Hey all! Sorry the updates aren't frequent, but with school I don't know how much I'm gonna be able to get done. I'm a junior in HS, I'm in the IB program, I have SATs coming up, I'm studying for my driver's permit, and I'm trying to get an internship at NIH so my life is busy as hell.

Someone asked me about pairings so here they are:

Main:

NarutoxHinata (Betrothed, but like each other)

ShikamaruxTemari (Betrothed, and have a very odd relationship)

GaaraxOC (Betrothed, but like each other (don't see much of each other though))

KankuroxOC (Betrothed, but like each other well enough)

There will be others later, but romance isn't the main part of the story. Also, I'm not a fan of Harems (I'm a one soul-mate kind of girl) or yaoi/yuri. I don't mind if you like them and I have nothing against them, but I won't write it.

I would also like to remind everyone that these kids are just 12-15 years old and are not exactly focused on romance. The thing with Hinata kissing Naruto and all that is just playful teasing and nothing has gone beyond a kiss on the cheek.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, I wouldn't have to go to school.


WARNING: There will be slight bashing in the beginning, especially on Sakura and Sasuke, but that's only because in the beginning of the series, the two were completely hopeless. I will only bash what I feel is necessary, but they will eventually grow up (well, Sakura will. I don't know if I'll have Sasuke go to Orochimaru or not). Don't like, don't read.

Enjoy!


Danse Macabre

Chapter 1: The Genin Files

If there was one thing Naruto hated more than cold ramen it was babysitting. Now, no one had actually said they were babysitting, but to him and his teammates the word was implied. Unfortunately, the Hokage had used the word "protect" and Naruto had a sort of "protection complex" in which he had to keep everybody safe. His friends and teachers had tried to get him out of it, but progress was slow at best and nonexistent at worst.

The main problem was that every other protection job his team had been assigned, the client had requested it and the children had to act as professional as possible. This time, their clients were oblivious and they had to blend in. They had done uncover missions before, but those usually resulted in killing someone, whether for their client or by Hokage's orders. This was different.

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru had had a total of two years (give or take a few months) in normal society. Well, actually, Naruto had never left the Hokage's or ANBUs' watchful eyes and Hinata was sheltered in the Hyuuga Compound, but they had been in noticeable contact with the village during that time. Then the Meeting happened.

The Meeting was basically a way for the Five Great Shinobi Nations to get together and maintain a relative balance of power. It occurred every five years in a different village and the last one had been in Konoha. At that time, balance was shifty and they were on the brink of another war, so the Kazekage came up with an idea. In order to maintain order, why not create a shinobi team so powerful that other villages wouldn't dare attack for fear of decimation (well, except each other, but that's a story for another time)?

The plan was ingenious, even after the Kazekage added in the small bit of arranging marriages between and in the villages so as to truly secure peace (although the Hokage had his doubts as the Suna-nin was known for his cruelty). It was decided that each village gather children or high-ranking shinobi and teach them everything. They would be the top shinobi in their villages, maybe even all the Elemental Countries. Konoha, Suna, and Kiri agreed to start their training as soon as possible, but Kumo and Iwa took children that were older.

It was because of this plan that changed the lives of so many children. Sarutobi had to pick the perfect children for this team to work, and he had to do it right under the council's nose. Naruto was an obvious choice for a member. Despite the old man's reservations about turning the boy into a weapon, he acknowledged that the child was basically born to be a shinobi and he had the determination to do it, not to mention the fact that the Kyuubi made the boy a powerhouse. The other two were more difficult.

It had been decided during the meeting that each of the children would be appointed as the heirs of certain village positions. The consistent position was that of Kage, which the Sandaime had given to Naruto. As it was, Sarutobi needed a future Head Medic and Head ANBU Commander. How he was going to find that in two children, he did not know.

It wasn't until he came across the little Hyuuga Heiress that he got his idea. For a two-year-old she was very bright: trying to wrap a bird's wing with clumsy hands and succeeding for the most part. It was also known that Hyuuga had excellent chakra control making the little girl an instant candidate for the medic. The ANBU Commander on the other hand, he saw attempting to play shogi with his father's friends. Granted, the young Nara wasn't getting far, but some of the pieces moved would help his father win the game.

