HunterX097: Alright, I'm here xD. This chapter took me a little longer than the last one, so I hope it's good. Well, I read comments and a few ideas are quite interesting, I will think about them in next chapters. In this story, no harem, because I'm not good at writing about harem, just Naruto and Sasuki, but there will be a few jealousy moment lol. I need your ideas about who is with Izumi. Iruka or someone xD.

Anyways, thank you for supporting me. If you can, please review and let me know your thoughts.

Finally, I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm sorry for my writing skills and grammars if they made you uneasy, I will try to improve.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto

It was early morning when team 7 arrived, feeling well rested and ready for their test. Against their sensei's orders, they ate breakfast in preparation for the survival challenge. They doubted that whatever he had in store would make them lose their stomachs especially considering how they were very suspicious of the so called survival exercise.

The three remained quiet, sharing the occasional glance as they waited easily into late morning for their sensei to arrive.

"Morning, students." Kakashi saluted, appearing with a puff of smoke.

Well, he finally did. Sasuki was just about ready to punch him in the face when he showed up with his apologetic smile and wave.

"Sorry, I'm late, you wouldn't believe the traffic...hehehe." Naruto held his best friend back and just whispered a reminder that they would get to dealt with him plenty soon. Kakashi observed his students and he frowned.

"I told you not to have breakfast." The jounin said sternly

Shino slowly got up. "You advised us not to have breakfast. It wasn't an order."

Naruto smiled softly at that, 'It's good he realized it.'

"Besides, it's way past ten in the morning. If we didn't eat, we wouldn't have the constitution and surely fail your test." The blond boy explained and the girl next to him nodded in agreement. "A pity you arrived, I was beginning to enjoy the sun."

Kakashi mentally sighed. 'Figures I had to find the only bunch of genins who isn't intimidated by me and neither annoyed by my tardiness.' "Alright, let's move on with our schedule, my students. We are here for a mock surviving battle. Your opponent will be...me."

Sasuki and Shino looked at him, blankly, as if saying: 'You don't say!'

Naruto just sighed and shook his head, 'This is bad.'

Kakashi inwardly smiled. 'They are good.' And took out a small clock and placed it on one of a row of tree logs imbedded into the ground. He hit the button on top to start the timer and turned to face the three.

"It's set to go off at noon, at which time the test will end." He began to reach into his pocket as Sasuki crossed her arms and spoke in annoyance.

"So what's the test?" She asked impatiently to which Kakashi held up a hand for her to calm down as he took two bells out of his pocket.

"Your goal will be taking one of these bells from me." He pointed at them as he explained. "If you fail, you will be tied to that pole..." he indicated them. "... and be forced to see me and your teammates eat this delicious bentos I made." he produced the bentos as well.

Of course, since they had all eaten, they were not that worried. 'And here goes the dramatic effect.'

"Wait a minute!" Sasuki suddenly shouted. "But there are only two bells!"

"Then one of you is doomed to fail. It's very simple." Kakashi shrugged. Sasuki and Shino were dumbfounded while Naruto was still calm, he narrowed his eyes a little though.

"You can use any weapons you have at your disposal. Come at me with the intent to kill. You won't get a bell otherwise." Kakashi advised.

'First he tries to divide us with the bells, now he's encouraging we take him head on in order to get a bell. He thought he could fool me because I had been a solo shinobi for a long time. However, he can fool Sasuki and Shino, but not me.' He thought. 'The point of this test...is the things which creates the power of Konohagakure...' The Uzumaki smirked interestingly.

"We'll start on my mark. Ready?" Kakashi hooked the two bells onto his pants.

'Teamwork...'

"Start!"

"Start!"

Three genin disappeared at once. 'Right, nice speed. They are good at hiding too. I almost lost Naruto for a second...' he stopped his analysis when he saw Naruto marching towards him.

"What are you doing?" He asked, sweat dropped.

Naruto grinned, "I want to check on something." And he rushed at him.

