Naruto: The Uchiha Chronicles Re-Version

Hello Everyone, welcome to the thirteenth chapter of Uchiha Chronicles Re-Version. This chapter should only have superficial differences to the last version, mostly anything that was changed last chapter will be reflected here.

As we get deeper into the former chapter, you'll notice less and less differences, sort of the reverse of how a good fanfiction will create more differences as time goes on. Anyways, it couldn't hurt to re-read this to familiarize yourself with it again.

Not much else to say, on with the story!

Arc II: Formation of Team 7:

Chapter 13: Team Placements, a Mysterious New Teacher!

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The next morning, Naruto found himself sitting in front of the Hokage once again. This time, thankfully, it was much more pleasant than when he had been there the night before to tell him about Mizuki's frame him for stealing the Scroll of Seals. Instead the Hokage was reviewing Naruto's ninja registration. They chatted idly while he made sure everything was filled out right.

"Hmm, everything seems in order." Hiruzen said as he set the registration form down.

"Well, that was pretty easy." Naruto answered with a smile. Really, the form wasn't anything special. Just the basic information like height and weight, and any important characteristics for potential clients to know. "I was debating whether to use my mother's name or not. In the end I figured its lasted me this long, it couldn't hurt to keep it for a little longer."

Hiruzen hummed in agreement, although Naruto could see a slight hesitance in his eyes.

"What, is something wrong?" He asked.

Hiruzen shook his head, though, although Naruto could tell there was something he wanted to say.

"No, it's nothing too serious," Hiruzen assured him. There was a bit of concern in the Hokage's eyes nonetheless. "I know it's been a year and a half since you lost your grandfather, but with all the changes going on, and your recent visit, I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Involuntarily, Naruto felt a lump forming in his throat. He had tried to avoid thinking about his grandfather's death. He swallowed it down with a bit of difficulty. While he wasn't exactly devastated anymore, the wound was still raw. "I'm coping well enough. Sometimes I miss him more than others, but for the most part I'm doing ok. In a way I feel lucky to have known him at all. For all the pain that having him for such a short time has caused, I prefer that to not having known him at all. Besides, at least I can take comfort in the fact I took the time he had left and spent it with him instead of letting him kill himself training me." Said Naruto.

He smiled softly, remembering his grandfather. There were especially fond memories that last year and a half, of picnics along the Naka River with his grandfather and Sasuki. Or introducing his grandfather to TV and how much it had frustrated the man to deal with new technology.

Hiruzen looked relieved. He let a small smile work its way back onto his face. "Good, good. Just remember, you can come tell me if you're ever having any problems. Sometimes I worry that you push yourself too far with the training and trying to live up to your grandfather's name." He said. After a moments pause, he said, "I just wanted to make sure you don't forget to have fun and make friends. Don't take things too seriously. Sometimes I worry about how much time you spend training."

"Please, I have you, Sasuki, old man Ichiraku and Ayame. Not to mention Choji and Shikamaru. I've got all the family and friends I need. I have plenty of fun with them." Naruto protested light-heartedly.

The Hokage chuckled lightly. His chuckles died off slowly, and he looked at Naruto with a fond gaze. "I suppose that's true. Besides, that work ethic is what will make you a great leader someday."

Naruto shifted a little uncomfortably under the praise, and he felt his face heat up a bit. One of his biggest goals was to be Hokage. To have Gramps, the current and possibly greatest Hokage, praise him was . . . nice. In his shifting he glanced out the window. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed the suns position in the sky. It was almost midday. He turned to the Hokage with an apologetic look.

"Anyways, it was nice talking with you, but I better get going. I want to try to get that new jutsu I'm working on ready for combat before team assignments." Said Naruto. The two stood up, and bid each other goodbye, with Naruto promising to come see Sarutobi soon.

On his way out, Naruto bumped into small boy who couldn't have been more than eight. It turned out, he was the Hokage's grandson, Konohamaru. He seemed a bit uppity to Naruto. The look on the kids face when he said he didn't care who he was had been priceless.

Despite the boy's insistence that Naruto apologize, he had simply ignored the kid, and continued on his way.

