Disclaimer: I don't own crap. Not Naruto, not any anime, nothing.

Quick A/N: Guess I'll have to read up on a few stories won't I? I've seen Team 8 around, but never really bothered to read it. If it's that good, maybe I'll have a look.

The Way Things Were

Naruto walked through the streets on Konoha with a grin plastered on his face. It was all more than he could've ever hoped for.

Graduating, getting put on the same team as a friend and, finally, getting a relatively nice cell leader. It was almost too good to be true.

He'd just finished his customary ramen lunch and was heading home.

As he opened the door and looked around, he could see that it was still relatively lived in. That meant Ryuu was back for a while. As if on cue, the man he was thinking about walked back into the main room out of the bathroom. He was fully clothed, but the steam that escaped once the door was opened and his still slightly wet hair were indicators that he'd taken a shower.

"Oh man…does that ever feel good."

The man stopped rubbing his shoulders and looked over at Naruto to see the kid was positively beaming. He couldn't hold back a smirk as Naruto just randomly started jumping around making all sorts of happy noises.

A small conversation along the lines of how things were going was soon struck, as the two began to talk about what they'd been up to recently. Ryuu was never allowed to tell Naruto missions specifics or anything vital, so stories of where he had to go and what he ran into would suffice.

It got to the point where Naruto was talking about his graduation when he slowly stopped. He looked down at the floor for a moment before looking up at Ryuu. The man could see there was an unasked question in his eyes as well as a hint of sadness.

"Hey, Ryuu…?"

"What's up, squirt?"

Naruto shifted uncomfortably. Ryuu could tell this was something the blonde didn't want to talk about, but needed to address nonetheless.

"Did you…did you know about the…the uh…"

Ryuu raised an eyebrow and motioned for the kid to continue after his pause. He'd already figured out what it was.

Naruto lowered his head and spoke very quietly. He was afraid something negative would happen and Ryuu would see him as something other than himself.

"Kyuubi…"

After a few moments of silence, Naruto figured he had his answer. But when he looked up, he found that Ryuu's reaction was not necessarily been expecting. The dark haired man had a quizzical look on his face with a hint of amusement. The corners of his mouth were also slightly upturned.

Naruto only stared at him as he'd yet to respond. His reaction could've meant many things, good or bad, and Naruto wanted to know exactly what it was.

"That was it, squirt?"

Naruto's eyes widened, "Huh?"

"That's what you were worried about?" Ryuu asked with a larger smirk forming on his face.

"Why shouldn't I be worried? From what it looks like, the entire damn villages knows about it."

Ryuu shook his head, "Not everyone, kid. The children simply listen to their parents. The only ones who know are the ones who were there. They're forbidden to speak about it to anyone who wasn't."

"So…not everyone knows?"

"No, squirt. Not everyone. Most do though. And most are fools. They needlessly scorn you for something you couldn't control or prevent. You're you, Naruto. That's why I said what I did. Remember? Never change, no matter what."

Naruto stared. He stared long and hard, looking for something, anything that might look like it was a lie. But he could find nothing. When Ryuu put his hand on the top of his head and pushed him slightly, he broke out of his trance.

"So…you…don't care?"

"Care about what? Kyuubi? No. Why would I? If anything Naruto, you're what is keeping this village still in existence. You should be proud of that fact."

Naruto looked down and felt something stir in him. He didn't know why, but he'd been terrified. He'd been terrified that he'd had the thing that had almost destroyed Konoha residing in his body. He'd been terrified that all his close friends knew or would soon find out. He was terrified that people would leave him.

But most of all, the thought of losing Ryuu terrified him more than anything.

The man, while not around all that often due to missions, was his family. He'd taken him in when everyone shunned him. The man had been willing to train him in order for him to achieve his goals. He'd given him dreams and ideals to live up to. He'd encouraged him to try his best, despite the odds stacked against him.

And it turned out that Ryuu had known all along and simply not cared. He viewed Naruto as himself, not a reincarnation of the beast or anything near it.

The blonde's eyes became slightly misty as he smiled. He'd never been so happy, not to mention relieved, in his entire life. Someone cared for him because he was himself.

"Aw c'mon! Not that emotional stuff again. I thought we went through all that when you were younger."

Naruto looked up at Ryuu with a grimace and shoved him slightly, causing the man to laugh. Ryuu ruffled his hair with a grin before standing up and getting something from the kitchen. He returned with a couple of cups of tea and set them on the table before taking a seat again.

"So what about your team huh? You mentioned then earlier but haven't said much."

Naruto grinned, "Oh yea! Hinata's on my team!"

Ryuu raised an eyebrow, "Oh?"

