"As of today, you are all ninjas. To get here, you faced difficult trails and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now you're only Genin, first level ninjas. All Genin will be grouped into three man squads. Each squad will be lead by a Jonin, an elite ninja," Iruka sensei said, and I heard Naruto "Huh?" quietly.

I heard Ino and Sakura gasp, probably thinking about the fact that someone will be pared with Sasuke.

"Well, someone's got to be in Sasuke's group. I wonder who," Ino said from beside me, sounding almost indifferent.

"I don't know," Sakura said as she turned to glare at Ino. I shivered slightly, the aura radiating off of the two was frighting.

I then began to think who I waned to be with. Naruto for sure. I would say Shikamaru, but I know he's needed for this generation of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation, so he's out. I really wouldn't mind I guess, but there was the possibility that I'll be the fourth person on a team, seeing as how there's an even amount of graduates and all.

Something told me a few people were wondering or hoping who was on their squad as well...

"We want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up," Iruka sensei continued. 'Well, Naruto's either with me or Sasuke, or both of us...'

"I will now announce the squads..."

I tried to listen as our sensei listed the squads, to see who was with who, but I soon lost interest just like my friend, Shikamaru, who was sitting on my left. So I tried to make conversation.

"Who do you want on your squad, Shika?"

He shrugged lazily, "I really don't care. But I guess having Choji on my team would be nice, and having you on my squad would be beneficial, seeing as how you're as smart as those from my clan and don't fawn over Sasuke..."

I nodded, "Yeah, I'd like to be on your squad, too. And I'd like to be with Naruto as well." He rolled his eyes, "What a drag. You're always wanting to be with Naruto." I smiled at the lazy Nara. "Well, he is family."

"Squad seven. Naruto Uzumaki..."

That got my attention, as well as Naruto's.

"Sakura Haruno..." Naruto stands and cheers while Sakura's head falls forward saying, "I'm doomed."

"Sasuke Uchiha..." Suddenly the roles are switched and Sakura stands and cheers while Naruto's head falls forward, saying "I'm doomed."

"And because of the extra graduate this year, Ginko Uzumaki will also be on squad seven." I smiled as Naruto cheered again. I felt a nudge and looked at Shikamaru. "Looks like you got your what you wanted," he muttered quietly.

"Next, squad eight. Hinata Hyuga..." I Heard Hinata say a quiet, "Yes, sir." before he continued.

"Kiba Inuzuka..." I heard Kiba chuckle when his name was called.

"Shino Aburame," Iruka sensei finished as I saw Sakura turn around and give Ino a peace sign.

"Ah. How did you get in his group? Ugh!" Ino cried out, her fists clenched and eyes narrowed as she trembles in anger.

"I don't get it. What do you see in a guy like that? He's not so special," Shikamaru says from beside me and I nod in agreement. Ino turned to give us an incredulous look.

"You are so beyond clueless, Shikamaru. Don't you get it? I thought you'd at least understand Silver."

"No, I don't get it, because I'm not a girl," Shikamaru said irritably while I simply shrug my shoulders. I saw Sasuke as a sparing partner, maybe even a potential friend.

Nothing more, nothing less. Simple as that.

"Ugh, you're so full of yourself, Shikamaru. Jealousy's a terrible thing. I'd hate to be on your squad," Ino said, as if she pitied him. Then she looks at me, but before she could say anything, Iruka sensei spoke up.

"Now, squad ten. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara..." I heard Ino grunt, "Ugh!" And Shikamaru laugh. "Heh. Did you say something about hating to be on my squad?" He asked with a smug smile and I couldn't help but smirk with him, making Ino growl.

"And Choji Akimichi." I look over at Choji chowing down on some chips, and I guess Ino doesn't like him all that much because she grabbed her head and had a strange look on her face.

"Those are all the squads."

Naruto suddenly stood and pointed at Sasuke before saying, "Iruka sensei. Why does a great ninja like me have to be in the same group with a slug like Sasuke?" Pointedly pissing off Sakura.

"Hm." Iruka sensei looked up at Naruto before explaining, "Sasuke had the second best scores of all the graduating students. Naruto, you had the worst scores. To create a balanced group, we put the best students with the worst student." I sighed and rested my head on the desk, closing my eyes as I did.

"Ugh." 'Naruto.'

"Just make sure you don't get in my way, loser." 'Sasuke.'

I heard Naruto growl, then, "Hey, what did you say?"

"Hard of hearing." I opened my eyes at that. That's what Gaara said to Master Rasa two years ago.

"Knock it off, Naruto. Sit down," Sakura said in an aggravated voice. "Ahem," Iruka cleared his throat to get their attention again. "At least I've still got Gin," Naruto huffed before plopping down in his seat. I smiled at closed my eyes again as Iruka sensei continued.

"After lunch, you'll meet your new Jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed."

'Huh, short class...'

*TIME SKIP*
NO P.O.V.

"He's late," Naruto said tersely, causing Ginko to look up from her book, a blush evident on her face, to see him sticking his head out of the classroom door, looking left and right.

