In case you're hesitant regarding my choice for Itachi's team, I ask you to at least give them a chance. I have explained my reasoning in a note at the end of the chapter, which you're welcome to read- maybe even before you read the chapter itself if you're really opposed to my choice.

Let's start this from the beginning

Graduation

II

"Don't forget your bag again, you hear me? If your sensei tells me one more time that you sit in class without your books, I will-"

Kiba groaned while Akamaru hid his head beneath his paws at his feet. "I got it, Kaa-san."

"Then what are you still doing here? Class starts in less than ten minutes! If I hear you're late again, you will be responsible for cleaning the kennels for the rest of the month!"

Damn, what's with all the threats today? Did she wake up on the wrong side of the bed or what?

From the outside, it would appear like his mother was almost always in a foul mood, but those that were close to her knew that it was generally nothing serious. Sure, she had a potty mouth, liked to brag, and screamed more often than not, but all that was ultimately more playful than anything else. It also made the times she was deliberately gentle stand out all the more, too.

Today, on the other hand, she seemed seriously annoyed.

"Just ignore her," an amused voice spoke up from behind him. "It's me she's angry with, not you. She will probably have forgotten she said anything to you by the time you come home."

His lips curved into a shit-eating grin as he turned around to look at his sister. "Oh~? And what did you do to piss her off like that?"

Hana leaned against the wall next to the door, her arms crossed in front of her and a wistful smile on her face. "I got an offer to join the ANBU," she said with a casual shrug. "And I accepted."

"Kaa-san is mad about that?" That didn't make any sense to him. Most Inuzuka joined the ANBU at some point or another, after all. Their abilities were just too useful for the hunter-nin corps to ignore. "Shouldn't that make her happy, then? I mean, she's always speaking about how much she misses being in the ANBU and how being a Jōnin doesn't compare!"

His sister sighed before shrugging once more. "Well, apparently being part of the ANBU is only great as long as you don't do so as medic-nin."

That made him freeze. "Wait, you were actually serious about becoming a medic?!"

"Evidentially, yes."

"But you know just how much Kaa-san hates them!" Kiba's eyes unwillingly wandered to the small shrine that stood at the other end of the room and more specifically the frame that held a picture of a grinning man in his early thirties on it before turning back towards Hana with a glare. "Didn't she say she would kick you out of the house if you actually went through with it and became a medic? When did you even find the time to take the necessary classes?"

Akamaru, clearly feeling how agitated he was, wobbled his head in agreement before letting out a loud bark.

Neither his glare nor the bark impressed Hana very much, however. If anything, it seemed to amuse her! "Don't worry about that, kiddo," she chuckled before pushing herself off the wall. "Kaa-san loves making threats, but she won't kick me out. Rage a bit and maybe even whine like a newborn pup, sure, but she will calm down in a day or two."

Then she suddenly took a quick step forward and managed to ruffle his hair before he swept her hand away with an angry growl. That was exactly why he always wore his hood dammit!

"Stop that!" he growled while taking a cautious step back.

"How could I when you're always so adorable when you're embarrassed?"

"I'm not adorable!"

The grin on her face was exactly the same as the one he had sported a bit earlier. "Oh, you totally are."

Kiba huffed before looking away. She can be just as annoying as Kaa-san sometimes…

Hana was generally much more laid-back and even-tempered than the rest of their clan, but that unfortunately also meant she could be much more subtle in her approach. Where he or his mother would scream at each other when they were annoyed about one thing or another or even took the problem to the training grounds, Hana would more often than not just walk away and wait until the other party forgot that they even had a fight to begin with before taking her revenge.

Needless to say, Kiba generally tried to avoid pissing her off.

"Anyway," Hana continued. "Kaa-san was right about the Academy starting soon, so you'd better run." Her grin impossibly grew even bigger. "Forget ten minutes. You might have half that if you're lucky."

His eyes widened. "Dammit," he cursed before rushing out of the door without another glance back. "C'mon, Akamaru!"

He didn't even have time to be angry with his sister for delaying him. Iruka-sensei will kill me if I'm late again! Kiba had been in enough trouble lately thanks to Naruto's shenanigans which he somehow always ended joining in on, so getting in even more trouble was the absolutely last thing he wanted.

Not that this would stop him from participating in whatever Naruto comes up with next, mind you. The results were usually funny enough to compensate for the telling-off that always followed.

