Author's note: I'm so excited for this story! This was actually a plot bunny that kept on nipping at me (I have an actual bunny, so yes, I know what it feels like), and I finally decided to write it! The updates might be a little inconsistent because middle school was rougher than I thought, and, yes, because I'm lazy. Review please!

I do not own Naruto because if I did, well, if I did then this story would not be on . It'd be published.

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It was a dark night, but Kakashi was still at work. He was pondering over his new genin team.

"Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno…" He mused out the names, thinking back to what he saw from his little trips to the Academy. Naruto seemed to be a very energetic being, always a ball of energy bouncing around. Sasuke was, of course, stoic and brooding, quite antisocial to say the least. A little bit like himself when he was younger, Kakashi realized, slightly amused. And Sakura…she was every aspect of a preteen, so of course she was more interested in boys, mainly Sasuke, and her looks more so than training and getting stronger.

The Third Hokage gave them these sets of genin, but these were just suggestions. The real time to choose teams was tonight. But just as he got ready to leave, a file caught his eye.

"Hmmm. I wonder. Hinata Hyuga…"

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Kakashi was of course late to the meeting. Frankly, everybody expected it, hell, they'd be more surprised if Kakashi arrived on time. What did surprise them, however, was that Kakashi had a request.

Now, everybody knew of Kakashi's notorious history of never failing to fail his students, so of course they started when he requested a genin to be put on his team.

"That's right," He repeated for what seemed to be the tenth time. "I want Hinata Hyuga to be on my team." He frankly didn't understand what was so difficult to, well,…understand.

"No way!" Kurenai Yuuhi butted in. She actually was very excited to have Hinata Hyuga on her team, as she was quite the feminist and thought that the young Hyuga heiress could turn into a fine kunoichi. As a fairly new jonin, Kurenai would be proud to be the one who taught her. "I get her." She wrinkled her nose at Kakashi judgmentally.

"Besides, don't you think it wouldn't work for her to be on the front lines? My team, reconnaissance, is perfect for her abilities."

"Well," Kakashi spoke in that infuriatingly calm voice. "Maybe so, but there is the case of too much of a good thing. Your team might encounter some traps." He flicked out a file. "And that's why I think Sakura Haruno is best for your team, Kurenai, because not only is she very intelligent book-wise, she has an aptitude for–"

"–Genjutsu," Kurenai finished, looking at the file with new-found interest. "I see." She frowned. "But what about Hinata's…situation? Are you prepared for it?"

Kakashi resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "I am well aware that Hinata has self-esteem issues. That's where Naruto comes in. He could make a fly feel proud of itself if he was up to it. And if you're referring to what goes on in her family, well, I don't think you'll be able to do much too."

Kurenai had to admit, however grudgingly, that Kakashi had a damn good point. "Okay, okay, you make a good argument."

"Well, what do you say?" Kakashi leaned in, as if waiting for her answer. "Do I get the Hyuga?"

"Fine." Kurenai gave in reluctantly. She snatched up Sakura's file, and placed Hinata's in Kakashi's waiting hand.

"Nice doing business with you!" Kakashi saluted to the other jonin sensei and the Third Hokage, and then poofed away. Kurenai rolled her eyes at his antics, then left as well, leaving only Asuma Sarutobi and his father.

"That was interesting." Asuma lit a cigarette and held it to his mouth, replaying the scenario with faint amusement. He was, quite honestly, content with having the iconic Shika-Ino-Cho as his team, so it was rather entertaining to see his fellow senseis fight over students.

"Indeed," the Third Hokage himself lit his very own pipe. "Kakashi must really be serious about this team."

"Well, he does have the nine-tails jinchuriki and the last Uchiha," Asuma blew out smoke, watching it form small puffs in the night sky. "We'll just have to see."

"Mmm," Hiruzen Sarutobi chewed on his pipe. "We'll just have to see."

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Hinata Hyuga woke up this morning happy, with a helping of uncharacteristic pride.

Yes, Hinata Hyuga, known for having confidence issues, was proud of herself, even though it was going to be short term.

But who wouldn't be if they were in her shoes? She passed the exams, although not with the flying colors that her cousin Neji passed with, and now she was going to be sorted in a three-man team. She stood in front of her bathroom mirror, and tied the headband with the Leaf Village insignia carved into the middle around her neck. She adjusted it a few times, noting how her short, boyish haircut and thick side bangs would not interfere with the headband. The short hair was a sign of disgrace, but today Hinata saw it in a new light, even though it was quite a weak new light to see it in.

After she pulled on a gray hoodie, she walked to the front of the compound to prepare her lunch. She came across Neji who sneered at her and stalked the other way. Hinata internally sighed. She knew why Neji hated her, and she took full responsibility. It was, after all, her fault that she was so weak. And it was her fault that Neji's father died. As she looked at Neji's back disappearing around the corner, a resolution hardened a bit.

"Big sister!"

Hinata was suddenly tackled down by a flying blur of brown hair. "Hanabi?"

