This chapter has been revised as of 8/13/20

Chapter 2: Kakashi-sensei

"Stupid Sasuke. Why can't that prick get his own team to show off on?"

Naruto pushed his ramen around in its cup and sulked as he sat on a rooftop's guard rail, giving him a clear view of the Academy's entrance. Today was supposed to be awesome! He'd finally start getting respect around the village. He was still riding his excitement from this morning, when he woke up and remembered kicking the crap outta Mizuki. Iruka-sensei's beaten up old headband sitting on his dresser proved beyond all doubt that he was a ninja.

And when he walked around wearing it, people actually looked at him. Not with pity or apathy like before. They saw him differently now. Whether they liked it or not, Naruto was no longer the Nine-tailed Fox, but a shinobi of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Naruto wasn't gonna be the class loser, always lagging behind. He'd surpass them all, and they'd be forced to acknowledge who he really was! But compared to two prodigies, how was he supposed to look any good? He couldn't even impress Sakura now that she was stuck with Kiba and Shino. How bad of a start could he get?

Naruto watched as one of his teammates left the main school building, long after the rest of the class passed by. What was her name again? Hinata. Why'd she take so much time before heading out to lunch? Probably checking out everyone's final scores. Did Iruka-sensei even bother changing his Clone Jutsu score, or was it still technically a fail? He shrugged and went back to his instant lunch. And then an idea struck him.

Sasuke definitely wouldn't want to be anywhere near him, but Hinata never fought with or insulted Naruto before. Well... she didn't really talk to anyone in class, so there wasn't much opportunity to be a jerk but still. Even then, she was more difficult to approach than someone he'd call mean. It was possible that she hadn't written him off, or was at least willing to work with him. He could try to get along with one out of two members of his team, right?

Naruto abandoned his half-eaten food and climbed back down to the ground as fast as possible. He failed to notice Sasuke through a window across the street.

"Hey, Hinata! Wait!" He caught up with her after a few minutes of running full tilt down the path, earning a raised brow from his target before she stopped.

"Naruto." Her voice made him pause. It wasn't hostile, but it wasn't really welcoming either. Just...flat. "What do you want?"

"I was thinking, since we're on a team and all...you wanna have lunch with me?" he asked, flashing her a grin. He didn't eat lunch with a classmate much, and he had a feeling that was the same for her, so they had something in common. If she was as lonely as him for all those years, then she'd want to-

"No." She turned around and walked away, leaving Naruto to pick his jaw off the floor. Why'd she shut him down so fast? After recovering, Naruto shook it off. He was going to get to know her even if it hurt them both, dammit!

He caught up again and grabbed her shoulder. Hinata's arm twitched like she was about to physically retaliate, but he didn't flinch away as she turned to glare. They locked eyes for a long moment. Hers were kind of interesting up close, like colored marbles. Wait, he needed to focus… How to get her to agree with him? As much as it hurt to say what he was about to say, he swallowed his pride.

"...Please?"

How did Hinata end up sitting next to Naruto in the middle of a training field again? Right, he had asked nicely.

It was more complex than that, but she still gave in. She'd been fully prepared to refuse again just so she was free to do what she always did during the break period. Alone. She had gotten accustomed to doing things by herself. The concept of someone wanting to follow her came off as absurd now. Hinata wondered if he was just messing with her as another prank. Didn't Naruto usually try to go after Sakura out of the girls in their year?

And then he was obnoxious enough to force her to listen. As soon as his hand touched her shoulder, she almost hit him with an open palm. There were very few people that touched her outside of a fight. She had changed her mind when she looked at him more carefully. His cheerful demeanor was gone, replaced by a familiar sadness that was strong enough to make her pause. Not many people exposed themselves like that in front of someone like her. After all those years of thinking he was just optimistic to a fault...

She snapped out of the strange spell and mumbled a yes, escaping his light grip.

