A/N: Guy's I'M SO SORRY FOR DELAYING THIS CHAPTER! I meant to get this out last week but midterms hit and I chose to study instead of write! I hope you understand. Also from now on I am writing chapters completely from scratch! So I will probably be about 3-5 weeks until the next chapter gets out!

In other news, I started Demon Slayer, ngl this is probably my one of my top three new gen animes, great art, killer opening theme, and well-timed comedy. Also Nezuko is literally the most precious thing in the world and we need to protect her at all costs. Also, unrelated but did you guys see the latest Boruto episode? I actually cried towards the end. Anyways, here's the chapter.

Bold – Tailed Beast/Summon animals talking (i.e. Kurama, Gamabunta, etc…)

Underline – Jutsu Name

Disclaimer: By the power invested in me, I tried to wish for rights to Naruto, never got em. I guess I'll just stick to writing fanfics for free entertainment then.

Chapter 4: Team Selections

Hiruzen put down a stack of papers and sighed, teams were finally made. It had taken him a lot of time; he had called in four jōnin who would lead the most important teams for a briefing.

"Sensei, are you sure about those teams?"

Hiruzen turned around slowly, facing the tall white-haired Sannin crouching in his window and peeking over his shoulder.

"What's wrong with them Jiraiya? Don't tell me you want to be a jōnin sensei, I already went through the trouble of getting Anko to be one."

Hiruzen's office was a mess, several sheets of paper with the ninja registration ID of every jōnin in the village was on his desk. Due to the Academy's recent intake of students, a whole new team was needed and therefore another jonin was needed to be a sensei.

Finding available jōnin proved harder than he thought possible, almost every single jonin was either on duty or did not have the skills necessary to be a sensei. He was down to only one jonin and sighed, he could already predict her response.

"Dog, call Anko Mitarashi to my office immediately."

A shadow peeled itself from the wall and bowed in affirmation. The ANBU agent then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

About an hour later, Anko strolled into the room with a smile on her face.

"Hey Hokage-sama! What's up? Or did you call me here because you missed me?" She said with a smirk.

Hiruzen would have laughed if he wasn't anticipating her rage. "No, Anko, I actually wanted to call you here for another reason…"

If you had asked Naruto that day, he would have told you that he heard the screaming and cursing all the way from his apartment.

"No sensei, you know I'm much too busy for that, I came just to help you out a bit."

Sarutobi raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

Jiraiya got off the window and sat in front of his sensei, "Well, you see, I was kind of spying on Naruto and got to see what his classmates are like and how they interact with each other," he then pointed to the current paper that showed Team 7. "That team will be a disaster."

"Why? Kakashi is a very capable shinobi and would take good care of Naruto, plus he feels more comfortable with the son of his sensei with him."

Jiraiya shook his head, "That Uchiha boy, he's still controlled by an incredible rage, it seems like Naruto is the one who brings it out of him. That boy also has a massive ego problem and thinks he is the best. Based on how Naruto was with me, I think he might actually be a better student than that Uchiha brat." Jiraiya chuckled, "If Kakashi tries to teach them something, I'd say nine times out of ten, Naruto would pick it up quicker. Sasuke will most definitely be shocked by this and he'll feel inferior and with that huge of an ego I could see him falling into a meltdown."

Hiruzen took a breath in, "How is the boy's mental condition?"

"Well, I'm no Yamanaka, but from the intel I got from Itachi, Sasuke is probably one string away from snapping." Shaking his head ruefully, "I heard that Itachi used the Tsukuyomi to make him watch their parent's die several hundred thousand times."

Hiruzen winced and then sighed, "And what are your grievances with Kakashi then? Surely he is a good fit since the Yondaime was his sensei."

Jiraiya shook his head, "Sensei, as much as I respect Kakashi as an assassin and shinobi, he has never had a genin team and I don't think he will be much help, especially to Naruto." He chuckled to himself, "If you put that kid with a competent teacher, he will absorb absolutely anything and everything. I think he needs to be put with a sensei who will fill that role."

Jiraiya's face then hardened, "You also need to put him under someone who will take care of him, someone who is kindhearted and caring. He needs that in his life more than anyone. I know he has that aunt now, but she can't be with him everywhere."

Hiruzen held up a hand to stop his student from going on, "Thank you, Jiraiya, but I can't just change up teams for the benefit of one genin. There are eleven others who also need the best possible team."

Jiraiya smirked, "Okay then, let me point out another flaw, Team 8, Kurenai's team, having a team that is only dedicated to scouting is stupid, the only one on that team who has offensive skills is that Inuzuka boy and his jutsu is still wildly uncontrollable. It would benefit every team if they had at least one tracking specialist. The way teams should be structured is in a way that teammates cover for each other's weaknesses."

Hiruzen sighed and shoved the papers towards Jiraiya, "Well, then, you are now assigned to help me reassign these teams, and you will also be the one to break the news to each jōnin.

Naruto walked into a bustling classroom, conversations were excited, and the noise was almost unbearable. Sakura-chan will totally fall for me now that I'm a ninja! He sat down and looked at the door, waiting for her to walk in.

She ran in, pushing Ino out of the way as Naruto got up, "Hey Saku.."

"Move it! I need to sit next to Sasuke-kun!" She said, pushing him to the ground. "Oh my goodness! There he is! I'm sitting next to him!" She shrieked as she ran over to him.

The rest of the fan club pushed and shoved over the seat next to him as Sasuke just continued to ignore them all. They are all so annoying. He thought to himself as he quietly moved the chair next to him away and out of sight.

