AU Summary: As freshly minted Genin, three fifteen year old shinobi are thrown together in a four person squad. Over time, one such Genin has been the utter shame of the entire Village Hidden in the Leaves. Enter Naruto Uzumaki, a veritable demon of pure energy. For his entire life, Naruto has been ignored, and whispered about behind his back without even knowing why. Very few of the other students give him the time of day, save for a precious few. Now that he's finally become a shinobi, Naruto dreams of taking over as the Hokage one day. But with the entire village seemingly against him, how will that even be probable?

1: Unforeseen Hard Worker

Sitting with his arms behind his head, the blond teen sighed as he and his two teammates waited for their new sensei. Honestly, for the blond, his new team couldn't have been worse. And all because of one person. That was Sasuke Uchiha. For the passed decade, the two had been at each other's throats in competition. Sasuke was hailed as a prodigy of his clan, himself being the last of his clan due to a massacre eight years ago.

That being said, the Uchiha was fawned over by everyone in class, teachers and students alike. The adults, however, looked at him almost in the same way they did the blond himself.

The name of the blond in question was Naruto Uzumaki, self-proclaimed Number-One-Hyperactive-Knucklehead-Shinobi. Not the most flattering of monikers, but it was certainly better than other's he'd received.

The way the system worked was, first and foremost, pairing up the top male Genin with the top kunoichi, or female shinobi, on the same team. And then their was the dead last to be placed on the same team, to balance it out. Naruto was neither of those. He, unfortunately, was the dead last of his class, having only barely passed his graduation exam on the chance of a traitor, and the extended hand of a friend.

No, Naruto was not the best of his class, far from it.

All of the others in his class were mainly from high-ranking clans, such as Sasuke was from the Uchiha clan. Over the years, mainly of the civilians had been dropped from the class, save for only one girl, who had gone on to become the top kunoichi of his class, meaning that she was now a member of his team. Naruto himself was far different then even her.

His hands were rough, and worn from hours upon hours of training.

True, even now his chakra control was abysmal, but that hadn't stopped him from doing everything he could in class to rise through the ranks. The final two years of his classes had worked strictly on chakra control, which he had finally gotten a grasp on through one of his teachers' aid, and he still wasn't the best compared to others that had clan techniques, and families to help along in the path of the shinobi.

Naruto, unlike everyone else, had absolutely no one.

Even Sasuke, whose clan was destroyed, had had some training from his family before the incident.

Naruto looked at the clock on the wall, and frowned. 'Three hours?' He frowned, growing impatient. 'Okay, that does it.' The blond groaned and got up from his seat, moving over to the chalk board.

"Naruto, just what do you think you're doing?" The lone female of the trio asked, her eyes following the blond, "You know we're supposed to wait on our sensei?"

Naruto looked back at her as he grabbed an eraser, "It's been three hours already, Sakura," the blond said, and went over to the door of the classroom. He opened it up just a crack, and placed the eraser at the top, so that the next person to open it would have the thing drop right on their head. Not the most ideal prank, he knew, because only a real rube would fall for such a thing at this stage, but given that it was all he had, meh, work with what you have, eh? "This is a little payback for making us wait so long."

Sakura grimaced, "Naruto, you're gonna get us in trouble," she said, although, on the inside, she was cheering for the prank to work. She wouldn't admit it, but she had always liked the blond's pranks. "Besides, a Jonin would never fall for that kind of a trap."

"I should hope not," said the stoic, dull voice of their other teammate, "Any one that would fall for that deserves it, anyway."

Naruto shrugged, dusting his hands off as he returned to his seat, "Never thought we'd agree on anything." He said, kicking his feet up on the desk as they returned to waiting. "But seriously, how come this person's taking so long? The others left after only a few minutes."

"Well, the Jonin of the village are all pretty busy with their own responsibilities, so maybe they just - " Sakura started off.

"Totally forgot about us," Naruto finished, "Genin teams are a responsibility, too, ya know?" He reminded her gently, not wanting to sound too harsh with the girl. It was no secret that he fancied her. As a matter of fact, everyone knew it, Sakura included. Of course, she, and almost every other girl in his class, except one, fancied Sasuke...of course...

