"Spoken"

"Spoken"

'Thoughts'

Demonic/Inner persona spoken

'Demonic/Inner Persona thoughts'

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Summary: As a young boy Naruto has a discussion with a ANBU member about what exactly it means to be Hokage. With a new determination, Naruto sets out to achieve his dream of not only becoming Hokage, but protecting the village and everyone in it. Not a Super Naruto, more like a smart Naruto.

Response to Reviewers:

Wow, so I kinda goofed didn't I? That's what I get for taking like 8 months between updates. So apparently in chapter 3 I wrote that when Hinata fainted, Naruto would take her home. I'll fix it later at some point.

Also, I just want to clarify something due to some emails I've gotten regarding the story. While some of the pairings are still not set in stone, this is not "Naruto Does Konoha". It's not a story about Naruto getting into the pants of every girl from the series. Now then, I'm not saying I'm opposed to adding additional characters, but don't send me an email saying "U should tattaly add Hanabi and that chick from the furst movie to teh harem!!" If you actually feel like it would develop the plot for the story, or have a really good reason for the addition (or hell, even subtraction) of a character, then let me know.

Whoozawatta: Actually, I put that Naruto would be 'one of the last' to take the test. Don't worry, I wouldn't forget about our favorite little mind walker :)

Benkei Atsumori: It's cool, I love constructive criticism. I've already talked about the whole Hinata's house thing, so I'll just move on. Like I said, I'm gonna keep it 'close' to cannon, but if you noticed it went off cannon chapter 1. I guess I should restate it and say that most cannon events will still happen, though the reasoning behind them or the way they take place might be different, as in the Mizuki/Forbidden Scroll thing. As far as the exam goes, had Iruka not already passed him the Hokage would have explained what had happened, and Naruto would have retaken the test and passed. Now as for the team placements, I always thought that was a little silly. If there was really a "dead last", then it sounds to me like that person should be held back for a year or so, passing the exam or not. Maybe go to Shinobi finishing school or something till he's up to par. These kids aren't just going out to catch cats or carry groceries, there is going to be times were they will put their lives on the line, and having someone whose skills are that poor would really endanger the team. In my line of thinking, it'd be better to have Best Boy, Best Girl, and Boy who need improvement, which is were this Naruto falls into. Hope that gives you a glimpse into my line of thinking.

show.me.the.stars: Just to clarify, Naruto wasn't told of the Kyuubi seal the night before. All he was told was the plan to capture the traitor. Sarutobi didn't tell Naruto because he didn't think that the traitor would go that far, if he even knew about it. The only reason why he didn't freak out when Mizuki told him was because this Naruto has a fairly different mindset. When he heard that he "was the Kyuubi" all of the sudden he felt that much more responsibility to the village, and to Iruka.

As for the NaruHina stuff, sorry, the overwhelming response seems to be to include her in the harem. But as I've said before, I'm gonna see where the story goes.

I'm gonna go ahead and warn everyone, I'm not happy with the way this chapter came out, and I'm probably going to rewrite it before I post chapter 6, but I figured I'd upload it since it might be a while before that happens. Enjoy!

Secrets in the Will of Fire

Chapter 5

'Man what a week!' Naruto thought to himself as he walked towards the academy. It had indeed been a crazy week for the blonde ninja. First there was the setup to trap Mizuki, in which he gained an awesome new ability. Then, he spent the day 'teaching' the Hokage's grandson, a boy named Konohamaru. Heck, he'd even invented a new jutsu on the spot (a deadly combination of his Orioke and Kage Bunshin jutsus, that he swore would never be revealed in front of a kunoichi. He didn't want to die quite yet) to 'defeat' the boy's pompous instructor Ebisu.

Now here he was. It was finally time to be assigned to his genin squad. As long as he didn't get stuck with any of the extreme Sasuke fan girls, he wasn't really too picky about which team he was on. Still… 'I hope Sakura-chan or Hinata is on my team'.

When he walked into the classroom he felt the other genin stare at him. As he walked up to his favorite seat Shikamaru actually sat up to talk to him. "Hey Naruto, you know this meeting is only for people who passed the exam right?" He asked.

Naruto just smiled. He pointed a thumb to the headband he now wore. "Take a look Shikamaru. I passed… I just had to do a little extra credit." He made a victory sign with his hand. Shikamaru just shrugged, muttered something that sounded suspiciously close to "How troublesome" and went back to his semi-asleep pose. Naruto kept smiling, and made his way up to the seat next to Sasuke.

Sasuke was in his usual 'don't bother me' pose. He did however spare Naruto a curious glance, and seemed to smile just slightly when he saw the hitai-ate around his head. Naruto nodded to him, before taking his seat, waiting for Iruka to show up and announce the teams.

