Naruto dropped the kunai and it fell into the hole landing on the top of the casket with a clank. Naruto turned towards the shocked crowd and held his bleeding palm out and id the same with Sasuke's Hitai-ate. "From this day on… I will train and I will do what he couldn't. I will become strong enough to protect everyone precious to me no matter what and never again will I hold a dying friend within my arms. I will never give up, I will never give in, and never will I change my ways. I swear it on my blood and on Uchiha Sasuke's grave." After Naruto spoke these words he brought his bloody palm down across the Hitai-ate dying it a glossy red and when he pulled it away he turned around, held it up and let it fall into the hole. He closed his eyes as it began to rain harder, washing the blood from his hand that was slowly stitching itself back together. The Hitai-ate seemed to fall in slow motion and when it hit the casket it bounced up and twirled, the bloody Konoha symbol flashed and then in the metallic red the reflection of Naruto was seen slowly until it twirled again and then the reflection of Naruto with Sasuke standing next to him was seen.

I'll keep my promise… I will become an Avenger!

Chapter 4: The New Rookie 9

The Hokage sat at his desk, his hands clasped together; resting on the hard wooden surface. He didn't wear the traditional Hokage's hat; the article was lying against his back, held around his neck by a thin string. His eyes were traveling over the person standing in front of him. They were slightly unnerved, having never had the chance to meet with the leader of their village 1-on-1 before. Standing next to the old Hokage was the silver haired Jōnin Kakashi, his single eye also looking over the person. This was going to be his new possible student; this person was getting a chance rarely seen.

"As you might know, Uchiha Sasuke was killed on his last mission." The Hokage said solemnly and watched as the person in front of him stiffened slightly, taking in a sharp breath. The old man mentally kicked himself for what he was doing but he had no other real choice, no other appealing choice. She had the highest ranking of all the other graduates. The old man reminded himself mentally before he continued to address the girl. "This has left an open position within Team 7's roster. Kakashi and I are giving you the chance to fill this hole, are you interested?" The Hokage asked the girl standing in front of him, watched as she began to open her mouth but Kakashi cut her off.

"If you accept just know one thing, you will have to work hard to catch up with my other students. You will have to work even harder to earn their trust and that is the most important thing for us right now, we need you guys to be able to function as a team, a single fluid weapon to protect the village. Are you up to the task?" The silver haired Jōnin asked and the girl's eyes flickered over to him briefly before they moved back to the Hokage. She bowed lowly; a nervous look dominated her face.

"Hai Hokage-sama. I accept and I hope to make you and my team mates proud Kakashi…sensei." The girl said as she stood up straight and looked Kakashi straight in the eye. The silver haired man nodded slowly before he closed his single eye and raised his hand in a farewell.

"Go meet your new team at training ground 43." Kakashi said before he disappeared in a small whirlwind of leaves that slowly ruffled the Hokage's robes while making the girls hair blow backwards softly.

Naruto and Sakura lay side by side, a few inches between them, on the soft grass of training ground 7. They had their arms beneath their heads have makeshift pillows; their eyes looked up at the blue sky, the clouds slowly floating by. They had been lying there for a few hours, Kakashi had told then that he had an important meeting to attend to. Both were watching the clouds but were also having thoughts on their own private matters. Naruto's face was set in a serious yet confused state; he was trying to figure out some hidden mystery. Sakura's own face looked as though someone had painted worry and fear all over it. What's going to happen? I don't want to quit being a ninja! But, our team is broken… I don't want to be placed somewhere else, I need Naruto and Kakashi. I can't abandon them…

What did you mean with your last words Sasuke? Kill your brother; I got that, but Sharingan? You had it, were you trying to let me know that you got it? That you achieved some goal? Naruto thought within his mind as he let out a frustrated sigh. Sakura, snapped out of her own thoughts, looked over at her agitated team mate. He was glaring at the sky, thinking about something that only he would dwell upon.

