The following is a nonprofit fan-based parody all rights reserved to Disney and Kishimoto Masashi. Please support the official releases.
Elsa smiled happily as she got ready for the day. This was it, she was finally a registered ninja of the village. She excitedly strapped her new sword to her back and tied her forehead protector around her head so that the symbol of the leaf village was proudly displayed, then she added the final new addition to her wardrobe. Hinata had told her about how ninjas from clans would include the symbol of their clan on their outfits when they graduated, Sasuke confirmed this as well when he told her that the red and white fan design he always had on his shirt was his clan's symbol. The idea inspired Elsa to commission an armband that mimicked the flag of Arendelle, as a reminder of her origins. It was dyed dark green on one half and dark blue on the other with a stylized golden tulip embroidered on the line where the colors meet. Elsa tied her new accessory around her left bicep and fixed it in place with a few pins so that it wouldn't slide around. Giving herself one final check in the mirror, she nodded, content with how she looked. Walking out to the kitchen she called out happily for her troll caretaker.
"Good morning, Greta," Elsa said.
Silence greeted her.
Elsa scanned the kitchen, confused. For all the time that she had been here in Konoha, Greta had been a constant fixture in her life. Looking around the small apartment for any sign of where the troll might be, she finally spotted a letter propped up on the table with her name on it. Rushing over to the table, Elsa opened the envelope and pulled out the message within. It was written in a neat flowing script that at first glance didn't seem to match the rocky exterior of her troll companion but Elsa still recognized it as Greta's handwriting. It read,
Dear Elsa,
I am so sorry that this happened on your first day as a ninja, but I was called back to the troll homeland on business. Don't worry, I will be back before you know it. While I am gone I expect you to act in a manner fitting for a princess and a shinobi. I hope you have a wonderful time with your new team, whoever ends up being a part of it.
I left you with plenty of pre-made meals, as well as enough ingredients to cook for yourself if you want something fresh. You better not just order a bunch of take-out. I worked hard to teach you how to be self-sufficient so consider this your first test. Always remember that you are wonderful, child, and I know you will be spectacular at whatever you do.
Love Greta,
P.S. you can still use the scroll to call for a troll to deliver letters home. Don't use this as an excuse to stop writing to your family.
Elsa blushed at the postscript but her embarrassment faded as she re-read the touching message from her caretaker. Even though she felt guilty about it sometimes, Greta had become a second mother for her, and not having her here hurt more than being separated from her real mother had. That isn't to say that she didn't love and miss her birth parents, but she had been away from them for so long that she had grown accustomed to the distance and sometimes she found she hadn't thought about them or Anna for days at a time. That thought and the final note in Greta's letter awoke a burning in Elsa's heart to reconnect with her family. So, checking the time and seeing she still had a few hours before she needed to go to the academy for team placement, Elsa ran to her room and grabbed a pen and paper, along with the latest letters that her mother had sent. She then ran to the fridge and grabbed one of Greta's pre-made meals. Coming back to the table, she read through the letters as she ate to refresh her memory of the latest news from her family, then began to pen a letter about herself. She included the fact that she had moved on to the next stage of training, avoiding the word graduation because she still feared that her parents would demand she return to Arendelle. She also wrote about the latest developments with all her friends and that she got a gift from Yugao as congratulations, not including the fact that it was a sword because of how unladylike the idea of having a weapon was. When she finished with her letter she looked at the clock again and saw that she had forty-five minutes until she had to be at the academy, plenty of time to send her letter off. Making her way to the drawer where the summoning scroll was kept, she retrieved it and unrolled it on the ground. Placing her hand on the proper seal, Elsa pulsed a small amount of her chakra and in a puff of smoke, a troll appeared in her apartment. The rocky creature was smaller than Greta and had an unmistakable air of youth about it.
"Hiya, Princess Elsa," the troll said in a high-pitched, childish voice. "My name is Anders. What can I do for you?"
Elsa smiled at the adorable little troll and politely answered.
"Well, Greta made sure to tell me that I needed to write to my family more so I made this letter for them. Do you think you can get it delivered?"
"You betcha," the troll boy said excitedly as he accepted the letter.
"Thank you so much, Anders," Elsa said, then straightened up after crouching to speak to the diminutive troll. "Now, I must be going, goodbye."
