A/N: Hello all. This is a story I've wrote almost four years ago, but recently decided to delete and repost to fit my current writing style compared to how it was in the past. To most, this may seem like a totally new story. To the rest, it should seem more polished and enjoyable than it used to.

But in any case, I hope you all enjoy!

"Hehehehehe...!" A twelve-year old Naruto couldn't stop himself from chuckling. He had just become a fully-pledged shinobi today! He also learned a new jutsu called 'Kage-Bunshin no Jutsu'. He's become one step closer to becoming Hokage! What's even better is that he actually kicked Mizuki's ass, who was a Chuunin! A freakin' Chuunin! And he himself hasn't even become a shinobi until after that! That can only mean one thing-

"If Mizuki was so easy to beat, imagine how easy the rest of these punks are! I think I may be the best in the class right now!"

"...Naruto? The hell are you doing here? This classroom is only for people who have received a Hitai-ate and have become a shinobi!" One of his classmates said to him, interrupting him from his thoughts. Naruto snapped his head at the student and smiled broadly.

"Hehehe! I know! Can't you see the thing around my forehead? Why do you think I'm here?" Naruto responded, ignoring the student's attitude towards him. Before the boy could retort anything else at Naruto, a female voice interrupted them both.

"HI SASUKE-KUN!"

"Great. Another screaming Sasuke-fan came into the room." Naruto grumbled in his head, while glaring at the pink-haired girl running into the room. He whipped his head over toward said Uchiha, who was sitting a chair away from him, and sneered at the occupied, but calm expression on his face while his hands are folded underneath his chin. "Damned teme. There's no one on this earth who I hate more than him! He thinks he's hot shit...with his 'cool' attitude, his thousands of screaming fans, and his smarts... and whatnot..."

Before Naruto could rant about anything else about his self-proclaimed rival in his head, a blur of pink and red pushed the blond out of his seat to get to Sasuke. Naruto landed on the floor hard. As he gets up from the ground, he wondered what the hell that was that pushed him. But he found the answer to his question quickly when he saw a giddy Sakura standing beside Sasuke, who was trying his best not to pay any attention to her.

"Hee-hee-hee! Hello, Sasuke-kun! Would you mind if I sit next to y-?"

"Yes, I would." Sasuke grunted. Sakura showed a bit of disappointment on her face for a mere second, but then smiled before trying her luck again.

"Aww, come on Sasuke-kun! Wh-"

"Don't waste your time, Sakura." Grunted out an irritable blonde, "If the teme doesn't want you to sit next to him, then nothing you'll say is going to make him change his mind." Naruto added. Sakura glared at the young Jinchuuriki and Sasuke looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Why don't you mind your business, Naruto? I don't recall anyone talking to you, ya know!" Sakura replied hardheartedly, putting her hands on her hips. Naruto stood up from his seat and stepped closer to Sakura.

"Yeah, well I was talking to you! Leave the ignorant bastard alone, will ya? It's not like he's actually going to fall for you one day, so you're just wasting your time! I'm trying to help you out, for Kami's sake!" Naruto retorted. Sakura grimaced.

"Hmph. You're just jealous that you're nowhere near as attractive as Sasuke-kun. Every girl here would easily say the same thing." Sakura countered. But before Naruto got the chance to retaliate, someone else spoke up for him.

"Ha! I beg to differ." The blonde and pinkette heard from their side. They both turned their heads to the source of the voice and spotted a girl with a small white and brown Great Pyrenees snuggled in her lap. The first noticeable trait about this female were the red fang markings on both sides of her face. The next thing was her vertically slit pupils, and her long, but wild-looking brown hair that stopped at the middle of her back in a ponytail. Even though she seemed to have a few... feral-like traits, this young lady was truly beautiful, despite the intimidating look on her face. She was also wearing a loose-fitting, gray, hooded sweater that had black fur attached to the sleeves and hood. She wasn't wearing the hood at the moment, and her hitai-ate was wrapped around her neck. She also wore dark, ankle-high shinobi pants, her kunai holster wrapped around her left thigh.

"I'd take Blondie over there over that Uchiha any day." The young brunette finished with a quick glare in said Uchiha's direction. Sasuke rolled his eyes and scoffed at the brunette, returning his attention back to his own thoughts regarding how to have himself become an only child. Both Sakura and Naruto were looking at this girl with wide eyes, but for different reasons, "What? I just don't have a thing for arrogant assholes. Especially ones that have hair in the shape of a bird's ass." she added.

