Different

Team Selection

Hinata walked proudly into the graduation room. Sure, she got many stares, but she didn't care! She walked past the threshold when someone asked her the question.

"What are you doing here, Hinata? I thought you failed." He laughed, as if it was funny.

"Can't you see this headband? I guess not, because you don't have the observation of a real ninja." Several people gawked at her. It became apparent that this wasn't the same timid girl that cracked under pressure.

Due to a lack of open seats, Hinata sat next to Kiba and in front of Sakura. Then Sakura turned and gave a thumbs up.

"You go, girl!" She cheered. Hinata smiled and blushed slightly.

"Thank you, Haruno~san." Class went by like normal. People ignored Hinata unless they were talking about her behind her back. Typical. When Iruka came in, she couldn't help but feel a huge dose of happiness.

"Hello class. As you know, this is your last day in the academy. You are all officially ninja. But you are only genin. If you are lucky, you will raise through the ranks vigorously. I hope each and every one of you reach your goals. Now we will be listing teams..."

Hinata listened as closely as she could. She didn't know, nor care, for half the people in her class, but she wanted to know all the information she was given so she could succeed.

"Team Seven: Namikaze Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke." The three looked at each other and gave their own variations of a smile: Naruto's grin, Sakura's close eyes smile, and Sasuke.s smirk.

"Team Eight: Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino, and Hyūga Hinata." Hinata nodded lightly. Kiba and Akamaru quite literally barked, and Shino... Did Shino.

"Team Nine is on field... And Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, and Akamichi Chōji." The three looked bored, like they expected it.

After everything was sorted, it was time for lunch. Hinata threw glances at her new teammates, but walked out of the classroom instead. She picked a lone bench in front of the academy and began to open the lunch Neji had helped her make: Cinnamon rolls, soda, Nutella and banana sandwich, an apple and a salad(because Neji said that she can't eat just junk, but who was gonna stop her?).

She ate slowly, as if it would make time stop. She wondered what her team would think of her. She was the kyūbi container, after all. Then something happened that she least expected.

"Yo! You're Hinata, right? My new teammate?" She looked up to see a grinning Kiba. Hinata nodded. "Well, can I sit here? We're going to be teammates, why not get to know each other?" Hinata was baffled.

"You... Don't hate me?" She asked, uncertain. She needed to be cautious when it came to things like this.

"Nah! My family don't care about things like that." Kiba answered, taking out his lunch. "Isn't that right, Akamaru?" The pup barked in response, and Hinata could only hope that meant yes.

Kiba was exciting, Hinata realized. He spoke in such a grand way the just made people want to listen. His jokes weren't that funny, but she felt like laughing just to hear him laugh.

"Hey, after we meet our sensei, Imma invite you and bug nerd to my place and stuff." Kiba said. Hinata smiled and nodded.

•~•~•~•~•~•

"Okay, what are you two doing?" Sakura sighed, looking up from her book. Naruto grinned.

"I don't have much time to play pranks, so why not do one now? Usually, if I beg hard enough, they won't tell my dad about it, like Iruka~sensei. Hogoromo bless his soul."

"Hagoromo, dobe. And I'm helping him in hopes we impress whatever sensei we get. Naruto's pranks are usually pretty elaborate." Sasuke answered. Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Just don't do anything stupid." She said, going back to her book. She continued to ignore what was happening, even when Naruto got a bucket of water and a pile of kunai.

"Alright, this is my best prank yet!" Naruto said, running his hands deviously.

"It is pretty impressive." Sasuke agreed. Sakura finally looked up from her book, and she laughed like a maniac.

"Oh, this'll be fun!" She said, high-fiving Naruto for his effort. They sat quietly and waited. The door slid open. The three got behind the desk as water dropped onto the gray haired man in front of them.

"Oh hey Kakashi~ojisan..." Naruto laughed nervously. Kakashi walked foreward, annoyed. He walked over a wire, and kunai sprung at him. He dodged them, however. He walked up to Naruto.

"Naruto." Kakashi began. Then he ruffled his hair. "You sure are annoying." Naruto smiled.

"You're in our squad, huh? What are the odds?"

"Pretty high. Meet me on the roof." And Kakashi shunshined away.