A/N: Okay, so I lied about updating Requiem of the Fallen before this chappy; I can't help it, I'm on a roll. Regardless, I haven't abandoned any of my Naruto fics, so don't fret. As for this chapter specifically, while slightly slow, it covers the necessary forming of the genin teams, as well as a little backstory on Naru's relationship with a certain character.

I would also like to say a big happy thank you to ddcj1990 and HellCleaner for their reviews! Thanks a lot guys (or gals, whichever you are)!

Anyways, without further ado here's the key and disclaimer:

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and probably never will. *Cries*

Key:

"This be talking."

'This be thinking'

"Bijuu/Higher Being speech"

'Bijuu/Higher Being thought'

Jutsus will be Italicized and Underlined

Flashbacks are in Italics only

**This chapter is currently Un-Beta'd**

Monday 11:30, Konohagakure no Sato; Hokage Tower, Minato's Office

Out of fifteen total students, exactly two-thirds of Iruka's class managed to pass their genin exams. While not the most stellar set of results, they were still acceptable, as every single ninja clan heir was among those who passed. However, in addition to the clan heirs a certain pink-haired civilian, one Haruno Sakura, also somehow managed to pass. Unfortunately, this presented a problem; there were ten newly minted genin, but only three Jonin senseis available to take on students, meaning there would be one genin left over when constructing this year's teams. The question was, who would be the one left out?

After a few minutes of watching the new genin talk amongst themselves through his predecessor's crystal viewing orb, Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, sat back in his chair with a frown marring his otherwise well-chiseled face. He had a few options in this situation; on one hand he could let Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi decide which youngsters they wanted to train, holding the remaining genin back until next year's class had graduate students. Unfortunately, he didn't find that fair at all for the odd man (or woman) out. After all, hypothetically speaking it could be his and Kushina's daughter that gets placed in that position. While he could always try make time in his busy schedule to train Natsuki himself if such an event came to pass, the other students weren't as fortunate as she was. And besides, in that case taking the time to train Natsuki would be playing favorites, which, as Hokage, he couldn't afford to do.

Of course, he always had the option of doing the unprecedented by creating a cell with four genins...but that would be a rightful headache for whichever jonin got the short end of the stick. At least, it would be a headache unless he roped one of the few tokubetsu jonins he had wandering around into helping out. But doing that created another problem of an entirely different caliber—the reason the standard was a four man cell was because four was a small enough number of people that it was plausible a cell could get in and out of enemy territory undetected, but large enough that a team could get a variety of jobs done. While the latter was certainly possible with four genins and two senseis, Minato wasn't so sure of the former. It certainly wasn't as big of a deal during the tranquil times they had right now, but if push came to shove and a war broke out the Yondaime Hokage had his fears that such a large team would be more weight than worth.

With a sigh of exasperation, the blonde haired man closed his eyes, leaning back in his chair while he thought. If only there was one more available Jonin, then this messed up problem could be solved in one fell swoop; three of them would get the regular amount of genins, while the fourth would take on the remaining student as an apprentice.

'Wait a sec. Apprentice? Why does that ring a bell all of a sudden?' His brow furrowed, Minato starting thinking furiously, wracking his brain to try and dredge up the unconscious connection his mind had made. Fortunately for this story's progression, he eventually did manage to figure out said connection and promptly started chuckling, breaking out into peals of full-blown laughter soon after.

It was enough to make his hidden ANBU sweatdrop and wonder if their kage had finally succumbed to the insanity known as the 'paperwork voices'.

Anyways, once he managed to pull himself under control, Minato called for both of the ANBU stationed outside his office.

"Cat, I need you to bring me Anko, right away. Tell her I've got a proposition for her that's important." he said to the left of the two, once they walked through the door. As said ninja shunshin-d out of his office, he turned to the other, Weasel.

"Weasel, while I don't need you to do anything just yet, if you could get me Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi in about, say, twenty minutes, that would be great. If they ask what for, it's for genin team placements."

Weasel merely nodded, before returning to his post outside the kage's office after a short bow.

This time, when Namikaze Minato sat back in his chair it was with a smile of satisfaction.

Monday 11:45, Konohagakure no Sato; Market District, Dango Stand

Anko was heartily enjoying her thirteenth stick of her self-proclaimed 'food of the gods' when one Yuugao Uzuki , otherwise known as 'Cat' when she was on duty, arrived next to her in a shunshin. Seeing as she was in ANBU uniform, complete with complimentary mask of said animal, Anko referred to her by her ANBU codename.

