Naruto was lying awake in his bed, staring up at the ceiling.

The clock on the nightstand next to the bed read 7:30 am. Yesterday, Kakashi-sensei said to meet back at the training ground at 9 am but Naruto was too excited to fall back asleep.

'I did it, dattebayo!' he thought excitedly. 'I'm finally going to become stronger! And if I keep going, I'll be Hokage in no time!'

No longer able to lay still on his bed, he jumped up and started pacing agitatedly, running a hand through his blonde locks.

'I hope Kakashi-sensei teaches us some cool jutsu!' he thought with a grin. 'Like...like a giant fireball!'

By the time 8:00 am rolled around, Naruto couldn't wait any longer. He rushed into his bathroom, emerging fifteen minutes later freshly showered, his teeth brushed, and his orange jumpsuit wore proudly on his body.

"It's still early," Naruto mused to himself as he walked into his kitchen. "I don't wanna go there right now and wait for Kakashi-sensei longer than I have to."

He opened his cabinets and was about to make himself some ramen when he paused.

'Why should I make the ramen when I could go to Ichiraku's!' he thought triumphantly. 'And then I could go to the training ground to meet Kakashi-sensei, Sasame, and that bastard Sasuke! Kill two birds with one stone!'

With that in mind, he raced out his apartment, making sure he locked his door and started heading towards his favorite ramen stand. It was still early out so there weren't many people out. However, for those who were out and about, they either ignored him or glared hatefully and coldly at him.

Naruto glared at his feet as he passed those people. 'Stupid temes,' he thought with a scowl. 'One day, I'll show them all. I'll show them I'm not the Kyuubi, that I'm someone worthy of their respect, dattebayo!'

He sighed in relief when he finally ducked behind the curtain of the ramen stand and grinned when he saw two of his precious people.

"Hiya Teuchi-jiji and Ayame-nee!" he said excitedly as he sat on a stool.

"Hi, Naruto-kun!" Ayame answered pleasantly.

"A bowl of pork ramen please!" he said.

Teuchi chuckled. "Yes of course," he answered knowingly.

"So what are you doing out so early Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked as they began bustling around getting the ramen ready.

"I have to meet my sensei and my teammates at training ground three this morning," he explained.

"Oh, that's right," Ayame said as she placed his bowl in front of him, along with some chopsticks. "What are their names?"

Naruto pulled the chopsticks apart and slurped some noodles into his mouth before he answered her. "Well, my teammates are Sasame and that bastard Sasuke."

"Language Naruto-kun," Ayame said warningly.

Naruto laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, nee-chan," he said contritely.

"And who's your sensei?" Teuchi asked.

"He said his name was Hatake Kakashi," Naruto said through a mouthful of noodles.

"Swallow before you speak," Ayame scolded. He blushed at her reprimand and swallowed dutifully. She smiled.

'He really is such a sweet boy,' she thought fondly. 'He just needs a guiding hand every once in a while.'

"Hmm," Teuchi said thoughtfully. "You said your sensei's name is Kakashi? Silver hair? Mask covering the bottom half of his face?"

"Yeah, do you know him?" Naruto asked curiously, finishing up his ramen.

He shook his head. "Not personally," he admitted. "But his team did a mission for me once." He chuckled. "I remember because he and another one of his teammates kept arguing the whole time."

Naruto laughed at that. "Really? That doesn't sound like him at all!" Still snickering, he glanced at their clock and, noticing the time, stood up from the stool. "I should be going," he said. "I don't wanna be late on my first day as a ninja after all! And thanks for the ramen Teuchi-jiji!"

He chuckled in amusement. "It was no trouble," he answered. "Now, don't be a stranger just because you're a full-time shinobi."

"Of course I won't!" he cried out indignantly. "I'll still be your number one customer even when I'm the Hokage, dattebayo!"

Teuchi laughed. "I'm holding you to that!"

"Good luck today Naruto-kun!" Ayame said with a smile.

"Thanks, nee-chan!"

With a wave and a grin aimed at both of them, he exited the ramen stand and quickly made his way towards the designated training ground.

~wWw~

Sasuke was sitting at a table in what used to be the family dining room in his clan home. The clock on the wall told him that it was currently 8:00 am, so he still had time before he had to meet Kakashi-sensei and his teammates.

His hand tightened around the cup of water he was holding.

'I'm getting closer to you,' he thought venomously. 'I will get closer and closer to you until I'm strong enough to kill you!'

He was thinking back to what Sasame had told him about their sensei. He graduated from the academy when he was five and made Jounin when he was ten; he even became an ANBU shinobi when he was thirteen.