"Naruto, what is it?" the pink haired girl asked in a soft voice. She had become soft spoken, a bit shy, after Sasuke's burial a week prior. Naruto liked the new personality change but he sometimes missed the old Sakura, the girl who yelled and showed her freakishly tremendous strength in the form of hitting people. He sometimes missed the girl he used to have a huge crush on, but he was okay with this new one for now.

"That basterd…" Naruto grunted as he let his own head roll over, his blue eyes meeting her emerald eyes, boring deep into them. "I need to know what he meant by 'Sharingan!'" Naruto said as he shifted his weight and rolled over onto his side so he was facing Sakura completely. He held his head up with his right hand while he laid his left arm down in front of him, picking at the grass unconsciously while he continued to ponder his thoughts, his blue eyes still locked on Sakura's own.

"It's not worth putting yourself through the pain Naruto, move on… at least try to. If we keep talking about Sasuke like this then…then we will never get over it." She muttered as she brought a hand from beneath her head and wiped her eye, trying to push away the fatigue that had been nagging at her from just cloud watching.

Naruto looked at his pink haired team mate and chuckled softly as he held up the grass he had been picking at. He had braided it together, a common habit he found himself in when he played with grass. "Sakura, don't worry about my feelings… I've been reading…"

"Reading?" Sakura asked with a surprised and playful tone. She looked at Naruto with a raised eyebrow and the blonde boy stuck his tongue out at her playfully while letting his blue eyes briefly flash with amusement.

"Yeah, reading! Anyways… I was reading about depression and loss and all that stuff, nothing to hard…" Naruto said as he shrugged his left shoulder while throwing the braided grass into the air where a sudden gust picked it up and carried it a few feet away before it hit the ground again.

Sakura felt her interest peak and she rolled over so she was on her stomach and from there she pushed herself up onto her knees, her hands on her thighs as she stared at Naruto. "Yeah, and what did you read about it?" she asked and the boy rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Well I was reading about losing loved ones and that stuff, I figured it was related to us, and I guess there are a few stages of it. First disbelief, we went through that already, we still kind of are and I guess we will be for awhile. Then we have anger, I'm not sure just how much you've felt but I know that I've gotten angry at myself a lot…" Naruto trailed off but continued on before Sakura could interrupt and try to cheer him up. "I'm starting to come to terms with things but I think that I'm still stuck in the stage the book really focused on… blame. I don't get angry with myself anymore, I find myself getting angry at others sometimes when I think about it. I get mad at Sasuke since he didn't have to needlessly throw himself in front of me. I get mad at Kakashi for making us fight such a strong enemy and not giving us better training. I blamed you…" Naruto whispered the final part and Sakura winced, her heart ached for a second but she realized that Naruto was telling her the truth and she accepted the feelings that he couldn't help at the time.

"After blame comes acceptance but the book says that one will never truly accept the death of someone close right away." Naruto said with a small smirk and that small smirk turned into a chuckle. "I keep expecting Sasuke to just walk across the field, brooding you know?" he muttered and Sakura nodded.

"Yeah, it's weird waking up knowing that he is…gone, but somehow your mind tricks you into thinking it isn't real and you almost believe it. But it hurts when you realize that it's your subconscious trying to change reality…" Sakura said her head tilted up so that she could look at the clouds; her words carried off by the wind but not before they touched Naruto's ears.

"Sakura…" Naruto muttered as he looked at the girl again, her emerald eyes were focused on the sky.

"Yeah?" she asked and Naruto slowly pulled himself up so he was sitting in a position akin to his team mates, but slowly dragged himself forward so that he was sitting next to her, both of them facing them same way.

"Do you-"he began but was cut off by a voice shouting at them from the distance.

"Hey! Are you guys Team 7?" a female voice yelled and Naruto felt his eyebrow twitch as he was interrupted by someone when he was about to ask Sakura a question. Both teens kept staring at the sky, hearing the sound of running footsteps drawing closer and closer, the sound of grass being crushed as the person ran towards them.

