Thank you for your reviews. Twice Fated reached a 100 follows. Thank you very much for that.

Let's answer some reviews,

bloody dragon fang : Thank you. I will try to keep it interesting and not bore experienced readers with the same old stuff.

ZeroKaze : No problem. I thank you very much for pointing that out. I have changed it in the chapter.

daphne121 : Thank you and here you go.

Sparta10 : All will be revealed in due time. Everything cannot be revealed in a single sweep now, can it? That is what keeps the story going.

TheWateringWizard : Indeed, I think Sasuke could have been redeemed beforehand but every one of these ideas are possibilities, people can write them any way they want and since the world setting itself is fiction, the number of possibilities are great. Now I do apologize early on though. You'll know what for.

diegoossorio1 : Again, all will be revealed in due time. I will not leave important stuff like that on guesswork. But a proper setting is needed to reveal those facts.

orien123 : Thank you. If I am right on the meaning of 'cookie-cutter', I guess you mean that most of the first chapter looks like copy pasted. Yeah sorry about that, but there was no reason to change it much.

Okay, enough of that, onto the chapter,

"Speaking/YELLING"

"Bijuu/Summon speaking/ YELLING"

'Thinking'

'Bijuu/Summon Thinking'

I wonder how much money it would take to buy Naruto franchise, it definitely isn't mine.

Chapter 9: Who is going to be in my team?

Senju Compound

Everyone among the Senju, a total of four people, were early risers. Everyone except the oldest. Tsunade Senju was still in her bed while her three children were going about doing their morning routine. Naruto and Namiko were excited for their team placements. So they were hardly able to sleep. Shizune was the one to wake up first everyday anyway. She already had the breakfast going while the twins completed their morning workout. Since their academy classes normally started before Tsunade's shift in the hospital, they were used to eat breakfast with only Shizune. Though Tsunade did wake up early to have breakfast with her children once in a while.

Today was one of those whiles. Tsunade was seen coming down from her room at the time of breakfast. The twins were always glad to have their mother during breakfast. But the days when Tsunade woke up early were always special. Today was obviously no exception. She greeted everyone and once she was seated, she addressed her twins, "Today you will be assigned your teams. I know you will, but I still want you to get along with whoever is on your team well. There will probably be no changes once they are made." She said. After getting nods from both of them she continued, "And I hope you have already thought about what I told you yesterday. Jiraiya will probably be here after your placements. As I've said before, you can tell anyone you want about it, but be careful who you trust with such a secret, not everyone will take the news kindly." She advised getting another set of nods.

After breakfast, the twins set out for their team assignments. It was quite early though. The assignments didn't start for another half an hour, but they wanted to be there early.

Academy training ground

Before the twins even reached their class, they sensed they were not the only ones who had woken up early. Sasuke was already sitting in his usual seat staring out of the window. He turned though when he heard the door to the class sliding open. After some staring between him and Naruto, he asked them to come to the training ground. So here they were.

Once they were in the training ground, Sasuke turned towards Naruto, "Naruto. What do you think makes you strong?" He asked abruptly. The question was vague. It had many answers. One of the obvious ones would be training. Some of others would be drive or need. But Naruto knew what Sasuke was asking about. He knew Sasuke was not looking for an obvious answer like training.

"The desire to protect what you love." Naruto answered certainty. This was drilled into the twins by Jiraiya and Tsunade from very early. But they did not just follow it because it was told to them. They really believed in those words. Stories about their ancestors really made them believe that love is what was worth fighting for.

"I see. Itachi told me…at that time, that hate is what drives you get stronger. He told me to hate him, and grow stronger using that hate." Sasuke said surprising them. That meant they were using opposite ideologies to get stronger. While the twins were training to protect their loved ones, Sasuke trained because he hated his brother and wanted revenge. This posed a question though, a question Sasuke worded, "So which do you think is stronger love or hate?"

Naruto was going to answer however Sasuke interjected, "Words cannot answer that question, I believe. That's why I called you here Naruto. I want to test which path is the right one." He said.

Namiko was more like a bystander here. While Sasuke used to be her friend too, he had more of a connection to her brother than her. Then after the massacre he broke of their friendship. It upset Naruto greatly and she couldn't care about someone who made her Onii-sama upset. So this was between them anyway, she left it to them.

