An uneventful week later, well, excluding that bit where he'd met some bratty kid named Konohamaru, Naruto was sitting next to the window in the classroom that he'd spent the last year trying to get out of, gazing out the window, completely uninterested when the two class fangirls burst through the door and rushed to sit next to 'Sasuke', and he rolled his eyes as the blue haired boy promptly ignored them and they shrieked about how 'cool' it made him.

When Naruto let out a bored sigh, Ino and Sakura glared at him and Sakura growled, "Narutooo!"

Naruto said, "What is it Sakura? I don't remember saying anything."

"You didn't have to!"

"Oh?" Naruto said, raising an eyebrow as Ino looked at her pink haired not-friend askance.

"You just insulted Sasuke, didn't you?"

"No. although, come to think of it, what do you see in this lime-haired freak?" Naruto asked as he tapped Sasuke on his head.

Ino asked, "What do you mean 'lime-haired'?! Sasuke has blu…!?" and her eyes widened to epic proportions as she saw Sasuke's hair to turn lime green from the roots and extending to just before the tips.

Sasuke himself glared at the blonde for daring to touch him, the last Uchiha, with his low-born fingers. Flames surrounded Sakura as she ordered, "You turn Sasuke's hair back, NOW!"

"Why would I do that, exactly?" Naruto asked as he exaggeratedly mimed as if his ears had been hurt by her yelling.

"Because, his blue hair's so distinguished, not that freaky lime green!"

Sasuke thought, 'What are they…?' and lifted a lock of his hair so that he could see it and he got pissed. Royally. He shot up, out of his seat and grabbed the collar of Naruto's shirt and demanded, "What did you do, Dobe?"

By this time, almost all of the boys, and the non-fangirls of the class, were laughing at what was happening, even Kato and his cronies. 'Luckily', Iruka came in at that point and said, "ALRIGHT!" his head doubling in size. "What is goin…" then he saw Sasuke's hair and sighed. He said, "Sasuke, I understand if you want to celebrate your graduation, but please, do it after you don't have to come here anymore. Until then, you are still classified as a student here, so you'll need to come back to see me when classes are done for the day," causing the class to burst out in laughter as Sasuke tried to sink into his chair, trying to hide without the use of a jutsu, not that it would have been particularly helpful, even if he had. Iruka sighed and said, "Okay!" quickly quieting the class again. He said, "Now, as you know…

INSERT IRUKA'S SPEECH HERE

"…Team seven will be Uzumaki Naruto," causing Naruto to start paying attention again. "Hyūga Hinata." Hinata's face turned bright red and she fainted, joyous at getting placed on the same team as Naruto. "And Sasuke Uchiha."

The announcement of the formation of Team Seven elicited many disappointed groans and sighs, as well as some anger-laden epithets directed at the fact that it was the Hyūga princess that got to be with her heart's desire, completely ignoring the fact that had they been put on the same team, the situation would be exactly the same, or, possibly, even worse.

Sasuke though, had the most severe reaction and demanded, "Why am I on the same team as him!?" pointing at Naruto in the seat in front of him.

Iruka blinked as he looked at Sasuke. He said, "Sasuke?"

"I can understand putting Hinata on the same team as I am, but surely there is someone more worthy…or even just better, to put on my team!"

Iruka said, "Sasuke. I know it might be hard for you to hear," looking directly at Sasuke. "…or for more than a few here…" Iruka's gaze flickered over just about every girl in the class. "…but the world doesn't revolve around you. I would suggest that it might be a good time for you to pull your head in. Before someone does it for you." As he talked, Iruka thought, 'How did we miss this? Maybe we were too lenient on him after that incident. Well, no matter now. It's not up to us anymore. Hopefully, whoever Hokage-sama has arranged for them will be able to cure him of that attitude. In any case…' Iruka said, "Team Eight will be Sakura, Shino…and another person from outside the class. You will be working under this other person's current sensei. Team Nine is currently in rotation, Team Ten, Shikamaru, Ino, Chōji…"

By the time he was done, there was still one student left; Kiba, who yelled, "HEY! Iruka-sensei! What about me?!"

Iruka sighed and said, "I'm sorry Kiba, but you will being kept back for another year."

"What!?" Kiba exclaimed. "Why? If Naruto of all of us, is getting put on a team, then why aren't I?!"