Naruto was still sitting on the ground, dazed from Sakura's fist that had sent him into the wall. Rubbing his head he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto-kun, are you okay?" Hinata asked kindly, helping him up.

"I think I am." He said, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "I just don't get what they all see in him! He's just an arrogant bastard and barely notices them! What makes him better than me?" Naruto pouted as he looked at them.

"Well… they um… just don't see how nice… and kind you are…" Hinata said, returning to her habit of poking her fingers together.

She thinks I'm nice? "Wow thanks Hinata-chan! You sure are a great friend!"

Hinata took a breath, putting on a smile. She really wanted to be something more than just a friend to him. It pained her to hear that word, but she would never give it up if it meant not getting noticed by him again.

She really wanted to just tell him outright I love you. But she couldn't bring herself to it, despite how much time she had spent with the blond shinobi, she still had a ways to go if she was ever going to let that detail out in conversation. Besides, he is still interested in Sakura-san, right?

Naruto sat there, head resting on his crossed arms on the desk and thought. Something he rarely did was stay quiet like this. Hinata was worried she had said something wrong, but then he flashed a grin and said softly, "Thanks Hinata-chan, you are one of my first friends. That means a lot to me."

"How in the world did Naruto pass?"

"What the hell? He what?"

"Oh no! It's the end of the world if he passed!"

The Academy students mumbled amongst each other, looking at the orange-clad shinobi in wonder. Naruto just gave them his signature grin and readjusted his headband for them all to see.

"Well, you're taking this awfully well, somethings definitely up." Kiba said, sitting down near the two.

"Ah it's nothing, I don't really care what anyone says, I passed! That's all that matters!" Naruto laughed.

"You also passed in probably the most Naruto-like way too, surprised they didn't expel you for that." Shikamaru added, walking in with Choji.

Sasame and Karin then walked in together, Karin shot a glance towards Sasuke, but scrunched up her face in confusion. She shook her head and walked with Sasame over to where The rest of their friends were sitting.

Sasame looked at Kiba, who was staring off at something on the other side of the classroom, she tracked his line of sight and smirked, "What are you staring at Kiba?"

The Inuzuka jumped from the sudden attention as his face grew red and hot with embarrassment, "Uh… it's nothing!"

Akamaru barked and bit Kiba's ear, causing him to yelp. Sasame started laughing, "What's up with you and Tamaki-chan?"

Kiba's face grew even redder as his anger rose, "Nothing! I'm just reminding myself how I don't want her to be on my genin team! There's nothing I hate more than a damn ninja cat user!"

Karin spoke up, "Aww don't say that you two would be so cute together!"

"STOP THAT! NO WE WOULDN'T" Kiba howled, causing the rest to laugh as well.

Hinata was glad that she wasn't being put on the spot, if they were teasing her, she would have definitely fainted, she was already on edge, hoping to get on a team with Naruto, she didn't need the extra stress. It wouldn't look good on her to be unconscious as she met her jōnin sensei.

Iruka walked in a few seconds later and sighed at the increasingly loud class of his now former students. "All right class! Settle down! Settle down!" He rubbed his face, "and girls, please get off Sasuke." The class found their seats, Sakura and Ino sitting on either side of Sasuke, vying for his attention.

"Congratulations on graduating from the Academy! It is with great honor that you have received these Konoha forehead protectors and we hope that you wear them with pride as ninja from Konoha!" The class cheered a bit and talked animatedly amongst each other. Iruka held up a hand and silenced the class.

"Now that you are all genin, its time that we divide you up into three-man teams."

With that the class fell into murmurs.

Three-man teams?

Oh I hope I get my friends!

I hope I get on the same team as Sasuke-kun! Cha!

Please put me on a team with Sakura-chan, AND DO NOT PUT ME WITH SASUKE!

I… hope I get on a team with Naruto-kun…

Ugh… troublesome…

Well, I already know they are gonna do Ino-Shika-Cho again, no real reason to get worked up.

Ugh, I'm probably gonna be stuck with Shikamaru and Choji, dammit! Billboard Brow is gonna get Sasuke-kun!

Iruka silenced the class again and began announcing the teams, one by one, fangirls cried out, separated from their precious Sasuke-kun. Then there were only nine genin left in the room.

"Team 10, Yamanaka Ino… Nara Shikamaru… and Akimichi Choji!"

Ino rolled her eyes in disgust, "It's okay Sasuke-kun, I'll still spend time with you when I'm not on missions."

"Stay away Ino-pig! He's mine!"

Ino just scoffed and went to join her team.

"Team 9, Tamaki… Uzumaki Karin… Inuzuka Kiba!"

Kiba turned red as all his friends laughed at him, Karin especially, "I'll update you guys if any special moments happen between these two!"

"The only special moment that will happen is you dying!" Kiba growled.

"Team 8, Hyūga Hinata… Fūma Sasame… Uzumaki Naruto!"

Hinata gasped as time seemed to slow down to a halt around her. Did she hear Iruka-sensei right?

Team 8, Hyūga Hinata, Fūma Sasame, Uzumaki Naruto

Team 8, Hyūga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto

Hyūga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto

The sudden realization sent cracks through her sanity and set a massive shock to he nerves, completely frying them. As such, she wasn't aware of Sasame and Naruto talking to her about the new team. She was only aware of her being on a team with Naruto.

She couldn't help it but her mind was flicking through the upcoming weeks, her getting closer to him and eventually, maybe, the two becoming a couple, fighting side by side, hand in hand…

It was all she could take, and her lights went out.