Convincing the Hyuugas wasn't that hard for power was everything to them and a strong heiress was just what they wanted. The only one who really put up a fight was the girl's mother Honoka, but the elders and a slightly subdued Hiashi soon silenced her. The Nara's were harder as prestige and power wasn't that important to them. They preferred simple family lives, and with their son and heir being taken away with only short visiting rights the decision was hard. They eventually let him go, the Hokage managing to convince them (something that not even he knew how he had done it). Unfortunately for him, Nara Yoshino, Shikamaru's mother, still threatened the Hokage's manhood every time she saw him.

So, the children grew up in the relative safety of ANBU headquarters, only leaving on missions. They had lessons and training everyday with five hours of sleep and three half-hour meals, but even at the headquarters they were hidden with only their teachers as company. When the children had moved out, their homes were either secluded, dangerous, or secret, making their social skills start to wane. All in all, they had no idea what normal children did and spying could only help so much.

The only thing the team had going for them was that they were supposed to be early graduates. They could blame any abnormalities on what a year's worth of shinobi training could do. Unfortunately, that only went so far and they didn't want anyone to get suspicious, especially the Jounin sensei whom had access to some of the more…restricted scrolls.

While their social skills may be a bit of a problem, clothes were their definite stand out point. The team did not own anything other than formal clan, village status, and Jounin and ANBU wear. Undercover outfits were too impractical for shinobi to wear and they had been given to them by the Hokage, thus having to return them at the end of the missions. So, for the first time, the children were going clothes shopping and Naruto did not like it.

He added shopping in his 'Things I Hate to Do' list right behind babysitting and cold ramen.

"Can we go now?" Naruto asked for the fifth time that hour. "We've been in here forever!"

Now, it wasn't entirely Naruto's fault. Hinata, who had never been allowed to pick out her own outfit, was more enthusiastic than either of her two teammates had ever seen, and it was this enthusiasm that was making them suffer. Well, it was making Naruto suffer, Shikamaru was asleep.

"No, Naruto-kun. I still need to find an outfit because unlike the two of you, I can't just throw something together and expect it to work." Hinata sighed as she ran her fingers down a beautiful battle kimono.

"I don't see what the big deal is. Why do you care what you're wearing if it's just going to get ripped easily anyway?" He asked, his arms almost smacking the sleeping Shikamaru in the face. "It's already been six hours since lunch and we haven't eaten yet! Heck, Sarutobi-jiji said we had to meet him by seven. If we don't finish soon, we won't have time to eat!"

"Naruto-kun, as much as I detest gender bias, I have to admit that kunoichi are occasionally looked down upon. We are, however, able to use this to our advantage, because if we look good enough enemies are easier to seduce or at the very least they underestimate us." She looked at his disgruntled expression and almost laughed. It so obvious he did not like her answer.

Deciding to further annoy him, she continued. "Now, I need to find an outfit which will help me take advantage of this. So if you stop complaining for one minute I promise we can sneak off and try and con Iruka-sensei into buying us ramen from that little stand he likes so much." The girl promised, talking about their former tracking teacher and one of the few people allowed in with their little secret. For a Chuunin, the guy had eyes and ears like a hawk, surpassing even Inuzuka ANBU, much to their embarrassment.

The boy's eyes darkened at the mention of taking advantage of her looks (which, subconsciously, as his hormones hadn't quite begun to set in, he found to be quite stunning) before brightening at the prospect of free ramen. "Really, Hinata-chan? You promise?"

"Yes, I promise. I won't even complain about how you eat it." She gave a small smile and blushed when the boy gave her the 'Naruto Patented Smile.' No matter how confident she got, Naruto would probably always make her blush. It was a habit she was trying, and failing, to break.

Shaking her head to get rid of her blush, Hinata turned her glance back towards the rack. She was about to give up and go look at another section of the store when something caught her eye. It was simple, but perfect for both looks and fighting. Seeing that Naruto was preoccupied poking Shikamaru, she snuck into the dressing room and tried it on, grabbing a pair of shoes on the way. Surprisingly, only a few modifications needed to be made for it to be perfect.

She quickly changed back into her clothes (ones she had borrowed from one of her cousins) and, glancing back to make sure the boys still weren't paying attention to her, moved over to the clerk, stating the amount of copies she wanted and the changes that needed to be made.

