Ino immediately rose out of her seat as the bell rang and Iruka finished talking. She smirked to herself as she shot a glance at the far end of the room where Sasuke was sitting- well, leaving. She got lucky enough to be grouped with him, of all people! This had to be fate playing itself out. She knew they were meant to be. She couldn't help but to get a little giddy when the thought of him ran through her mind. They just had so much in common! Even right down to their clothing, they were similar.

Well, technically, she copied a bit of that part, but still! She knew that this had to be someone of higher power giving her the chance that she deserved. Oh, her darling Sasuke... She couldn't wait until they were together! Maybe she could take Iruka's advice to the class and wait on him, and ask to have lunch together. It was a good idea. Getting a jumpstart on a relationship, that is. Though, they'd be spending a lot of time together with missions and all. She didn't want to be too pushy so early on, especially considering all of the time that they were going to be spending together. Ugh... Then there was Sakura.

Why on Earth would Iruka pair them together? And with Sasuke, of all people? That's just going to make billboard brow think that she has a chance! There's no way Sakura would pose any competition, that's for sure, but that wouldn't stop her from being a nuisance. Ino sighed to herself as she made her way out of the classroom. Things were going to be rough. This team wasn't going to cooperate well at all- even she knew that.

Ino left the classroom and headed for the exit; Sasuke would definitely try to flee the premises and get away from all of the people. He was like that. He was either shy, she'd determined, or he was running from forehead girl. She couldn't blame him. Knowing Sakura, first thing that she would do is hunt down Sasuke and try to have lunch with him.

Pfft. As if Sasuke would want to have lunch with her.

"Now, where could he have gone?", Ino muttered to herself as she stepped next to the bench outside of the Academy. She didn't know where he lived; he always seemed to have lost her when she tried to follow him home. Even when she was doing it in secret. Eh, he wouldn't go that far just for lunch, would he? No way.

"Looking for someone, piggy?"

Ino's blood immediately began to boil at that name, and that voice. Her fist clenched as she turned to face this person with a death wish.

"You act like it's your business, forehead girl!"

"Puh-lease. You make it so obvious, standing there with that stupid look on your face... like a lovesick puppy." Sakura retorted. She tried to play it cool- raising her chin as if she was better. She flicked her pink hair behind her shoulder.

"You're just mad because I had the idea first, Sakura!" Any chance at Ino being calm about this was out of the window. The two couldn't stand each other on normal circumstances, but when Sakura storms in acting like this? No way Ino was going to act calm.

"Except that Iruka presented the idea to the class?" Ino blinked as Sakura made a point. "By now, Sasuke probably has the entire female CLASS looking to have lunch with him.

"We're in a group, you know." Sakura walked past her rival and sat on the bench. "We might as well postpone this whole love-rivalry and try to get along. For teamwork's sake."

"Yeah, right! He totally likes my hair mor-... wait, what?" Ino had prepared to make a comeback... but did she just hear what she thought she did? POSTPONE their rivalry? For teamwork's sake? No way. She did not just say that. "... Seriously? You really mean this?"

"Lunch?" Sakura asked, raising the bag of food she had brought. Ino stood there after eyeing the bag in her own hands, and only raised an eyebrow, doubtful. The pink-haired graduate sighed. "Okay, fine. I don't exactly like you, and you don't exactly like me. But nobody's going to enjoy us fighting during missions, and our teamwork's going to be crap. Rivals? Fine. Enemies on the same team? No way that's going to fly."

"I guess you've got a point... Sakura." Sakura smiled as she heard her name. That was the first time she'd heard Ino call her by her actual name since they were little kids. Ever since then, it had been "billboard brow", "forehead girl", or something of that variety. Still, Ino kept the cocky, superior composure that she had displayed before. "But don't let it go to your head. Sasuke's still fair game for anyone- and I plan to have him for myself."

Sakura's pure-hearted smile morphed into their regular competitive grin. "Yeah, yeah. We'll just see about that. Until then, sit down and stop blabbering."

'Interesting...' a certain ninja had thought from a distance- disguising themself inside the trees. 'To think that the two biggest rivals in the Acadamy would mature so much, so quickly.'

Granted, they were the most promising two Kunoichi that the Acadamy had that year, so it made a little sense, even if it wasn't expected. A smile played itself on the Jounin's face as they observed the rivals' lunch from a distance.

This group was definitely going to be interesting.

Forgive me- these first few chapters are going to be a little short. Not until we get into the meat of the story with they lengthen up to 1,000+ words.