Sakura scoffed, and crossed her arms in a huff, "Well, I know that, dummy, but he or she still might be too busy."

"What kind of a Jonin's too busy to meet with their team?" Sasuke asked, raising a brow at her. "As far as I can tell, Jonin with a Genin team should put training future forces above anything else aside from missions."

The girl gained a small blush, "Well, maybe this Jonin's one of the elites that serve as Anbu for a time?" She pointed out, trying to save face with the dark-haired Genin, "Besides, they'd want nothing but the best to train you, Sasuke."

"I could care less about that," Naruto mumbled, beginning to doze off, giving out a huge yawn. "Just so long as I can finally start towards my goals."

"Oh, look, we just agreed on something else," Sasuke put in dully, his eyes closing.

"The world will soon end," Naruto said ominously.

Sakura bit back a giggle. It was then that she noticed a hand coming through the crack in the door, and pushing it open. The eraser Naruto had set up for his little trap fell just as a head of purple hair came through.

"Look alive maggots! The sexy Jonin Anko - Eep!"

All three Genin felt their jaws dropping for more reasons than one. The primary reason being that this female Jonin had just fallen for what could possibly be one of the oldest tricks in the book. The other reason was the way she was dressed. This "Anko" wore a long brown trench coat, which wasn't all that strange, but the fact that she also wore nothing but a mesh shirt, and a thin layer of chain mail underneath was. It left little to nothing to the imagination. The final nail in the coffin was the fact that when Naruto's little joke had succeeded...she had let out a really cute squeak when it fell on her head.

'You've got to be kidding me,' Sasuke frowned, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

Naruto's eye was twitching slightly as the woman dusted off her head, 'Not what I was expecting,' he thought, giving the woman a slight once over, 'At least she has a sense of humor if that introduction was anything to go on.'

'Look at how she's dressed!'

'CHA! What a bimbo!' Sakura thought along with her inner voice.

Now that Anko had finished cleaning off, she glared at the three Genin, "I see that we have a comedian in the ranks," she said, placing her hands on her hips, "Right, which one of you little shits did that?"

"Guilty," Naruto said, raising his hand, "You kind'a had it coming. What did you expect after being three hours late?"

"Hey! My watch stopped!"

"Lame," Naruto groaned.

"Well excuse me for having extra work at the T&I department," Anko huffed, which got the trio's attention. The "Torture and Inquisition" department had actually sent them one of their members as a Jonin instructor? Anko grinned seeing that she had caught their interest. "Yeah, we had an extra stubborn prisoner that just wouldn't crack." She smiled sadistically, "I tried everything. Electric shocks, searing hot needles under the finger nails," Sakura shivered and clenched her hands, hiding her nails from view, "pulling off his toe nails, I even smashed his nuts, and he still wouldn't crack!"

By now Naruto and Sasuke had unconsciously crossed their legs.

"So," Sakura said shakily, "Er, how did you, uh, get them to crack?"

Anko giggled, "So glad you asked," she smiled, "Turns out the poor fucker was ticklish like no other, so I went to work with a feather, and he went bat shit!" She then looked over the three Genin that were now, apparently, under her care. "Now then, I want you little shits to meet me on the roof...NOW!" She disappeared in a puff of smoke.

The three Genin were left looking at each other...before Naruto sprang up and bolted for the door. No way was he going to make a woman that had no problem crushing a guy's jewels wait on him!

(*)

Watching with slight amusement through a crystal ball say Hiruzen Sarutobi as the newly minted Team Seven rushed to follow their new sensei. He had to admit, placing Anko Mitarashi as the Jonin instructor for the trio had been a fine idea. Members of his council had questioned him on the decision, but he had stood firm. At first, Kakashi Hatake had been the first choice, but thinking on it, the Hokage had thought the man may show favoritism to either Naruto, or Sasuke, given both boys were special cases. One being an Uchiha, and the other being...connected to the man.

But, with Anko as their teacher, that wouldn't be a problem.

A knock sounded from his door, and the man smiled, "You may enter, Kakashi."

The door opened, revealing the silver hair, and masked face of the Jonin in question. "Have they met Anko, yet?"

"Just now," the old man smiled, "Naruto decided to pull one of his less harmful antics on her."

