(A/N) Hey guys. I am so sorry about the updating. I went to update two weeks ago, and all my chapters got deleted! I'm still not sure how the heck it happened. I had to rewrite all four pre-written chapters, and after two weeks I still don't like how they came out the second time around. Sorry about that. Anyways, I'll try and update tomorrow as well. Hopefully I won't accidentally delete the chapters again.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I would have both read the manga and seen the anime. Not just watched it.


CHAPTER 10

It was graduation day. It was graduation day. Oh Kami, today was the day of the ninjutsu testing. Yesterday had been the physical test, and the day before that had been the written one. Despite Sasuke and I's best efforts at tutoring, Naruto had barely scraped through the written portion.

"Kore, calm down. You'll pass." Sasuke assured me, trying to sound indifferent but failing, as i could hear the concern in his voice. It was faint, but still present. He'd gotten better at expressing himself, even if only slightly.

"It's not me I'm worried about. Naruto still can't do the clone jutsu. What if he doesn't pass?" I whispered anxiously, glancing at Naruto's closed door. It'd been four years since Sauske had moved in with us, and we had decided to combine our apartments using the funds Sasuke got from the Uchiha Clan's pile of money he had inherited. After installing connecting doors ourselves, we had decorated each room to our own tastes.

Naruto's room was an orange forest of both plants and ramen, since I had told him he wasn't allowed to stockpile in the kitchen anymore. I lived in a library of scrolls and books, while Sasuke had training scrolls from the Uchiha compound and several decks of cards, which he had found surprisingly enjoyable to play games with.

"We've gotta go now if we want to get there early." Sasuke informed me, tugging on my sleeve. I rolled my sleeves back down over my forearms and pushed my hair behind my shoulders.

At age 11, I now wore a long sleeved, tight fitting black shirt with forest green ninja pants that I bound to my calves and ankles with bandages. Standard ninja sandals in the same shade of my pants adorned my feet. Sasuke had chosen to honor his dead clan by wearing their traditional clothing. His high-collared, navy shirt had the Uchiha clan symbol on the back, and his white arm warmers matched his knee-length shorts. I pushed open Naruto's door to tell him to hurry up, before pausing in confusion.

"Sasuke, when was the last time you saw Naruto?" I asked, looking around the blonde's apartment.

"Last night, when you read us a story. Why, is he not here?" Sasuke replied, poking his head through the door to peer inside. I sighed heavily.

"If he's late, I'm hiding his bed again." Sasuke smirked at me, remembering the time that Naruto had forgotten my chronic shyness and dragged me to a party full of people I had never spoken to before. Needless to say, I had not been pleased with him. His pranking habit had apparently rubbed off o me, as I had waited until he had left the apartment to disassemble his bed and scatter the pices throughout the village. But, because I was unwilling to be forced to share a bed, I had given him a map. It was pretty fun for all of us, actually.

Fifteen minutes and one leisurely walk later found Sasuke and I in Umino Iruka's classroom, waiting for our housemate to show. Naruto burst through the door ten minutes before class started, panting heavily. His bright orange jumpsuit had not changed since the day he had bought it, the only change being the black shinobi shirt and pants he wore underneath it in order to "blend in" when escaping from the victims of his latest prank by shedding the jumpsuit.

"What did you do this time?" I asked, amused at the bright grin on Naruto's face that contrasted the sweat on his forehead.

"The next ANBU that walk into their lounge are gonna find a paint bomb in about thirty different colors that'll go off when they close the door." Naruto said proudly. Sasuke just rolled his eyes, but Naruto and I could see the corner of his mouth twitching. The three of us looked over to see Ino and Sakura making a fuss in the doorway, each girl insisting that they had gotten to the classroom first. Sakura shot Sasuke a longing glance, Naruto a scathing one, and me a jealous one before sitting down in the row before them. Ino waved happily at Sauske and nodded at me before sitting down somewhat reluctantly besides Shikamaru in the back row.

Iruka called for the students to start coming to the next classroom over to perform the three Academy jutsu. Sasuke and I both managed to do all three, but Naruto substituted the Henge with his Sexy-no-Jutsu and failed the clone jutsu. I just shook my head; Naruto wasn't going to pass at this rate. And I was right. After the test was over, Naruto was sitting on the swing without a headband while Sasuke and I stood by the entrance with ours in our hands.

"We should give him some time alone." I whispered, gently leading Sasuke away from the Academy. We waited for hours back in our shared apartment, growing more and more worried as time ticked on. The village-wide alarm went off in three short bursts, causing us to panic slightly. We took turns sleeping, and started playing card games at around midnight to stay up. Finally, at around eight in the morning, Naruto stumbled into the living room where Sauske and I were sitting on the couch. Covered in scratches and bruises, and sporting a Konoha headband along with a tired but bright smile, Naruto collapsed to the couch and began to tell us his story.

(**~**)

"Where's Naruto now?" I sighed, standing in line to have my picture taken for my new ninja I.D. Sasuke snorted.

