Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto; it belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

I am making no profit from this story, it is only for entertainment.

This story is based on a challenge from misterfn, about what would happen if Naruto had a bloodline based on Akashi's Emperor Eye from Kuroko no Basuke.

I hope you enjoy!

Naruto watched Sakura struggle through some physical conditioning exercises. He hadn't expected her to come back the next day with the way she had fled but here she was. She was a lot quieter, not even speaking to Sasuke, and Naruto wasn't sure if he could trust it. No one changed that quickly and just because she suddenly got some motivation to put some effort in didn't mean that it would last.

Kakashi hadn't shown up yet so they were training on their own as per usual. He wasn't sure where Sakura had got the training menu since he was positive she wouldn't have been able to find Kakashi between then and now; he guessed she'd made it herself. It contained all of the basic exercises but they were being done in a weird order, almost as if she was just running through a list rather than working towards specific goals. Whatever, it wasn't his problem. He supposed the fact she was doing anything was the main thing.

"I've never seen her allow herself to get dirty before," Sasuke commented beside him from where they were taking a break. "She used to complain about it all the time in the academy."

Naruto looked back at the girl, observing the dirt on her cheek and the sweat pouring down her face.

"That's not exactly a high bar," he replied, taking a swig of his water bottle.

Sasuke shrugged and Naruto rolled his eyes. Kakashi should be arriving soon. Things had been tense yesterday after the whole 'Sakura' situation. He knew Kakashi had all these ideas and beliefs around teamwork and standing up for your comrades but Naruto didn't have time for it. He didn't see why he had to put up with a weak teammate. Kakashi seemed to think they were only as strong as that weakest link. Naruto thought that was bullshit.

"I wasn't wrong about her," he felt the need to say.

"No, you weren't," Sasuke said quietly. "She needs to decide if she is going to be a kunoichi or not. What she is doing now is not enough."

Naruto may not buy into the whole 'teamwork' thing but if he was going to be forced onto a team with anyone, he was glad it was Sasuke. He'd known the other boy for a couple of years now and other than Gai, he was probably the only other person in the village who really knew him. It was the same for Sasuke; Naruto knew he was the only one who saw Sasuke for Sasuke rather than the 'Last Uchiha' or the 'genius genin'. He'd seen Sasuke fail and fall on his face so many times but he kept trying, mastering whatever was in his path with a singular focus. He could respect his hard work. He also had never tried to change Naruto, just dealing with him as he was and giving as good as he got. He appreciated that too.

He heard the faint sound of footsteps and steeled himself. He and Kakashi had never managed to find common ground on this topic and now the man was his jounin-sensei, he was sure that it would keep coming up. He missed Gai; he would just let Naruto get on with things. He knew Kakashi was trying to be a good teacher in his own way but it wasn't helpful. He wanted things to back to the way they used to be, when Kakashi was his ninjutsu teacher and they didn't have teammates to worry about.

"Good morning!" Kakashi said brightly.

There was moment of silence as Sakura jogged over to join them but no late accusation followed. Good, Naruto had no desire to live through that every day. Best they figure out now that Kakashi would be late to his own funeral. There would be a lot of independent learning as his students.

He grinned as Kakashi pouted. He knew the man loved giving his weird excuses for his lateness but if they didn't ask, then there was no reason for him to say. It was petty but Naruto thrived on pettiness. It kept him sane.

"It's nice to see that you're already training on your own!" he continued. "What were you working on?"

"Taijutsu," Naruto answered for both him and Sasuke.

All eyes turned to Sakura.

"I'm working on my fitness," she said, green eyes turned to the ground and shoulders hunched in on themselves.

It was like he was looking at a completely different person. All the confidence and bluster was gone, leaving behind a nervous shell. She wasn't wearing perfume today, her pink hair was in disarray and her face shined with exertion. She obviously hadn't spent as much time on her appearance this morning. Naruto wasn't sure this was an improvement. Sure, she was a dead-weight when she had been filled with false confidence and entitlement but she wouldn't be much use without a backbone either.

"What training programme are you using?"

"I read some books and found some exercises?"

As Naruto had suspected.

"It's a good start but I can help you find one that works better for you," Kakashi eye-smiled. "Now, shall we see about some D-ranks?"

