Chapter 6: Teams

After everyone was released for the week to wait for team assignments, I decided to make my way to the Hokage Tower to just spend some time with the Old Man. On my way there, however, I was stopped by a severely blushing Hinata, and a hopeful looking Ino.

"Uh... Hey girls, what's up?" I ask, only now remembering that Hinata wanted to speak to me after graduation. "Hello, Naruto-kun. I... I wanted to ask if you would maybe want to go on a date with me." She says, fiddling with her fingers and giving me the accursed 'Puppy Dog Eyes Jutsu'. I then decide it's time to establish the pecking order and respond with, "Sure thing, Hina-chan. I'd love to go on another date with you." She looks confused at my use of the word 'another' but I ignore it and plant a small kiss on her lips. "I'm your boyfriend, ya' know? You don't have to get so nervous about these things." At this I hear Ino squeal like a rabid fangirl and see her start jumping for joy for some reason.

"B-Boyfriend... you're... my boyfriend?" She asks, still in shock. "Hm? Of course, silly. I don't cuddle or hold hands with just anyone, ya' know?" I respond as if it was obvious, which it wasn't, but I digress. "I... I see..." She looks up at me once more, then crashes her lips to mine and hugs me for dear life. "I'm so happy..." she whispers on my neck. "I'll do my best", she says as she lets go of me. "I'll see you tomorrow at the usual place then, Naru-kun". Then runs off with Ino still squealing and giggling like a madwoman.

I looked around and saw the villagers looking at me with some smiles, others with sadness in their eyes, and others trying to pretend they hadn't seen anything. Although I could clearly tell that wasn't the case, because some of them had small smiles on their faces. "Well, that's new..." I think to myself, before heading the rest of the way to the tower.

Once there, I knocked on the office door and waited to be called in. "You may enter" I hear from behind the door and head inside, closing the door after me. "Hey Old Man, how's it goin'?" I ask the Hokage. "Naruto, my boy. I see you graduated with flying colors. Tell me, what brings you here? You wish to celebrate perhaps?" Ha! He knows me too well. "Hehe yeah. I wanted to see if you would get some dinner with me tonight." He thinks it over for a moment before responding. "The usual place?" He asks me. "Yup. They said they'd give me the meal for free if I kept the #1 spot the whole time." I respond with excitement. "Really? Well then, we best get going." He says, standing up. "Yes!" I cheer and run out of the office with the Old Man trailing behind me.

We get to the Ichiraku Ramen Stand and sit in our usual seats. "Hey Teuchi-san, Ayame-nee! I'm here for my congratulatory ramen!" I say enthusiastically from my spot in the bar. "Oh, so you managed to keep the #1 spot for the graduation as well?" Teuchi asks me with a grin. "Yup! And it's all thanks to you and Ayame for motivating me to stay on top". This is true, free ramen will do that to you. He grins and starts preparing the ramen. Ayame then comes around the counter and gives me a big hug. "Congratulations on graduating Naruto-kun. I'm so happy for you". She finishes and then gives me a kiss on the cheek before heading back behind the counter. Giggling at my silly expression.

The rest of the evening went on with me talking to them about the test and how well all my friends did. With me asking the Old Man if he had already chosen the teams, and how he determined them. Many questions were asked, few were answered, which had me suspecting that he just wanted to see me pout because every time I did he would get a happy look in his eyes. "He must be worried what the Shinobi lifestyle will do to me...", I thought when I saw it. I continued to talk with the Old Man, Teuchi and Ayame throughout the night before heading home and keeping my promise to myself to sleep in at least once a month.

The rest of the week went by with very little of note. I went on a few dates with Hinata, met Hanabi for the first time - she was adorable -, got together with Lee and Tenten to spar, finished my newest pervy Jutsu 'Hidden Art: Infinite Desires Genjutsu'. It's a Genjutsu that I invented to show people what they want out of a situation, and twist it into something that reflects their deepest, most carnal desires. I used it on Hinata and Anko once to practice it and they both begged me to use them again. Yes, that was their exact wording. Those two be way too thirsty. Anko, I get, she's essentially celibate because of the arrangement we made when I told her about my dream. But Hinata is 12, and she's worse than Jiraiya almost.

Speaking of the pervert, he sent me the Toad Summoning Contract to sign a few days after I had graduated. Along with his entire Make-Out Series, and permission to use my father's scrolls to train - which was great, because I was needing something new to work on. I had finished studying most of my clans' techniques and was still not strong enough physically to work on recreating the 'Wind Style: Rasenshuriken'. After summoning Gamakichi for the first time and getting to know him, I decided it was best to start learning how to fight with the toads early on, but I wouldn't be starting that until after teams had been arranged.