"Bye-bye," the troll said, waving as Elsa made her way out the door.
Naruto stared at the headband sitting on his dresser. The last time he had worn it was on the night of the fight with Mizuki. Yesterday when he and Elsa had gone to the hospital he had taken it with him in his pocket but he never put it on. Now it was the day of team placements and the thought of it weighed heavy on his mind. The thought of who was going to be on his team had been the cause of his betrayal of his friends. He had betrayed Elsa by not trusting in her friendship and he had betrayed Sasuke by trying to separate the other boy from Elsa. Both of his friends had forgiven him but he had yet to forgive himself and while he still held on to that guilt, it was too difficult to wrap that forehead protector around his head. In his mind, the ideal ninja always wore the symbol of his village proudly on his forehead showing everyone he faced where his home was. With what he had done, and how he had been tricked, Naruto didn't feel worthy of wearing Konoha's symbol in that way.
Turning away from the headband, Naruto's eye fell on his goggles. They had been a gift from Elsa that he had received years ago. Through his time at the academy, he had worn them as a placeholder for the headband he hoped to wear one day and as a reminder of his friendship with Elsa. As he thought about that, an idea came to him. His friends had forgiven him and wanted him to continue his dream of being a ninja, so he would go to the team placement. He couldn't let them down again. He wouldn't wear his headband properly though. It just didn't feel right. Instead, he would carry with him reminders of his friends to help him avoid repeating his mistakes. He placed the goggles on his forehead and then ran to his closet. Inside were five copies of his orange jumpsuit and one black jumpsuit of a similar cut. Sasuke had given it to him as a birthday gift/prank, he had said that someday Naruto would need to grow out of his weird obsession with the color orange and Naruto had rewarded him with a punch in the arm. He kept the jumpsuit as a memento of that day, though he never wore it. Now, however, it would have the same role as the goggles. Reaching in he grabbed the pants from the black suit and a jacket from his classic orange, because come on he wasn't going to completely sacrifice his identity, and finished dressing. As a final touch, he tied his forehead protector around his right bicep. He hoped to one day feel worthy of placing it on his head as he had always dreamed, but for now this would have to do. Looking in the mirror and practicing his best smile one last time, he fixed the expression on his face and turned to go to the academy.
Sasuke grunted as he finished his last set of push-ups. Standing up he took a moment to stretch out the leg that had been stabbed the day before yesterday. It was fully healed but started to feel tight after using it for a while. The doctors assured him that he would make a full recovery and that the most important thing was for him to not dwell on it because the more he paid attention to it the more it would stick out. He just needed to let his body adjust. When he finished his stretching he moved to the bathroom for a quick shower to clean off the sweat that had built up during his morning workout.
"Better hurry," he said to himself as he glanced at the clock in the hall, "Don't want to be late meeting up with everyone."
He and his friends planned to arrive at the academy together so they could sit near each other one last time before they were put into teams, just in case they got separated. As he thought about his friends he felt a stab of anger as the face of Naruto entered his mind. Halting in the hallway outside his bathroom he froze and punched the wall.
"No," he said in his mind and then recited the mantra he had made for himself yesterday in the hospital. "Naruto is my friend. I forgave him. He just made a mistake. Naruto is my friend."
Sasuke knew it would take a while for him to completely let go of the negative feelings he had for his rival but he hoped that if he kept reminding himself, then he would be able to avoid falling into a loop of anger and hate. Naruto had been too good of a friend for him to throw it all away for one night of stupidity. After all, stupidity was kind of Naruto's thing. Chuckling at the thought, Sasuke entered his shower and cleaned himself off so he could get ready. Half an hour later Sasuke stood in his bedroom dressed for the day, he wore his usual outfit of a blue high collared shirt With his clan's symbol on the back and white shorts. He also had thick forearm covers which kept his arms warm and were padded for extra protection when he deflected blows while using taijutsu. Finally, he strapped his forehead protector on, as the proof that he was now a ninja. After doing one final check of all his ninja equipment, Sasuke turned to leave his house pausing for one moment to look at the pictures on his bedside table. He had a framed portrait of his mother, who smiled beautifully for the camera. He wished that he had an image of his father but the dour man had never liked being photographed. The other picture was an image of Naruto, Elsa, and himself during a trip to Ichiraku Ramen. The three friends were smiling, though his smile was much more subtle than the bright smiles of Naruto and Elsa, and they were all sitting turned away from the counter with Teuchi visible in the background. Ayame had taken the picture for them about a year ago on the anniversary of the day Elsa had come to the village which also happened to be the day that they had all met for the first time. With those images in his mind, Sasuke felt the shadows that always loomed on the edge of his mind be pushed back and he calmly left his home for the academy.
