Wow. How long has it been? 15 days? Sorry guys, I really wasn't expecting the chapter to take this long. Life decided to be difficult again. Too much has happened in the last two weeks, so I'm not even going to try to explain it. But hey, I wrote it, didn't I? This is the beginning of Arc 1, which will include the team decisions and bell test, the Wave mission, and some of the stuff after it. I ask you to bare with me through the first part of this fic. I've been trying to include subtle hints of NaruSaku here and there, but nothing major will happen for a while. Something will be happening in Wave and the Chuunin exams, so hopefully that'll satisfy you guys until we get to Shippuden. Then the real fun will begin. :D

I think I overdid it a little with the reactions to the team's discovery of Naruto and Yoshirou's brotherly relationship. And Akio's... sort of. Also, there won't be any questions at the end of this chapter, considering nothing really major happens. Maybe next chapter. If not, then definitely the one after. Review if you want to, but I'm not going to beg. It's only the second chapter, third if your counting the Prologue.

My apologies to tennisdesi91 for not responding to your answers. ^ See lame reason above. ^ Thanks for reviewing. Thanks to Gravenimage and NarutoRocks as well for your reviews.

Disclaimer: What if I told you that I was actually a pawn in a plan created by Kishimoto to create a conspiracy about a myth about the true origins of Naruto? I bet you would think I'm crazy. Too bad I'm not a pawn and none of that is true (I think), so you can't think I'm crazy. Right? I don't own Naruto, nor will I ever will.

Purge

Arc 1- Chapter 1: Teams, Introductions, and Journeys

"Team 7 will be... Uchiha Sasuke..."

Sasuke perked up, it was about time his name was called. All of the former Academy students had successfully passed the Genin Exam, even Naruto. The dead-last's graduation was a surprise to the other students, some of them had even made bets on his reaction when he failed. When he came out of the examination room proudly wearing his hitai-ite, the room went quiet, save for a few gasps of shock. Currently, Iruka was assigning them all teams. Being an Uchiha, Sasuke had really thought he would be on one of the first teams. Instead, apparently, he was on Team 7. Now he could only pray that he wouldn't be given a rabid fan girl or the "dobe" as teammates.

"... Haruno Sakura..."

Sasuke's head hit the desk. Why does Kami hate me? He looked behind him when he heard a loud "CHA!" of excitement. Sakura had one leg on her desk, fist raised in the air.

"In your face, INO-PIG!" she shouted, pointed over at Ino. The blond was currently moping, muttering "Sasuke-kuuuuuun..." Sakura smiled and turned to look at Sasuke, who, upon seeing her eyes, quickly turned around and started praying.

Naruto was sitting over to the side of the room, sadly watching the scene before him unfold. Why did Sakura have to be paired up with Sasuke? Why not him? Now Sakura would never notice him. Oh well, as long as she's happy.

"... and Uzumaki Naruto."

All cheering stopped. The silence that lasted for a full thirty seconds was suddenly interrupted by Ino's laughing, followed shortly by Sakura's desperate shouts of "NO!" and Sasuke's head hitting the desk again. Naruto smiled. Sure, he was placed with the Uchiha, but he was also on a team with Sakura! Now she would surely notice him! And how bad could Sasuke be? He would definitely ignore them, but that wasn't so horrible. Now, if only he could get a good sensei...

"Your sensei will be Hatake Kakashi." This got Naruto thinking. He was positive he had heard that name before. He broke out of his thoughts when he heard Iruka speak again.

"Team 8 will be... Hyuuga Hinata... Aburame Shino... and Inuzuka Kiba. Your sensei will be Yuhi Kurenai."

Almost immediately, a black haired woman with red eyes poofed into the room, told her team to meet her at a random training ground, and left in the same manner in which she came. That wasn't right! Where was his sensei? He should've shown up by now, but Team 7 was still waiting. Iruka shouted out the names for Team 9, and again their sensei poofed into the room, gave his team directions, and disappeared. This only served to piss Naruto off even more. Oh, this Kakashi guy was going to get it.

"Team 10 will be Yamanaka Ino... Nara Shikamaru... and Akimichi Choji. Your sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma."

A man with black hair, a black beard, and brown eyes poofed into the room. He was smoking a cigarette. "Meet me outside by the swing," he said. Instead of using the shunshin, he walked out the door, muttering, "Damn technique is overrated." Team 10 looked at each other before shrugging and walking out after him.

Now Naruto was just outright angry. Three teams had been called after theirs, and their sensei still hadn't appeared. This was getting out of hand, and now there weren't even any genin left in the room. Just him, Sasuke, and Sakura, all of whom shared the same thought.

