Neko-chan: I'M BACK!!!!!

Naruto: CRAZY WOMAN! RUN AWAY!!! AHHHHH!!!!!!!

Neko-chan: -sweatdrop- Er...anywho, I'm back with a new chapter! Ain't you glad? Just to let you know, there is going to be mild Sakura bashing, but that's because Sakura is just annoying in the first part of the anime. I promise I'll give her some light when I can.

Sasuke: -tied up in a corner- Why the hell am I like this?

Neko-chan: Because you destroyed half of my place with your stupid rivalry with you brother!

Sasuke: SO WHY THE HELL ISN'T HE TIED UP!!!

Itachi: Foolish ototo, do you really believe that I can even be caught by such a weak girl?

Naruto: Uh oh...-feels a dark aura- I think we're going to find out.

Neko-chan: Iiiiiitaaaaachiiiiiii!

Naruto: Uhhh...While Neko-chan is going after Itachi, I should let you know she owns absolutlely nothing but the plotline. Steal it and forever be tormented by the evil leprichans of Zexon 12

Sasuke: The hell?

Naruto: Don't look at me, she's the author.

Neko-chan: ONE MORE THING!!!! There's a bit of Mary-sue in this! Only for a paragraph, though. All right, now, I'm going to go after Itachi!


Uchiha Sasuke was currently annoyed.

"Sasuke-kun, I'm so glad to see you!"

Very annoyed.

"Can you believe it? Kakashi-sensei is going to recommend us for the Chunin Exams!"

So annoyed, he was about to pull his hair out.

"Of course, I know you're going to pass!"

So annoyed that he was going to go against all of his principles and lose it.

"It's because Sasuke-kun is so cool!"

Can anyone figure out why he's annoyed? If you can, do tell the one annoying him, because she doesn't seem to get it.

Why, oh, why did Sage have to die? She was one of the only girls that didn't fawn over him and she constantly told Sakura to shut up when the girl was getting on both of their nerves. However, when Zabuza almost sliced Sakura in half, the dark haired girl threw herself in front of the blade. Before she died, she was muttering something about 'Mary-Sues' and how she would rather die than become one. Strangely after that, Shikamaru, who had a long-time crush on her, suddenly stopped and just really didn't care.

The point was, he was suffering, alone, and it sucked! It would have been bearable if Kakashi-sensei were actually on time for once. But hell would freeze over before that happened. In fact, even now, the elder man was three hours late. Oh well, he should be here soon.

"Yo."

Speak of the devil.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI, YOU'RE LATE!!!" Sakura shrieked. The greeting wasn't as loud as usual, seeing as their third team member was usually the one who would join in.

"I was busy making preparations for our newest teammate." He said, half lying. He was busy, but he finished two hours ago.

"LIA…wait, what did you say?"

"I said I was busy making preparations for our new teammate, who doesn't seem to be here." He said looking around, but then he heard someone clear their throat over at the trees.

"Ano…I've been here for a while now." The three turned to the trees by the bridge, where a boy was standing, looking at them meekly.

To say the Hokage was angry the other day was an understatement, but what's done is done. The test the council gave, though without his permission, was legitimate and Naruto did seem stronger than the average academy student was, so Sarutobi had little choice but to allow Naruto to become a member of Team 7.

So, there Naruto was. He was there since the clock struck 10, but the only person he saw was a pink haired girl he recognized as Haruno Sakura, a girl who used to be a really shy person. From the looks of her now, she was just like every other fangirl, confident, and loud. It was another hour before Uchiha Sasuke arrived, and Naruto focused on him.

The resemblance to Itachi was quite fascinating, but, they were brothers after all, so it should have been expected. The duck-ass hairstyle was a real embarrassment, though. Itachi would never be caught dead with such a hairstyle! Anyways, Naruto stood there until the man from yesterday arrived, just studying the youngest Uchiha. He wasn't anything special, and his chakra levels only told Naruto how weak the older boy was. Not as weak as the girl, but weak nonetheless.

And Ita-kun wants this boy to become strong enough to kill him? At this point, he'll barely be able to give me a bruise, let alone kill his brother. Of course, Ita-kun must want that. He knows that his ototo would never be strong enough to kill him, but he wants him to try. To focus only on revenge and to veer away from reviving his clan. That's a pretty good plan, but of course, Ita-kun is a genius. I shouldn't have expected anything less. Naruto inwardly giggled, but smacked himself for sounding like some obsessed fan. He sensed Kakashi-sensei's arrival and heard the loud shouts from Sakura. What a banshee…

"I said I was busy making preparations for our new teammate, who doesn't seem to be here." Naruto decided this would be the best time to let himself be known, so he made himself seem as shy as possible and peeked from behind the tree he was watching from.

