Wrong Again

Chapter 15

Hey is the next chapter! This was supposed to be out a LOONNNG time ago but school happened…

Oh well, enjoy!

"I've thought of the perfect teammate for Naruto and Sasuke!"

Obito, who had been nodding off in the corner while the Fourth pondered, nearly jumped at the loud exclamation. He perked up though at the proclamation; Minato had been at it for an entire day now and he wanted to know who he had come up with.

"Who?" It was hard coming up with someone with the proper credentials that would be similar to the two boys; not only would that person have to work well with the two dominant boys but they would have to be able to keep up as well. The boys were beyond genin level, both physically and mentally-sometimes- so they couldn't be saddled with just any academy graduate. As much as Naruto wanted Sakura to be their teammate, she couldn't keep up with them now, not to mention she hadn't even graduated yet.

"Well?" Obito asked impatiently when Minato didn't speak fast enough for him.

"Rock Lee!"

Stunned silence was the reaction accompanied by Obito's face falling. Minato only beamed at his choice.

"You're joking," Obito said flatly, totally not amused.

"What makes you say that?" the blond asked unassumingly, almost like he had no clue what kind of team this would turn out to be with Rock Lee.

"Minato-sensei," he emphasized the title, "Lee-san might be able to keep up with them for a little while but with his limitations even he can't keep up with them for long." From his words it was obvious that he was trying to hold onto his patience as his imagination ran wild at the thought of Lee meeting Naruto and Sasuke. He was sure that the three had met before but this Lee was different from the one they had spoken about.

When Kakashi died Gai had never been the same. No one had ever thought that anything could get the exuberant man down; however the man had disappeared right after the funeral. No more speeches on youth and passion; it seemed Gai's flames of enthusiasm died with Kakashi. Obito had never thought the day would come when Gai would pass him without uttering so much as a peep, at least not at the expense that it took. For years no one thought the youth would be the same. He still wore excessive green but he no longer blinded anyone with his smile.

It took a lot of cajoling and numerous attempts on Minato's part to finally persuade the now older man to take on a student.

Little determined Rock Lee, runt of the class, worked for weeks to prove himself to the cynical Maito Gai. Slowly the man seemed to return to normalcy but throughout the ordeal Lee had really learned how to strike terror in the enemy's hearts.

The boy was a little green drill sergeant! Bossy, loud and totally dominant he wouldn't last a day, much less an hour with Naruto and Sasuke before they beat the crap out of him.

Obito glared at Minato.

"But this is only temporary!" Minato protested weakly.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself," he pointed out.

The Fourth deflated and let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. Defeat was his very posture. He'd spent forever thinking about this. His decision was supposed to have been made days ago but still there wasn't any luck or brilliant idea.

"I can't think of anyone else!" he complained. Obito had nothing to say to that; he hadn't been able to think of anyone either. They had agreed though that they wouldn't place a higher ranking shinobi with the two boys. They needed some more social time with kids their age. It was their fault that they hadn't allowed the two boys to interact with their peers.

"I need someone with at least half a brain that knows to stay out of their way but strong enough that they aren't being walked all over either," Minato whined at the almost impossible task.

"So you thought of Lee?" Obito asked sarcastically.

"I don't hear any bright ideas coming from you!" Minato shot back with a pouting glare. Obito stuck his tongue out childishly. He grumbled incoherently but started thinking again anyway.

Half a brain and smart enough to handle Naruto's and Sasuke's antics. Who the hell could handle that at the age of twelve? He went through a mental listing of all available genin once more thinking of the pros and cons of each person. This year's graduated batch wasn't very impressive. The only one who stood out was the Hyuuga kid but he was already on a team.

"I got it!" he jumped up and strutted to lean over Minato's desk. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of this earlier. The blond eyed him critically, "What? Spit it out!" he ordered.

"Nara's boy," he said smugly, extremely proud of his bright idea, "He graduated half a year early to avoid more school work. The kid's a genius they say but really lazy; totally unmotivated. Naruto and Sasuke should help with that."

Minato beamed with the idea, "That's perfect! Where is he?" he eagerly asked.

