Dark Passions

Stuff worth mentioning…Naruto and Sasuke will both be super powerful in this fic. They might be slightly out of character, but whatever. Also, Sasuke's name will remain the same because I don't feel like changing it. The story starts near the end of the academy years.

Anyways, here's the first chapter.

Chapter 1: Becoming a Genin

Naruto wasn't your average academy student. Unlike the others in his class, he was very outspoken and some would even say annoying. Most people considered him the laughing stock of the academy due to his poor test scores and his erratic behavior.

Although there was much more to him than meets the eye. Naruto was not the person that everybody saw on the outside. He was a lonely, angry, and envious person deep down. He hid his true feelings with an optimistic mask of hope and pride, but the boy knew that one day everybody would see his pain.

He had an infamous nickname in the academy as the dead last. Most people considered him a weak loser due to his performance but even that was a lie. Naruto was a lot more intelligent than people gave him credit for.

He followed the valuable advice of a certain man named Jiraiya. The famous Sannin had taken an interest in the boy in recent years and secretly trained him to become stronger. Naruto thought back to the day he met Jiraiya…

(Flashback)

Naruto was sitting on the heads of the Hokage statues overlooking the village with a sad look on his face. The boy was upset from his day at the academy and appeared on the verge of tears as he cursed to himself.

Much to his surprise, a tall white haired man approached him from behind and drew the boy from his tantrum, "Hey kid, what are you doing cussing up here all by yourself?"

Naruto looked up at the man as he sat down next to him. He stubbornly remained quiet and shrugged as he continued glaring at the village below him. Jiraiya examined his attitude and sighed, "Listen kid…I don't know what you're going through, but sitting around and moping isn't going to solve your problems."

He looked up at the white haired man and finally spoke up, "Yeah well…what the hell am I supposed to do? I am the laughing stock of the academy and everybody thinks I am weak."

Jiraiya had a deep thought etched across his face as he studied the boy. He sighed deeply, "Listen kid…if you want to be the best then you have to work hard. I didn't get to where I am today by wishing for change."

Naruto nodded his head sadly at the man, "You are right I guess. But I don't even know how to change…"

Jiraiya put a hand on Naruto's shoulder and smiled at him proudly, "Even the Hokages had to start at the bottom kid…how's about you and I make a deal kid?"

Naruto looked up at him curiously, "A deal? What kind of deal?"

"I'll agree to train you so long as you agree to not tell anybody about it or use any of the jutsus I teach you in the academy."

Naruto looked at him incredulously, "Why can't I use them in the academy?"

Jiraiya chuckled at the blonde and answered, "If they see you doing these jutsus in the academy, you'll be going to ROOT or Anbu immediately. Trust me kid, it's not as fun as it sounds."

"What do you get out of helping me?" Naruto asked skeptically. The toad sannin beamed proudly at the boy and answered, "I'm just trying to help you kid…plus I've got this feeling about you."

There was a long silence before Naruto burst into a wide grin looking at the man, "All right, I'll do it…"

"Jiraiya is my name…I am one of three sannin," The toad sage said proudly. Naruto looked at him awestruck, "That's awesome! Nobody is going to believe I met somebody like you!"

"Woah woah don't get ahead of yourself…your training with me is going to be strictly between you and me. We don't know each other got it?"

Naruto looked confused for a moment but finally nodded his head, "I understand Jiraiya-sensei."

(End Flashback)

True to his word, Naruto remained silent about everything Jiraiya told him. He purposely didn't do things right most of the time to underplay his abilities and hide his powers. Naruto had become truly skilled training with Jiraiya in secret.

The sannin taught Naruto all sorts of interesting abilities over the past four years. Some of the most notable were shadow clones, and a variety of wind and water jutsus. Although the greatest thing Naruto learned from Jiraiya was something he only recently perfected…the Rasengan.

This was Naruto's ultimate ace, and he had no intention of unveiling it until absolutely necessary. Overall, the past four years with Jiraiya had been very enlightening for the boy. The toad sage was almost like an uncle or a father to him, and had truly helped Naruto become better.

There were complications training in secret, but the two found a way to keep Naruto's training in the dark. Nobody else ever found out except for the Hokage and his son Asuma. Naruto was very surprised when the Hokage's son volunteered to train him as well.

Asuma was one of the few people in the village that were adept in wind chakra, so he was a naturally good choice for Naruto who also had an affinity for it. The jounin had taken quite a liking to the boy and was very helpful in teaching him.

He taught Naruto how to enhance his weapons with wind chakra as well as all of the other things he could do with it. Asuma also taught the blonde a good amount of taijutsu. Naruto had been training with Asuma for over a year, and was "quite skilled" as the jounin put it. He hoped that he would be put on Asuma's squad when he became a genin.

"Naruto! What is the answer to the question on the board!" Iruka shouted at the boy drawing him from his daydream. He stared blankly at the board reading the question to himself, 'What is the name of the first Hokage? Hashirama Senju…duh.'

Naruto shrugged at the chunin and laughed, "Umm I don't know."

A chorus of laughter followed his question as half the class gave him condescending looks. Naruto hated to admit it, but he rather enjoyed the attention even if it was negative.

He didn't like making himself look stupid, but once he graduated from academy and became a genin, then he would be free to stop downplaying his intelligence and skills.

"God Naruto you're such an idiot!" A certain pink haired girl yelled. The girl's name was Sakura Haruno, and Naruto would be lying if he said he didn't have a crush on her. She was smarter than everybody in the class…well almost everybody.

There was one girl in the class that made everybody in there look bad…her name was Sasuke Uchiha. The girl was a childhood prodigy part of the famous Uchiha Clan, and she was the top student in the class.