The fact that she allowed herself to be bent by her own sympathy was bothersome, but it was already done. Emotions were not as easy to suppress or ignore as she had thought back then.

Which brought her to her current position, leaning against a tree while Naruto sat on the other side, listening to him slurping what was probably more cup ramen. How much did he even have? She sat in silence, annoyed that she'd done this to herself. If someone caught her "wasting" time with him and it got back to her father... She could feel the embarrassment now.

"You okay?" She opened her eyes and was greeted to Naruto's face a few inches away. She cut short a gasp. What happened to respecting personal space?

"I'm fine." She pushed him back with one hand. He relented, to her relief.

"Really? Because you looked kinda red there..." Was he actually concerned, or just trying to make a joke out of her flushed face? She sighed and crossed her legs in hopes of at least working on chakra molding. Training in front of someone wasn't what she wanted to do today, but maybe he'd let her meditate.

"It's just the heat." He finally gave in and sat beside her. Silence reigned, interrupted only by the distant sounds of village business and the occasional bird flock.

"So..." Naruto started. So much for that. "What's up with your eyes? They're all...pearly."

"Pearly?" She gave him a sidelong glance. Naruto huffed at her jab.

"You know what I'm talking about! They're pale, and I can't really see the black part."

"It's a bloodline limit. My eyesight is...sharper than normal." Hinata explained. Had he really not heard of the Hyuga clan's dojutsu? If they were going to be stuck together, she might as well tell him about the Byakugan, if only in broad terms. Revealing exactly how it worked was out of the question unless it was necessary for a mission.

"Sharper, huh?" Naruto said to himself, nodding. "Is it like x-ray vision or something?"

"...It's more than that." After another drawn out silence, he grinned.

"Show me."

"What?"

"I mean if it's too complicated to explain, then show it to me! Demonstrate." Was he taunting her? "Unless you can't do it..." Oh, so this was a challenge. At first, Hinata was tempted to just ignore him. What was the point of getting sucked into his childish game? But on the other hand, it would reflect badly on his perception of her if she didn't try.

She checked the sun's position. They still had an hour left on their extended lunch break. Maybe she could humor him for a while and get some real training in too.

"If you insist," she said, standing up. "How about we play...hide and seek? You can hide in trees somewhere, and I'll track you down. Anywhere is fine, as long as you don't leave the training grounds." Naruto was already on his feet.

"Alright! Wait...can I use jutsu?" Hinata nodded.

"It doesn't matter to me." Just what was he up to?

"Just don't expect me to make this easy!" He charged into the woods. Hinata waited a few minutes for the sake of fairness, and then started her search. Confident that it would be a very short game, she formed a single hand seal.

"Byakugan!" The veins around her eyes bulged as her vision shifted, her pupils changing color from light purple to sharp white. Everything around her was black, white, and shades of gray. Only the flickers of chakra in the air and seeped in the training grounds had any color.

Hinata's vision extended to peer into the clusters of trees, picking up a larger chakra signature farther ahead. It was most likely Naruto judging by the familiar outline, and the fact that he was failing to scale a tree with just his hands and feet. How exactly did he get his headband again?

Naruto's chakra spiked dramatically. In a burst of smoke, he created a small mass of clones. "So he can use the Clone technique after all." Not that it mattered in this situation, as the jutsu was easily pierced with the Byakugan. Her vision jumped to each of the spreading clones. What was going on? Every single clone matched the original's appearance, including their chakra levels and internal organs. It was impossible to tell them apart, no matter how she looked at them.

"That's not an Academy technique..." It looked like something much stronger. But how could Naruto have come across and learned that kind of ninjutsu in a handful of days? She had to ask him about that later.

"Hey! Aren't you gonna find me?" A multitude of voices called out from every direction. The weird clones had scattered around her in a short time, and Hinata had no idea which one was real. She was now stuck looking for the equivalent of a needle in a stack of other needles. Hinata condemned herself to searching the old fashioned way. He'd completely tricked her, and this was going to take a while.

