A/N: Hello again, lots of people enjoyed my last chapter I can tell and I even got one reader who went ahead and bashed my work but that is okay. I live mostly off the negativity from people because it shows how much they really care. Thank you all for the reviews, I read every one of them and they are all important. Feel free to message me as well. I read everything that all of you say about my story. That is enough about my boring life and back to the story.

Anyway, just a note I have not decided on the pairing yet and leaving it open. As of now I see that Naruto/Hinata seems to be the pairing that people want the most and that is what I figured would happen but I am getting some interesting feedback on who should be the pairing.

Lots of questions answered in this chapter, so kick back, relax and enjoy.

Last time on "Rejection"

"So basically I want to bring despair on you because you do not know how it feels to suffer true pain and once you do I can build a utopian world where everybody is interconnected by the two dynamic worlds of suffering and happiness. There will be no pariahs and no upper class, we are all connected by pain."

"But w-w-why?" asked Gin but Naruto had enough of the quivering kid's questions so he kicked him in the chest effectively both knocking the wind out of him and rendering Gin unconscious.

"Because that is my ninja way"

Naruto surveyed the scene in front of him. His still developing mind was trying to decipher what just happened, the possible implications, ramifications and punishment that could be coming his way from his deed. Gin's father lay on the cold, dry grass that was covered by the pitch-black shade of the night. Gin himself was laid out but knocked unconscious from Naruto's assault on him (both verbal and physical).

'What do I do now? If I am caught by ANBU then I am toasted. The villagers already hate me enough but with this on top of that then I will be executed for sure. I have to either finish the job and run or leave the scene immediately' thought Naruto, beginning to panic. Then again, most twelve year olds were not supposed to be in this situation. This was one of the reasons that the shinobi force rose the age to become both a shinobi and ANBU member since the Uchiha massacre.

Naruto's fight or flight response finally kicked in, he took one last look at the bodies in front of him and he made a quick move towards his apartment. Determined that he could make it there before being caught.

'I cannot be caught, my destiny has now been carved in a path before me and I must follow it. If I fail then I let my generation down and I will never want to see the light of day. This world needs me, I am the hope for true prosperity and peace among the world' thought Naruto as he began scampering back to his house.

Luckily for Naruto, there was no ANBU chasing him back to his house or even one assigned to him at the moment due to an unexpected event. For now, Naruto's destiny was set, that was until the bodies were found.

(Early in the Morning)

An unknown figure arrived at the training ground that the skirmish between Naruto, Gin and his father took place. The figure looked down at the bodies and then scooped them up quickly before disappearing into the shadows of dawn.

(Graduation Day)

The soon to be crowned genins all woke up with a smile on their face, except one. One was contemplating what would potentially happen to him if the bodies were found and somehow he was linked to the murder of a certain citizen.

'If I get convicted for murder of a citizen, they will kill me for sure. I cannot get convicted, look guilty or do anything that makes me look guilty at all' thought Naruto to himself as he paced back in forth in his hole-in-the wall apartment.

Something dawned upon Naruto as he was pacing back and forth in his apartment that he had not thought about last night.

'That was my first kill. The first time that I have ended anybody's life, Gin's father was living up until he tried to put his hands on me and make me suffer even more.' Naruto processed the information for the first time and sat down with his hands in his head and hair.

'What have I done?" was the singular thought Naruto had in his head.

Naruto began crying all the sudden. The tears were of both anger and pain, the young, innocent mind of Naruto had now been tainted with the visions of the porous, crimson liquid spewing out of the mouth of Gin's father as he took his final breath while falling back first onto the cool grass.

(Meanwhile, at another estate)

Sasuke Uchiha was training early in the morning. If Sasuke wanted to be better than his brother and one day take down the greatest prodigy of the Uchiha clan, he had to be in top shape with both his taijutsu, ninjutsu and genjutsu skills. Sasuke was currently working on his taijutsu with just an invisible partner, only visible to Sasuke. Sasuke promptly ducked under a kick, elbowed the opponent in the stomach and then kicked the opponent in the face. Sasuke then backed up and rested for a moment.

'There, that should do it for the morning practice session. My workload as a genin should increase but with that comes a teacher who will teach me even more powerful techniques and help me progress to the next level. When I increase my ninjutsu, taijutsu, genjutsu and unlock my sharingan then I will go after my brother and bathe in his blood as I destroy him tearing every limb off his body until he pleads for me to end his misery.'

The simple thought of Sasuke brutalizing Itachi brought a smile to the face of the young Uchiha. He looked over at the clock and noticed the time; it was 30 minutes away from the graduation ceremony for the future genins. The Uchiha heir was not pleased, he was hoping to possibly work on some ninjutsu as he caught his second wind after doing a taijutsu spar against his partner.

'Why do we have to do these stupid ceremonies anyway? Can't they just place us on teams immediately after the test and we leave to train right away. I could already be training with a sensei that would be teaching me every thing that is possible to know. Ceremonies are for these political leaders and losers who are unable to become shinobi. I do not know why such things exist; they falsify reality and put a façade on for the world to see that everything is prim and proper. Well it is not all fairy tale material, we live in a world of hatred.' Thought a brooding Uchiha heir as he began getting ready for the ceremony he loathed.

(Yamanaka household, 45 minutes prior to graduation)

Ino Yamanaka was getting ready for the graduation ceremony. She knew that it was just an informal get together with everybody from the class to celebrate the festivities for becoming genin but she needed to look good for the ceremony. Anyway, Sasuke would be watching and she wanted to stun him.

She was currently doing her makeup as she put on her usual attire. Her dad was in the house and was somewhat pleased on her progress of becoming genin.

"Could you hurry up Ino? Your ceremony starts in 45 minutes" Inoichi yelled to the future heiress to the Yamanaka clan.

Ino was aggravated by her father's complete lack of respect to the art of women trying to be fashionable to a gathering.

"I will be down in five minutes daddy, I'm just making sure that I look good for the ceremony" said Ino to her father, who was currently shaking his head at his daughter's response.

