Wind the clocks back… remove the Naruto that we all know and love from where he stands with the up coming meeting of the five Hokages. Before the fight with Pein. Before Jiraiya's death. Before Sasuke killed Itachi. Before Naruto left to train with Jiraiya and before Sasuke left for Orochimaru. Before the Chuunin exam and before the teams were announced at the Academy. We're going to take a little trip. We're going to see the difference. This will be a new ride. This will be a new vision. We will see what happened if Naruto was never on Team Seven. What if he was on a different team? How would that effect Naruto's life and the life of those around him? Join the characters as their lives are thrown into a whole new direction.
"Team Seven; Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, Akamichi Chouji. Team Eight; Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba." Iruka prattled off another team from his clipboard, but it was hardly audible over the complaints of teams seven and eight. "Team Ten; Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, Uzumaki Naruto."
Iruka stared at the listing for Team Ten, that wasn't what he'd seen yesterday. Had the teams been switched by the Hokage? The Chuunin looked up at Team Seven and Team Ten. He would have to talk with the Hokage after this. Just to be sure that this was the Hokage and not someone else's decision.
"You wanted to meet with us, Hokage-sama?" Two Jounin ambled into the Hokage's office and stood before the aging man.
"Hatake Kakashi… Sarutobi Asuma… you're both receiving Genin teams today, right?" Sandaime asked, lighting his favorite pipe.
"Yes." Asuma nodded, pulling a cigarette from the little box that held them.
"Mm." Kakashi gave a languid nod.
"Kakashi… you'll be teaching the team wi-"
"Uzumaki Naruto, right?" Kakashi said and if you listened closely enough, you could have heard the sliver of excitement.
"No." The old man sighed, he knew that Kakashi wouldn't be pleased with his final decision to switch Naruto off the team.
"No?" Kakashi's visible eyebrow rose curiously.
"You'll be teaching Uchiha Sasuke." The Hokage blew out a stream of smoke. "Asuma will be taking on the role of Naruto-kun's teacher."
"Me? I thought for sure you would put him under Kakashi's tutelage." Asuma said in surprise.
"Originally, yes, but I believe Naruto will learn better from being on a team with you and Nara Shikamaru." Sandaime stood from his old, creaky chair and turned to look out the window. "I'm sorry, Kakashi, I know how much you wanted to have Naruto-kun on your team."
"No, you're probably right that Asuma and Shikamaru would be better for his growth." Kakashi said, hiding the disappointment in his voice to his best abilities.
He was rather depressed at the Hokage's final decision to switch Naruto and Chouji at the last minute. Kakashi wanted to have both Sasuke and Naruto on his team. The two had the potential to be power houses if trained right. Add Sakura to the equation, Kakashi believed that she would be the perfect medium between the two stubborn personalities. Now, however, he wouldn't have the rivalry that he was hoping to be able to spark between Sasuke and Naruto. Chouji wouldn't want to start anything unnecessarily. Sighing, Kakashi prepared himself with the idea of a completely different team than he was anticipating. He had truly wanted the hyperactive, orange wearing, blonde ninja on his team. He hadn't even contemplated the idea of anyone else being on his team.
Asuma, on the other hand, was rather intrigued by the concept. He was hoping to use Naruto as a catalyst to get Shikamaru to be a little more active. He also believed that Naruto could be a rather crucial member of his team. The boy looked like he had the potential, however deeply hidden it was. Asuma lit the cigarette that he'd almost forgotten he'd placed between his lips. So, now he had a lazy bum, a vain female, and a hyperactive ninja on his hands. This was going to prove to be quite entertaining. Asuma placed a sympathetic hand on the forlorn looking Kakashi's shoulder and gave a smirk. Kakashi nearly bristled at the smug look. Asuma was a comrade that he'd confided in and vice versa.
"Sorry, Kakashi." Asuma said. "Looks like I lucked out this time."
"It appears so, Asuma." Kakashi frowned.
"Kakashi, Asuma, don't let this switch change your relationship." The Hokage felt the anger the silver haired Jounin was emanating towards Asuma.
"No worries." Asuma said, smiling confidently at the old man.
"It won't change, Hokage-sama." Kakashi was still frowning, but answered respectfully.
"Sometimes, that mask makes it very hard to know if you're really upset, Kakashi-kun." The Sandaime muttered to himself as the two Jounin walked out of the office and shut the door. "Maybe I should have kept Naruto-kun on his team… nah. I think I made the right decision."
"Team Ten?" Asuma popped his head into the room.
Naruto looked over at Shikamaru and woke him up before running down to meet the dark haired Jounin. Ino was next to arrive in front of Asuma, followed by a half asleep Shikamaru. He grinned at them and motioned for the three Genins to follow him out of the classroom. They arrived in a nice hall were one side was open to the outdoors. Asuma stood against the wall and had the three Genins sit on the bench on the other side of the hall. Naruto looked positively ecstatic. Ino was at least looking up at him respectfully. Shikamaru had finally started to wake up and was scratching the back of his head a little.
"So, my name's Sarutobi Asuma, I'm going to be your teacher." Asuma said with a big smile. "Why don't you guys go ahead and introduce yourselves?"
Meanwhile, Team Seven sat in silence and waited for the arrival of their teacher. Kakashi was not happy and wanted to make sure he was calm enough before going off to meet his new team. The Jounin was almost sure that there were some other forces of nature that were working against him. It had looked so certain that Naruto would have been on his team. There were many reasons that Kakashi wanted the young blonde on his team. Not all of them coincided with the team itself. Others were because he wanted to be close to his late teacher's legacy. It was very rare that he had been able to see the blonde. The last time he'd been near Naruto was when the blonde was four.
Kakashi could still remember the adorable look of curiosity that the boy gave him. The look held no fear. Just pure curiosity and joy at his prescence. Kakashi had still been in the ANBU at the time. So, he thought the mask would have frightened the young boy, but it didn't. Instead, it seemed to draw the blonde hair, blue eyed to him. Kakashi was even more shocked when young Naruto grinned at him and took hold of his hand. The blonde pulled Kakashi towards his room and drew a picture. It didn't take the boy long and he wasn't a very talented artist at that age. Naruto handed Kakashi the drawing and gave a little childish giggle. When Kakashi looked at it, he assumed that it was of himself and Naruto. He'd quit the ANBU shortly after that meeting.
Kakashi looked up when he realized he'd arrived in front of the door that led into the classroom that held his team. He grinned; it was always annoying when his body went into automatic mode like that. He always enjoyed the scenery. Kakashi slid the door open and was greeted by three young Genin. Sasuke sitting off to the side with a cloud of seriousness floating overhead. Chouji sat nearby with a bag of chips and munched away as Sakura stood in the front of the classroom. They're attention was upon him instantly and he stepped into the room. Kakashi looked between the three one more time before placing a hand on his chin contemplatively.
"Hmm… my first impression of you three is…" Kakashi grinned. "I hate you."
XD Yes! A new story… this one looks to be a pain… a real big pain, but I promise I'll do my best. Enjoy.