Acknowledgement

Tsunade was making her way towards the Konoha hospital. Now that the awards ceremony was over, she had some unfinished business to take care of…

Once inside, Tsunade made her way towards room 101, the room where Uchiha Sasuke was currently staying in. When she opened the door, she saw Haruno Sakura asleep in Sasuke’s chest headfirst while their hands were interlocked.

Tsunade couldn’t help but smile. It seemed that there was still some good inside the young Uchiha prodigy. That would make her proposition with him go a lot easier.

Tsunade gently woke Sakura up with a tap to her back.

“Tsunade-sama…”

“Sakura…I need to speak with Sasuke for a couple of minutes. Could you please leave the room?”

Sakura nodded her head as she slowly got up from Sasuke’s chest. She gave Sasuke a quick kiss on the mouth before being escorted by one of Tsunade’s guards.

Chapter 2: Forbidden Love! The new A ranked mission!

*****
Once Sakura was out of the room and out of hearing range, Tsunade locked the door before turning to Sasuke.

“Just what in the hell were you thinking to go running off like that!?”

“I didn’t know you cared…Hokage…”

Tsunade pretended to ignore the obvious disrespect coming from Sasuke’s mouth.

“Sasuke…those boys risked their lives for you…”

“I never asked for anybody to come after me! This was something that I had to do myself! Why did you make those men waste their lives?”

“Patience, Tsunade…as much as you want to strangle him now, remember your original purpose. Just be calm and then you will be able to reach him…”

“Let me take a seat.”

Tsunade grabbed a chair that was inside the room and placed it by Sasuke’s bed so that they were closer.

“Sasuke…those boys went after you because they care-“

“Don’t give me that shit! Nobody gives a damn about me! Konoha only likes me because I am from one of the most elite clans in this village! They like me for my power! Nobody gave a damn when my brother killed everyone in my clan except for me! Nobody gave a damn when I had to spend the rest of my life with no family!”

“Sasuke’s life…it is very similar to Naruto’s…”

“Then you better then anybody knows how Naruto feels.”

“Naruto?” Sasuke’s eyes went wide at the mention of his name.

Sasuke then thought back…back to when he had faced Naruto attempting to stop him from reaching Orochimaru.

*****
“Sasuke! I’ve found you! Now come on! Let’s go back to the village!”

“I have no intention of returning, dobe...”

“Nani? What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’ve got a mission to fulfill. And I won’t let anybody stand in my way. And if you try to stop me, I’ll destroy you!”

“That’s too bad Sasuke…” said Naruto as he got into a fighting stance. “My orders are to bring you back to the village. I can bring you back conscious, or unconscious. It really doesn’t matter either way.”

“Hmph.” Sasuke let out as he also got into a fighting stance. “You were never able to compare to me. You will always be inferior. Let me prove that to you!”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you Sasuke! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!”

“You moron…”Sasuke spat out as he gripped his right wrist with his left hand and started to draw in energy. “You think you can stand up to my power? You think you’re stronger then me?”

“I don’t think I’m stronger then you…” said Naruto as his clones helped him gather the energy for his most powerful attack. “It’s a fact. You just have a problem understanding that. But now that there is no Kakashi or Sakura around, I’ll prove that to you once and for all!”

“Yes…let our attacks prove who is stronger…” Yelled Sasuke as he charged towards Naruto with the attack that he had been taught be Kakashi. “Chidori!!!”

“Time to lose, Sasuke-chan! Rasengan!!!”

*****
“Don’t compare me to that moron! We are nothing alike!”

“On the contrary Sasuke, you two both have a lot in common. Nobody else has grown up in this village without family in your generation but you 2. Unlike Naruto however, people respect you and don’t hate you. I wish I could say the same about Naruto though.”

“Huh?”

“Now I’ve got your attention Sasuke…”

“Haven’t you ever wondered why everyone in this village hates Naruto?”

Sasuke was about to protest, but he was suddenly at a lost for words.

“You should be grateful, Sasuke. You may not have family, but at least you have people that care about you. This entire age age loves you.”

“What does this have to do with Naruto?” Sasuke asked as Tsunade poured herself a glass of water from the pitcher that was on the table.

“Lots.” Tsunade said before drinking her glass of water and then putting the empty glass back on the table. “Ahh…That’s much better. Anyway, while you may have people like Sakura adoring you, Naruto doesn’t have anybody. Naruto would give anything to be in your place right now. I know that you have suffered through a lot, but so has Naruto, if not worse. Growing up for Naruto has literally been a living hell.”

“Just what exactly happened to Naruto?”

“I’m afraid that is something only Naruto can tell you.” Tsunade said as she got up from her chair and made her way towards the door. “What happened to Naruto is hy cly classified.”

Sasuke was quiet while he thought about everything that Tsunade had told him.