"Sasuke," Elsa called as she landed after jumping down from a nearby rooftop. "How are you feeling, are you all healed up?"
"Hn, thanks for worrying, but I am all better. There is still some tightness but the doctors assured me that it would go away soon," he responded in a typically calm fashion.
"I'm glad," Elsa responded with a smile.
Sasuke blushed slightly at the response but Elsa missed it because she was distracted by the sound of Hinata arriving.
"Hey," the Hyuga heiress said as she walked up to her two friends. "Good morning you two, so you have to tell me, did you ever figure out what Naruto was up to the night of the party?"
Elsa looked away, frowning at the memory, but Sasuke piped up quickly.
"He was just being his usual dumb self, he had to end his time at the academy with a final big prank," Sasuke explained with an added tone of exasperation.
"That guy," Hinata said, matching Sasuke's tone.
"What guy?" Naruto suddenly said from behind the three gathered friends, causing them to jump slightly at his sudden appearance.
"We were just telling Hinata about your stupid attempt to prank the Hokage the night of the party," Sasuke explained as he turned to face the newcomer.
"Oh yeah," Naruto said rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment, "it was pretty stupid."
Elsa took in the sight of her first friend in Konoha and was surprised at the change in his outfit. Most notably she noticed that he wasn't wearing his forehead protector as a headband. She knew about his feelings about wearing the symbol of the village proudly for all to see and seeing him wearing his goggles in place of the metal plate didn't sit quite right with her.
"Naruto, why aren't you wearing your headband?" she asked.
"Huh?" he appeared to be caught flat-footed by the question, but after a moment he calmed down and reached up to fiddle with the goggles on his head. "Well," he answered, "as I was getting ready I thought about how I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your guys' help so I decided that I wanted to have something that reminded me of our friendship, so I am wearing the goggles you gave me and the pants from the jumpsuit Sasuke got me for my birthday." He was silent for a moment before adding, "Sorry, Hinata, I would have worn something from you but you normally give me cinnamon rolls for my birthday and they are always so delicious I didn't have any left to wear."
Hinata giggled at the joke. Elsa chuckled as well and decided to let the matter drop. Naruto had the right to wear his forehead protector how he wished but Elsa was sure that the change wasn't completely positive like he claimed it was. Now that the four friends were together they made their way into the building and entered the classroom where all the students that passed the exam were told to gather. They were some of the first students to arrive so the group had no problem finding open seats near one another. Once they were situated they began chatting about what might await them in the next stage of their training.
"I hope we get someone like Iruka-sensei," Naruto said, "you know, someone that will push us."
"I need help with my chakra control so I hope whoever I am assigned to will be good at that," Hinata added.
"Ooo, same" Elsa said. "They only covered the basics in the academy curriculum, I hope that we can branch out into more types of ninjutsu under a higher-ranked instructor."
"Hn," Sasuke grunted in agreement.
The conversation continued until more students began to file in. The atmosphere of the room felt like a regular day at the academy. Even the arrival of Sakura and Ino was familiar, with the two girls bursting into the room and immediately looking for Sasuke only to find him flanked by Naruto and Elsa. The room was eventually filled with the chatter of eager rookies all excited about entering the next phase of their training. As soon as the scheduled time for the meeting to start came, they were all silenced by the arrival of Iruka. When Elsa, Naruto, and Sasuke had left the hospital to get their registration cards, they had remembered to stop by the man's room and thank him for his help during the fight with Mizuki and he had still been covered in a few bandages. Now he looked good as new.