Naruto understood what Sasuke was trying to say. In a battle of ideologies, mere words didn't have any place. Only through actions can one prove which is better. He was waiting for Sasuke to propose a way to do it.

Sasuke had the same idea, "Fight me, Naruto. Fight me seriously and without holding back. Defeat me and prove that love is the better way to gain strength." He proposed. He already knew that Naruto was stronger than him, way stronger. But he still wanted to know, just how much power one could gain when someone was trying to protect something.

Naruto thought about this challenge very little. He knew this was a chance to get through his old friend and stop his path of revenge. He accepted the challenge, "I accept. If this will sway you from the path of revenge, then so be it." He nodded to his sister who backed away to give room to the two boys to fight.

Sasuke took his usual stance with one foot in front of other, his right hand cocked in a fist bent close to his waist and his left hand in front of his face with his first two fingers bent. He was surprised though when Naruto just settled in a kind of a relaxed stance with both arms on his sides.

Both waited for a few moments before running towards each other. Sasuke made a fist with his left hand intending a punch at the same time as Naruto did it with his right. With a battle cry both let their fists fly towards each other. As soon as their fists met, a shockwave seemed to originate from their fists.

Both were still after that. Both for different reasons. Naruto didn't look much affected by Sasuke's punch and was gauging his reaction as well as strength. But Sasuke was not in such condition. Sasuke was hard pressed to hide his wince as well as to not grit his teeth.

'What is with this strength? I knew he was holding back, but in none of our previous spars did I feel this much strength in his punch. It almost broke my arm. I'm glad I put some chakra in my punch otherwise it would have definitely broken. Just how much have you been holding back, Naruto?' He thought.

Disengaging, they jumped away from each other. Naruto got ready to attack again but Sasuke stopped him, "Enough. It's not needed anymore. I get it. Right now, you are definitely stronger than me. At this moment, it seems your way is better. But I will decide after everything from yesterday is sorted out." He told him. He moved closer to Naruto and extended his hand, "Till then let's work together if we are put into a team."

Naruto took his hands, "Sure thing. I'm glad we were able to become friends again, Sasuke."

Sasuke smirked, "Friends? Hah! Like I would be friends with you, Dobe."

Naruto returned his insult, "Looks whos talking? I'm not the one with an almost broken arm, Teme."

Namiko just shook her head. Still she couldn't help but smile at the interaction. She was glad her brother got his friend back.

Academy Classroom

After the whole fiasco between the twins and Sasuke, they along with the other new Genins were now sitting in their soon-to-be old classroom. Idle chat was going through all the Genins, but one of the main topics was, 'Who was going to be on whose team?' Normally friends wanted to be in the same team. The classroom was divided among groups of friends. All those coming from clans naturally formed one, except Sasuke who preferred to sit alone. Even Shino was among the group of friends, even if he mostly stayed silent.

Ino being the chatter box she was, was the one doing the most taking, along with the usual fight between her and Sakura about 'Who will be in Sasuke's team?' The rest naturally just sighed.

"Believe me Ino-pig, true love will definitely win. I will be on Sasuke-kun's team." Sakura declared with most certainty.

"You are right on one thing. True love will be victorious. But it won't be you, it is going to be me on Sasuke-kun's team. Just you watch, Forehead." Ino likewise rebutted.

Both butted their heads all the while glaring at each other.

Being already familiar with this kind of behaviour from his family friend, Shikamaru decided to put some effort this time and asked the rest, "Well, aside from who will be on Sasuke's team, what do you people think about the placements?"

Naruto was the one who answered him, "Its hard to guess. There are some patterns that repeat almost every year or in some cases when a condition is met. You should probably know better about that, Shikamaru, since clansmen from yours, Ino's and Chouji's clan are always teamed together."

Shikamaru nodded, "Yes that is normally the case, but…" He looked at Ino still arguing with Sakura and continued with a sigh, "I am hoping it would not be the case this year. I'm all for being teamed with Chouji, but Ino. Only mom is more troublesome than her."

