Chapter 2: Team Seven.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

AN: Someone should totally leave me a review. I haven't gotten one for this story yet, which makes me very sad. Well, I do have one, though I wouldn't really count it. It's just three different emoticons. What does that mean? If you're going to leave a review, at least use words.

UPDATED 5/31: I changed a couple of things. Nothing incredibly big. Apparently I had made it seem like Sakura hated Naruto, which wasn't my intention. I also changed a scene in the cave because a reviewer brought it to my attention that his reaction was OOC for what I had established, and I agreed. Also, I'm looking for a Beta. If anyone is interested, send me a message and not through a review.

Three days had passed in the blink of an eye. This new day brought what could be considered one of the most important moments in a shinobi's career: team assignments.

Naruto just sat in the corner, as he always did. He wanted this whole process to hurry up so they could start training. 'I wonder who I'm going to get,' he thought to himself. The latest team assigned was no surprise. The classic Ino-Shika-Cho combination.

"Why am I stuck with these two losers?!" Ino groaned. She wanted to be with Sasuke-kun, not a lazy bum and his overweight sidekick. She looked over to Sasuke and sighed. She could see Sakura looking at her, trying not to laugh.

The Ino-Shika-Cho team left with sensei, leaving behind only the six remaining genin.

"Team 8 will be Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, and Kiba Inuzuka. Your jounin sensei will be Kurenai Yuuhi," announced Iruka. Hinata had a sad look her face, which she quickly changed. She glanced over to Naruto, who was two seats away from her, and then back to her new sensei.

"Let's get on our way," commanded Kurenai as she walked out the door. Her three new students quickly followed her.

"Wait a second. Does that mean I'm on a team with Sasuke-kun?!" Sakura speculated.

Iruka sighed, "Yes, Sakura. Team 7 is Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki." Sakura almost couldn't keep her excitement to herself.

"Isn't this great Sasuke-kun! We're on the same team," she beamed. He only replied with a quiet grunt, trying to ignore her as much as possible.

"Where's our sensei?" inquired Naruto.

Iruka responded, "He's running a little late, so you'll wait here for him. I have some paperwork I need to finish, so I will see you later. Good luck with your new sensei." Then Iruka left the room.

'I'm so happy! I got Sasuke-kun. I don't even care that I'm stuck with the dead last," Sakura thought to herself.

The three of them waited in the classroom for their jounin sensei. Sakura was constantly trying to start a conversation with Sasuke, but he never responded. Sasuke and Naruto just sat in silence. Though, Naruto was a bit more on edge. His eyes never left the door.

It wasn't until three hours later that their sensei finally showed up.

Kakashi walked in through the door way with his book in his face. He looked up and remarked, "Oh good, you're still here. Let's get started. Meet me on the roof." He then walked out the door

"That… jerk!" Sakura shouted, barely holding back her rage. "He makes us wait here for three hours, and doesn't even bother to apologize? Who does that?!" Naruto nodded in agreement, but refrained from telling her that their new sensei wasn't that far away and probably heard that.

The three genin went up to the roof to find Kakashi leaning on the ledging. "Come, take a seat. We'll start with introductions. Name, likes, dislikes, dream, and hobbies."

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" proposed Sakura in a polite, yet somewhat forced, tone. She wasn't too happy with him.

"Alright then. My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no intentions of telling you my likes or dislikes. My dream… ," he paused, "I have a few hobbies."

They all wanted to smack their heads. The only thing he said was his name. "Your turn," he ended, pointing at Sakura.

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like…" she paused and glanced over at Sasuke. Her face reddened. "I dislike... weird things." This time she looked at Naruto. "My dream is…," she looked at Sasuke again. "My hobbies are studying, learning new things, and..." She looked at Sasuke once agian.

It took all of Naruto's effort not to groan. He was going to be stuck on a team with her? He knew that she didn't like him, but no one had ever been that direct about it. They usually just ignored him and avoid him. Though it wasn't like she would be able to avoid him in the future.

"Mr. Angsty Pants, you're up," announced Kakashi. Sasuke was getting annoyed by Sakura's constant attention. He shot her a glare, which she didn't see.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone," announced Sasuke. Sakura was practically falling all over him now, while Kakashi had to keep himself from laughing. 'So much angst,' thought Kakashi.

