Chapter 1: Realized Dreams

Warning: The following is a rehash of chapters 3 and 4, written in a way to get inside the minds of the characters. Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto. I reserve no rights to his works. Enjoy.

All of the genin in the room were apprehensive about learning of their new jounin sensei. Some of the students were nonchalantly discussing everyday life with their friends, but they were all nervous about the coming news. Each student sat in a long desk, designed to seat 3 kids. The desks were layered in a rising fashion, and there were 5 rows of 2 sets of desks, to house the 27 students in the classroom.

Sitting all the way in the back of the class was a very shy, 12 year old girl. She anxiously placed her forefingers together, waiting for the news of her assignment. She wore a white hooded jacket with fur on the bottom, and black calf length pants. Her right thigh was tightened with bandages as a placeholder for her shuriken holster, and her kunai pouch was located on the back of her pants.

She had short, dark blue hair that reflected light brightly. But her most defining feature was her pure, pupiless, pearl white eyes. If you can gaze into her eyes, you could surely see your own reflection. But she would be out cold before you even got the chance to stare for 3 seconds. She was a very timid girl, and as a result did not have many friends. She kept gazing at the third row of desks and saw a young boy with spiky blonde hair and an orange jumpsuit. She was watching her inspiration from afar, as if that drove her to push herself to her limits.

'Oh I really hope I can get into a team with Uzumaki-san." The blue haired girl said. Her name was Hyuuga Hinata. She is the heir for Konohagakure's most illustrious clan. Well, now it is the most illustrious clan, ever since the Uchiha clan was indiscriminately massacred off the face of the earth. Yet, despite her position of power, she did not perform exceedingly well in class. She was average at best, compared to her prodigious cousin Hyuuga Neji. She could never hope to be as strong as he was, and she lamented at the numerous times she has disappointed her father.

Suddenly, the door was slammed open, and two loud girls struggled into the classroom. One was a blonde girl with sea foam eyes and her hair tied to a long ponytail. She wore a dark belly shirt, short skirt, and bandages covering her stomach and upper thighs. The other was a pink haired girl with a sleeveless red shirt and tight dark blue shorts. They were bickering over who entered the classroom first. Hinata giggled to herself. She wished she had a friend who she could get along with like that. She settled with watching Uzumaki Naruto from afar, however.

Finally, the pink haired girl, Haruno Sakura, had taken a seat next to the most out-of-reach student in the Academy, Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke was the only known survivor of the Uchiha clan massacre. He used to be such an outspoken kid when he first started, as Hinata fondly remembered. But he grew cold and detached after that day. If she was not so timid, she would try to make friends with him and Naruto. They both seem so alone.

She saw Naruto brashly leave his seat and jump on top of the desk that Sasuke was sitting next to. He and Sasuke exchanged death glares, seeming to get ready to burst at any given second.

"Hey Uzumaki!" shouted Sakura in an enraged tone. She, like most of the girls in the Academy, was hopelessly infatuated with the dark and mysterious teenager, so she took offense with Naruto staring at Sasuke with the intent to kill. "Get out of Sasuke-kun's face!" She held her fists tightly; ready to knock the life out of him at any given moment.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, for people who do enjoy this kind of humor), the student in the seat below Naruto and Sasuke abruptly arose, knocking Naruto right towards Sasuke. Their lips locked quickly, and they were engaged in the most wet, passionate kiss both of them ever had in their lives. Truth be told, it was a nightmare for both of them. They both looked mortified at the fact that they were kissing, and immediately disengaged their locked lips to remove any vile, venomous residue left in their mouths.

"Naruto you bastard, I'll kill you!" screamed Sasuke wrapping his hands around his neck in an attempt to cease swallowing any saliva from the wet kiss.

"Ahh!" cried Naruto. "My mouth is rotting!" He was doing the same thing as Sasuke, trying his hardest to stop himself from accidently swallowing Sasuke's saliva.

Unbeknownst to the two "star-crossed" lovers, a certain Hyuuga caught sight of the accidental smooch. 'Uzumaki-kun is kissing Uchiha-san?!' she skeptically thought. She immediately fainted after the thought.

