"Hurry up, Naruto!"

Naruto rolled his eyes and finished tying his hair into its customary ponytail. "We've got plenty of time," he yelled back. He grabbed his favourite orange jacket from the back of the chair, and took a final glance around his room. He had his weapons and wires and tricks…

"Naruto! You know how long it takes to drag Shikamaru out the house!"

That was an excellent point, but Naruto still took the time to brush some dust off his dark blue trousers. Pissing off Ino was way too much fun.

"If you don't get down here now, I'll spend the whole day sending you the most annoying jingles I can think of."

Naruto jumped at the mental intrusion. "What? No fair!"

He threw himself down the stairs three at a time to find Ino smirking. "Just because you haven't got the hang of long-distance projection yet, doesn't mean I can't use it."

Naruto scowled at her. "Yeah, well at least my sensor range is larger than the house."

"Well I can-"

"All right, that's enough," Inoichi interrupted, as he pulled on his long black coat. "You're both doing very well. It's been a long time since I've seen anyone progress as quickly in our clan techniques as you two have."

Naruto beamed, and felt Ino's pride resonate around them. The two of them had been pushing each other to improve for the past three years, and it was definitely paying off.

"Just you wait, ji-chan, we'll be the strongest shinobi in Konoha."

Inoichi chuckled. "I have no doubt of that." He looked at the two of them, face softening into a smile. "But I will be proud of you no matter what happens."

"Thanks, tou-chan," said Ino quietly. She gave her father a quick hug, then straightened up. "Now we really will be late!"

Naruto caught Inoichi's eye, and had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing. Ino just rolled her eyes, and dragged Naruto out the door.

"See you later, tou-chan."

"Bye, ji-chan!"

Ino let go of Naruto's jacket once they got to the street, grumbling something about Sakura definitely going to be at the Academy before them. Naruto, who knew better than to interfere in the best friend/worst enemy dynamic the two girls had, just gave his sister a grin.

"Hey, Ino-nē?"

Ino eyed him with utterly undeserved wariness. "What?"

Naruto's grin widened. "Race you to Shikamaru's!"

He was already halfway down the street by the time Ino's infuriated squawk caught up with him, and he laughed as he ran faster. He didn't know why she was complaining, she was the one who didn't want to be late.

To prove miracles did exist, Shikamaru was waiting by the front door. Yeah, he was sitting down, but his eyes were open at least. Chōji probably had something to do with that, judging from the wink he gave Naruto as he skidded to a halt.

"What kept you?"

Naruto grinned at them. "Y'know, Ino was taking ages - Gah!"

He sprawled in the dusty street as Ino glared down at him. "That's for blaming this on me."

Naruto scowled, but accepted the hand up she offered. "You wanted me to move quicker."

Ino stuck her tongue out at him, but refrained from arguing in favour of helping Chōji drag Shikamaru upright. Their friend let out a heavy sigh.

"Why did I have to graduate?" he grumbled.

"Because Mizuki-sensei would have killed you if you'd fallen asleep in his class one more time," Chōji pointed out, with a smile.

Shikamaru sighed again. "So troublesome."

By the time they reached the Academy Naruto had gotten into two different arguments with Ino, joined her in pestering Shikamaru, and nearly come to blows with Chōji about whether and in what circumstances barbecue was better than ramen. It was good to know that, despite their graduation, some things would never change.

Another thing that would never change was how weird girls could be. Naruto took one look into the classroom and snorted.

"Hey, Ino-nē, you gonna join in?"

Ino looked at where most of the girls in their class appeared to be fighting over who got to sit next to Sasuke, and blushed. "Shut up," she muttered.

She dragged Shikamaru and Chōji into the row behind her crush. Naruto followed with a grin, but kept his mouth shut when Shikamaru kicked him. He looked at the crowd, and sighed to see Sakura at the front of the group. What was so great about Sasuke?

Then he saw the growing tension in Sasuke's shoulders, and his slight flinch as the screeching got louder, and sympathy replaced his annoyance. A glance along the row showed that Ino was preoccupied, and Naruto took the opportunity to vault over the desk and into the still empty seat next to Sasuke.

"Hey, Sasuke!"

