AN: I'm back! It's been awhile, I'm sorry, but I hope you enjoy this anyway!

When Uzumaki Naruto bounced into the classroom the day after she'd failed the genin exams, her classmates were understandably confused. They muttered to themselves, wondering if she had forgotten, or was just in denial (neither would surprise them). Naruto ignored them though, headed right for the back row, where her fellow deadlasts, her best friends, sat beaming at her.

The blonde girl returned their smiles with her own megawatt grin, squirming into place between Kiba and Shikamaru.

"How…?" Kiba trailed off.

Naruto snickered gleefully (even though her graduation circumstances weren't really that funny) and tapped a finger on her hitae-ate. "I'll tell you later." She promised.

Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome." They all three just ignored him, Chōji munching on his chips, and Kiba and Naruto wriggling with impatience.

"Oi, Naru-chan!" Luckily, the other boys in the class were there to distract her from waiting. A whole group of them congregated in front of the row of deadlasts, much to the displeasure of the other girls. Naruto saw several of them glaring at her and rolled her eyes, sticking her finger up at them. Their anger changed to snotty disdain, and then back to embarrassed anger when the boys laughed with Naruto, playfully tugging on her long ponytails. Naruto put up with it for a moment before tossing her head and whacking Kiba and Shika in the face with the golden strands.

"Now then," she settled back in her seat, arms crossed and a teasing grin pulling at her lips. "What did you bakas want?"

"Ehhhh?!" Came the expected outcry. "You know what we wanna know!"

She giggled, widening her eyes innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

The leader of the pack of boys scowled. "Come on, Uzumaki-chan, tell us how come you're here."

Uzumaki-chan. Heh. It was amusing to Naruto, how the boys could never seem to be too cold to her (although the girls more than made up for that, she though with an affronted mental pout. Jealous twits). "Okay, okay," she laughingly surrendered. "I'm really supposed to be here." One tan finger tapped her new-but-old hitae-ate again. "Iruka-sensei gave me this himself."

And once again, unbelievable warmth blossomed through her whole body as she thought of the scarred chūnin who had risked his life for her, who had told her she was precious, and not a demon even though she apparently held the stupid thing in her stomach.

"That's so cool!"

"I'm so glad!"

Congratulations, Naru-chan!"

The sudden outcry of goodwill brought Naruto out of her thoughts, and a lump to her throat. "Guys…" She didn't know what to say. Her relationship with the boys in her class wasn't particularly close; they liked her more than the other girls, despite the stigma attached to her, because Naruto was just as willing to scuffle and scrap as they were, and they got a chance to try peek up her skirt (which Naruto promptly kicked them in the balls for whenever she caught them). But this, this genuine affection and happiness for her – it caught her a bit by surprise. So she simply smiled, beaming as wide as she could with her eyes still open, in the hope that these silly, idiotic, wonderful boys could see just how much it meant to her.

Apparently they could, because suddenly the bunch of them were blushing, heads lowered and hands in their hair. Naruto giggled. Being the only girl in a group of guys was hilarious. They were so cute; like puppies. "Thank you, guys." She said sincerely.

They all mumbled their replies, cheeks still red. Thankfully, a distraction presented itself in the form of Sakura and Ino getting into a catfight over who got to sit next to that cold little snowflake bastard, Sasuke.

"Jeez," one of the taller boys, Daisuke, said. "What's so great about him anyway? Why do all the girls love him so much?" He looked genuinely perplexed.

"Excuse me!" Naruto was greatly offended. Her whiskered face was scrunched up in true revulsion, blue eyes sparking in her irritation.

Shikamaru chuckled next to her, finally deigning to raise his head from the desk. "Don't worry, Naru-chan, we all know you're the only one smart enough not to fall for him." He, and the other boys, sweatdropped at Naruto's firm nod. What a thing to be proud of…

"Anyway," Shikamaru went on, ignoring his friend's oddness. "I guess because he's smart and talented, and he's got that tragic backstory that makes them all want to fix him." He rolled his eyes at the thought. "Oh, and I guess he must be pretty good looking, if they insist on squealing over him so much." Whew. Shikamaru didn't think he'd ever said so many words before lunch before.

Great, and now Kiba and Daisuke were looking at him like he was crazy. "What the hell? You've put that much thought into it?" Stupid Inuzuka.

"No," Shikamaru muttered pointedly. "I just thought of it now, because Daisuke asked. Why would I do something as troublesome as thinking about Sasuke, when I could be sleeping?"

That made the whole group chuckle and nod – truly, Nara laziness was legendary. Nobody loved sleeping as much as Shikamaru did, a fact that Naruto often lamented – loudly – over.

Sora, a tall brunet boy, shouldered his way to the front, so that he was face to face with the blonde girl. "Do you think that Uchiha is attractive, Naru-chan?"

Naruto giggled. Poor Sora looked as though his whole world depended on her answer. She wasn't entirely sure why it mattered, if all those stupid fluttery girls were in love with the bastard, but then, she wasn't a boy. Even if she was though, Naruto was perfectly sure that she would never like anybody stupid enough to fall for that ice-hearted snowflake.

"Meh," Naruto tipped her hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "I guess he is kinda pretty, for a boy." Aw, they all looked heartbroken. Funny puppies. "But he's too much of a snowflake for me. An angry snowflake." She grinned at the image that her words had conjured. Prissy ass bastard.