Uzumaki Naruto was a wreck. He had a black eye and several bruises covering every aspect of his face. When he sensed the mind-boggling amount of killer intent next to him, he knew it was too late to justify the mistake that just occurred. Sakura simply brutalized him, and she was joined by the rest of the "Sasuke Fan Club." He was a bloody pulp by the time they were through with him. He was going to make sure that Sasuke paid for this one day.

After a while of hopelessly remembering his sorrows, the door opened and an older man entered the room. He wore the traditional outfit of a chuunin and had a large scar on his face. He tied his hair to a spiky, straight-up ponytail. He had a smile on his face, as he was witnessing the graduating class finally receiving the team assignments, and he was equally ecstatic about reading them off.

He cleared his throat to get the classroom's attention. Everyone was silent in anticipation of receiving their team and jounin, beginning their careers as shinobi.

"Beginning today all of you are real ninja," the scar faced chuunin began. "But you are still merely 'genin.' The hard part has just started."

Naruto was simply mesmerized by the words of his sensei, Umino Iruka. He is quite grateful to him for graduating him this year. Originally he was supposed to have failed, unable to produce a simple Bunshin. With the face off against Mizuki, however, he demonstrated that he could effectively use a jounin- level ninjutsu, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. He formed hundreds of perfect, solid clones instead of the ethereal clones a normal Bunshin no Jutsu would produce, and proceeded to overwhelm Mizuki by sheer force of numbers. That earned him the right to graduate.

Now he was to take his place among his peers. This excited him to no bounds. Little did he know, the bruises on his body were rapidly healing, so he was no longer bothered by the aches and pains from the assault of the femme fatale.

"Now…" Iruka continued. "You will soon be assigned duties by the village. So today we will be creating 3 man teams…" He paused to see the reaction of the kids. Most of them knew about the 3 man teams, and several were dozing off, like Nara Shikamaru, the resident slacker of the Academy. He noticed that Hyuuga Hinata was not in her seat. How odd… "And each team will have a Jounin sensei. You will follow that sensei's instructions as you complete the assigned duties."

Naruto was already coming up with prospects for his ideal team. 'Sakura-chan… then… Anyone besides Sasuke!' Naruto thought to himself. He shares a bit of a one-sided rivalry against Sasuke. He was annoyed with the fact that every girl in the Academy was infatuated with him for no apparent reason. Sure, he was the sole survivor of his clan's massacre. Sure he was detached and did not give a damn about the comings and goings of the class, which added points to his "coolness." Sure he may be a genius with the highest grades in the Academy, and awarded with Rookie of the Year. But none of those things matter in the field of battle. Naruto knew he could kick Sasuke's ass at any given point of time…he just need to train more so he could fight on Sasuke's level.

Sakura, on the other hand, was a very attractive kunoichi. Much like her rival, Yamanaka Ino, both girls were very pretty and had a sense of grace. Sure she may have a gaping forehead, but that meant nothing to Naruto. Her eyes were all that mattered to him. Such clear green eyes must be a rarity. They were simply so beautiful.

"Sensei, what happened to Mizuki-sensei?" one of the Academy kids asked.

"I'm sorry but Mizuki will not be joining us for your graduation and ascension." Iruka said, noting the sighs of several young women. "Anyways, in order to ensure the success of group dynamic, we tried to balance each team's strengths." The class was in an uproar. They were all hoping to be in teams with their friends or romantic interests. Many of them were disappointed. To Naruto's left, Sakura's eyes enflamed with a passion too intense for any normal person. She was going to join a team with Sasuke, no matter what it took. Several rows behind, another blonde kunoichi burned with the same desire.

Iruka went off with a list of teams and names. Some students were excited about the teams that were chosen, but others expressed outright disappointment. Finally, he reached Team 7.

"Next, Team 7, led by jounin Hatake Kakashi. Uzumaki Naruto…"

He was very excited, who was going to be in his team?

"Uchiha Sasuke…"

He face planted on the desk. Of all people to be in his team, why did it have to be the prick, Sasuke? He couldn't imagine his dumb luck. Right next to him, Sakura was livid. If she was going to be in a team with Naruto, she'd rather die.

"…and Hyuuga Hinata."

