi was eyeing the boy warily, well aware that Menma was engaged to Hinata and that the boy's dream would never come true.

"Alright, Pinkie, you're next." Kakashi pointed at the girl.

"I'm Sakura Haruno. I like…I mean the person I like… and my dream for the future is…" She never got to finish, squealing at almost every moment she was going to say something important. But the gaze she gave her rave haired teammate was enough for you to guess what she was going to say.

"Right. Next, the brooding kid," their sensei said, getting a laugh from Naruto and glare from said brooding kid.

"Sasuke Uchiha. My likes are learning new jutsu, my hates are fangirls and people that don't take training seriously." He sent a glare at the only girl of the team, making her frown. "My hobbies are training and mastering new jutsu and my dream…no, my ambition, is to surpass my Nii-san and join the military police force."

Finished with introductions, Kakashi gazed at the three newly minted genin. "Well, first impressions: none of you are ready to be ninja." The smile on his face never left, as if what he just stated was good news and didn't mean a thing to him.

The genin glared at him in response. "And what gives you the right to say that? You haven't even seen what we can do," Naruto shot back.

"Believe me, I've seen plenty already, and while you passed the academy exam, the final decision of whether or not you become ninja or not is up to me and I am free to send a team that's not ready packing," Kakashi said, his irritating eye smile never leaving only infuriating the genin further. "Tomorrow we will have a training exercise. If you pass I will allow you to continue. If you fail…well, then better luck next year." Each genin had a different reaction: Sakura's eyes were wide, Naruto was glaring, ready to take the challenge, and Sasuke…well he was Sasuke.

"Right. Meet up at 6:00 am sharp at training ground 3 with your ninja gear." Getting up from his seat, he gave one last look and warning before leaving, "Also skip breakfast otherwise you'll puke." With that, he vanished, leaving the three to go their separate ways, each one determined to not go back to the academy.

Team 6

Jiraiya being Jiraiya skipped the regular protocols and just went right on to what he wanted to do. "Right. Usually you would be tested on whether you were ready to be ninja or not, but since I already know what Menma and Akami are capable of, lets skip that and go right to some training." Hinata could only give a look at the irresponsibility. Was this really how a sannin acted? Even if he knew what her teammates could do, there was no way to know what she was capable of. Yet their sensei didn't seem to care as if the only thing that mattered were her teammates and that her own prowess meant nothing.

As they arrived at training ground 3, Jiraiya turned to the group. "Akami and Hinata, you two will spar first; no jutsu and only taijutsu." The two girls nodded, walking to face each other and giving the usual Shinobi Sparring etiquettes.

Hinata got into her stance, one hand in front the other at her waist, both palms open, legs spread apart and each foot facing planted in front of the other to the side. Checking her opponent's stance, she saw that they were both ready.

"Begin!" At Jiraiya's signal, Akami was within Hinata's space already throwing a straight. Hinata showed no reaction, as if she couldn't even keep up with Akami's speed. But at the last second Hinata swayed her head to left, the punch missing by a narrow margin. Throwing an open palm with her right, Akami jumped back before she could even throw it. Akami was by far the fastest in their class, but compared to having to react to Naruto's unpredictable style it was still easy for her to avoid. Sadly, it seemed countering would be ineffective as Akami's reaction was above her own with her Byakugan.

Eyeing her warily, Akami pivoted on her foot and dashed in going for another exchange. What she did not expect was to meet Hinata at almost over half the distance she needed to clear to reach her.

'Shit.' She took a palm strike from her opponent, but was still able to block with her now slightly numb arm. Hinata kept the exchange going, not giving her a chance to gain distance and balance. Trying to gain the advantage, Akami threw several punches, but none got through Hinata's defenses, her hands pushing them away and releasing chakra at the points of contact, making her arms get heavier as they were attacked on the inside.

Hinata kept her barrage up, but with every attack thrown, every strike blocked, she could see Akami's attacks were getting sharper and faster, picking up the advantage as her focused increased. Sadly, this was exactly what Hinata wanted. She disappeared from Akami's view and before the crimson haired girl could realise what happened Hinata was already landing with a spinning sweep kick taking her legs out from under her opponent.

Mentally swearing again as she felt an unexpected force knock her legs from behind, Akami was falling, her body in the air and ready to collide with the ground. For many this would be game over, the surprise strike added with the weightlessness followed by the feeling of falling would be enough to disorientate the opponent and give a win. For Akami though it wasn't, her reaction speed was far higher than most and to her it was almost like she was falling in slow motion, giving plenty of time for her to regain her bearings. Planting both hands on the ground leaning all her weight on her hand and almost kicking Hinata as she did Akami back flipped away regaining distance.