"Yea! And Shino too! It's really cool, we have this nice jounin sensei who seems really cool. And she looks really strong too! It took all three of us a really long time to even find her. But after that we got into it."

Ryuu smirked. The blonde was excited. And who was to blame him? It was the first time he'd had any real outside experience that could test his training. And it was apparent that he'd done relatively, if not extremely, well.

The two continued chatting until Ryuu broke apart the small talk and asked if Naruto wanted to train. His response was an immediate cheer and the blonde running out the door. He looked at the empty spot and then the door with a bemused expression before simply shrugging and walking out himself.

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Naruto grinned as he saw his supposed sparring partner already waiting for them.

When asked about his test, Sasuke said he had no idea what he was talking about. The blonde then proceeded to fill the Uchiha boy in on all that had happened earlier that day and the two talked about various other things.

When hearing that the test was to see whether or not they were eligible for genin status, the boy became wide eyed. They widened even more after hearing that the test had a two-third failure rate.

It was some point during the conversation that Ryuu had come as well and immediately began drilling the two of them. After they'd completed their exercises, they began to spar. Then after the sparring session between the two boys, it was individual spars with Ryuu.

After a few minutes Naruto began to notice that Ryuu was holding back. Or it seemed like he was holding back, because he remembered the man being much stronger. But he was still as fast. Or, if at all possible, even faster.

When it was Sasuke's turn, Naruto began to watch again. This time, he could judge from the sidelines and not the battlefield. He noticed much the same he did when he was fighting, but also noticed that Ryuu was getting slightly sloppy.

He must've been pretty tired if that was happening. Naruto shrugged it off. After all, he'd been extremely busy lately, and just getting back from a week long mission was nothing to scoff at.

When the sun was dipping below the horizon, they called it a day. Ryuu offered to take Naruto out to celebrate and was immediately dragged to Ichiraku. The old man smiled upon seeing the both of them enter and greeted them both heartily.

After dinner, the two had walked home. Once there, they both sat and talked for a while longer before Ryuu turned in, advising Naruto to do the same. The blonde turned his head and snorted. When he heard Ryuu's bedroom door close, he looked back at the door and smiled slightly before climbing to his feet and doing the same.

----------------

Naruto gazed around the clearing for a moment before sighing. He'd been there since a little before seven in the morning and still, no one was there.

He'd hopped between trees to claim a branch as his own and began to relax after the first half hour.

It was around eight that he heard shuffling in one direction and turned to look at who might be coming. He saw both Kurenai and Hinata walk into the clearing. But there was still no sign of Shino.

"Good morning, Naruto, Shino. Are you ready to begin?"

Naruto's eyes widened. Shino? Shino wasn't there. He looked around for a few moments before finally looking below him. There, he saw Shino. The stoic and quiet boy was leaning against the tree, relaxing.

Naruto stared at him for a moment before wondering how the hell he'd managed to get below him without so much as a sound. Not to mention without Naruto seeing him. It was confusing as hell, but knowing Shino it wasn't entirely impossible.

Naruto jumped down from his perch and stood next to Shino while the dark haired boy simply nodded. The two were ready.

Kurenai smiled as Hinata walked over to join her teammates. The lavender haired girl blushed slightly as Naruto bid her good morning and she shyly returned the gesture. After a few moments, all attention was directed toward Kurenai.

"We will begin with the basics today just to make sure you are all proficient in them. Then, we will begin team training and a few advanced exercises that should test exactly how well tuned all of you are to your special abilities."

Naruto had to stuff down a groan after hearing the first part, but had continued to listen nonetheless. He was confused at what she meant when talking about the second part, but nodded with his team in understanding.

"Very well, we'll begin with basic target practice and move on to a variety of exercises afterwards. Understood?"

Three nods was the signal she needed as she began to explain the exercise in detail. First, they'd have to throw a few shuriken just to get the memory flowing, and then hit the targets. She would judge if they passed based on ten throws and how close they were to the center of the target.

After that was over, she'd told them to try to hit her as a moving target. Hinata and Naruto stared at her in surprise while Shino merely nodded.

"You don't expect an opponent to simply stand still for you, do you?" Kurenai had asked. When the response was given, she'd pulled out a kunai of her own and began to weave in an intricate pattern around the training grounds.

She was unexpectedly surprised when Naruto had been able to keep up with her as well as keep her on her guard. Shino and Hinata took the more supportive role and threw from a distance. It seemed as though the three were almost perfectly in tune. Naruto would eventually lead her into a better position for the other two. And those two would then begin their assault as Naruto backed off and rejoined again after Kurenai had pulled away.

