Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Team 7

Naruto Uzumaki was doing something that would have surprised many who lived within the Village Hidden in the Leaves. He was being patient. Naruto sat in the bathroom of his rundown apartment patiently applying face-paint. Almost finished, he thought, looking around for his missing tube of red paint. Where did I put it?

Growing up on his own had truly shaped Naruto, which could easily be seen by the state of his apartment. Dirty laundry littered the floor, forming seemingly random piles of orange and blue in different sections of his living room. Naruto's lone bedroom was filled with posters and littered with scrolls and clothes. The trash can near the kitchen was filled to overflowing with empty cups of Instant Ramen, though the trash can was not the only place filled with evidence of Naruto's culinary obsession. The only section of the kitchen table not littered with Styrofoam cups was a small section where Naruto's goggles lay. As the blonde painted kid ran through his apartment, losing his aforementioned patience in search of red paint, his eyes settled on his prized eye-pieces. The fact that the goggles lay on the table reminded Naruto why he was getting painted up in the first place. Where the goggles used to rest on his head now rested a steel Leaf headband: the one true sign he was a ninja. Naruto was going to get his Ninja Registration picture taken in less than fifteen minutes. It was this picture that enemy ninjas would see and would associate with his name. It must strike fear in his enemies, so that even in fear he would be acknowledged. If he wasn't feared, at least he would be remembered for his picture.

Fear. Now that was a feeling he truly knew and the true reason that his apartment was in the shape that it was in. He was feared in the village for something that he not only had no control over but never would have asked for in his wildest dreams: Naruto was the container of the Nine-Tailed Fox Demon, Kyūbi. Last night, he had paid the price of learning that fact as part of what it took to earn his headband. Iruka had acknowledged his existence that night, in spite of Naruto's relationship to the Demon Fox, and Naruto would trade ten headbands for that alone. Naruto couldn't help grinning to himself as he returned to the bathroom to find the red tube of paint behind the toilet. On both knees, one hand stretching for the paint, another grasping the toilet handle for support, Naruto stretched his arm to take hold of his prize only to hear a loud crack as his fingers closed on the object. With one hand holding the tube and the other clutching the broken toilet handle, Naruto cursed under his breath, tossing the plastic piece over his shoulder. It was the villagers' fear and hatred of him that made his life truly miserable. Shopkeepers would refuse him entry or simply over charge him. Thus, what he ate, slept in, sat on, and wore was all more or less determined by the mood of the villagers. Yet for reasons that were beyond his adolescent mind, he refused to hate the villagers. Maybe he knew deep down that if he hated them, it would only justify their fear. If he hated as they did then he could never truly be loved and accepted. For whatever reason, his indomitable spirit remained, well, indomitable. Finishing up the last of his face-paint, Naruto stepped back to survey his handiwork in the cracked mirror.

Each fingertip contained a red swirl of paint, while the largest swirl was reserved for his palm. His normally pure orange jumpsuit was now adorned with a black stripe running down either side from his shoulders to his waist. In spite of his masculinity, he had amply applied paint around his eyes, including on his lids with a curling spike at the corner of his eyes for flair. He had done similar treatment to his lips, only a curl sprouted from the center of his lower lips running down to his chin, forking, and finally running up to his cheek where it ended in a red spiral which covered over his trademark whisker marks. Red lines ran up from either side of his nose until they forked on his forehead. Naruto's normally unruly blonde hair had been spiked in as many directions as possible. Needless to say, Naruto Uzumaki was ready.

Racing as fast as he could toward the Ninja Academy, Naruto ignored the many hateful glares as they turned to confusion as his unusual appearance. In spite of his best efforts, Naruto was still five minutes late for his appointment, earning him a double glare, both for his tardiness and attire. Quickly filling out the requisite forms, Naruto posed for the camera with his fiercest glare, hand outstretched. I will be Hokage! Believe It! Soaring through his mind as the flash went off.

Sadly, the Hokage didn't quite see the artistry behind Naruto's garb. The next thing Naruto knew, he was sitting in the Hokage's office being lectured on the seriousness of the Ninja Registration.

"…This Ninja Registration book lists all those in the village with high ability" The Hokage continued, "This should be an important document to you, yet…What's with this face?"

"I don't understand stuff like that!" Naruto retorted, suddenly becoming rigid as he heard a door to the Hokage's left creak. Someone's going to attack the Old man! I'll save his frail, old behind from this attack! Believe it!

The door opened to reveal a young kid in an oddly shaped skull cap and long blue scarf, holding a shuriken.

"Old man! Fight me!" the kid screaming charging the Hokage as Naruto looked on confusedly, hearing a distance cry of 'Not again!' coming from the hallway the boy had entered from.

Thump.

"You tripped me!" the boy exclaimed, rubbing the spot where he had fallen on his face as he approached Naruto.

"Did not!" the orange-clad shinobi retorted, "you tripped all by yourself!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

At that moment, a tall man dressed in dark blue shinobi attire with a leaf headband secured around his head burst into the room, pushing up his dark, round spectacles.

"Unhand him!" the man screamed, glaring at Naruto, who had picked up the boy by the front of his scarf.