"Hey!" the voice sounded right behind them, causing both teens to start turning around slowly to find out who had intruded on their privacy. "Are you…guys…" the voice trailed off as all three sets of eyes made contact.

"No fucking way…" Naruto muttered as his eyes bored into the pair of deep green eyes of the girl standing before him.

"Why are you here?" Sakura almost shouted, her old personality breaking through for a second before she reined it in. "Why are you here, why are you talking to us?" she grumbled with anger and disbelief in her voice. She hadn't seen much less talked to the girl in a few months, about 5 if she remembered correctly.

"Billboard Brow? Dobe?" the girl whispered in disbelief, her eyes widening as she took in their features. Same as they looked back then! "You're the team that Sasuke was on?" she muttered angrily, her voice starting to raise a few notches in volume. "No wonder he died!" she bellowed as she pointed accusingly at Sakura. "I bet it was you and that damn forehead! He had to protect your sorry ass-"

"Shut up." Naruto hissed; a kunai out and held steady at the girl's throat. The girl shuddered as she felt the cold metal pressing against the naked skin of her throat, and she knew that if it was moved a centimeter in any direction she would be raining blood down upon the ground.

Sakura stood staring at her team mate and the girl in utter shock. She had felt Naruto move, she had seen his body as it blurred forward but she didn't expect for him to stand up for her like that! An eerie silence filled the training ground as no one moved; Naruto stood with his right arm stretched out, the kunai held in a reverse grip against the girl's throat, his left hand curled into a fist by his left hip, his feet planted slightly apart. Sakura was kneeling on the ground, her hands in her lap, her mouth slightly agape due to the sudden actions. The girl stood stock still, her arms at her sides, her feet slightly spread apart, her body slightly shaking as she looked into the eyes of Uzumaki Naruto, the normally cheerful eyes will blue irises were horrifying as now the blue had gone from sky blue, to crimson blood red (No slits).

As they all remained in those same positions, all of their breaths coming in deep intakes, a sudden whirlwind caught their attention but none of them moved. Kakashi appeared between Naruto and Sakura, his hands in his pockets. "I see you have met your new team mate already…" he muttered. "Say hi, Aoizora Ami."

"Good luck Kakashi." The Hokage let the words slowly escape his lips as his hands slowly retracted from his crystal ball that he watched over Konoha with. He had watched the entire scene that had played out between the newly formed team, the tension that had been between all three students back in the academy was the same as it was now. I'm getting to old for this job… The Hokage thought wearily as he rubbed his temples.

"Kakashi-sensei… what is she doing here?" Naruto said with distaste in his voice, his eyes were still leveled on the girl standing in front of him, though his red irises slowly faded back to their beautiful ocean blue. He slowly pull his kunai away which caused Ami to stumble back a few feet, her eyes still open wide from shock. The blonde slowly backed up until he was standing next to Sakura, who was still kneeling and staring at Ami with mixed feelings.

"Like I said, Ami has been chosen to replace Sasuke on our team." Kakashi said with a small eye smile, trying to lighten the mood. There was silence, a small wind blew throughout the field, rustling the grass and tickling the four ninja's faces as it ran by. Kakashi kept his eye smile on for a few minutes waiting for someone to speak but they all stood their staring at each other. "Well, I'll let you guys bond." Kakashi said and disappeared from the awkward situation in a swirl of leaves. How awkward was that situation? Were the man's thoughts as he disappeared from the Genin's sight.

Naruto's eye flickered over to the area that Kakashi had been standing only moments before, then after seeing the man had really left his eyes slowly snapped back to the girl before him. His eyes slowly picked her apart, taking in most of her details. She was a bit shorter then himself, only by a few centimeters though. Her purple hair which had always hung down to her neck now stretched down past her shoulder, all of it behind her besides for her bangs which framed her slender face. Her eyes were forest green with gold bursting around her pupils. Naruto's eyes traveled downward then and saw what she was wearing and he mentally scoffed at the clothes.

