RRRINGG! RRRIINGG!

Naruto's alarm clock rang.

He groaned. 'It's too early for this…' his left arm shot out of the blanket, and reached for the clock on the bedside table. After finally returning from a difficult A-rank mission, he was finally able to get back to his apartment and take a nap.

Unfortunately for him, it didn't excuse him from escaping that day's activities. Rather reluctantly, after his fingers didn't simply fumble on the clock and actually pressed the button to turn off the alarm, he got out of bed.

Naruto walked towards the bathroom (though "dragged himself" would've been a more accurate word), and washed his face lazily.

After he was in his usual orange attire, he put on his vest. Orange clashed horribly with the dull shade of green, but Naruto was never one for colour coordination. Already a jounin, and already one step closer to being the next Hokage.

He glanced at the date on the calendar.

It was circled, with a handwritten note: MEET GENIN TEAM TODAY

He grinned, and remembered his old team.

'Me, Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei, and…'

His grin turned into a thoughtful frown.

'Sasuke…'

Whether his body was already used as Orochimaru's vessel, or he ran away, nobody knew, but it wasn't like the people of Konoha would like to remember, anyway.

Besides, it's not good to dwell on the past. 'Yosh! I'm gonna show those genin what I'm made of!' he thought, and excitedly, he zoomed out of his apartment, and towards the Ninja Academy, where the new graduates were waiting for their jounin sensei.

He was rapidly approaching the academy, as he saw Haruno Sakura (who started being a jounin as well, since a few months back) having a pleasant chat with one of her medic-nin friends. Normally he would do the same as well, but time was certainly running out.

'Morning, Naruto!' Sakura greeted at the running Naruto.

'Morning, Sakura-chan!' Naruto replied, and then he increased his speed. 'Gottagobye!'

'What's the matter with him?' Sakura muttered.

'I don't know Sakura-san, but it must be something important for him to miss out on asking you to another date!'

Sakura flustered, before playfully hitting her friend on the back, chuckling along with her.

A boy with hazel eyes sighed, as he continued swinging back and forth with his chair. He was the number-one rookie of their year, Kien Kazuki, though his ego was bigger than his arsenal of skills. He readjusted the forehead protector on his head, making sure it looked just right.

'This is boring…' the boy whined, impatient as he was arrogant. 'Where's our jounin teacher? We're the only ones left!'

The girl next to him huffed; she certainly had no desire to be in the same team with such an arrogant boy. He might have talents, but the way he kept mentioning the greatness of his clan was enough to put off anyone from admiring him.

'You are being impatient, Kazuki.' She herself was annoyed, but she felt that the number-one rookie would at least have some self control. She brushed off the dark strands from her face, still wanting to keep a neat appearance in front of the jounin who would be her sensei, whoever he may be.

'Well, I'm bored too!' another boy named Nobu piped in. However, unlike Kazuki, he was on the opposite side of the spectrum, being nicknamed the "drop-out" of their year, because of his skills (rather, the lack thereof) 'This sucks!'

Kazuki smiled, glad that at least one of his teammates agreed with him. Now it was to persuade the other one to see it his way. 'Aw, come on, Chikako, quit being a stick in the mud. If you're bored, you can always say so.'

'How about I shove a stick up your ass?' Chikako unexpectedly snapped, despite being quiet for most of their classes. Kazuki gaped, unable to speak, but knew better than to continue on.

Noticing the tense atmosphere, Nobu tried to bring up a more pleasant topic.

'This is great! We're actual ninjas now!'

However, Chikako, being in a bad mood, made the situation just as bad. 'Nobu, I'm surprised you even passed. And Kazuki, quit acting stupid.'

'That wasn't very nice… And I'm not acting stupid! No one from the Kien clan is imperfect in any way!'

'Says you. The Kotone clan kicks more butt than a Kien would be able to count, judging from your intelligence.'

'I'm not in any clan, but I'll be better from anyone in both the Kotone and Kien clan! It doesn't matter what clan you come from, if you-'

The kunoichi and the first boy glared.

'No one can defeat my clan!' they both said in unison.

'Hey hey, sorry I'm late!' Naruto burst through the door, grinning guiltily. 'I thought that I'd just be a bit late, but they changed the time of the meeting, and at that time I wasn't in the village!'

'Umm… it's okay, I guess?' Kazuki said.

Naruto grabbed a seat, and signaled for the three little genin to do the same. 'Don't be so nervous. I'm not going to bite.'

Quite awkwardly, the trio sat down (except for Kazuki, who could rarely be described with such a word). Chikako made sure she kept enough distance between her and the two boys before finally settling down on her seat comfortably.

'Well…' Naruto started, scratching his cheek, which turned slightly pink. 'What do you say we get to know each other first?'

'Umm… why should we do that?' the girl of the team questioned sharply.

Naruto, expecting an answer within the realm of "Yeah, let's!" (or anything equally enthusiastic), was unsure of what to reply.

'Y'know… to get closer to each other… and… stuff…' Naruto replied. 'Just basic stuff, like your name... the reason you chose the path of a shinobi, of course... you must have dreams of your own, too... and your likes and dislikes! Heh...'