"Huh, Hinata must be pretty tired, its cool that we all got on the same team though" Naruto said, turning to Sasame, who was trying very hard not to laugh.

"Yeah, totally great!" She said, stifling a giggle. How can someone be this blockheaded?!

"Team 7, Aburame Shino… Haruno Sakura… Uchiha Sasuke!"

"CHA! TAKE THAT INO-PIG!" Sakura yelled at the top of her lungs.

Shino took one look at both his teammates and sighed, here he was, on the verge of being forgotten between one of the most obnoxious girls in the class and the class genius. It seems that being forgotten is just how the Aburame are, that's because…

His thoughts were cut off by Ino and Sakura screaming at each other over who got the 'rights' to Sasuke's attention. The Uchiha boy's face looked like someone was driving kunai through his ears.

"All right! Settle down! Now, I want all of you to wait patiently while your jōnin senseis make their way here." Kakashi please don't be late, for your team's sake.

With that, Iruka walked out of the room and the class broke out in full conversation, one by one, jōnin showed up and pulled their teams out of the room. After about thirty minutes, only teams 7, 8, 9, and 10 remained.

"Jeez, I wish our sensei would show up already, what's taking them so long?" Kiba asked gruffly, Akamaru yipping in agreement.

"Three large chakra signatures are coming!" Karin gasped. The rest of the now genin sat up a bit straighter in their seats.

In walked a tall man with spiky black hair, he smelled very much like cigarettes and ash. His attire was like most jōnin, consisting of the green flak jacket and black athletic pants. The only deviation was the white sash around his waist with the kanji for 'Fire' embroidered on.

"That guy looks like a cool sensei! I wonder if he's our sensei?" Naruto whispered to the now awake Hinata, she couldn't tell him that she already knew who their jōnin sensei would be, since Kurenai came by the Hyūga compound to get permission from her father, as was custom.

She had never in her life felt more pain, when her father called her weak and of no use to the Hyūga clan. She knew she was weak, she knew she wasn't a typical Hyūga, but couldn't her father see that she was trying her hardest to be better?

It didn't help that Hanabi was becoming a bit of a prodigy in the Gentle Fist, all eyes were on the younger sister and the clan pretty much threw Hinata off to the side like some child's unwanted toy.

Hinata was torn between her grief and her happiness for her younger sister. She always knew that Hanabi would be strong. It made her proud that her younger sister was doing so well. Ironically it came at her own expense but that didn't matter to Hinata.

As Naruto spoke to her, she gave him a sideways glance, not something unusual, she had always been trying to sneak glances at him when she was sure no-one was looking. Using the Byakugan was a dead giveaway so she had to be extra careful.

Seeing him gave her a sense of strength, he was always trying his hardest. Even when she thought he would give out from the pain and stress, he kept pushing forward, never letting up. He pushed himself hard for the same reasons she did. Yes, his ambitions were quite a lot larger than her's but the principle was the same. They both wanted recognition for their strength. With newfound determination, Hinata sat up a little straighter in her chair.

"My name is Asuma Sarutobi, I am the jōnin sensei for Team 10. You guys are coming with me." He said as he pointed to Ino, Shikamaru and Choji.

Ino got up and winked at Sasuke, much to Sakura's annoyance, as she trotted towards the front of the room. Shikamaru and Choji just slinked down, trying not to get Ino's attention, there was still a bit of tension between them since the Valentine's day prank.

"Aw man, I guess he's not ours." Naruto said as he slumped back into his chair.

The next person who walked in caught Naruto's attention.

"Hey, I remember you!" He said as he pointed towards the woman who just walked in.

She just smiled and looked towards her students who were already sitting next to each other. "Ah yes, that's right, thanks again for helping me out that day."

Hinata looked at Naruto, "Naruto-kun, how… do you already know Kurenai-sensei?"

Naruto looked back at her and grinned, "I could ask you the same thing dattebayo!"

Hinata turned red and fidgeted with her hands while trying to stammer out an explanation when Kurenai interrupted her.

"Yes, my name is Kurenai Yuhi and I will be the sensei of Team 8, now if you would come wit- "

The window exploded and shards of glass rained down on Sasuke and Sakura who promptly screamed, until she looked down and saw that Sasuke had grabbed her by the waist and pulled her away from the window just in time. Now it was her turn to turn red.

A banner sprawled across the room, in huge letters was written, "World's Number One Bestest Jōnin Sensei: Anko Mitarashi!"

At it's base was a woman dressed in a trench coat and not much else. She had dark purple hair that was pulled up in a ponytail.

"What the hell Anko-oba? Why'd you have to break the glass?" Naruto got up and yelled.

Anko's face turned dark and her eyes started glowing. Both Naruto and Kurenai gulped.

"What did I tell you about calling me Oba, Otouto?" She said in a sickly, sweet voice.

"S-S-S-Sorry n-n-neesan.." Naruto muttered out.

The change was immediate as Anko put back a smirk on her face.

"Well maggots! My name is Anko Mitarashi and I will be the sensei of Team 9! We will have just the greatest time!" She said, eyeing her genin sadistically.

Karin turned to Naruto and looked at him confusedly, "You have another sister?"

Naruto looked down and scratched his head, "Uhh… it's complicated."

Anko immediately appeared next to Naruto with a kunai at his throat, "You didn't talk about me to your friends? I'm hurt Otouto. After all this you better introduce me to everyone of them, you hear me?"