"He should be cloud watching."

Naruto entered his dad's office with trepidation. He'd managed to escape his father's queries for the past few days. It helped though that Sasuke had impeccable timing. When he peeked into the office it was to the greeting of two pairs of scheming eyes; one black and the other blue. Hesitantly he walked in slowly, looking around discretely for Sasuke.

"He's not here yet." The blunt statement came from Obito who was just as curious as to what Naruto's secret technique was. Panic crawled up Naruto's spine as the predatory grins beamed at him.

Shit.

He gulped and backed up against the door, "I-I think I'll go a-and get him," he stuttered out, looking for any reason to get away. Inwardly he debated if he was fast enough to slip out the door before his dad caught him.

"That won't be necessary, I sent Itachi already," his father spoke in a deceptively calm tone as if to ease his paranoia.

"Oh, I-I'll just wait outside…yeah," he trailed off. One, two seconds of eye contact with his father's similar blue eyes and he made a dash for the door.

"Ack!" His dad stood over him with one hand holding the door shut. It had been pointless but he had to try!

Oh shit! Sasuke! Help me! His silent plea for help was answered with a disgruntled grunt and a condescending 'You got yourself into this mess'. Jeeze, even the Sasuke in his head was cruel!

"Oh come now, Naruto, whatever Sasuke would do to you wouldn't be as bad as, oh say ... never having ramen again for the rest of your life," his dad threatened way too cheerfully, adding, "Right?"

"You wouldn't dare!" Fear widened his eyes comically. No ramen for the rest of his life?! That was a serious threat! And his dad always went though on what he said. His only instinct was to blabber it all out, nothing was worth losing ramen forever!

Knowing his dad, he'd ban ramen from Konoha and post posters everywhere telling everyone that he couldn't have his precious ramen! Horrible images assaulted his mind of a ramen depraved life. Just thinking about the horrors made him almost faint.

In his moment of weakness Kyuubi laughed.

Stupid brat, life without your disgusting ramen or without your precious Sasuke?

The demon continued to laugh; his words jarred Naruto out of his ramen induced panic and his thoughts warred with each other. Having no ramen was unimaginable but the idea of Sasuke not talking to him was pretty horrid too.

Damn! What am I gonna do?! He couldn't decide which was worse. If he gave up ramen, he'd be miserable and the withdrawal symptoms were pretty nasty. But the way Sasuke passed by him today hurt more than he wanted to admit; he'd be miserable too and the Sasuke-withdrawal symptoms weren't good either.

"Think of your ramen Naruto," Obito taunted, "Sasuke won't have to know."

"And even if he did find out, he won't be mad at you forever," his dad jumped in on the persuading.

"Yeah, Sasuke will forgive you some day but no ramen forever? That's a long time," Obito added putting emphasis on the 'long' with a hand gesture.

"Ah…" Naruto was totally torn. Panic and indecision ate at him. Sweat dripped down his face as his brain struggled to weigh the drastic decision.

Ramen.

Sasuke.

Ramen. Sasuke. Ramen. Sasuke. ...

The mantra repeated itself over and over in his head with no sign of ending any time soon. His dad and Obito continued to taunt and reason with him, their words rushing at him and adding to his overloaded brain.

Just when he thought he couldn't take it anymore and was about to just scream in pure frustration at the pressure over such a life altering decision, the door opened.

"SASUKE!!"

Minato's aide jumped nearly a foot at the outburst, her hand clutched her chest from the scare of her life. All eyes were on the mini blond that had not only screamed but had accompanied the scream with instant clinging.

"Dobe," he sneered at the idiot from behind the aide. Naruto blinked and peeked around the woman to see Sasuke staring back at him; he rolled his eyes at the blonde's childish move.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that, heh," Naruto apologized and let go of the woman who had finally started breathing again. You'd think that working around shinobi she'd be used to getting the crap scared out of her, Sasuke thought.

"It's alright, you can go," Minato said gently. She nodded but remained silent and left the office still flustered. As soon as the door closed though, Naruto immediately placed Sasuke between his tormentors and himself with a whisper, 'save me'.

