Chapter eleven is here finally!

DISCLAIMER – I DO NOT OWN NARUTO!

Sorry I'm taking so long between updates now, I am just getting lazy right now, and I will finish this story hopefully. I have the plot in my head, so all I need to do is write it down. The last ten chapters could be called a prologue, because this is where my story will begin to follow the plot of Naruto actually with all the changes made to it. Hopefully I do a good job.

"Speaking"

Thinking

Kyuubi speaking in fox mode.

I hope you enjoy it!

(Ninja academy.)

Naruto sat in his desk happily for today was the Genin exam. The day when he and his friends would all graduate the academy and go on ninja missions and the like. Sasuke, sitting to the right of Naruto, had an equally large grin of eagerness like Naruto had. Sakura, on Naruto's left side, was glad that the days of the academy were over as well.

Two years back, when Naruto had come home from Suna, he was surprised at how many of the children seem to call him a demon. This obviously didn't include Sasuke, and Sakura. Hinata didn't really ever speak to him anymore, which took him quite some time to get use to, she was one his best friends after all.

When Sasuke had told him that Sakura had told his secret off, he wanted to hurt her… badly, but she almost wept when she told Naruto how sorry she was that his anger recoiled…slightly, and he accepted her as a friend after a few weeks when she seem to prove it to them.

The most surprising change in his life however, was when Koga came home one day with a huge grin on his face. Naruto had almost never seen this look, and wondered what the hell was going on. When Koga told him hat he was going out with Ayumi, he wanted to flip out and ask his father why he was going out with such a crazy woman, but he simply accepted it.

So now, here he was, sitting in class waiting to be called in by Iruka and Mizuki, and be tested to see if he could qualify to be a Genin.

"I hope we all pass…" Naruto muttered under his breath.

Sakura nodded thoughtfully and said, "I do too… Do you think we'll all be put into the same team?"

"We better be." Sasuke spoke up, "I wouldn't want to be with anyone else."

Naruto went back to over the course of the two years again. Koga had begun to train him, Sasuke, and Sakura. It was tough at first, but gradually became easier as time passed. Koga put them all in a different jutsu group, basically saying what kind of things they are good at. Sakura was placed in Genjutsu, Sasuke in Ninjutsu, and Naruto in Taijutsu.

They all focused heavily into their preferred type, and eventually came to rely on each other. Sakura would be able to sense any Genjutsu being placed on them, unless if it was a high class one. Sasuke could defeat any opponents with the Jutsu's his brother Itachi taught him. Finally Naruto could beat even the toughest of people into oblivion.

Though even if they did focus in their areas of choice, Koga still made them learn each of the types to them all. He began with tree walking, knowing that at their young age, they couldn't possibly do it. He was surprised to see Sakura up to the top within the first hour. Sasuke and Naruto both made it to the top within the week though.

From this test, Koga could determine how much chakra each of them had. He knew that Naruto had the most, and Sasuke and Sakura knew that as well. Sasuke had the second most, while Sakura had the least, but best control.

After two years of training, they knew that they could easily pass this Genin exam…

"Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka finally called out.

"Good luck Sasuke." Naruto whispered.

"Yeah, Good luck Sasuke-kun." Sakura whispered as well.

Sasuke nodded and whispered back to them, "If you guys don't pass, I'll personally beat the teachers into making you… even if it means they'll be beat myself."

That made Sakura and Naruto smile as Sasuke walked over.

Naruto's thoughts wandered back to his memories. He had become incredibly close friends with both Sasuke and Sakura. He was Surprised at how kind this Sakura was compared to the one that he knew when he left, but he wasn't complaining. He wasn't surprised however, when he and Sasuke became even closer, almost relying on each other when in a fight. This didn't mean that they both didn't rely on Sakura though; her skills were very useful as well.

