A/N: All characters and places belong to Kishimoto…. except the ones that don't.

And please REVIEW, this is what keep us authors motivated

Sorry for the long wait but I was busy with school, then my high school final exams came up. And in 5 weeks I have my university entrance exam so I'm preparing for that.

There have been some changes in the story as I have edited it.

To see the changes, check out at A/N at the end of the chapter.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Beta'ed and edited by- lubabpaul

Chapter 8- Team-Mates

-Satsuki-

Satsuki Uchiha was a typical Uchiha.

She loves her family very, very much.

She loves her father - even though he had a major stick up his ass. Most importantly was her love for her wonderful mother.

Satsuki loves her brothers, although she wished that Sasuke would spend less time with Itachi-nii and allow her some Itachi-Time™.

Her relationship with her friends was that of almost sisters, she loved them. Mito was an absolute delight. Even Naruto with his enthusiasm and knuckle-headedness, and his horrendous orange monstrosity of a jumpsuit, managed to make his way into her circle of friends.

She counted Ino and Sakura as friends. Though, she has got to admit that Sakura's crush on her brother was kind of annoying at times, albeit funny to watch his reactions to her stalking.

Lastly, among those that she considered as friends were Hinata and Yakumo.

Even despite this and that between her and Hinata, she counted Hinata as her friend. But Hinata could "sometimes" be a real bitch.

Ah, Who was she kidding? She was always acting like a bitch.

The other Uchiha trait she had was that of ambition. This is why she wanted to be the first female Hokage of the Konohagakure, and also the first Uchiha Hokage. After all, it would be a travesty if a member of one of the founding clans of the village could not get the position of the village leader.

So, it came as no surprise the first step to becoming a Hokage should be being the best. At the Academy, being the best meant claiming the title of 'Rookie of the Year'. She didn't want just the title of 'Kunoichi of the Year', as that would mean she was the best female ninja, and not the best ninja in her year.

So, it was quite understandable when she saw the final ranking list of her year for graduation, she became a little pissed.

Ranking List

1. Uzumaki Arashi

2. Uchiha Satsuki

3. Uzumaki Mito

4. Uchiha Sasuke

5. Hyūga Hinata

6. Uzumaki Naruto

7. Haruno Sakura

8. Yamanaka Ino

9. Aburame Shino

10. Inuzuka Kiba

…

…

…

She would have understood and even accepted if it was Mito or Naruto, or even her twin if they claimed the top position. She has known them since childhood. She also knew that they all worked very hard to get the top positions throughout their Academic years.

However, what she cannot -no- will not accept is some random nobody taking the title of 'Rookie of the Year'. This should have been her first step in achieving her dream. Therefore the only possible way he could have beat her effort is if he cheated. She had never before seen his name come up in the top 10 or even the top 15 students in the previous years. No one can improve that much in such a little time.

She looked to her side to see her friends and twin's reaction. Sasuke looked far more pissed than she was. Probably because she got higher rankings than he did.

Heh, he probably wanted to brag to Itachi-nii about getting the 'Rookie of the Year' title.

Naruto looked even more pissed than Sasuke.

Well, he is even below his sister and Sasuke, who is his self-proclaimed rival. At least she thought that's how she thought it was from what little she listened to Naruto's babbling and raving.

It was Mito's reaction that was most surprising. Mito looked surprised and was blushing! after seeing the name of the cheater who stole the top spot.

She wondered what that was about?

She shook her head out of her thoughts. That wasn't important right now, and no reason to go down that rabbit hole right now. What was important was to see the pig who had the audacity to take her spot. Since all the newly graduated students would be in the classroom she and her friends and sibling were going there as well, she will find out who he is, and later she would decide what his tort..- punishment would be.

