Naruto felt nervousness growing in his stomach as he waited in the academy classroom. They were two teams that were waiting for their sensei, it seemed the Uzumaki and the Uchiha kids were put together, as well as a pink-haired girl. It was fitting. Both kids were top in the class, and there was a rivalry between the both of them, especially during their spars. Sasuke with his clan style and Uzumaki with his. Both of them were in their own league, but there were some other students who displayed great skill. This year's class was full of talent.

At some point the other team's sensei arrived, he was late, but at least they knew to expect their sensei to come. It looked like the Uzumaki kid knew the one-eyed ninja, or it seemed like it. The boy was screaming at the man about his tardiness, he didn't think that was something you do to someone you didn't know.

But this was the Uzumaki he was talking about, he was as loud as he was talented. He was a tough one when they spar together. His speed and movement were unpredictable. Even after studying his fighting style and learning his quirks, Naruto still couldn't beat him, but that wasn't always going to be the case. He would sometimes outsmart the Uzumaki, and he could have won against him if he had more time.

But the inevitable happened and they graduated. And this led him to this exact situation he was in right now, in a room with two other classmates, waiting for someone who they didn't even know would show up.

Naruto coughed, trying to break the silence and catch the attention of the other two, " so, while we wait, anything cool or interesting about yourself?" he said, staring at the other boys. They stared back at him.

The awkward silence continued again, it was Naruto who broke the silence again. "Well I don't want to sound so boastful, but I feel like I can handle a sword pretty well," pointing at his sword on his back. No response. This isn't helping his uneasiness about the situation any better.

Wasn't talking to people supposed to relieve some anxiety? That's what he read in that book he picked up. It was about how humans were so different from any other animal and that our best tool was verbal communication.

He wasn't seeing that tool being used at the moment.

He had picked it up in the library after some kids in the academy called him "weird", or "socially inept." He didn't know what that word meant at the time, but he knew it must not have been good, since nobody approached or talked to him. So he went ahead and picked a few books to understand the reason for that.

He hoped he learned a lot since then, on social cues, and to notice when people were uncomfortable. He could tell from how the other two only stared at one spot, or that they would shift in their seats. Naruto still thought himself an amateur on social psychology, but he could tell the atmosphere was tense.

That feeling of uneasiness started just a few hours ago, when Iruka pulled the three boys just a couple hours before teams were announced. He could guess that whatever he was about to tell them wasn't going to be good.

No sensei was assigned to him, no reason given on to why, but Naruto had guessed that something must have happened to them. They could've died on a mission, maybe they were a second too late dodging a kunai. It was a morbid thought, and for that reason he kept it to himself.

The mood in the room was unpleasant, and bringing the possibility of their sensei dying would not help. Iruka said that there was a search going on for a replacement, but he didn't look too hopeful, but Naruto wasn't sure, he didn't always hit the mark on how others felt.

Naruto could feel the nervousness on his stomach, he could feel sweat starting to form on his forehead. His risk of his thoughts becoming a jungle were rising. He thought of all outcomes that could come out of this. He felt that his ninja career was in jeopardy, before it even began.

Would they have to repeat the year? How much time would they lose from this mess, how could this have possibly happened? A team with no teacher, surely this situation had happened before. They must have something planned for this. Question and thought stormed through Naruto's head, making his hands clench hard, he just wanted to close his eyes and just not be in the middle of this mess.

But before he lost control of his emotion, he felt again, a feeling. His breath became calm, his body language became relaxed, but could be ready for action at any moment.

"You there," Naruto said, pointing to one of the boys. "I've seen you show some skill with ninjutsu before, what's your affinity?" He finished asking, his tone different from when he last tried to spark a conversation, more calculating. This didn't feel like a conversation to break the uneasiness of the situation, but of information gathering. He stared at the other boy, waiting for a response. One of the boys begins shifting around on his chair, looking at Naruto pointing at him. Naruto must have seen him one day practicing a fire Jutsu.

The boy signed, looking annoyed, "Yeah, I know some fire Jutsu, so what?"

"How big"

"And why would I tell you that, huh." the boy replied aggressively, he was already not happy being put together with the weird kid, and now he is asking questions?

Suteru didn't know why he responded in the first place, he guessed he wanted to speak to anybody to break the silence, even if it's with the class weirdo. Suteru himself didn't have that many friends, the only person he would consider a friend was their other teammate, Ito, but he still wouldn't want to talk to the violet-eye kid. But he had replied, so maybe he could give him a piece of his mind, but before he could, Naruto continued.

"Well, I guessed it would be small, I mean, not everyone can shoot as big as flame as Sasuke, I mean he is a Uchiha." Naruto said, with his calculating gaze.

Suteru shot up from his chair, his fist clenching. He stared at Naruto. "What did you say to me?" Rage was clearly in his voice. How dare he bring that name to him? With any mention of that name, it filled him with boiling rage.

"What? I mean, it's impressive that you managed to learn a fire Jutsu, but I don't know why I expected anything bigger than this," he said while putting his hand close to each other, showing about a foot between his hands. "I mean unless you want to tell me how big, I just have to guess." The space between his hands was shrinking, until there was only an inch.

Naruto was doing it again. When he couldn't collect himself and felt himself losing control of his composure and emotions, he would set aside what didn't matter, and move forward and try to fix what was wrong. It didn't end well for him most of the time, it would often cause conflicts, and in the end isolation for him.

Naruto's calculating gaze was slipping away, an apologetic gaze soon appearing on his face

He was always in control, he knew why and what he was doing. But in the end, after it was over, he regretted what he said and did. It served no purpose.