Sakura had never really stopped with the 'kun' at the end of Sasuke's name; it had become a habit for her. She did treat Sasuke as a friend, but sometimes she would be… over protective of him… For instance, when they all were hanging out at Naruto's favorite Ramen place, Some older children decided to pick on Sasuke, who simply ignored them, but Sakura punched him across the face making him fly across the street.

After that incident, people generally stayed away from Sasuke when she was with him. At school their little group was considered by most to be outcast. Everyone considered Naruto a demon, the hate for the Uchiha eventually leaked into the academy, and kids avoided him as well. It was different with Sakura though, when the Sasuke fan club saw her with them, they began to ignore her again, and all her 'friends' didn't want to hang out with her.

Naruto glanced back up from his thoughts when he saw Sasuke come back with a leaf symbol appearing on a metal plate on his forehead.

"Good job Sasuke." Naruto whispered to him.

He smiled and muttered, "It's incredibly easy… I'd be surprised if you two didn't pass."

"Haruno Sakura." Iruka called out to the crowd of students still waiting.

"Good luck Sakura." Naruto and Sasuke said at the exact same time.

She smiled and whispered, "I'll do my best."

The wait for her to pass wasn't a long one. After a couple of minutes she came out with the headband wrapped in her hair where a red ribbon use to be. Naruto and Sasuke both congratulated her, and they sat together, waiting for Naruto to be called.

Uzumaki Nartuto." Iruka finally called.

"Wish me luck!" He whispered quickly as he rushed towards Iruka.

"A little eager don't you think?" Sasuke whispered over to Sakura.

"Yeah…" She muttered.

Once Naruto entered the room, Sasuke and Sakura waited a few minutes until a huge boom came from the direction Naruto went. They turned their heads to see him busting through the door of the room he was in and cheering about passing.

"I made it!" He shouted.

Sakura and Sasuke simply had a sweat drop dropping down from their heads.

(Several hours' later, streets of Konoha.)

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura had all passed. It wasn't difficult at all, and they only had to wait until tomorrow until the teams were announced and their jounin instructors would take them on missions.

"What do you think the teams will be?" Naruto asked again.

"Like I have said before, I hope we're all together." Sakura said.

Sasuke frowned as he saw some people walking towards them. "Heads up guys."

Two Chunin ranked people were walking over to them. They both were wearing black shirts, and dark blue pants. Their glare was most unwanted around Naruto and his friends.

"If it isn't the outcast of the village!" One of the two said.

The other smiled and said, "They better watch out, or they'll get killing during a mission…" He seem to think for a little bit before saying, "Actually that wouldn't be such a bad thing."

Naruto got angry at these two, and shouted, "We're not the ones that'll be killed during any missions!" His fangs were showing the entire time, imitating the two.

"Shut it demon spawn." The man said with a look of distaste on his face.

"Yeah, also you." The other man of the two pointed at Sasuke, "Uchiha bastard, I hope you'll die along with this kid."

Sakura couldn't handle it anymore, she barely held herself together when they began to degrade them and Naruto, but the string finally snapped when they said that to Sasuke. Her fist flew right into the man's face, making him go flying across the street, those watching saw the look of anger on the young Genin's face and either quickly walked away or backed far up so they could watch.

"Hey kid!" The man that wasn't hit shouted, "You better stop that or I will hurt you!"

As the man said that he grabbed out several Kunai, and prepared to attack the three children. Luckily some ANBU arrived on the spot to break up the fight before it officially begun.

"You outcast watch out, I wouldn't want you to die before we can have our next 'chat'!"

"We'll be waiting to kick your ass!" Naruto called back.

After that everything went back to normal, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all went home for the day, and awaited to be sorted into teams…

(Ninja Academy.)

Naruto sat nervously in his seat. Today would determine what team he would be placed in. He glanced around the room, noting the expression everyone was giving him, they didn't want to be grouped up with him, he turned his head back to his friends. The same thought occurred then that was said enough times yesterday…

I hope I'm placed with my friends… He hopefully thought.