Naruto's eyes were as wide as dinner plates, "y-y-yes ma'am" He yelped when the kunai came closer to cutting his jugular, "I-I meant neesan!"

"Um, Anko? You kind of interrupted me," Kurenai said, peeking out from behind the banner.

Anko turned around and chuckled nervously, scratching the back of her head, "Oh, sorry 'bout that Kurenai." She then turned towards the class, "Team 9! Come with me!" And waltzed out of the room, Kiba, Karin, and Tamaki in tow.

Naruto whispered a prayer for his other neesan and Kiba to protect them from whatever hell Anko would put them through. He got up along with Hinata and Sasame and followed Kurenai out the door, leaving the last three genin in the room for what would be two hours of annoyance for both Sasuke and Shino.

Kurenai turned to face her genin and gave each of them a quick once-over. Hinata was familiar to her, but something was different about her. She didn't look to be the ashamed, timid little girl that she had seen a few days ago. Something about her posture gave off an aura of calmness and intent focus. Kurenai couldn't make head's or tails of it so she brought her attention to the other students.

Sasame was a bit of an outlier and as much as she hated it, she had actually asked Jiraiya about her to get some idea of what she was like. She knew that the three were friends, but she knew much more about Hinata and Naruto than she did Sasame. From his report, excluding all the details about the girl being a 'real future beauty' and the likes of that, Jiraiya had noted that the girl took her duties seriously, although it was tough to see what her goal was. The girl was amicable and willing to work in a team to get goals accomplished. Kurenai appreciated this, they would probably not have to focus too much on teambuilding but that would be decided later.

She then turned and took a look at Naruto who was making a ridiculous face and mocking the Inuzuka boy, making Hinata and Sasame laugh. She knew very well about him; the boy's name was in everyone's mouths. She had heard countless complaints about the boy and wondered if they were ever true. When she met him by the hot springs, she saw the absolute fear come into his eyes when he had realized his transformation had been dispelled.

She could piece together that, from the years of abuse, the boy was probably very afraid of being himself when addressing others, most likely in fear of them giving him misleading instructions.

According to Jiraiya, the boy could make shadow clones, which was incredible for someone his age. The boy was also a budding fūinjutsu user, but he seemed to favor ninjutsu. This was not surprising, given the boy's chakra capacity. Hiruzen had briefed her on his jinchuriki status before finalizing the teams.

"You asked to see me, Hokage-sama?"

Sarutobi turned around in his chair to face Kurenai, putting out his pipe and setting it down.

"Yes, as a matter of fact it is very important and concerns the safety of this very village."

Kurenai's heart beat fast, what could it be? She only recently became jōnin, surely someone else must be more qualified for something so serious. Was it an intruder she needed to find and eliminate? A foreign threat? An impending war?

"It concerns a certain person on your genin team, Naruto Uzumaki. I'm sure that you may have already heard that he is the jinchuriki of the Kyūbi."

Kurenai nodded, the rumors circling around about the boy had turned out to be true. Years ago, she wasn't sure how to feel about the boy being the container of the Bijū. She remembered very clearly the day her father and mother died, when the Kyūbi attacked. To think that the beast lived inside a weak, young boy was terrifying to say the least. Despite knowing the Yondaime's unrivalled skill in fūinjutsu, the fact remained that the 35-ton fox was trapped inside a boy that was no bigger than a large dog.

However, being friends with Anko, she knew just how much a cursed mark could destroy someone's reputation. The two had tried to go shopping many times, only for Anko to be unfairly kicked out. On one of their trips, Kurenai released just a little bit of killing intent to the shopkeeper and ended up getting a massive discount on their purchase.

Anko reminded her a lot of Naruto, they both were rambunctious, take-no-shit-from-anyone type of people. She knew firsthand just how mentally strong Anko was, she was constantly fighting the urge to kill and lash out from the cursed seal that Orochimaru had infected her with. Because of this, Kurenai had no doubt that Naruto would be strong too.

"Yes, Sandaime-sama, I am aware. Don't worry, I am okay with this."

Hiruzen nodded, "That's good. I just want to emphasize the importance of keeping the boy safe. Many of the elders of this village do not want him to be a shinobi, since his duties will take him outside of the village and put him in danger. It will be your duty to protect him if he cannot protect himself."

Kurenai nodded in understanding, "I promise to do my very best, will that be all Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen stood and turned to gaze out onto the Great Stone Faces. "On a more personal note, Kurenai, please, the boy needs emotional support, he has been at the receiving end of a lot of abuse and he needs precious people to keep him sane. That is the reason I chose you to be his sensei, I know that you are kindhearted and possess good judgement. That will be all, you are dismissed."

Kurenai bowed deeply, "I am honored for the praise Hokage-sama." She turned and left the room.

"Well, I have already told you my name but let me tell me more about myself," Kurenai started, getting the genins' attention. "My name is Kurenai Yuhi, I like gardening and eating dinner with friends, my inspiration is Tsunade Senju because my goal is to prove to everyone that women can be capable shinobi too." She finished, turning to look at Sasame. "Now I want you guys to introduce yourselves, say your name, what you like, your inspiration and your goal. You can go first miss."

Sasame cleared her throat, "Well, seems like these two know you already so I guess I'm really the only one who needs introducing. My name is Sasame Fūma and I like to read and train. My inspiration is my cousin Arashi and my goal is to be as good as he is with the Fūma clan jutsu."

Kurenai nodded, it's not much, but it's a start. She turned and nodded to Hinata.

