"Just like that, and yes, it's ready and…" Sakura motivated her actions through rhythm, as she adjusted her hair, tying the pink locks up with her deep-red painted forehead protector.

Her eyes darted to the side and linger to lingered on her reflection in the shiny mirror that accompanied her closet door frame.

Oh my god, I look so great! The inner-Sakura yelled, as she observed herself…only for outer Sakura to move her eyes from the vapid reflection to the very real clock on her wall.

Oh shit!

The girl bolted through the household, although still careful not to knock anything over despite her panic, before finally reaching the door and practically smashingdown the hardwood barrier as she made her way onto the dirt streets of Konoha.

Her mind was focused completely on making it to the academy building, but unfortunately, her body was still a while away from reaching that point.

"Hey lady, watch it!" A voice screamed at her, Sakura herself being unable to put any features on the body she just shoved past.

"Sorry!" She shouted back, surprisingly sincerely considering how shot her focus was.

Her feet continued to hit the ground at a frantic pace, several other incidents that involved her bumping past others yielded yells of "I'm so sorry" and "Excuse me!" from the girl, the courtesies becoming relentless until, finally, she reached the cheap wood gates of the Konoha academy.

Finally being able to walk attentively like she was used to, Sakura walked into the classroom, eyes carefully observing a spot to sit, and just like that the angels decided that after her disastrous walk to the graduation ceremony, they would hand her the greatest gift in the world:

A seat next to Sasuke Uchiha.

Calmly as she could, Sakura took the spot at the desk.

Huh?!

But she misjudged her seating position, ending up almost half a meter away from Sasuke.

Oh my god, why would you even try to sit next to him if you're not even going to SIT NEXT TO HIM!

Sakura grimaced, lifted herself up and sat back down next to him.

Come on! If you're going to sit next to him, go all in at least!

Sakura once again performed the same "elevate and descend" maneuver, edging even closer to the boy by her side.

Like a gunshot, Sasukes eyes shot to the side, the sudden whip of his head causing Sakura to freeze up under his gaze.

"What are you doing?" The words were backed up by Sasukes calculating eyes staying completely stationary on her.

"Uh…" Sakuras voice hitched, before she quickly cleared her throat, lacing her words with a much-needed shot of clarity "Just sitting here."

"…Okay." Sasuke said, returning his vison to his clasped hands.

The active show of disinterest did little to sway Sakura though, who held a hand up to her hair.

"I painted my headband red."

"AAAH?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING" Inner Sakuras voice reverberated loudly through the girls head

"…Okay." Sasuke repeated, doing little to show any interest in the (at this point) one-way conversation that was being forced upon him.

"It's totally in style now, you know?"

"I wouldn't." At this point, Sasuke actively tilted his face away from the girl next to him.

Inner Sakura began to sob at this point.

Luck seemed to be on her side however, as the sound of the academy door bursting open was heard, an unmistakable spark of orange stepping through the doors, completely breaking any awkwardness that had filled the room.

"Naruto Uzumaki is here!"

Is what the blonde boy would have shouted under different circumstances. The excitement that bubbled within him was more than enough to sate any need for widespread acknowledgment.

Smile plastered on his face; he took a seat between a ponytailed boy and a girl with pale violet eyes. Unable to contain his joy, he turned to face the former with a smile, motioning at his headband.

"Shikamaru! Do you see this, I did it, I passed!"

Shikamaru simply opened one of his resting eyes to look at Naruto with a confused expression.

"What? Did you not pass initially or something?"

Having unknowingly revealed the fact that he came millimeters away from not being allowed into the academy today, Naruto curled his lips up into a pout.

"I t-t-think it's g-great you p-passed Naruto!" The girl to his right said, twitching her index fingers together nervously, as blush adorned her cheeks.

"Hey! Thank you…" Naruto's enthusiasm returned as he prepared to thank the violet haired girl next to him, only to run into a brick wall of greetings…

He didn't know her name.

"…." Naruto stayed silent, brain working overtime, desperately trying to remember the girls name before she realized what he was doing.

Of course, he did not accomplish this.

The pale-eyed girl looked nervously down at her hands, her fingers pressing together even tighter. She had sat next to him consistently for the last three years.

"M-my name i-is…" She tried to start but Naruto quickly put a hand to her face.

"No, I've got it…" He tried to push his brain even harder but it was for naught, the ever-stacking pressure of the situation causing him to struggle even more.

"My name's-" She muttered only to be immediately cut off.

"Wait! Hold on…uhh, H!"

The girl's pale eyes lit up as he did in-fact get the first letter of her name right.

"Yes!"

"H-H-H…" So close, he was so close. "…Hanabi! Wait, no that's your sister."

The conversation iced over for a few seconds

"…. Is your name "Hanbye" with a b-y-e?" He finally said after a long string of silence.

She shook her head.

Her name was Hinata Hyuga. She'd been in love with Naruto Uzumaki for as long as she could remember. She'd been there with him when he first started at the academy, she'd eaten with him a few times when no one else would, she'd made sure to always muster up a "hi" to him when she arrived.