"Well done class, you are all here on time," Iruka called out after entering the room. "You should all be very proud. This year the number of graduates totaled to twenty-seven, a much larger group than we have seen in the last few years. You will now all get the enviable opportunity to be taken under the wing of a Jonin of the village to receive higher-level training, do not squander this chance. The procedure for today will go as follows. You will receive your team assignments momentarily then you will have free time until after lunch when you will report back here to meet with your new instructor. Use the free time given as an opportunity to get to know your new teammates, some of you will be together with familiar faces while others will be put with complete strangers. Either way, your teammates will be the people that you will have to trust most to help you come back alive from missions so make sure you get to know them." He paused then and gave the class a serious look so that his words had a chance to sink in. "Now, I will begin reading off team assignments. Pay attention so that you don't miss your name being called."
He rattled off names and gave them team numbers. Elsa listened carefully but she wasn't familiar with any of the names called except for Sakura getting assigned to team five. Finally, when Iruka got to team seven she heard her own name.
"Team seven will consist of Elsa Oldenburg," Iruka called out, and Elsa focused to not miss her teammates' names. "Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki"
"Yeah," Elsa cheered and put her hands in the air. Turning, she saw that Naruto was doing the same thing, and even though Sasuke was still seated she could see a smile on his lips.
"Yes, yes," Iruka chided, "I know it is nice to have friends on your team but please stay seated until the rest of the names have been called."
Elsa blushed at the light rebuke and sat down again as a round of chuckles made its way through the class. The rest of the teams were called, ending with team ten which consisted of Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. Oddly there was no team three, but it didn't bother Elsa enough to ask about it.
"Alright," Iruka said, grabbing the class's attention once more. "You all have your teams. You are now dismissed until 13:00 when you are expected to come back to this room to meet with the jonin assigned to your squad. As a last reminder, use this time wisely. Build your team relationship now and it can only help you in the future. Dismissed."
The rookie ninjas slowly filed out of the room, with many of the squads meeting up in the hallway outside. Regular classes for the academy were out for the day so the newly formed squads had the entire campus to themselves. Hinata, Elsa, Sasuke, and Naruto were among the last people in the room. With a disappointed sigh Hinata stood from her seat beside Elsa.
"Well, looks like we didn't get to be on the same squad, though honestly, I knew it was unlikely, squads with multiple female members are very rare due to the lack of a sufficient number of kunoichis," Hinata said.
"That is sad, but let's make a promise to always meet together when we can. Just because we aren't on the same team doesn't mean we have to lose touch right." Elsa responded.
"Of course," Hinata replied.
The two girls shared a bittersweet farewell before Hinata left to get to know her new teammates better.
Across the room, Naruto and Sasuke had approached Kiba and Shino. Shino gave no noticeable response, but Kiba raised an eyebrow in confusion at the serious look on the two boys' faces.
"Hey, you listen here," Naruto said in a quiet voice to not be overheard, "Hinata is our friend, and if we hear anything about some funny business happening between either of you two and her or if you don't watch her back and she gets hurt, then you had better watch out."
"Is that a threat," Kiba growled.
"No, you misunderstand," Sasuke said in a deadpan. "We aren't threatening you, we are warning you. See that sword on Elsa's back," he gestured to where Elsa and Hinata were talking, "That isn't for show, she will neuter you if anything happens to her friend and I don't think we could stop her."
"Seriously," Naruto responded, clapping Kiba on the shoulder, "watch out for Hinata, for your own sake."
Kiba seemed to pale slightly then nodded furiously. With their message shared Sasuke and Naruto stepped away right as Hinata walked up.
"Bye Naruto, Bye Sasuke," she said with a kind smile to her two friends.
"Bye Hinata, have a good time getting to know your teammates, we should totally all get together at Ichiraku's some time," Naruto replied with a smile of his own.
Team seven enjoyed a carefree lunch together, the cafeteria of the academy was still serving food for the graduates so they had decided to eat on campus. Sasuke and Naruto normally ate the food provided there, but Elsa usually had a prepared lunch from Greta. She told the two boys about the letter she had received from her caretaker that morning as an explanation for her lack of lunch today so Sasuke and Naruto told her what their favorite choices were from the selection available. Once they had eaten they chatted about random topics until it was time to assemble once more to meet their new instructor. When they entered the room they found an open set of seats, though sadly they were unable to find seats near Hinata and her team. Though she did send them a friendly wave from across the room. When the clock struck 13:00, the door opened and a line of adult ninjas led by Iruka walked in and stood at the front. One by one they introduced themselves and took their teams from the room. Elsa was surprised to see Kurenai among them and waved to the woman who smiled at her and waved back. When it was the red-eyed woman's turn to introduce herself she said she was assigned to team ten, and Elsa felt a moment of jealousy that Hinata would get to continue training under her mentor while Elsa didn't get the same with Yugao. The feeling quickly disappeared, however, and was replaced with happiness for her friend's good fortune. Eventually, all of the instructors were gone leaving only Iruka and team seven in the room.