She strode towards their classroom, leading her little group. When she reached the classroom, she opened the door and walked in front of the classroom, it was full of future Genin of Konoha. She searched for her target, looking for the distinctive Uzumaki-Red hair. She knew from Mito that almost, if not all pure Uzumaki have red hair, her brother being an exception due to the Namikaze genes. She could not find anyone with the red hair, was he not here yet?

As the other three members of her little group entered, she decided to just call out her target.

"Who the hell is Arashi Uzumaki?" Where the fuck was he? There was some commotion at first, but when they heard someone stand up at the back of the class, everyone in the class zeroed in their attention to there. Satsuki's glare was that of death itself aimed at the cheating bastard.

Surprisingly, he didn't have Uzumaki-red, rather he had snow-white hair. He wore a red t-shirt and probably wore shorts below, she couldn't see below his waist. The most distinctive thing about him were the bandages he wore on his hands that went all the way up to his shoulders, the green book in his hand and the sunglasses. Why would he wear his glasses inside the room? Is he more of a moron than she thought? How did this idiot come up with a way to cheat his way to the top position?

Before she could ask anything to the white-haired boy, Naruto interrupted.

"How did you scam your way to get the top position, ya bastard?! There is no way some like you could get a top spot in a million years, dattebayo?"

She rolled her eyes when some of the girls in the room swooned when Naruto spoke, and glared at the white-haired idiot as soon as Naruto finished speaking.

Dammit, Naruto! She wanted to ask him that. She was the one that got her spot stolen by him, not Naruto. But she remained quiet, the question was in the air and there was no need to repeat it.

She focused her attention back to her target, studying him carefully. He merely tilted his head in, as if he was confused by the question.

"How would you know if I cheated?"

How would they know he cheated? Before she could answer his dumb question, her brother spoke up.

"Cut the bullshit, there is no way a clan-less orphan would be able to beat all the clan kids and come out on top. If you were that talented, you would have at least come up in the top 10 rankings in the previous years. Only now you are suddenly the 'Rookie of the Year'? Of course, you cheated."

At this point, all of the kids in the classroom were looking at the idiotic cheater, murmuring to each other, likely coming to the same conclusion as them, or swooning at her brother.

Ugh, fangirls.

But the good thing is it seemed that the idiot's cheating is now out in the open. As she turned her attention back to the white-haired kid, she found that he merely looked amused.

Did he not care that he was found out? Now that they had proven that he had cheated, his title would be taken away and he most likely will have his Hitai-ate taken too. So, why did he look so amused?

"Well, you know what they say, 'If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying'. And I didn't get caught. So, I think I did pretty well for myself. If you wanted to be the best, perhaps you should have tried harder." And the idiot chuckled.

When he finished, the whole class exploded at his casual acceptance of their claims, baring their fangs at him. Looks like everyone is taking out their frustration on him.

But he is still not at all fazed by this.

Then the door opened, and Iruka-sensei came in alongside Mizuki-sensei.

"EVERYONE SHUT UP!"

The class quieted down instantly. Even if she wasn't looking, she could tell that it was Iruka-sensei.

"What is going on here? You know what? I don't want to know. Naruto, Sasuke, Satsuki and Mito. Go and sit down on your seats. Arashi, why are you standing? Sit down where you are. I have teams to announce." Iruka stated as he looked at us and the white-haired Uzumaki.

Before Satsuki could protest and tell their sensei about the cheating bastard, Naruto spoke up.

"But sensei, that white-haired bastard cheated to get the first spot. He said so himself. He should not get the title of 'Rookie of the Year'!."

Iruka-sensei looked bewildered at Naruto's accusation. He looked at all of us and then Arashi, who just shrugged at Iruka-sensei's enquiring expression. He then looked at the papers in his hands and finally turned his attention back to Naruto and reprimanded him.

"Naruto-kun, I know that you wanted to be the 'Rookie of the Year' but that is no reason to lie."

What? Why would sensei say that? It is clear that he cheated.

"What? I'm not lying. He said so himself in front of the whole class. Ask him or anyone else."

