A/N: Hey look; another old fic (Sept. '10) that was abandoned! Man, I recall how I wrote all this really fast and ended up stopping at Naruto and came to a realization that I seem to be incapable of writing clown-y "idiotic" characters. Since this seemed to be proofread already... here you guys are! Happy July 4th, Americans!

RIP and you'll live on in my heart, Neji; Happy Belated Birthday!

Disclaimer: Get the bunnies off of ME! …Don't own, else Neji and Shika would get more air-time. This idea is inspired by Sir-Shun's Shadow and Wind: New legends and Mark Doherty's The Lavender Beast of Konoha – anything you recognize from there (other than the obvious) is probably unconsciously incorporated into this story.

Beta'd by: miyagiCE and gufymike

=Nothing But Sunshine Spirals=

-Kuebiko, Nymphi, Bambino, and Fishcake-

The Next Team Seven

[Hyuuga Neji]

"You all fail," the silver-haired Jounin announced. "The two of you would be sent back to the academy. You—"

Twelve year old Neji grit his teeth as that single droopy eye locked onto him.

"Considering your actions during the test, I'm going to recommend you to attend remedial classes, since you completely neglected and endangered Sasabe – even though he technically deserved it. Still, Konoha is not looking for ninja with your… aggressiveness so I think attending class with your underclassmen would hopefully teach you patience."

"Haha! You're being left back!" Sasabe guffawed in his insufferable whine.

Kakashi closed his single visible eye and sighed. "I'll get to you later," he remarked sharply, "At least Neji-kun had the highest chances of passing out of the three of you. Normally, protocol would have me passing him because of his performance and place him on the wait list but I only pass teams.

"The whole point of this test is teamwork. Did you honestly think any of you Genin could beat a Jounin by yourself? You MIGHT have had a chance if you came at me in a group—"

"But there were only two bells!"

"…red herring," Neji muttered under his breath in belated realization, closing his eyes in a grimace over how he missed the blatant oversight of the overall pass rate to Kakashi's test pass rate stipulation.

And all because he had a killer migraine from Sasabe being a retarded buffoon to pile on top of the bad day prior, when he found out shy little Hinata became a Genin and how the entire Clan seemed to celebrate what seemed to be a easy feat. He mentally scoffed; look at him now, he didn't even manage to become a Genin, and it sounded like he was being shipped back to repeat the year with classmates a year younger than him.

It was as if the Fates purposely prevented him from standing straight and proud – each time he metaphorically rose from his knelt position of servitude, there was an overwhelming pressure that pressed him right back to the ground. How can he not think this, when Kakashi mentioned him likely to have passed if it wasn't the Jounin that was administering the test?

Kakashi glanced at him during his explanation of the discrepancy between the bells and the intended teamwork but did not remark about Neji's mumbled words, "—instead. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum—"

Neji closed his eyes, letting the man's words melt into a soft buzz in the background, as he tried to center himself by reviewing the events of the past. Inevitably, rewinding over the last few days since the Genin Exams, his mind eventually delved deeper into his memories, when he got the Caged Bird Seal. When his father died.

It was odd, but he always found strength when he remembered the injustice of his youth. The anger, the hate…

This was a minor setback. He would get stronger. Neji would head back to the Academy, whether it was back to his former class or to repeat the year, then he would take the exam and pass it. There was a lesson to learn from this even though it was a failure – he had an idea of how skillful an Elite Jounin was and how he compared, now.

Neji's tightened his hands into fists.

He would never falter; he would make the memory of his father proud.

When Neji finally opened his eyes again, the review was coming to an end. He would meditate more heavily on the last few hours to see what could have been done differently but he wanted— no, needed an answer to a question he had. He set off after the Jounin when the man left the training ground, Kakashi finally acknowledging him when they arrived at a red arch bridge.

Slowing down, the masked-nin turned his head to glance back at Neji.

"Kakashi-san… you mentioned I would have passed but you only passed teams—"

"I was a Genin on the wait list when I took the exams," Hatake Kakashi imparted with his back facing the twelve year old. "I promised myself I would never let another have the same experience I did."