Naruto scowled, debating if he could get away with replacing himself with a clone. He fucking hated D-ranks. Kakashi wouldn't even notice, too busy reading his Icha Icha. Sasuke would get annoyed but he could find his own clone technique.

"No clones, Naruto."

Naruto narrowed his eyes at the jounin. Challenge accepted.

Neji walked away from the market, supplies in hand. He did not know why Gai-sensei still insisted on completing D-ranks. They were carrying out regular C-ranks and training intently for the Chunin exams that were not that far away. He spouted something about 'Youth' and 'serving the village' but Neji was not convinced. He wondered if this was how Naruto felt. He understood now; D-ranks were indeed the worst.

Speaking of the Uzumaki, Neji still had not seen him, even around the village. He was more bothered than he had expected he would be. He had given up on Naruto returning to training and had settled for the techniques he had learned up until this point. He did not dare venture into the library nor ask his jounin-sensei for more; it would most definitely make its way back to his clan if he did that. Naruto was temperamental and unpredictable but he had known his secrets were safe with the blond. Naruto hated the Hyūga clan more than he wished to screw over Neji. It had been strangely dependable.

He was still of the opinion that Naruto was the wrong in this whole situation. The blond was far too childish and the fact he appeared to have utterly abandoned training with Neji was one such example of his short-sightedness. Neji had not done anything to earn this treatment and he knew he was not the only one who benefited from the joint training. Naruto's bloodline limit was formidable and the applications of it in taijutsu were very different than the Byakugan which made for productive training sessions when pitted against each other.

The Byakugan relied upon chakra so it was excellent in battles involving any form of chakra use, such as ninjutsu or genjutsu. It was also unparalleled in detecting chakra signatures, as long as they were within the limits of the vision field. It meant that Neji would never lose track of his opponent, and therefore could not be caught by surprise. Naruto's bloodline limit, which he refused to tell Neji the name of, had nothing to do with chakra. It involved seeing the minute details of movements; a muscle twitch, a bead of sweat, even a pulse. It even allowed him a wider field of vision, to a lesser extent than the Byakugan, but it was enough to cover most of his blind spots. One of the aspects of Naruto's bloodline limit that always caught Neji off guard was how the blond could see Neji's centre of gravity and manipulate it at will through his fighting style.

These facts meant that Neji had yet to beat the blond in a taijutsu fight. It was like he could see every movement Neji made before he had even moved. He knew Naruto was reading the twitches of his muscles and his changing centre of gravity but it did not make it any less frustrating. Neji was used to having a bloodline limit that allowed him to observe things that others had no hope of imagining, but having that turned on him was less than ideal. The Hyūga clan had always prided themselves on being the best at taijutsu for good reason; the combination of the Byakugan and their clan techniques were formidable and in close combat, nigh impenetrable.

Naruto's own bloodline limit allowed him to find cracks in the Hyūga clan style. He knew every move Neji was going to make and always moved to perfectly counter it. It was less effective on ninjutsu than the Byakugan, but once, when Naruto had been in one of his better moods, he had explained that he could see the hand seals being made through the contractions of the muscles in the hands. It was not infallible; it depended on Naruto recognising the pattern of hand seals in the first place.

Gai-sensei really had been the perfect teacher for him. Neji knew those two extra years he'd spent with Gai-sensei would have really made a difference. Naruto was already suited to taijutsu but Gai-sensei was a master of the art. He did sort of understand the jealousy and hostility towards his team; losing the perfect teacher would have been difficult, but Naruto was taking it a step too far.

He looked up and caught a flash of blond. He activated the Byakugan and saw the very familiar chakra signature walking through one of the side streets. His feet were moving before he even had time to think and he ran through the side street, his gaze locked on that signature. He caught up quickly and reached out to grab his arm. Naruto ducked away from him and twirled, kunai in hand. His blue eyes scanned him over before he relaxed.

"Fuck, Neji, don't sneak up on me." Naruto tucked the kunai back into his pouch. "Next time I might actually stab you."

He was speaking as if it had not been weeks since they had last seen one another; as if he had not shirked his responsibilities and broken his word.

"You are a coward, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto scowled, blue eyes narrowed.

"The fuck you say?"

Neji straightened, all the thoughts that had been building up spilling out as soon as he could form the words.

"You are a coward," he continued firmly. "You are childish and petty and unreliable."