Kakashi winced, "How bad?"

"Nothing too serious," Hiruzen smiled, reaching for his favorite pipe, "She did go into the yarn about the ticklish prisoner, however. That seemed to get their undivided attention."

Kakashi chuckled at his comrade's antics, "I'm sure she had them rolling in the isles." He said, then sighed, "I wish you'd taken my request into more consideration, you know? I was Minato's student, so - "

"I am well aware of who trained you, Kakashi," Hiruzen smiled as he stuffed tobacco into his pipe, "But you must realize taht you would, without a doubt, shown favoritism toward one of the boys, and quite possibly ignored the other two. Naruto is a live wire, not quite your forte as you well know. And Sasuke is quite the stoic young man, even though he used to be such a nice boy. He has become obsessed over his brother, and what he did to his clan. And we both know that while Sakura is quite easily the smartest young woman of her age, she lacks discipline, and motivation. The presence of a strong kunoichi such as Anko may give the girl the kick start that she needs to become a fine kunoichi herself."

Kakashi sighed, conceding the man's point, "Still, Anko? She's - "

"She is no less a fine member of our forces." Hiruzen said, lighting the pipe up with a small snap of his fingers, "She also shares an unseen bond with our young Naruto in the fact that she herself has been ostracized because of her involvement with Orochimaru. Naruto himself has been treated in a far harsher manner given his status as Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tails. And the pair's out going nature may yet have a positive effect on Sasuke, as well as Naruto's penchant for hard work."

"Hard work, yes, healthy...not so much," Kakashi sighed, "You know I've watched over him from the time he left the orphanage, and the apartment you gave him is nothing short of a pigsty. The room is littered with old ramen cups, dirty clothes, and gear he repairs."

"I know, he's quite proud of the chain mail shirt he knitted back together himself." Hiruzen smiled, "Most of the gear he has is second hand. If he doesn't have the money to buy what he needs, he scrounges around the training fields hoping to find something he can put to use." He took a long drag from his pipe, "And with the missions he will be taking up as a shinobi, hopefully he will have the funds to replace some of that gear."

"If he doesn't spend it all on ramen," Kakashi said, frowning beneath his mask, "Will I still be the first in line to train Sasuke once his Sharingan awakens?"

"Unless there's someone else in the village with a Sharingan," the man smiled, blowing out a smoke ring, "But be warned, Kakashi, the boy may prove to be a worthy apprentice, but his lust for revenge may also cloud those eyes of his."

(*)

Anko giggled as the three Genin came bumbling onto the roof, the blond prankster being the first with Sasuke and Sakura bringing up the rear, "Hmm, a little slow there, Pinkie." She said, noting that the girl was more out of breath than the boys were, "Do not fucking tell me that you don't exercise. Girl, if you went out on even a bandit quelling mission right now, they'd have you tied up, and be lined up in no time. First thing we work on as a team, you guys are going to be put through the gauntlet, get it?"

"Yes, Sensei," Sakura panted, feeling foolish. Naruto grimaced and patted her shoulder in comfort. The girl looked up, her face falling when she saw who was comforting her, though she appreciated it, nonetheless. "Thanks."

Anko pushed off the railing she had been leaning on, and crossed her arms over her chest, "Lookie here, Pinkie, I'm not saying this to be mean, or anything like that. I'm no bully. BUT!" Sakura jumped as Anko gave her a critical look, "If you are not prepared to get out there, work your ass to the bone, and kill at times, you are the one that bandits, and enemy shinobi will target the most. Why? Because you're a girl." Sakura looked at her with a shiver, "No matter how much you train, the fact that you were born female will always be the bull's eye on your back." Anko went on, "Most shinobi teams are comprised of four members, a leading Jonin," she gestured to herself, "And three subordinates," she gestured to the three Genin, "Nine times out of ten, those subordinates are two guys, and a girl. The boys are the ones that normally do the heavy lifting, but that doesn't mean the girls can't kick ass either, but the fact is, the girl is the one that usually acts as the medic of the team, E.I. the one that heals all the little boo-boos the boys get when they fuck up."

Sasuke grimaced at the woman, but Naruto just grinned, knowing full well what she meant.

