"I can't believe this is really the last time we'll be coming here," Naruto said, looking around the classroom.

It wasn't his favorite place; honestly, more often than not he hated showing up to class. He learned way more just training with Sasuke. But it was something he had to do to become a shinobi, so he'd dutifully shown up every day since he'd been allowed to go. Late sometimes, sure, but his attendance was perfect aside from the tardiness because he never got sick. And now this would be the last time he went to class.

"I'm just glad we won't have to waste our time with pointless lessons anymore," Sasuke muttered. "We should've been able to graduate years ago."

Naruto shrugged. "Maybe. I'm just happy to be graduating at all." He tugged on his wrist wrap, fighting the urge to bring the katana out. "Do you think our sensei will know kenjutsu?"

"Probably to some degree," Sasuke guessed. "Jounin are meant to have proficiency in many different areas. They might not be an expert, but they should at least be able to assist."

"You guys are talking like you know you'll be on the same team," Kiba butted in. "You do realize we're learning our teams today, right? There's no guarantee you'll be put together." Sasuke turned in his seat to shoot Kiba a glare and Kiba quickly raised his hands in surrender. "Okay, sure, you'll be on the same team."

"I hope our jounin is super cool," Naruto said, completely ignoring Kiba. "I'm gonna be pissed at the old man if he gives us some weirdo."

"Hn."

After a few more minutes of their now-former classmates trickling in, Iruka walked in and up to the front. "Attention, everyone!" he called out, silencing the group immediately. "Beginning today you are all real shinobi, but you are still merely genin. The hard part has just started." Naruto grinned; he couldn't wait. "In the coming weeks, you will start to be assigned duties by the village. Today, you will be assigned into your three member teams and to your jounin sensei.

"You will follow your assigned jounin sensei's instructions as you're assigned to missions and work with your assigned teams. Do not disobey your sensei." He sent a sharp look at a few students, including Naruto and Sasuke. "We considered many factors when creating these teams, like compatibility and skills, but if you have any questions I ask that you at least wait until the end. Now, onto teams…"

Naruto sat at the edge of his seat when Iruka started listing teams, but the first six were all people he barely knew; mostly kids who'd always treated him terribly, even after he started doing better in class, because of things their parents apparently said about him. That'd bothered him for a bit, until Sasuke convinced him none of them really mattered.

"Next, Team Seven: Sakura Haruno," Naruto perked up, glancing at the pink-haired girl to his right, "Naruto Uzumaki," Naruto held his breath, and to his left he could tell Sasuke did too, "and Sasuke Uchiha."

"Yes!" Naruto cheered, shooting up in his seat and pumping his fists in the air. "Woohoo!" Iruka shot him a look and he quickly sat down. "Sorry, sensei."

"Team Eight consists of Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuga, and Shino Aburame," Iruka continued, keeping an eye on Naruto. "Team Nine is still in circulation from last year, and Team Ten is Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka, and Choji Akamichi." Ino groaned loudly at that, and Iruka set the list of teams down. "Any questions?"

"Isn't it tradition for the Rookie of the Year to be placed on the same team as the dead last?" some girl asked. When Naruto turned to look at her, she was sending both him and Sakura a very obvious glare. "Shouldn't Sasuke be placed on a team with me? You know, to, uh, balance it out?"

Naruto could see Iruka's eye twitch, even from the second row. "Yes, traditionally we do consider balancing the overall strength of a team in that way, but it isn't a rule," Iruka explained. "Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were deemed to be a fitting team, much like teams eight and ten were decided based on how their individual skills would work together. Being at the bottom of the class is not a guarantee for being placed with the top of the class."

The girl's face fell and Naruto stuck his tongue out at her. "Any more questions?" Iruka asked. When no one spoke up, he nodded. "Okay, there will be an hour long break. I suggest you use this time to get to know your teams, if you don't already. When you get back, you'll be meeting your jounin sensei."

"We should get Ichiraku to celebrate!" Naruto suggested the second they stepped outside.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "You just dragged me to Ichiraku after we passed the test."

