01- An Unwelcome Welcome

"Now that the students have graduated, we need to decide teams and which jonin shall become their sensei's. Any sug-"

"Hatake Kakashi must become Uchiha-sama's sensei. Nobody else is qualified." An old man sighed as he was interrupted. Sarutobi Hiruzen was an old man, but he was also the Hokage, strongest ninja in the village. He was in a council meeting to decide how to place the new Academy graduates together and who would be best to teach them further. Normally it would just be him and the chunin instructors making these decisions. However this class was full of many prominent clan heirs and as such, he felt the clan heads should get a say if they wished. However that meant a council meeting; and unless it was wartime, calling a council meeting also meant calling in the civilian side. And the civilian side had spent the years since the Uchiha massacre doing any and everything in their power to make sure the only Uchiha left, Sasuke, got whatever he wanted as well as the best of it. It was getting quite annoying.

"Kakashi already has a student and after the incident he has expressed his personal feelings against getting another full team." Sarutobi countered. He knew full well that Kakashi never wanted a team in the first place but the one he was placed with almost three years ago grew on him. Then it happened and he's down to one final student, and neither are wanting to bring in others.

"But who else could teach Uchiha-sama how to use his Sharingan when he awakens it?" Another civilian pointed out. Most of the civilians nodded in agreement and a couple clan heads secretly admitted they actually brought up a valid point.

"Then once he awakens it I can have Kakashi give him private lessons in his spare time on the proper usage of the dojutsu." Hiruzen was really hating the council right now. What started as a simple meeting to let the clan heads offer their own input for their children's education and careers turned into another 'glorify Uchiha-sama' argument. He was getting sick and tired of these. From four years ago when they wanted to force him into the CRA to produce more Sharingan ninja to just last year when they wanted him to graduate early; they wanted to give Sasuke everything without him having to lift a finger.

"Just place him as Uchiha-sama's sensei." Spoke an older woman with pink hair and green eyes. Haruno Masaki, mother to Haruno Sakura and owner of a small business, was the only civilian council member to actually have a child in the graduating class this year. So if she was offering her input about her own daughter, the old Hokage would've been glad to hear it. However she was the staunchest supporter of the 'glorify Uchiha-sama' movement, so to speak. "Hatake-san is only teaching the demon anyways. It's not like that thing needs anything." Sarutobi narrowed his eyes, as did a few of the shinobi side of the council. "Uchiha-sama needs the best we have to teach him and that's Hatake-san. To hell with the demon brat, you're the Hokage. Just order him to teach the boy and everything will be fine."

"You're correct, I am the Hokage and my orders are to be followed." Hiruzen started, getting many of the civilians to smile. "So I order you to never refer to young Naruto-kun as a 'demon' again or I'll have you removed from the council." He ordered, causing those who smiled to change to scowls. "Ever since the incident, Naruto-kun has latched onto the only stable figure in his life, his sensei Kakashi. If I removed him from his life there's no telling the effect it could have on the boy. As a jinchuriki, his mental and emotional well-being is just as important as his physical. I will not be removing Naruto-kun from Kakashi's tutelage."

"If I may, Hokage-sama?" Yamanaka Inoichi asked. Head of the Yamanaka clan and one of the top interrogators and psychiatrists in Konoha, also the proud father of Yamanaka Ino. At the old mans' nod Inoichi continued. "I saw to Naruto after the incident and I've been checking up on him on a bi-monthly basis since. I can honestly say that removing Kakashi from his life would break what he has left. No matter what else is decided here, that is something that must not be done. Naruto already lost control to the Kyuubi from a loss once, removing Kakashi would likely cause it to happen again." This got many council members to pale, while some were still scowling at how nobody would give Sasuke to Kakashi to teach. "However," Inoichi continued, "They provide a valid point about Kakashi being the only one who could teach Sasuke about the Sharingan. What I suggest is a compromise; talk to Kakashi and convince him to take on another two students to have a full team again. He'll stay with Naruto like they both want and then place Sasuke under his care as well to placate the other council members."