He didn't know her name.

"Wow, this is sad." A snappy feminine voice spat through the air, as a blond-haired girl observed the pair below her.

"Mind your own business Ino!" Naruto spun around with ignited anger that the tone of someone talking down to him usually lit.

"Her names Hinata, just so you know." Ino replied, her brief interest in indulging Naruto's antics visually dwindling.

"I knew that!" He loudly lied.

"Wow, you knowing something, that's a first." She said, her snark returning as her lips curled into an even smarmier smile at her own humor.

"Hey, knock it off Ino!" Suddenly, Sakura called out from two aisles below her rival, her compassionate but enraged tone contrasting with the Yamanaka girls crass one.

"Make me!" Ino shouted back, scrunching up a paper ball and chucking it at Sakura, who couldn't even react due to surprise. The stiff white ball hit her square in the forehead, her face crumpling up in embarrassment as the projectile tumbled to the ground, rolling down the stairs.

"I'd pat myself on the back for hitting you, but, I mean, your foreheads already a big target so…"

"It is not!" If Sakuras composure had been on its last legs before, she was flatlining now. "If I had to guess off the top of my head without measuring it at all, I'd say it's only 2.78 centimeters bigger than average!"

The pink-haired girl raised herself off her seat as she said this, crunching her fists as she walked up to Ino's aisle, eyes white with anger.

Just as quickly, Inos brow collided with hers, the pair's eyes locking, tension displayed in them almost forming an electrical bridge between their pupils.

"Yeah sure, only 2.78 centimeters." Ino harshly said back with venom.

"YES ONLY 2.78 CENTIMETERES AND IT'LL BE SMALLER IN A FEW YEARS!" Sakura repeated, eyes widening even further, as she brought her hands to Inos collar.

"Oh, don't try and fight with me! I finished second in the year level!" The blonde yelled back, as she felt Sakuras hand graze her neck.

"Yeah, so? I finished sixth, that's p-pretty good!" Sakura attempted to display confidence, but her delivery was sorely lacking in any.

"Sakura, you're bottom tier, along with the rest of the deadbeats in this class. That's the reason Sasuke's gonna be on my team, not yours!" Ino replied, cockily dragging her eyelid down and poking out her tongue.

"What did you say?!" The name of the Uchiha boy was enough to send Sakura into a blinding rage, almost ready to legitimately throw hands.

"Sasuke was first, I'm second, the rest is irrelevant. I'm already closer to him then you'll ever be!"

Sakura's eyes dropped downcast with rage, Inner-Sakura picking up all the steam that her anger was generating inside.

Oh you smug piece of shit, I'll show you who's-

"Hey, asshole!"

Huh?

Narutos voice rung out across the room, words bouncing all around the generally thick walls.

Stepping out of his chair with his usual unwarranted swagger, he made his way down the aisles, directly towards Sasuke. Both girls' squabbles were put on hold as they decided it would be more worth their while to just observe whatever bullshit Naruto was gonna pull.

Truth be told, Naruto's actions were motivated by the pair's conversation. He had liked their argument when it was about him or whatever, but just like everything, it had reverted back to Sasuke. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. What was so great about him anyway.

Meanwhile, his obnoxious call out had gotten no response from the boy in question, Sasuke simply ignoring (or not noticing) Naruto's cries.

"Hey, gloomy, I'm talking to you!" The fox-faced jinchuriki's features shimmered mischievously, as he walked into Sasukes aisle, attempting (and failing) to try and loom over the seated boy.

"Can I help you with something?" Sasuke asked, his sharp glance in Naruto's direction taking the aggressor slightly off-guard. Despite the seemingly polite statement, Sasuke's almost-dead black eyes conveyed a tone of annoyance and apathy.

Naruto hated annoyance and apathy.

"What makes so you special, huh? Why's everyone talking about you?" Naruto aggressively asked, not really realizing how stupid his question really sounded.

"No clue. I'm just like you, a regular genin of the hidden leaf." Sasuke blankly said back, the annoyance in his eyes growing harsher by the second.

"Yeah well, I'm not a regular genin, I'm gonna be the greatest Hokage, dattebayo!" The tracksuit-clad ninja thrusted a baggy arm to himself, hand and thumb extended in his own direction.

His now-rival made a pause, before letting out the sincerest display of emotion anyone in the room had seen him display.

A small, controlled laugh.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna' walk on the surface of the moon." Sasuke spat back as his air of humor dyed down, any balanced emotion between the two being overcome by Naruto's sizzling anger.

"Hey! Who says I can't?! Not all of us can be born into a fancy bloodline." With the pronunciation of those final words, Naruto's voice became downtrodden and deep, poorly trying to replicate his foes.

To his credit, the insult did actually seem to faze Sasuke, as the Uchiha's mouth uncontrollably frowned and his eyes slanted.

"Do you need me to remind you that you finished dead last on the tests? In fact, you barley even passed. How are you going to become Hokage with those kinds of results?"