"But that was two whole days ago," Naruto argued. "And you can't have too much Ichiraku!" He looked over at Sakura. "Do you wanna go to Ichiraku? Sasuke can't say no if it's two-to-one!"

"Ichiraku is that ramen place, right?" Sakura asked. At Naruto's excited nodding, she shrugged. "Sure. I've been there a few times. It's good."

Naruto pumped a fist in the air. "Ichiraku time!" he shouted, immediately walking off in that direction.

Sasuke followed him seemingly without a second thought, and Sakura was left staring at the boys' retreating forms for a few seconds before following after them.

When she'd been put on the same team as Naruto and Sasuke, she was pretty sure her heart skipped a beat. She didn't know if that was because she got placed on the same team as Sasuke or if it was because she was placed on a team with the two most powerful members of their class, but either way she felt a little out of place. It didn't help that they were so clearly best friends; she honestly expected them to just leave her out, but Naruto insisted all three of them spent the break together.

She was also pretty sure she'd felt what she could only describe as killing intent from some of the other kids in the class, especially that girl who'd intentionally kept herself at the bottom of the class to get on Sasuke's team, so she'd been glad to get out of the building fast.

They all talked idly on the way to Ichiraku, Naruto dragging her into the conversation randomly. He and Sasuke insulted each other a lot. It was kind of funny to listen to, and she didn't even feel the need to jump to Sasuke's defense like she usually would've if someone insulted him. If their bond wasn't obvious enough in class, just seeing them talk for a minute would make it clear. Even if half the words were threats and insults. Like:

"Sasuke, I will actually stab you!" Naruto threatened. "I have the sword and everything now!"

Sasuke scoffed. "You can't even use a sword. I bet you'd cut your own finger off if you tried."

"You really wanna test that?" Naruto raised his left arm and showed off a wrist wrap Sakura had never seen before. Symbols briefly glowed on it, then-

"Holy shit Naruto, you have a sword?" she screamed.

Naruto blinked, turning to her slowly and looking between the sheathed katana in his hand and Sakura. "Oh, uh. Yeah. It's new."

"And you keep it sealed in your wrist?" Of the two, Sakura definitely wouldn't have expected Naruto to be the one with a sealed sword. "That's… actually kind of cool."

Naruto's entire face lit up. "Really? Thanks!"

"He didn't make it," Sasuke cut in. "He's not smart enough for that. He inherited it."

"Yeah, I-" Naruto abruptly scowled and turned to hold the sheathed sword against Sasuke's chest. "I could learn fuinjutsu if I wanted to!"

"Yeah, right."

"No, really, I could!"

"I don't know, Naruto," Sakura chimed in. "It is, like, the hardest shinobi art."

Naruto gaped at her. "You too, Sakura? Well, one day, I'm gonna figure out fuinjutsu too! Just to prove both of you wrong!"

Sasuke very clearly rolled his eyes in her direction behind Naruto. "You're gonna learn kenjutsu and fuinjutsu at once? As if."

Naruto's head snapped to glare at Sasuke again. "I didn't say at once! I just said I would!" He put his sword against the seal on his wrist and the seal glowed again before the sword disappeared, then he grumpily crossed his arms. "I just meant, like, eventually. And who knows? Maybe I'm, like, secretly a prodigy at it!"

"Sure," Sasuke said drily.

"I totally c-" Naruto cut himself off when they reached Ichiraku Ramen, a bright grin replacing the scowl on his face. "We're here!" he exclaimed, rushing inside without another word.

Sasuke followed seemingly without a second thought. Sakura had to wonder if random mood swings from yelling at Sasuke to just being happy to get ramen was normal for Naruto as she followed them inside, sitting to Naruto's right like usual while Sasuke sat on the left; she'd like to sit by Sasuke, but she didn't want to bother him.

"Old man Teuchi!" Naruto greeted brightly, waving down the chef.

Most people probably would have been upset at being called old man, but Teuchi didn't seem to mind. He walked over to them, a fond smile on his face. "Naruto, Sasuke, it's good to see you again. Who's your new friend?" he asked, looking at Sakura. "I think I've seen you around before."

