Can you guys believe we're ALMOST at ten chapters!? Wow…I can't believe it!

Now with everyone said and done kindly let the chapter begin and please remember I own nothing! Thank you! ^_^

At the Ninja Academy, there sat various students excited for the day ahead.

Why? Because as of today, they were now fully fledged ninja as acknowledged as said of the standards of the Academy. And as such they all sat eagerly as they awaited for their assigning into the teams they were going to be in.

Now where was Son Gohan in all of this?

His "brother" was excited for the ninja adventure ahead and so he left without even eating breakfast.

Gohan laughed to himself as he made his way towards the Academy.

"That guy….Even if he gets bigger he'll always be Naruto!" Gohan laughed as he noticed Sakura coming out of her house.

"Hey isn't that?" Gohan asked before deciding to walk towards the pinkette.

"Good morning!" Gohan greeted the pink head as she narrowed her eyes at him.

"What do you want?" Sakura asked, albeit a little icily, as Gohan shrugged her attitude off.

"Wanna walk to the Academy together? You look a little lonesome." Gohan pointed out as she huffed before walking forward.

"No thanks! And even if I wanted a buddy to walk alongside with, it definitely wouldn't be you!" Sakura rudely said before walking off.

Gohan shook his head before continuing his own way to the Academy.

"If I'm not mistaken I think this was the same kind of relationship dad had when he first met Bulma….." Gohan said as he eventually reached the Academy.

Upon entering Iruka's classroom, he bumped fists with Naruto before deciding to sit down. The two then happily conversed before Iruka made his way into the room.

"Good morning, students! Or rather I should say graduates as you all are now classified as ninja. I remember the day when you all first came here…" Iruka began in a slightly choked voice as various students rolled their eyes.

"How embarrassing." Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Yeah…Iruka-Sensei…Not cool…" Naruto snickered to himself as Gohan chuckled at his friend's comment.

Quickly catching on that he was embarrassing himself, Iruka decided to get serious.

"Well in any case, I should now assign the teams. Starting with Team 1…." Iruka began as he began reading off the names for the different teams. While some complained and even groaned, others took their new teammates like champs.

"And now, Team Seven. Naruto Uzumaki….Sakura Haruno…." Iruka said.

Naruto cheered as Sakura deadpanned.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Iruka added as Sakura cheered while knocking over Naruto as Sasuke looked irritated.

"Great….Now I'll really be slowed down…." Sasuke sighed.

"And lastly Son Gohan." Iruka finished as Gohan smiled pleasantly as Naruto hugged his new friend happily as other students looked confused.

"Wait Iruka-Sensei that means Team Seven will have four members…" INo stated a bit confused.

"Well given how Gohan joined us near the end of the year at the last moment and given his bond with Naruto we figured that it'd make the most sense to pair him with Naruto." Iruka explained.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Gohan while still staying silent.

"Great…..I have to deal with him now…." Sasuke grunted to himself all the while maintaining his "cool" composure.

Soon after Iruka announced the rest of the assigned teams before everyone was given a lunch break as they waited for the sensei to show up. After everyone finished their lunches, everyone left off for various ninja adventures of sorts.

Save for a certain group of four.

"I can't believe he's late! I mean seriously!" Naruto groaned.

"Would you please sit down? Jeesh it's not being with a four year old!" Sakura rolled her eyes as Gohan and Sasuke were silent. Although if one were to read minds, they were just as agitated as Naruto was.

"That does it! I think I'll try this!" Naruto mischievously grinned as he stole an eraser from Iruka's desk. But before he could pull off his elaborate scheme of nailing his sensei in the head….

"Nice try! You have to get up pretty early to try to pull one on me, Naruto." Kakashi grinned with his usual eye-smile as Naruto's mouth widened in happiness.

"Old Man Kakashi! What're you doing here!?" Naruto grinned as Kakashi deadpanned.

"Could you please not call me that? Especially in front of other people…." Kakashi moaned as he cried a little inside.

"Anyways, what're you doing here?" Naruto asked as he ignored the ninja's command.

"Right. Well I'm your new sensei." Kakashi smiled as Naruto jumped high to the sky. The fact that it was someone who helped take care of him as a child made him as happy as he could be.

"All of you, follow me to the ceiling." Kakashi instructed as the four ninja did just that.