'Looking good for the ceremony? Who is she trying to fool? The Yamanaka clan is known for seeing through people for a reason. I know that she is not getting herself to look good for the ceremony but instead for Sasuke. Hopefully once she graduates from the academy she will get over her crush and decide to be a true shinobi in the footsteps of her wonderful father.' Inoichi was thinking as Ino arrived downstairs.

"There is my lovely daughter, are you ready for the ceremony?" Inoichi said as he hugged his daughter and exited the house with her.

There was one thing that could be learned from the Yamanaka clan if you took a quick observation of their actions. That both the current heir and the future heiress shared two common personality traits: arrogance and vanity.

(Naruto's apartment, 20 minutes until the ceremony)

'Argh, only twenty minutes left until the ceremony begins? Why do I have to do this? The parents of the students will be there and I already know how they treat me outside of the academy so why will this be any different? I hate these social gatherings, all that I do is get ridiculed by the other students and parents, I get hurt, nobody is there to help me and then I finally get back my pride and the same continuous cycle begins again. My pain never leaves me.'

Naruto began gathering his things that he would need for the graduation ceremony. He grabbed the goggles that he usually wore on his head but set them back down.

'They are too childish, they do not fit my shinobi way or my outfit. I have no use for these things anymore. They just do not fit with my lifestyle at all. That part of Naruto is dead forever'

Naruto was conjuring these words in his head as he threw the goggles into the trashcan with sour milk and some ramen cups. Naruto then exited his apartment into the sunny streets of Konoha to walk to the academy for one of the last two times that he would ever be there.

Naruto was ordinarily walking through the street and it was a usual day for him with the villagers. Naruto would get a bunch of death glares and funny looks thrown his way, people would gossip about him but Naruto was instinctively curious about what they were saying today. Naruto was also surprised that no ANBU had been sent to assassinate or subdue him to take into custody. Naruto snuck up behind one man as he was talking to a shopkeeper about Naruto.

"Hey there is that demon kid," said the customer to the shopkeeper.

"Yeah, there he is. I would rather not have to see that kid for the rest of my life." Said the shopkeeper with a stern look on his face.

"Did you hear about what he did yesterday?" asked the customer with a dark look on his face.

Naruto's whole body had tensed. He was starting to become worried about what this citizen would say. There is no way that Naruto would be able to stop him from saying it either in broad daylight, if Naruto was found out by this man then he would be in custody fore sure soon.

'Please do not have him label me as the killer for that kid's father. I need destiny to work in my favor now, I cannot be stopped here, and my words can influence a new world that can be great. Please whatever power out there, do not let that man say those wretched words!' screamed Naruto in his head in full anger. Naruto's worst fear had become to be detained since he would be all alone, just like his whole life.

"I heard he did a wonderful job against Iruka's clone yesterday. Some parents had said that he actually displayed some shinobi skill and passed. Part of me thinks that was just out of sympathy. I personally think that he should have never become a shinobi in the first place. He is too big of a threat to become powerful, what a dumb decision by the Hokage.

Naruto was first relieved to hear those words that the customer said but then became angry at the following comments. He was the prototypical villager, quick to point out anything that Naruto did wrong but not even in the same millennia on the same time period when another person did wrong to Naruto. The fickle villagers had it out for Naruto, and were not going to stop until they saw his blood spill and run all over the dusty streets of Konohagakure.

Naruto was angered, but let that affect him positively, strengthening him for the future and all the tasks that he might face as a genin. He thought about how it would be to have a team for the first time, he would not have to be alone. However, the possibility still ran amuck that he could have two teammates and a sensei that hates him.

If that was the case, likely it would be considering his past history then he would have to go against the undulation of hate that was the tidal wave known as Konohagakure citizens. Then again, Naruto smirked on the inside because he knew that it was his destiny to become a great shinobi for all to look up to in his unified world.

Naruto kept walking knowing that he would have to deal with the hate of the citizens of Konoha but in the future he would be worshipped practically by everybody. Anyway, it was a fresh day with a new attitude that would not let people walk on him any longer.

The fresh genin were all plodding their way towards the academy since the ceremony was a mandatory attendance. Iruka did not bring any punishment up but the students were not willing to find out what kind of punishment Iruka's mind could come up with.

All the students but two were looking forward to hang out with their friends before the serious life of shinobi work began. For most of them, a warm and mushy feeling of togetherness was present, but the other two had the feelings of abhorrence, hatred and anger were prevalent.

(Konoha academy)

Iruka was getting the classroom set up, using clones to move things around so that it could be more of an informal gathering of young children instead of a formal, shinobi meeting that the students would have to get used to in the future. Iruka had just completed the work and look at a newer and renovated classroom that would be used for the ceremony, both children and parents would be here (some shinobi and some high ranked citizens).

'Well I hope this is good for everybody, I know that this being mandatory might be a bit harsh but I want some of the Hokage was very specific on some of these new shinobi developing social skills so that they have friendships to think about if they ever turn against us.' Iruka reminded himself.

While Iruka thought the idea was completely of a genius, he knew that inside that some students (Sasuke, Naruto and Shino namely) would not be happy about having to attend this. Setting Shino aside, the other two were loose cannons and Iruka agreed that both needed this just in case they did one day decide to turn against the village.

'I remember when Naruto was just the goofball prankster that some of us came to love and cherish.' Iruka then began to remember the first day that Naruto changed his demeanor.

(Iruka flashback)

Iruka was just finishing things up with his future graduates class. He was going to see how Naruto was doing after failing the class for the second time. Iruka walked over to the swing where Naruto would sit himself, as he would swing back and forth praying to Kami for somebody to come have conversation with him.

Iruka noticed that Naruto was not at the swing at all but somewhere else, this was not like Naruto all together.

'Something is out of order here; Naruto never is anywhere else but here. He watches the students leave with his parents because he wishes for them to come back everyday.' Iruka was now pondering where Naruto could be.

Iruka sent out some clones and began scouring the area close to the swing. Iruka knew that Naruto could run fast but he only used that ability when he was finishing a prank but would always love the attention if somebody came to talk to him.

