Would you look at that? I actually uploaded a chapter when I said I would. How strange of me. Are pigs flying? Is the devil ice skating in hell?

Disclaimer: I wish.

Sakura woke up at the crack of dawn.

It had become a habit of hers when she Iruka-sensei taught them that good shinobi always woke early to give them time to prepare for their missions. From that class forward, she had forced herself to wake up at this unseemly hour until it had become an ingrained habit.

It was troublesome at first, but she had slowly begun to love the quiet of the morning. She could relax in the shower with plenty of time to dry her hair and get dressed.

Today, however, she was not relaxed.

She clutched her cup of tea tightly as she stared down at the different dresses laid out on her bed. They were getting their assigned teams today and she wanted to look her best. Her mother always told her she looked stunning in red, but Sasuke-kun never seemed to notice when she wore the color.

She frowned slightly. Maybe if she did something drastic he'd notice her.

She reached up and tugged on her hair. She had heard he liked long haired girls but after several years of him continuously ignoring all of the long haired girls in her class she came to the conclusion that it was just a fake rumor. Maybe if she cut her hair, he'd take notice? The Hyuuga girl was cute with short hair, so it might work.

Then again, her mother would most likely throw a fit.

Her eyes drifted over her dresses once more.

She'd stick with red and keep her hair long for today, but she'll put on some of her mother's make-up to make her look extra good today. Not too much, though, she didn't want to look like that Mami girl who was always caked in make-up.

Her mother didn't usually like her wearing make-up, but she was sure she could convince her to make an exception today. It was a special day after all and unlike the rest of the girls in the class, she was fairly certain who was going to be on her team.

She had read up on Konoha's team history in the Academy library. Though most of her research had been done looking between lines and chatting up the librarian rather than the typical book reading she normally did to keep at the top of the class. She had memorized what clans were usually put together and the typical team dynamic. Two boys, one girl. For each graduating year, Konoha tried to match at least one stealth/tracking team and children from certain clans were always put together. For example, if there was a Yamanaka, Choji, and Nara then they would automatically be put on the same team.

However, none of that interested her. What interested her was the grade placements. From what the librarian said, the top boy and girl in the class are typically paired with the lowest scoring boy in the class.

She had worked hard to maintain her position as the top girl in the class, despite being a civilian born student. Iruka-sensei had told her that was a great feat, especially in a class full of clan member children. She had preened for a week after that, sending smirks towards Ino.

Now her hard worked paid off because Sasuke-kun was the top boy in the class.

She squealed and nearly spilled her tea all over herself. She calmed herself down and set the cup tea on her desk.

She turned back to her dress and took a deep breath.

She'll definitely stick with red today.

Sakura did not expect to meet Ino on her route to school, but she refused to lose to the other girl and raced her all the way to the academy. She nearly cursed that decision when she arrived, however, and tried to dab her face subtly, hoping her make-up didn't run.

There was the daily scuffle for the open seat next to Sasuke-kun, but she was determined to win today of all days. Once seated firmly next to Sasuke-kun, she tried not to show how excited she was for the announcements. He looked as cool as ever with his hands folded under his chin as he stared into the distance. His eyes flickered briefly towards the door when the Uzumaki twins entered, but lost interest immediately and turned back to the back to staring at the blackboard.

Sakura tried not to fidget. She heard a rumor that Sasuke-kun liked sophisticated girls, unlike the loud banshees still screeching behind them

Honestly, they lost the scuffle they should act more mature.

She folded her hands in her lap and glanced over to see if the boy noticed how strait she was sitting.

She nearly saw red when she noticed that Naruto was crouched on the table in front of her Sasuke-kun. Couldn't the annoying boy reframe from ruining her day, for once in his life!? His brother wasn't nearly as annoying. She glared daggers at the blond.

The next few minutes happened in a blur.

All she could truly focus on was how red Sasuke-kun pale cheeks went when Naruto got shoved into him, making them kiss.

She supposed it was a good thing Iruka-sensei came in when he did.

She might have been accused of murder if she had gotten her hands on the blond idiot.