Iruka-sensei turned his attention to white-haired Uzumaki.

"Arashi-kun, is that true?"

Everyone's attention turned to him.

"Of course not sensei. I just said, "If you aren't cheating, you aren't trying." I may have also said, "I didn't get caught. So, I think I did pretty well for myself." But that is all true. Since I didn't cheat, there is no way I would get caught." He said as he smiled at sensei.

Everyone was surprised by his explanation including her.

He may not have explicitly said that he cheated but it was implied, right?

Iruka-sensei sent him a disapproving look.

"Arashi-kun, don't do that again. You know what I'm talking about."

"Of course, sensei." The not-cheater? replied.

Then her teacher turned his attention back to Naruto, who was still sputtering.

"B-But… B-But…B-But…"

"Naruto-kun, even if he did cheat in the exam, it would not have mattered. If Arashi-kun - a kid who isn't even a Genin- could fool and cheat in front of two Chūnin, he would already have the skills to ace the tests without cheating. I know you wanted to be the Rookie of the Year but not acing the Academy isn't the end of your shinobi career. Do you understand?" Iruka-sensei kindly asked.

That made too much sense now that she thought about it. She turned her attention from the nodding figure of Naruto to the cheat- no, not a cheater. Arashi. She turned her attention to Arashi. He was not even looking at what was going on in the class, just seemed to be engrossed in his book.

Was he really better than her and her friends? So, why didn't he perform better in the previous tests? Does he think we aren't worth it? Or was he lucky enough to not get caught while cheating?

Iruka-sensei's voice broke her out of her thoughts. "Now that this is out of the way, you four go sit down. I need to announce the teams."

As her group quietly walked towards the empty seats, her mind was on the white-haired Uzumaki.

-Arashi-

Well, that was….. entertaining. Yes, entertaining is the right word. I loved their confused expressions. I'm 90% sure they still think I was lucky in my attempt at cheating and not getting caught.

Not that I actually cheated. I had no need to. I would have needed to put more effort when cheating in order to ace the tests than doing it the normal way and acing it.

But Iruka had one thing right. I had the skills to cheat and ace the tests. It would not have mattered either way.

"Did you really have to do all that? You could have just said no and ignored them." Shikamaru asked as he tried to sleep.

"Oh come on, it was fun. Did you look at their faces? Their expressions were priceless, they didn't even know what to say Iruka-sensei's logic about me acing the tests." It really was a hilarious moment.

"Just don't bring trouble on yourself, okay? You are already troublesome enough."

"Fine, fine. Just go back to sleep already. Wait, no. Don't go back to sleep. Who do you think will your teammates be? Any ideas?" I hope it's like canon. That would at least make my life easier.

"It would probably be me, Choji and Ino. Gotta have the Ino-Shika-Cho trio for this generation. We are also clan heirs, the chances that we wouldn't be put together are quite slim." Well, don't let anybody say that Shikamaru isn't smart. Our attention was then turned to Iruka as he started to call out the teams.

While that was going on, my mind was on the man beside Iruka, Mizuki. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that he is here. With this not being canon and all. Perhaps, he isn't Orochimaru's agent, or maybe he had a change of plans. Or possibly he is afraid of Minato. I would bet that Minato has placed some security seals around the Scroll of Seals. I mean, I would if I was the Hokage, it only makes sense to have countermeasures in place. I have no idea how Naruto stole the scroll in canon.

My attention turned back to Iruka as he called out members of Team 7.

"Team 7. Jōnin leader- Hatake Kakashi. Genin members- Uchiha Satsuki, Uzumaki Mito, Uzumaki Arashi." Yes! Kakashi is the best teacher I could have asked for. Seriously, to learn from the man who knows a thousand Jutsus, sign me up!

And my teammates are Mito and Satsuki? This is golden. This day keeps getting better and better.

