A sunny summer day shone brightly over Konoha. The most recent batch of genin has just graduated and are waiting for their Sensei's to pick them up. One particular jounin Sensei would be late to this event as he had a meeting with the Hokage who took his time in explaining just who exactly his team would consist of.

Naruto Uzumaki isn't the type to back down, yet he still remains the sort of silent humble type in his own way.
Sasuke Uchiha lost his clan and still, a flame of fierce determination burns through his eyes.
Sakura Haruno is the smartest kunoichi of her generation.

This was supposed to be team 7, the team Kakashi Hatake is meant to look out for and train to the best of his abilities.

If they passed his test, he promised himself, he'd do everything in his power to make them strong and more importantly. A team.

Doubt had fetched itself into Kakashi's head as he walked into the academy classroom after being two hours late and finding the three sitting quietly away from each other.

He'd heard rumors of Naruto being quite the prankster. The boy had the lowest grades of the class. Sasuke is the rookie of the year and had the highest with Sakura not far behind him.
The team was balanced, their strengths and weaknesses outweighing each other, supporting each other.

The only question is; Can they take the opportunity they've so carefully been given?

"Maido Maido" Kakashi breathed out. The kids turned their attention toward the jounin whom they'd call sensei.

Naruto seemed curious about his navy mask covering half his face and the gravity-defying hair.

Sakura didn't bother looking up from the fiction book she was reading whilst Sasuke observed his Sensei as he leaned back against Naruto's desk and wondered if he really were a jounin with his kind of tardiness.

Kakashi deadpanned, expecting some kind of response from the lot. "Sorry I'm late...let's head up to the roof and introduce ourselves" he reasoned and transported to the roof without waiting for a response.

Meanwhile, Naruto became strangely excited at seeing the transportation jutsu, wanting to learn something like that himself or any jutsu in general that could help him improve.

The genin swiftly made their way to the roof. After introducing themselves to each other and Kakashi-sensei informing them of the success rate, their hearts were pounding. Nervous and anxious as ever to make it through.

"There'll be a survival test tomorrow at 5 am so bring all your needed weapons, oh and don't eat breakfast, you'll throw up." Kakashi-sensei announced before teleporting away, giving them no chance to respond or react.

The genin turned toward each other and sighed.

"I know you may not like this, but we need to work together tomorrow" Sakura stated, her stance confident but her voice held many sensitive emotions, Sasuke thought.

"I have no objection to that" Naruto agreed.

"I don't need you idiots holding me back" Sasuke arrogantly said, his fists balled into his pockets as he lifted his chin to look down at them.

"Don't underestimate us, Teme. Besides we all need any help we can get if we're going to survive this test, he's a jounin." Naruto argued, crossing his arms and throwing a penetrating glare at Sasuke.

Sakura watched between the two lazily, sure she cared about becoming a ninja and passing the test but the rivalry between the two boys bored her to no end. It was pointless.

"Hn" Sasuke said after a few minutes of hesitance.

Taking that as a sign of agreement, Naruto continued "I say we head to the training grounds now and figure out each other's weaknesses, I know we were in the academy together but we never really talked" Naruto explained, uncrossing his arms and rubbing his chin in thought.

"Agreed, we should cover each other's weaknesses so whatever he has planned, there won't be an opening for him to get through." Sakura continued and looked over to Sasuke. Her crush toward him was always present but she's refrained from acting out such as his 'fangirls' had.

"Alright, let's head out" Sasuke ordered as the genin took their leave from the roof and headed toward the training ground they'll be tested in tomorrow.

———

After three hours of figuring out their teammates strengths and weaknesses, they decided to go out for dinner. Sasuke declined at first until Naruto stated they still had to come up with a plan if they were to take on Kakashi-Sensei, which was quite likely that they would be. It was the only logical explanation as he needed to assess their skill levels personally.

All three currently sat on the brown leather barstools at Ichiraku's Ramen, discussing their plans of attack.

