Author Note

Hi everyone!

Like I said before, I'll start focusing on my new stories a lot more, so here is the next update, this time, of Cursed Eyes.

It's been a long time since I last updated the story, so I feel like it's better to recapitulate a bit.

Last chapters, Kakashi took Naruto away from the village, in order to better acquaint the little guy with his new Sharingan eyes. During which, Naruto learned extensive chakra control exercises, a new taijutsu style and two of his affinities, fire and earth. Afterward, a new character entered named Hyuuga Kasumi. She and Kakashi had a history together, but her mission was to protect Naruto together with Kakashi, which she almost failed, if the blond wasn't awakened when the attack came.

Now, a year has passed and Naruto returned to the village, in order to join the academy.

Let's see what happens next...

Chapter 6 – Untrustworthy

Beta: Kyuubi123

These last couple of years was considered hell to one Uzumaki Naruto. Ever since he joined the academy, the pace in which he used to learn things diminished considerably. He still trained his already acquired techniques, but now most of his time; he was caught between learning the village's history and a couple of more need-to-know subjects, like geography of the Elemental Nation and Mathematics. Although incredibly frustrating, he had to force his mind to learn all these information in order to pass the academy.

The boy wasn't by all means, the best of the class in this department. But it didn't mean he was the last one, either.

Kakashi never stopped drilling into his head that being the best at the academy wasn't necessarily a good thing, seeing as it would direct more unwanted attention. The man also said to apply a bit, so Naruto was amongst the middle of the class in terms of book smart. In other fields, however, he didn't have much competition. In taijutsu, he managed to beat every single one of his teammates and excelled in ninjutsu as he already knew the three academy jutsus. In accuracy, however, he only lost to the class Hyuuga, but the girl was using her doujutsu the entire time, so Naruto didn't know if he was better or not. His Sharingan was considered an ace in the whole, not something to be used constantly.

Said lesson, he took to heart after constant beatings from Kakashi, Kasumi and the Hokage himself. Today was the last day before the academy final test and Umino Iruka, the academy teacher, was taking his time recapitulating the entire curriculum, in order to better prepare his students for tomorrow. The blond just shrugged it off and decided to look around the class a bit. Because of what happened in the past, the village population pretty much loathed his existence like a plague that walked amongst them. Not only that, but also it seemed that those who lived through the fox's attack, twelve years ago, passed on their hatred to their offspring. In other words, none of his classmates looked, talked or even shared a glimpse at him.

It was like he didn't exist...yet he never missed a day at school.

He didn't mind, though. He had a lot of problems to cope with. The nightmares subsided almost completely, but every now and again, his mind would trick him, stealing some hours of sleep. Also, the whispers he still heard from the population made him almost relieve everything like it happened yesterday. Both Kakashi and Kasumi rotated in speaking to him, letting him know that they were there for him. Although he constantly appreciated and at the same time dismissed their concerns, Naruto was constantly asked by one of them if everything was alright. It was bad enough that even the Hokage came in one occasion, asking him the same thing. Naruto didn't believe his case was worthy of such concern, though. Yes, his past was dark but he was coming to terms with it.

"...Uzumaki Naruto..."

He couldn't just dismiss the Hokage, though. The old man was the closest thing he had to a grandfather.

"Naruto...!" It took Iruka screaming to wake the blond from his wondering, before the blond paid attention to him.

"Yes, Iruka-sensei?"

"Can you remember what the Nidaime Hokage was famous for and his weapon of choice?" The question wasn't that hard, but he disliked the teacher's attitude.

Seeing as people rarely talked to him, the blond developed a sort of introspective personality, meaning he had the tendency to speak with himself a lot. Therefore, he didn't like being interrupted when he was thinking.

"Nidaime Hokage was famous for his mastery of suiton ninjutsu, since he didn't need to use a nearby source of water. And his weapon was called the Raijin, which was used in complement with his suiton ninjutsu" His answer was perfect and if someone else answered like he did, Iruka wouldn't move on, before complementing him or her. But Naruto was hated by him, therefore Iruka, upon hearing the answer, simply shrugged it off and chose another person to ask the next question. The blond didn't mind, once more. He knew, from the Hokage, that Iruka's parents were killed by the fox. But then again, so did everyone, apparently.