It was to be expected of the top of the class, but Hinata watched Akami's fights and even fought her a few times. She was well aware of the habits and patterns of her opponent at this point. Akami was masterful when it came to covering a wide distance before her opponent even knew what hit them, but at that speed Akami's reaction, her greatest weapon, was cut short. All Hinata had to do to stop her was time a dash at the exact moment Akami did and it would mess up the girl's rhythm and prevent whatever she was going to do. At the speed the girl was going she simply didn't have the time to adjust to the opponent's new location while moving.

Akami was staring the Hyuga down, planning her next move and the match was a stalemate. Hinata figured out her moves and would stop her in her tracks the moment she made a move, but with Akami's speed the minute Hinata tried to get close she would already be countering back without the Hyuga having time to do the same.

The two kunoichi were unwilling to make a move, not wanting to give the other an advantage. Sadly, that stalemate was broken from a shout from their sensei. "Akami, stop holding back and get serious." The order made both girls frown, but their eyes never left the other.

'Sorry, Hinata.' Before Hinata even knew what hit her, she felt a hit to her rips, face, chest and stomach so fast that she didn't even know what she was hit with or the order it happened in. To Hinata it seemed almost as if all four strikes landed simultaneously. Now her turn to be disorientate, Hinata refused to fall regaining her balance and planting down.

'Fuck, what was that.' Hinata swore, regaining her bearings.

Akami was calmly standing in front of her, the look she was giving almost one of disinterest. Hinata knew that Akami was strong, that out of the whole class she was the fastest. But the speed that was just used now was unreal and she had never seen the young Namikaze move that fast before which only meant one thing.

'She's been holding back in class. This could be trouble.' The speed she was going at was comparable to her cousin's teammate and no matter how she looked at it, Hinata would have trouble keeping up even with the Byakugan and without it she was going to lose.

Akami vanished again and like the steady beat of a drum Hinata felt the sting of pain from her midsection. Luckily, she was prepared. Knowing more attacks were going to come, she put a random guard up hoping to stop as many blows as she could. She felt two more blows in her arms and another one in her ribs. Once more Akami was standing before her as if she never moved at all, frightening the Hyuga.

Sharpening her senses like a blade readying for battle, Hinata searched for even the slightest hint that could help her stop the red flash's barrage. Once more getting hit in the stomach, Hinata lost her breath, her legs shaking, body getting heavy and getting weaker as the flow of oxygen was temporarily cut off.

She felt herself fading, darkness encroaching her vision, yet a flash of white she saw the bright yellow boy she admired, the one she cherished above all others, her precious person. It was an old memory, his body was battered and bruised hundred times more than hers was now yet he still kept training. Instead of slowing down he picked up his pace pushing his limits again and again with endless tenacity.

His light, his strength, chased away the darkness and once more Hinata looked at an uninterested Akami's eyes with lavenders blazing with resolve. Her red headed opponent's eyes changed from impassiveness to irritation.

Getting inpatient, Akami once more vanished from the all-seeing Hyuga's sight like a mirage, fists readying to finish this fight. She felt impact and a very painful one at that, but not her opponent's. She felt the sting of pain on her face, the dribbling of blood from her nose. Shocked as time seemed to skip a beat, she was brought back to reality as someone clamped on to her extending arm. When her blue eyes looked to see what happened she saw Hinata's hand clamped on to her arm, the Hyuga's body shifted sideways and a tiny bit further from where she was before.

Hinata had an uncharacteristic smirk on her face. Once more her beloved had saved her, his presence in her thoughts giving her the power to push through even the hardest situation. Hours of training with the number one unpredictable ninja made Hinata a master at quickly learning an opponent's rhythm and reacting on it with an unbelievable trained like practice even though she just figured it out. And unlike her elder brother Akami wasn't a genius able to change her rhythm at random moments. She may be faster than Naruto, but her moves were like clockwork and that only made them easy to figure out. Akami's blows would always come at the same time less than a second after she disappeared, but the timing was still perfect every time down to a millisecond. She only hit four times before returning to her previous position. The Namikaze girl could have followed up while Hinata was open instead of backing off and end the match, but she didn't and that overconfidence was going to cost her the match. Thanks to her own experience at learning rhythm and the added incentive of pain Hinata's body had the timing of the attack down. It took only one step back followed by palm to the face to put an end to Akami's lighting fast barrage and now Hinata was going to even the playing field.