Finally after a long wait, Iruka finally showed up in the front of the class. "I'm going to be announcing teams now. Remember that we reviewed all of you talents and such, and you're going to be in a team that best benefits you."

The children surprisingly didn't object or say anything for that matter. "Anyways…" Iruka said once the silence was becoming a little uncomfortable. "I will begin to announce the teams! Remember to wait here for your jounin, and maybe get to know your teammates as well."

Iruka began to announce the teams. When he reached team seven he said, "Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto perked his head off the desk, along with his two best friends. "Haruno Sakura," Naruto and Sakura quickly sent each other happy glances, and suddenly sent Sasuke nervous glances.

"And… Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka finished off. Naruto would have jumped out of his seat and danced around if it weren't for all the people in his room. Sasuke and Sakura both had relieved expressions on their face, and they began to calm down.

"For team eight it is…" Iruka began to finish off the teams, ending with ten. Once Iruka was finished, he allowed the groups to meet up and talk amongst themselves, and prepare to meet their jounin-sensei. One after another came until finally it was just team seven left.

Naruto had finally had enough and exclaimed, "How long have we been waiting!"

Sasuke had an annoyed look on his face as he muttered, "I don't know…"

"Well… I'm sure he's just doing… something… important." Sakura said, trying to lift spirits.

"Ok…" Naruto said as he got up from the spot he was sitting at. He quickly grabbed an eraser and placed it right above the door. "This is what he gets for being late!"

"Naruto…" Sakura said slowly. "That isn't NEAR enough to punish him."

Sasuke had a grin on his face as her walked over to his friends and asked, "Since Naruto did this 'prank', if you can even call it that, in such a poor manner, would you care to assist him in making it better?"

Sakura gave a warm smile before she nodded and began to set up a real trap for her late sensei. "Ok, he's a jounin, so it's fairly obvious that he won't fall for the eraser trick, we need to put in some high level traps…" She began whispering things into her friends ears, and Naruto visibly slapped his head for not thinking of some of these things earlier.

(Out in the Hall…)

A Jounin was walking down the hall wearing a green vest to show off his jounin status. He had silver hair, and only one eye visible. The other was hidden behind his village's headband.

I hope my students don't worry that I'm late… He stopped and thought for a moment. It doesn't matter, it's not like I really care.

He turned around the corner and spotted the classroom he was going to meet in. Here we are… He thought with a sigh. He opened the door and saw a ton of tomatoes being shot at him from some sort of built catapult in the middle of the floor. What the hell!

He quickly dodged the tomatoes that splattered across the wall behind him, and he glared at his three students. Before he could open his mouth to speak, he took another step forward into the room and an eraser fell on his head.

He looked at his three kids and said, "Well… My first impression is, I hate you."

The shocked look on their faces and the apologetic look on the pink haired girl's face were enough to tell him that they meant… not much harm…

Finally he shrugged and said, "Meet me up on the roof for introductions." He suddenly teleported away, and the three children quickly ran up after him.

(Roof of the ninja Academy.)

On the roof, the Jounin was sitting the rail, while he figured his students were going to sit in a line in front of him.

The Jounin had more than enough time to think while his students were coming up. Ok, first off the kid with the orange jumpsuit has to get something darker, or he'll get shot down first in our later missions. The one with pink hair really needs to think less of her looks, heh, I doubt she could even do a proper Genjutsu.

Oh, the Irony…

Anyways, Sasuke looked like he was full of himself when I walked around him in public… but in the room he seemed to be much more… friendly… I'm guessing they stayed his friends even through the Uchiha betrayal a few years ago. The Jounin mused himself some more. Heh, I doubt I wouldn't have recognized the kid as an Uchiha if he didn't look almost exactly like his brother… and the fact that he wears his family crest…

He was brought out his thoughts when a door banged open near him. Looks like they're here. He thought to himself.

The three children seated themselves directly in front of their new sensei. Awaiting orders. Finally the Jounin spoke up saying, "Ok, we'll start by saying our likes and dislikes, hobbies and dreams… Who wants to begin?"

