A/N - Okay, just letting you all know right now that the OC in this story doesn't have a traditional Japanese name. A lot of people have complained about that, but what they fail to understand is that there are other characters with English sounding names in Naruto and plenty of other manga series as well. There's also characters in JRPG games or other games that originated in Japan that have English sounding names. So please, try to deal with it. My OC shouldn't receive as much hate as he does simply for his name.

And with that being said, try to enjoy the story. This first chapter is the shortest one I've ever written. However, that's because I wasn't sure what a good length was at the time I started writing this story. This IS my first fanfic on this site after all. So I experimented a bit with the length and eventually settled on a pretty good chapter length. At least I think so.

Chapter 1 – Team Placement and Introductions

As the rays of the morning sun pierced the darkened bedroom, a young, blonde-haired boy groaned and flopped over, tugging on his blankets to block the light out. Mere moments later, the alarm clock on the stand near his bed began to blare and, in a moment of frustration, young Naruto flung off his blankets, hopped off his bed, and slammed the snooze button on the clock to shut it up. After turning off the alarm function, the 12 year-old Uzumaki-Namikaze boy rubbed his eyes and let out a rather loud yawn before stripping down and entering his bathroom where he quickly began to shower off and brush his teeth.

After enjoying his warm shower, Naruto dressed and ventured downstairs and into the kitchen. As the kind, young boy began to prepare a healthy breakfast for himself, he thought back on the events of the recent days. That bastard Mizuki tricked me. Still, it wasn't all bad I suppose. I learned the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique) and Iruka-sensei gave me his hitai-ate. I'm supposed to show up today for team placements. I wonder who will be on my team, and more importantly who our sensei will be. I've been working extra hard lately, so I think I should be just fine.

With a shrug of his shoulders, Naruto sat down at a nearby table and dug into his simple breakfast of some buttered toast, scrambled eggs, and orange juice. It didn't take long for him to finish his breakfast, don his hitai-ate, and disappear through his front door. Locking it tight behind him, Naruto nodded his head and quickly rushed off on his way to the ninja academy.

Upon entering the classroom, Naruto noticed all manner of glares aimed in his direction. Many of his fellow students had a similar thought running through their minds: 'How did that idiot become a ninja? Didn't he fail the Genin Exams? What's going on?' and so on, and so on. Glancing towards his friends, his fellow 'dead lasts' as they were known, Naruto waved and approached them.

Without thinking about it, Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze sat down beside Kiba Inuzuka, one of his longtime friends. Glancing behind him, he noticed the Ino-Shika-Cho trio as they were sometimes called. Waving at the three of them, he turned back to Kiba and grinned his usual, goofy grin. "Yo Kiba, how are you today? Looking forward to team placements and meeting your sensei?"

Kiba shrugged his shoulders as Akamaru barked atop his head after poking his head out of the hood. Glancing around the room, Kiba sighed and looked back at Naruto. "Yeah Naruto, just a bit nervous. I don't want to end up on some lame team with stupid Sasuke fan girls or, God forbid, Sasuke himself. If you and I got on the same team, it wouldn't be so bad though."

Smirking, Naruto patted his friend on the shoulder before softly scratching Akamaru's chin. "Yeah, I know what you mean Kiba. The Teme is such a stuck-up pain-in-the-ass. Whoever ends up on his team is going to end up miserable. I can imagine it now. Sasuke thinking he's so special and, in an effort to be 'cool', he tries to show off against enemy ninja and gets his butt kicked for lack of teamwork. If you and I end up on a team together, we've got the teamwork thing down." His smirk widening, Naruto ducked under a punch from the pink-haired girl whom he used to have a crush on before sticking a pinky in his ear in his best effort to tune out Ino's incessant yelling. Between the fan girls and Sasuke, neither Naruto or Kiba could figure out which was worse.

Not much later after Ino and Sakura sat back down did Iruka step into the classroom. Waving at his father figure, Naruto grinned at him and Iruka nodded his head in greeting. "Now students, I would like you to take your seats, calm down, and I will read off the list of teams. I ask that you all be respectful and please, please mind that you keep your voices down. If you happen to be upset about a particular teammate or you have a problem of another kind, please keep in mind that I am not the one who picked these teams. Now, onto another matter."

