"TODAY'S THE DAY!" Naruto exclaimed proudly as he stood on the rooftop of his apartment shouting to the world that he was now a certified Konoha shinobi. He is no longer wearing the goggles he used to wear and is now sporting the Konoha headband. It's all thanks to that Mizuki-teme. Yeah, he manipulated Naruto into stealing the forbidden scroll and hurt Iruka-sensei but he got a cool jutsu out of it and he graduated!
Naruto worked up refreshed, took a large ramen breakfast from Ichiraku, and played with Konohamaru and his little gang before barging into his classroom and bragging to Shikamaru, Chouji, and Dog Breath (a.k.a. Kiba Inuzuka) that he was finally a shinobi.
"Yeah, right. There is no way you graduated!" Kiba said with Akamaru barking in agreement. "You stole that headband. Return it!"
"I did not dog breath!"
He was now an official Konoha shinobi. Nobody is going to tell him otherwise. The only blight on his awesome day is Sasuke-teme hogging all the girls. Upset over the attention, Naruto stood over at Sasuke's desk and glared at him. Sasuke also glared back. If only he didn't stand too close because one accidental push and Naruto and Sasuke's lips came crashing into each other. Naruto didn't stand a chance as the girls started beating the crap out of him. He spent the whole time thinking in agony because the girls were crazy over that teme.
Naruto, beaten and bruised sat next to Sakura who was too busy fawning over the stoic Sasuke. The dark-haired boy continues to ignore the pink-haired girl. He wasn't even paying attention to Iruka-sensei's speech and discussion about the expectations of being a shinobi. "… all the genin will be grouped into a three-man squad. Each squad will have a jounin-sensei as your guide to your journey to becoming full-fledged shinobis."
A three-man squad? Sakura thought. I hope I'll be on the same team as Sasuke! She thought excitedly. Cha! I'd better be in Sasuke's team or heads are going to roll.
Great. Sasuke rolled his eyes. More people are in my way.
Anybody but him on my team! Naruto glared at Sasuke. Hopefully, I'll get to be on the same team as Sakura-chan!
"But there is something else you should know." Iruka continued. "Some of you may have noticed several foreign shinobis in the village." That got the attention of some of the genin – mostly from those coming from the shinobi clans like Shikamaru (because his dad is the jounin commander so he hears things about updates going around if he can) and Sasuke (who sees the new foreign shinobi as potential rivals). "This is because of the new joint shinobi selection program that is being hosted in our village. There will be a team of genin coming from different villages."
Wait, what?
"Sensei, you mean there will be a team where a genin might have team members who are not from the village?"
"Yes, Sakura." Iruka-sensei answered. "And one of you was chosen to be part of the program."
"Wait? Is it Sasuke-kun?" One of the girls asked making everyone look at Sasuke. Some of them screamed excitedly to the black-haired boy's annoyance. Sasuke on the other hand remains stoic but wants to join. This seems like the perfect opportunity to get stronger. The others think that his representing the village is amazing while the other girls whine that they want to be part of Sasuke's team.
"No," Iruka answered. "Shinobis from prominent families like the Hyuuga and Uchiha are forbidden by the Hokage to participate mostly for safety and security reasons. This is also an experimental program and there is no guarantee of success yet but the genin who will join this program is Naruto."
"WHHHHAAAAAATTTTTTT?"
"Huh?" Naruto looked perplexed.
"What?"
"No way!"
"The dead last of all people?"
"He's going to ruin our village's reputation!"
"I feel sorry for the team who's going to get Naruto." Kiba chuckled.
"What's that, teme?!" Naruto growled and almost pounced on the dog-nin. Iruka-sensei managed to grab his favorite knucklehead away from him before a fight escalated. "Sit down Naruto. Ebisu will be here shortly to take you to the other room."
"What? That pervert?"
"Naruto!" Iruka glared at him making the orange-clad genin sit back down and behave. Pervert or not, Ebisu is a respected shinobi so Iruka has to reprimand him to be more respectful.
"Anyway, while we wait. I will be announcing the teams…"
Iruka started calling out their names and which teams they belonged to. "…Team Seven: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke (The girls in the room groaned and Sakura cried in happiness muttering to Ino about how true love prevails) and the third teammate is Sai."
"Who?" Sakura asked.
"He's right behind you Sakura." Iruka pointed at the pale boy who smiled at Sakura when she turned around.
"Domo!" The pale boy greeted.
Everyone else looked confused. Who is this guy and how come we never saw him before?
Wait. He looks cute. Ino thought. Dammit. Why does Sakura get two cute boys on his team?
"…Team Eight. Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuga Hinata. Your jounin sensei is Yuhei Kurenai."
"…Team Ten. Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru (What?! Inu screamed), and Akimichi Chouji (Ino slammed her forehead on the desk) … Your jounin sensei is Sarutobi Asuma."
"Why are you surprised? Our families have always been part of a team for generations." Shikamaru muttered to Ino who was scowling.
"Shut up, Shikamaru!" Ino hissed at him.
Man, girls are bothersome. Shikamaru thought.
"Listen here, Naruto. The Joint Shinobi Selection is a very important program and you will be representing the village."
Naruto groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I have to behave. I should not act out and listen to my sensei. Iruka-sensei already gave me the spiel."
