A/N: Thanks to DutchyPuppy, ThePheonixOfTears and Alli ate Sora-Sorry Roxas for the reviews :D they all made me smile :D ENJOY!


A special note to ALL reviewers. Though I used to PM a response to each and every one of you to show my appreciation I am no longer allowed to use the fanfiction PM. I will thank you all in name in the A/N's along with addressing any questions starting next chapter. Sorry :(


SPECIAL NOTE! The song is Never Say Never by Justin Bieber and Jaden Smith. If I lose readers because of this then that's pathetic. I'm not a Justin bieber fan but I dislike the haters who hate for no reason and call him gay. You don't know him. I dislike the fangirls just as much, who scream just because he's cute and threaten Selena? He doesn't even know you! The song itself has great lyrics and a great message behind it. I though it was best for this chapter because it's Shinobu's start as a Shinobi, her spending so long not giving up is really paying off. I don't want reviews if they're only going to say stuff about Beiber. K? K. lol ENJOY!


Shinobu POV

"You did a great job." Kurenai appeared with a small smile. "But it's been an hour and fifteen minutes. You didn't make it in the time limit." She paused looking at them and Shinobu's heart sank in her chest. Kiba looked furious while Hinata looked like she was going to cry.. this was her team.. this was supposed to be her team. Time limit aside they worked together and finished. How could they not pass?

"W-what! But.. We made it through the entire thing! We could have died! Shinobu burned her arms! Hinata has bruises! Shino's bugs are confused as hell!" Kiba shouted furiously. Kurenai looked honestly shocked and Shinobu guessed it was because of two things. One, the entire team was hurt. Two, because Kiba had hit explosion tags and his legs were raw yet he didn't bring up himself, only his team.

"As a shinobi you will risk your life every day.." She started.

"But you tried to kill us only to have us fail?" Kiba shouted.

"Hey, don't blame me. I didn't make the course. Now let me finish!" She told him sternly. He shut up before giving a sorrowful glance to the rest of us.

"I said that you didn't make it in the time limit.. you did however make it through. The idea of this wasn't to make it through the entire thing, it was teamwork. I didn't expect you to get through in fact, all I was waiting for was for you to work together, which you did with in five minutes of starting. So you pass." She smiled and Kiba looked dumbfounded.

"So you let us get hurt and go through that entire thing... when we passed with in five minutes. OUR TEACHER IS A LUNATIC!" He screamed. Shino placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him. We passed.. we did it! Shinobu grinned.

"Wait.. s-so if you d-didn't create this. W-who did?" Hinata asked, finally speaking up with a small smile.

"Anko-sensei. I didn't know what to do with it and she.. kind of offered. More like blackmailed. So I accepted." She smiled softly, muttering the one part so they couldn't hear.

"Oi, so these maggots actually passed my obstacle course? You've got yourself a good team Kurenai." A woman wearing fishnet and an overcoat grinned popping out of no where with dango in her mouth.

"So you're the witch who tried to kill us! Look what you did to Shinobu's arms!" Kiba screamed, picking up Shinobu's arm and shoving it infront of the creepy ladies face.

"I didn't put any fire jutsu in there.. did she hit an explosion?" Anko asked curiously.

"No. It was the chakra mass. I attacked it." Shinobu explained. She liked Anko, she seemed scary and evil but over all she had an air of trust and kindness around her even if it was distorted.

"Hmm.. interesting. Anyway maggots. I'll be helping with your training now and then so don't get into my bad graces or you'll find yourself hurt." She winked specifically at Kiba before disappearing again.

"That lady scares me.." Kiba mumbled, wincing when a hallow shout of "I heard that" echoed through the training field.

"Anyway.. congratulations on passing. We'll be taking our first mission as a team tomorrow morning. Meet me outside of the Hokage's office at eight in the morning. Alright?" Kurenai asked, when they all nodded she continued talking. "If Asuma's team passed as well then we'll be eating at this one restaurant as a reward for passing. Let's go." She smiled.

"Who's Asuma-sensei's team?" Shinobu asked curiously as they walked. She hadn't seen him so chances were it was either Shikamaru and Choji's team or Naruto's.

"I believe he got the Ino-Shika-Cho trio." Kurenai smiled. "But I'm not sure."

"Okay, we'll see when we get there I guess." Shinobu smiled back. Their sensei seemed really nice, she couldn't wait to get to know everyone better, to start missions. She was gaining more important people. Shino.. Hinata.. Kurenai. Maybe Anko? Who knows. But she was incredibly happy that this worked out the way it did.