"Very well, then I shall start the first lesson: Taijutsu." Kakashi said and prepared to fight.

Naruto charged and kicked, punched. Kakashi immediately fought back and he had to say that Naruto was really tough in his taijutsu if he might not use his full strength, 'His movements are simple but fast and no loose ends. It's so good for a 12 years old kid.' He thought and back away from the blond boy.

"Impressive, Naruto-kun." He said.

Naruto just smirked, "Thank you for your compliment, Kakashi-sensei." He said with a grin and started making a hand sign.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." Naruto yelled the name of his technique. A dozen shadow clones poofed into existence within a cloud of smoke. All twelve clones shouted out an identical war cry and attacked Kakashi. The jounin produced a kunai and started repelling the attacks.

'Wow, he is really excellent.' Naruto thought, he was awestruck by the way moved, darting in and out of the clones' clumsy strikes, piercing them with his kunai. 'I suppose he isn't a former ANBU captain for nothing.'

Kakashi kept content with sidestepping and ducking, sometimes he had to block his pretty tough strikes. However, Naruto fully knew that it was still difficult to confront the silver haired jounin and took bells. Rummaging through his hip pouch, he produced an explosive tag and carefully wrapped it around the handle of a kunai knife. Kakashi seemed unaware of his actions; the jounin was still toying with his last two clones. Both shadow clones leaped at the older ninja simultaneously, and Naruto hurled the explosive kunai in sync with their attack.

The resulting explosion was larger than the young jinchuuriki had anticipated. The shock wave blew him off his feet and sent him hurtling through the air. He hit the ground hard and tumbled a few more feet before he finally managed to slow his momentum. He struggled to his knees as the smoke the cleared, looking for any sign of his sensei.

Meanwhile, Sasuki and Shino were watching the battle behind bushes. Both of them was really impressed with their teammate. Shino knew that Naruto wasn't really a dead last, the blond showed him his excellent skills in front of a jounin and...the Shadow Clone jutsu...Shino knew that it was a A-rank justsu which only elite chuunin, jounin or Kage-level shinobi could use and that number...he wondered how many chakra Naruto had.

Sasuki, on the other side, was dumbfounded. Yeah, she knew that he was good and had been endowed with resources and capabilities that far exceed the needs of a genin but that level...

'So they're his true abilities.' She thought in gritting her teeth. 'And I mostly lost him in there. How much he can be strong!? How far away is me from him!? When can I catch up him!?' She yelled angrily in her head, her fists clenched.

Shino who was next Sasuki felt her exasperation and jealousy, he mentally sighed, Uchiha and their pride. About 6 years in the Academy, he saw Naruto's capabilities, not too much but he could see that the blond was far superior to the Uchiha and even most of students. The Aburame just wondered why he was the dead last in the class. Did he do that on purpose? What was his reasons for that?

Naruto was still finding his sensei. He knew that the sliver haired jounin was here somewhere. He highly doubted that he had won his position in a raffle.

"Well, you're pretty good but you have a long way to go." Kakashi said behind him, Naruto immediately turned back and saw him clasping their hands together and extends their middle and index fingers, resembling the Tiger hand seal.

Sasuki widened her eyes, 'No! That's a fire jutsu!'

'He's seriously going to use an elemental jutsu on a genin?' Shino thought with a little concern

However...

"Leaf Village Secret Finger Jutsu: One Thousand Years of Death!" he shoved his flaming index and middle fingers, up Naruto's rectum. The blond boy disappeared with a puff of smoke and a squeal.

Kakashi was in for a little surprise but he then eye-smiled, 'So this is a shadow clone. I suppose that wasn't so bad, was it?'

Sasuki and Shino had a deadpanned expression with what just happened. They expected that Kakashi would try a fire jutsu just a few minutes before, but then everything was different from their thoughts. And the technique which the jounin used...