"Last but not least," said Kakashi as he pointed at Naruto.

Naruto began to speak, in a quiet voice, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like books and ramen," he paused, "I dislike sleeping and pain. My dream is… something that doesn't need to be shared. My hobbies are training, reading, and… watching people?" Naruto ended in an unsure tone. Does that count as a hobby? He wasn't sure.

"Well that's…interesting?" said Kakashi. He didn't have much of a response to that. Watching people? It wasn't at all surprising, but he didn't expect Naruto to readily admit it. He was always watching people. The moment you came into his eyesight, his eyes would never leave you.

"So first thing is first," announced Kakashi, "We're going to have a little test. Fail it, you go back to the academy until the next graduation. Pass it, we're a team."

"What?!" shrieked Sakura, "What do you mean go back to the academy?!" Sakura's blood was boiling. Sasuke was furious as well, though he managed to hide it better. The only sign of his anger was the death glare he was giving Kakashi.

Naruto just stood there. Staring at him. Kakashi felt a small chill run up his spine. There was no killing intent, just his normal stare. 'I… don't know if I can deal with that all the time,' thought Kakashi.

"That's right. Tomorrow at seven in the morning, be at Training Ground 9. Also, don't eat breakfast. You'll only throw it up," explained Kakashi, "See ya." He disappeared in a whirl of leaves.

Sakura just stared at the spot where Kakashi once was. Her eye was twitching, her fists were clenched, and she was grinding her teeth.

"I think he was lying. I'm not sure about what, but I'm pretty sure he was lying," admitted Naruto as he moved to leave. He jumped off the roof to the ground below. He kept his eyes on them until he dropped below their sight.

"Can you believe that freak, Sasuke?!" raged Sakura, "Why would our sensei lie to us about something like that? He's a moron."

"Unh." he replied, and then took his leave.

It wasn't long before Naruto had reached home. That was th great part about living in the Hokage Monument. It was practically right beside the academy. That was of the reasons that he chose it the last time he moved, which wasn't that long ago.

Naruto made it a habit to move at least every month. He hated staying in one place for too long. He did his best to avoid living in the same place for over a week. Whether it be an abandoned building, a clearing in a forest, or in a blocked off alleyway, he did whatever he could to find new lodgings on a regular basis.

He didn't mind moving around so much. Staying in the same place made him an easier target. If there was anything Naruto didn't want to be, it was an easy target.

Today was the day of his latest move. He had already been in the emergency tunnels for five weeks now, so he was long overdue for a movie. He gathered up his clothes, food and equipment. It didn't even take five minutes. He only had a couple sets of clothes, his food rations were running low, and he carried most of his equipment with him anyways. Everything that he owned fit in his backpack.

Naruto took one good look around the place he had called home for the past few weeks. 'Maybe I'll come back here in a couple of months,' he thought. He wasn't against reusing his 'homes'. There were only so many spots that he could find within the village.

It was nearly dinner time, and his stomach began to growl. 'I didn't eat lunch because of that lazy sensei.' Since he was nearly out of food anyways, he decided to treat himself to some Ichiraku ramen. He took the back roads an alleyways until he made it to the stand.

It was Ayame who saw Naruto approaching the stand. "Hey, Naruto-kun. What can I get you?" asked the girl. The first thing that she noticed about him was his backpack. "Moving day again, Naruto-kun?"

"Hai," was his only response to that. "I'll have a miso ramen to go, Ayame-san." He only made eye contact for a few seconds before he started to look over his shoulders. As he looked around, sunlight glinted off of his headband.

"Oh, congratulations, Naruto-kun!" exclaimed Ayame when she saw his new headgear.

"Thanks," was his only reply. "I'm going to take a walk around the block."

Ayame sighed, "Alright, Naruto-kun. I'll get you ramen ready as soon as possible, but dad won't be back for a couple of minutes."

"It's no problem. Take your time," proclaimed Naruto as he started his walk. Naruto went around the area three times before his ramen was ready. With each pass, he had taken a different route.

"Here you go, Naruto-kun. I made you an extra bowl as a congratulation for graduating the academy," announced Teuchi.

