The More Things Change

Chapter One

Naruto Uzumaki sat at the back of the classroom, twitching in anticipation. He had finally achieved the first step towards achieving his dreams. The young ninja, after three failed attempts at the Genin Graduation Exam, had finally proven his worth to both Iruka-Sensei and the Third Hokage by assisting Iruka and defeating the traitor, Mizuki. The young blonde had barely left his sensei's side since the ordeal, spending many hours in the hospital keeping his favorite person company while the older Chunin healed. The scarred teacher had finally been released the day before, just in time to hand out team assignments. After reading out the teams, Iruka left the newly minted Genin to their fates, though he had given Naruto a discreet thumbs up on his way out the door.
The other Genin's Jonin-Senseis had already come and gone, taking their new students with them. First had been Kurenai, a surprisingly young woman clad almost exclusively in bandages. Her long dark hair and pale skin contrasted sharply with her crimson eyes, and Naruto could tell that Kiba Inuzaka was much happier with his team assignments after she had shown up. Before the Jonin had arrived, Kiba had been complaining incessantly about being stuck with the two quietest people in the class. To be fair, Naruto didn't think Shino had said more than two words in the entire time he'd known the Aburame. His sunglasses and trench coat further supported his aloof demeanor.
The final member of Team Eight, Hinata Hyūga, was just as quiet, though in a completely different way. She was extremely shy, constantly blushing and stuttering over her words. Naruto had often caught her pale lavender gaze staring at him longingly, though he couldn't quite figure out why. Honestly, it was a little unnerving. The one time he'd called her out on it, she'd blushed, stammered an apology, then run away.
After Team Eight's departure, a tall Jonin who had introduced himself as Asuma Sarutobi had arrived. The man had a distinct 'I don't care' look about him, aided by the lit cigarette jutting from his mouth. Naruto had wondered if the bearded ninja was related to the Third Hokage, but he hadn't had a chance to ask him, as he had gathered the Ino-Shika-Cho trio with startling efficiency. Naruto had been a little depressed that he hadn't been on Shikamaru and Choji's team, as they were easily the closest friends he had.
Shikamaru Nara, while lazy, was always up for getting out of class, and wherever Shikamaru went, Choji Akimichi was sure to follow. Naruto smiled, remembering a particularly pleasant day of playing hookie with his friends. They'd wound up in one of the lesser used training grounds, laying on the grass and watching the clouds. Choji had brought snacks, of course, and Shikamaru had quickly used the opportunity for a nap. For his part, Naruto was just grateful that he had someone to hang out with.
Ino Yamanaka rounded out Team Ten, and she was easily Naruto's least favorite. She was loud, bossy, and her group of followers had constantly belittled Naruto's classroom failures. The Yamanaka heiress hadn't taken part herself, but he knew that she privately agreed with them. One of the most embarrassing moments of his school career had been at their hands, and Naruto didn't think he'd be forgiving any of them any time soon.
Only three newly minted Genin remained in the classroom. Team Seven, Naruto knew, was an oddity. First of all, it was the only Genin team he knew of that had two kunoichi. Secondly, no one on the team got along at all. Sakura Haruno disliked Naruto because of his friendly, if one-sided, rivalry with her crush, Kiba. The Inuzaka boy was all too eager to pound Naruto into the dirt as often as he could, though he was just as quick to help Naruto up and dust him off with a laugh. The blonde had never come close to beating him, being smaller and less skilled than his opponent. Kiba was the highest ranked boy in the class, after all, and Naruto had barely passed by the skin of his teeth through a technicality.
Sakura's dislike of Naruto stemmed from a certain incident, over a month ago, when the rosette had finally worked up the courage to ask Kiba for a date. Before she could, however, Naruto had interrupted, challenging Kiba to yet another spar. Kiba had accepted right away, and the boys had left Sakura standing alone outside the Academy. She'd never forgiven Naruto, even though she'd gotten her date the very next day.
The third member of Team Seven was an enigma. Satsuki Uchiha was startlingly beautiful, with long, wild ebony locks that seemed permanently tied back in a pony tail that touched her waist. All of the boys admired her, though she'd never once accepted any of their offers to take her out. She rarely spoke, turning the boys down with a silent glare, her onyx eyes flashing with annoyance. She'd quickly earned a reputation as an ice queen. Naruto didn't think she even he existed, to be honest. She'd never once spoken to him, and he was too intimidated to join the throng of boys vying for her attention.
Satsuki was also the first kunoichi to earn the coveted top rank in an academy class. Many of the adults hailed her as a 'genius' and a 'prodigy.' She excelled in all their coursework and had never lost a Taijutsu match in her entire time at the academy. If she hadn't been so breathtakingly beautiful, the boys in Naruto's class probably would have been sore at losing to a girl, but they were too busy falling over themselves to get her attention to care.
The girls in the class hated her, Naruto knew. Invisible as he was, he'd often overhear snippets of their conversations. Their insults were contradictory, which confused Naruto to no end. They'd call her a whore one minute, then accuse her of being a lesbian, then laugh at the fact that she'd never had a boyfriend. He'd once held quite the flame for Sakura, but after listening to her and Ino viciously verbally abuse Satsuki behind her back his crush had all but disappeared. He hated bullies, and the pink haired Genin was a lot less attractive after that. Beauty on the outside only counted for so much.