"Hello, Cat. I take it Hokage-sama has need of me?"

"Yes, he said it was an important proposition he had for you; he also wanted you to come right away."

Pouting slightly at being denied more dango but complying nonetheless, Anko left the required cash on her table before joining her long-time friend in another shunshin back to the Hokage's office.

When they both arrived Yuugao bowed to her superior, her task completed, before returning to her post with Weasel.

"You needed me, Hokage-sama?" Anko asked, raising an eyebrow when Minato suddenly chuckled.

"Yes, in fact; it has to do with this year's graduating class from the Academy." he paused, glancing at the twenty-two year old woman in front of him, "You see, this time we have an uneven number of graduates, ten to be precise, and only three available full-fledged Jonins to take on teams."

"...So, let me guess, you want me to take on the remainder as an apprentice of sorts?" Anko asked, rather unhappily, after a moment of thought.

"Yes and no. While I do want you to take on an apprentice from this year's graduating class..." here Minato smiled in a way that sent a thrill of excitement down the tokubetsu jonin's spine, "...You aren't going to be left with the remainder. In short, I'm letting you have first pick of which new genin you want to train, since you are otherwise receiving the short end of the stick. That is, of course, if you decide to take on this task."

It took all Anko had to resist the urge to glomp the Hokage in a massive hug. Granted, she wasn't getting a full team, but her leader was entrusting her with the upbringing of a genin of her choice—and as a tokubetsu jonin, no less. Normally such a thing would be reserved for the full fledged jonins only, so she knew it was an honor that Minato felt she was capable of doing this job. Snapping to attention, she sent him a salute before giving her answer.

"I accept, Hokage-sama!"

"Wonderful!" Minato said, giving her his best lady-killer smile. Stealing a quick glance at the clock hanging above the doorway to his office, he started rummaging through the many piles of paperwork littered across his desk.

"You have approximately fifteen minutes until the other Jonin senseis arrive, so I'll give you until then to make your decision on who you want to teach...Aha!" Finding what he was looking for, he handed her a folder containing approximately twenty separate sheets of parchment, some of which were stapled together. "In there are the new genin's Academy files, as well as Iruka's notes concerning their skills. Refer to those if you have any questions concerning what they can do."

Anko nodded, immediately starting to scan through the files for anything that caught her fancy, starting with the paper on top. However, one by one she slowly rejected student after student, starting with most of the boys. It wasn't that they weren't capable ninjas—far from it, in fact—but those she rejected simply had one or more undesirable qualities to them. Kiba was a pervert, Shikamaru was lazy, Sasuke was slightly arrogant; the list went on and on.

After about five minutes of this, she started to grow frustrated. Why did all these youngsters seem to have the oddest quirks? It wasn't natural. At least, she didn't think so. Still, knowing that she herself was not without her own 'differences', Anko kept at it, eventually pausing on Yamanaka Ino's file.

According to Iruka's notes, the girl was what many of her own generation called a 'fangirl', having a rivalry with Haruno Sakura for the attentions of one Uchiha Sasuke. However, the tokubetsu jonin could tell that Ino had potential, provided she could break out of her fangirl tendencies of course. Setting the young Yamanaka's file off to the side for the time being, Anko returned to perusing through the remaining genin, doing the same thing she had with Ino's when she reached Hinata's file. However, just as she was about to close the folder and choose between the two she had selected, her eyes landed on something...odd.

Stuck to the backside of the final piece of parchment was what appeared to be another file, something she had missed on her initial pass through. Though what interested her even more was the sheer amount of praising notes written on the back of said stuck paper. Her curiosity piqued, Anko carefully pried the once-hidden parchment away from the sheet it was attached to, giving it a once-over when it was free.

"Holy crap..." she breathed, once she finished scanning the file. While the history and written exam scores for this particular genin were decidedly average, what Anko considered to be the exams that determined the actual worth of a ninja—Taijutsu spars, the three academy ninjutsu, and battle tactics—had essentially flawless test scores written across the board.

Glancing between the new paper and the other two she had set out, the special jonin weighed her options. Ino and Hinata had higher overall scores, but the third file was head and shoulders above them both for the more 'practical' exams in the academy. And since Anko was of the mind that practical was better, well...