Hiruzen sighed. He knew he could do that and was hoping nobody would suggest it simply because he had no argument against why not. He honestly couldn't see any reason outside of Kakashi's reluctance to teach a full team again. But as a Kage and as ninja, he had to give out orders that weren't liked by either yet still had to be followed. Many of the civilian council were seeing this as the only way to get Kakashi to teach Sasuke since they couldn't take him away from Naruto without risk. And then Inoichi spoke another reason and Sarutobi lost his only hope for arguing against it. "I also think it would benefit Naruto himself. He's been cold and distant to everyone outside of Kakashi since and he needs to make some friends his own age. This would easily be for the best since Sasuke has the same problem making friends he does, the two would hopefully be able to connect and perhaps help each other. Personally I find this to be the best option. Place Sasuke and another graduate with Naruto under Kakashi, it would be best for everyone."

Uchiha Sasuke was happy, or rather as close to happy he's been since the massacre. He had just graduated from the Ninja Academy as the 'Rookie of the Year', the top student in his age group. In fact the teachers were even saying he was one of the best ever. But how could he not be? He was an Uchiha; they were always the best, the elite. And now with his graduation into the ninja ranks of Konohagakure no Sato, he was ready to begin his life's mission of killing the man that ruined his life. His elder brother Uchiha Itachi.

So as Sasuke sat in his seat near the window plotting his vengeance, he was also patiently waiting for their sensei to arrive and tell them what was going to happen next. Sasuke wore his ever so common outfit of a blue shirt with the Uchiha fan on the back and white shorts. Simple, bold, and it declared his clan's power to anybody smart enough to recognize the fan. He held his hands in front of his face and his eyes seemed to be staring off into space but that was normal. Any moment at the Academy when he wasn't being taught the skills he needed he would assume that pose and just plan out his future encounter against his brother. Different every time too, but that was mainly because he didn't know when or where he would encounter Itachi. One thing remained the same though in all of his 'vengeance scenes' though, every one ended with Itachi dead at his feet.

Sasuke's inner plotting was disturbed as two girls ran in through the door and started arguing about who arrived first. One was blonde with blue, pupil less eyes. Her hair was made up into a ponytail and she wore a purple two piece outfit and then used the common ninja wraps to cover herself underneath the cloth. The other had bright pink hair and wore a red one piece with white outlines and a white circle on the back. The two were butting heads as they argued and Sasuke held back a groan of annoyance. Yamanaka Ino and Haruno Sakura, his two biggest fan girls in the village.

Contrary to the belief of the many boys of the Academy, he was not gay. The reason he never gave his fan girls the time of day was simple and twofold. One; he wasn't going to bother with a relationship until after he achieved his life's goal of killing his brother. And two; when he finally would get into a relationship he wanted it to be with a strong kunoichi that wasn't afraid to tell him no or assert her own opinion. A useless yes man was just annoying and irritating. If any of these fan girls were to take their training seriously and weren't afraid of standing up to him then he just may have taken one on a date, just to see what it would be like. So far the only girl that didn't bow down at his feet was the class Hyuuga, Hinata. But she never showed interest in anybody and she, while better than most girls, wasn't very strong. So Sasuke just ignored her, like everyone in class seemed to do since she never drew attention to herself.

Sasuke's thoughts were again disrupted as Ino and Sakura fought over the chair next to him. This was one of the few times Sasuke regretted focusing so intently on his training. He had no friends so he couldn't have one sit next to him to avoid the daily battle the two fan girls had. Still though, he dealt with it. Friends would just slow him down and the annoying battles, if anything, gave him experience in developing a good poker face. Eventually Sakura claimed the chair and started to try and ask him on a date or get him to talk period. Sasuke stayed silent as he once more delved into his mind to plot against his brother.