“I’m giving you one of 3 options Sasuke.” Tsunade said in a more serious tone. “Choice 1 is to go through rehabilitation. While you are on rehab, you will also be on suspension for your earlictioctions. If you can successfully make it through rehab, then I will reinstate you as a shinobi of Konoha village and even give you a special mission that I feel will bring out the best of your abilities. If however, after a certain amount of time you are not able to pass your rehab, then I will have no choice but to put a seal on you that prevents you from using any ninjutsu, genjutsu, or taijutsu for that matter. You will be incapable of being a ninja ever again. You will be just like Rock Lee was after his fight with Gaara. Or if you want, you can make that choice right now.”

“And what’s my third option?”

Tsunade’s face got even sterner. It was so serious that she almost looked like the old lady that she really was instead of the young beauty that she fooled people into thinking she was with her jutsu.

“Death.”

A pig must have flown through Konoha village at that very moment, cause only when that happened would you see Uchiha Sasuke shocked, surprised, or scared. After hearing option 3, Sasuke was speechless, and his eyes were wide open.

“Your actions are considered to be traitorous, especially considering what happened during the Chunnin exam with the sound. If it weren’t for the fact that Orochimaru’s curse seal was a major influence on you, you would have already been executed. From studying Anko’s curse seal however, I was able to come to the conclusion that Orochimaru has somewhat of a control on people with his curse seals. That is what makes me feel that you do have some good in you and that given a second chance, you would make the right decision. Now, what is your fate going to be, Sasuke?”

All of the choices sucked, Sasuke thought. Option 2 wasn’t even an option to begin with. Why would he want to give up his strength and the one thing he could really call his own? How else would he be able to kill Itachi if he couldn’t fight?

Which led to option 3. Sasuke couldn’t die. At least, not yet…he was an avenger. He had to make his older brother Itachi die for destroying their family…their heritage…their pride. It was because of Itachi that Sasuke’s life was shit right now anyway…Itachi took everything away from him. Somebody had to destroy Itachi. And only Sasuke could do it. For his clan, Sasuke had to kill his older brother. But if he was dead, then how could he do it?

Which meant that Sasuke had no choice but to take the first option. It cramped his style, but it was better then nothing. At least it gave Sasuke some time to prepare for Itachi. And with the curse seal gone, Sasuke could go full out on his abilities without having to worry abohat hat damn seal sapping power away from him.

“Itachi… your ass is mine…and this time, I will come out on top…”

“Fine. I’ll go with the first choice. When I complete your stupid rehab, just what kind of “special” mission do you have for me?

A light smile came to Tsunade’s face. If all went according to plan, Sasuke would forget about Itachi unless he showed up himself. And she would be able to get Sasuke to open up even more and fill his heart with love, instead of hate.

“Anbu…”

With those final words, Tsunade opened the door to the room, and left. As she started to walk down the hall, Sakura ran into her.

“Tsunade-sama! Is Sasuke-kun going to be all right?”

“Yes. Sasuke will be just fine. He just needs some rest.”

“Arigato.” Sakura said as she bowed to her Hokage.

“You’re quite welcome. Oh, and in one month, I want you to meet me in the stadium at 4:00 p.m. There are things that I want to speak to you about.”

“Ok. I’ll be there. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get back to Sasuke-kun.”

Sakura then went back into Sasuke’s room while Tsunade decided to walk to the Ichiraku ramen stand for a quick bite to eat before going back to her office for work.

“Ahh…young love…”

*****
Meanwhile, at the Ichiraku ramen stand, everyone was still trying to figure out just what kind of “training” Naruto had claimed to be doing the previous night.

“It’s simple.” Naruto said as he chewed on some ramen and then swallowed. “I used Kage Bunshin to make a clone. Then I fought it.”

“But you knew we had the ceremony today Naruto…”Chouji began as he finished off his third bowl of ramen and was going for a fourth. “So why would you spend last night training?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Naruto replied as he slurped up the soup from his ramen bowl. “I guess I was too excited. I needed some way to wear my body out so that I could sleep. And what better way then training?”

“Makes sense.” Rock Lee said.

Shikamaru was still skeptical, but he accepted Naruto’s answer, for now…Neji didn’t give a damn since it didn’t concern him and everyone else pretty much left things alone. Everyone that is, except Ino…

“Something still doesn’t add up in your story Naruto!” Ino yelled while pointing a finger at Naruto. “Why does Hinata also have that same red mark on her neck?”

At that moment, everybody looked directly at Hinata. Everyone was suspicious of why Hinata also had that same red mark on her neck, particularly Kiba.

