Well, I've had mixed responses about this fic, mostly good. I'll tell you all now that any pairings in the near/distant future will totally depend on how the story progresses. Oh, and to , your comment about the voices in Naruto's head were only half right.

(note: when you see name: "words" that's a direct quote.)

DISCLAIMER: See chapter 1.

POMF!

Kakashi, the new instructor for Team 7, now had a large amount of chalk dust in his hair. He had only just stuck his head in the door, trying to say hi, when this happens. /What have I gotten myself into/ Quietly, he opened the door all the way and picked up the eraser that had hit him. /Wedged in the door. How childish. But then, they are just kids./

The shinobi looked up, scanning the other occupants of the room. Sakura was standing in the front of the room with a combined look of suprise and embarrasment. Sasuke was still sitting in the exact spot he was in during the first meeting. "Weren't there three of you? Where's Naruto?"

This caught Sakura by suprise. She looked around the room, a slight worry in her voice. "Huh? But he was right ...wasn't he just...?" As she looked back at her new sensei, her eyes widened and a look of fear washed over her face. The eraser that Kakashi had just put away was ...floating. Almost as if someone was picking it up. But ...there was no one there!

In the next instant, it shot like a rocket for the back of Kakashi's silver-haired head. The jounin, however, had had enough chalk in his hair for today, so he simply moved his head to the side. The eraser flew right past it's intended target ...and struck a different one.

Sasuke's face had finally changed it's expression for the first time in hours. It's kinda hard not to when a loaded chalkboard eraser smacks it dead center. The black-haired ninja now had the look of extreme annoyance. /Oh, ...he's dead./

That was just too much. Naruto finally reappeared, clutching his gut, laughing in tears. It was funny enough when their so-called sensei fell prey to the oldest prank in the book, but for the next one to work out so perfectly... the blonde didn't stop laughing for some time. He was having such a good time that the other two couldn't help but chuckle.

xxxxXxxxx

The four of them moved up to the roof of the building, which had a number of trees growing there. There, they had a brief series of introductions.

Kakashi: "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future, eh? Hmmm..." He paused. "Well, I have lots of hobbies..."

Naruto: "Me, me! My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like Cup Ramen! What I like even more is the ramen from the Ichiraku that Iruka-sensei bought me. What I dislike is waiting the three minutes for the Cup Ramen to cook. My hobby is eating tons of Cup Ramen! And my dream for the future..." He stopped to adjust his forehead protector. "Is to surpass Hokage! And then have all the people of this village acknowledge my existence!"

Sakura: "I'm Haruno Sakura. What I like is... well... The person I like is..." She glanced at Sasuke. "And my hobbies are..." Another glance at Sasuke. "Well, my dream for the future is..." This time, she looked and then shrieked like a little girl.

"And? What you dislike?"

"...It's Naruto."

Obviously, the blonde didn't take this too well. Kakashi just sighed. /Girls of this age are more interested in love than ninjutsu./

Sasuke: "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are tons of things I dislike, but I don't really like anything." A dark, intense look came into his eyes. "And... I don't want to use the word 'dream,' but... I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan, and... definitely to kill a certain man."

Silence settled over the team. No one was quite sure what to think. /He'd better not mean me.../ Naruto thought. This was something that neither Naruto nor Sakura had imagined the dark haired boy would say. Neither of them knew just why he would say that, either...

/...what's Cup Ramen/

Naruto let out a sharp yelp and jumped backwards. /What the... not again/ He looked around the rooftop, trying to spot someone that might be spying on him. The panicked genin also checked himself for anything that might have been planted. ...Nothing. They were alone; he was clean. Then what the heck...?

"Are you done?" Kakashi and the others were staring at him like he was crazy. "I was just about to tell you that we start our missions tomorrow."

Back to reality. "Aye! What kind of mission?" Naruto eagarly asked.

"First, we'll do something that can be done with just the four of us."

"What what what what?" Naruto couldn't contain himself. "What?"

"...Survival training." The silver-haired jounin then explained that this wasn't going to be normal training. "You see, of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be chosen as Genin. The rest will be sent back to the Academy." He had a deadly serious expression. "So this test is a highly difficult test with a failure rate of over 66 percent." The team was then instructed to meet on the training field at 5 a.m. and to bring all their shinobi equipment. And lastly, they were not to eat breakfast ...or they'd just throw it up.

xxxxXxxxx

And so the morning came. At least, it was on it's way. The three rookies of Team 7 wobbled into the appointed area at 5 a.m., which happened to be before the sun. Gee.

They all hoped that Kakashi's earlier tardiness was just a one-time thing. They waited. Naruto had sat down and was drifting between sleep and awake. Still they waited. The sun had risen and was traveling patiently across the sky. They kept waiting, not saying a word.

After several hours, a familliar silver head appeared. "Hey, guys. Good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto screamed together.

"Sorry." He grinned behind his mask, pointing behind him. "You see, a black cat crossed my path, and..." He stopped, seeing that they weren't buying it. "-Ahem- Oh well..."

He trotted over to a nearby stump, on which sat an alarm clock. He pressed the big button on top, saying "Okay, it's set for noon." They all took note of the fact that the clock read 11:07 a.m. The jounin then held up two small bells. "Your task for today is to take these two bells from me before noon. Those who cannot get a bell before noon get no lunch!" Sakura gasped. "I'll not only tie you to one of those posts," he pointed to the stump, and the other two on either side of it, "but I'll eat right in front of you."

All three stomachs let out a loud growl. They had all skipped breakfast, as ordered, and had all waited for 6 hours. Even Sasuke, who usually hid his emotions well, couldn't hide his own 'Aw, crap' look. This man was evil. Pure and simple.

Sakura spoke up next. "But, wait a minute. Why are there only two bells?"

Kakashi only grinned. "Because there are two, one of you will definitely be tied to a post. And that person fails."

He said a few other things after that, but Naruto wasn't paying much attention. He was already planning how to nab a bell. /Oh, this is too easy. I'll just become invisible and yank them both when he's not looking.../

/Like in the classroom? He heard you coming a mile away./

This time, the blonde didn't react with suprise, but understanding. The jounin did avoid the eraser, and that was flying through thin air. There's no way he'd miss something tromping through the grass behind him. Well, ...on to plan B.

/Uh-uh. You've done enough./

A dull pain entered Naruto's head. Not severe, not even sharp, but dull and steady. This pain spread it's way down his body until everything ached. The world around the blonde grew darker and quieter. Almost as if he was losing control of his vision and hearing. Everything tuned down, grew darker, slowly fading away into nothing. As soon as Naruto's world went black, as soon as normal thoughts and processes stopped...

...His eyes opened. No one else seemed to notice that his body had slumped for just a second, then stood up straight again. His lungs inhaled deeply, yet quietly, as a life that hadn't breathed for countless decades took it's first breath of fresh air. His eyes took in every color. His nose, every smell. All the nerves in his flesh tingled as a breeze drifted by. Time seemed to hold still for the first minute of a revived existence. Oh, how he had missed being alive!

His attention returned when Kakashi gave the signal. "Ready... Start!" All three ninja vanished, running to their respective hiding places.

The test had begun.

Now we're getting to the good parts! I know that not much was explained here, but that wasn't the point of this chapter. So there. R&R, peoples!