Four Man Squads

Chapter 1 - This Year's New Squads

Naruto Uzumaki smiled as he took his seat in the classroom while awaiting the announcements of the teams and instructors for the new genins. Even though that bastard Mizuki had betrayed him, Naruto had managed to pass anyway by saving Iruka-sensei with his surprising mastery of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. The past few days have been the best in his life, knowing that he was one step closer on his road to his dream of Hokage and that he finally had someone who acknowledged him. The only way his day could get any worse was if he got teamed up with that stuck up Uchiha kid.

Naruto was knocked out of his reverie, by the sound of a fight between two kunoichi started to break out. Of course, it was Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka fighting over who would get the seat next to that damned Uchiha. Man, that guy irked Naruto so much that Naruto could barely stand it. What was so special about Sasuke Uchiha anyway?

As the kunoichi bickered amongst themselves, Naruto climbed up on the desk in front of Sasuke, and stared him dead in the eyes. Sasuke locked eyes with him, not willing to back down to the "dead last". Naruto was getting even angrier and Uchiha when he felt a slight nudge against his butt. There was nothing Naruto could do to stop it, he was already precariously perched on the desk as it was and the little bump knocked him straight into Sasuke. Naruto closed his eyes and prepared himself for the eventual pain of the headbutt that was coming, but instead felt something soft touch his lips. As he opened his eyes all he saw was the eyes and nose of Sasuke staring back at him. It took Naruto a second to realize what was going on… HE WAS KISSING SASUKE UCHIHA!!!! That annoying kid had just managed to steal Naruto's first kiss. Naruo jumped away and started trying to clean his mouth out of this horrid taste. He barely registered that the classroom was so silent that one could hear a pin drop. As he turned around, satisfied that he had gotten as much of that taste out of his mouth short of scouring his mouth with dishwashing detergent and a steel mesh sponge, he noticed that all the kunoichi in the room were staring at him with eyes of fire and hatred. Then he realized what just transpired, he had just received Sasuke Uchiha's first kiss, a prize these young kunoichi had been fighting for for the last few years. Immediately, Naruto's universe was nothing but pain.

"That's enough, everyone to their seats." Iruka-sensei called out, "I'll now be announcing the team groupings for the graduates of the Genin Exams." Iruka then shuffled around some papers and then started to read off the team assignements.

"Team 1..."

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Sakura Haruno got the seat she wanted, right next to Sasuke-kun. However, the feeling was sickened a little because she was sitting next to the baka that had stolen her beloved's first kiss, Naruto Uzumaki. She was barely paying attention to who was being assigned to which team, her eyes were filled with nothing but the glory that was Sasuke Uchiha. She just barely registered Iruka-sensei's voice as he rattled off the names for the memebers of Team 7

"Naruto Uzumaki", good Sakura thought, maybe he'll get stuck with another bunch of losers far away from her, preferably with Ino-pig.

"Sakura Haruno", WHAT!?!?! There was no way that she was just put on a team with that baka. What about Sasuke? Knowing Sakura's luck, he'd probably land on a team with Ino. Oh gods, why did it have to end up like this…

"Sasuke Uchiha", REDEMPTION! Having to put up with Naruto was going to be a pain, but at least she was on the team with Sasuke. True love wins out this time, Ino-pig.

"Hinata Hyuga", Sakura didn't care who their fourth teammate was, she was in a team with Sasuke Uchiha, nothing else mattered. She was going to get to spend more time with him than any other kunoi… wait what? Hinata Hyuga? The shy girl that most everyone just ignored, even though she was from one of the most prestigious clans in Konoha? Sakura worried for a moment, would Hinata be an obstacle in her pursuit of love with Sasuke? Sakura didn't think the Hyuga girl will be a problem, but she had to take precautions just in case…

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Hinata was glad, she was in a team with Naruto-kun. At least she'll be able to still admire him while working with him. A little part of her worried that she might end up dragging him down, but she was too happy about her pairing to worry about that too much. As she thought about how happy she will be spending more time with Naruto, she looked down to see that Naruto was staring up at her. What was he thinking? She blushed and turned away when she realized that she was staring back. She just barely caught the assignments of the next team.