In little less than an hour, the class bell ringed and everyone left the classroom. Once outside, the blond took notice that a lot of people were at the academy's entrance. Parents, sisters, brothers, even friends, waiting to pick the students and take them home.

However, Naruto didn't even need to look for either Kakashi or Kasumi amongst the crowd. As jounins, they were constantly sent out to high level missions outside the village. He remembered, one time, though when Kasumi appeared and picked him up for some lunch...it was a really good day. As he took the stairs towards the river that passed in front of the academy, he could hear the whispers coming from the parents, warning their offspring, time and time again, not to socialize with him. Naruto stopped and turned to meet some of those eyes, something he never did before. Just as he did so, everyone seemed to mind their own business and walk away. Although this was his first time doing so, Naruto wasn't surprised that people wouldn't curse him right in front of him.

There was a law prohibiting it after all...

After grabbing something to eat, the blond was once more at his favorite place in the village. It was one of farthest training grounds, actually one of the last within Konoha territory. It wasn't special by any means; it was a plain field, with a few trees and big rocks. What made Naruto choose this training ground was the fact that no one came here, except for the Anbu team that protected him, but that was a different issue. For the first twenty minutes of his training, he would perform some light katas of his taijutsu style, in order to get better acquainted with them. Then, he would exercise his chakra by running up and down the tallest tree of the training ground, while molding the earth below him up and down as well. It was an exercise that Kakashi taught him a couple of months ago, in order to improve his second affinity. Afterward, he would practice his taijutsu against the tree logs as well as adding a couple of fire techniques to his sequence of attacks. His speed was improving, Naruto thought with a smile on his face. Both Kakashi and Kasumi said to him that training without the Sharingan would only be beneficial to him once he used the doujutsu.

In order for your doujutsu to work more effectively, you need to improve your body and reflexes without it...

It was a little difficult for the blond to understand at first, but he now got it. The Sharingan, by itself, would point the enemy's moves, but what good that would be if the body couldn't react in time to avoid it. Every day, he maintained the same routine and with vigor. The leading Anbu quite often reported such to the Hokage, whenever he had the chance to. After leaving the academy, he would grab something to eat and then, come here to train until nightfall. Activating the Sharingan was the last item of his training agenda and he actually used it to practice genjutsus...well actually it was only one technique, but he practiced a lot with it, using a couple of bunshins for targets.

As the sun began its descent, the blond wiped the sweat off his face and marched towards his house.

He would sleep early today to focus on the test tomorrow. It wouldn't bode well for him to fail because of laziness. In little less than twenty minutes, he arrived at the always busy merchant district and passed by as inconspicuous as possible, so as not to cause any trouble. Since the Hokage assigned the Anbu team to protect him, no one else dared lift a finger to attack him, but you'd never know with this village. Naruto wouldn't put it past him to deal with a drunken ninja, pissed off at the unfairness of the world. Not to mention the fact that fighting in the middle of the open road could lead to some innocent people getting hurt and he just couldn't handle one more reason for the population to hate him. Fortunately, he managed to reach his good for nothing apartment. Inside, he fixed some instant ramen and put on his night clothes. Tomorrow, he would have a metal headband on his forehead.

===the next day===

Once every academy student arrived at the classroom, the first exam was handled, the written one began. The questions were pretty basic, save for a few that would serve to separate the best students from the merely passable ones. Questions like a brief history of the three ninjas trained by the Sandaime Hokage and the team's name. Naruto passed by the questions with apparent boredom, until he landed in an interesting one, number 27. Man, they're unbelievable…which method was used by the Yondaime Hokage to kill the Kyuubi no Yoko? Naruto remembered reading a specific part of his booklet that explained some sort of convenient history, saying that the Yondaime Hokage managed to defeat the beast by sending it into another dimension, through the usage of fuuinjutsu. Imagine the surprise of everyone in the classroom if the blond just got up on top of his chair and yelled that the damn fox owed him this month's rent.

He wrote the answer just like the booklet explained and passed through the rest of the questions.

Eventually, the test was over and now was time for the taijutsu and accuracy portion of the exam. Regarding accuracy, the blond almost aced hitting 9 of the 10 shurikens and 10 of the ten 10 kunais. When the taijutsu portion came, the students formed two lines, as they would be tested against the Chunnin teachers, Umino Iruka and Touji Mizuki. Quite strangely, Naruto was lined to fight Iruka. While Iruka openly hated Naruto because of the fox, at least he didn't let said hatred interfere with his job as an academy teacher. Mizuki, on the other hand, never bothered to hide it and openly dismissed every single question Naruto asked, as unimportant and move on with the classroom.