"Uh…" The calm but scathing reply left Naruto with nothing even resembling a decent comeback. This, accompanied by a small snort of laughter from Ino, left his already embarrassed brain essentially mush.

Realizing he was fighting a losing battle (although he would not admit it), Naruto began to step backwards, facial features still focused in a scowl directed at the raven-haired boy in front of him.

"You probably thought I was gonna' jump on your table huh? Well, guess what? Not gonna', not an idiot- "With this, Naruto walked backwards into a chair that had been stationed behind him, doing a full trip over the smooth wood and falling on his back.

Immediately, he popped back up from the floor, shaking his joints quickly before continuing to frown and back away from Sasuke as if he hadn't just lost a fight to an inanimate object.

"Good morning class!" Irukas merry voice derailed any attention from the "skirmish" of the two genin.

"Good morning Iruka-Sensei."

"Let's hear some joy in those voices, you're officially ninja- "

Iruka's monologue faded into the background as both Naruto and Sasuke dispersed from the other, Naruto throwing a "my eyes on you" hand gesture at his rival.

Sasuke's face scrunched up in confusion as he quickly thrusted his hands up in a shrug.

Naruto refused to live and let live, as his hand signs began to become more intricate (and even more confusing). First, he pointed to his eye, then to a spot on the table where he made an "o" shape with his fingers and then pointed that "o" to Sasuke.

This only served to further alienate, the message he was trying to convey, as Sasuke's face finally shifted from apathetic boredom to annoyed confusion, further thrusting his hands up, trying to communicate the fact that Naruto was doing the sign language equivalent of gibberish.

"First up, we have Team 8, led by Kurenai Yuhi. The students included in this group are…" Iruka read from his piece of paper, the words having great effect on literally everyone but Naruto and Sasuke.

"Shino Aburame."

The spectacled ninja in question had little reaction to the announced team, producing what could've been seen as a small nod but was more likely just him tilting his head slightly.

"Kiba Inuzuka."

A scruffy boy with a hood insulated with fur let out a fist bump at the news, the small white dog next to him barking in joy.

"And Hinata Hyuga."

Hinatas eyes widened in shock, before eventually settling back down in sadness.

I'm…not with Naruto.

Looking desperately to her side, she hoped to see Naruto staring back at her sadly, heart broken as he was forced to separate from her. His blue eyes would be almost running wet with tears and…

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Naruto was doing none of that. Instead, he was slamming his hands on the table (as "quietly" as one could), before he started peeling his eyelids back at Sasuke, who reciprocated his movements with a silent hand whip that was almost universally identified as "what the fuck are you doing?!"

Hinata's pool of self-pity became so large, she thought she may drown.

"Naruto! Sasuke! Stop that!" Irukas voice ended both boys war of gestures, causing them both to look the other way in a huff. "Okay, now we move on to Team 7, led by Kakashi Hatake. The students included in this group are: Sakura Haruno…"

Come on, come on… Sakura chanted to herself, fingers practically splitting at the bone, they were so tightly crossed.

"Naruto Uzumaki."

Naruto and Sakura both exchanged a quick glance, intentions both reading identical:

Eh, could be worse.

"And Sasuke Uchiha."

This matching thought was quickly replaced by two more.

An AHHH! This couldn't get any better! From Sakura and a-

"WHAT?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!" From both Naruto and Sasuke simultaneously.

"Iruka-Sensei, what the hell is this?!" Naruto shouted; anger contrasted by his rivals slightly emotional pleading.

"Iruka-Sensei, please no…" Sasuke said hands grabbing his face in annoyance.

"If you have a problem with the squad formations, take it up with the Third."

Realizing that was the polite way of saying "you're not getting a group swap", both Naruto and Sasuke sat back in their seats, even more riled up than before.

"And now for Team 10, led by Asuma Sarutobi.…" Iruka continued, opening the document to the next page.

Sakura, in the meanwhile, took time to spin herself around and stick her tongue out at Ino, who couldn't help her anger boiling over.

"What the hell? Why do you get to be with Sasuke?!"

"Don't ask me, the groups are randomized don't 'cha know?" Sakura replied, her feigned cluelessness rippling with an undercurrent of superiority.

Ino's mouth instinctively began to move, unfortunately faster than her mind, as any comeback she had was translated into sputters and angry "tsks".

"Why'd you even want anyone specific in your group anyway. "Sasuke Uchiha in my ninja squad" seems like a pretty low goal." Shikamaru loudly rattled off, as he annoyingly faced the Yamanaka girl, expression blank.

"Oh god Shikamaru, you're so clueless! Don't you know how anything works?" Ino replied angrily, diverting any ire she'd saved for Sakura and redirecting it at him.

"The students in this group are…Choji Akimichi!"

A plump boy gave a small smile of recognition, although he was more focused on scraping the crumbs from his chip packet than anything else, including the audible squabble going on a few rows behind him.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, quit yammering to me, okay, you're too loud."

"You're so lazy, you can't even function properly for more than a minute." Ino shot back, ignoring the pony-tailed ninjas request.