However, even as he ran through the narrow side-alleys of the village in an attempt to take as many shortcuts as possible, Kiba couldn't stop thinking about the conversation with his sister. He knew that she had been interested in medical Ninjutsu for a while now and had even heard her speak about becoming a medic in the past, but after the big fight she had with their mother a while back, he had been sure she would stop pursuing that goal. Who would have actually thought that she would secretly take classes for three years –the minimum requirement to be a medic in the ANBU- to become a full-fledged medic-nin?

Furthermore, while Kiba didn't hate medics himself, he found it hard to understand what Hana found so interesting about them. Healing was boring! Part of the reason it was his worst subject in the Academy was that he couldn't focus on the material no matter how hard he tried, so he found it really weird that she would go through that willingly.

It was almost as unbelievingly as her doing something that went so directly against everything their mother wanted. He shuddered at the thought of how her reaction must have been when Hana first told her about her decision.

Maybe I should join that study session at Shikamrau's that Sasuke was talking about, he thought. As boring as that sounds, it's surely better than risking being pulled into another one of their fights. Then, remembering the grade of his last test, he grimaced. And I guess some studying might actually be useful, too.

The graduation exams would be next week, after all, and Kiba had no intentions of failing them.

The sound that the impact of his blows made on the block of wood was easily drowned out by the shrieks and screams of the other students in the background, but Shino didn't care about that. As long as he could hear the dull thuds when his kicks and punches landed on the trunk in front of him, as long as he could hear and feel the results of his efforts, he was satisfied.

Or, at least that's what he tried to tell himself. Now if he could only believe it too, things would be fine, but that was unfortunately not the case.

No, the truth was that he was anything but pleased with his performance so far.

Shino knew that he was acting ridiculous, that he shouldn't be unhappy with his Taijutsu skills when he was already in the top five of his class, but he couldn't help it. No matter how much effort he put into it or how precise and fluid his moves were, he could never be completely satisfied with them. There was always something lacking even if he couldn't say what exactly it was.

Iruka-sensei had been clueless when he approached the man with that matter, merely waving him off while telling him that he was plenty good already as he is and that he was just imagining things, and even his father hadn't been much of a help.

Although considering his father hated Taijutsu with a passion and tried to avoid it at any costs if possible, that probably wasn't much of a surprise.

However, no matter what the people around him tried to tell him, Shino knew that he was lacking in skill. In the top five of his class he might be, yes, but compared to those ranked above him, he was nothing. What was it worth to be the fifth-best if he couldn't even put off a fight against number four? Kiba beat him in less than a minute flat without even breaking a sweat, and he did so times and times again regardless of which strategy Shino tried in their spars.

It was so very frustrating, even if he would never openly admit or even just show it.

Yes, things might be different if he were allowed to use his kikaichū, but that wasn't the point! Besides, Kiba would be allowed to use his clan's techniques as well in such a fight, so there was no way of saying for sure whether he would really win or not.

And even if he did win, Kiba was only the fourth-strongest, so there were still three others even better than that.

It also didn't help that Shino wasn't even the best in pure academics either. For someone like him who valued his intelligence quite highly and liked to think of himself as a rather clever individual, needing to constantly compete for a top position irked him. Amusingly enough, he had actually liked the competition at first, had liked the challenge they provided, but as the times when his grades were the best of the class became rarer and rarer, that quickly turned sour as well.

He could accept being worse than Sasuke. The other boy was admittedly a genius who also had an even greater genius as brother who could help him with his schoolwork, so that was fine. What was not fine, on the other hand, was that Sakura regularly outscored him as well while apparently not even putting very much effort into it. That was just insulting. Even if she took things more serious ever since Tsunade held a presentation for their class and especially since she joined the group of students that took voluntary lessons at the hospital, Shino had always been serious. It was he who worked hard both in class and in his free time, he who tried to absorb every drop of knowledge taught to them, and he who made becoming better his top priority; it wasn't fair that she would outscore him!

And worst of all?

He knew that if Shikamaru wanted to, he could easily beat everyone in their class –including Shino- with laughable ease.

Shino was perfectly aware that he had high expectations of himself, probably even too high ones, and that not being the best wasn't a bad or even unusual thing, but he couldn't stop it. He wanted to be good. He wanted to be acknowledged for his skills. Everyone wanted that to some degree, of course, but it always seemed to him that he was the only one who truly strived for it.