"Doing his make-up for the picture." I shook my head in amusement, a smile on my face. As I sat up on the stool to have the picture taken, I smiled brighter at the thought of finding out what Naruto would be doing for his picture. My icy-colored hair reached down to my waist, having been let out of it's hat for the picture. As soon as I had hopped off of the stool, I shoved it all up under the dark green and black hat I wore. Sasuke rolled his eyes at my antics before climbing onto the stool himself. He refused to smile, but he did give the camera a slight smirk.

Us two then began wandering around, settling down at a dango store. Sasuke wrinkled his nose at the sweets but accepted the small pouch of tomatoes I carried around because of his hatred of sweet things. I still didn't understand that particular dislike, but went with it anyways. He pulled out a pack of cards and began dealing. A few hours later, Sasuke had won 48 games of blackjack, while I had only won 3. We caught wind of Naruto being chewed out by the Hokage for his I.D. picture and headed to the Hokage Tower. Standing outside the door to the Hokage's office, we waited for Naruto.

"Who's that?" Sasuke asked me, nodding towards a small, eight year old boy currently trying to sneak up to the door.

"Konohamaru. Grandson of the Hokage, son of Ichirou and Hoshi Sarutobi. Ichirou, his father, is dead. He was the Hokage's first son." I said quietly, watching the boy. I bit back a smile as Konohamaru pulled out blunt Academy shuriken, and raced into the room. Sasuke joined me in my quiet snickering as Konohamaru tripped over air and went down hard. He started berating Naruto for trapping him, when Naruto hit him.

I snorted, whipping my head back out of the doorway when Sarutobi glanced towards the noise. I didn't want him to see me. We still weren't on very good terms, even though he knew that I had not told Sasuke or Naruto about my suspicions concerning the massacre, nor had I told them about the Kyuubi in Naruto. I didn't want to get Sasuke's hopes up, in case Itachi really had murdered his family in order to get stronger. Also, I figured that there must be a law or threat of death or something that kept the villagers from outright telling Naruto about the Kyuubi, seeing as how that would be a great way to hate on him. I hadn't told Naruto, but I had read to him out the Fairies and Demons book I had gotten years ago, specifically the section about the nine-tailed fox. I had also casually mentioned that some tailed beasts could be sealed inside of humans, specifically infants, turning them into what was known as jinjuriki. I hoped Naruto had picked up on my not-so-subtle hints, but I knew that the boy was oblivious sometimes.

After everything had been straightened out, and Naruto had re-taken his picture, we all walked down the road to their apartment. I started giggling as Naruto's left eyebrow twitched furiously, as Konohamaru hid badly from us. Finally, Naruto couldn't take it, and began yelling at him that we could see him. Sasuke and I went back to the apartment, leaving Naruto and Konohamaru up to who knows what.

We found out later when the two boys proudly showed off their perfected Henges. I complimented them on being able to replicate the clothing as well, while Sasuke just grunted and nodded in their direction. In his language, it meant he was impressed. Konohamaru stayed for dinner before heading home, and I began to discuss with Naruto what teams we'd be assigned.

"Honestly, I think we'll all be assigned to the same team. Sauske is the top rookie, I'm the top kunochi, and you're the dead-last in our class, so it'll all balance out. It's a tradition." I explained to Naruto. He grinned excitedly, either oblivious or purposely ignoring my insult.

"Who do you think we'll get as a sensei? Whoever they are, they'd better be awesome!" Naruto declared, punching his fist in the air. Sasuke rolled his eyes at the blonde's enthusiasm.

"Sharingan Kakashi. It's gotta be, if we have Sasuke on our team." Sasuke sat upright at my words.

"He has a Sharingan?" He asked sharply. I nodded.

"It's how he got his nickname. His left eye was replaced with a Sharingan. All I know is he was given it, or else he wouldn't still be alive. Maybe he had a friend in your clan? You can always ask him." I suggested. Sasuke nodded slowly, deep in thought as he lay back down. We talked for hours before finally going to bed.

The next day, all three of us sat nervously in our seats at the Academy, awaiting thief assignments. I took out my nervousness by reading a book, while Naruto and Sasuke began to get in a fight over what dinner would consist of.

"Teme, we're having ramen! If you keep eating tomatoes you'll turn into one!" Naruto exclaimed, crouching on the desk in front of Sauske. I eyed his precarious position apprehensively. This isn't going to end well, is it? I questioned to herself, watching Sasuke argue back that ramen for every meal was more unhealthy than tomatoes.

In what seemed like slow motion, the boy in front of Naruto bumped him with his elbow, causing Naruto to fall forwards into Sasuke. Their lips connected, and all three of us sat there, stunned. I turned red and squeaked, burying my face in my hands as I tried to muffle my embarrassed yet amused giggles. My amusement turned to frozen shock as I heard Sasuke's fangirl group freak out. They were right behind me! When had they gotten there?! I glanced between my fingers to see Naruto and Sasuke scrubbing their tongues with their hands as each boy made a face of utter disgust.

"Settle down students. I will now announce the teams of three. Team One..." Iruka began, holding a list in his hands. I curiously poked a bruise on the beat-up Naruto, courtesy of Sasuke's fangirls. He grumbled and moved away from my finger.

"Team Seven is Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto and Taiyo Kore." I smiled as Naruto leaped onto his desk and punched the air.

