Naruto sat on a wooden post found on his team's training ground. Originally, he was reading his copy of Advanced Book of Poisons, volume 2, but memories of the day prior was currently interrupting his focus.

Having been placed under a jonin named Kakashi Hatake with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno as his teammates, he didn't know what to expect at first. For starters, his sensei was two and a half hours late. The Senju heir didn't care; it was more time to work on his poisons. Giving his incomplete neurotoxin formula a break, he opted for revising a powdered formula designed to inflict temporary blindness.

Hobby aside, he found that his teammates were rather lackluster. Having traveled a great distance in his young life and performed in a multitude of hospitals and clinics, he came across hundreds of thousands of different personalities. From cold and aloof to energetic and passionate. From tsundere to kuudere, and even the occasional yandere. Thankfully, he escaped from the few that he met.

So for him to have teammates with such...interesting personalities was kind of dull. Sasuke Uchiha was a brooding boy, most likely due to some kind of mental trauma in his early years, if Naruto had to hazard a guess. He was cold, and excelled at nearly anything he decided to put his time and effort into. It was his arrogance, however, that prevented him from truly shining. Whether due to him being the last of such a prestigious clan or due to the fact that he had such a legendary kekkei genkai, Naruto didn't know. From what he'd read, the Uchiha were a proud clan with an extremely powerful kekkei genkai in the form of a dojutsu. It was due to that little fact that Naruto started a little side project. Either way, the boy looked down his peers - believing himself peerless in all things.

Sakura Haruno was the complete opposite in a multitude of regards. Rather than having a superiority complex, she had a powerful inferiority complex. It'd come, he learned, from the fact that she was insecure about her forehead as well as the fact that she came from a civilian family. Though oddly enough, Mebuki Haruno was a kunoichi at one point in time before settling down with Sakura's father. Regardless, the girl was best friends with Ino -according to the other blonde- and they had a falling out over Sasuke. The pinkette hung on the Uchiha's every word. It was like watching a devout follower listening to their living god. At times it was interesting. At times, he really wanted to render her unconscious. Sakura had also taken to insulting Naruto at every convenience, claiming that he'll never be as whatever as Sasuke. The aforementioned Uchiha would merely scoff at every form of stimuli the girl would give him. It was obvious her obsessive devotion was going to lead her to a lot of heartbreak and self destruction.

In reality, Ino was the same way. During the few conversations he had with the Yamanaka heiress, she would often muse aloud about how much Naruto reminded her of a much nicer Sasuke. That, in and of itself, was an insult. As such, Naruto distanced himself from the blonde and pinkette every chance he got. It was going to get far more difficult from here, as he was the Haruno's teammate, and Ino seemed to always be waiting for him in different locations around the village. Naruto swore that if he heard anything else with Sasuke's name in it, where the arrogant prick wasn't directly involved, he was going to lose it.

During his revisions to his powered toxin, Sasuke stared out of the window, seemingly deep in thought about whatever it was he thought about. Sakura was in between violating Sasuke with her eyes, giving Naruto odd looks, and complaining about the tardiness of their jonin. It was obvious that the wait was wearing on Sasuke's patience as well. Soon his attention turned to Naruto, who was flipping through the pages of his purple book while scribbling notes on a blank scroll. Something about the blonde irritated him, but he didn't know what.

Was it the way he blatantly ignored the two of them? Was it the way that he didn't bother making conversation; not that Sasuke would give an answer anyway. Or was it the fact that he had absolutely no issue staying in the damned classroom doing whatever the hell he was doing, while he and Sakura were squirming in their seats with impatience?

Sasuke sighed, venting his irritation. Sakura was pacing in an effort to alleviate the building energy that she felt. Naruto, of course, didn't notice.

When the jonin finally showed up, he said what was essentially 'I hate you, come to the roof.' The Senju, Uchiha, and Haruno made their way to the roof and sat in front of their instructor. They were going to introduce themselves, Kakashi announced, by sharing details about themselves. Their name, likes, dislikes and dreams.

At the behest of Sakura, Kakashi went first. At the end of it, they knew precious little about their sensei except his name; something they already knew thanks to Iruka's team placement which took place a full three hours earlier at that point. The three genin sweatdropped before it was Sakura's turn. Just like their sensei, all that was known about the pinkette was her name. Throughout the whole of introduction, particularly the bits about her likes and dreams, she continually looked at Sasuke as she hugged herself, squirmed and giggled. It was quite obvious what she liked and what her dream was. Naruto rolled his eyes and looked to the clouds.