Both Naruto and Sakura were stunned silent. 'Hyuu-what?' Naruto asked in confusion. Sakura, on the other hand, was beginning to sob away her sorrows. She was not going to be in a team with Sasuke after all. Sasuke was merely uninterested in the selection of his team. However, he was interested in the capabilities of the Hyuuga. He would have to test her out later to see if she is truly strong.

"Iruka-sensei!" shouted Naruto in extreme frustration. "Why does an outstanding Ninja like me have to be on the same team as that bum?!" He was extremely angry. Not only did he get into a team with no Sakura, but he also got into a team with the person he hated the most. The stuck-up, know-it-all, pretty boy. He was also in a team with some random girl he had no idea even existed.

"Sasuke's grades were first among all 27 graduates…" Iruka explained. "Naruto…you were dead last…" The entire class roared into laughter. They enjoyed the idea that Naruto was dead last. "We have to do this to balance the teams, understood?"

The class was still laughing. Some kids were even mockingly pointing at Naruto, who was the dead last of the class. A lot of students do not even know how he was in the room with them, considering the fact that he failed his final exam. Hinata would be angry at them if she was not still knocked unconscious. Apparently, nobody noticed she was out cold yet. Except for Aburame Shino, who was the most aware of the entire class. But he was indifferent about letting Hinata know that she was in a team.

Naruto took the news seriously. He knew his grades were bad, but to be called dead last in front of the entire class? He was used to the mocking and ridicule from the villagers, so the laughing did not even faze him. But it was a wakeup call. He had to get better if he wants to prove himself, if he wants to become Hokage.

"Next, we have Team 8, led by jounin Yuuhi Kurenai. Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Haruno Sakura."

Sakura was really crying right now. Not only did she get placed with the brash dog boy, but also the silent bug guy that no one even knows. He was even more of an enigma then Hinata.

"Team 9 is still in rotation from last year, so we'll end with Team 10, led by jounin Sarutobi Asuma. Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akimichi Chouji."

From behind him, Naruto could hear a notable cry of despair. Ino and Sakura were both sharing the same thoughts. It was a wonder why they are not best friends.

"That is all for this class." Iruka concluded. "Your jounin sensei will be here momentarily. Once again, congratulations on becoming shinobi of Konohagakure. May the Will of Fire burn bright within your souls."

Hinata opened her eyes. 'How long was I out?' she wondered. The last thing she remembered was Naruto and Sasuke exchanging a kiss. Suddenly, her cheeks flushed a deep pink color. She was very embarrassed just thinking about the incident, but she was more embarrassed about her reaction. If people did not know what she felt about Naruto before, they definitely knew now. Fortunately for her, most of the class ignored her fainting. In fact, nobody even bothered to check on the rather loud *thump* sound from the back of the room.

She got up from her resting spot. She noticed that the entire classroom was empty, but she could make out two silhouettes all the way out front. She walked up to the two in order to find out what happened with the rest of the class.

"Um…" she said, stammering on her voice. "W-where is the class?"

One of the silhouettes turned to meet her. It was Naruto who answered her question.

"Gone." He answered. "Now all that's left is you, me and the arrogant bastard over there." Sasuke was apathetic about the mumblings of a loser, so he did not bother to return the insult. Instead, he turned to look Hinata in her eyes. His dark onyx eyes were definitely the opposite of Hinata's light, pearly whites, practically a symbol for the former rivalry between the two clans.

"Uzumaki-kun!" She screamed silently. She turned away to make sure he could not see her intense blush. "A-are you and U-Uchiha-san the only ones here?" There was no one in the room, which could only mean one thing…

"Yeah." Naruto responded. "Everyone else left with their jounin sensei. We are the only ones left, which sucks!"

Hinata was feeling hazy. She really was in the same team as Naruto! She could not believe that this was happening. She did not think she would deserve such a chance. She let out a little smile before turning to face her new teammates.

"I-it's an honor to be t-teammates with both of you!" Hinata said excitedly. She bowed profusely multiple times to express her honest excitement over the team placement. Naruto was confused. Never in his life had he ever met a person so polite, considering the tenant he was holding in his gut. Sasuke, on the other hand, was rather amused. He could not help but let off a small smirk. He knew that he and Hinata's clans were rivals for prestige in the village. For her to be bowing to him like this gave a boost to his already immense pride.