'That stupid pervert! How the hell can he think of a freak and perverted technique!? What if that was not Naruto but me!?' Sasuki yelled in her head while looking at the jounin in her female furious.

"...An interesting sensei, I suppose." Shino commented and the Uchiha glared at him.

"That man is just an idiot!" She growled angrily. "Where's the dobe?" Sasuki asked while trying to find her other teammate.

"Although it's a E-rank technique, that was close...in a different sense."

Sasuki and Shino startled up and jumped back. They were ready to fight but just noticed that was Naruto.

"Damn it! You want to scare me to death, dobe!?" The raven hair girl exclaimed and shot him her pierce Uchiha glare.

"If I were you, I wouldn't use that loud voice hime. I hope you remember that we're hiding." Naruto reminded her seriously. Sasuki blushed with her mistake and nodded obediently. Naruto saw her understanding and smiled, then turned serious back, "I suppose everyone saw our battle." They nodded at him

"Alright, so you surely understand that no one of us can take down Kakashi-sensei by ourselves and that means...we can't take bells."

Sasuki bit her lip and clenched her fists. If this kept up, they would surely fail the test, "Damn it. What will we have to do?" She hissed, totally pissed off.

However, her answer was a chuckle from her best friend, which made her get even angrier as it was similar to Kakashi's antic, "You stupid dobe! This isn't the time to joke or laugh!" Sasuki snarled.

"Sorry, sorry." Naruto said while trying to hold back his chuckle. "It seems like that it's quite difficult for you two to realize the true meaning of this test, but again, it's really no wonder.

Sasuki and Shino looked at him confusingly.

"What do you mean, Naruto?" The glassed boy asked.

Naruto shrugged, "Well, you know, genin are put in four-man cells, it means there's always has 4 members in a team, including 3 rookies and their instructor. I never heard a genin team with just 2 genin before." He explained.

"Wait a minute! You said that no team has 2 members before. If so, why are there just two bells?" Sasuki asked, she seemed at least partially interested in what Naruto had to say.

However, Naruto didn't answer and instead, he smirked. Sasuki infuriated, she really wanted to strangle him so hard. Damn it! That dobe. They were run into the line of fire and he just continue smirking like an idiot. He was killing her by pissing her off to death.

"...You're too harsh kit..." Kurama commented, sweat-dropped but Naruto just shrugged.

'They need to look underneath the underneath. It is one of fundamentals which they must know if they want to have a chance of surviving in the shinobi world.' He replied frankly, Kurama said nothing as he knew that the blond boy was right.

'Sometimes, I wish he could live a better life which you want him to live, Minato, Kushina.'The fox thought sadly. 'But again, he is your son, so I think he will be alright after all.'

Naruto never knew what the Nine Tails thinking, he still focused on two teammates, wait for their answers.

"Wait." Shino suddenly spoke out. "I think I understand what you mean."

Sasuki turned to look the Aburame confusingly and Naruto mentally smirked, 'I suppose he finds out.'

"There's the way Kakashi-sensei want to draw us, create a diversion." Shino started explaining. "Naruto just said that no team had 2 genin, so no way he could pass two of us. He told us that if we wanted to pass, we would have to take bells and that could be right but from what we saw from Naruto, that will be totally impossible...unless we work together." He emphasized the last part.

Sasuki frowned, "What do you mean, Shino? Whatever, it'd better be good. We're running out of time." The Uchiha absent mindedly fingered the Konoha headband tied loosely around her forehead.

"Sasuki, do you remember what Iruka-sensei used to tell us when we were in the Academy? About how teamwork is the most important thing for a ninja?" Shino asked. Sasuki nodded, a look of comprehension crossing her pretty face. "I think that is the true purpose of the test, our teamwork."

"...I think you're on to something. That's why there's only two bells. We're supposed to work as team, even though outside circumstances are trying to drive us apart." She then turned to Naruto, he seemed pleased and she knew that they were right.

