Chapter 2

Sasuke awoke early to make an extra breakfast. He knew Hinata would not listen to him over the teacher, and he knew the teacher was trying to trick them as part of the Genin test. What he didn't know was why he had become so interested in this girl. It was like some kind of age-old instinct was telling him to pay attention to her. But it wasn't just her, it had been happening towards several girls lately. No, it wasn't puberty, my dear readers. Sasuke had already considered that. It was...different than puberty. Stronger, more feral. But he decided to stop thinking about it, lest he be late. To his surprise, he arrived first, so he started doing some warm-up exercises. After finishing the exercises, Sasuke felt a strange prescence, like someone was watching him. Using his ninja training, Sasuke pinpointed it to a nearby tree. He threw a shuriken at it, and out fell his thick-headed teammate, Naruto.

"Don't you have anything better to do than spy on me?" asked Sasuke.

"I-I-I was NOT spying! I-I had my own business to take care of!"

"In a tree? What, does a squirrel owe you money?" mocked Sasuke. His ninja senses heard other footsteps, so he prepared himself for attack, but relaxed when he saw it was only Hinata. Seeing that Naruto was about to burst, Sasuke side-stepped that particular annoyance and went to check on Hinata.

"Good morning, Hinata-chan. Did you eat breakfast like I advised?" He noticed she blushed a deeper red when he added the '-chan' suffix.

'This girl really is incredibly shy,' he thought, 'I hope that works out in my favor...wait, what did I just say!'

"G-Good morning, S-Sasuke-k-kun. I was going to, b-but I-I couldn't disre-regard a direct order..." she replied. Sasuke smirked knowingly.

"I figured you wouldn't, so when you change your mind, I've got an extra breakfast with your name on it." he said. Sasuke walked back to where he was before and sat on the training post put there, still contemplating why he was being so nice to her. It was like every time he saw her, a red haze filled his mind, forcing him to be nice to her. He got tired of trying to figure it out, and luckily for him, his sensei finally showed up.

"Sorry I'm late, gang. I got held up on the way here. So, is everyone ready for my test?" Naruto looked confused at that statement, and slightly scared.

"Test!? Another test!? We just graduated, why do we have to take another test!? And I'm too hungry to take a test!" Naruto burst out. Sasuke smirked at the last part, and, still smirking, quirked an eyebrow when Hinata looked at him in surprise, as if asking, 'How did you know it was a test?'. He wasn't the #1 Rookie for no reason. Through all this, Minato-sensei smiled.

"I guess I shouldn't have expected you two to eat, but Sasuke, who would've guessed you'd see through my test? I commend you for showing exceptional skill, and you two for demonstrating loyalty and following a direct order. But, as we are about to take a test, you will only be allowed to eat at noon. As for the test, think of it as a second graduation exam. Although you graduated from the Ninja Academy, we Jonin have the final say on whether or not you'll become ninja. Of the 27 graduates, we will only accept 9. That means you have approximately a 66.6 chance of failure. When I say start, you three will run away and find a way to steal one of my two bells. Only those who have a bell by the end of the day will pass. Now, START!" All three of them darted off in different directions. Sasuke hid among the tops of the trees, realizing the futility of the assignment.

'There's no way he expects us to get those bells off him. He's a Jonin, and we're not even Genin yet! And besides, he only has two bells. No matter what, one of us is going to fail. There must be an ulterior objective...but what?' Sasuke pondered. The word 'teamwork' floated into his mind, and he realized what he had to do. Leaves rustling and footsteps broke him out of his meditation, but his ever-present ninja instincts made him throw a few shuriken at the intrusion. He missed them all. That rarely happens, but thank God it did this time. A timid yelp alerted Sasuke to the identity of the perpetrator.

"Hinata, I'm so sorry! Those annoying ninja instincts kicked in. Are you hurt?" She shook her head 'no', picked up the shuriken and handed them back. Bowing, she said, "I-I'm v-very sorry for b-bothering you, b-but I was wondering if I-I could have that extra breakf-fast you mentioned, if you're n-not aleady eating it, o-of course..."

