Team 7

"From today onward, you're all ninja capable of standing on your own... but you're still just rookie genin. The real hardship is only beginning!" Iruka said, then couldn't help glancing at Naruto sitting beside Hinata. He sighed inwardly—this guy probably didn't count as a "rookie" anymore, did he?

He continued: "From now on, the village will assign you missions, and you'll operate in teams of three... Each team will have a Jonin Instructor guiding you. Under your teacher's direction, you'll complete the tasks the village gives you, earn your pay, and gain experience."

Teams of three... Aside from Naruto, everyone else was just dead weight.

I absolutely have to be in the same team as Sasuke—

Ahh... I'll probably end up with Sasuke and Sakura anyway. Kinda wish I could be with Hinata, though...

"Now I'll announce the team assignments." Iruka flipped open the roster and began reading.

"Team 7: Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and..." Iruka paused here.

Sasuke kept his usual deadpan expression, Naruto still looked bored, Sakura clenched her fists in nervous anticipation, and Hinata, sitting beside Naruto, fidgeted anxiously, hoping desperately that the next name would be hers...

"Hinata Hyuga."

Huh?! Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata all gasped inwardly.

Naruto was stunned that his third teammate wasn't Sakura but Hinata instead.

Sakura was crushed—not being in the same team as Sasuke meant she'd barely get to see him.

Hinata's mind went blank, temporarily unable to think...

Sasuke, however, remained calm, crossing his hands in front of his mouth. The Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, huh... That'll fill the team's reconnaissance gap nicely.

Overall, Naruto, Hinata, and Sasuke were all satisfied with this result.

But someone else wasn't. The dog-owning kid immediately jumped up: "Iruka-sensei, this is too much! You're putting the strongest first and second in the same team?"

Iruka frowned. Honestly, he didn't quite understand it either—normally, teams were balanced in strength. But as a teacher, he couldn't say that in front of the students. "This was decided jointly by the Third Hokage and the Jonin Instructors. There's a reason for this arrangement."

Kiba was just venting his frustration. Actually, this was fine—this way, leading Sakura and Shino to surpass Team 7 would prove he was the strongest genin of this batch.

Naruto turned his head, looking at Hinata, whose face was growing redder as she dared not turn to meet his gaze. He smiled. "Looking forward to working with you, Hinata."

"L-looking forward to it, Naruto...-kun." Hinata stammered, her cheeks burning as if on fire, her head nearly sinking into her collar.

Free time followed, and most people headed off for lunch.

On the second floor, Sasuke and Naruto stood by the eaves of the first floor, leaning against the window as they munched on rice balls, chatting idly.

"I've always wondered, Naruto—who taught you your ninjutsu?" Sasuke asked casually, gazing at the distant blue sky and white clouds. "If I remember right, it was during that Ninja Combat Practice when we were six that you suddenly got strong..."

Naruto lowered his head and took a bite of his rice ball, the seaweed giving it a slightly bitter taste. Chewing, he mumbled, "How should I put it... Even though I have a teacher now, that came after the time you're talking about."

"Then how did you find out about the Uchiha Clan's affairs?" Sasuke bit hard into his rice ball and swallowed. "If you really know, you should understand how badly I want to kill that bastard."

Gulp. Swallowing that bite, Naruto brushed a grain of rice from his lips into his mouth, thought for a moment, and said, "Actually, Sasuke... the reason I'm stronger than you, and the reason I know about you and Itachi... it's pretty simple."

He paused, and when he saw Sasuke couldn't help turning to look at him, Naruto grinned. "What if I said I saw the future?"

Sasuke's expression shifted only slightly before returning to calm. "Is that so. Then... what did you see in the future?"

"Same thing." Naruto had already finished eating. He clapped his hands, spread his arms wide to embrace the blue sky, and laughed. "The dead-last graduate me and the prodigy you got assigned to Team 7, with Teacher Kakashi as our Leading Jonin. The lonely me and the lonely you forged a deep bond..."

"Can you not say something so disgusting?" Sasuke's forehead was lined with exasperation.

"Haha..." Naruto suddenly spotted someone below. His eyes lit up, and he waved downward, calling out, "Hey! Hinata! Over here!"

Hinata was looking for a place to eat her lunchbox when she heard her name. She stopped and looked up to see Naruto grinning and waving at her. Startled, her face reflexively reddened as she replied softly, "Naruto..."

"Come on up, Hinata!"

Hinata hesitated for a moment, then leaped onto a tree in the greenery and jumped up to the eaves where Naruto and Sasuke stood.

Sasuke shifted to make room, finished his last bite of rice ball, drained the last of his water, and wiped his mouth.

"Sasuke-kun, Naruto-kun..." Hinata clutched her orchid-patterned cloth-wrapped lunchbox, head bowed in greeting.

"Ah, just call us Sasuke and Naruto, no need for the honorifics." Naruto was brimming with warmth. Sasuke shot him a disdainful glance and said flatly, "I'm heading back to the classroom." Naruto shot back a "get lost already" look, and Sasuke jumped onto a tree, vanishing in a few bounds.

"Sasuke, he..." Hinata looked a little hurt—Sasuke seemed unwelcoming.

Naruto waved it off casually. "Ah, don't mind him. That's just how he is—cold on the outside, warm on the inside, total tsundere." Then he noticed Hinata's lunchbox. "That's a big lunchbox! Can I see what's in it? I'm actually still hungry, and those rice balls weren't that great, hehe..."

Compared to the you in that memory, you've already surpassed him in at least one thing—how thick your face is around girls, Nine-Tails taunted him from inside his body.

Shut up!

"Mm, it's fine. My mom always makes too much for me to finish..." Hinata replied softly, her voice barely audible.

Sakura followed her teammates, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame, out of the classroom with their Jonin Instructor, Kurenai Yuhi. Before leaving, she cast a reluctant glance back at the only team left in the room—Sasuke in Team 7.

Sigh. Sakura sighed deeply inside.

"Sakura, hurry up!" Kiba, already walking briskly, turned back and urged her. Red-sensei had mentioned there'd be a test, and he was already raring to go.

"Coming." Sakura took one last look at the classroom door and quickened her pace to catch up with her two weird teammates.

Unsurprisingly, Team 7 waited and waited, and waited some more, until even Sasuke was starting to get impatient. That was when the man with the silver-white hair and masked face finally walked into the classroom.