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The next morning, Naruto arrived at the classroom surprisingly late. There were only fifteen minutes left before the orientation began. 'That's what I get for staying up late to train.'

Yesterday, Naruto had taken a break in his training to go to his favorite sushi place, the Kintako Lounge. It was a slightly fancier place than Ichiraku, though nowhere near as upscale as the restaurants in the capital. When he left, he'd caught the Hokage's grandson tailing him, and the boy had begged him to train him. Naruto resisted at first, but in the end he caved and shown the boy a thing or to. By the time they were finished, it was already evening, but Naruto had tried to get back to perfecting his jutsu anyways. Not only did he not get it done, but by the time he got to bed he was so exhausted that he slept through the first three alarms he had set. So here he was, fifteen minutes away from being late to his orientation.

Naruto quickly caught his bearings and looked around the classroom. Most of those who'd graduated had already arrived, and an almost palpable feeling of excitement was in the air. Some showed their excitement by trying to act as if it was just a normal day, chatting animatedly with their friends. Others had massive grins on their faces, while several groups of girls were gathered in circles, giggling madly. He could even see Shikamaru with his head on his arms in a row in the middle of the room, unbelievably asleep despite all the noise. Naruto couldn't help but shake his head. His lazy friend would never change. But that wasn't the friend he was looking for. He searched through the crowd, looking for a familiar glimpse of blue-tinted ebony hair.

Finally, his eyes alighted upon a row halfway up the aisle, where Sasuki sat by one of the large windows on the right side of the room. Nobody was sitting next to her; they'd probably been scared off by her usual cold glare.

He made his way up the steps, idly returning the greeting of a couple classmates along the way. "Good morning, Sasuki." He said as he stepped into the row.

Sasuki glanced up at him. "Hn, Good morning, I guess." She greeted back

Naruto smiled as he slid into the seat next to her. As he did, Sasuki took notice of Senbonzakura sheathed at his waist. "That's a nice sword, I didn't even know you had one." She said it as a statement, but he could hear the question in her voice.

"Well, they don't exactly let academy students walk around with real swords." Naruto said. "Besides," He gave her a smug smirk he knew would get under her skin. "I am a ninja. You didn't think I showed you everything I know, did you?"

"Whatever." She replied. There was the faintest ghost of a smirk on her lips. Sasuki leaned her head against her hand and looked at him calculatingly. "So, speaking of what you know. Did you get that jutsu you were working on down?"

Naruto nearly groaned in annoyance, though he stopped himself short. She just had to ask about the jutsu. "No, I didn't. Something came up after we left the academy on the day of the exam. I never got the chance to work on it that day, and then yesterday I got stuck babysitting Gramps' grandson. I stayed up late trying to get it down, but it didn't happen." He explained.

"So that's why you were almost late. I was wondering about that since you're always early." Naruto detected a slight hint of satisfaction on Sasuki's face as she said that.

Although he dreaded the answer, since it meant she would probably hold it over his head for a while, Naruto asked, "What about you, did you finish the jutsu you were working on?"

Even before she said anything, he knew the answer, just from the way she stopped bothering to hide her look of smug satisfaction. "Yeah, I did. I wouldn't say it's perfect, but I could definitely use it in a fight."

Naruto sighed in resignation. "I guess you win this one." He conceded. He hated losing.

Although the slight hint of real happiness he could see in Sasuki's eyes (hidden behind all that smugness of course), made him feel slightly better. For a few minutes, they just sat in a comfortable silence as their fellow graduates talked around them.

Of course, the happy moment couldn't last forever. It was broken by a loud and obnoxious voice that both were familiar with. "Hey Sasuki, I see you're here already."

At the front of the classroom, Kiba was looking up at them. His appearance had gotten even more wild over the years. With his slit eyes and slightly fanged grin, and the hooded grey jacket with a fur ruff, he almost looked like a wolf in human form. Perched on top of his head was Akamaru, a small puppy with white fur, except for its black ears.

Kiba walked up the stairs with a confident stride, and took a seat in the row in front of them, turned around backwards. Kiba gave Naruto a brief look of contempt.

"Uzumaki." He greeted tersely. Naruto only offered him a small nod, his face set in a stoic mask.