"And don't forget that the man's a jounin..." Naruto simply stated. "He's not going to go down easy so we have to be careful."

'Especially since he's your father's student.' Kurama mentally added.

"Anyways, I'm glad you guys saw the true test, which makes everything become easier than." He said cheerfully. "I have a plan and need you two to do it. And I'm sure sensei won't know what hit him, believe it!"

Shino nodded his head while Sasuki just smirked.

Kakashi soon found the youngest Uchiha a couple of minutes later, deep into the small forest. She had chosen a very strategic position. Hidden by some high brushes, her back on a tree to prevent sneaky attacks, she was covered by some boulders on the sides. She was looking around, wary.

'So she prefers to hide and wait for me to make my move.' He evoked a fairly simple and easy genjutsu, casting it on her. "Demonic Illusion: Death Mirage Jutsu." He expected her to immediately noticed it and to dispel it...but she didn't.

Kakashi observed as her eyes got wide, and then watered up. She promptly fainted.

The man sighed. "Ninja art number two: Genjutsu." he said. 'If I took out so easily the so called Rookie of the Year... well, then this generation is really pitiful.' However, he did not want to have the girl recover and attack him later on, so he got nearer to bind her. Mistake.

As he knelt near her, he felt a hissing sound. 'Trap!' he jumped back at once, successfully avoiding a swarm of shurikens hitting the place he was in. In that very moment, Naruto appeared from nowhere and crossing his hands. "Seal!"

"Damn!"

Then the blond and the girl leaped out of sight, somehow activating two other traps. A log coming towards him, he managed to dodge that, but the other shurikens... he ducked to the left, not daring jumping too high because of the tilting feeling the electricity had left on him. And he landed right on a pit fall. "Are they trying to kill me!?" he yelled in his head. He barely managed a Substitution, lest he finished impaled by the metal poles on the end of the pit.

He panted from his safe position on a nearby branch. 'Those were some nasty traps. They were covered carefully, I believe. Sasuki made me believe she fell from my illusion, to make me activate the first trap Naruto made. I could only retreat, so he probably put several seals in that direction. I was surprised to see their move, hence giving Naruto the time to activate the seal and the next traps. With my dodging reactions limited, I could only duck into the pitfalls. Thanks the god for Substitution, or I would be severely hurt if not dead.'

"That was a nice escape, you old lazy ass." Sasuki grinned at him from a higher branch behind him.

"I'm done underestimating you, Uchiha-hime." Kakashi said. "You evidently deserve your title." The Uchiha girl just smirked smugly.

Kakashi didn't tell anymore, instead leapt towards her. He aimed a quick punch at her shoulder, but the girl simply jumped off the tree. 'She knows I'm better than her in fighting on trees. Smart.' He thought, watching her run towards the open space at the start of the grounds. Kakashi tried to deter her with some shurikens, but she dodged them. 'She is fast and good at using her senses. She didn't even turn to dodge those. Mikoto-sama and Izumi really taught her very well.'

Sasuki stopped in the clearing, as he suspected.

'Wait a second. Why did she get me to do a wild chase through the forest, when she could have easily escaped while I was dealing with the traps?' He immediately got extra attentive. 'Was she buying time for Naruto?

Sasuki squared him, getting into a semi crouched stance. 'So it worked. He has quite the number of bugs on... but he suspects something. Now let's make him think what he is more likely to think.'

"There is no way you are going to separate me and the dobe. We'll take your bells."

Kakashi sighed. 'So they are indeed excluding Shino, oh, well... I may as well have my fun with these two. Maybe they will pass the next test.'

"The way you keep talking, it makes me wonder if you are afraid to attack me."

"We will see, perverted sensei" Sasuki said and with a fluid move launched a dozen of shuriken at him. Kakashi dodged with ease, attacking her immediately after. He was relentless, giving her no room for attacking. 'For a genin, she is good, I can see Taijutsu is also her forte, she is a girl though.'