"Hehe…" Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. He had no idea what to do in this situation, since the people he met on a daily basis greeted him with scorn and hatred. "It's alright, I guess. You could stop bowing now."

Hinata blushed. Maybe her greeting was over-exaggerated. But she was very happy to be in the same team as her inspiration. Maybe this would help her get over her timid nature.

"GAH!" Naruto shouted. "This is soooooo boring! Our sensei hasn't even come for like 3 hours!" Naruto was rather agitated at the extreme tardiness of their new sensei. He wanted to get started doing missions already. "Speaking of which, when did you get here?"

Hinata almost tripped over at the question. She was here in the classroom all this time. Did no one really know that she was present? She really needed to work on asserting her presence.

Naruto did not care for Hinata's answer however. He grabbed an eraser from the blackboard, and opens the door by a jar. He snapped the chalky eraser in place and waited for his little booby trap to activate.

"U-Uzumaki-kun, you r-really shouldn't d-do things like that…" Hinata said, her voice trailing off at the end.

"Pft," Sasuke incoherently said, shrugging his new teammate's misdemeanor aside. "Like a jounin is going to fall for such a simple booby trap…" If he did, Sasuke would be incredibly disappointed.

Then the door opened. Without the door trapping the eraser in place, it fell on the top of the silver-haired man. Chalk dust clouded his one eye, while his other eye was protected by a diagonally shifted hitai-ate. He wore a mask over his nose and mouth, making his right eye the only visible aspect of the jounin's face. He wore traditional jounin attire, with his flak jacket and his right thigh tightened by bandages.

"GYAHAHAHAHAHA!" Naruto rolled over laughing. He gave himself a mental pat on the back for his job well done. "You fell for it!"

"U-Uzumaki-san…" Hinata stuttered. She was terribly nervous as to what their sensei was going to think now.

'This is a jounin?' Sasuke thought in disappointment. 'He doesn't seem very reliable…'

The silver-haired jounin placed his right hand under his chin in deep contemplation…or what seems to be deep contemplation. His face displayed an inhuman amount of carelessness.

"Hmmm…" the jounin began. "How can I say this…My first impression is…I hate you guys!" The jounin's voice was nonchalant in his announcement, but it left its mark nonetheless. Both Sasuke and Naruto lowered their shoulders in surprise. Hinata took it to a whole other level, however.

"S-sensei hates me?" Hinata stuttered bewildered. She did not want to make a bad impression on her sensei, and she failed at that too. She shortly fainted after her sensei's impression, leaving the room very silent.

The silver-haired jounin finally broke the silence. "…does she do this often?"

Naruto and Sasuke merely shrugged their shoulders. Naruto was the one to reply. "I don't know; I barely know the girl."

'Perfect…' the laidback jounin said. 'This is definitely more trouble than it's worth'

"Well then. You, the blonde shrimp. Carry the girl and meet me on the rooftop in 10 minutes." He then disappeared in a shunshin, much to the frustration of Naruto.

Hinata awoke feeling rather pleasant. She had a wonderful dream that Naruto was carrying her and walking off with her into the sunset. She could not help but blush at such an embarrassing thought.

"Oh, so you are finally awake?" asked Naruto grumpily.

"O-oh my goodness, I am so sorry Uzumaki-kun…" Hinata said apologetically. It seems to be her dream was an actuality. Naruto was indeed carrying her, if only to the roof of the Academy. She got off of Naruto's back, content with walking on her own, but she is going to cherish that moment for as long as she lived.

"You sure you don't want me to carry you?" Naruto asked squinting his eyes.

"Yes, Uzumaki-kun. I'll be fine on my own." Hinata was still blushing, deeply embarrassed about just being carried by her idol.

"Geez, stop it with the 'Uzumaki-kun' crap! My name is Naruto ya know."

"R-right." She said apologetically. "N-Naruto-kun…is that okay with you?"

"Ugh," Naruto sighed in hopeless frustration. "Forget it, do what you want…" Naruto was really starting to get a headache from all of the formalities. He was not used to being treated so kindly before, and here he is now. He has to get used to the extreme politeness. Sasuke let off a little chuckle, indicating that he is getting some sort of amusement from Naruto's frustrations.