Sasuke glanced at him and grunted, but he relaxed back in his chair, and that was good enough. Naruto laced his fingers behind his head and started whistling, easily ignoring the death glares he was getting from half the class. They only had themselves to blame for being slow and annoying.

Fortunately, Iruka arrived in time to prevent any bloodshed. Naruto tried to listen to his explanation of how the teams were formed, but Inoichi had already gone over it and he soon found his mind drifting.

Naruto had long since accepted that he wasn't going to be on the same team as his friends. They were the next generation of Ino-Shika-Chō after all, and he didn't really mind. It was enough that Inoichi had let him learn their family techniques, even if he didn't have the control to use most of them. He had other talents, and he trusted that he'd be able to work with whoever his teammates were.

He sneaked a glance along the bench. It would be kind of nice to be on the same team as Sakura though.

"And in Team Seven," Iruka continued, and Naruto guiltily pulled his attention back to the talk. At least he hadn't heard his name yet.

"Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto blinked. That was good timing.

"Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruto was very aware that Sakura's gasp of excitement had nothing to do with him being on her team, but he had to smile anyway. Sasuke was, well, not exactly a friend, but Naruto knew how to work with him, and Sakura had the best scores out of all the kunoichi in the class, next to Ino. This could be a good team.

Next to him, Sakura was bouncing in her chair, her green eyes sparkling. On his other side, Sasuke was brooding, just for a change. Naruto chewed on his lip. He would have to do something about that.

Naruto turned his attention back to the rest of the class in time to hear Ino, Shikamaru and Chōji being assigned to Team Ten, and he twisted round to grin up at his friends. Ino pulled a face at him, which he naturally returned, and the two of them amused themselves quite happily until Iruka dismissed them all for lunch.

Ino shot him a questioning glance as she left with the others, but Naruto shook his head and she just waved before disappearing. Naruto looked at Sakura and Sasuke.

"Do you want to eat lunch together? Seeing as we're going to be teammates now."

Sakura was staring longingly at Sasuke, but the object of her attention just shrugged. "Fine."

Naruto forced back a sigh, and grinned. "Let's go find somewhere quiet."

The three of them made their way outside in silence. As they settled down, Naruto cleared his throat. "So we're teammates now, huh?"

"Hn."

Sasuke was really excelling himself today. Sakura twirled a lock of hair round her finger. "It's really great, isn't it, Sasuke-kun?"

Sasuke ignored her in favour of eating a piece of tomato. Naruto sighed, and set his onigiri back in his lunchbox.

"Sasuke, if this is going to work, we kind of need to talk to each other." Sasuke switched his glare to him, but Naruto was already looking at Sakura. "Sakura-chan, we're twelve. Can't we worry about dating and stuff later?"

Sakura sniffed. "You don't understand anything, Naruto."

"Neither do you," said Sasuke flatly. He folded his arms and fixed her with a piercing stare. "I don't care if you like me. The only thing I care about is getting stronger. Don't get in my way."

Sakura's lip trembled, but Naruto just snorted. "Wow. That's more than you've said all day."

"Shut up, baka," Sasuke growled.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and turned back to Sakura. "C'mon, Sakura-chan, it's not that bad. We're gonna be a team at least until we turn chūnin, so we've got ages to get to know each other better." He leaned in towards her. "And getting stronger yourself couldn't hurt."

Sakura shot him a speculative look. Naruto gave her a bright smile and returned to his lunch. "There. We all want to get stronger. That's good enough for now, right?"

The ensuing silence was a bit less uncomfortable.

By the time they returned to the classroom to meet their sensei, Sasuke and Sakura had toned down the glaring and ogling respectively, and Naruto was feeling more optimistic. They'd be at Ino-Shika-Chō levels in no time.

Then he staggered as someone threw themselves on his back.

"Naru-chan!"

"Get off, Ino- nē!" Naruto spluttered. He shifted his weight to throw her off, only for her to duck away. "You saw me an hour ago!"

Ino stuck her tongue out, and danced out of arm's reach. "Well you should have been missing me." She waved at his teammates. "Hi, Sakura, Sasuke-kun."

"Ino," said Sakura, with a smile. "Jealous that I got the best team?"

Naruto left them to it, and followed Sasuke over to an empty bench. He got a surprise when, instead of staring out the window as usual, Sasuke frowned at him.