"Ano…I've been here for a while now."

He looked at them meekly, seeming to withdraw into himself as all eyes were on him. He looked terrified at all the attention, so Kakashi decided to break the ice.

"Ah, there you are! I was thinking that maybe you were going to be late, what with everything you had to do yesterday. Come over here, you need to introduce yourself with your new team." The man said beckoning Naruto over. The blond nodded and ran over to the bridge, keeping his eyes downcast to avoid eye-contact. "Well, go ahead, tell us a bit about yourself."

"What do I say, exactly?" Naruto asked him. Kakashi sighed and shook his head. Why is it that first-timers could never grasp the concept of introductions?

"Name, hobbies, likes, dislikes, and dreams. Sakura, why don't you show him?" He asked the pink haired girl. She nodded. She knew the boy seemed familiar to her and he seemed to be kind. So she hoped that they could become friends…and hopefully make Sasuke jealous.

"Well, I'm Haruno Sakura. My hobbies are…(stalking Sasuke)…Well, I like…(Sasuke)…I really don't like Ino or my stupid forehead. As for dreams, I hope to…(marry Sasuke)…" Naruto tilted his head while getting a headache from the Kyuubi's laughter, not to mention his own mental crack up.

"All I really learned is that you don't like someone and your forehead, which looks fine to me, by the way." He said. The last sentence made her smile widely.

"All right, maybe Sasuke could help you." Kakashi suggested. The dark haired boy snorted, but decided he may as well get this over with.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. My only 'hobby' is to get stronger. I don't like much of anything (tomatoes), and I hate a lot of things (Sakura's voice). As for my dreams…tch, don't make me laugh. I only have a goal. To revive my clan, and to kill…a certain man..."

Naruto froze at the 'certain man' part. Even though he's already convinced himself there was no way this weakling was going to kill the man, the blond couldn't help but feel pissed off that someone was really planning on hurting Ita-kun! He wasn't going to allow that, no way!

Shut it, Kit. You should be happy that half of your work is done. All you have to do is make the brat completely dismiss the idea of 'reviving' the clan. Oi! Are you listening to me?!

Yeah, I'm listening. Naruto thought, still growling in his mind. Uh-oh, they're staring, he better do something.

"Wow! You sure sound like you've got a lot on your shoulder! I've heard about the Uchihas, and I also heard everyone is expecting you to be really, really great at everything! Top that off with the expectation to revive an entire clan! You must have so much pressure on you!" He said with a pout. Sasuke looked away and scoffed.

"I don't care." He muttered. Their sensei decided that was enough about Uchihas. The last thing he needed is for Sasuke to storm off angrily.

"So, what about you? You think you can handle it now?" He asked. Naruto looked up at him and nodded before smiling brightly at them.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto! My hobbies are training with my precious person and picking on his partner. I like ice cream and trying to get my precious person to get me it. I did find something that worked for about a week until he became immune to it, but it's still fun trying! I don't like people who insult me for something I had nothing to do with –Kakashi flinched at this- and people who want to hurt my precious person. My dream is to become the strongest and to make him proud of me. Also, I'm determined to get him to smile, he never does, you know?" Kakashi nodded and applauded him for being the only one out of the three who actually told them about himself instead of blushing or just plain not telling them much.

"All right, now that we're through with that, it's time for us to begin training. The exams are in a month, and you three have time to decided whether you want to participate or not. It's completely understandable if you don't want to, there's no pressure at all." He assured them. Naruto held back a scoff. He knew that Kakashi was just trying to keep Sasuke from pressuring Sakura and Naruto, himself, against pulling from the exams. Though Naruto wasn't going to pull from it, not if he wanted to complete his mission.

"We're not going to do anymore D-ranked missions, are we?" Sakura whined. Naruto could feel Sasuke get tense at the thought of a D-ranked mission. Kisame had told him how boring they were and how D-ranked hardly ever helped bring out the potential in genins, but they were the lowest class, so they were stuck with them.

"Nope, since we're back a month early from our last mission, most of the missions for the month are reserved for the other genin teams. But, that's not necessarily a bad thing. That means an entire month of training for the chunin exams. We're going to start off by seeing what our new member can do. Sasuke and Naruto, you two will spar and the winner spars with Sakura. Got it?" All three of them nodded and the two younger males walked to a training field.

"Do your best, you two!" Sakura called. She really wanted to cheer for Sasuke, but Naruto seemed like a really nice boy (since he said her forehead wasn't that bad), so she didn't want him to feel bad.

Speed and stamina, Naruto, speed and stamina. That was the chant going on in the blond boy's head as he smiled widely at his opponent. He really was excited, hoping to get a more accurate picture of Sasuke's power. Naruto could only make an educated guess from the chakra reserves, but it's possible that Sasuke could be more attuned to Taijutsu, meaning chakra reserves meant little more than nothing.

