"How about some introductions?" Kakashi asked. They were all gathered on the roof of the academy, and the three newly appointed genin were sitting on a couple stairs, facing their sensei.

"How do ya mean?" Naruto asked. Sasuke knew exactly what the man wanted, and he also knew that they would get nothing out of Hatake that he didn't want to tell them. This was merely a small test for the jonin to see if they had any chance of passing the bell test the following morning. According to the records, Kakashi Hatake had failed every genin team he had ever had, based on their results from the infamous bell test.

"What I mean is I want to know who you are. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, that sort of thing." Kakashi said, his calm voice making it sound as though he were explaining something to a bunch of children, which he kind of was. Sakura and Naruto both got more confused, and Sasuke acted as though he didn't care.

"Umm, Sensei, why don't you go first? Then we could have an idea of what we're supposed to say." Sakura said. Sasuke couldn't help but note that her voice made her sound much younger than she actually was. That would be useful during certain infiltration missions, not that they would get many.

"Alright, well let's see." Kakashi said, pausing as he pretended to think. "I am Kakashi Hatake. I have no intentions of telling you my likes or dislikes. I have many hobbies. As for my dreams? I don't feel like telling you that either." Sasuke watched Naruto and Sakura slump over, when they realized they had learned absolutely nothing from him.

"Now it's your turn." Kakashi said, looking at them all innocently. "How about you go first," he said, gesturing towards Sakura. She blushed profusely at being picked to go first, and started playing with her fingers to release her anxiety.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," she started, almost as cheerful as Iruka. "Well, I really like-" she cut herself off, giggling and looking at Sasuke, who could only shudder on the inside. Her cheeks darkened to a shade of red that resembled her shirt.

"My dreams for the future, well," she stopped in a giggling fit yet again, and Sasuke found himself slowly edging to the other side of the roof. Luckily, only Kakashi seemed to notice his fear of the crazy fangirl beside him.

"That's very good, Sakura." Kakashi said sarcastically. Nonetheless, Sasuke glared at the man, knowing that Sakura's twisted mind would see this as encouragement. "Now how about something you hate?" he continued, either oblivious or uncaring about the anger that was radiating off the young Uchiha in waves.

"NARUTO!" she shouted, and the one in question wilted beside her. Sasuke would have felt bad for him, but he figured it was the boy's own fault for falling in love with one of the fangirls. He was pretty sure they even had cult rituals they did on his birthday. He quickly wiped that thought away from his mind, but not before telling himself that he would have to find an excuse to leave Konoha on July 23rd.

Kakashi nodded, and then thanked her for sharing. Sakura lit up at the "praise" and sat, a huge smile on her face. Her random personality switches were interesting, if not a bit scary, to watch.

"Now your turn, Naruto." Naruto smiled one of his trademark grins, and sat up straight.

"I really like instant ramen, but the kind that Iruka-Sensei got me at Ichiraku's is the best! One of my hobbies is trying all the different kinds of ramen. I dislike the three minutes it takes for instant ramen to cook in a microwave. And my dream is to be the Hokage, so everyone in the village will look up to me and respect me!" Sasuke thought that Naruto may need some variety in his diet, even the Kyuubi couldn't keep him healthy forever if all he ate was ramen, right? Ramen wasn't exactly a ninja super food either, and he wasn't sure he would feel comfortable with a ramen-crazed Hokage.

"How… enlightening." Kakashi said, probably just as worried about Naruto's health as Sasuke was. Naruto grinned happily again, not picking up on Kakashi's sarcasm. Their sensei sighed, before turning to Sasuke. If he weren't good at reading people, then the small bit of apprehension in the man's one visible eye would have escaped his notice. It didn't however, and Sasuke was given the impression that the man though he was a loose cannon. Before Kakashi could tell him to start, he introduced himself.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I dislike many things, and I don't particularly like anything." He saw Sakura looking at him funny out of the corner of his eye.