They arrived at the rooftop. Their jounin sensei was already there, reading what appears to be an orange book. The rooftop had an amazing view of the village that both Naruto and Hinata could marvel at for hours. Naruto was also very excited about being able to see the Hokage Monument from there. The Yondaime Hokage was his idol, and he strived to surpass him in every possible way.

"Ok…" the jounin began, closing his book. "Let's begin with some introductions."

"What do ya wanna know?" Naruto asked quizzically.

"How about…" The jounin said in deep thought. "Your likes, dislikes…dreams for the future, hobbies, stuff like that."

"Um…" Hinata said in a low voice. "W-why don't you begin, sensei?"

"Well, if you insist." The jounin said, preparing to introduce himself. "My name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys about my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hmm… Well, I have lots of hobbies." He gave a smile from underneath his mask telling the three genin that was all he was going to say.

'All we got to learn was his name…' Sasuke thought unsatisfied. 'Well, that's definitely a start.'

"How about you, Blondie?" Kakashi asked.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto." Naruto began. "I like cup ramen! What I like even more is the restaurant ramen Iruka-sensei buys me. What I dislike is waiting 3 minutes for the cup ramen to cook. My dream…"

'Does he think about anything besides ramen' Kakashi thought with earnest interest.

"…is to surpass Hokage! And then…have all the people of this village acknowledge my existence!" Naruto placed both his hands on his hitai-ate and shifted it left and right to further his point of becoming the Hokage.

'He's grown in an interesting way…' Kakashi thought. He was certain that the isolation, neglect, and maltreatment of the boy would harbor ill will against all the villagers. But instead, he channeled all of that hate into a goal, one that will allow everyone to respect him for the achievements he accomplished by becoming Hokage. That was a truly admirable goal, in Kakashi's eyes.

'Naruto-kun, you're amazing!' Hinata thought to herself. It was exactly this kind of firm conviction that she looked up to Naruto for. His unyielding resolution inspires her to try to step herself up so that she too can become a better person.

Sasuke, on the other hand, could care less about the blonde's goals and aspirations. So long as Naruto did not interfere with his path, he was free to do as he pleases.

"Hobbies…" Naruto continued. "Pranks I guess?" The atmosphere of awe towards Naruto's dreams immediately died down after he revealed his hobbies. 'I see…' was all that Kakashi thought.

"Alrighty then," Kakashi said, moving on to the next person. "Miss pearly whites, you go next."

"Um…M-my name is Hyuuga Hinata…" Hinata stuttered in a low voice that could barely be heard by everyone. "I-I like cooking and making medicine…I dislike…when people are mean to others, especially for no reason…My dream…my dream is to become a w-worthy heiress of the H-Hyuuga clan…"

'Intriguing. This girl is not like most kunoichi I've met in the past couple of years.' Kakashi thought in admiration. 'Her goal is just as lofty, but just as admirable as Naruto's…they'll both go a long way.'

'Wow!' Naruto thought in amazement. 'Hinata's pretty amazing for a girl. If she doesn't hit hard like Sakura-chan, I think we may become good friends!'

Sasuke sucked his teeth at the mention of "heir." He was reminded that he is the only surviving member of the Uchiha clan, and that it will be difficult to inherit the clan if there is nobody to lead. He found himself slightly jealous of Hinata's position and the fact that she still had her family and clan around.

"…I-I like to press flowers…that is all…" she bowed very low to Kakashi, as a sign that she had completed her assignment.

'Well, we definitely need to work on her self-confidence.' Kakashi concluded. "Finally, Mr. Dark-and-Broody."

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," he said coldly, hands tucked under his chin. "There are tons of things I dislike, but I don't really like anything. And…I don't use the word 'dream' but…I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and…to kill a certain man."

The rooftop got awkwardly silent. Unlike the dreams of Naruto and Hinata, who hoped to improve themselves, the goal of Sasuke was far more dark and ominous. That goal made both Naruto and Hinata shudder in fright. 'He better not mean me...' Naruto thought still shuddering.

'…I thought so…' Kakashi thought. He knew about the tragedy of the Uchiha clan, and concluded that Sasuke may be after the life his brother, Uchiha Itachi, the perpetrator. Sasuke's life was ideal until Itachi mindlessly slaughtered everyone he knew and loved. It's only the logical conclusion to believe someone would want revenge after that incident.