'I should contact the Hokage about this; see if he can find him somehow because this is weird that he is not where he usually is. He would wait at the swing to see if I would take him out to get some ramen with him.'

So Iruka left to go to the Hokage's office because he felt that this was urgent and Naruto needed to be found as quickly as possible.

(The Hokage's office)

Iruka had walked quickly to the Hokage's office because he was too tired to run but in reality he did not want to run nor felt like Naruto would go anywhere so partially he took his time to collect his thoughts.

Iruka was standing outside of the Hokage's office, he had already cleared everything with the assistant and she had told him that nobody was currently in with the Hokage and that he was free for a little bit.

Iruka knocked on the door and was waiting for the conformation from the Third Hokage to let him.

"Please come in," replied the Third Hokage.

Iruka walked through the door and was a little distance away from the third hokage, who was sitting down in his desk with his hands on the desk.

Iruka then began explaining the situation to the Hokage. The Hokage was attentive the whole time but then chided Iruka for panicking. The Hokage looked down into the crystal ball and saw Naruto moving on the streets towards the training grounds.

"Naruto is heading to the training grounds Iruka, there is nothing to worry about. It is nice to know that somebody cares about him and not everybody hates him." Said the God of Shinobi.

Iruka gave a sigh of relief then exited the Hokage's office after trading a few commonplace happens with him.

(Training grounds)

Iruka now was outside of the training ground areas; he split his clones up in order to find Naruto in quick enough time.

Iruka knew that he would be able to find Naruto quickly without alerting him of his presence. There were a few things that Iruka knew about Naruto's shinobi skills after training him twice to pass the graduation test, one of them was that Naruto had an ability to sense any type of chakra presence in a nearby area. This was one of the most determining factors along with a henge that made Naruto fail twice.

Iruka's clones began disappearing and dispelling one by one until he obtained the memories of one clone that had located a blond boy with an orange jumpsuit in one of the nearby training grounds.

Iruka smiled to himself as he had finally found Naruto and was heading over in his direction. Since Naruto was unharmed he was going to treat him to ramen tonight and tell him not to scare him like that again.

Iruka had arrived at the training ground that Naruto was training at, not paying attention to what Naruto was attempting to learn or perfect he walked right over to Naruto.

"Hey Naruto how about we go out for ramen now? It will be my treat." Iruka said, already knowing that Naruto will turn around with the big goofy grin on his face and tell him that he would be so excited to go get ramen with him.

"Not now Iruka-sensei, I am working on my shinobi arts, maybe some other time." stated Naruto with little emotion in his voice because of trying to concentrate on his new technique.

"But Naruto, I was looking forward to treating you to some good ramen that would fill both our stomachs." Iruka smiled after saying this because he knew this would bring temptation in some capacity to his young mind.

Unfortunately for Iruka, this would be the first of many days that Naruto would turn down going with Iruka for training his shinobi arts and perfecting his skills.

"Iruka-sensei, I am trying to work on a technique, so could you please not try to tempt me with desires that I would like to indulge in and leave me to perfect this technique I am working on." Naruto said still concentrating on whatever he was doing.

Iruka was stunned and stood there for a few minutes before the actualization had set in that Naruto did not want to hang out with him what so ever. Iruka then began going through the different outcomes that could happen if he tried to push Naruto beyond the limit that he was showing him right now. After a few moments in time where Iruka was battling the possibilities, Iruka finally decided he would leave the young boy to his own devices. After all Iruka was a teacher trying to teach these youngsters shinobi skills, so he could respect the decision Naruto had made.

Little did Iruka now that training would become an obsession for Naruto. Naruto was often by himself and usually training to perfect his techniques. Iruka would rarely ever see Naruto until he enrolled in his class for the third time, but even then Naruto was very rare to see unless he was in the classroom. Either training or some other thing he was doing would take up most of his time.

(End Flashback)

(Iruka's classroom)

The new genin were starting to file into the classroom. Ino Yamanaka and her father Inoichi Yamanaka had just arrived and were talking to Chouji Akimichi and his father Choza Akimichi. Apparently from what Iruka had overheard from the conversation was that Shikamaru Nara and his father Shikaku Nara were going to be arriving close to the time the ceremony started. Also what had made Iruka sort of angry was that both Nara's had described the ceremony as "troublesome".

Some of the students were coming in alone, either stating that their parents were out on missions or had important business to do. Among the students that had not had their parents at the ceremony were Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga. There were not many assumptions made about why Shino's father had not shown up, he had been sent on a tracking mission to Suna to investigate some shinobi that were possibly causing a disturbance of peace around the fire country borders.

Hinata's father Hiashi was the one brought into question why he was not present at the ceremony. The assumptions for his excuse that were made included a possibly Hyuuga clan council meeting, a personal meeting with the Hokage or a secret mission that many of the citizens did not know about until now.

This did not deter Hinata at all from socializing with the parents and students of her classmates. Many did show respect to her as the Hyuuga heiress and the heiress to one of the most important clans in Konoha. Shino on the other hand was not socializing with his peers and stuck like a wallflower to the back wall.

Iruka had noticed all but two of his students had arrived and both were the most likely to skip the ceremony because they did not feel it was necessary to the education of their progression into shinobi.

At the moment he thought about that, Naruto Uzumaki had walked into the classroom and had been noticed by nearly every soul in the classroom.

Naruto noticed this development that everybody was know looking at him and he was not pleased about this.

'Can the stares of all these people just go away. I do not want to deal with the beatings and anger today. This is the one day that I do not want to have this happen to me. I already have to go to this stupid ceremony and now I have to deal with the anxiety of having all these people staring at me like I am some caged animal'.