Sakura shivered slightly, "Um, but I've heard about a kunoichi that was seriously strong?"

"That'd be Tsunade Senju," Anko nodded, smiling, "There's no kunoichi that hasn't heard of her, and there's not one out there that doesn't want to be like her." She said, "She's got the whole package. Strength to match over a hundred shinobi. Knowledge of the healing arts to the greatest extreme. And by far, the most experience of any living kunoichi out there."

"But that doesn't mean that being a medic is the only option you'll have," the Jonin went on, "Like me, you could be the one that's most dangerous on a team. I wouldn't have the strength of any of my teammates, but I would know how to get answers out of anyone I come across via poisons, or torture. Or, you could be the whole package. Medical knowledge comes with knowing about poisons, and how to make them ineffective. In other words, you'd also learn how to make them as effective as they can be. And I'm gonna make sure which ever you choose, you're gonna be the best."

Sakura finally smiled a little at their sensei, "I promise to do my best, Anko-sensei."

"You'd better," Anko grinned. She then turned her attention to the boys, who jumped slightly. "Now, as for you, Mister Prankster."

"Er," Naruto started sweating under the woman's intense gaze.

"I've heard about you from your teachers," she said, grinning, "Horrendous chakra control," the blond groaned as he felt a cold spike punch through his head, "Low attention span unless it happens to be something big, bright and flashy," another three spikes, "But," he perked up, "you don't give up, which I find admirable. You're also strong as a bull as far as physical strength goes, and you're fast. None of the Chunin can keep up with you whenever they chased you through the village, believe me, I've watched with popcorn in hand. Apply that with a burst of chakra, and you'd be near uncatchable. Only an Anbu would keep up with your speed."

Naruto grinned at this proudly.

"You one big problem, though, is that chakra control," Anko frowned, "We're gonna have to work on that. Really work on it."

"Why does he have so much trouble with control?" Sakura found herself asking, knowing that Naruto had struggled with the exercises during their last two years.

"Props to you for asking about your teammate, Pinkie," Anko said, giving a mock clap, "It shows you actually care. To answer your question, Naruto here as an incredible amount of chakra running through him. Out of all the people in the village, only four others have his overwhelming amount, well three, actually. One has more. The three that have the nearest amount to Naruto are the Sannin, who are Jiraiya, the Toad Sage, Tsunade the Slug Princess, and Orochimaru." She sneered out the last of the three names with a growl. "The one person in the village that has more chakra than he does is the current Hokage."

"The reason Naruto has so much trouble with techniques from your academy days, is because that those techniques don't need a whole lot of chakra," she went on, "Naruto here has so much chakra, that he actually over charges it, causing it to either not work, or blow up in his face. Meaning Genjutsu is a no-go, for him."

She then moved on to Sasuke, "Now we get to our problem case."

"Me?" Sasuke frowned.

"Why Sasuke?" Sakura asked, scowling. "He was the top of every class we had."

Anko shook her head, "Perfect scores do not make a perfect shinobi." She said, "He can put up that non-caring, aloof attitude of his all he wants, but he still has one, glaring, blaring problem."

Sasuke glared at the woman, who glared right back, "So? What's this problem you say I've got?" He demanded angrily.

Pointing a finger at the young man, the woman frowned, "I know all about what happened to your family," she said, making the boy snarl, "And I know who the one that did the deed was. I worked with him on several missions. No one could've seen what the fuck he was going to do. No one saw that mess coming. Why he left you alive, I don't know...nor do I give a rat's ass."

"Hey!" Sakura yelped jumping to her crush's defense, but Anko held up a hand to stop her.

"Feelings on the battlefield get people killed," Anko said, looking at the young Uchiha, "And feelings like those you have for your brother will warp, twist, and cloud your judgement if you ever meet him again. Because I can guarantee that if you were to meet him now, you'd fly right off the handle, and get your ass handed to you on a silver platter."

Sasuke ground his teeth tightly, "My one goal is to kill him for what he did to my clan!"