Naruto didn't know why, but he had deep resentment towards the girl due to how easily everything came for her. Sasuke was usually very quiet, but when she did talk, Naruto hated it. She was the most conceited and condescending person on the planet in his opinion.

Naruto didn't realize he was staring at the girl and caused Sasuke to look at him confused, "Is there something you need dobe?"

Everybody laughed again at Sasuke's comment and Naruto huffed in annoyance, "No! Turn around Uchiha!"

Sasuke smirked at the boy as she stared at him, "Maybe you should go back to learn the basics with the first year students…"

"Screw you…stop acting like you are better than everybody!" Naruto responded. Sasuke turned away and began to ignore him. The two were notoriously known for their intense hatred for each other. It seemed the only time Sasuke ever talked was to insult Naruto.

Naruto didn't know what the girl had against him. Sure he was annoying and dead last, but the girl always seemed intent on pissing him off. He would occasionally catch the Uchiha staring at him when he wasn't looking and could never guess why.

Sasuke ignored everybody except for him. That's saying something too, because she was quite the eye catcher. Although he hated to admit it, Naruto thought the Uchiha girl was cute.

Sasuke was quite a sight to see. She had on a blue shirt with white sleeves that came halfway down her stomach revealing a toned milky smooth core.

She wore a short white skirt with a traditional ninja pouch strapped to her waist. Sasuke also had white armlets and leggings as well as the traditional ninja sandals. Naruto found himself staring at her again. The Uchiha took notice of this and looked over causing his attention to snap back to Iruka.

"All right class, I have good news for you. Your graduation is a week away! There will a final exam that you must be able to pass," Iruka exclaimed to the class of students in front of him. They all looked excited and some were slightly worried looking about the mention. A loud chorus of comments followed the statement.

Iruka studied their reactions and continued, "I know some of you may be nervous, so I'll explain what you need to know for this exam. It will be a three part exam; first you will need to pass the written test, second you must be able to perform a transformation jutsu, and finally, you will be required to create a clone."

"Ha! Is that it?" Kiba laughed while exchanging looks with the class. The Chunin nodded his head at Kiba and responded, "Yes, I am sure most of you will not have a problem with it, but we're going to spend this week reviewing for the written exam."

Everybody grumbled and groaned in annoyance at the mention of that. Well everybody except for Sasuke. The rest of the class period was relatively boring and Naruto normally found himself dozing off daydreaming about training or going on a date with Sakura.

Finally, the bell rang and the class was beginning to take its leave. As Naruto exited the room, he ran up behind a certain pink haired girl and asked, "Hey Sakura-chan what's up?"

The girl looked at him annoyed and shook her head, "What do you want Naruto?"

The blonde flashed a foxy grin at her and answered, "Well…I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me sometime?"

"In your dreams pal…I don't date losers!" Sakura yelled at him as she slapped him in the face. She began walking away leaving Naruto standing alone in the hallway. He shook his head and sighed to himself, "Rejected again…one of these days she'll say yes."

"You're wasting your time trying to date her," a familiar cynical voice sounded. Naruto turned around and saw the infamous Sasuke looking at him with crossed arms. There was a long silence as the two intently stared at each other.

"Mind your own business, Uchiha!" Naruto stated irritated as Sasuke smirked at him. She raised a brow at him and laughed, "I can't believe you made it this far in the academy…do you honestly think you are going to pass the exam and become a genin?"

Naruto nodded his head at the girl, "I'm going to become the strongest ninja this village has ever seen!"

"How can one become strong without a purpose? What is your purpose dobe?" The Uchiha asked amused. Naruto glared at the girl darkly and answered, "My purpose is to earn everybody's respect and to become Hokage."

Sasuke shook her head at the boy, "That's why you're weak…you lack true purpose. Do yourself a favor and just give up now before you make a bigger fool out of yourself."

Naruto turned around and began to walk away, "I am done talking to you!"

As the jinchuuriki walked away, Sasuke inwardly cursed herself, 'Damn it…why do I always insult him? I ruined another chance to talk to him.'

Sasuke would never admit it aloud, but she had a strange interest in the blonde. She hated herself for falling prey to the norms that most of the pathetic schoolgirls in the academy lived by. Sasuke had no interest in boys, her only interest was to become strong.

However, for some reason she found herself strangely captivated by the blonde "loser" in her class. She saw a different part of him that nobody else did. Sasuke could see that there was a lot more to him than everyone thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto wandered off deep into the woods where he normally did his training in secret. Jiraiya had recently left the village and wished the boy the best of luck leaving him to train by himself. Normally at a time like this, Naruto would go find Asuma, but the jounin was increasingly busy due to the fact that he would soon be assigned a genin team.

Naruto created several dozen shadow clones and stood across from them as he drew two kunai. Wind chakra began to from around the two blades as he stared down his clones. They all began to charge the blonde with raised weapons. The boy dispatched his clones in waves as he cleaved through them with his kunai.

Unbeknownst to him, a certain Hyuuga girl had taken an interest in watching him train. Hinata had an obvious crush on Naruto and would often spend her recreational time watching him. She was careful to avoid doing so when Asuma or Jiraiya were present. She watched awestruck as the glowing chakra around Naruto's kunai extended out of the blades creating two large chakra swords.

As Naruto swung the weapons, the chakra flew off of his kunai and sliced through all of the remaining clones as well as many nearby trees. A voice sounded from behind the girl catching her completely off guard, "Quite a sight to see, eh?"

Hinata turned around horrified to see Asuma standing on a branch next to her. She blushed with embarrassment as she looked down in shame. The jounin quietly chuckled as he put a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay Hyuuga…why don't you go home and I'll pretend I don't know you are stalking Naruto."

The white eyed girl turned crimson with embarrassment and immediately left. Naruto turned his head towards the sound of the commotion to see Asuma landing in front of him. The jounin smiled proudly at the kid as he approached him.

