Start

With his arms propping the back of his head, Naruto rested on a branch of a tree as he stared off in to the distance. It had almost been a year since his training begun. He loved training all right, but definitely abhorred books and history.

Why lecture him now when the Academy can do those the next year, right?

What he wanted was enough jutsus to amaze everyone and to see what he's really worth.

He never seemed to understand why everyone avoided him.

His horrible habit on drawing on walls ceased to a halt the moment The Hokage paid fuller attention to him. Though cranky and serious at most times, the old man was like his very own grandfather. And that meant something to him.

For once in his whole seven years of life, he managed to feel a Family. Because of the Hokage, he spent more time with the Sarutobis, and because of that, he also got to spend time with Sakura as well.

The two were no longer playing ninjas; they were sparring as ninjas even if they bore no title.

However, Sakura recently began another training that always had something to do with dead fishes. And because of that, the manor would end up smelling like a rotting market.

Which was why, Naruto was outside. Far from the mansion.

Because of his training, he also spent little time in his provided apartment until eventually, Megumi invited him to stay over. Which he now wished he shouldn't have said yes, because now, his apartment was surrendered just for him to sleep in the old man's fishy house.

He shuddered at the memory of stinking fish. He sat up, appreciating in the cool morning air as he stretched and scratched his back. Come to think of it, he doesn't even remember what the mansion's distinct scent was like anymore.

From the way the sun sat among the white fluffy clouds, it must have been seven in the morning. He knew the old man must be looking for him right now, if he hadn't hid his crystal ball six months ago, hiding would be useless now. After all, it was just the beginning of his office work. So if endless piles were sitting graciously at the Hokage's table right now, he would actually have to help him sort missions and other things just so they could make way for his training.

And boy, the old man surely had lots to teach, and Naruto was barely able to even master the Kage Bunshin. A technique he eventually grew to admire especially whenever the Hokage was too lazy to go over his own papers. It was a secret the two shared.

Perhaps he could just show up at noon.

He was never intentionally late on training before. Sure he'd love to train to become stronger, but he greatly hated the process of actually earning a slice from the Hokage's schedule-

Catching a pebble a few inches away from his head, Naruto faced the direction from where it was thrown. "What the hell?"

Above him was a raven-haired boy about his age, looking down with deep onyx eyes. He wore a black shirt and from the logo on his back, he was from the Uchiha clan. Of course, it would be quite difficult to not know him since the whole village sympathized for his loss.

It disgusted Naruto how the villaged sucked up to this snot-faced kid. Before his family was massacred and long before he began his training, they once tossed around in Konoha's spacious playground, playing ninja, of course. The Uchiha kid was much easier to be around then. He would always tease him of being the male version of the Hyuuga heiress because of his meekness while the Uchiha boy would just charge at him after being teased like so.

It was sad because the warm, convivial boy he once knew now looked pale, thin and insipid.

"It's been a while," smirked the Uchiha

"It has," responded Naruto awkwardly. Actually he wanted to palm his face, feeling embarrassed on the boy's part, acting cool was something he now had to adjust to. No once could blame Naruto since he was honestly just not used to the Uchiha's present personality.

That gauche minute of staring at each other felt unruly to Naruto as he racked his brains for thinking of something else to say until he randomly came up with, "how's life?"

Of all the things he could have said, he unwittingly went down the wrong path that ruined a delicately harnessed acquaintanship as the Uchiha narrowed his eyes at Naruto.

"Dead" responded the angsty child.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Now you did," interrupted the Uchiha

Asking for the guy's name would now seem very off. Perhaps now would be a nice time to excuse himself. "Well then," began Naruto as he initiated for his leave, "It was really nice meeting you again, Uchiha"

"Leaving so soon?" mused the Uchiha as he watched him like a cat would a mouse

"Um, yeah? I kinda have to go train now..." the blonde's voice trailed off as his conscience admonished him for forgetting his manners, "you could come if you want?"

