Second verse, same as the first; Naruto is not mine. Seriously. If it were, I wouldn't be writing fanfiction, now would I?

Exactly.

You know what is mine? Roku, Malvika, Choni, Shikago, Nhamo, and Kenji, they is my brain babies.

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The morning was yet new; cold and crisp, every present in the thin air that filled the streets of Konoha, as well as the many training areas surrounding the Leaf Village. The scent of grass wafted through the air, the damp of dew soaking through the clothing of the teammates who sat side by side on their training area. Eyes were half-lidded; once again they were falling asleep. Why was their sensei always late?

"What time is it?" Roku asked; barely any emotion in his voice at all. He had to have asked six times by now; about every three minutes since they had arrived. Which meant, if you did that math, that it was just about…

"Six nineteen." Close enough, "And counting. I wonder if he's even going to come." Nhamo sighed, lying back in the grass, almost glad that she didn't have to worry about training yet. The harsh blades pricked at her, and she breathed deeply, relishing in the tangy scent all around her. The lipstick man (though without the lipstick) had appeared at her breakfast table that morning.

She'd glared daggers, pitchforks, kunai, shuriken, senbon, and every other kind of artillery, at him until he'd muttered something awkward and retreated to the bathroom.

Was she being unfair? Probably.

But did she care?

Not really.

"You're awful quiet."

Kenji made this comment both and observation and accusation as he glanced sidelong at Nhamo, who closed her eyes and shrugged. Kenji frowned lightly, now chancing a glance at Roku, who was quite near to falling asleep.

He couldn't help but wonder whether or not the other boy had developed his Sharingan yet. Somehow, he got the feeling that he had, though he had yet to see it first hand. Something about the way the Uchiha carried himself led the Hyuuga to believe his assumption was correct.

The next question would, of course, be how far along his Sharingan was.

"You can't be my students. My students don't sleep on the job."

Nhamo sat up as though jolted through with a bolt of lightning, eyes widening as she stared at what she could only assume was her sensei. Roku raised his head, eyebrows following suit at the site of their teacher. He then grinned smugly, glancing at Nhamo.

"I told you they might not be a man."

Not far away, but seemingly an entire universe apart, three students met in what they assumed was the safety of a large tree, each panting, heads drawn together, voices hushed.

"It didn't work! What the hell, how long can we keep this up?"

"We've only been at it for an hour Mal." Choni replied soothingly, taking the girl's arm gently and turning it slightly. A rip had occurred in her thick orange jacket; through the rip he could see mutilated and burnt skin, "You want me to fix that up?"

Mal nodded, her attention now drawn to Shikago, who was staring with brutal intensity at the sky. She shrugged off her jacket, laying it across the thick branch on which they perched, allowing Choni to carefully wrap a bandage around her forearm. Her black tank-top was soaked with sweat, her face smudged with dirt.

"Well…" Shikago was trying to come up with a plan, a new plan. They had already used, abused, and failed with a couple of half-baked schemes. What they needed was an entire strategy. But could he come up with one?

"We don't need to take out Genma-sensei." He repeated something he had said just before their last plan, "Just get the bells. Mal, you alright for some more Taijutsu?"

The blonde nodded, raking her fingers through her short blonde locks. Holding the hair back form her eyes was her headband; she'd removed it from her pocket and tied it about her head when they had begun. She'd been fighting with her body since the beginning.

She could keep at it.

"Good, Choni; you sure you don't have the Mind Transfer ready?"

The brown-haired body shook his head sadly, securing Mal's bandage and rubbing the back of his head, "I haven't got it right yet. I tried…but I got lost and almost couldn't make it back to my body."

"That's fine, just help Mal out. I'll stay here and wait for my opening."

The other two nodded, and almost instantly sprang from hiding. Their sensei stood idly, a new senbon (to replace the one he had spit at Choni) was clutched between his teeth. The rustling of feet sounded behind him, and Genma grinned, turning to catch a small foot as it aimed itself at his face.

"Nice try." He complimented at Malvika twisted herself, aiming a fist at his stomach. He used his leverage to turn her foot in the opposite direction, sending her through the air, skidding to a halt in the grass not far off. Almost as soon as he'd released the girl, Choni's large fist went for his stomach.

At least they were working together.

And then Malvika was on him again. With some effort the Jounin resisted attacks, a few punches hitting hard at his sides, and one kick catching the underside of his jaw. Though he's send no weapon drawn; a large scratch trailed from his elbow to his wrist. Currently he was holding off Choni, who had chosen an aerial attack. Both his arms raised in the air, one holding onto the boy's hand, the other onto his foot. His own feet were planted.

This was Shikago's chance.

In a lightning quick movement he had drawn and thrown dual shuriken, watching as the sliced through the air, slicing at their sensei's side. Though, as the shuriken fell to the ground a few paces off, there was no blood in sight.

And Genma hadn't even noticed.

Mal burst forward from her hiding place in the bushes, diving parallel to the ground, catching something as it fell, somersaulting through the grass to land triumphantly a few feet away; sitting on her rump.

The tinkling of bells was heard as Genma threw Choni, who turned and landed, catlike, crouched against the ground. Shikago dropped form his perched in the tree, face serious for a moment before relaxing into a grin as Genma checked his hip, eyes widening as he turned to stare at Malvika as she stood, clinking the bells together and grinning goofily.

"We win!" She exclaimed loudly, punching her fist into the air. Choni straightened, a soft grin curving his mouth slightly at the sight of the ecstatic girl as she bounced on the balls of her feet, giggling madly, exclaiming over and over, 'We won! We won!'