The predominant thought when Naruto walked into the room was negative among the parents that were citizens and most of the students did not have too many kind thoughts about him but there were shinobi that respected Naruto for the burden that he had to carry. These same shinobi were the ones who knew he had an immense amount of strength to tap into if he somehow discovered it. Many of the shinobi knew also that he could be the most powerful shinobi in the village if given experience and time, but this led to a rivalry of those who wanted to suppress his power among some other shinobi or let him grow and see if he could harness the power to control the Kyuubi no Kitsune and lead Konoha into a prosperous era. However, there was one person who had a thought beyond the level of respect and even greater than it.

'Naruto-kun is finally here, maybe this will be the day that I get to talk to him and understand why he is being so much more different than he used to be. I like this quieter version of Naruto as well though, it reminds me that he is most likely a thoughtful person and would be a great person to be around. Part of me misses the loud prankster Naruto that would create funny scenes that we would all be able to laugh at.'

That was the thought of the Hyuuga heiress as she noticed Naruto take a seat at the back of the classroom, away from the majority of the people. She was confused on why Naruto kept taking the back of the classroom seat this year, as opposed to the one that he took in the middle of the classroom next to Sasuke and Sakura.

Speaking of that pink-haired person, her and her mother had the same exact reaction to Naruto's appearance.

'Look at that baka, he will never compare to the shinobi of this village. Him being in the same classroom is a disrespectful gesture to me that I have to be around trash like him.'

Naruto was getting the attention of most of the villagers until Sasuke Uchiha had walked into the classroom. Immediately the faces of the citizens and almost all of the female students had brightened because of the arrival of the Uchiha clan heir. Sasuke on the other hand, was not very excited to be in this position. He hated this as much as Naruto did and just wanted to be gone from this social gathering. Sasuke needed to be strong, not socially adept and he knew that.

Naruto on the other hand was thankful for the arrival of Sasuke. The arrival of Sasuke means that eyes were taken off him and put onto the "future savior of the village" and last Uchiha heir.

Iruka being the smart and observant man he is, noticed that everybody that was important was there and the celebration was to begin now.

"Let's begin the celebration, everybody put on your hitai-ate's now, you are proud shinobi of Konoha." Iruka beamed with joy, knowing another class had just graduated from the academy.

All of the students put on their hitai-ate's at the same time and now the room was nearly full with citizens with hitai-ate's on. The few citizen parents that were not shinobi were now looking like the odd people because they did not have the shinobi hitai-ate.

'All of the students are destined for greatness. This is one of the best classes that I have ever taught, no matter how the teams shake up I will be confident that every person here will be relevant in the future of Konoha history.'

While Iruka was beaming at all the students, Mizuki occupied with the questions and greetings that all the parents gave him, none of them noticed a black flash disappear from the classroom.

If you asked the teachers who they thought it was, they would have likely both said Sasuke left already because he did not want to talk but they would both be wrong. With the dark flash disappeared Naruto Uzumaki from the scene.

'They never said I had to stay, just be present to attend the first few minutes of the ceremony to put on the hitai-ate to symbolize I am a shinobi of Konohagakure. I do not want to be there anyway, all the parents will just stare at me like I have some sort of disease and their kids won't even talk to me anyway. I would be sitting there all alone in the corner with nobody to talk to. Rejected and alone, I have better things to do than be ignored by society.' Thought Naruto as he was speeding away quickly for the academy. While doing this, Naruto hoped that Mizuki or Iruka did not notice that he had left until later and luckily for our blond headed protagonist they did not notice.

(Meanwhile in the classroom)

The room had mainly separated into two different sections, shinobi and citizens. The children of citizens were with their parents in one group while the shinobi section was nearly all together. This was just a product of being raised in a shinobi village; the citizens had the tendency to talk to each other while the shinobi had the tendency to group together. However, there was a rarity that existed that talked to the opposite group.

The shinobi group was currently talked about the rumors of who the jounin-sensei were going to be while the citizen group were talking about trade and making ryo. The students meanwhile were lumped together talking among themselves.

"So who have you heard about being a jounin-sensei?" asked Inoichi Yamanaka, if any family was to know the juicy gossip before any other it would be his family. However, there had been a hush-hush tendency about the jounin-sensei until the council met to discuss team placement.

"Tsume, is Hana going to attempt to become a jounin-sensei this year?" asked Choza Akimichi with great curiousity.

"Hana is but a young pup, she is not ready for the responsibility of being a jounin-sensei and will remain a chunin. She will be ready to take on a team in a few years but until then she will remain working with our nin dogs." Said Tsume Inuzuka matter of factly.

This baffled the rest of the shinobi section of the council who in a few hours were going to make a decision on what genin teams were going to be. The shinobi council was now wondering who the selections were for new jounin-sensei. There had been hush-hush selections in the past (namely Itachi Uchiha and Orochimaru) but none as quiet as this.

There was a true meaning about this celebration that was unaware to most of the citizens and all of the students. Iruka knew and Mizuki did as well but the real reason there was a ceremony was because this gave the shinobi council (the ones who would be picking teams with the Hokage) to look how the students interacted with each other, who was going to complement each other on a team and who just could not stand each other.

By watching the young students in their own environments, the council could make good decisions on teams and who to place with each other. There was one flaw to this rule however; everybody had to be present for at least a short period of time in order to get a good reading on who needed to be with whom. If there were not a person who abided by that standard then Iruka would have to judge who that person would work well with and how they would compliment the skills of another student.

The council was currently talking about some shinobi matter to all of the students but in disguise they were sharing observations with each other about how people interacted with each other. They would discuss the observations later with the Hokage (who was watching through the crystal ball) and then they would put teams together.

"Troublesome" muttered Shikaku Nara

"What is it Nara-san?" asked Shibi Aburame.

"Uzumaki is not here, he seems to have disappeared somewhere." said Shikaku.

"He has a tendency to disappear during these social occasions, like he does not want to be anywhere near them" butted in Iruka from the side.

The council now had a curveball thrown at them, Naruto was a good student now but was lazy and stupid earlier in his shinobi career, they did not know where to place him and now he was even more of a wildcard since he relatively worked well with nobody.

"Naruto Uzumaki is just making this so troublesome" said Shikaku Nara.