"Good morning class." A voice called out. Every one turned their attention to the man that entered, Umino Iruka. He wore the standard chunin outfit of blue long sleeved shirt with blue shinobi pants and a green flak jacket. Covering his forehead was the headband of the village ninja and across his nose was a long horizontal scar nobody knew where he got. "Today you are all genin of the village. You are now ninja of Konoha and will now go out to start your careers. No matter what happens, know that I am proud to have taught each and every one of you. From today onwards, we will be comrades, not just sensei and student." He spoke with conviction and confidence that had many of the students smiling at his words. Iruka cleared his throat before grabbing a clipboard from his desk. "Now, you will all be split into groups of three and place under a jonin sensei who will further your education along with leading you on missions for the village and the Hokage. Take care of each other and follow your teacher's orders and I can promise you that you'll go far."

Sasuke held back another groan. He was being place on a team, but others would just slow him down. Even the second and third students in the Academy were too slow to keep up with him. Sasuke tuned out Iruka's voice, only paying enough attention to recognize his own name. If he was going to be paired with a couple losers then he was hoping he'd at least get the two best. It was his only hope.

"Team Seven will be Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyuuga Hinata. Your jonin sensei will be Yuuhi Kurenai. Team Eight is Nara Shikamaru, Akamichi Choji, and Yamanaka Ino. Your sensei is Sarutobi Asuma. And that's every team." Iruka concluded as he set the clipboard down. But a couple were confused; they paid attention and noticed there were two leftover students. Sakura, being one of them, raised he hand to ask what was going on.

"Um sensei? What about me and Sasuke-kun? You didn't assign us a team." She pointed out and now the students that weren't paying attention noticed and were. Iruka's eyes went wide before he gave a small embarrassed grin.

"Sorry, I forgot to mention it. You see, there weren't enough graduating students this year so you two are instead being paired with a student who recently lost his teammates."

"Lost them? What do you mean?" Sakura asked. "And who're we being place with?"

"I mean he's no longer on a team with them. They might've died on a mission. Or perhaps it's simply that they were promoted and he wasn't. There can be many reasons why someone loses their teammates but it's usually nothing to worry about. As for who, he'll be coming here with his sensei to pick you up." Iruka explained. Sakura looked satisfied and was happy that she was going to be with her Sasuke-kun.

Sasuke on the other hand was torn between cursing and praising his luck. Cursing it because he was with Sakura and another person. Praising it because said mystery member has been a ninja for at least a year meaning he had to have experience and could handle himself. So he knew at least one person on the team would be able to handle themselves. Iruka congratulated them once more and then left telling them they had an hour to themselves before they had to be back to be picked up by their sensei's. Most of the students simply went to lunch with their new teammates while Sasuke just left without a word to contemplate his new situation while Sakura tried to ask him to lunch but was ignored.

An hour later and all the students were back and sitting next to their team chatting about one thing or another. Sasuke was once more in his seat and common pose with Sakura sitting next to him looking slightly down that she didn't get to eat with her crush. Then shortly after jonin began coming in one by one and picking up their teams. Pretty soon only teams 7 and 8 plus Sasuke and Sakura were left. The door opened again and they turned their head to see who it was. Imagine their surprise when it was a boy their age.

He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt underneath a black jacket with a red swirl on the back. His right hand had on a fingerless black glove while his left had a small silver gauntlet that covered his hand and arm up to the elbow. He was wearing the standard shinobi pants colored black and dark blue ninja sandals. Tied to his right leg was a kunai pouch while his headband was tied to his head by a dark red cloth with long straps that went down his back. But the most identifying features on him were easily his face and hair. Three long whisker marks on each cheek and spiky yellow hair. And then there were his eyes. They were a deep bright blue, but if you looked close enough you could tell there was anger and sorrow behind the seemingly bright and happy look they gave off.