After a good ten minute walk the group found themselves outside of a large restaurant waiting for Asuma's team. Inside there was booths but instead of normal tables there were grills. It was a meat buffet. She could imagine Choji loving this kind of place, as long as people didn't steal the last piece of food.

"Kurenai! Over here!" Asuma shouted gruffly, waving her over. Beside him was a shocked Ino, a tired looking Shikamaru and a depressed Choji. Apparently Asuma-sensei hadn't let them eat until the other team arrived.

"You passed too?" Shikamaru asked with mild interest.

"Ya, it was insane though. What did you guys have to do to pass?" Shinobu replied, putting some meat on the grill.

"Answer a question." Ino answered for him, smiling sheepishly at Shinobu.

"What? WHAT KIND OF QUESTION?" Kiba shouted, immediately outraged. After all, they had risked theier lives while these guys just got to answer a question.

"Ya.. we had five minutes to figure out what the most important skill a ninja could posses was. We were talking together about it and he passed us before we could answer. The answer was teamwork.. troublesome.. but atleast we weren't doing some death threatening obstacle course or something. What did you guys do?" Shikamaru asked. Team eight immediately deadpanned.

"...We went through a death threatening obstacle course.." Shinobu groaned. Shikamaru chuckled before eating some of the meat on the grill.

"W-wait. You actually put them through that?" Asume asked, dumb struck. Kurenai looked at him sheepishly before nodding and Asuma sighed. Now that Shinobu saw everyone, it felt like they knew each other forever.

"So we're all genin now.." Ino smiled, Shinobu grinned back. She was definitely better than when she wasn't around Sakura, though Shinobu did notice her blush. It was quite the contrast to her platinum blond hair. Shinobu grinned, looking around her and smiling at her new friends before standing up on the booth, ignoring the looks of the other patrons, raising her glass of water.

"Succes is a lousy teacher in my mind. It tricks smart people into thinking they can't lose. Let's learn from our mistakes and failure and take the next step of our lives with new people. With them, let us grow stronger and form unbreakable bonds. A toast! To old mistakes and failure along side new friends and allies. To the next generation of Konoha shinobi!" She grinned, raising her glass before taking a swig and laughing as she sat down. Everyone grinned and clinked glasses. Shikamaru and Kiba both grinning at their friend. Shinobu felt more confident as time went by with her friends, with Naruto. It was an amazing feeling not to be as shy, as guarded. To be worried that everyone was out to hurt you.

Her little toast had not only their entire group hyped up and grinned but they had managed to get a free round of meat out of it along with smiles from several patrons. Asuma and Kurenai looked at each other smiling as the girl spoke. She would make a good leader one day. Though they wondered where she learned it. In reality, they were words spoken to her from Naruto. Though a little less intelligently worded and a little more loud.

The group spent the rest of the time talking about the academy and how missions were going to go. Ino temporarily dropped her obvious infatuation for Shinobu and just talked. They all laughed and shared this moment. Ignoring the stress and hardships to come. Just because you were about to risk your life for the rest of your life doesn't mean you couldn't have a little fun.


The next morning.

"Naru! Get up! Get up, get up and GET UP!" Shinobu poured a glass of water over his head hiding a giggle as he shrieked. "Finally! I have my first mission and you still have your training! You have like three minutes to get there. Go!" She said, shoving him everything he would need before going back to her room to change and put on her forehead.. well.. neck protector and stocking her shuriken holster. It restricted her genjutsu's shorts but it was the best place to put it.

She heard the door slam as Naruto left and yawned quickly dropping into a cobra to crack her back before making her way out the door. Of all people she expected to be late on her team. It was Kiba, and she didn't want to look bad on her first mission so she had left a little early so she could go get him. When she got there she knocked on the door, grinning as chorus's of barking pounded into her eardrums. The door swiftly opened revealing a half ready Hana. She must have been getting ready to head to the vets office.

"Shinobu? What are you doing here so early?" Hana asked, ushering her in as she fixed her hair into a neat pony tail. Shinobu's features mixed between disappointment, annoyance and joy. Hana was always so nice, Shinobu really liked her. On the other hand Kiba had obviously neglected to tell his family that she was not only on his team but they had a mission.

"Kiba didn't tell you his team did he.." She groaned.