Sakura took a deep breath, trying not to think about how the rumor that Sasuke-kun had not had his first kiss yet, and let it out slowly. It was fine. Everything was fine. She would be on Sasuke-kun's genin team and she would have all the time in the world to catch his attention and eventually be his girlfriend.

Everything.

"Team Seven will be…"

Will.

"Uzumaki, Natsuki…"

Be.

"Uzumaki, Naruto…"

Fine.

"…and Uchiha, Sasuke."

"WHAT!?"

Kurama wasn't sure if he would ever get the ringing out of his ears, from the combine shriek from both his brother and Sakura when their team was announced. He reached up slowly to rub his ears and sent a weak glare at his brother.

"Team 8 will be Aburame Shino, Akamaru Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata."

Naruto, unfortunately, didn't seem to be paying any attention and instead was glaring heatedly at the Uchiha. Naruto had continued trying to befriend the boy over the years, but he was met with cold rejection at every turn. That, of course, didn't stop Naruto from trying for a long time. However, since the Uchiha boy had started making comments about Kurama's inability to perform the low-level jutsus Naruto had become less incline to befriend him. Their relationship wasn't' exactly antagonistic, but it wasn't close either. After all, Naruto took his "big" brother status very seriously and hated it when people made fun of his "little" brother. Recently the two had started getting into more arguments as the Uchiha's comments about his inability to perform the basic jutsu became more frequent as the final exam approached.

He held back a sigh.

"Team 10 will be Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino."

He had thought that the worst thing that could happen was having one of the irritating fangirls as their teammate, but apparently, they had put up with the Uchiha now. He glanced at Naruto again.

The boy was still glaring.

The Uchiha was glaring right back.

The fact that the two boys had their faces smashed together a mere fifteen minutes ago probably didn't help this situation either.

"Team 11 will be Haruno Sakura, Hasegawa Chou, and Nishimura Kenta."

He saw Sakura wilt out of the corner of his eye. It was the first movement he's seen from her since Team Seven had been announced. He supposed she must have been wishing to get on the same team as her idol.

"Alright, congratulations on graduating everyone! I'm sure you will make wonderful shinobi. Your new sensei's will pick you up here, so please wait until your team is called."

Kurama smiled briefly at Shikamaru and Choji when their sensei called for them but remained beside Naruto as the boy continued to glare at their new teammate. If it had been anyone else Kurama might have told his brother to knock it off already, but he wasn't pleased with being stuck with the Uchiha either. Of all the teams he could have been placed on, he got the team with the only Uchiha in the whole damn village.

(He could make sure there wasn't anymore Uchiha in Konoha.)

He closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath.

From what he understood from Iruka's lessons and the snippets of memories he received from Kushina, genin teams were a big deal in Konoha. Iruka often old them that teamwork was their villages biggest strength. He wondered if there was some outlet or way to change one's team. Were there cases of teams not getting along to the point where they had to change? He wished Iruka hadn't left the room a few minutes ago. He would have asked him if this choice was permanent. He did not want to be on the same team as the Uchiha.

(Those disgusting eyes still lingered in his nightmares.)

He took another deep breath.

"Why do I have to be stuck with you losers?"

"What did you say!? We're not losers! You're the loser!"

He released the breath slowly.

Everyone had left the room now, leaving the three of them alone.

"This is ridiculous." The Uchiha muttered.

"Where's our sensei!?" Naruto frowned while crossing his arms. "Everyone else is gone."

What was he going to do when the boy learned how to use those horrible eyes? He couldn't even look him in the eye right now, even though he knew the Uchiha wasn't powerful enough to trap him like his ancestor did. Working in teams required trust. He trusted Naruto with his life even if he still hesitated to tell him his secret, but he didn't think he could ever relax around the Uchiha.

He was so caught up in his internal panicking he almost didn't sense the familiar chakra settling outside. He paused and glanced at the window in confusion. As far as he knew the other had been on a mission. When did he come back?

"Heeey, Natsu. Wanna help me prank our sensei?" When Kurama sent him a sidelong look Naruto immediately backpedaled. "I mean it's been a while now, it'd serve him right for making us wait, right?"

"I doubt you'd be able to prank a jounin." The Uchiha muttered darkly.

