Different

Graduation

It was time to see who would pass on as an official genin, and who would fail miserably. Great. Hinata was OK. And that scared everyone. 'The nine-tails a ninja? How terrible!' No one saw Hinata as a person.

If it wasn't for Naruto, Hinata would have been dead last. No matter how much Minato pestered his son, Naruto just couldn't rise up above the ranks.

But Sasuke sure did help. He taught Naruto to successfully summon a shadow clone, which afterward came easily to him. He could summon hundreds at a time, surprising almost everyone who knew. And their rivalry made them both try their best to bring the other down, even if Sasuke was the number one student.

Sakura was a mentally brilliant student, but her physical skill needed help. So when she and Naruto became friends, he helped her physically, as she helped him with grades. When Sakura was tutoring Naruto at the Namikaze mansion, Uchiha Mikoto and Uchiha Sasuke decided to pay a visit. This is when Sakura officially met Sasuke.

Sasuke had developed  a crush on the Haruno, as she was confident and(mostly) sweet. So when the raven found her at his rivals house, outward he didn't even blush, but inwardly he panicked.

"Hey." Sasuke said. "You guys close?"

"Relax man. We're just friends. Sakura, this is Sasuke. Sasuke, Sakura."

"Oh! He needs no introduction, Naruto~kun," Sakura said, bowing. "It's a pleasure Uchiha~san."

"Just call me Sasuke."

'Oh my fucking marbles. It's an Uchiha, and he is talking to us. This just isn't normal! Why would someone from such an important family talk to us?'

"Shut up and see if you can become friends! Being friends with an Uchiha will get us tons of street cred!"

'Shut up.'

They stood their quiet, much to Naruto's amusement. The blonde smirked.

"I'll go make some tea. You are guest, after all," Naruto said, playing matchmaker. "Make yourselves at home." He bowed, then winked at Sasuke, who stared daggers at him.

Sakura couldn't deny it, she had feelings for the Uchiha prince, but he was always surrounded by fangirls. There is no way he would ever notice her, right? Plus, her best friend had a crush on him. She couldn't break her heart like that.

But finding out Naruto, a guy she met in the middle of a training ground, was friends with the raven, she freaked. She wasn't fangirling, per say, more... Dazed... Like having butterflies in your stomach. A common fear of rejection.

And Sasuke was feeling it, too. Oh, he was SO going to invite Hinata over Saturday.

°*°Hinata°*°

Hinata had gotten up early, obviously surprising Neji. She was excited? She felt a churning in her stomach, and desperately wanted to get rid of it. She had a feeling, but shook it off. She was going to pass! She had to! She would. Right?

"All right, class!" Umino 'Dolphin' Iruka shouted, trying to get the classes attention, while Mizuki played with a pencil. "First on the list..." The student and the two.sensei walked into another room. Starting the mayhem.

Names went by, and by. "Haruno Sakura."

She walked out with a hitai-ate in her hands, smiling. She passed.

"Hyūga Hinata." The dolphin called to his student. Hinata sighed. "Let's do this..." she muttered aloud.