"Where the fuck is this coming from…"

"Did you or did you not agree to teach me ninjutsu?"

"I mean, yeah…"

"Have you not abandoned that?"

"Hey, I don't owe you anything," Naruto spat, his expression darkening. "I did you a fucking favour. I never said how long I would do it for."

"No, but the reasons for stopping are stupid," Neji glared back. "You decided to throw a tantrum when you were removed from Gai-sensei's care and took it out on Lee. When things do not go your way, you throw a fit and avoid anything in connection with it. Do you not?"

"Go fuck yourself," Naruto swore.

"You are doing it now," Neji pointed out. "You need to get over yourself and realise that reacting in anger is only going to be detrimental in the long run."

Naruto scoffed.

"I don't want to hear that from you," he snarled. "Mr. I'm going to be angry at the world for things that I haven't even bothered to try to change. You walked around with a 'poor me' attitude your entire fucking life and you think you can get off judging me?"

"I did," Neji admitted, "and you were the one to open my eyes. However, it is not any fault of mine that I remained with Gai and you did not. It is no fault of Tenten's or Lee's. Being angry with us accomplishes nothing; it is a petty, unfounded grudge."

"So what?"

"What?"

"So what if it's petty?" Naruto narrowed his eyes. "I don't owe you anything. It ain't my fault that you thought something more was going on here. I taught you some ninjutsu to piss off your clan. I couldn't give a shit about you as a person. So stop whatever shit you've got rolling around in that big head of yours that makes you think you can order me around."

Neji met Naruto's eyes, a long silence passing between them.

"We're done," Naruto finally spat. He turned and walked away, calling out over his shoulder. "Stay the fuck away from me."

Neji sighed as Naruto vanished from view; that had not gone how he thought it would. He had underestimated Naruto's anger and pettiness. It was utterly pathetic. He had the capacity to be one of the strongest taijutsu masters of the village but he hindered his own progress though his stunted view of the world. Neji did not owe the blond anything and he certainly didn't need him. It was none of his business if Naruto insisted on burning every bridge he'd ever made. All Neji had to do was keeping working towards his own goals. He was better off without him.

Tenten threw her kunai up in the air, catching it and throwing it up again in a steady cycle. She didn't mind helping out in her family's shop but when it was dead quiet like this, she wished she could be training instead. It felt like she was wasting time; she had so much that she wanted to do and she could do none of it here.

Lee's taijutsu was becoming really strong and Neji was still the best of them by far. She didn't want to fall behind. She knew she was a lot stronger than she had been when she'd first joined Gai-sensei's team but she wasn't satisfied. Gai-sensei always encouraged them to push their limits and she was trying to do that every single day. Her weapon repertoire had grown significantly and she felt so much more confident with both her close weapon combat and her aim. She felt she was taking real, tangible steps towards her dream of being the strongest weapons mistress in Konoha.

The first fight with Naruto had stuck with her; it had been the wake-up called she'd needed. She knew that he didn't really acknowledge her existence but that was fine. It didn't affect the impact he had made on her. He may be unapproachable and angry with their team right now, but that didn't change his strength or his dedication. He may not reciprocate but Tenten was glad they had met. It had given her a shove in the right direction.

The bell rang and she grabbed the kunai out of the air, plastering on her customer service smile.

"Good afternoon, how may we help you…?"

Naruto stared back at her, an unreadable expression on his face. She hadn't seen him since he blew up at Lee at the Mission Assignment Desk.

"I just can't get away from you fuckers," he muttered beneath his breath.

Tenten felt the urge to ask but squashed it down.

"How are you, Naruto?" she smiled. "It's been a while."

Naruto shot her a weird look. Tenten wasn't sure where to go from here. The last time she'd seen him was when they were being assigned the Festival missions. She never did find out what he had against the Rinne Festival. She also wanted to know more about why he was so angry at them but she wasn't in a place where she could ask. They didn't know each other very well and despite her desire to change that, it wasn't up to her. She had to respect the fact that Naruto wanted nothing to do with them. She knew her team had mixed feelings about Naruto but she couldn't hold anything against him.