He closed his eyes, thinking how he got himself here. He had first wanted to break the ice, and learn something with his new teammates. To learn something that could benefit all of them. They were both clearly nervous about the situation with their sensei, from their constant foot tapping on the floor and the doodles they scribbled on the desk proved it. Then when they didn't reply, he saw that it was fit that he needed at least one of their attention, so he made a quick jab at his insecurities.

He would have to apologize, he signed. "Look, I apologize I didn't mean anythi-'' He opened his eyes just in time, as he saw a fist flying toward him. In what felt like a reflex, he caught the fist with his left hand, and grabbed the boy's elbow with his right. He saw his teammates eyes, and they were full of rage.

Here came the action of his words, maybe he hadn't learned anything from those books.

Ito, who was still doodling on the desk, quickly came to try to stop this from escalating any further. He put his hand on the rage inducted boy, trying to pull the boy away from continuing his punch.

"Knock it off, Suteru, he isn't worth all the trouble, we're already in a shit situation."

Suteru's heart was pumping, he just wanted one punch, that's all he wanted. He couldn't though, the grip on his elbow was tight, but he knew he was holding back. Naruto was strong for their age, and may have been rookie of the year, if he had been in another year. If it wasn't for Sasuke.

That clan boy was something that pissed Suteru off the most. His smugness and the attention he received itched him badly. Anything he did seemed like nothing when Sasuke was in the same room. His achievements in fire Jutsu looked pitiful compared to the clan boy. He knew it was unfair to compare himself to Sasuke, Suteru was a civilian. He had learned a Jutsu with no clan behind his back, but no one seemed to care. His teeth were visibly clenched, like a dog.

Naruto stared apologetically at the kid, he felt bad. He had to make it right, somehow. He had gone too far, he had used the boys' insecurities and emotion to get what he wanted, even if what he wanted was something that could benefit all of them.

" I'm sorry, let's get back to square one, don't you think?" he said with a rigid smile, still holding the boy's elbow. He had said his apology, so he lessened the grip. He had apologized, so no hard feelings, right?

Suteru felt the grip on his elbow loosened, he aggressively smacked Naruto's hand away, and jumped back a few steps, and prepared a stance. Naruto's surprised expression showed as he saw the boy taking a stance. He could not understand, he said he was sorry, why was he still mad? He saw the other boy shout at the angry boy, trying to calm him. He was not balanced in his stance, his legs were too close. A stance meant a fight, and fight meant an enemy was near, but Suteru was staring at Naruto.

The boy stood a couple seconds, and started rushing towards Naruto, but he stared back, with a confused expression. Suteru was running with a punch aiming right at him. Everything felt so slow as he watched the boy run toward him. He could not understand why this was happening, why was he still mad?

Naruto stood staring at the fist coming at him. He felt sad, he could not understand the other boy's feelings. Naurto knew that he himself was sad, and he didn't like it. He felt his muscles preparing to respond to Suteru attack, his reflexes.

Why can't he understand people sometimes?

And as he was about to move to block the fist and punch Suteru's jaw, they all heard a voice.

"So this is what happens when you leave three boys in a room with no one keeping an eye on them, huh?" A woman's voice said.

The three boys stood still, Suteru fist frozen in the air, his head turning to look at the source of the voice. The red-haired woman was leaning against the frame of the door, staring at the boys with an amused face, but slowly changed towards a serious expression.

"Honestly, I should fail you three right here and now for what I just saw right now. The village doesn't need anymore hot-headed and trouble-making ninjas," not realizing she had just described herself at their age. She had expected a tense group when she arrived, but didn't expect a fight between the three genin. It wasn't every day that a Genin graduate wasn't given a Jounin.

She couldn't think of a time this happened, granted she wasn't snooping around the Academy, listening to any dramas happening. This was all very last second, she had just left from speaking to the Hokage tower. She continued to stare at the three boys, taking enjoyment from the shocked expression on the Genin. She studied the boys, she had read the report on each of them, but seeing them in person was a different story. The boy with the fist still in the air had brown-hair, and that was all she took notice of him; the other boy, who was still trying to stop the boy from fighting, was standing there, staring at her.

The third boy, Naruto, has no last name. It was strange, he was born just a couple days before the Nine-tail's rampage. She would guess he was made an orphan that day, his parents were not on any records, and must have never found the bodies. There were still so many missing from that day. But this was all a guess, speculation that she had no right to make about the boy. She looked at all three of them.

She could just fail them, go right back to Hiruzen and be done with this. But Kushina Uzaima wasn't a woman who backed down from a challenge.

She looked at the window, and saw that the sun was already in its last minutes for today.

"I think I've seen enough today for introductions," she said, seeing the fear on the genin faces for a second, they must have thought she was failing them.

"Meet me at training ground four at 7AM, and please, be nice to each other when I get there, '' she said, before disappearing in a blink.

The three boys, still seemingly frozen at the exact spots before the red-haired Ninja made herself known to them. Suteru's punch still a few inches from Naruto face. After some time, Suteru put his fist down, still staring at Naruto. He would continue this another time, but for now, he felt embarrassed; and he didn't feel like fighting when embarrassed. Suteru and the other boy left the room quietly, leaving Naruto alone.

Naruto looked at the boys leaving, watching as the door slowly closed. He looked for the nearest desk and took a seat. He signed, putting his hand on his forehead, he felt a headache pounding.

He thought to himself, 'forgiveness isn't so easy, I think''