Sasuke was next, and his held the most merit as one that Naruto could actually get behind. At least, for his dream.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I have very little things that I like, while my dislikes are many. I do not have a dream, no, for I shall turn it into a reality. My ambition is to kill a certain man and restore the honor of my clan."

Naruto figured that if he and the ravenette bastard ever became friends, he wouldn't mind helping out. Of course, the lad would have to go through some major breakthroughs in terms of personality. As it currently stood, Naruto couldn't really stand being anywhere near his teammates.

"How about you, blondie?"

"My name is Naruto Senju. I like poisons, venoms, and toxins. I also like to discreetly poison people that call me blondie. I dislike people who think they're Kami's gift to the world and not being able to heal the wounded. My dream is to become the next Sannin."

Sasuke snorted. "You do know that the term 'Sannin' means three ninja, right idiot? And since there's already Sannin in the world, you can't be one."

"Besides, if there were a way to become Sannin, Sasuke-kun would probably become one quicker than you." Sakura sneered condescendingly.

"Now, now." Kakashi chided, "Naruto, are you are that the term Sannin is merely a title? An honorific, if you will. Are you sure you don't mean Sennin?"

It was at that moment that Naruto decided to definitively poison all three of them. "Yes, I am well aware of the fact that it is merely a title, an honorific. Yes, I will become a Sage on my journey to become a Sannin. No, I am not confused. Hanzo the Salamander named my mother and her teammates the Sannin, three legendary ninja, each master in their own given fields. Jiraiya in Fuinjutsu. Orochimaru Ninjutsu. My Kaa-chan in Medical Ninjutsu. As much as it pains me, Kaa-chan is not immortal. Neither is Jiraiya or Orochimaru. When they finally depart from this world, I wish to be the one to keep the title alive. I will be the next Sannin, as in the Next Generation Sannin."

Kakashi's visible eye widened, before he nodded sagely. He understood what the boy meant completely. It was an odd dream, though it couldn't possibly be any weirder than dreaming about becoming a Hokage. They were shinobi; their entire world was weird, in a manner of speaking. Kakashi also made a note to not call Naruto 'blondie' in the near to distant future. After telling them to meet him on Training Ground Seven for a test, which Sakura emphatically reminded him that they were already tested, he explained that the test was to make sure they were truly worthy of being genin and left.

Naruto sighed. He loathed when people told him that his dream didn't make any sense, that it wasn't attainable due to the term 'Sannin' meaning 'Three Ninja'. Naruto was not an idiot. He could be a bit of an airhead at times, but never an idiot. Of course, he didn't care what others thought of his dream, as many seem to forget that the Sannin are regarded as legends, therefore making it a goal-worthy title. He heaved another sigh when he felt two chakra signatures moving towards him. Taking a stick of dango out of the container he brought from him, he began to munch on the snack as he returned his attention to his book.

"Kakashi-sensei instructed us not to eat breakfast, Naruto." Sakura scolded once she was close enough to the blonde.

Naruto looked into the depths of her eyes only to look back at his book. The sound of rumbling stomachs blocked out the sound of his page turning. The agitation in the air was palpable, though none of it was aimed at him directly. There was a poof, and when pinkette and Uchiha turned, they had to react quickly to catch neatly wrapped sandwiches. Naruto closed his book as he finished his dango and put it away, deciding that it would be a lost cause to continue reading.

"Eat," he commanded gently. "You will need your strength for whatever it is we're about to do."

Sasuke sneered. "Don't think that you can tell me what to do, loser."

Naruto made a half ram seal and the sandwich in the other boy's hand vanished. "Suit yourself then."

Sakura was conflicted, though only partially. Sasuke's food was rather hastily taken away from him for his comment, leaving him to glare at the uncaring blonde. She was hungry, and while she wanted to follow in Sasuke's every footstep, she knew the blonde had a point. Walking up to her crush, she gifted him with half of her sandwich. He looked at her and after making a sound of irritation, he mumbled his thanks as he accepted her gift. A little bit of something was better than none.

Contrary to popular belief, Kakashi Hatake was never late. Having been an Anbu for as long as he could remember, the white haired man often arrived early to wherever he needed to be. The key term being needed. According to the Sandaime, he needed to mold and instruct his genin squad, and as such, he would never be late when it came to the three kids.