I looked at them and found that they were sitting together. As if reading my thoughts, both of them turned their heads to look back at me. I just waved my hands at them. Mito smiled at me and waved back but Satsuki just huffed and turned away from me. I think -and hear me out- I think she is mad at me.

Naruto, who was sitting beside his sister seems depressed. I think he wanted Kakashi to be his team leader. But this is weird, I thought Team 7 was supposed to have the Dead Last, Rookie of the Year and the Kunoichi of the Year.

"Team 8. Jōnin leader- Yūhi Kurenai. Genin members- Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino." A canon team? I'm having a good day. I guess it is reasonable to have a Hunting and Tracking team.

"Team 9 is already in rotation." Huh, so Team Gai is Team 9. That's….. actually understandable. That is if my assumption is right and he is talking about Team Gai.

"Team 10. Jōnin leader- Sarutobi Asuma. Genin members- Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji." Well, looks like Shikamaru was right, and another canon team? I guess it is really my lucky day.

"Team 11. Jōnin leader- Nohara Rin. Genin members- Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura."

Wait, what?! Did he just say Rin Nohara? As in the previous Jinchūriki of Three-Tails, the team-mate of Kakashi and Obito, student of Minato Namikaze, probably the reason the original events of Naruto anime happened. That Rin Nohara?

Seriously. What. The. Fuck?! She should be dead! Then why did he say her name? And if she isn't dead, why is Obito out there playing Madara? Wait….. is it even him playing Madara? No, it must be him running around in a mask. Who else would release the Nine-Tails? I definitely know that happened.

Unless….. Did Madara possibly get someone else to be his puppet? That could happen. Maybe Obito is really dead and someone else is behind the mask? But who?

….

….

….

What the Fuck is going on in this Universe?!

The other concerning thing is that Rin might be Jinchūriki of Three-Tails here? Or not. It could be that she was never kidnapped by Kirigakure, which is what resulted in her death in canon. However, if she is the Jinchūriki of the Three-Tails's, then Yagura shouldn't be the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, and should not have become the Mizukage. But I know for a fact that he is the Mizukage and that there is a war going on in the Bloody Mist, it was covered in class.

Ugh, this is not making any sense. Did Obito or whoever his replacement is, still place Yagura under Genjutsu? Yagura must be under some kind of Genjutsu, I can't think of any other reason why a ninja village would want to get rid of its bloodlines.

And here I was thinking that it was my lucky day.

Fuck.

I was so engrossed in my rambling that I didn't even notice Naruto's celebration.

I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of a sliding door. I turned my eyes towards the incoming Jōnin instructors. My eyes immediately zeroed in on Team 11's Jōnin instructor, Rin Nohara, since I noticed that my Jōnin instructor isn't here.

She had a smile on her face, her brown hair reached her shoulders. She wore a dark black zip-up tunic over which she wore the Jōnin jacket, below her waist, were dark black pants and traditional shinobi sandals. She wore the Hitai-ate on her biceps. And let's not forget the purple strip markings on her cheeks. Overall, she looked sexy as hell.

But that was not what my attention was on, even if I would have liked to appreciate her more. No, my attention was on the purple diamond seal marking on her forehead.

How the fuck did she get the Strength of a Hundred Seal? Only those that have the highest level of chakra control should be able to get it. If she is the Three-Tails Jinchūriki, she should not have the chakra control to master the Strength of a Hundred Seal, and there is no way in hell she isn't the Three-Tails Jinchūriki. I have just used my Chakra Sensing skill, she is like a beacon of light, even if she is using her skills to suppress her chakra.

If I hadn't mastered the accuracy side of my sensing skills, I wouldn't have been able to tell. She has too much chakra for someone who isn't from the Uzumaki or Senju clan, and I know for a fact that she isn't from either of those clans. The only reason that she would have that much chakra must be because she is a Jinchūriki.

Plus, there is the feeling I am having that I have some connection to her, which is likely our Jinchūriki connection.