Once the outfit was taken care of and the time for pick-up stated, Hinata walked back over towards her two teammates. Naruto was still trying to get Shikamaru's attention and didn't seem to have noticed her absence. While that was useful to her, Hinata couldn't say that she wasn't a bit hurt that Naruto hadn't noticed. Then again, if it benefited her she could let it slide just this once. Next time, he wouldn't be so lucky.

"Ne, Hinata-chan, are we done yet?" Naruto stopped poking Shikamaru and Hinata could have sworn she heard a slight sigh of relief.

"Hai, Naruto-kun. Let's go get some ramen." She smiled at the blond as he leapt from his seat with a yell, dragging a half-asleep Shikamaru by the wrist.

"RAMEN! RAMEN! RAMEN!" The boy could be heard all the way down the street as Hinata left the store with a nod to the woman, following her teammates.

Naruto's addiction to ramen went way back to when the team needed a quick meal in between training. As surprising as it may sound, the boy had hated the food when he first tried it. He spent an hour in the bathroom throwing up, ignoring that day's instructor who kept yelling that the enemy "wouldn't wait for [Naruto] to stop spewing his guts before [the enemy] spewed them for him." Naruto spent another hour in the bathroom.

It had been unfortunate for Naruto that that instructor had a rather sadistic side to him, one in which Naruto got the pleasure of experiencing. The older shinobi, one Morino Ibiki, strapped the then five-year-old Chuunin to a kitchen chair in the ANBU headquarters and forced the ramen down his throat. Literally.

Ibiki said that on a mission he wouldn't always have the choice to be picky, but after that experience Naruto refused to even look at the salty noodles. It wasn't until Iruka gave him some that the boy actually began to like it. According to Naruto, the meat and vegetables had just smelled so good that he wouldn't have cared what else was in it. As it happened, Iruka began bringing the team more ramen from a small place called Ichiraku. Naruto refused to eat any other type, saying that nothing compared to the heaven that stand made.

Unfortunately, the only time the three were actually able to go to the stand themselves was when they came back from undercover missions. Sometimes, they would keep the civilian clothes until they had to make their report and used a miniscule henge that Tsunade had taught them, but other than that…well they just weren't inconspicuous. As all they really had were ANBU or Jounin uniforms someone would have to be blind to not notice anything strange. Too big of a henge would draw attention from older shinobi, so that was out too. Luckily, they had managed to sweet-talk some Hyuuga cousins who knew of Hinata into giving them clothes for the day. They were annoyingly uncomfortable.

As the team approached the little stand, they were able to make out some sort of gathering of about six kids probably around their age. From the hitai-ate on them and the semi-celebratory air about the place, the team guessed that they must be the two new genin teams they were supposed to guard.

Most of them stood out for one reason or another. The two girls, while quite pretty, looked like they were trying to starve themselves. One of them had what appeared to be long, pink hair, while the other was a pale blonde. Neither one looked ready to be kunoichi, but at least the blonde had enough sense to pull her hair back.

Both girls appeared to be fighting with each other while trying to flirt with the brooding boy sitting next to them. Hinata had to give them props for multi-tasking, but that's as far as she went. The brooding boy seemed as if he'd rather be anywhere but where he was. If that was because of his apparent fangirls or because he was just naturally anti-social, none of the three kids could tell.

The next person was another boy who appeared to be silently eating a plate of fruit. His silence was less broody and more of a polite, intellectual introvert. This, however, was to be expected as he was obviously an Aburame, the sunglasses and fruit eating a common give away. You see, the thing about the Aburame Clan was that they loved fruit seeing as it was the one thing that both humans and bugs could enjoy wholeheartedly.

There was another boy sitting to his right. Well, actually he was sort of standing while screaming out words of joy, followed by yipping coming from the puppy on his head. Definitely an Inuzuka, the boy appeared to be recounting his team's Final Genin Test to the ramen chef, though it all seemed rather exaggerated. Naruto highly doubted that their Jounin sensei had them go rescue a princess while fighting off a band of enemy nin for their test.