Naruto didn't know how the guys would have replied, because Iruka-sensei chose that moment to enter the room, sending everybody scattering to their seats in fright. The girl took quite a bit of satisfaction in the fact that for once, she wasn't the one getting in trouble. Without her notice, a huge, shit eating grin spread across her face, gaining bemused glances from Kiba, Shikamaru and Chōji.

"Alright, you brats!" Iruka-sensei roared irritably. "Sit down and shut up!"

This was so exciting! Naruto wriggled in her seat, wishing that Iruka-sensei would just hurry up and get to announcing the teams, instead of lecturing about shinobi duties and all that crap. She just wanted to become a kickass kunoichi , and then become Hokage, so that everybody in the village would see how awesome she really was, even if she had a shitty demon in her belly.

"And Team Seven will consist of: Uzumaki Naruto," YES! Finally! "Haruno Sakura," NO! Why?! "And Uchiha Sasuke." WHAT?!

"NOOOOO!" Naruto's horrified wailing drowned out even Sakura's triumphant shouts. The whole class turned to stare as one at the distraught blonde girl, causing Kiba and Chōji to sink down in their seats (Shikamaru was asleep).

"Naruto!" Iruka-sensei snapped. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto turned betrayed blue eyes on the chūnin. "Why would you do this to me?"

"What?" He was utterly nonplussed.

"My team!" She cried. "I finally become a genin, and you give me Fairy Floss and the Snowflake!"

There was a beat of silence, before the entire class burst out in raucous laughter. Sasuke looked offended and Sakura looked infuriated, but Naruto had no time for them. She stared pleadingly at Iruka-sensei, who had barely held in his own laughter, silently begging him to reconsider.

Unfortunately, all Naruto got in return was a harsh scowl as her sensei pulled himself together. "Naruto! As the dead-last, you don't get to have a say in who your teammates are! Especially when one of them is the Rookie of the Year!" Iruka-sensei gestured at Sasuke-snowflake, as if that was supposed to mean something to her.

Naruto flopped back in her seat, an intense scowl marring her face. Then she shook her head, once again hitting Kiba and Shikamaru with her long ponytails. This would not ruin her mood – she wouldn't let it! Even if she was stuck with two of her least favourite people as teammates, Uzumaki Naruto would not give up, dattebayo! She was a real ninja now, and nothing would stop her from becoming Hokage!

"What is taking so looooooong?!" Naruto groaned, throwing her head back dramatically. She had been stuck waiting in the classroom with Sakura and Sasuke for over two hours, and she was bored. Her new teammates were no fun at all; Sasuke was a brooding bastard, and Sakura was a delusional bubble brain.

"Shut up, Naruto!" Despite Sakura's snapped words, Naruto could tell that the other girl agreed with her.

"What'd you say, Fairy Floss?!" Naruto yelled back, just for the sake of having something to do.

Sakura tossed her long pink hair, glaring at the blonde girl. "What's that you're calling me, Banana Brain?!"

"What? Fairy Floss?" Naruto grinned mockingly. "It suits ya, don't it Sasuke?" Her grin gained an evil edge at the way Sakura's head snapped around in horror, desperately watching Sasuke for any sign that he agreed with Naruto.

Sasuke grunted, eyeing the two of them with annoyance. Naruto, on a spur of the moment decision, vaulted atop the desk that the teme was sitting at, and got right up in his face, glaring into his black eyes. She ignored the way Sakura started yelling in outrage, and instead spoke to the Uchiha.

"What's your problem, huh? Think you're too cool for us, Snowflake-chan?"

Sasuke's answer was lost in the shrieks that both girls let out when an unexpected voice spoke up. "Yo."

What wasn't lost, however, was the sight of Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke staring at each other with wide, horrified eyes, their mouths pressed together in a parody of a kiss.

"Hmm," the voice that had caused Naruto's unfortunate fall forward spoke up again, catching the attention of all three genin and breaking the moment of stillness. "My first impression is… this is going to be fun."

Naruto finally broke away from Sasuke's pale visage, almost spitting in disgust but holding back at the last minute. She wiped her arm across her mouth instead, glaring at the tall, silver haired jōnin with the masked face who was standing in the doorway to the classroom.

"Who the hell are you?!" She demanded, leaping off the desk and away from the icy aura that Sasuke-teme was emanating.

The jerk with the masked face and one eye covered by his hitae-ate simply smiled (Naruto assumed it was a smile; her eyes did the same upward curving thing) and waved two fingers. "Well, it would seem that I'm to be your new jōnin-sensei."

Naruto gaped. Before she could even begin to find the words that she wanted to say to that, the stranger had disappeared in a puff of smoke, a mirth-filled "Meet me on the roof in ten minutes!" the only evidence that he had ever been there in the first place.

Slowly, Naruto turned to face her teammates, bright eyes wide with dread. "You don't think he was serious, do you?"

Sasuke twitched, pale face pinched with annoyance. "Of course he was serious, dobe." He got up and, hands stuffed in his pockets, sauntered leisurely out the door, Sakura chasing quickly after him.

The blonde girl growled, shaking her fist at the departing duo before breaking into a run to overtake them.

She couldn't believe the freaks that she had been given as teammates. What was she going to do with them?

AN: Lemme know what you thought! Also, apologies, but I still don't think there will be any sort of schedule to updates for any of my stories. I hope you'll bear with me anyway!

- Kelly