"Asuma-sensei? I thought you were busy with the genin teams and all that paperwork?" Naruto said confused. The jounin shrugged at his confusion, "Eh, I blew it off…anyways I just wanted to give you something."

The blonde looked at him confused as he reached into his pack, "I was going to wait until you became a genin, but I figured what the hell…you should have them now." Asuma handed two trench knives to Naruto. The blonde looked stunned by the gesture as he picked up the blades.

They resembled brass knuckles with a long jagged blade. Asuma smiled at his reaction as he ruffled the blonde's hair, "I got you your own pair of trench knives!"

"Thanks so much Asuma-sensei!" Naruto shouted happily as he hugged the jounin. The man patted him on the shoulder as he turned to take his leave, "I have to get back now…anyways, good luck with becoming a genin…I'll always be around if you need me, Naruto."

Asuma left without another word leaving the blonde to happily try out his new toys as he continued to train.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Naruto had successfully passed his exams with flying colors. He walked into the classroom with his leaf headband fastened tightly around his forehead. The blonde had a proud smile as he sat down next to Sakura.

The girl looked at him skeptically as she noticed his headband, "Naruto, you passed? How?"

Everybody took immediate notice of him and began to stare at the blond incredulously. Iruka answered Sakura's question, "Naruto had a perfect score on the final exams…"

Everybody including Sasuke went wide eyed at the comment. Kiba spoke up in disbelief, "There is no way that the dobe had a perfect score!"

Iruka crossed his arms and sighed at the dog boy, "Believe me, he did. Now please sit down Kiba."

Sasuke was staring at Naruto as Iruka continued speaking, "Okay now that we have all of the passing genin in here, you will all be assigned to three man teams with a jounin instructor."

Everybody looked at Iruka excited hoping they would be put on the team with their friends. Only one thought was running through Naruto's mind, 'Anybody but Sasuke…'

Sasuke's mind was on an opposite course however. Iruka began to announce random students to their teams as he went through the list. Everybody eagerly awaited their names to be called.

"Okay for team seven we have Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzumaki," Sasuke and Naruto immediately locked into a death glare as they heard their names.

"Your jounin instructor will be Kakashi Hatake." Iruka continued on with the list. Naruto and Sasuke both remained silent as they looked at each other. Seated in between them, Sakura was looking back and forth at the two of them confused.

Finally, Sakura spoke up, "Will you two stop staring at each other…" Both huffed in annoyance as they focused back on Iruka.

Naruto was rather disappointed that he wasn't on a squad with Asuma, but he was hoping his new instructor would be just as helpful.

Iruka finally finished announcing the teams, "Well that's all of the teams. Wait here for your jounin teachers to come pick you up and have a nice day." The chunin then walked out leaving the students alone in the room.

Everybody immediately surrounded Naruto and began to question him. "Seriously how the hell did a moron like you get a perfect score on the test?" Kiba shouted in disbelief.

"Maybe that's because I am not a moron," Naruto replied slightly amused. Shikamaru shook his head and sighed, "There's no way you scored perfectly on the written exam, and I don't ever recall seeing you make a successful clone before,"

Naruto looked at him and sighed as he formed a cross sign with his hands, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" The blond created several shadow clones much to everybody's surprise. "I don't remember Iruka Sensei teaching that jutsu!" Sakura shouted at the blonde.

"He didn't…Naruto obviously learned it elsewhere," Shikamaru noted. Sasuke silently stared at the blond as he dispelled his shadow clones and kicked back in his seat. Everybody then dispersed into their particular new teams.

Sakura shook her head at the sight of Naruto and Sasuke ignoring each other. She coughed loudly as she looked between them, "Well are you two going to talk at all?"

Sasuke sent a cold glare towards the pink haired genin, "Hmph…I'm not here to entertain you."

Sakura turned her attention towards Naruto and started to question him, "Well Naruto would you mind telling me where you learned how to do shadow clones?"

He looked over at Sakura who had a curious expression on her face. Naruto shrugged at her carelessly, "I don't remember…maybe I'll tell you if you go on that date with me."

"Not in your life!" Sakura shouted at him. Much to her surprise however, Sasuke cut in, "What are the odds of me being paired with the dobe and Barbie ninja?"

Both shinobi turned their gaze towards Sasuke offended. Sakura was about to mouth off, but Naruto beat her to it, "Believe me the feeling is mutual Uchiha!"

The three genin began to ignore each other afterwards. Hinata looked down from her seat at Naruto as she recalled the events of him training last week. Unlike the rest of the genin, Hinata knew that Naruto was a lot stronger than people gave him credit for.

Hinata dreamily stared at the blonde as he occasionally glanced over at Sasuke and Sakura. What surprised her though is when Sasuke looked up at her. The Uchiha sent a nasty glare towards the Hyuuga much to her surprise.

Sasuke had never liked Hinata and she did not know why. Drawn from her thoughts, Hinata heard a woman announced for team eight to come with her. Hinata left with Kiba and Shino out the door but not before looking back at a glaring Sasuke.

Jounin were periodically arriving in the classroom to take their teams away until all that remained was team seven. There was dead silence between the trio. They had been waiting over two hours for their instructor to show up.

Finally, Sakura couldn't take the silence anymore and started talking, "So are you guys excited about becoming official ninjas?"

Sasuke glanced up at her but didn't bother responding. Naruto on the other hand nodded his head, "I am excited that we can finally get out of the classrooms and test our skills on real missions!"

Obviously Sakura hated boredom more than Naruto because she continued talking to him, "My parents are so proud of me. They threw me a party for graduating last night. What about you two…Are your parents proud too?"

Naruto and Sasuke instantly looked distant at the mention of parents and didn't respond. Sakura studied their reactions and came to the conclusion at last, "Ooh…sorry."