'I think I've found a winner...' she thought with a smile, 'Besides, it says here that the girl is a kinesthetic learner, which could explain the average history scores.'

Her mind made up, she placed all of the papers she had taken out back into the folder, handing it to the Hokage after doing so. When he looked at her with a raised eyebrow, silently asking whether or not she'd made a decision, the purple-haired tokubetsu jonin nodded in confirmation.

"Hokage-sama, I've made my decision. I, Mitarashi Anko, would like to formally request that Hyuuga-Namikaze Naru be assigned to me as my apprentice."

Approximately 5 minutes later...

Namikaze Minato was not often a troubled man. His country wasn't at war, and overall life was good. But here he was, pacing in his office, all because he couldn't help but feel that somewhere along the line of his life he had strayed off the correct path, making a big mistake that ultimately resulted in his happy family beginning to crumble and break apart. The mistake in question? The fact that he had steadily pushed his eldest daughter—Naomi's child—out of the family ever since his second wife died in the Kyuubi attack sixteen years ago.

Obviously, he had not done this intentionally—he had been blinded by his grief over losing Naomi, after all—but the fact remained that he had done it nonetheless. The trouble was, in doing so he had essentially lost both his daughters at the same time, albeit to different reasons; though he hadn't noticed it when it happened, Naru had finally given up trying to bond with him a few years back, while Natsuki was becoming increasingly spoiled, always getting what she wanted because there was basically no sibling competition to speak of.

Of course, it was only just now, when it was far too late to fix the first of the two problems, that he'd actually taken the time to think over his past actions, learning in the process just how big of a mess he'd made of things. Slumping into his chair with a sigh, Minato thought back to the conversation he'd had with Anko not five minutes ago, which had brought on this whole guilt trip...

Flashback no Jutsu

"...I, Mitarashi Anko, would like to formally request that Hyuuga-Namikaze Naru be assigned to me as my apprentice."

Minato blinked a few times, surprised by her choice. In all honesty he had thought she would choose Natsuki; after all, her grades, while not the best in every area, were the highest overall of the graduates. So with that thought in mind he asked the question that was on the tip of his tongue.

"Not that I object to your choice, Anko, but why her? Why not Natsuki?"

"Ano...Permission to speak the hard truth and nothing but the truth?"

He gave the tokubetsu jonin a funny look, but granted her request nonetheless. Taking a deep breath, Anko launched into a rant that would forever change his views on what he'd recently done with his life.

"With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I've found that Natsuki has grown up to be somewhat of a spoiled brat. Sure, it might be just a phase she's going through, but ever since you announced that she was a hero for holding the Kyuubi at bay the civilians have been kissing the very ground she walks on. As such, her ego knows very little in the way of bounds. That being said, while I haven't interacted as much with Naru, Iruka's notes mentioned that she doesn't have the same problem as her step-sister, even though her taijutsu, ninjutsu, and battle tactics scores are off the charts. Natsuki might have Naru beat in book smarts, but that's most likely because the latter is a kinesthetic learner, as mentioned in another one of Iruka's notes. Besides, if you discount the written exams the civilian council added in recent years, Naru essentially has a flawless record for her entire four years at the academy. That's the same as Itachi was, I might add."

Anko let the gravity of her words sink in a bit before continuing.

"Iruka's notes also mention that Naru has shown the ability to be humble when necessary, something which Natsuki doesn't even know the meaning of. Unfortunately, this is probably because the latter has gotten everything she ever wanted—including respect—without having to work for it, and that irks me to no end. So in short, Naru's humility, Natsuki's ego problem, and just how damn good the former is at the practical aspects of being a ninja...all three of those are reasons why I want to have said girl as my apprentice. Now if you'll excuse me, I have dango to eat."

Her explanation finished, the tokubetsu jonin stood up and walked out of the room, leaving a rather contemplative Hokage to his thoughts.

Flashback no Jutsu Kai

He'd have to thank Anko later for bringing this whole mess to his attention. While fixing the matter was almost certainly out of the question, at least for the situation between him and Naru, he could at least try to make amends with his eldest daughter. She probably didn't want anything to do with him anymore, given how he'd refused her attempts to bond with him these past sixteen years, but even if that was the case he was still going to try. As for dealing with Natsuki's ego...he had a few ideas on how to go about knocking it down to size, but any of the more drastic measures would have to be discussed with Kushina first.

