Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, it is owned by Masashi Kishimoto.

Team Seven Again

Prologue

On a certain morning in Hi no Kuni (the Land of Fire), within Konohagakure no Sato (the Village Hidden in the Leaves), a blonde boy could be seen running and jumping over the rooftops as he sped along on his way. Despite only being a newly-minted genin, every step was sure and certain, not an inch giving way even as he ran over and jumped on angled or uneven surfaces, the boy's ease speaking of unquestioning confidence born of long experience at the task.

The boy's name was Uzumaki Shinachiku, and he was twelve years old. He was dressed in a dark blue short-sleeved shirt with the orange spiral of his clan emblazoned on its sleeves and back, along with orange shorts of utilitarian make. A side bag was slung over his shoulders, and his unusually-large forehead was largely-obscured by a dark-blue hitai-ate.

Shinachiku blinked, surefootedly coming to a stop as he spotted a familiar figure making her way at a sedate pace on a street below. "Hey, Hitomi!" he shouted with a grin, jumping down as the girl tilted her conical hat up to look up in his direction.

"Oh hey Shina," Nara Hitomi responded in her usual relaxed fashion as Shina ran up to her. "Good morning."

"Good morning to you too." Shina said with a grin. And then he blinked, the grin giving way to a puzzled expression. "You don't sound too excited though. Today's the day we get assigned genin teams isn't it?"

"It's too troublesome to get excited." Hitomi replied, and eliciting a laugh from Shina as they continued walking to the academy, though at Hitomi's more sedate pace.

"Well that sounds just like you." Shina said. "Though, didn't you say the same thing about becoming a ninja? And here you are, a ninja with the rest of us."

"Eh," Hitomi shrugged. "Mom's nagging was even more troublesome. And my old man found it too troublesome to stop her. Troublesome parents…"

Shina laughed nervously, but decided not to say anything. For a few minutes the two childhood friends walked in silence, and then Shina coughed before resuming the conversation. "So," he said. "Any ideas on who might get assigned with you?"

Hitomi immediately thought that it was rather obvious, but decided to play along rather than get into a possible argument if she snubbed Shina. Well, not really, her friend's skin was rather thick, but if word got back to her mother it would be even more troublesome. "Probably Kenji and Asuma," she said instead. "The Ino-Shika-Cho combo again, I guess."

"I don't think it can be called the Ino-Shika-Cho combo anymore, Hitomi."

Hitomi sucked her teeth for a moment and nodded. "You're right it isn't." she agreed. "Just don't let Kenji hear that. That troublesome boy will only try and come up with some sort of new nickname. And he's already troublesome enough as he is."

Shina laughed at that. "Everything's too troublesome for you, Hitomi." He said.

"Yeah, it sure is." She agreed with a sigh. "I'd be so much happier just watching the deer all day long, but no, I had to be a ninja, because I'm clan heiress or something like that…"

Shina laughed nervously again as Hitomi muttered incoherently to herself. After a moment she glanced at him, her face overshadowed by her hat. "You'll probably end up with Satsuki and Ayako, won't you?" she asked.

This time it was Shina's turn to sigh wearily. "Oh man," he whined. "I don't really mind Satsuki, but Ayako's a complete fangirl! This is such a pain!"

"Oh?" Hitomi said with a ghost of a smile. "The tables are turned aren't they, Shina?"

"Don't use big words!"

"I'm not, I'm just saying…"

Hitomi trailed off and laughed softly as Shina muttered incoherently under his breath.

"Anyway," the chuunin instructor behind the desk said after finishing the genin orientation, though it was really just a summation and reminder of what they already knew about the expectations and responsibilities they were now obliged to fulfill as Konoha ninja. "As you know, you will now be divided into three-man genin teams under the leadership of a jounin-sensei. He or she will lead you in your missions, and further your skills until such time you are promoted to chuunin rank."

As he was speaking, several older ninjas entered the room, clearly the jounin-sensei to be assigned to lead the genin teams to be assigned. Once all the jounin had come in, the chuunin instructor began calling out names, first of the genin assigned to a team, and then their sensei.

"Team Seven will be composed of Uchiha Satsuki, Uzumaki Shinachiku, and Yamashiro Ayako, under the leadership of Sarutobi Konohamaru."

Three responding sounds drowned out the rest of the room in the aftermath: a girl's shrill squeal, the sound of a forehead striking a table, and loud, barking laughter.

"Have fun sunshine!" Inuzuka Tatsu cackled at a redhead seated on the front row, wearing matching shorts and a short-sleeved shirt in dark blue, with Uchiha Clan emblems on the sleeves and black. A red hitai-ate hung around her neck, the girl lifting her head from where she'd brought it down on her desk. At once she glared at Tatsu and shot him a one-finger salute.

"Up yours, dog-breath!" Uchiha Satsuki retorted, resulting in yet more laughter from the rowdy genin. A vein began to throb on the redhead's forehead at that, though a hand on her shoulder from Shina distracted her sufficiently. Unfortunately, however…

"Hey, Shina-kun!" a dark-haired girl in a green blouse and blue shorts immediately latched onto the blonde boy's free arm. "We're on the same team now, isn't that great?"

"Yeah," Shina laughed nervously, trying to pry the girl off his arm and making gestures for help from Satsuki. "It really is."

Satsuki only groaned and slammed her head down against her desk again.

"ALRIGHT!" Konohamaru shouted cheerfully, staring down at his team as they gathered on top of the academy building. "Let's get this show on the road, shall we team? Well, before that there are a couple of things we need to do first. First of all, of course, we need to get to know each other."

