Mixmatched Teams

1. Mix and Match

She felt elated just knowing that she could be with him . He absolutely liked to have her as part of the team, but absolutely disliked having him as part of the same group. Of the three of them, the last team member received everything with only a shrug. He could not care less if he or she made such a great deal of that gathering, that day when their three-man team, Cell 7, was born.

Cell 7 had an interesting relationship to study. There was the outspoken and loudmouth, Uzumaki Naruto, who was the baby boy infused with the vengeful spirit of the Kyuubi. Of the three-man team, Naruto was neither thinker nor strategist. Rather, he wore his heart on his sleeve. He was the one who ceased to make the life of the team mundane, preferring to channel more of his energies into the trivial matters. Unlike most boys of his age, Naruto was already able to value the beauty of the female species, though it was in a bit of distorted way. Despite the boisterous and easy-breezy attitude, Naruto's life had never been a primrose path. In his childhood, he experienced a lot of discrimination from the adults of the village, with the knowledge that he was harboring a frightful monster. They whispered harsh words and snatched seething looks that were incited with so much hatred and rage. Eyes blinded and ears unhearing, deep down, they were only fearful, fearful of the Kyuubi inside of him. All they saw was the monstrosity within and not the carefree, wide beam on the boy's face. That young boy was persisting, never giving up. He was equivalent to a thousand sunshines. Out on the streets, in that bright orange outfit he donned, he was comparable to the sun - wholesome, radiant...a great ball of bursting energy. Naruto never asked for people's respect. That only happened of their own accord, when they learned to open themselves for him, even if not readily. Little by little, he gained recognition from his peers and sympathy from the adults. He had yet to gain the attention of the only female in the team and that was Haruno Sakura.

Sakura was an attractive kunoichi, that much Naruto appreciated. But it was not Naruto's appreciation Sakura sought after. Her eyes were ever always turned the other way, towards her other teammate, Uchiha Sasuke. It would not be an understatement to say that Sasuke was every village girl's ideal dreamboat, however much unattainable. Sakura had not only looks. She had brains as well. But as most girls were prone to, her emotions undermined her intellect whenever it came to the Uchiha, being an advocate of all things him. Sakura thought herself the luckiest of girls to be his teammate. She had always groomed her hair to be long, silky, and lush. She was willing to forsake a friendship, all because of alike feelings for that person. She would wade through any quandary, hell and the river Styx, all for his sake. In the end, no matter how much Sakura devoted herself for his cause, the unattainable was still untouchable. He had no need for her devotion, for, his cause was his own.

He was four things: aloof, taciturn, stoic, and somber. Sasuke was also one more thing, from the day he became those four other things. He was an avenger, living in the shadows of a nightmarish past. Sasuke once belonged to the clan of the elite Uchihas. His brother, Itachi, lived up to that name; he was the very definition of it. Itachi was already exceptional at a young age, whereas Sasuke still had mediocre skills. Their father acknowledged Itachi's strength, but never paid heed to the younger Uchiha. And Sasuke saw this. He knew of the expectations entailed with the very name of the Uchiha. Sasuke secretly desired to be better, wanted to live up to that name, just like his elder brother. Yet, that time would never come. It never will. Time stopped on that one night when his whole clan had been annihilated. Every single one of them had been murdered by Itachi. On that very night, he had lost his family, his home, and his dreams. What family remained could only be considered a traitor. What home remained was only an empty and lifeless dwelling. When every one of his clan died, so did his dreams. Sasuke was only a child, back then. But what happened, happened. Itachi crushed his future, his life. His ill will imbued rancour and loathe. Sasuke was left with a desire to kill. His elder brother pushed him to be an avenger. The circumstances forced the young boy to change. Sasuke desired to be better...in order to defeat Itachi.

Sasuke's goal, however the thought of its being a long-term one, had always been Itachi. He had always admired his elder brother. Now, he felt none of that, only felt abhorrance and bitterness. All those years, he had been paving a straight path towards him. Yet, somewhere along the way, when he met his teammates, he unknowingly stepped off the road and had gone on a detour. Naruto and Sakura were doing the same. They had been marking their own ways, trudging and walking, until all three of them, including their Kakashi-sensei, came face to face with each other at an intersection of life. Together, they all simply tried to create a new path to take that would eventually lead them to their ultimate destinations. Unknowingly, Team 7 touched each other's lives. They were entangled in a complex, at the same time, simple web. There was bickering, mostly on Sakura and Naruto's part, though not all the time. Sometimes there was rivalry, often between Naruto and Sasuke (but more on Naruto's side). On some occasions, there was pure slapstick, courtesy of Naruto. Other times, there were bad moments. And then, there were just plain good moments. It did not matter if there were bad moments, because, those small and short good moments far outweighed the negative.