Iruka sighed and said, "Kiba. Those are the teams. You can all go now and come back in an hour. Your sensei's will be here to pick you up. Kiba, you can join your class next week. That will be all."

Iruka then closed the folder that he had opened with all the teams listed in it and walked from the room so that he wouldn't have to deal with any more of…well…whatever had been going on before he got there.

XXXXX

Two and a half hours later, all of the teams had left, with the sole exception being Team Seven. Their sensei was late. Very, very, late. So late that even Hinata was starting to get annoyed. Luckily, before any of the genin had the chance to pull some stunt, Kakashi arrived. But he didn't even bother to fully enter the room. He just poked his head around the door frame and said, "Right. The three of you, meet me on the roof in five minutes. The three genin grouchily got up, out of their chairs and walked as slowly as they could up to the roof, making sure that they took the long route.

As he waited for his students, Kakashi thought, 'what is taking them so long?' taking note of the fact that it had already taken them half an hour and they still weren't on the roof with him. When they got to the roof (eventually), Kakashi said, "Where did you go that it took you this long to get here? It should have only taken about two minutes at most for a ninja."

Sasuke testily said, "Like you're one to talk."

Hinata fumbled with her fingers as she looked at the ground, having tried to talk her teammates out of their plan.

Naruto said, "Sorry sensei, we got lost down memory lane. Where were you for the previous two and a half hours?"

"Well, I was on my way, but I saw a black cat and was so stunned that I stumbled backwards into a little old lady carrying her groceries home, knocking the bags from her hands and causing them to go everywhere. So, like any good ninja, I did the right thing and offered to repay her for everything. She refused and dragged me back to the store and had me but everything once again and help her carry them to her house. When that was done, I was hurrying here and came across a cart that was missing a wheel, so I…"

Sasuke grunted and said, "Alright, you don't want to tell us, we get it. What did you want us up here for?"

"Well, we're going to be together for a while, so I thought that it would be a good idea to get to know each other a bit first. I think that you should go first, Sasuke."

"Fine. What do you want to know?"

"Just some basic stuff will do. Your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams and goals. That kind of thing."

"Fine. Uchiha Sasuke. I don't particularly like anything, though there are a lot of things that I dislike. I don't have any hobbies and my dream isn't a dream, or a goal, since I will make it a reality. I will hunt down and kill a certain man and revive the great and noble Uchiha clan."

Kakashi thought, 'So, revenge, is it? I thought so.' He said, alright, how about you, Hinata-chan?"

"M…mm…my name…is Hinata…Hyūga Hinata. I like…medicinal studies…and…training…though I'm not very good. I…dislike…people who look down on others for things that they have no control over. A…hobby…of mine…is flower arranging…and…" Hinata gasped and her face turned bright red as she thought, 'No! I can't tell them that my favourite hobby is stalking Naruto-kun!' She said, "M…mm…my d…dre…dream is…is…is to be as…strong as father…and as…kind…as my mother…and…" Hinata blushed as she looked out of the side of her eyes at Naruto, but didn't say anything more, far too embarrassed to consider doing so.

As Hinata spoke, Kakashi thought, 'So, a Hyūga wants to be a medic-nin? Or…maybe not if she wants to be as strong as Hiashi. But how is she going to resolve that confliction with wanting to be as kind as Hidamari was?' He sighed and said, "You May not be able to achieve both, Hinata."

Hinata got a sad look on her face and she said, "I know. I am more than aware of the contradiction. As is everyone else in my family."

Kakashi frowned as he thought, 'So that is how she came to be in the academy.' He sighed. 'Hiashi, just what the hell did you do?' He said, "Alright. Naruto, you're up next."

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I like Ichiraku Ramen and instant ramen, though I don't like the three minutes that it takes to make it! Oh! I like training too…and Neko-neechan. My dream, is to become the Hokage, and stronger than any that came before me. then everyone will have to recognise me and show respect!"

Kakashi thought, 'Oh. He's grown up in a very interesting way. It's almost too bad.' He said, "Well, that's good. You're all individuals and have your own goals and beliefs."

"So, what's next?" Naruto asked.

"Next, I get to test you."

"Test us?!" Naruto testily said.

Sasuke said, "I thought that we'd left all that rubbish behind when we graduated."

"Yes, well that was to see if you had the potential to become genin. My test is to see if you actually have what it takes."