A purple skirt and a blue blouse? I don't see any weapons, no protection, nothing… The blonde thought, lost in his thoughts.

"What are you staring at Dobe?" Ami sneered when she saw him looking her over, most likely checking her out. The purple haired girl put a hand on her hip and blew a stray hair out of her face, her eyes locking onto Naruto's. "I know Sakura is ugly; but that doesn't mean you have to appreciate me." She finished.

"Stills tuck up as ever…" Sakura muttered as she got to her feet and joined Naruto in staring at her. She ignored the insult that the girl had thrown at her, and her action didn't go unnoticed by Ami who furrowed her eyebrows at the lack of reaction that Sakura would have usually shown.

The pink haired girl also noticed Ami's clothes and she shook her head before looking at Naruto, almost reading his thoughts on the matter. This is our new team mate?

"Why did Jiji give us….you?" Naruto muttered as he locked eyesight with Ami once more. Both were stubborn and neither were willing to look away. The purple haired girl, after a few seconds, scoffed at the question before lowering herself to the ground so that she was sitting, her left leg crossed over her right leg, blocking Naruto and Sakura from seeing up her skirt, not that they were attempting to do such a thing. She placed her arms behind her back and propped herself up and looked at the clouds, a smug look on her face.

"Because, of everyone who failed the real test, I was the strongest of them all. Instead of going through another year at the academy or dropping out I got this chance here so I took it." Ami said, proud of being handpicked by the Hokage himself. She let her gaze wander down to Naruto and then it slowly drifted over to Sakura. "So I take it I'm going to have to take the lead?" she asked with a bored tone.

"Let's get some facts straight bitch!" Sakura hissed, Ami's attitude wearing on her last nerve. She took a step forward and glared at the purple girl who was staring t her in disbelief. "You failed the Genin test. You might have been the strongest of the kids who didn't make it… but we are stronger then you. We know what it means to fight and lose loved ones. Have you ever fought someone besides a fellow student or teacher?" Sakura asked the girl who was still staring at her, no longer in disbelief but in pure shock. "Didn't think so. If anyone is the leader of this team…" Sakura said and placed her hand on her hip, mocking Ami's earlier actions. "It's Naruto."

Naruto was slightly smirking as Sakura tore Ami a new one, no longer afraid to stand up for herself. His smirk dropped though and was replaced by a look of shock and joyfulness when Sakura said that he was the leader of the team. Sakura-chan… "If you think you can lead this team then why don't you spar me?" Naruto challenged and the purple haired girl looked over at him with disgust.

"Why would I waste my time on…you." She demanded and snorted. She flipped her hair so that it was all tossed over her right shoulder, her nose held high in the air defiantly.

Naruto growled and took a few steps forward, grabbing the high and mighty girl by the neck of her blouse and pulling her up so she was standing and staring at him with outrage. "You want to know why?" he snarled ad motioned with his hand, a large sweeping motion that meant to draw attention to the entire training field. "Because this is training ground 7, and do you know who trains here? Team 7! If you don't want to be a part of our team then leave, otherwise it's time to grow up and be the adult that you really are!" Naruto said and let go of Ami's blouse neck, causing her to stumble backwards and fall on her rear.

"You Dobe!" she accused but Naruto shook his head.

"You're wrong Ami. If anyone is the Dobe it's you. Dobe is the name given to the weakest of the graduating class right? Welcome to the Rookie 9, you're the weakest Dobe." Naruto said, his words making Sakura laugh into her left palm. "Let's go grab some ramen Sakura…" Naruto muttered as he cast one final disapproving glance at their new team mate. Sakura nodded and both of them walked from the field, leaving Ami to stare at their backs in anger, her fists clenched into the grass, grass and dirt squished inside them.

"I can't believe this!" Naruto grumbled as he waited for his ramen. Sakura sat beside him, also waiting for her own order of the food. She looked over at the blonde and sighed, a release of breath that would make Shikamaru's own sighs seem like yawns. Naruto clenched his fists in anger and slammed them on the counter. "We ask Jiji for a new team mate and he gives us Ami! It wouldn't be so bad if she wasn't so stuck up!" He cried in outrage, his blue eyes turned to Sakura who was staring at him with interest.