Yup. Team 7 just got along well...

...maybe.

"Everyone, settle in your seats. We're about to start the meeting."

Kakashi stood in front of the classroom, facing all the genins. Sitting at the side was Kurenai, legs and arms crossed. Asuma and Gai stayed at the back of the classroom. Asuma was frowning, having his pack of cigarettes confiscated by Gai, who was reproaching Asuma for trying to pollute the very air that these strapping and healthy youth were breathing.

"Dame dame, my fellow jounin. You do not want to burn holes in their lungs nor set a bad example for them," Gai reprimanded Asuma as he seized the cigarette from his mouth and the lighter from his hand. "You are a jounin, a model. Do you understand what it means to be a model? A model has to be respectable in the presence of young ones bla bla bla..."

It was still early in the morning. The three-man teams were each called on by their jounins to assemble in one classroom in the academy. The genins didn't know why they were there or what to expect. There didn't seem to be a mission to accomplish and the three-man teams were never gathered together like this, not since the chuunin examinations. So, why were they all there?

The noise in the classroom piped down. Needless to say, there were faint crunching sounds while Chouji munched on some potato chips. All eyes were directed at the snowy-haired jounin. Kakashi took one look at everyone in the class before he began in a serious tone. "Okay, everyone. I'm sure you all know what we're celebrating ten days from now."

At this, there was a collective nod.

"So, can anyone tell me what it is?" followed the copy-nin.

"Kakashi-sensei's birthday!" belted out Naruto, which was ensued by a, "No, you idiot!" and a derisive snort from his teammates. Shortly after, laughter permeated the room. Kakashi-sensei had an amused look on his face, one eyebrow arched. Kurenai smiled. Asuma was muttering under his breath about not being able to take it any longer and went out of the room, to smoke, Gai suspected. But he dismissed the thought and beamed at the back of the blonde's head, eyes flashing manically.

"Ah! The good-humored youth is youth at its best! Naruto, you have captured the very essence of youth!" he rambled on.

Sakura threw up her hands exasperatedly. "Seriously! You really are Naruto if you don't know what event there is next week!"

Kakashi cleared his throat and continued the discussion. "Unfortunately, Naruto, I can't treat you on my birthday, as I've already finished celebrating it," he said.

Naruto's face dropped in disappointment, cat whiskers drooping. "Oh, it's not Kakashi-sensei's birthday next week?"

"Nope," answered Kakashi, seemingly smiling underneath his mask. " Anyway. What we're celebrating in ten days is not my birthday, as Naruto claimed. It is the day when Konoha Village was founded."

Naruto nudged Shikamaru, who was seated beside him. "Ne, ne. What does he mean by the day when Konoha was founded?"

If it was Sakura she would have rolled her eyes, thwack Naruto on the head, and yell, "Naruto, did you leave what little is left of your brain in bed?" But this was Shikamaru. He always felt it too troublesome to explain stuff, too troublesome to talk when he was required to, too troublesome to lift a finger, too troublesome to move a step forward; in short, anything that had to make use of even a small fraction of his gray matter. The process only made the simple, too complicated. But then again, this was Shikamaru. Even if he was so uneager to, he had to do what he had to. So, Shikamaru tried to explain to Naruto as simply as possible.

"Naruto, you do know that Konoha was established by the First and Second Hokage?"

Naruto looked a tad doubtful but nodded his head.

"Well, the day we were officially recognized as a ninja village, that was the day when Konoha was founded. Every year, we commemorate that same day."

"Oh, I get it now!" Naruto slammed a fist on one palm. Grinning from ear to ear, he faced front to listen to Kakashi. Shikamaru released a resigned sigh. Too troublesome, indeed.

"Konoha's Foundation Day Celebration will span a week. There will be several highlights such as the round-robin contest for academy students, a ramen-bowl eating contest, a talent show, a play, a free-for-all race, and the usual festivities, With all the acitivities laid out, the whole village will be very busy with preparations this week, don't you think?"