Sasuke faced the classroom's entrance, waiting at his desk for someone to show up and collect his team. Break period ended a while ago, and all the other Genin left with their respective new teachers by now. Kiba, Sakura, and Shino were picked up by a woman with dark hair and bright red eyes that made Sasuke look twice at her, just to be safe. Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji went off with a tall, bearded man with a lit cigarette between his teeth. The room eventually cleared after that, leaving only Team 7 behind. Whoever their teacher was, they were late. Three hours late. His eyebrow twitched at the thought. What was taking so long? What could have possibly delayed a Jonin?

Naruto had long given up on sitting still and now paced around the room, dropping insults about tardiness under his breath. Hinata watched him walk back and forth from her position in the back row. She was as stoic as ever, unlike when she first reentered the room. Seeing her trail behind Naruto of all people, looking as if she'd been dragged through the woods, was very interesting. Come to think of it, it was the first time Sasuke had seen her flustered at all. Maybe she wasn't as put together as she wanted everyone to believe. He filed that information away for later.

"That's it!" Naruto's temper exploded. "If he wants to be late, then he's gonna get punished, Jonin or not!" He picked up a chalkboard eraser and eyed the door with a crooked grin. "Now if I set this up there..."

"Put the eraser down before you do something stupid, Naruto." Hinata said. Her patience seemed thinner today.

"Hey, my pranks aren't stupid! I put a lot of effort into them." Sasuke smirked despite himself. He talked about his pranks as if Hinata insulted his artwork.

"Do you really think something like that would catch an elite ninja?"

"Shut up, Sasuke! It would have worked!"

Hinata tensed up and turned to face the door, the blood vessels around her eyes standing out as her Byakugan activated. Her eyes were the only distinct advantage she had over him, Sasuke reminded himself. As soon as he unlocked his own dojutsu, he'd be stronger. He was sure of it.

"Quiet down, idiot. Someone's coming," Sasuke said. Footsteps echoed from down the hall. Hinata narrowed her eyes before she let the Byakugan fade.

"I think he's here," she said.

"It's about time!" Naruto dropped the eraser and waited where he stood. A silver haired man in standard Leaf ninja attire walked in. He kept one eye covered by tilting his headband, and a cloth mask obscured his nose and mouth. He scratched the back of his head.

"Ah, sorry about the wait. I got turned around in the hallways. I haven't been to the Academy in a while..." Could he at least sound like he felt bad?

"No you didn't! Who gets lost for three hours in a building?" For once, Sasuke agreed with Naruto. The Jonin didn't seem to care either way.

"How about we talk on the rooftop?" He disappeared, a few leaves fluttering to the ground in his wake. Body Flicker technique. It looked like teleportation, but it was just temporary, high speed movement. Sasuke grunted and got up to follow. He might as well get this over with as fast as possible. Hinata blinked in surprise at their teacher's departure before following with Naruto.

Kakashi flipped through his pocket sized book as he stood on the roof, observing his assigned Genin while they settled in front of him. To be honest, he had no real desire to train a team, but the Hokage insisted he take one. Again.

The same thing happened year after year. He'd get recommended to train a promising group of Genin, and then Kakashi would fail them for not meeting his standards. And this time he'd been handed the last loyal Uchiha, the Hyuga clan's heiress, and the Leaf's Jinchuriki. If Kakashi did instantly fail them like the rest, he'd get complaints from the other Jonin and higher ups that thought they needed more power to showcase whenever the Chunin Exams were held. And that didn't even cover the backlash from the Hyuga. It was like Lord Sarutobi had set this up on purpose. The crafty old man probably did.

Oh well, he'd just evaluate the Genin based on their profiles and behavior during his test, and base his decision on that. If Kakashi claimed they were unfit to become active ninja, no one could argue with the facts and they would have to let him off the hook. And knowing the personal information that Iruka provided, this team was built to fall apart.