Finally, it came down to the last boy. He was a rather…rotund boy and it seemed as if he couldn't get enough ramen. Shikamaru vaguely remembered him and the blonde girl, so he figured that the boy must be an Akimichi and the girl a Yamanaka, as he remembered his dad mentioning them on one of his visits. The boy could definitely give Naruto a run for his money in a ramen-eating contest. The thought almost got the young genius sick.

After examining the kids, Naruto realized something: Ichiraku's is small. Very small. It has a total of six stools. There were six genin. There was no room for Naruto. Orochimaru would have cowered at the look on his face. Luckily, Hinata and Shikamaru were used to Naruto's odd temperaments and quickly pulled the enraged boy away before he made a scene. It would do no good for them to get on the bad side of their unassuming clients or visa versa.

"Hey, what are you guys doing?! Let me get 'em!" The boys began to struggle in his teammates' grasps, but the two other kids wouldn't let him go.

"It's not worth it Naruto!" Shikamaru grunted, muttering, "troublesome," under his breath.

"But…but…the RAMEN!" The younger boy started sniffling and turned his doe-blue eyes to Hinata, silently begging her to take his side.

Knowing this game, Hinata just gave him an apologetic smile and shook her head. There was no way she was going to ruin this mission before it even began. Giving her one last pleading look, he reluctantly calmed down. Crossing his arms and scowling, Naruto began stalking towards the Hokage Tower, his night ruined by the fact that he hadn't gotten his ramen. It was a good thing they hadn't met up with Iruka on the way or Naruto would have felt worse. The only food better than Ichiraku ramen was Ichiraku ramen that Iruka-sensei paid for.

Shaking their heads, the other two members of Team Shikyo began to follow their leader. He may be a goof, but he was their goof, so they silently promised that later, after they picked up their clothes, they would take the boy out for ramen.

Entering the Tower through a secret entrance Naruto had found years ago, the three quickly changed into the ANBU uniforms they had sealed inside a scroll. It wouldn't do for three kids to just appear and demand an audience with the Hokage.

Appearing out from behind a painting of the Shodai Hokage, Kitsune, Nezumi, and Shika, silently moved through the hallways and up the stairs to the Hokage's office. They had fun trying to avoid the busybody Chuunin and Jounin moving around carrying stacks of papers or scrolls. Kitsune especially enjoyed seeing how many things he could knick from people's pockets. So far, he had two silver bells, four little orange books, some dango sticks, a pocket mirror, and a pack of cigarettes. He was feeling pretty good.

The three ANBU arrived two minutes later outside the office and waited for the Hokage to let them in. As soon as they heard his voice, the three entered the room to see not the Hokage, but his sea of paperwork.

"Umm…Hokage-sama…?" Nezumi asked hesitantly, almost afraid to ask where all this paper had come from.

"Yes, Nezumi-san?" The Hokage's face appeared over a stack of scrolls where the group could only assume his desk was.

"Where did all this come from?" If her face could have been seen, it would have had a look of awed horror on it.

"Yeah, if this is what you're preparing me to do then I say take it back." Taking a few slow steps forward, Kitsune narrowly avoided colliding with a small pile of scrolls in the middle of the floor.

"Ah…well, yes…umm…" The Hokage had the humility to look ashamed.

"Hokage-sama…" Nezumi sighed. "Have you been procrastinating?"

"Not exactly," The aging shinobi saw the girl begin to twitch so he quickly continued. "You see, I stepped out to get some lunch and when I came back," He motioned to the papers all around the room. "this was here."

"Have fun, taichou." Shika muttered to the (possibly pouting) boy next to him.

"Gee, thanks for the support." The blond said sarcastically. The other boy just nodded.

"Now, Team Shikyo, I have called you here for a reason." The Hokage pushed aside the previous scolding and the team quickly saluted, the ANBU façade falling into place.

"It is imperative that you get to know these teams. You will be spending a lot of time with them and they will already be suspicious of your early graduation." Seeing as the three had not moved, he continued, "Get to know their skill levels and balance yourselves accordingly." The old man turned to Nezumi.

"Now, Nezumi-san, I have spoken to your father and he has agreed to speak with Neji." The girl nodded and the Sandaime picked up nine thick folders that the team swore hadn't been there before.

"These are the folders on each genin. Read them, learn them, memorize them. Understood?" The three stiff salutes were his only answer. "Questions?"

None of the children spoke for a while, but after a few minutes Shika stepped up.