Everybody just nodded their head because they understood the repercussions of Uzumaki's actions and how they would affect the decisions on teams.

(Later that night at the council meeting for team placement)

The Shinobi council was beginning to form in the meeting building inside of the building of that housed the Hokage's office. The Hokage was currently still attending to his own matters that involved the village and would not be present for another ten to fifteen minutes. Among those who filed in early were Danzo, Homura, Koharu, Choza Akimichi and Hiashi Hyuuga (who still had not explained why he was absent from the ceremony earlier today).

The shinobi council was mainly just thinking about what was about to happen, they were going to efface some friendships that the students had made and create some new ones. This was nothing new to this council, they had done this for several graduating classes now since the Uchiha clan slaughtering and nothing had gone wrong in the past. There had been no favoritism of any students in past graduating classes but that could all change with this graduating class.

This graduating class had the sons and daughters of many clan heads and many of them were going to become clan heads or heiresses themselves. Many thought that there likely was going to be great debates and favoritism among the ranks here because of family lineage.

All of the shinobi council knew there were going to be two other big issues in this class. The first issue being that the last Uchiha, Sasuke Uchiha was graduating and was the top student of his class. This means that he would be paired with the last student (Kiba Inuzuka) under the normal rankings. It was expected by many of the shinobi that Tsume Inuzuka was going to fight for her child to not be put onto a team with Sasuke Uchiha, as the Inuzuka's were vehemently against the Uchiha clan, even before the slaughter and potential takeover.

The second issue was that Naruto Uzumaki, the container of the Kyuubi no Kitsune was present in the graduating class. The problem was that Naruto was going to be the top student on his team due to his class ranking of third. Most of the council were banking on that he would be a lower ranked student (if he passed at all) so in case of an attack, there would be a strong genin and jounin present to take down the Kyuubi chakra infused genin.

This could be either a long, tedious and argumentative team selection or it could be short, peaceful and quick. Each shinobi that was going to enter the room had their own personal agendas so this was likely to be a long meeting that could run into the later parts of the night.

As many shinobi snapped out of their own thoughts or side chats that had formed, the Sandaime Hokage walked into the room with folders in his hand that probably incased the prospective jounin-sensei's, another issue but smaller since predictability could somewhat be there and it was a hush-hush situation.

"I'm calling this order of the shinobi council to discuss the prospective teams of the new graduating class from the Konoha academy" stated the Hokage as he sat down into his chair at the head of the table, facing directly across from Danzo Shimura.

The silence of the room let the Hokage know he could continue on with his speech before the voting and team placement began.

"Now before I reveal who the jounin-sensei's are and who I think should be on teams, I would like to know that nobody is going to try to display favoritism to any of the genin's in the graduating class. I know many of you have sons or daughters in this class that has been called 'The Future of Konoha' but I request that you hold your favoritism in and to a minimal for this meeting." Finished the Hokage.

"If everybody agrees upon that matter then I see nothing holding us back from beginning the meeting"

Everybody silently nodded their heads and that was the Sandaime's cue to begin opening the folders of those who had requested a genin team for the upcoming graduating class, and it was a long list.

"Alright, I am holding off the jounin until we have decided on who the three genin per team are going to be." Stated the Sandaime.

"I would also like at this time to open the floor to Shikaku Nara on his observations from the ceremony today" Sandaime said as he gestured for Shikaku Nara to stand up and present the observations that he noticed at today's ceremony.

"All the students looked as if they were willing to be on the same team, there were the usual happenings like Kiba Inuzuka clashing with Sasuke Uchiha and nobody wanting to speak with Naruto Uzumaki. There was also one big factor with Uzumaki that was noticeable."

"That kid always makes things a pain to work with" stated Hotaru, rudely interrupting Shikaku Nara to get his statement across.

"Naruto Uzumaki left the ceremony early to go somewhere, nobody was able to find him after the ceremony and he left immediately after arriving. This throws a wretch into our discussion because of Uzumaki's unpredictable history and his newer personality." Finished Shikaku Nara.

"I have to give it to that kid though, he was clever enough to be there for the mandatory meeting but he left immediately after. He broke no rules and there will be no punishment because of that. He used the rules to his advantage and left there after." Stated the Hokage, giving his thoughts on the matter.

"That is mainly all Hokage-san, there was nothing of great importance with this class, and it is a more peaceful class than those of the past." Stated Shikaku Nara, confident that he did not miss anything with this graduating class.

"I am proposing that we abandon the current format of teams for this graduating class, making it an exception then going back to the same format in future classes." Said the Hokage.

"I second that motion, this is a special graduating class and there needs to be change and flexibility with the regulations of the past for this special class" Interjected Danzo Shimura.

Everybody was stunned at the revelation from Danzo, most expected Danzo to rally besides the Hokage's immediate council to keep teams, as they would be if the graduating standings existed. This would have placed Sasuke on the top team and Naruto on one of the lower one's because of his class ranking. There were two things many knew about Danzo, he favored Sasuke and looked down upon Naruto. He was one of the proponents of Sasuke's 'king like' status in the village and Naruto's pariah image. This was mainly because Danzo was one of the citizens' council's favorite shinobi and thus had a lot of leverage with them.

"Is everybody in agreement that the team rankings should be null and void for this graduating class?" asked the Hokage to the council.

A chorus of "Hai's" was all that were heard from the people in the room so it was unanimous that the rankings were thrown out.

The one folder that the Hokage was tossed to the side, presumably with the team selections if the class ranking system was used alone with the perspective jounin's for each team.

"Well then, I am going to state who I think should be each team."

The Hokage went from teams 1-6 with most of the civilians students being on them then arrived at team 7, took a huge sigh and began his recommendations of teams.

"Team 7 would be Kiba Inuzuka, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno" the Hokage said, waiting for somebody to interrupt him.

"No way, Kiba will not be on a team with the great Uchiha" spat out Tsume Inuzuka in a flare of anger. She did not want her son to be on a team with the Uchiha after seeing how they were going to betray Konoha and produced one of the most infamous S-ranked shinobi that defected from Konohagakure.