Naruto stuck his tongue out. "Shows what you know! I'll have you know I've pranked plenty of shinobi, I bet pranking a jounin wouldn't be so hard!"

Kurama sighed.

"Even if you caught some genin and chunin by surprise, that doesn't mean you'll be able to prank a jounin. They're on a higher level than you."

"Yeah right! I pranked the Hokage before! Even the strongest shinobi can be caught off guard!"

"You're a liar. There's no way you could have done that."

"Did too!"

"Did n-"

Kurama slowly dropped his head onto the table in front of him with a silent groan. He loved his brother and he was happy the boy was acting like his normal self again, but every argument he had with the Uchiha boy ended in childish temper tantrums from the both of them. He closed his eyes and tried to block out the shouting match occurring right next to him.

"So, are you guys going to continue to ignore me or can we get through our introductions?"

"Gah! Where did you come from?!"

Kurama didn't move but wondered briefly when the man had entered the room. Last time Kurama checked, he had been observing them form outside the window. Slowly he raised his head and looked behind him. Familiar silver hair and a mostly covered face greeted him. The man was slouched in the back row with his feet propped up on the table and a bright orange book in his hand. Kurama raised an eyebrow.

Was Kakashi their sensei?

The man looked at the three of them from over his gaudy orange book. Kurama could almost feel the amusement rolling off of him in waves ad he leaned forward slightly.

"My first impression of this group is… you're a bunch of idiots."

They sojourned to the roof after that statement for proper introductions. Or more aptly, Kakashi vanished with an offhanded "I'll be on the roof" and the rest of them chased after him.

"Alright, let's begin introductions."

While his brother and the Uchiha seemed to be irritated by their new sensei's attitude, Kurama almost wanted to laugh. What were the chances that the anbu who had watched over them as a child and had continued to help him through nightmares would be his jounin instructor? There was undoubtedly something he didn't know about the situation, but he couldn't help but be amused and vaguely relieved. They didn't seem to have much luck with instructors. They were currently at a ratio of two to one with Iruka being the only one to genuinely care for them.

When his brother and the Uchiha didn't look like they were going to respond, he decided to speak up first.

"My name is Natsuki Uzumaki."

This managed to stir Naruto. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I'm Natsuki's older brother and I'm going to be Hokage someday, you know!"

"I'm Sasuke Uchiha."

"Hmm, I'm Kakashi Hatake. As you may have guessed, I am your jounin instructor."

The man folded his arms over his chest and seemed to look at them thoughtfully for a moment.

"I arrived with the other instructors near the beginning of class and peaked in while my colleagues called out for their teams. None of you noticed. I left for a bit and then came back when the classroom was empty and observed you three from the window. Raccoon eyes noticed me but failed to inform the rest of the team. None of you noticed me enter the room and sit in the back of the class."

Kurama bristled at the nickname while his brother wilted next to him. He noticed the Uchiha boy clench his fists on the other side of his brother.

"In light of this, I decided our first activity will be a survival exercise." He assessed them once more, eye lingering on Kurama for a moment. "Show up at training ground seven at five sharp and bring your training gear. We'll see what this team is made of then. I suggest putting your all into this test, my first impressions of this team is rather pitiful. Oh, by the way, I'd suggest that you don't eat breakfast tomorrow. You'll throw-up. "

With that said he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Kurama's tentative relief over their chosen sensei disappeared with him.

Sasuke stared blankly at the fridge in front of him, wondering vaguely if he really wanted to take his new sensei's advice and not eat breakfast. Now that his stomach was grumbling he was hesitating to follow the instructions. Part of him knew that he should listen to his sensei since he was his jounin instructor and obviously knew better than him. While the other part of him wanted to spite the strange man he got stuck with as a sensei.

Then again, he said that they might throw up if they eat and that was definitely not something he wanted to do in front of the Uzumaki twins.

He scowled and turned on his heel to gather his equipment.

He had resigned himself to having annoying teammates, so he shouldn't be upset with his current team, but he couldn't help but feel annoyed.