Naruto frowned as Iruka-sensei looked his way and smiled softly before turning to face the entire classroom full of students once more. "As some of you may be aware, there were problems recently. Mizuki tried to steal a very precious item from the Hokage mansion. Thankfully Mizuki was apprehended and is now residing in prison for his treachery. Anymore information on this topic is forbidden for me to speak about, so please do not ask any questions."

Breathing a small sigh of relief, Naruto laid his head upon his desk and chuckled softly to himself before Sakura Haruno turned and pointed a finger at him. Grumbling, Naruto knew what was coming next. "Iruka-sensei, why is Naruto-baka here? He failed the exam didn't he?!"

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Iruka slowly nodded his head and then turned to face Sakura after glancing briefly at Naruto. "Yes, Naruto did happen to fail the exam, and yet he has his hitai-ate. Many of you may be wondering why this is. All I am permitted to inform you of is that Naruto got his hitai-ate under special circumstances. Please do not question Naruto or myself further on this subject."

As the students all nodded, Naruto let out another deep, frustrated sigh before he felt Kiba patting his back with a smile. "Whatever you did, I'm glad you're here Naruto. You wouldn't be here right now if you didn't do something great. Now, let's listen for the team placements and chill here for a bit." As Naruto nodded, he and his friends listened intently as Iruka began to call out team placements.

After some time had passed, Iruka began to call out the members of Team 7. "Team 7 – Sasuke Uchiha, Hinata Hyuuga, and Shino Aburame. Your sensei is Kakashi Hatake. Team 8 – Kiba Inuzuka, Sakura Haruno…" At this, Kiba hung his head and groaned while Sakura yelled out her frustration about being stuck with 'Stinky Dogbreath' as she so pleasantly called him. Grumbling about being interrupted, Iruka simply ignored her and called out the last member of the team. "And finally, Naruto Uzumaki. Your sensei is Kurenai Yuhi." This particular bit of information further infuriated Sakura Haruno who demanded she be put with another team, much to Iruka's annoyance.

Turning to his friend, Naruto sighed and whispered in his and Akamaru's ears. "Great, we're stuck with one of the loudmouth Sasuke fan girls. Just our luck, right Kiba?" Snickering slightly, Kiba nodded his head and the two of them continued to listen to Iruka spout off the teams.

"Team 9 is still in rotation from last year, so skipping right along. Team 10 is Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akamichi. Your sensei is Asuma Sarutobi. Now, all of your sensei should be arriving shortly. Please be patient and be good to them." With that, Iruka sat down in his chair behind his desk and smiled as the door opened, revealing some of the sensei who quickly took their teams and left. A short while later, both Asuma and Kurenai showed up to take their teams away.

Glancing down at their sensei, Naruto first watched as the smoking man (as he referred to him as) took Team 10 and walked off out of the room. It was then that he looked at Kurenai and blushed a bit. Wow, our sensei's HOT! He thought in silence. It was at this point that he realized that Team 8 had been called as well and he quickly shot up along with Kiba and followed after Kurenai with Sakura huffing behind him.

Meanwhile in the Hokage's Office

Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently rubbing the bridge of his nose as he looked across at the young man standing before him. This man was over 6 feet tall with long, navy blue hair that stretched down his back, stopping just above his waistline. He had green eyes and he wore a jonin flak jacket along with slightly baggy, but comfortable black pants. His shirt was a light blue color, and on his feet he wore standard shinobi sandals. As handsome as this man was, people couldn't help but steer clear of him when he was in the mood he was in currently.

"Hokage-sama, I told you I would have liked to teach this year. I've looked out for Naruto constantly throughout his life and you KNOW I wanted to be his sensei. Why the hell didn't you inform me about your decision before now?! I KNOW him; I know what he's been through! I could teach Naruto so much. Do you not trust in me or something?!"