Neji stared at the tall and lean form of the Jounin, his shoulders were slouched but it wasn't a sign of bad memories – Neji had quickly realized Kakashi's body language directly contradicted words which were equally deceptive. It was his somber tone of voice and the content itself that let the boy read that the man was doing this for Neji's own good (in Kakashi's perspective).

Kakashi twisted to look back at Neji, single eye crinkled into a smile, "Neji-kun, next time you take the exam, pass with your team."

In a swirl of leaves, the Jounin was gone.

[Nara Shikamaru]

"Shikamaru! Get up!"

The twelve year old tensed.

"Get up, you lazy thing! Today's the Genin Exams—"

Damn troublesome woman, first she insisted he stay up late to cram (he spent the time spacing out, though he was not able to sleep with his mother frequently checking he was actually 'studying') and now she expected him to wake up early? Getting up was too much of a bother at this point; maybe he should just wait till next year to take the exam.

"SHI. KA. MA. RU!"

Only Nara Yoshino could make her son's name sound like a death threat, Shikamaru woozily thought before he received an unpleasant shock to his system when he found his futon pulled out from underneath him, resulting into him striking the tatami in the wrong angle and generally making the knots in his sleep deprived body flare up.

Shikamaru groaned in pain, flinching back when he opened his eyes and saw his mother's apoplectic face. "I'm up. I'm up!"

The brunet exhaled as he ran a hand down his face. He promised himself (for the umpteenth time) to never marry a girl like his mother, who put the label 'battleaxe tigress' to shame.

He managed to get through breakfast and his other morning rituals without fanfare. Warily, he had the fleeting thought that luck was on his side, his mother actually skipping the usual complaining rant/lecture before he left probably because of the exams—

"Oh, Shikamaru," his mother's tones were dulcet sweet; it sent a shiver of trepidation down his spine.

The pineapple-head boy turned around from pulling on his sandals at the front entrance to stare at his smiling mother.

"If your test results put you in the lower half of your class rankings," her face changed, "you'll be shoveling manure at the flower shop in the mornings and peeling potatoes in the evening till spring."

Shikamaru's peachy complexion turned a pasty, discolored white. His mother wasn't human but an ogre! Her words— That face—

"Oh yes, in addition to the plain ole potato, there are sweet potatoes, blue potatoes—"

Menial labor.

The boy shuddered.

He left quickly before his mother could say anymore, his face soon adopting an irritated look as he headed to the Academy, meeting his best friend Chouji along the way. Shikamaru replied back in his usual tired drawl as his friend greeted him, the tension at his shoulders loosening as he listened to Chouji remark about what he had for dinner last night to the upcoming day, the ponytailed boy calming his friend with his usual insufferable remark about life being a pain and he could care less if he failed.

Shikamaru sat in the classroom, slightly annoyed over the buzzing aura of the room from his classmates' nervousness, excitement, or the faint hostile intent from the Uchiha and several other boys. The air in the room was heavy enough that his (admittedly) trained senses did not allow him to drop his head to the desk and take a nap.

It was an anticipation for an upcoming event – and with the seriousness along with the fact it was a ninja academy, it made the brunet's instincts just twitchy enough that he was somewhat alert (for Nara standards). The fact that he sat next to Hyuuga Neji didn't help; the older boy was the epitome of 'focused' and a person always got the feeling Neji was watching them even when he (most likely) wasn't.

In contrast, on the other side of the room, Naruto was fidgeting like a three-year old hyped up on a bag of pure sugar. Green-gold eyes slid to the orange-wearing blond and observed the boy was nervous but excitedly determined; Shikamaru looked away since studying Naruto more than peripherally gave him a headache. The blond was shifting around, one of his legs hopping up and down quick enough to put a jackrabbit to shame as he squirmed in his seat, basically looking like he needed to take a leak really badly.

"SHUT IT AND IN YOUR SEATS NOW!" Iruka screamed at the podium in front of the classroom, having finally lost his patience with the kids ignoring him.

As befitted a class under Umino Iruka everyone but the class trouble-maker plunked their bottoms to a seat with their spines straightened and otherwise looking like the perfect student. In this instance, though, Naruto was too preoccupied with pre-exam nerves to pay attention or make a snarky remark, already sitting in a seat quietly.