"My name is Sakura," she introduced. "It's nice to meet you."

"She's our teammate," Naruto explained. "We just got assigned to our teams in class and Iruka-Sensei said we should get to know each other over our small break so we came here! And when we get back, we'll get our jounin sensei!"

"Oh? So you two got assigned to the same team after all," Teuchi observed. "I'm happy for you. You've been wanting that for years."

"Thanks, old man!"

"I knew we would be," Sasuke added. "Anyways, can you get us the usual? Only one bowl, though." He shot Naruto a look when Naruto opened his mouth to disagree. "We have to be back at the academy by the end of the hour."

Teuchi chuckled. "Two bowls of miso ramen coming up." He gave Sakura a questioning look. "What about you?"

"Uh, I'll have what they're having."

Naruto grinned at her as Teuchi left to cook their meals. "You like miso too? Awesome! We're, like, team miso ramen!"

"That is not our name," Sasuke instantly shut down.

Naruto pouted. "Cmon, it's a good name!"

"How did you guys know you'd be put on the same team?" Sakura asked, before they could devolve into another round of arguing. "I mean, I know that one girl tried to abuse it," Sasuke scowled, "but there is that tradition of dead last and top of the class being on the same team."

"It's like Iruka said: other factors have to be considered," Sasuke explained. "Naruto and I have complimentary skills, like how all of Team Eight has some form of tracking ability and Team Ten is a mirror of their parents. Placing us on different teams would've been foolish."

"Complimentary skills?"

"He means how I have water and earth and he has fire and lightning affinities," Naruto said casually. "He can, like, electrify my water or burn people trapped in my earth and stuff like that."

Sakura blinked. "Wait, you both have two affinities?" She knew they both used two, but she figured they'd just worked on a second one on top of their affinity. "Both of you do?"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted. "It's surprising the idiot has two affinities, but he does."

"Technically I have-" Naruto started, but Sasuke slapped him on the back of his head. "I mean, uh, yeah. I have two!"

Sakura raised an eyebrow at that, but then their food arrived and she was distracted by the sight of Naruto absolutely devouring his bowl. He didn't even wait for it to cool down! He ended up finishing so fast that Sasuke conceded to him getting a second bowl because there was still plenty of time before they had to be back in class.

Sasuke was going to kill someone.

Preferably, that someone would be their sensei. Their team had made it back to the classroom with plenty of time to spare, but apparently that didn't matter because their jounin sensei was already an hour late. He would've just let Naruto have a dozen bowls of ramen if he knew their sensei was going to be late.

"I'm gonna kill the old man," Naruto grumbled, head in his arms on the desk. "He gave us a bum for a jounin sensei!"

"Maybe he's busy with something important?" Sakura suggested, but she looked just as close to killing someone as Sasuke.

Sasuke nudged Naruto's arm to get him to lift his head. "Do you sense anyone nearby who might be a jounin?"

Naruto pressed his fingers against the ground before shaking his head. "Nah, not around the academy." He sighed. "I hope that's because he's actually good enough to hide from me and not because he's just not here."

"Wait, Naruto, you're a sensor?" Sakura asked with wide eyes.

"Oh, uh, yeah," Naruto confirmed. "Easier when I'm out in nature, though. Anywhere else and I gotta press my fingers against the ground."

Sakura's brow furrowed. "Why would it be easier when you're out in nature?"

"Probably because of my-" Naruto cut himself off, this time without Sasuke having to make him. "I mean, it just does, I guess?"

It was good they weren't planning on keeping their kekkei genkai a secret from their teams, because Naruto was already struggling. Sakura looked suspiciously at Naruto, clearly about to press him for an answer, but then Naruto abruptly stood up with a familiar mischievous grin on his face. "What are you about to do, idiot?" Sasuke asked tiredly.

"If this jounin's gonna be super late," Naruto started, grabbing an eraser from the chalkboard and walking over to the door. "Then I'm gonna prank him!"