Or, there is a possibility that the diamond-shaped mark is just there for aesthetic purposes. But knowing my luck today has been nothing short of abysmal, I would bet that mark is actually the Strength of a Hundred Seal. I would somehow need to verify it.

If it turns out I'm right, then I need to know how did she achieve chakra control for it? I need to know her secret.

For power.

For freedom.

Ugh, this day has been mentally exhausting, and it is not even noon yet.

But hey, at least I have one of the best Jōnin as my instructor.

I placed my thoughts aside for now and focused on the Jōnin leaders that we're calling out their team and taking them away, most likely for the introduction and telling them about the secondary tests, if it is still a thing in this Universe.

Most of the class had emptied by now, only Team 11, Team 10 and my team remained.

"Team 10, meet me on the training ground 13 in 5 mins," Asuma said in a bored tone and disappeared in in a swirl of leaves with a Shunshin.

I laughed mentally as a memory came to mind because of his casual use of Shunshin.

When we had started learning the basic 3 Jutsu in the Academy, I had thought they were very overpowered. I mean, come on. At first glance, Shunshin (even though it is a D-rank Jutsu rather than an E-rank like the basic 3 Jutsu and is not taught in the Academy) and Kawarimi could be mistaken as space-time ninjutsu to the uninformed mind but they aren't. There is a reason they are called basic Jutsu.

Shunshin or the Body Flicker Technique, for example, is basically an increase in the movement speed technique using chakra. Shunshin works by manipulating chakra to move the body at extreme speeds. It's different from physical/raw speed in that the latter would require strength (chakra-enhanced or muscle-enhanced), whereas the Shunshin requires good skill in chakra manipulation.

Proficiency in Shunshin is independent of how powerful a character is. I mean, look at Minato and Hashirama. Clearly, Hashirama is more powerful but Minato is far more skilled in Shunshin.

The trick with Shunshin is that chakra does all the work while the body just rides the chakra. That's why Shunshin can be done in the most awkward of positions like sitting, lying on the floor, and even when in the air falling to the ground like Sai once did.

The body may not be capable of keeping up with such speeds that Shunshin forces the user. Those proficient with it have trained their sensory/perception and reactionary skills or are using a Jutsu to boost their perception and reactionary skills.

That being said, it is very difficult (but not impossible) to use in battle. See, since the main reason is that the increase in movement speed is too large and it only increases movement, not reaction speed. You don't use Shunshin unless you have properly mapped your path to your destination beforehand and this increase in speed means that you are very vulnerable to counters or even something crossing their path.

Imagine you are in a battle and use Shunshin to dodge an attack. Because you have not mapped out your route and destination properly you might trip at high speed due to a sudden bump/hole in the ground or might walk into a kunai that your ally just threw without expecting that you would move.

In short, the user of the Shunshin no Jutsu cannot react to his own speed, by the time they realise something is about to intersect their path it's already too late for them to avoid it.

Now it is all generally true but like all general rules, there are exceptions. The most important one is whether the user of the Shunshin no Jutsu can somehow increase their reaction speed or reflexes to adjust for sudden changes.

A Dōjutsu like the Sharingan is an excellent example. Being able to predict what is in your Line of Sight means you can react to it much faster.

There is no better proof than Shisui Uchiha, he is the ultimate example that the combination of Shunshin and Sharingan is terrifying.

The guy could create speed clones. That is Saitama level shit.

Then there are the other basic Jutsu, Kawarimi or Body Substitution Technique.

In my experience with the Naruto fandom, Kawarimi is one of the most misunderstood Jutsu in the entire franchise. Most fans seem to think of it as a spell that magically swaps the position of the user and another object, when in reality that's not at all how it works. The truth of the matter is that Kawarimi is 80% sleight of hand, split-second timing, and 20% ninja magic.