"Why are you so into this team thing?"

Naruto blinked. "'Cause I want to be a great ninja, and the best way to do that is to work with other people," he said. That was what Konoha was all about.

Sasuke snorted. "Other people will slow me down."

"That's stupid," said Naruto flatly. "First of all, I'm not an idiot, and Sakura definitely isn't, and secondly, we're genin. The only way we're gonna stand a chance against anyone else is of we work together."

"That's true for you," Sasuke muttered.

"For both of us," Naruto snapped. "My scores weren't that much lower than yours." He glared at his teammate. "Face it, we all need to get stronger, and we'll do that a lot quicker if we work with each other."

Sasuke's cheeks flushed slightly, and he turned to stare out the window. Naruto let him think it over and twisted round to talk to Shikamaru and Chōji while the rest of the class settled down. It was a start, at least.

They were soon joined by the jōnin instructors, and Naruto watched with interest as the various teams dispersed. Team Ten left with Sarutobi Asuma, just as Inoichi had predicted, but no one claimed Team Seven. Naruto squashed his growing concern and glanced at Iruka, who was rubbing his scar in exasperation.

"I'd heard rumours," he was muttering, "but this is ridiculous."

"Iruka-sensei?" asked Sakura warily. "Where's our jōnin?"

"Good question," Iruka sighed. He looked up at the old classroom clock, and shook his head. "I'm sure he's on his way."

Naruto frowned. As far as he knew from listening to his father and his friends, most jōnin were good about being where they should be on time. The exception…

"Iruka-sensei, who exactly is our sensei?" he asked.

Iruka sighed again. "I'm not really supposed to tell you, but as he isn't taking this seriously…"

"It's Hatake Kakashi, isn't?"

Iruka's jaw dropped. "How did you…Have you been pinching my notes again?"

"No," said Naruto indignantly. "Who else would be late for something like this?"

Despite himself, he couldn't help grinning. Kakashi was awesome, and he was going to be Naruto's sensei! Ino was going to be so jealous.

"Who's Hatake Kakashi?" Sakura asked. "And how do you know him?"

Naruto grinned, and laced his hands behind his head. "He's a jōnin, and a really strong one. He's worked with ji-chan a bit, he's awesome."

He was simplifying things a bit, but he wasn't sure Kakashi would want the rest of the team to know that he'd been keeping an eye on Naruto for most of his life. Sakura was frowning though, and Sasuke had turned away from the window to eye him.

"And yet he can't turn up on time?"

Naruto just shrugged. Jōnin were weird. Iruka looked like he was praying for patience as he shot another look at the clock.

"Look, I would love to stay and see you off, but I have to get back to the class. Kakashi-sensei will be here soon."

"Hopefully," Naruto muttered, as the teacher disappeared. He leaned back in his chair and kicked his feet up on the desk. "So, anyone want to play a game?"

Two hours later, even Naruto was beginning to get bored. He'd tried to burn off some of his never-ending energy doing acrobatics off the desks, until Sakura yelled at him, at which point he'd tried to prod his new teammates into talking to each other again, but Sakura still didn't seem to be able to look at Sasuke without blushing, so he had given up on that for the time being. Instead, Naruto tried to practice his Yamanaka techniques, but his control simply wasn't good enough to be able to transfer his own mind anywhere.

On the plus side, he was pretty sure he could sense the flickering of Ino's chakra on one of the training grounds a few miles to the east of them, so that was something.

"This is such a waste of time!" Sakura finally exploded. "How are we supposed to learn anything from this loser?"

Sasuke gave a curt nod, then looked vaguely surprised to find himself agreeing with her. Naruto suppressed a snicker with an effort, then blinked as a familiar crackle of chakra caught his attention. It set all his senses tingling, and Naruto grinned.

"I don't think we'll be waiting much longer."

Both his teammates frowned, but before either could say anything the door swung open to reveal a tall, silver-haired jōnin. He wore his hitae-ate lopsided over one eye, but the way the visible one swept over them made both Sasuke and Sakura stiffen.

Naruto just waved.

"Hi, Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi's eye narrowed, and then let out a long sigh. "My first impression is...you three are going to be troublesome." He cocked his head to one side. "Meet me on the roof in one minute."