"My goal cannot be called a dream, because I will make it a reality. I am going to get strong, then destroy a certain someone." He finished, and noticed Naruto blanch at the end of his little introductory. He wondered if Naruto thought he wanted to kill him. It wasn't right to be amused by that, but he was. Kakashi just smiled at him, though Sasuke could tell he was still apprehensive about his new team.

"You all seem to have wonderful, distinct personalities. I should hope you pass the survival test I have for you tomorrow."
Naruto and Sakura looked at Kakashi with confusion etched on their faces.

"But why Sensei? We did a bunch of survival test with Iruka-Sensei at the academy." Sakura said. Naruto nodded along with her.

"Yea, we got our forehead protector's and everything. We're ninja now, we don't need any more basic survival training. Believe it!"

"Look, I'm only going to tell you this because I'm nice. The second test in general is a secret, so you had better be grateful, and actually try tomorrow." Naruto and Sakura leaned forward, hooked by the ominous tone Kakashi had taken.

"Out of the thirty students to pass this year, only nine of you will become actual genin. THe rest will either be sent back to the academy, or give up." Sakura immediately looked both terrified and determined. Naruto, on the other hand, had outrage spelled out across his face.

"But that's not fair!" He yelled angrily. "Those people worked hard to get to pass that exam, and now you're saying it meant nothing!?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying." Naruto glared at him before sitting back down. Sakura was still trying to get over her initial shock. Sasuke had seen something like that coming.

"Now, I expect to see all of you at training ground three at 7a.m."
He turned around and looked like he was going to leave, but turned around and gave them one last piece of advice.

"Make sure you don't eat breakfast, or else you'll throw up."

Sasuke sat at the window to his house, looking out at the lake and eating his lunch. He wasn't quite sure what to make of his new team yet. He knew all the stereotypical things about them, but looks could be very deceiving. Sakura, a person devout in the life of fangirlism, was actually quite skilled in her chakra control, and he knew that with her intellect she could master many genjutsu.

Naruto was another stereotype. He was deadlast, with the worst grades, and hardly ever did he respect the rules of a competition. On the other hand, he was a great strategizer, though no one gave him credit for it, and he was the best in class at improvisation and traps.

"Your rice balls are getting cold," his ninnekin friend, Minu, observed. "Can I have one?" He wordlessly handed the kitten his bento, preoccupied with thoughts about the new 'Team Seven'. Minu must have sensed he was having some trouble. She gave him a bit of time to organize his thought, eating her rice balls while she waited.

"So," she said, getting bored with his silence. "What's up? Something must be driving that brain of yours crazy." Sasuke didn't answer for a while, thinking about how he could phrase his worries. In the end, he decided that blunt honesty was the best answer.

"I can't understand my new genin team." He told her, glancing in her direction to judge any reaction. Finally, Minu bust out laughing. He frowned a little; he had been hoping her comments would be more beneficial than that.

"Someone finally gave you a puzzle you can't solve!" Minu said, her laughter still evident in her words. "Heaven forbid Sasuke Uchiha finds something he doesn't know the answer to!" He glared at her, thinking that he should have just kept quiet.

He stopped glaring when he felt someone enter the compound. He wasn't the best chakra sensor he knew, but there were seals still in place that alerted the Uchiha when someone outside of their clan had entered the gates. Minu fell quiet as she picked up on his body language. It took him just two seconds to recognize the chakra signature of the person who had just walked in like they owned the place. Of course it had to be Naruto. He slowly relaxed, and saw Minu do the same when she figured out that the person wasn't a threat.

He wasn't sure why Naruto had decided to come to his home, since the blonde practically hated him. Sasukes best guess was that the kid was there to get back at him for the kiss. Sasuke wasn't all that worried. He knew Naruto had an imagination, but he wasn't truly demented. At least, Sasuke hoped he wasn't.