"Oh yeah, you're that weird dog girl who always did the exact opposite of what all the other girls would do in class." Sakura stated, "That figures. You and Naruto are practically made for each other."

"Oh, I'm sorry for not flocking with the rest of you she-harpies who swoon over a boy who could care less about your existence."

Right before Sakura could come up with a comeback, the door to the classroom opened, with their sensei, Iruka Umino strolled through the door, a scroll in his hand.

"Alright class, take your seats. It's time to announce the Genin teams you each will be placed in." he said with a casual smile. Everyone, including Naruto and Sakura, hurried to their seats to hear the announcement of the teams that they'll be on. With the previous argument completely forgotten about, Sakura prayed that she'd be able to get paired up with her sweetheart-to-be.

"Okay, since we don't have much time to waste, I'll just get right on with it. Team One will consist of..." Iruka read from the scroll he brought in. Teams One through Six have been called out after a couple of minutes. But once Team Seven was about to being called out...

"Team Seven will consist of... Haruno Sakura," Sakura perked up and looked at her teacher anxiously.

"Please be Sasuke-kun, please be Sasuke-kun, please be Sasuke-kun...!" Sakura chanted in her head with crossed fingers.

"Uchiha Sasuke,"

"YES!" Sakura shouted.

Sasuke sighed.

"And Yamanaka Ino."

"WHAT?!"

Sasuke and Iruka sighed.

"And Team leader will be Hatake Kak-"

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'LL BE ON A TEAM WITH HER?" Sakura and Ino roared simultaneously, pointing their fingers at their rival. If anyone in this class wasn't aware of Sakura's and Ino's rivalry, one might assume that they rehearsed synchronized arguing.

Iruka ignored their outbursts and simply told them to talk to him after class. Still angry, but didn't put up any further argument, Sakura and Ino sat back down into their seats. Satisfied, Iruka continued.

"Right. Now, Team Eight will consist of... Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto sat up and paid close attention to Iruka. "Hyuuga Hinata," Naruto looked over to one of the few people that wasn't hostile to him. She was very nice from what he could tell... if not, a little weird. Every time he'd try to talk to her, she'd turn red and either faint, or run away. He had enough knowledge to know that she wasn't doing it out of fear. So why would she behave like that? Was it him, or just her? Girls are weird...

"And Inuzuka Kaori." Iruka announced.

"Hm? That's the girl that kind of stood up for me just a minute ago. She always seemed so intimidating, so I can't say I know her that well..." Naruto didn't know what to make of her at the moment. She didn't seem like much of a hostile person, although the intimidating look on her face would say otherwise. Considering how she openly stated she'd prefer him over Sasuke, Naruto felt confident that he'd be able to make some new friends for a change.

For that reason, he smiled. He was hoping that he'd at least be paired up with his other somewhat friendly associate, Shikamaru, but was satisfied with the outcome.

"And Team leader will be... Yuuhi Kurenai." Iruka finished. "Now, Team 10 will consist of Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and Aburame Shino. Team Leader will be Sorutobi Asuma." Iruka finished. "Now, is there any questions? Feel free to ask." he said after slipping the note into his pocket. Sakura and Ino both stood up from their seats, raising their hands up as high as they could. Iruka sighed and shook his head.

"Sakura, Ino, I told you two to wait until after I dismiss everyone." The two rivals reluctantly sat back down and put their hands at their sides. "Alright, now you guys can have an hour-long lunch break and are to report back here for your sensei's to pick you up... Class dismissed." As soon as Iruka said those words, two blurs of blonde and purple, and red and pink rushed across the classroom to Iruka.

Naruto stood up from his seat and walked over to where Kaori was gathering her things.

"Naruto, huh? Looks like we're going to be teammates from now on." she said without even looking in his direction. Naruto was a bit taken back at how she knew he was right there. He didn't think he made much noise when he approached her, and she was even looking in the opposite direction from him.

"Y-Yeah. Hey, how'd you know I was here?" Naruto questioned. Kaori grinned and turned around to look at him. She then pointed to her small nose.

"My clan is notorious for their keen sense of smell. I can make my sense of smell a hundred times better than any humans, so I can track you by your scent." she boasted. Kaori then crinkled her nose. "You sure could use a bath, though."

Naruto looked at her for a second before lifting his arm to smell his armpit. Naruto flinched at the smell then smiled sheepishly at his new teammate, rubbing the back of his head.

"Hehehe, yeah... sorry about that." Naruto apologized, "Um... anyway, I was kinda hoping that we could all get lunch together as a team and get to know each other better. How does that sound?"