'Now, let's rehash the introduction, shall we. I have the host of the Kyuubi, who wants to become the Hokage. The heiress of the Hyuuga clan, who wants to prove her worth. And the sole survivor of the Uchiha clan, who seeks vigilante justice. What would Shikaku say at this moment…troublesome…'

"That's enough of that." Kakashi concluded, satisfied with all the introductions. "We will start our duties tomorrow."

"Yay!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly. "What kinda duties! Duties! Duties!" He was so excited that he simply could not stop himself from shaking.

"First we are going to do something with just the four of us." Kakashi stated.

"What?! What?!" Naruto shouted voicing anger at the delay.

"Survival training." Kakashi merely said.

Naruto and Hinata were both confused at the prospect. They knew enough about survival from the lessons in the Academy, Hinata more than Naruto.. Why simply redo everything they just learned? Sasuke just did not look the slightest bit interested.

"I'm your opponent, but this isn't normal training" Kakashi continued.

"Then! Then! What is it?!" Naruto asked impatiently.

Instead of answering directly, Kakashi just started laughing. Even Sasuke was confused as to the odd behavior of their sensei.

"Um…sensei…c-could you tell us what so funny?" Hinata asked, still stuttering.

"No…" he started. "Well…It's just that…When I tell you this you guys are definitely going to flip."

'Just stop beating around the bush already!' Sasuke thought irritatingly.

"Flip?" Naruto asked confused. He did not come to the same conclusion as Sasuke did; Kakashi was adamantly refusing to give any details about tomorrow's duties, and simply just saying things around in a circle. "Ha?"

Kakashi put his right hand around his visible eye and gave a disturbingly menacing look to the three genin. "Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be chosen as genin." He unveiled. "The rest will be sent back to the Academy. This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66%!"

Naruto jump back in extreme fright. Hinata flinched hard as well. An exam with a 66% failure rate? He would most definitely be thrown back into the Academy! He found himself subconsciously holding tightly to Hinata for moral support. Hinata, on the other hand, just fainted on his arms.

"Haha!" Kakashi laughed. "I told you you'd flip…"

"What the hell?!" Naruto screamed, letting go of Hinata. The loud *thump* sound of a human body hitting the floor alerted everybody to the unconscious female.

'I seriously need to get used to this…' Kakashi thought with a mental sigh.

"But we worked so hard…" Naruto continued, ignoring Hinata's body lying on his feet. "Then what was the point of graduating?!"

"Oh…That?" Kakashi said. "That's just to select those that have a chance to become genin." He was so casual about his response, as if the 66% chance failure rate had nothing to do with him.

"Uh…What?!" Naruto was livid. He tried so hard, just to be given another test that really determined his fate as a ninja.

"Anyway, tomorrow you will be graded on the training field." Kakashi said, ready to conclude his meeting with his genin. "Bring all of your shinobi tools. Oh, and skip breakfast, you'll throw up."

Naruto was crying on the inside now. Not only may he actually fail tomorrow's test, but he is also not supposed to eat? 'Well, there goes my morning ramen…' he lamented greatly.

"The details can be read on this printout," Kakashi said, passing out flyers to every single person on Team 7. "Don't be late tomorrow." With that, Kakashi disappeared in a shunshin.

Naruto was terrified. He was scared of going back to the academy, and scared of not being able to achieve his dreams. He came so far from the Academy, failing twice just to finally pass, only to fail again? No, he would not allow that. He can't fail, he just has too many things at stake.

Suddenly, his feet began to ruffle. Hinata was coming together from her third faint of the day.

"Um…Hinata-chan…" Naruto said. "…You really gotta stop fainting. I'm not gonna be here to carry you all the time, ya know."

"I-I'm sorry Uzumaki-kun!" Hinata apologized profusely.

"What did I tell you about my name?" Naruto clarified.

"I-I'm sorry N-Naruto-kun." She bowed over and over again to rectify her mistake.

"Hey, Hyuuga girl." Sasuke suddenly said, and both of them suddenly turned towards him. "I want to spar with you." He never got the chance to spar with the Hyuuga girl during their academy days. As the heiress of the illustrious Hyuuga clan, surely she must have some skill.