"Yeah! Teme, Kore and I are gonna be the greatest team ever! Believe it!" He cried. I giggled at his child-like enthusiasm.

"Be careful up there Naruto. Last time you stood on a desk you kissed Sasuke." I laughed out loud as Naruto dropped into his chair like a sack of rice, face burning red.

"It was an accident." He hissed. I giggled at his reaction. Sneaking a peek towards Sasuke showed that his cheeks were red as well, and that he had defaulted to ignoring the world around him.

Iruka finished calling of the teams and dismissed the students. The newly-made Genin all left the classroom for lunch, returning after an hour. The sensei's came to pick up every team but Team 7. Even Sakura had left with a pair of fraternal twin brothers and a sensei.

"Where is he?" Naruto grumbled, irritated at our new sensei's lateness. I looked up from my interesting book on Kumo History and shrugged. I stifled a giggled and poked Sasuke in the side. He looked to where I was pointing and nearly sighed in exasperation. Naruto was busy setting up an eraser to fall on the Jonin's head.

"It's not going to work." Sasuke muttered, hands clasped in front of his face. I shrugged.

"You never know. Deception is a good trait of a good ninja. Look at Naruto; no one looks at him and thinks he's good at anything stealthy, but in reality he's amazing at sneaking around." Naruto grinned at me, then rubbed his hands together eagerly as a hand opened the door. The eraser fell onto the silver hair of a young ninja in his mid-to-late twenties.

"My first impression of you is...I hate you." He deadpanned. "Meet me on the roof." He turned and vanished, Body-flickering away. Five minutes later, all four members of Team 7 were seated on the rooftop.

"Why don't we introduce ourselves. Tell us your name, your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams." The man said.

"You go first." Naruto shot back, obviously still annoyed by the whole 'I hate you' thing.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream...I have a few hobbies." The three kids sat there, stunned at his answer.

"The only thing you told us was your name!" Naruto cried out. Sasuke sighed then turned to me.

"Who is he?" He asked simply.

"Hatake Kakashi. Also known as Sharingan Kakashi, or the Copy-Nin. Rumored to know over a thousand jutsu. Likes miso soup with eggplant, dislikes sweets, and has a habit of reading the famous series Icha Icha everywhere he goes. Gossips say that he hasn't ever passed a Genin team. His sensei was the Yodaime." I listed, scrunching my eyebrows together as I tried to remember what I had heard about Kakashi. The ninja in question raised an eyebrow at me, making me flush and look to the ground.

"Well they asked. And it's not my fault you eat at the same restaurant we do, and always get the same thing. " I muttered.

"Your turn." Kakashi nodded towards Naruto.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I like cup ramen, but I like the ramen at Ichiraku even more. I hate the three minutes that I have to wait to make ramen. My hobby is to eat and compare cup ramens, and to take care of my plants. And my dream is to become the Hokage!" Naruto beamed at the end of his introduction.

"Okay. Next one." Kakashi glanced towards Sasuke. The boy grunted before beginning.

"My name is Uchiha Sauske. There are a lot of things that I hate, and there aren't a lot of things that I like. Also, I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as just a dream. To revive my clan...and to capture a certain man." Naruto amd I stared at Sasuke for a moment, before I turned to Kakashi and elaborated.

"H-he likes tomatoes and card games, but hates sweets. His hobbies are tricking Naruto and I into playing cards with him, and t-training. He's also anti-social, but we've been working on that." I said. Kakashi stared at me.

"Your turn." He said. I turned pink.

"I like dango, and reading, and dislike secrets and on bad days, the Hokage for keeping those secrets. My hobbies are finding out secrets, singing and writing. My dream is to help my friends to achieve their dreams." I twisted my fingers together and refused to look up from the interesting ground.

"We will begin missions tomorrow. Meet at training ground 7 at 5 a.m. It will be a survival test. Also, don't eat breakfast. If you do, you will throw up." With that dramatic statement, Kakashi took off from the roof.

"Training ground 7? Why does that sound familiar?" Naruto muttered to himself.

"That's where I met Gai." I explained. "I wonder how he is, I haven't seen him in a while. Not since he got that Genin team of his." I said to myself. We all started walking home to eat dinner and get some sleep before our survival test tomorrow. None of us knew what it would be, but what we did know that it would determine if we were making the 33% that would become ninja. For us, it would be either a pass or a fail to determine our future.


(A/N) So I'll update tomorrow, and Sunday as well. In order to make up for the days I missed by accidentally deleting the chapters. Really sorry about that by the way. And now we're into the canon, storyline stuff! So, I've decided that the Wave Arc won't last longer than three, four chapters tops. It'll begin either next chapter or the one on Sunday. I haven't decided which yet. I'm still in the process of re-writing and editing.

(A). I'm actually kinda upset that only one person tried to guess about Kore's kekki genkai. Arcami wins, because they were the only one to guess, and also because their answer was really good. If I hadn't already written down how she got her kekki genkai, then a Senju or Uzumaki descendant would have been a close second.

(Q). Anyone got a funny story or joke? I didn't make the team I wanted to, despite playing it for years, so I'm a bit depressed.