Then a great idea dawned upon him. 'Hey! I know! You can start!' he exclaimed, pointing at the girl

'No, I... I don't really-'

'Sensei! Pick me, pick me!' Kazuki yelled with the enthusiasm Naruto expected from young genin. 'I'll start!'

Chikako, annoyed that she was interrupted by the boy, hurriedly added, 'Why don't you go first, sensei?'

Naruto shrugged, smiling. 'Fine by me, but your friend seemed really enthusiastic to begin.'

'No,' Kazuki said gloomily. 'Go ahead.'

'My name is Uzumaki Naruto, so feel free to just call me Naruto-sensei! I decided to become a ninja so the villagers recognise me! The things I like are my friends, which you guys will eventually become, I hope, and ramen. I know this great place that serves it both delicious and cheap.'

'Really? Where?' Nobu asked, curious, before realising the situation wasn't right for such a question, and closed his mouth.

'As for what I don't like… well… that darn two minutes I have to wait for until I can my instant ramen!' Then he laughed good-heartedly.

'Lastly… my dream is to become the next Hokage! My hobby is to eat ramen, hang out with my friends and train! Now, to see whether you've been listening or not; what is my favourite food?'

'Ramen,' all three said in unison.

'Correct! Anyway, it's your turn, guys! I can't wait to know about you!'

With his enthusiasm for making himself known to everyone back, Kazuki shouted, as his arm waved in the air. 'Ooh! Me! Me! Can I go first? A Kien always goes first,' the boy said proudly.

'Sure! Go ahead.'

He cleared his throat. 'Okay. My name is Kien Kazuki, from the prestigious Kien clan! I became a ninja because it was expected of me, and I got the highest marks, as expected of me, of course…'

The kunoichi snorted, but Kazuki decided to ignore this, and as he continued to speak, his eyes gleamed.

What I like and admire the most would be the Kien clan! We're all so great and talented and we're so going to become a threat to the Hyuuga clan's fame! Not that our skills pale compared to theirs, their clan is just bigger so they get more famous! What I hate are people who don't like me or the Kien clan!' Kazuki said with pride, shouting out all of his sentences.

'Please put me on your hate list,' Chikako commented in a small voice, not actually wanting to anger Kazuki; it was obvious how much he loved his clan.

Naruto laughed nervously. 'Just... continue on, Kazuki.'

'Someday I'm going to become the most powerful Kien and make my clan the most well-known out of all Fire Country clans, and our fame will reach other countries! My hobby is bathing in the hot springs; especially after a long day of honing my skills.'

As he finished, he drew in a big breath. 'How was that, Naruto-sensei?'

'That was… straightforward, and full of confidence. How about… you?' Naruto pointed at the other boy, who didn't hide his anticipation for his turn very well.

'Oh, me? Well… I'm Hagane Nobu. I'm not from any special clans or anything, but I want to show everyone that I can still be a great ninja! I like a lot of things, especially my family… and my friends… and great shinobi like Naruto-sensei…'

'We're not here to suck up to people, idiot,' the sharp-tongued kunoichi commented yet again.

Nobu decided to ignore her, and continued, still trying to keep his voice calm and cool (not that he was succeeding).

'… and I like most kind of food. I'm not picky. I hate people who take things for their outer values and puts down others' efforts! My hobby is to take relaxing walks, but I usually train to improve. Is that all, Naruto-sensei?'

'Yes, that's all. Well done. Now the one we've been waiting for, the kunoichi of the team!'

Chikako gritted her teeth, as her two teammates chuckled at Naruto's last sentence. Then she began in a loud voice:

'I'm Kotone Chikako, from the not-so-prestigious Kotone clan. I aspire to become a master at taijutsu and make gain admiration for those who carries the name Kotone, as Konoha's best at taijutsu!'

There was silence, until Kazuki decided to comment on her dream. 'You're like, technically saying what I just said, except you made it sound fancy with longer words!'

'Oh, please forgive me. I didn't mean to steal ideas from the great Kien clan!'

Not quite catching the sarcasm in her voice, Kazuki merely smirked proudly. 'Well, it's okay.'

'I became a ninja to make turn that dream into reality. So as the first step, I will earn victory in a match against my brother! When I have spare time, I read books on ninja techniques, or train. What I also like to do is gather information, and things I'm skilled at.'

Yet another pause.

'Wow,' Nobu started with awe, as he tugged slightly on Kazuki's sleeve. 'She does use fancy long words.'

'I told you so.'

'... What I hated to do in the academy was taijutsu training, or things I'm not good at.'

'Great! Now we've known a little bit more about each other. It's nice to know that my team consists of... such a variety of people.'

Chikako frowned. 'This is just great. One of my team mates is an idiotic stuck-up and the other one is an idiotic suck-up…'

Naruto got up from his seat.

'Well... now I'm going to give you guys a little test.'

'But we just started!' Nobu complained, with a worried look on his face. 'You're already testing us?'

'It's just a little evaluation of your skills. Now tell me; have any of you eaten lunch yet?'

The three shook their heads. Seeing this, Naruto nodded. 'That's good, then. Because if you have, you'll just throw up anyway.'

Hearing this, the other two genin started to pay attention.

'Excuse me?' Chikako started. 'I think that-'

'Follow me, guys,' Naruto said, cutting her complaint, as he stood up. 'Were going to a particular favourite training ground of mine.'