Those eyes, Naruto mused darkly, those ugly, despicable, hate-filled eyes. I've seen them before.

"Why?" Naruto screamed back, begging for a confrontation. He was a shinobi of the Leaf now, and he deserved some respect.

"He is the honorable grandson of the Hokage! Let go of him!"

The boy smirked up at Naruto as if knowing Naruto couldn't hit him now that he knew his identity. As the grandson of the Hokage, this boy was untouchable. It grated on Naruto. I hate pompous little brats!

"I don't care if he's the Hokage's grandma! He's still a little twerp!" Naruto yelled as he punched the boy straight in the face, leaving him to fall to floor. The blonde turned and stalked out of the room, but not before calling over his shoulder:

"Fine, I'll retake the picture."

After visiting the photographer, Naruto began to walk through the streets of Konoha on his way back to his apartment. Yet in spite of being done for the day, he was not pleased. Naruto was experiencing for the first time in his life the joys of being stalked. He hated it. Every time he turned the corner or would look out of the corner of his eye, he managed to catch a glimpse of either a square rock with eye-holes or a lumpy section of a fence. Eventually, he could not take it anymore.

"Come on out! Your disguise is pathetic!"

The boy that he had met earlier at the Hokage's office smiled as he came out from behind a striped blanket that had served as some poor camouflage.

"You are good," the boy said calmly, "I'll let you be my boss if you teach me the jutsu you used to defeat Grandpa."

Naruto thought back to the day he had stolen the secret scroll and earned his headband. Ah yes, the Sexy Jutsu. It works great on most of the guys in this village, especially the old ones. It's gotten me out of a few jams before. It is my only original jutsu and it would be letting on for people to know how to do my jutsus, but…it could be fun. Naruto smiled, looking down at the short kid in front of him.

"Deal."

After much practice and a painful bit of research, Naruto had managed to teach the kid the jutsu and even blasted the kid's blue, stuck up tutor by combining the Sexy Jutsu with the jutsu he had learned from the forbidden scroll, the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Overall, the day had been quite a success, but as he walked home to his shabby apartment, Naruto couldn't help but think back to their conversation during the day.

"No one ever calls me by my name, which is Konohamaru," the boy said, "It's always 'honorable grandson'. It's as if I don't really exist apart from who my grandfather is"

He's just like me, Naruto thought, I was always referred to as the 'demon brat' but I never knew what it meant. Konohamaru is always associated with one Hokage, whereas I am always associated with what another one did to me.

"Becoming Hokage isn't going to be easy," Naruto said, "There are no shortcuts."

Coming out of his revelry, Naruto found himself at his front door. Looking down, he gazed at the piece of blue cloth in his hand that his subordinate, no, his friend, had cut from his scarf.

"There are no shortcuts," Naruto stated softly, "People may doubt me all they want, but I will not give up. I will not back down. That is a promise and I don't break my promises, that is my way of the ninja!"

With that, Naruto ran into his apartment, fabric clutched tightly in his hand.

Waking early, Naruto had a quick breakfast, fastened on his forehead protector and quickly ran off to the Academy. Today was the day he would be assigned his team. Along with his sensei, this would be the team he would be doing missions with for years.

They better be good, he thought, As long as it isn't Sasuke, the pompous prick.

Entering the room, Naruto couldn't help but grin as he looked at the shocked faces of his classmates. Sasuke glared at him from the second row, his face remaining in his usual scowl. A timid girl with the large white coat in the back row, Hinata's her name, that's it, almost looked pleased, while Kiba came strolling up with his small dog jutting out of the front of his parka, giving Naruto a cocky grin.

"What are you doing here, Naruto?" Kiba stated as his dog Akamaru barked, "Only people who passed get assigned to teams."

"Don't you see this nice, shiny forehead protector, dog-breath?" Naruto quipped, "That means I passed just as much as you did."

"How did you pass, Naruto? I heard you couldn't create a clone in the exam," the pineapple-haired Shikamaru asked from the back row as Naruto sat down next to Sasuke to spite him. Next to Shikamaru, the full-bodied Chouji leaned in expectantly.

Since someone was finally prepared to listen to what Naruto was saying, he prepared to launch into the grand tale of his defeat of Mizuki and rescue of Iruka. That was before he noticed the pink-haired Sakura standing next to him. S-She wants to sit next to me? He thought desperately, eyes glazing over.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, obviously annoyed and pointing behind her, "Move so I can sit next to Sasuke."

Sasuke Sasuke Sasuke! It's always about Sasuke! Naruto mused darkly. The dark-haired boy was the most popular and skilled kid in their class. Almost all of the girls had a crush on him. Yet, Sasuke Uchiha remained utterly stoic. It galled Naruto. What I wouldn't give for even a third of that attention and acknowledgement, and all he does is sit there, acting cool. More than slightly miffed, he stood up abruptly, knocking his chair over.

"Fine," he stated blandly, "I didn't want to sit next to the jerk anyway. Pretty boy probably really wants to tell you all about how it took him three hours this morning to get his hair right."

"At least I shower," Sasuke said stoically, turning to face Naruto, "idiot."

