Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

A/N: This is sort of a X over with Tales of Symphonia, though you don't need to play it to read this.

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Iruka-sensei gathered his clipboard. Due to the uneven (or in this case, even) number of students, there was going to be 1 4-man group. The Village of Sand's ninja group had 4 as well. He looked at the sheet. What idiot made these choices? Uzumaki and Uchiha hated each other, and Haruno and that girl with no known last name were best friends, though Haruno loved Uchiha and the nameless one hated him, almost opposite with Naruto, as Haruno hated him, yet the nameless one thought of him as a little brother.

(The Next Day)

Naruto had his head in his hands, waiting in the room in which everyone was to be divided.

"Hey, Naruto- this is only for the students who didn't fail!"

"What, can't you see the headband!" he asked incredulously to the black-haired kid who was confronting him.

"Can I get through, please?" came a polite voice. Naruto blushed at the sight of the two. His crush, Haruno Sakura, and Mithos, that girl with a boy's name, were standing, waiting to pass. The boy cleared the way.

'No way, they want to sit next to me?' thought Naruto, blushing.

"Naruto, move it! I'm trying to get past!" An invisible weight dropped on Naruto's heart as he glanced to the side. The class idol, Sasuke Uchiha, sat there, paying no attention to the girls or Naruto. Mithos bent over when passing Naruto, bowing.

"Sorry about Sakura. She's in a bad mood today." said Mithos, grinning.

"She's in a bad mood every day," said Naruto, huffing. He glared at Sasuke again. Sakura looked like she was in complete ecstasy, he thought. Mithos really didn't care what Sasuke did. Mithos was the kind of girl whom no boy liked, mostly because she had the worst fashion sense in the world.

He helmet was pulled over her Hitai-ate (the headband), leaving only the insignia showing. The Hitai-ate covered her head like a bandana, so the helmet, who's strands hung loose to frame the face of the brunette, wasn't really necessary. Her outfit was rather plain, for it resembled a simple army outfit with rather large boots, though it was crimson. Around her neck she wore a bell, on which "Corrine" was inscribed in large letters.

(A/N: For the record, she resembles Lloyd Irving (Google it!) with the bell from Sheena Fujibayashi's first ever summon spirit (Google her too, a picture of Corrine might show up).)

Mithos watched as the two boys had a glaring match. She grinned as the boy knocked Naruto into Sasuke, sending them into a kiss.

"Ah… Looks like the idiots have found true love," she said, smirking. Both boys glared at her after they had thrown up blood/breakfast, then continued to barf/lose blood.

"That's not healthy, you know," she stated as Sakura began to beat up Naruto.

"From this day forward, you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but full-fledged Shinobi. But, among the ranks of Shinobi, you are mere novices, lowest of the low. Your greatest challenges lie ahead. The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of our village. We will begin by dividing you into three-man cells. Each of which will be mentored by a Jonin, a more senior ninja…. Who will guide you as you become familiar with your various assignments."

Sasuke glared at Iruka, then to the side. 'Three man cells… Sounds like two too many.'

Sakura's thoughts were garnished with more thoughts of Sasuke. 'It's perfect! I know they'll team me up with Sasuke!'

Naruto had his hand on his cheek, thinking. 'As long as I'm partnered with Sakura… I'lll take anyone else… Except Sasuke!'

Mithos thought along the same lines. 'Cool, I could be with my best friend! As long as the third isn't that bastard Sasuke, I'm fine.'

"There will be one four-man cell, due to an uneven number of students, by the way," said Iruka, looking up from his clip board.

After reading off several names, he flipped the page.

"And next, Cell 7… Haruno Sakura… Uzumaki Naruto…" Naruto cheered as Sakura slumped. "Uchiha Sasuke and Irving Mithos…" Iruka read. This was the first time he had read Mithos' last name. Consequently, she had the same last name as Lloyd the Hero, from a legend about how the world was formed, as well as the "Chosen's Group", Angels, and things that were only myth. There was no way she could be related.

Mithos slumped along with Naruto as Sakura cheered.

"Iruka-sensei! What are you thinking, saddling a most excellent Shinobi like myself with that loser!" yelled Naruto, pointing towards Sasuke.

"…Of the twenty-eight of you, Sasuke has the best grades, Naruto. You would be the bottom of the class if it weren't for Mithos. The idea is to balance your different strengths…. That's why you ended up together!" People began laughing, not so much at Naruto, but at Mithos, who, despite using all the arts seemingly perfectly, ended up with terrible grades on these accounts:

She made a habit of joining Naruto in his pranks often.

She made fun of the teachers.

She was horrid at written tests.

(If you've played Tales Of Symphonia, you know where her horrible grade gene comes from, but also her eloquence with ninja arts.)

"Hmm… Just don't drag me down, dunce!" said Sasuke, as Naruto steamed. 'That Mithos girl… How does she have the worst grades? I've seen her. She almost does everything perfect, though each ends up oddly affected by the elements. Like her duplicate of Iruka, which began to look angry when it had contact with fire, and went on a rampage when contacted with water. "It's the Igaguri Style, Sensei!" she had complained to Iruka-sensei. I have no idea what that is, but Sensei simply implies that style is a myth which no Shinobi could do. It's probably just a flaw.'

"Okay, everyone. I'll be introducing your senior Ninjutsu instructors this afternoon. Until then, you're dismissed!"