What kind of ninja can be this late?

A half hour passed, and Kakashi was still MIA. Sasuke was staring out the window, occasionally muttering a "hn". Sakura was seething, but for two reasons. The first reason was obviously their late sensei. The second reason had to do something with Naruto's pacing. The pinkette could've sworn that Naruto was creating a trench with the back-and-forth motion, and it was starting to get very annoying.

"Stop it, baka!" she shouted, finally snapping. "He'll get here when he gets here, so stop pacing!"

Naruto did indeed stop, but instead of flinching like one would normally do after getting yelled at, he smiled. A big, goofy smile. Any attention he could get from Sakura was good, even if it did involve her yelling at him.

Sakura noticed this, and thought it a little creepy. But... y'know, it's also kinda... cute? She vigorously shook her head. No, there was no was that idiot was cute. Thankfully, there was a shunshin-announcing poof, which saved her from thinking about the incident any more. A man with spiky white hair stood in the middle of the classroom. He was wearing the standard jounin flak vest, black shinobi shirt and pants, and standard shinobi sandals. The lower half of his face was covered by a mask, and his left eye was covered by his headband.

Kakashi lifted his right hand to give a half-wave while mellowly saying, "Yo." His current attention was focused on a small orange book.

Naruto couldn't stand his bored demeanor. "You. Are. LATE!" he shouted, pointing an accusing finger at his new sensei. Kakashi looked up from his book from a split second, but soon did a double take. His lone visible eye widened slightly, and he closed the novel, pocketing it in his vest. He stared Naruto down.

"No way... blond hair, whisker marks..." he pointed a shaking finger at the blond. "I have absolutely no idea who you are!"

Naruto literally fell down. Was this guy serious?

Whew, that was close, Kakashi thought. Almost gave away how I knew him. Can't let him know about his father just yet... even if I can't believe that he's actually alive. I won't fail sensei, not again!

Kakashi pulled out his book again, and turned towards his new pupils, "Meet me on the roof." He poofed away. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke looked at each other, before making the slow trek to the set meeting point.

Once the team was fully assembled on the roof, Kakashi spoke. "Alright, we're going to get to know each other. State your name, your likes and dislikes, and your dreams for the future. You go first, blondie."

Naruto snorted, "You first."

"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I have no likes and dislikes, and my dreams are none of your business."

There was a silence. So, all we really learned was his name. Figures. Naruto thought, sighing. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like ramen, training, and Sakura-chan. I dislike Sasuke-teme, people who judge others without really knowing them, and food that isn't ramen. My dream is to become the future Hokage. Dattebayo!"

Kakashi merely looked at him for a couple of seconds, before pointing to Sakura. "You're next, Crush of Blondie."

Sakura growled, sending a glare towards Naruto, "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like shopping and Sasuke-kun. I dislike Naruto and perverts. My dream is to become a great kunoichi."

Kakashi flinched and quickly put away his book. He twiddled his thumbs for a moment, trying to think of a good hiding place to escape to before his suffered a few broken bones. Eventually he just sighed, and pointed to Sasuke. "Now you, Crush of Blondie's Crush."

Sasuke shivered. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I have no likes. My dislikes include the dobe and her. My ambition is to kill a certain person."

Kakashi sighed. Great, so we have Naruto, a fan girl, and a self-proclaimed avenger. This is going to be interesting. "Well then. I guess now that that is out of the way, it is time to take the official genin test."

Now, wait a minute. Didn't they already graduate? All of them clearly remembered going into the examination room and walking out afterwords proudly wearing the Konoha hitai-ite. So what was this about another test?

"I can see that all of you are rightfully confused," Kakashi continued. "That test you took to graduate from the Academy was not the real genin test. That was, how should I put it, a qualification test to see if you qualified for the rank of genin. Meet me tomorrow at 6 AM at Training Ground 11 for the real deal. Oh, and don't eat breakfast. See ya!" Before the unofficial genin could muster a response, the silver-haired jounin had shunshined away.

Sakura took this sudden departure as an opportunity to ask Sasuke out on a date, "Hey, Sasuke-kun? Do you... um... wanna go get something to eat with me?" Sasuke didn't respond. Instead, he got up and walked away, hands in his pockets. Sakura automatically got up and started following him, but the two only got to the edge of the roof when they heard another poof. Someone had appeared in front of Naruto.

"Hey, gaki. What's up?"

"Onii-san! Where's my ramen?!" Naruto half asked, half shouted, unfazed by Yoshirou's sudden appearance.