"Hm... Hm... Hm..." He hummed as she pulled up her scarf to hide her blush.

"Naruto! Just sit down!" Sakura yelled.

'He's not going to~' Ginko sang in her head as she marked her page before closing it.

"I don't want to! How come our teacher's the only one that's late! I'm ready to roll. Believe it!" He then stepped away from the door to face the others fully before continuing, "The other group's already meet their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka sensei's gone, too."

"We know, okay?" Sakura replied dishearteningly before Naruto moved a stool in front of the door to stand on, an eraser in hand.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Sakura shouted, causing Sasuke to look over at the two and Ginko to put her book away and walk up to Naruto with Sakura, who was currently laughing as he put the eraser at the top of the open door before closing it to make it stay.

When the girls reached him, Sakura put her hands on her hips while Ginko stared up at the prank, calculating all of the possible outcomes.

"Naruto!"

"That's what he gets for coming late. Surprise!" Naruto responded as he jumped down. Ginko just tilted her head to the side as she finally noticed there's an unknown chakra headed their way.

'Why didn't I notice it before?'

"You're asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that." Sakura said while her inner-self agreed with Naruto. 'Psh! I love stuff like this!'

"Huh. Our teacher's a Jonin-- an elite ninja. You think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke said from behind his hands, which were intertwined in front of his face.

"Yeah. Sasuke's right. You're so clueless Naruto," Sakura said, agreeing with Sasuke while Ginko gave her look.

'Really...'

Just then I gloved hand grabbed onto the door and slide it open, gaining everyone's attention and making Naruto laugh in anticipation.

1 Mississippi...

'A silly prank...'

2 Mississippi...

'Still, if this prank was the result of teamwork...'

THUNK

...

Naruto points and laughs at the silver haired Jonin from before, as he says, "I got him! He totally fell for it!"

'So Naruto's the perp...'

Sakura had her hands held in front of her, a small blush on her cheeks as she says, "I'm sorry, Sensei. I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen. I'd never do anything like that." But her inner-self gave two thumbs up. 'Perfect shot!'

'Sakura makes excuses and tries to protect herself...'

Sasuke looks down at his desk as he thinks, 'He actually fell for that cheap trick? Is this guy really a Jonin?'

'Sasuke minds his own business... he probably doesn't consider them as comrades...'

Ginko just stares at the silver haired Jonin as he looks at each of his students, just one thing one her mind. 'My father's my new sensei...'

'Ginko looks out of place here...'

'There's not even a shred of teamwork...'

All four students stare at their teacher as he bends down to pick up the fallen eraser.

"Hm. How can I put this?" He said aloud as he looks away from the eraser in his hand and grabs his chin with the other. "My first impression of this group: You're a bunch of idiots."

All but Ginko deadpanned at what their new sensei said, while she stared at him curiosity, interest, and love.

'That look in her eyes... reminds me of Anju...'

Later on the roof...

"All right. Why don't you introduce yourselves one at a time?" The Jonin asked in a laid back voice as he leaned against the railing, arms crossed against his chest.

The Genin were seated in front of him on the stairs with Sakura and Naruto on the second step, and Sasuke and Ginko on the first.

"Introduce ourselves? Well, what are we supposed to say?" Sakura asked.

"Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future. Hobbies. Things like that."

"Why don't you tell us stuff first. I mean, before we talk, tell us about you, so we can see how it's supposed to work."

"Me?" Kakashi asked, pointing to himself. "I'm Kakashi Hatake." Kakashi noticed Naruto had stiffened slightly a the mention of his name, but ignored it.

'Hatake. So he's Gin's Dad...'

"Things I like and things I hate-- I don't feel like telling you that."

"Huh?" Both Naruto and Sakura said, shocked.

'You like Mama and her salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant and hate anything fried or sweet, except Mama's famous birthday surprise... like me...'

"My dreams for the future-- never really thought about it."

'You wanted to fight your sensei and win as well as start a family with Mama... Actually, that already happened...'

"As for my hobbies-- I have lots of hobbies."

'And your hobbies are reading.'

"That was totally useless. All he really told us was his name," Sakura said with an irritated look.

"Uh-huh," Naruto said as he nodded before sharing a look with Ginko, something that didn't go unnoticed by Kakashi.

'What are they up to...'

"Okay, you're turn. You on the right-- you first."

Naruto quickly looked back at Kakashi before grabbing the edge of his headband and saying, "Believe it. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like my little cousin Ginko and instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka sensei and Gin got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop, and Gin's cooking and singing. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing 'em. And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage. Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody-- somebody important."

'Well, he's grown up in a very interesting way.'

"All right. Next."

Sakura broke into a smile. "I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like-- I mean, the person I like is--" she said but stopped to giggle and sneak glances at Sasuke, who simply ignored her. "Uh, my hobby is-- uh--" she stopped again and repeated her previous actions. "My future dream is--" she stopped again and with a look at Sasuke, she squealed, causing Ginko to give her a bored and irritated look, much like Kakashi's.

'Really Sakura, really...' Ginko thought as she slowly shook her head.