"Team 8 will consist of Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka, Shiroi Wangetsu, Kaen Kanadzuchi" Hinata wasn't familiar with most of those students. Shino was really quiet, a lot like her really, and you couldn't miss Kiba who always had his white-furred dog Akamaru with him. Shiroi had a messy frump of white hair, but other than that he looked to be completely average, but he was better with melee weapons than anyone else in the class, including the class prodigy Sasuke Uchiha. Kaen on the other hand was anything but average for a kunoichi, she had hair that looked like flame, it stuck straight up and when she walked it moved back and forth like a fire on the top of her head. Also, Kaen was taller than anyone in the class, at least by a head, and skin of a fine bronze color. If Hinata didn't know any better, she would have sworn that Kaen was forged from the blaze of a blacksmith's forge.

But Hinata couldn't hold her focus for long. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the fact that she was in a team with Naruto, her personal idol. She began to think about what kind of mission they might be doing together when she realized that she missed the assignments for Team 9 and Iruka-sensei was already calling out Team-10

"Shikamaru Nara, Choji Akimichi, Ino Yamanaka, Tsuneni Tadashii. That's all of the teams, everyone please remain seated while you Jonin Instructors come in to introduce themselves and take charge of you. Congratulations, you have all graduated from the Konoha Ninja Academy." Iruka-sensei finished, it looked like he was smiling at Naruto when he said the last part, but Hinata couldn't be sure. After Iruka left the classroom, a few other people who must be the jonins who were to take charge of the genin teams. Soon after all the other jonins had taken off with their genins. Hinata, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were the last team left.

They waited for what seemed like an hour. Naruto rigged a board eraser trap in the door to the classroom, Hinata stifled a giggle, that was her Naruto for you. Not too long after the door slid open and the eraser struck the floor.

"He he, which one of you rascals set that one up?" a man's voice said behind the door. As he walked in he continued talking, "Reminds me of something I would do back in my days at the academy."

The man that was apparently their jonin instructor was a moderately tall man with black spiky hair, and as Hinata looked at him, she swore he had a passing resemblance to Naruto. He wore a pretty basic black combat suit, the only thing that seemed out of place was that he wore a pair of orange goggles over his Leaf headband.

"Hello Team 7," the man announced, "I'm your jonin instructor, Obito Uchiha."

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Obito took his new team to the park that looked out onto the massive Hokage Monument. It was a nice day, now that he thought about it. Summer was just starting in Konoha, early enough still that the days weren't blisteringly hot, and late enough that you could stay out at night and not have to worry about catching the chills. The perfect time of the year. Obito looked down at his team, the only true survivor of the massacre that killed their family, an obviously shy heir to the most prominent clan in Konoha, a pink haired kunoichi that looked at his younger cousin with the looks of a girl without wits, and a blonde kid in a outrageous orange jumpsuit who just so happened to be the host of the Kyubi. Obito thought himself lucky, he might possibly have the most powerful team out of this year's genin. Obito leaned against a light pole while the fresh genin sat in a semi-circle in the grass. This was Obito's favorite spot in the entire village for various reasons, but that was a memory for another day.

"Well, I told you my name. Let's go around the group here. Tell me your name, your dreams, likes, and dislikes." Obito stated, "let's start with you Sasuke-kun" Obito laughed a little inwardly as Sasuke stiffened up at the way Obito addressed him. Sasuke hated it when Obito called him that.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. My mission is to resurrect my clan and to kill a certain person." Sasuke said simply. Obito should've guessed. Every since that day Sasuke obsessed about gaining the strength to kill his older brother Itachi, the man who massacred their collective family years ago. While Obito could sympathize with the younger Uchiha, part of him wanted revenge on Itachi for what he did, but vengeance is an empty pursuit. If one thing happened while he was the head of Team 7, Obito would make sure that Sasuke realized there was more to his life than getting revenge on Itachi. He sighed as it didn't seem Sasuke was going to say any more.