Chouji patted his friend's shoulder and muttered, "I feel you, Shika."

Kiba decided put his own two ryos in the topic, "Well, I know my team is going to be the most badass, because of me of course." He boosted.

He was immediately shot down by the shade wearing bug user, "That will not be the case. Why you ask? Because you are dead last for a reason."

Kiba turned towards him furious, "Whaddya say? Are you picking a fight Shino?" He was again shot down, literally this time, by being smacked on the head by Namiko. Ironically he smashed into his own face imprint on the desk. It was same one he used during the Genin written exams.

Shikamaru on seeing Namiko's behaviour sighed, "Another troublesome one."

Naruto smiled at the Nara clan heir, "I guess, it comes with being a blond." It was unknown if he was aware or not that his own statement applied to him too.

Namiko, wanting to let Hinata speak her mind, urged her, "Who do you want to be in a team with, Hina?" She asked a question she, along with many other, already knew the answer to. But she wanted Hinata to say it.

Hinata's cheeks dusted a bit with red while she stole a few glances of Naruto, "I…um…ano…it would be better if I get teamed up w-with... with any of my friends." She tried to say Naruto, but she just couldn't so she settled with that.

Namiko was disappointed she didn't get the answer she wanted and wanted to urge her further, but was stopped by Iruka walking in the classroom.

Everyone except for the Senju twins, Hinata and Sasuke, were surprised though when they saw only Iruka walking in and no Mizuki.

Iruka walked behind his desk with sheets of paper in hand but before he could say anything one of the students asked, "What happened to Mizuki-sensei, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka was conflicted to answer that one. Mizuki's betrayal weighed heavily him. He was a long-time friend after all. And since the Forbidden Scroll of Seals was to be kept a secret, the details of his betrayal were also confidential. He looked at Sasuke and then addressed the class, "Mizuki was caught doing some traitorous activities against the village and hence has been apprehended. As of yesterday, he is declared as a traitor to the village. That's all I can tell you."

While the twins, Hinata -she was filled in on the details by the twins- and Sasuke understood the reasons for such secrecy, the others were confused. To them, Mizuki never seemed like a person who would betray the village.

Iruka continued before anyone could ask more, "Let this be a lesson to you. This Ninja world…is cruel. You are now Genins. You won't always encounter nice people when you go out of the village. You have to be ready to defend yourself as well as your teammates not only from physical and mental attacks, but also tricks like deception. I've already told you 'Deception is a Shinobi's greatest weapion'. Unlike Samurai, who fight with honour, Shinobis fight to finish their tasks, they fight to protect what is important to them, but never do Shinobis fight with honour. They cheat, they lie and use any dirty tricks they have to finish what they are tasked to do. " He smiled before continuing once again, "All this will be further taught to you by your Jounin senseis, the elites of this Village. I'm sure most of you know, you will be divided into teams of three which will be leaded by the Jounin senseis. I will now announce the teams as well as your Senseis."

With that he started naming the teams. Meanwhile Naruto was thinking, 'Teams of three. There are 29 graduates. That would mean someone will either be in a team of two or…'. His thoughts were interrupted when Namiko's name came up.

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Namiko Senju and Shino Aburame. Your jounin sensei will be Kakashi Hatake." Announced Iruka. This surprised everyone. A team with a Senju and an Uchiha? That was almost unheard of.

But the shock came to the Senju twins harder. They never thought they would be in different teams. Being twins, they had very similar chakra to such extent ,that if not for the different chakra types of Kyuubi sealed inside of them, their chakra would've been the same. And anyone who was knowledgeable on the workings of chakra knew that similar chakras tend to resonate hence strengthening them. That is why they were able to make even a simple C-rank justu strong enough to be like an A-rank one, by performing it together. This was known to the Hokage as well. So why would he separate them, in turn dividing their strength?

Iruka sensed the shock that went through the room. He was surprised as well when he read the teams. He also knew about the workings of chakra and believed that Naruto and Namiko together could make a very strong team. He had stated this to the Hokage. But the Hokage had a different idea, even though it was not fully his own. He ignored the surprised expressions on his former students and continued, "Team 8: Naruto Senju, Sakura Haruno and Kiba Inuzuka. Your team will be leaded by Kurenai Yuhi."