"…Shikamaru Nara…"

"All right! Yeah, Shikamaru!" Choji's excited voice came shooting up from the bottom of the classroom, quickly being met with a smile and finger gun of recognition from Shikamaru.

"Thank god, I'm not going to be with you two losers. I don't know what I'd do if I was on your squad."

"And Ino Yamanaka"

Just like that, Iruka had not only managed to take the wind out of Ino's sails, but sink the ship and drown the crew. Again, she seized up in anger, words not being able to take form, and that silence from her creating an awkward lull of silence in the air, backed up by quietly simmering anger.

"Yep. That would be tragic." Shikamaru took up the loose thread of conversation she'd left behind, his words heavy with their bluntness.

"One. More. Word." The blonde didn't even face him, instead just extending a stiff index finger.

Shikamaru slouched further in his chair and made a "zipped lips" motion with his finger.

Despite the absolute indifference most of them had shown to their team-mates, there was one thought that remained almost constant throughout everyone in the class:

This is gonna be a long few months

All the other genin had been herded out of the classroom, whisked away on some magical ninja adventure with their teachers. Meanwhile, Team 7 had been told to stay put in the classroom until the teacher arrived.

They were told this fifteen minutes ago.

The only sounds that filled the air were the impatient tapping of Naruto's foot, Sakura occasionally shuffling her elbow and Sasuke's random grunts upon realizing that there was still a massive empty space at the front of the room.

Nothing.

Nothing.

…more nothing?

"Alright that's it!"

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Sakura asked, eyes confused as she watched the hyperactive ninja walk to the front of the class and grab an eraser off the desk.

"It's his fault for being late!" Naruto muttered as he wedged the dusty device up against the wedge of the door frame.

"Are you crazy? Don't d-do that…" Sakura scolded him, struggling to keep a slight smile from creeping on to her face.

Oh god, this is gonna be hilarious!

What an idiot. Sasuke just thought to himself, the futility of the gag becoming clear to him immediately. The teacher was an elite-level jonin, did Naruto really think that a stupid "falling eraser" trick was going to trip him up.

Footsteps suddenly reverberated through the halls, alerting all three of the squad members to their teachers' presence.

"Shut up, shut up!" Naruto hushed to the two (who weren't even talking), as he scampered over to his seat, the impact of sandals on wood echoing closer.

The sounds abruptly stopped.

The door knob was twisted, a loud crack rumbling through the old door.

Fwoosh!

A silver haired man walked in through the door. His face drew immediate attention, as one of his eyes had been observed with a navy-blue mask, which occupied his face on a slope, almost like a scar.

None of the three were focused on this, instead their eyes were locked onto the eraser that had been positioned at the top of the door. It descended through the air like a bomb, so simple yet so beautiful in it's dropping point.

Thwack!

It landed on the teacher's head, gently bouncing off his spiked hair and flopping on the ground. The older man had, at this point, stopped moving.

Silent tension became apparent as his one unguarded eye began to size up the students. There was no immediate threat of anger in his expression but the absolute blankness may have been even worse.

"Pfft…HAHAHAHA! Oh, I got him good!" Naruto wasted no time ignoring this so he could pat himself on the back.

He actually fell for it?!

"…Kakashi-S-Sensei, I'm so sorry! I told him he shouldn't have done it, I swear, I knew this would- "

The man looked at the speaking party with little interest, as Sakura prattled on about things that concerned him about as much as the fly that was buzzing around the classroom window and just as he predicted, the blonde boy's laughter was much akin to an alcoholic buzz, it fizzled out quickly but the remnants of it remained completely irritating.

Soon enough, the quite resumed, not a single word having been uttered by the victim of the prank, letting the complete lack of words speak for themselves.

In his first display of…anything, he reached downwards and cerebrally picked up the eraser, observing it almost like a piece of fine art.

"That was a good one." He finally said, lurching back up to his full height, eraser in hand.

"…See, I knew it was funny!"

"But you know what wasn't a good…" His voice was low and slow as he faced away from the previously-talking Naruto. He strode casually to the desk, leaning against it as a silent but powerful aura emanated from every footstep in his path. "…This first impression. This has been a bad first impression. I am severely doubting all of your mental capabilities at this moment."

While the words registered with Sasuke and Sakura, Naruto's eyes visibly displayed his minds inner confusion at the choice of vocabulary. The teacher needed only a split-second to realize this before he stated:

"Translation: I think all of you are very, very stupid."

All three sank in their chairs.

Not a good start.

Wood was replaced with stone, as the quartet of ninjas made their way up to the top of a building, where tightly packed warmth was replaced with harsh, chilling winds.

"Hey, Kakeishi-sensei, why'd you take us up here? It's freezing!" Naruto yelled out above the blowing breezes (surprisingly easily at that), his protests earning only a blank gaze from the teacher who's name he'd just butchered.

"Do you want us to go back downstairs?"

"…No, but- "

"Then why did you say anything at all?"

Naruto's mouth opened, instinctively ready to yell something, only to quickly realize he had nothing to say.