"And that's your choice," Anko said, "But what I'm going to drive home right here and now, is that you won't get anywhere if you don't think things through. Let that stupid grudge you have against him cloud those Sharingan eyes of yours, and you'll die before you realize it. While I won't get in your way, I'm not about to sit back and watch you get yourself killed. I'm going to help you, that's my job. You are my student. I will not allow you to be a weakling. Not when you have so much riding on your own life right now. The name of your clan being the biggest issue. You die, then Itachi is the last one of the Uchiha. If you kill him, then you will most likely need to focus on finding a wife, and continuing your clan. You need to make sure that you can do that if you manage to defeat Itachi."

Sasuke looked like he wanted to argue, but closed his mouth with a click, and nodded.

Anko smiled at the trio, "Good, I'm glad you can all agree with me." She said, stepping forward and placing her hands on her hips, "Now, you three will need to rest up tonight. Eat a lite, hardy breakfast in the morning, because you will get sick if you eat too much. Tomorrow, the four of us will be working on team-building. And I'm sorry to say that if you three can't work as a well-oiled team, then I will be sending your cute little asses all the way back to the beginners courses of the academy."

"What!?" Naruto roared, "That's not fair! I worked my ass off just getting this far!"

"Who dropped an eraser on whose head?" Anko smiled sweetly at the boy, making him yelp and duck behind Sasuke. "That's what I thought. Now, my training ground just so happens to be our normal course for the second half of the Chunin exams, which are essentially, a wild area with the worse of the worst beasts, bugs, and plants our land has to offer. This is where we will all train. So, meet me at Training Ground Forty-four at ten tomorrow morning, sharp, and come prepared for a camping trip."

"You won't be late again, will you?" Naruto peeked from behind Sasuke, who frowned at him, though he was silently agreeing with the blond troublemaker.

Anko gave the blond a frown, "Why? Gonna drop another powder bomb on my head?"

"Shutting up."

"Good," Anko smirked, "Now, git!"

(*)

Anko stepped into her apartment later that day with a slight sigh, but she was happy with the day. She liked her team, all in all, but they needed a lot of work. She kicked off her sandals, and sank down into her couch. No sooner had she done so than a set of hands landed on her shoulders, kneading the knots out of them. "Hm, you certainly know how to treat a girl," she sighed, leaning into the touch, "You know I blame you for making me late to meet my Genin, right?"

"You know you loved it," Iruka Umino smiled down at her, "Besides, I wanted to see how Naruto's patience would hold out."

Anko scowled up at him, "He dropped an eraser on my head." She said, pouting cutely, "Honestly, if he wasn't your student, I would've been a lot harder on him than I was."

Iruka laughed, "You treated them all with kid gloves, and you know it," he said, grinning, "Besides, you've liked Naruto since he put black powder in Lord Third's tobacco box."

Anko could help but laugh at that, remembering the day she had seen a ten year old little boy running from the Hokage while the man's beard smoldered. "Okay, okay, I admit it. I've got a soft spot for the boy." She relented as his hands started to wander from her shoulders to her neck, "Still, I can't believe you convinced me to put my name up for being a Jonin instructor."

"You needed a break from all the madness from the T&I department," he reminded her, "And I thought it would be good for you to get into a bit of teaching."

She reached up and took the hand kneading the left side of her neck, "Keep moving those fingers like that, and I'll teach you something new."

Needless to say that Iruka kept up his ministrations...for all of ten seconds before the woman all but dragged him over the back of the couch, and continuing where they had left off from early, which is what initially caused her to be late for her meeting in the first place.

(*)

The next morning at ten sharp, the three Genin met in front of the gates of Training Ground Forty-four. "Whoa," Naruto breathed out as he looked at the vast, thick forest behind the chain-link fence. He could already hear various animals deep within the undergrowth. "This place is huge!"

"Yeah, no kidding," Sakura agreed.

Sasuke remained silent as he too took in the large training ground. "Where's Anko-sensei?"

"Here!" The woman shouted from above them, the trio looking up to see the woman standing atop the massive fence, "Welcome to my home away from home, kiddies!" She lept down and landed right in front of the Genin. "Did you all get enough rest last night? Decent breakfast?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Naruto and Sakura said dutifully while Sasuke just grunted.

"Sasuke, speak up!" Anko demanded, "When I took you on as a student, I thought I was getting a fifteen year old boy, not an albino chimpanzee!"

