The blonde that had become well known throughout Takigakure as the "Demon lover" as well as many other names let out a tired yawn as he rose from his bed. When he did he looked around and got up to his feet rather slowly. He then made his way over to the mirror that was in the room and looked down at the headband he had received yesterday.

It was neatly folded just the way he had left it but there was also a folded piece of paper beside it. The blonde reached down and unfolded it and his eyes slowly began to go over the words that were on the paper in front of him. "I got tired of trying to wake you up so when you read this you may want to hurry and get to the academy," Naruto eyes widened at this slightly and looked around the room for the clock.

When his eyes landed on the device that was hanging on the wall he darted to his closet and opened it up throwing on his shirt and clothes in a hasty fashion realizing that he only had ten minutes before the teams were announced. When he realized this he quickly put on whatever pair of clothes he could find and started to run down the streets of Takigakure.

Usually, him and Fuu would be on the roofs but seeing as how it was still early in the morning no one was on the streets just yet and seeing as how the villagers tended to blame the two of them for pretty much anything he didn't want to wake someone up then have to listen to them complain about it the rest of the day.

When he arrived in front of the academy he saw that Fuu was already there waiting for him in front of the massive building. "It's about time you got here," The green haired female said looking at him.

"I would have been here sooner if someone had woken me up like they said they would," Naruto said looking at the green haired female.

"Like my note said I tried to wake you up and you wouldn't. Also, I noticed that you were smiling in your sleep so it didn't really feel right to wake you up from a dream that you were clearly enjoying," Fuu said as the two of them walked into the classroom.

"Yeah I don't really remember anything about the dream but for whatever reason I just remember that it was a really nice dream," Naruto said as he looked at the green haired female in front of him.

"Oh well, that's okay then," The two of them then stopped in front of the door where all the students that passed were supposed to meet up at. Fuu then sighed and stepped forward. "Let's just get this over with," Fuu said as she turned back around to look at Naruto. The blonde then nodded at her and stepped forward the two then stepped into the classroom and when they did the two of them were almost instantly greeted with stares.

"Alright, now that the final two are here we can finally get started with team placement," The teacher said as he looked at the students in front of him. Naruto and Fuu waited patiently for their name to be called and each time the two of them grew more and more nervous hearing each team that was called out.

'What if I'm not on Fuu's team? I somehow doubt that the other two that she get's paired up with will be as understanding as I am. Not only that but then she'll have three people against her and not one person on her side. It'd make becoming a good ninja that much harder for her.' Naruto thought to himself as he heard the male finish team placement for team six.

The teacher continued to read off the names for the next team and little did Naruto know that Fuu had also started to worry about the exact same topic his mind was on at the moment.

'What if I'm not on Naruto's team? The others will defiantly take out a lot of their frustrations out on him because he hangs out with me. They'll do things to him that he doesn't deserve and chances are that the sensei he gets will most likely also hate him because of me. They'll interfere with his performance and he won't ever advance past genin level," Fuu thought to herself as the male in front of her continued to list team eight.

"And finally, for team twelve we have Naruto Uzumaki, Shiro Ito, and Fuu. Your team shall be led by Gorou Hachiro," The male said looking at the class. When he said this it made the two that had until now been worried about their team. The two of them then watched as several different older men and women came into the room announcing who they were and left with three newly announced Shinobi.

It eventually got to the point to where there were only six students left in the class. However two familiar figures that Naruto recognized walked into the room. A man carrying a Sake bottle in his hand and a woman with long blonde hair that came to the back of her knees. "I'm just saying wouldn't be late if you didn't stop for another bottle of Sake," The female said looking at the male in front of him.

"For the hundredth time in the past minute, I'm sorry. I can't help it that this old body of mine has urges, after all, I'm only human," The male said looking at the female.

"Sorry for being late I had to go and babysit this mess again," The blonde female said gesturing to the male that was beside her. The male sighed when he saw his counterpart do this and looked at the six students that were left.