Well, that's not quite true, he thought. Naruto and Sasuke are just as motivated, aren't they?

He knew the other two long and well enough to realize that they were working just as hard for their respective dreams. However, that was exactly what made them different; Naruto wanted to become better merely to be the best while Sasuke primarily wanted to become better than his brother. Shino, on the other hand, wanted to prove –both to himself and to the rest of the world- that he could become better. That he was just as talented as his friends, and that an Aburame could be just as exceptional as an Uchiha or a Hyūga or any other famous clan.

He ignored the small voice in the back of his head which told him that his goal wasn't all that different from theirs at all.

I just need to train more, Shino told himself as he executed another roundhouse kick to the stump in front of him. My moves will become more fluid the more I train them, I will be able to use them more effectively the more used to them I become, and they will gain more impact the stronger I grow. Consequently, I will only improve the harder I train.

He ignored the small voice in the back of his head once more when it tried to tell him that this wouldn't give him much of an advantage as the same was true for everyone else as well.

It didn't matter. He would graduate from the Academy soon and become a Genin which then would give him access to a Jōnin instructor. Everyone had different strengths and weaknesses, and everyone improved at different rates and through different methods. Shino was sure that direct training under a Jōnin would be much more beneficial to him than the class orientated studying he was doing right now. Furthermore, the real-life experiences from going on missions should surely be helpful as well.

All he needed to do was keep a calm mind and take in what his sensei would teach him like a sponge. Analyse the information, assimilate it, and then improve upon it.

He could do that. Shino was sure of it.

And then he would show the world that the Aburame were more than just 'creepy bug people'.

Hinata watched enviously as about a third of her classmates, led by Sakura and Ino, stormed out of the room as soon as the bell rang. While they rushed to the hospital for extra lessons, she had no other choice but to go home and undergo whatever training her father had scheduled for the day.

It wasn't their fault that she wasn't allowed to join them, but a small part of her that Hinata could never quite push away felt angry with them. Listening to them talk about what they would learn next or whether they would be allowed to actually help out with patients when she had no chance of ever joining them was simply too frustrating to ignore.

Again, she knew it wasn't their fault, but it was easier to be cross with them than to be the same with her father.

They couldn't punish her for disobedience, after all.

I should just be happy that the academy has included mandatory healing classes in its curriculum, she thought with a small sigh as she packed her things while ignoring the fight between Naruto and Kiba a few rows below her. That's better than nothing, I guess.

Hinata had been ecstatic when they were first told about that change a few years ago, and even more so when it was said that there were also some extracurricular classes they could take at the hospital. Apparently, Tsunade of the Sannin herself would show up from time to time to give them some pointers!

She had always been interested in healing, so she had naturally looked forward to these classes. After all, how often did one ever get the opportunity to learn from the greatest medic of all time?

However, her father quickly put a stop to her excitement by forbidding her to sign up for these classes. In his words, 'none of his daughters would degrade themselves by becoming a lowly medic'. Such a thing was apparently beneath a Hyūga heiress.

Most members of her clan were destined to join the ANBU. The Byakugan was an extremely useful tool for the kinds of missions they were doing; whether it was for mere patrols through Konoha's forests, guard duties in the village itself, or infiltration missions in foreign nations, her clan's dōjutsu was always a valuable asset to have. And although the members of the ANBU did not necessarily require outstanding combat skills to perform their duties, it was not a disadvantage either, meaning anyone who was proficient in the Gentle Fist would be a valuable member of any team they were part of even if they didn't possess their famous eyes.

In the same vein, their clan's excellent chakra control often resulted in them also becoming their team's medic. It only made sense, of course. Most medical Ninjutsu weren't too hard to learn when one possessed the Byakugan, and combined with their chakra control, it would be a waste not to let a Hyūga become a medic.

As long as one wasn't the heiress of the clan, that is.

Even the very few non-combative members were taught some basic medical Ninjutsu, allowing them to pull their weight without actively risking their lives, but she was strictly forbidden from doing the same. In fact, her father had tried to talk with her teachers to get her out of these classes and even went almost to the Hokage when he was turned away!

Where her clan members were encouraged to widen their horizon and add new abilities to their skillset in addition to their clan's techniques –which they were still expected to master, of course- in an effort to improve themselves, Hinata was expected to focus solely on the Gentle Fist. The logic behind it was that she would be the face of the clan one day and as such needed to represent their family's famed technique to the rest of the world.

