Konoha's Dream Team

Chapter 1

"Um, sensei?"

Eight-year old Uchiha Sasuke stood, his arms crossed, watching with cold eyes as Akimichi Chouji and Nara Shikamaru, both his age, stood opposite each other in front of their teacher, Umino Iruka, behind the Ninja Academy. A traditional shinobi spar was taking place.

"What?" Iruka asked Chouji, who looked a bit meek.

"I don't really wanna beat up my friend..."

"That's not what we're doing, this is a traditional shinobi spar," Iruka said, smiling. "Even the Hokage and his friends trained like this to help them grow strong."

Shikamaru didn't seem to listen, however. Instead, he just turned away and walked off.

"Sensei, I'm fine with losing by ring out," he announced, which made Chouji smile. "Call the next pair."

Iruka sighed, exasperated, then gestured for Shikamaru to come back and said, "Fine. Shikamaru, Chouji, the symbol of harmony. Next..."

As Chouji and Shikamaru hooked their middle and index fingers with each other, Iruka looked over the clipboard in his hands, trying to decide on the next pair.

"Uh... Next is Uzumaki Naruto! And Uchiha Sasuke! You're up!"

As Sasuke walked into the ring that had been drawn on the ground, the girls in his class squealed with joy. Sasuke hated when they did that. He thought that ignoring them would make them stop, but they seemed to love his loner personality. Ignoring them once more, he looked to the kid who walked into the ring with him.

The boy had spiky, blond hair, intense blue eyes, and three strange, whisker-like markings on each cheek. Sasuke could see that he shouldn't relax when it came to this boy, as his expression was very rebellious, and his already bruised knuckles, coupled with the faded bruise on his cheek and the butterfly bandage over the cut above his left eyebrow told him that this kid was a fighter.

"Let's do this," the other boy, Naruto, said with a grin that screamed defiance and confidence.

"Naruto!" Iruka barked, placing his hand in a half-Ram seal. "Before the spar, you have to make the symbol of combat! It's the proper protocol!"

"I couldn't give a crap!" Naruto exclaimed brashly and very loudly. "Just start the fight, yeah?"

"So stupid..." Sasuke muttered. "Fine, I'll take you down in one-"

"Stop, the both of you!" Iruka ordered. "Sheesh! Listen, these shinobi spars are a tradition that's been passed down for generations! I realize there's a lot of etiquette, but it's important, and here at the academy, we're teaching you the basics! First, you always face your opponent and point your fingers like this. This is the symbol of combat. It represents on half of a seal that might be used to activate a Ninjutsu technique, and means, 'I've come to face you in battle!' When the spar is over, both participants make the symbol of combat and lock their fingers together, to make the symbol of harmony and acknowledge that they are still comrades. This is all part of the proper etiquette for a shinobi spar, and-" Iruka stopped and twitched when he saw Naruto looking away, cleaning out his ear. "Are you listening, Naruto?! This's the second time I've told you this!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah..."

"Say 'Yes,' and say it once, you little brat!"

Naruto scoffed, but then smirked and formed the symbol of combat, staring into Sasuke's eyes, the Uchiha forming the same symbol.

"Begin!" Iruka yelled out, and the two kids charged at each other.

Sasuke was right when he had assumed that Naruto could fight. He was used to being strong and all, so when Naruto seemed to anticipate every strike and counter with the same efficiency as Sasuke himself, the Uchiha was understandably shocked.