"Inuzuka-san could you please let Hokage-san finish up his listing of prospective teams before arguing why the teams are incorrect in your eyes" stated Hiashi Hyuuga with a cold, calm yet arrogant voice.

"Now could you please continue Hokage-san, the rest of us are waiting in anticipation of the other teams." Stated Hiashi with great eloquence.

"Team 8 would be Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga and Danzo's apprentice Sai" stated the Hokage, drawing more shock from the crowd.

"Team 9 is in use right now from last year with Might Guy as the leader of Neji Hyuuga, Tenten and Rock Lee. Team 10 would be Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi." The Hokage was confirming that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would be back for another generation since it worked so good the past generation.

"Now if you are wondering where Naruto Uzumaki falls within this, he is an apprentice under a special shinobi that I contacted for training him both on containing the Kyuubi's chakra and learning new shinobi techniques. I learned a great deal about how the Kyuubi works from Kushina's notes and I feel that this would be the best method possible for team placement as well as containing the Kyuubi's chakra."

"Could you at least tell us who you have contacted about being the tutor of Uzumaki?" inquired Homura.

"I contacted Kakashi Hatake about filling that role." Stated the Hokage simply.

"No, I am afraid that I am going to have to disagree with that team placement. Kakashi is the only known shinobi in the village with the sharingan (Danzo chuckled to himself while saying this). I propose that a better placement would be with Sasuke on team 7." Stated Danzo.

Some of the council was still in shock that Kakashi had been contacted about having a genin apprentice. If Kakashi were to have a team then they would lose one of their best execution shinobi and the shinobi that was first contacted about taking up both A and S ranked mission.

"Forgive me Hokage but I also have to interject and disapprove in this because I do not want my son on a team with the Uchiha heir. It is well known that the Inuzuka and the Uchiha clans do not cooperate well with each other and I feel that this would be the case with my son on the same team with Sasuke. It would hinder the development of all three of the genin under their jounin-sensei." Tsume Inuzuka finished.

"I would agree with Inuzuka-san's statement. I feel that the development of all three genin would be hindered by the conflict present." Stated Homura.

Shibi Aburame made a noticeable gesture that he agreed with the two statements that were made before.

"I would like to make a second point that I will continue tutoring my apprentice Sai, he in no way should be eligible for being on a genin and is still lacking development in some shinobi departments that I am looking to fix." Danzo stated with passion, trying to make sure he would keep one of his prized shinobi of the ROOT.

The Hokage stared at Danzo for a few seconds and if dramatic effects were applicable to the situation then sparks would have flown from the eyes of both the rivals.

"Permission granted Danzo, but I want a full update on Sai's progression every month in my inbox" stated the Hokage with finality.

"Thank you Hokage-san, you will not regret that decision"

"I make a motion that would abolish the teams that were suggested by the Hokage" stated Koharu.

Another chorus of Hai's were presented as the Hokage's teams were abolished and the floor was opened again for discussion.

"I propose that the Ino-Shika-Cho trio would remain a team Hokage-san" spoke up the previously silent Choza Akimichi.

"I second that motion, the observations that I made earlier would indicate that our children would have the same type of relationship that was formed by the three of us even though it is 2 males and 1 female instead of 3 males." Stated a troubled Nara; he had to look out for Shikamaru, even if it meant being chastised by the council. This was just so troublesome for him.

The Hokage nodded and signaled that he wanted the council to vote on the previous motion.

Many agreed with that motion and only 2 people disagreed with that motion.

"Team 10 will be formed as Shikamaru Nara, Ino Yamanaka and Chouji Akimichi. Jounin's will be chosen after the selection process of genin are completed." Stated the Hokage.

Collective sighs could be heard from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and even a high five could be observed as Inoichi and Choza Akimichi were pleased by the results that their labor had just produced.

The rest of the clan heads could taste the tension in the air, both Uzumaki and Uchiha had still yet to be placed on teams.

"Moving for team 7 to be placed as Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki and team 8 to be placed as Kiba Inuzuka, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuuga." Stated Koharu.

"I second" gasped out Homura quickly, swiftly moving the process to voting before anybody else could argue the points.

"I open for arguments to be made on those teams." stated the Hokage, knowing exactly what his council was trying to pull.

"Hokage-san, I respectably motion for only votes to be made as the night is growing older and the council would like some sleep" stated Homura, trying to use the pull that he had on the council.

"I would respectably have to disagree with the teams you have suggested" Danzo interjected.

Many of the shinobi in the room were stunned at what Danzo just stated. Danzo was usually a force to be reckoned with when he teamed up with Koharu and Homura during council meetings. However, tonight those three could not agree on anything and virtually had no pull in any of the subject that was presented.

'I wonder what he is planning. He usually will not against my advisors orders unless he has some underlying motivation to do so and that is a rarity' thought the Hokage.

"I suggest that the teams should have one minor switch to their balance. I am proposing that Hinata Hyuuga and Sakura Haruno be switched from teams. My logic behind this is that both kekkei-genkei would be focused on team 7's Naruto Uzumaki in case he loses control of the Kyuubi and begins to attack the village." Stated Danzo with a smug look on the face.

'I just shocked the council but this will also make the teacher favorite the other two students because of their bloodlines. I'm not going to point that out and I am the only one smart enough to think of that. Koharu and Homura will agree with me and so would the rest of the council. Most of the council knows that Hinata has a crush on Naruto anyway, so I can also use that in my defense if they try to use my bloodline theory against me.' Danzo thought, he knew that he had the council in checkmate right now. His teams would prevail because of Haruno's inability to fight against a 'Kyuubified' Naruto in case of an attack. Playing off the fears of others was just so easy.

"I agree with Danzo-san's logic and feel those would be superior teams compared to that of the aforementioned teams proposed by Koharu." stated Homura.

"Hyuuga-san do you have any reason to be dissatisfied with these teams?" questioned Danzo, knowing that Hiashi could be a pain if he did not agree with this.