In the end, Naruto always had to ask Kasumi what he didn't understand.

In order to pass the test, one only had to land a hit. A few of the students did horribly and the fight was over in less than two minutes. Others, though, eventually managed to land a hit, using their clan related techniques. When Naruto was up, he backed it up a bit, in order to maintain a decent distance from Iruka. Not too close and also not very far from his opponent. Iruka hated the boy, but he knew he was talented and had much potential as a shinobi. Upon being authorized to strike, Naruto didn't waste time and charged at Iruka with a straight punch to his face. At the last moment, though, he switched attacks and went to kick Iruka's side stomach. Although shocked at the speed, Iruka managed to defend using his forearm. Iruka, then, started attacking with his right elbow, followed by a swift low kick, all of them respectively blocked or evaded by the blond. Naruto, then, charged at the still moving Iruka, with a straight punch aimed at Iruka's chest. He managed to hit, taking a bit of air from Iruka.

"Uzumaki, go back in line…"

That would serve as complement from his teacher, Naruto reasoned as he calmly returned to the end of the line. After him, three kunoichi aspirants gave their shots, but only one managed to land a hit. Mizuki's group finished as well, so the students went back to the classroom, where they would be called in to show one of the academy jutsus. As far as Naruto was concerned, the headband was already causing his forehead to itch. When his name was called, he reached the next classroom only to see Mizuki and Iruka sitting behind a table full of Konohagakure headbands. As he stood in front of the table, he waited for anyone of them to call in the name of the jutsu.

"Okay Uzumaki…in order to pass the exam, you need to perform the Bunshin no Jutsu…three clones should do it"

Mizuki smirked, before he gave Naruto the exercise. Despite the blond's passable grades, if any student failed the ninjutsu portion of the exam, then he would fail. He was about to cast a quick genjutsu, when he looked up and saw three clones standing behind Naruto, all four of them looking quite bored. Inwardly, Mizuki cursed Naruto's existence for doing the jutsus faster than even Chunnin level ninja twice his age. One thing that Mizuki didn't know, though, was that Naruto's talent relied in ninjutsu. He made chakra control exercises ever since the Uchiha Massacre, so he didn't need much concentration to use so little of his chakra capacity. He grabbed the headband and tied it to his forehead, before leaving the room just like he entered. Once he left, though, Iruka turned his look towards Mizuki with a stern face.

"You were going to sabotage his exam, weren't you?" Iruka asked, knowing that he didn't need an answer, seeing the look on his partner's face.

"Yeah, but I didn't know the brat had such talent in ninjutsu" Mizuki at first looked at Iruka, wondering if the man would rat him out, but by the look on his face, Mizuki smiled relieved. "You wouldn't lift a finger to help him, huh?"

The lack of response told Mizuki everything. As deep as his hatred for the fox was, for the first time, he truly allowed it to overrule his sense of professionalism. Mizuki was right and this time, Iruka felt ashamed.

Once the test was over, those who passed were rubbing their headbands and showing them to their parents, so that they could be proud of the now graduated genin. However, despite the festivities, pretty much all of the parents looked at Naruto's headband with a snarl, seeing as the Kyuubi brat managed to pass as well. The blond was looking at his situation now that he had a headband on his forehead. The Hokage's stipulation was that the Anbu team would cease his protection once he became a genin. Therefore, if someone were to deliberately attack him, he wouldn't have the Anbu's backup. Uh, what the hell? Now, I'm a ninja, openly attacking me is an offense on its own…

===At the Hokage's Office===

Once the test was over, Iruka and Mizuki handed the grades to the Hokage as well as a dozen of seasoned and not so seasoned jounins. The time came for the Hokage and the jounins to choose their genins. Out of the blue, everyone could point out nine outstanding candidates from the academy. Of course, eight of them belonged to Konohagakure's respectful clans, the Hyuuga, Nara, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Kurama, Haruno, Akimichi and the Aburame. The last of the nine was the only one apparently clan less…one Uzumaki Naruto. The Hokage smiled at this, though the sentiment wasn't shared by the majority. Hiruzen knew he had to play his cards right or else Naruto would end up with a jounin who may deliberately flunk him and send him back at the academy. Three of the A-class students would be taken by Kurenai, seeing as he always intended to have a track-sensor team. Aburame Shino, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga would work great under the genjutsu mistress of Konoha.