"Pfffft!" Naruto's cheeks puffed out as he doubled over while Sasuke growled.

"Shut the hell up, Dead Last!" Sasuke roared.

Sakura suddenly found her shoulders encircled by her sensei, giving a wide-eyed look toward the Uchiha, "Look, Sakura, that chimp can chat!" Anko grinned, much to the ire of the Uchiha, but even the young rosette had to stifle a giggle.

"Alright," Anko laid off of the Genin as Sasuke was close to losing his temper, and Naruto dying from laughter. "No more horsing around. What we're here for today, is for a bonding exercise." She flung her left arm out toward the forest, "And this will not just be a one day thing. This will be a month long survival training program. To make sure that you three can get along, you will all take a merry little trip into my stomping grounds, and survive."

"What?!" Sakura blanched, pointing toward the fence, "Bu-but I just saw a really, really huge tiger in there!"

"Bingo!" Anko snapped her fingers, "This big, beautiful forest is filled with predatory animals, and plants of all kinds, as well as an abundant supply of prey animals. So you'd better have paid attention in survival class back in school." She smiled, "All of you will have to work together as a team to survive in there. Whether you like it or not. Now, that isn't to say that all you'll be doing is taking a tip-toe through the woods, because I will be getting you guys some D-rank missions to get you guys going as a team, as well as get you some spending cash, and when your first month is over, and I feel that you guys can function as a team, I'll official announce the formation of Team Seven, and start us out on a mid-rank C-rank mission. Understand?"

Naruto grinned, "This is right up my alley! Bring it!"

Anko grinned at him, "I like your enthusiasm, but keep in mind that this is a team exercise, you all need to chip in," she said, gaining a nod from each of them, "Alright, come forward and step into the wild, my oh-so-cute little Genin."

Naruto grinned, and looked back at Sakura, "Sakura, you take up the middle, that way you'll be safe between me and Sasuke," he said as the girl nodded and fell in behind him as Sasuke brought up the rear.

Anko nodded in approval. She realized it was his desire to protect the girl he had rush on, but that same sense could be applied to protecting the medic of a team. "Keep in mind that if anything venomous bites or stings you, you'll need to either find and herb to help with the poison, or come out and find me. I'll be keeping an eye on you for that very thing, so all of you take care, and be careful."

(*)

The first thing that the newly minted team did, under Sasuke's suggestion, was find a location close to a small stream with drinkable water. Naruto followed his nose to the source of water, and went about making camp.

"Hold up, Naruto," Sakura cautioned him before he began, "We don't know if this area's safe."

Naruto tapped his nose, "It's okay, Sakura, I don't small anything like a predator around here." He said, "The ground's all grassy, too, so nothing's been through here for a while. Plus, I can smell fruit nearby. And that stream probably has a few fish in it, or opens up into an area that does."

As Sasuke came into the area and scanned it, he found that he, begrudgingly, agreed with the blond, it also helped that there was a large tree nearby that had exposed roots large enough to make a shelter from without very much work.

Before he could put his two ryo in, there was a shout of "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" and the area was soon covered with solid copies of his blond teammate. The Uchiha's brow rose right into his hairline at the sight of the advanced Clone technique.

"Naruto, where did you learn how to do that?" Sakura asked in shock, "I thought the Clone Jutsu was your worst subject?"

Naruto, one of them, just grinned at her, "It was, but I learned this one because it works with a lot of chakra," he said, sticking with the story he and Iruka had come up with. As far as anyone knew, he and Iruka had gone to the Hokage in hopes of helping the young man graduate, and he had learned the more advanced Shadow Clone. Sasuke was eyeing the blond with slight envy as Naruto set about making their campsite.

'How did that idiot learn something like that?' He growled internally, then smirked, 'Once my Sharingan awakens, then I'll just learn it for myself. If he can do it, then I can damned well do it, and better!'

Sakura, seeing that the blond was taking most of the hard jobs around their camp, was unsure of what to do as Sasuke was clearing out a small spot for them to sleep, "Um, Naruto, is there anything I can do?"

The blond and his clones were currently digging out a fire pit and placing rocks around it, while others were scouting the area for food. The one she thought was the real one smiled at her, "We could use some fresh water. I brought along some water cans in one of my storage scrolls." He said, and tossed the scroll to her.