"That's one of the two reasons why I'm hear. The other is to introduce you to someone."

Just as Yoshirou said that, Naruto felt two hands on his shoulders. He whirled around, kunai at the ready. The scythe-wielding man laughed.

"Well, he checks off in self-defense. You been training him, Yoshirou?"

Yoshirou nodded. "Twelve long years. Gaki, this is Matsuni Akio. He's gonna be staying here for a while." Naruto looked back at Akio, and his eyes were drawn to one thing in particular.

"Cool scythe!"

Akio grinned. "Kid's got good taste. What's your favorite food, Naruto?"

"Ramen."

"... Coming here was the best decision I've ever made. Any good ramen places in this village?"

"Ichiraku's. Best ramen stand in the world."

"Race you there."

"You're on! You coming, onii-san?"

"Guess I have to," Yoshirou sighed.

They all leaped off the roof, leaving Sasuke and Sakura the only ones left. They had stopped when Yoshirou appeared, their attention peaked by the legendary ninja's brotherly treatment of the dead-last. Their curiosity increased even further when a man with a large dual-bladed crimson scythe appeared behind Naruto. He seemed like quite a powerful shinobi himself. The Uchiha had realized this fact first, and was... jealous? Yes, Uchiha Sasuke was jealous of the dead-last of the graduating class. How did Naruto seemingly know all of these powerful shinobi? What's more, they hadn't even spared Sasuke a fleeting glance. He was an Uchiha! He should have been recognized instantly for his talents! They should have been offering to train him! Muttering something incoherent, Sasuke jumped off of the roof himself, intending to follow the trio to where ever they were going.

Sakura, on the other hand, was just plain confused. How did Naruto know those shinobi? Isn't he supposed to be the worst ninja in the class?

"Think about it. There's something going on that we don't know, and it is our right as his teammate to find out! Go ask him, CHA!"

Sakura nodded, determination and curiosity boiling inside of her. She jumped down onto the streets below, and began the trek to Ichiraku's. One way or the other, she would find out why Yoshirou and Naruto were so attached. As she was walking, she saw Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji sitting around on a bench. They all looked confused and tired with the exception of Choji, who was eating a bag of chips. By now Sakura was really curious about the situation regarding Naruto. She walked over, wondering how she could bring up the topic.

"Hey Ino, Shikamaru, Choji."

Ino looked up, saw Sakura, and smiled. When they weren't fighting over Sasuke, they were actually the best of friends and rarely fought. "Hi Sakura, what's up?" she asked.

Sakura raised an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same thing. Why do you all look so worn out?"

"Well, we just got done with our first training lesson. Asuma-sensei is a killer, but he's nice. Then we all were going to get something to eat, but we almost got run over by this really cool guy with a scythe. Guess who was following him?"

"Naruto and Yuushi no Yoshirou," Sakura replied cooly, smirking a little.

"You're never going to gue- wait, what? How'd you know?"

"Naruto's on my team, remember? As well as... well... yeah," Sakura dared not say Sasuke's name. She wasn't in the mood to fight at the moment. "But anyway, Kakashi-sensei had just disappeared on us. I was going to leave, but there was another poof. Yoshirou appeared, and soon after that guy with the scythe showed up behind Naruto. Yoshirou said the guy's name was Akio, and then they all jumped off the roof. I heard them say something about getting ramen."

Shikamaru chose this moment to join the conversation, "So that's why Naruto was chasing after that guy. He was shouting that he 'hadn't played fair' and 'cheated like a loser'. The guy was running like the Shinigami itself was after him. I guess they were having a bet; most likely who could eat the most ramen without puking."

Sakura had to cover her mouth to prevent a giggle. That was classic Naruto behavior. Sure, she still hated him, but she had to admit that the boy was funny. Once the pinkette had her giggles sufficiently under control, she realized that her question was never answered about how Yoshirou knew the blond. She thanked Team 10 before running to the market. From what Ino and Shikamaru had told her, that was the direction in which they were heading. She didn't have to run far, though, because about five minutes later she heard someone yell, "Sakura-chan, trip him!"

She turned around just in time to see Akio vault over her and continue running. He was laughing. Naruto slowed down until he was standing next to Sakura, slightly out of breath.

"Yeah, you BETTER run! When I find you...!" He shouted after Akio's running form. He then mutter a much quieter "damn cheater" before turning to Sakura.

The pinkette was shocked. Akio had just easily vaulted over her without slowing down. He was a shinobi, after all, but that kind of agility would still take some getting used to. She took a moment to recover, before looking at Naruto.