Kawarimi isn't a space-time Jutsu like Sasuke's Rinnegan Space-time swap (Amenotejikara) or Minato's Hiraishin. To put it very simply, Kawarimi is just running away really quickly and leaving something behind just to troll someone into believing they hit something. It is based on your speed and how trained your opponent is. You'd never see an Academy Student use a proper Kawarimi on a Jōnin in combat because the Jōnin is a hundred times faster and more perceptive than the Academy Student.

Basically, if an enemy was to throw a kunai knife you could easily get out of the way, but then the enemy would know you dodged it and keep their guard up. What the Kawarimi does is that you place, say a log, in front of the kunai knife and run away to hide in the trees nearby. This creates something solid for the kunai knife to hit, that solid thing will fall to the ground much like an injured body so for at least a second the enemy believes he's got you, he'll soon realise it's a log or something, but it gives you a second to start running or a second to launch an attack from the shadows.

How does it decide what you get substituted for? You decide, based on what's in the surrounding area. Since most battles take place in the forest, usually Konoha shinobi will grab a log from the surrounding area and place it in front of the technique. It's possible to even place an animal there or to place another human being if they're not paying attention. A log is just more convincing because it's around the same size as a human torso and the thumping sound resembles that which a body would make.

How far does it extend? Depends on how fast you can run and how slow your enemy is at perceiving your movements. If it's like Adult Sasuke vs Kid Naruto, then Sasuke could run to the Amazon Rainforest and back to grab a good branch before Naruto realises that Sasuke isn't there anymore, but if its Adult Naruto vs Adult Sasuke, if Sasuke wants to pull it off he'd have to grab something within arms reach or so, because if he moves too far, Naruto would spot it and be onto him.

Can you substitute a person for a pebble? You can, would it be effective? Nope. A normal man can see the difference between a human body dropping to the ground and a pebble falling to earth. The log is used because it resembles a human body and is easy to carry. Can you substitute with a whole house? No way. If you just lifted a whole house off its foundation and carried it to the battlefield because A) literally everyone will notice and B) stop being a dick and put the poor guy's house back.

So, basically, Kawarimi is dodging and hiding while going troll lol lol lol lol lol at the same time. Enemy attacks. They hit a log. They think they got you. You pop out from behind them. There's no space-time jutsu, it's just very quick feet.

There is also the Henge or the Transformation Technique.

A henge (transformation) is an actual physical change that you consciously maintain through continued Chakra use and concentration.

This technique is most often used to disguise the user as another person, but they can also turn into an animal, plant, or inanimate object.

Users will gain the attributes and physical features of whatever they transform into, such as a weapon's sharpness or an animal's fangs. To be able to assume so many different forms makes this technique invaluable for not just combat, but intelligence gathering and diversionary tactics as well. Some transformations are shown to take some getting used to, such as if the assumed form has a different height than the user or if the assumed form wears clothes that the user isn't accustomed to.

It is NOT an illusionary technique. It is ninjutsu that changes you. When your concentration breaks or you run out of chakra to maintain the form, you return to your original form.

Don't believe me?

Do you remember when Naruto fought Gaara, and Gamabunta was trying to grab One-Tail for long enough that Naruto would be able to jump off of him and wake Gaara back up? Unfortunately, frogs don't have great grip, so Bunta directed him to use a combo henge to change them into something else…

Pressed for time to think of a proper form, Naruto chose to transform them into the Nine-Tails…the first thing he could think of with enough pointy parts to be useful.

That wasn't some cosmetic change that didn't really happen. They ran across the forest terrain on all fours, cutting and sidestepping attacks in a way Gamabunta never would have been able to. They used the nine tails to grab and throw clusters of trees that blocked one of One-Tail's attacks. They used the claws to scratch and smack things out of the air. And eventually, they bit One-Tail hard enough with Nine-Tails's fangs that he stayed put even after the henge wore off.

All those things were real, tangible changes to form that performed actions, and that's exactly what Bunta expected to have happened. It's not something unique to Naruto-this is what henge is.