The Uchiha wordlessly took his invitation as he hopped down from his branch and waited for Naruto with what seemed like an excited smirk, "Let's see what you've got"

Their little training suddenly became an actual spar when the Uchiha suddenly threw him a barrage of wild, emotion-filled throws that startled Naruto.

"I thought we're training?" reminded Naruto as he blocked and dodged angry punches and throws.

"We are," the Uchiha flew back, throwing shurikens as he did.

Naruto smoothly blocked them with a kunai he normally tucked away in his pants. He found it funny how this guy seemed to take life so seriously now that he accentuated the Uchiha to: "relax dude, it's only a training not a fight"

"How dare you underestimate me," spat the violent child, "fight me back, dammit!"

Naruto blinked. Wow, someone really is on edge today. Or maybe it was just because of the built up tension this child earned over the several months that took place. After the Uchiha holocaust, he never really saw him.

Before his brain got the chance to actually start functioning again, the Uchiha already began a string of combination on him that actually wrenched through his gut. And that hurt.

When Naruto skidded across the dewy grass, tumbled within the empty training grounds and landed on a tree, an amused chuckle escaped his lips further confusing the Uchiha.

"What?" barked the flummoxed boy.

"Nothing," said Naruto, a mischievous grin tugging at his lips, "it's just that I know that this is going to be fun. What's your name again?"

"Uchiha Sasuke"

xxxx

Sakura was helping herself a hefty serving of red bean ice cream with as much as her sore hands would let her.

Spending hours on that one cursed fish took out more than her chakra reserves. She managed to wake from her two-day sleep after passing out from trying to revive what would usually become their dinner.

She shrugged as she put away the ice cream container back in the fridge and lifted a spoon to her mouth. After spending months on learning anatomy and physiology, she knew rice would be a much healthier pick to fill in her stomach that remained empty for two days. But since fish was always on the menu, she'd have to go for something else, like red bean ice cream.

"Have you seen Naruto?" came a loud voice that startled Sakura.

"Hokage-sama," reckoned a slightly weakened Sakura, "what's wrong?"

"Nothing it's just Naruto's late for his training, it's quite unusual," with that the Sandaime left Sakura in the dining room.

"Have you seen Tsunade?" hollered the pinkette; the sound of doors sliding closed was her only response.

Quickly devouring her only meal, she set out to Konoha, basking in the middays's warm sunlight. She still couldn't believe having been outcold for two straight days; it felt like having her life fast-forwarded.

Perhaps she could go and hang out with Naruto today for a start despite the fact that the Hokage is looking for him.

Her search eventually led her to the training grounds that sang out sonorous notes coming from metal. Alarmed she swiftly threw her kunai at the distant combat, breaking Naruto and his attacker off.

She wasted no time in pinning down the evil bastard that was tackling Naruto. Her left knee pinned her prey's wrists at the base of his back, completely immobilizing him. She adjusted her grip on his hair so that her kunai angled at his carotid.

"Who-"

"Sakura chill!" laughed Naruto as he dragged Sakura off the poor Uchiha, if he even looked pitiful in that state. His nose was still held high as he dusted himself.

"Jeez Naruto, you had me worried and all especially when The Sandaime said he was looking for you," she tucked her kunai away back into her personalized holster strapped on to her right thigh.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot the old man," began Naruto as he cheekily scratched his head.

Sakura sighed, only to have her breath fall short as the hair on her nape stood on end at the presence of Naruto's new, yet familiar acquaintance, she watched the raven-haired kid rise to his feet. His clan's symbol gave away the fact that he was an Uchiha.

She didn't know why, but even as a child she never enjoyed the presence of one. Her gut only proved her right when the older brother of this kid bathed himself in his family's ultimate carnage.

"This is Sasuke," introduced Naruto

Sakura merely nodded her head once, "nice to meet you,"

"We've already med, I believe" corrected the Uchiha

"Nice to meet you again, then," she slightly arched a brow. She certainly didn't like him.

Even throughout the five years of their stay in the Academy, the closest thing Sakura would feel towards Sasuke was as good as a professional comrade, unlike Naruto, who instantly labeled him a best friend.