"Um…Uchiha-san…I-I don't think we s-should be fighting here…" Hinata said, looking to the ground, the sky, anywhere that was not Sasuke's glare.

"Why do ya gotta pick on little Hinata for?" Naruto asked. He knew that Hinata was terribly shy and she could do nothing about it, yet Sasuke is provoking a fight against her. He could not stand for it.

"Stay out of the way, you loser." Sasuke shouted. "I just want to test the limits of my abilities." Suddenly, he got a flashback to the night of the massacre. Itachi, with his menacing red eyes, gave Sasuke the exact same reason for the massacre, as he left him alive to anguish in the corpse of his friends and family. He bit his lips hard, and blood was flowing out from it.

"If ya wanna fight anyone, fight me!" Naruto announced. "I'll kick your ass any day of the week, including holidays!"

'Naruto-kun…' Hinata said. She was touched by his desire to protect her. Despite the fact he was not really trying to protect her, but rather to get back at Sasuke.

"Tch, fine." Sasuke reluctantly said. "I'll kick your ass first to teach you a lesson; Don't get in my way!"

"We'll see whose face plants the floor first, jackass!" Naruto shouted. He clenched his fists tightly and ran at Sasuke. He tried to knockout Sasuke with a haymaker, but his charge was too predictable. Sasuke effortlessly moved his head sideways and grabbed Naruto's failed punch. He twisted Naruto's arm, causing a lot of pain to Naruto, and proceeded to lift him up for a slam. Naruto's body hit the ground hard, but his face took the brunt of the force. He was bleeding from his nose after landing face first.

Naruto struggled to get up to a sitting position. Hinata rushed to Naruto's side, and she saw that he was bruised badly from the landing. He spat blood on the floor and glared at Sasuke, who turned away.

The red and white gunbai uchiwa of the Uchiha clan was vibrantly visible to both Naruto and Hinata. "I didn't mean to be mean or anything like that to the Hyuuga, stupid." Sasuke said. "I can clearly see she has self-confidence issues, doofus. And I don't care about that. I just wanted to test my strength against the Hyuuga."

"Uchiha-san…" Hinata said, but she was cut off.

"Please, call me Sasuke. I hate stuffy formalities. They're useless. Especially now."

"S-Sasuke-san…" Hinata said, but trailed off. She officially has no idea how her life in Team 7 is going to turn out.

Naruto began to pick himself off the ground to stand. "Sasuke-teme…I will kick your ass!" he announced. He was destroyed in a matter of seconds by a mere throw. "I will become stronger…so that you don't ever disrespect me again!"

Sasuke remained silent. He turned his head towards Naruto and looked at him with a smirk. "…go right ahead. I'll still be better than you, but go ahead, improve yourself. I'm looking forward to the challenge." He walked downstairs, leaving both Hinata and Naruto on the rooftop. A breeze washed the rooftop with a flood of dancing leaves, cementing Naruto's vow of improvement. Hinata looked up at the sky. 'I, too, will become stronger. Naruto-kun, I wish you the best of luck and I will be there for you.'

Naruto's stomach growled horrendously. "Damn, I'm hungry. Gotta go, see ya tomorrow Hinata-chan!" He ran out of the rooftops quickly, eager to eat some food from Ichiraku Ramen.

"B-Bye Naruto-kun." Hinata finally said, waving away nothingness.

From the distance, Kakashi witnessed the events that occurred after he left. 'Hmm, this group dynamic is indeed interesting. Let's see how this turns out' He thought in anticipation. He continued to read a page from his infamous orange book as he vanished with a shunshin.

Hello Everyone!

Blackrazgriz here with an AHITS (Another Hinata in Team Seven.) The premise for the idea came from me desiring to write more. I want to keep writing chapter after chapter for my other Naruto fanfiction, True Paths of Power, but I do not want to overwhelm myself. However, I am not as interested in writing for Conflicting Resolves, ever since I've become hopelessly infatuated with Naruto fanfiction. So here we are.

Hinata is my favorite female character in the series. Her story, her desire to grow stronger, her timid nature, everything about her was just so incredibly well done. It's such a shame she was not a major protagonist in the manga and anime. Well, in my AHITS, she'll have the opportunity to grow out of her shell and become the amazing kunoichi she was always meant to be.