The winds continued to hiss and sting, only getting worse as the older man instructed them all to sit down in round-table formation on the freezing cold surface of the flat tile roof.

"Okay…let's do some icebreakers. I want you to go around one-by-one and introduce yourself. Your name, likes and dislikes, and goals for the future."

"Hey, Kanashi-Sensei, can't you go first, ya' know, so you can show us how it works and stuff?"

The response to Naruto's question was an uncomfortable amount of silence and an eventual loud sigh from the only standing person.

"Okay…my name is Kakashi Hatake." He said, before quickly coughing and refocusing his eyes on Naruto. "Excuse me, I'm not sure if you got that so I'll say it again, Ka-ka-shi Hatake."

The intensity present in his voice stuck out like a sore thumb to everyone except the person it was aimed at, although Kakashi was quick to resume his slow tone.

"My likes…I don't really have any. My dislikes…I shouldn't say. As for dreams…I saw a hat on sale at the corner store. Maybe I'll buy it."

Each student expectedly sweat-dropped at the lazy response, all three of them questioning exactly how Kakashi had qualified to be a teacher. Was he some sleeper agent for a foreign country trying to attack the leaf? Or was he just stupid? Well, even if 99% of teachers hired were competent there was still going to be that 1%.

"You, in the orange." Kakashi barked, in a tone that anyone smarter than Naruto would consider demeaning. "Tell us about yourself."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki!" He wasted no time in yelling. The surname caused a brief sliver of curiosity to be visible in Kakashi's eye.

"Can you run back that last name please?"

"Uh, Uzumaki?"

Kakashi emoted something, but due to the almost full obscuration of his face, none of the students could discern anything from it.

"…Continue."

"I like Ichiraku Ramen and funny frogs that jump around." To emphasize this, Naruto bounced his fingers up and down, to absolutely no one else's enjoyment.

"…Any dislikes?"

"Sometimes, when their really packed out, Ichiraku takes so long to make even a single bowl. My goal…is to become the greatest hokage!"

Despite attempting to remain emotionless, Kakashi couldn't help his single exposed eye dropping in disappointment, completely indifferent on Naruto's goal. "Pink girl, you next…"

"Ah, my name is Sakura Haruno. I like…paintings and music…" She started off speaking confidently, but quickly faltered once anything personal was required to be read. It was painfully obvious to everyone listening that Sakura did not really like paintings and music more than the average person.

"There's not many things I don't like and my dream is…to become the greatest kunoichi in the world…" Not a single answer aside from her name felt convincing, and even she knew it.

Oh my god! You sounded like a complete LOSER! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU EVEN SAYING?!

"Thank you, Sakura, that was very informative." Kakashi said in a tone that implied he did not find it informative. "You next."

His finger extended to Sasuke, who automatically grimaced at even the thought of talking. After a few seconds of silence, he finally opened his mouth.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I like warm tomato soup on cold days. That's it. I dislike most things. My dream is…" His eyes filled with a look of anger that the other genin in attendance hadn't seen before, even Naruto letting out a "gulp" at the sight.

"…to kill my brother."

Quiet hung heavy in the air and eyes were left wide as Naruto and Sakura took in what he'd just said.

"Sasuke you will be staying for five minutes after this session ends." Kakashi finally said, cutting through the tension like a hot knife through butter.

"Wait, why?!" Sasuke's eyes turned from bloodlust to confusion, the first display of emotion that either of his teammates had seen him display.

"The amount of time it took you to say twenty-seven words shows you're not opposed to wasting mine, so why not take five minutes more?"

Sasuke just glared back at his teacher, who took no notice.

"Well, let's not dilly-dally all day. Your fest test comes up right now."

"Right now?!" All three students said, with varying levels of enthusiasm.

"Yes, this is one test of two that you'll be taking in order for me to figure out if you're really ready to be genin."

"Huh, but the exam- "Sakura started only to be promptly cut off.

"-Was a test to see who wasn't completely incompetent. Unfortunately for you three, the bare minimum is not nearly enough for you to be ready for the field."

All three felt a looming sensation of dread crawling up their backs from every word Kakashi said.

"But don't worry, if you fail this test, you have a second chance. Although that second chance will be significantly more strenuous then if you simply pass this one, okay?"

It was at this point that Naruto leaned over to Sakura, hand covering the side of his mouth.

"He's saying nice words but they sound…mean."

Sakura quickly nodded in agreement, both of them quickly retuning into Kakashi's speech.

"Your first test will be to answer this question…" The masked man took a pen out from behind his ear, as well as a notepad from his pocket, scribbling across it. It read:

What does a poor man have in spades that a rich man does not?

The trio read the message over and over again, trying to quickly think of an answer and get it over with. However, as soon as Narutos lips even slightly moved, Kakashi was quick to shush him…

"Ah, ah, ah. Remember, you only have one answer." He said, holding up a finger, before reaching into his pocket and retrieving a small, almost broken-down alarm clock, placing it at his feet. "You have until sundown to give an answer."