Once more he rolled his eyes but this meant that Naruto hadn't cracked and judging by the Fourth's and Obito's glares they weren't too happy with his arrival. Damn Itachi, he must have delayed him on purpose so that they could corner Naruto.

"What?" he demanded when the two adults simply stared at them. His word jarred the two into backing up and composing their posture. Yondaime coughed and sat back down in his chair content to bide his time for now.

"Like I promised, I found a teammate for you two for the chuunin exam," he started with a big smile. Sasuke scowled; whenever the Fourth looked like that, he never knew what to expect. After almost six years he still couldn't predict the man half the time and it annoyed him.

"Really?" Naruto immediately perked up at his dad's words. Naruto's complete one-eighty in attitude would have baffled him if he wasn't used to it by now. Naruto he could understand, every little nuance in his expression and body language Sasuke could understand, but the name that came out of the Fourth's mouth surprised him even when he was expecting to be surprised.

"Nara Shikamaru!" Minato beamed even brighter at the momentary stunned state of the two boys.

"Shikamaru? That lazy ass?!" Naruto yelled out in indignation.

"Yep!" Minato answered and Obito spouted, "It was my idea!"

Sasuke thought it over. Nara never really cared for him but he was loyal and had made chuunin before anybody did. His strategies allowed his team to pass through the exam all the way to the end until individual talents were the basis for judging. Also, he wasn't annoying, perhaps too lazy but when duty called the shadow user was dependable. The boy's technique would be deadly in battle; if he could just immobilize the opponents for a few seconds, it would be more than enough for Naruto and him to take them out cleanly.

He pondered the pros and cons and decided that Shikamaru would actually do well with them. He seemed to get along fine with Naruto's hyper attitude, well, more like tolerated it and he wasn't much of a talker to Sasuke's relief. As much as Naruto had whined about getting Sakura to team up with them he'd have to agree with the Fourth's choice, for now.

"This is temporary?" he asked for clarification. Naruto whipped his head around so fast it looked like he could have snapped his neck.

"You're agreeing to this!?" he demanded, totally offended that Sasuke had taken his dad's side. "What about Sakura and being Team Seven again? Did you forget?" Naruto's voice rose higher with every word that came from his mouth; his arms swung erratically to each syllable.

"Naruto, it's only temporary," Yondaime reasoned with his son; he knew how much Naruto talked about Sakura and teaming up with her again, "Sakura isn't ready for the chuunin exam-"

"I can protect her!" he shouted hotly. Minato frowned at his son but Sasuke beat him to the lecture.

"It's not about protecting her, Dobe. Even if we protect her, what would be the point of her taking the exam anyway if she lacks the skill and experience needed to be promoted? If we become chuunin, think of how far behind she'll feel," he stated; and yes, he did notice that Sakura's depression with her lack of ninja skills got worse with every real fight.

"Not to mention she doesn't know who we are, I doubt she'll be real thrilled to team up with us," he added when Naruto looked like he was still going to argue a useless point. That was just like him though to keep pushing even when things seemed impossible. In this case though, he's not going to win. "Whose fault is that?" Naruto mumbled under his breath, but a look from Sasuke shut him up.

"Humph, fine then, if this is only for the exam then lazy Shikamaru it is!" he grumbled out the words of compromise but he looked far from happy. Sasuke watched his face for the slightest signs that he really was upset. He could tell by the way that Naruto gave in so easily that he wasn't completely against Nara being their teammate but to be sure he asked, "I thought you liked Shikamaru?"

The question jarred the blond from his moment of disappointment and his face clouded over slightly with guilt at the thought that he didn't like Shikamaru. "I do like him!" he retorted defensively.

"Then what's the problem?" Obito asked to which Naruto stuck his tongue out childishly and coolly said, "There is no problem. Where is he anyway?" as if he was over the choice of teammates. Sasuke was slightly impressed by his actions; he had thought about the massive pouting and whining that Naruto would do if he didn't get Sakura on the team. Sasuke had been dreading a long day of annoyances from the blond.