The Nara, Yamanaka and Akimichi always made an incredible team, but that happened only once, so the Hokage had room for moving the genins around a bit. He had two jounins at his disposal that wouldn't think badly of the kid.

Both Kakashi and Asuma would take care of him and properly guide his future. However, he was concerned that Kakashi would favor Naruto, so his choice was on Asuma. Upon asking his son about it, the man shrugged it off, not caring much who he gets it. Hiruzen smiled at this. He didn't appreciate the fact that Kakashi had yet to arrive, meaning he couldn't complain about the team set-ups. Most of the jounins snickered at the Hokage's comment and since Kakashi never showed any interest in training Naruto as a genin, he would get three different genins, with skills that complimented each other.

"Ok, Naruto, Akimichi Chouji and Yamanaka Ino will be team 10 under Sarutobi Asuma and Kurama Yakumo, Sakura Haruno and Nara Shikamaru will be Team 7 under Kakashi. Now, moving on…" The Hokage said as he proceeded with the rest of the teams and the jounins responsible for them.

===With Naruto===

After leaving the academy, instead of going to his apartment, Naruto went towards a more secluded alleyway, where he could be alone to do what he came here to do.

"Anbu-san, would you please show up…I'd like to talk to you if I may…" No sooner had he called, Tori appeared in front of him with his arms crossed.

"What is it that you wish to talk about…Naruto?"

"I know that as of right now, your team will no longer follow me around, so I'd like to say thank you, that' s all" The answer surprised the Anbu leader, who in turn smirked behind his mask. The boy knew about respect and how much trouble the Anbu prevented by just being there.

"You don't need to do that, Naruto, it was a mission given by Hokage-sama…"

"That's true…but it's also true that no ninja should attack civilians, yet I always felt like a walking target…well, thanks anyway"

After saluting the Anbu leader, Naruto went to his preferred training ground once more, this time for a different type of training. Because of its dangerousness, the art of kenjutsu was left as more of a side project to his growth. He rarely practiced the katas taught by Kakashi. Instead, he just focused on reading some material about the history of the art as well as some battle positions, both offensive and defensive. Today would be the second time he ever practiced with the two swords he received from Kakashi. Taking a scroll, he unsealed the wakizashi and firmly grabbed the hilt, before examining it a bit. Every book he read explained that one only achieved mastery when he or she could use the blade as an extension of the body. The blond admitted knowing very little about this concept of sword fighting. But he would practice with it and one day; see if he has what it takes to master the art of sword fighting. Slowly, he went through the katas taught by his sensei. He slashed the air repeatedly, but anyone who saw him would realize that his skill with the sword was non-existent. Although he knew the moves, Naruto was worried that he would do something wrong and end up cutting himself or something.

"Kid, I advise to stop what you're doing, less you want to lose a limb or two..." The familiar voice alerted the blond to the Anbu's presence, who was right behind him with his arms crossed.

"I thought your team wasn't following me anymore..." Naruto said, as he resumed the katas, while remembering the movements from watching Kakashi a long time ago with his eyes.

"True...but since my team didn't have more missions for the day, I decided to follow you a bit you know...to see if someone would attack you. I wonder, though, why are you attempting to use the sword. In these last two years, not once did I see you practicing with it?" The blond saw that the ninjato strapped on the man's back and wondered if he could give the blond some pointers, at least a starting point for him to focus on. Tori knew about this...in fact, once he saw that Naruto sucked at kenjutsu, he figured that a little help would be necessary. Not that he minded, though, seeing as he was free to go home.

"Say...Anbu-san, could you please give me some pointers here and there, you know, just to get me started..."

"Sure thing Kid. I don't have anything better to do anyway. From what I've seen, your moves were pretty much accurate, but both the speed and length of your attacks are appalling. You need to imagine that you're fighting for your life. It only takes one precise attack to end someone's life with a sword. That's the beauty of it. But with moves like the one you performed, you wouldn't be able to scratch your enemy's skin. Go through the katas one more time...only this time, give everything to it" The blond nodded and began the exercise once more. His moves were more precise this time, but he was still too slow...