Naruto, though still shocked, expected his placement, somewhat. He knew that the Rookie of the year was normally placed with the dead last to balance the team. But the third member usually was the Kunoichi of the Year, in this case it should have been either his sister or Hinata. Oddly neither of them ended up on his team. He did not have any problem with Sakura, since as long as Sasuke was not around she behaved as a proper Kunoichi, but he would've preferred his sister or Hinata in his team.

Sakura was upset, though she knew beforehand that she would not be in Sasuke's team. Even though she fought with Ino about it, she knew that since she and Sasuke had the same rank, both of them being on the same team would have been neigh impossible. But she had still hoped. Though with Naruto in her team, she could continue her medic studies on the field as well. He was her senpai after all.

Iruka continued, "Team 9 is still in circulation, so Team 10: Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi. Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi."

That brought a loud 'WHAT?' from Ino and a small 'Troublesome!' from Shikamaru. Out of all the teams till now, this one was the least surprising.

Hinata was getting increasingly nervous during all this. First, Namiko and Shino both got teamed up with Sasuke. Then Naruto got teamed up with Sakura and Kiba. All three of her best friends had already been teamed. And now only she and one other remained. That meant she would be in a two man team. She had somehow jinxed herself with her earlier statement.

Others were also thinking the same. Hinata shared her Kunoichi of the Year title with Namiko, so how was it that she ended up in a two man team? Did such a team even exist?

Iruka cleared their confusion though, "Now before I announce the last team, let me introduce you to a new Genin. Sai, please come inside." The door to the room opened to a boy with short, straight black hair, and dark eyes which contrasted with his translucent-looking pale skin. He wore short black-and-grey jacket with red straps over a high-collard, midriff baring shirt, black pants, shinobi sandals and gloves with his index and thumb fingers exposed. He also had a small backpack hanging from his waist. The most striking feature of his though would be the smile on his face. Somehow, even though this was the first time they saw him, his smile seemed off on his face to everyone.

Sai stood beside Iruka and faced the class, "Greetings. My name is Sai." That was all he said with his odd looking smile still in place.

Iruka waited for him to continue but when he didn't, just sweatdropped and said, "R-right. So this is Sai. He is a former root trainee, who was taken into the regular ANBU force after root was shut down. He has been training with them for past three years. So please be good to him." He requested the Genins.

Many held contempt against the root after Danzo was labelled as a traitor and executed. Most of the fully grown root members had to be imprisoned since they were against working for anyone else, some sadly had to be put down. Some young trainees, whose mental conditioning was still not fully complete but were already trained a bit in the ninja ways were taken by the ANBU force to complete their training, without erasing their emotions. While the even younger ones were put in the academy, so that they could go through everything like normal children. Unfortunately there were some like Sai, who had already lost their emotions to the harsh training Danzo put them through.

Iruka then announced the last team, "So Team 11 will be Menba Fuyou, Hinata Hyuuga and Sai. Your jounin sensei will be Anko Mitarashi."

Menba, a shinobi hopeful from a civilian family, clicked his tongue. Not only was he in a team with that Hyuuga weirdo, his other teammate was an emotionless puppet.

When Danzo's crimes were made public, so was his way of training. This was done in order to silence the few families, who had willingly sent their child to Danzo for training and were against his execution. These were the people who thought that the village was biased towards the ninja clans. They thought more power was given to the ninja clans and wanted some piece of that power. Danzo had used this as an opportunity to persuade these families to give their young ninja hopefuls to him to train. He had promised to train them to be as strong as the children from the ninja clans. Obviously he never told them of how he would do it and how those children were never going to return to their families.

Sai did not care much about his placement. After being forced to kill his brother figure, Shin, he had lost almost all of his emotions. Then he was taken out of ROOT and in to regular ANBU, where he was mostly taught things related to being a ninja. While many in the ANBU tried to make him regain some emotions, it was an ongoing process. So he did what anyone would do when they were lacking information. He started reading books. Books on how to read and show emotions along with books on how to make friends.

Sai approached his male teammate and attempted to make friends with him, "Let's get along from now on, dickless." Sadly, his attempt failed.