At first Sakura grew quite jealous with how Sasuke was stealing her best friend away, she wouldn't talk to Naruto when he went looking for her especially at times where Sasuke was nowhere to be found.

It stayed like that until eventually Naruto annoyed her to the point where she'd have to forgive him. After all, they were still best friends; Sasuke was just an addition that Naruto wedged into their tight friendship. And no, Sakura was still against towards their new group formation. But she supposed she had no choice since she didn't seem to find it easy mingling with the other girls in class.

She would rather play rough with the boys at the yard than play dolls, fix hairs and talk about boys.

During her first year, in the Ninja Academy, everyone teased her wide forehead. Sakura dealt with the girls harshly and when boys pulled the pranks, the master of all pranks would avenge Sakura.

Sasuke always seemed out of the picture since everyone adored his annoyingly elegant features, instantly earning a horde of fan girls. Naruto was slightly jealous at first, but after showing a few tricks up his sleeves, he earned himself a good handful as well. Sakura would just shake her head whenever Naruto would brag about how the girls would go crazy over him. At least, Sasuke knew the meaning of humble... Either that, or he really didn't care. That only seemed like the thing Sakura appreciated about him.

At their second year, those three stood out from class. Sakura shined brightly as a kunoichi and leveled well with her two competetive boys. Sasuke seemed disappointed after learning that he wasn't just the top one, especially when he noticed how Naruto easily found his place alongside his rank. From then on Sasuke considered Naruto his rival, only amusing Naruto further as he took up the challenge. Sakura would always shake her head, as the two would begin their useless banter before executing tasks.

Just like the day when they had shuriken throwing that day.

Out on the actual field, their conversation usually went a little something like:

"I bet I can aim my target with three shurikens," bragged Naruto

"I can do that simultaneously with three targets," mused Sasuke

"I can do that to! With blindfolds!"

"No you can't," dared Sasuke, only to be baffled by Naruto's lucky shots.

It wasn't long before the two would randomly shower the yard with never ending shurikens and the whole class would have to watch in awe with Iruka reprimanding them at first before joining in with the audience with his jaw slightly ajar.

Another event was when Iruka was trying to teach them the traditional way to control one's chakra by keeping a simple leaf plastered onto the forehead.

A challenge silently rose when Kiba noted how well and long the leaf stayed on Sasuke's forehead. Naruto spiced things up a little by placing another leaf on his chin, earning more points from the girls.

Sakura palmed her face when Sasuke placed a leaf each on his forearms, the back of his hands and on his knees. She couldn't believe Sasuke was really going to put up with Naruto's immaturity.

Naruto did the same, placing leaves on te exact same places where Sasuke placed them. And so he began manipulating the leaves so that it looked as if they crawled across his skin like the way Shino's bugs did. Irked, Sasuke did the same until eventually the Uchiha had to give this one to Naruto since the boy had the balls to actually roll around a pile of leaves and maintained having his body draped in a green coat from head to toe. This was probably what the Hokage was telling to her about when he shared how Naruto's first training with him went.

She and the whole class laughed at him.

Throughout the Academy, Sakura was known for her exotic pink hair, charming looks and her superior intelligence. Naruto was known for his unusual vitality, energy, never ending enthusiasm and his boisterous loud ways. And Sasuke? Well, he was an Uchiha. And that basically summed things up. He was a natural born prodigy bearing his clan's distinct, captivating eyes.

Whenever classes began, Sakura would always gaze beyond the window, barely listening to things she already knew. When this habit was first noticed, she was always called upon. All the teachers' attempts of embarrassing her with questions they thought she never knew failed miserably. She was amused at how they underestimated her.

Naruto was always busy devising pranks on to the next victim, and when teachers tried to also pin him down, Sakura was always there to the rescue. After all, there were just seatmates.

Sasuke would listen. Even if the two knew he was getting bored, he was just putting up a face just to preserve the Uchiha clan's dignity. Apparently, he was the only good role model in class.