After a moment, Iruka calmed himself down and adopted his normal demeanor of reasonable, competent instructor. "The exam would be split into three parts: a written exam, a physical test, and a jutsu exam. Forty percent of your grade would depend on your competence to perform the jutsu we ask of you while the rest of your grade is split evenly between the written and physical results, thirty percent in each category. The jutsu portion of the test would be last, after…"

Shikamaru grimaced over how long the Genin Exam was, mentally groaning when Iruka walked around to hand the written test out.

It was a packet as least five pages thick.

"Alright… you have two hours, starting now."

With a put-upon sigh, Shikamaru considered just sleeping through the written exam, knowing he could scrape a passing grade if he passed the jutsu portion and did well enough in the physical without working up a sweat.

He lost a bit of color and broke into a cold sweat when he recalled his mother's words of him having to at least be in the 50th percentile in the class, reluctantly moving a hand to flip through the packet.

Roughly a fourth of the test was multiple choice, with the rest requiring longer answers and the last question involving an essay dealing with mission protocol. With some quick mental calculations as he noticed the level of difficulty of the test, he figured he'd place right down the middle of the ranking list if he aced the written exam, participated but bombed the physical, and passed the jutsu portion since a third of the class (the girls) would unlikely ace the physical and the entire class itself, minus a few individuals, would average sixty-five percent of correct answers.

Shikamaru took a few minutes reading through each question in the packet before closing his eyes and doing calculations to manipulate his ranking – usually he was the dead last of the class since he got straight zeros from napping through tests but, thankfully, the exam rankings did not take class rank into account (and Shikamaru assumed for once that his mother was being reasonable in her demands even though the demand itself was troublesome).

After ten minutes passed, he raised a hand to the back of his neck and cracked it to loosen the cramp, picking up his pencil with the long-suffering thought of how troublesome the entire thing was.

The next day, Shikamaru actually managed to drag himself to the posted ranking in the Academy, which showed exactly how much he didn't want to be subjected to his punishment. His eyes automatically zoomed to the fourteenth place, internally exhaling in relief when he saw his name was exactly in the middle, not the one below it. Shikamaru had considered allowing for a margin of error into his calculations and playing it safe with landing himself in the 13th place but it would have required too much effort to put into the obstacle course that was the physical exam.

Plus, the twelve year old would admit he took guilty pleasure in the challenge of premeditating his ranking.

Looking further up the list, he went down the list of names one by one; they were in the order he had calculated, with Hyuuga Neji beating the top spot from Uchiha Sasuke and Shino getting third place.

He was about to move on, spending a few hours to catch some clouds but stopped when he noticed the twenty-seventh place was not empty. Shikamaru knew that Naruto was the only one in the class that failed, and that Genin Exam rankings only wrote down passee names with empty columns for whoever didn't make it at the bottom. Somehow, between now and then, the blond prankster had managed to scrape a pass.

After a moment, Shikamaru scowled.

"Mendokuse…" it really took too much effort to wonder how Naruto managed it since it wasn't a typical scenario at all – you either passed or you didn't.

He turned around, only to lean back when he realized Neji had been right behind him also staring at the ranking results. Pupil-less lavender eyes glanced at him before sliding across the class rankings from first to last; the teen didn't look all that caring over the fact he had the highest grades.

Maybe he really didn't, considering Neji had technically been there and done that, having been the Top Rookie in the year prior.

"We're going to be in a team," the Hyuuga stated.

Shikamaru narrowed his eyes.

"The first and last are always placed together. Considering the uneven girl to boy ratio, you'll be the third teammate instead of Haruno Sakura."

Sakura was fifteenth place.

The lazy boy stretched, placing his arms behind his head, "Talking from experience? I guess it makes sense theoretically… man, what a drag – I wonder how Naruto managed to pass."

Neji pursed his lips; the prankster must have been an eyesore for the reserved Hyuuga with his loud personality and loud appearance, even though there wasn't that much animosity between the pair considering both of them had a mutual hatred toward Uchiha Sasuke.

The pair parted without any other words exchanged and Shikamaru pondered over what kind of team they'd make. At least he wouldn't be grouped with Ino, which he was half-expecting since the Ino-Shika-Cho trio was rather notorious (and if it ain't broke, why fix it?), though he did feel a slight pang of regret he wouldn't be on the same team as Chouji.