He and Kiba didn't really get along. They had started out as friends when they first began the academy after that first spar. The feral boy liked having someone to compete with in taijutsu aside from Sasuki. That started to change as Naruto started to consistently beat Kiba in everything. Kiba liked to think of himself as top dog, and he couldn't stand the fact that he never beat Naruto. It was only when Kiba–like most boys in their class–started to have a crush on Sasuki in their third year, that things really changed. By then Naruto and Sasuki were best friends, and the combination of seeing Naruto always spending time with her, and him always beating Kiba, had caused the boy to become bitter towards him, and basically make it his mission to prove he was better.

As soon as he had greeted Naruto, Kiba turned back to Sasuki, and gave her a confident grin. "So, after the orientation, you wanna go get lunch? My treat." He asked.

"No thanks . . ." Sasuki replied with an impassive expression. Although he looked disappointed for a moment, Kiba recovered quickly. Of all Sasuki's admirers, he was the most resilient. Despite receiving rejection after rejection, he never stopped asking her out.

"Oh well, maybe some other time," Kiba said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. To Naruto's relief he decided to turn around and begin to converse with Akamaru. 'Thank god for small miracles.'

Naruto spent the rest of the short time remaining in silence, with the small exception of when Ino and Sakura took seats behind them and engaged Naruto in a conversation about his sword.

Ino was the heiress of the Yamanaka clan, a slender girl with long, platinum blonde hair in a ponytail, and light blue eyes. She was considered by many as one of the prettiest girls in their class, something that was only accentuated by the short purple top and long skirt she wore, which was slit on the sides. Of course, the white bandages she wore around her stomach and upper legs kept it modest.

Her friend, Sakura Haruno. was perhaps even more slender than Ino if that was possible. Out of all the girls in their class, she was the least … 'developed'. Her most distinguishing physical features were her wide forehead–something she had been teased about when they were younger–and her long pink hair, the same color as the flower blossom that was her namesake. She dressed more modestly, with a red qipao dress that had slits on the sides, and tight-fitting shorts that went to the top of her knees.

"Hey, that sword looks pretty cool, Naruto." Ino commented as she leaned forward from behind. Her long blond hair dangled over the front of the desk.

Naruto had to crane his neck around to speak to her, and he was slightly distracted by the sight of her leaning over. Not even he was immune to the looks of a pretty girl, even though he hated to admit it.

Beside her, Sakura, who was the more intellectual of the two, leaned forward as well. "Yeah, it does look pretty well made, even sheathed. Where'd you get it?" She asked curiously.

Naruto wasn't too surprised she was able to recognize the quality of his sword. While both girls were smart, Sakura was by for the more academic. She excelled at studying and retaining knowledge, though she was rather lacking in the physical department. Ino, on the other hand, was a lot bubblier and more outgoing than Sakura. She'd been the one to break her out of her shell.

"Thanks, I'm glad you two appreciate it. It's an heirloom from my grandmother, she had it made by a smith in the Land of Iron." He told them. Sakura smiled gently.

"That's so sweet. It explains why it looks so good, if it's that quality of sword." She said. Beside her, Ino gave him a slightly more flirtatious smile, with her eyes fixed on his face.

"It does look pretty nice. Ya know, I wouldn't mind getting to see more." She said. For some reason, the way she said it made it seem like she wasn't talking about Senbonzakura. In spite of his training, Naruto felt his face heat up slightly, and he abruptly turned forward to stare at the blackboard, drawing an amused giggle from Ino.

Beside him, Sasuki scoffed. He heard her mutter something that sounded strangely like 'idiot'.

A few minutes later, Iruka poked his head through the door, and greeted them. "Hello. Is everyone ready to begin?" He asked. Everyone nodded, some voicing their agreement.

As he walked to the lectern, Iruka gave Naruto a slight nod. They hadn't had a chance to speak since that night a couple days ago. He returned the nod with a slight smile on his face.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sasuki give him a weird look.

"What?" He asked.

She stared at him blankly. "Nothing …"

Once at the lectern, Iruka cleared his throat to grab their attention.