"And? What do you hate?"

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled, making Naruto cry out and tears to fall from his eyes as Ginko face- palmed and sighed in irritation.

'Girls her age are more interested in boys than in ninja training,' Kakashi thought, resting his chin in his hand before he looked at Ginko, seeing her head in her hand.

"You know, if we do ever have a kids, I want them to be just like you. That way, you can see how annoying you can be when I try to have a civilized conversation with you..."

"It's not civilized if you tie me to a chair and force me to eat your 'Famous Birthday Surprise' while saying, 'Trust me, it's not poisoned'."

"Was it poisoned?"

"...No."

"Was it good?"

"...Yeah."

"There you go."

'Anju...'

Ginko suddenly raised her hand, snapping Kakashi out of his thoughts. "Uh, yes?"

"Can I go next?" Ginko asked curiously in her soft voice, confusing Kakashi but he nodded none the less. She smiled behind her scarf and sat up a little straighter.

She just wanted her Dad to know her a little better, even if he didn't know that they were related.

"I'm Ginko Uzumaki. I like reading, training, my cousin Naruto and Gaara. Oh, and salt-broiled saury and miso soup with eggplant. And I hate anything that's fried or sweet. My hobby is reading the book Naruto got me a year ago and cooking. And my future dream is to be just like my Dad and Mama. I wanna make them proud," Ginko finished with a smile. Though they couldn't see it, they could hear it in her voice, no matter how soft it is.

Kakashi looked a her in shock. 'She's like me...'

'Who are you, Ginko Uzumaki?'

"Last one," Kakashi said, looking away from Ginko to look at Sasuke, seeming uninterested, but Ginko could see the curious and intrigued look in his one visible eye.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything," Sasuke said, making Sakura gasp. "What I have is not a dream because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and destroy a certain someone," he finished. Kakashi noticed how he made a quick glance at Ginko at one point, and he narrowed his eye slightly.

It was quiet for a moment while everyone was lost in thought.

'Gee, uh, I hope he doesn't mean me.'

'Sasuke is so hot.'

'Uchiha...'

'Just as I thought.'

"Good. You're each unique, and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."

That got everyone's attention real quick. "Uh, what kind of mission are we going to have?" He asked happily as he saluted Kakashi.

"It's a task the five of us will do together."

"What? What? What? What?"

"A survival exercise."

"Huh? Survival exercise?"

"I thought we were supposed to have a real mission, not more practice." Sakura asked irritably. "We already did this stuff at the academy. That's how we got here."

'Really? I didn't know that?' Ginko thought sarcastically.

"This is not like your previous training," Kakashi replied.

"So, uh-- So, uh, what kind of training is it then?" Naruto asked.

That's when Kakashi started laughing, causing the Genin to look at him strangely.

"Hey, hold on. That's a normal question. What's so funny?" Sakura asked, as Ginko stared at him curiously, trying to understand what was so funny.

"Heh, well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it," He replied, a smile evident in his voice.

"Huh?" Naruto said as Kakashi suddenly got serious.

"Of the 28 graduates who just came here, only nine or ten will be accepted as Genin. The other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it, pass-fail test, and the chance that you'll fail is at least 66%," Kakashi said, terrifying Naruto into thinking he might not be Hokage, making Sakura deadpan at the reason he was laughing, infuriating Sasuke that he might not be able to get strong enough to kill his 'curtain someone', and shocking Ginko at how sadistic he father could be.

"See didn't I tell you you wouldn't like it?"

"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here. Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?" Naruto shouted.

But before Kakashi could answer, Ginko beat him to it, shocking everyone but Naruto, "That was just to select candidates who might become Genin. Or not."

"What?" Naruto shouted, surprised that was the true purpose of the test while Ginko just shrugged nonchalantly, "That's how it is. It's up to Sensei whether we pass or not."

Kakashi nodded before saying, "Be at the designated training spot at 5:00 a.m., and bring your ninja gear."

Naruto groaned before he thought, 'Well, I'm not going to be weeded out. People are going to look up to me some day. I've got to pass this test. Believe it. Believe it.'

Sakura gripped her hands together in a fist before her chest as she thought, 'If I fail, I'll be separated from Sasuke. This is a trail of love.'

Ginko narrowed her eyes in thought as she began to think things over, 'What is he trying to get us to do? Maybe it's to see how strong each of us are? No, he'd do that individually if-- wait, Mama said one time that teamwork is Dad's favorite word, so could it be a test of teamwork?'

Sasuke simply gripped his hands together.

Kakashi stood and turned away from the four before waving two fingers at them and saying, "That's it. You're dismissed." He then turned to them and added, "Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else you'll puke."

That got to all but Ginko, who gave him a weird look.

'Sorry Papa, but I'm not gonna miss breakfast...'

**********
A.N.
Okay, I was thinking about putting the next chapter as a filler, where Naruto sees a few pics of Kakashi that Ginko has and also a dream Kakashi has the night before the bell  test about how he and Anju meet and the day he leaves to go back to the village... would you guys want to read that?

~愛 Naomi