The girl smiled, and caught the scroll before moving off toward the stream.

A short time later found the trio sitting around Naruto's fire pit, fish roasting around the flames, feeling only slightly tired. Sakura found herself actually enjoying it. "You really think she's gonna make us stay out here for a whole month?" The girl asked.

"She said she'd take us out for missions," Naruto pointed out while tearing into a fish, "Why? Don't like camping?"

Sakura blushed, "No, it's just..."

"Just what?" Sasuke found himself asking.

She blushed brighter when the boy asked, "W-well...what about...bathing?"

Naruto shrugged, "There's a pool a little ways off from the camp, but if you want to take a bath, one of us is gonna have to keep watch in case something comes along and decides you're dinner."

Sakura didn't much like the sound of that. Sasuke and Naruto were both boys, and Anko's words from the previous day had left her a little mistrustful of males in general. But she was confident enough to believe she could send them packing if they did try anything.

"You seem to be pretty good at this sort of thing," Sasuke spoke up, gesturing to their camp, "You even knew right away that nothing had been through this area. How?"

Naruto paused as he was reaching for another fish. He grabbed it and sat back, sighing. "I'm...well, you guys know that didn't have any parents to take care of me growing up, and the only roof over my head is because of the old man," he said, referring to the Hokage, whom he viewed as a grandfather figure. "Sure, I get an allowance every month, but clothes and food are so damned expensive that I don't have enough for food, let alone bills when everything's said and done. So I started reading up on edible plants and stuff I could find outside the village, and hunted around for small game like rabbit and fish, and the occasional deer if I could sneak up on one quick enough."

Sakura looked at him, "You mean you were always alone?" She asked, tucking her legs up against her chest, "There was no one?"

Sasuke was now listening with renewed interest as Naruto shook his head, "Nah, I had Iruka-sensei, old man Hokage, Teuchi and Ayame," he said, sighing, "But that was out in the village. When I got home? It was so quiet. I could almost hear a pin drop on the streets outside it was that quiet."

Sakure bit her lip, feeling slightly guilty for her treatment of the blond through the years. Before she could say anything, however, Sasuke of all people spoke up. "I know how that feels." The Uchiha frowned, looking down into the flames. "When my clan was still around, it was so loud that sometimes I couldn't sleep at night. And now that they're gone...it's so quiet that if feels like I'm going crazy at times."

Looking between the two boys, the rosette sighed, "You know, before now, I thought you two were pretty lucky," the pair looked at her, "My parents drive me crazy. Even now that I'm technically an adult, they still treat me like a baby."

"You're lucky," the blond smiled at her, tossing his skewer and fish bones into the fire, "You have no idea how much I'd like to come home to hear someone nagging me about being dirty, or my grades, or even how I dress," he said, plucking at his orange and black jacket. "But...I don't even know what they looked like, my parents, I mean. I don't have any pictures, nothing that would tell me who they were, or even if they wanted me."

"They did," Sakura smiled at him, "And...I'm glad I'm on your team, Naruto. You, too, Sasuke."

Naruto looked at her, "How do you know?"

Sakura puffed her chest out, "Woman's intuition!"

Naruto laughed, smiling at her, the light of the flames doing strange things to the shadows there. Sakura couldn't fight back a traitorous little blush on her cheeks as she looked at the blond as he laughed, those shadows dancing across his face. "Well, whatever that's worth, thanks, Sakura."

Sasuke grunted out his thanks before he stood, and moved over to their shelter.

Naruto grinned for a moment, then started snickering. Sakura smiled at him, "What?"

"Well," Naruto chuckled, "I do believe that chimp was wearing people's clothes."

That did it.

Laughter cascaded across the camp, and the dozing Sasuke had a distinct feeling that he was the reason for it.

I started this story because 1) I like Naru/Saku stories because that must persistence should really pay off. 2) I need to go back and look at my other story, because I found another story that was so damned similar to it that I may as well be copying from that author, so out of respect to the elder story, I will be going back and and rewriting Broken Pieces. 3) I really wanted to write Anko as Team Seven's teacher. :p

I hope you all like it, and if you do, you know what to do. Please review!