"Well, I'm Gorou Hachiro. Would the three of you that got placed in my squad please follow me," The man said as he walked outside. Fuu and Naruto stood up and when they did they saw that a male in front of them had also stood up. They assumed that this was the third member of their team.

He had a pale completion, snow white hair, and blue eyes that seemed to remind the two of them of ice. The three of them followed their new instructor out of the academy building and down the streets of Takigakure. They stopped when they came to a place that none of the three recognized. The male walked into the building and the three followed closely behind him.

Gorou then sat down at a round table and the three younger figures sat in front of him. "Well let's get this over with. This is a mandatory exercise called team introduction. So go ahead tell me about yourself," The male said as a waitress brought him a bottle of Sake. The elder male looked at the bottle and sighed. He took a rather large drink of the bottle and then looked at the three in front of him.

"Why haven't you started yet?" Gorou asked looking at the three of them.

"Well it's just we don't exactly know what to talk about," Shiro said looking at the elder figure in front of him.

"Basic information, you know what you like, what you hate, dreams for the future, hobbies, you know stuff like that," Gorou said looking at the three of them.

"Mind giving us an example?" Fuu asked looking at the male.

The male then sighed and looked at them. "I suppose not. My name is Gorou Hachiro, I like Sake or pretty much any other alcoholic drink, to be honest, I'm not too fond of a certain blonde who's always on my case about tedious tasks, I guess I really don't have any dreams for the future it's too much trouble to think about stuff like that, as for my hobbies I guess it would be going to different bars and trying different types of drinks," The gray haired male said looking at them.

After a moment of silence, the white haired male finally decided to speak up, "Alright I guess I'll go first my name is Shiro Ito. I like being outdoors and certain types of manga, I hate a certain two people that live in this village as well as everything they've ever done, my plan for the future is to make their life a living hell and as for my hobbies I guess I don't really have any," Shiro said looking at the male in front of him.

When Naruto heard this he clenched his fists and looked at the white haired male. 'He's talking about me and Fuu, and to make matters worse he does it right in front of us,' Naruto thought to himself looking at the white haired male.

"I'll go next," the blonde heard the green haired member of his team say which brought him back to reality. "My name is Fuu, I like people that treat others fairly, and I hate people who single others out and make them feel unwanted, My dream for the future is to have lots of friends and for everyone to see me for who I am not what I am, as for hobbies I guess I like training and going for walks," Fuu said as she sat down.

"Okay so that only leaves you," Gorou said as he looked at the blonde in front of him.

"Huh? Oh right. Well my name is Naruto Uzumaki, I like helping others and making people feel wanted, I hate people who have no respect for others as well as people who make others feel useless, my dream for the future is to help people realize that they're wrong for judging others because of their past or things that they can't control. As for my hobbies, I like spending time with my friends and I love eating new types of food," Naruto said looking at the male in front of him.

"Okay, those are relatively realistic goals I guess. Well, tomorrow we're going to have our first training exercise. I want each of you to meet me at training ground number fourteen. I also wouldn't eat anything tomorrow if I were you otherwise you'll have a bad time," Gorou said looking at the three figures in front of him.

Naruto was about to ask him a question but before he could the male in front of him disappeared in a cloud of smoke. As soon as he did Shiro got up and looked at the two beside him. "I'll see the two of you tomorrow I guess," He said as he walked out of the building. When he did Naruto looked at Fuu and the two of them walked out of the building.

"Well that was rather unexpected don't you think?" Fuu asked looking at Naruto.

"Which part the training exercise or the part where Shiro insulted us in the most obvious manner?" Naruto asked looking at the female beside him.

"Oh, so you noticed that too huh?" Fuu asked looking at Naruto.

"How could I not notice it? It was as plain as day who he was talking about. It doesn't take a genius to figure out who he was talking about." Naruto said looking at the female beside him.

"Yeah well want to just go home then?" Fuu asked looking at Naruto.

"Yeah might as well, after all, we need to be ready for tomorrow," Fuu said looking at the blonde beside her. The then walked to the house that the two of them shared and got ready for the following day. When the two of them decided that they had everything that they needed they walked into the rooms that the two of them had.