After approving of their skills, she then began to run them through basic taijutsu stances and attacks, a few simple ninjutsu techniques and, lastly, ability to sense and break genjutsu. Naruto had groaned loudly at that one, earning a slight giggle from his female teammate.

It was a known fact to practically everyone in Konoha that Naruto was horrible when it came to genjutsu. And that was also a reason why many had said he should never be allowed to enter the academy or become a shinobi at any point.

They were dwelling solely on his weaknesses and making them seem far more problematic then they actually were.

Naruto struggled with the exercise, as Kurenai did not tell any of her students when she would use a genjutsu technique, but he had eventually been able to at least sense that he was trapped.

After the basic routines were complete, Kurenai moved on to the team working exercises. Some may have considered her training technique odd, but he'd been subjected to the same in her younger years. And why fix something that isn't broken?

For the exercise, Kurenai would be on the offensive. However, each teammate would have something taken away, something limited. It was a method to get the others to cover for each other. The person who couldn't hear would be forced to pay attention to the movements of their teammates. The person who couldn't speak would have to try to relay the information via other methods. The person who couldn't see would then rely on both his other teammates to give instructions via sound or touch.

It was a complicated system and Kurenai was sure that it would take them at least a while to get used to. That was why she had organized what she thought was the easiest combination. So they could get used to it at first.

Hinata would be without her ears. Shino would be without his mouth. And Naruto would be without his sight.

Hinata would still have free range to use her Byakugan, Shino was normally quiet and reserved and reacted as he saw fit, and Naruto could focus on his other extremities instead of relying on his sight.

When they were told what the exercise was, everyone reacted. Naruto was staring at her, Hinata gasped and Shino merely raised an eyebrow in interest. Or, at least, what was assumed to be interest.

Naruto seemed to be slightly uncomfortable with the idea, but relented to it nonetheless.

Hinata was to use ear plugs, Shino was to simply not speak, and Naruto was to wear a blindfold. After all these precautions were taken, Kurenai started the exercise.

Immediately after, everyone reacted. Naruto jumped since he felt someone leave, Shino began to call on his Kikaichu and Hinata activated her bloodline. For a few moments, nothing happened. All was still in the training ground as all three tried to locate their attacker.

Naruto's ears twitched slightly and he turned his head to look left. Hinata followed his movements and focused left slightly. It was then she saw various throwing weapons heading towards them.

"Left! Incoming!"

Naruto dove behind a tree, Hinata pulled a few kunai of her own and deflected some and Shino merely dodged those that were coming towards him. Hinata looked around and noticed that Naruto was nowhere in the clearing. After a few moments, he came bursting through the bushes chasing an invisible object. Hinata immediately saw through the lower level genjutsu and she began to tell Naruto how to attack when Kurenai continuously dodged. Shino was doing her part as well, running towards the battle with his Kikaichu in tow.

After a few moments, Kurenai seemed to disappear again.

"She's retreating back into the forest," Hinata called out to her teammates. Shino nodded and Naruto was put back on his guard. He crouched low to the ground for a few moments, head tilted every so often in an attempt to try to pick something up.

After a few moments, Shino soundlessly pointed in a direction that was just southeast of where they were. Hinata nodded and relayed the message to Naruto. Given an area to target, he smirked.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

Immediately afterward, four different blindfolded Narutos ran into the forest in the general area. After a few moments, a small crack was heard followed by a 'poof' sound. Naruto's head jerked in the direction he sense the clone get taken out in.

"About ten meters out."

Shino nodded and began to focus. He'd already spread the entire area with his bugs, so he simply had to concentrate to get them to move to one area. Not to mention use a little chakra incentive to obey.

When Hinata saw Shino nod and chakra beginning to seep from him, she knew something was up. As if on cue, she could see their sensei dodging a cloud of Shino's bugs before she seemed to disappear again, replaced by one of Naruto's clones. Replacement.

Hinata then began to scour the area, looking for an oddity or any sign of chakra.

The process seemed to repeat itself continually. But Kurenai would also come in and launch surprise taijutsu attacks on them instead of simply using ranged weapons. It was at this point that Naruto took over to attack, Hinata giving instructions, and Shino trying to put the enemy at a disadvantage. After all, the Aburame clan's insects were renown in many countries for the ability to consume and detect chakra.

After an extended period of time, Kurenai appeared before her students with a smile. Hinata had barely been able to tell Naruto the exercise was over before he pounced again. When all the offending gear was taken off, she congratulated them on a job well done. But also stated that the exercise would be changed up often in an attempt to strengthen their teamwork more than it was already.