"Don't be sorry Sakura-chan, you didn't know," Naruto said forgivingly. Sasuke on the other hand continued to brood in silence as she glared daggers in the back of Sakura's head.

Sakura smiled at Naruto's attitude and giggled, "It's strange…I always thought you were just a hyperactive knucklehead, but you're kind of cool today, Naruto."

Sasuke inwardly hurled at the giggle the pink girl made as she watched the scene intently. The raven haired girl was tired of Sakura talking and thanked whatever divine force was watching her that their instructor finally walked into the room.

"Yo, is this my team?" Kakashi asked casually as he examined the three genin before him. "You must be Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said excited. The jounin nodded his head as he looked at the girl.

"All right, you three meet me on the rooftops so we can all introduce ourselves." The three genin did as they were told and made their way to the rooftop of the academy. When they got there, they saw Kakashi sitting over a balcony. He waved them over and motioned for them to sit down in front of him.

"Okay, I want you three to introduce yourselves and give me your likes, dislikes, and dreams," The masked jounin said calmly.

"I'll start first…Hi, my name is Kakashi Hatake and that's all you need to know," the jounin said.

He looked at Naruto first and the boy began to speak, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki…my likes include training, eating ramen, and fighting. My dislikes are people who underestimate me, and my dream is to become the greatest Hokage of all time."

Kakashi nodded his head and looked at Sakura. She coughed to clear her throat and began to speak, "My name is Sakura Haruno…my likes include cute boys, cute outfits, and romantic novels. My dislikes are waiting around for a long time and mean people. My dream is to become a great medic nin and to marry my prince charming!"

Kakashi eyed her briefly, 'This girl reminds me of Rin…'

As he focused his gaze on the final student, Sasuke began to speak, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha and I don't have any likes or dislikes. My dream is to kill a certain somebody…"

Sakura looked over at the girl confused as Sasuke glared at the ground. Kakashi nodded his head and responded, "Alright well now that we all know each other, you kids are free to go home. Meet me at training ground seven tomorrow morning at 5:00 A.M. Don't eat breakfast or you'll throw up."

Without another word, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. The three genin began to take their leave. Naruto looked over at Sakura and asked her the question of the day, "Hey Sakura-chan, do you want to go get some ramen and get to know each other? I mean since we're team mates and all…"

"For the last time NO! Seriously, Naruto, I am not interested in you," Sakura stated loudly. Naruto nodded his head at the expected rejection and jumped off the roof taking his leave. Sakura looked over and Sasuke and shook her head in annoyance, "He's such a loser…I mean can you believe that guy?"

Sasuke was gone before Sakura even realized she was talking to nobody. Sakura shook her head and sighed, 'One is an idiot who won't leave me alone, and the other one is a bitch who doesn't want anything to do with me…'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The following day, Naruto was the first person to make it to the training ground. He wasn't much of a sleeper and typically woke up early to train anyways. The blonde casually sat against a tree after getting there.

A bit later, Sasuke was the second person to arrive. She was quite surprised to see Naruto already there. She thanked the heavens that she would finally get more alone time with blonde. Sasuke walked up and sat directly next to Naruto much to his utter disbelief.

Naruto remained silent as the two sat there calmly. Finally, Naruto spoke up, "Umm…why are you sitting here?"

Sasuke looked at him amused, "Why not? I can sit wherever I want…I could even sit on you if I wanted."

The Uchiha inwardly cursed herself for the way she answered him.

Naruto raised a brow at the Uchiha confused, "What the hell? What is your problem with me?"

Sasuke was quiet for a minute but finally answered, "I don't have a problem with you…"

"Could have fooled me…care to explain why you're always a bitch to me and only me?" Naruto asked. The Uchiha nervously avoided Naruto's cerulean gaze as she looked down, "I…well I just don't…"

"Spit it out Uchiha…you didn't seem to have a problem making fun of me before," Naruto stated angrily. Sasuke sighed as her walls immediately came back up, "Listen dobe, I don't have to explain myself to you or anybody…"

Naruto glared at the girl and laughed, "Somebody is going to have to teach you a lesson Uchiha…I guess that person should be me!"

"I'd like to see you try!" Sasuke laughed at him. The duo immediately leapt to their feet and got into fighting stances as they stared each other down. Sasuke went through several hand seals and shouted, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)

Sasuke spit a large ball of fire from her mouth towards Naruto. The blonde went through several hand seals of his own to counter it, "Suiton Suijinheki!" (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)

A large barrier of water shot from Naruto's mouth to block the fireball.

The two elements struggled back and forth for a while before the water finally enveloped Sasuke's attack. The Uchiha looked impressed by his jutsu and spoke up, "I didn't know a dobe like you knew any other jutsus…"

"Not so high and mighty now huh Uchiha?" The girl smirked at him and pulled out several kunai. They had explosive tags on them. Sasuke threw the kunai in unison towards the blonde but was shocked as he countered it again, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough)

A massive gust of wind blasted from Naruto blowing the kunai away in all directions causing random explosions towards the nearby trees. Sasuke felt herself being pushed back by the gust. As the wind subsided, the Uchiha charged towards Naruto with a kunai drawn.

Naruto pulled out his trench knives and parried Sasuke's attack easily. The raven haired girl flipped over him and began to relentlessly assail the blonde. Naruto managed to keep up with Sasuke's fast pace as the two battled.

A loud shriek instantly caused both of them to stop fighting as they turned to see a worried Sakura staring at them. "What the hell are you two doing?" Sakura asked confused.

The two traded annoyed glances at each other and put their weapons away. Sasuke walked over towards a tree and began to lean against it as Naruto approached Sakura. "We were just sparring Sakura-chan…trying to pass the time until Kakashi-sensei arrives."