With that, Kakashi raised himself onto the buildings railing, crouching in preparation for a body flicker.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sasuke asked, eyes still lingering with annoyance.

"I'm going to get lunch. Maybe something with duck? Or pork…Ah, I'll decide on the way."

"Wait, sensei…"

Fwoosh!

And just like that, he disappeared, leaving three disappointed genins in his wake. Despite the fact that teacher had quite literally vanished, Naruto still leaned over the railing and yelled out, as loud as he could:

"Can you get me some too?"

Iruka was mad, papers clutched close to his chest as he stormed through the Hokage building.

"Mr. Umino, do you have an appoint-hey, wait!" The obviously tired male receptionist shouted, as the chunin stormed through, directly to Hiruzens room.

Reaching the surprisingly unofficial-looking paper doors, Iruka threw them open with anger, only to be met with an equally angry groan from the old man behind them.

"Jesus, can't an old man just PAINT for more than three minutes?!" Hiruzen shouted, nearly cracking the calligraphy brush in his hand from stress. Slowly, he turned around, not even attempting to hide the grimace worn on his features. "What do you want Iruka?"

"I can't believe you lord third!" Iruka slammed the paper files on the table next to the kneeling Hokage, opening up folder and sifting through it. "How could you let Kakashi Hatake take a genin team?"

"What do you mean."

"Every team that he's taught has been failed and dismissed in under two weeks. Not even a single one of his students have ever reached chunin! This is an outrage, no genin on this level can possibly pass his test"

Hiruzen just took a puff from his pipe and sat up to his full height (which was still alot shorter than Iruka), calming down somewhat.

"Kakashi has high standards. It was the way he was taught himself…if you really care about Naruto, you'd know he wouldn't want it any other way." Hiruzen mused, smiling to himself.

"Hey, who said this was about Naruto?!" Iruka weakly protested, intentions behind his intrusion obvious.

"You can leave Iruka." The Hokage said, beginning to walk away from both the man and the conversation "…and make an appointment next time."

"But, but! Aah" Iruka gritted his teeth, slapping himself on the head for being so careless.

Tick, tick, tick, tick!

Downwards and downwards the clock ticked, each student racking their brains for the answer.

Sakura had been thinking about it for around an hour, keeping a consistent gaze on the timer, the sun and (sometimes) Sasuke. At this point, the boredom was her worst enemy as she'd given up on finding an immediately-recognized-as correct answer a while ago.

"Hey, Sakura!" Narutos yelled (probably two times louder than he needed to), as he plopped himself down in front of her.

"Yeah?"

"Wanna bounce answers off each other?"

Straitening her posture, Sakura sat up, surprisingly open to the idea.

"Okay, what have you got?"

Naruto's face shriveled up, bottom lip curling over the other while his eyes purveyed a strong visual of guilt.

"…You tell me yours first."

Sakura couldn't help but smile at the boys failed attempt to make it look like he actually had an answer at all.

Tick, tick, tick, tick!

Sakura noticed the sun start to dim, cuts of white being slowly singed yellow. A quick look at the timer confirmed her suspicions.

"What if, it's like, dirt? Because rich people probably get rid of all their dirt and poor people don't, because they can't afford a dirt removal guy."

"…Is dirt remover an actual job?" Sakura asked, half-sincere curiosity, half-sarcastic humor.

"How else do they get dirt out of places?"

"Sweeping?"

"Oh yeah, forgot about that one." Naruto said, eyes widening, before he gracefully pivoted to another question. "Do you think rich people have, like, rich brooms."

Sakura wanted to just ignore what might be the dumbest question she'd ever heard in her life, but she was…stupidly curious.

"I don't think so, I mean, how much can you improve on a basic broom."

"I dunno', maybe they have little water fountains on the side of it that shoot out and help you clean."

Before she even realized what she was doing, Sakura let out a giggle.

What the hell?! Inner-Sakura tried to get a grip on her outer-self, but it was no use, the real Sakura had fully been wrapped up in the conversation.

"You know what, I'd spend money on that…actually, you'd probably end up hitting the water spray button when you were in-doors and it'd ruin the carpet and stuff."

"Yeah, that's true. Maybe they'd have to do a safety-lock on it."

"That might actually work…Naruto, you better get this patented quick." She joked, surprised at how quickly Narutos usual mischievous expression broke out into a bright smile at the sine of any humor.

Maybe she'd misjudged him.

Tick.

"Ooh! Ooh! Maybe it's instant ramen! Because rich people buy proper packaged ramen, which isn't as good as the instant ramen?"

Sakura sighed at the 15th bullshit answer Naruto had given in the last two hours. While they were somewhat consistently funny, they were also completely distracting. She'd always written off Naruto as one of those kids that probably ate glue, but his stupidity was somehow widespread and infectious like a parasite. This was…weaponized glue eating.

"Is the expensive ramen really that bad?" She asked, almost involuntarily.

"It sucks! I had a packet once, and the noodles were promoted as "organic" whatever the hell that means. They tasted like paper…maybe that's what organic means!"