"My name is Hinata Hyūga and well… I lo-like…" immediately the girl lost composure and turned red as she gave Naruto a sideways glance. Both Kurenai and Sasame resisted to burst out with laughter while Naruto was wondering what was wrong. It's much too obvious, this is worse than I was with Asuma!

Eventually getting herself under control, Hinata continued, "I like cinnamon rolls and zenzai. My inspiration is…" She paused again, thinking of what to say as Kurenai thought to herself. He's her inspiration to be better? No wonder Hiruzen put them together then, I wonder what Hiashi would say about this…

"Someone who works hard and never gives up, and my goal is to be a strong shinobi of the Hyūga clan."

Kurenai then turned to the only male member present, "Well, uh… I'm Naruto Uzumaki! I like eating ramen! Ichiraku's especially, but instant ramen is good too! I really like miso ramen with barbeque pork!"

"Okay Naruto, what about your inspiration and goal?" Kurenai interjected, hoping to bring his line of thought back on track.

"Oh yeah, well, my inspiration is all the Hokage's who come before me!" He put a thumb to his chest, "Because my goal is to be Hokage! That way everyone will respect me!"

Hmm, interesting. I wonder what would make him want to lead the village? I hope it's not because he wants to take revenge, no… he doesn't seem like that kind of person.

"All right, that's good, and now we will conduct the real genin exam."

"HUH?!" The three shouted in unison.

"Yes, to really be genin, you must pass this exam, otherwise, I can send you back to the Academy if I think you aren't ready." Kurenai said, taking in some satisfaction from their suffering, Anko was really rubbing off on her.

She then stood up and lead them to the nearest training ground, the whole way Naruto was grumbling about not being aware of this and complaining that it was unfair. Kurenai then turned to face them,

"Your objective is to corner me and force me to surrender, please, use any means necessary, we will begin when you're read-"

"HYAAAHH!" Naruto sprinted out with a fist cocked back, ready to throw a haymaker punch. His outburst ended up startling Hinata and Sasame as the two girls jumped in place and stared incredulously at the spot their teammate had just vanished from.

Hinata activated her Byakugan so that she could help but gasped at what she saw. "No! Naruto-kun! Wait!"

But the warning came too late, as Naruto threw his fist into Kurenai's face, a sickening thud of flesh against wood came out as Naruto ended up punching a tree.

"Ow ow ow ow ow!" He hissed, grabbing his now red knuckles as Kurenai appeared in a shimmer on a tree branch above him.

"I guess the Academy just lets anyone pass these days, that was pitiful" Kurenai mocked from above, in her heart she only wanted to rile them all up to see how they would react with their emotions all wound up.

"SAY THAT AGAIN! I DARE YOU!" Naruto yelled back, tick mark on his forehead. He pointed to his headband, "I worked hard for this, and I'll prove it by stopping you!"

He quickly disappeared in an orange blur as he raced up the tree, climbing from branch to branch with surprising speed.

However, Kurenai was a jōnin, and was still much faster than the boy. Well, no time like the present to test his taijutsu. Kurenai thought, she leapt off the branch she was on moments before Naruto came crashing down and led him deeper into the training ground towards a clearing.

Sasame turned to Hinata, who was watching with worry. She sighed, "Why do I get a bad feeling about this?"

Then the two turned and ran to catch up with their teammate and sensei.

I think this will do. Kurenai thought as she stopped in a clearing, she could hear her student crashing through the trees nearby and soon enough, he appeared in the clearing and locked his eyes on her.

"Well, at least you can keep up, now let's see if you can force me to be taken down." Kurenai said, adopting a fighting stance. Naruto did the same as he settled into the basic taijutsu stance taught at the Academy. He lashed out at her with his left fist, quickly followed by a front kick from his right foot.

Kurenai dodged his fist and sidestepped the kick and got ready to counterattack when Naruto used his heel as a pivot point and swung his right leg at her again, forcing her back. He's not attacking with much focus but he is keeping me on my toes. She noted.

With lightning speed Kurenai ran towards him and feinted with a left hook aimed straight at Naruto's head. He instinctively raised his hands to guard his face, which Kurenai took advantage of as her right leg flew out in a snap kick and hit Naruto directly in the midsection, knocking him to the ground and leaving him breathless.

Kurenai then raced forward, grabbed his knees and stepped over him into his guard, using her legs, she pulled Naruto up by his legs and threw him a short distance away, him landing face first In the dirt.

"I forgot how much fun it is fighting genin, you don't weigh too much so it's easy to throw you." Kurenai said absentmindedly.

Naruto, who was a little dazed, shook his head to clear it and jumped right back up onto his feet. He settled in the same stance again and rushed Kurenai, once again. This time, he threw a punch with his right hand aiming at Kurenai's midsection, then quickly used his momentum to sweep with his legs, causing her to jump up.

Kurenai mentally nodded, good, at least you learn from your mistakes, but sorry Naruto, I'm not spending all of this time on you.

Naruto rolled underneath what he thought was Kurenai and put his weight on his hands as he kicked out towards her back, only to hit a tree again. He jolted up wildly and looked around, "What the hell? Where did she go?"

Hinata and Sasame ran through the forest, trying to make their way to the clearing in the distance. Sasame looked over at Hinata, who had her Byakugan off to conserve her chakra.

"How far are they?" She asked.

Hinata activated her Byakugan, veins bulging around her eyes. Sasame always found it kind of creepy, the way such a kind girl could look so terrifying in an instant.