"Next is you." Obito said as he pointed to the kid in the orange jumpsuit.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen. I dislike the 3 minutes it takes for cup ramen to cook. My hobbies are pranks, and my dream is to one day become the Hokage of Konoha and have all the people of the village acknowledge my existence." the kid said as he fiddled with his headband. Obito just looked at the kid. He knew from reports that the kid was a troublemaker and pulled all sorts of pranks, just like Obito himself used to in his academy days. His dream to be Hokage though, that was interesting for a kid that's been an outcast in the village his entire life, because of the fact that the Kyubi that nearly destroyed the village was sealed in his body, he was going to be an interesting kid to watch grow up.

"Okay," he looked over at the pink-haired girl, "How about you?"

"My name is Sakura Haruno. I like Sasuke-kun." Sasuke stiffened up a little again, Obito had to silence a chuckle as the kunoichi continued, "I dislike Naruto." Obito watched Naruto slumped his shoulders, apparently Naruto like Sakura, but his feelings weren't returned in any way. Obito heard that the children of the village inherited their parent's hatred of the young boy, but this was sad. Sakura then degenerated into mess of giggles as she tried to describe her dreams or hobbies. They probably were something regarding Sasuke.

"That's good, Sakura." Obito cut her off prematurely, positive she wasn't going to contribute much more. "That leaves you for last," he said as he settled his eyes on the young Hyuga heiress.

"M-m-my name is Hinata Hyuga. Um…my likes are…um…" Obito noticed as she constantly shifted her vision from him to Naruto multiple times as she tried to stutter through what she wanted to say. While she couldn't say it, Obito knew what, or more correctly who, it was she liked, Naruto Uzumaki.

"It's fine if you don't feel like you can share Hinata, please continue." Obito said reassuringly.

"Okay. Um…I dislike people who look down at others. M-my dream is to b-be as strong as um…" HInata started splitting her attention from Obito and Naruto again, "…the person I look up to." she finally managed to say. Then she looked down at the ground, "I don't have any hobbies."

"Alright, I guess it's my turn then." Obito said. "As I told you back at the academy, my name is Obito Uchiha. I like my wife, Rin. I dislike people who live life to much by the rules and can't think for themselves. My dream is to help you all reach Jonin, or at least it's my dream now. Lastly, my hobbies include helping those in need, and playing the occasional prank." he finished that last sentence with a sly wink to Naruto.

"Well now that introductions are out of the way, let me congratulate each of you on graduating. However, I'm also going to have to be the bearer of bad news." Obito said somberly.

"What sort of bad news?" Sakura Haruno asked earnestly.

"Well, there's one more test you all have to go through before I take you as my team. You see, even though 40 of you passed this year, only three teams, or 12 of you, are going to get taken as active genin with Jonin instructors. While failure at this stage doesn't totally kill your chances of becoming a ninja, or progress will be greatly reduced as you'll be introduced into a more second-string program where you fill in when the village need you." Obito explained. As he finished, Naruto jumped up to his feet pointing at him.

"That's bullshit! We've already passed the Genin Exams, why do we have to take another test?" he shouted. Obito just sighed.

"I'm sorry, Naruto, but it's not my call. This is the way things are done. I have to give you guys a thorough workout and then if I think you guys can take the stresses of ninja work, I hand in my recommendation to the Hokage, then he decides which teams go to active duty, and which ones are put on the proverbial backburner." Obito explained. "However, if you guys work together as a team I'm sure you'll pull through. Anyway, meet me at training ground 19, you guys know the one right?" all the genin nodded in response, "Good meet me there at 6 AM sharp, and you also might want to skip breakfast, it's going to be pretty rough, and you might end up throwing up. Other than that, you have the rest of the day to yourselves"

Obito watched as his genin team departed. He wondered if any of them got the hint that they'll have to work as a team, even though he was going to be throwing them a pretty nasty curveball with the bell test he inherited from the 4th Hokage.