Everyone was looking at him, mouth gaping, including the supposed 'dickless' himself. His expression however changed into anger as soon as his new nickname registered in his mind.

"What did you call me, freak?" Menba asked angrily.

Sai's smile though never leaved his face, "I read in a book that it was customary to give your friend a nickname based on them. So I called you dickless, dickless. And I see you gave me one as well. Happy to be friends with you." He said extending a hand to him.

Menba slapped the offered hand away, "Keep your nickname to yourself. I don't want to be friends with emotionless puppets."

This was actually quite normal for Sai. He had tried this method many times with the same result. Turning to Hinata, he got an idea. Since speaking truth –according to him- got him rejected, so he will speak the opposite of what he thought of them. Meanwhile Naruto as well as Namiko were getting ready to clobber the guy, if he upset Hinata.

Before he could open his mouth though, Hinata used her brains and stopped him as well as the twins by saying, "Let's be friends from now on, Sai-kun. You can call me Hinata."

Sai was not able to say anything further. He was the one to normally approach someone for friendship. So he was surprised when someone approached him first instead. So he just nodded and took a seat in the back of the room.

Everyone watched him go and sit, still with that creepy smile, then looked at Hinata, who took a breath of relief.

After a few more moments of awkward silence, Iruka broke it, "R-right. So, your jounin senseis will come and pick y-" He was interrupted by a flying black ball like thing that flew in through the window, breaking it. Two thud sounds from two kunai hitting the ceiling were heard. Everyone saw a black banner tied to the kunais with 'Sexy and Single Mitarashi Anko' written on it. Before it was a woman with black-purplish hair, styled in a short, spiky, fanned ponytail. She was wearing a fitted mesh body suit that covered her from her neck down to her thighs over which was a tan overcoat with purple in-seam and a pocket on each side, a dark orange mini-skirt, a dark blue belt, and pale grey shin guards. Her appearance was enough to give men –or young adults in this case- nosebleeds and make more than a few females jealous.

Anko took in the surprised expressions for a few moments before ordering, "Okay, brats from Team 11, meet me at Training grounds 11 in 10 no wait, 11 minutes." She, for some reason, looked proud on her repeated use of 11.

Her order was followed by silence which was broken by the sound of door opening.

"Anko! You barged in early. Again!" Exclaimed a woman walking into the classroom, who was followed by a tall man. The woman was fair skinned. She wore a red mesh armour blouse with only the right sleeve visible. The material resembled bandages with patterns on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs were also wrapped in bandages. She had long black untamed hair reaching her upper back, and very unique red eyes with an additional ring in them.

The man following her had brown eyes, short spiky hair and a beard. He wore the standard Konoha ninja uniform, with the sleeves rolled up halfway along with a flak jacket. He also wore a sash that had the kanji for "Fire" marked on it around his waist, a pair of black bangles, and bandages wrapped around the arms of his sleeves.

Iruka, hidden behind the black banner, sweatdropped at the woman. 'Aren't you too?' he thought.

"What? They already know in which team they are. So why wait?" Anko argued.

The woman sighed and turned towards the Genins, "Well anyway. I am Kurenai Yuhi. Genins of team 8, please come with me."

The man followed up by saying, "Asuma Sarutobi. Team 10, come forward."

Both the teams came forward, not before Naruto wished both Hinata and Namiko good luck, and stood in front of their sensei. With a nod, both the sensei took their Genins out of the class.

After they left, Anko again turned her attention to the rest, "Well? Whats the hold up? I already said right? Team 11, Training Ground 11, 11 minutes. Now move." And with that she left through the window somehow taking the banner with her. The members of team 11 looked at each other and followed her but used the door instead, not before Namiko wished good luck to Hinata. With a former root member and a guy who barely passed Kiba, she definitely needed it.

Iruka cleared his throat to gain everyone's attention and said, "As I was saying, the other jounin sensei should also arrive shortly, during which you can get to know your teammates even better. Good luck." With that he left the room as well.

Slowly and surely, many jounins came and took their teams with them. After an hour, the only ones to remain in the class were Namiko, Sasuke and Shino.