Hinata could feel her courage going down. If anybody found out what really went on last night, then things could be troublesome…for both her and Naruto. After finding out that Kyubi was still alive, only inside of Naruto, Hinata finally understood why everybody despised him so much. Not that she agreed with it though. Naruto was still the sweet and hardworking shinobi that she had fallen in love with years ago. Nothing would ever change that. But Hinata also remembered that she was the heir of the prosperous Hyuga clan. Her father Hiashi would have a fit if he found out that his oldest daughter, the one that would rule the Hyuga clan when she came of age, was madly in love with the one boy that everyone in the village liked to hate…The person that everyone ignored like the plague. If her father ever found out, Hinata might be banished from the Hyuga clan and cast out like yesterday’s garbage. Things were already pretty bad between her father already. She didn’t want to add more fuel to the fire. As for Naruto, her father would probably do something tke lke life even more miserable for him. Naruto would suffer a fate worse then death. Hinata would rather die then allow Naruto, her Naruto to suffer because of her. Hinata loved Naruto too much for that…

“Hinata saw me training last night and wanted to train too…” Naruto said, bringing the attention away from Hinata and back to him. “…So I made an extra clone and we sparred against them.”

Upon studying Hinata’s neck some more and using his enhanced senses of smell, Kiba found out a couple of things…

“Naruto…” Kiba growled as he looked into the eyes of our favorite ramen eating kitsune. “The red mark on Hinata’s neck is a bite mark… just what in the hell did you do to her?”


Once again everybody got suspicious of Naruto. Ino was especially curious, while Neji and Kiba were a lot more alert. If Naruto said the wrong thing, then things could be bad…very bad…

Hinata realized one reason why she didn’t love Kiba like she did Naruto. Kiba was jealous, and overprotective. And sometimes he didn’t believe in her abilities. Kiba cared for her, that she knew, and she also suspected that Kiba might have had a crush on her. But Hinata played dumb to Kiba’s affections. Hinata was a lot smarter and a lot more perceptive then people often gave her credit for. Hinata was shy…but she was not stupid. Naruto on the other hand, believed in her and stood by her side when nobody else would. It was Naruto’s encouragement that gave Hinata the strength to fight…and the strength to stand. Naruto never doubted Hinata’s strength. But sometimes Kiba, and Shino to an extent, had no confidence in her. It pained Hinata to have teammates that sometimes thought she was a liability to certain missions. Even though Kiba’s attitude towards Naruto had changed a lot ever since they fought in the chunnin exam, Kiba still wasn’t her type. Hinata thought of Kiba as a big brother, not someone that she could have a relationship with.

Hinata was getting worried for Naruto. She didn’t like everybody accusing him of doing anything wrong. Naruto would never hurt Hinata. But she still couldn’t tell anybody that she was the one who had initiated the biting. And she certainly couldn’t tell anybody that her and Naruto were now linked together in heart and soul. What was she to do?

“My clones used Henge no Jutsu and transformed into animals that could bite, like wolves and bears. A ninja must be prepared to fight against anything, man or beast. I cautioned Hinata that this was the kind of training that I was going to be doing, and she still wanted to participate. Why is everybody so suspicious of me?”

Once again, Naruto had gotten himself out of the corner with his calm answer. His response had seemed to calm people down a bit, but Ino and Kiba still wouldn’t leave things alone.

“Is all of this true, Hinata?” Ino questioned the Hyuga girl.

“Yes…” Hinata politely said as she nodded her head. “It was all training. Naruto didn’t do anything to hurt me.”

“hmm…” Ino started to wonder.

“That’s enough, Ino!”

Everyone looked towards Shikamaru. It was indeed him that had spoken.

“Can’t you see that we are making Naruto uncomfortable? We are supposed to be his comrades, but yet we are accusing him like he is a spy. We should feel ashamed of ourselves.”

sor sorry Naruto…” Ino said as she sat back down. “And I’m sorry Hinata.”

“I’m sorry too, Naruto.” Kiba said as he got out of Naruto’s face. “I guess with Orochimaru still being a threat and us trying to rebuild Konoha, everyone is a little tense…”

“Don’t worry about it…” Naruto said with a grin. “Stuff happens…”

And this was why Hinata loved Naruto. He held no grudges, despite the fact that he had each and every right to have one. Even when he had been mistreated every single day since she could remember, Naruto never held hate inside his heart. He never sought revenge after anybody. He still continued to be the kind prankster that he was since the Academy days.

“I do have a question though…” Started Naruto as he put his chopsticks inside his empty ramen bowl. “Just how did you and Ino get together anyway?”

At that moment, both Shikamaru and Ino started to blush red.ey wey wouldn’t have to worry about answering though, since at that very moment, the fifth Hokage walked in.

“Hey, it’s Oba-chan!”

Tsunade retaliated by smacking Naruto in the head with her knuckles.

“Ow! That hurt, you old hag!” Cried Naruto as he held his hands over his head.

Tsunade simply smirked as she went up to the ramen chef.

“Let me get an order of chicken ramen…to go.”

“Yes Tsunade-sama.” Replied the cook as he threw in a fresh batch of ramen intoot oot of boiling water.

“Tsunade-sama…” Neji began, “What brings you here?”

“I wanted something to eat before getting back to work. And since all of you are here, I can also give you a message.”