"Okay, why don't you all introduce yourselves? One at a time. Tell me, your dreams, likes/dislikes, hobbies, goals for the future and what not." Kakashi suggested as Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"May I just ask what this is for?" Sakura inquired.

"Consider it an ice breaker technique of sorts." Kakashi said as the preteens shrugged.

"Okay, Naruto. You're first." Kakashi started as Naruto beamed.

"Right! I'm Naruto Uzumaki and I like every sort of ramen there is! I dislike how long it takes for the food to be made however…..My hobbies are pulling pranks and hanging with my best bud Gohan over there! And my dream is to become Hokage that way I can get the acceptance from everyone in the village!" Naruto grinned.

"Huh…I've always wondered why everyone hated him…." Sakura thought to herself.

"Hmph how foolish." Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"Sounds just like Naruto." Gohan smiled.

"How fitting. Alright, pinky." Kakashi gestured to Sakura who narrowed her eyes at the nickname she was assigned.

"My name's Sakura Haruno. What I like….I mean….my hobbies are…." Sakura giggled as she stared at Sasuke who rolled his eyes.

"Hopeless." Sasuke deadpanned.

"Uh…right….Next up…..you duckbutt." Kakashi said as Sasuke ignored his pet name.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My dislikes are plenty which matters not since there's nearly nothing I like. And my dream…is to kill….him…." Sasuke darkly said as everyone was unnerved at the Uchiha's attitude.

"This guy…sounds just like Vegeta…" Gohan thought.

"Who could this guy be?" Naruto and Sakura both thought simultaneously.

"He must be referring to Itachi…." Kakashi thought with a frown on his face before he cleared his mind of these thoughts and turned to the son of Goku.

"Alright. Lastly, Rice boy." Kakashi turned to Gohan who nodded.

"Right. I'm Son Gohan. I like hanging out with those precious to me, reading and eating while I dislike evil people…especially those who use their powers to hurt people…" Gohan began as his mind drifted to Frieza and Cell.

"And my dream is to protect those close to me and to never repeat the mistakes I've made previously…." Gohan finished as everyone stared at him.

"I wonder what mistakes Gohan is talking about." Naruto thought as he looked at his best friend in concern.

"There seems to be a lot more about him that he lets on…." Sakura also thought.

Sasuke was silent as Kakashi was silent.

"This boy…" Kakashi thought before clearing his throat.

"Good, you're all unique with different personalities. I can see this team going very far in the future. But before we can officially begin, we have to have a test. A special one if you will." Kakashi began much to the confusion of the four.

"Test? But I thought we took all that crap in the Academy!" Naruto moaned as he seriously hated tests.

"This tests your willingness to work in a team. Be at the designated training area at Five AM. With all of your ninja gear." Kakashi instructed his team who nodded in understanding before he got up.

"Oh and one more thing; skip breakfast tomorrow or else you'll puke." Kakashi said before vanishing away.

"Skip breakfast!? How hard is this gonna be!?" Naruto freaked as Sakura and even Sasuke looked a little green at the idea of going into a potential battle without any sustenance.

Gohan meanwhile chuckled, getting the attention of his ninja friends.

"Guys, this is obviously just a test to see if we'll fall for it. Obviously we eat and make sure we have plenty of energy." Gohan said to his teammates.

"Wow! That's so smart!" Naruto praised his friend.

"Haha well it was a lesson I learned the hard way…" Gohan laughed, although he was crying internally at the memory.

There was less than three months before the arrival of the Saiyans as Gohan continued his training with Piccolo. However, the hybrid was still having some trouble keeping up with the determined Namekian who was extra strict on him today with a bizarre new rule:

If he couldn't lay a hit on Piccolo, he couldn't eat!

"If you can't hit me at least one hundred times, you go without food today!" The harsh voice of Piccolo told the five year old who held his growling stomach.

"But I'm hungry, Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan moaned as Piccolo was having none of it.

"Concentrate!" Piccolo yelled as Gohan readied himself for more training.

"Do you honestly think those Saiyans will care if you're hungry? In every fight, there's always going to be some sort of weakness that the enemy will use to take advantage of you!" Piccolo chastised the boy as a smell hit his nose.

"Something smells really good…." Gohan said as Piccolo smacked his skull.

"That's just my dinner. Don't pay any mind to it. Now hit me!" Piccolo said as Gohan charged Piccolo with the full intent on wanting to eat before accidently knocking his dinner over.