"Such insolence!" Ebisu growled. "Do you not understand what would happen if you do something wrong? You could ruin the village's reputation! I don't know what the Hokage is thinking about putting you in this program. Such an idiotic knucklehead…" Ebisu never got to finish his sentence as Naruto pushed the glasses-wearing teacher out of the way. "WHA-HEY!"
Naruto burst into the classroom surprising everyone inside. He paused when everyone turned towards him. Without warning, the orange-clad genin immediately proclaimed. "ALRIGHT! LISTEN UP! MY NAME IS UZUMAKI NARUTO – FUTURE HOKAGE! NICE TO MEET YA, DATTEBAYO!"
Almost everyone has sweat drops on their heads. Some of them are looking at the orange-clad genin with confusion, others in disgust, some think he is an idiot, while one or two simply ignore him. Naruto was annoyed when none of them responded and immediately went talking with their fellow shinobi.
"Uhh…" the female Suna shinobi with brown hair, purple markings on her face, and wearing a white hat stared at the vibrant Konoha shinobi in confusion. This is a shinobi? That's a bright orange. She had never seen people wear such a bright scalding color before. In Suna, most people wear darker tones like brown, black, and maroon. The closest she could see the color orange is during sunsets but they are never really that bright – almost a vivid red-orange. Her name is Maki and she is one of the two Suna genins who were sent to participate in the program.
The other Suna shinobi sat at the farthest from everyone else. Isolating himself from them. He chose to ignore the blonde. His name is Gaara and he has spiky red hair, pale skin, green eyes, wears black training clothes and a white scarf, and carries a large gourd on his back. His distinctive features are his lack of eyebrows and a kanji tattoo on his forehead.
"Is this a joke or something? Did that guy just burst in here and just declare he is the future Hokage?" Suigetsu, a young Kiri shinobi commented. He has shoulder-length pale blue hair, and sharp teeth, and carries a sword on his back. "His clothes are orange. Orange Chojuro! What shinobi wears orange? Is he an idiot?"
"Just let him be, Suigetsu. We don't want to cause a scene." His fellow Kiri shinobi, Chojuro said nervously. He knew Suigetsu could react negatively which resulted in a lot of fights back in the village. Like Suigetsu, Chojuro has sharp teeth but his blue hair is short and spiky. He also wears a pair of glasses and large metallic earmuffs.
The two Iwa genins are among the only two groups who are wearing their shinobi uniform. The popular red and browns. The young girl has short black hair and pale skin was frowning at the blonde, while the other was a very tall boy with tanned skin and black hair. "If this is the type of shinobi this village is producing, Konoha will have trouble in the future." The girl named Kurotsuchi commented.
"Or, there is a chance that the villages are also sending their unwanted genins due to a lack of faith in the program, Kurotsuchi-sama?" The Iwa boy whose name is Ittan mumbled.
Kurotsuchi scoffed. "You'd think they should at least send us some decent shinobis. Guess grandfather was right about Konoha. They would never let them show their power. And how many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me 'sama'?".
"He does have blonde hair. You think he's related to him, Kurotsuchi-sama?"
"Urgg." Kurotsuchi groaned. The guy just won't listen. "We have seen a lot of blondes here, Ittan. I saw ten of them before we even entered the village." Being blonde after all is not exactly an uncommon hair color.
The two other genin who are wearing shinobi uniforms are from Kumo. Their uniform is a combination of gray, white, and navy blue. One has shoulder-length blonde hair and another has shoulder-length black hair and has his village's forehead protector around his forehead and a purple line under his left eye. They are Atsui and Tenga (A/N: Atsui is Samui's younger brother. Tenga was part of the intelligence division under Inoichi during the 4th Shinobi War). The two genin chucked at the sight of the orange-clad genin. They both agree that he is an idiot.
"He's an Uzumaki?" Umaki Karin whose vibrant red hair carrying the symbol of Kusa stared at the young blonde. He has heard stories about the Uzumakis from her late mother. Ironically, even the Uzumaki surname is similar to Karin's last name. But don't they usually have red hair? Why is he blonde though?
The other remaining genin was one from Taki who had completely ignored what was happening in the room and was roaming around looking at the crooks and crannies. She has dark skin, wearing white battle clothes with mesh, and carrying a large red bag on her back. She was oblivious to the outbursts of the blonde.
Naruto huffed. They didn't even react, what weirdoes. He wanted to do something crazy – a prank maybe? But pranks take planning and he doesn't have that much time or necessary equipment. Besides, Iruka-sensei told him to behave and for once, Naruto decided to do it. He sat nonchalantly next to the other Konoha genin in the room. He looks older with brown hair and bangs on both sides of his head.
"Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto." The blonde immediately introduced himself.
The other Konoha genin chuckled. "Yeah, I know. You practically declared your name in the room. I'm Saji."
"Hehe." Naruto laughed apologetically while rubbing the back of his head. "By the way, did you graduate this year? I never noticed you." Wasn't there a student in his class he didn't know too? What was his name again? Sai?
Saji stared at Naruto thoughtfully. "Hmmm. I believe you are a rookie if you graduate this year. I graduated two years ahead of you but both my teammates were promoted to Chuunin and my sensei wanted to specialize in interrogation and joined the torture team. So, I was recommended in the program."
"ATTENTION!" Ebisu called attention to the genin. "The third Hokage is entering!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
I was wondering though. Since Tenga was part of the fourth shinobi war under the intelligence division. I assume he is dead in canon since the intelligence division was mostly killed (Ao as the exception) when the 10 tails sent a bomb toward them.