Kaori thought for a minute, "... Are you treating?"

"Um, yeah. I guess so."

"Then alright, let's go!"

"I get to go on a team with Naruto-kun?" the violet-haired princess thought, "And for some strange reason, I was half-expecting him to be paired up with Sakura-san..." she then looked over to where Naruto was sitting, only to find him and her other new teammate walking over to her.

"Hey, Hinata. Since we're going to be a team, I figured it'd be nice to get lunch and get to know each other. It's my treat." Naruto offered, "Wanna join us?"

"Um... Sure. I'd love to, Naruto-san."

"IRUKA-SENSEI!"

Iruka had the incredible urge to hide from the two children running toward him. But how would it look if he hid from a couple of twelve year-olds? Making his decision, he simply stood there and sighed, ready to face his tribulation.

"Girls, first off, let me say that I'm not the one that chooses the individuals to be on each team. That's the Hokage's job. I just send him reports of your progress in class; you're strengths and weaknesses, and he pairs you up with other shinobi that can help you improve upon your weaknesses." Iruka explained before they got a chance to scream at him. They then give him a puzzled look, which flashed back to their previous enraged ones.

"What weakness can I possibly improve on through working with her? I don't like her!" Ino exclaimed to Iruka while pointing a finger at Sakura, which in response caused Sakura to glare at her. Iruka sighed.

"That's the precise reason why you two were paired up. In my reports, I informed the Hokage of both of your rivalries with each other. Whether he wants you both to work together to end your rivalries, or to use your rivalries to motivate you to do better, I don't know. But its for those two reasons you both were paired up together. And the reasons why you're paired up with Sasuke, is because the Hokage feels that your infatuation with him is greatly hindering you both from reaching your maximum potential, and through guidance of your new sensei, Hatake Kakashi, he'll help you both get over it and start taking your lives as kunoichi more seriously." Iruka took a deep breath. "Does that answer your questions, girls?"

Sakura and Ino were still pouting, but nodded.

Over across the other side of the classroom, Chouji met up with his best friend, Nara Shikamaru and was attempting to wake him up from his slumber.

"Hey, Shika. Wake up, class is dismissed." he said lightly, shaking his arm. Shikamaru rose out of his sleep, lifted his head up, and looked at Chouji tiredly, rubbing the crust out of his eyes.

"Mgh... Really...? So who's on my team? Please tell me our fathers' 'Ino-Shika-Cho' squad will be passed down to this generation..." Shika groaned. Chouji sent him a small smile.

"Well... not really. Its more like we're gonna be a 'Shino-Shika-Cho' team." The large child replied. Shikamaru let out a breath of relief. He knew Ino would definitely be a nuisance, he's seen it for himself more than a couple of times, if she was to be on his team. His father, Shikaku, had mercilessly nagged him to death about the new generation and formation of the 'Ino-Shika-Cho Trio', and sure this might disappoint him, but Shikamaru felt he'll live. Chouji was Shikamaru's best friend, so that in no way bothered him. And Shino was okay, if not a little mysterious, but Shika was sure they would get along fine.

Besides, women are troublesome, anyway.

"Wait, who's our sensei?" The Shadow Manipulator asked. Chouji shrugged.

"I dunno, some guy named Sorutobi Asuma." Chouji stated before resuming to his bag of chips. It was then that they both noticed a figure in a white coat approach them.

"Hello. Since we're going to paired in a team together, I figured it would be wise to have lunch to familiarize ourselves with each other. Cooperation and friendship is essential to form a successful team." Shino stated with one hand in his pocket, the other adjusting his glasses, then returning to his other pocket. There was a pregnant pause between the three genin, before Shikamaru spoke up.

"Sounds good. So who's treating?"

"..."

"..."

"... So I guess I am, huh...? Troublesome..."

"WHAT?! What do you mean you never ate ramen?!" Naruto asked incredulously. Kaori just shrugged.

"What I mean is that I never had ramen before. What's so great about it, anyway?" Naruto just sat there bug eyed. He then turned to Hinata.

"Hinata, please tell me you've had ramen at least once!" Naruto asked her with a hopeful look. Hinata looked at him with a slight blush and lightly shook her head.

"Sorry, Naruto-san, but I, um, don't believe I've had ramen before. We don't really eat things like that at the Hyuuga compound..."

Naruto wanted to drop dead. But he knew the exact place where to have lunch now.