Kurenai had honestly been surprised that the three of them seemed to flow together so well, but was reminded that Hinata, Naruto and Neji had sometimes sparred when they were younger. And Naruto and Hinata had fought each other often as well. They had seen how each other fought and knew how to compliment. Shino was an easy add in, as he simply went with whatever worked.

Kurenai knew that she would have her work cut out for her with this team…but they fit together surprisingly well. She looked over to see Naruto talking to the both Hinata and Shino. He most definitely was a people person. Only problem was…

"Yea! That sounds great!"

Kurenai winced slightly. He was too loud. Generally not a good thing when the team she was training was supposed to work under stealth conditions. But she knew that, after a while, being around both Hinata and Shino would calm the boy down.

Either that or the loud boy would rub off on the both of them. But she highly doubted it would occur that way. Shino was never one to really show his emotions or be very outspoken, while Hinata was slightly timid and very soft-spoken.

Kurenai called them together again to begin the advance exercises. She'd already had a demonstration of how things worked with Naruto, as he'd been blindfolded in the last exercise. But she would need to know both the strengths and weaknesses of every one of her students.

Of course, that would take a very long time to learn, but it was best to start immediately.

--------------------

Naruto groaned as he flopped onto the floor. They'd run through every possible exercise he could think of and more that day. He looked over to see Shino leaning against a tree slightly and Hinata was seated while trying to catch her breath.

All in all, all three of them were exhausted.

After a few moments of silence, Kurenai walked up to them.

"Well done for the first day of official training. We'll continue to train as a team until we begin accepting missions. I will decide when that time is, but until then I look forward to working with the three of you. That's all for today."

Naruto gave out a half hearted cheer before getting up.

"Naruto, a moment please."

Naruto groaned once again and slowly trudged over to where Kurenai was. The jounin could see that Hinata had a slight look of worry on his face as well as she walked away.

After the others left, she returned her attentions to Naruto.

"Naruto, as a part of your training, I want you to use your enhanced senses all the time. Not only will you be able to discover variations and changes if you get used to them, you may also be able to fine tune them even more. Understood?"

Naruto nodded to her and she smiled when she saw his feral eyes looking up at her.

"That's all. Be sure to rest well tonight."

The blonde nodded and began to trudge away. When he was a decent distance away he heard his sensei call out.

"And say hello to Ryuu and Hinata for me!"

Naruto gave a small wave to show he heard and continued on his way. Slowly, ever so slowly, he made his way all the way to Ichiraku. Where he found a bowl of ramen and stool already waiting for him, along with Hinata.

-----------------

Naruto plopped down onto his bed and buried his face in his pillow. He was completely and utterly exhausted.

After team training with Shino and Hinata, and after eating lunch, he'd walked home only to be dragged out. And then he was right back out on the training fields again.

Ryuu wasn't going to cut him some slack simply because he was tired. While Naruto liked it, he also hated it. All he wanted to do was relax.

And after all that training, all he wanted now was some sleep.

The blonde buried himself deep into the bed and covers. He was too tired to care about anything at the moment.

After a few minutes passed, Ryuu walked by the boy's door to hear slight snoring noises coming from inside. He looked inside to see only a small tuft of Naruto's hair present over the blanket and was rewarded with another small snort.

The man grinned and shut the door, letting the kid rest up for the trials he was about to be put through all the next week.

---------------

Hinata was walking back to the Hyuuga compound alone. It had been a few days since Cell Eight was formed, but things weren't slowing down in the least. She'd rarely had time to be able to continue her training under her father. Although, the Hyuuga head didn't seem to mind all the much.

Hinata began to notice more and more that his interest and attentions were more focused towards her little sister. At least, while they were training. Outside of the dojo, Hiashi was sociable around Hinata. The girl thought it was a little odd that the stoic and normally cold man would simply start talking about how things were.

If their small talks and discussions were anything to go by, the council was giving her father a hard time about something. Exactly what, he wouldn't say, but she knew that it was something important. He was becoming stressed, that much she could see. When stressed, Hiashi was a little more than irritable and slightly more harsh during training.

As she walked into the compound itself and slipped out of her shoes, she began to feel tense. She didn't know why, but something was making the air inside the complex thick with tension. As she walked through the halls toward her room, she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. Something was wrong…

As she passed by her father's study, she could hear various voices inside. The strong and confident voice was no doubt her father, but the slightly elderly one was hard to place. She stopped, against her better judgment, and listened to the already heated conversation.

"…-lling you that she is not fit for the position. The girl did indeed pass her exams, but she was no where near the top of the class. Young Neji did far better than her."