He shuffled out of the apartment and walked towards the training grounds. The civilian part of the city wasn't awake just yet, but he could see shinobi flicker about on the roof tops, either going out on missions or returning from them. Some of the shops that specifically catered to shinobi were open. He eyed the weapons shop he usually frequented for a moment, before deciding that he had enough supplies for today.

He glanced at the rooftops once more wishing he could he heading out on a mission, like them instead of doing a survival exercise. He kicked a rock out of his path as he exited the main city and began the journey to the training grounds. He should have been paying more attention to his surroundings. If he had remained observant, instead of getting into a useless glaring match and subsequent argument with Naruto then he may have avoided this mess.

He sighed.

He'd just have to do well on this exercise and show the sensei that he wasn't incompetent and was ready for missions.

He was the top of the class after all.

(He ignored the voice in the back of his mind that reminded him that Natsuki would be second if not for his struggles with the ninjutsu and Naruto wasn't exactly the dead last of the class either.)

He arrived thirty minutes early and was surprised to find the twin already there. The smaller of the two glanced briefly at him before turning away in a clear dismissal while the blond one glared. He gritted his teeth while he tried to maintain his neutral mask.

That was the thing he hated about the younger twin.

The boy never truly acknowledged him.

They had been sparing partners since they started to learn taijutsu at the academy, yet never acknowledged when Sasuke managed a good hit on him or a win. He never even looked him in the eye.

They stood in silence as the sun slow creeped out from behind the trees. Sasuke kept his eyes peeled for their sensei. He would not be caught unaware this time. He would prove that he was a capable shinobi.

Unlike his teammates. He sneered when he noticed Naruto laying on the ground staring up at the sky with and oddly pensive look on his face, while Natsuki sat beside him with his eyes closed.

Did they learn nothing from yesterday?

He focused his attention back on their surroundings.

The hours passed slowly.

"He's here." Natsuki murmured, his eyes finally opening. He pointed to a tree across the field from them. "In the tree over there."

Sasuke's eyes snapped over to the tree, but he didn't see anything out of place, much less the noticeable figure of their sensei. He was about to snap at the other boy for pulling such a stupid prank when their teacher dropped out of the tree and ambled over to them.

"Good job, raccoon eyes." The man spoke cheerfully. "You noticed me immediately this time, and notified your teammates."

Sasuke scowled.

How did Natsuki notice their sensei when his eyes were closed this whole time?

"You're late!" Naruto accused seemingly snapping out of his earlier mood while he jumped to his feet.

"Hmm, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take a different route."

Sasuke's scowled deepened. Was this man really a jounin? He didn't act professionally at all.

"Alright, I'm sure you little squirts are eager to begin our little test, so let's get started." Sasuke eyed the man suspiciously. It was hard to tell with most of his face covered, but from his tone, he almost seemed amused. The man pulled out two bells from the weapons pouch on his hip. "See these bells? Well, you have to take them from me by noon. If you do not make the time limit then you will be tied to those stumps over there and will watch as I eat my lunch in front of you. The one who manages to take a bell from me will pass this test."

"There are only two bells." Natsuki murmured. His voice soft, but his eyes were flashing.

"Well, I supposed the person who doesn't get a bell will go back to the academy."

"WHAT!?" Naruto exclaimed and for once Sasuke wasn't irritated by his loudness.

"That's not allowed," Natsuki replied sharply. "Iruka-sensei told us teams were composed of three people."

He narrowed his eyes as their sensei's shoulders shook with laughter.

"I told you yesterday that I wasn't impressed with this team, yeah? Well, jounin instructors have a right not to teach the teams their assigned. Want me to let you in on a little secret?" He leaned forward. "I've failed every team the Hokage assigned me and sent them all back to the academy. I'm giving you guys a little break since I do see some potential in you guys individually. I'll mentor whoever manages to get a bell."

He dug a timer out of his backpack and placed it on top of the middle stump.

Sasuke clenched his fists together.

He couldn't fail.

He had to become a shinobi.

He had to get stronger.

He had to.

"Alright kiddos, make sure you come at me with the intent to kill." The man narrowed his eyes and Sasuke's breath caught from the sudden onslaught of killing intent in the air. "If you don't. You'll never even touch these bells."

His hand hovered above the timer for a moment.

"Begin!"