With that, he vanished in a swirl of leaves. Naruto rolled his eyes, and headed for the stairs. "You guys coming?" he called over his shoulder.

It was a good couple of seconds before Sasuke caught up to him, and it took all Naruto's willpower not to laugh at the expression on his teammate's face. No wonder Kakashi liked doing this so much.

Eventually they all made it to the roof, and Kakashi started off a round of introductions by giving them absolutely no information about himself whatsoever. Naruto didn't mind, he was too busy sniggering at the twin appalled expressions on Sasuke's and Sakura's faces, but he straightened up when Kakashi looked at him.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like my friends and ramen. I dislike people who pick on my friends, and waiting for ramen to be ready. My hobbies are training and helping in Inoichi-ji's shop, and my dream is to be strong enough to protect everyone I care about."

Kakashi nodded, but Naruto recognised the way his eye crinkled. "Next."

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, and blushed. "My name is Haruno Sakura. I like...someone. I don't like people who make fun of me. My dream," another glance at Sasuke, "is to become a strong kunoichi."

Naruto blinked, then grinned. "That's awesome, Sakura-chan!"

For the first time Naruto could remember, Sasuke's appraisal of Sakura wasn't one of pure annoyance, and Sakura's face went as pink as her hair when he gave her a curt nod.

"I see," Kakashi drawled. He turned his eye on Sasuke, who scowled back.

"I don't like many things, and I hate a lot of things, but especially idiots and traitors. My hobby is training so that I can fulfil my dream of killing a certain man."

Naruto eyed him. That was more emotion than he'd seen from Sasuke in years. But if someone had killed his whole family...

"We'll help."

Sasuke stared at him. "What?"

Naruto looked him straight in the eye. "That man is evil, and you're our teammate. What did you expect?"

"Naruto's right," said Sakura. For once she managed to look at Sasuke without blushing. "What he did was...was unforgivable. We'll do whatever we can to help."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He looked at her, then at Naruto, and back again. Naruto nudged him, and tilted his head back to bask in the sun. "We're a team now," he said. "And we're gonna achieve all our dreams. That's a promise!"

Sasuke didn't seem capable of speech, but that was okay. Sakura caught Naruto's eye and gave him a tentative smile which he was happy to return.

"Well, aren't you three adorable," drawled Kakashi. "Of course, all this depends on you actually becoming genin."

"What?"

Ten minutes later Kakashi had vanished, and Naruto was fuming. "No one said there was another test!"

He had known Inoichi and the others had been hiding something. Sakura looked equally annoyed. "How can they only let three teams through?" she spluttered. "They can't really send everyone else back to the Academy, can they?"

They could probably do whatever they liked, and Naruto was opening his mouth to say as much when Sasuke spoke up, "It doesn't matter."

Naruto and Sakura stared at him. He had somehow managed to go even paler than usual, but there was a fire in his eyes that Naruto had never seen before. "It doesn't matter," he repeated, "because we are not going to fail. That man has escaped me for too long already. We are going to pass, and we are going to get stronger, and nothing is going to stop us." He rose to his feet, eyes flashing. "I suggest you train before tomorrow. Don't make me carry you."

Naruto jumped up. "Yeah, you got it! There's no way we're gonna fail!" He held out a hand to pull Sakura up. "We should start training right away!"

Both his teammates stared at him. Naruto spread his hands. "We're not doing anything else, right? And we'd better get used to working as a team as soon as we can if were gonna become genin."

Sasuke held his gaze a moment, then grunted, which Naruto decided to take as agreement. Sakura looked between the two of them, and nodded. "I'm in too."

Naruto don't even try to hold back a grin. This was going to be awesome.

"This sucks!"

Naruto had known Kakashi was going to be late. The jōnin had never been on time for anything in all the years Naruto had known him, and the previous day had confirmed that he wouldn't be any different as their sensei. Normally, Naruto could deal with that.

This wasn't a normal day. This was the day when Naruto would find out if he was good enough to be a shinobi. He was ready. His team was ready.

His jōnin sensei was not.

With an effort, Naruto forced his frustration under control. Kakashi knew exactly what he was doing, and Naruto wasn't going to fall for it. He ran through the breathing exercises Inoichi had drilled into him until his mind was clear, before a huff from his teammate made him look up.