It did bother her that he was so angry. Not in that she thought it was bad or anything, but in that she couldn't help but feel there was more to it. Naruto gave her the impression of a stray dog, furious and snapping at every hand offered, not because it was truly bad or angry but it had too many negative experiences to trust again. She knew he'd been treated badly by the villagers before; she'd overheard more than one person saying horrible things about him. The thing she couldn't figure out is why. Naruto was rude and uncooperative but he was also super strong and a really hard worker.

She still wanted to be someone in his corner. She had seen how fond Gai-sensei was of him and although they had gotten off to a rocky start, Tenten could look back and see she handled the training situation wrong. She should have trusted Naruto to know his own limits; more importantly, she needed to push herself and have more confidence. She had never once seen Naruto or Gai-sensei doubt themselves and it was something she wanted for herself.

"I'm sorry."

Naruto looked up from where he was going through packs of shuriken.

"For back then," she smiled awkwardly. "I should have trusted you and…I need to trust myself more too. It was a good training idea."

Naruto looked back at her, but she couldn't read the look in his eyes.

"Whatever," he shrugged and went back to ignoring her.

Tenten sat behind the counter, trying not to stare at the other genin. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable. A few minutes passed and she looked up at the sound of metal clanging against wood. Naruto had dropped a couple packs of shuriken and kunai onto the counter and she bounced up, ringing up the amount quickly.

"Thank you," she bowed her head. "Please come again."

She raised her head to see him already walking out the shop. She sighed, resting her chin on her fist. She wasn't sure if he believed her apology but she felt better having offered it. She would just have to keep trying to show him that she was in his corner. Gai-sensei had always taught them never to give up after all.

Naruto dragged his feet toward the meeting location. Kakashi had managed to detect his clones for every D-rank so far and it was fucking annoying. He couldn't figure out what was giving it away. The clones were identical and they acted just like him; even the chakra signatures should have been the same! So how was Kakashi managing to figure it out every damn time? He knew Kakashi was a damn good shinobi and while that was a good attribute for a teacher, it was really backfiring on him right now.

So Naruto had been forced to actually participate in every D-rank and he was ready to burn the village to the ground. He used to do C-ranks! This was such a step down from what he'd been doing before and he hated it. He was capable of so much more than stupid D-ranks and yet, he had to accommodate for his teammates and Naruto, you can't rush ahead without them. Kakashi could shove that up his ass. Every day he considered not showing up to the team meet-ups but every day he did; why wasn't that enough for him?

His encounter with Neji a few days ago had already put him in a foul mood and Tenten just confused him. He didn't know what her game was but people didn't just apologise. Only Gai-sensei did that. He didn't trust it. Sakura had also been baffling, turning up every day and working quietly on her own. People didn't just change like that! She was up to something and Naruto wasn't about to let his guard down just so she could show her true colours later. She wouldn't just stop being a fangirl overnight and he did still catch her blushing at Sasuke occasionally.

He hated this; he hated people. He just wanted to be left alone. He had better things to do than waste his thoughts on these people.

He spotted Sasuke and immediately walked to join the other boy. At least Sasuke didn't annoy him. He was pretty sure if he was about to fall off a cliff and Sasuke walked past, he would ignore him and it was all Naruto ever wanted. Sasuke knew he could handle himself and Naruto reciprocated the thought. Sasuke wouldn't apologise or accost him in an alleyway or change overnight.

Sakura hadn't arrived yet and Naruto frowned. Despite the fact that they all knew Kakashi would be at least three hours late, Sakura insisted on turning up on time every day. He and Sasuke were up and about long before the meet-up time but they were usually off doing their own thing.

A thought occurred to him. He spent more time around this team than Kakashi did; that was horrifying. It was good ammunition for next time Kakashi got on his case about shit. It was true though that he probably wouldn't be if Sasuke wasn't on the team. Kakashi didn't have to know that though.

"Are we early?" he asked. "I hate being early."

"You're ten minutes late," Sasuke shrugged. "Sakura hasn't turned up."

Hope blossomed in Naruto's chest. Was this it? Had she finally given up and dropped out? It seemed too good to be true. He was distracted by the sight of a genin team walking towards them.

"Are you Team Seven?" the jounin-sensei asked, her red eyes looking over them.

She was pretty tall, with curly brown hair past her shoulders. She was wrapped in wide, white bandages, arranged to form a dress with a red shirt beneath, the wide billowing sleeves reaching her wrist. Her hitai-ate kept her hair out of her face and her pale face was soft and unmarred by lines or scars. She couldn't have been older than Kakashi.