Once more, the elderly Hokage sighed and shook his head. "Sean, I trust you, but you need to relax and take it easy. I'm sorry that I could not fulfill your request, but you tend to be a bit hot-tempered and you might end up doing something you might regret later. Besides, I actually had a plan for you if you were simply willing to let me speak." Grumbling slightly when the man, now identified as Sean, turned and folded his arms across his chest, Hiruzen found himself growling inwardly at the young man's antics. It doesn't help that you told Naruto about his heritage and sent him to me for an explanation back when he was six years-old! Hiruzen thought to himself angrily.

Frowning, Sean turned his gaze back to his Hokage and chuckled nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry Hokage-sama, but you know how much I care for the boy. You're not still mad at me for telling him everything are you? I mean, he kinda deserved to know everything don't you think? Besides, you let the damn council boss you around when you're the one with all the power here. Sure they're important, but they're mostly there to advise you Mister Silly Hokage-Man." Chuckling to himself, Sean watched as his friend shook his head and chuckled again. "The way people treat him in this village is ridiculous. Then again, even if they knew the truth about who his parents were, I doubt many would be so forgiving. They all seem to think he killed the Hokage when it was actually just the Kyuubi y'know? To think he was supposed to be regarded as a hero of this village." Shaking his head, clearly disappointed with how things had turned out, Sean looked into the Hokage's eyes and smiled softly. "Anyways, what's my special job Sarutobi-sama?"

Sighing again, Hiruzen looked at Sean and took a puff of his tobacco, much to Sean's annoyance. "I've already talked with Kurenai Yuhi, Naruto's new sensei, about your request to tutor Naruto. We talked about it for a while and we both agreed on a simple solution. You will teach the Genin team alongside her. They're probably waiting at their new training ground for you to show up. Here's the information on your new team. Dismissed Sean; take care and try not to be too hard on them, especially on Sakura. I know how you hate fan girls and people who don't take being a shinobi seriously." Glancing through the file for a moment, Sean nodded and quickly vanished in a shunshin without another word to the old Hokage.

Training Ground for Team 8

Upon arriving at the training ground where Kurenai-sensei had led them, Naruto and his buddy Kiba quickly sat down with Sakura choosing to stay nearest Kurenai rather than get closer to the two idiots as she called them. Sighing at Sakura's behavior, Kurenai looked at each of them and smiled. "First, I would like to say that it's nice to meet the three of you. As you are no doubt already aware, I am Kurenai Yuhi and I will be your sensei. Before we begin however, I would like to inform you that we are currently waiting on the last member of our team. Sadly, I do not know how long it will take him to join us."

Sighing heavily, Kurenai looked between her students and their confused expressions. Soon enough, Sakura decided to speak up. "Sensei? What do you mean we're waiting on our final member? What's going on?" At this, Kurenai offered a kind smile and began to explain.

"You see Sakura, I happen to be a Genjutsu specialist. I am proficient in both Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, but I'm afraid there are many better than me in those regards. The Hokage informed me of another that was looking forward to teaching some new Genin and thus, he has been assigned as my assistant Jonin instructor. In fact, it looks like he's here now." Smiling softly at their surprised reactions, Kurenai pointed in the direction of her assistant instructor.

"Tch, I was hoping to observe for a bit longer. You didn't allow me to spook 'em a bit." Pushing himself off of the tree, Sean walked over and stood before them, eyeing each of the Genin curiously before his gaze finally rested on Kurenai's eyes. "So this is your new team huh? The girl doesn't appear to be anything special at first glance, but that's not to say she's hopeless as a kunoichi. As for the boys, they look to be all brawn. Depending on how things play out, I'm sure the two of us can work up some kind of special training schedule for the three of them…if they pass your test of course." Kneeling, Sean bowed to Kurenai and then to each of the Genin present. "Hello everyone. My name is Sean. I'm assuming introductions haven't been made yet?" Glancing to Kurenai to see her shaking her head no, Sean grinned and decided to wait.