"This is stupid," Sakura was grumbling. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and her face went as pink as her hair. "How much longer is he going to be?"

Naruto shrugged. "Dunno, but the longer we wait, the more hungry and fed up we're gonna be when we do start the test."

Sakura's eyes widened, then hardened to gimlets. "It is a good way to make the test harder," she allowed. "What do you think, Sasuke-kun?"

The final member of their team just grunted. Naruto rolled his eyes, and was surprised when Sakura actually shot Sasuke a scowl. She didn't say anything though, just sat down under the tree next to him.

"I tried to practice those those genjutsu you suggested," she said. "But I don't know how effective they'll be against a jōnin."

"They don't need to be perfect," Naruto promised. "But any distractions are good." He grinned slightly sheepishly at her. "I don't have the control for genjutsu, so we'll be counting on you for that, Sakura-chan."

Sakura gave him a small smile, but it faded when Sasuke continued to ignore them both. Naruto forced down his own growing irritation and reached out with his senses. Surely Kakashi-sensei couldn't take much longer.

The sky was high in the sky by the time Kakashi appeared. By then Sasuke still hadn't said more than two words in succession, and Inoichi's breathing techniques weren't helping nearly as much as they were supposed to. Naruto quite enjoyed watching Sakura screech at their sensei's tardiness, but everything was forgotten when Kakashi got serious.

Naruto found himself frowning as Kakashi explained the test. Two bells for three people didn't make sense, not when genin operated in three-man cells. There had to be more to it than simply getting hold of a bell.

Not that it mattered. Unless they worked together, they wouldn't stand a chance.

The three of them scattered the instant Kakashi called to begin, but Naruto immediately looped round to where he could feel Sakura's chakra. She caught his eye with unmistakeable relief, and followed silently as he led them round to Sasuke. The Uchiha looked rather less pleased to see them, but Naruto cut off his argument with a glare.

"There's no way we're getting a bell from a jōnin by ourselves, and you know it," he hissed. "We have to stick to the plan."

They hadn't wasted the time they'd been given the previous day. Granted, it wasn't much of a plan, considering they hadn't been given any information, but it was better than nothing, and they could use it now. Sasuke's jaw tightened, but after a minute he jerked his head.

"Fine," he said. "Where is he?"

Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. It was hard to focus with Sasuke's blazing chakra next to him, but he would have to get used to that. "Still in the clearing," he whispered. "Doesn't look like he's moved."

He opened his eyes in time to see Sasuke scowl. "Overconfident."

"We're genin," Sakura pointed out. "He has every right to be." She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "I need two minutes."

Naruto nodded. "We'll be ready."

He grinned at them both, and took off through to the trees to the east. A moment later he felt Sasuke start in the opposite direction. Kakashi still wasn't moving, and Naruto's grin stretched wider. This was going to be fun.

One and a half minutes later, Naruto was in position. He used the remaining time to concentrate on his teammates and their sensei, trying to familiarise himself with their signatures in the brief time he had left. Sensing had come easier to him than the other Yamanaka skills, but it still took a lot of focus. If nothing else, this would be good practice.

Then the two minutes were up, and it was time to begin.

Naruto had to admit that Sakura's clones were a lot better than his. He had heard Ino rave about her friend's chakra control to know Sakura was one of the best in the class at that, but the copies of Team Seven that burst from the trees opposite him were so realistic that he had to resist the urge to check his teammates were still in position.

He wasn't surprised when Kakashi disrupted all three clones in less than a second. It was slightly insulting that he didn't even look up from his book as he did so.

"I know you can do better than that," the jōnin called. He flicked a page, and Naruto gritted his teeth. Just a few more seconds...

He dashed out the same instant Sasuke did, and both let loose with a storm of kunai. A puff of smoke showed Kakashi had used a Substitution, and Naruto frantically scanned for his chakra.

"Sasuke, behind you!"

Sasuke threw himself sideways a split second before a dozen shuriken flew threw the air. Naruto moved to cover him, half his attention locked on keeping track of Kakashi and Sakura.

"He's moving fast," he called. "There!"

Sasuke reacted instantly, but this time Kakashi simply weaved through the flying weaponry.

Or most of it. The last shuriken caught on his sleeve, and for the first time Naruto saw a flicker of surprise in the jōnin's eye. Kakashi looked at the two of them, and then his eye crinkled.