Their days dragged on to years of monotony until one morning broke the chain.

Finally, throughout the five years in the Academy, they were being grouped. All girls crossed fingers, obviously praying and wishing to be in either Naruto or Sasuke's team. While all boys did the same for Sakura.

When Uzumaki and Uchiha were mentioned all girls ended up crying when Haruno came into the list. Who knew things would be a little too predictable? Who would have thought that the Sandaime specifically endorsed this to the Academy?

"Awesome!" hyped Naruto as he skipped in between Sakura and Sasuke, "can you believe it? We're still together?"

Sakura surely wished she didn't have to team up with the Uchiha. The raven-haired boy kept quiet.

"Did Megumi nee-chan fix our lunch, Sakura-chan?"

"Next time Naruto, you should be the one bringing our own lunch"

"Oh no, I did, that one's just for Sasuke-teme" grinned Naruto as he snatched one bento from the kunoichi to be, "Here Sasuke!"

"I have mine," the Uchiha revealed a wrapped onigiri from his pocket.

Sakura and Naruto blinked. What a strange place to keep his lunch, both thought.

"What?" shrugged the Uchiha as he began his unwrapping his lunch.

"But we prepared lunch for you," added Naruto, pouting as he ushered the lunch box to Sasuke.

"Let him be Naruto, he seems happy with his puny rice ball. Apparently, Mr. Sophisticated thinks our lunch is for common people," with that Sakura stormed out, randomly heading straight among the greenery of the Academy's yard.

The two blinked in shock.

"Don't mind Sakura-chan, she's just short-tempered," grinned Naruto

Break time ended too soon and Team Seven sat patiently, watching jounins take their team out of the classroom one by one until they were the last ones there.

Minutes of waiting stretched to hours as they sat. Naruto was busy setting up a booby trap by doing a jutsu to make three white chalks appear like kunais, these 'kunais' were set up against a garter-which seemed to answer Sasuke's question earlier- that were all strategically hooked into the right places so that when their sensei actually turns up Naruto would laugh hard as to how seriously they'd take the chalks out.

Sakura already came back in through the open window, cradling a tiny white bundle of cloth against her chest.

"What's that?" asked Naruto, running through the last details of his prank

"A dying chick," muttered Sakura as she unraveled the cloth to see a skinny hatchling, its beak wide open as its chest fluttered, straining for oxygen as she set it down on her wooden desk.

Sasuke watched her dainty hands glow a faint green and observed the bird growing lively by the second. He scoffed and looked away. Sakura just rolled her eyes and watched the bird curiously hop around and constantly chirp, later she would have to return this hatchling to its nest.

It wasn't long before the sound of doors sliding open sliced through the air, all heads snapped to the source of noise. In a split second, the twang of the garter hurled the 'kunais' at the sight of silver locks as it later on revealed a masked face that only showed a lazy right eye staring at them before his attention moved to the three kunais aimed for him.

He only dispelled it a few inches before all three tapped his face and clattered on the floor. He just stared at them before shoving them away with his feet as Naruto howled in laughter.

"He actually fell for it!"

"No Naruto, that's why he dispelled it," corrected Sakura

"But still, it hit him!" with that Naruto violently slapped his desk as he laughed harder.

"Who did that?" mused the strange jounin as he referred to the chalks.

Naruto instantly pointed at Sasuke while the two directly pointed at him. The man sighed as he stepped in the room.

"Honestly," he began, crossing his arms "I don't like you guys"

A/N: I hope this doesn't seemed too rushed:) and i definitely would love to hear what you guys think:)

I'm open to inserting any suggestions as long as it won't harm my own plot:)

I'm planning to make this end at 15 chapters. I just hope everything won't be too crammed then, but if it doesn't reach my quota, I hope 20 chapters would be the limit:)

Anywho, what do you guys think? Team Seven has officially been formed:) and it was less on Sakura as i balanced out the three:)

After stabilizing the introduction of each character, I must move them to a certain age so that we can all finally get back on to the plot!

Mwahahahahaha:)