Kakashi watched them rather intently, taking note of their interactions with each other. The son of the Senju acted with an indifference that the jonin found familiar. He acted the same way when he was his part of his own genin squad under the Yondaime before his time as the Hokage. The last of the Uchiha -at least of those still loyal to Konoha- had a certain air about him, one that screamed that he was better than those he was surrounded by. It didn't help that those surrounding him were usually the biggest ass-kissers that Kakashi had ever seen in his years. Sakura only cared about what Sasuke did and thought, and as such her devout obsession with the boy would undoubtedly drive a wedge between the teammates.

Funnily enough, Kakashi saw Naruto interact with people in Konoha Hospital, along with Tenten and Ino. He had a kindness that was undeniable, coupled with a personality that was capable of being the glue to hold together any sort of straining relationship. So why did he act to uncaring towards the two people that he would be teammates with until one or all of them die? It was common knowledge that once a genin was assigned to a team, that team was permanent. That wasn't to say that one member couldn't take a mission with another team altogether, because that was rather common, but Team Seven would forever be Team Seven.

Deciding to observe his charges for another two hours, he sighed and decided to get this shit-show-in-waiting rolling. From his continued observations, it seemed like a two against one, so it was at that moment that Kakashi decided to drill teamwork into them. And he had just the thing for that.

"You're late!" Sakura jabbed a finger in her sensei's direction, clearly irritated.

Kakashi offered an eye smile. "Sorry about that. You see, I ran into a black cat, so in order to avoid any bad luck, I had to take the long way."

Of course that was complete and utter bullshit, and his genin knew that. Only Naruto entertained his shenanigans with an understanding nod, though his eyes were calling his bluff. He chuckled.

"Well it's time to start your test." the jonin brought out two small bells. "You have until noon to retrieve these bells from me using any means necessary."

"But sensei, there are only two bells." Sakura noted.

He nodded. "That's because only two of you shall pass. The one that fails will be sent back to the Academy."

As he said that, two pairs of eyes shifted to Naruto. Kakashi sweatdropped; they were already singling him out as the one who was going to fail. Oh yeah, he most certainly needed to beat teamwork into them.

"Now come at me with the intent to kill, or you will fail." said Kakashi in a grim tone. "Begin."

The three genin vanished. Sakura decided to make a couple of booby traps. Snickering to herself, she set about her foolproof plan with wire strings, kunai, three shuriken, and four explosive tags. All she needed was someone to lead Kakashi into her trap and those bells would be as good as hers. Of course, she'd gift the other one to Sasuke. He deserved it, after all.

Sasuke was hidden amongst the trees armed with a kunai in either hand, held in a reverse grip. He watched a seemingly unaware Kakashi meander into the forest in which the three of them were hidden. When the time was right, he would spring his trap and claim those bells for himself.

Naruto rose from his hiding spot in the foliage that littered the ground. His stealth was nearly unrivalled, but there was no point in needlessly flaunting. It was obvious that Kakashi wasn't a pushover. He watched Sakura set up her traps in order to kite and finally bind their sensei, while Sasuke was rather well hidden, ready to attack the jonin solo. Brave, but foolish. Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do. Might as well play the fool.

The charging Senju heir eyed his teammates, and grinned at their faces; one incredulous, one expecting. Kakashi reached into his pouch and retrieved a book.

"Time for your first lesson." he said. "Taijutsu."

He threw a vicious kick at the boy, only for him to explode into white smoke. Four more copies of the blonde erupted from the surrounding foliage, each rushing him with a different taijutsu form than the others. It didn't matter. Kakashi dispatched them all with one well placed shot, but the numbers were getting ridiculous. From one to four, from four to eight, from eight to twenty, then back to one. His pattern held no consistency, as even the numbers of the clones changed. From one to twenty, from twenty to eight, from eight to ten. It made no sense. Still, it wasn't like they were posing much of a challenge.

"Heavenly Kick of Pain."

There was a tingle of warning on the back of Kakashi's neck. He looked up and made a wild dive to the left as the original Naruto loosed a wicked axe-kick where his sensei once stood. The ground immediately cratered, shards of earth rising and altering the terrain. Kakashi's eye widened, though he really shouldn't be surprised. He heard about how he beat Mizuki with two moves. He'd even heard stories about Tsunade's monstrous strength. That didn't mean he was expecting it, however.