The Uchiha looked over at him and saw Naruto giving her a thumb up from his position, before puffing away. The signal.

"Look like it's time to get serious, sensei." she stated, launching the kunai. Kakashi dodged without even thinking.

"Ninja Art number three... Ninjutsu." Naruto said while he looked his best friend charging the silver haired jounin. Her fingers moved at a very quick speed, but Kakashi was still able to read them. Tiger. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger.

'No! A genin should not have the necessary chakra to pull that off. Especially a rookie kunoichi!'

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" Her voice rang out over the clearing. The kunoichi had leaped high into the air, and Kakashi's single visible eye widened as he saw the giant flaming ball of death arcing towards him. He could feel the heat from where he stood.

'Powerful.' He thought and used Kawarimi at the last second, before the huge ball of flame engulfed him.

Sasuki looked around, smirking a little at the crater she created. 'What onee-chan taught me was really good... and where is him?' She looked up, left and right, behind...

"BELOW!" Kakashi thundered. "Earth Style: Head Hunter Jutsu!" before dragging her into the ground until only her head was visible.

The jounin smirked at her. "Nice try, Uchiha-hime, but looks like I beat you in this field as well." he said, looking at the entrapped girl.

The girl growled but then she smirked back. "Are you sure?" she asked mockingly.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"

Kakashi gulped, as he heard Naruto's voice exclaim the technique. He immediately jumped, dodging the massive gust of wind coming at him. He was flabbergasted by the sheer destruction it caused, creating a deep crack in the heart. It stopped only at the river, making some water fly around. 'Oh, no, I forgot about Sasuki... but wait, would Naruto really hit his friend?'

He saw a sliced log in the place where Sasuki's head was and it was...empty. 'Substitution?'. As he landed, he felt the last Uchiha behind him. He turned, gaping, to see her with the tiger seal formed.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"

"Wind Style: Air Bullets!"

They declared in unison as their jutsu were sent straight at the perverted sensei. It was at this moment that both jutsus collided into one another and combine, this created a fire tornado.

"WHAT!?" Kakashi roared in fear as he had just enough time to make a Substitution to replace himself.

"It seems that old man is too dodgy to use effectively ninjutsu on him." Sasuki said, jumping in the middle of the clearing. 'That is what happens when you underestimate us sensei.' She though, smirking evilly and Naruto sweat-dropped at that.

Kakashi, from the branch he landed to, looked at the two with puzzled eyes. 'A combination. These two have an astonishing teamwork. Sasuki is good but Naruto is beyond my expectation. Too bad they don't extend that teamwork of theirs to Shino. Mmm. I wonder where that one is...' He was stopped in the middle of his musing by a sudden movement at his back. Only his experience allowed him to duck a kick aimed at his neck. He rapidly counterattacked with a punch in Naruto's guts, dispelling the clone.

His eye widened when he saw a black silhouettes coming at him. 'Shurikens!' He jumped to dodge, landing in the middle of the clearing.

"I'd like a re-examination of your first lesson, sensei." Naruto said, leaping towards him. "Taijutsu!"

Kakashi sighed, 'How much energy does this kid have!?' Naruto still didn't seem to plan ahead much, but he was surprisingly... unreadable. It was like the style he was using only made sense in his head, Kakashi supposed, and he doubted he could make it out even with his sharingan.

His moves were not elegant, nor pretty, but they hurt a lot. Kakashi was startled when he managed to cut his arm even without touching it. 'Wind manipulation. Who is the idiot say he's a dead last!?'

Kakashi's attention had been diverted for one second, but it was enough. Sasuki threw few shurikens at him, with deadly accuracy. He managed to duck only because of his seasoned reflexes, but dodged right into Naruto's punch. 'Ouch!' He recovered quickly managing to sweep a kick and hit the boy on his leg, making him lose balance but Naruto recovered quickly, he took few shurikens and threw.

"Shuriken Shadow Clones Jutsu!"