Meanwhile, Kakashi set out to do his weekly grocery shopping when he happened to walk by the old man's ramen shop and saw a sight that surprised him greatly.

He was sure the genin would never get along and here they were eating and chatting like old friends. 'Maybe there is hope yet' he thought to himself as he continued on his way while whipping out icha icha. The dark night hid the book so it was quite safe to read in public, not that anyone was out doing grocery shopping like him anyway.

———

The next Morning, Naruto woke up to the messy room he called home. He looked around the small apartment room and took in a big whiff but abruptly coughed the air out as he caught the wrong kind of smell. He really needed to do the dishes soon. 

He dressed and packed lunch. Eating breakfast was one of the many things his team agreed to do anyway if they wanted a chance to beat Kakashi-sensei, they'd need all the energy and strength they could get.

Naruto locked his apartment door and left to the training grounds, though he knew his sensei would most likely be late again, recalling his late arrival yesterday at the academy.

The academy, the thought of never going back there strangely saddened Naruto. Would he ever see Iruka-sensei again? The man was annoying for the most part but he still tried and he was a special person to the blonde.

Arriving at the training grounds. Sakura and Sasuke were already there, waiting.

"Ohayo" he muttered to the two to which they returned, the lot of them still very much asleep.

Naruto had an idea in which he wasn't sure how his teammate would take it but decided to try it anyway.

He took out his kunai, his comrades noticed this and looked on confused but kept their guard up in case they missed something Naruto hadn't. None of them realised it yet but they seemed to be more trustworthy of each other since their night out to dinner.

Naruto launched himself over to Sasuke who simply dashed out of the way before he was hit "Oi! Stop fooling around Naruto! We're supposed to work as a team not turn on each other" Sakura cried out, concerned all their plotting was for nothing.

Naruto dropped his attack stance and glanced over to Sakura "we all know he's going to take long, why waste time when we could be training?" Naruto questioned in response, having a valid reason.

Sasuke grunted in agreement and took out his own kunai. The two boys engaged each other, both flung their kunai at the other and dodged before countering into a taijutsu battle. Sakura was patient enough to let them have it out and decided on reading. She'd been studying medical ninjutsu recently and it seemed the boys liked to get physical so she was sure it'd come in handy.

Kakashi was not far away when he heard the sounds of fighting and hurried toward it, only to find Sasuke and Naruto engaged in battle with Sakura reading on the sidelines.

At first, he was confused. Having knowledge that proved they were friends last night and with Sakura acting so nonchalantly towards the situation was baffling.

That was, until he took a closer look at their stances. Though they were shifted to attack, they weren't fully tensed and on guard as they would -should- be for a real enemy. Which Kakashi came to the conclusion, they were merely sparring.

Jumping down from the tree he had perched himself on as an owl, he made his presence known to the genin who immediately ceased their training and paid attention to their superior.

"Hmm good, you're all here and from what I've seen, you're ready for a fight" Kakashi declared, looking each of them in the eye, he had high hopes for this team, though he'd rather cut off his left pinkie than admit that to anyone.

He shifted his backpack and reached in to take out a sturdy old clock.
"A clock? Will you be timing us on this test?" Naruto questioned, intrigued much like the other two.

"Correct. You'll be coming at me with the intent to kill" Kakashi affirmed "your objective is to obtain these three scrolls from me"

The genin felt ready for the challenge, they'd already decided to work as a team.

"All three scrolls must be opened before noon. Begin" he instructed. Not a second later, all three jumped away and hid between the trees together.

'Seems they've already huddled together, they may yet pass' Kakashi thought, standing in the middle of the clearing. Waiting.

Sasuke turned toward the other two "Alright, proceed with the plan, Sakura, it'll be your job to snatch those scrolls" He ordered, looking back to Kakashi-sensei.

"You can do it, Sakura. We'll be right beside you" Naruto silently encouraged.