"Naruto?" He heard a familiar voice from behind. He turned around and saw Sakura and Ino, staring at him. Naruto smiled and was about to greet the pair, when Sakura suddenly hit him on the top of his head.

"OW! What was that for?" Naruto asked, nursing the area she'd just hit.

Sakura started shaking. "You jerk!" She said her voice almost a whisper. "You just disappeared after the exam! After I heard you failed I looked everywhere for you but… you…" It looked like she was about to cry, and Naruto suddenly felt elated and horrible at the same time. He felt good because someone had actually been worried about him. But, he didn't mean to cause anyone any pain. He stood up and placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"Sa-Sakura-chan I'm…" He stopped when he felt something pass him. He saw Sakura looking in surprise over his shoulder, so he turned around. Ino had just sat herself in the seat he had just recently stood from, a grin on her face.

"Hey Naruto, thanks for saving me the seat next to Sasuke-kun!" She chirped happily, before turning to ogle the Uchiha. Naruto stood there flabbergasted, while Sakura just glared at her friend/rival.

"INO-PIG! Get away from Sasuke-kun! I got here first!" She said, shoving Naruto to the side and standing over Ino, who simply stuck her tongue out at her pink-haired friend. As their screaming match started, Sasuke's face took on a 'why god why?' expression. Naruto grinned at him, annoying Sasuke a little.

"You think this is funny dobe?" He asked.

Naruto laughed. "Only that you look pained to have two cute kunoichi fighting over the right to sit next to you." He said, not noticing the blush that graced the faces of both Ino and Sakura.

Sasuke grunted. "Please. All these girls do is sit around and bicker about which one is going to marry me. They're always chasing me around asking me to eat lunch with them, or trying to get me to go out with them. It's annoying." He said.

Naruto looked thoughtful for a moment, before looking at Sasuke straight in the eyes. In a very matter-of-fact tone, he asked, "Sasuke, are you into guys?"

All the chatter in the classroom died down immediately. Sasuke shivered slightly as he felt all the attention in the room focus on him. His left eyebrow twitched violently. 'Naruto… I'm going to kill you.' He thought to himself.

"Of course not dobe." He stated. The room immediately went back to it's noisy self (after a sigh of relief from most of the girls, and a few sighs of disappointment from some of the boys). "Believe me, if you had to put up with this for a day, you'd feel the same way."

"Oh really? Wanna make a bet on that?" Naruto asked, smirking at Sasuke. Sasuke raised a brow at that, and was about to ask what Naruto meant when there was a burst of smoke in the front of the room, indicating that Iruka had finally arrived.

"Alright everyone settle down." Iruka called from the front of the classroom. He waited a few moments for everyone to quiet down, before continuing. "Good. First of all I want to congratulate everyone here. You've shown yourself to be fine examples of beginning ninja, and I'm sure you'll only continue to grow in skill as time goes on." He looked at the class, feeling a sense of pride at what they had accomplished. "Today as you know you'll be assigned to your genin squads. Each squad is lead by a Jounin sensei, who will continue your training in the ways of the shinobi. With this squad you will undertake missions for the Leaf. I expect each and every one of you to complete your missions with the skill and pride of a Leaf Shinobi." Iruka paused, making sure his students understood. "Now then, normally at this time I'd be reading off the squad list. However, we have a little change-up do to the amount of people graduating this year. So, you're all getting a small break while I go over the list with the Hokage. Feel free to get something to eat, take a walk, or anything else. Just be sure to be back here in 3 hours." With that, he poofed away to the Hokage Tower.

Naruto turned back to Sasuke. "So how about it Sasuke?" He asked, continuing on as if Iruka hadn't just made a big speech about their ninja careers. "Let's swap places until we come back for the team assignments. I guarantee after a day as me you'll be begging your fan girls to chase you."

"Oh? And what do I get once you lose?" Sasuke asked with a smug smirk.

"Loser has to admit in front of the entire class that the winner is superior to them in every way." Naruto said, grinning at the prospect of Sasuke having to humble himself.

"You're on dobe. On the count of three we'll jump out the window and henge into each other. We'll meet back here in two and a half hours." Sasuke said. Naruto nodded. "Alright then. One…"

"Two…" Naruto said, getting ready.

"Three!" They both said at the same time, leaping out the window. As everyone stared in confusion, there was two 'poofs' of smoke. When someone had finally shaken themselves out of their stupor, they looked out the window to see Sasuke running one way, and Naruto running the other.

Sakura sighed and turned to Ino. "Those idiots. Like anyone's gonna fall for…" She was interrupted as she heard a squeal come from outside. Poking her head out the window she saw a group of girls who had seconds ago been in the classroom chasing after 'Sasuke'. "Well, at least you're not falling for it Ino-pig… Ino?" Sakura looked around, but her friend was nowhere to be found.