As everyone stared at them his eyes swept over the class. Sasuke noticed that he wasn't just doing it to see who was there. He had experience, his guard was relaxed but not down. His eyes while looking at the students were also scanning the room for anything of interest. The way he stood showed he was ready to snap into position at the slightest hesitation. This kid was a warrior, a true ninja. Sasuke was barely keeping the smirk off his face hoping this was to be his new teammate.

The ninja's eyes seemed to rest on Kiba for a moment longer than everyone else before he turned to the rest of the genin. "Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura, follow me." He called out before turning and leaving without a word. Sasuke finally let his smirk through before getting up and walking out with Sakura following quickly. They left and followed the boy out of the Academy and to one of the many training grounds Konoha had for their ninja. He stopped at one that had three logs standing at its center, a small stream running through to their left, and a large tree all in the middle of a clearing surrounded by trees. The ninja turned around and looked them over closely; quite aware of the fact they were doing the same to him. After a few minutes of silent staring Sakura couldn't take it anymore and spoke.

"So who're you? And who's our sensei?" She asked. Sasuke and the boy broke the slight staring contest they seemed to have fallen into before looking at her. The boy took a deep breath and then walked over to one of the logs before sitting on it.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto and my sensei is Hatake Kakashi." He said with a cold voice. Sakura seemed confused but Sasuke scowled.

"What the hell's your problem?"

"My problem, Uchiha, is that I never wanted new teammates. Sensei and I were fine on our own but the council was throwing a fit to get him to teach you. The only compromise Hokage-sama could do was to place you on my team. They wanted to just drop me and have him exclusively teach you." Naruto spat out with a glare at Sasuke. The boy just smirked in response.

"So? I'm an Uchiha, we always get the best." Sakura started fawning over how cool Sasuke was but Naruto just grit his teeth.

"Shut the hell up!" He shouted at her. She looked shocked that he would instantly yell at her but before she could respond his attention was back on Sasuke. "Listen here Uchiha, I don't give a shit about how great your clan was. You're the last one in Konoha and as such the council is just kissing your ass in the hopes you won't go nuts and leave like Itachi did. And besides, out on the battlefield, a name means shit. You could be named Kami-sama herself but it doesn't matter if you don't have the skills to back it up. So don't walk around thinking you're top dog because I can guarantee you that I can kick your ass so fast you wouldn't even notice its been kicked. And I was the dobe of my class three years ago."

"Hn, like I'd ever lose to a dobe." Sasuke grunted out with a smirk still in place. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"Wanna bet?" Sasuke just scoffed.

"Bring it do-!" Sasuke never finished as he was on the ground with a kunai to his throat and a very painful red mark on his left cheek as Naruto was kneeling over him staring right at him.

"Dead. And you never saw me coming. Your name means nothing to me or anybody else that has any actual skill. Until you can back it up, keep that ego of yours in check. Or I will." Naruto spoke clearly as the entire field seemed quiet and for the first time since his brother's psychotic massacre of his clan; Sasuke felt fear. The cold metal of the kunai was pressed right up against his adam's apple. Naruto was staring down at him with a look of hate and indifference. And it was true what he said; Sasuke never saw him coming. In fact he hadn't even seen him twitch.

"You can't do that to Sasuke-kun! Let him-!" Sakura started before going silent as a kunai was pressed up against her neck from behind. Sasuke and Sakura looked to see another Naruto holding the weapon at her throat with the same look as the other one.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. (Shadow Clone Technique) My most used jutsu, and my most basic. Unlike the parlor trick clones taught at the Academy, mine are real. And when they dispel, I gain their memories and any leftover chakra they had." Naruto explained before withdrawing the weapons and stepping back. The Naruto behind Sakura disappeared in a puff of smoke while Sasuke slowly got up and glared at Naruto. Sakura wanted to glared at him but was too busy trying to calm her heart rate down first. "I don't care if you were the dobe or the rookie of the year, you're fresh out of the Academy and that means you suck. The council may have forced you on sensei and me but that doesn't mean I have to put up with any of your shit. Keep your ego in check Uchiha. And Haruno, drop the fan girl act or I will slit your throat. You are a disgrace to kunoichi everywhere if you think that shit will fly on a real mission. You'll only get yourself and others killed." Naruto ordered before sitting back down on the log. Sasuke grit his teeth as he glared at Naruto and Sakura took a few deep breaths before looking around.