Satsuki rolled her eyes at that. It was common knowledge that Konohamaru was the Third Hokage's grandson, and was aiming to succeed the Seventh as the Eighth Hokage someday. And, while they didn't know each as well as with the Nara girl, Satsuki and Shina could be said to be (relatively) close friends for a certain reason.

Ayako, on the other hand…

"Why don't you start sensei, so we know how it goes." Ayako asked.

"Hmm, alright," Konohamaru said with a thoughtful expression. "Let's see, my name's Sarutobi Konohamaru, though you already know that. My likes and dislikes, well they're none of your concern, and my dreams for the future…"

"Please tell me you're not going with the Kakashi routine, Konohamaru-sensei." Satsuki groaned.

"Hey, don't mess with me." Konohamaru protested the interruption. "Okay fine, I guess I shouldn't have tried to follow Kakashi's example."

Grumbling at the interruption, Konohamaru sat down on the ground with his students. "Well," he said. "My future dream is pretty well-known, that is to eventually succeed the boss as Hokage. That's all there to it I guess."

"Boss…?" Ayako echoed.

"Konohamaru-nii calls dad 'boss'." Shina explained, before glancing at their sensei with a smirk. "Though, I wonder if you can become Hokage before my sister does, Konohamaru-nii."

Konohamaru laughed at that. "Oh yeah," he said. "Hanami-chan wants to be Hokage too, doesn't she?"

"Yup!"

Ayako looked curiously at Shina at that. "You don't want to be Hokage, Shina-kun?" she asked.

"Good question," Konohamaru said with a nod. "Your turn to introduce yourself, Shina."

Shina shrugged before getting to his feet. "Well, my name's Uzumaki Shinachiku, though my friends just call me Shina." He said. "My favorite food and hobby are ramen and gardening, and I dislike, um, well I dislike unpleasant people. My dream for the future is to become a famous medical ninja just like my mom!"

"Oh, so you're following in your mother's footsteps!" Ayako said in realization. "Come to think of it, Sakura-sama is supposed to be the strongest kunoichi in the world isn't she?"

"Well," Shina answered nervously, scratching at a cheek. "People say she is, but mom says she can't really call herself that until Tsunade-baasan passes away so…"

Shina trailed off and then coughed. "That's all I guess." He said before sitting back down. Konohamaru nodded twice, first at Shina and then at Satsuki.

"You're up next, Satsuki."

"My name's Uchiha Satsuki." Satsuki said at once, not getting up. "My favorite hobby is falconry, and I really dislike people who are all talk. My dream for the future is to finish what my father started: to rebuild the Uchiha Clan. That's all."

Shina nodded encouragingly at Satsuki, while Konohamaru nodded in understanding. It was pretty much what he expected from Shina and Satsuki, he'd known the two of them since they were small children. Shina closer to his mother in terms of ambition and Satsuki's clan ambitions being confirmed came as no surprise.

"Well then, you're last Ayako-chan." Konohamaru said to the third member of his team. "Tell us about yourself."

"Well, my name's Yamashiro Ayako." Ayako said, getting to her feet and going from foot to foot in excitement. "I like…"

She paused and glanced with a blush at Shina, causing Konohamaru's smile to turn glassy. It turned even glassier as she continued speaking. "My hobbies are…" she continued, only to glance again at Shina before blushing even deeper. "And my dream is to…"

This time she didn't just blush, but also briefly sank into a possibly-disturbing though naturally-childish fantasy probably involving her in a wedding dress or kimono, ending with an ear-piercing shriek that briefly deafened the rest of Team Seven.

"Gods damn it," Konohamaru thought while rubbing his head with a hand. "What did I ever do to deserve a fangirl in my team?"

Shina meanwhile hung his head with a groan, Satsuki also giving out a groan and palming her face. Ayako didn't seem to notice though, only snapping out of her fantasy when Konohamaru gave a cough. "Anyway," he said. "I think we've all had enough excitement for the day. I still have other things to do today, such as reporting to the boss for one thing, so dismissed. But…! I expect to see you at the Third Training Ground tomorrow morning, around ten or so, for your genin test."

"Test…?" Ayako echoed. "But didn't we graduate already?"

"Ha!" Konohamaru barked. "Anyone can jot down history and solve problems on paper, to say nothing of doing practice matches and E-rank ninjutsu. But, even genin need something more to actually be worthy of the title. And we'll see about it tomorrow."

"But what happens if we fail?" Ayako asked.

"Then you either go back to the academy or flunk out as civilians." Konohamaru shrugged.

"That's not fair!"

"Life's not fair, little girl." Konohamaru retorted. "If you can't accept that simple fact, then you already don't have what it takes to be a ninja. Just hand that hitai-ate of yours back and get a job as a civilian. It'll be easier, though by no means fair."

Ayako opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything. Instead, she lowered her face with an uneasy expression, only for Shina to put a hand on her shoulder. She glanced at him in surprise. "Don't worry, Ayako-san." He told her with a determined smile before turning back to Konohamaru. "Life's not fair, but it's no reason to give up. We'll plow through that test tomorrow, you better believe it!"

"Ha, we'll see about that." Konohamaru said, and Satsuki snorted.

"I'm nowhere near as cheerful as Shina here is," she said. "But I agree. There's no way I'm flunking out now, I'll give it my all and blow that test clear out of my way."

Konohamaru laughed softly. "Glad to hear it." He said. "Well then, see you tomorrow."

And with an illusionary flutter of leaves, he was gone.

A/N

Eh, might as well give it a shot. This will be on my backburner though, seeing as I've got other fics on the stove.

Not sure how the reception will be, but regardless, I'll give it a try. At any rate, it's an interesting project in my opinion.