Then the day of team assignments came.

"Alright everyone, calm down. I'll start calling out teams and we will be taking a one-hour lunch break before your new sensei come to pick you up." Iruka began, surprisingly not having to use is 'Ninja Art: Big Demon Head Jutsu' to get us to quiet down. He seemed pleased at this. Teams 1 through 6 were called and the students quickly changed seats to get closer to their teammates before meeting their sensei. "Hm? This is different. I wonder what changed?" I thought to myself as I used my sensory abilities to check everyone else's chakra levels. Everyone here seems to have gotten stronger over the week, their chakra is also a lot less...bubbly? I have a sneaking suspicion that things may have changed more than I originally thought.

"Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura. Your sensei will be Jonin Hatake Kakashi." Iruka informs. "Well...shit. At least, Sakura isn't as rabid a fangirl this time. She didn't even cheer at being with the Uchiha. Sasuke also seems... pleased with this arrangement? Damn. This might actually not be as bad as I thought." I finished my thoughts excitedly.

"Team 8 will be Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino. Your Sensei will be Jonin Yūhi Kurenai." He continues, and I notice Hinata give Kiba and Shino the thumbs up. Though I know that she's a little disappointed to not be on a team with me. "I feel the same Hina-chan!" I cry out internally with anime tears running down my face.

"Team 9 is still in rotation, Team 10 will be Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji. Your Sensei will be Jonin Sarutobi Asuma." He finishes and I can see Ino already getting on her teammate's cases.

"Please come back in an hour to meet your Jonin Sensei. Until then, you're dismissed." Iruka says before he leaves using the 'Body Flicker Jutsu' he taught me as a graduation gift.

I head over to my friends and said, "Hey everyone, you guys want to go out for barbecue while we wait?" I get a round of nods and cheers. "That includes you two as well, ya' know?", I tell my teammates. They nod and we all head out together to the barbecue restaurant that Choji swears by. It's a good time, with everyone - Sasuke included - commenting on what they think their Sensei will be like, and what they'll be learning from them. I decided to tell my team about Kakashi's legendary tardiness and convinced them to start training with me while we waited for him to show up. Hinata told her teammates about mommy Kurenai, and Ino asked me if I knew Asuma since he had the same last name as the Old Man. I told them what I had heard about the Hokage's son and told them that he was a pretty easy-going guy with a love for shogi - this caught Shika's attention - and barbecue - this got Choji's.

After eating we all went back to the classroom and everyone, but my team and I had left with their sensei.

"So, what techniques do you guys' favor?", I decided to start the conversation while we walked to the Academy training grounds. "What do you mean?", asks Sakura. "He means do we prefer Nin, Gen, or tai-Jutsu", Sasuke clarifies. "I'm more partial to Tai and Shurikenjutsu. Ninjutsu for finishing moves", Sasuke informs. "Oh. I get it.", Sakura says. "Well... I'm good at Genjutsu, I can make some good traps, and my Taijutsu has gotten a lot better recently.", she finishes after some thought. "That's good. That means we're a pretty diverse team, skillset wise. I'm more partial to Ninjutsu and Bukijutsu, though I have some skill in Genjutsu. I'm no slouch with Taijutsu either.", I tell them. "Naruto", Sakura begins, "You're the most well rounded out of anyone in the Academy. I'd be surprised if you didn't excel at something relating to the shinobi arts.", she finishes with some genuine awe.

"Ah... well... I kinda suck at medical Jutsu now that you mention it...", I inform them. And this is true. I can use basic healing techniques, but anything further is just way beyond me. I'm still struggling with learning the 'Chakra Scalpels', and I've been at it for some time now.

They look at me, disbelieving. "No way... but how?", Sakura was the first to speak up. And here is where I get her to learn medical Jutsu early on. I got Hinata and Ino to get her using low level Genjutsu when they started to train her. "Well, you see... Medical Jutsu requires near perfect chakra control, and incredible concentration.", I begin my sales pitch. "But, while I have pretty damn good concentration, and my chakra control is very good for my amount of chakra, I'm still not good enough in my control to be able to utilize those techniques effectively. I'm pretty certain that out of all of us, you would be the best at it. Since you have the best natural chakra control out of all of us." I tell her with a thoughtful look. "Maybe you should add that to your skillset, ya' know? I can teach you the basics and you can see if you like it.", I finish my pitch and look at her sparkling eyes. "Heh. Hook, line, and sinker.", I thought to myself.