The pink haired girl looked at the devastated part of the training ground the group was in and looked skeptical, "How did you two do all of this?"

"Mind your own business Barbie…" Sasuke said coldly as she glared at Sakura. The pink haired girl ignored Sasuke and sighed as the trio began to wait around in silence. Two hours went by as they waited for their sensei to show up.

During this time, Naruto and Sasuke kept trying to steal glances at each other. Naruto would occasionally catch the Uchiha staring but pretended not to notice. Sasuke was surprised by the prowess the supposed dead last showed during their fight.

'I knew there was more to him…he must be concealing his powers, but why? I had no idea he was that strong…' Sasuke was extremely distressed by the situation she had caused earlier. 'This always happens…I try to talk to him and then suddenly I go off and say something stupid making him hate me more.'

"Why is our sensei late!" Sakura complained trying to break the awkward silence. Sasuke and Naruto were locked into a staring contest both completely oblivious to Sakura's question.

She looked frustrated at her two team mates as they both continued staring at each other. Finally, Sasuke spoke up, "Maybe you'll be useful after all Uzumaki…"

"Anything for you Sasuke-chan…" Naruto said sarcastically. Nevertheless, Sasuke was shocked at the last part out of Naruto's mouth and looked away hiding her slight blush. Naruto didn't notice as Sakura stepped in front of him and started waving in his face, "Hello! Will you stop ignoring me for heaven's sake?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head and laughed, "Oh yeah…sorry Sakura-chan. What were you asking?"

"I was saying that our sensei is two hours late again!" Sakura yelled. Naruto nodded his head at the girl and sighed, "Yeah all of this waiting around is really boring."

As if answering their plea, Kakashi finally walked over the bridge and waved to the three genin, "Hey guys what's up?"

"Why are you late!" Sakura demanded looking at the masked jounin annoyed.

"Oh, well you see I was on my way here and this old lady I ran into asked me if I could help her rearrange her house, so being the good citizen I am, I decided to help her."

Everybody sweat dropped immediately seeing through his lie. "Whatever…let's just get started," Sasuke sighed.

Kakashi nodded his head as he motioned for the three genin to follow him. They made their way into a clearing and finally Kakashi turned to face the group.

"Alright, you three. There is one final test you must perform if you wish to become a genin…you see these two bells here? You are going to have to get one if you want to become a full fledged genin."

Sakura looked confused, "I thought we already passed the exam!"

Kakshi shook his head, "The academy and the real thing don't compare…this final exam narrows down the genin hopefuls so we don't send people who aren't ready on missions."

Sakura nodded her head and responded, "I get it…this is a practical field test to see how we work together."

Kakashi nodded his head at the girl, "Use team work and you'll pass otherwise you're all going back to the academy."

The three genin nodded at the jounin.

"Now come at me with intent to kill otherwise you stand no chance in capturing a bell," Kakashi said.

The three genin instantly ran for cover like Kakashi expected they would. He looked around waiting for one of them to make the first move before pulling out his infamous Icha Icha Paradise book.

Naruto managed to locate Sakura and started whispering to the girl, "You and me can do it Sakura-chan, we just have to go at him together. I'll distract him and you cover his flank."

Much to both of their surprise, Sasuke cut in, "Listen up Uzumaki…the two of us can take this guy if we work together. We just have to be relentless."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and sighed, "Fine…but this doesn't change anything between you and me."

The Uchiha girl shrugged, "Whatever…let's just go."

"What do you want me to do?" Sakura asked the blonde. Naruto looked at her and smiled, "Just keep your eyes open and rush him when you see an opening. I know you can do it Sakura-chan."

Sakura nodded her head and smiled at the boy's encouragement. Naruto and Sasuke instantly leapt from the trees and stood across from their jounin instructor. Kakashi eyed them both lazily, "A frontal attack isn't going to be very effective against me…"

Naruto laughed at the man and replied, "We'll see about that, "Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) Sasuke added to Naruto's wind attack, "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu)

The fire and wind combo caught Kakashi completely by surprise causing him to drop his book and dodge it.

Kakashi immediately saw kunai with explosive tags raining around his location. There was a large explosion but the jounin's body turned out to be a log. The real Kakashi appeared behind the two genin and delivered a roundhouse kick.

Naruto managed to counterattack with a kick of his own while Sasuke stabbed the jounin from behind.

Once again, it turned out to be a substitution. The real Kakashi was standing on a tree branch a short distance away and waved to them, "I wasn't aware that academy students knew how to do elemental jutsus…genin don't normally have the chakra for it."

They traded annoyed glances as they made another dash towards the man. Naruto dove into the jounin at point blank range causing him to jump into the air. Sasuke took the opportunity to launch another fire ball at him.

The jounin managed to evade the blast, but was surprised as a gust of wind instantly blew him off balance upon landing. The masked man stumbled briefly before regaining his composure looking around for Naruto. He saw the blonde charging him point blank again dodged him as he slashed his knives.

"Are you kids trying to kill me?" Kakashi asked amused as Naruto and Sasuke continued to assail him.

Kakashi barely had time to look around as the two continued to flail at him repeatedly pushing him closer towards the edge of the forest. Seizing the opportunity, Sakura dove out of the foliage and nearly grabbed a bell but missed as Kakashi caught her hand.

"Pretty sneaky for a bunch of kids…" Kakashi noted. Naruto charged the silver haired man again and threw a bunch of shuriken at him which immediately revealed Kakashi to be a wooden log. Naruto looked around for the jounin and saw him next to Sasuke.

The Uchiha delivered a powerful kick towards the masked ninja which he managed to catch, but Kakashi was surprised to see Naruto's hand almost catching a bell.