Thus, her own wishes were ignored in favour of what was expected of her.

Hinata once believed that her father would allow her to study healing if she just improved her Taijutsu enough, that taking other interests would be permitted as long as she excelled in her duties, but that dream had long since come to an end.

It's not fair, she thought while clenching her fists in an effort to banish her frustration, knowing full-well that it would be better to do so now while she still walked through the streets than to show insolence back at home. Healing is useful! Everyone says so. There really should be no harm in learning it, right?

She might not be as much of a prodigy as her sister, but all her training had definitively paid off. Her father hadn't even called her a disappointment in over a year now! If all her hard work so far hadn't been enough to convince him, nothing ever would.

It's unfair, she thought once more. Why can't I-

"And why are you running around with such a grim expression, I wonder?"

Hinata jumped around, eyes widening in surprise while her problems were momentarily forgotten. "Oji-san!"

Her uncle stood next to the entrance of their clan's compound with his hand hidden in his sleeves and a small, amused smile on his lips. "Don't tell me you were so out of it that you didn't even notice me standing here?"

She couldn't help but blush at that. While she certainly could be oblivious at times, she at least tried to always be aware of her surroundings as befitting of a Hyūga. If it had been her father who saw her like this rather than her uncle, well…

Hinata made to bow and apologize, but he clearly predicted what she was about to do and stopped her before she could do much more than straighten up and open her mouth. "None of that, dear," he told her gently as he put a hand on her shoulder. "Everyone is allowed to daydream from time to time. Just be sure to not let it happen again, alright?"

"But-" Hinata began only to stop herself when she saw his raised eyebrow. "Okay," she said instead, a small smile that mirrored his own forming on her lips. "I will make sure that it won't happen again."

"I know you will."

It was embarrassing, but sometimes Hinata pretended that Hizashi was her father instead of her uncle. After all, he acted much more like family than her real father ever did; he took the time to talk with her about things she was interested in, helped her with her schoolwork when she was struggling, and even regularly invited her to dine with him and Neji. While her father was Clan Head first and family second, Hizashi seemed to truly care about her.

He also looked exactly like her father, being his twin and all, which made it very easy to imagine how things could have been if she were born to him instead.

Hinata remembered that they weren't very close when she was younger and would even go so far as to say that he had been outright cold towards her, but then, one day, he just suddenly changed. She had no idea why that was or what had caused this change, but she was thankful for it nonetheless. In all honestly, she didn't know what she would have done without him in her life.

However, now wasn't the time to think about such things.

"Were you waiting for me, Oji-san?" That was the only reason she could think of for why he just stand at the outer gate like this, at least.

"I was," he confirmed her suspicion. "I know you and Neji planned to train today, but unfortunately, his sensei came by and picked him up for a mission." He then let out a little laugh. "He implied it to be an important one, but it's impossible to say for sure with that man, so it might as well just be another harmless escort mission. Regardless, I'm afraid Neji can't help you today."

Even as she smiled along, Hinata could suppress the pang of disappointment in her chest. She obviously understood that Neji had no say in that matter and thus wasn't mad at him, but she had really looked forward to training with him. And I wanted to train my 'Protecting Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms' technique, too…

"Thank you for telling me," she said and even managed to give him a small bow of gratitude before he could stop her. He always told her not to bow to him, that it would be unsightly for the heiress to bow to a mere branch member, but she didn't care. "But you really didn't have to wait for me to tell me that. I would have visited you anyway if Neji hadn't come at the agreed time."

"Oh? You think I waited here just to play messager?"

She blinked in surprise at his teasing tone. "You didn't?"

"Of course not." He seemed genuinely amused now. "You recently increased your training because you graduate from the Academy next week, didn't you? It would hardly be proper of me if I just leave you to it! It has been a while since we trained together, so why don't you let me see if I can help you now that Neji is busy?"

Her mood immediately brightened. "Really?"

"I would never be so cruel as to lie about such a thing."

Hinata forcefully suppressed the urge to grin like an idiot and gave him another bow while ignoring his protests. Training with her uncle wasn't quite the same as with Neji, of course, but it was still something she looked forward to. After all, while her father somewhat surprisingly didn't have a problem with her spending time with him and Neji, he usually insisted that training regularly with a branch member was beneath her.