(With the real Sasuke)

Ahhhh this was the life. He had actually gotten off the academy grounds without one person stalking him. He was actually able to just walk through the town without having to duck into alleyways to lose a fan girl or two.

Though he did find it odd that people in the village were still staring at him. His henge was perfect. He'd even managed to keep a smile on his face to act more like the loudmouth blonde. It had to be the orange clothing he finally decided. How could people not stare at someone who'd wear a full bright orange ensemble.

His stomach gave off a growl, reminding him that he was a bit hungry. He found it kind of hard to eat breakfast each morning. His house was just so empty. He only ever wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible.

Shrugging, he decided to stop at a nearby tea stand. It wasn't anything a bowl of soup and rice couldn't cure. As he sat down at the stand, he noticed the two older ladies who had been sipping at their cups of tea stand up stiffly, before walking off. He shrugged to himself, and waited patiently for the man behind the counter to take his order.

And he waited. And waited. He waited some more just for good measure. After five whole minutes of the man pointedly ignoring him, he finally decided to try and get his attention.

"Excuse me, I'd like to order some food." He said, slightly confused at the treatment he was receiving.

The tea stand owner turned and looked at him menacingly. "You'll be ordering it somewhere else then brat. I won't serve you." He said, before turning back to his cups. Sasuke felt his eyes widen slightly in surprise. What did this guy have against Naruto? Did the blonde pull a prank on him or something?

"Look, I just want some red bean soup and a cup of tea…" Sasuke said. His eyes widened and he ducked as a tea cup went sailing over his head.

"I don't think you heard me. I will not serve a demon at this stand." The man said, readying another teacup to emphasize his point.

Sasuke jumped away from the stand in shock. What was with this guy? Even if Naruto had pulled a prank on him there was no reason for this kind of blatant hate. Shrugging to himself, he walked away from the stand. He took a few steps before he was stopped by a old woman holding a basket of fruit. He looked at her curiously, and took a step back at the look on her face. She was smiling, but her smile held no mirth to it. Instead it held back a kind of manic craze.

"So the little demon boy is hungry is he? Then how about some nice fruit?" She asked in a singsong voice, before taking a very rotten piece of fruit and smashing it on Sasuke's head.

Sasuke grimaced as he felt the juice running down his face. His face scrunched slightly at the smell of the rotten fruit. The crazy woman picked up another piece of fruit, and was about to hit him with it too when someone grabbed her arm.

"How sad is it that our own villagers would pick on a young ninja. This woman has obviously forgotten the springtime of her youth!" Said a man with a bowl cut, wearing a green spandex suit and a vest. The woman glared at him, before pulling her arm out of his grasp. She spit at Sasuke's feet, and then ran off. The man looked after her for a second, before turning to look at Sasuke.

"Are you alright Naruto-kun?" The man asked. He was obviously an acquaintance of Naruto's, but Sasuke had no idea who he was.

"I'm fine…" He said, still slightly shocked over what had happened. Was this what Naruto went through every day? Why would people treat him like this? It was insane! What could he have done to warrant such hatred?

'Naruto' looked troubled to Gai. 'The poor boy! He tries so hard to make the best of things, but these riffraff still treat him like trash.' Then he got an idea.

"I know Naruto-kun! Why don't you come train with Lee and me! We were just about to begin our morning laps around Konoha! Your youthful exuberance would be most welcome." He said, smiling at Sasuke with a thumbs up.

Sasuke blinked in confusion. "Umm… thanks, but I've only got a couple hours before I have to be back at the academy for team assignments and..." He was cut off as Gai grabbed his arm and started to drag him along.

"Excellent! It should only take us an hour or so to complete 200 laps. Let's be on our way then!"

One of Sasuke's eyes started twitching violently, and he couldn't help but wonder how Naruto was faring on their bet…

(With Naruto)

This was great! It was nice to actually have people looking at him with something other than hatred for once. He had to admit, it was kind of hard to shake the fan girls, but once he had done that things had gone great. Everyone he passed was looking at him, not with hate, but with a mixture of respect and pity. While he could do without the pity, it was definitely a step up from the usual glares.

Of course, as we all know, all good things must come to an end. This was the case for Naruto when he heard a girlish voice call out "Oh Sasuke-kun!" He cringed slightly, and turned around.

There was three girls, two he recognized from their class and one he's never met before. All looking at him with some weird glint in their eyes. He stopped himself from greeting them in his own usual manner, remembering that he was supposed to be Sasuke.

"What do you want?" He asked in his best Sasuke impression.