"No.. who are they?" She asked while going through her bag to make sure she had everyone.

"Our sensei is Kurenai and we are the sole team of four in Konoha. Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Inuzuka Kiba and U- Shinobu." She smiled, carefule to cover up her little slip.

"You're on his team! Great, now someone can keep him in line." She grinned.

"Oh the irony, that's what I'm doing now. We have a mission, is he awake?" Shinobu asked, leaning down to pet the three Haimaru brothers, Hana's ninken. The chunin's eyebrow visibly twitched as she shook her head. Shinobu nodded politely as Hana took off before storming her way up to Kiba's room.

"Nngh.. why is there a girl in my room..?" Kiba moaned, rubbing his eyes before sitting up and quickly bursting into laughter as he saw Shinobu. "Dude! You smell like a girl." He laughed while Shinobu rolled her eyes.

"And you smell like a moron. We're going to be late, or did you forget we have missions today?" She sighed as his eyes widened. He quickly jumped out of bed, scampering around his room picking up articles of clothing as he got ready. Shinobu averted her eyes, out of respect, and the desire to avoid a blush.

"C'mon." She smiled, picking up Akamaru and petting him as they walked towards the Hokage's office. When they got there Hinata, Shino and Kurenai were already waiting.

"You shouldn't be late for your first mission you know. It will look bad on your behalf.. and mine." She sighed. She knew it was probably Kiba but she was too tired to care. She had a last minute mission last night and didn't get much sleep. As the group made their way into the office a comfortable silence fell over them. It was broken by a sweet yet cracked voice of one of Shinobu's important people.

"Aah. Team eight. I see you've passed, congratulations. Are you ready for your first mission?" He asked, earning grins from each of them in response. Each grin was different as their personalities differed. You could tell a lot about them from their grins. Kiba's was cocky, confident yet slightly goofy and it showed kindness. Hinata's grin was more of a small smile, it was sweet, innocent and shy. It always lit her eyes though. You could only see Shino's smile from his cheeks which turns a light rosy colour. It was mysterious yet confident. Kurenai's was soft, yet strong. Her eyes gleamed with pride and her smile showed that. Her smile spoke volumes of her personality, of how she was trust worthy and where her loyalties lied. Shinobu's grin was confident yet shy, it held kindness and trust but her eyes gleamed with hurt and fear. Underlying all that, each one shared one thing. Determination laced their features. The hokage smiled at them all before continuing.

"You'll be taking on a D-rank mission. There are construction workers on the east end of town and they have run low on workers due to an illness that's spread and though the hospital is taking care of them they need more workers. All you need to do is carry the supplies from the entrance to their site. So that the workers can focus on building instead of lugging materials. Alright?" They all nodded before recieving a smile and a dismissal.

When they arrived at the gate entrance their jaws dropped. The crew was building a whole new compound and there was a mountain of supplies. This looked like it would be a several day mission by the looks of it.

"Do we seriously have to do this..? It's not even ninja related.." Kiba groaned earning a small eye roll from Kurenai, but before she could speak up Shino did.

"Shinobi dedicate their lives to their village. We not only protect it but we do everything we can to help it's people. This is ninja related because we are helping our people and that's our job." Shino stated, picking up a couple of boards tied together, throwing them over his shoulder and walking towards the construction site.

"B-besides, this'll help our endurance, r-right? W-we can t-think of it as t-training." Hinata smiled, wavering slightly as she picked some up before following Shino. Kiba grinned, to him, it sounded like a challenge. He picked up two bunches before quickly running towards the site. Akamaru picked up a couple of bags of nails before chasing after him.

"Did I get all of the hidden genius's or something?" Kurenai sighed, grinning after her team as she picked up some boards.

"Nope, just the ones who paid attention in class, excusing Kiba." Shinobu grinned, picking up a bunch of wooden boards, some plaster and a couple of bags of nails before taking off in a light jog towards the site. She wasn't going to miss the chance to get stronger. She waved as she passed her two quieter teammates and couldn't help but giggle as Kiba and Akamaru passed her in the opposite direction. Normally going full out would be great but if they kept at it they were going to pass out before long.

When she reached the site she smiled, watching in awe as the workers focused on their jobs. She recieved a couple of smiles as she set down the supplies before taking off in a light sprint to the gate. She figured if she went slower with the supplies but quicker on the way back she'd maintain a constant pace. Instead of suddenly straining her muscles then relaxing them again.