"You little idiot! That was my food!" Piccolo yelled although he hid the fact that he didn't need to eat but only needed water. He brought the dinner as a sort of torture for the five year old.

"We'll do this all night if we have to!" Piccolo yelled as he laid punishing blows on Gohan before night fell.

Gohan laid in the grass staring at the moon as his stomach roared, much to his displeasure.

"Wow! That Piccolo guy sounds really scary!" Naruto tensed.

"Yeah but he's a teddy bear when you get to know him." Gohan smiled as Sakura decided to smile.

"Well thanks for the heads up." Sakura smiled before she left as Sasuke soon followed not saying a word. There was no way in hell he'd give thanks to some weird person.

Meanwhile, Kakashi watched the whole conversation from afar looking very pleased.

"Heh, looks like they've managed to catch on. They've passed phase one of the test." Kakashi smiled before poofing away.

The next morning soon came as Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Gohan sat at the assigned training grounds. And as they set, Gohan was able to set up a plan which Naruto and Sakura agreed with Sasuke reluctantly going along with it.

"Ah good morning everyone! Glad to see you're all awake!" Kakashi grinned as everyone gave him determined looks.

"Of course!" Naruto said.

"Now let's get started. This clock is set for noon. If you can get these three bells from me, you all pass. However one of you won't and will be sent back to the Academy." Kakashi said as he noticed a lack of stomach growls.

"On your mark! Get set. Go!" Kakashi said as Naruto charged him before summing three pairs of clones.

"Clones won't work on me!" Kakashi chided Naruto as he noticed something different.

"Wait, they're not illusions! They're real!" Kakashi noted as two clones sent Kakashi flying much to his shock.

"Guess I let my guard down…" Kakashi thought as the real Naruto loomed over the scarecrow ninja.

"Now take this! Naruto Uzumaki body slam!" Naruto roared as he sent Kakashi flying to the ground before he poofed away.

"A Shadow Clone?" Naruto asked as he recognized the move from the scroll he stole as he landed to the ground before Naruto was sent dead into the ground, literally….

"Lesson Number One. Don't let your guard down." Kakashi smiled as Naruto returned the smile.

"What're you so happy about?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow as Sasuke and Sakura came in from the right and left respectively.

"Take these!" Sakura yelled as she threw a combination of Shurikens and Kunais.

"Firestyle! Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke roared before the scarecrow was bombared with a fire ninja combo.

"Wow….And here I thought these people wouldn't be able to work together…" Kakashi sighed as he realized a lack of a hybrid.

"Wait, where's Gohan?" Kakashi asked as Gohan appeared right behind him and stole the three bells right from his belt.

"Oh no!" Kakashi chastised himself before throwing two bells to Sasuke and Sakura.

"Heh, well done. Coming at me in a group effort as the strongest of you all hid away in the Shadows. Well done." Kakashi praised his team as they all smiled.

"However….there're only three bells and Sasuke and Sakura have two. What will you and Naruto do? Someone has to go to the Academy." Kakashi reminded Gohan.

"Heh we know. That's why I'm gonna do this!" Gohan said as he broke the bell in two, giving Naruto half as he kept the other half.

"Haha, very clever. Well done, you all pass!" Kakashi praised his team as the team, save for Sasuke, cheered, as they were definitely ninja.

"Why don't you all come here?" Kakashi said as he gestured his team towards a certain stone.

"What's this?" Sakura asked.

"The Leaf's Memorial…for all those who were….killed in action…." Kakashi frowned as memories of his old team came flashing as everyone was quiet in sympathy, even Sasuke.

"My old team….Obito and Rin…..were very talented ninjas….with a lot of heart….while I was an ignorant person who cared for nothing but the rules….that selfish attitude caused me the lives of those two….So my advice to you four is….to never take your comrades for granted….Like I did…." Kakashi said as the team nodded as they learned something important.

The life of a ninja was indeed a very hard one.

Can you believe we're done with nine chapters guys!?

I know I can't!? o_0 Next chapter will be a sort of Q&A with scenes that I felt I deleted for time constraints, exclusive info about the story, inspirations and etc.!

Either way, the next chapter will be out NEXT Thursday March 22nd and I'm really excited since it's the Land of Waves Arc! ^_^ Don't expect it to be similar to the original series tho! XD

And until next Thursday, see you classy folk later! ^0^