Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

I really should proofread this.


Naruto walked back down the cliff and thought to get something to eat before heading to the academy.

He reached a most familiar place and entered that small stall that read 'Ichiraku Ramen' with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Hello, Teuchi-san!"

Teuchi greeted the blonde with a warm smile. "Naruto, it's great to see you! I see you were able to pass the exam and become a ninja."

"Yeah! You'll never believe it!..." Naruto began describing the events of the previous night in epic detail while Teuchi prepared the ramen. Naruto taking the scroll of seals from the Hokage tower, encountering Mizuki in the forest, Iruka protecting Naruto while he pulled out hundreds of shadow clones to pile on top of Mizuki and eventually earning his forehead protector.

Naruto spent his time chatting with the man while savoring his ramen. After some time, Naruto looked at the clock behind Teuchi and dropped his chopsticks.

"Aahhh I'm late! I gotta go Teuchi-san! See ya later!"

Teuchi simply smiled back as Naruto left some money on the counter and ran off, leaving his half-finished bowl of ramen on the table.


Naruto hurried to the academy, and saw a group of kids waiting outside a door. One by one, students were called into the room to take a photo and receive their ninja license.

"Hey, Naruto."

Among the group, he saw the other members of what would be known as 'Konoha's Rookie 9', and some of his greatest friends.

"Naruto."

Naruto had to hold back tears as his eyes traveled between them. He felt his emotions welling up, seeing them all together like this brought back memories of his past life, seeing them all get killed during the Otsutsuki war, no time to grieve as he had to keep pushing the enemy forces back as Humanity's spearhead.

"Naruto, you okay?"

Naruto snapped back to reality and saw Shikamaru waving his hand in front of his face.

"Oh, hey Shikamaru."

"You alright?" Shikamaru asked curiously.

Naruto replied with a nod. "Just a bit nervous. We're going to be assigned into our genin teams,right? I wonder who they will be."

Hearing the commotion, Ino interjected, "Speaking of genin teams, why are you here Naruto? Last time I checked, you failed the exam."

Naruto brought attention to his forehead protector by adjusting it. "Yeah, well I did an amazing job on a super important super secret super ultimate mission and Iruka sensei was so amazed by how well I did he gave me a special promotion, so I'm a genin now."

"You said super thrice, you dolt" the girl commented and Naruto answered, "cause that's how super it was!" Naruto felt warm inside. He really missed this kind of bickering.

Before Ino could reply, Choji came over and began speaking, "Did you guys hear? Apparently Mizuki sensei was caught trying to leave the village with important village information and was put in jail"

Ino was shocked, "Mizuki sensei did that? No way…"

"Serves him right!" Naruto exclaimed and Shikamaru looked at him.

"Uzumaki Naruto!" One of the teachers opened the door and called out his name to take his photo.

Naruto put his new ninja license in his pocket as he thought of his recent encounter with the 'honorable grandson'. He played it the same way he had done the first time he met the young boy, using his infamous 'Talk no Jutsu', dubbed so by Shikamaru on multiple occasions.


Those that got their license were told to wait in their classroom for their team arrangements, and Naruto did as such.

He entered the classroom and saw a few people he knew, and didn't see one person he knew all too well, as he was completely obscured by a horde of fangirls. Naruto displayed the ultimate stealth as he weaved through the horde without a single one of them noticing. However, as soon as he sat down next to their object of worship, Naruto could feel their eyes shooting lasers at him.

A certain pink haired girl spoke up, "Naruto! Why are you sitting next to Sasuke-kun?!"

Naruto responded, "Cause it was empty. Apart from all the glaring, I don't see any of you sitting here, so what's the problem?"

The aforementioned Uchiha, who was observing the situation, turned back to stare out the window. While he was relieved that someone else sat there before any of those annoying fangirls got the idea, he made sure to not show it on the outside.

Just before Sakura and the other fangirls could drag Naruto out of the seat, Iruka sensei entered and got the class to calm down.

He then began his long winded speech on how proud he was of all his students and stuff. Naruto really loved the man deeply, but he had to admit this part of his sensei was too much.

After that he began to announce the newly formed genin teams, and they were all the same as last time, so Naruto didn't pay much attention. Until finally…

"Next up is Sasuke Uchiha,…" The raven haired boy waited in anticipation for the next 2 names. "...Sakura Haruno…" He heard a squeal from his side. "... and Naruto Uzumaki." The squeal was quickly replaced by a groan and Sasuke glanced at the blonde. He had a sheepish grin on his face, unsurprised by the outcome. "...You three will form team 7, along with your jonin sensei Kakashi Hatake…"

Naruto couldn't seem to wipe the grin of his face.

Team 7...

This is where it all begins.


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