"What did you say?!" Naruto bellowed coming to stand right by where Sasuke was sitting.

"Are you hard of hearing?" was the emotionless response.

"I am going to KICK YOUR…" Naruto began.

"Sit down, Naruto" Iruka interjected, having just ambled into the room, still recovering from the battle with Mizuki. As he and Naruto locked eyes, the blonde could sense the warmth in them, but complied nonetheless.

"Yes, sensei," Naruto said calmly, walking as far away in the room from Sasuke as possible, but not without one last glare in the Uchiha's direction.

Moving to the back right of the room, Naruto sat down between Hinata Hyūga and dark-haired boy with glasses whom he had never spoken to. Naruto turned to Hinata, who smiled back sheepishly before hunching her shoulders and attempting to hide in her beige coat, her cheeks flushing. A coat? It's May, Naruto pondered, yet her cheeks are flushing. In spite of the time of year, Hinata wore a zip-up hoodie with a fur fringe at the bottom, with a flame symbol inside of a yellow circle on each shoulder. Her forehead protector lay loosely tied around her neck. Her dark blue hair was short yet managed to frame her face, giving one full visibility of her lavender colored eyes. It was those Hyūga eyes that struck fear in many, yet left Naruto merely confused. Where are the pupils? What do those eyes do, anyway? Casually sneaking a glance under the table, Naruto noticed that Hinata was wearing the conventional blue shinobi pants and sandals with the kunai and shuriken holsters attached. Still a lot of clothing for the weather, she's acting like she's cold, but her face looks like she's warm.

"Hinata," Naruto asked softly, "Are you sick?"

The girl popped up out of her coat, her cheeks reddening further, "N-No, Naruto-kun, I'm f-fine."

"Are you sure?" Naruto asked, placing the back of his hand to Hinata's forehead, causing the girl to pull back quickly. Is she afraid of me?

"Stop before you give her a heart attack," the boy on his right said in a strict monotone. Naruto turned to see a pale boy with dark spectacles and a grey, high collared coat looking in his direction. With his hands in his pockets, the boy merely waited for the blonde to respond.

"She's that sick?!"

"No," the boy said, though his mouth was obscured by his high collar, "your presence is merely making her uncomfortable."

I make her uncomfortable? If she hates me like everyone else, why doesn't she look at me with those cold eyes? Naruto glanced briefly in Hinata's direction as he turned to listen to Iruka discuss how they would be divided into three person cells with a jonin sensei over each. I won't give up though, even if she hates me.

"We tried to balance each team's strengths," Iruka finished as he began to read off the team assignments. Naruto couldn't resist bouncing up and down in his seat as his nerves got the best of him. It earned him an agitated 'tch' from the seat to his right.

"Next, Team 7 is Naruto Uzumaki, Hinata Hyūga, and Shino Aburame"

Naruto sat stunned, cursing his luck. Not only was he not on a team with Sakura, but was paired with a girl that hated him and a kid he had never met. What else could go wrong? At least he hoped he didn't have a lazy idiot for a sensei.

"Team 8 is Sasuke Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Kiba Inuzaka"

Naruto heard some buzzing as something landed on his neck. Quickly slapping the back of his neck, he felt a satisfied crunch as he pulled his hand in front of him to see the crushed beetle in his hand. Score one for Naruto! He inwardly cheered, only to be interrupted by an angry grunt from his right. He turned to see the ninja in dark glasses glaring at him.

"What?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"You killed one of my bugs," the boy responded his voice still emotionless.

"Since when are they yours?" Naruto asked rhetorically.

"I am an Aburame," the boy continued, "The bug you murdered was one of mine."

Murdered? Naruto thought, this kid must be nuts, it's just a bug. Wait, Aburame…Aburame…I know I've heard that name before. Wait! I have a teammate named Shino Aburame, maybe they are rela…oh crap. Naruto turned to Shino, hoping his smile would help patch the relationship that the blonde had already dampened.

"Team 10 is Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka"

"The gods must hate me," Shikamaru whispered to himself a few feet away. Naruto chuckled to himself as he heard the doomed man's desperate cry.

Suddenly, Kiba was standing up bellowing his finger pointing emphatically at a raven-haired boy a few feet away, "Iruka! What are great ninjas like me and Akamaru doing teamed up with a jerk like Sasuke?"

"Shove it, dog breath, stay out of my way," was the Uchiha's reply.

"Kiba," Iruka began, ignoring Sasuke's comment, "As I said before, the teams are meant to be balanced. Sasuke had the best scores out of anyone in the class. You, on the other hand, had far from the best scores," Iruka paused as his statement earned a few chuckles from the genin, "We paired you together to help balance out the teams. On that note, we will dismiss for lunch and you will be introduced to your jonin senseis this afternoon. Dismissed."

The best and the worst? Naruto mused, I know I did worse that Kiba in the test; in fact, I actually failed the academy, but got in because of the incident with Mizuki. If they are the best and worst, then…

"What are we then?" Naruto said, never noticing he had voiced his last thought aloud as two pairs of eyes turned to him.

Author's Note: I appreciate any comments or pointers that you could give me, no flames please.