As for Naruto, Shikamaru didn't mind the boy, since he wasn't half as annoying as another blonde – Naruto was just annoyingly chipper but he could live with it if they were teamed up.

Probably.

"Tsk, this is all too annoying."

[Hatake Kakashi]

Standing before the Memorial Stone, his single visible eyes drooped; there was always a taste of melancholy on these days ever since he semi-retired from ANBU and started testing Genin hopefuls five years ago. Like Sarutobi, Jiraiya, and Minato had before him, it was supposedly tradition for him to test a team with the top rookie and dead-last.

Only last year was an exception, when Gai had given Rock Lee a BYE and specially formulating his Genin team so it fit his taijutsu orientated fighting style. It had left Kakashi with Hyuuga Neji, a fangirl, and a cocksure idiot that any Jounin in their right mind would never pass.

Hyuuga Neji; the boy was slated to be in the group of Genin hopefuls Kakashi was to test this year.

His eye traced over the name of Obito to Rin and then his sensei, Namikaze Minato.

The dead last was Uzumaki Naruto this year.

Kakashi exhaled and tilted his head to stare at the robin-egg blue sky. It was a bad habit of his – drowning himself in the past. Doubtless, this was another case of not being able – not willing – to forget.

After the Fourth died, he had entered ANBU until he was twenty-one and couldn't stand the deaths anymore. He then became a Jounin again, freeing up his time, and getting assigned missions with other Jounin and Chuunin. He had never had a team quite like his first; colleagues instead of a dysfunctional family like Team Minato had been.

For the Sandaime, his teammates are still alive and formed the Konoha Council. Team Sarutobi was scattered by the wind, Orochimaru becoming a traitor, Tsunade left from heartbreak, and Jiraiya (while still working for Konoha) traveled like a free spirit. Team Jiraiya in the time of Team Minato's formation were all still alive, and the Fourth's old Genin teammates had managed to pop out a girl who became the top kunoichi of last year.

Kakashi had been alone, pushed from team to team from his graduation till he was ten, until he was placed in a Genin team when he was a Chuunin for many years. They were family and he had been too stupid to realize it until Obito died. Then the Fourth died, followed by Rin when Kumo had mounted a surprise attack while Konoha was still recovering from the devastation of the Kyuubi, leaving Kakashi all alone again.

Just like how he had started.

The Jounin rubbed his head; looking at Hyuuga Neji was like looking at a mirror of his younger self right down to their fathers not dying in battle but because of politics and honor.

"I somehow guessed you would be here, Kakashi," the Sandaime remarked as he joined the Jounin in staring at the names on the Stone.

"Sandaime-sama," Kakashi greeted.

"I actually wanted to talk to you after the instructors' meeting earlier. I want to show you something."

Kakashi had an idea what the older man was going on about and was not surprised when they arrived at a run-down building and entered a surprisingly large and homey 1DK penthouse apartment through the outside walkway. They went through Naruto's bedroom to a short hallway that led to the kitchen, where the pair settled as Sarutobi started on another Genin hopeful Kakashi didn't want to think about.

"So this is Naruto's apartment?" Kakashi remarked as he picked up the carton of milk on the dining table.

"Yes; he's a moron but I think giving him to you would be for the best," the old man gave a knowing smirk, "Plus, your team this year would again have Hyuuga Neji. Also, while Nara Shikamaru was a bit of a surprise, he could give you a run for your money when it comes to looking underneath hidden layers."

Kakashi shook the milk carton lightly, the goopy contents making a somewhat ominous sound as the carton moved. "This milk has expired long enough that it's curdled," he deadpanned, not really sure he was NOT getting in over his head.

Sarutobi's eyes widened before they were covered by the older man adjusting the Hokage hat, "Good luck, Kakashi."

The twenty-six year old withheld a sigh and a remark that he'd probably need it. "Understood."

This could be troublesome…

He was right.

The blond of the potential Genin team broke out into loud riotous laughter, clutching his stomach with one hand and pointing at Kakashi with the other while his other teammates sat in their seats. "You fell for it!" Naruto guffawed.