He dove into the foliage and circled the field quietly, as he planned his attack. He climbed a tree to get a better vantage point as his mind continued to whirl. He watched silently as the jounin stood in the middle of the field, back slouched with a book in hand.

Even if he thought the man was unprofessional he knew he couldn't underestimate him. Shinobi weren't just rewarded jounin status. There was a reason why most shinobi were chunin. From what he understood, even being allowed to take the jounin test was a difficult task much less passing the test itself.

He was also fairly certain he had heard the name Hatake before and if he knew the name, even vaguely, then the man must be a powerful shinobi.

He needed to pass this test.

He couldn't go back to the academy.

He took a deep breath.

He could probably manage a simple trap with the wire and kunai he had packed. If he set it up to release and then attacked from the opposite direction, then he'd have the surprise advantage. He wouldn't be able to rely on the strength of his taijutsu, though. He was one of the tallest students in the class, but he was still several times shorter than the jounin. He would have to rely on speed and flexibility if he wanted to get the bells attached to his belt.

"Hey."

He nearly jumped out of his skin at the sudden greeting. He barely managed not to make a noise. He glared at the longhaired boy next to him. He didn't know how the boy managed to sneak up on him, he was certain he would have heard the sign of someone climbing the tree, yet Natsuki had appeared next to him like a ghost.

"What. Are. You. Doing." He growled.

The boy looked slightly to the left of his face as he answered. "I think this test is a setup. Konoha has always focused heavily on teamwork and each team is composed of three shinobi."

Sasuke frowned. He remembered Iruka's lessons, but…

"He said that a jounin instructor could fail their students and send them back."

Natsuki shook his head. "He said he failed teams, not individual genin."

"Okay, what are you trying to say?"

Natsuki smiled briefly.

"This isn't just a survival test. It's a teamwork test. I doubt any one of us could get the bells on our own. He's a jounin after all" The boy looked down for a moment. "Naruto and I know what jounin's are capable of and let's just say a regular genin wouldn't be able to defeat them unless there were some extenuating circumstances. Not only that but this jounin, in particular, is someone capable of being a member of the anbu. But, if we work together, we might have a chance to get the bells."

"If you're wrong?" He could see the logic, but…

Natsuki looked solemnly above his head for a moment.

"If I'm wrong then I will give you a bell and be the one to fail, deal?"

"Deal. What's the plan?"

"Naruto and I have already created a preliminary plan. First we…"

Kurama crouched in position, waiting for his brother's signal.

Convincing the Uchiha to participate was easier than expected, but that was only the beginning. Despite Naruto's confidence and the Uchiha's reluctant agreement that the plan was solid, Kurama knew Kakashi would probably see through it. The man was a former anbu after all. He could only hope their last ditch effort would pay off.

The bushes' moved several feet to his left and suddenly at least thirty Naruto's sprung from the forest. Kurama wasted no time pulling the illusion over himself and darting out to join the fray, shouting insults with the other clones. He knew his brother well and knew exactly how to mimic him.

Kakashi seemed nonplussed by the number of clones and continued to read as they approached.

Being in the middle of the fray Kurama got to see his eye widen when he was suddenly attacked by kunai from behind. The man dodged the sharp weapons his eye narrowing.

The group reached him as the last kunai dropped to the ground and began their assault.

Kurama reframed from wincing as the number's dwindled immediately as the man easily struck the clones hard enough to dissipate them. The numbers didn't seem to bother him much.

They had expected this.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw more clones run out of the foliage as Naruto tried to keep up with the diminishing numbers.

Soon the area was covered in the smoky residue from the clone's dissipation.

More kunai from Sasuke cut through the fog, but Kakashi still managed to dodge them.

Kurama frowned and decided now was a good enough time since the number of clones was going down fast. He darted forward and struck at the man's ankles before flipping into a hand-stand to aim a kick at his head.

He got a knee to the face for his efforts.

He winced as his ankle was suddenly clutched in an iron grip and he was lifted completely off of the ground.

"Natsu!"

"Heh, nice illusion raccoon eyes, but we need to work on your taijutsu."

Kurama smirked as their last resort, a small stone, fell out of his pocket and at the jounin's feet.

