Konoha's Dream Team

Chapter 2

"Today's the day, eh?"

"Hn."

Naruto and Sasuke were heading for the Ninja Academy. Four and a half years had passed since that day when they discovered Naruto's heritage, and everything had been proceeding according to plan. Naruto and Sasuke spent every day studying or training, or both. However, because of how the teams were sorted, Naruto had stuck with the plan and pretended to be a nobody in class, getting barely passing grades.

It had been difficult, though, to get worse grades than Nara Shikamaru. That boy was a genius, but too lazy to lift a pen. Therefore, his grades should have been the poorest, but since they were the same as Naruto's, the blond had to take drastic measures by adding poor attendance to the list. This had earned him the position of dead last.

The two were dressed sharply enough, Naruto wearing a pair of black sandals, black ninja pants with a shuriken holster and a kunai holster strapped to his right leg, and a loose, long-sleeved, black ninja shirt that had been rolled up to just below his elbows, revealing the sleeves of the mesh shirt he wore underneath. Under the shirt, which had a fur collar much like that of the venerable Nidaime Hokage, over the mesh, Naruto wore plate armor. He also had two kunai pouches behind his back, and a black, three-inch wide bracelet on each wrist.

Sasuke wore black sandals, black ninja pants with two shuriken holsters on his right leg, a black muscleshirt over a mesh shirt, under plate armor, which was hidden by a black, long-sleeved shirt complete with the trademark high collar of the Uchiha, and the Uchiha clan crest on the back. He had only one kunai pouch, which was on the left side of his back, as a black chokuto was tucked into his red obi behind his back on his right side. He had identical bracelets on his own wrists.

"My awesome score in the upcoming exam won't change my overall grade, will it?" Naruto asked curiously, and Sasuke shook his head.

"No, the exam is just to show that you can do what they want you to do," the Uchiha said. His voice was warmer than it had once been, but it was only like that when he was talking to Naruto, or whoever else he felt had earned his respect, such as the Sandaime Hokage, and Naruto's teacher, who went by the codename Yamato.

"Heh, then it'll be good to show these punks how good I really am!" Naruto said, punching his fist into his open palm. Of course, most of the academy already knew how strong he really was. After all, Sasuke's fangirls had spied on a lot of their lighter training sessions, and even then it was intense, and since Naruto could easily keep up with Sasuke, they had figured out that he was just acting in class, and had naturally spread the word.

Sasuke blinked once and looked at Naruto.

"Who is it this time?"

"I'm not molding chakra right now," Naruto said, crossing his arms. "So I haven't the slightest."

"Then mold some?"

Naruto's left eyebrow slowly rose, and he turned his head to look at Sasuke, who sighed.

"Please mold some?"

Naruto nodded and closed his eyes, activating his keen chakra sensing abilities. He located all five people who were following them, and identified their chakra signatures.

"The usual fangirls on our six, and on the rooftop at four o'clock is Hinata."

"Hinata? Haven't had her following us around for about a week," Sasuke commented.

It was widely known that Hinata was probably the only girl in the academy who wasn't a fangirl. Instead, she was an admirer. She didn't admire Sasuke, however, but instead it was Naruto who she focused her attention on. She had told Kiba, who had told Shikamaru, who had told Ino, who had told Sasuke that she admired Naruto for his determination and will to never give up, even when looked down upon by the general populace of the village. She greatly admired his character, but was too shy to talk to him.