Naruto thanked the two of them and left the stand with his ramen in hand. He walked over to the forested area at the edge of the village. He walked through the forests and eventually found what he was looking for: a small waterfall.

The waterfall emerged from the center of the cliff, which was part of the same mountain as the Hokage Monument. However, he wasn't interested in where the water was coming from. He had two pieces of business at this place. The water and what was behind it.

He came to this place several times a week to wash his clothes at the base of the waterfall, but it wasn't until a few days ago that he discovered a secret about the waterfall.

Naruto had been washing his clothes like normal, when he heard voices. He had not been used to people being around when he washed his clothes. In a moment of panic, he hid as best as he could, which meant going into the water. In the water, he realized he wouldn't be able to hold his breath forever, so he worked his way behind the waterfall. Naruto had hoped that he would be able to find a hiding spot behind the waterfall, but what he found was far more interesting.

What he found behind the waterfall was a small cave. At first, he thought it would be a nice hideout, but he wasn't so sure once he realized that almost everything was covered in the mist spray from the waterfall. However, the cave was larger than he had expected. The farther back he went, the drier it got, which meant it was a decent spot for making a hideout. However, he didn't have anything to light his way, so he decided to come back later.

Today was the first time he had returned to the cave. The sun was beginning to set, so he decided he should explore the cave as soon as possible. He carefully edged his way past the waterfall and into the cave's entrance.

Once inside, he took off his back pack. He pulled out the candle that he used to read at night, but he quickly realized that may have been a mistake when some water splashed onto the candle. He put his backpack on and quickly moved farther back into the cave and did his best to dry off the candle.

It only took Naruto a few attempts to successfully light the candle. He took a kunai from his pouch and began to make his way down into the cave. He quickly realized the cave was segmented into at least two areas. The first area was the entrance, which was covered in the spray of the waterfall. The next area was back behind two boulders that protected the rest of the cave from the spray of the falls.

Naruto journeyed back behind the two boulders to find a decent amount of space. It wasn't a giant cave, but it was enough for at least a couple of people to live in.

He walked around this new area to get a good feeling for it. The front had no noticeable ledges, but the back of the cave was far more contorted. As he got closer to the back, he realized something he couldn't see from the front of the cave. There was a slight, cyan-colored glow coming from the back.

Intrigued, Naruto moved to find out its source, which led him to a small, narrow opening in the back of the cave. 'I'm not sure if i can fit in there," he said to himself. He took off his backpack and took a brief glimpse to the back of him, making sure that no one was behind him. The glow was bright enough for him to see in the cave, so he set his candle down with his backpack, forgetting to extinguish the flame, and began to edge his way into the entrance

It didn't take him long to go find the source of the glow. When he exited the narrow passage, he came to a large cavern, nearly twice the size of what he had been in before. Completely covering the ceiling was a strange substance, which was what had been giving off the bluish-green glow.

Unlike the other room, this one had a very short ceiling and the floor was covered in moss. 'What is that?' he asked himself. He was determined to find out.

Naruto reached up the glowing substance and touched it. Suddenly, he felt something move. He yanked his hand back, but it was too late. He didn't have time to react before an overwhelming force shot into him, slamming him into the ground. The back of his head smacked hard into the moss and Naruto blacked out.

When Naruto came to, he began to panic. In an instant his palms were sweaty and his heart was beating like a drum. He jolted up from the floor, and on instinct, he pulled his kunai from his pouch. Where was he? It was then that he noticed the turquoise glow and the moss beneath him. The last thing that he remembered was touching the glowing substance on the ceiling and being slammed into the ground. He ran the situation over in his head, trying to figure out what had happened. 'It has something to do with whatever's on the ceiling,' he thought.

It was then that he realized how much his head was pounding. He made a move to the exit, but stumbled and dropped his kunai. It didn't make a sound.

Naruto didn't have time to dwell on it though. He had to get out of this part of the cavern as fast as possible. He didn't want to get hit by whatever had caused him to pass out again. He picked up the kunai and hurried back to the exit and edged his way back to through the corridor.

Once he reached the other side, he found his candle was still on fire, though it was nearing the end of its wick. He pulled his back up candle out of his bag, lit it, put his bag back on, and started to move towards the entrance.

However, the moment Naruto started to move, he heard something. Instinctively, he smothered the candle's flame and clung to the walls. He did his best to listen to what was going on.