"Faster kid...imagine the opponent in front of you dodging your strikes like it was nothing. Strike fast and precise...that's what you need to have in mind"

Activating the Sharingan, this time, the blond did as his new sensei instructed, piercing the air like he was piercing his opponent's heart. He sliced with vigor, with enthusiasm. Tori stopped talking as he watched the blond's moves, now completely different than before. He was now committed to learning kenjutsu like it's supposed to be…through practice, steel against steel. The blond was so engrossed with his moves, that he didn't see Tori unleash his ninjato. It was the sun's reflection that alerted the newly instated genin from a sudden attack that was aimed at his chest. The blond managed to dodge in time by positioning his wakizashi in front of the sword, parrying the blow. While he observed the Anbu in front of him, Naruto at first wondered if the man wanted to kill him, because of the rumors and the fact that the damn fox was inside his gut. However, with the Sharingan on, he could see that the real thing. There wasn't much killing intent in his posture. It was merely a test.

"The only way for you to truly learn the art of kenjutsu, Naruto, is through practice. I'll tell you what…if you agree to wake up early…I mean really early, we can practice your kenjutsu every morning"

The conversation was cut short for a while, as Tori charged at Naruto with his ninjato ready to pierce Naruto's side stomach, but because of the blond's Sharingan, he managed to position his sword in order to defend. Problem was that, although he could predict his opponent's moves, his body didn't have the finesse of a sword fighter. If Tori really wanted to kill Naruto, then he would only need a little more strength to pass through the blond's defense and deliver the killing blow. After pinpointing the mistake, they started again and this time, Naruto squeezed the sword grip. It was better than before, but not the accurate move, according to Tori.

"Strength alone won't guarantee anything, Naruto. You can't simply parry my sword with strength, but precision. The advantage of short swords, such as ours, is that we can maneuver our weapons much faster than a regular katana. Focus on speed and precision, rather than brute strength"

Naruto nodded, before the two went through the sequences like they were performing a showdown. It wasn't as slow now and the blond was beginning to understand the meaning of his sensei's words as he managed to parry the attack, before flipping and maneuvered the sword to the other side, forcing Tori to use some speed to defend. Now, the two continued their sword fight until the moon decided to show up. Tori was amazed by Naruto's stamina, since the kid was using his Sharingan the entire time. However, seeing as he had to present in Anbu corps very soon tomorrow and Naruto had the academy, it was better to finish the training session for the day.

"Tori-sensei, I actually have another sword that was given by Kakashi. Is it hard to work with two at the same time?" Naruto asked as the pair silently walked towards the village.

"It's better to work with one first, Naruto. It's not hard to use two swords, but Konoha's shinobi always focus on using only one sword at a time. Villages like Kumo and Kirigakure, though, are much different. It will depend on what you feel more comfortable fighting with. Well, kid, I'm off to get home. Tomorrow, you'll be introduced to your new genin team and I'll have to present early at Anbu corps, so we'll schedule our spars the day after tomorrow, sounds good?" Naruto nodded with quite enthusiasm, earning a smile from the man hidden inside the bird mask. After that, each went to their separate places. Naruto decided to grab a quick bite and Tori headed home.

Half an hour later, the blond was walking towards his house when his eyes found a shadow travelling on top of his rooftop, before heading for the woods. With nothing to do for the day, the blond followed the shadow's direction with his Sharingan active, allowing him to follow the chakra residues left by the man or woman. A couple minutes later, he landed behind a tree and looked to see the shadow opening a gigantic scroll on the floor. His eyes widened as he identified the man as Mizuki, one of the chunnins of the academy. But what was he doing here, reading a scroll hidden from everyone? Something didn't add up, Naruto reasoned as he tried to approach the chunnin's position. As soon as he landed on the tree above Mizuki's position, he heard the fool…

"Stealing the Forbidden Scroll of Kinjutsu was easier than I thought I would be. Certainly Orochimaru-sama will be pleased…"

Deciding it was enough evidence, Naruto turned and decided to report to the Hokage, however his left foot suddenly slipped and the noise was enough to alert the Chunnin as a gigantic shuriken came flying straight at him, fast. The blond did the only thing he could and substituted himself with a small rock that was on the ground. Mizuki didn't know who was following him, but he knew that whoever it was would have to die for his plans to be fulfilled. He had to hurry and deal with this mess, before the guards finish their rotation and close his exit strategy. As soon as he saw the Sharingan eyes in front of him, Mizuki grinned like a monster, ready to get rid of the demon and be claimed a hero by the village.