"You didn't bother me, I was just lost in thought. Of course you can have it. I made it for you, remember?" he replied, handing her the food. She sat next to him and, after thanking him for the food and eating, decided to ask him something that was on her mind.

"Umm, S-Sasuke-kun, m-may I ask you s-something?"

"You kind of just did, but go ahead."

"W-Why are y-you being s-so nice to me? N-Noone is ever t-this nice to me..."

"To tell you the truth, I don't know why myself. But we're teammates now, so we might as well get along. Plus, I find your stuttering adorable." he replied, smiling. She blushed deeply and looked away. When he saw her reaction, he realized what he had just said and became ghostly pale.

'Adorable? He finds me...adorable? What does this mean? Does he like me? No, he couldn't like me. He's the prince of the Uchiha, and I'm no princess...' Hinata thought. Sasuke stood up, followed by Hinata.

"Come on, we have to move, or we'll never pass this test." stated Sasuke. They jumped through the trees, not speaking, until soon they found Minato-sensei...with Naruto hanging upside down by a rope. They stopped before Minato-sensei could notice them. Or so they thought.

"All right Hinata, I've got an idea," whispered Sasuke, "I'll distract our sensei, while you free Naruto. Tell him to somehow trap Minato-sensei, and I'll attack. He'll use substitution jutsu, so you wait by the nearest log, and as soon as he materializes, use your Hyuga-style taijutsu to paralyze him and take his bells. Understood?" Hinata nodded, and Sasuke jumped down to his sensei.

"Hey! Sensei! I've come for those bells, and I'm not leaving without them!" yelled Sasuke. Once Minato-sensei turned around, he flung a few kunai at him and ran in for a kick. As espected, the Jonin easily countered. With his foot caught, he went threw a punch, and then another. Now completely caught up, Sasuke was easily thrown into a nearby tree, but his job was already done. Naruto was freed, and Hinata was nowhere to be found. Naruto jumped down from the trees, shouting, "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Suddenly 6 Narutos materialized, piling on top of Minato-sensei. Taking his opportunity, Sasuke thrust himself into the air and sent one of his Great Fireballs hurtling towards the pile of Narutos and Minato-sensei. Again as expected, the only thing left afterwards was a small pile of ash. He turned and saw Hinata holding the two bells. As Sasuke began to smile, Minato-sensei poofed out of existance, as well as his two bells. 3 Minatos suddenly jumped out of the trees and trapped the 3 rookies.

"Very good. Much better than I expected, but you three still aren't working together." proclaimed the real Minato-sensei, appearing out of the forest and releasing his Shadow Clones.

"You three did great, but Naruto tried to steal the lunches I prepared. As punishment, we are going to have a lunch break, but only Sasuke and Hinata may eat. Naruto will be tied up, and you must not give him any food."

"WHAT!?" shouted Naruto. Before he could say more, Natuto was tied to a log, and Minato-sensei was gone, leaving luches for Sasuke and Hinata. Naruto kept whining and squirming. Soon, Sasuke handed Naruto some of his lunch, earning surprised looks from Naruto and Hinata. Sasuke calmly explained, "If he doesn't eat anything, he won't have any energy left when we need him. Give him some too, Hinata. We're a team now." After Hinata handed him some of her lunch, a fireless explosion filled the area with smoke. Out of the smoke came one pissed off Jonin.

"What did I JUST say!? I told you NOT to give him food, yet you disobeyed a direct order!" Just as fast as he became angry, he became serene again.

"But, in doing so, you demonstrated remarkable teamwork and discovered the truw purpose of this test. In the ninja world, those who disobey orders are trash, but those who don't help their friends are worse than trash. Congratulations, you 3 are the first group of graduates who have ever passed my test! You are all genin now!" explained Minato-sensei. After getting over their teacher's bi-polar attack, the 3 Genin (or more accurately, Sasuke and Naruto, and Hinata didn't say anything) decided to go into town to celebrate. It was an opportunity to get to know each other over a bowl of ramen (as if there's anything else to eat in the Naruto Universe) and then afterwards, they could go shopping for new equipment together. It was going to be an exciting night. The only chance at a worry-free night that either of them would get in a long time...