“What kind of message?” Rock Lee questioned.

“In one month from now, I want all of you to meet with me inside the stadium at 4:00 p.m. There are matters that concern all of you.”

Everyone nodded his or her head.

“Your order’s ready, Hokage-sama.” Said the ramen chef.

“k yok you.” Tsunade said as she paid him some yen and took her order. “And Naruto…” Tsunade said as she walked over to the young blond headed genin.

“What?”

“Don’t call me Oba-chan again.”

Tsunade then kissed Naruto on the forehead before leaving the restaurant.

“I’ve got to go and train.” Neji said as he started to get up from the table. “I’ll see you around.”

“I’m his sparring partner, so I better go too.” Tenten said as she followed Neji out the door, failing in hiding a blush on her cheeks...

“I feel like some steak, so I’m going to go over to the Konoha grill.” Chouji happily said as he set down his tenth bowl of ramen down on the table and left in search of more food.

“Shikamaru and I also have to get going. He promised me to a movie, and if he doesn’t take me, I’m going to bash his head in!”

The remaining genin all looked at Shikamaru and laughed.

“If I’m still alive after tonight, I’ll see you all tomorrow…”

“WHAT WAS THAT?” questioned Ino as she started to beat Shikamaru with her fists.

“Nothing…” Shikamaru whispered in a lot of pain.

“Good…now move it! I want some popcorn, and a soda, and I don’t want to miss the opening previews!”

Shikamaru sighed as he walked out of the Ichiraku ramen stand with Ino poking him in the back. Girls were so troublesome…

“Tsunade-sama wanted to do an update on me to see how the surgery went, so I must go to see her now. So long!”

Rock Lee then got up from the table and ran towards the Hokage office.

“I’ve also got to get going.” Shino got up and left the ramen stand.

“Come on Hinata, I’ll walk you home.” Kiba said as he took Hinata’s hand and pulled her up from her chair. “So , Na, Naruto.”

“Bye, Naruto-kun.”

And with that, everybody except Naruto had left the Ichiraku. Naruto just sat inside for about 5 minutes before he finally decided to get up and go home.

*****
It was about 2 hours later now. Visiting hours for the hospital were over now, which meant that Sakura had to leave Sasuke and go home. As for Naruto, he was just finishing restocking his kitchen with ramen and milk…fresh milk…

That mission that he went on with Shikamaru and the others really gave Naruto a lot of money. Also adding in the fact that they weren’t even jounin yet meant that they all got bonuses for doing an assignment that wasn’t even their rank. With all of the extra money, Naruto had decided to do some grocery shopping after leaving the Ichiraku stand earlier that day and refill his cabinet with ramen. His supply had been running short as of late…

“That’s the last one.” Thought Naruto as he put in one more cup of ramenide ide a cupboard and closed the door. “I have enough ramen now to last me for 2 whole months.”

“Now what?” Thought Naruto. He didn’t feel like training today, and currently, he was full, so he didn’t want to eat anything.

Just then, there was a knock at his door.

“Who could that be?” Naruto asked himself as he went towards the door. When he opened it, he got a very nice surprise…

It was Hinata, the only one that truly saw the good inside of him.

“Hi, Naruto-kun…I um…wanted to see you and…”

Naruto understood the meaning of those words and invited Hinata in. They both sat down on Naruto’s couch. Once they did, Hinata gently gave Naruto a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I missed you, Naruto-kun…” Hinata said as she cuddled up close to Naruto’s body and nuzzled her head on his neck.

“Yeah, I missed you too, Hinata-chan…” Naruto replied while he wrapped an arm around Hinata.

They sat like that for what felt like hours, but in reality had only been about 10 minutes. They were content with just being in each other’s company, so there was no need for talk.

“Naruto-kun…” Hinata began, finally breaking the long silence. “What are we going to do? If anybody finds out about us, then we could be in trouble.”

“I know…” Naruto said seriously, having concern in his blue eyes. “But no matter what happens, I won’t let anything happen to you. You are recirecious person Hinata-chan, and I’ll always be here. That’s a promise of a lifetime!” Naruto finished up his speech with a grin.

“Naruto-kun…” Hinata whispered as her entire body turned deep red.

Hinata then looked deeply into Naruto’s eyes and gave him a nice, long, sensual kiss, a kiss that she had longed for ever since she admitted her love for him the previous night. Now that Naruto knew her true feelings, Hinata no longer felt completely shy around him. And Hinata didn’t hesitate to show Naruto just how much love she had for him when they were alone.

Hinata wrapped her arms around Naruto’s neck as she deepened the kiss. Naruto pulled Hinata’s body in closer towards him as he showed his “precious one” just how much she meant to him.