"No I am fine with the teams that you proposed. If anybody thinks I have favoritism towards my daughter Hinata then they are wrong. She needs to learn for herself how harsh the real world is, I cannot shelter her from the harshness of reality forever. This would be a first step into reality for her." Calmly stated Hiashi, knowing that her destiny would now be changed due to his uncaring attitude towards what team she would be placed on.

"Splendid, Hokage-san how do you feel about these team placements?" asked Danzo to a perplexed Hokage.

The Hokage had to wait a few minutes because he was still pondering what Danzo was trying to get out of this. As long as Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Danzo Shimura, he never did anything for the betterment of Konoha but instead for his own devices and schemes.

"I suppose these team placements will work, Hiashi did not have any conflict with these placements and I see no flaws why they do not work" The Hokage warily said while trying to get a final analysis of Danzo's plans. These plans came up with no results and the Hokage gave up on trying.

"All who rule in favor with these team placements say "Hai", and this will be the team placements for the genin class of Konoha." Stated the Hokage with finality, hoping everybody agreed.

Another chorus of Hai later and the last thing to be discussed was the placement of jounin-sensei for each team.

"In these folders contains the names for all the jounin-sensei candidates that submitted for a genin team. Each for different purposes and motives but they all submitted and are somewhat qualified for the position."

"I will now begin reading out the names of those who submitted, after each name I will want opinions from you on why they should or should not be a candidate for the position of jounin-sensei."

"The first candidate is my own son Asuma Sarutobi" stated the Hokage.

The room went silent for a few seconds; the quick stares wandering around until somebody finally gave in and started to talk.

"I feel that he would make a great candidate for a teacher, he has no problems in his past and he has a very rare elemental affinity that could potentially be passed on to another Konoha shinobi at a young age." Stated Shikaku Nara.

"His element is the only thing I have a concern about, although he does have katon element techniques, the futon is a rare element in Konoha and only one shinobi has the power to use it with another possibly having an affinity to it. That is the only flaw I see in letting him teach younger genin, he makes a good candidate and has my approval." said Danzo.

The whole room agreed and Asuma Sarutobi was selected as a candidate for the jounin-sensei. After a debate that took an hour, both Kakashi Hatake and Kurenai Yuhi were also chosen to become jounin-sensei. Kakashi would be the sensei for team 7, Kurenai team 8 and Asuma for team 10.

Much speculation came about in the council that Kakashi was using the jounin-sensei position for fulfilling the last requirement to submit his name for the position of Hokage after the current Hokage retired or died in combat. Kakashi had easily won over the favor of the shinobi council even though he really did not do anything out of the ordinary.

The meeting then adjourned after discussing a few minor discrepancies and some details about upcoming border duty for Konoha. The shinobi council could finally rest their heads on beds and go to sleep knowing they did the best job for Konoha and the future shinobi.

(The next day in the classroom for team selection)

Iruka and Mizuki were already in the classroom waiting for the students to come in. Both teachers had already thought about future teams and had their ideas of who was going to be on what team, they did not know the sensei's of each team yet but they were sure to find out when Iruka would finally be able to open the folder labeled as 'classified'.

(At Naruto's apartment)

Naruto was just waking up and it was about thirty minutes before the team placement announcements were going to be announced. Naruto was not enthusiastic about the prospect of having to work on a team and would have rather had an apprenticeship with a higher leveled shinobi. Naruto despised team work and would rather finish missions on his own because either people would get into his way, hinder or skew the mission in a way that he would get injured or murdered.

In Naruto's defense, having an unstable childhood like he did leaves a person to not have a general trust for people. Having the citizens spit on everything he accomplished as a child was preventing him from taking any pride in his accomplishments. So when Naruto actually did something (like learning two C-ranked jutsus, only one known by the general masses) he would never get recognition for his hard work.

'It does not matter what the villagers do now; I am a shinobi of Konoha who has a message that needs to be spread to the shinobi world. It is my destiny to carry the shinobi lands upon my back as I will lead them into an era where all the countries are unified and I am their leader.' Thought Naruto as he was trying to get enough courage to face the people that will stare at him and talk about him behind his back.

'I will unify the people by their emotion of pain because it is the universal emotion that everybody feels. Once they feel the true pain of life, we can progress through this reality into a new world' Remembered Naruto, now having the courage to walk to the academy through the stares and talking.

Naruto exited his apartment with a determined look on his face, the beginning of destiny was upon him and the sun was shining on his face just as it was on Konohagakure.

(Streets of Konoha)

Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno were currently both walking to the academy with cross looks on their face at their rival. Both had the same objective in their mind as they walked to school.

'Love will overpower all and I will be put on the same team as Sasuke-kun' thought both of the love struck girls at the same time.

Sadly if both girls were a little more observant then they would have realized that Sasuke was not interested in either of them and that they were not going to be on Sasuke's team.

Ino Yamanaka had more clues than anybody that she would not be on Sasuke's team. Even though her infatuation with Sasuke was strong, the relationship with her family was stronger than that and rightfully so.

Inoichi was in a very good mood after returning from the council meeting and for some reason Ino was up past her bedtime. The meeting stretched into the later hours of the night and it was nearly midnight when the shinobi were returning to their living quarters. Ino noticed that her father was happy and she asked him why but his response was "it is nothing of importance right now but it will likely become very important in the near future". Inoichi said that with a smile on his face and Ino did not know what to think of that but she just brushed it off as family business, thus really not having anything to do with her.

Both girls had tried to get under each other's skin with insults and verbal jabs until they reached the academy and then they rushed into the building. Both still had the same objective, to sit next to Sasuke and get him to notice them.

They both were shocked to realize that Sasuke was not there at the present time and his usual seat remained unoccupied along with his whole row. In fact, Ino and Sakura were among the first to school along with Shino Aburame, Hinata Hyuuga, Chouji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara (although he was sleeping). They both sat down in the row usually occupied for Sasuke and whomever he was sitting by that day. Sakura got the closest seat to where Sasuke usually sat.