It was at this point that there was a knock on the door to his office. Immediately recognizing the chakra signatures of Asuma, Kurenai and Kakashi, whom he had asked Weasel to bring to his office earlier, Minato called for them to enter.

"I'm sure you know why I called you here, correct?" He asked, getting three nods as a response once all three Jonins had filed inside. "Good, then that means I can skip the introductory mumbo jumbo and move straight to the heart of the matter. As you may or may not know, there were ten newly minted genin, meaning that if nothing was done one graduate would have to be held back a year in order to be placed on a team."

"Sensei, why do I get the feeling there's a 'but' coming up?" Kakashi asked, not looking up from his Icha Icha Paradise.

"That's because there is one, you pervert." Minato deadpanned, a tick mark forming on his forehead when said silver-haired Jonin was suddenly crouched in the corner of the office crying anime tears with a tiny cloud pouring rain over his head. Sighing lightly, the Hokage sat back in his chair, before speaking in a tired voice. "Not to rain on your pity parade, Kakashi, but the genin teams aren't to make themselves, you know..."

Knowing that it was time to quit the theatrics, Kakashi quickly moved back to where he had been previously, this time putting his book away to show he was serious. Nodding to Minato, who nodded back, he let his sensei continue from where they left off.

"Anyways, like I was saying earlier, there are ten new genin, but I've already found a solution to the odd man out problem. Long story short said solution was to have Anko take on one of the new genin as an apprentice. She's already made her decision on which graduate she wants, so if any of you wanted Hyuuga-Namikaze Naru you're out of luck."

When Kakashi looked slightly disappointed, Minato raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. Of course, knowing how his student idolized him, he had already guessed that Kakashi would want to train both of his daughters, but sadly with Anko's decision that was not meant to be. He reckoned that the other two weren't complaining because there were two Hyuugas in this particular graduating class, and of the two Hinata was known to have the higher overall score in the academy.

'Ironic how the one genin Anko raves about is one most of the other Jonins don't give a second glance to.' He thought wryly, 'Though I'm inclined to believe her when she says Naru could be like Itachi; she has my genes, after all. We'll just have to see how fast she climbs the ranks...'

"Well, seeing as you three don't have any complaints, here are folders containing copies of the test scores and Iruka's notes for the remaining nine genin." Handing said folders to the three Jonin, Minato continued speaking. "Once you decide which three you'd like, I'll have you step forward one at a time to present your reasoning for why the ones you selected will work well together. Keep in mind that while I have the final say in these matters, providing concrete evidence for your argument will make me more likely to side with your choice. We'll start with you, Asuma, once everyone has collected their thoughts."

After about twenty minutes spent leafing through the newly minted genins' files, said lazy Jonin stepped forward from the crowd before speaking.

"I, Sarutobi Asuma, would like to formally request the second generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, to form an interrogation squad. As evidenced by their parents' team, this has proven to be an effective combination in the past, and should continue to do so."

"Alright, are there any objections to this team placement...?" Minato asked, resting his elbows on the Hokage's desk while gazing over the familiar faces for any signs of protest. When Kakashi raised a hand he motioned for the silver-haired Jonin to speak.

"With all due respect Asuma, I feel that the tactics employed by those three would be too predictable to our enemies, especially considering they are practically carbon copies of their parents, minus gender in Ino's case." Kakashi took a breath before continuing, "As such I would like to suggest replacing Choji with Inuzuka Kiba. You would still have the interrogation focus, but with Kiba's nose and Shikamaru's sharp mind the team could also double as a pseudo-tracking unit."

Asuma thought for a moment before nodding, first in Kakashi's direction, and then in the Hokage's. When no other obvious signs of protest were made, Minato wrote down the three names on one of the many sheets of paper resting before him.

"...Very well, that matter is settled; Asuma will have Inuzuka Kiba, Yamanaka Ino, and Nara Shikamaru, forming Team Ten. Kakashi, since you obviously had another motive for keeping Choji off Asuma's team, you can go next."

Scratching his head sheepishly at being found out, the scarecrow jonin composed himself before stepping up to the plate.