Kakashi threw both genin back and chuckled at their tenacity, "You three are pretty good for a bunch of kids…interesting combination of team work."

The three genin jumped back as Kakashi blanketed the area in shuriken. Taking this opportunity, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto and shook his head as he held a kunai to his throat, "You're clever kid…but not that clever."

Suddenly, Kakashi felt a weight around his waist and saw another Naruto holding both bells. The Naruto in front of Kakashi turned into a puff of smoke impressing the jounin greatly, "Hmm…a shadow clone. Very interesting normally I can see those."

"So do we pass?" Sakura asked excited.

The masked man looked over at the three genin before him and answered, "Well you're the first group who's ever actually taken the bells. That wasn't really the purpose of this test. The purpose was to test your team work…and from what I can see, you three worked well together. So you all pass."

The three genin all celebrated in their own way. Naruto and Sakura cheered triumphantly while Sasuke smirked quietly.

"I've never seen genin with your potential before…" the man focused his gaze on Naruto and Sasuke, "You are going to go far. Anyways, you three are dismissed for the day. From here on out meet me at Team Seven's training ground first thing every morning."

Without another word Kakashi vanished leaving the genin alone. Naruto looked over towards Sakura and asked his daily question, "So Sakura-chan, how about we go and celebrate by getting some ramen? I'll buy!"

The girl looked at him and smiled, "Normally I'd say no…but you really pulled through for us today, so I guess I kind of owe it to ya."

Sasuke looked annoyed at the sight, 'What the hell? She didn't even do anything…what the fuck does he see in her anyways?'

"Can I come?" Sasuke asked causing Naruto's eyes to shoot open in shock. "What? I was under the impression you and I were sworn enemies…" Naruto stated.

"We're team mates…I was just trying to be…umm…friendly," Sasuke stated.

"We're all team mates so I say let her come, Naruto," Sakura said cheerfully. The blonde nodded in agreement, "Alright Sasuke, you can come with us to Ichiraku's Ramen."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The three genin were seated at the ramen stand. Naruto was sitting in the middle with Sakura on one side and Sasuke on another. They were actually having a pleasant lunch much to all of their surprise.

Sakura looked over at Naruto and giggled, "I can't believe I am eating lunch with you and it isn't weird."

"See…I told you that you were missing out," Naruto responded flirtatiously. The pink haired girl laughed in response, "Don't go off thinking this is a romantic date or anything…got it Naruto?"

"It's okay to admit that you're enjoying this, Sakura-chan," Naruto chuckled. The pink haired girl glanced at the boy cheerfully as he continued to eat his ramen.

"Hey Naruto…I just wanted to thank you for encouraging me earlier. It meant a lot to me," Sakura said as she continued to gaze at the boy.

Naruto flashed her a foxy grin and nodded his head, "We're team mates Sakura, I'll always be there for you!"

Sasuke was completely disgusted by the scene she had just witnessed. 'Stupid useless bitch…Ugh why the hell does he like her so much?'

Sakura noticed the cold glared Sasuke was directing towards her and crossed her arms at the Uchiha, "Why don't you like me Sasuke?"

Drawn from her thoughts the Uchiha responded coldly, "Hmph…I am done here."

Sasuke got up to leave the Ramen Stand and started making her way down the street towards the Uchiha complex. She didn't get far before Naruto jumped in front of her with his arms crossed. The two genin stared each other down again.

There was a long silence before Sasuke finally spoke up, "Thanks for lunch, Naruto…I'll see you around."

Naruto looked shocked as the girl pushed past him with a smile on her face. He shook his head in confusion, 'Did she just…thank me and call be by my name?'

Naruto couldn't help but stare at the retreating form of the raven haired beauty walking away. Running up to him, Sakura began to speak, "Where did Sasuke go?"

The blonde shrugged at her question and sighed, "Sasuke's just not feeling well. Anyways, I'll see you around Sakura-chan."

"Wait!" Sakura demanded grabbing Naruto's arm. He turned around and looked at her, "What is it Sakura-chan?"

"I just…wanted to ask you if…well what I am trying to ask is how come you are able to do all of these jutsus yet you are the dead last in the academy?"

Naruto smiled at the pink ninja, "That's a secret Sakura-chan…I might have to get to know you better before I go off and tell you about that."

Sakura smirked at the boy's bribe, "Maybe I'll consider it…"

"Anyways, take care Sakura-chan." Naruto left without another word.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

As Naruto was walking home, his mind kept wandering in weird places. He was thinking about Sasuke of all people. He didn't know why…he had finally gone on a date with Sakura, and Sasuke was the only thing on his mind at the moment.

'She said my name. She looked so cute standing there in front of me and…NO what the hell am I thinking. This is Sasuke the evil bitch I'm thinking about here!' Naruto went over the scene in his head hundreds of times on his way home.

He just didn't understand why the girl thanked him. 'Maybe she was impressed by our fight earlier…I guess it isn't surprising considering people like her only care about strength and power.'

Naruto fought hard to push the thought to the back of his mind. He finally concluded that Sasuke only said his name out of respect for their fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

'I just don't get him…I am the strongest girl in the entire village and he goes for the weak school girl bitch. What makes her so much better than me? I can't believe this shit…I didn't say one thing to him the entire time at the ramen stand…I missed my chance!'

Sasuke was deeply brooding on her walk home. She was very depressed about the scene that had occurred earlier. She couldn't stand the sight of Naruto flirting with Sakura any longer and had to leave.

'Well at least I thanked him…maybe I'll have another chance to talk to him one on one tomorrow. I just need to get there first so I get some alone time with him away from stupid Saku-bitch.'

Sasuke then had a brilliant idea flash through her mind, 'I know what I can do…I just have to make Sakura look bad in front of Naruto.'