They didn’t care that their love was forbidden…everyone could go to hell for all they cared…they were each other’s strength, and nothing could tear them apart when they were together…

*****
During the rest of the month, Naruto and Hinata secretly trained together. On some days, they forgot about training and just had a “make out” session instead. But on the days that they actually did train, they taught each other a couple of things. Hinata taught Naruto about controlling the amount of chakra he uses for his techniques some. That was one thing that Naruto had not truly mastered, even when he had learned how to summon Kyubi’s chakra from Jiraiya. Even with Kyubi’s “power boost”, wasting energy was still something that could prove hazardous for Naruto if he didn’t learn how to control it properly. Naruto in return, had taught Hinata his trademark technique, the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Having Hinata learn one of his “preferred moves” not only increased their bond with each other, but was also essential when they wanted to spend time together and didn’t want to add suspicion to the rest of the village. Learning Kage Bunshin really came in handy though when Naruto and Hinata would stay out really late at night, and Hinata didn’t want to be missed at home. Hinata could just make a Kage Bunshin clone to take over for her until she got home. Nobody suspected anything, which worked in Hinata’s favor.

Finally, it was the day that Tsunade had asked them all to be present, and 10 genin, plus 1 chunnin were all waiting inside the stadium for their Fifth Hokage to arrive.

“Thank you all for showing up.” Said Tsunade as she walked inside the stadium. “Now that everybody is here, I can lock the doors.”

At that moment, Anbu guards locked up all of the stadium doors from outside and kept watch to make sure that nobody entered that wasn’t supposed to.

“Let’s get down to business. As you know, ever since the Third Hokage died, Konoha has been busy working to rebuild the village and to prepare against threats such as Orochimaru and the sound nin. Based on the events that happened about a month ago, Orochimaru is still alive and is still a threat. Our supply of ninjas is small. Ever since that battle with Orochimaru at the chunnin exams, we lost a lot of dedicated shinobi. Replacing them has been an arduous task, but I think I know a way to solve that problem.”

“Tsunade-sama? What’s going on?” Sakura questioned her beloved leader.

“I’ll tell you all my plans in a minute. But first, let’s welcome back an old comrade.”

After hearing those words, a figure stepped out from the shadows and approached thoup.oup. At first, nobody could tell who he was until he got closer. Then, people started to recognize the blue and white that this young ninja wore, as well as the fact that on the back of his shirt was a symbol of a fan.

“Sasuke-kun!” Sakura shouted as she ran towards her teammate and embraced him.

Suddenly, Naruto, Neji, Kiba, Chouji, Lee, and Shikamaru wpisspissed to see Sasuke in front of them, and the rest of the genin were left wondering why.

Tsunade knew things would get out of control if she didn’t clear them up quickly. The truth about what happened to Sasuke was kept secret, for his sake. The boys that had participated in the rescue mission and Sakura were under oath not to tell anybody else about what happened to Sasuke. Keeping this secret was no big deal for Naruto as he already had a secret of his own.

“About a month ago…Sasuke went out on a solo mission. He was injured badly, and barely made it back to the village. It happened around the same time that Shikamaru and his team went out to rescue one of our ninjas. Sasuke was going through rehabilitation since his injuries were severe, and almost fatal. You will not question him any further on what happened during his mission. Is that clear?”

Everyone shook their heads except for Naruto.

“Naruto!” Tsunade yelled, almost losing her patience. “Is that clear?”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever…” Naruto grunted while having his arms crossed.

“Good. As I was saying, while the celebration was going on about a month ago, I had all of your teachers write a progress report on their students. How everybody was doing, what their strengths were, weaknesses, and so forth. Based on our current situation of rebuilding Konoha, I have decided to split you all up and assign you to different assignments and teams that will bring out the best in your abilities.”

“What? You can’t be serious!” Was Ino’s response.

“Now, now, settle down. This is for the good of Konoha. Anyway, let’s get started. Nara Shikamaru…”

Shikamaru stepped forward a bit.

“Since you are already a chunnin, you will be sent out to do more chunnin assignments out in the field. You are going to start working with other genin and training them to be good shinobi.”

Upon hearing that, both Chouji and Ino started to worry.

“You’re taking Shikamaru away from Chouji and me? You can’t do that!”

“I know that this decision pains you, but you must all put personal feelings aside. Right now, Konoha needs Shikamaru’s genius out in the field. Perhaps when things settle down I might reconsider my decision, but right now, this is what is best.”

“Shikamaru…” Ino whispered, as her eyes got watery.

“Shikamaru. You may go now. Report to my office at 6.am tomorrow for your assignment.”

“Shikamaru, wait!”

Ino ran over to Shikamaru and hugged him tightly. He wrapped his arms around Ino’s back and smiled a bit.

“Don’t worry. We’ll still see each other.”

Ino then pulled her head out of Shikamaru’s chest and gave him a kiss.

“Now I see why my dad likes women so much…this is nice…”

“Promise me that you’ll be careful, ok?” Ino said after breaking their kiss.

“I will.”