"This is the perfect spot to hide it. I just need to leave it here and go out with the patrol groups that are looking for Naruto," proclaimed a voice. He recognized it as a second. Did he say patrol groups were looking for him? It was only a minute before he heard Mizuki exit through the waterfall.

Naruto relit his candle and went to the entrance of the cave. There he found a very large scroll. 'It must be important,' he thought. Naruto wasn't sure what to do. It sounded like Mizuki had taken this scroll and framed him.

His initial idea was to take it to the Hokage, but he quickly decided against it. If people had thought he had stolen this scroll and were looking for him, it would probably be a bad idea to leave the cave with it.

So he decided on the only sensible course of action he could take: look at the scroll. He did a quick job of opening up the scroll and looking inside. The first thing he came to said, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

"It's a ninjutsu scroll," he said in realization. A large grin appeared on the young man's face.

"WHERE THE HELL IS IT?!" yelled Mizuki. He came back to find the scroll missing. He was angry. It had taken months of planning to get his hands on that scroll, and even then his plan hadn't went perfectly.

His first mistake was the assumption that Naruto would fail the exam. He hadn't expected that, which meant he was forced to steal the scroll by himself, but he hadn't expected this part to go so wrong.

He heard a shuffling in the back of the cave. Pulling out a kunai, he went to investigate. He passed between the two large boulders to find that the cave was being lit by a candle.

"Oh, Mizuki-sensei," said Naruto in a long drawn out voice. It was now that Mizuki saw him. He was holding the scroll!

"Naruto, I suggest if you don't want to get hurt, you better give me that scroll right now," snarled Mizuki.

"Nuh uh. You'll have to catch me Mizuki-sensei!" yelled Naruto as he barreled into the back of the cave.

Mizuki charged after him. He saw Naruto duck into a small chasm in the cave that was emitting a strange eery glow, but he didn't hesitate to follow. When he found Naruto in the room, he realized that something was wrong. Why had he lead him back here? What was this glow?

"What's your game-" he stopped. Why couldn't he hear himself? Naruto just grinned. Naruto tossed the scroll to him. Mizuki moved to catch it, but it erupted in a cloud of smoke. Instead of the scroll, there was now a second Naruto. The second Naruto reached up to the ceiling and scraped his hand against the glowing substance.

Immediately, the two Narutos in the room erupted in smoke and an overwhelming force forced Mizuki into the moss-laden ground. Not only did this knock him out, he also cracked his skull on the moss rock.

Back in the lite area of the cave, Naruto chuckled. Mizuki fell for his trap so easily. He followed his two clones, one of which he disguised as the scroll, and then the clones triggered the trap. It took Naruto a second to realized the significance of this. He knew exactly what happened in the glowing chamber. Did he gain the clones memories? There was no time to dwell on it, so he filed it under things to find out.

Naruto created two more clones to fetch Mizuki out of the glowing chamber. They pulled him through the passageway and tied him up in the lit cavern.

It was time to go tell the Hokage

After exiting the cave and putting a decent amount of distance between it and him, Naruto was quickly found by Kakashi, who took him and his clones straight to the Hokage. Naruto explained what happened with Mizuki, making sure to leave out all mention of the specifics of the cave and the glowing substance.

Luckily for him, the Hokage believed his story. He had gotten reports from one of the failed academy students that Mizuki had tried to convince him to steal the scroll.

"Thank you for your service tonight, Naruto-kun," said Sarutobi. "Perhaps you should go get some rest for Kakashi's test tomorrow."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama, but we both know perfectly well that I'm not going to sleep," declared Naruto. He bowed to the Hokage and left his office.

"Tomorrow's going to be interesting," said Naruto as he thought of his new jutsu.

He took his backpack to the training ground where he was schedule to meet his team and opened up a book. He began reading under the moonlight, waiting for what tomorrow might bring.

AN: Man that felt like it took forever. It was also nearly twice as long as the first chapter. I hoped you liked the change to how Naruto learns Kage Bunshin. Look forward to seeing more of the cave and mysterious glowing substance, because its going to come back …. Or not. Would I really introduce such a complicated plot device for taking care of Mizuki? Maybe. I'm not a clever man.

Please review!