As the two slowly drifted off into the land of dreams they began to wonder exactly what the two of them would have to do. Then the two of them slowly fell into the darkness that was sleep. Then like usual Fuu had woken up much earlier than Naruto had and she went to take a shower. While she was in there she remembered that she and Naruto, as well as the third member of their team, were supposed to meet up today.

When she finally exited the bathroom she put on her usual attire and walked to Naruto's room. She looked at the blonde and saw that like the previous day he was sleeping peacefully but deciding that she wasn't going to be as nice today placed her hands on his back and pushed him into the floor. With a solid thud, the blonde woke up and looked at the figure in his room.

"What time is it?" Naruto asked letting out a tired yawn.

"Almost time for us to meet up with our team so get ready," Fuu said looking at Naruto. The blonde got up and stretched when he heard this and walked tot his bathroom where he took a shower and then came out. He then looked at Fuu who was standing by the door waiting for him. "Alright, you ready to go?" Fuu asked looking at the blonde in front of her and when she did she received a nod of the head.

The two then began to walk down the street and arrived at a fenced off area. When they did the two of them jumped over the fence and began to walk into the field. Once they got there they saw that the white haired male was already there waiting for them. The two slowly walked over to him and when they were about a foot away Shiro got a little nervous then looked at the two of them.

"I-" The white haired male began only to have gotten cut off by a sound that he was familiar with. when he heard this sound him as well as the two the two that were in front of him jumped to the side and looked at where they were standing only to see that there were several kunai in the ground where they were standing.

The three of them pulled out a kunai and looked around. When they did they saw a figure appear in front of them. This figure, however, made both Naruto and Fuu very nervous. This figure was wearing a white mask that looked like a dog and had a leaf village symbol on the forehead. "I'd like for the three of you to come with me," He said looking at them.

"NO WAY!" Naruto said looking at the male figure in front of him.

"Well, I wasn't really giving you choice," The cloaked figure said as he ran forward and the three that were in front of him also ran forward. Shiro was the first of the three to attack by throwing a kunai at the male. The male easily caught it and returned it to the white haired male Shiro jumped out of the way and looked at the male that Fuu and Naruto were now locked in close combat with.

The two of them tried repeatedly to land a hit on him but never could. However, the fight was short lived as the masked figure jumped back slightly causing the two figures in front of him to stop when they did he struck the back of their necks rather forcefully and the two then hit the ground. Shrio looked at the figure that was in front of him and sighed.

"Now it's your turn," the masked figure said looking at him. Shiro threw his kunai on the ground and looked at the figure in front of him. "I give up," Shiro said looking at him.

"Oh why the sudden change of mind?" The cloaked figure asked looking at the white haired male in front of him.

"The three of us all had a chance of beating you but seeing as it's just me now I know for a fact I can't beat you. It'd be better to just give up now instead of fighting you there'd be no point in it," Shiro said looking at the male in front of him.

"I see a wise choice," The cloaked figure said as he disappeared. "But foolish nonetheless," Shiro heard the male say behind him and then felt a heavy pressure on the back of his neck and him too fell to the ground and watched as his world slowly faded to nothingness.

When Shiro finally awoke he saw that Naruto and Fuu were also awake. He tried to move but when he did he found his arms tied behind his back and his feet both tied together. Shiro tried to move once again but he felt some more resistances suggesting that something was holding the rope that was on his feet and the rope that was around his hands together.

When he looked back over to Naruto and Fuu he saw that they were in the position he was in. "So he got you too?" Naruto asked looking at Shiro.

"Something like that yeah," Shiro said looking at the two in front of him. "Well guess this is the end for the team twelve. Man to think we didn't even get to have our first mission. Not exactly how I pictured I'd die," Shiro said looking at them. However when he said this he noticed that neither of them said anything back causing him to sigh.

After a few more moments of silence had passed Shiro finally decided to speak up once again. "It's not you," He said in a quiet voice.