"That's never going to work on a jounin," Sasuke said as Naruto opened the door just enough to put the eraser at the top.

Naruto shrugged. "Ya never know," he deflected, walking back over to his seat. "You said the same thing about my Sexy Jutsu but it worked fine when that one jounin saw us trying to sneak out of the forest in the middle of the night."

Sasuke rolled his eyes. As stupid as it was, the idiot's Sexy Jutsu had saved them from having to explain why two academy students were beaten to hell and sneaking around past midnight.

"What's Sexy Jutsu?" Sakura asked suspiciously, eyes narrowed at Naruto.

"Oh, uh." Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head and Sasuke smirked. "It's just this thing I came up with a few years back to, uh, trick perverts?"

Sasuke mouthed good luck at Naruto and got a glare in response. Fortune must have been smiling down on Naruto, though, because the sound of the door sliding open caught their attention before Naruto could fumble through an explanation. They all turned to it just in time to watch the eraser hit a head full of spiky, gravity-defying silver hair belonging to a man in the jounin uniform. Oddly, the only part of his face that was visible was his right eye; the left one was covered by his forehead protector, and the rest of his face was covered by a mask.

Was this guy really a jounin? If he could get hit by such a stupid prank…

"How can I say this?" the man asked, rubbing his chin with his one eye closed in thought. "My first impression is… I don't like you guys."

The three of them stared at him blankly and the jounin somehow managed to convey a smile with just his one visible eye. "Meet me on the roof," he said blandly, turning around and walking right back out the door.

They all stared blankly at the door for a few seconds before shooting up and rushing out of the room. The jounin was already gone by the time they made it outside, and somehow the chalk that should have been covering him from Naruto's prank was just laying on the floor.

Kakashi sat on the railing at the edge of the roof, staring at his potential new team.

Sakura Haruno, the top-ranked kunoichi of the graduating class, sat on the left. It looked like she was trying to hide it to make a good impression, but Kakashi could tell she was pissed off by his lateness. She better get used to it. Of the three she was probably the least interesting, but that was an extremely high bar given her teammates. On any other team, she might've been the most attention grabbing; perfect scores on every written test and amazing chakra control, despite being born to two parents who never made it past genin.

On the right sat Sasuke Uchiha, a prodigy like few others who by all means could have graduated years sooner if the village wasn't so determined to keep an eye on the last loyal Uchiha. He didn't get perfect scores on every written test like Sakura, but his ninjutsu and taijutsu skills were far beyond what was expected of even a genin and his written scores were still consistently in the A range. One of two in their class to actually take down their sensei during the graduating taijutsu test. And on top of all of that, the lone survivor of a massacre done by none other than his own brother.

And in the middle sat possibly the only student more complicated than Sasuke: Naruto Uzumaki. The secret son of Minato Namikaze, the Yondaime Hokage and Kakashi's sensei, and Kushina Uzumaki. In another life, he would have been Kakashi's little brother. Shunned his entire life by the ignorant villagers for being the very thing that protected everyone from the Kyuubi, even when it was their beloved Yondaime's dying wish that he be considered a hero. The former dead last of their class, until he befriended Sasuke and became the only one to rival his friend's taijutsu scores and surpass his ninjutsu scores, even if his written scores were still average. The other one to take down their sensei during the final test. Like Sasuke, he could have graduated early if the village wasn't determined to keep an eye on its jinchuriki.

The boys weren't even trying to hide their anger at Kakashi's lateness. "Okay." Kakashi gave them an eye smile he knew would only irritate them further. "Let's begin with some introductions."

"What do ya wanna know?" Naruto asked.

Kakashi shrugged. "Likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in a way that was eerily reminiscent of Minato-Sensei. "Hey, hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?"

"Yeah, you look… suspicious," Sakura added.

"Oh, me?" Kakashi paused for a second, like he was thinking. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmm. Well, I have lots of hobbies…"

All three of them sweat dropped. "So all we learned… is his name," Sakura grumbled.