"So you'd be willing to accept her if she toned it down and got off her high horse?" Sakura asked curiously and Naruto shrugged as he thought about the question.

"I don't know… she always made my life hell at the academy and I can see her blaming us for Sasuke's death, her eyes were screaming it!" Naruto said and Sakura nodded slowly.

"Naruto, there are a lot of people who blame us…call us weak for not protecting him. Just remember, it isn't our fault." She said just as the bowls of ramen were set down in front of them by Ayame.

"Here you guys go; two bowls of Miso ramen!" Ayame said with a bright smile. She watched as Naruto begrudgingly broke apart his chopsticks and with a weak 'Itadakimasu!' began to slowly eat the noodles. Ayame noticed his mood and looked over at Sakura who was also eating her noodles slowly as though the pink haired girl was delving herself into some deep thoughts. "Hey Naruto-kun… what's wrong?" she asked as she leaned on the counter, her arms supporting her and her hands clasped together.

Naruto looked up from his ramen, a noodle hanging down from his mouth and across his chin. He quickly sucked it into his hungrily waiting mouth and shrugged his shoulders but then thought twice about it and opened his mouth to speak. "You know how Sasuke died right?" Nod. "Well Jiji gave us a new team mate!" he cried with fake enthusiasm.

Ayame smiled brightly and closed her eyes. "That's great!" she cheered but Naruto snorted which made her open her eyes, a questioning look befell her soft and beautiful face.

"To bad our new team mate is our oldest tormentor. Already she thinks she is on control… she insults us already and has called us weak even though she is the one who failed the Genin test." Naruto grumbled and Ayame sighed before reaching out with her right hand and scuffling Naruto's hair affectionately.

"Why don't you just tell her what it means to be a ninja? Maybe you should explain what the true purpose of the test was and why she failed it." Ayame said, offering her own advice. She chuckled as Naruto looked at her curiously, his blue eyes trying to figure something out.

"That's a great idea Ayame-chan… but how did you know there was a true purpose behind the test?" he asked and Ayame blushed slightly, a small redness running from under the corner of her left eye, over her nose, to the corner of her right eye.

"I was a Chūnin! I told you that already, sheesh how'd you forget?" she mumbled at the boy's apparent lack of knowledge remembrance. Naruto stared at her before shrugging.

"I don't know I just got sued to you being the cute girl at the ramen stand I guess." He said as he dug into his noodles, not noticing the blush that appeared on Ayame's face again, only a shade of deeper red at the compliment. "Why'd you quit again?" Naruto asked with a mouthful of noodles. He brought his eyes up to look at Ayame questioningly and she chuckled.

"Old man needed help here…plus I injured my leg on a mission. It's taken awhile to heal so I just retired and decided to help my father out here." Ayame mused and tapped her chin lightly and looked towards the roof. "Though I have considered becoming a ninja yet again." She mumbled and Naruto quickly shook his head, a noodle flying from his mouth and smacking Ayame in the face.

The girl picked it off and flicked it onto the ground before chuckling at Naruto's dismissal of the idea. "Why not Naruto-kun?" she asked and the blonde muttered in an almost sad tone.

"You were one of my very first friends… I don't want to you to get hurt or worse…die." The blonde said and Ayame let a sad smile cross her face. She brought a hand up and rested it on Naruto's cheek, cupping the boy's warm flesh in her soft hands. She tilted his face up to meet hers and she leaned forward, kissing him on the forehead. The blonde blushed bright red, Sakura also did to as she saw the Ramen girl's actions.

"Naruto, you can't protect everyone…" she whispered sadly and Naruto chuckled softly and stood to his feet, his bowl of ramen empty. He looked at Sakura and smiled at her and waved then turned to Ayame and did the same.