"Ah, my little boy's growing up!" Minato complimented and preened like a proud father. Sasuke rolled his eyes; maybe somebody switched Naruto and the Fourth around today as Yondaime seemed overly excited today. His words though made Naruto light up like a big, red bulb.

"Dad," he whined at the embarrassing comment. Minato laughed so Obito answered, "He should be waiting for you two at the bridge."

"What bridge?" Naruto asked but Sasuke frowned. So he didn't want Sakura on their team right away, but using Team Seven's patented bridge meeting point was crossing some line somewhere, he just knew it. It took Naruto a second to register which bridge; they told all sorts of stories of the infamous Team Seven Bridge to the Fourth and Obito and sometimes Itachi so it made sense that they thought having them meet up there would be nice.

"That bridge? What? That's our bridge! Me, Sasuke and Sakura!" Naruto cried out, "You can't just assign stuff to it like that!"

The Fourth stared at Naruto like he had grown a second head, then his serious face came on and the Hokage spoke, "What are you babbling about, Naruto? Your teammate is waiting for you both, I suggest you get going." The order had Naruto gaping and sputtering but Sasuke grabbed his arm and bowed slightly before dragging the blond out of the office before anything else could be said or done.

It was kind of creepy sometimes how similar their train of thoughts could be. If an issue such as this arrived, all he had to do was hold his tongue and Naruto would burst out in outrage or joy and save him the trouble of embarrassing himself. Of course, he also knew when to keep Naruto's mouth shut too. A quick jab to the side or an all out hand over his mouth worked wonders at shutting him up. At first it always led to a brawl but over time Naruto had learned that when he did that, he did it for a good reason.

In this case, enough had been said and they might as well go meet Shikamaru, the lazy boy genius extraordinaire. Luckily for them, Naruto kept his protesting to himself or else they might have just ended up at the academy again.

I can't believe that dad would do that! Naruto ranted to himself. He was upset because he really wanted Sakura to be on their team just like they did in the old life. He knew his dad had good points and he couldn't argue that Shikamaru wasn't a good choice. But-but he wanted Sakura damn it! And that was the only thing he could come up with.

He could protect her just fine; keep her safe and all that. Sasuke would keep her safe too, but the bastard had sided with his dad of all people! He did bring up a good point too; they hadn't officially come in contact with any of the Rookie Nine yet. Sure they passed them here and there and they've waved in greeting a few times but Sakura didn't know him or Sasuke.

Well, Shikamaru didn't know them either but he knew the boy wouldn't care; he couldn't summon the energy to care. And Shikamaru really was a good guy. Naruto remembered Shikamaru's first mission as a chuunin was to get Sasuke back from the Sound ninja. He had said that he never really liked Sasuke but he had done his best anyway because that's what comrades do.

Quit your whining I'm trying to sleep, brat. Kyuubi growled at him only to have Naruto snarl back. Stupid fox. It wasn't the best comeback but he didn't want to get into a shouting match with the demon. It was more pain than it was worth.

Worthless human. It retorted with another growl but otherwise remained silent. Lately the demon had been more intrusive than ever before. Every time his thoughts wandered the fox pushed his way into his thoughts and insulted him as if that was the key to destroying the seal. At first it had been few and far between but this was twice in one day, the most ever.

He'd have to talk to his dad about it soon. He wondered if he should tell Sasuke first and even if the other would care if he was talking to the demon. In the midst of his thinking he hadn't even realized that they had reached the bridge where Kakashi used to make them wait for hours on end before they started their D rank missions.

From where they were walking down the road by the river he could see someone leaning against the railing with their back to them. Shikamaru stood on the bridge head tilted up toward the heavens as he slouched against the side of the bridge; seeing him like that brought on a strong wave of nostalgia.

He was so used to seeing an older Shikamaru, the boy who stood before them lacked the roughness that had developed when Asuma had died. A smooth face with eyes unbothered by heavy responsibilities, this was the old lazy genius of his childhood.

Naruto wondered if the others would be so similar as well. His father had advised against meeting all his old friends; it would only arouse suspicion and unanswerable questions. Every now that then he'd sneak off and watch them though.