"Hokage-sama, who is to pose as our Jounin sensei? He, or she," he amended at Nezumi's invisible glare. "would have to know who we are."

"Ah, yes, about that," He paused and the team leaned in slightly in anticipation. "I'm going to let you guess." The Hokage smiled as the team facefaulted.

As the team began picking themselves up, they began saying random names.

"Ibiki-sensei?" The Hokage shook his head.

"Izumo-sensei?" Another shake.

"Kotetsu-sensei?" Again, another shake.

"Iruka-sensei!"

"He teaches at the academy, taichou." Shika said, shaking his head.

"Oh, yeah. Hehe, sorry." Rubbing the back of his neck, the name-calling began again.

"Hayate-sensei?" Another shake of the head was her answer.

"Genma-sensei?" 'No' was the answer.

"Well, who else available knows who we are?" Nezumi asked, after a few more names were said.

The Hokage smiled that smile that tells you everything you didn't want to know.

"Oh no, please tell me it's not…" Kitsune trailed off, the horror resounding in his voice.

"Alright Maggots, fall in line and take off your masks! I wanna see the looks of horror when you receive these files!" A scantily clad woman yelled at the dismayed team in front of her.

"Hai, Anko-sensei." Their tones were so dismayed that one could even tell the difference between Shikamaru's usual tone and this one.

After their meeting with the Hokage and their subsequent realization of who their sensei was, the three had (slowly) made their way down to training ground 44. Now, it probably would have been better for them to have moved a bit faster, but this day was just turning out to be horrible. It was one thing for them to have to even do this mission, but to get her as their pretend sensei?! Dear Kami-sama above.

Mitarashi Anko was perhaps the one teacher that the young shinobi still feared. It didn't matter that they could beat her, she just had this aura about her that made you want run as fast and as far as possible and then keep on running. Even Hinata, who had had the most training under her (to get rid of her stuttering), had an healthy fear of the woman. It was unhealthy not to be scared with her around.

When they had finished training under her at the age of nine, they thought they were done. The possibility of seeing her around the village was a given, but having her as a teacher was whole other matter. As it would turn out, they weren't as done as they thought.

"Um…A-Anko-sensei," Hinata began as she took off her mask. "aren't we only looking after three teams? Why are there thirteen files?"

Anko cackled and each of the three twelve-year-olds stepped back.

"There's the kicker ain't it brat! And what've I told ya 'bout stuttering?" The grin on her face was eerily familiar.

"S-s-sorry!" The girl couldn't help but stutter.

"We're gonna have to have some more lessons, aren't we brat?" The shit-eating grin on her face got bigger. "Anyway, 'bout the files. Apparently, Hokage-sama wants ya to know 'bout the Jounin senseis too. Said it'd enable ya to get around them more."

"So the Hokage expects us to lie to experienced Jounin?" Naruto asked, although it was said as more of a statement. "Yeah, I think we can do that." The grin that was on Anko's face soon appeared on the faces of the three team members, their previous fears forgotten. Heck, even Shikamaru was grinning and he hated to work.

With grins all around, Anko handed the files to Naruto. "Now, it's very important that you have those memorized by tomorrow-"

"Tomorrow!?" She was cut off, but their shocked horror seemed to make the older woman happy.

"Yeah, apparently your mission starts tomorrow at eight am sharp. The teams are having a group meeting at training ground seven and the Hokage wants you all to 'conveniently' appear. Make it look like they're on your turf or somethin' like that."

"But, isn't one of the teams older?" Shikamaru asked.

"Sure is, but Asuma wanted the rookie teams to get to know one of the older teams. Personally, I just think he wants to watch Kakashi squirm." A sadistic sort of chuckle passed her lips.

"Asuma? Kakashi?" Hinata asked, thinking. "You mean Sarutobi Asuma and Hatake Kakashi?"

"Sure do! Yuuhi Kurenai is supposed to be somethin' like an assistant teacher to Asuma, but I think it's just a ruse for them to see each other more. Asuma was too willing to take her on as an assistant sensei."

"Yeah, yeah, mushy stuff," Naruto pushed that stuff aside for what he felt was the most important thing. "You mean to say that Kakashi, the Hatake Kakashi, has taken a genin team!?"