This time Kakashi really wanted to scream in frustration. The shuriken replication was an A-rank technique invented by the Sandaime himself and Naruto created hundreds, but still...Kakashi quickly jumped away into the forest, taking cover into the trees.

And then he felt something crawling on his hand. He looked down. 'An insect! Damn! I need to shake them off!' Kakashi focused lighting chakra around all his body. He fried some bugs and many others flew away from him.

That was enough for Saki and Naruto to catch up with him, though.

Kakashi realized with a startle that his chakra was severely drained. 'How long had I had those bugs on? Were they working together all along?'

At that time, Saki threw dozen of shuriken at him.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm." Naruto said, hurling the wind chakra at the projectiles, which became quicker and deadlier. Kakashi ducked down, managing not to jump right into a swarm of insects only at the last second. Naruto had predicted his movement and he had a kunai hissing towards him.

"Damn!" he cursed, taking out a kunai as well and using it to deflect the projectile. The discarded weapon landed at his feet.

"You guys are three interesting kids, especially you Naruto-kun." he said, painting.

"Why, that must have been the nicest thing anyone has ever told me." Naruto said with his foxy grin.

Kakashi smirked. "Still. You haven't got any bell. And the alarm is going to ring any second now."

"Is that so, sensei?" Shino suddenly arrived to the scene, behind him.

Kakashi moved a little so he could see all three of them.

"Yeah, but you really made a good effort, therefore..."

"In this case, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto waggled a finger admonishingly. "Check your pocket."

Puzzled, Kakashi did as he was told...and came up one perverted novel short.

His visible eye widened. "When did you...?"

"Nice job kit." The demon fox stated with a grin that matched his jinchuuriki's.

"Yup!" Naruto chirped cheerily. "So you will be willing to pass us or...hime-chan, you can use this for your fire jutsu practice." He said with a smile and Sasuki smirked evilly, she made a tiger hand sign.

"Nooooooooo! You all pass! Please let my book go." Kakashi panicked when his precious book was in danger.

The three sweat-dropped. "On second thought, maybe we should go back to Academy than this." Naruto commented.

"I have to agree with you about this." The demon fox said, sweat-dropping. "I feel bad for him as that book is really a treasure. You're so evil kit."

'Oh shut up you erotic fox,that will teach Dog-san what happens when he underestimate his rivals, they're just genin.' Naruto replied with a grin.

Sasuki simply smirked. "You won't underestimate us again, will you not?"

Kakashi was almost in tears. "No, no..."

"Right, so you will take us seriously..."

"I will. I swear."

"Well and―"

"Sasuki, that's enough, I think." Naruto patted her shoulder. "He has gotten the message." The Uchiha girl sulked.

"Hn, all right." She replied. Naruto threw the book at Kakashi, the jounin caught it.

In less than a second Kakashi recomposed himself. "I didn't pass you because of blackmail, you know..."

"We do." Shino said.

Kakashi sweat-dropped. "Oh, boy."

"That's because the test wasn't really about getting the bells. Why do you ask? It's logical. They would not bother creating three men cell teams for then splitting them. Hence, we passed because we worked together."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Correct." he said. "You actually succeeded in the exercise and used teamwork to accomplish your objective." Kakashi smiled, it seemed he was proven wrong for the first time; surprisingly, he didn't feel bad about it at all.

"Team 7...you pass. Now, follow me."

The three kids looked at him confusingly but they followed him.

They went to third training ground and now were in front of a stone which was looks like a kunai-shaped structure.

"Today, you did well and have shown me great potential and skills. It seems you have already learned the lesson I was planning to teach you today. But I shall lecture you nevertheless, because this is one of the most important lessons you will ever learn." Kakashi rose. He appeared strong, tall and imposing. "Teamwork is Konoha's most powerful asset. Our rules state that the mission is the most important thing and to never show our emotions. In the Shinobi world, those who break the rule are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Always remember this. That..." Kakashi stopped, forcing back a tear from his visible eye. "... is a memorial stone with the names of all the brave shinobi and kunoichi that fought and died for this village. Honor their memory with your own actions as true ninja."