Hinata's face screwed up in confusion. "They didn't seem to get closer, I could have sworn that they stopped a while ago."

Sasame scratched her chin, "Do you think that Naruto forced her to run a little farther?"

Hinata shook her head, "As strong as I know Naruto-kun is, he doesn't stand a chance against a jōnin, there is too big of a skill difference, we all need to work together if we want to stand a chance. We will need both your and Naruto's skills to make her surrender."

Sasame nodded and they both continued running, suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to face Hinata who had just gasped and come to a halt.

"What is it? Is she nearby?"

Hinata's face looked sad, almost, disappointed. "Maybe, I'm not sure…"

Sasame's eyes flared, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Hinata winced from the question and poked her fingers together, "I didn't realize we've been in a genjutsu this whole time."

Sasame's eyes widened, "A genjutsu? But how come you didn't see it earlier?"

Hinata looked like she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide forever, she was a Hyūga and just got caught in a genjutsu! If her father heard about this he would be even more disappointed in her, he would see yet again that she was weak, not worthy of the Hyūga name.

"B-Because I.." Hinata started, only to get interrupted by Sasame receiving a flying kick from Kurenai.

"Because I am the strongest genjutsu user in Konoha." Kurenai finished, hoping to retain some of the young girl's confidence. She needed to have a serious discussion with Hinata about her habits of self-doubt, but she couldn't fully erase twelve years of abuse.

"If you think that I am just going to let you go and retrieve Naruto then you're wrong." She said, settling into a fighting stance, "I am your opponent now."

Kurenai then threw a kick at Sasame, who blocked it with her forearms. Hinata was snapped from her daze and instinctively rushed to her teammate's aid, only to get kicked in the back as Kurenai appeared from thin air. Hinata hit the ground and rolled up onto her feet and faced her instructor who had a kunai in her hand.

"I know your family's fighting style very well Hinata, I know to keep my distance." Kurenai noted.

"Well then, try to keep your distance like this!" Sasame shouted and thrust her hands out.

Thin lines of chakra shot out from her fingertips and arced their way towards Kurenai who hopped and dodged to avoid getting grabbed. Hinata decided to take the opportunity of Kurenai's divided attention to land an attack on her. As she jumped into the fray Kurenai took notice and quickly made some hand seals.

"Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!"

Suddenly Hinata was encased in a tree and couldn't move her arms or legs. She gathered her chakra to break the genjutsu, but it was all that Kurenai needed to bind Sasame.

"Demonic Illusion: String Bean Binding Jutsu!"

In an instant, Kurenai melted into vines just as Sasame's chakra threads wrapped around her. The auburn-haired kunoichi looked down and gasped as her feet were now wrapped in vines. Is this and Dōton justu? How can I break it? She struggled for freedom and, to Hinata's horror, didn't notice a bean pod opening behind her to reveal Kurenai inside, kunai in hand and ready to take Sasame out.

Faster than she could think Hinata rushed over to Sasame and sent a pulse of chakra through her system, undoing the genjutsu and revealing Kurenai in the air flying down on them.

There was almost no time to react. Kurenai was mere seconds away from taking the two of them out and then eventually failing them all. In Hinata's mind, the thought of Naruto flashed through. If they failed now, he would be kept from becoming Hokage! His dream would be ruined because she didn't do anything about it.

Newfound determination and adrenaline kicked in and Hinata grabbed Sasame and somersaulting away while throwing a smoke bomb down to cover their escape. Kurenai coughed as she hopped out of the smoke and searched for her students. They had all but vanished.

"Alright you are good at hiding, now it's time to find you guys and flush you out.'

Naruto was hopping from tree branch to tree branch when he looked down at what seemed like a glowing thread.

"Huh, that's weird, I didn't kno- AHHHH!" He screamed at the thread wrapped itself around him and dragged him underneath a nearby bush, where Sasame promptly slapped her hand on his mouth to keep him quiet.

"Shut up! Sensei will hear you!"

Naruto immediately stopped struggling as his eyes narrowed. "You could have just brought me here like a normal person, no need to capture me like that! Sometimes I wonder if we're on the same team here."

Sasame looked at him as a tick mark formed on her forehead, "Says the baka that charged head on without even asking us!"

"Both of you need to stop fighting if we want to pass," Hinata said, making herself heard. The other two turned to face her and muttered apologies.

"I told Sasame-san earlier but I think we all need to work together, Kurenai-sensei is much to skilled for one of us to take down." Naruto nodded in understanding.

"I guess you're right, sorry about going off by myself." Naruto apologized to Sasame.

Hinata then turned to face Naruto, her heart was beating hard, being this close to him. The bush was a tight squeeze for the three, despite all of them being relatively short for their age. Due to this, Hinata was very close to Naruto and could feel his breath on her shoulder. It took all her willpower to not faint in such an important situation.

"Naruto, do you have any ideas of how we can capture sensei?" Sasame broke the silence, giving Hinata a bit of a reprieve.

Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "Well, she's fast, faster than any of us, so we probably need to trap her."

Sasame shook her head, "We just tried that, but she is a really strong genjutsu user and will just trap us in a genjutsu if we get too close of if things start to head south for her. Sensei is too smart to get trapped."

"Ugh, damn, that sucks." Naruto said, looking through his pouches to take stock when something caught his eye. He still had created some seals with Jiraiya, his thoughts flashed back to his days of training.

"So Naruto, now that you've learned the basics, what do you think is a weakness of being a fūinjutsu user?" Jiraiya asked him as they lay on the grass watching the clouds pass by.