"Yep, caused quite an uproar in the missions office too. Damn that was funny!" Anko laughed at the image of a room full of speechless shinobi.

"Well, I do believe I should leave you to your work seeing as you only have about," She pretended to look down at her non-existent watch. "ten hours to memorize all this." Smiling at their incredulous faces, she raised her hand in farewell.

Before disappearing, she turned to Naruto and quickly swiped something from his pocket. "Just so you know, brat, I always notice when the dango goes missing." Giving him a grin that promised future pain, she shouted, "Have fun, maggots!" And disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"I think you're losing your touch, Naruto." Hinata smiled and turned to her captain.

"Yeah, yeah." He grumbled and looked down at the files in his hands. "I think I hate this assignment more than I did before."

"Troublesome." And with that, Team Shikyo vanished in three identical puffs of smoke.

Five hours later found the team reading Team Seven's files for the third time. The other teams were memorized enough that Shikyo would be able to watch them effectively. It was an extremely boring process. The only ones that were even remotely interesting were the Jounins, Uchiha Sasuke, and Rock Lee. But that was stretching it.

"Should we go over them again?" Hinata asked from her position on Naruto's futon. Naruto, who was sprawled out on the floor, only groaned and reached out a hand for the closest Team 7 folder.

He picked it up and said the name aloud. "Haruno, Sakura." He handed the folder to Hinata, the only one willing to read them.

"Let's see. Birthday: March 28. Shinobi ID Number: 012601. Blood Type: O. Age: 12. Rank: Genin, under Hatake Kakashi with teammates Uchiha Sasuke and Inuzuka Kiba."

"Yeah, yeah, get to the semi-good stuff!" Naruto yelled, his patience wearing thing.

"Naruto, this is important!"

"Oh come on, Hinata-chan, when are we going to need to know her birthday?" He lifted himself up onto his elbows and threw a pillow at Shikamaru to wake the genius up. Ignoring the disgruntled noise from the other boy, he continued. "I mean, if we just met the girl, we wouldn't actually know any of this stuff, right?"

"Well, yeah…"

"So just get to the summary so we can all go to bed!" He sent her a pleading look.

"Fine, but if Sandaime-sama quizzes us tomorrow on the birthdays of all these people, I'm blaming you for our failure."

"I don't care as long as I get sleep. Unlike this lazy bum," he threw another pillow at the again sleeping Shikamaru. "I can't fall asleep in the middle of the apocalypse."

"Of course, Hokage-to-be-sama." Doing a little mock bow, she began to read. "Haruno Sakura, only daughter of civilians Haruno Kiyoshi and Yuri, graduated top kunoichi of her class. Her test scores rank highest in the class, but she lacks in Taijutsu and weapons training. She is proficient in academy ninjutsu, although Haruno-san shows severe chakra exhaustion afterwards. Suggests chakra-building exercises. Haruno Sakura-san would probably do well with Genjutsu or Ijutsu." Hinata finished and looked at her teammates. Blank stares only met her back.

"Anything else?" Shikamaru asked, sleepily.

Nodding, Hinata read a small side note that she had neglected to see to last two times. "Haruno-san suffers from an extreme lack of attention when in the presence of one Uchiha Sasuke."

"Great," Naruto said, sarcastically. "She's a fangirl."

"Must have been the pink-haired one at Ichiraku's." The genius yawned. "Great, another troubleso-" He was cut off by the pillow thrown in his face courtesy of Hinata.

"If I hear that word one more time, I will call your mother and have her deal with you." That shut Shikamaru up real quickly.

Despite the fact that he only saw his mother personally a few times a year, he had learned not to anger her. One of her firsts visits, Shikamaru remembered, she had made him do chores. Actual chores. The only things he had had to do before that were eat, sleep, train, and shower. Meeting his mother again had introduced the boy to the horror that was chores. Each time he said never again, and each time it happened again. The woman frightened him.

"Uh-umm-uh, who's next?" He asked quickly, determined to placate the usually calm girl.

Giving him an admonishing glare, Hinata picked up another folder and read, "Uchiha, Sasuke." She got a snort from Naruto. He did not like what this file said.

"Uchiha Sasuke. Shinobi ID Number: 102606. Blood Type: AB. Age: 12. Rank: Genin, under Hatake Kakashi with teammates Haruno Sakura and Inuzuka Kiba."