Akami saw everything in slow motion, trying to will her body to move, but the latest blow to the head delayed that reaction and her body was no longer able to keep up with her advanced reflexes. She saw with wide eyes as Hinata lifted up her leg, her hand holding Akami's extended arm in place and then with as much force as the little Hyuga could muster she stomped down right on the side of the leg where the joint was. Akami felt a sharp pain as her muscles struggled and twitched almost breaking her bones, to keep her knee from popping out due to the stable footing she had. Luckily no long-lasting damage was done, her bones survived the onslaught caused by the combined force of her opponent's stomp and her muscles reaction to try and keep the stomped knee in place and aligned with the rest of her leg a success. Unluckily, her leg muscles would be torn and it would take some rest and half a day to heal, her speed cut in half and only getting worse the more she tried to go at full throttle. Looking at Hinata, who did what almost no one else has ever done, she saw the girl was wearing a proud smirk. Hinata's medical knowledge telling her that leg was more or less out of commission.

Akami was shocked. With one move Hinata turned the match around. Hinata had learned from both her love, Naruto, and sensei, Iris, that if the enemy out matches you take advantage of whatever you can and take away their strength. It was a strategy she used many times on Naruto, meticulously attacking him in ways that would wear down his power and speed to a level she could keep up with and the same thing was going to work on his Imouto. Take away the legs and you take away her kicks and speed.

Jiraiya let the match continue for a few minutes before stopping it as neither girl made any progress on a victory. The toad sage honestly found Akami's performance disappointing. He trained the girl since she was three and knew her skills and talent like the back of his hand.

When it came to pure talent Akami was the best out of the triplets. Sure, when it came to throwing around powerhouse ninjutsu Menma was unbeatable in both power and scale, but with Akami it was different. She could throw heavy jutsu around just like Menma, but simply chose not to.

Only one word could describe the red headed Uzumaki girl: skilful. She was just like a little Minato maybe even better than her Tou-san when he was that age. Her talent wasn't just in ninjutsu it was everything: Genjutsu, Taijutsu, Shurikenjutsu, Tactics, mastering everything with god like speed and then capable of using it all at once. You could never be prepared because this girl was several experts in one body. That was what made her devastating. Every move made was perfect, every attack crippling, every jutsu killing. If Akami made a move it was guaranteed to end it if you weren't careful or lucky. At least that's how it should have been. Jiraiya glared at the girl.

Akami had one and only one fault: she never used her talent to its full potential. She never pushed for that finishing blow. She won't take the opponent seriously and always gives them a chance to turn it around. This was why she couldn't beat Hinata; she could have pushed and overwhelmed the girl with her speed and end it quickly instead she made a few attacks and then backed off letting the girl recover and eventually counter attack.

Sadly, Jiraiya knew the cause of this bad habit. It was developed during their early training years, Akami's talent was starting to show and Menma while talented in his own right was falling behind his genius Onee-san. Eventually Menma grew frustrated and started acting out. Akami being the kind and caring Onee-san she was decided to hold back and let him win. This was where Jiraiya made the mistake. At first it was good, Menma was growing more confident and showing progress so he let it be, but before they knew it, Akami was going easy not just on Menma, but everyone and all the time at that. Akami got into the habit of holding back and did it so much that it happened all the time regardless of her will.

Jiraiya turned his gaze to Hinata, looking her outfit with a quick once-over with approval, before going professional. She was good and at a level way above academy standards, though not quite Menma and Akami's level, the way she held on and eventually crippled Akami legs was a wise and masterful move. The Hyuga's style was different from the rest of her clan and the girl herself was feisty. She was also quite the looker. With looks and strength she was the perfect women for Menma and would be a great asset for the team.

Jiraiya gave a perverted smile, focusing on the more revealing parts of Hinata's clothing. 'Damn, Menma, you're one lucky dog. The girl's everything and is going to be one hell of woman when she grows up.'

Akami, covered in dirt, approached Hinata for the match. Though it was a tie, Hinata held out better than she thought and Akami wished she took her more seriously. There weren't many girls who could match her in a fight.

"Hinata, good job that was great spar." The Hyuga gave the girl a look of disinterest.

"Was it? You didn't seem to take me seriously," Hinata accused, her voice laced with anger. She got enough of being put down, but even her own teammate/childhood friend wouldn't fight her at her best.

"Ah…" Akami's confidence vanished as the girl felt like crawling under a rock. "Yeah, right, sorry about that, just never thought…"

"Thought what!? That I couldn't give you a hard time!? That I was too weak to be a threat to you!?" If there was one thing, she couldn't take it was people treading over her hard work. The fact that person was Akami only made her anger double.