"I don't think that's true." Sakura quickly shot down his discovery, only to be completely interrupted by a ringing sound.

BRIIIIIING! BRIIIIIIING! BRIIIIIIIIING!

"WHAT?!" She shrieked, only somehow now realizing how far down the sun was. Immediately, feelings of regret and wasted time began to flow through her. Why had she spent so much time talking about…water fountain brooms instead of figuring out the answer.

Oh god, you idiot! Imagine what mum's gonna say when we drop back to the academy!

Slowly she sunk her head into her knees, only mad at herself for letting time slip.

"What's up Sakura?" Naruto absent-mindedly asked, sitting up to his feet. Sakura briefly popped her head out of the miniature cave she had created for herself.

"We lost Naruto, the timers done, we don't have an answer." Her stare was not on the verge of tears, but instead, almost glossed over and blank.

"…So? We've got a second chance!"

"Yeah, which we'll probably fail as well."

"And then we go back to the academy, big whoop. We'll just take the exams again in a few months and then get a teacher that's not such an asshole!"

"I guess…" She couldn't say his argument wasn't somewhat reassuring. "…and I guess it'd kind of be nice, it's not like I have many…friends in this grade anyway." Her smile returned although it was somewhat pained.

"How many friend's do you have?" Naruto immediately asked, strangely focused.

"It used to be one but now it's…." Her grin left just as quickly as it came, upon having to confront the unfortunate reality of her situation. "…zero."

"Hey, I've got zero as well! If we become friends than we'll both have one!"

Sakuras eyes widened. Friends with Naruto Uzumaki? The perennial fuck up?! She couldn't just say yes.

Say no, and say he's stupid and dumb and an idiot. Come on, who does he…

"That sounds pretty good."

You are hopeless Inner-Sakura whined, facepalming.

"Alright!" Naruto thrusted his hands up in the air like he'd just won the lottery, dancing around, physically unable to contain his excitement. Sakura couldn't help but laugh.

Tap, tap, tap, tap

Alien footsteps suddenly became apparent on the rooftop, both Naruto and Sakura's gaze immediately locking onto it.

"Uh, where is he." Sasukes voice finally made his presence known for the first time in what felt like an hour, as the Uchiha boy leaned against the railing, waiting for Kakashi to show up.

"Thanks for helping asshole!" Despite the situation, Naruto had no hesitation in changing his mood from chirpy to angered.

"What…" Sasuke seemed legitimately taken off-guard by his rivals' antagonistic insult, a first since…forever.

"While we were working all day on finding the answers, you sat around like a dork and didn't even try to help us."

"I'm under no obligation to help you."

"Last I checked there was no I'm in Team 7!"

While Naruto's usual insults were easy for Sasuke to dodge and counter, these ones had replaced their usual silliness for complete anger.

He didn't know how to react.

Instead of following up to anything Naruto had said, he instead turned his head with a "hmm", trying to completely ignore his rival's existence.

This is where Naruto saw red. Belittling him was one thing, not acknowledging him on the other hand…

"Hey asshole, I was talking to you!"

Naruto charged at Sasuke, completely tunnel-vissioned. While initially taken off his guard, Sasuke turned around putting up a guard stance. As Naruto got closer, he threw a kick that seemed prime to take Narutos head off, literally

Sakura gulped as she realized Naruto may actually be decapitated.

Air whisked around Sasukes leg, as it raised upwards into Narutos head. Just as it was about to connect, he saw his opponents' eyes widen, the Uzumaki realizing just how bad a situation he'd gotten into.

Bamf!

Sasuke felt his momentum stop as a strong hand grabbed his leg, while another one pressed against Naruto's head. Both parties became completely frozen.

"Hmm…fights usually take longer to break out than this. You've truly defied my expectations." Kakashis bored monotone voice invaded what was a formerly tense situation, immediately diffusing it.

Naruto and Sasuke quickly pulled away, both grumbling something as they crossed their arms in unison.

"Well, let's hear the answer then. They better be pretty good if you could spend so much time trying to beat the shit out of one another. Sakura, would you present it…"

"Sure, sensei." She said, voice surprisingly cool despite the fact that the answer she was about to give. "The answer is…instant ramen."

She began to laugh as she said it, although it absolutely did not transfer to Kakashi, who looked at her with an eye filled with a mixture of annoyance and bafflement.

"…Well, not that it needs saying, but that's wrong. We'll begin the second test tomorrow."

Sakura wanted to feel sad, but at least she and Naruto had gotten a laugh out of failing. It softened the blow a bit

"I've got a separate answer." Sasuke spoke up, getting the attention of everyone on the rooftop.

"Yes?"

"…It's poverty." He said, face blank but radiating absolute confidence in the response.

"Correct." Kakashi's tone did not match the words, sounding even more annoyed than he did with Sakuras ramen answer. "Unfortunately, Sasuke, the group has already spoken. You will be joining the others tomorrow."

"But- "He tried to protest but was quickly disarmed by Kakashi once again climbing against the railing.