Kakashi paused, studying the attentive faces in front of him.

"Since a lot of the chuunins will be out on missions just before Foundation Week starts, we've decided to leave it to you genins to assist the villagers with their preparations. I'm sure we can count on you to be capable of aiding the villagers. Just think of it as a sort of mission. Of course, when the festivities begin, you are all allowed to join. For now, let's all work together to make this celebration successful, since this is the only time that the Godaime has ever come to handle something different other than missions and the reconstruction of Konoha since her inauguration. It'll be a nice breather for her and for all of us."

Gai nodded his head vigorously with every word Kakashi let out. He seemed close to crying as he kept exclaiming. "My eternal rival, you have made such a beautiful speech that even I was affected! So wonderful! So beautiful! So inspiring!"

Gai-sensei, I agree with you! Lee thought enthusiastically, pumping his fists.

Kurenai got up from her seat and strode to Kakashi's side. It was her turn to speak.

"You will be divided into four committees, which have no labels and particular tasks to do. Each of you will be working in the committee you'll be assigned to, for the next ten days. We trust that you'll be able to work efficiently with the co-members of your committee."

"Four committees? So, that means we'll be assigned by our three-man teams..." Sasuke wondered aloud.

"Not at all," Kakashi said.

"What!" cried out Ino and Sakura together.

"We're going to reshuffle teams for a while. As Kakashi said, it's just like a mission. The only difference is having different teammates and naming you as committees. It will only last starting tomorrow until the last day before Foundation Week."

"How troublesome..." Everyone could easily tell who it came from.

Tenten raised her hand. "Excuse me, but why are we doing this?"

Everybody knew she was referring to the decision of reshuffling the teams. Really, this was the first time the teams were going to be separated. There were mixed reactions. People like Sasuke, Shino, and Neji were impassive as always. Chouji, same as ever, was going through his third bag of potato chips. Next to him, Shikamaru only slumped in his seat and shoved his hands into his pockets, grumbling, "How troublesome." He couldn't say that in peace, though, because next to Shikamaru, Ino was venting it out on him, grabbing Shikamaru roughly by the collar. Hinata was quiet., although she instantly found herself thinking if she and Naruto could be in the same committee. A blush crept up to her face. She just as instantly banished the thought in her head. The rowdy trio of Kiba, Akamaru, and Naruto were all barking, literally. Sakura was worried that she would be separated from her teammates, specifically Sasuke, for ten whole days. Lee, still too enthralled with his Gai-sensei's dramatic soliloquy, was locked in Gai's embrace. The two of them bawled over Kakashi's so "youth-oriented" speech earlier on. Tenten could only grimace at the scene. She was more concerned with how her teacher and teammate were carrying themselves in such a shameful manner.

Tenten remembered why they were being like this. She turned back to the two jounins before them.

"Well, Kakashi-san? Kurenai-san?" And all at once, the room was in order again. Heads snapped back towards the two figures standing up front.

Kakashi's head whipped up and he wore a guilty and pleased face. He was caught replacing in a hurry, a familiar object in one of the pockets of his navy-blue jacket. He had obviously been perusing Icha Icha Paradise. Kurenai glared sideways at the copy-nin.

"Nani? Is something the matter?" Kakashi asked innocently as he wiped off the gander in his countenance.

Kurenai narrowed her eyes at Kakashi, hands on her hips. "They want to know why we're shuffling teams," she explained.

"And later on, perhaps you can expound to me what is so pleasurable with that explicit reading material you are very much interested in," she added in a low voice that was still quite audible to many ears.

Kakashi glanced upward, assuming a generally confused expression. "I don't know what you're talking about." Then, he returned to the intent faces opposite him, waiting for his answer. For a while, Kakashi played a staring game with the genins. Finally, he smiled. The mask hid it, but it was perceivable.

"Well, wouldn't it be fun?"

to be continued...

I think I wasn't making sense anymore when I typed this. I know that there's no point summarizing each character's life story (and I'm sure I missed some points), but it's kinda necessary for my fic. I pretty much tried to even out the mood of the first chapter to make room for the developments in the following chapters. This is only the first time I tried to write a fic about Naruto, so please R and R. Reviews are very much appreciated.

Oh, can anyone tell me what the team numbers of each three-man team is? And if you have any suggestions about which reshuffled teams you'd like to see, you can tell me.