"Mind if I ask you a question?"

Naruto, treasuring every moment he could get talking to her, immediately responded, "Sure."

"How do you and Yuushi no Yoshirou know each other?"

"Well..." Naruto muttered, not expecting the question, "You see... he's sort of my guardian." He rubbed the back of his head. "He kind of helped me out when I was younger."

Sakura shrugged, "Oh." She didn't imply further, and walked away. She had a nagging feeling, though, like she was making the wrong decision. Like it would do immense good for her future if she simply asked, "How?" But she didn't, instead telling herself that she had to go look for Sasuke.

Naruto watched her vanish into the vast marketplace crowds, wondering what just happened.

"Well, that was interesting. Almost seemed like she was interested there for a second."

Why do you think she wanted to know about my relationship with Onii-san? Think she likes me?

"Not in the least. I can sense people's emotions, and what she showed was pure curiosity. She was wondering how a loser like you could know a powerful ninja like Yoshirou."

Naruto's shoulders slumped, but he regained his posture as he saw Yoshirou walk up to him.

"There you are," he said. "Done chasing after Akio?"

Naruto nodded.

"Alright then. Why don't we go train? I can even tell you about that test your sensei will be giving you," he hinted, nudging Naruto a little with his elbow. Naruto's amazing smile appeared on his face and he nodded happily. He and Yoshirou took to rooftops, and would spend the rest of the day and well into the night training.

Sasuke was mad. No, he was furious. He went to Ichiraku's, but Naruto was nowhere to be found. What's more, he had no clues as to how the dobe had met and gained the trust of such powerful shinobi. Now there was a very real possibility that Naruto would be receiving training from both Yoshirou and the guy with the scythe. That meant that Sasuke would be at a disadvantage, especially since his only sensei seemed to be a good-for-nothing pervert who like to arrive to meetings late. And Naruto had a crush on Sakura, which meant he was bound to introduce her to the shinobi sooner or later. They might take a liking to her like they had Naruto, and give her training as well. That made Sasuke mad. He couldn't be the weakest on his team, or else Itachi will never consider him a worthy opponent. Feeling pissed at himself and the world around him, Sasuke trudged back to the Compound. Tomorrow Kakashi would be giving them the real genin test, and the "Last Uchiha" couldn't stay at the top of his game feeling annoyed.

Sakura plopped down in her bed feeling worn out, sort of happy, but most of all confused. She hadn't been able to find Sasuke, and Naruto was confusing her. A lot. The baka knew two extremely powerful ninja, apparently chased one of them across the village without any consequences, and didn't explain any of it. Well, he sort of did, but Sakura wasn't concerned about that at the moment. Then again... why was she concerned? She was thinking about Naruto! She hated him, didn't she? The pinkette sighed, she was going to give herself a headache. She finally decided that the reason she was freaking out over this was because Naruto just happened to be a little more mysterious and kept a few more secrets than she knew. But he wasn't Sasuke. That's what Sakura kept telling herself as she slowly fell asleep.

The next morning, the genin met at Training Ground 11 at six o'clock sharp. They patiently waited for their sensei by the fence that led into the lightly forested field. Naruto was sitting by himself, poking a rock, but he was far from alienated. Sakura and Sasuke had apparently made a habit out of glancing at him every thirty seconds, before turning away and pretending to do something else. Naruto was well aware of this, as every time his teammates looked at him Kyuubi coughed. Naruto and the fox had talked earlier and both had agreed that the morning was going to be awkward.

Why does knowing two guys have to be so weird to them?

"Kit, from the time you entered the Academy you were classified as a dead-last loser with practically no friends, save Shikamaru and a few others. You graduate, and suddenly everyone sees you hanging around with two powerful shinobi, one famous for several very good reasons. And they basically treat you like a brother. What do you expect their reactions to be?"

Naruto thought about what the demon said for several long minutes, all the while still managing to pay attention to the glances his teammates were giving him. Finally, he responded to Kyuubi's rhetorical question. Good point. Hopefully this will all eventually blow over.

"Don't worry Kit, I'm sure it will."

The awkwardness continued for three more hours. By the time Kakashi arrived at 9 AM, the genin team was getting ready to leave. They glared at him.

"How can one man be three hours late?" Sakura growled.

Kakashi had already predicted his reaction, so he used a tried and true excuse. "Sorry, I was helping an old lady cross the street."

"Bullshit."

Naruto looked at his teammate, shocked. Had Sakura just swore? She was an angel, incapable of such foul language! Kakashi didn't respond to Sakura's remark, instead gesturing to the training ground. They followed him to a field where three logs resided. The logs were standing on their ends, high enough that one of the twelve year olds could easily be tied to it.