"At least she didn't say his birthday." Naruto muttered, getting a quiet chuckle from Shikamaru and a slight glare from Hinata. "Sorry." He said, sounding anything but sorry.

"I'm sure." She replied sarcastically and lifted up the file to begin reading, pretending nothing had happened. "Uchiha Sasuke, second son of deceased Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto, graduate Rookie of the Year with above average Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. He is skilled in traps and evasion for a genin, but his Genjutsu is below average. Unfortunately, Uchiha-san has distanced himself from his peers since the Uchiha Massacre and has become rather anti-social. Close watch suggested."

Silence met the last sentence as it had the last two times. Of all the genin they had to watch, Sasuke was the one they were looking forward to the least. They just hoped he didn't become a second Uchiha Itachi.

"Okaaay, moving on." Naruto said, wanting to change the topic. "Next?"

Shikamaru handed a file over to him and he passed it to Hinata. The file was rather thick and some of the pages were starting to yellow, but it was still very neatly put together.

"Hatake Kakashi. Shinobi ID Number: 009720. Blood Type: O. Age: 27. Rank: Jounin Instructor of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Inuzuka Kiba."

Groans went all around. Kakashi had so many papers in his file that reading and memorizing them in one night was impossible. They didn't care what they were instructed to do, not even they could memorize that much in a few hours.

"Just read the overview, please!" Naruto begged, and Shikamaru rolled over, burying his face in his pillow(s).

"Trust me, that's all I have the voice box left for." Hinata cleared her throat. "Hatake Kakashi, also known as Copy Nin Kakashi, master of over a thousand jutsu, and holder of one Sharingan in his left eye. Hatake-san is the first and only child of the famous Hatake Sakumo, Konoha's White Fang, and civilian Hatake Mitsuko. He graduated Rookie of the Year the age of five, became a Chuunin at six, and Jounin at thirteen." A laugh interrupted her.

"Hey, he's almost as good as us!" Naruto laughed and turned to Shikamaru who had a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, but by time we were five we were already Chuunin. Besides you've already mentioned that the last few times we've read this." Naruto pouted as the his teammates chuckled.

"Yeah, Naruto we get it. But, you've got to remember that we were trained from the age of two by the best. He had no such help." Hinata replied, picking up the file from where she had put it.

"Moving on, Hatake-san was on a genin team under Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage-"

"Hey Naruto, looks like this guy has some connections with you!" Shikamaru spoke up with more enthusiasm than he had shown all night.

"Yeah, closest thing to an older brother I guess I have." The other boy laughed out.

"Sure, the older brother that doesn't know you exist." Shikamaru snorted.

"Kill joy."

"May I please continue?" Her tone sounded annoyed and both boys knew not to antagonize her. They quickly nodded their heads.

"His team consisted of Uchiha Obito and Iroku Rin. During the Third Great Shinobi War, the three were in charge of destroying a bridge that aided the enemy Iwa Nin. At this time, Rin was taken and the two boys split up; Obito to find her, and Kakashi to complete the mission. Kakashi returned and lost his left eye in defense of his teammate. Eventually, both boys caught up to Rin and the Uchiha was crushed in defense of Kakashi. Before he died, the Uchiha requested Rin, the team medic, to place his left eye into Kakashi's damaged one. Thus, Copy Nin Kakashi was created."

"Okay, what was the point of adding that entire story into the summary file?" Naruto asked, annoyed.

"I don't know. Possibly to explain something later?" Hinata stated in a more question-like manner.

"Like what? I don't need to know how he got it, just that he has it."

"Maybe it will explain his personality? I don't know! Can I continue?" She was getting annoyed again so the boys gave her quick consent. "Alright, Kakashi soon entered the ANBU at fourteen and gained a summoning contract with dogs. A year later, during the Kyuubi Attack, Rin was killed and Kakashi hid more under the ANBU cover. At the age of twenty-five, he left the ANBU and began getting genin teams. He failed each one until this year's Team 7."

"Bet the Council had something to do with that." Naruto commented with a disgruntled face.

"I don't know, the Inuzuka's are known for their teamwork." Hinata said.