His thoughts were cut short when he realized that Naruto's chakra signature had vanished, and he quickly went to the kitchen, since it was the easiest place in the house to defend. He couldn't sense Naruto anywhere, and Sasuke was internally cursing himself for not training more on that particular aspect of shinobi life. He had figured that with the sharingan, it would be a waste of time. He forgotten about having to pretend he didn't have his kekkei genkai.

One minute, he was calmly sitting at the table, preparing for an attack. The next, he was tied up and laying on his stomach, Naruto standing and grinning triumphantly over him. He could only see the smoke left over from Naruto's henge before the boy was gone, going who knew where. He slowly lifted his eyes to meet Minu's, hers filled with considerably more mirth than his.

"It's your own fault ya know," she said, taking on a lecturing tone. "If you had spent more time on your taijutsu you wouldn't be in this mess."

Sasuke glared at her, before huffing in annoyance. He didn't bother telling her that his chakra system kept him from performing normal taijutsu. He had to make his own versions of the techniques they learned at the academy. He was sure that some of the teachers had noticed, but his guess was that they all thought it was part of the Uchiha Clan style. Because of his certain 'disability', he couldn't use the defensive techniques taught at the academy to stop the attack style the students learned there.

Minu took a couple more minutes to 'lecture' him, before he was finally able to get his fingers together to perform the necessary hand seals for the substitution jutsu. before he left his house to try and find Naruto. He was really hoping that the dobe hadn't done what Sasuke was thinking he had. He had nothing against Naruto, but if that blonde idiot was masquerading around Konoha pretending to be him, then there would be hell to pay.

Unfortunately, said idiot was very hard to find, and Sasuke spent the next hour looking for him. When he did finally discover where the boy had gone, he couldn't help but be disappointed. Naruto looked like himself, so any damage had already been done. He still wanted to know what the heck the dobe had done though. He was about to ask, but then Naruto saw him.

"AHHH! Teme! How'd you escape?" He shouted, looking surprised. Sasuke didn't even have to pretend to roll his eyes.

"It's called the replacement jutsu. I just substituted myself with the scroll on my table." It was one of the most obvious ways out, that practically anyone who had gone to the academy could use. Naruto's face grew red in anger as he realized how stupid he had sounded. Sasuke saw him put his hands together to form a sign, and was surprised to see the symbol for the kage bunshin. Six Naruto's suddenly appeared and jumped into the air.

While Sasuke knew a couple elite taijutsu he had made when he was little, he couldn't really perform any of them to the correct standard. It was one of the reasons he had been able to keep himself from all out forcing Itachi to stay in Konoha during the massacre. He quickly got those thoughts out of his head and got into a stance that he hoped would be able to defend him from the majority of the attacks.

Before anything could happen, all the Narutos suddenly fell forward and clutched their bellies in agony. All of them got up and ran to the bathroom, the real Naruto too eager to be the first in to realize that he could just dispel his clones. Sasuke could only look on in disappointment, because he knew that this idiot had just beaten him in a fair fight. If Naruto was able to beat him, how the heck was he going to get good enough to kill Itachi?

That night, Sasuke lay awake in bed, as he did most night. He wasn't worried about the test their sensei had for them. Nor was he worried that Nekobaa was going to ask him to try and get Tora's pawprint in the encyclopedia after a while. He was worried about Itachi.

He didn't hate his brother. He knew that if he had his way, the massacre would have never happened, and he and his family would all still be living in their house together.

He didn't want to kill Itachi. How could he want to kill his amazing big brother, who had always had time for him when their parents didn't? The one person who had made the time to be there with him, even when he was needed elsewhere.

But Itachi had asked Sasuke to kill him. Itachi had never wanted anything from Sasuke. He had always put Sasuke's happiness above everything else in his life. Itachi never wanted anything as payment for his kindness, or his caring. Itachi had never asked Sasuke for anything in return, until that night.

Sasuke didn't want to kill his brother. But he would do it, because Itachi had asked him to.