"We just wanted to know if you'd eat lunch with us? You know, since we might be separated once we're put on separate teams and everything." Said a girl with shoulder length blonde hair. She held up a bento box. "I made this for you and everything."

Naruto's stomach gave off a growl, and he grinned sheepishly. How could Sasuke not enjoy this? "Sure, that'd be fine I guess." The girls squealed in delight, and two of them each grabbed on of his arms while the other pushed him from behind, leading him to a bench near the academy.

Naruto sat down and the girls sat down on either side of him, seeming to fight amongst themselves for a second about the seating arrangements. Then they each took out a bento box.

"Here Sasuke-kun, try some of my onigiri." Said one of the girls, handing him a rice ball. Naruto took it and was about to take a bite when another girl stopped him.

"No Sasuke-kun, try some of my stir-fry first! It's much better than her onigiri!" She said, holding up chopsticks with a bite of stir-fry in front of him. Naruto shrugged, and was about to take a bite, when the third girl shoved her out of the way.

"Ewww, you don't want her nasty stir-fry Sasuke-kun! Try some of my inari sushi." She said, holding a piece of sushi before him. Naruto looked on in confusion, and hunger.

He almost snatched the piece of sushi away from her, when he heard someone shout out, "Look! Sasuke-kun is having lunch with those girls!!" He turned around and his eyes widened as a stampede of girls rushed to him, each pulling out various lunch boxes.

"Here Sasuke-kun, try some of my-"

"Sasuke-kun, you love mochi right?"

The girls were literally clawing at him, trying to shove food into his face. Then, they actually did start shoving food into his mouth, as they surrounded him. Naruto looked around in a panic. He loved food, but he was also partial to breathing. So, fearing for his life, he jumped up and tried to run through the group of love struck girls.

"He's trying to get away!" One of them shouted. He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes grew wide as he saw the girls leap after him. As their shadows descended over him, he was only able to say one thing.

"Oh cra-"

Naruto shuffled his way back into the academy building. His clothes were torn and his hair was messy, and he had food covering him. All in all, he had to admit… fan girls sucked.

He heard a sound come from behind him and saw Sasuke limping in. Their eyes met, and simultaneously they said "You win."

They stared at each other, and then slowly began laughing. Their laughter increased, fueled by the sound of the others laughs. Naruto clutched his stomach as Sasuke leaned against one of the walls.

Sakura came in and heaved a sigh of relief. "There you two are! Iruka-sensei is about to announce the teams." She said. She looked in confusion at the food covered Naruto, and the exhausted Sasuke, who were still laughing. She sighed, and walked back into the classroom. "Idiots…" She muttered under her breath.

Iruka looked at the last two students to enter. He wasn't as surprised that Naruto came in covered in food and scratches, as he was that Sasuke limped in smelling of rotten fruit. "Alright. I will now start listing off the names of the genin in each squad, and the name of that squads Jounin sensei. Your sensei will be here shortly to pick you up, and they'll take over your training from there."

Naruto looked around as Iruka called off the teams. Everyone seemed excited. Heck, he knew he was excited. He couldn't wait. Hopefully his sensei was someone really strong. Someone who would teach him a lot of cool new jutsus.

"Team 7," Iruka called out, "Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto, and Uchiha Sasuke." The three glanced at each other, a smile on Naruto and Sakura's faces, and a small smirk on Sasuke's. "Sensei is Hatake Kakashi."

"Team 8 is Aburame Shino, Inuzaka Kiba, and Hyuuga Hinata. You're sensei is Yuuhi Kurenai."

"Team 10 is Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Chouji, and Yamanaka Ino. You're sensei is Sarutobi Asuma."

With that, Iruka congratulated them all and wished them luck, before leaving the room. Afterwards the Jounin came to pick up their new students, until the only ones left were the newly formed Team 7.

An hour and a half passed without any sign of their sensei. Sakura sat staring at the ceiling, looking bored. Sasuke had resumed his brooding expression, cringing every now and then as the smell of fruit reached his nostrils. Naruto, had finally had enough, and decided he'd teach their sensei a lesson.

"He's not gonna fall for that you know." Sakura said, as Naruto carefully balanced a chalk covered eraser on the door. "He's a Jounin, there's no way he'll fall for such an obvious trap.

Naruto grinned back at her. "We'll never know unless we try right?" She just rolled her eyes.

A few minutes later, someone approached the door, causing the three to sit up. The door slid open, and a man with spike silver hair peeked his head in and looked around, as the eraser fell on his head covering it was dust.

'No way…' Sasuke thought to himself.

'He actually fell for it?' Hah! Serves him right! Were the thoughts going through Sakura's mind. Naruto for his part just started laughing.

The Jounin shook his head, and looked at them from his single uncovered eye, the other one being covered by his headband. He wore standard Jounin attire, except for the cloth mask covering the lower half of his face.