In the academy training grounds directly behind the school building he'd watch Akamaru run around with Kiba. Chouji was never without his bag of snacks as he sat next to Shikamaru. Sakura and Ino never went anywhere without the other and they even included shy little Hinata. It seemed without Sasuke to fuel their rivalry they could be best of friends.

He watched Shino but the boy didn't even really move so he rarely ever watched him for long. The other students were insignificant since he couldn't remember any of them going onto the chuunin exam.

He spent the most time observing his old teacher, Iruka. The man appeared as kind as ever much like he remembered. The thought of just being able to see Iruka in person tempted him many times to just pop out and say 'hi'. He'd almost done it too only to be stopped by Sasuke.

He learned that day that sometimes Sasuke followed him to the academy. Sasuke had glared at him and told him that Iruka didn't know him like he did back then. His words made him remember his encounter with Mizuki; the night he learned that he was the nine-tail's host. Iruka hadn't liked him at first, just like everyone else because he had been orphaned by the demon fox.

It had taken time for Iruka to really come to like him; saddened by the thought his urge to say hello to his teacher faded as Sasuke pulled him away and treated him to ramen. He hadn't wanted ramen but once he figured out that Sasuke was trying to cheer him up his mood brightened considerably.

His reminiscing came to an end when they stepped onto the bridge. Shikamaru didn't even look up at their presence.

"Hey! Shika!" he shouted across the short span of the bridge.

"Oomph!" Sasuke elbowed him in the side and added a 'Dobe' to the glare for the mistake. Naruto rubbed his side and grumbled incoherently. This pretending not to know people really sucked.

The shout did catch the boy's attention though. He glanced at them and raised an eyebrow.

"Shika?" he repeated slightly amused but it looked like the effort cost him, "Sounds even lazier than me." He promptly turned back to the sky.

"Nara Shikamaru," Sasuke stepped forward and Naruto followed him, "I'm Uchiha Sasuke," he finished.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha, believe it!" His introduction fell on unimpressed ears as Shikamaru yawned uninterestedly.

"You're our third teammate for the chuunin exam!" Naruto continued excitement evident in his every posture uncaring of the lack of response. Shikamaru turned a lazy eye to him as if to say 'so what'. Still enthusiastic Naruto yelled out, "Let's train!"

He saw Sasuke frown slightly but he ignored him; the guy was always frowning anyway. Shikamaru however didn't even move from his spot. Naruto's passion dimmed slightly and a moment of silence passed with no one speaking or moving.

"You're capable of sparring, aren't you?" the slow, sarcastic comment came from Sasuke but instead of causing hackles to rise like it would for Naruto, it slide off Shikamaru with ease.

"Of course!" Naruto answered for him, "Let's go!"

"Hn." Naruto watched the two make eye contact for a moment before Shikamaru yawned and looked away. In the brief moment though he had noticed the perusal each had done. It irked him to no end that even in this life Sasuke was still such an attention getter! And all he did was stand there too!

Naruto gritted his teeth, he vowed that one day people were going to look at him and recognize him. They were going to know that he was a force to be reckoned with and not just some goof. Annoyed he led the way with Sasuke a few steps behind and Shikamaru trailing slowly after them.

"Alright, why don't we start off with just taijutsu?" Naruto started since neither of the boys seemed eager to start. He had already gotten over not being part of the stare down and was now looking forward to the spar. Granted he knew Shikamaru could do that shadow thing but he'd never really seen him just go at it physically. He couldn't remember much of the shadow user's fight but he didn't recall much actual fighting.

Oh well, here goes!

"Let's start!"

He charged Shikamaru only to be stopped in his tracks.

"Eh?" He couldn't move! Only able to operate his eyes he shifted them around frantically. Sasuke was staring at Shika but he didn't seem too concerned.

"Taijutsu's not my thing, Uzumaki," Shikamaru said casually before letting the shadow bind go. Naruto fell forward slightly once he was released; he was slightly disappointed. Apparently Shika had been thinking the same thing all along.

"Well then," he started to mention anything goes but Sasuke interrupted.