"Sorry, I don't make the rules."

"You do though-"

It was too late, as Kakashi flickered away, leaving Sasuke talking to essentially a ghost.

He became…frustrated, an attempt to walk it off doing little when presented with the most annoying sound in the world.

"Ahahaha!" Naruto laughed out loud, prompting Sasuke to turn on his heel and give the hyperactive boy a quick glare, before he himself made a descent from the building, heading off towards the Uchiha compound.

A resting silence overtook the flat roof, as Naruto and Sakura both stood in silence. Of course, this wouldn't last for long.

"I think we're going to do really well tomorrow!" The boy yelled, thrusting his fist up into the air triumphantly. Sakura wished she had his confidence.

The smell of alcohol radiated off a group of boys as they stumbled through the darkness of the forest, speeches slurred. Their clothes were scrappy and worn down, all of them having dropped out of school early in their lives. Not one of them could've been over fifteen.

"Are 'ou sure it's 'p here dude?" One said to the apparent gang leader, the pack moving as one uncoordinated drunk man as opposed to the five there actually were.

"Yeah dude, I saw some…hot bitch up here, drying clothes and shit. Lead me right to a nice, cozy little inn. We brake in there, steal some shit and invest the profits in some more fucking beer!"

Every one present gave a loud "Aye!" of appreciation as they continued on directly to a torch lit pathway, each stick of fire leading to the illuminated cottage.

"Here we go boys." A boy in a red shirt ran in front of the pack and reached for the doorknob, paperclip already fastened and ready to crack the lock open.

A cool sensation overtook the boy's feet, causing collective shivers to jolt around them.

"What the hell?!" One of them drunkenly laughed. "the fuck's doing that?!"

His finger extended to the forest overgrowth, where freezing mist was being pumped outwards at an unnaturally fast rate. Before they had even been able to properly react to it, the mist had completely overtaken the previously night-lit scenery.

"Misu, stop." The leader growled at the lockpicker, smelling a rat.

Silence overtook the group as they tried to figure out what exactly was happening and where the smokescreen was coming from.

"Misu" accidentally pressed against the door, finding that it felt…cold…really cold. Cold and wet.

"Guys…" His eyes widened when he realized the door had been converted completely to ice. Light started to flicker off it intensely, shining brighter and brighter until a small flash radiated from the ice-door.

If Misu had had any cognitive ability left, he would've felt the cut stretching across his face.

"Fucking run!" The pack leader screamed, causing the gang to disperse like a band of rodents.

Fwoosh!

Another boy went down as a large sword easily cut through the thick mist, some of the fog dispersing around it. The group were currently too occupied with running through the forest to care.

One by one, the mob dwindled.

One boy felt the sharp prickle of the forest trees against his skin to in reality be the blade of a sword. Others were picked off from a distance, the same deadly beam of light darting from various mirrors of ice, efficiently picking off it's target in one attempt. Spilt blood seeped into the navy-blue grass, creating a morbid contrast in the landscape.

Eventually, the only one that remained was the leader, his legs desperately pumping as hard as they could. He could barley feel his bottom half, and his vision was hazy, all he wanted was to get out of the mist.

The bright blasted into his eyes, as he emerged into a forest clearing completely free of the lethal fog. A smirk adorned his features as the feeling of safety once again returned to him.

Leaves cracked.

From the side of his head, he saw a large kunai flying towards him.

He was too worn to dodge.

The metal pierced his skin easily and sent him flying into a nearby tree, hanging him up like a dart.

"AAAAH. Fuck!" He screamed, clutching at his shoulder as the adrenaline that had previously been sustaining him wore off, letting him feel the complete amount of pain from the stab wound. His breath was ragged but upon hearing heavy footsteps in the distance, it still hitched.

Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap…

Out from the branch-coated depths, a tall man emerged. His hair was shrot and spiked, the bottom half face covered by a layer of loosely wrapped bandages. His forehead protector was twisted sideways, while his body was covered by a black sleeveless shirt and matching baggy pants. His massive sword was brandished on his back.

The boy's eyes widened as he saw the man approach. Screams built up in his lungs but nothing came out. He was frozen in fear.

"…Safe to say breaking into that house was the worst mistake of your life." The man said, bleakly comedic.

"You're…you're…"

"Zabuza Momoichi. The demon of the mist. Yep." Zabuza introduced himself, unclasping his sword and stabbing it down into the dirt in front of the boy. His tone went from joking to deadly freighting.

"Tell me kid, when you woke up in the morning, what'd you think was gonna' happen?"

The teen couldn't form words, just incomprehensible stutters and even those died down under Zabuza's icy gaze. Those were not the eyes of a man; they were the eyes of a devil.

"Cause to me…you have the eyes of a person who didn't think he was gonna' die today... and I just can't let you get away with that."

Sitting up from his relaxed position, Zabuza retrieved the hulking weapon from the ground and aimed it at his victim.

"P-please…no…dude, stay back!'

SLING!

A tree fell in the rain village forest that day.