The three shinobi looked at him with awe.

'So the late lazy pervert is only a facade.' Sasuki pondered. 'He is an honorable man and shinobi.'

Naruto was quiet, he looked like sad for some reasons. Then, he moved almost by instinct, getting near the stone and kneeling. Sasuki didn't lose time and imitated him. Eventually, Shino joined them too, even though he merely bowed his head.

Kakashi looked at them, especially Naruto, 'I will never lost anyone of them. Aburame Shino, Uchiha Sasuki, Uzumaki...Namikaze Naruto, I will make sure that no one have to lay down their lives.'

"Alright Team 7 is now official meet me tomorrow at the bridge at nine." He said with an eye smile and puffed out of existence.

The Uchiha compound

"Welcome home Sasuki." Izumi greeted her sister as she returned at early evening from her training exercise.

"Hello onee-chan." Sasuki said as she looked around, "Where is okaa-san?"

"I'm here." Sasuki looked at the door just saw her mother with her jounin uniform. Look like she just came back from the meeting with the Hokage and the council. Mikoto looked at her youngest daughter...until the shriek came over the house when Mikoto saw her bruise.

"What happened to you Sasuki-chan? Did that Hatake do this?" Mikoto was already planning ways to kill the jounin as her daughter just held the side of her head with the bruise.

Sasuki sighed in annoyance, "Okaa-san, stop it. I'm fine, Kakashi just got a good kick in...I got him back for it." Mikoto didn't seem convinced but knew that Sasuki wouldn't want her worrying about it.

"Alright, but I'm going to clean you up tonight and no buts missy." Sasuki sighed, Mikoto continued asking, "We'll see..now how did it go? Did you pass?" Sasuki smiled at their mom, giving her permission to sigh in relief.

"We passed." Mikoto smiled and brought her in for a hug as she bent down to her height while Izumi patted her head with a proud smile.

"I knew you could do it! I'm cooking a big dinner in celebration!"

"Very nice, Sasuki."

Sasuki smiled happily at her mother and older sister. She was finally a genin, one step closer to become stronger, and then she could find out the truth.

"Did you get along with your other teammate?" Izumi asked, Sasuki was always close to Naruto so she didn't worry about him but it would be a different thing with an Aburame in the same team.

The little girl nodded, she was starting to warm up to him. "Yeah, if it wasn't for the bug boy, we wouldn't have passed." Sasuki admitted truthfully, "He came through in the end...even if Naruto and I did the most work."

Mikoto and Izumi liked the sound of that, it seemed their little girl would get along with the Aburame after all.

"Well you will have to invite him over some time so I can meet him, its been a while since I've seen any of the Aburame." Mikoto then looked around, but no sign of the boy she was expecting to see, "Where's Naruto-kun?"

"He said that he would go eat ramen with our teacher in academy, Iruka." Sasuki grunted, rather annoyed as he left her to go with the scarred chuunin. "That ramen addict." She grumbled.

"And you're a tomato worshipper. A perfect couple." Izumi said with a smirk.

"Onee-chan!" The little raven-haired girl screamed, her face flushed, though out of anger at having her favorite food insulted or out of embarrassment for her own hypocrisy.

Mikoto giggled behind her hand as she looked at two daughters. A lot'd changed since Naruto came to her family. Her youngest daughter became more friendly, more caring and more open, though sometimes she still shot her best friend down, being the stubborn girl that she was, but Naruto never gave up and that somehow brought a smile to her beloved's face. Izumi smiled far more often whenever she was training the boy rather than the blank mask of stoicism trained into her through the Black Ops training program, and she had more overprotective of him, just looking at the way she insisted the Hokage letting her be his guardian in the shadow.