Kurenai, noticing this, sighed and decided to begin. "Everyone, I would like for each of us to introduce ourselves. Begin with your name, then move on to likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams, and anything else you feel we should know. I will begin." Bowing slightly for a moment, Kurenai smiled softly at her team and began her introduction. "I am Kurenai Yuhi, your Jonin instructor. I like Genjutsu, my friends, drinking with friends, and takowasa. My dislikes are those who claim Genjutsu is useless, cake, and perverts. My dream is to prove to the world that Genjutsu is just as useful as Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. Sean, would you care to continue?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Sean looked to Kurenai for a moment and smiled before nodding his head and turning to the young Genin. "My name is Sean. I will not give my last name at the moment. I like training, the Hokage, meeting new people and making friends, and lots of other things. I dislike rude people, really bad perverts, people who abuse children…" At this, Sean noticed Naruto visibly shudder before offering him a kind smile and a nod before resuming his spiel. "And people that choose to underestimate their opponents. I'm…not really sure if I have a dream. I suppose I have one, but it's not much." Frowning, Sean let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes. "You see…I would like to get married and have a family. I…have a relative or two out in the world, but I don't know any of them all that well." Frowning at this, he shrugged his shoulders. "Like you Naruto, I'm alone." Smiling tenderly at the young boy, who seemed shocked that Sean even spoke to him for some reason, Sean found himself chuckling softly at his expression before he turned to Kurenai and nodded.

Kurenai pat Sean gently on the shoulder before turning to Sakura and nodding at her to go. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I like Sasuke, umeboshi, and anmitsu. I dislike perverts and I HATE Naruto!" Shooting a nasty glare at Naruto and seeing him sulking, Sakura smiled proudly at herself before continuing on. "My dream…is to get married to a certain somebody and help him restore his clan." Squealing slightly, much to the annoyance of everyone else present, Sakura held her hands to her cheeks and blushed deeply at the thought of her precious Sasuke-kun.

Shaking her head sadly at the display, Kurenai motioned for Naruto to go on. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki." Can't let anyone know that I know my father was the Fourth. That'd only cause problems according to Jiji. Sighing at that, Naruto continued on. "I like my friends Shikamaru, Choji, and Kiba. I also like the Ichiraku's and the delicious ramen they serve. I dislike the time it takes for ramen to cook, Sasuke, and being told that my dreams are stupid. Finally, my dream is to become Hokage dattebayo!"

Chuckling softly, Sean nodded his head at the young Uzumaki-Namikaze. "Naruto, that's an admiral dream and I hope you can accomplish such a thing someday. However, would you mind terribly if I asked you why you want to become Hokage?" Seeing Naruto's intense gaze on him, Sean simply smiled and motioned for him to speak.

Sighing softly, Naruto nodded his head and looked at everyone before finally settling his gaze on Sean. "I…I want to be respected. The Hokage is the most respected person in the entire village, and after…well…I just want to be Hokage to look out for everybody and keep everybody safe. The respect would be really great too." Smiling at that, Naruto looked up to see Sean smiling softly at him and patting him on the shoulder. "Well said Naruto. Let's hope you can achieve your dream someday." Naruto slowly nodded his head and looked to Kiba to go next.

Kiba nodded and set Akamaru in his lap, gently scratching him behind his ear. "My name is Kiba Inuzuka. I like Akamaru, my little puppy here. I also like my family, Naruto, Shikamaru, and Choji. I dislike Sasuke and his stupid fan girls…" At this he shot a nasty glare Sakura's way before continuing on. "I also dislike people that treat my friends like crap and those that hurt Akamaru. My dream is to become the Inuzuka clan head and making my mom proud." Nodding his head proudly, Kiba bumped fists with his friend and grinned.

Kurenai clapped her hands together once and smiled at everyone. "All right everyone, now that introductions are out of the way, I would like to issue a test to see if you are truly ready to become Genin." Rising to her feet once again, Kurenai gently brushed herself off before glancing to Sean and nodding. "Sean, if you could, would you please wait over there?" Seeing him nod and walk off with his arms folded, Kurenai looked back to her team. "Naruto, Sakura, Kiba, I want you to come at me with the intent to kill. I aim to test you and your abilities. You have thirty minutes to show me what you three can do." Jumping back away from them and taking hold of a kunai, Kurenai nodded and smiled at them. "Begin!"