“Shikamaru.” Chouji said, now approaching his teammates. “Take care of yourself. You were my first real friend.”

“Likewise.” Shikamaru responded. “And take care of Ino for me.”

With that said, Shikamaru left all of the genin as he walked outside the stadium doors and left to go home.

There was a brief silence in the room. Even though Shikamaru might have been a lazy-ass, he was still respected by all of the other genin. The fact that he was the only one to make chunnin was proof of that.

“Ahem.” Tsunade coughed, bringing the attention back to her. “As you know, due to our village having to send in most of our shinobi on high ranked missions, the ninja academy had to be closed down. However, if we are to maintain our high morale, then we need to have more ninjas. And the only way to do that, is to have a teacher.”

“But Tsunade-sama…” Sakura started, “Isn’t Iruka out doing missions? How can he teach if he is somewhere else? Not even he can be two places at once…”

“That is precisely my point, Sakura.” Tsunade answered. “Which is why I’m handing over the ninja academy position to you…”

Those words elicited quite a response from the remaining genin. Sakura? Academy teacher?

“Let me read you a bit of what Kakashi said about you Sakura.” Tsunade said as she pulled out a piece of paper from her clipboard.

"Sakura’s main talent lies not in her raw power, but in her ability to use ninja skills without wasting any energy. Her chakra control is among some of the best that I have ever seen. Iruka also told me that Sakura was one of his top pupils in ninja academy. When I had my team do tree climbing exercises, she was the first one to master it. And she did it on her first try. Sakura’s chakra control is better then some of our current chunnin and jounin today…”

“Congratulations, Haruno Sakura…” Tsunade said with a smile.

“Alright, Sakura-chan!” Naruto yelled as he jumped up into the air.

“I am proud of you, Sakura-chan!” Lee also congratulated.

“Yeah…good job…I guess…” Ino said, feeling a little bit jealous.

‘The students need somebody like you. But that is not all. To ensure that we get our population of ninjas back up, I will also have Yamanaka Ino teach a class as well…”

Just then, both Sakura and Ino hugged each other.

“Congratulations, Ino.” Sakura said to her long time best friend.

“Let’s teach those kids how to be ninja!” Ino remarked back.

“You may go now ladies. Be at the academy tomorrow at 7am. Umino Iruka will be there to teach you 2 the basics of running a ninja academy.”

“One more thing though, Tsunade-sama…I thought you had to be a Chunnin to be an academy teacher…”

“You do Sakura. Which is why I’m making you 2 chunnin right now.”

“Really?” Both girls asked with excitement in their voices. “This will be great!”

“Yes. Now go. You will receive your full instructions from Iruka tomorrow.”

“See you later, Sasuke-kun! Bye Naruto!” Sakura yelled to her teammates as she left the stadium.

“Come by my house tonight, Chouji. I’ll have some cake for you!” Was Ino’s response to her teammate.

“Cake? Yum!” Chouji yelled back as he patted his stomach in anticipation for food.

“Now…let’s see…” Tsunade asked herself as she looked at her clird. rd. “Who’s next…Ah yes! Rock Lee!”

“Tsunade-sama!” Rock Lee said as he bowed forward with all of the grace that he could bring out. “I await your orders!”

“Rock Lee…I am permanently assigning you under Gai’s tutelage. You will now be Gai’s assistant, and will follow him wherever he goes on his travels.”

“Tsunade-sama! You rock!”

To make sure Tsunade understood this, Lee gave her the “nice guy” pose.

“Go to the Konoha coffee shop right now. Gai is waiting there for you.”

“As you wish, Tsunade-sama! So long, everyone! The green beast of Konoha must leave at once!”

And just like that, Rock Lee was gone.

“Hyuga Neji. Step forward.” eji eji slowly approached Tsunade.

“Neji…as you know, you are about to begin training for Anbu. However, there are also 2 more that will be accompanying you.”

“Whatever…”

“Gentlemen, when I call your name, step forward. Aburame Shino!”

Shino nonchalantly walked up to Neji while his hands were in his pockets.

“Uchiha Sasuke!”

“What?! How does Sasuke get to be Anbu? I’m the one thatughtught his ass back to the village, and he gets to be Anbu? This isn’t fair!”

“Oba-chan!” Naruto yelled. “How does Sasuke get to be Anbu! I should be Anbu! I’m better then him!”

“That’s enough, Naruto.” Tsunade firmly but calmly said. “ I have my reasons. Are you questioning the judgment of your Hokage?”

Tsunade knew that Naruto wouldn’t say anything more. By reminding Naruto of her “title”, she had put him in his place, even if only briefly.

“Gentlemen. Your Anbu teacher will meet with you tomorrow at 5amthe the bridge. Don’t be late.”

The 3 men then left through the stadium doors.

“Ok…there are 5 of you left now…we are almost finished. The next team will be composed of Akimichi Chouji, Inuzuka Kiba, and Tenten.”