Kakashi didn't bother brushing off the chalk that coated his hair from the eraser in the door jam trick, instead settling on staring at the three boys remaining in the classroom.

Neji was poker-faced, which was a marked improvement from last year, and the Jounin thought the teen's eye beam seemed to have doubled its power, Kakashi able to almost remark that his stare was solid enough to be felt.

Shikamaru – who looked like a prettier version of Shikaku – looked vaguely irritated as he stared at the procession, but otherwise remained silent.

Straightening up, he rubbed his covered chin and gave a fake smile. "Hm… how can I say this? My first impression is: I don't like you guys!" he exclaimed cheerily. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes."

He shunshined to the Academy roof which sported a garden, leaning against the railing and taking the few minutes to contemplate the three boys. Ultimately, he sighed and looked to the bright points: they were all boys.

Kakashi didn't know how to handle teenage girls and Gai happened to nab the single kunoichi he wouldn't have minded having in his Genin team. Then again, Team Gai consisted of TWO kunoichi, a mini-Gai clone, and Maito Gai himself…

The Jounin gestured for the newly arrived boys to sit on the steps before him. "Let's begin with some introductions," he started.

"What do you want to know," Shikamaru asked.

"How about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, hobbies – stuff like that," Kakashi elaborated.

"Hey hey, why don't you introduce yourself to us first?! We know each other since we're classmates but I haven't seen you before today!"

It was a valid point though Kakashi just gave an obfuscated template for their replies, not really telling them anything more than his name, which they already knew. Kakashi looked at Neji curiously when the teen made a small noise of amusement but otherwise did not comment, nudging them to start their own introductions, staring at Naruto since Shikamaru was occupied with muttering 'troublesome' under his breath.

The boy adjusted his Konoha headband. "Me. Me," Naruto seemed to have a habit of repeating words at the beginning twice, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen and like the Ichiraku ramen Iruka-sensei treats me to even more. I dislike the three minutes waiting for instant ramen to cook and Sasuke, the bastard. My dream is to surpass the Fourth Hokage and have all the people in this village acknowledge my existence!"

After the litany over ramen, Kakashi was slightly shocked at Naruto's voiced dream which seemed to be mirrored in Shikamaru while Neji just frowned slightly. The Jounin hadn't really seen Naruto up close since before he retired from ANBU and, knowing the blond's burden and that the boy himself had recently learned of what he imprisoned, found that the twelve year old had grown up to be rather interesting, all things considered.

Shikamaru, whose eyes had slightly narrowed immediately following his own surprise, sighed. "Nara Shikamaru. My likes and hobbies are the same thing; I like to sleep, play shougi, and watch clouds. I dislike bossy and troublesome women. As for the future… I hope to marry a regular girl who isn't too ugly and not too pretty. Have two children, first a girl, then a boy. Retire after my daughter is married and my son becomes a successful ninja, and spend the rest of my life playing shougi or go. Then die of old age before my wife."

Naruto started ribbing the brunette over how unambitious his goal was which the Nara retorted by calling Naruto annoying, Kakashi not really sure what to make of the boy as he turned to the long-haired teen.

"Last," Kakashi stated to quiet the two other boys and get introductions finished with.

"Hyuuga Neji. I enjoy training and meditation. I dislike the Main Branch of the Hyuuga family and Uchiha Sasuke. Goals for the future…" he trailed off which was the same thing Neji had did the year before. It was, in fact, the exact same introduction of the year before with the addition of hating Sasuke, which Naruto had also mentioned.

At least they were mostly tolerable, since Kakashi had a feeling this team would pass even if he didn't want them to. Sure, the Sandaime had subtly suggested that Kakashi should pass this team even though Sarutobi would understand if he failed them if they did so bad there would be no way to salvage the situation. The Jounin didn't quite think this would happen, considering Neji had already taken the Bell Test the year before (and seemed to have cottoned onto Kakashi's M.O.) and Nara Shikaku's kid was amazingly sharp.

Internally, he frowned. It looked like he wouldn't have a choice even if he didn't want them; they were stuck.

[Uzumaki Naruto]

–

… So, anyone interested in continuing this?