Why that rule didn't seem to apply to her training with Neji, she didn't know, and as she was afraid that asking would result in her being forbidden from training with him as well, she had no way of finding out either.

However, none of that mattered right now. As her uncle had said, the two of them hadn't trained together in a while, so it should be fine if they did so today. He wouldn't have asked her if it weren't.

Hinata didn't even notice the spring in her step as she followed him to the dōjō.

Maybe today is not so terrible after all.

It seems I got lucky, Itachi thought as he walked through the empty corridors of the Academy, his eyes focused on the files in his hand. All three of them should at the very least have the basics already down.

It would be a lie to claim that he wasn't a bit disappointed that he didn't get Sasuke on his team, but he had been expecting that. After all, while it wasn't an actual rule per se, it was rare for family members to be put together to avoid things like favouritism. Not that it was possible to avoid entirely, of course, but there was no harm in at least encouraging objectivity and neutralism.

It's still a shame, though.

Anyway, there was nothing he could do about it now, so he brought his attention back to the papers in his hands. It would have been beneficial to know who his students would be ahead of time, but the Hokage has seen it fit to keep it to himself until the very last moment. From what he had heard, he did the same with the other teams as well. Itachi was not quite sure why he did it even though he had a few ideas, but regardless of what the reason was, it made his job a lot more inconvenient. He would have liked to prepare his test according to his prospective student's characters and abilities, after all. Such a task was obviously difficult if you didn't even know their identity until mere minutes before the fact.

It was truly fortunate that he had eventually just come up with a rather simple test that could easily be adjusted for whatever purpose he required.

In a way, having three clan heirs on his team was a boon as well. While they were probably better trained and consequently better prepared for whatever he would throw at them than most of their peers, he was already somewhat familiar with their skills through working with clan members of theirs in the past, making it easier for him to plan ahead.

Itachi took a moment to collect himself and put the files away as he stood before the door that led into the classroom. Even the closed door couldn't keep the noises away, however, reminding him once again why he had nothing but the utmost respect for Academy instructors. It was understandable that the freshly graduated Genin would be excited and psyched up, but if this was the noise that came out from a room that contained the most mature age group, he dreaded to think about the younger years.

He never truly appreciated his luck for having his own stay here cut short, did he?

Putting these thoughts aside, Itachi took one more deep breath before opening the door and stepping in.

He glanced around the room and found his future charges immediately.

The third row from the front, he thought. Dark pants, a grey, hooded fur-lined coat, messy brown hair, and red markings on his cheeks. Kiba Inuzuka. Apparently short-tempered and impulsive as well as easy to rile up. Determined, too, and self-confident about his abilities. Itachi's gaze fell to the floor at the boy's feet. And, of course, his ninkin Akamaru.

His eyes wandered a bit to the left. Second row from the back. Dark sunglasses and a sea-green jacket with a high, upturned collar. Shino Aburame. Outwardly always calm and collected, but his teachers noted that he tends to overthink things and holds himself to impossibly high standards.

And last but not least… Very last row in the back. White, sleeveless dress with lavender trimmings as well as dark pants and shoulder-length hair. Hinata Hyūga. Generally rather withdrawn and reserved. Doesn't likes much attention but still manages to concentrate on her spars even under the stars of her classmates.

All in all, not a bad team at all. If they managed to successfully pass his test, Itachi was sure he could mould them into something great.

There was something else he needed to deal with first, though.

"Nii-san?!"

Sasuke was looking at him with wide eyes as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing, and if they were alone, Itachi would have loved nothing more than to tease him about it. He had grown a bit more distant over the last few years. Not as much as Itachi had feared, but still. It was apparently 'uncool' and 'childish' to be too close to your older brother, so Sasuke generally didn't try to spend time with him all the time anymore.

It could be worse, he knew. While he didn't come running in hopes of spending time with him with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes anymore, he did ask him to train regularly. That was then usually –and totally coincidentally, of course- followed by eating out for dinner or just roaming the streets and casually talking with each other, and they were sometimes even joined by one of Sasuke's friends.

Still, Itachi missed the times when Sasuke was younger. He was much more adorable back then.

Not that he had any right to complain. That he actually could see him grow up at all was already an immense improvement from the last timeline, after all.

"Woah!" Naruto exclaimed from next to Sasuke as he pointed a finger at him. "What are you doing here?"