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Naruto was walking along the streets of Konoha, not really going anywhere in particular. He was just trying to burn some time until dinner, Iruka-sensei was supposed to be treating him to ramen at Ichiraku tonight. As he turned a corner, he heard a voice call out from where he was walking from.

"Please wait, Naruto." it was Hinata, running to catch up to him. He stopped and waited for her to catch up.

"Hello, Hinata. What's up?" Naruto asked as they strolled down the street together.

"Um… I-I just wanted to know what you thought of Obito-sensei." Hinata asked him, refusing to make eye contact.

"Well, he seemed like a good guy, I guess." Naruto said earnestly, then he got a gleam of mischief in his eye. "I wonder if he actually plays pranks on people. We might have to get together and see what kinds of mayhem we can make." Naruto said with a large grin on his face. Maybe something involving the Hokage would be good, Naruto thought to himself. He almost forgot that Hinata was still with him. "What do you think of him Hinata?"

Hinata stumbled a little while blushing, before she composed herself enough to come up with a response, "W-well, um… I think he's a kind person. I like people like him. People who are kind and think of other people before themselves." She said earnestly.

Naruto thought about it for a bit while they walked. Kind to others, huh. Now that he thought about, she was right Obito did strike Naruto as a rather kind person. Then he thought of a question. "Do you think I'm a nice person Hinata?"

Hinata all but stopped as Naruto finished his question. Naruto took a few more steps before he realized that he was leaving her behind. He turned around to see Hinata setting there pressing her forefingers together and her face was as red as a beet. She was working her mouth, but no words were coming out. Finally she started talking, but she didn't make a lot of sense, all he could make out was a few stuttered Is and thinks before she finally said, "I'm sorry." Hinata then ran back the way they came.

Naruto was left to think to himself. The thoughts weren't happy ones. Why did Hinata run away? Did she not think he was a good person? Did she run to spare him hearing what she really thought of him? Maybe all those pranks tarnished his reputation a little more than thought, or was comfortable with. Suddenly, he wasn't looking as forward to dinner with Iruka-sensei. However, ramen is ramen, and Naruto would be damned if he would skip out on a free dinner.

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Hinata waited until she was almost back to the Hyuga compound until she slowed down. What was wrong with her, running away from Naruto like that. He probably thought she was awful for just leaving him there. Worse, he probably thought she didn't think he was a nice person, and just couldn't say it to his face. Here she was getting ready to be on a team with Naruto, and she could barely say more than a few sentences to him before she starts stumbling over her words and just acting like an idiot in general.

As she walked up to the entrance of the Hyuga part of Konoha, she was still chiding herself for acting the way she had, and vowed to make it up to Naruto tomorrow, no matter what. First, however, she had to get her gear ready for the morning. The night held nothing but nightmares for her though. Horrid dreams where all she could see was Naruto's back and no matter how much she yelled or what she tried to do to get his attention, he just ran on and left her behind, alone.

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Sakura walked up to the training ground she was supposed to meet Sasuke-kun, Obito-sensei, and the rest of her team at. It was a nice little area as she looked around. It was a small clearing flanked on one side by the river that ran through Konoha, and a forest on the other. The most prominent feature of the area though where the 3 stone stumps in the middle of the training ground. Sakura assumed they were placed there as dummies for target practice and other sorts of training. She also noticed that she wasn't the first one there, Sasuke was leaning up against one of the stones.

"Hi, Sasuke-kun." she yelled as she ran up to meet him, "Pretty nice weather today, isn't it? What kind of exercise do you think Obito-sensei will put us through."

"I don't know," Sasuke stated simply, "Obito and I aren't really close."

"Oh…" Sakura said as she heard someone yell out behind her.

"Hello, Sakura-san!" Naruto was running out into the clearing waving at her with one of his stupid grins on his face. Damn that Naruto, couldn't he see she was trying to get some alone time with her beloved? Geez, he is so annoying.

"What do you want, Naruto?" Sakura glared at Naruto with eyes of pure hatred.

Naruto stopped dead in his tracks, and just stared at her before finally saying, "Um, nice weather were having today, isn't it?"