"Well...well…if isn't the demon brat…I thought I was being followed by a jounin or even Anbu, but with you I can get rid of you for good…" The blatant transgression of the Sandaime's law was just added to Mizuki's criminal record, but by the look on his face, the man didn't care much.

Mizuki strapped the scroll on his back, before picking a kunai and charging Naruto. He was fast, but with the fully evolved Sharingan, Naruto was able to predict his movements and react accordingly. He evaded every single strike from Mizuki with ease from all his training which infuriated the gray haired Chunnin. If this continued for much longer, Anbu would find him and arrest him. He had to deal with the brat for good. After missing yet another strike, Mizuki created some distance between them and started making a fast succession of hand seals. The blond didn't need the Sharingan to know which jutsu Mizuki would use. Naruto was already making hand seals; by the time Mizuki gathered air inside his lungs.

Katon Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Technique)

Doton Doryuuheki (Earth Release: Mud Barrier Technique)

The blast of fire wasn't enough to disrupt Naruto's defensive and Mizuki cursed the blond for using the technique. No doubt, the noise would attract the Anbu's attention very soon. He was surprised, though, when a pair of hands grabbed his ankles.

Doton Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu (Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique)

Mizuki didn't have time to escape and he was pushed below the ground by Naruto. The blond, then, left the ground and stared at Mizuki with his Sharingan eyes. The Chunnin snarled at the genin, but he found himself getting tired all of a sudden. Just before he closed his eyes, he saw the black tomes spinning like cartwheels. By this time, a group of Anbu appeared at the area and saw Mizuki going below ground by a genin and the scroll near them. The noise caused by the fire technique alerted the nearby Anbu patrol and they appeared soon afterward. Naruto gently let go of Mizuki's sleeping head as he turned towards the Anbu group.

"Can you explain your presence here, genin Uzumaki Naruto?" Naruto was momentarily surprised upon hearing a woman voice from what appeared to be the team leader, but shrugged it off as unimportant.

"I saw Mizuki on the roofs with a strange looking scroll so I decided to follow him. Turned out he was working for the sannin Orochimaru and was taking a look at the scroll when he found me. We engaged and I managed to send him below ground before casting a genjutsu on him. He's all yours!"

None of the Anbu found evidence of false testimony, so they let him leave, while the rest of the team recuperated the scroll and released the traitor from the ground. When they turned, Naruto was already gone.

===Next day===

Today was time for the newly assembled genins to meet their new jounin sensei. Naruto was the first to arrive as always. He preferred to arrive early, so as to find less people on his way to the academy. He wasn't counting on having company so soon, therefore, he brought along something to pass his time. He had a full day yesterday as memories of his fight against Mizuki kept playing inside his mind. He wondered if perhaps Mizuki underestimated him or if his skills were superior to the Chunnin. Theoretically, a Chunnin would easily wipe the floor with a genin level shinobi. Naruto guessed that the Sharingan was what allowed him in the end, considering that he could foresee Mizuki's movements before it happened. Looking around, he realized that he would be alone for quite a while.

Usually, the teacher only arrives a few minutes before the class starts. Strangely, however, the door opened up and Iruka entered inside. The Chunnin teacher laid his eyes on the lonely student inside his classroom and frowned, remembering how he almost let his hatred rule his judgment yesterday.

Iruka still hated the boy. He knew it was unreasonable, seeing as the blond didn't do anything. It was the fox that resided inside him that irked Iruka to no end. A part of him wished to eliminate the boy and, thus, eliminate the fox for good.

The other side, though, knew that by doing so, he would be setting the fox free and that would be even worse. Still, just by looking at the blond, old memories resurfaced and Iruka relived the horror that was seeing his parents being slaughtered by the demon fox. Deciding to do as he always did, Iruka ignored the blond and started writing something on the board. The blond, for his part, didn't even bother to read since the scroll was much more interesting. After Iruka finished what he was writing, he took a seat and stared at nothing the entire time. Soon the tension started to gather inside the room. Iruka always tried his best to ignore Naruto like the plague he considered the blond to be. But what intrigued him was that he couldn't see any emotion coming out of those stoic black eyes of his. It was like the blond didn't care one too many about being ignored. And that's quite rare in the ninja world, especially for one so young. Not once did Naruto socialized with others his age. Even if he did, though, it wouldn't matter because the entire classroom didn't even know he was there in the first place.