Itachi could feel the eyes from all over the now mostly silent class –especially those that belonged to the students that already realized what his presence here meant- on him as he replied with an amused smile. "Well, I was told that I would find my students here." The anticipation in the air suddenly skyrocketed. "Unless I'm wrong…?"

"No!"

He had directed the question vaguely towards the entire room, but he didn't quite expect that half of them would exclaim like this. It was entertaining to observe, though, so he didn't mind.

Sasuke's was the best of them all, of course. His eyes had impossibly widened even further, and it was clear what he was hoping. I shouldn't tease him any more than this, he thought. Better to clear things up while he's still getting his hopes up than crush them when he's already full of expectations.

"Team 8," he said while looking at the three teens in question one after another. "We meet at Training Ground Ten in fifteen minutes. Please note that tardiness will result in punishment."

Itachi waited a few moments, just long enough to see the reaction of his aspiring students, before making a one-handed seal and vanishing in a puff of smoke.

Overly dramatic? Probably. But this was one of these situations where making an impression was more important than functionality, so it was alright.

Now all he had to do was to wait for them to arrive.

Well then, let's see how they do, shall we?

Alright, so why did I choose Team 8? To put it simply, I feel like Hinata, Shino, and Kiba are criminally underutilized in fanfiction and deserves some more love for a variety of reasons.

Let's start with Hinata: From these three characters, she's probably the one who gets the most attention from the fandom. However, the problem is the kind of attention she gets; rather than developing her as an interesting character in her own right, she's usually delegated to the role of "love interest". Now, in and on itself, that wouldn't be a bad thing. Unfortunately, for 99% of stories, that means she has no other interests or characteristics outside of her relationship with the MC- who is usually Naruto but can be any given character, really. That's a problem with basically every female character to some degree, to be fair, but I feel like Hinata in particular suffers from this.

And as if this isn't already bad enough, there is also the endless stuttering and lack of confidence you usually find in fics. Again, that in and on itself wouldn't be too bad, but authors take these characteristics from canon and multiply them by a million! Even worse, they either don't let her grow out of it at all or do it by making her either a violent b*tch or a total s*ut.

None of these things will happen in this story for two reasons:

1) Hinata has no crush on Naruto. For one thing, there was no incident in which he saved her from bullies, and for another, he simply doesn't have the entire "standing alone against the world with a smile on his lips"-thing going for him that Hinata found admirable in canon. Consequently, don't expect any "N-Naruto-kun" or something along those lines.

2) Remember how the entire Hyūga incident was avoided during the "Disturbances" – arc? Well, as a result of that, Hizashi is obviously still alive and well. We will see later how this affected Neji, but one change that was already mentioned in this chapter is that he and Hinata are actually close in this. This friendship and the familiar relationship she has with Hizashi means Hinata not only had someone to train with –improving her skills and consequently lessening the pressure her father put on her- but also people that mentally and emotionally support her.

Also, while it was never explicitly stated in canon, I'm pretty damn sure that almost being kidnapped as a child seriously messed her up and is at least part of the reason she always was so nervous and shy.

Ergo, less pressure, more familiar support, and no kidnapping should result in a more confident Hinata. It's not a complete 180 from canon, but she's certainly not the stuttering mess people dislike so much.

I don't think I need to say a lot about Shino, but here we go. Most people seem to agree that he's (at least objectively from the little we have seen) an awesome character that deserved much more screen time than he ultimately got. However, even though people say that, there are barely any stories about him. I understand why, of course. He's a difficult character to write. I do have some interesting plans for him, though, and maybe I can even motivate others to include him in their stories as well.

Hey, a man can hope, right?

Last but not least, Kiba: he has probably even fewer stories dictated to him than Shino, which is… impressive, I guess. On the other hand, at least he appears as a side character in quite a lot of other stories. That's at least something, right?

Wrong.

When he's brought up in other stories, he's usually portrayed as a douchebag- after all, someone needs to be Hinata's cruel ex-boyfriend so that Naruto can jump in and play the white knight who saves her. It's such a shame because that is the complete opposite of who he is in canon. I dare you to go back and watch his dialogue with Hinata after his fight with Naruto during the Chūnin Exams or his fight against Sakon/Ukon and then tell me again that he's a bad guy.

Sorry for the long AN. I usually try to avoid them, but I felt like I needed to make an exception for this.

Please review and let me know what you think! :)