"What?" Naruto asked looking at the white haired male in front of him.

"The two people in this village I hate. It's not the two of you," Shiro said looking at the ground. "When I was walking home yesterday I saw that the villagers were staring at the two of you like you had the plague or something. I had never actually seen the demon of this village or the demon lover of this village so I had no idea it was the two of you. So after I thought about it I probably sounded like the two people I hated were the two of you." Shiro said looking at them.

"Well then if it's not us then who is it?" Fuu asked looking at the white haired male.

"Believe it or not, it's my parents," Shiro said looking at them. When he said this, however, Naruto and Fuu gained a confused look on their face and Shiro decided to clarify what he meant. "My name Shiro Ito as in the heir to the Ito corporation," Shiro said looking at them.

"I thought that name sounded familiar. Although that doesn't explain why you hate your family," Fuu said looking at the male in front of her.

"To put it simply they don't even know I exist. Being the heir of a company like the Ito corporation is just too much to handle. Every day they expected more and more of me and every time I messed up on even the smallest detail they shunned me. Then came the day I told them I wanted to be a ninja and things just took an even worse turn. I decided for a while that they were right and that becoming a ninja would be a waste of time," Shiro said looking at them.

"So what happened for you to change your mind?" Naruto asked looking at them.

"I don't know maybe I was tired of being ignored or maybe I just didn't want to be responsible for such a big company but I snapped and left. After the day, I left they completely shunned me and cut me off. According to the letters that they always send me, I'm not even in their will anymore. They're going to give anything they own to a business partner that they have," Shiro said looking at them.

"I still don't understand why you apologized, though," Fuu said looking at the white haired male in front of her.

"I know what it's like to be unappreciated by those you care about and even though you two don't care about me I still felt as if it was wrong to go on letting the two of you think that I was talking about the two of you were in reality nothing was further from the truth. I guess it's a bit late to tell you this now seeing as how we're all probably going to die but oh well it's like they say die with a clear conscious," Shiro said looking at them.

When he said this to Fuu it seemed like just another sad story but for Naruto it was a little deeper to him and as he looked at the white haired male in front of him he began to think too himself. 'He left because he was tired of being unappreciated, He left because he didn't want to go unnoticed anymore, He left his home . . . for the same reason I left my home,' Naruto thought to himself as he looked at the male.

However, their conversation was cut short when they heard footsteps. "I see that all of you are awake. Now we can really get started," The male said looking at the three of them. The male then walked over to the white haired male and took out a kunai. When he did he cut his restraints and handed him a kunai. Shiro looked at it a little confused until the male grabbed Naruto and held a kunai to his neck.

"Shiro I'm giving you a choice. You can kill Fuu and Naruto lives or you can spare Fuu but if you do I'll kill Naruto. This is a choice that you are being forced to make now make a choice and make it quick otherwise I might just get bored and kill both of them," The male said looking at him. The white haired male just stood there motionless looking at Naruto and the kunai in his hand.

'The only way to Naruto is to kill Fuu but at the same time, the only way to save Fuu is to let him kill Naruto. Then there's the possibility that he'll just kill Naruto after I kill Fuu. What do I do? . . Guess it's time to put some of my company skills to use,' Shiro thought looking at the male.

"Let's compromise," Shiro said looking at the male in front of him.

"That wasn't one of the options," The male said drawing the blade closer to Naruto's throat.

"I know but lowlife's like you are always willing to compromise. Especially when there's money involved right?" Shiro said looking at the male in front of him.

"Things like money don't interest me," The male said looking at him.

"Then what about weapons. I happen to know that the Ito corporation is shipping a rather large supply of weapons to the land of fire in just a few days. If you know what you're doing you could not only obtain more weapons for yourself but for the friends that I'm almost certain you have just hidden away," Shiro said looking at the male.

"A very tempting offer but my master would not be pleased if I did such things without his permission so I'm going to have to pass on this offer," The male said looking at Shiro. When the white haired male heard this he once again became silent and looked at the male in front of him.