"Hey, Iruka-sensei," Naruto called to the teacher, "what gives? Where is our instructor?"
The teacher scratched his head and checked his clipboard.
"It says here that your team is supposed to be assigned to one Kakashi Hatake. He should have been here with the other instructors. You three wait here and I will see if I can find out anything."
Iruka left the room and three friends sat patiently for about five minutes before Naruto started pacing the room.
"Sit down, Naruto," Sasuke said after the other boy's third lap around the room, "you wearing out your sandals won't make him come any sooner."
"I know, but it is just so boring to sit around and do nothing," Naruto complained.
"How about a game?" Elsa said, reaching into her belt pouch and retrieving a pack of cards.
"Yeah, sounds like fun" Naruto agreed, hurrying over to Elsa.
"Why not," Sasuke said, turning to watch as Elsa shuffled the deck.
Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone, peacefully enjoying the breeze and the story in his book. Checking his watch quickly he saw that it was now almost 14:30.
"Let's go for about an hour more," he said to himself, then turned the page and kept reading.
"You are being very rude," a voice said behind him.
Kakashi turned to see Neko standing nearby. He wasn't surprised by the sudden intrusion as he had heard her approaching, even though she was getting much better at her stealth.
"I told you yesterday that she is my student now, and as such I will decide how to handle things," he responded, turning back to his book.
"She may be your student, but she is my friend and a visiting dignitary."
Kakashi's head moved to the side as a kunai zipped by. While a normal person would have only seen a blur Kakashi knew that it had been thrown at a speed he could easily dodge on purpose.
"Don't you have a mission or something," he griped.
"I am on it, like I said you are being very rude to a visiting dignitary and the Hokage is not happy about it," Neko explained.
Kakashi sighed as he put his book away, usually, the Hokage couldn't force Kakashi to show up on time due to his high rank. But every once in a while the old man found a loophole he could use to force Kakashi into action.
"That old man can be a real jerk sometimes," Kakashi said absently before blurring into action as more kunai thunked into the ground where he had been standing.
"So, Sasuke," Naruto said, watching the other boy's face closely, "got any threes."
"Go fish," Sasuke replied calmly.
"Liar!" Naruto accused.
"Nope," Sasuke said smugly.
"Gaah," Naruto grunted as he slid the three complete sets he had in front of him over to the other boy.
Elsa chuckled at how Naruto's exaggerated emotions juxtaposed with Sasuke's cool attitude. The trio was playing a ninja variant of go fish. In this version when someone asked you for a specific card you were allowed to lie but if the other person accused you and was right you had to give them what they asked for as well as another set that you were collecting. If you were accused wrongly however then the accuser had to give you any completed sets they had in front of them. This was their third round of the game as they waited for their new instructor. Iruka had shown up about twenty minutes ago and told them that the Hokage was sending someone to check on their newly assigned teacher so they shouldn't have to wait much longer, then he had left them to their own devices. Elsa hoped the wait ended soon, this game was fun but anything can grate on your nerves if it goes on for too long. Suddenly any further play was interrupted by the door to the classroom opening and a silver-haired man wearing a face mask and with his headband covering one eye walked in with his hands raised. The young teens were confused until they saw that the point of a sword was digging into his back. Elsa smiled brightly when she saw who was wielding the weapon.
"Hi Neko," she called, waving her hand in greeting.
The ANBU silently waved back then left in a blur of motion. The man was left behind at the front of the classroom and he slowly dropped his hands.
"Well," he said after a moment of the three rookies looking at him, "I have to say my first impression of you all is that you have some very annoying friends. How about we go to the roof for introductions." Without another word, the man turned away and left the room. Elsa, Naruto, and Sasuke shared a look of confusion before shrugging and following the strange man.
Special thanks to ACreativeMindAtWorkHere for being the beta reader.