"Yeah, I guess." Sakura said as she turned back to face Sasuke. She barely heard the footsteps of another person entering the clearing. She turned her head again to see Hinata step out into the open. She was very pointedly not making eye contact with Naruto, and he was doing the same. Did something happen between those two yesterday?

"Well, it looks like everyone is here, where is Obito-sensei?" Sakura asked the group in general as she looked at the sun. She could tell by it's position and the time of year that it should be right at 6:00 AM. "He's late for his own test."

The four of them just stood around for what seemed like hours. The odd air around Naruto and Hinata continued and they wouldn't speak to each other. Sakura tried talking to Sasuke, while Naruto was trying to talk to her, and all that ended up happening was Sasuke ignored her, while she ignored Naruto. The day was starting to get hotter as the morning wore on, even most of the forest animals seemed to be taking it easy today. It was an unusually hot day after the perfect day that was yesterday. Finally, Sakura heard a twig snap and turned her head along with everyone else to see there sensei casually strolling into the clearing.

She started to shout at their sensei, and surprisingly found herself shouting the same thing at the exact same time as Naruto did, "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"

"I'm sorry, I was on my way and found out my landlord's mother bought some new furniture and some appliances, and needed help moving in. Took a little longer than I had planned." Obito said with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Likely story." Sakura heard Naruto mumble, and for once she had to agree with the idiot.

"Well, let's see, I guess I should start explaining what kind of exam you four are going to have. The test is simple, I have three bells," Sakura watched as he pulled three small bells from his equipment pouch, and bounced them in the air with a jingle, "The premise is simple, you have to get a bell or you fail. If you fail to get a bell before noon, I'll tie you to one of those stumps over there and you get to watch me and whoever of your teammates pass eat lunch while you go hungry. After that, we'll see where we go from there."

"Um… sensei" Sakura heard Hinata say, "If you only have three bells, not all of us can pass." Sakura turned her attention back to her new instructor.

"That is correct Hinata. No matter what happens here, at least one person will fail." Obito replied simply.

"But that's no fair." Sakura replied.

Obito simply shrugged, "No one ever said life was fair." He then pulled out an egg timer. "It's currently 8:22, you have until Noon sharp before the exam is over, we start now."

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Obito watched as 3 out of his four pupils scattered to take up hiding spots and wait for a chance to snatch a bell. The only one who didn't move was Naruto. He stood there with a grin on his face then pointed at Obito, then he issued a two word challenge, "Fight me!"

Obito sighed, maybe this group was going to be a little rougher to teach than he originally thought. "Are you saying you think you can win a one on one fight against me, Naruto?" Obito asked, with a grin to his lips.

"I'm the future Hokage, and I'll thump you and take those bells for my team myself, I can't fail here." Naruto said with all confidence, then he charged at Obito.

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Naruto eyes widened in shock as Obito was there one moment, and then simply wasn't. Before Naruto could make any sense out of the situation he felt something grab him by the ankles and throw him high into the air. He landed in the river.

"Damn it,: Naruto thought to himself, "he's fast I won't be able to beat him one on one. I guess that leaves me with one choice."

"Shadow Clone Jutsu" Naruto said as about 10 copies of himself popped out of thin…er, water.

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Hinata had managed to hide herself in the forest, and had activated her Byakugan, when Naruto started his charge of their sensei. Hinata could barely keep up with sensei's speed as he spun behind Naruto grabbed him by the ankles and chucked him into the river.

"How am I going to be able to get one of those bells, if Naruto-kun can't even do it." Hinata thought to herself. She was startled as a mass of people launched themselves out of the water. I took her a second, but she realized they were all Naruto, and they weren't just normal clones, they each had their own chakra system, they were real not the illusions they were taught at the academy.

Hinata watched in amazement as the clones resumed their attack on Obito-sensei. However, what amazed her more than Naruto's advanced ninjutsu was Obito's speed and power. The clones never laid a hand on Obito, not even so much as a passing glance, while he managed to land serious blows on each one of the clones, dispelling each one into a puff of smoke. Soon after the attack started, there was only one Naruto left.