"My first thoughts of you guys… I don't like you." He said straight-forwardly, causing the three genin to facefault. "Meet me up on the roof for introductions." With that he poofed away, leaving the three to look at each other in confusion. With a shrug, Sasuke stood up and walked out of the classroom, followed by Sakura and Naruto.

Kakashi was sitting on the railing when the three arrived. They sat down across from him and waited. Kakashi looked over them and said, "Alright, introduce yourselves. You know, name, likes and dislikes, hobbies and dreams, that kind of thing." He said.

"Um… Kakashi sensei, shouldn't you go first to show us what to do?" Sakura asked, curious about their new teacher.

"Alright. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have many likes and dislikes. My hobbies are…. And my dream is none of your business. Now pinky it's your turn."

Sakura and Naruto looked at him with a deadpan expression. 'So all we know is his name!'

Sakura shook her head and began her introduction. "My name is Haruno Sakura. My likes are," At this point she glanced at Sasuke, and then at Naruto, before seeming to think about it for a moment, then continuing, "my friends. My dislikes are people who are mean for no reason. My hobbies are reading and I haven't really thought of my dream yet."

'Huh. The report I had on her listed her as a typical fan girl. This is interesting.' Kakashi thought to himself as he nodded at Naruto. "Alright blondie, your turn."

Naruto stood up. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My likes are my friends, Iruka-sensei, ramen, and training. My dislikes are people who pick on other people, and the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook. My hobbies are training, trying different types of ramen, and gardening. And as for my dream… my dream is to become Hokage someday and protect everyone in the village!"

'So he's the one with the Kyuubi huh? He turned out differently then I would've thought.' He then turned to Sasuke. "You, the brooding one."

Sasuke sat there for a second, before speaking. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I don't like anything and I have many dislikes. And my dream… well it's not really a dream because I'm going to make it a reality. To kill a certain man and restore my clan."

Naruto and Sakura stared at Sasuke for a second, while Kakashi just mentally sighed. 'So he's an avenger. I guess it's to be expected…' Kakashi stood up. "Alright, now that we've got that out of the way we're pretty much done for the day. Tomorrow you will all meet at training ground 14 at 6:00 am for your real genin exam." He said.

The three exchanged confused looks. "But Kakashi-sensei, we already passed our exam." Sakura said. Kakashi shook his head.

"No, that was basically the preliminary exam to weed out the possible recruits. The real exam falls upon the Jounin instructor. And I'll warn you know, there's a only a 33 pass rate. Oh, and don't eat breakfast tomorrow. You'll just throw up." With that Kakashi poofed away, leaving three very confused genin.

Naruto woke up early the next morning, slightly tired but excited to get going. He took a quick shower, and skipped his usual cup of ramen, remembering what Kakashi had said the day before. He really didn't want to throw up in front of Sakura-chan. He dressed in his favorite orange clothes and a black t-shirt and then left his apartment, hurrying towards training ground 14.

When he got there he noticed Sakura and Sasuke had already arrived. They both looked tired, but ready to go just like he was. His face broke out in a smile, and he waved at the two as he approached. "Good morning Sakura-chan! Sasuke!"

Sakura waved at him, a small smile on her face. Sasuke nodded, and went back to staring off into the distance. Naruto leaned against a nearby tree and waited. Hopefully their sensei would be on time today. After all, it wasn't like he would be chronically late from now on right?

Two hours later, the answer seemed to be pretty self evident. Sakura looked ready to tear down every tree nearby, and even Sasuke had an annoyed look on his face. Finally, they heard some rustling in the bushes, and Kakashi made his way into the field.

"Morning everyone," He said smiling, at least Naruto assumed he was smiling, "Sorry I'm late. On my way here a black cat crossed my path so I had to retrace my steps."

Naruto blinked at his sensei before sighing and shaking his head. Sakura gave a shout of "LIAR!" her rage at their sensei's tardiness almost visible. Kakashi just shrugged, before getting a serious look on his face. He made a few hand seals, and with a puff of smoke an alarm clock and two bento boxes appeared in his hand. He walked over to the training posts and set them down. He turned around and held two small silver bells in his hand.

"The purpose of this exercise is simple. Get these bells from me before noon and you pass, and you'll get lunch. Anyone who fails to get the bell will go hungry. Oh, and they'll be sent back to the academy." Kakashi stated.

Sakura looked at the two bells in confusion. "Umm… Kakashi-sensei, there's only two bells, and three of us." She said.