Naruto instantly went one the attack, attacking in a vicious yet deliberate manner. Kakashi dodged each attack easily and managed to retaliate at seemingly perfect moments. Once again, he was surprised to see Naruto blocking his attacks when they were so close to striking him. The fight pushed Kakashi back against a tree.

"Shannaro!"

There were several explosions that Kakashi dodged just in time, only to see kunai and shuriken fly at him. He ducked and the weapons embedded themselves in the tree he stood in front of. Naruto appeared in front of him again, but there was a glint of light. Kakashi substituted with one of the rocks that Naruto created from his attack. The aforementioned blonde was suddenly trapped, tied up to the rock by wire strings.

Sakura came from the tree she was hiding in to examine her handywork. Her jaw fell open when she noticed it was Naruto that was snared instead of Kakashi.

"Damn it, Naruto!"

The boy glared at her before vanishing in smoke. A sudden shadow overtook Sakura as she turned to find her sensei staring into the depths of her eyes.

"Second lesson: Genjutsu."

Suddenly, everyone was gone. She was afraid, watching carefully as leaves spiralled around her. Before she knew what was going on she heard a weak, raspy voice. It was familiar as it called out to her.

"S-Sakura," she turned to find Sasuke, crawling towards her. He was bloody, beaten, and had dozens of senbon embedded within his body.

She screamed, unable to comprehend what her brain was showing her, before she succumbed to the cold grasp of unconsciousness.

Kakashi watched his female student dropped. He was only to sigh as a blur of blue flew at him. Sasuke was attacking with a ferocity that was associated with the Inuzuka clan. Still, using his clan Taijutsu, he was able to get Kakashi to move the way he wanted, resulting in a clean kick sent the man back by a few feet. Sasuke glared at him, pissed that the jonin was still on his feet.

"Lesson three: Ninjutsu." he flew through hand seals before he held his hand up in front of his mouth. "Fire Release: Fireball Jutsu."

Sasuke flew through his own hand seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu."

The flames clashed and pushed against each other for dominance. No one noticed Naruto claim Sakura and set her away from the colliding fire techniques. No one else noticed when Kakashi went underground via his Earth Release: Hiding like a Mole Technique. The flames died down with Sasuke's being the victor. Most of the surrounding greenery was set ablaze and Sasuke was left panting in his spot. He gave a grin before he felt something grab him by the ankles.

"What the hell?" he looked down to see two gloved hands.

"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique"

The next movements were a blur to the Uchiha heir as he suddenly found himself buried to the neck in the ground, while Kakashi stood over him with a kind eye smile. There was a flash of yellow and white behind their sensei, but nothing came from it. Sasuke wondered if he was hallucinating, but focused his energy on getting out of his current predicament.

Kakashi looked at his handy work; a bound blonde, a trapped brunette, and a stirring pinkette.

"Boil Release: Unrivalled Strength."

A punch that appeared seemingly out of thin air lodged itself in Kakashi's midsection and sent him flying. Sasuke looked up, suddenly uncomfortably hot. Naruto looked down at him, his skin steaming as he punched the ground. His unnatural strength coupled with a delicately controlled burst of chakra loosened the ground enough for Sasuke to escape.

"How the hell did you do that?"

Naruto looked to him and looked back at his coughing sensei. "Don't worry about that. Get Sakura."

Having said his piece, he rushed off towards Kakashi as the man stood and delivered an elegant spin kick. Naruto decided to take a dive, allowing the kick to send him flying; his objective was complete. The timer Kakashi set rang angrily as all movement came to a stop. Sakura and Sasuke were standing next to a downed Naruto.

"Time's up," Kakashi said, but before he could continue, Naruto held up two small bells as he stood.

The other two genin gaped, while the jonin eyed the boy curiously. How did he manage to do that? "Hm. Good job, Naruto. Now, who gets the bells?"

Naruto looked to his two teammates. Both looked relatively worried; should he decide to be selfish either one could and would be sent back to the Academy. Surprise slapped them both as they each received a bell, leaving Naruto with none. They stared at him, wondering why he would do such a thing.

"I honestly don't care about being sent back." Naruto said. "The dreams they have require them to be here...kind of. I was only doing this to make my mom happy."

Kakashi looked at the boy as he turned and started to walk away, but the white haired jonin held him fast by the shoulder. "Congratulations. You all pass."

Three confused genin waited on him to elaborate, as none could seem to form a coherent question.

"In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum." Kakashi explained sagely. "But those that abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Now, meet back here tomorrow morning at nine for our first mission."