"Damn it." Naruto shouted, "Shadow Clone Jutsu" Hinata watched as 30 more clone popped into place, each one with seemingly the same amount of chakra as the original Naruto. How much chakra did he have to use a technique like that? Before she could think about her own question, she figured out her plan of attack, if Naruto kept throwing clones at Obito, then Hinata should be able to slip in and snatch a bell. However, before she could enact her plan she saw a streak of blue. It was Sasuke, apparently he had the same idea that she had.

Sasuke dashed into the melee and attempted to snatch one of the bells attached to Obito's waist. However, Naruto's clones weren't expecting the addition of Sasuke to the battle and one bowled Sasuke over after he was hit by Obito. Obito, smiled as he made a few hand signs.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu" Obito said as he brought his hands to his mouth and then proceeded to blow fire across all the clones of Naruto, making them all disappear as if they had never been.

"I'll give you credit for knowing a pretty advanced jutsu, Naruto. But with your level of skills you aren't going to be able to get close to my bells. The same goes for you, Sasuke-kun." Obito lectured. He seemed distracted and his back was turned to her, so Hinata decided to give it her best shot. She dashed out of the treeline as fast as she could, aiming a Jyuuken strike at her sensei's leg hoping she could disable him long enough to grab a bell. However, she had to abruptly stop as a couple of kunai flashed in front of her, and into Obito's hands. "Nice try, kiddos." Obito said as he turned to look at her and Sakura, who Hinata noticed was still hiding in the trees almost back and to the left of her.

Hinata realized that this wasn't going to work, they were getting in each other's way. Someone was going to have to bite the bullet and fail this test. She didn't know Sakura or Sasuke enough to ask that of them, and she didn't want to do anything that would endanger Naruto's dream of becoming Hokage one day. So it looked like the one to fail was going to be her.

"Everyone, we need to talk." Hinata said as they were all in earshot. "We can't do this alone, we have to work as a team." She then retreated back into the forest to hide from their sensei turned opponent.

Shortly, the other three joined her. "But," Sakura started, "one of us is guaranteed to fail, how can we work as a team when we can't trust each other not to try to grab a bell when the opportunity presents itself and save their own skin?"

"It's simple, I'll take the fail." Hinata said, "It's okay with me, I'm not that strong, and even if I don't get to eat I shouldn't drag down the team any more than usual."

"No way!" Naruto all but shouted, "I can't let you do that, we don't even know if we are all going to get to be active genins or not, what if this means you don't get to be a ninja?"

"Well…I….uh" Hinata stammered.

"Well, kiddos, I've heard enough for myself." Hinata was shocked when Obito appeared in the middle of their little powwow, "You all pass." Obito then smiled apporvingly at all of them.

"Wait… what it going on?" Naruto asked.

Instead of Obito answering, it was Sasuke who replied, "I get it, this was a test to put us into a stressful situation in which a choice that would hinder one of us would benefit the rest of the team."

Obito merely nodded, then stated, "That's only the first half of it though, the second is after one of you decides to sacrifice his or herself for the good of the team, how would the rest of you react. In the ninja world, those who disobey the rules are scum. However, those who would just abandon their friends and comrades to achieve a mission are worse than scum. You guys proved to me with this little get together of yours that you are capable of fighting not only for yourselves, but for each other, and to protect each other. Therefore, you all pass, I'll be passing my recommendation on to the Hokage, to keep Team 7 together. The passing teams should be posted in a few days, if you guys make it, we'll meet up at the same park I took you to yesterday. Well, you guys passed faster than I thought you would, only about an hour has passed, how about I go treat you all to some lunch?"

"Can we go to Ichiraku?" Naruto asked enthusiastically.

"You do really like your ramen, don't you?" Obito mused, "No, I'm going to take you to one of my favorite places and we'll celebrate."

"Hai!" Naruto and Hinata said in unison, and Team 7 gathered their things and took off back to Konoha. Hinata was relieved, they passed, that meant more time she would be able to spend with Naruto-kun.