"Um, where's sensei? I just noticed he wasn't here." Naruto rolled his eyes as now Sasuke looked at her in disbelief.

"You had best start training harder Haruno, if you only just now noticed he's not here." Naruto said. She glared at him but a cold glance back had her avert her gaze. "Kakashi-sensei is late to anything and everything that's not an A or S-ranked mission. So anytime he says to meet somewhere, feel free to show up an hour or two later than the time he picks." They both stared at him like he was joking and he just sighed. "No, I am not kidding. Me and my team thought it was stupid first too and we'd show up on time just to see if he would one day to catch us off guard but he doesn't. I'm dead serious; baring A and S-ranked missions he will always be somewhere around two or three hours late. The only reason he's allowed to get away with it is because he's one of the top jonin in the village; easily at the top of the very small list of potential Hokage's should the Sandaime retire again." Naruto explained. Both Sasuke and Sakura looked at him and then each other before looking back at him to find him looking up at the sky.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Sasuke demanded. When Naruto turned his face down and glared at him he flinched but didn't look away.

"I think I'm annoyed. And I know I'm your better." Sasuke growled and Naruto scoffed. "Want to hear a trick? I can tell what the two of you are thinking." This got Sakura to look at him in confusion while Sasuke kept up his glare. Naruto just slightly smirked and started. "You, Uchiha, are thinking about how dare I not automatically respect you for your clan. About how angry you are at how easily I subdued you. And about how the girl next to you is going to hold you back since it's obvious I won't." That got Sasuke to look shocked as he seemed to be exactly right. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke but turned her attention back to Naruto when he started on her.

"You, Haruno, are a little harder to read but that's because there's so much going through your mind right now. Mainly though it seems to be shock, anger, fear, and a small amount of sadness and disappointment. Your shocked and fearful of my skills and what the Uchiha seems to think of you. Your angry at me for harming said Uchiha and for shouting at you. And your sad and disappointed that the Uchiha seems to think so little of you." Naruto said. Sakura hung her head as he accurately read her mind.

Suddenly there was a swirl of leaves in front of Naruto and the other two new ninja looked to see a jonin with gravity defying spiky gray hair and his headband tilted to cover one of his eyes. He also wore a cloth that covered his face from his nose down; effectively making it so only one eye was seen on his entire face. "Hey Naruto, do you know where the new students are? I went to the Academy to pick them up but all the students were gone." He asked, completely oblivious to the two others staring at him in shock. Naruto just shook his head at the man and pointed behind him. "Hm? Oh, you went and picked them up already. Well that saves time."

"Your always late and I didn't feel like waiting for three hours for you so I lied about the time to you and grabbed them early."

"Hey Naruto, they look a little scared or angry at you for some reason. Mind explaining?" Kakashi asked as he looked closely at Sakura and Sasuke, completely ignoring Naruto manipulating him slightly and going behind his back. Said blonde just grinned.

"I pulled the mind trick." Kakashi laughed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Naruto, that's not very nice to do to your new teammates. Just cause she taught you to read a person just from their face doesn't mean you should freak people out and make them think you're a Yamanaka now." He said as Naruto chuckled slightly. "You know, I wonder if she'd be happy you learned to do that so well or angry that you're copying her favorite prank." Kakashi wondered out loud. Naruto just smiled sadly and looked back up at the sky.