"Good thing I brought back-up."

Sasuke appeared in a millisecond right under Kakashi's guard his hands already in position for his clan's specialty jutsu.

"Great Fireball Jutsu!"

Kurama was thrown to the ground.

He managed to look up in time to see Sasuke go flying from a kick to the stomach.

Naruto was by his side in a second, but Kurama waved him off.

"That was a good attempt kiddos. You really came at me with all you had. You were seriously trying to kill me, weren't you? I got to say, that almost makes me like you brats. But-"

There was a jingle of bells.

The jounin froze.

Kurama turned his head to see Sasuke still flat on his back holing up the two slightly steaming bells.

He never thought he'd see the day the body replacement jutsu was used against him like that. He was usually the one messing with people with it.

They used my favorite trick against me. How sly.

They probably didn't even know that was his favorite, either.

Kakashi couldn't hold back the grin if he tried when he saw those bells in the hands of Sasuke Uchiha. He could feel the pride bubbling in his chest. It had been there from the moment he noticed the coordinated attacks but was now was making his chest tighten in a way that almost made him check to see if one of those kunai actually managed to get lodged in there.

Was this what Guy meant when he talked about watching his students succeed?

"Tricky brats." He shook his head as he stared at the three sweaty, and dirt covered faces of his new genin. "Alright, I give up. You passed. All of you."

"Whoohoooooo!"

Despite having expended an enormous amount of chakra to create that virtual army Naruto still had enough energy to leap into the air and do a jig.

"I knew it! I knew you were lien' to us!"

"Actually I was the one who pointed it out, Naruto." Natsuki didn't jump around like his brother did, but his eyes were bright with pride as he climbed to his feet slowly.

Kakashi watched as the boy hesitant briefly before offering a hand to Sasuke to help him up.

"Ok, you brats. Follow me."

He led them to the memorial chuckling softly as Naruto recounted what has just happened in detail with very animated facial expressions and wide arm movements.

"What is this, sensei?"

Kakashi's eye shifted briefly to the small orange haired child before turning to the memorial once again. He must have emanated an air of solemnness because Naruto fell silent almost immediately.

"This is the shinobi memorial. All shinobi who die in battle have their names carved in here." Kakashi eye's traced the familiar names feeling the familiar threads of grief that remained strong even after all these years. "Death is a part of shinobi life. By the time you are my age you, like myself, will know more than a few names on here. Names of comrades. Of Friends and loved ones."

Kakashi tilted his head up to the sky.

"I didn't lie to you when I said that I failed all of the other teams I was assigned. None of those teams displayed what you did here today. They were selfish and tried to get the bells for themselves. A few simple words and misdirections tore them apart and made them forget what should have been drilled into their heads from day one in the academy."

"Konoha's biggest strength is teamwork."

Kakashi smiled at the blond.

"In the shinobi world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. If you learn nothing else from me, then at least remember that."

("I don't know if I'm the best teacher for them or if I'm even a good teacher at all. I can't say with absolute certainty that I can handle traumatized children. You and I both know that I've never handled my own trauma very well, but for these kids…for sensei's kids for the last of Obito's family…I will try my hardest to make them the best damn team I can. Please, Hokage-sama, let me try!")

Wow. Eleven chapters and I finally completed the bell test...buckle up folks this is going to be a long one.

So, Sakura and Sasuke gave me some trouble this chapter. I guess I just wasn't sure how I wanted to portray Sakura. I don't really like cannon Sakura, but I still want to include her and have her grow as her own person in this story, so I needed to start somewhere with her. I eventually settled with very intelligent and driven, but with the wrong motives (i.e. Sasuke). You'll meet her teammates later, I've written up bios for them and I actually like 'em so far. Sasuke, on the other hand, was just a bugger. The little brat didn't want to do what I wanted, but I guess he got his cool moment in the end.

All in all, I think it turned out ok. I know many of you guys wanted a different team, but honestly, I couldn't see it working any other way with some of my plans for later.

As always, thank you so much for your reviews! I love all of you. Really, though, your guys support really inspires me to continue writing. Till next time! (Dunno when, uh, maybe Sunday?)