The 3 called genin immediately stepped forward.

“As you heard me announce at the awards ceremony, I am implementing a new semi-chunnin prograThe The 3 of you will receive instruction from a special jounin that will help shape you into chunnins. You 3 will be pre-chunnin team #27. When the 3 of you pass your training, you will be full chunnins. Report to me in my office at 8 am, and you will be assigned your teacher.”

The 3 genin then started to leave the stadium.

“Oh, and Tenten…”

“Yes?”

Tsunade threw a jacket towards Tenten who caught it instantly. Her accuracy at catching was nearly as good as her accuracy with throwing.

“If you are to start training to become a chunnin, you should have a jacket.”

“Thanks.”

“I’ll see you later, Hinata.” Kiba said as he and Akamaru went out the door.

“Bye Kiba-kun.” Hinata said back.

“Cake, cake, cake…” Chouji sung to himself as he made his way over to Ino’s house for her promise to give him sweet pastries.

Naruto looked around the stadium and saw that it was now empty of everyone except for him, Hinata, and “Oba-chan”…

“Tsunade-sama…” Hinata began in a soft and timid voice. “Why are Naruto-kun and I the only ones left?”

“Simple.” Tsunade answered as she set her clipboard down. “You 2 are going to be on the same team.”

Both Naruto and Hinata looked at each other and immediately started blushing.

“But why only us 2? How come our team is so small?”

“Naruto…. what do you want more then anything else in the world?”

”To be Hokage!” Naruto said loudly and proudly.

“Why?”

“Because…when I’m Hokage…then the people in the village will have no choice but to acknowledge my existence. They will finally realize that I am a human being…and that I have feelings…and that I’m not a monster…and that there is more to me then the trouble making screw up people always think I am…”

Hinata nearly cried after hearing Naruto’s reason of coveting the prestigious title of Hokage. Hinata finally understood why Naruto tried so hard…and why he never gave up.

“Hinata…” Tsunade said to the other genin. “Why do you wish to be shinobi?”

“I want to prove myself…to the village and my clan especially…that I am strong…that I’m not a loser…that I’m not a waste of life…”

Hearing Hinata’s reasons for being ninja made something inside of Naruto click. It all sounded so familiar…but why?

“Naruto, Hinata. You two have the same dream…”

“You mean Hinata wants to become Hokage and open up the world's biggest ramen restaurant?”

“No Naruto…” Tsuande said as she smacked her forehead with her hand. Naruto had good intentions, and a good heart, but how could he be so clueless? And this was pselysely the reason why Naruto was not quite ready to become chunnin. “Both of you desire acknowledgement. The 2 of you want the rest of the village to see you for your accomplishments, and not for your failures. You want people to be proud of you when they see you, and not feel like you are a disgrace to them whenever you are in their presence. The 2 of you would work better off together then with any of the other genin. That’s why I’m assigning the 2 of you on the same team with a teacher that will be able to bring out the best in both of you…”

“You’re going to get Pervert-Sennin to teach me again?”

“No…I’m not letting you train under Jiraiya again…besides, power is not what you lack, Naruto, but something else…”

“What is it? Tell me!” Naruto demanded.

“It’s not my place to tell you, Naruto. It would be better if I let your teacher tell you what you are missing. But I’ll let him deal with that tomorrow. Both of you will be training under somebody that is designed to help shinobi’s advance to the next rank. Both of you meet back here at 7:30 am tomorrow. He will be there waiting for you. Now go. It’s time for all of us to leave this place.”

“Is he good?” Naruto asked.

“Yes. He is very good. He will bring out the best in both of you.”

“He better be! Come on Hinata, I’ll buy you some ramen!” Naruto yelled as he grabbed Hinata’s hand and dragged her outside the stadium to the Ichiraku restaurant.

As Tsunade started to leave the stadium with her Anbu around her, she thought back to the letters that had helped her determine the new paths for the rookie genin. Particularly the letters written for Naruto and Hinata.

Unlike the other genin, Tsunade had 2 people write progress reports about Naruto. In addition to Kakashi, Tsunade also had Jiraiya write a progress report about Naruto. Both letters were very similar in terms of Naruto growing in strength, but there were key points that both ninja hit that made Tsunade strongly consider where to place Naruto.

“In the beginning, things were difficult for Naruto. Getting along with his teammates Sakura and Sasuke was no easy chore. Sasuke is Naruto’s biggest rival. Naruto wants to be acknowledged by everyone in the village, but Naruto wants acceptance from Sasuke more then anyone. Ever since the academy days, Naruto was playing catch up with Sasuke. Eventually, Naruto caught up to Sasuke in strength, but that is not what keeps Naruto from reaching his full potential. Naruto can be very hard headed at times. Under situations where a calm mind is necessary to completing a mission, this would prove to be a downfall against Naruto. Naruto does not lack the strength needed to be a chunnin, he lacks the mind of a chunnin. Naruto’s skills of deduction are unfortunately, not very good. Naruto must be able to think ahead several steps in order to be a successful chunnin…”

Jiraiya’s report was not as articulate as Kakashi’s but the same points were brought up.