"Well, before I begin, does anyone have any questions?" One boy at the front of the class, wearing a long-sleeved green shirt, rose his hand. "Yes, Hideo?" Iruka asked the boy, as he put his hand down.

"Yeah, where's Mizuki-sensei? Shouldn't he be here." He asked.

Iruka's expression, which had been bright and cheerful, quickly became sober and serious. "I'm afraid that two nights ago, it was revealed that Mizuki was a traitor. He was captured and is now being questioned by the Torture & Interrogation Department. Needless to say, he will now longer be an instructor at this academy." He said. Naruto could hear a cold undercurrent to his voice.

'That's right, they were supposedly friends. I can't imagine what that must be like.' He thought.

Several people gasped at once, and the room was filled with restless muttering. The idea that an instructor that they had trusted for years was a traitor, was obviously shocking for many people. Naruto could even hear a few that seemed to think it must be a mistake. In the chaos, Sasuki nudged his arm to get his attention. "Two nights ago, this wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that 'little thing' that came up and prevented you from training, would it?" She asked, her eyebrow raised.

Naruto quickly looked around to make sure no one had heard her. He was relieved to see that even Kiba, with his sharp ears, was too immersed in his own shock. He leaned in close, and hissed, "Yes, but not here, I'll tell you all about it later." He promised

Sasuki seemed satisfied with his answer and nodded in assent. With a pleased smirk, he heard her mutter "Good boy." Out of the corner of her mouth. He couldn't help but roll his eyes. She loved to try and get under his skin.

Eventually, Iruka let loose a loud whistle, and drew the attention of the class once more.

"I realize this is quite shocking, but I can't tell you anymore about the matter, it's been deemed classified. Now, if that's all the questions, let's get back to the reason we're here. Today is about you, and you shouldn't allow this situation disturb that." He said. Once he was sure all the attention was back on him, Iruka cleared his throat, and began his prepared lecture; "Alright, since everyone's here, we can begin. First of all, I want to congratulate you all on becoming ninja. You've all trained very hard, and now you're finally ready to begin duty.

"But your journey has only just begun. Because you're only starting out as ninja, you'll each be placed into squads of three. Each squad will be led by a Jonin, elite ninja with advanced skills. They will help you mature into the fine ninja I know you all can be." Iruka smiled proudly at them all. Many of the students began to murmur about this. It was the first the instructors had mentioned squads, and only a few of them knew about it before hand, Naruto being one of them.

He saw Sasuki giving him an annoyed look. "Did you know about this?" She mouthed. Naruto shrugged.

"Yes." He mouthed back. She gave him a light scowl.

"We better end up on the same team, and the other person better not slow us down, or I'm going to kick your ass for not telling me." She finished, without bothering to mouth the words this time.

'Hopefully she isn't too serious about that.' Although he knew that she was mostly joking about kicking his ass, Naruto couldn't help but wonder if she really believed a team would weigh her down. He'd like to think that he had had more of an impact on her. 'It doesn't matter.' Naruto shook his head. 'She'll come around, eventually.'

Iruka waited for the murmuring to die down before he began to list the teams.

"I will now call out your teams." Iruka held up a clipboard. He began to rattle off names, ignoring the reactions of the genin. Some complained about not being on teams with someone they wanted to be on. Others were ecstatic to be with a certain friend. Naruto ignored it for the large part, waiting impatiently for his team to be announced. Finally, Iruka got to Team 7, and he heard his name.

"Next up is Team 7, under Kakashi Hatake. Team 7 will be, Naruto Uzumaki–," Naruto smirked slightly. "–Sasuki Uchiha–," Sasuki, not one to show emotion, turned away with a huff of annoyance at the playful one-armed hug he gave her. "–and Sakura Haruno."

Naruto half expected Kiba to get upset over the decision, but surprisingly he stayed quiet.

Iruka quickly began naming the last few teams. It was pretty clear he was eager to get them done; this probably was his least favorite part of being an academy instructor, what with various people complaining about their teams.

"Team 8, under Kurenai Yuhi, will be Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame." Naruto silently nodded at that one. They all had tracking skills, and each brought something unique to the table. Kiba, a potential heavy assault member; Hinata, who brought her clan's deadly taijutsu, and possible future medical skills to the table; and last but not least, Shino. Naruto respected the quiet bug user more than most. Behind the high-collared coat and small sunglasses he wore was a sharp and skilled mind, he would be perfect for laying out plans for the team.