For the Uchiha matriarch, she saw Naruto as her own child, she knew she was never his birth mother though. Uzumaki Naruto was the son of two legendary heroes and they were two of Mikoto's closest people beside her family and clan, she would take care of their son for them. The present Uchiha clan head couldn't deny that he was one of reasons for her fighting against the coup d'etat. Fugaku wanted to use the Kyuubi as a weapon and she would be damn if she let it happen.

The Uchiha clan adored Naurto so much. They always warmly greeted him whenever he visited the Uchiha compound, some children in the clan even played with him and adults, who knew about his tenant, not only didn't despised him but respected and treated him well. When Mikoto became the clan head, she declared the protection for Uzumaki Naruto of the Uchiha clan, with three supporting clans Nara, Akimichi and Yamanaka, and no one in the clan opposed it. Since then, violent actions aiming at Naruto were less and less because to attack him is to declare war on 4 of 5 great clans of the Hidden Leaf Village.

And Naruto, knowingly or unknowingly, became Sasuki's teammate. Her daughter didn't stop her rival with the young boy and although Naruto didn't care for competing with her so much, he still sparred at her whenever she wanted. Naruto viewed her as Uchiha Sasuki, not the youngest daughter of the Uchiha clan head, a princess who should be cherished and worshipped. Sasuki didn't care what everyone think, they just mind their business and Naruto was still her precious friend and someone special, she wouldn't admit it though.

'How like the way we were Minato-kun.' The Uchiha matriarch smiled sadly. 'You were always a good guy and I was a stubborn girl. Now it's my daughter and your son, and team 7...that's quite a coincidence.'

The Aburame Compound

Shino entered his home in the middle of a large safari of insects on the outskirts of Konoha. The Aburame made their home right in the middle of this area but kept their homes and infrastructure simple so as to not disturb the insects. The first person to greet him was his mother, Nao Aburame.

While the women of the Aburame were rarely seen around the village, they did indeed exist. The reason their appearance was rarely seen outside of the compound was because the women were in charge of taking care of the hives within the compound's underground area. It was within this area where they categorized insects, handled larvae, and effectively kept the supply of bugs high for Aburame use.

As the clan's primary entomologists and breeders, they were kept very busy and could not be found outside unless it was special circumstances such as an invasion or standing order for all Aburame to show.

His mother had long maroon hair that she kept tied up in a bun while the rest of her face was covered by the usual dark shades and high collar overcoat akin to the Aburame. While both women and men shared the same quiet, analytical traits, his mother still showed Shino the most affection through physical interaction and words while his father did it more through actions.

"Shino, welcome home." Shino took off his sandals and walked up to his mother and nodded at her welcome.

"Okaa-san." She opened her arms and Shino knew what she wanted as she did every time he returned home, he entered her gentle embrace.

"Did things go well during the training exercise Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuki?" Nao asked as she knew her husband and son were not very confident in how the Uchiha would behave.

"Things went...better than I expected. We passed thanks to some last minute teamwork. Uzumaki Naruto was our deciding factor." Shino explained and his mother accepted it, knowing that Shibi would just be anxious to hear about well he performed.

"And how did your insects do? They didn't give you any trouble during real combat did they?" As if to respond, a few beetles emerged from his sleeves and chattered; beetles emerged from Nao's hands and responded.

"They did fine okaa-san, as I'm sure you could tell." Aburame parents shared with their child the same hive of insects, giving their beetles similar pheromones to identify one another which allowed for better tracking and easier synchronization with jutsu between parent and child.

"Yes well I ask because you know your father will be curious." Shino nodded and followed his mother inside, silently glad to be home.

No matter what the village thought of the Aburame on the exterior, Shino knew he was human just like the rest of them. Even with his quiet exterior, the same feeling of warmth one got when they were with their mother emanated from Shino's heart. He wondered if, in the future, he could see Uchiha Sasuki and Uzumaki Naruto as family too.