"How long can you maintain that jutsu?"

Sasuke didn't know much about the Nara clan as he hadn't cared much for any other clan growing up. Given the chance had his clan not perished he would have been formally educated in his later years about all the village clans and then some. He had heard of Shikamaru's shadow technique although he had never actually seen it in person. If it could stop Naruto in his tracks like that unawares then it could be devastating if he could maintain it.

"Depends," Nara drawled.

"Why don't you test the two of us then, see how long you last," he suggested. If they knew how long he could hold them then it'd be easy to gauge the amount of time he could hold other chuunin hopefuls. Naruto and he wouldn't need very much time to attack immobilized targets.

"Sure," he said slowly as if he couldn't care less. He formed the hand seals and two shadows shot out toward each of them connecting and binding them to the shadow user.

Sasuke felt it immediately, the foreign feeling of being confined and unable to move stirred up something inside of him; he didn't like the feeling one bit. So he fought.

Calling upon his chakra he felt its warm flow rush into his limbs; the electric element of his chakra warmed his coils and the comforting feeling filled him. Instinctively like flexing his muscles his chakra expanded and broke the shadow's bind on him. Naruto seemed to have no more problems at breaking the hold either and he watched the shadow return to the shocked user.

"Try a little harder this time," Sasuke half-mocked the gaping boy.

"How did you break my jutsu so easily?" he demanded.

"Cuz we're awesome!" Naruto piped in. Sasuke ignored him, "Using chakra," he explained shortly.

"Hn," Shikamaru didn't comment but his indifferent eyes took on a determination that hadn't been there before at this new challenge. While he pondered how to last longer than the first try, Naruto and Sasuke stood by.

When Shikamaru nodded and brought his hands together in an unknown seal Sasuke frowned. That seal wasn't part of the twelve animal signs or anything even resembling anything he'd ever seen before. Maybe it was clan secret. With all his finger tips touching, his thumbs above his fingers, the boy closed his eyes. Sasuke glanced at Naruto quickly to see if the blond knew what was going on but he seemed just as clueless.

For several moments Shikamaru stood unmoving like that. Naruto stepped forward hesitantly at first before taking several more steps and calling out his name, "Shika?"

As he was close enough Naruto reached out a hand to poke the unresponsive boy. Sasuke tensed, senses alert, prepared for anything that could happen. His lack of knowledge concerning the Nara clan frustrated him. He stared hard as Naruto's hand came closer and closer to Nara's sleeve. He resisted the urge to activate his Sharingan.

"Shikamaru?" His eyes opened and Naruto practically flew several steps back in self preservation. Sasuke's muscles bunched and he waited for something, anything, to happen. The boy's serious expression belied his decision.

"I can't," he stated simply. His hands dropped back to their usual spot beside his sides and he shrugged. The Hokage had briefed him slightly about the skill level of the two boys, but he hadn't expected them to break his shadow so easily. His shadow jutsu wasn't just about strength of will; it was more about the amount of chakra he had. As an academy graduate he had a lot to improve on still.

"What?!" Naruto wailed, "You didn't even try!" The blond was clearly upset at the lack of effort, but it didn't seem like Shikamaru cared. Sasuke sighed inwardly; it seemed they'd have to get used to this attitude from the boy.

"I know my abilities, Uzumaki," he replied curtly in his defense. Sasuke spoke up when it looked like Naruto was going to drag out the issue even more.

"Seems like we've got a lot of training to do then."

A/N:

Voila mes amis! (And no, I'm not French, however, I am required to take two semesters of a language and I chose French)

I was motivated to post this chapter by several readers' reviews. I know I told everyone I wasn't abandoning this fic but it's hard to believe when there are no updates right? I had this chapter written for a while now I just tweaked it here and there. The story is still in transition; I'm setting up the stage for the plot to unfurl. And yes, things are still different, as you read here. Things will become much clearer as the next few chapters come out. You'll really start to see how different this Konoha is from the other one. Of course I'll try to make things as realistic as possible.

I hope all my faithful reviewers are still with me! I'm really sorry, but I've never been one to rush a story…Please let me know what you think!