After another half an hour, Namiko face palmed, 'I should have known this would happen.'. Indeed she should have. After all, she was familiar with legendary Kakashi Hatake's even more legendary tardiness.

OMAKE 5

Sasuke was standing in front of a metallic fence gate. There were two things written on it 'Training Ground 44' and 'Do not enter without permission'. While it was officially called Training Ground 44, people who knew about the horrors residing inside it called it 'The Forest of Death'.

But Sasuke didn't know that. He only knew about something he overheard from some ninjas that 'ANBUs use the training ground 44 to train' and since Itachi used to be an ANBU, Sasuke wanted to train in there too. He thought that if this training ground made Itachi strong, then he should see if he could do it too. For all the genius Sasuke had, his mind was sometimes like a child. Probably a result of going through Tsukuyomi at a young age.

Since the gate was closed, Sasuke hopped over the fence instead. For a ninja it was no big deal.

After landing on the other side, Sasuke almost started doubting the Chuunin's words, since aside from larger than normal trees the place didn't look any special to him, but shrugged before starting to walk in deeper into the forest.

After some time though, he started to get a feeling. A feeling of being watched. Putting it off as a paranoia from being in an unknown place, he walked deeper.

He stopped at the sound of some bushes rustling. He turned towards the bush to check it out. Founding nothing wrong he shrugged and started walking again, but this time he kept alert. Proud and arrogant he may be, but he was no fool.

He was now getting a bit anxious. That feeling of being watched had not stopped and the forest was getting darker inside. He was barely able to see any sunlight. A sudden roar stopped his movements. He looked around frantically for the source of it. It sounded close to him. Another rustling caught his attention.

He stared at the bushes hard. It was unnaturally dark that side. He was sweating bullets. He knew something was there and was ready for it. He took some Shuriken and threw it at the darkness hard. The Shuriken did hit something. He knew because of the dull thunk sound they made. But there came no sound that would suggest that anything living had been hit.

There was sudden movement behind him. He turned around fast and came eye to eye with two glowing eyes.

The glowing stopped followed by a scream.

The scream was heard outside of the forest but sadly, screams from the Forest of Death was a common occurrence, so nobody paid any mind to it.

Sasuke was absent from his team assignment. On investigation his apartment was found empty. Inuzukas were assigned to track his scent. They did. And it led them to Training Ground 44. The Hokage was perplexed. Why would Sasuke's scent be there? His scent trail ended though at some point in the forest. Whatever attacked Sasuke, apparently did not leave anything of him behind. After this conclusion was made by a regular of that forest, Anko, the search was stopped and the last Uchiha was declared dead.

AN:

Why the hell is Hinata and Namiko not in Naruto's team? Who the heck is Menba Fuyou? Anko, a jounin? You are not pairing Sasuke with Namiko are you? are some of the questions you probably have now. I will answer them one by one.

Q1-Why the hell is Hinata and Namiko not in Naruto's team?

A-Will be explained partly in the next chapter and completely in the 11th.

Q2-Who the heck is Menba Fuyou?

A-Write his name in the way Japanese people do like Fuyou Menba. Put in google translate. And you will get the answer. If you don't get it, I will answer it in the beginning of the 11th chapter.

Q3-Anko, a Jounin?

A-Yes, I know she was a special jounin. But heck I made her a full jounin here. I had first thought of Shizune, but she is already a medic teacher in the academy as well as assistant head Medic in the Konoha hospital. So, I chose Anko.

Q4-You are not pairing Sasuke with Namiko are you?

A-Heck no! That almost made me puke while writing. No let Sakura suffer with that fate. Speaking of fate...

Surprise Question - It is still NaruHina right?

A Heck yeah it is! NaruHina for life. NaruHina banzai! That does not necessarily mean she HAS to be in a team with Naruto. So relax. Everything will work out. Everything. I have already planned on when they will get together but I cannot say, since the author giving out spoilers won't look good.

I introduced Sai early because I've made it quite obvious that Danzo is dead and also that the cannon pairings are gonna stay. So I had to bring out Sai. With Namiko's addition I was also missing Genins to team her with.

I answered some questions about team placements beforehand. Do feel free to ask any more if you wish.