The genin around her must have been around his age. The rough-looking kid whose fur-lined jacket hood made it look like he was sporting a mane had symmetrical red triangles on each cheek, signifying his status as part of the Inuzuka clan. The small white puppy sitting on top of his head was also a dead giveaway. The other boy, taller than his counterpart, had his face mostly covered by the neckline of his oversized grey jacket and his eyes were hidden by dark glasses. The final member, a small girl, was definitely a member of the Hyūga clan. Her pale lavender eyes were like a beacon to her clan status but she seemed to lack the confidence that the Hyūga clan wore like a second skin. She wore a soft, pink hoodie and her short navy hair framed her face. She didn't look up from the ground as they stopped in front of Naruto and Sasuke.

"Who's asking?" Naruto crossed his arms over his chest.

"You can't talk to Kurenai-sensei like that!" The Inuzuka yelled, pointing an accusing finger.

"Kurenai…" Naruto pondered.

He hadn't heard that name before. He was pulled from his thoughts by Sasuke cuffing the back of his head. His 'hey' was ignored as Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"You don't have to be a dick to everyone, dobe."

Naruto pouted. Rich coming from this teme; he remembered listening to Sasuke's complaints about his former classmates on many, many occasions. He had been a right dick and Naruto had fully supported him then he turns on him like this?

"I take it Kakashi isn't here yet?" Kurenai shook her head. "Typical. Where's your other teammate?"

"Don't know."

"Any idea at all?"

"Nope."

"How do you not know?" the Inuzuka piped up again and Naruto gritted his teeth. "She's your teammate."

"Not my problem," he shrugged. It wasn't his job to keep track of her.

"We can ask Kakashi when he eventually turns up," Kurenai cuts in, warding off the brewing argument before it could begin. "For now, you can come with us. This farming D-rank is joint between our teams so we can just get started."

Naruto couldn't detect any signs of deception and he knew some of the bigger D-ranks were shared between teams but he didn't like this unknown adult was ordering him around. How did he know that this was actually a joint mission? What if she was taking advantage of Kakashi's tardiness to rope them into some shit?

"You are so bloody paranoid," Sasuke shook his head. "It's written all over face, dobe."

"…I do not know what you are talking about."

"Look, the sooner we do this D-rank, the sooner we can actually do something useful," Sasuke pointed out. "So just shelve the paranoia for now and get this D-rank done so we can leave."

"And if this goes sideways?"

"It's a fucking D-rank, dobe!"

"What's your point?"

"You are impossible."

"What the fuck?"

That last remark didn't come from either of them. They looked over to the other genin team to see them staring. Naruto scowled back at them; what the fuck were they looking at?

"That's the most Sasuke's ever said, like ever," the Inuzuka said, eyes still wide.

"Can't get him to shut up," Naruto nodded, smirking at Sasuke's venomous look thrown his way.

"Shut the fuck up, dobe."

"Have you all met then?" Kurenai broke in again, working overtime to keep the peace.

"We know Sasuke but not the blond kid," the Inuzuka said and was he the only person on the damn team to speak? What the hell was up with the other two?

"Well, we can introduce ourselves then. I am Kurenai, jounin-sensei of Team Eight."

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba," the boy said, pointing at himself with his thumb a little too proudly.

"Aburame Shino," the taller boy added, speaking for the first time. The bug clan; he did resemble the other members he'd seen about the village.

The girl didn't speak and Kurenai gave her a little nudge.

"…Hyūga Hinata," she whispered, Naruto barely catching it.

She looked like a Hyūga but she certainly didn't act like one.

"Naruto," he offered reluctantly. He hated introductions; they were always so full of false niceness and shit.

"Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke said flatly, ending this nightmare.

"Okay, we better go see about this mission then," Kurenai said, smiling gently. "I hope we can work well together."

Kakashi may be an asshole most of the time but Naruto couldn't help be glad he'd been assigned to him and not this lady. The whole 'kind' vibe was sending a shiver down his spine. This is why he preferred assholes; they didn't try to hide their intentions or true thoughts and they were usually upfront with stuff. Nice people, he could never tell what they were really thinking.

The sooner this mission was over with the better.

Thanks for reading!