"Thanks for the ramen Ayame-chan I'll see you tomorrow Sakura-chan! I have some business to take care of." He said and turned to leave, his hand pushing the flap out of his face but before he left the stand he turned, his blue eyes suddenly serious and locked on Ayame's own chocolate brown ones.

"That's the thing though Ayame. I may not be able to… but I will." He left leaving a stunned Ayame and a smiling Sakura who was finishing the last of her own noodles.

"Funny thing is… he's telling the truth. Naruto won't go back on his word." Sakura whispered as she looked at her reflection in the broth of her ramen. A smile had graced her lips as her team mates final words echoed in her ears still, only seconds after he had left.

Now to find- Naruto was thinking within his mind as he exited the ramen stand, only to collide with someone. Conveniently that someone was the person he was just going to find and talk to. "Ami! What are you doing here?" he asked and the girl flushed a little as she realized she had almost been caught trying to find her team mates.

"N-nothing! I was just walking by…" she muttered and went to walk around the blonde but he held an arm up blocking her way.

"Hey Ami… can I talk to you?" he asked and she looked at him curiously and nodded. "Follow me." He said as they began walking towards the training field once again.

"Man, I'm so hungry!" Naruto whined as he kicked his legs only it was to no use. His stomach growled loudly and his face showed pure agony as his team mates ate their lunch next to him slowly. "Why'd Kakashi-sensei have to tie me to the log!" he pouted and closed his eyes. "Man-" He was interrupted suddenly when Sasuke pushed his food into his face, the boy was looking at the ground, his eyes closed, his left hand held out.

"Here, eat. I don't sense Kakashi nearby and you need the energy if we are going to beat him and get those bells." Sasuke muttered and Naruto stared at him in shock.

"Sasuke…" Naruto whispered in disbelief.

"No… Naruto, eat mine. I'm used to not eating much and since you and Sasuke are stronger you will need more energy." Sakura said as she bowed her head and offered her food with both hands held up. Naruto averted his gaze from the Uchiha to his crush.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered and the girl sat there waiting for the boy to take the food. "I'm tied up." He said and Sakura looked up slowly, a look of disbelief on her face.

"Hurry Sakura!" Sasuke said and the pink haired girl growled and looked at the blond.

"Don't get any wrong impressions." She said as she quickly gathered a bite together and held it in front of Naruto's mouth.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan! NUM!" Naruto moaned as he ate the delicious food.

"YOU!" Kakashi suddenly screamed as he appeared out of nowhere. All three students were staring at the Jōnin sensei in fear. "I told you not to feed Naruto and you disobeyed my orders! Are you ready for the consequences?" Kakashi demanded.

"B-but sensei! Y-you said!" Sakura stammered, unable to get the words out.

"You said this exercise was about team work! We are working together here to beat you!" Sasuke said in defiance as he glared at the older man.

"YEAH!" Naruto yelled as he shook in fear.

Kakashi eyed them all angrily. "You…" he growled before smiling. "Pass!" he said happily.

"WHAT!" all three Genin yelled in disbelief.

"Every team before you just listened to what I said and didn't get what it old them! They didn't use team work which means they didn't feed their hungry team mate which would result in their team work being futile since they had a weak link that they could have prevented." Kakashi mused and stood up straight, looking at all of them sternly. "Those who disobey the rules are trash." He said and all three Genin winced. "But those who abandon their friends, their team mates, their comrades…are lower than trash." Kakashi finished and all three students stared at him in shock before all four of the figures disappeared in clouds of smoke.

As the smoke faded it left Naruto and Ami sitting in a tree branch, a few inches of space between them. Neither had spoken a word as Naruto made the clones and henged them into the familiar replica's of his old team and then had them re-enact the entire test that Team 7 had taken. Of course he wasn't able to do all the jutsu but he had made up for it. Now they sat in silence as the voices they had just heard disappeared leaving both of them to their own private thoughts.