"Now it's your turn!" Kakashi said cheerfully. "How about we start on the right?"

Sasuke glared at him. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha," he started, resting his elbows on his knees and linking his hands in front of his mouth. "I like training and fighting strong opponents." Next to him, Naruto grinned. "I dislike many things. And my dream… no, my ambition is to grow strong enough to destroy a certain man and resurrect my clan."

About what Kakashi expected. "You next, blondie," he prompted.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" Naruto introduced brightly, now eerily reminiscent of his mother. "I like ramen, especially from Ichiraku's!" Next to him, Sasuke rolled his eyes. "I also like training and fighting strong opponents! Oh, and gardening and nature! I dislike when nature gets destroyed, and the time it takes to cook ramen! And my dream…" he grabbed his forehead protector, face shifting to something more serious, "is to become the strongest Hokage, and earn the respect of everyone in the village!"

Definitely his parents' son, even if he didn't know it. Kakashi could hear them both in his words. Without knowing who they were, Naruto managed to inherit their shared dream. It was a little hard for Kakashi to keep up his nonchalant act. "And lastly, the girl," he managed anyway.

"My name is Sakura Haruno," Sakura introduced. "I like, uh, playing trivia games and learning new things." Naruto looked appalled by the sheer thought of enjoying trivia games. "I dislike… I dunno." She grimaced. "Bugs, I guess? And my dream is to become a strong kunoichi people can rely on!"

Definitely the least complicated of the three. Kakashi might actually grow to like her, if the team managed to pass. "Alright, that's enough of that," Kakashi said, arms crossed. "We'll start our duties tomorrow."

"Yay!" Naruto cheered. "What kinda duties, sensei?"

"Well, first of all we're going to do something with just the four of us."

"What? What?"

"Survival training."

Naruto's excitement faded. "Survival training?"

"Why is our duty training?" Sasuke asked.

"We did enough of that at the academy!" Sakura added.

"This isn't normal training," Kakashi said. "I'm your opponent."

"But what's the training?" Naruto pressed. Kakashi just laughed. "What's so funny?"

"Well, it's just that… when I tell you, you're all gonna flip."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "Why?"

Kakashi's faux-jovial demeanor vanished in an instant. "Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be chosen as genin," he revealed, watching their faces fall. "The rest will be sent back to the academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%!"

A bit surprisingly, it didn't take long for the shocked faces in front of him to shift into looks of determination. Naruto and Sasuke especially looked like they were sure they'd be one of the nine. Sasuke had a smirk on his face that was recognizable to anyone who'd known the Uchiha, and Naruto had one that was a mix of Kushina's determination and Minato-Sensei's confidence.

Kakashi would have fun wiping those looks off their faces tomorrow.

"Meet me at training ground thirty-seven tomorrow at nine," Kakashi said. He'd wanted training ground three, but the Hokage had ominously suggested-slash-ordered him to pick a more private one. "Bring all your shinobi tools." He stood up, preparing to leave, but paused to add, "Oh, and skip breakfast or you'll throw up," before disappearing in a shunshin.

Author's Note:

This is a shorter chapter, but the next one is pretty long. They were originally just one large chapter but I decided to split them up, so the bell test gets to be its own chapter.

I explained my reasoning for the team assignments being the same in-chapter, but I'll say it here too: I personally don't think Naruto and Sasuke would have been given to any other sensei. Kakashi's the only one in the village who can train Sasuke's Sharingan, and he's the strongest (available) Jounin in the village. If a very young and inexperienced jinchuriki is gonna be going on missions, it'd be with the strongest sensei available. The only other options I can see for Naruto's sensei are Jiraiya and maybe Guy, but Guy has his own team and Jiraiya's off doing his thing.

I very strongly doubt that the "Rookie of the Year and Dead Last on one team" thing was a hard rule. Tradition, yeah, but village's safety tradition. Especially considering the other two passing teams had very specific abilities that worked well together (Kiba, Shino, and Hinata all have tracking abilities; Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji were decided based on previous generations showing how well their abilities work together).

as always, thank you for reading!