'If he really is that good, he'll be an excellent person to measure my strength against,' he thought victoriously.

His mind wandered over to his two 'teammates'.

Sasuke can admit, only within the privacy of his own mind, that Sasame and Naruto aren't completely worthless.

Naruto, as idiotic as he is, seems to have a lot of chakra, indicated by that technique he used on Sasuke at the academy.

And Sasame, adding on to the fact that she never fangirled him, seems to actually be able to handle herself somewhat.

'I guess they won't hold me back as much as I thought they would,' Sasuke admitted grudgingly. 'But they better not get in my way. I have to achieve my ambition. I will make sure that Ita- that man, will die by my hand!'

Sasuke shook himself out of his thoughts and glanced over at the clock again. Recognizing it was almost time to meet everyone at the training ground, he drank the rest of his tomato juice and put the cup in the sink.

With a last glance around the room, he made his way toward his front door and left. He walked through the Uchiha District, in the direction of the gates that blocked out the rest of the village.

The Uchiha District used to be so full of life. There used to be people milling about on the corners or in front of their homes, there would be quiet chatter ringing throughout the community, distant shouts of training with weapons or their fire jutsu, and occasionally there would even be laughter too.

Sasuke chose to remain here after the massacre for one reason, and one reason only; to remind himself of his ambition every day. To remember what his brother did to his family and to his clan. To just...remember.

When he finally got to the gates, he exited the district without a backward glance.

~wWw~

Sasame was standing in her room in front of her full-length mirror, just staring at herself.

Her dark blue hair fell to her shoulders and her dark blue eyes, the same eyes as her mother and her grandparents from what she saw in pictures, stared back at her.

Her mother wasn't home; she had to leave early for an A-rank mission that she said will take ten days at the most.

(She wouldn't tell her the details

Sasame was lost in her thoughts.

Today was the official day that her career as a shinobi started and she was apprehensive. But not for the reasons you'd think.

'Tou-san,' she thought pensively to herself. 'I want to make you proud of me. I want to become a shinobi that you would be happy to call your daughter.'

"I wish you were here Tou-san," she whispered sadly to herself, her eyes tearing up slightly. "I wish you were here to see me now, and how far I've come along." She took a breath. "I swear to you Tou-san, I swear I will become a great shinobi. I swear that I will make you proud of me."

She looked back at herself in the mirror and wiped the few tears that managed to escape her eyes. She closed her eyes, breathed deeply through her nose to calm her emotions, before opening them again and having her thoughts and feelings under control.

She checked to make sure she had her weapons' pouch strapped to the back of her waist and her kunai holster secured on her right thigh.

She made sure that both tonfas were in their holsters at her sides and tied her hitai-ate around her neck. Making her way towards her door, she paused to glance at a photo on her wall.

It was of her and her parents taken a couple of days after she was born. Her mother was sitting upright in a hospital bed, looking extremely tired, but also exhilaratingly happy too. She was staring down at a pink bundle in her arms containing the baby version of Sasame.

A man was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, also staring down at the baby, a smile lighting up his face. He had an angular facial structure and the typical Konoha brown hair. That man was called Zanya Haru, and he was Sasame's father.

Sasame aimed a smile towards the picture. "I'll do you proud," she said softly.

She left her room and made her way towards the front door and exited the house with determination and excitement feeling her being.

"Today is the day."

~wWw~

Sasame approached the training ground and was surprised to see that Naruto and Sasuke were already there.

Naruto noticed her first. "Oh, hey Sasame!" he said loudly while waving his arm at her.

Sasuke looked over at her. "Hn."

Naruto scowled and glared at him. "Bastard! At least say 'hi' to her! Is 'Hn' all you can say?" he asked furiously.

Sasuke merely glanced at him, a small smirk forming on his mouth. "Hn."

Seeing as Naruto looked as if he was about to explode in a fit of rage and insults, Sasame intervened.

"When did you guys get here?" she asked as she stepped towards them.

"I only got here about five minutes ago," Sasuke answered her, before jabbing a thumb in Naruto's direction. "The idiot was here when I showed up."

"Bastard!" Naruto growled at him. "Don't throw a hissy fit just because I showed up before you, dattebayo!"

He turned to look at Sasame then, ignoring Sasuke's glare. "I got here early because I couldn't sit still in my apartment," he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head.

Sasame giggled at that. "Yeah, my nerves are a little jangled too," she said. "But, we're here now right?"

Naruto nodded eagerly. "Right! And now I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage!" he cheered loudly.

Sasame smiled brightly at him and Sasuke merely stared.

"I wonder how long we'll have to wait before Kakashi-sensei shows up," Sasame mused after a moment.