Team 9 turned out to be some of the lesser known students, few–if any–of which Naruto suspected would make it past the second test. The final team, Team 10, was fairly obvious even before Iruka announced it; Not just because they were the only three left.

"Finally, Team 10, under Asuma Sarutobi; Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi." Iruka finished. He set down his clipboard and addressed them as a group once more. "You'll now have two hours for lunch, after that your Jonin Sensei's will come pick you up. One last time, I'd like to say how proud I am of all of you."

With that, Iruka excused himself. After he left, several students began filtering out to go get lunch. Naruto looked over at Sasuki and caught her eye. "So, you want to go get lunch? Maybe Ichiraku's?" He asked.

"I guess. You can explain this whole team thing to me, and why you never mentioned it." She said.

Naruto nodded in agreement to her condition. "Fair enough,"

Together they stood up and began to make their way out of the classroom. They'd just reached the door of the classroom when Sakura came running up behind them. "Hey, guys." She called to get their attention. "Um, do you mind if I join you, since, you know, we're a team and all?" Sakura asked nervously.

Naruto shrugged. "I don't mind," He said. He then turned to Sasuki and raised an eyebrow in question. "What about you?"

Sasuki huffed and looked away. "Whatever . . ." She said dismissively and began walking away.

"Well, I guess that settles it." Naruto said with a cheerful smile. He saw Sakura's dejected look at Sasuki's reaction and patted her on the shoulder. "Don't worry, she won't bite. You've just got to get her to warm up to you is all. Now come on, we're going to this ramen stand I like. You'll love it," He said.

Sakura nodded shyly and followed him out of the room. They caught up to Sasuki further down the hall, who only gave them a glance to acknowledge their presence. To anyone that would have seen them, Naruto was sure they would've found them as an odd group. The girl that was cold to everyone, the boy that was serious about training and shockingly goofy, but the adults seemed to hate, and one of the most cheerful girls in the academy, who most thought was a bookworm. 'We certainly are an odd group.'

They made it all the way to the court yard before the Nine-Tails growled inside his mind. It was the first time he'd spoken that day. "Grrr, I smell mutt. You better watch yourself."

No sooner had he given his warning, then Kiba's obnoxious voice rang out from behind them.

"Hey, Uzumaki!" He yelled. Naruto sighed in annoyance. Reluctantly, he turned around to face him.

Kiba was flanked on both sides by his teammates, neither of which seemed like they really wanted a part of this. Shino was his usually silent self, he just stood in the background without saying anything, his signature large overcoat and sunglasses in place. Naruto idly noted that with that silent demeanor, and his size which matched his own, Shino would likely make a good bodyguard. On Kiba's right, Hinata Hyuuga stood nervously poking her fingers together. Hinata was a shy girl, with her purple-tinted hair cut short in a hime-style cut, and she had a tendency to wear a baggy hooded sweatshirt.

"Yes, Kiba, what is it you want?" Naruto asked impatiently. He fixed Kiba with one of his most stoic stares; something he had learned from his grandfather to intimidate people.

Although it didn't seem Kiba was affected, his dog, Akamaru, gave a whimper. Naruto had learned that the little dog was much better at sensing chakra than his partner, and he could obviously sense the difference in their reserves. Although Kiba was no slouch; he was nowhere near Naruto's level of reserves.

Heedless of his partner's apprehension, Kiba stepped forward boldly. "I just wanted to let you know that you might've been the best in the Academy, but now we're ninja, and that doesn't mean anything. I will prove I'm the best." He declared.

"Is that all?" Naruto asked, unimpressed by Kiba's bravado. Even if he had a slight point about the academy not meaning much in the long view.

Kiba growled and made to step forward as if he wanted to fight, but Hinata spoke up in a quiet stutter. "U-um, I don't think we should s-start a fight right now, K-Kiba. Sh-shouldn't we go g-get lunch so we c-can meet our s-sensei on time?"