"What? Don't be ridiculous!" Sasuke said. "I come from the battle-oriented Uchiha Clan. It should go without saying that I 'have what it takes'!"

Naruto grunted and frowned before saying, "Actually…I just thought of something else that I don't like."

"Oh. What would that be, Naruto?" Kakashi asked having a very good idea of what it would be.

Kakashi wasn't surprised when Naruto said, "Stuck up bastards with duck-butt hair that think that they are all that just because they got outside help."

"What was that?" Sasuke snapped.

"Oh puh-lease," Naruto said. "Despite your pretensions, you are just a spoilt brat who doesn't know what it means to truly struggle, or what it takes to earn something."

"You looking for a fight?"

"Do you really want that, mister number one?" Naruto asked.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"What would it do for your reputation when you lost to me? The one with the lowest scores in the class."

"Hn, that isn't possible."

"You won't know that unless you try, you brat," Naruto said, looking down his nose at Sasuke.

Sasuke shot up, but, before he could do anything, Kakashi put his hand between them and said, "Alright, that's about enough of that. If you pair want to fight, meet me tomorrow at Training Ground Seven. That is where your final test will take place. It'll begin at Seven o'clock tomorrow morning, so I suggest that you get there early." Kakashi then smiled at them…or rather, they assumed he did, because all they could see was his right eye. He waved goodbye before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

When Kakashi disappeared, Naruto thought, 'Was that Kage Bunshin? That scroll from last week said something about a cloud of smoke appearing when they were destroyed. I guess I'll just have to ask him tomorrow.' He said, "Well, I'll be seeing you pair tomorrow," and waved goodbye as he walked towards the door that would lead him through the academy, heading to Ichiraku Ramen for a late lunch.

Sasuke grumbled as he made his way to the taijutsu training area and set up a sparring dummy, figuring that there was no need to waste all of his day and set to working off at least some of his anger towards Naruto.

On her part, Hinata made her way through the academy, slower than either of her male teammates, thinking over what just happened. She sighed when she got outside and slowly made her way home. When she got home, she went to her father's office and quietly knocked on the closed door, not wanting to interrupt him, should he be doing something important. He wasn't. Hiashi called out, "Come in."

Hinata went in and said, "Hello, father," in a somewhat distant, but still nervous tone.

"What do you want?"

"I was placed on a team just now."

"Who are you with?"

"Uchiha Sasuke-san and Naruto-kun."

Hiashi thought, 'Naruto? Minato's kid? What the hell does Hiruzen think he's doing, putting those two on a team together?' he said, "I see," and his gaze returned to the papers that he'd been working on before Hinata entered. When his daughter didn't leave, he demanded, "Is there anything else?"

"Well.." Hinata said, biting her bottom lip.

Hiashi said, "If it's not important, then there's the door," pointing at the door that Hinata had entered through.

"I'm sorry father, it's just…"

Hiashi sighed and said, "Just tell me what the problem is," in an exasperated tone.

"It's about Naruto-kun and Sasuke-san."

"What about them?" Hiashi asked in a tone that Hinata had never heard from her father. It sounded almost…desperate?"

'No,' Hinata thought, 'It wasn't desperate…I don't know how to describe it.' But she sighed and said, "Sasuke-san brought up the fact that he was an Uchiha when Hatake Kakashi-sensei told us that he would be testing our skills tomorrow."

Hiashi sighed and asked, "What did Naruto do," in a resigned tone.

"He verbally attacked…almost everything about Sasuke-san. From his family, to his choice in hairstyle. Then he called him a selfish child."

"Were those his words?"

"…not exactly."

Hiashi sighed and said, "I figured."

"Why is that?"

"Uzumaki…tend to have short tempers…and the unfortunate ability to get right to the heart of whatever they have a problem with at the time."

"Uzumaki? Are they a clan?"

Hiashi sighed and said, "They were, but not for a very long time now."

"Wh…wh…what hap…pened?" Hinata asked, her stutter returning full-force now that she and her father were talking about Naruto.