"Well, he better not be extra late this time!" Naruto announced with a frown. "We got training to do! If he's late again, I'll kick his ass dattebayo!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Idiot," he said, making Naruto scowl over at him. "He's a Jounin, you won't even touch him. Remember how that turned out?"

Naruto's cheeks burned at the mention of his defeat to Kakashi yesterday.

"Besides," he continued speaking, ignoring Naruto's reaction, "remember what Sasame-san told us about him? He became a Jounin when he was just ten."

Naruto scowled at him and turned away, crossing his arms while refusing to say anything.

Sasame rolled her eyes. 'Getting these two to have a decent conversation with each other seems impossible,' she thought with a sweatdrop.

"Well, I'm hoping he gets here soon, I want to learn how to use these," she said, gesturing to the tonfas strapped to her sides.

Naruto frowned at her. "You don't know how to use those?" he asked. "And what are they called anyway?"

"They're called tonfas, Naruto," Sasame explained. "And no, I don't know how to use them yet. My Kaa-san gave them to me as a present for graduating."

"Why are they black?" Sasuke asked. "Are they made of some other material?"

"Kaa-san said they're made of chakra metal," Sasame answered him.

"Hn," Sasuke said. 'Interesting,' he thought to himself.

Naruto sighed. "How many hours are we gonna have to wait for Kakashi-sensei," he complained. "I'm getting bored!"

There was a swirl of leaves and Kakashi was standing in front of them with a hand raised in greeting. "Yo," he said casually.

"HEY YOU'RE-" Naruto cut himself off while he stared at him in disbelief, finger still pointed at him. "-not late," he finished lamely.

His eyes closed in what they assumed was a smile. "Why no, no I'm not," he said cheerfully.

Sasame eyed him suspiciously. "How come you're not late?" she asked.

"Hn," Sasuke was also staring at him in suspicion.

"Hey," Kakashi pouted. "Just because I was late two times doesn't mean I'll always be late."

"Uh-huh," Sasame said, obviously not believing him.

"You guys have no faith," Kakashi complained playfully.

Unknown to his three students, Kakashi had a valid reason for showing up slightly on time.

~Flashback~

Kakashi was walking to the Hokage's office after his team passed his test.

His team.

Those words sounded almost foreign to him. After the Hokage forced him to get out of ANBU, he had tried to get him to pass a genin team. But everyone he had tested had utterly failed his test. In his opinion, if you couldn't work with your teammates or trust them, then they didn't deserve to call themselves shinobi.

He knew that lesson all too well. After all, the result of that failed lesson was stuck in his left eye socket.

He arrived at the door that led to the Hokage's office and entered without knocking.

He didn't have to knock; he was already an hour late to the meeting that was happening at that very second, involving possible Jounin-senseis.

"Hello Hokage-sama," Kakashi said cheerfully. "Sorry I'm late but my weapon's pouch had ripped and all of my ninja tools fell out. I had to stop and make sure I gathered them all."

"Kakashi," Sarutobi Hiruzen greeted him. Everyone else in the office either ignored or glared at his excuse.

"Now that Kakashi is here, we can start this meeting," Sarutobi announced.

After he said those words a man stepped forward. "Team one has utterly failed Hokage-sama," he said blandly. "They were not able to see the true purpose of the test at all. I suggest that they either going back to the academy or drop out of the shinobi program altogether."

The Hokage sighed. "That bad?" he asked.

The man merely nodded.

"Alright," he said. "Next person please."

As more people stepped forward and reported how their students did on the secondary test, Sarutobi's shoulders sagged slightly. So far, most of the students had failed and those that did pass didn't have any indicators that they would do well in a certain field.

Things only changed when the person who was going to be team six's sensei stepped forward. "Team six failed the extra test Hokage-sama," the woman said. "However, one of the students had the potential for something else."

"Oh?" Sarutobi leaned forward. "Do tell. What is their name?"

"Haruno Sakura Hokage-sama," she answered. "While she did fail the true test along with her teammates, she has excellent chakra control, one of the best I've seen. I recommend that she interns at the hospital to become a medic-nin if she doesn't wish to repeat a year at the Academy."

"I approve," Sarutobi said. "Talk to her about this tomorrow; Konoha could always use more medic-nin."

She bowed her head. "Yes, sir."

Sarutobi turned to face Kakashi. "What about you Kakashi?"

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi said in acknowledgment. "Team seven passed, sir."

All attention focused on Kakashi in shock. Since he had failed every team the Hokage has given him, no one expected him to pass a team this time. Even if it included it included the last Uchiha.

"You passed a team of genin?" some random Jounin asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "They actually figured out the true aim of my test," he said nonchalantly. "They passed with flying colors."