Being able to use the Transformation Technique does not necessarily mean one can use it well. Ideally, the user's transformation should be indistinguishable from the original, so that if they were placed together they could not be told apart. Inexperienced users, particularly Academy students, will often have obvious discrepancies in their transformations, making them useless for deception.

Even practised users, though their transformations may lack any serious flaws, can overlook small details of whoever they're impersonating (such as minor scrapes or blemishes), enabling careful observers to expose them as impostors.

Even if a transformation is a perfect likeness, users can still inadvertently reveal themselves if they don't act in the same was as their subject would. Users can also be identified as fakes if their scent is wrong.

When a transformed user has been found out and attacked, they ordinarily allow the transformation to dispel.

Some users may maintain the transformation in a final attempt to keep their cover, only dispelling the transformation once this effort fails. Still, other users may, when they seem to be dispelling the transformation, actually take another transformation altogether, confusing opponents as to their true identity.

Seemingly the only way to reliably find out if somebody is using the Transformation Technique is to knock them unconscious, which will cause the transformation to dissolve.

And while the Henge is incredibly useful, there are some things that it can't do. It can't change the mass of the user. Additionally, it requires concentration to be able to maintain the henge.

One can't just transform his hands into swords or hope to transform into a bird and fly away.

You would have to know and concentrate on every aspect of henge if you use it in a highly dynamic style, like when fighting. If not it would just be dispelled.

That is why it is not very efficient to use it in heavy combat situations.

And less said about the Bunshin Jutsu or Clone Technique, the better.

For this technique, users create one or more clones of themselves to move alongside them.

Unlike most other useful clone techniques, these clones have no substance and thus are incapable of damaging opponents. Because of this, it is only useful for confusing enemies while other attacks are prepared.

Opponents can identify clones from their original through careful observation, as clones won't cast shadows, crush grass, kick up dust, etc.

Like I said, utterly useless. No ninja worth their salt would fall for this out in the real world.

But maybe it will come handy somewhere, so I mastered it like Henge, Kawarimi and Shunshin.

I was brought out of musing by Shikamaru who was waving his hand in front of my face.

"Oi, Arashi. Are you alright? I gotta go now. " He said and brought up his fist forward.

"Hmm? Oh yeah, yeah. Just…. something on mind….. nevermind. Good luck." I gave him a fist-bump.

"For what?" I can count the no. of times I have seen Shikamaru confused.

"You'll know." I just smirked at him.

"...Troublesome."

As he was going down, I caught Ino's eye. I waved her goodbye. She happily waved me back with a smile before turning to Shikamaru and berating him for something.

I guess, somethings never change.

"Team 11. Meet me at the rooftop." Rin said to Team 11 ignoring Naruto's rambling about how Team 11 got the best sensei since Rin-nee is better than Kakashi-nii.

Huh? Should have guessed both Kakashi and Rin are close to the Uzumaki family.

Then she turned to Mito.

"Sorry, Mito-chan. You would have to wait for Kakashi, he might be a bit late." She informed Mito with an apologetic expression.

Mito just sighed.

"Kaa-san told me and Naruto that it might happen."

Rin smiled apologetically and disappeared in a Shunshin.

With her gone, Team 11 also shuffled out of the room without even saying goodbye to their siblings.

Well, that was rude. They don't cherish their family enough.

I had killed a human for my brother.

Well, it's not my problem what is going on in their family but it is kind of irritating to see this.

But you know what they say, you will not value something until you've lost it.

As soon as they were gone, the classroom was quiet again.

Well, this is awkward.

"So…. wanna go out to eat something? My treat." I ask my other two teammates.

My teammates turned to face me then each other.

I don't know how but I think they had a whole conversation just with a single look alone.

Mito then turns to me.

"What about our meeting with sensei?"

"What about it? I thought your sister said he would be late."