A sigh escaped from the other man's lips, "She was under a considerable amount of pressure as well. More so than my nephew. She is trying her best to live up to the reputation of the Hyuuga, despite being like her mother."

Hinata perked. Her mother? What did her mother have to do with this?

"Yes…that meek woman. She was nothing but a hindrance. After all, she gave birth to the one most like herself first. It was to spite us all."

At this point, something relating a hiss escaped Hiashi's mouth.

"It would do you good to not speak ill of her in my presence. Now get out of here before I lose my patience. It's wearing thin."

At this point Hinata quietly made a hasty retreat to her room. If she didn't know any better, it sounded like a private conversation between one of the council members and her father. Something that had started, and probably ended, with her.

She couldn't help but sigh. She never knew her mother was disliked by the clan…and if she was just like her, then what did that say? The reason for her father's irritation was clear now. The council was displeased with her and taking it out on her father.

In a way, Hinata felt a little guilty. She never wanted to cause anyone any kind of pain or suffering. But she remembered exactly how she'd been treated when she was younger. Before her mother died. She'd only just begun her training and the verdict on it was that she was an immediate failure. Her father was starting to slip into that mindset as well.

Until Naruto had somehow come into their lives.

She saw how determined he was. How he wouldn't let Ryuu constantly hold him back by knocking him down. How he continued to try even after he was utterly exhausted. How he could continue smiling through it all. How he simply ignored those who put him down.

And something inside of her just seemed to click.

She knew she wanted to be like him. To have his courage. To have his drive. To have his strength. To have…to have…him.

The shy girl blushed at that thought. She was happy to know him. Happy to be with him. Happy to be his friend.

After he'd just mysteriously come walking into her life, things seemed to change. She wanted to be like him, so she tried. She tried during her training. She tried during her private lessons on clan politics. She tried in anything else that was brought to her attention.

And it was paying off. Even though she was still clumsy, she still began to impress her father. She began to train just as hard as she thought he would. She studied just as hard as she trained. She was just beginning to scratch the surface of the clan laws, bylaws and sublaws, but she'd do her absolute best.

It was then that the relationship with her father improved. He seemed slightly more open and receptive to her. He'd even gone so far as to tell her he was proud of her once. It made her extremely happy that she could live up to whatever expectations he had of her, just by trying.

He must have defended her against something the council had said if he was growing irritated with the council. At least she knew that he was willing to defend her. Even against his own clan. She was Hiashi's daughter, and that was what he saw her as. His daughter and potential heir, not some figurehead that the council did.

The council must've been putting pressure on him because of Hanabi. Hanabi's progress was simply amazing. It was twice, if not three, times what Hinata's was when she was training. But that was only in the basics. The younger girl still had quite a ways to catch up with Hinata.

Especially since Hiashi had told his eldest daughter of her upcoming training regimen.

After Hanabi was completely through the basics, she was going to train under Hizashi while Hiashi took precedence over Hinata's training. The clan head had told his daughter that while they would focus on the basic and intermediate skills of Jyuuken and its techniques for the first few weeks, things would most assuredly pick up. After those few weeks were through, Hiashi was going to train Hinata in the advanced techniques and arts of Jyuuken.

It excited the girl, but also worried her. What if she didn't perform up to her father's standards? Now he actually had a reason to overlook her…with the council breathing down his neck.

She sighed, pushing the thoughts out of her mind as she changed and climbed into her futon. She'd worry about it when she got there…

She smiled at that thought. That was exactly something he would do.

After a few moments of daydreaming, the girl slowly shut her eyes and let sleep take her in its grasp.

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Naruto sat in the trees, as was customary in the morning. He was always the first one there and usually the last to leave.

After following Kurenai's instructions, Shino had never been able to get in without attracting his attention first. He could always smell the dark haired boy when he came near.

Likewise, he could always smell Hinata and Kurenai as well. They both had interesting overlapping scents. Kurenai smells like sweet peas and roses, while Hinata smelled like lavender and lilacs.

He didn't know why, but it was rather soothing. And he was always caught smiling in their direction when they came to the training grounds.

Today was no different. He turned his head to catch a glimpse of the two as they walked into the clearing, only to notice something a little off. Hinata seemed slightly nervous…not to mention flustered.

Kurenai, though, was all business. Her face was strangely emotionless as she walked into the center of the grounds and motioned for everyone to join her. After a few moments, she looked around the small triangle at her students with a slightly grave expression.

"We're going to forego training today. We have a mission."

A/N: Fun stuff. I had a lot of fun trying to think of what way Kurenai would try to build teamwork. Kakashi had his stupid bells. I wanted something different.

I drew reference from the 'Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil' if you couldn't tell. But that makes it all the more fun.