Hanabi wrapped her arms around Hinata's waist and looked up with pure admiration. "Today you get into your team!" She jumped up and down, ecstatic.

Hinata laughed. While she herself looked exactly like her mother with her dark blue hair and pale skin, Hanabi was a mix. She had her father's brown hair, of course, but her nose and ears were identical to Hinata's. Of course, Hinata mused, she had probably inherited her father's boldness.

"Can you train with me today?" Hanabi looked up to Hinata with shining eyes. "Pretty please?"

"Well, I-I'll see." Hinata smiled. This was one of the moments when she knew that letting Hanabi win their frequent matches was a good choice. She would be an excellent clan head. "But I have to g-go now." She gently detached a disappointed Hanabi from her, and made her way to the Academy.

"Bye, Hinata!" Hinata giggled at Hanabi's loud farewell.

As she was walking, she saw someone else join her on the same path. Sasuke Uchiha. Hinata never liked him that way, she actually felt a little bad for him when he was "attacked" by his fangirls. Their compounds were right next to each other, so sometimes they'd walk to class together. On their walks, no words were spoken, just silent, dare she call it, companionship. And then when they got to class, Hinata sitting in the back near the entrance, and Sasuke in the middle of the room, they left each other alone until walking back. Today was no different. She offered Sasuke a small nod which he acknowledged with a "hn", and sat in her seat at the back.

"Naruto, what are you doing here? This is only for the graduates." Hinata perked up when she heard Shikamaru reference her favorite blond.

"I passed!" Naruto pointed at his headband. "See?"

Naruto had passed? Hinata smiled. She was proud for him, she knew how happy he must have been after working so hard. And then, he turned around and smiled at her.

Hinata immediately blushed. Was Naruto looking at her? And then she realized his subject of affection was towards a certain pink-haired girl. Of course, she thought rather ruefully, he probably didn't even know who I am.

"Hey, Sakura!" Naruto waved. "Wanna sit with me–?" He was abruptly cut off when Sakura stomped over him to get to Sasuke.

"Shut up, idiot! Oh, hi, Sasuke!" She immediately transformed into a shy, in-love-girl when coming across Sasuke. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"As if, forehead!" Ino shoved her way through. "I came in first!"

"If that's so, I should sit with him!" Another girl joined the melee. It was safe to say that it didn't take long for all the girls to join the action.

Sasuke sighed. How in the world was he supposed to get rid of all them? He thought he had been obvious about not having an interest in any of them. And to think that he'd be in the same team is one of them… He shuddered at the thought. The only bearable girl would be…the Hyuga. That's right, he thought, at least she knows to be quiet and leave me alone.

Meanwhile, Naruto was fuming. What was so good about that bastard anyways? He jumped onto the desk, and glared at said bastard.

"Naruto, stop glaring at Sasuke!" Sakura scolded him.

Naruto glanced at her. It was always Sasuke that, Sasuke that. He'd show them, one day he'd become hokage, and then–.

Someone pushed Naruto from behind causing him to fall forwards and lock lips with…Sasuke.

"Oops, sorry!" The kid's voice faded to see what he had done.

"Gahh!" Naruto leaped away from Sasuke, gagging.

"Naruto!" Sasuke wiped at his lips furiously. "What the hell?"

"Naruto…"

Naruto froze at the threatening way in which his name was said. "Sakura?"

Sakura slammed her fist into her open palm and cracked her knuckles. "You are dead!"

Let's just say that Naruto was thankful that Iruka walked in when he did.

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Iruka studied this…interesting scene in front of him. Naruto had a black eye and half his face was swollen, Sakura was ecstatic as she got to sit next to Sasuke, and Sasuke was indifferent as usual. He sighed and took out the papers that held the team member's names.

"Alright, now that all of you have settled down…" He gave a pointed look in Naruto's general direction. "I will call out the team members."

He took a deep breath. This could turn out to be very ugly. "Team 7 is Naruto Uzumaki,..."

Naruto proudly flashed his headband.

"...Sasuke Uchiha,..."

Naruto glared at Sasuke while Sakura looked at him with shining eyes, waiting for what she thought would be her name to be called.

"...and Hinata Hyuga. You three are Team 7."

The room filled with silence. Hinata was happy to be with Naruto…but the attention she was getting. Not good. It seemed as if every girl in the room was glaring daggers at her, especially Sakura.

That little witch, Sakura thought with gritted teeth. She must've used her role as heiress to get on the same team as my Sasuke.

Naruto, on the other hand, had a much louder approach. "Why do I, Sensei, a great ninja, have to be on the same team as a loser like Sasuke?"

"Because, Naruto," Iruka raised his voice out of impatience, "Sasuke got the best scores out of the whole class, and you got the lowest!"

Naruto "hmphed" and sat back down, sulking.

"Sensei, I want to be on the same team as Sasuke!" The whole class of girls were shouting.