The students began filing in until they were all there with Kiba being the last one that came into the classroom. Iruka and Mizuki were standing in front of the classroom with smiles on their faces as they pulled out the document from the 'classified' folder and began reading the names of the students and their new teams. The classroom was not on edge until they reached team 7.

"Team 7 will be under the jounin leadership of Kakashi Hatake with students Sasuke Uchiha.."

The air in the classroom suddenly got very thin and the students were all listening because this was likely going to be one of the most powerful teams to come out of the academy in some time.

"Hinata Hyuuga"

This team now had two bloodlines on it and was definitely going to be a force to be reckoned. This team had already two people who could both track enemy shinobi and fight at close combat with advanced taijutsu styles.

"And Naruto Uzumaki"

The classroom went silent as most of the students now thought the team had a flaw in Naruto. In reality, this was the most stacked team to come out of the Konoha academy in some time even surpassing Itachi Uchiha's team (mainly because Itachi was so good, fluent and smooth with his battle style).

'What was the council thinking; this is one of the most stacked teams that I have seen ever come out of the council. Two bloodlines combined with the chakra monster that is Naruto, who is only tapping into his true power with his ninjutsu. Once Naruto taps into the chakra of that beast then he will become a true powerhouse along with two shinobi that both have bloodlines' thought a perplexed and dumbfounded Iruka.

Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were totally crushed, as both of them would not have a chance to talk or be with Sasuke Uchiha on a daily basis. Worst of all, the girl that was on that team was not even fascinated with him and somehow got on his team. Even though this was a blessing in disguise to all of the fan girls that thought Sasuke had interest in him they looked at Hinata as if she were competition. Hinata all the sudden received cold glares.

'W-w-why are they staring at me like this? I did not even do anything to them. It is not my fault that I am on the same team as Sasuke-san' thought the shy heiress as she was still thinking about being on the same team as Sasuke. Once she also realized Naruto was on her team, she fainted.

"Team 8 will be under the jounin leadership of Kurenai Yuhi and is formed of genin Sakura Haruno, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame" stated Iruka, still perplexed at the power of team 7.

'Great I am on a team with dog breath and bug boy, just give me a kunai so I can stab myself already' thought a heartbroken Sakura who snapped out of her thoughts and continued to send death stares at the fainted body of Hinata.

"Team 9 is already in use so team 10 will be under the jounin leadership of Asuma Sarutobi with genin Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Chouji Akimichi." Iruka took a deep breath as he had finally finished.

Chouji and Shikamaru were happy about this as the best friends would be on the same team and see each other every day. Ino was still dejected about not being on the same team as Sasuke but took some happiness in the fact that she was going to be apart of the second generation formation of the Ino-Shika-Cho group.

Iruka announced that those would be the teams and told everybody that he wished everybody the best with their shinobi teams and that their new life was beginning. He and Mizuki told everybody that the jounin-sensei were going to be arriving soon and that they would be taking all of the students to a meeting place. Iruka and Mizuki then left to go back to the academy classrooms in order to make an appearance at a younger class that was going to graduate in the future.

The jounin then began to file in, the first being a jounin with a sword that was attached to his hip that coughed a lot, he took team 4 and the waiting game began for each sensei.

After thirty minutes and many teams later taken, only team 7 was left waiting for their sensei.

None of the teammates moved and Hinata had just woken back up from a pleasant dream of her and Naruto on the same team. She then realized that it was a reality and almost fainted again but caught herself, telling her to be strong in the presence of Naruto and Sasuke.

Finally the door opened for the final time and a silver haired man with a book walked into the classroom. He had silver hair that spiked up in the air like it was defying gravity itself and a mask over his face to disguise the lower part of his mouth including his nose, jaw and mouth.

"Meet me up on the top of the academy building in five minutes" said the jounin as he left in a swirl of leaves that contained lightning bolts.

The three students got up simultaneously and left for the rooftop, promptly getting to the location in little under five minutes by just walking.

"Now that we are all here, I would like to introduce myself. I am Kakashi Hatake, your jounin-sensei and future instructor if you choose to take the way of a shinobi." Stated Kakashi to his students.

"Now as a part of the introduction process, tell me about yourselves, something that you like and dislike and possibly a dream for the future. I will start" continued Kakashi.

"I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate... I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future... never really thought about it. As for my hobbies... I have lots of hobbies." Kakashi said with a smile on his face as evidenced by the one visible eye that was closed.

"You first Hyuuga" Kakashi said with an aloft voice.

"My name is Hinata Hyuuga, I like cinnamon rolls, training, and pressing flowers. I dislike the tension between the branch and main Hyuuga branches and people who try to disturb the peace. My dream is to become a heiress for the Hyuuga clan and get a certain shinobi to recognize me." Hinata finished subconsciously looking towards Naruto (who was looking out at the landscape as she said that).

'Seems like the Hyuuga heiress has a crush on the Kyuubi boy. I wonder what Minato-sensei would say about that.' Kakashi thought to himself, not showing a curious look on his face.

"You are next Uchiha."

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan, and kill a certain someone." Stated Sasuke with a grim look on his face.

'An avenger complex, this is a unique team pairing' quipped Kakashi

"Your last Uzumaki"

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like virtually nothing besides a peaceful world and my ninja way, and I dislike mostly everything because the world is far from a place I would like to live in. My dream is fated destiny, to build a world that brings unity and peace in the shinobi countries under my leadership, by my knowledge of true pain."

A/N: That ends chapter two. College is quite the bitch to do fanfiction stories in, too much work and not enough time to write but I will always squeeze the time to finish my chapters in because you guys make my determination to write increase. Feel free to start asking questions, I will answer them at the end of each chapter starting in the next chapter.

Remember to review, I like it when people review and leave comments or private message me, plus I read all the reviews so nobody should ever feel that they don't have an opinion or something to say that I will not see.

A/N2 (Edit Update): It will either be a Naruto/Hinata or Naruto/Konan pairing and no harems. I only want Naruto to be with one girl, I am trying to currently weigh the benefits of both pairings right now and I will have a decision soon.