'DAMN IT! WHAT THE HELL KIND OF LOWLIFE IS THIS GUY! HE'S NOT TAKING ANY OF MY OFFERS! Wait he said his master wouldn't be, please? Which mean that he's being paid somehow even if it's not with money. Let's exploit that just a bit shall we,' Shiro thought as he looked at the man in front of him. "So what's your master paying you with? If not money then surely it's some form of insurance right? I'm sure we could provide the same level of what he's offering and if not then we'll make you an even better offer. Sound like a deal?" Shiro asked looking at the male.

"I'm not comfortable telling you any of this information. Now quit stalling for time and make a decision NOW!" The male said looking at him. Shiro grew nervous when he heard this and looked at Naruto.

'Okay let me think about what my father said about this type of situation. He said that whenever someone is doing something like this they're trying to deal a crippling blow that is more severe than any other option. In other words, he knows that Naruto and Fuu are both stronger than me which means that if they were both to live they would have a much higher chance of living than I would with either of them,' Shiro thought as he looked at the male in front of him.

"Well if nothing else, at least, change the choice just a bit," Shiro said looking at the male in front of him.

"I really don't want to-" The masked figure started only to be cut off.

"TAKE MY LIFE INSTEAD!" Shiro suddenly yelled out causing the two figures that were on his team to widen their eyes slightly. "Instead of you killing Naruto and me killing Fuu how about you kill me and let the two of them live?" Shiro asked looking at the male figure in front of him.

The male figure then dashed towards him and held the kunai to his throat. "Is that really what you want?" The masked figure asked looking at the figure in front of him.

Shiro started to sweat slightly before he took a deep breath and looked at the male in front of him. "Yes," he answered calmly.

"Then I have just on thing to say to the three of you," he said as he backed away from them. The male then took off his mask and showed a familiar scared face with gray hair. "The three of you pass,"

"What?" Naruto asked a little confused.

"Each Jonin squad leader has to test their genin squad to see if they really have what it takes to be shinobi. I came up with the hardest test I could think of so that no one would pass but the three of you somehow did everything correctly. Neither one of the captives said anything that could endanger their life or the life of their comrades and the person who was given the choice prolonged the choice as long as he could and when everything else failed offered himself up so that his comrades could live. never thought anyone front he academy would be able to pass this test," Gorou said looking at them.

"So this was all some kind of test?" Fuu asked looking at the elder male in front of her.

"Yeah," The male said pulling out a bottle of Sake from his jacket.

"And we passed?" Naruto asked looking at him.

"Yep," Gorou said taking a large drink of Sake. "Much better now I'm not sober anymore," The male said looking at his team. The three young figures then jumped into the air and let out screams of excitement. "Man something tells me that dealing with the three of them is going to take a lot of sake," Gorou said looking at the three in front of him.

"Alright well, tomorrow team twelve has its first official mission we'll meet in front of Shibuki office. I hope the three of you are ready because from here on out it's only going to get tougher and you'll find yourself regretting so many choices. So from here on out make sure you do your best," The male said looking at them.

Gorou then watched as the three of them walked away he then heard someone land beside him and turned to his side to see a familiar blonde looking at him. "So did they fail?" She asked looking at the male looking at him.

"No actually even though I planned everything out they still came out on top. They passed," Gorou said looking at them.

"Looks like your days of slacking are over because you officially have a genin team to take care of," The blonde said looking at the male in front of her with a smug look on her face.

"Yeah although it isn't going to be easy for them. If what Shiro said was true then soon he really is going to have to make a difficult choice. I just hope he does what's right and makes the choice that will make him happy," Gorou said looking at him.

"I'm sure he will/ You know he reminds me of his uncle at that age," The blonde said looking at him.

"Was I really that annoying as a kid?" Gorou asked looking at the blonde female.

"Yeah but you were fun back then. . . So when do you plan on telling him?" The blonde asked looking at him.

"I'll tell him when the time is right. But for now, I think I'll save him from the heartache of seeing what a mess his uncle has become," Gorou said looking at the blonde female beside him.