The day had been tough on Naruto, he had learned the Four Corner Teal Barrier, a relatively weak seal compared to its father and mother seals, the Four Crimson Ray Formation and the Four Violet Flame Formation. But this seal didn't require as much chakra and could be performed by a team of four shinobi.

Naruto however, trained by using shadow clones as the four points of anchoring. Despite his large reserves, maintaining the seal took a toll on him, since his control still wasn't the greatest. Jiraiya assured him that with time and training Naruto would probably be able to perform the Four Violet Flames Formation all by himself. The thought just made him giddy with excitement.

The days of training had also birthed a newfound respect for fūinjutsu in Naruto. Jiraiya had shown him some of the seals a sealmaster could perform and his displays had Naruto starry eyed and giggling like a small child. It seemed that nothing could be stronger than this ninja art.

"Ha, that's a trick question! There are no downsides!" Naruto said happily as a frog-shaped cloud floated by.

In a split second, Jiraiya's fist buried itself into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. As he regained his breath he looked angrily at his teacher who was looking back with the same amount of rage.

"Just how thickheaded are you? After writing seals for this long you still think there are no weaknesses!" H angrily shouted.

"I don't know about fūinjutsu I know that you have weaknesses!" Naruto called out, disappearing in a poof of smoke, "Oooh please Jiraiya, don't be so tough on me… I'm so fragile" A naked female called out to a now mumbling mess that used to be Jiraiya.

Again the smoke exploded and revealed an annoyed looking Naruto, "Okay ero-sennin, now that you're all cooled off, maybe you could tell me what I should know about fūinjutsu."

Jiraiya shook his head and wiped his now bloody nose. "Once again, don't call me that, but, if you really want to know, think about it," He said, gesturing to the pens and paper strewn about, "How long did it take you to write the tags for the seal?"

Naruto scratched his head. At first, when he was learning the seal, it would take him about ten minutes to fully create all four anchor points. Now he could whip up all four within two minutes. The more he thought about it, the more it clicked.

"It takes too long to make?" He said hesitantly, worried he might get the answer wrong again.

Jiraiya rolled his eyes and nodded, "Basically had to spell it out for you huh. Well yes, at this point, most seals you make will take much too long to create to actually be useful in battle. There are techniques that can create instantaneous seals but that will come later, when I think you're ready." He said as Naruto tried to interrupt and demand to be taught this new skill.

"As a fūinjutsu user, you will usually not bring a lot of supplies with you since they'll just slow you down, but you still bring them in case you need to make more while you are in safety. In battle you will probably not find enough time to create these seals, especially if you face strong opponents." Jiraiya said, reliving his past battles and several times when he had gone in unprepared. "That's why it's important for you to make some seals ahead of time, based on what your mission is, those pre-made seals will be different, but for now, I want you to create at least six exploding tags, four flash seals, and one barrier seal."

Naruto gave him a mock salute and a wide grin, "Yes sir ero-sennin!" earning a grumble from Jiraiya.

Kurenai was walking through the woods on the edge of the clearing. She knelt down and felt the dirt underneath her. It was soft, in comparison to most of the hard ground nearby. Someone had been here recently. She could use her chakra and mold it to allow her to sense their chakra signatures, but they were only genin, besides, she enjoyed old school tracking every now and then.

Snapped twigs and fallen leaves led her to a bush that could be big enough to hide her students. She called out, "Technically, it's supposed to be you finding me but I'll let that slide if you can capture me now."

A whistling of kunai alerted her as she turned and saw several of the blades flying towards her. A shocked look came on her face when she saw some tags ablaze among the flying metal. She pushed chakra into her legs and jumped up into the tree above to avoid the subsequent explosion. From the trees around her appeared her students. She dropped back into the clearing to face the three.

"Well, it seems that Naruto wants to work with the team now hmm?" She said, "Well that's fine by me, we'll see if it can make a difference."

Naruto just smirked, "Oh you have no idea what we have planned for you!" Making a cross seal, he made Kurenai audibly gasp.

Fifty clones appeared in the forest around her and as one they charged her. In a flurry of fists, legs and orange. There was a speck of red and white where Kurenai was moving faster than the eye could track, How many clones can he make? The sheer amount of chakra he has is just incredible!

She was channeling chakra into the clones, altering their perception of her position slightly so that she could take them out easier.

Hinata signaled to Sasame who nodded in understanding, the two Kunoichi then threw another volley of Kunai each. Some of them had tags on them that started to burn up. Kurenai's eyes widened as she rolled back to avoid the explosion, she was sure would come. However, all that happened was and awful ringing in her ears as several flash seals went off. She ignored the pain and rushed towards Naruto who was rummaging around in his pack, looking for something.

Just as she was about to reach him, familiar blue chakra threads appeared in front of her and forced her to handspring backwards. She turned and looked towards Sasame approvingly. Very good, it seems like they have a plan in place. She then jumped up into the air as Hinata struck the air with an open palm. Kurenai landed behind Hinata who spun around and thrust again with her arms.

Kurenai knew better than to try and counterattack. Against the Gentle Fist, even glancing blows could be painful at best. She had to make a genjutsu that could get past the Byakugan. Usually this was occurred by layering several genjutsus onto each other in order to make illusions seem true. She started to slowly probe Hinata's chakra system and gradually introduce her chakra, however, just as her initial genjutsu was about to take hold, she felt it shatter to pieces.