"Don't cry when I beat you." The blond teased. Sasuke just rolled his eyes and went into a fighting stance. He was going to make sure this guy knows exactly who's the better on their team.

"Taijutsu only, no weapons. Begin!" Kakashi ordered. Seeing as weapons were out of the options, Sasuke charged forwards to the youngest male, who just stood there. At the last second, however, he skillfully dodged and kicked the raven-haired boy in the back.

"Sasuke! Are you okay?!" Sakura cried, suddenly worried. Then she noticed how Sasuke blinked after stumbling forward a bit and looked at their new teammate incredulously.

"That was…pathetic." He commented. Sure, the kick had enough force to get him stumbling, but there was no pain in it at all. There should have been from the way Naruto kicked. The before-mentioned blond blushed.

"Okay, so I don't have a lot of power in my kicks. I was trained for speed, not strength." He pouted cutely, making Sakura giggle, but Kakashi had his eyes narrowed in confusion. He was trained in only one area.

Sure, speed is a good offence in itself, but if this boy is captured with no way of running, he needs strength. From the look on Sasuke's face, this boy has none of that. What was the council thinking? He thought, deciding to talk about this with the Hokage later. The spar continued, and, a while later, Kakashi began to see the genius in focusing on speed. Sasuke was getting tired, and quickly. Sure, Naruto still needed more on the strength department, but he had amazing stamina. It was probably due to the nine-tailed fox demon.

"I don't like people who insult me for something I had nothing to do with."

The jounin flinched. That sentence had made him suspicious, and he wondered if Naruto knew about the fox demon. It also made the man feel guilty. Now, he wasn't one of those people who went after the blond and beat him to a pulp, or scorned him, or did anything to make the blond hurt or upset. Yet, that was why he was feeling guilty. He didn't do anything. Kakashi remembered those times when he could have saved Naruto from a beating, from being cheated out of his monthly allowance, or from having his small apartment vandalized and destroyed. He could have done something, but he was young. Stupid. He blamed Naruto for the death of his sensei…

That's no excuse, though. I should have known better. I was ANBU! I may have been too young to see past the bridge of my nose, but an ANBU's duty, a ninja's duty is to protect the citizens from danger. I didn't protect one boy because of my petty anger.

Kakashi sighed at the thought. He really did some straightening up after the blonde's disappearance. Sure, a lot were celebrating, but there was one other, other than the Hokage, who was miserable about the loss of the boy. That was a newly qualified teacher at the academy at the time. He was one of the few who were kind to Naruto, and Kakashi saw how he loved the blond like a brother. He was well loved in the academy, but when news got to him that his little brother was gone, maybe even dead, he was broken to pieces. It took months for them to convince him to teach again, he wasted away. Even now, Iruka was really discouraged from teaching children who's spirits reminded him so much of the one he considered family, the only family he had left. Maybe Kakashi could convince Naruto to follow him for a visit.

"All right, you two, that's enough." He finally called. Sasuke looked exhausted, but it seemed that he got a few well placed hits on Naruto, who was clutching his side in pain. The blond knew he wasn't really in pain, but he had to put on an act, right?

"Kakashi-sensei, who won?" Sakura asked. The silver haired man held his chin in thought, and then shrugged.

"It looks like a tie. Sasuke is exhausted and Naruto looks pretty beaten up. But, thanks to them, I'm going to put you on a new training regimen. Sakura and Sasuke, this month, we're going to up your speed a little. As for you, Naruto, you need to work on your strength. Are we clear?"

"Hai." Sakura was the only one who answered. Sasuke didn't really answered anything, and Naruto was a bit confused at the moment.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?"

"What about Sakura-san? Shouldn't she spar too?" This wasn't right. It looked like Kakashi was only concerned for him and Sasuke. Sure, Sakura could use some tips in speed, but she was so weak physically! Shouldn't the jounin know that? He was supposed to be their trainer, but, by focusing on two instead of three, he's not doing his job right!

"Naruto-kun, don't be surprised at some of the things you find there. You haven't been in that place for so long, so you may have forgotten already. Konoha is shallow. They will only focus on those who are strong instead of those that could be strong. If you come off as weak to them, they will kill you before you even go into the academy. They have no use for the weak, but also, you must remember that they fear those who are too strong. Come off in the middle, and your mission will be easy."

He remembered the last words he heard from their leader before he left. Those words hit him most because he remembered how his first year at the academy was. He would mess up on the first try, and they would ignore him and wouldn't help him improve. If he got something right the first try, they would either call it luck, or stalk him on his way home and beat him 'because the demon must have started resurfacing'. Naruto was just surprised at this man's attitude. He honestly hoped that this man would be better than that, but, of course, he expected too much out of a Konoha citizen.