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly, which means at least one of you will be going back to the academy no matter what." He stated, tying the two silver bells to his belt. The three genin looked at each other in shock. Kakashi looked at them, one eyebrow raised quizzically. "Well? What are you waiting for? The test has already started." He said. This shook the genin out of their stupor, and they all jumped away from Kakashi into the surrounding foliage. Kakashi looked around, both pleased that they were hiding, and a little disappointed that none of them had the courage to face him head on.

"Hey Kakashi-sensei!" An exuberant voice said behind him. He turned and there was Naruto, smiling at him. "Sorry, but the hiding thing isn't really my style, so I'm just gonna take you on." He said.

Kakashi just shook his head. Naruto smiled and started charging towards his sensei. He skidded to a halt though as Kakashi reached into his weapons pouch, only to face fault when he pulled out and orange covered book and started reading it.

"Hey, Kakashi-sensei? Don't you think you should take this a little more seriously?" Naruto asked. Kakashi shook his head, his visible eye never leaving the book.

"Not really. After all, even if I'm reading there's no way you'll be able to take one of the bells from me." He stated matter-of-factly. He casually looked over and saw that his words had the desired affect, Naruto was getting angry. He charged forward again and tried punching his sensei. Kakashi merely sidestepped and kicked Naruto's feet from underneath him. Naruto flipped back up, attempting to kick Kakashi, but his foot only met air. He turned around in confusion to see Kakashi was gone.

"A good ninja never leaves his back unguarded." Kakashi's voice came from behind, before Naruto felt something… a little different. He looked behind him to see that Kakashi had shoved his fingers in a, very uncomfortable place. "SENENGOROSHI!" Kakashi shouted, and Naruto felt like his entire body had suddenly caught on fire. Kakashi watched as Naruto flew away from him, only to disappear in a puff of smoke. His eye widened in surprise. 'Ah he created a shadow clone to test my strength and keep me distracted. Very clever Naruto. However, you're never going to get a bell that way.'

Naruto's eye was twitching violently as he watched his shadow clone get defeated. 'I can't believe Kakashi-sensei did that…' He thought to himself. But at least it had confirmed his suspicions. While the clone had only been meant for a distraction, he didn't see Kakashi leave any openings. And that was while he was reading a book. 'He's a Jounin for a reason. I don't think I'll be able to get a bell on my own.' He sighed to himself. He didn't like this. He had been happy to be put on a team with Sakura and Sasuke, only now it seemed like no matter what one of them was doomed to fail. He looked up with resolve in his eyes. If he couldn't get a bell on his own, then he'd just have to get some help.

He ran off in search of his teammates. He found Sakura crouched behind some bushes to Kakashi's left. He tapped her gently on her shoulder and jumped back as she readied herself for combat, holding his hands up in a sign of peace. She sighed, and looked back to where Kakashi was still standing, reading his book.

"Sorry to startle you Sakura-chan, but I needed to talk to you. I think you, Sasuke and me should team up to get those bells. I don't think any of us are going to be able to get it on our own." Naruto said. Sakura gave him an incredulous look.

"And what are we gonna do when we get the bells Naruto? There's only two of them remember?" Sakura asked.

"Wait one second." He said. Sakura just shrugged. A few moments later Sasuke walked up to the two, another Naruto standing next to him. Naruto nodded, and the him standing next to Sasuke disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Alright. Like I was saying, I don't think we'll be able to get the bells on our own, but together, we might. I mean, he is a Jounin after all."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "And once again Naruto, what are we gonna do about there only being two bells?" She asked.

Naruto smiled, not his normal devil may care smile but a small resigned smile. "You two can take the bells. I'd rather at least you two pass then have all of us fail." He said. Then his smile brightened. "Besides, even if I get sent back to the academy, I'll still become Hokage some day!"

"Naruto…" Sakura said. Sasuke just smiled.

"Alright then do- I mean Naruto. What are we gonna do then?"

There was only an hour left before the exam would be over, and Kakashi would once again be free from the duties of having to teach a genin squad. He was a little disappointed however. Aside from Naruto's initial assault and a few shuriken thrown by Sasuke, they hadn't really even tried.

His eyes widened and he ducked as a barrage of kunai and shuriken flew over him. He turned just in time to jump away as another barrage flew slightly lower. But even as he landed, yet another group of shuriken flew towards him, coming from a completely different direction. Kakashi grabbed a kunai out of his pouch and deflected them all, finally putting his book away. He looked around but saw no sign of the genin. He did hear something though. 'What's that sound?' He asked looking around. He looked down at the scattered kunai and his eyes widened as he saw the explosive tag attached to one of them.

Sakura grinned as the explosion went off. Just like Sasuke had thought, Kakashi used a quick kawarimi jutsu to avoid it, leaving a charred log in his place. Which is exactly why she had lined the surrounding area with traps. She waited patiently till she heard another explosion, and Kakashi appeared back in the field. This was the cue she was waiting for, and she made a few hand seals.

