New story idea of mine, hope you all like. The idea comes from, of course, all the Naruto stories where the question of 'what would happen if Naruto was on another team?' is posed. The only one that I have read that is actually good is Team 8 by S'TarKan (in my fav's and is defiantly worth a read, if you haven't already), and stuff like 'A Mothers/Fathers love' stories, by lord of the land of fire.

Now while all great stories, those lacked the Naruto/Sasuke friendship/rivalry that I feel is vital to both characters, so I thought I'd take a shot at that. So I am going to be swapping Sakura for Hinata.

While I like the character of Sakura, I am more of a Hinata fan boy. Especially NaruHina (Good thing too, cause the recent events of the manga, chapter 469, cements to me at least that NaruSaku wont happen, I wont give spoilers but based on that I think Naruto will be seeing Sakura in another light, and subsequently Hinata in a whole new light as well.

I'm off subject, never the less, the beginning of this story will follow Cannon fairly closely, eventually it will be deviating from that story line so not to worry, and I won't be just rewriting the manga with Hinata in Sakura's place.

So, with all that said, on with the disclaimer and the story.

I neither own nor get any form of monetary compensation for this work of fan fiction; all characters belong to Kishimoto Masashi -Sama.

Naruto Retold

Chapter One

After the incident with Mizuki, Iruka went to his office to complete and file the paperwork for one last passing student. The pride that he felt was indescribable. It forced him to reevaluate his original thoughts on Naruto.

He knew the gaki was a good kid; he was simply a bit scatter-minded. He had thought that Naruto, while a good kid, was simply not cut out for Shinobi life. But he hated the thought of being the one to dash the poor orphan's dreams.

He had seemed so sure of himself this past afternoon, but still could not control his chakra enough to create three simple bunshin. And though it hurt to do it, Iruka simply could not let the kid go out into the dangerous life of a ninja.

But the event of this evening proved to him otherwise.

Naruto was not without talent, that kid has such a raw potential, Iruka had moments where he thought that all of Naruto's boasts may be proven accurate.

He sat at his desk filling out the necessary forms and another one caught his eye, a copy of the roster that he had written up with the suggestions of the teams for the Hokage to review and approve.

He would have to add Naruto to this list; thankfully it would not be too difficult as with Naruto it created an even ten squads.

And so Naruto, being the last in the class, would be placed with the first as was tradition to balance out the team.

Uchiha Sasuke…Naruto would not thank him for that, on the plus side that squad could have Haruno Sakura, she was around the middle of the class. She was passable in weapons and combat, she excelled in Chakra control, and she was first in the class with academics.

He had reviewed all the children's files carefully and Sakura's stood out among the konoichi. There was another Konochi's records from 37 years back Iruka remembered looking up, and Haruno Sakura shows now, all the potential that the great Lady Tsunade did back then…perhaps even more so.

Iruka was also quite aware of his trouble making student's infatuation with the pink-haired girl, and perhaps Naruto could even handle being teamed with Sasuke if he had her there to look forward to.

He was about to write Naruto's name along side them when his pen paused, "No this is wrong," he spoke quietly to himself.

He seriously asked himself if this was the best path, it was true that Naruto was obviously crushing on the girl, but she showed him nothing but open contempt and in some cases outright anger and violence.

Not only that, he was struck by a sudden thought, not only that but Sasuke had quite a following of young girls in that classroom, Sakura being one of the most outspoken among them. And he showed nothing but annoyance with all of them.

Placing her with Sasuke would stunt the girls growth, Iruka could almost see Sakura blindly vying for Sasuke's attention, ignoring her training.

No, this will not do.

The boy had a tortured past as well, it was just as sad as Naruto's. Iruka suddenly did not feel it right to place such a group together. It was a group that would result in Naruto's constant physical abuse, Sakura's emotional anguish, and while Iruka could picture a rivalry forming between the two boys, Sasuke could grow still more closed off if he was forced to deal with a love sick girl.

Now that Iruka thought about it, the only one of the young girls that didn't seem to swoon after the Uchiha was Hyuuga Hinata; as a matter of fact she seemed to…

OoOoO

Umino Iruka shifted a bit painfully in his seat, a slight complaint in his back. He was seated before the Hokage who was reviewing the recent revisions the younger man had just brought to him. The only part that remained was convincing the older man to agree.

The older mans looked up, a look of concern and a slightly furrowed brow on his face, "Iruka you should really see the medics for that injury."

"I will Hokage-sama," he promised. "I just wanted to let you see the revised suggested teams."

Sarutobi nodded slightly, and laid the paper on his desk. "I notice that you changed a couple of the teams around, could you give your reasoning?" He lifted the paper again and waved it slightly, not in anger but misunderstanding, his head cocking slightly to the left.

"Is it an unsatisfactory assessment?" Iruka asked.

"I would simply like to know your reasoning Iruka," the old man said. "In your previous groupings we had a team that was to be tracking specialists; I believe that an Aburame, and Inuzuka and a Hyuuga were the perfect team for this purpose." He paused and lit his pipe, taking a couple of drags he continued.

"Why the sudden change in your decision?" He questioned and Iruka found himself wondering if he spotted a knowing smile on the other mans face.

Iruka ignored this as it seemed to vanish in an instant, leaving the calm, stoic face the Hokage had just moments before. "I now fell that a team like that would be overly specialized, which could lead to trouble if faced with certain situations they may find themselves lacking in variety."

Sarutobi removed the pipe from his lips and placed it on the ashtray, he leaned back a bit and steepled his hands, peering at academy instructor curiously. "Too much of a good thing, is that right?" he asked lightly.

"In so many words, yes," Iruka agreed. "Haruno Sakura has a lot of potential; she is intelligent, has better chakra control than I do and already has an aptitude for Genjutsu. I feel the Jonin selected for that team, Yuhi Kurenai, would be a good teacher for her."

"I see," Sarutobi responded. "I agree that is a fair assessment, but why do you feel that young Miss Hyuuga will do well with Naruto and Sasuke, as opposed to Sakura?"

Iruka took a deep breath and explained. He told him about the possible trouble that could manifest itself should the team go on as it was originally intended. He explained that Naruto and Sasuke have the beginnings of a rivalry that would push both boys onward to improvement. He talked about how Sasuke had a fan club, that Hinata alone seemed impervious to, and having one of those girls would be detrimental to the both of them.

He even said that Hinata seemed to be inspired by the blonde trouble maker.

"Does she now?" Sarutobi asked with mild interest.

"She is shy to be sure," Iruka stated. "And I feel that time with Naruto would help bring her out of her shell and help her reach her full potential. Also, should she get over this shyness it would give Naruto what we both know he desperately needs."

"Which is?"

"A friend, a true friend that acknowledges him for who he is," Iruka said quietly. "The boy has been alone for too long, and while Sasuke can be a good competition for him, allowing Naruto to better himself. Hinata could offer him a friendship that, as of now, no one is willing to do."

Iruka fell silent while the wizened old man nodded thoughtfully, "you seem to have given this quite a bit of thought, Iruka," he said with a smile.

"Hai."

Sarutobi nodded on last time, "agreed." With that he stamped and signed the form.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Iruka said.

"Now leave, and get that back of yours looked at," Sarutobi said with a slight chuckle.

OoOoO

Authors note: Yes I know this is a short chapter, but have to set up the story and all. All the same please review. Also I am taking suggestions as far as the title of this story, Naruto: Retold was all I could think of, and while it fits I think it could be better.

Hope to hear form you all.

Thanks for reading.