"You just worry about your own training, Naruto, and I'll worry about hers." The copy-nin said. He thought, for a second, he felt a fierce spike in chakra coming from the boy, but it was gone in an instant. He must be imagining things.

"H-hai." Naruto muttered half-heartedly. Then he smacked himself for getting so worked up over a detail he shouldn't be concerned about.

Why the hell are you worrying about some girl you're going to end up betraying in the end? This is a mission, Naruto! A mission! You're not allowed to get close to the pawns you're going to control! No, you're not concerned about her, you're concerned she'll get herself killed, thus causing the team to fail the exams, and it would be near impossible to get close to the Shukaku vessel! That's your only worry. After a few minutes of berating himself, he focused on Kakashi, who had finished instructing Sakura and Sasuke and only just began telling him his own training regimen.

It was a few hours before the man dismissed them, Sakura and Sasuke being worn out and Naruto looking a little worse for wear. He had purposely made his hands and legs bleed so he looked like he wasn't used to any actual hitting. The wounds that bled were closed, but they couldn't see that. Sakura had walked home after asking Sasuke out on a date, and being rejected again, and Kakashi was long gone. So, at the moment, Sasuke was walking back to that deserted estate of his. Surprisingly, Naruto was right by his side.

"I hope you don't mind me walking with you. My apartment is this way." He said.

"Hn." Was the only reply. There was just silence as they walked. Naruto tried to whistle, just to keep that annoying buzz out of his ear, but a glare from the Uchiha put a stop to it.

Okay, what to do, what to do? Naruto pondered, not seeing how he can go anywhere with someone as silent at the boy next to him.

Start a conversation you idiot! The fox growled within him.

Oh yeah, right! Scolding himself for not thinking about it before, he just said the first thing that came out of his head.

"You know, Sakura-san looked like she really likes you." Naruto said, causing the dark haired boy to freeze. The blond thought he had said the wrong thing, but then realized how random it was. Oh well, he had to keep going. "I see her blush whenever she looks at you, and she seemed really disappointed when you said you wouldn't walk with her. You must be a real lady's man."

Sasuke has started walking again a few seconds before and had just rolled his eyes at the teasing. This kid must really hate silences to come up with something completely random at a moment's notice. His onyx eyes drifted to the blond, who was talking about the training and unimportant events. Naruto was…strange, to say the least, but, most of all, familiar. The Uchiha had no idea where he's seen this boy before, but he knows that he has. So he dug through his memories, trying to find the one that contained a blond boy with blue eyes.

As he studied his newest teammate, Sasuke took note that they were in the marketplace where people were still crowding the streets as they made their way home. He saw angry glances, disgusted glares, and hushed whispers.

All of them aimed at Naruto.

"Hey." Sasuke said, interrupting the current rant (something about logs) of the other male. Blue eyes turned to him as they left the marketplace and the crowd thinned until they were the only ones left walking. This was the path to the Uchiha estate. No one came down there anymore. "Why were they glaring at you?"

Naruto blinked before realizing that they had passed a crowd of people. Most of which should have recognized him and started glaring. The blond just hadn't noticed it and he cheered his luck before looking down sadly. The air was tense and they had stopped walking.

"I…don't know…" He finally said smiling sadly. "It's been that way ever since I was little, even before I left."

"Before you left? Then you did live here before." There was a nod and they continued walking. However, the uncomfortable air never left them.

"I was born here and I lived here until I was seven before I was chased out of the village. I never knew why. I figured it was because I was an orphan, but there were other orphans, and they were treated so kindly. But never me. Never the 'monster'." He murmured before blinking, as if he just realized he was talking with someone. "Ah, sumimassen, Sasuke-san. I didn't mean to ramble. My building is here, I'll leave you now. Good night."

With that said, the blond took off to a tall building on the right. Sasuke watched him run up the stairs into an apartment. Even as he arrived at his empty estate, into his home, and up to get ready for bed, that broken voice never left his thoughts.

"Never the 'monster'."

Uzumaki Naruto, you truly are an enigma. Was the last of the Uchiha's thoughts before he went to bed and drifted off to sleep.


Naruto: I'm so angsty!

Sasuke: And I'm so gullible!

Neko-chan: AND I'M TIRED!!!!

Naruto: -sighs- well it's your fault you decided to chase after Itachi!

NC: He was making fun of me.

Sasuke: And how old are you? Don't you think you're a little old ti throw a tantrum just because he called you weak?

Neko-chan: Watch it, EMO boy, you're still tied up. Well, this is the longest leaving conversation we've ever had here, so I'm going to leave you! Until next time! Bazanee!