The pink haired girl raised her hand and said, "Uh, shouldn't you go first? I mean, we should get to know our own sensei."

"Ok." He agreed. "I am Hatake Kakashi. I don't intend to tell you my likes and dislikes… I do have some hobbies… My dream is… well… none of your concern."

The three children stared at him silently before Sakura just muttered, "All you really told us was your name…"

"Exactly." Kakashi said. "Now, would you like to go first?" He asked her kindly.

"Sure." She said as she sat up. "My name is Haruno Sakura, I like to help my friends out of their problems. I dislike people who are mean to us because they consider us 'outcast.'" Kakashi raised a brow at that. "My hobbies are training with Genjutsu, and being with my friends. My dream for the future is…" She left that part hanging.

Once Kakashi was sure the silence was meaning she was done he turned to the blond haired kid and said. "Your turn short guy."

The kid glared at him, which his two friends quickly backed up. After a little bit he started by saying, "I am Uzumaki Naruto, I like Ramen and my friends. I dislike people who hurt my friends and the three minutes it takes Ramen to cook. My hobbies are training with my friends with my dad, and my dream for the future is to become Hokage so everyone in the village will acknowledge me."

Uzumaki Naruto? The one with Kyuubi sealed inside of him? Interesting… He wondered to himself. He turned to the raven-haired boy and said; "now lastly it's your turn."

Sasuke stood up like his two friends and began to speak saying, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My likes are my friends and training. I dislike people that treat my friends and me wrong because of things we couldn't do to stop. My hobbies would be having my older brother teach me new jutsu's and sometimes…" He smirked at Naruto and said, "I like to prank my fellow classmates."

Naruto shot up and said, "I forgot to mention that!"

"Yeah. I was surprised when you didn't say that Naruto." Sakura said to him.

Kakashi interfered with them before they could engage into a deep conversation and said, "Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Tomorrow we will be doing our final test to see if you really qualify as Genin's."

"WHAT!" Naruto and Sakura both shouted at once.

"You heard me, tomorrow we're doing the final test. I'll tell you the details tomorrow." He turned to disappear away before he said, "Oh, and don't eat any breakfast, it may interfere with your chances of winning."

After that the man disappeared from the place Naruto turned over to his friends and asked, "Want to get some Ramen before tomorrow?" He asked with a shrug.

"Well, if we can't eat tomorrow morning, it would be the wisest choice." Sakura said. She then turned to Naruto and said, "It's fine by me, but it won't be all that fun if Sasuke-kun doesn't come…"

She turned around and looked at Sasuke with puppy dog eyes. Sasuke tried to ignore it by giving her a cold stare, but she held onto her face long enough for Sasuke to sigh in defeat and head with them.

"I should be training…" He stopped in thought for a moment before he said, "You two as well."

"Don't worry Sasuke!" Naruto said, "We'll pass whatever challenge it is, no matter how difficult it is!"

Sakura nodded in agreement saying, "Yeah! We're going to kick ass!"

Sasuke grinned at his team's energy, and began to walk with them.

From afar, a man was listening to their conversation. This man was none other than their teacher, Kakashi. He had heard them all chatting happily, and knew instantly that they had been friends for years. I wonder if this'll be the first team that I'll pass…

As he looked at their retreated forms, he sighed and said, "A man can hope…"

CHAPTER ELEVEN – END

Finished! This is probably one of my shorter chapters, but I had a ton of information I had to stick into one chapter, and I had to do it in a part where not much happens anyways, so I figured this was a good place to do it, I hope you enjoy the path this story is branching off to.

Many of you probably are going to disagree with me on making Sakura become their close friend, but I haven't a doubt that Naruto would forgive her. Anyways, now he sees her as one of his closes friends, and everyone else as someone who he could care less about. If they can't handle his truth, than they're better off not being his friend.

See you in Chapter twelve!