"My sister?... Oh, Rin-nee? She did say that Kakashi-nii would be late. I guess, there is no harm."

Satsuki stands up and sighs but not before shooting a look at Mito.

"Fine, let's go." She says as she moves towards the door before stopping and facing me.

"Where are we going?"

I just shrug at her question, it is not like I had time to explore restaurants with all the training I had been doing.

"No idea. Why don't we let Mito choose?"

Satsuki's face takes a pitying expression.

"Oh you naive boy, you just dug your own grave."

What? What was that about? I turned to Mito to ask 'what was that about?' but found her pumping her hands in the air.

"To ICHIRAKU RAMEN!"

-(At the Ramen Shop)-

We reached the ramen shop, Mito leading us.

I had almost forgotten about the famous (those who know of the Naruto franchise) shop.

"Teuchi-jiji, 5 bowls of Miso ramen!" Mito said as she sat down on one of the counter-stools.

But it wasn't an old man that greeted us but a cute teenage girl. Maybe about 17-18 years old.

She is slender, with long dark brown hair and large black eyes, plus fair skin. She wore a white robe with the sleeves folded, a sort of dark blue apron with ribbon ties at the top and a bright white bandanna.

I guess this is Ayame, Teuchi's daughter.

I was brought out of thoughts because as soon as she saw me, her eyes widened.

"You are-"

"A customer."

She wasn't able to finish her sentence as who I guess is Teuchi, came out and spoke over her daughter and then shot a look at her daughter.

Then he turned back to me and smiled.

"What will you have, lad? Mito-chan already gave her order and Satsuki-chan is also a frequent customer."

I noted that Satsuki has already taken a seat besides Mito.

"What does the chef recommend?" I asked after turning my attention to him.

"Chef's recommendation, huh? Since it is your first time, how about a bowl of Miso Ramen?"

"Then I will have Miso Ramen."

I took a seat, the one beside Satsuki. The ramen came in no time, served by Ayame who gave me a smile as she finished placing the Ramen bowls for us.

I returned her smile and took the chopsticks.

The three of us still remained quiet, the sound of us eating ramen the only being heard.

I looked at my two teammates, Satsuki was eating the Ramen normally, savouring the taste.

It was when I looked at Mito that my eyes widened.

She was chugging the ramen, bowl after bowl. She was already on her 4th bowl.

I had completely forgotten about Uzumaki's obsession with ramen.

I could feel my purse becoming lighter.

Coming here might have been a mistake.

As if reading my thoughts, Satsuki looked at me and smirked.

"Heh, I warned you."

She did. But come on, who is prepared to see something like this.

I chatted with Satsuki about random topics, the previous awkwardness between us, gone. I didn't flirt with her, even if I wanted to. It was not the right time, nor the right place.

Eventually, even Mito joined in after she finished her meal.

None of us brought up what happened in the morning.

Life was good.

Mission Get Friendly With Your Team-Mates After The Morning Debacle, Accomplished.

….. Look I'm not very good with names, okay.

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

TO BE CONTINUED….

A/N: I wasn't able to update it sooner because I was busy IRL.

Now, the changes in the story:

First, I have corrected as many grammatical mistakes as I could.

Second, I have tweaked the personality of Arashi a little bit. He is still a total asshole now but he is not as angry as he was in the starting chapters. The bit about him sleeping with his brother's wife has been removed. He instead killed his brother's wife because she cheated on his brother. So, he is still a psychopath.

Third, there were some inconsistencies which have been corrected.

Fourth, 'Notification System' has been changed to 'Guidance System'.

Fifth, I've refined many dialogues throughout the story.

Sixth, the Aburame bloodline has been removed. As in, in this Universe, it is no longer a bloodline that can be copied through BIOLOGICAL IMITATION.

You could re-read the story for a better idea.

Thank you all those who have followed, favourite and REVIEWED my story.

It helped a lot shaping this chapter.

Till next time...and don't forget to REVIEW.