As responsible for the classroom, Iruka knew about the blond's condition. The fact that he not only harbors the fox, but also had received Sasuke Uchiha's eyes after an attack from Sasuke's brother Itachi. Even though Naruto was now considered the last Uchiha, no one even bothers to at least salute him. People used to revere the Uchihas, but Naruto was a different case. In fact, aside from the Hokage and Hatake Kakashi, there wasn't a soul in Konoha that would trust the blond with anything. Iruka was so engrossed on his wonderings that he didn't realize he was staring at the blond.

"Is there something you wish to talk to me about, Iruka-san?"

Naruto's voice alerted Iruka and he quickly shut his face and denied the claim. The blond just shrugged it off and returned to his reading. Now that he graduated, the word sensei wasn't applied anymore. Iruka wasn't fazed by it, though. Naruto probably thought of him just as much as he thought of the blond. In little time, the graduated students started filling the classroom and Iruka started smiling to all of them, like some sort of switch inside his head had turned. After the class was full, Iruka expected Mizuki to enter and close the door, but instead another teacher of the school walked in and whispered something to Iruka's ear. Naruto could only guess the reason behind the surprise. While people kept telling that he was a monster for no apparent reason, people like Mizuki kept disrespecting the rules.

It came out as shocking to Iruka that Mizuki would do something like betraying the village but somehow Naruto knew that if he was accused of something, no one would find it shocking or even slightly surprising.

"To everyone who graduated; congratulations. All of you earned the honor of carrying our village's insignia as full-fledged shinobi. However, the track ahead is dangerous and will test all your abilities both as ninjas and humans. Now, I will announce the teams of genins and the respective jounin sensei. As you know, each team will be formed by three of you under a jounin, thus forming a four men unit. Now, team 1…." Iruka started reading the teams and the respective jounins responsible for each. As he went, some cheered, others wined at not being place with his or her friends. "Team 7 will be composed of Haruno Sakura, Kurama Yakumo and Nara Shikamaru, under jounin Hatake Kakashi…" Upon hearing this, the Nara heir moaned troublesome repeatedly at being paired with two women. Iruka laughed, but continued…

"Team 8 is composed of Hyuuga Hinata, Kiba Inuzuka and Aburame Shino under Jounin Yuhi Kurenai…" Naruto heard the names and wondered if he would be left out of the team assignments. A part of him was sad that Kakashi wouldn't be his sensei, but he still wondered what would happen if his name wasn't on the list.

"Since team 9 already exists, team 10 is composed of Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Chouji and Uzumaki Naruto; under Jounin Sarutobi Asuma…Any moment now, the jounins will come here, so wait patiently. I just wanted to express that I have high hopes for all of you" Somehow, I doubt that. Naruto thought as he looked at the Chunnin's back. Iruka left the classroom while the graduated genins started talking with each other. Naruto, though, kept to himself. It was always like this, he reasoned. People talking with each other, pretending he wasn't there in the first place. He wondered about his life now that he was part of a team. He wondered if his presence would be acknowledged by either Ino or Chouji or even his new sensei Sarutobi Asuma.

A few rows behind him, three genins were talking amongst each other. Ino, Chouji and Shikamaru were a bit frustrated that they wouldn't be together. Worst of it all was that both Chouji and Ino were paired with the village pariah Uzumaki Naruto. Chouji didn't much mind other than Shikamaru wasn't with them, but Ino was wondering what life would be like now that Naruto was part of her team. She remembered all those stories from her mother about Naruto. Since the academy started, Ino's mother warned her never to socialize with him because he had trouble written all over him. Also the fact that Naruto was inside the Uchiha Compound when the massacre happened led to a lot of rumors that the blond sided with Itachi and murdered everyone. Ino never bothered to check the validity behind the rumor, so she just took her mother's words for it and created great distance from the blond. Shikamaru, for his part, didn't have much against Naruto, but actually socializing with him was such a drag in his opinion, therefore he didn't bother.

Within minutes, almost all of the jounins arrived including Sarutobi Asuma who came and informed his team to meet them at the Barbeque Place, much to Chouji's pleasure since his bag of chips just ended and his stomach began to manifest itself.