Sakura gave the boys a weak smile and set off toward her position while Sasuke did the same.

Naruto had the job of being the decoy.

He jumped out of the hiding spot and faced Kakashi-sensei with a sense of confidence. Playing his part in the plan.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow at the Orange colored male, wondering what went wrong, Sasuke and Sakura went opposite directions and now Naruto was facing him alone. Perhaps they didn't figure out the reason for this test after all.

"You're a strange one" He concurred, still using his senses to keep an eye out for the other two.

"The only strange thing here is your hair and I prefer, unique" came the sneered retort. Kakashi hadn't expected Naruto to act so aggressively yet calm. From reports, He should be extremely loud and obnoxious, though you can't really put it past Iruka to give a crappy report when he lives on his emotions.

"Alright, show me what you've got if you're so unique." Kakashi responded, pocketing his hands while staring at the kid in front of him lazily but intrigued.

Naruto deadpanned but remained silent. Observing every inch of his sensei before attacking.

"Bunshin no jutsu" he crowed as two dozen shadow clones appeared through the smoke and lunged toward their surprised sensei to keep him busy.

The real Naruto made the hand signs he learnt from the moment he started learning fuinjutsu and applied the right amount of chakra to his left hand. He hadn't known he'd be good at this type of technique but it came naturally. A seal mark appeared on his left hand as he smirked at a hiding Sasuke.

"Suitoru Fuuin (Absorbing seal)" he whispered while his clones were piling up on Kakashi sensei.

As Naruto shot forward, his clones dissipated. Confused, Kakashi looked around to make sure all clones were gone when he felt chakra coming from behind him. He spun around and swiftly dodged a, rather small, fireball from the Uchiha. Kakashi glanced over to the boy as he smirked, watching the fire go safely past him and continuing its way to Naruto. The blonde held out his left Palm and caught the ball of fire, it stayed in his palm for a second, not burning the boy in the slightest before it started fading, becoming smaller and smaller until nothing was left and Naruto's Palm was glowing red with a seal mark.

Surprised he knew of such a high level jutsu and that he hadn't even sensed the kid, Kakashi narrowed his eyes as he felt more heat coming toward him. He dodged out of the way again but kept having to move as the Uchiha unrelentingly shot ball after ball at him.

The jounin had fallen right into their trap as Sasuke led Kakashi toward Naruto, though Kakashi knew what was happening, he let it.

Suddenly Naruto, a non fire elemental type used exactly that. The jutsu he absorbed was used to attack their sensei from the rear. Kakashi knew the fuinjutsu seal well and wasn't surprised the boy picked up a knack for it.

"Kaihou Fuuin!" Naruto yelled, charging forward as the fireball lunged from his palm.

The fire hit its mark and sent Kakashi flying forward into Sasuke's still incoming balls of fire.

For a moment, silence ensnared the area, nothing but flames to fill it.

Sasuke looked around, not believing it was over whilst Naruto silently cheered a little, hoping it to be over. 

Suddenly, Kakashi's 'corpse' poofed into smoke and a hard kick from behind sent Sasuke skidding over to Naruto.

Kakashi landed soundlessly and smiled at the two.

Sasuke's anger took control at being kicked and humiliated like that. He ran toward the jounin, activating his clans jutsu again "Katon! Gokakyu no jutsu!" He bellowed as a large fireball shot from his mouth. It honestly surprised the boy he hadn't fallen from chakra exhaustion yet, he'd used the jutsu so many times.

As soon as Kakashi dodged out the way, a certain orange wearing boy slammed into his back and took on the man in a taijutsu battle, if one could call it that. Sasuke decided to join in and fight alongside Naruto.

The boys pushed him back to the tree line where Sakura was waiting ever so patiently.

Kakashi knew exactly what they were doing now and let them. Feeling a sense of pride throughout him.