"Your genin test is to get these bells from me," Kakashi said, holding up two small, silver bells. "If you get them, you pass. If you don't, you fail. Simple as that."

"But Kakashi-sensei, there are only two bells, and three of us," Sakura noted.

"That's true. One of you will not be passing this test. You shall get sent back to the academy. If you do not get the bells by noontime, you will get tied to the logs behind you and watch as I eat your lunch."

"N-No lunch?!" Naruto stammered. "That's so unfair! And I didn't even eat breakfast..."

"You baka, that's why he told us not to eat breakfast! So we would be hungry!" Sakura retorted.

"Now, there is absolutely no chance of you getting these bells if you do not attack me with the intent to kill. Shuriken and kunai are allowed." And with that, Kakashi pulled out his orange book, before mellowly saying, "You may begin."

Sasuke and Sakura immediately jumped back into the trees. Naruto, however, stayed put, eying Kakashi warily. He ran forward, pulling his right arm back for a standard punch. Once he got into range, he thrusted forward. Kakashi blocked it easily. Naruto went in with a left hook; Kakashi blocked again. A left knee. Another block. A right high kick. This time, instead of blocking, Kakashi grabbed Naruto's foot and swung him over his head, throwing him a good distance away from himself.

"You done yet, blondie?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto growled. "No way!" He crossed his fingers, shouting, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Three clones appeared next to him. They all rushed the jounin, but Kakashi didn't even flinch. One by one, the clones disappeared with puffs of smoke, until only the real Naruto was left. Kakashi blocked his right jab, punched him in the gut, and kicked him away.

Up in the trees, Sasuke and Sakura were watching the duel. "What's he doing?" Sasuke muttered. "Doesn't the dobe realize there's no way he can take Kakashi-sensei by himself?"

Sakura nodded in agreement, before throwing some shuriken towards the silver-haired jounin. They hit their mark, but there was a poof. Kakashi was replaced by a log. "Kawarimi," the pinkette told herself.

Naruto had noticed the shuriken and Kakashi's replacement jutsu. He looked up at the tree, the shurikens' origin point. So Sasuke and Sakura-chan are up there.

"You do know that the point of this test is to see if the three of you can work together, right?" The Kyuubi asked.

Of course, why else would there be only two bells? I just wanted to vent my remaining anger at Akio. Naruto countered. Not waiting for a response from the demon fox, Naruto jumped up to the tree in which Sasuke and Sakura were residing. He landed on the branch between them.

"Hey."

"You are such a baka!" Sakura hissed. "Why did you try to take on Kakashi-sensei by yourself?!"

"Venting," Naruto simply replied, glancing at her.

"So the dobe has anger management issues," Sasuke teased, smirking.

"At least I have emotions!"

Sasuke's smirk was replaced by a frown.

"Now's not the time to fight," Sakura said, interrupted her teammates' feud. "We need to find out how to get the bells. We should work together. I have a feeling that's the true purpose of this test anyway; to see how well we work as a team. You guys want to stay as genin, right?"

Both of the males nodded.

"One of us should be a diversion," Naruto said. "That'll probably be me. I can distract Kakashi-sensei with my clones. While I'm fighting him, Sakura-chan will try to get him into a genjutsu. If it works, Sasuke, you'll go in for the bells. If not, use your ninjutsu and attempt to injure him."

The two other members of Team 7 could say they were mildly surprised. They hadn't expected Naruto able to create such a detailed plan. And it could actually work.

"Alright," Sasuke replied. "That might actually work. We have to find him first, though."

"There!" Sakura whispered, pointed to a tree to the left of them. Kakashi was leaning against the trunk, reading his book and giggling. "On the count of three, we move. One, two... three!"

All of the genin jumped away. Sasuke moved to the left, attempting to circle around Kakashi's position to prepare for a flanking attack. Sakura jumped to the right, trying to find a spot that had a good viewpoint. Meanwhile, Naruto jumped down, using the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to create fifteen clones. They bee-lined for Kakashi's position. The jounin looked up, his lone eye widening slightly. He jumped away as the mob of Narutos landed, and formed several hand signs.

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A large fireball formed and shot towards the Narutos. All but five of the clones were destroyed. The remaining eleven rushed towards Kakashi, who took up a stance and started to slowly defeat the clones. The number dwindled down to three clones, plus the real Naruto.