"Good timing with the Double Vision, Sakura-chan," he said cheerfully, then leaped back to avoid Sasuke's kick. Naruto rushed forward to join in, his blood humming with the thrill of the fight. He had sparred with Sasuke enough to match his taijutsu, and Kakashi's eye narrowed as he fell back.

"Not bad," he allowed.

Naruto grinned. They were only just getting started. He caught Sasuke's eye, and the other boy nodded and lunged forward. Naruto focused his chakra. He was still getting the hang of this, but they only needed a second. He formed the handsign and concentrated.

Kakashi's hand froze mid-punch.

Sweat broke out on Naruto's brow. The concentration required was unbelievable and the Shinranshin snapped the second Kakashi realised what was going on, but Sasuke didn't waste the opportunity.

"Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

Naruto had ducked under cover the moment he saw the first handsign, but the heat still left him gasping. At times like this, he could appreciate why Sasuke had been top of the class. Making a mental note to ask Inoichi about elemental manipulation, he cast his chakra out for Kakashi and swore.

"Sakura, he's heading for you!"

Sasuke let out a low growl of frustration and took off in Sakura's direction. Naruto raced after him, but distracted as he was trying to keep track of his teammates, he completely missed the tripwires that sent him flying. He twisted automatically, ready to absorb the impact and be back on his feet as soon as possible, but instead of crashing into the ground Naruto found himself sinking into it. By the time he'd realised what was going on, he was stuck fast.

"What?"

A hand patted his head, and Naruto twisted as best he could. "Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi beamed at him. "Maa, your sensing still needs some work. Now, wait there while I round up the other two."

He disappeared in a flurry of leaves, leaving Naruto glaring after him.

Kakashi returned a minute later, a trussed up Sasuke over one shoulder and Sakura trailing miserably behind him. Sasuke was promptly dropped on the ground next to Naruto, where he lay wriggling and shooting death glares at Kakashi, and Sakura dropped to her knees next to them.

"Sorry," she whispered. "He was too fast for us."

Naruto gave her as reassuring a smile as he could manage. "You still lasted longer than me."

Sakura gave him a small smile, but then she suddenly realised that Kakashi was glaring at them, and her mouth shut with a snap. The jōnin drew a kunai and Naruto tensed, but all Kakashi did was cut Sasuke's bonds. He released Naruto from the jutsu with a burst of chakra, and sat back on his heels.

"Not bad," he drawled. "Apart from the dismal failure, obviously. When did the three of you work that little stunt out?"

Naruto sat up with a groan. "We figured it might involve some kind of combat," he explained. "We had a talk yesterday about what we can all do, and came up with some ideas."

Kakashi cocked his head to one side. "And it didn't occur to you to try to attack me by yourselves?"

Sakura stared at him. "We only graduated two days ago!" she spluttered. "Besides, why would you put us in teams if you didn't want us to work together?"

"Exactly," said Naruto with a nod.

Kakashi's eye narrowed, then he turned to Sasuke. "And you. Rookie of the year. You didn't think you were good enough to attack by yourself? You had to rely on other people?"

Naruto opened his mouth to protest, but something stopped him. He glanced at Sasuke, and found the Uchiha glaring at their sensei. "Yes," he ground out. He looked at Naruto and Sakura, and his scowl eased a little. "Yes," he repeated. "Because they're right."

Naruto's jaw dropped. He heard Sakura draw in a startled breath, but didn't dare take his gaze from Sasuke.

"Interesting," Kakashi drawled. "Very interesting." He spun the bells on his finger, grey eye wandering over the three of them. Naruto swallowed. They hadn't got the bells, or even a bell. They hadn't even come close. Maybe they could convince Kakashi to let them try again...

"You all pass."

For a moment, Naruto couldn't believe his ears. They had passed? All of them?

Then Sakura gasped, and Sasuke actually stopped scowling, and Naruto was grinning so hard his cheeks hurt.

"We did it," he breathed.

"We passed!" Sakura squeaked. "Really?"

Kakashi nodded, and Naruto knew he was smiling. "Maa, I suppose. I'm sure you can all tell me why?"

Naruto smiled, but it was Sasuke who answered. "Teamwork."