"… I agree. Why? Because you'll gain nothing from a schoolyard brawl, and it will endanger our reputation with our sensei if something happens and we're late." Shino said.

While Kiba was distracted by his teammates, Naruto subtly placed his hand on the hilt of Senbonzakura, and slid his left foot backwards, in case Kiba disregarded his teammates and attacked. For a moment, it looked as if he would. Kiba stood there and glared at Naruto. A tension began to build. Surprisingly, Kiba suddenly stepped back and huffed dismissively. "Whatever, just know that one of these days I'm going to beat you."

Kiba turned on his heel and began to head for one of the other entrances to the Academy, but he made sure to bump into Naruto roughly as he passed.

"U-um, sorry." Hinata said. She bowed her head in apology for her teammate, and then rushed after him, followed closely behind by a silent Shino.

Naruto slowly relaxed his stance and took a deep breath. 'Man, that guy really gets on my nerves.'

"I hope he continues to push your buttons; I like it when you destroy people." Nine-Tails supplied not-so-helpfully. Although it did diffuse the rest of the tension. Naruto couldn't help but shake his head at the fox's blood thirsty nature.

He turned around and saw his teammates looking at him. Sakura seemed worried, while Sasuki seemed indifferent, and just raised her eyebrow at him, as if to say "Well?".

"Come, on, let's go get some ramen." Without another word he began walking away, with them following behind him.

As Naruto left the courtyard with his teammates, his thoughts shifted to his sensei. 'I wonder what he'll be like.' He'd heard a lot about how skilled the man was from the Hokage and was curious if it was true.

-x-x-x-x-x-x- NTUC -x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto found out one thing about his new sensei soon after lunch. The man wasn't a fan of being on time. At all.

He had only just picked them up ten minutes ago, after making them wait for four and a half hours. 'This guy better not be late all the time, or I'm going to use Senbonzakura to shred that stupid book of his.' Naruto vowed to himself. Kakashi sat across from Naruto and his teammates, leaning against the railing lining the roof.

"So, now that we're all here, why don't we introduce ourselves?" asked Kakashi nonchalantly. Naruto looked at him coldly.

If he didn't know about the man's reputation, he would have never believed this apparently lazy man was a high level ninja. He didn't strike a very imposing figure. In a way, he reminded Naruto of a scarecrow; tall and lean, with a shock of gravity defying silver hair, and a single eye lazily reading a small orange book in his hand.

"Um, what do you want to know?" Asked Sakura.

He shrugged. "Like, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future. That sort of stuff." He answered.

"How about you go first, sensei," suggested Naruto. He was curious to see what the silver-haired man would choose to say about himself.

Kakashi looked up from his book and shrugged. "Sure, why not," he said. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. What I like and what I hate? I don't wanna talk about it, Dreams for the future? Haven't really thought about it. As for hobbies ...I have lots of hobbies." There was silence after the underwhelming introduction.

"Now, your turn, on the left." Said Kakashi, pointing at Sakura.

"My name's Sakura Haruno. Um, the things I like? I like books, my parents, and Ino. I also admire Sasuki because she's so strong." Sakura answered, looking over at Sasuki, who steadfastly ignored her. "Things I hate? I can't really think of anything, except for people who make fun of my forehead. Reading is my only real hobby. My dream for the future," Sakura pause, and looked down in thought. "I want to become a strong and beautiful Kunoichi, so nobody will ever make fun of me again. I also want to have a family."

Naruto looked at Sakura carefully, something he noted Kakashi doing as well. 'Hmm, it seems she has some self-esteem issues still. That's something that'll need to be worked on, especially if Sasuki is going to respect her. Though Sasuki herself would be an issue …'

"Alright, thanks for that. Next, you, Ms. Broody." Said Kakashi, pointing at Sasuki to Naruto's right. It took all his willpower not to snort in amusement.. He just had to poke the proverbial bear, or in this case, tiger.