Just as Ino and Chouji went to see if Naruto was still in classroom, they were surprised to see that he wasn't there anymore. In the end, both of them shrugged and left the classroom, towards the barbeque restaurant.

===At the Barbeque Restaurant===

Looking at the clock at the restaurant, Asuma figured his team would take at least ten to twenty minutes more. He was surprised, though, when one of the members stood by his side, looking at him stoically. Little bastard…I didn't even sense him coming…Uzumaki Naruto was indeed an interesting human being, Asuma reasoned. He knew quite a bit about the blond genin, particularly because he, as expected from every jounin-sensei, read Naruto's file two times. He knew about the Kyuubi inside of him and he knew the circumstances behind him obtaining the Sharingan. He also knew that, because of such events, the blond was looked down upon by pretty much everyone and he already assumed he would have to play a more active role in changing his other students' minds towards the blond.

"May I sit, Asuma-sensei?" Naruto said, before taking a sit right in front of Asuma.

"Say Naruto, I didn't know you were that fast. I was expecting you to take at least ten more minutes to come here…"

"Well, I came here the same way you did…"

The thought that Naruto already learned a Chunnin level ability called the Shunshin was impressive. But his file never mentioned him knowing about it, which meant the little bastard copied him while using. He would have to talk to his genin about using the Sharingan to copy everything. He looked at the clock once more, before both Chouji and Ino arrived. They greeted the jounin, before taking a seat near Naruto. Actually, Ino chose the farthest seat from the blond while Chouji took the seat in between. Asuma saw it instantly and frowned at them, but what he was most surprised about was that Naruto saw it too. The blond just shrugged it off like it wasn't important.

"Ok, now that we're now getting to know each other, I'd like to hear from each of you, a bit of personal information. You know, names, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future…that kind of thing. I'll go first…My name is Sarutobi Asuma and I have what people call a nasty habit, but I enjoy it greatly. I like to smoke. What I don't like is those that believe little of themselves and quit beforehand. I don't have much of a dream, though, I just want to guide you three towards a brighter future. Now, why don't you go next, Ino" The girl beamed at getting to talk.

"Well, my name is Yamanaka Ino and I like my friends at the academy. There isn't much I dislike…and my dream is to make my parents proud of me…" Ino looked at the blond a bit upon saying her dislikes, but Asuma dismissed it. Next turn was Chouji's.

"Akimichi Chouji here and I like eating…a bag of chips, ramen, barbeque, pretty much everything really. I hate people who call me fat, because of my appearance and my dream is to show everyone that I can be a great shinobi" Asuma smiled at the kid, before turning to the last member of his team.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and I like to train and learn new techniques. I don't have any dislikes and not many dreams to speak of" His introduction was what Asuma expected. He also expected that either Ino or Chouji asked him some questions.

There were none, though.

"Well, then, now that we've all introduced each other, I was supposed to give a final test to you three to see if you have what it takes to become a genin. However, I'm not going to give you one" Ino and Chouji were shocked upon hearing this. "I can see that you three have talent, therefore…congratulations, we're now team 10" Ino and Chouji smiled and congratulated each other. Naruto, though, kept his stoic visage. Unknown to all three of them, though, no matter what happened, Asuma was supposed to pass them. Every year was the same. Out of twenty seven candidates, only nine would fully graduate and become genin. Thus, team 7, 8 and 10 were the chosen ones.

Author Note

Okay, let me know what you think.

For those who remember an old poll of mine, I decided to change the teams a bit. Placing Naruto, Shikamaru and Shino together would sound as unfair for the rest of the teams, so I balanced it out a bit.

Also, I was always curious about how they choose the nine genins out of the twenty seven graduates. It's a little bit strange that only three of the teams managed to pass when the rest didn't. It's supposed to be fixed, somehow!

Now, will Naruto's presence be acknowledged by his teammates? Or it will be the same as always and Asuma will have a tough job ahead of him?

Plus, I placed a challenge in my profile page. I was meaning to create a new story, but hey who I'm kidding! I don't have the time to properly update the already existing stories, let one throw another one into the mess. It's an idea I had after seeing the last Shippuuden Movie. It involves one of the bloodlines mentioned at the last Naruto Shippuuden Movie called Jinton (Swift Release). If anyone is interested, please check it out and let me know.

See ya.