He looked slightly pained by the answer, but not nearly as much as he would have a couple of days ago. Naruto glanced back at Kakashi in time to see him nod again. "Precisely." He tilted his head up to the sun. "Just as you said, Sakura, we put you in three-man teams for a reason."

To Naruto's surprise, Sakura blushed and ducked her head. "It was Naruto's idea, really," she admitted. "We all came up with the plan, but he was the one who said we should work together."

"I'm shocked," said Kakashi dryly. He tugged lightly on Naruto's ponytail. "Your guardian will be glad you've been paying attention."

Inoichi would indeed be delighted, and Naruto's smile stretched even wider. He had passed, and he was a shinobi, and there was no way Ino and the others were going to fail either, and this was the best day ever! Something flickered in the corner of his eye, and his jaw dropped.

Sasuke was smiling. Uchiha Sasuke was smiling.

Warmth flooded Naruto's chest. His team was awesome, and they were only going to get better. Sasuke caught his eye and gave him a slight nod, and Naruto grinned back. They would get strong enough to find the monster who had killed Sasuke's family. They would get strong enough that no one would ever hurt their precious people again.

Kakashi coughed, and Naruto pulled his attention back to their sensei.

"Well, now that that's sorted, the three of you must be hungry." He paused. "Unless anyone has anything to add?"

He wasn't looking at Naruto, but Naruto knew exactly what he was asking. Naruto hesitated, but with Kakashi's emphasis on teamwork ringing in his ears there was really only one thing he could do.

"I think I do," he said.

Sakura frowned and Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but Kakashi just nodded. Naruto took a deep breath. He didn't know Sasuke or Sakura well enough to know how they would react, but they were his teammates. They had to know. But the last time he had done this had been with Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji, who had known him all their lives, and he had had Inoichi to help then. This was very different, and Naruto hated every second of it.

But it was necessary, and Naruto had never backed down from a challenge in his life.

"Y'know the Nine-Tailed Fox? The Yondaime didn't actually kill it when he stopped it. All he could do was seal it."

"How can you know that?" Sakura asked. "That's not what we were taught."

Naruto grimaced. "I know because he sealed it into me."

And there it was. Sakura's eyes widened, and she clapped a hand to her mouth. Sasuke's hands clenched, but before he could say anything Sakura whirled on Kakashi. "Is...is that true, sensei?"

All traces of humour had vanished from the jōnin's demeanour. "Do you really think Naruto would make up something like that, Sakura?"

Sakura shrank back, but Kakashi was already turning to Sasuke. "The Yondaime was a genius. He knew the only way to stop the Kyūbi was to seal it inside a living being. Naruto was the only child born that day, and was considered the best option."

Sasuke paled slightly, but didn't flinch. "And it's safe?" He glanced at Naruto. "You're safe?"

Naruto blinked. If he didn't know better, he would swear that was concern in his teammate's voice. "I guess so," he managed. "I've never noticed anything...demonic."

Sasuke snorted and sat back. "You wouldn't have been allowed to be a shinobi if the Hokage didn't trust you."

He seemed to be talking more to himself than Naruto, but Naruto smiled anyway. "Inoichi-ji said I might be able to learn to use its power in time," he said. It wasn't an idea he really liked the sound of, but Sasuke's eyes gleamed at the words and it didn't take a genius to work out his thought processes. Naruto eyed him, but decided to let it go. It was enough that Sasuke was accepting the whole situation.

That still left the final member of their team, who had yet to say a word. Naruto glanced at Kakashi, but the jōnin's face revealed about as much as it ever did. Naruto sighed, and screwed up his courage again.

"Sakura-chan-"

"Who knows about this?"

Naruto blinked, but thought about it. "I don't know. I told Ino, Shikamaru, and Chōji last year, but all the adults seem to know already."

"They do," Kakashi confirmed. "Hokage-sama released the information to the village after the Yondaime's death, though the shinobi were given more details."

Naruto shifted slightly, the familiar resentment beginning to surface. Kakashi caught his eye. "It was the Yondaime's wish that your sacrifice be honoured."

Naruto looked away. What the Yondaime had wished and what had actually happened were two very different things. He forced that thought away with a scowl. Focusing on what had been done to him was never a good idea.