"Oh my god, everybody be quiet!" Iruka shouted. The whole class fell silent. "Your teams are your teams, and will remain your teams for the rest of my life, dammit!" He glared crossly at his class. "Now, Team 8 will be Kiba Inuzuka,..."

Kiba grinned, big canines and all, and Akamaru barked his approval.

"...Shino Aburame,..."

Kiba glanced at Shino, offering a small nod. Shino returned it impassively. Those two had a relationship that was just strong enough to be considered "acquainted". Shino was fine with Akamaru, and Kiba wasn't afraid of bugs. So that was that.

"...and Sakura Haruno."

Sakura immediately groaned, and let her face fall forwards onto the table. Not the bug and dog boys, she thought. "I'm doomed," She wailed out loud.

"Hey, we're not so eager to be with you either!" Kiba barked out at her, and Akamaru growled in agreement.

Ino smirked at Sakura's expense.

"Team 10 will be Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, and Ino Yamanaka."

The smirk faded.

Oh no, Shikamaru dropped his head onto his desk. Not the ill-tempered shrew. What a drag.

Sakura grinned evilly at Ino and whispered, "Good luck with Lazy-head and Mr. Chubby."

"Alright, you can go take your lunch break now! Your sensei's come at noon." With that, Iruka stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. It was a moment of silence before the students left the classroom.

Hinata went to go find Naruto and Sasuke, which she did so successfully. They were in the same area along with…Sakura.

She approached both of them. "U-Um, do you guys want to eat w-with me?" She looked hopefully at both Naruto and Sasuke.

"Okay, then, I'll eat with Sasuke, and you go eat with Naruto!" Sakura grabbed onto Sasuke's hand, only to be shaken off.

"I'll eat with my teammates, thank you." Sasuke glared coldly at Sakura, and stalked off towards Naruto and Hinata.

"Hey, bastard! Apologize to Sakura!" Naruto glared at Sasuke. Why did he have to be so mean?

"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura took her anger out on him. Naruto looked at her with a hurt face.

Hinata watched this exchange with wide eyes.

"C'mon." Sasuke grabbed both her and Naruto's wrists and dragged them off to an isolated bench. He sat down with a huff, and looked pointedly at both Naruto and Hinata.

Hinata sat down next to him and took out her bento, which was filled with takoyaki and fish on rice. Naruto sat next to Hinata, placing her in between him and Sasuke. Sasuke took out some rice balls, and Naruto…he didn't have anything.

"N-Naruto," Hinata asked, concerned, "do you have lunch?"

"Nah," He looked down, scuffing the ground with his sandal. "I can't afford more than one meal a day with their taxes." He wrinkled his nose at the mention of said taxes.

Hinata frowned. What taxes? And then she realized that Naruto had been treated…differently for the time she saw him. She was not allowed to talk to him until she joined the Academy, but she was always too shy to do so until now.

"Here," She scooped up a small portion of her bento into the lid, and handed the bento to Naruto, leaving the lid's contents for herself. He probably needed more of the food anyways. "Take th-this."

Naruto gingerly took the bento , and Hinata offered him a pair of chopsticks. He looked as if he had tears in his eyes. "I-I don't know if I can take this–."

"Just take it, loser." Sasuke bit into his own rice ball.

Hinata and Naruto both swung their heads in the direction of the voice, and stared openly at Sasuke.

"What?" He asked defensively, mouth full of rice. "If he doesn't eat, then he'll become a liability to the team."

Naruto sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. I almost had a heart attack there, Sasuke. I thought you actually cared for me."

Sasuke rolled his eyes.

Naruto took the chopsticks from Hinata and dug in. "Thish ish sho good!" He complimented Hinata's food with a full mouth.

"Th-Thank you, Naruto," Hinata blushed. "I made it myself."

Wow, Naruto thought. She's a really good cook.

After eating, the three newly proclaimed genin made their way back to the Academy. And there, they sat down waiting for their sensei to come.

They waited.

And waited.

"Ughh!" Naruto threw a small tantrum. "Why is he so late?"

"It's okay, N-Naruto." Hinata looked at him anxiously. "I'm sure he had some important business, or something."

"Or maybe he's just late." Sasuke brooded. Hinata was too nice for her own good, making excuses for their tardy sensei.

Naruto crossed his arms. All the other genin teams had left. There was no way he was going to just sit and wait. He grinned and placed an eraser marker on the door.

"Naruto, maybe we sh-shouldn't…" Hinata's voice faded off.

"You actually think he'll fall for that, loser?" Sasuke scoffed. "Our sensei is a jonin, an elite ninja–."

Said elite ninja walked into the room saying, "Hello, my cute little genin–."

Only to have an eraser plop on his head.

The whole room of three kids stared at him dumbstruck.

Naruto was the first to recover, rolling around the floor and laughing. "I got you, I totally got you!"

Hinata nervously bowed in apology. "I'm s-so sorry, Sensei."

Sasuke was staring at him in disbelief. This was an elite ninja?

"Well…" Kakashi looked at his new students. "My first impression of you is…I don't like you."

All three students' heads dropped in despair.