"Ah, you guys don't know what you're missing out on! Come on!" Naruto said excitedly, gently grabbing both girls' wrists and began running, forcing them to run in step with him.

"Eep! N-Naruto-san...!"

"H-Hey! Slow down, baka!"

An hour later, each team had lunch together and gotten to know each other well... save for Team Seven, since Sakura and Ino knew each other plenty, and Sasuke didn't want to bother getting to know his two irritating teammates.

Team Eight was the first to arrive back to the classroom to meet their sensei's, followed by Team Ten. All of the other teams had arrived after them, then last, but certainly not least, Team Seven entered. Naruto had to hold back the urge to tell the two female rivals to shut up over a guy that wasn't even worth their time, and succeeded. Barely.

But now, he was just chatting with Hinata and Kaori, mainly bragging about their reactions towards having their first bowl of Ichiraku ramen. Kaori tried to hide it, but her reaction made it clear that ramen was one of the best things she's ever eaten before. She almost had the same amount of bowls that Naruto had, and considering Naruto's huge appetite, that says a lot.

As for Hinata, she sighed happily as her taste buds were appreciating the mix of flavors that were enveloping around them. Naruto made sure to see her reaction, and laughed heartily when he did. Hinata had one bowl, which was practically nothing compared to the amount Naruto and Kaori had, but considering her appetite and the size of the bowl, she wasn't sure if she would finish it all at first. It was for that reason she felt a bit embarrassed, considering how she felt she pigged out a bit.

As they continued to chat amongst themselves, the door to the classroom opened, and to the slight disappointment of Naruto, Teams Four and Two met with their sensei's and left the classroom.

A few minutes later, a man with short but spiky ebony hair and chinstrap beard, and a woman with mid-length wavy black hair and red eyes entered the classroom. The man was wearing a standard Konoha shinobi outfit, along with a white sash around his waist with a red and black symbol on it that said 'fire' on it in kanji. He was also smoking a cigarette, which Naruto questioned in his head about his logic in doing that in front a bunch of kids.

As for the woman, her eyes are what attracted Naruto's, if not everyone in the classroom's, attention first. They were a deep blood red color with a kind of ring shape in them outside of the pupil. She had on red lipstick and a light shade of purple eyeshadow on her eyelids. Her outfit was something someone would assume consisted of bandages, which were wrapped around her in a sleeveless dress-like fashion which ended mid-thigh, exposing a fair amount of leg, with a long red sleeve attached to her right side. The 'dress' also had a little bit of a low collar, exposing a dark mesh shirt underneath along with a modest amount of cleavage. She also wore bandages around her hands, all the way up to her elbows, and had her Konoha Hitai-ate around her forehead.

In Naruto's opinion, she was pretty damn hot.

"Alright guys, where's Squad Ten?" The man with the beard asked, looking around the classroom. Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino all raised their hands. The Jounin smiled slightly and walked over to them. The minute he does so, the red-eyed beauty cleared her throat.

"And where's my team; Squad Eight?" she asked.

"That's supposed to be my sensei? Oh man, I'm gonna have a lot of trouble concentrating on myself with her around!" Naruto half-groaned in his head, trying his best not to eyeball the hell out of his new sensei. He and his two female teammates raised their hands to show that they were the team she was looking for. The Jounin then saw this and sent them a smile that made Naruto a bit weak in the knees.

"Hey, blondie. You can put your eyeballs back in your head." Kaori whispered quietly, but firmly. Naruto looked over toward her, with a guilty/innocent face.

"Huh? What are you talking about, Kaori-chan?" he asked. Kaori snarled at Naruto for the adding the '-chan' suffix to her name. While getting more familiar with each other at the ramen bar, Naruto used the '-chan' suffix unconsciously while stating her name. Kaori wasn't angry with him for it, but she stated that she'd prefer him to drop that suffix, due to the fact that it made her name sound cute and Kaori didn't think of herself as such. Hot, sexy, attractive, appealing, etc were all things she would describe herself as, but cute was not on that list. She'd let Hinata have that adjective, and wasn't surprised when Hinata said she didn't mind being called 'Hinata-chan'.

But Kaori just ignored it and returned back to the situation at hand.

"I mean, that I'm sure that she has no problems with undressing herself, so you don't have to do it with your eyes."

"E-Eh?! I-I'm not-!"

"Hello, guys." The three Genin didn't even realize that the older woman walked up to them while Kaori and Naruto were bickering. Their attention then got transferred back to her, especially Naruto's. "My name is Yuuhi Kurenai. I'm sure it'll be nice working with you all."