"I'll do it.", She says finally, with more enthusiasm than I was expecting. "Good. Here you go, read this first and tell me if you don't understand something.", I hand her my medical studies scroll. "Sure thing, Naruto.", She responds.

After a moment of silence I ask, "Hey Sasuke, do you still know the 'Fireball Jutsu'?" He looks at me for a moment. "Of course, I do. Why?", He asks curious. "I think we should work on combining our techniques while we have Sakura confuse our targets with Genjutsu. My best techniques are all wind based.", I explain. He nods, liking the idea. I then continue, "I also think we should get you to unlock your 'Sharingan', sooner rather than later preferably." He nods and we stop at the training ground. "Well... how about some team drills to start us off?", I ask them and they nod.

Three Hours Later

"Naruto...", Sakura wheezes out. "Is this how you always train?", She asks me, mortified that I might say yes. "Hm? Oh, no not at all.", she looks relieved. "This is just my usual warm up pace. Hinata and I usually do this at a much higher pace, I'm just getting you guys used to the pace before I put you through your paces." She crumples like paper at this, then whimpers. "I can... *huff* understand... *huff* why you guys always beat me in class...", Sasuke huffs, taking deep breaths. "I had no idea, you could train this hard... I guess I should have accepted your offers Naruto", he finishes with a near whisper at the end. "Eh? That's alright Sasuke. We'll get plenty of time to train together, and I guarantee that you'll be stronger in no time. You too Sakura", I tell them. Happy that we're actually getting along, and that we're actually behaving like a team.

"Ah, so here is where you guys went.", we hear a voice call out behind us.

"Oh, hey Iruka-nii. what are you doing here?", I ask him after we walked up to him. "I should be the one asking you that, Naruto. Why weren't you all in the classroom waiting for your sensei?", he asks, more curious than mad. "Well, I know who Kakashi is, and I know he is always late to stuff", I tell him. "I thought that since he wouldn't be showing up for some time, that maybe it would be best for my team and I to get together and train while we waited, ya' know?", I explain. He sighs at this. "I see... well, he should be here any moment now, so please make sure to explain yourselves, alright?", He then ruffles my hair and walks off.

"I didn't know you and sensei were so close, Naruto.", Sakura comments. "Hm? Really? I thought it was obvious ya' know?", I grin at her before turning to look at the ceiling.

"Hey Kakashi sensei. Do you plan to make us wait all day?", I asked at seemingly no one, before he jumped in front of us.

"Well... My first impression of you is... you're alright.", He says trying to sound cool. We just stare at him, expectant. "Well, ahem, since we're already out of the classroom. How about we go ahead and introduce ourselves?" He pushes forward trying to change the awkward atmosphere. I nod at his approach.

"Al right then, I'll start. My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like my friends, ramen, and sweet red bean buns. I dislike traitors, and those who put themselves before others. My hobbies include performing tea ceremonies, walking around the village with the Old Man, and training. My dream is to return the Uzumaki Clan to prominence.", I give my intro hoping the others can follow suit.

"Um, my name is Sakura Haruno. I like learning new things and... - she looks at Sasuke and giggles. I dislike people who are mean. My hobbies include reading books and spending time with my friends. My dream is... - again she looks at Sasuke and squeals fan girlishly." "Well...there's progress at least...", I think with a visible sweatdrop. Sasuke doesn't even flinch and goes next.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like few things, but tomatoes are among them. I dislike being weak. My hobbies include training and talking with my friend. My dream... no, my ambition... is to restore my clan and bring a certain someone to justice." "Yes! Fuck Yes! This is what I was hoping for! All of my hard work and subtle manipulation has paid off!", I celebrate internally at hearing his intro.

"Hm... good. You're all different and interesting in your own unique ways. Now, meet me tomorrow at training ground 7, for a survival exercise at 5am. I'll save my introduction for then. You are dismissed.", he says before turning around to leave. "Oh, and I suggest that you don't eat breakfast, lest you want to puke." Ah, and there's the bullshit I was expecting. He vanishes in a swirl of leaves.

"You know he's messing with us, right?", I ask my team. "Uh... ", they responded, I sighed. "Clueless, these two are", I think to myself. "Well for starters, if you don't eat you won't have any energy for the survival exercise.", They nod, it makes sense. "Second, he told us to be there at 5am. Which means he'll get there at around eight or nine. I suggest we strike a happy medium and get there at 8:30am just in case.", I explain and we all nod.

We then head out to our own apartments and get ready for the next day. "Let's see how well we do..." are my last thoughts before I drift off to sleep.