"Now, Sakura!" the blond shouted, dodging a fist aimed for his head. Sakura concentrated, but she had to dodge several shuriken, which interrupted her jutsu. Kakashi returned to battling the clones, the task of stopping the genjutsu accomplished. Naruto cursed and was about to call to Sasuke, but the Uchiha was one step ahead. He had seen the shuriken head for Sakura's position, and had already started his jutsu as a result.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" Multiple fireballs shot towards Kakashi, who was now fighting only two Narutos. All three of the combatants jumped back to avoid the fire that consumed the ground they had been standing on only moments before.

Kakashi looked at the blaze before him, trying to figure out how he could stop the flames. He glanced behind him, eye widening when he spotted a lake. He jumped back and channeled chakra to his feet to stay afloat when he landed on the water.

"Suiton: Suishi no Jutsu!" A large spiraling stream of water shot out of the lake in front of Kakashi, heading straight for the fire that was continuing to grow in size. The stream hit the flames head-on, and soon the flaming ground was soaking wet. There was just one problem. When the jutsu hit the flames, it went through the fire, fully hitting Naruto, who was on the opposite side. He was propelled into a tree and fell to the ground, seemingly unconscious. Kakashi saw this and immediately canceled the jutsu. He held up his hands, signaling the fighting to end, before running over to Naruto. Sakura and Sasuke were already there, looking at his unmoving form. Kakashi kneeled down, checking for a pulse. Satisfied when he found one, he sighed and stood back up.

"Well, that was interesting," Kakashi said. "No real point in continuing the fight, considering Naruto is out cold."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at the ground, wondering if they had passed or failed.

Kakashi saw this, and spoke up again. "But, I'm happy to say that you all pass!" He eye-smiled and tossed the two genin the bells.

"Kakashi-sensei, was that test really meant to test our teamwork?" Sakura asked, before looking down at Naruto once again.

"It was. The bells were used to serve as motivation. I saw how you operated as a unit. Naruto was a distraction to keep me busy while Sakura tried to get me in a genjutsu. When that failed, Sasuke came into the fight with his ninjutsu. You guys actually did really well."

Sasuke nodded. "Naruto was actually the one who came up with the plan."

"Is that so..." Kakashi mumbled, rubbing his chin.

You might want to back up.

Almost immediately the three shinobi jumped back and took up defensive stances, kunai at the ready.

"Did you hear that, Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, I did, which means that it can't be anything good."

What, Naruto being conscious isn't good?

As if that was a cue, a red light enveloped Naruto, before spreading out around him. The light condensed into a thick horizontal red ring. Small lines stretched out from the inside of the ring, and connected to Naruto at his torso. The lines formed a small spiral over his stomach, before spreading out across the rest of his body. They spread across his arms, legs, neck, and face. Once the red lines had stopped moving, the connection they had to the red ring still surrounding Naruto severed. The ring dissipated, but the lines didn't.

Kakashi gasped. "They've outlined his chakra coils!" he said. Sasuke and Sakura looked closer when they heard this, and sure enough, the red lines completely traced his chakra network. There was a powerful pulse, one that almost knocked the shinobi over, before the lines faded into nothing. Naruto's eyes fluttered open, and he sat up. Rubbing the back of his head, he checked himself over before looking at his team. He smiled.

"That was awesome."

Sakura and Sasuke looked at him confusedly, but Kakashi jumped next to him. He leaned next to Naruto's ear, whispering, "We need to talk later."

Naruto's smile was replaced by a more serious expression. He nodded, fully understanding what Kakashi implied.

Kakashi stood up and turned to face the rest of his team. "Alright, since you are now officially genin, why don't we get something to eat?"

The blond's eyes went wide. "Y-You mean... we passed!?"

"Yes, Naruto," Kakashi replied. "You passed."

"YIPPIE!"

Team 7 walked down the streets of Konoha, all of its members in a happy mood. They were now a permanent team, one that would do missions and travel together. Their happy mood, however, was the result of different reasons. Sasuke was happy because he had successfully made genin, which was one step closer to being able to challenge and defeat his brother. Sakura was happy because now there was no way she would ever be separated from Sasuke. Kakashi was happy because he could now watch over his sensei's son and make the deceased leader proud. Naruto was happy because he had finally gotten friends that were as close to family as you could get.

They had just left Ichiraku's. At his insistence, Naruto had payed for the meals, which surprised everybody considering the blond was an orphan who had just been accepted into the shinobi ranks. He shouldn't have had any money, but when he opened his frog wallet it was stuffed full with riyo.

Their destination was the Hokage's office, where the team would hopefully get their first mission. Kakashi saw this time as a prime opportunity to ask Naruto about the incident in the training ground earlier. He slowed down until he was walking next to the blond.