Hiashi sighed as his eldest's stutter returned. He said, "The Uzumaki were targeted during the second Great Shinobi War for a number of reasons. The least of which was their complete lack of an ability to tolerate what they perceived as an insult. Something that young Naruto seems to have inherited a great deal of if the number of complaints the Village Council has received is any indication. The rest is their immense levels of chakra and their abilities with fūinjutsu, as well as their ability to shrug off injuries that would normally take days or even weeks for a 'normal' shinobi to heal from." Hiashi sighed. "If I'm being honest, even a fully trained Hyūga would be hard pressed to completely shut down even a half-trained Uzumaki."

"I…didn't know."

"No," Hiashi said., "I'm not surprised. The Uchiha on the council, along with their allies at the time passed a bill prohibiting the teaching of anything even remotely related to that clan within the academy."

"Then…how do you know all this?" Ah! I'm sorry," Hinata said, horrified at questioning her father, the leader of her clan.

Hiashi sighed and said, "All of that is in some of the scrolls on the fifth sub-basement of our clan's library."

"The…but…there are only…four levels below ground…isn't there?"

Hiashi smiled and said, "Why don't you go and try to find it yourself?"

"But…only members of chūnin and above skill in jūken are able to…"

"Here," Hiashi said and tossed a pin over to his daughter that was in the shape of a tiger lily. He said, "That will grant you access."

Hinata said, "This is…"

Hiashi nodded and said, "Your mother's. Yes. She wanted to give it to you when you were ready."

"When I was…ready? For what?"

Hiashi sighed and said, "Who knows. I certainly don't. but her mother gave it to her when she first went down there, so I figure that now is as good a time as any for you to see it."

"I see…" Hinata said as she got up out of her chair. Hiashi saw her fight a desire to do something, but eventually she sighed and settled for bowing and saying, "Thank you, father," and walked from the room before making her way to the clan library.

XXXXX

When Hinata got to the library, the desk clerk said, "Oh, you're back," in a detached tone."

"Yes," Hinata said in a slightly warmer tone.

"Which level is it today?"

"Father has granted me access to the fifth floor."

"He's…seriously?!" the clerk exclaimed, completely losing all of her Hyūga-bred composure, her eyes widening in shock. The clerk said, "I don't belie…! Wait…" as she noticed the pin that Hinata had attached to her thick coat. She frowned and thought, 'If Hiashi-sama gave her that, then maybe she really is telling the truth.' She sighed and asked, "Do you know what that pin is for?"

"No. father only told me that my mother got it from hers."

"I see," the clerk said. "I'm not surprised. It is a secret passed on through your mother's line."

"Do you know what it is, oba-san?"

"I'm afraid not," Hinata's aunt said, the aloofness now completely banished from her voice. "Only nee-chan was told what it was for. All I know is that it's not really what it is."

"It's not…what it is?"

The clerk sighed and said, "Even I don't know what that means. That's all I could get from my mother before she passed after nee-chan did." Both Hyūga kunoichi sighed and the clerk said, "Come on, I'll take you down there."

"Father said that I should find it myself."

"Oh? Well, alright then," Hinata's aunt said, smiling. "I'll see you on your way back then."

"Hai," Hinata said, nodding as she went down the stairs to the lower floors.

XXXXX

That afternoon, the door to Hiruzen's office got blown off of its hinges. He looked up at the noise and sighed. He said, "Tsume."

"Hiruzen!" Tsume angrily said.

"I was wondering when you'd be here."

"I want an explanation. And it had better be a good one. Or…"

"Or what?" Hiruzen asked, a dangerous look in his eyes that Tsume hadn't seen…well…ever.

"The Inuzuka have many allies on the council. Enough to make trouble when it comes to time to pass new legislation, or make changes to certain curriculums."

Hiruzen sighed and said, "I don't know what you've heard. So let's start there." He pointed at a chair and said, "Please, take a seat, this could take a while."

"Alright," Tsume said, dragging the seat over, setting it down in front of the Sandaime Hokage. When she was sitting down, she crossed her arms and glared at Hiruzen. "Now, speak."

Hiruzen sighed and said, "Tsume. I am not one of your clansmen. You will treat me with the proper respect," his killer intent making itself known.

This caused Tsume to start sweating, focusing on concentrating hard enough on her anger to stay in control of herself. Eventually, when her concentration was failing, she said, "Sor…ry…I…will…" and gasped in relief when the onslaught came to a stop.

"Good. Now, what is your greatest problem with this situation?"

"Kiba got held back, after passing."