Tons of ideas flowed through the girl's mind as she wandered home scheming.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The next day, Naruto was the first person at the training ground and was casually sitting against the same tree from yesterday. He looked slightly tired due to a lack of sleep.

Coming across the bridge, the infamous Uchiha girl sat down next to him the exact same way she had done previously. Naruto looked over at her and made an effort to be nice, "Hey Sasuke…"

"Naruto…" Sasuke managed to say but quieted down as she looked towards the ground.

The blonde looked at her and spoke up again, "Sorry about yesterday…I was being an ass."

"Don't be sorry…" Sasuke said embarrassedly as she avoided eye contact. There was a long awkward silence between the two again.

'He's sitting right there…nobody else is around. Say something!' Sasuke yelled at herself inwardly.

"So Naruto…I umm…I liked those two jutsus you did yesterday. They were quite impressive," Sasuke said somewhat sheepishly. Naruto looked confused at the girl's sudden change in attitude and replied, "Thanks Sasuke…your fire was pretty badass too. Is that something your clan taught you?"

The Uchiha nodded her head, "Yeah…I learned it from my brother Itachi."

"I didn't know you had a brother…" Naruto said interested. Sasuke scooted closer towards the boy and looked at him, "There's a lot you don't know about me…like you I am not all I appear to be."

Naruto looked at the girl oddly, "What are you implying?"

"I'm just saying I see past your innocent idiot act…I know you are one of the strongest genin in our year. I know that you have received some form of special training. Plus, I know for a fact that you are a lot smarter than you pretend to be."

Naruto looked shocked by the girl's words and shook his head, "Well aren't you the curious one…I guess it's true. How long have you known?"

"Three years…I pay close attention to you," Sasuke said as she looked away in embarrassment. Naruto looked confused, "Why? What reason would you possibly have for keeping track of what I do?"

"I am just curious about you…" Sasuke managed to answer.

Before Naruto could respond, Sakura arrived and saw the two of them sitting directly next to each other against the tree.

She looked shocked at the sight and coughed as she walked up, "You two seem to be getting along…how long have you been here?"

'Not long enough…go away you banshee!' Sasuke inwardly answered. Naruto on the other hand stood up and smiled, "Hey Sakura-chan, I've been here for about half an hour or so."

"What were you two talking about when I walked up?" Sakura asked eyeing the two suspiciously. Both genin refused to answer the girl and looked away quietly.

"I swear…you two are a complete mystery. There are way too many secrets between the three of us," Sakura concluded.

"Our secrets are none of your business…" Sasuke said coldly. Naruto sighed at the Uchiha's former attitude coming back.

A short distance away, Kakashi was watching the three genin interact. 'Hmm…Sasuke seems to have something against Sakura. She was getting along fine with Naruto until Sakura arrived.'

The jounin continued to watch the genin from a distance.

"Naruto…c'mon, tell me please," Sakura said in the in most girly way possible. The blonde looked away and sighed, "Listen Sakura…It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's that I can't."

"Why not? We're team mates right?" Sakura complained as she took a step closer towards the blonde.

Sasuke immediately stepped in front of Sakura blocking her view of Naruto and began to stare, "I've got a deal for you Haruno…you beat me in a fight and I'll tell you what we were talking about."

Sakura nervously backed away as Sasuke got into a fighting stance.

From a distance Kakashi watched the scene unfold with interest, 'I see now…the Uchiha girl has a crush on Minato's son…interesting.'

Sasuke immediately charged the pink haired girl and was about to punch her in the face before Naruto grabbed her hand stopping it. Sasuke looked shocked to see Naruto catch her fist, "You're fast…"

Sakura backed away in shock and shook her head, "You were really going to hit me?"

Sasuke pulled her arm back and scoffed, "Get used to it Barbie, in the real world, you won't get to choose your battles…be thankful Naruto was here to protect you."

Kakashi decided this way a good time to intervene and appeared on the bridge walking over towards the three genin.

They all looked up at him curiously as he began to speak, "Good news guys…we've got missions to do today. I already took the liberty of signing you three up for a bunch of D rank missions."

The trio eyed him curiously as he continued, "Believe me…these are some of the most important missions necessary to refine ninja skills and uphold a strong presence among the village."

Naruto inwardly sighed at Kakashi's statement, 'Yeah…slave labor is very essential in making me a better ninja…'

"What are we waiting for? Let's get started!" Sakura exclaimed cheerfully.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The following weeks were spent endlessly doing D missions. During this time, Team Seven hadn't made much progress at getting any closer. Naruto would occasionally ask Sakura out on dates but she refused hoping he would spill his secrets to her.

Sasuke on the other hand had been very quiet after her ordeal with Sakura. The pink haired girl did not like the Uchiha at all and spent most of her time talking with Naruto. Much to Sasuke's disappointment, that only made the two of them closer.

The raven haired girl spent a lot of her spare time training harder. Despite Sasuke's original purpose for killing Itachi, she also wanted to impress Naruto. Sasuke didn't get much of a chance to talk to Naruto over the past few weeks because the blonde was too distracted by Sakura.

It was another early morning that Sasuke headed for the training ground. She continued to arrive early despite the fact that Kakashi was always late. Mostly, Sasuke just wanted any excuse to spend more time with Naruto.

As usual, the blonde was sitting against a tree sharpening his knives. Sasuke walked over and sat next to him like she always did. Naruto didn't bother looking up as he continued to sharpen his blades. 'This sucks…why the hell do I like him so much?'

Finally, Naruto looked up at Sasuke and smiled, "Hey, Sasuke, what's up? "

"Hey Naruto…" Sasuke said as she looked into his oceanic blue eyes.

The two were staring at each other awkwardly. After a minute, Sasuke looked away embarrassed trying to hide a slight blush. "Hey Sasuke…can you help me with something?" the blonde asked.