Now, I support NaruHina everyday of the week. I love it, its amazing and I think it works very well. However, I am NOT a writer of romance. In fact, I hate love. Contradictory, yes. But I've learned first hand that love is a bitch, especially with that stupid "Nice Guy Finish Last" mentality that seems to dominate the playing field. I don't want to deal with love in my personal life, so I don't want to deal with love in my fan fiction. Anyone that was expecting Romance as a major theme, get packing, cuz you will surely be disappointed.

That being said, it's not like my story will have no romance at all. It will have hints of romance between Naruto and Hinata here and there, but it won't be blown out of proportion (AKA they go out, make love, have kids, etc.) It will most likely be sweet, cute things. But everyone knows that Naruto is more oblivious than a rock, so he will most likely not catch on.

Haruno Sakura. I was originally planning on having her and Ino be in the same team, and see how that would have gone. But it is far better to have Sakura in Team Kurenai then she would be in Team 10. Kurenai and Sakura share many of the same strengths, and Kurenai would be the perfect mentor for her. As a result, expect a much more stronger, determined Sakura. I don't want to put Sakura in another team then expect her to have the same growth as she did in the manga.

Sasuke Uchiha...let's see how much he will change with Hinata around. With everyone in Team 7 desiring to grow stronger, will he consider them a hinderance, or a boom to his skills?

Two things I'd like to let out of my chest first before anything. One: Honorifics. Many fan fictions seem to get the general gist of honorifics, but they are still using it wrong. Not to say I am using it wrong too; I might, since I haven't taken Japanese in years. However, people are just using it simply because its a Japanese thing to do. Firstly, there are differing levels of respect, depending on the relationship of the people using the honorific. Typically, people meeting with each other will call each other by their family name, then the honorific (i.e. Uzumaki-san) That's the most respectful in the beginning of a relationship. Most Japanese would not even call Naruto "Naruto-san" if they met for the first time. It's even more disrespectful if you called the person "Naruto."

Close friends reserve the right to call others by their given name. For instance, I would be able to call my best friend Jason-san instead of Mota-san, and it would be respectful. Lovers, family members, and very tight friends have the right to remove the honorific entirely. I can call my brother "Jorge" instead of "Jorge-san." If you use honorifics such as -oniisan, -oneesan, -otoosan, etc. you are showing reverence. It's typical to call older family members by their name then a familial honorific, but its not exactly necessary. Hence why Hinata starts off calling Naruto "Uzumaki-kun" instead of "Naruto-kun"; she is very, very polite. Naruto doesn't understand why she is so polite, he's not used to it. So he would rather prefer her calling him "Naruto." But that would be too much for Hinata, so she is okay with simply "Naruto-kun"

Likewise, that is why Sasuke is partially annoyed with Sakura. She thinks she is familiar with him (well she wants to be), so she refers to him as "Sasuke-kun" Sasuke barely knows the girl, so where is she getting off with that? Yet he doesn't want to be called "Uchiha-san" since its a reminder of a family he's lost and will never get back. So he's alright with Hinata calling him by his first name. Honorifics 101 with Blackrazgriz.

Two: the fight with Sasuke. Point being Sasuke at this moment in time is far stronger then Naruto. Naruto is a brash, impulsive teenager who just wants to hit you to hurt. He doesn't care about defense, blocking, grabs, feints, etc. Sasuke, on the other hand, is trained in the Uchiha taijutsu style. He has more flow towards his attacks and defense. So no matter what Naruto did or would do, he was just out matched. I could've made the fight like 5 pages long, but it would be redundant. He would still end up on the floor, battered and bruised to a victoriously smirking Sasuke. The point of the fight is to wake Naruto up to his flaws. He won't fully realize until much later, and that's if you are still with me.

I plan on making chapters 5000-8000 words long. That's the limit. If you are interested, PM me about editing this story and the chapters. I will update every Wednesday, and True Paths of Power every Monday. So enjoy your reads guys. Let's go find some conviction.

-Blackrazgriz 4/24/2013 11:21AM EST

NOTE: Edited chapter at 6/1/2013 3:40PM EST