"Ah. Well, it would appear that the lecturers used Naruto to falsely prop up his scores in taijutsu. Now, here," Hiruzen said, pushing some papers towards Tsume on his desk. Tsume got up and picked the papers off the table and started reading through them. As she did, Hiruzen said, "Since that was the case, I chose to let Naruto, an orphan, who achieved similar grades to Kiba, a clan heir, in all of the other areas graduate in place of your son. I understand that it can easily be taken as an insult towards your clan, however I need to think on what is best for all of Konoha, not the sensibilities of one clan."

Tsume sighed and said, "Alright. I get that they had similar grades, but if that de…uhrk…Naruto…" Tsume changed when Hiruzen's eyes narrowed. "...had similar scores, then why isn't he being held back too?"

"Because, he achieved those scores, despite multiple lecturers actively working together to sabotage his growth as a shinobi."

"Surely any sabotage would have been negated the next year?"

"It happened every year. That is why the curriculum changes that you were trying to hold over my head are absolutely necessary." Hiruzen sighed and said, "I probably shouldn't mention this, but they are also going to serve as a way to put a stop to the clans' domination of the academy system."

Tsume raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh? Well, I've got to say, it's about damn time."

"Excuse me?"

"No offence, but the way you set it up, led to a large amount of the problems with the Uchiha clan."

Hiruzen sighed and said, "I suppose that you might have a point there."

"What do you mean 'might'? Every year that there was an Uchiha graduating, they got top place…well…with the sole exclusion being Kakashi's year."

"Hiruzen sighed and said, "I suppose you might have a point there."

"Just one more thing before I go…"

"What's that?"

"Sasuke. According to this report, Naruto was being used to prop up his scores too."

Hiruzen sighed and said, "I know. But his scores in the ninjutsu section were by far the best in the class. I am aware that he was getting outside help with them too, but the fact remains that he did pass the tests on his own merit, even if, all things being equal, his scores would have been less impressive. Also, as you are aware, there are…pressures…being placed upon not only me, but the lecturers at the academy to aid Sasuke's growth as a shinobi. Both in the hope that it will make him more loyal than his brother was, and because he's an Uchiha." Hiruzen frowned at that.

Tsume sighed and said, "Yeah," knowing who some of the perpetrators of those pressures were.

"Besides," Hiruzen grinned. "He's going to be getting a rude awakening tomorrow."

"Oh? How's that?"

"Kakashi is Sasuke's jōnin instructor, and he's on a team with Naruto and Hinata."

"Oh? The Hyūga heiress? Why? I thought that it was usually the 'top' kunoichi that got put on that team."

"Yes, well…this time is…different."

"How so?"

"Naruto has more than some of the latent traditional traits of the Uzumaki, and Sasuke has inherited every trait of the Uchiha clan that irritates those from the Uzumaki. I'm sure you can imagine that having a kunoichi on their team that is completely devoted to Sasuke, and dismisses everything about Naruto, including his ideas, out of hand, isn't a good thing. Even more so a jinchūriki."

"Okay, I can see that. But by all accounts, Hinata is no different, just the other way around."

"That's not right. Young Hinata is certainly devoted to Naruto. Of that there is little doubt. However, she just doesn't care enough to hold any intense emotions towards Sasuke. That means that she will be able to work together with them both far better than Sakura or Ino would."

Tsume sighed and said, "Alright. I guess I can see that. Just one thing before I leave."

"Alright."

"Why did you bring up his status as a jinchūriki?"

"Ah. That…doesn't really matter."

"Yes, it does."

Hiruzen sighed and said, "The Uzumaki were seal masters. There is no doubting that."

"True, but what's your point?"

"Almost all of their advanced fūinjutsu possessed emotional components to them. Especially when it came to chakra seals."

"A…" Tsume sighed. "Alright. Thank you for clearing this whole mess up." Tsume then stood and nodded as she said, "Hokage-sama," and left.

Hiruzen nodded at Tsume in return, and said, "I'll see you at the next council meeting."

XXXXXXX

A/N

Definitions

Hidamari Hyūga: Exposure to the sun – keeps in line with the naming of the other Hyūga females in Hinata's family.

Answers to Reviews

Guest: There is next to no difference between Gen'ei Bunshin and Kage Bunshin. The only really identifiable difference is that there will never be any memory transferring ability. THAT was an 'asspull' if ever I saw one.