Naruto was thinking about how his team had been just a couple weeks ago, and how it was now. Ami was in complete shock, Team 7 had been the only team passed by Hatake Kakashi!

"Do you get it Ami? The reason we passed, the whole purpose of that test was to make us use team work." Naruto whispered as a breeze kicked up and blew his hair wildly around his face, the same happened to Ami. "The reason me and Sakura were so angry was because you came here and acted as though you ran the show…" Naruto said and Mai looked over at him.

"So is that why you hate me?" she asked and Naruto shook his head.

"I don't hate you… I have forgiven you for what you did to me just how I forgive everyone who hurts me. I just… I know how important team work is! I know how crucial it is for a team to work together and be a family. I know we may fight and bicker…but… we have to work together." Naruto said and brought his own gaze up to meet hers. "I watched one team mate die in front of me because our team didn't work together… I won't go through that again." He said and Ami stared at the blonde in shock.

She looked away as his words sunk in; she finally realized just how her actions had made the two teens mad. It wasn't because she was stuck up; it was because they knew just what would happen. "You used to be so weak back at the academy… you didn't even register on my radar but here you are… a Genin, a team leader, and also explaining how important team work is." She muttered and sighed as she mentally chastised herself.

"Don't stress yourself, the things me and Sakura went through have made us more mature then we were. We were forced to grow up…" Naruto said as he stood to his feet and held out his hand to help Ami up. The purple haired girl looked at his hand nervously for a second before she grabbed it and pulled herself up, brushing the dirt off her skirt.

"I'm sorry…" she said and crossed her arms behind her back. "About how I've always treated you… how I treated you guys earlier." She said and blushed a little bit; making Naruto smile softly.

I guess I did make sense…she gets how important team mates are now. "I forgive you like I said, there's just one person you have to apologize to tomorrow." Naruto said and Ami nodded in understanding. "Team?" he asked holding out his hand to her.

"No." she said and looked at him. A look of disbelief crossed his face before she grinned. "Team mates!" She said and grabbed his hand, making the blonde grin happily.

"Okay, well… first things first. What you have on… it's not gonna cut it!" Naruto said, his demeanor changing suddenly. "I mean seriously? A skirt and a blouse! You don't have any weapons, no protection…hell you don't even have your Hitai-ate!" The blonde shouted gesturing at Ami in disbelief. Ami stared at him with her mouth hanging slightly open.

"Oh! You should talk! What are you wearing! Orange! You're like a traffic cone! If I have to change my style then so do you! If you're the team leader then it's time to make some changes!" Ami shouted gesturing at Naruto's own clothes.

"OH YEAH!" he shouted.

"YEAH!"

I think they'll be just fine... Kakashi thought as he listened to the blonde and purple haired girl bicker. They weren't fighting like to people who hated each other, they were arguing like team mates and that was what made Kakashi proud. You are a true leader Naruto…I'm happy you remembered my teachings. The One eyed Jōnin sensei thought as he disappeared in a whirl of leaves, leaving the arguing teens to continue on with their friendly fight as they jumped out of the tree and started walking towards town.

"WH-where am I?" a voice asked in a small, confused, afraid, fearful whisper. All around them was darkness, nothing was in sight and they felt cold, felt as though they had been asleep for years and they were now finally awakening. As they looked forward a sudden pair of crimson red eyes opened, followed by a white smile.

Here's chapter 4! Shorter then my other chapters but oh well. Here we see the maturity of Naruto and also Team 7's new teammate. Aoizora Ami, I didn't know what her last name was so I just gave her a cool one. Her name translates out to mean Beautiful (Ami) Blue sky (Aoizora). I thought about using am O.C, to tell the truth I was going to use Uchiha Aoi, the female cousin of Sasuke and one of the villages biggest kept secrets, but I decided that I'd just be filling the void that Sasuke left with another Uchiha. Sorry for those who would prefer that, even though she wouldn't have had the Sharingan? Anyways… next chapter is when we see Team 7, training. Yes, Kakashi will hold to his word!