"I, Hatake Kakashi, would like to formally request that Uchiha Sasuke, Akamichi Choji, and Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsuki be placed under my command to form an assault squad. Choji, provided he gets the right instruction on chakra control, would be the medic of the team, with his family's Full-Body Expansion technique allowing him to quickly traverse large distances and save lives. Besides, from his file it says he's a pacifist, so that role fits him perfectly." (A/N: weren't expecting that, were you?)

Taking a breath, the silver-haired Jonin continued his explanation.

"Moving on, Natsuki with her godly stamina and chakra reserves would be the close range specialist, and Sasuke would be the ninjutsu specialist on the team, providing mid- to long-range cover for Natsuki to get up close and Choji to do his job tending to any wounded. And...yeah, that's about it."

Nodding slightly in acceptance of the explanation, Minato shifted in his chair, once again asking if there were any objections to the proposed team. After glancing quickly at the Hokage, Kurenai hesitantly spoke up.

"While I don't exactly have a counterargument for Kakashi's proposed team per se, should said team be formed I feel that the genin I would be left with would not amount to anything much. I say this because, if Iruka's notes are to be believed, Sakura and Hinata hate each other, while Shino is merely apathetic and wouldn't do anything to try to make them work together. As such their teamwork would be abysmal, causing the team to fall apart before it even gets off the ground."

"...And what would you suggest doing to solve this problem, Kurenai?" The Hokage asked, inclining his head to show he acknowledged her point.

"I'd say that swapping either Sakura for Choji or Hinata for Natsuki would work, though if given the choice I would prefer for the former to happen. Sakura and Choji both have potential as medics, while Hinata and Natsuki are close-range fighters, so either way Kakashi's planned out team would remain the same."

After a few minutes of careful deliberation, Minato spoke up once more.

"Alright, I've decided. The genin teams for this year will be as follows: Team 7, led by Kakashi, will be composed of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and Uzumaki-Namikaze Natsuki. Kurenai will lead Team 8, comprised of Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, and Akamichi Choji. And finally Asuma will lead Team 10, with Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru, and Yamanaka Ino as its genin members." Writing down the other two teams on the same sheet of paper as before, the blonde haired man glanced at the clock in his office for the second time in half an hour. "You have approximately fifty minutes until you have to pick up your teams from the academy, though whether you test them on their teamwork today or tomorrow is up to you. Dismissed!"

Monday 12:30, Konohagakure no Sato; Ninja Academy, Iruka's Classroom

Naru was bored. Like, completely bored. She was so bored she had started counting the cracks on the ceiling, but had quickly grown bored of that as well. Of course, it didn't help matters that Iruka had given them an entire hour to eat lunch, stating that they would be assigned their Jonin senseis and teams at roughly one o'clock, which was in...half an hour.

Just as she was about to start meditating, however, the door leading out into the hallway opened. Seeing as this particular door swung towards her current position inside the room, it wasn't until the two people stepped past the door itself that she actually got a lock on who they were.

The first person was Iruka, whom Naru had no trouble recognizing. The second was a woman she didn't know, though Naru could tell said woman was definitely a kunoichi by the way she carried herself. When Iruka pointed in her direction, however, the young Hyuuga grew curious, even more so when the kunoichi who came in with him started walking towards her. When said female ninja came to a stop in front of her, Naru glanced upwards, letting her cerulean eyes meet the kunoichi's brown orbs.

"Hyuuga-Namikaze Naru?" the unknown female asked, her voice a soft alto.

"That's me."

"Great! I'm Mitarashi Anko..." Here the corners of Anko's mouth quickly shifted upwards into a grin that could only be described as predatory, "...And I'm your new Sensei."

A/N: Annnnnd Cut! Yes, I'm evil for stopping chapter three with a cliffie, but it was already longer than chapter two by a few hundred words, so I needed to finish it up somehow...

Anyways, I won't make any promises about what story I'll update next, though I will say I'm still bursting with ideas for this one. We'll just have to see what happens, won't we?

Next chapter will pick up the pace quite a bit, as it'll be time for Naru to start TRAINING! Yay!

Finally, don't forget to click the nice blue review button; I've enabled anonymous reviews, so it's easy to leave a comment! Remember that reviews tell me what I'm doing right, and, more importantly, what I'm doing wrong. Also, feel free to leave suggestions in your reviews for the boy Naru will end up with; while I will have the final say in what happens (it's my story after all :p), my decision can be influenced with enough reviews for a certain pairing.

That being said, here's to making a stew from the plot bunnies,

-ZGS