"What?! No, I didn't mean it like that, it's just in the academy there was no one that could push me to be serious," The girl defended, hoping to placate the Hyuga girl.

Sadly, it had the opposite effect. "You and I both know that isn't true. While we did not spar at the academy and while cross-gender spars don't happen often you fought Sasuke and Menma plenty of time, and there was also Naruto-Kun."

"Te-Te," Akami laughed. "Sorry, I get where you are coming from with Sasuke and my Otouto, Naruto though he could never keep up with me even when I hold back let alone make me get serious." Hinata eyes showed the pulsing veins of her Byakugan, anger filling the void of her once calm and lovely lavenders.

"Really? 'Cause I distinctly remember you only fighting Naruto-Kun once and you lost and was crying your eyes out afterwards!" Hinata got angrier when the red headed girl only gave a confused look. "At the academy entrance ceremony, you lost to Naruto-Kun and was crying while Naruto got into trouble," Hinata explained herself, having never forgot the day Naruto was shunned in front of most of the village and how he was told off for hurting his spoiled Imouto even though he was hurt far worse.

"Oh, that come on, you can't count that. Naruto was going way too serious in a spar and even broke my nose while I held back!" Akami snaps back, getting sick of her friend's attitude.

Hinata's was clenching her fist as if readying to sock Akami, but only harsh words were spoken. "Were you really holding back, because I clearly remember that how you fought and how Naruto-Kun was after the fight. You were far from holding back. All Naruto-Kun did was respond to your excessive force. Only difference was that Naruto-Kun didn't cry about it like you did!" The shout resonated with the memory of her bruised beloved, how he barely had even the strength to walk afterwards and how his own Imouto hit him so hard that he peed blood afterwards.

Akami glared at the Hyuga and only said a few words, "You changed, Hinata."

Hinata could only agree before responding with her own words, "You're right, I have changed, but only after you did. You and Menma were the first to change. What we are now is only because you left us no choice."

The girls' conversation ended there. Akami was confused about what Hinata meant when she said they changed and why did she use 'we; and not use 'me'? The girls of Team 6 were off to a rocky start. Akami was missing a big clue to what was happening around her and what she could have prevented. If only she payed attention to her own actions.

Author's Note:

Yes, it is done next chapter is already in the works. Now I am wondering many of you are wondering why I had the teams the way I did and why I put Hinata on the same team as Menma so her are some answers.

One I decided early on that this was going to be a story where I write a nicer Sakura, but she still isn't a main character and could only really do that if she was on Sakura's team. Second, I have plans for Sasuke which required him to be on Naruto's team as well since he is Menma and Akami's rival in a way and is a good measure of how strong Naruto is to them without need to to fight them first.

As for Hinata her being on Naruto's team has been done before and her team 8 one is just over rated. Plus, after the events that happened Minato would never put Naruto and her on the same team. She is also one of the main characters and I need to show quite a lot and that is hard to do if she is on different team of the other mains. So, to solve this problem I put her on Menma and Akami team which allows me to show her more, while also building up and developing her relationship with Naruto's sibling and make their parts more interesting.

Now for why I have Kakashi as the sensei a bit of it was explained this chapter in how Minato is kind of hoping Naruto fails and doesn't become a genin nullifying the bet, but there is more to it which will be shown next chapter. Also, would like to mention Kakashi has no idea about the bet and is just bias to Naruto at the moment.

As for clothing since I thought hard it in order Naruto is Natsu's clothes with slight modification mostly the colour scheme with a hint of ninja in it. I liked Natsu one sleeve outfit and thought it would fit Naruto so I switched the colour round and got this.

Hinata's is based on both Neji's and Hanabi part 2 outfits with Hinata's colours, I originally wanted to give her a more revealing outfit, but I also love her modest clothing so I changed it up bit. While I will miss the jacket Hinata in traditional clothes is just so adorable. Also, if I gave her the sexier option it would mean Menma can oggle her all day, so her being modest also lets her hide her assets from anyone, but Naruto.

As for Menma his clothes are a cross between Naruto outfit and Menma from RTN outfit. If you look at the description of the gloves you will see that they match perfectly with ones Menma wears in the movie. I did think of having his outfit more like the one in RTN, but decided to leave that for when he is older and goes with his image more.

Finally, Akami outfit is based on the outfit I originally wanted to give Hinata. She has red and white kimono which contrast with each other, but still give the cute girl and tomboy/ninja feeling. Or at least that was what I was going for it would be so much easier to explain if I could draw them all, Kurenai outfit played role in its design since her use of red and white go well with her eyes and Akami gets the same effect for her hair.

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Naruto and Hinata Forever:)