As soon as they were at the tree line, Sakura dashed out and swiped the three scrolls from his belt and gave her own hard punch to the gut before running to the appointed meeting spot.

Naruto motioned to Sasuke that the objective was complete to which both genin retreated to the meeting spot as well, replacing themselves with clones.

As Sakura sat at the bottom of a wide and old tree, she couldn't help but wonder why Kakashi-sensei said the scrolls had to be opened before noon.

Sasuke and Naruto arrived at the spot, only to find Sakura in deep thought.

The boys looked at each other and sat on either side of her.

"What's wrong Sakura?" Naruto questioned, concerned for his teammate while Sasuke nudged her shoulder, encouraging her to speak up.

"Kakashi-sensei told us the scrolls had to be opened before noon...why? There must be something we're missing." She babbled, clearly confused by the whole situation.

"Let me take a look" Naruto stated, holding out his hand.

The other two genin looked at each other and back to Naruto, arching their eyebrows as if asking 'is this really a good idea?'

Naruto rolled his eyes at their hesitation and snatched one of the scrolls before looking at the inscription written at the base.

"I haven't done much research on these things but I've recently found a great interest in fuinjutsu." Naruto explained as he looked at every inch of the scroll before moving to the next two.

Sasuke and Sakura both felt rather taken aback, they'd known Naruto as a class clown, it seemed he was finally getting serious or perhaps it was all an act from the beginning.

Naruto read the last scroll before looking up at his team and grimaced.

"What? What is it?" Sakura edged, anxious to know.

"It's pretty much a knockout scroll. If we open it, we'll be knocked out but the good news is, only one scroll is like that. The other two are summoning scrolls, If opened, they'll give bento boxes." Naruto explained, solemnly while holding the KO scroll in his hand.

"He's played us against each other" Sasuke realized. Naruto and Sakura widened their eyes before Naruto started chuckling, quietly still so that Kakashi-sensei wouldn't find them.

"What's so funny Naruto?" Sakura asked, wondering if her teammate had lost it.

Naruto simply waved his hand in dismissal and chucked the two scrolls that had food to Sasuke and Sakura.

Both of which, were startled and slightly in awe at what Naruto was implying.

Meanwhile, Kakashi was watching the whole ordeal from a nearby tree.

Naruto slowly slipped his fingers under the edge of the scroll, ready to pull it open for the sake of his team. He already failed the academy exams three times, after that, you can't go back but that wouldn't stop him from training still.

"No." Sasuke muttered. Surprising not only his fellow genin but his sensei as well.

Naruto paused and looked up at his raven-haired friend in confusion.

"If you don't pass with us then I refuse to go ahead and call ourselves a team. You're a part of it as much as i am." Sasuke exclaimed in a heated stare toward Naruto who looked like his heart was just hugged by a fluffy rabbit.

"Sasuke..."

"Sasuke's right Naruto, if you don't proceed, we don't" Sakura chipped in. All three stood to their feet and smiled at each other.

"Well done" came a praising voice out the bushes "you've passed, you've all shown incredible teamwork and even offered to sacrifice your future for each other" Kakashi explained to them, they had expressions of disbelief and awe. "You're a team now. Team 7. Many great shinobi have been team 7 before, so let's live up to that expectation. We start our first mission as a team tomorrow!" Kakashi cheered in a closed-eyed smile as his team's faces broke into Cheshire grins and looked toward each other and back to their sensei before saluting him "hai!" They chorused.

"Let's go out and celebrate" Kakashi announced, patting Naruto on the head before heading to his eating destination.

Naruto felt a strange warmth in his stomach at this action, an unfamiliar warmth but a good unfamiliar.

Sasuke wanted to decline, unsure if he should become closer to his team more than he already was but decided it wouldn't hurt to get some food, he really needed to do grocery shopping sometime.

Sakura simply smiled, walked next to her sensei and pulled out her medical ninjutsu book once again.

All four headed to Ichiraku's ramen with content smiles on their faces.