"My name is Sasuki Uchiha," She growled, trying to kill him with her glare alone. Naruto thought she looked rather cute when she was mad. "I don't have very many things I like, except for Naruto, and tomatoes," She said. "But I hate a lot of things. Dreams? I guess you could say I have a couple." She shifted uncomfortably. She looked a bit embarrassed, to Naruto. He almost missed the first part of what she said, because it was said so quietly. "I-I want to be an even greater kunoichi than my mother and rebuild my clan. As for the second," Sasuki grit her teeth and all traces of embarrassment were gone. She glared a dark, murderous glare. "It's not a dream, for I will make it a reality. I'm going to kill a certain someone."

Naruto frowned. For a second, he had seen a glimpse of the kinder side of Sasuki that he only rarely got to see. Seeing that kindness so quickly enveloped by rage and hate left him sad. It seemed almost unnatural for a girl that had once been so kind, to have such a darkness in her.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Um, okay. On that happy note, you," He said sarcastically. Kakashi squinted at Naruto. "You look different than expected. What's with the roots, did you do something to your hair?" He asked dumbly. Naruto's eye twitched in annoyance. Was Kakashi ever serious? He shook his head. "Oh well, then go ahead with your introduction."

Naruto looked at Kakashi strangely, but spoke, nonetheless. He spoke in the same calm manner he had since he had entered the classroom that day. "My name is Naruto. I like sushi, training and, Sasuki, and Gramps," Sasuki looked away at his admission with a huff of annoyance. Naruto closed his eyes briefly. "I hate spicy foods, bad sushi, and idiots," He ignored the raised eyebrows at that last comment. "As for my dreams for the future, I have several."

Kakashi's eyebrow rose so high it threatened to disappear underneath his forehead protector. "Several dreams, eh? Care to share any of them?"

Naruto shrugged. "I suppose I could," He said. Naruto steepled his hands in front of his face. "Like Sasuki, my dreams aren't just dreams, but ambitions. I want to restore my clan to prominence and become the first from my clan to be Hokage," That comment earned him curious looks from all his team members, even Sasuki, who he hadn't mentioned being part of a clan to. He hesitated before sharing his last dream. "I'd also like to help a certain someone with some issues." He glanced at Sasuki out of the corner of his eye, something that seemed to go unnoticed by everyone else.

"Alright, good. It seems you're all unique with your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow." Said Kakashi. He folded his arms.

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the man. 'Mission? He must be talking about the second genin test. I wonder what kind he'll use?' He wondered.

Sakura and Sasuki–who he knew had no idea what was going on–looked at Kakashi curiously. "What's the mission, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"It's a task, that the four of us will be doing together." Kakashi said vaguely.

"What kind of task?"

"A survival exercise," Kakashi answered.

Survival training? What kind of test was Kakashi planning?

"What! Survival training? We did that in the academy. I thought we were supposed to start real missions now, not more practice!" Sakura protested. Her sentiments were shared by Sasuki; Naruto could almost feel the annoyance radiating off of her. She glared at Kakashi even more than when he had called her "Ms. Broody".

Kakashi wasn't fazed by Sakura and Sasuki's annoyance. "This is not like your previous training," He said mysteriously.

Sasuki grunted in annoyance. "Tch, then what kind of training is it?" She asked rudely. Kakashi began to chuckle. It wasn't a normal chuckle, but a slightly malicious one, that set Naruto on edge, and caused the hairs on the back of his neck to raise.

"Hey, that's a normal question," Sakura protested. "What's so funny?" Kakashi's chuckles simply escalated to full blown laughter. Naruto grit his teeth in annoyance. Kakashi was beginning to get on his nerves. He could tell his teammates were feeling the same; it looked like Sasuki was about to attack the man.

"Hehehe, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it, hehehe," He said ominously. Kakashi looked at them seriously. "Out of the twenty-seven graduates who just came out of the academy, only nine of you will actually be accepted as genin. The rest will be eliminated, and sent back to the academy," Kakashi told them. Sakura and Sasuki's eyes bulged in shock. "In other words, this is a make it or break it test, with a sixty-six percent chance of failure. See—look at you're faces—I told you that you wouldn't like it."

"WHAT!" Shrieked Sakura. "We worked hard to graduate, you can't just send us back! What about the test we just took, was that for nothing?" She protested.