"Don't know. I wonder about that myself." He answered. Kakashi just looked at him for a few moments before sighing and turning back to the other two. By now they seemed to have gotten over the shock of him appearing out of nowhere. And slightly over their anger at the blonde in Sakura's case and fear in Sasuke's. So seeing all that, Kakashi decided to start talking and introduce himself.

"Alright, well let's get started then. My name is Hatake Kakashi and from today on I'm going to be your jonin sensei. Why don't we learn a bit more about each other now? Why don't you tell you likes, dislikes, as well as any hobbies you have and your dreams for the future." He spoke, then Naruto flicked a small pebble at the back of his head without looking. Kakashi turned to him and mock glared as the blonde just smirked.

"You're doing it again sensei." Kakashi sighed.

"Right. I'll start. I like dogs and reading my books. A dislike of mine is people who don't like my books. As for hobbies, I mostly just spend my free time reading or spending time with Naruto here. And I don't feel like telling you my dreams for the future." Kakashi said. Naruto sighed and faced them after a small glance at Kakashi.

"At least it's better than the first time you did that." He muttered before clearing his throat. "I like ramen and relaxing atop the Hokage Monument looking over the village. I dislike the ignorant and hateful, the time it takes to cook ramen, as well as the entire village of Iwagakure." This got a couple raised eyebrows but he continued without a care. "My hobbies are gardening and training and my dream is to become the Hokage so that I can protect the village." Sakura and Sasuke looked them over, taking in the information before Sasuke decided he might as well talk.

"I don't really have anything I can claim to like and I don't like far too many things to name. If I had to name something as a hobby it would be that I spend my free time training. And I don't really have a dream for the future cause I know it's going to happen because I will make it happen. I'm going to rebuild my clan… after I kill a certain person." Sasuke said, clenching his fists and looking down towards the end of his little 'show-and-tell'. Sakura looked at him with a blush thinking he was 'so cool' and other such fan girl related subjects as Kakashi seemed impassive and Naruto just scowled at the attitude he had. They all then turned their attention to Sakura and she seemed to realize they were no waiting on her.

"Um… I like, I mean the person I like is…" She muttered as she snuck a glance at Sasuke, though they all saw it. "My hobbies are…" Again another glance towards the Uchiha. "My dreams…" A third glance and by this time they all were getting annoyed at her behavior.

"Dislikes?" Kakashi asked when she seemed to get lost in her dream world of Sasuke.

"Huh? Oh uh, this girl named Ino and people who make fun of me." She responded. Kakashi just nodded his head and started speaking.

"Okay, you two. Before we can go on missions or anything else, I need to know what you can do. So there's going to be a little spar first. Naruto?" Kakashi gestured as the blonde stood up from the log and walked over to the side. "Now, fight him with everything you've got. We need to see what you have so I know what to train you both in."

"Um, sensei? Who should he fight first?" Sakura asked. This got Naruto to laugh.

"Oh no, he didn't mean one on one. Both of you, same time, right now. Bring it."

I can guess some of my current readers are getting pissed at me for starting yet another story when I still have so many going on but sorry. I can't help it. I'm not abandoning any of my other stories though so don't worry if I don't update them soon. I just get stuck with other random ideas and just have to type them up right away or they won't leave me be.

Okay, the basic premise about this story is that Naruto graduated on his very first try, not failing three and then passing due to special conditions. This means he graduated in the class before Neji's since they graduated one class before canon Naruto's. As such, he's been a ninja for longer and has some expieriance. I'm also doing things differently from how I normally do and I'm giving lots of hints towards past events but I'm not going to give any info until certain points. Normally I prefer to explain things right away to try and avoid plotholes but right now I'm going to hide many things. I'll give glimpses of the past either in story flashbacks or in omakes, so look forward to those.

Feel free to ask away in the reviews, but know that I'm not going to answer a lot. Also, the pairing is exactly is NaruHina, no objections and no harem. If you don't like it, get over it it cause I'm not changing it.

So review, favorite and look forward to the next chapter!