“Naruto reminds me of the fourth Hokage. Very determined, and very stubborn. Naruto has great strength, especially when you consider the fact that he has Kyubi inside of him. But Naruto’s temper can hurt him in certain situations. He needs to be able to relax a bit more. Extreme anger is not always the answer to winning a battle. Sometimes, a clear mind does the job even better. If Naruto can’t understand that, then he is doomed to fail…”

Tsunade then thought back to the progress report that she had Kurenai write about Hinata. And that’s where everything started to connect…

“Hinata is such a sweetie! And so shy! I wish there was something I could do to break her out of her shell! She tries so hard not to let anybody down, especially her teammates. Coming from the Hyuga Clan, Hinata is without a doubt a very talented ninja. It is her confidence in her own abilities that is her weakness. Hinata is too passive about a lot of things, and she often lets things go without saying anything about him. However, I discovered something interesting about Hinata…It seems that one of the genin from team 7, Kakashi’s team, has caught the eye of our Hinata. Upon closer inspection, I found out that Uzumaki Naruto, the boy that had Kyubi sealed into his body 14 years ago, is an inspiration to Hinata. Somehow, it seems like this boy gives her the courage and strength to do just about anything. There might also be a possibility that Hinata has a crush on the boy. This I’m not certain about, but one thing I do know is that Naruto seems to do more for Hinata then even her own father. I don’t agree with a lot of the ways that the Hyuga clan do things, but I would be out of place to tell them in their face. In closing, Hinata’s worst enemy is herself…"

This was what made both Naruto and Hinata interesting to Tsunade. Both were trying to reach the same path, and both had the same negative people around them, and their greatest weaknesses were inside them. However, Naruto’s greatest weakness was more external while Hinata’s was more internal.

“Those 2 will make an interesting team,” thought Tsunade as she walked back to her office to close up shop. She still had a blackjack game later on that night to get to. Sure, she wasn’t supposed to be gambling anymore, but nobody said Tsunade couldn’t gamble if they couldn’t recognize her…

She was known as the legendary sucker for a reason…she still loved to gamble. She seemed to be sucked into games of chance. Perhaps now that she had been Hokage for a bit, she could end that curse and become the ndarndary winner…

*****
Naruto could hardly sleep last night. Not since he became genin had Naruto felt so much anticipation for what was to come. At 7:00 am, Naruto was already out the door and jogging towards the Konoha stadium. He didn’t want to make a bad impression for his new teacher that Tsunade “claimed” was really good…

Naruto arrived at his destination with 10 minutes to spar. Hinata was already there 5 minutes prior, so at least he had a good way to kill some time before their teacher arrived.

“Morning, Naruto-kun!” Hinata said as she gave Naruto a hug.

“Morning, Hinata-chan!” Naruto said returning the hug. “Are you ready to meet our teacher?”

“I guess…”

“I hope he isn’t going to be late like Kakashi-sensei always was…” Naruto said, tapping his foot on the ground and having his arms crossed against his chest. “If he is as good as Oba-chan said he was, then he should be early!”

Hinata couldn’t help but giggle at Naruto’s antics. He always made her laugh and feel good, even when he wasn’t trying.

“Good…you 2 both showed up on time…I’m impressed…”

“Nani? What was that?” Naruto asked as he kept looking in every direction to find out the location of where the voice came from.

“Byakugan!” Hinata yelled as she activated the jutsu that came from her advanced bloodline.

Hinata looked all around Naruto and her twice. On the second try, Hinata saw some Chakra behind Naruto.

“Naruto-kun! Behind you!”

Naruto turned around and saw smoke disappearing. As the smoke disappeared, a figure that had been hiding in there became clearer to see. When Naruto saw who it was, his mouth opened wide.

“Greetings, Naruto. It’s been a long time…”

“Naruto-kun? What is the matter? Do you know who he is?”

Naruto was still startled as he locked eyes with someone that he didn’t think he would be seeing again for a very long time…

“Ebisu-sensei? Oba-chan is making Hinata and I train under him? The closet pervert?”

*****
Naruto: So the closet pervert is our new teacher, eh? Well you better teach me some new jutsus, or else I’ll be forced to use my “Harem no Jutsu” on you!

Ebisu: Naruto! You still haven’t learned a thing! A true shinobi does not rely on strength alone!

Naruto: Why couldn’t Pervert-Sennin be my teacher? He was so much cooler!

Naruto: Next time on Naruto: “Path to Chunnin! The first day of training begins!”

Hinata: Naruto-kun…maybe he does know a couple of things…

Naruto: Yeah, he knows how to be a pervert! If you want to teach me, then you’ll have to prove yourself! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!