Chapter Text
For his first day as a ninja, Naruto was having a pretty rough time. Between being punched who knows how many times, being pricked in the butt by that Iruka-sensei wannabe, and even kissing that pretty-boy Sasuke, he was sure this would be the second worst day of his life, second only to every other day in his life. He lived with this kind of abuse on the daily, and today he became a real shinobi. All that was left was to be assigned to a team.
“Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki” Iruka spoke aloud to the crowd.
“Hey, that’s me” Naruto thought to himself.
“Sasuke Uchiha” he continued. A handful of shinobi began whispering to one another.
“Not that jerk.”
“and Hinata Hyuuga.” There was a crash in the back of the classroom as a white-eyed girl fell to the floor. Everyone in the room jumped at the sound. After a few seconds, some of the other kids in the around the impact gave a thumbs up as she sheepishly worked her way back into her seat, her face beet red.
The day wasn’t going all too great for Sasuke, either. A Hyuuga could definitely help sharpen his skills until that day, but why did he have to be teamed up with that runt who couldn’t even perform a clone jutsu? How did he graduate, anyway? He didn’t dwell on it too much as he returned home, walking down the same abandoned path he always did, passing the few newly owned buildings encroaching on his district. It had only been four years, and they were already forgetting the tragedy that befell him. Entering the same house he had always lived in, he ran his fingers across the bloodstains that had long faded in the entryway before returning to his room. It was around this time of day he would usually get back from the academy and eat, maybe even do some training, but today was different. Staring at the ceiling, he thought to himself. He was finally a ninja. Not a real one, and Itachi was half his age when he did it anyway. Without warning, Sasuke threw one of the many kunai he kept on him into the windowsill to his left.
“I know you’re there.”
A girl with pink hair and shocked green eyes crept up from being the wall. Sasuke recognized her as one of the nobodies from the academy, one of the horde vying for his attention.
“Get out.” His black eyes seemed to burn holes through her body.
“I’m sorry, Sasuke, it’s just that you looked so lonely walking home that I thought I would just-”
“I said leave” he shouted, raising his voice for the first time Sakura had ever heard. His arms shook with how tightly his fists were clenched. “You have no right to invade my home!”
With that, Sakura felt an immense rush of fear, yet another first for her, before taking the kunai embedded in front of her and running.
The day couldn’t have been going better for Hinata. Passing out in class wasn’t the way the dignified princess of the Hyuuga clan should act, but she couldn’t care less. She was finally on a team with Naruto! It was almost the only thing she could think about; the missions they’d take, the conversations they’d share.
“I win this time, Hinata,” a pleased Hanabi declared as she feigned closing off her sister’s tenketsu, “you’ve lost a lot today, are you sure you went to the right academy?”
“S-sorry Hanabi, I just have a lot on my mind. I’m going to go eat some food” Hinata replied.
“Ooh! I’m hungry too, could you make me some” the younger replied, to which Hinata simply sighed confoundedly.
Before anybody was prepared, it was the next day.
“C’mon! It’s the first day, and the teacher is already late” Naruto whined, looking up and down the halls. There was an awkward silence before Hinata responded.
“Maybe he just needed to help someone cross the street...”
“Awww, but I’m ready to roll! I mean, all the other teams have already met their new teachers, so what gives?”
“Sit down” Sasuke glared, being sure to punctuate the start of each word with emphasis.
“Aw yeah, mister fancy pants? What’re you gonna do about it, huh?” Naruto left the door and hiked his foot next to Sasuke’s resting elbows.
“N-Naruto?” Hinata whispered.
“What does a runt like you expect to be able to do to me.”
“You think your so special, huh? Your grades won’t mean jack when I beat you.”
“Both of you, calm down” a new voice commanded. “If you’re going to act like that to your own teammates, well… how do I put this…, training you would be completely pointless.” Everybody’s hearts sank. The mysterious jōnin waved his hand, “come on, we’re not having class in this stuffy old place.”
The wind howled on the rooftop of the school building.
“All right, why don’t you guys introduce yourselves one at a time.”
Hinata gasped as if she had seen a wild dog.
Sasuke huffed haughtily.
“C’mon man, what are we even supposed to say?”
“Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, things like that.”
“I dunno, why don’t you go first so we know how it’s supposed to go?”
“Me? I’m Kakashi Hatake. Things I like or hate? I don’t really feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future? Never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, I have lots of hobbies.” The rest of Team Seven groaned. “Now how about you, on the right?”
“I’m Naruto Uzumaki! I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka-sensei got me at Ichiraku, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, and my future dream is to become the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like somebody important!”
“Alright, next?”
“I-um-actually Hatake-sensei-”
“Please, call me Kakashi.”
“Oh- sorry Kakashi-sensei. I was wondering if-f I could maybe go… last?”
“Yeah, that sounds fine. You?”
“My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don’t particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I’m going to restore my clan and destroy... a certain someone” Sasuke lurked. There was a pregnant silence.
“Alright, let’s uh… why don’t you go?”
“I’m Hinat-ta Hyuuga. I like, um,” there was a long pause before her face reddened, only to be covered with her hands shortly after, “I like zena-ze… zenzai, and I dislike seafood. My hobby is p-pressing flowers. My dream is” there was a long pause. After a few seconds, Kakashi nodded expectantly. “My dream is to be respected by my clan.”
“Thank you, Hinata. You’re each unique and have your own ideas. We’ll have our first mission tomorrow.”
“Huh? What kinda mission will it be?”
“It’s a task that the four of us will do together.”
“What, what, what, what?”
“A survival exercise.”
“Wouldn’t it be more beneficial to do something we didn’t already do at the academy” Sasuke jeered.
“This won’t be like any training you’ve already had” Kakashi responded, beginning to chuckle. “I know I don’t have to say this to Sasuke, but you two? Of the twenty-seven graduates in your class, only nine will be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass/fail test, and the chance that you’ll fail is at least sixty-six percent.”
Hinata grasped at her throat to quell a gasp, and Naruto nearly fell over.
“C’mon man, we worked hard to get here. Why’d we even take that graduation test.”
“That was just to narrow down the number of candidates.”
“What?!”
“Like it or not, Naruto, that’s how it is. I decide if you pass or fail. Meet at the designated training spot at 5:00 AM, and bring your ninja tools.”
Naruto sat there shaking in both anticipation and fear as Kakashi got up and strolled his way to the stairs. Looking over, Hinata placed her hand on his.
“It’ll be okay, Naruto. I’m sure if anyb-body in our group fails, it will be me.”
Naruto looked up to her and smiled, his bright blue eyes feeling like they were piercing her soul.
“No way, Hinata. If we’re gonna achieve our dreams, we all gotta pass. I mean what I said, and I never go back on my word, ya know?”
Hinata could only sit there, slack-jawed in awe, before nodding confidently.
“Then I’ll pass too, Naruto!”
“One more thing,” Kakashi started, turning around waving his fingers, “you might want to skip breakfast tomorrow, or else you’ll puke.”