"You got the bells." Genma corrected, nodding in concession of his defeat, and folding his arms over his chest, "Though it looks as though you, Mal, have two bells. Are you going to eat two lunches? If not, which of your teammates will you give the other one to?"

Both Shikago and Choni glanced at each other worriedly as Malvika stared at the bells she cupped in her palm, glee having fled from her face, replaced with apprehension and worry.

How could she possibly choose?

Back at training field two, team eight was busy meeting their new sensei.

"Introduce yourselves." The woman, whose presence was both commanding and frightening, instructed, pointing towards them, her dark gray eyes narrowed dangerously. A breeze rushed through the field, ruffling the tan trench coat of the woman, gray-streaked bangs fluttering across her forehead.

"Roku." The boy stated simply, pointing to himself, and then to Nhamo, "That's Nhamo, and he's," His thumb was now directed at Kenji, who was watching Anko carefully, almost doubtfully, "Kenji."

"Right." Anko nodded, actually thankful that they hadn't tried to provide any extra, useless information, "So, you three have probably learn about this," She held up twin silver bells, clinking them together and raising her eyebrows, "It seems everyone nowadays knows about the bell test."

She paused just long enough for each Genin to nod slowly. Roku had heard all about the bells from each of his fathers; especially Naruto.

"Well, I'm not going to make you do it." Anko declared, throwing the bells to the ground and folding her arms over her mesh-covered chest, eyes daring one of them to say something, one eyebrows quirked, "You already graduated from the Academy, I'm not going to coddle you along by letting you waste an entire day of training trying to get a stupid set of bells from me when I know that you couldn't have a chance."

Roku opened his mouth, as though intending to contradict this, his dark eyes flashing with confidence. He could get the bells; he was sure of it. Especially if he worked together with Kenji. But, alas, before he could say even a word, Nhamo elbowed him harshly in the ribs. Anko continued speaking.

"I'm old. Just to save you the time figuring that out. I was a Jounin when your parents were Genin." Her intense gaze flickered from face, to face, to face. "This is my last time working with Genin. So I hope none of you are weak. Your training will begin soon. First, you," She pointed to Roku, "What's your strongest technique?"

"The Sharingan." He replied proudly without hesitation, puffing his chest out and grinning. Anko raised an eyebrow but said nothing, turning her finger onto Kenji.

"64 palms, Ma'am." He replied, respectfully ducking his head.

"And you?" Anko's scrutinizing gaze turned onto Nhamo, who shrugged, shifting uncomfortably, picking at her sleeves and staring at the ground.

"I…don't really have any specific moves or anything." She finally mumbled, wringing her hands together. She'd noticed this awhile back; everyone seemed to have inherited something special from their parents; the Sharingan, the Byugakan, and even non-clan related techniques. Choni's Mind Transfer Jutsu…everyone's parents seemed to have taught them something. Except hers.

Anko's gaze softened briefly, and she nodded, lips pursed, "I see."

There was a brief, uncomfortable silence, and then…

"What are you maggots doing just sitting there?!" She yelled, teeth clenched, "Get to work! I want to see push-ups; lots of them, until I say you can stop."

And so, their first day of training under Anko-sensei began.

"You guys SUCK!"

Malvika was yelling, screaming her lungs out, and basically throwing a temper tantrum. Her face was flushed, her dark eyes narrowed in disgust.

"I FUCKING GAVE YOU THE BELLS AND YOU STILL TIE ME UP?!"

All three males chuckled from their seats on the ground, situated in a triangle of sorts. All trying their very best to ignore the enraged blonde. Which was becoming increasingly difficult for Choni; Mal had just discovered that with the ropes tied around her entire torso, she could lift her legs and reach just far enough to kick him in the back of the head.

"Bastards."

Genma smiled, chewing slowly and glancing upwards through his limp bangs at the kunoichi, "You knew the rules Mal. But, I have to admit, you made a stellar choice. You're a bit of a coward, aren't you? Not wanting to have either boy mad at you, and thus, giving each a bell? Very heroic."

She flushed slightly, shaking her head from side to side, "I'm not a coward!" She insisted, pleading almost. Had Genma unknowingly struck a nerve? "I just…Choni helped me out a lot, and the whole thing was Shikago's idea…they deserved it more!"

Genma nodded, "But you worked the hardest."

This drew nothing but silence from the two boys, each staring at their hands. Shikago swallowed slowly, shifting his grip on a pair of chopsticks which had come in the metal tin Genma-sensei had handed him. Mal had worked hard; really hard. All he'd done was wait until a good opportunity…even Choni had patched Mal up when she'd obviously needed some medical attention.

"This is so troublesome." He muttered, wondering if he'd regret his next action as he stood, taking a single sushi roll in the chopsticks, staring at it briefly before closing his eyes and offering it to Mal, holding it half an inch from the girl's mouth.

Choni blinked in surprise. He'd never known Shikago to be very giving, or compassionate for that matter. His initial surprise was soon replaced by a smile, happy that his teammates were getting on so well.

They really did make the perfect team.

"Oh, thanks." Mal flushed slightly, taking the food and chewing it quickly. Well…tradition was carried on. Something similar (not quite the same, but similar) had happened to her Daddy.

Funny how history repeats itself.

"I…didn't mean that…what I said…about you being a bastard." She mumbled, glancing to the side, bangs falling to hide her eyes and cheeks. A fact for which she was grateful, as embarrassed as she was.

And so ended their first day of training with Genma-sensei.