"About the talk..." he started, speaking softly so Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't overhear them.

"You want to know what happened right?" Naruto replied.

Kakashi nodded. "I'm assuming it has to do with the Kyuubi?"

"Yeah. And I know what you're going to say. No, he didn't leak out. I let him do it. That voice you heard in your head? That was Kyuubi. He didn't want you to get burned by the ring."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. Since when did the Kyuubi no Yoko care about the safety of others? "He was worried?"

"He's a nice guy." Naruto said, shrugging. "He was just... influenced when he attacked Konoha. Otherwise, he wouldn't have even thought about it. Bijuu don't really like to cause trouble. Usually when they attack it's because either the ninja started it first or something had happened to provoke them. In the Kyuubi's case, it was the latter."

Kakashi stayed silent for several minutes, thinking about Naruto's words. "What about the seal?" he finally asked.

Naruto smirked. "There is no seal. Not anymore."

If Kakashi wasn't an incredibly experienced shinobi he would've fallen flat on his face from a combination of shock and fright. "W-What?! What do you mean there isn't a seal? What's preventing the fox from escaping? He could take over at any time or-"

"Sensei, sensei! Jeez, calm down. It's like you're having a heart attack!" Naruto sighed. "From the moment I could form a coherent thought, the Kyuubi was talking to me. He guided me, trained me in some basic taijutsu and strategy, and helped me through the... rough years. I told you before he's nice, right? Well, I meant it. After I had talked with him for a couple of years, I realized that there was no way he could have attacked Konoha on his own free will. When I saw the cage, I immediately ripped off the seal. The cage doors opened, and Kyuubi walked out. He stretched, said 'Thanks' and then asked me a question."

"And what was that question?"

Naruto smiled. "He says 'Where am I supposed to sleep?' So introduced him to a corner of my mind. I gave him permission to set up his own mini-world. It was the least I could do for all he did for me. You know what the mini-world looks like?"

Kakashi only shrugged. The only thing that made him believe Naruto's story was the well-known fact that Naruto never lied unless it was absolutely necessary. The jounin had been there during the Kyuubi attack. He saw the corpses, the rotting flesh of ninja he knew as friends. Naruto talked about the demon as if there were two of them, one evil and one good.

"It wasn't a wasteland filled with blood. It wasn't a pile of bodies, like most people would believe," Naruto continued. "It's an open field of green grass. The sky is blue and the sun shines brightly. It's warm and beautiful. There's an enormous tree in the middle of the field. The branches spread out far past the trunk, providing a great patch of shade. That's where Kyuubi likes to sleep and rest. The only thing that's unnatural is the portal. It acts like a window, providing a view through my eyes. What I see is what the Kyuubi sees through the portal. What I hear, he hears. I gave him the power to create anything he wanted, from food to changing the landscape to entertainment. His favorite food is popcorn, and he's actually a prankster. He's the one that gave me the suggestions for most of my pranks."

Kakashi stared straight ahead, before turning to look at Naruto. The blond's face was deathly serious. There was no smile, no winking, no outright laughing or saying "I tricked you". No, Naruto was telling the unbelievable truth. As Team 7 approached the Hokage Tower, the jounin realized that everything the village knew about the most powerful bijuu was a lie. And someone had given the Kyuubi a really bad reputation.

They were standing before the door to the Hokage's office a few minutes later. Kakashi knocked twice, and received a soft "Enter" as a reply. They walked into the office. Hiruzen's chair was turned around, the old man sitting in it looking out the window at the village.

"Hokage-sama," Kakashi spoke. "Team 7 reporting for its first official mission."

Hiruzen turned around, a small smile on his face as he looked over the genin. He locked eyes with Naruto for a few moments, before looking down at the mission forms on his desk. He found the paper he was looking for, it was a classic. He remembered when he assigned this mission to Kakashi's genin team, led by Namikaze Minato.

"It seems Tora the cat has escaped once again." he chuckled.

Kakashi took an involuntary step back. "Oh Kami."

There was a silence as the genin looked between their sensei and the Hokage, confusion written on their faces.

"Um, sensei?" Sakura asked. "Is there something we missed?"

Kakashi looked at his pupils. "Sorry guys," he said. "Your first mission is going to be a bruiser."

"Wait, there it goes!" Naruto shouted, pointing up into the trees.