Kakashi's eyes widened as Naruto and Sasuke appeared in front of him. They both had kunai out. Sasuke jumped up, trying to kick Kakashi in the face. Kakashi caught Sasuke's leg easily, but had to let go and turn to the side as Naruto attempted an axe kick. This was surprising. The two of them had apparently decided to work together. Of course, they'd left Sakura out, so they still failed, but he was interested to see how they planned on getting the bells.

Sasuke crouched down, attempting to sweep Kakashi's legs out from underneath him. Kakashi jumped up, and grabbed the fist that Naruto threw at him, using his own momentum to throw him towards Sasuke. Naruto smiled as he stretched out an arm. Sasuke stepped to the side, grabbing Naruto's arm and turning with the force of his projection, launching him back even faster towards Kakashi. Kakashi jumped into the air, wondering what they had hoped to accomplish with that little maneuver.

"Katon: Gokyaku no jutsu" A voice called out from behind. Kakashi turned just in time to see a large fireball soaring towards him, coming from another Sasuke. He knew he wouldn't have time to do a kawarimi, so he started the hand seals for a quick suiton jutsu. He paused however, when the fireball exploded, revealing three Narutos who tackled him to the ground. He landed with an oof, and quickly kicked the Naruto off of himself. He looked around at the group of smirking Narutos and Sasukes, as the Naruto's disappeared, and the Sasuke in the tree poofed away revealing a grinning Sakura. He just shook his head slightly, before he heard a tinkling sound come from behind him.

Kakashi turned around to see a grinning Naruto holding up both the bells, before tossing one to Sasuke and the other one to Sakura. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at this, as Sasuke and Sakura stood next to their teammate, all three grinning at the Jounin.

"So, the three of you worked together even though only two of you get to pass?" Kakashi asked curiously.

Naruto nodded his head. "We figured we wouldn't be able to beat you one on one, but with the three of us you might leave an opening. Of course, most of the actual planning came from Sasuke and Sakura."

"I see," Kakashi said, nodding his head, "And how did you decide who would get the bells?"

"I volunteered to be the one sent back so they could continue on." Naruto said. Only Kakashi noticed that his smile lessened, just a tiny bit. Then, a loud growl was heard coming from his stomach. "Whoops. Heheh, sorry, guess I'm pretty hungry. Anyways, thanks for the match Kakashi-sensei." He said, before turning to Sakura and Sasuke, giving them a victory sign. "And good luck you two, I'm sure you guys will become great ninja." With that, Naruto poofed away, revealing it had been a shadow clone.

Kakashi noted the looks of surprise on the other two's faces. Apparently they didn't realize he'd been using a shadow clone either. He gave an inward sigh, and was about to give a speech to the remaining two about teamwork when Sakura held her bell out to him.

"Kakashi-sensei, I can't really take this. If Naruto is getting failed, then I should too." She said. Kakashi looked surprise, but his eyes widened even more when Sasuke followed suit.

"She's right. The only reason we got these bells was because we worked as a team. As much as I hate to say it, I don't deserve to pass if Naruto doesn't." Sasuke looked like he already regretted saying it, but he still handed the bell to Kakashi.

'Great… there goes all my free time.' Kakashi thought to himself. "Team 7," He said seriously, startling both Sasuke and Sakura. "Your first mission is to locate your missing team mate Naruto and return here with him. You have one hour to accomplish this task."

The two genin gave each other a confused look, before shrugging, and heading off towards the village. After all, there was only one place Naruto could possibly be if he was hungry.

Kakashi stared after them after they left, thinking back to the night the Hokage had forced him to take on the team…

(Flashback no jutsu)

"Kakashi, I'm a little worried about your behavior lately. You've been throwing yourself into our toughest solo missions without a break, and you're only taking group missions with Gai. And tonight you endangered the life of a young shinobi." Sarutobi said.

Kakashi just sighed. It wasn't his fault his team was gone. Minato-sensei had of course given his life to save the village. Rin had died in the Kyuubi attack. And Obito… Kakashi unconsciously raised a hand up to his covered eye, remembering his old friend. So he had gotten a little tired when he came back from his third A-ranked mission that day. He still had gotten to the forest in time to see the boy take down Mizuki.

"So, for your punishment, you're going to be taking on a squad of genin from this semester's graduation." Sarutobi said.

"Hokage-sama, please forgive me but…" Kakashi started. The Hokage held up a hand to silence him.

"I know how you feel about leading a team Kakashi. But I think it will be good for you. Besides, this isn't a request, it's an order.'

Kakashi sighed, before smiling at the Hokage. "Alright Hokage-sama. I mean, they still have to pass my test anyways. So I guess I don't really have anything to worry about."