Had she made a mistake? Or was Hinata on very high alert since falling prey to it before? Her perception with the Byakugan must be better than she gives herself credit for. Kurenai then looked towards her blond-haired student, it seems like my hunch was right.

Kurenai then used her speed to escape the close quarters battle with Hinata and threw back kunai, forcing the young girl to leap back to avoid getting hit.

As soon as she dealt with one student, another was making themselves known. Sasame, once again attacked her with threads as Kurenai leaped and dodged through the laser lightshow.

However, keeping the strings up was a taxing duty and Sasame was sweating heavily. I can only manage to do this for a little bit longer! But I have to do my part! She turned to Naruto who was next to her in the tree branch.

"Are you ready yet?"

"I dunno, I'm just a clone" The Naruto next to her said, shrugging.

Sasame would have shivered if she wasn't so focused on pushing their sensei, they were vulnerable now since Hinata wasn't nearby to let them know of a genjutsu so Sasame also had her senses on high alert.

"Well, go to the original and ask him to get on it!" She shouted.

The clone was about to speak when he was suddenly dispelled. Kurenai heard another whistling of kunai and turned to see Naruto throw some kunai with sealing tags on them, however, none of them were aimed at her.

She once again jumped up as the kunai embedded themselves in the dirt a few feet behind her. She didn't dare look as her ears were filled with the ringing of the flash seals. On her way down she saw four Naruto's come out of the forest around her, hands placed on the ground as complex kanji covered the earth below her.

Too late.

As soon as she saw it the barrier went up and she was trapped. Her genin had done it.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. In all honestly, she was proud of them for what they just did, albeit against an enemy that wasn't trying to kill them. Still, their teamwork was good, definitely not too much of a worry.

She looked around to inspect the barrier. It was a light blueish-green color, signifying that it was a weak barrier, still, for a mere genin to be able to hold up such a barrier by himself was impressive. Embedded in the seal were safeguards against ninjutsu-aided escape. Such a barrier was only broken by physical force or when the user got too tired.

Naruto smirked as he looked towards his sensei, "Well sensei, do they still let just anybody pass the Academy now?"

Kurenai just laughed and looked at the three students standing side by side, all smiling with pride. She too was proud of them, in sort of an elder-sister way. The skills they all had hidden within them were impressive, she just needed to work on getting them to show them more.

Sasame had shown surprising resolve, despite being caught in the genjutsu before, she had watched herself this time and safeguarded herself from some of the weaker genjutsu Kurenai tried to put on her. The girl also had a respectable stamina, to be able to maintain a state of total awareness while manipulating the chakra threads clearly took a lot out of her. Overall, she had the makings of a strong shinobi.

Hinata was also just as surprising. Given the Byakugan was pretty much a lie detector for genjutsu, that wouldn't be much of a surprise. What was a surprise was her acute perception that allowed her to detect even the smallest traces of foreign chakra. Kurenai was sure that Hinata didn't realize her gift because of her confidence issues, however, when motivated, Hinata really shone through.

Naruto was the most surprising of the three. Given his track record at the Academy, Kurenai was sure that the boy wouldn't be much, despite him knowing the Shadow Clone Jutsu and knowing fūinjutsu. She just couldn't see how he could be as strong as some of his classmates. The boy showed surprising resourcefulness and memory when fighting her one on one. He was more perceptive than most people gave him credit for.

"Well, yes they do," Kurenai said, causing her team's heads to droop, "But it seems like they did good by letting you guys graduate." Instantly the whole team's faces brightened. Sasame smiled softly as Naruto's grin threatened to push his whiskers off his face and Hinata blushed and looked towards the ground.

"Well, take this barrier down and we can go get some lunch. Any suggestions?" Kurenai asked,

As soon as Naruto opened his mouth, Sasame spoke up, "Well I think you know some good restaurant since you said you like to eat with your friends so maybe you should decide sensei!" Naruto's head drooped in disappointment as Hinata tried to comfort him awkwardly, saying something about having variety.

Kurenai smiled at the display, she couldn't have asked for a sweeter team.

A/N: A little shorter chapter, this was put together in a short time because I felt bad for saying I would get this out last week and then delaying it twice. What do you think of the teams? Did you expect them? My justifications are below,

Team 10: Ino-Shika-Cho

self explanatory lol

Team 9: Karin, Tamaki, Kiba

I kind of wanted to put Tamaki and Kiba together since they clash a lot but definitely have skills that could help each other out. I know Tamaki isn't mentioned much in the anime so her abilities are kind of unknown. I don't want to spoil too much but she's a cat user, so yeah... I'll let you think about that. Kiba is a good offensive powerhouse, he is clearly the tank here. And Karin is this team's sensory specialist.

Team 8: Naruto, Hinata, Sasame

So this team is the one with our main characters. I put Hinata and Sasame together since I noticed that in the original Team 8, Hinata was pretty much screwed against fast enemies since there was no-one on the team with the capabilities to ensnare their opponent. You could argue Shino but in my knowledge, he never used his kikachu in that way. Naruto is with them since he provides a lot of offensive strength and defense through fūinjutsu.

Team 7: Sasuke, Sakura, Shino

This team has Sasuke, who is the main offense here, he's got the Uchiha signature jutsu and it very skilled at shuriken jutsu. Sakura is smart and good at making plans on the spot, perfect as a strategist. Shino is also a strong stealth fighter as well as having the ability to help them retreat in case they need to.

I think my teams are pretty balanced but what about you? Also I think I suck at writing fight scenes, how was this chapter?