"Don't let it get away, circle around and try to flank!" Sasuke replied. Naruto and Sakura nodded, before breaking off to the left and right, respectfully. Sasuke continued running straight ahead. He was determined; there was no way he was failing his first mission as a genin. The beast he was chasing leaped through the trees in front of him. The Uchiha would've never thought that this would be so difficult. They were chasing a feline for crying out loud! It had the agility of a trained shinobi, more than once it had eluded the team's grasp. Naruto broke through the treeline, shooting towards the target. The cat veered to the left as a response, running from the new enemy. Sakura jumped out in front of it, making a grab. Tora jumped down to the ground, where Sasuke was waiting. He lunged for it, but the cat jumped onto his head and used it as a springboard, jumping in the opposite direction and dashing back into the forest. The genin cursed, all three of them turning around and beginning the chase again.

They chased Tora out of the forest and into the village. They almost lost the feline in the clutter of villagers navigating the streets, but relocated her in an ally. The genin jumped down, thinking there wasn't any escape for the tricky cat. Naruto, impatient as always, rushed forward and tried to grab Tora. Seeing no escape, the cat instead retaliated, lashing out a the blond's face with sharp claws. The resulting spectacle was quite funny. Tora was rapidly clawing at Naruto's face, who was trying desperately to pry the cat off. Sasuke and Sakura dared not make a move, lest they be attacked as well. Better leave this to the dead-last. Naruto eventually managed to form the signs for the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, and two clones poofed into existence. They unlatched Tora from Naruto's face, and handed him to the original before poofing away. Evil feline securely in his grasp, Naruto turned to his teammates. Sakura broke out into a fit of laughter, and Sasuke managed a smirk.

"What?" Naruto asked, dumbly looking between the two. Sakura pulled a small mirror out of her equipment pouch between giggles and held it in front of Naruto, since his hands were busy holding Tora. He gasped when he saw the many cuts adorning his face, and glared at the restrained cat.

"Do you have the carrier?" he asked. Sasuke took out a sealing scroll and made a hand sign. A cat carrier appeared with a puff of smoke. Naruto quickly placed Tora inside, relieved to not be in any more danger.

"Alright," he said. "After this, we're never doing another pet retrieval mission. Never."

Sasuke and Sakura both nodded in agreement, and they made their way back to the Hokage Tower, a whining feline captive safely in hand.

They entered the Hokage's office and placed the cat carrier on the desk. The owner, the Daimyo's wife, rushed forward, opened the cage, and pulled Tora into a tight hug. The cat squirmed, but was powerless to do anything against the woman's might.

Naruto leaned towards Sakura. "No wonder that cat wants to escape," he whispered. "That must be torture!"

"Don't talk about the Daimyo's wife like that!" Sakura hissed, whacking Naruto over the head. "She seems like a nice lady!" In her mind, though, she couldn't agree more.

Hiruzen marked the mission scroll complete and dismissed Team 7. As they walked out of the office, they could still hear the coos of the woman inside, and the cat's pained whines.

Sakura turned to Sasuke, about to say something, but was interrupted by the Uchiha's sharp "No." She sighed, was she really that obvious? Naruto saw how down she was. He never liked to see her sad.

"Hey, Sakura-chan..." he started. "You want to go get something to eat?" Sakura stopped, before turning and hitting him square in the face. He catapulted through the wall, out into the street below. Sakura didn't even reconsider her action, she just walked off.

Down below, Naruto had landed in the middle of the street. The villagers didn't even pay attention to him, their only acknowledgment of his existence were their steps over or around him.

"Damn, Kit. She broke your nose!"

Yeah, that kinda hurt.

"Why do you like her anyway? She hates you with a passion and only sees you as a hindrance to getting the Uchiha."

Because I promised her that I would be there for her. You remember that, right? When we were six.

"Yeah, I remember. I can't believe she doesn't remember it. Well, she does, but now she thinks it was the Uchiha who protected her, not you."

It doesn't matter if she knows it was me or not. I promised her, and I never go back on my word.

"You are so damn stubborn. That Hinata chick adores you in every way imaginable, and she's cute as well. Why don't you just hook up with her?"

You know as well as I do the reason why I can't. You're the one who told me! It's Sakura-chan or nothing. She's the key, and I know for a fact that she'll eventually like me. In the dream, she called me "Naruto-kun" and put her head on my shoulder. That wasn't an ordinary dream, that's a fact. It seemed like more of a vision. If something happens in a vision, then chances are it'll happen in the future. Right now, though, the least I can do is ease her pain at being constantly rejected.

"Kit, I admire your dedication. Let's just hope your right. Like you, I can't go back on my word. Hakuboton is the key to the future, and I can't teach it to you until she falls for you. All of this is resting on her shoulders. All we can do is have faith."