"Good work Kakashi," the Hokage praised. "Now, Kurenai, please tell us about team eight."

The woman, Yuhi Kurenai, bowed her head. "Hokage-sama," she said. "Team eight has passed. They performed admirably to my test."

The Hokage nodded. "Very good," he said. "And you Asuma?"

Asuma blew out a puff of smoke from his cigarette before answering. "The next Ino-Shika-Cho trio of Team ten passed," he said.

Sarutobi nodded. "Alright," he said as he stood up. "Those of you who didn't pass a team, your duties will resume as normal tomorrow. Aiko-san, please go visit young Sakura tomorrow and suggest the hospital idea to her. Those of you who passed a team, you are now senseis. Your duty is to teach your students the way of the shinobi."

"Yes Hokage-sama," all the new senseis intoned respectfully.

"You are all dismissed," he said to the room at large. "Kakashi, stay behind please."

If he was confused by Sarutobi's order, he didn't show it. He merely nodded and stood at attention as everyone else filed out of the office.

When the door shut behind the last person, Sarutobi looked down at files covering his desk and picked one up. It was Team seven's file.

"I need you to train this team seriously Kakashi," the Hokage said sternly.

Kakashi blinked. "That was my intention, sir," he replied in confusion.

"I know it was," he said. "But this particular genin cell is full of great potential. We must cultivate it as much as possible."

He opened their file. "Iruka has reported that Naruto-kun has great stamina, seeing as he is the only one who can outlast everyone except Uchiha Sasuke on anything physical. Coupled with the fact that he has a great deal of chakra, evident from how he took down the traitor Mizuki, he can make an excellent ninjutsu and taijutsu specialist."

"Uchiha Sasuke," he continued, "has graduated at the top of his class with top scores. He's obviously intelligent and, with his background as an Uchiha, he is able to use fire jutsu already. When he unlocks his Sharingan, he'll be able to use genjutsu as well. He has the potential to be either a taijutsu and genjutsu specialist or a taijutsu and kenjutsu specialist."

"And finally, we have Zanya Sasame," he added. "Graduated with top scores for the girls. She has high chakra reserves that are a bit unusual to see in kunoichi hopefuls this early, but not overly high. Has excellent stamina for a girl her age and, from my understanding, is now equipped with tonfas. She has the potential to be a taijutsu speacialist with maybe a little bit of ninjutsu added in."

The Hokage set the file down and gazed intently at Kakashi, his chin resting on his clasped hands. "This team has great potential," he said. "All three have the capacity to be something great for this village, and I am tasking you, Kakashi, to help unlock that potential."

Kakashi nodded. "Of course Hokage-sama," he said dutifully.

"You are dismissed," he said.

With a nod at his leader, Kakashi turned and made his way towards the door to leave but stopped at the sound of his voice.

"And Kakashi? Do train them as well as you can. I haven't seen this much potential since my students. And they grew up to become the Sannin."

~Flashback Ends~

Kakashi shook off the memory as he looked to his three Genin. "Okay, this is how things are going to go," he said seriously, gaining their attention. "We'll meet back here every day, same time as today. We'll do a warmup, time depending on how long you take. Then we'll do group training."

"Group training?" Naruto asked in confusion.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, things I could teach you all together, like teamwork exercises, chakra control, and techniques you are all capable of learning. Then we'll split off to do individual training."

"Why individual training?" Naruto interrupted again.

Sasuke scowled over at him. "Shut up idiot," he snapped. "If you let him finish speaking then he'll explain!"

Naruto's face turned sour as he glared over at Sasuke. "Shut it bastard!" he shouted at the raven-haired boy. "If I want to ask a question, I'll damn well ask a question, dattebayo!"

"Guys, please, enough with the arguing," Sasame said in exasperation.

Naruto is her friend and Sasuke isn't so bad when you spend more time with him, but when they get worked up like that, they annoy her to no end.

"Enough you two," Kakashi cut in. His students can't tell, but anyone who knew Kakashi could tell that he was fast becoming exasperated. "I said we'll do individual training because not everyone progresses at the same speed. You, Naruto, might need help with something the other two already know, or maybe your fighting style is different from theirs. Sasame will obviously need help with her tonfas too, something that you and Sasuke don't need."

Naruto nodded. "Oh, okay," he said with dawning realization.

"After the individual training we'll do a mission or two," Kakashi finished.

Naruto pumped his fist in the air in his excitement. "Alright!" he said loudly. "What are we waiting for? Let's get started, dattebayo!"

Kakashi closed his eyes in a smile, but for some reason, Sasame had a shiver go down her spine.

"Well then, let's get started."