"True, but the Uchiha are known for anything but; the 'last' Uchiha especially." Shikamaru added. "And the Inuzuka are also known for their brashness and impatience. If the Uchiha's teammate got too fed up with him, then Kiba would only work with his dog and the Haruno."

"But wouldn't the Inuzuka motto of never leaving a teammate behind make them work together?" Naruto asked.

"Possibly, but Kiba's young. Imagine if we hadn't been trained the way we were. Do you think we would know to put the good of the mission before our own personal feelings and dislikes?" Shikamaru said, taking in the contemplating looks of his teammates.

"Probably not, and if what the file on the Haruno girl said was true she probably wouldn't work with Kiba if Sasuke didn't." Naruto added his two ryo in.

"I'm just glad we don't have to teach these genin as well. Can you imagine trying to get them all to work together?" The three kids shivered.

"Well, if what the rumors on Kakashi's laidback attitude and chronic lateness are true, then this team just spells failure." Hinata said with a resigned sigh.

"Okay, so we're all in agreement that this team only passed at the Council's insistence?" Naruto asked, and the other two nodded. "Good, moving on." He picked up the next file.

"Well, speak of the Devil, it's Inuzuka Kiba." Naruto grinned and handed the file over to Hinata.

"Inuzuka Kiba. Shinobi ID Number: 012610. Blood Type: B. Age: 12. Rank: Genin under Hatake Kakashi with teammates Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura. Ninken: Akamaru."

"Inuzuka Kiba, second child and first son of Inuzuka Shikon (MIA) and Tsume, graduated lowest in his graduating class due to test scores. Beyond those scores, Inuzuka-san is actually average in Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, but is below average in Genjutsu. He was praised in the academy for his ability to work with others and is close companions with his ninken Akamaru. He is very adaptable, but brash. Suggest strategic missions to level him out."

"Well, I've said it before and I'll say it again. Out off the genin on Team 7, Kiba appears to be the most stable and ready to be a Konoha Shinobi." Naruto said. "Sasuke's knows how to be a shinobi, but he doesn't have the mentality of a Konoha shinobi or even a loyal one to any village. Sakura…she's a fangirl, she's not ready for anything."

"Maybe we should introduce her to Anko-sensei. She'd wipe the fangirlism right out of her." Hinata suggested and the boys caught a slightly sadistic look in her eyes. The girl was normally very sweet, but she despised fangirls, especially in aspiring kunoichi.

Maybe they just need to get to know her. The two boys thought about their teammate.

"Should we read them all over again?" Hinata asked, gathering up the folders into team piles.

"No! Please, no!" Naruto moaned, and Shikamaru buried his head under his pillow. "Hinata-chan, it's three in morning! We have five hours left before we have to meet the teams, which means one hour to prepare and meet with Hokage-jiji, and at least a half hour to get ready and get our clothes. That's, at most, three and a half hours of sleep!"

"Oh, alright." She relented and let loose a sleepy smile. "We can stay here tonight, right?"

"Sure, I already got out the spare futons for Shikamaru and me. You can have mine since you're already on it and it would appear that Shika's asleep."

"Shikamaru's always asleep." She said.

"True, true, and we would hate to wake him up wouldn't we?" He joked and gave her a roguish grin.

"Oh, of course." Hinata laughed and laid the files onto the floor.

Without even bothering to change her clothes, she laid down and pulled the covers up, sleep beginning to claim her. "Goodnight, Naruto-kun." She murmured sleepily.

"Night, Hinata-chan." Was her answer, and soon she was fast asleep.

As Naruto got under his own covers, he took the moment to look at his sleeping teammates. Hinata lay curled under the covers, looking as innocent as she had when they first met. Shikamaru looked just as he had when he fell asleep after looking at the files. Naruto swore the boy could fall asleep standing up if he wanted to.

Smiling at the scene in front of him, Naruto curled up under his temporary covers and closed his eyes. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day.

Hey all, I hope you liked it. Please review, but DON'T FLAME. Constructive criticism is appreciated, but the key word is constructive. Since I'm so busy, I won't update unless I know people like the story, so I would appreciate getting ten or more reviews. You don't have to, but I do like knowing that people are enjoying my story.

I'm sorry if they seem to OOC, but keep in mind that they've been raised completely differently than in canon. I'm trying to at least keep them believable.

Thanx for reading!