The Hokage smiled, a bit mysteriously. "You might be surprised Kakashi."

(End Flashback no jutsu)

Kakashi had to admit, the Hokage was right. And he didn't feel as depressed about it as he thought he might. 'If nothing else, it won't be dull' He thought to himself, before heading in the direction his team had just gone.

Naruto finished his second bowl of ramen with a content sigh. Ayame, the daughter of the owner of the ramen stand, looked at him slightly worried.

"Is everything alright Naruto?" She asked.

He grinned back at her. "Yeah, everything's fine Ayame-neechan, why do you ask?"

She smiled at him. "Because normally you'd be on your fourth bowl right now, and you haven't said much since you sat down."

"Nah, I'm fine really! Never been better." He said, giving her a smile that almost made her think he was telling the truth. Almost.

"You sure Naruto?"

He sighed, dropping the big smile for a smaller, more sincere one. "Yeah, some stuff happened a little bit ago but I'm alright. Thanks for caring Ayame-neechan." He said sincerely.

"Hey Naruto, I knew we'd find you here." Sakura said, walking up next to the blonde. Naruto looked over to see Sasuke standing behind her.

"Oh hey Sakura-chan! Sorry about the shadow clone, but I was really hungry and I didn't want to wait for Kakashi-sensei to fail me." He said, smiling sheepishly at her.

"That's fine Naruto. But Kakashi-sensei ordered us to come bring you back to the training ground. Apparently he's got something to talk to us about." She said.

Naruto looked confused. "Why? I already know I failed."

"Well, we've all failed now. Sasuke-kun and I turned our bells back in." She said with a smile.

There was a few moments of silence before a deafening "WHAT?!" was shouted by the blonde.

"What do you mean you gave back the bells?! After all that work trying to get them!"

"That's just it dobe. We worked together to get the bells. So it's only fair we either pass, or fail together." Sasuke said, smirking at Naruto.

"Maa, I couldn't have said it better myself Sasuke." Kakashi said, appearing behind the Uchiha (and nearly giving him a heart attack, though Sasuke would never admit it). "Sorry, I decided I'd just tag along with you guys so I didn't have to wait. Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura…"

The three looked at him as Kakashi smiled at them. "You all pass!" He said.

Once again the looks of confusion graced the faces of the three shinobi. "But Kakashi-sensei, I never got a bell…" Naruto said.

"The bells were never the true goal of the test Naruto. They were actually there to create trouble within the team. Three people but only two bells of course meant that no matter what one person was going to fail. Normally, students would work either entirely on their own or even against each other, trying to make sure one of the bells was theirs." Kakashi's face became serious. "What they never seem to understand is that we place genin in three man squads for a reason. It's so that way you can watch out for each other, and help each other, use your skills together. I've got to say, out of all the teams I've ever given the bell test to, you're the only ones who seemed to get the fact that it would take teamwork to really get the job done." He smiled at them again.

"So, it was all basically just a trick then to see if we'd be willing to put aside ourselves for the good of the mission?" Sakura asked. Kakashi shook his head.

"Not just that, but also to care about each other. Even though Naruto had helped you and Sasuke get the bells, I was still going to fail you before you both returned your bells. You realized that it was a team effort, and as such you should be rewarded or disciplined as a team. You didn't just leave Naruto to suffer through another year at the academy. It's like a close friend of mine once said. 'Those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are even worse than trash'."

Kakashi nodded at the look of understanding on their faces. Naruto almost seemed to be bouncing with joy, while Sasuke smirked and Sakura had a very Naruto-esque smile on her faces. "So Team 7, I expect you all to report at the Hokage's Tower by eight o clock tomorrow morning for you first mission."

Naruto jumped up, laughing and throwing a fist in the air. He grabbed Sakura in a tight hug and started spinning her around, saying "WE DID IT!" all the while, drawing strange looks from people nearby.

"Naruto!" Sakura said, laughing as she was spun around. "Put me down! I'm getting dizzy."

Naruto blinked and stopped, setting his friend down and smiling at her sheepishly. Teuchi and Ayame, who had been witnessing the entire thing, laughed. "Alright, how about a free bowl of ramen for the three of you to celebrate?" Teuchi asked, causing another cheer from Naruto. Kakashi smiled at the scene, before leaping up to the rooftops as he went to let the Hokage know his team passed. He had a feeling the Hokage would be laughing the entire time.

A/N: First up I just want to take a moment and thank YellowDemonFlash for agreeing to Beta this for me. I really appreciate it!

And so we come to a close again. Next up we have Team 7's first missions, and of course, we'll want to see what's up with our other shinobi friends.

Hope you enjoyed, please review and let me know how I'm doing.