The raven haired girl looked over at him with a dirty thought crossing her mind. Sasuke nodded her head, "What do you need help with?"

"Well it's about Sakura…you see Valentine's Day is coming up and I want to try and impress her. You're a girl…what kind of stuff would impress you?" Naruto asked sheepishly.

Sasuke's face turned to a scowl at the mention of Sakura as she looked away jealously. "I'm not a girly girl Naruto…the stuff that would impress me are completely different that the stuff that would impress Sakura."

"Well what would a boy have to do to impress you?" Naruto asked carefully. Sasuke looked at him and smiled as the conversation switched back to her, "Well…" the raven haired girl blushed deeply as she looked away shamefully.

Before Naruto could say anything else, Sakura instantly caught his eye as she ran across the bridge waving, "Morning Naruto!"

"Morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto said cheerfully as he jumped up to greet the pink haired girl. Sasuke sighed at the sight and looked away in disgust, 'Watching them fawn over each other makes me sick…if they end up together on Valentine's Day I'll kill her!'

The rest of the morning was spent listening to Sakura talk about her social life. "So then Ino said that this boy was super cute but that he wasn't a ninja…so that's why she said we should only date other ninjas," Sakura rambled.

"Well my door's always open Sakura-chan…" Naruto suggested with a foxy grin. Sakura giggled and shook her head, "We're just friends Naruto…besides I don't like you like that."

'Good answer bitch…it better stay that way or you'll go missing!' Inner Sasuke yelled at the girl. Kakashi showed up earlier than usual much to the group's surprise.

"Good news you three…I got permission for us to go on a C rank mission. It took a lot of convincing, but I managed to talk the Hokage into allowing it since you three have been doing well lately," Kakashi said casually.

"Awesome!" Naruto cheered. Sakura looked optimistic, "A C rank mission? What are we going to be doing?"

Kakashi answered her, "Follow me to the Hokage's Office, We have an escort mission to protect a man named Tazuna on his return trip to Wave Country."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Team Seven was walking through the gates of the village of Konoha along with the old man known as Tazuna. He felt slightly offended that his guard consisted mostly of kids, but Kakashi assured the man that he would be safe.

The group made decent progress on their way towards Wave Country occasionally going over interesting topics. As they passed over a puddle of water, Naruto instantly looked up in the sky and noticed it was clear, 'It hasn't rained lately…'

The blonde looked at Kakashi, "Hey Kakashi-sensei…that puddle isn't natural."

The masked jounin nodded his head as he looked down at it, "You're right…it hasn't rained lately."

Suddenly, a masked ninja leapt from the water and wrapped a chain towards Kakashi. Another one instantly leapt from the threes and followed suit ripping the jounin in half. Although Kakashi just turned into a puff of smoke.

The enemy ninja tried to stab Naruto with his spiked gauntlet, but was unsuccessful as Sasuke blind sided him with a swift kick. Tazuna back away in fear with Sakura as the two enemies attacked Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto drew his trench knives and channeled wind chakra over the edges as the masked enemies whipped their chains around Naruto. The blonde instantly sliced the chains into pieces shocking the two enemy ninjas.

Seizing the moment, Sasuke went through several hand seals and launched a massive fireball scorching the two enemies. They managed to avoid the blunt force of the attack, but were set on fire from it. They both dashed Sasuke from either side with their gauntlets raised.

Before they could hit her however, Naruto stabbed both of them from behind with his chakra infused trench knives causing both of the enemies to fall over dead.

Sasuke looked at Naruto impressed as a smile came across her lips. Tazuna and Sakura on the other hand were terrified by the battle. Kakashi leapt from the trees and spoke up in a serious tone, "Those two are chunin level missing nin…care to explain why they were after you, Tazuna?"

The old man looked down nervously and sighed, "They were sent by Gato…he doesn't want me to finish building the bridge. I had no idea he had shinobi at his disposal."

"This mission is now at least an A rank…we're going to have to take you back to Konoha and fix this," Kakashi said dryly.

"No you can't do that…you guys took care of them just fine…I can't afford this contract if it is an A rank!" Tazuna shouted.

Naruto looked over towards his sensei and cut in, "We can handle this Kakashi-sensei…we took care of those guys just fine, and with you here I'm sure we'll be okay."

Kakashi thought for a moment as he examined his team. After a long silence he finally nodded his head, "You guys aren't regular genin and with me I guess it is doable…fine, we'll continue then."

Sakura looked worried as the group continued down the road. The pink haired girl shook her head at the look on Naruto's face. "Naruto, you killed those guys back there…" Sakura said concerned.

Naruto looked at her and nodded, "Yes, I did…"

"You don't care?" The girl asked worried. The group all stopped in its tracks and turned to face Sakura.S

Before Naruto could say anything, Sasuke decided to cut in, "Remember when I said we couldn't pick our fights…that was a perfect example. As ninja we'll be expected to kill from time to time…Naruto did the right thing."

Kakashi nodded in agreement, "Sasuke is right Sakura…sometimes we have to kill people. It's not a lesson I encourage for kids as young as you three, but there's no changing that now."

Naruto sighed deeply and spoke up, "I was just trying to protect you guys…not to mention, the world is a better place with two less scumbags like them anyways."

"Naruto…" Sakura began as the group continued walking. The pink haired girl couldn't find the words and just decided to close her mouth as she followed the group again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Well that's it for this first chapter. As you can see, the story is going to primarily focus around Naruto and Sasuke's feelings for each other. Of course there will be lots of action and drama too.

I may or may not continue this, but I felt like trying one of these. Also, if you want a better visual of what female Sasuke looks like, go look up "Female Sasuke" by Virte on Deviant Art...Anyways, let me know how you felt about it.