Although his teammates were even more enraged than ever, Kakashi's words were like a bucket of cold water to him. It helped him calm down and begin thinking. He'd already known about the test, so it was no big shock. What was surprising was the way Kakashi described how it worked. While it was true only a select amount of genin would make it through, it was nowhere near as low as he was saying. After all, there were other classes, even if it was rare for more than two full classes to make it to the seventh year without dropping out. So why was the man telling them their chances, almost tauntingly?

It suddenly hit him like a brick to the face. 'He's playing mind games, trying to get us off our guard, but why?' Either way, he knew he had to try to counter Kakashi's mind games, because they could seriously mess with their chances.

Before Kakashi could speak, Naruto answered Sakura's question for him.

"Don't you see?" He said. "That was just to see which of us had the potential to be genin. This is the real test." He said grimly. His teammates gaped at his calm answer. Kakashi nodded to him thankfully.

"How can you be so calm about this, Naruto?" Asked Sakura. He shrugged. Although he wasn't sure what it was, he was determined that they would pass

"I'm calm because no matter what, we will be among those nine genin." He said simply, trying to reassure his teammates. Naruto looked at Kakashi pointedly. "No matter what kind of mind games or tricks this guy plays, we shouldn't let them get to us. Let me assure you–" Naruto looked at his teammates confidently, and then he turned to look at Kakashi intensely. His last message was more for him than Sasuki and Sakura. "–we will become genin. Underestimating us will be your downfall."

Kakashi met his gaze and looked at him shrewdly. At the same time, he could feel his teammates gazes on him as well, but for now, he focused solely on Kakashi.

"Alright then. You're to meet at the training ground three tomorrow at 6:00 am."
Kakashi ordered. Naruto nodded in understanding, alongside his teammates. Their sensei stood and turned to leave. At the last moment, he turned back and spoke, as if he just remembered. "Oh yeah, and I'd suggest you skip breakfast. If you eat, you'll just puke it up later." The man ignored the disgusted looks on the girls faces and waved merrily. "Well, see ya later," He said, disappearing in a puff of smoke.

The three students sat silently following his departure. Naruto was deep in thought about the Jonin. Kakashi made it seem like he was a lazy lout, but he was far from it. All of his actions today had been meant to manipulate them for the test. 'And this thing about breakfast is the coup de grâce. He wants us to be as worn down as possible to make passing and grasping what we need to do harder. No doubt he'll be late as well.' Naruto concluded. 'But why?'

Although deep in thought, Naruto stood and looked at his teammates. "Well, that was certainly interesting. There's more to Kakashi than meets the eye." He said.

"More than meets the eye? Come on, the man's an idiot." Sasuki scoffed in disbelief. Naruto chuckled.

"Come on, don't tell me you didn't notice it. The man was deliberately taunting us. That entire speech was one big mind game. He wants us off our games for the test." He explained.

Sasuki's eyes widened in shock. After a minute of thought, she suddenly scowled in annoyance. "I guess you have a point. I didn't notice that."

For the first time since Kakashi left, Sakura spoke up, her tone nervous. "So then what are we supposed to do?" She asked.

Naruto shrugged. "I'm not exactly sure yet, we'll have to wait until the test to come up with a better plan." He replied. "Until then, I suggest you ignore his warning about not eating, he just wants us to be even weaker. I bet he'll even wait a few hours until he arrives, so we'll be starving by the time the test begins." Once he saw his teammates had acknowledged what he said, he finished by saying. "Well, I'm going to go train. I'll see you guys tomorrow."

As he left, he made sure to catch Sasuki's eye, and once he was sure he had her attention, mouthed "Usual place.". He saw her nod in reply.

With one last wave, he vanished in a blur of speed, leaving nothing but a quiet whisper of wind in his wake.

-x-x-x-x-x-x- NTUC -x-x-x-x-x-x-

So there's the thirteenth chapter, hope you enjoyed.

As you can see, I made some changes to Sakura's personality, as well as Ino's. In this story, she never really broke away from Ino, and retained a bit of her shyness, while also being less obsessed with Sasuki.

As for Kiba, I may have come off a bit harsh on him in this chapter, but I'm not going to be bashing him, he'll just be taking on a more Naruto-esque role.

Anyways, that's all for now.

So, til next time,

RinneTaicho, Signing off!