Instead, he focused on Sakura's face. Her green eyes were ridiculously easy to read, but in between the flashes of fear and confusion was anger.

Lots and lots of anger.

Naruto was debating whether or not to shuffle away when Sakura let out a long breath. "Kaa-san wasn't happy when Ino made friends with me," she said quietly.

Naruto blinked, and Sasuke's frown deepened, but Sakura continued to stare at her shoes. "I thought she was intimidated by Inoichi-san or something at first, but all I ever heard her talk about was you." She looked up, eyes flashing. "Now I understand. And I'm sorry."

Naruto could only stare at her. "What are you sorry for?"

Sure, Sakura had never been particularly friendly, but she had always really been Ino's friend, not his. She had never been as bad as some of the kids in their class, and definitely not as bad as some of the civilians he had met.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm sorry I ever listened to her. You're my teammate now, Naruto. And I am not afraid of you, or the Kyūbi."

Naruto realised his mouth was hanging open, and snapped it shut. Sakura smiled. "You're still you, Naruto. And if Ino and the others already know..." She trailed off with a shrug.

Naruto looked at his teammates, and the warm feeling from earlier redoubled until it spread through his whole body. Sakura's smile widened, and Sasuke held out a hand to pull him up, and Kakashi flicked his forehead protector.

"Well, now that that's sorted, my cute little students," he said, "let's go eat. Last one there gets to pay."

"Sensei!"

"They all passed."

Chōza raised an eyebrow. "As if we expected anything else."

Inoichi rolled his eyes, and topped up the sake glasses. "Kakashi passed a team straight away. It's worth mentioning." A light kick at Shikaku's ankle had their friend starting awake, and he took the glass Inoichi handed him with a grunt.

"I was listening."

"Yoshino isn't here," said Inoichi dryly. "You don't have to pretend to be paying attention."

He dodged the shadows that tried to trip him with the ease of many decades' practice and settled at the table next to his friends. The sharpness of the sake washed away the tension of the day, and for a minute Inoichi was content to rest with his teammates and bask in the fact that his children were exceeding all his expectations.

It was Shikaku who broke the silence.

"So, you taken Ino and Naruto over to see Ibiki yet?"

Inoichi had known the question was coming. He still had to fight back a flinch. "Not yet."

His two friends exchanged unsurprised looks. Inoichi folded his arms and waited, and eventually Chōza sighed. "They're both genin now, Inoichi. It's time."

"They're not ready."

"They're already older than you were the first time," said Shikaku mildly.

Inoichi glared at him. "That was war. We didn't have a choice."

"Inoichi-"

"They're not ready, and I am not going to force either of them into it." His voice was sharper than he intended, and he took a moment to gather himself. "Naruto doesn't have the control for the finer work yet, and I doubt he'll be assigned to Intelligence anyway, considering his situation."

Chōza frowned. "And Ino?"

Inoichi focused on his sake. "There are enough of us there. She still has some time."

There was another long pause, then Chōza shook his head. "She's your daughter. It's up to you, but you know Hokage-sama won't let you delay forever."

Inoichi didn't reply. He knew he couldn't put it off forever. Naruto's tenant meant that he would almost certainly be assigned to the frontlines, but sooner or later, Ino would have to start to focus her training. She would learn how to enter an enemy's mind, to root out their deepest fears and secrets, and to shatter their sanity. It had to be done. Their clan were too valuable to go unused.

That didn't mean it had to happen right now. Ino was young, and was just starting to discover what being a kunoichi was all about. Inoichi wasn't going to put this on her as well.

Shikaku sighed. "It's up to you," he confirmed. "Just be careful, Inoichi. Hokage-sama isn't the only person with an interest in your family."

Inoichi gritted his teeth at the warning. "Danzō should know better by now."

But it was a valid point. The last thing they needed was to give the old schemer any possible opening. Inoichi sighed and drained the last of his sake. "I'll talk to them before they enter the chūnin exams."

Shikaku nodded. Chōza patted Inoichi's shoulder in silent support. Inoichi just stared at his empty glass and tried to calm the guilt that was turning his stomach.

He wanted to protect his children, but his children were shinobi now. They were expected to face the same trials as any other shinobi.

All Inoichi could do was make sure that they didn't have to face them alone.

Thanks for reading! Any feedback would be appreciated.