"How about you all tell me about yourselves?" Kakashi suggested, tucking away his novel. No one responded at first. Sasuke looked at him like he just asked what color the sky was, and Hinata didn't appear interested in the exercise at all. Kakashi started to feel ridiculous standing there, waiting for an answer that would never come, but then Naruto spoke up.

"Uh... what do you mean, Sensei?" Kakashi grasped onto it like a lifeline.

"You know, what you like and hate, hobbies, dreams, goals..."

"Why don't you show us how it's done? An example would help." At least one person was participating in the conversation. Hinata didn't say a word, but he could tell she was more attentive now. He hummed.

"Sure, why not? My name is Kakashi Hatake. I like not talking about my likes and dislikes. My dreams are none of your business, and I have many hobbies. Your turn!" His Genin didn't find it funny, but Naruto bounced back the fastest.

"Okay! I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen, but Ichiraku Ramen is even better! I hate waiting three minutes for my ramen to cook." Sasuke snorted, and Naruto stuck his tongue out at him before fiddling with his head band. He did that a lot, Kakashi noticed.

"And my dream is...to become Hokage!" Kakashi tilted his head a little at the bold statement. So he wanted to be the Hokage? It'd be ironic, at least. "Then this whole village is gonna have to respect me! Oh, and my hobby is coming up with pranks I guess." He scratched the back of his head and grinned. Kakashi sighed. Naruto's maturity level was shaky. He'd take a huge amount of effort to get anywhere near the mentality of a Chunin, let alone the leader of a village. A boy could dream though, couldn't he?

"Well then…next one. Come on, don't be shy." Sasuke gave in next. Probably realized that there was no escaping this.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," he said in a low voice. "I dislike many things, and there are very few things I like. I have no dream, for what I want to accomplish will happen one day." His words were lined with genuine hate now, something that really didn't fit coming from a child his age. "I plan to revive my clan and kill a certain someone who wronged me." After a stretch of silence, Naruto scooted a little farther away from Sasuke. He had some obvious aggressive tendencies when it came to the circumstances of his dead family. That'd be troublesome later on if not kept in check. He moved on to the last person.

"And you…?" Hinata had been staring at the Hokage monument since Naruto's introduction finished, only half listening until Sasuke revealed his ambition. Her eyes refocused.

"I am Hinata Hyuga. I like...training and bettering myself. I dislike people who don't try their hardest. My dream is..." She hesitated longer than Kakashi expected her to. "My dream is to become head of the Hyuga Clan. My hobbies are flower pressing, and playing string instruments." Both Naruto and Sasuke seemed surprised at the last part. It did sound more sincere to Kakashi than the rest though. At least his temporary team wasn't boring, unlike a few other groups he could think of.

"Alright, I think that's enough sharing for one day. We have a mission tomorrow."

"What are we gonna do, Sensei?" Naruto stood up with clenched fists.

"It'll only involve this squad, and I'm running you through a survival exercise."

"A...survival exercise?"

"Yes, but this one is much more difficult than school lessons. I will be your opponent. Oh, and it has a failure rate of about...66%. If you don't pass, I have to send you back to the Academy for more training." Sasuke scowled.

"Then what was the graduation test for?" he asked.

"Yeah, we passed fair and square! What gives?"

"Kakashi-sensei, is every other team going to take a second exam?" Hinata cut in. Kakashi nodded.

"Out of the 27 graduates in your class, only nine will be allowed to become Genin squads. We'll meet up tomorrow morning on the 32nd field just before dawn. Be fully prepared for battle. And try not to eat breakfast, or else you'll end up throwing it back up again!" He gave a fake salute before using the Body Flicker technique. He reappeared across the street on top of a residential building, out of sight from his temporary students.

At his new vantage point, he could see Sasuke walking away, and Naruto yelling something at his back. Hinata didn't seem concerned with the tension they had. Kakashi shook his head at their interactions before actually leaving them be. If his team didn't pull it together and work for their win tomorrow, he planned to give them a rude awakening.