They continued doing this until around noon where they offered to pick up lunch for the workers on site. They ate lunch with them and heard stories about their travels, receiving many thanks for their help. After the hour break they got back to work, stopping occasionally for a breather until the workers ended at eight o'clock. It had been a long day and Shinobu was beyond tired. Yet, they had only finished lugging about half of the supplies. She grinned none the less, it was her first mission and it left her feeling oddly accomplished, to have helped someone else.


A/N: I hope you liked the chapter. The following is an *cough* perverted *cough* Omake of what would have happened if Shinobu replaced Sakura. :D feel free to skip. If not it mentions gayness and hints at incest. ;D. Note that it's for fun and there is a tad of Sasuke bashing. The characters may be a little OC but like I said. FUN. Although it is not what would have ACTUALLY happened, it was fun to write and it's just a little side story. ENJOY :D


Omake


Sasuke POV

Sasuke coughed in disgust, avoiding eye contact with the boisterous blond. He kissed me? Ew, he kissed me! Stay calm.. must..keep..reputation. He kept his expression blank before staring intently at the board. He could here Shinobu arguing with the fan girls. He rather disliked him, he made him feel weaker. He was strong. He would not be made a fool of.

"Oi! Leave him alone. He got bumped into Sasuke. Neither one of them did it on purpose so stop being fangirls towards some boy that is NEVER going to like you back!" Sasuke watched curiously as the devil himself stood up for Naruto. He didn't understand what Shinobu saw in him. He was worthless... ok.. if he was honest with himself he liked him a little.. but he was still a horrible ninja if not determined.

"B-but! He kissed Sasuke!" One of the girls stammered. Sasuke in-wardly scowled. Why the hell did they care? He had tried ignoring them. It never worked! Damn stubborn, brainless, fluff brained girls. He was soon caught up in thinking of names to call the girls in his head when he saw Shinobu stomping over him. What's he doing? Why is he coming over here? He looks kind o-.. bad Sasuke... No.. dirty thoughts.

He looked up at him in confusion before he felt a rough pressure on his lips causing his eyes to widen. This wasn't like Naruto who had bruised his lips with his teeth. This was soft yet rough all at the same time. Where did he learn this?

"There! I kissed him too. Are you going to beat me up too? Or anyone who kisses the guy?" Shinobu yelled, once they broke apart. All of the girls froze on the spot, drooling. Great.. they're perverts too? Two guys in one day... Ugggh. I'm NOT gay! Do I look like I'm gay or something? Why do I keep attracting all of these guys?

Thoughts like this plagued him all the way through Iruka's speech well after the girls had moved away. It wasn't until he had heard his name called that he looked up. Shit.. who was my team? I missed it.

"OI! IRUKA! Why do I have to be on the same team as teme?" Naruto yelled and Sasuke groaned before rolling his eyes. Of course they stick me with the guy who kissed me. Great.. just..great.. ugh. He ignored them for the rest of their arguement, noticing Shinobu's shocked reaction. He looked afraid, hurt, nervous and excited all at once. It was odd.. What's wrong with him?

"Shut up, Naruto. It's because of the grade system. Either way, we're still on the same team. Just shun him." Shinobu mumbled and Sasuke looked wide eyed at the two of them. I'm stuck with two gay perverts!

"Sasuke is something wrong?" Iruka asked noticing his disgusted reaction as the boy blushed.

"N-nothing!" He stuttered. Sasuke.. stutter? I'm being a wimp.. no.. no way.. I'm turning gay.. I'm becoming a wimp.! Soon I'll be making out with guys in-between missions. No! He was bashing thoughts like these away for the rest of class before trying to disappear but before he could he was grabbed from behind and he could feel the hot breath of his captor.

"Sasuke.. you're not turning gay.." Shinobu whispered from behind him before disappearing. The boy read him like a book. He stared wide eyed at the wall before bee-lining towards the boys bathroom. While Shinobu had said one thing, his erection obviously said another. He groaned.

If only he had known that on top of the two boys that kissed him, his sensei never stopped reading porn? Sasuke Uchiha was in for one hell of a time.


A/N: Lol. I support homosexuality don't get me wrong but I had to do this XD Hope you enjoyed it. If not oh well xD I laughed my bum off writing it XD (Not incest technically. Sasuke doesn't know XD) Hope it helps make the otherwise un-eventful chapter a little more fun :D