"Sasuke is such a jerk…"

Naruto ate lunch, just saying "This Sucks" as many times as he can manage.

'Sasuke lets his guard down when he's eating…' he thought, lassoing Sasuke. The yell was heard by everyone's favorite idiot in red.

"Wha?" She noticed an effigy of Sasuke sneaking out. After Naruto left, she entered to find Sasuke a bit tied up.

Her eyes widened. What had happened? She debated whether to help him or not. He was glaring at her, gesturing to the ropes. She sat next to his head.

"Before I untie you, I'm broke, so…" she slipped a 5 dollar note from his pocket. (I'm just going to call them 'notes' and their dollars like American money.)

He sweat-dropped as she took her time undoing the knots. He thanked her shortly and went out to find Naruto, who was running down the hallway after tricking Sakura.

Mithos pulled down her helmet- a black and red deal with odd symbols on the side.

(Imagine Kratos' helmet he has after he betrays you. If you haven't played Tales Of Symphonia, don't worry about it.)

"Bah…" she said, as they waited in their room for their new Sensei.

Naruto was playing a prank with an eraser, and Sakura's inner self was going nuts over it. Sasuke just huffed.

"No Jonin would be tricked…" However, when the man came through the door, the eraser came crashing down.

"Klutz." stated Mithos. She was grinning under the helmet, however.

"Let's see…. My first impression is… I hate you!" the four sweat-dropped.

Once they were outside, the teacher thought up an activity.

"Now, I'd like you to tell us a little about yourselves."

"Like what?"

"You know, the usual. Your favorite thing, what you hate most, dreams, ambitions, hobbies, things like that," said the Jonin, shrugging.

"Help us out here, coach," said Naruto, "You go first, show us how it's done."

Sakura shrugged. "That's right… After all, you're a complete stranger to us… a mystery." Mithos nodded in agreement.

"I can't give my respect to a nameless teacher," she concurred.

"Oh, me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes and dislikes! My dreams for the future are none of your business, but anyway, I have lots of hobbies…" He said, finishing.

"Hey…" said Sakura, looking at Mithos, "He said a lot, but all we really learned was his name."

"True. That's what happened when I first met Grandpa Igaguri." said Mithos, shrugging.

"Okay, now it's your turn. Let's start with you on the right."

"Me, right?" said Naruto. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! what I like is instant cup ramen! What I like even better is when Master Iruka treats me to ramen at the ICHIRAKU Noodle Bar! What I hate is the three minute wait after I pour in the boiling water. My dream is to one day… Be a better Shinobi than Lord Hokage! Then the villagers will have to acknowledge my existence at last!" he said, adjusting his headband.

Kakashi's visible eye widened, before he quickly returned it to it's original state of boredom.

'Well, hasn't he turned out interesting…'

"My hobbies are… Pranks and practical jokes, I guess."

"Next." said Kakashi, running his fingers through his hair.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are plenty of things I hate, but I don't see how that matters, considering there is almost nothing I do like. It seems pointless to talk about "dreams"… That's just a word…. But what I do have is determination. I plan to restore my clan. And there's someone I have sworn…" Sasuke paused, adding dramatic effect, "To kill."

Naruto looked dumbstruck, and thought, 'I hope it isn't me…'

'He's so cool!' thought Sakura.

'There's no meaning in dying, just like dad says, even if they're evil…' thought Mithos, frowning.

'I expected a much,' thought Kakashi.

After Sakura's romantic rambling, it was Mithos' turn.

"I am Mithos Fujibayashi Irving. I like life and spiders. I hate death and men. My dream is… to be a better ninja that my mother, a better swordsman than that of my father, a better healer than that of my Aunt, and a better magic user than that of my grandfather. Kapeesh?" said Mithos. "My hobbies are… Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and… Singing, I guess." she finished, flicking a piece of dirt of her foot.

'I thought young girls were more interested in love than Ninjutsu…' thought Kakashi, though decided Mithos was heavily out of place.

"Enough."

"I believe we all understand one another. Formal training begins tomorrow."

"Yes, sir! What will our duties be! Our first real Shinobi mission!" said Naruto, overly hyper.

"Our first project involves only the members of this cell," began Kakashi, "It's survival exercises."

"Survival exercises?" asked Naruto. Sasuke and Mithos were silent.

"But why would that be a mission? Our school days were full of survival training!" said Sakura, glaring at Kakashi.

"But you'll have to survive… Against me. It won't be your typical practice."

"And what kind of practice will it be?" asked Naruto.

Kakashi snickered.

"What are you laughing about, Master Kakashi?" asked Sakura.

"He's probably laughing about the fact that we're so confident." said Mithos, frowning.

"Oh, nothing… Just that… If I told you, You'd chicken out!" said Kakashi.

"Chicken out! Why!" asked Naruto and Mithos in unison.

"Of the twenty-eight members of your graduating class, only nine, ten if your team makes it, will actually be accepted as junior-level shinobi. The other eighteen must go back for more training. The test we are about to perform has a 66 percent rate of failure." Naruto looked outraged, Sakura gulped, Sasuke sweat dropped and Mithos fell over backwards.

After a lot of joking around from kakashi, and some complaining from the students, they headed home. Naruto practiced all night, Sasuke studied, Sakura studied as well, and Mithos…

Slept.

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A/N: To be continued. Please review!