The rosette in question was currently pacing the aisles, ranting about their new sensei's lateness. Naruto privately agreed, though he'd never admit it. Weren't Jonin supposed to be responsible? Satsuki was brooding, as usual, her onyx gaze staring out the window. She seemed unperturbed by this 'Kakashi's' tardiness, suffering the long wait in silence. It struck Naruto just how different they all were. Satsuki was the least outspoken person in the class, rivaling even Shino, while Sakura was arguably the loudest. Naruto himself was somewhere in the middle. When he got excited, he couldn't keep his mouth shut, but for the most part he was able to keep himself under control. He guessed that he had Shikamaru and Choji to thank for that. He'd realized awhile ago that if he wanted to have friends, he'd have to curb his more annoying impulses. It helped that his rivalry with Kiba was so friendly. Despite the regular beat downs, Naruto quite liked the Inuzaka, so it was hard to get too mad at him.
Now, though, Naruto was getting bored. There was only so long that he could sit still, and he'd finally reached his limit. Reaching into one of the pouches attached to the pants of his bright orange jumpsuit, Naruto pulled out a kunai and balanced it on the tip of his index finger. The movement caught Satsuki's attention, but after she ascertained that Naruto wasn't a threat, she quickly lost interest and resumed staring out the window. The kunai balancing was one of Naruto's ways of coping with his hyperactive mind. It took a lot of concentration, which kept his thoughts from wandering to less pleasant things. His current record was just shy of ten minutes, and he was hoping that his new sensei would show up before he had a chance to top it.
Almost prophetically, the door to the classroom opened, revealing a ninja who was undoubtedly a Jonin. His green flak vest notwithstanding, the man carried himself with the type of confidence that was earned a hundred times over. His white hair seemed to defy gravity, and his face was almost completely covered by a black mask, while his headband sat diagonally on his head. The skewed headband hid his right eye. Naruto briefly wondered how he could fight like that, considering how important both eyes were for depth perception.
"You're late!" Sakura shouted, pointing an accusatory finger, before realizing who she was talking to. She blushed and mumbled an apology.
The Jonin quirked his visible eyebrow, then turned to the his two remaining students. "Sorry I'm late, but I had to save a puppy from drowning. I'm sure you understand." His drawl was like the rest of him, laid back and relaxed. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, and I'll be your new sensei. My first impression of this group is... We have a lot of work to do. Let's adjourn to the roof and get started." The Jonin closed his visible eye in what Naruto assumed was a smile. It was hard to tell with the mask. "It has quite the view, don't you think?" Before any of them could reply, he disappeared in a whirlwind of smoke and leaves.
Satsuki stood and stretched, and Naruto couldn't help but watch out of the corner of his eye. Her lithe form was accentuated by her tight blue tank and spandex shorts that barely reached past the middle of her thighs. He glanced away quickly, knowing that getting caught looking wasn't worth the view. Kiba had made that mistake once, and only once. She strode out of the room, her long pony tail swishing hypnotically behind her.
Sakura apparently recovered from the embarrassment of shouting at her sensei. She cast a dark look in Naruto's direction, as if it was his fault that she'd embarrassed herself, and followed Satsuki out the door, leaving Naruto alone. Sighing, the blonde slid his kunai back into his pouch. Kakashi was right. This group had a lot of work to do, Naruto most of all.
Five minutes later, all three Genin sat on a small set of steps, Kakashi across from them. Naruto, by virtue of arriving last, had been stuck in the middle of the two kunoichi. Their small perch had forced the team to sit closer than any of them would have liked, though no one voiced their discomfort aloud. Despite their differences, all three were staring at Kakashi with similar expressions, a mixture of anticipation and nervousness.
"Now, I think we'd best start by introducing ourselves. The most important part of any team is teamwork, and you can't work as a team without knowing each other." Kakashi looked at each of the Genin in turn, as if he was imparting the most important wisdom he could ever give them. "A shinobi who doesn't follow the rules is trash, but one who abandons his team is worse than trash. To give you an example, I'll start. My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes, well, are none of your business. My dislikes, hmm... are private. My goals... I don't feel like sharing those. Any questions?" Naruto was pretty sure that Kakashi was joking, but before he could say anything Sakura exploded next to him.
"What was that? You didn't tell us anything!" She accused, before blushing again and covering her mouth.
Kakashi just gave her one of his eye smiles. "You're welcome to show me how it's done, Sakura."
The rosette stood, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "You bet I will! My name is Sakura Haruno. I like my boyfriend, Kiba, and reading." Her blush intensified, while Naruto and Satsuki shared a look of disbelief. He couldn't believe that the first thing Sakura wanted her new sensei to know about her was that she had a boyfriend. After collecting herself, the girl continued. "I dislike harlots and showoffs," she said, casting a dark look to each of her new teammates. "My dreams... well..." The girl tapered off, a frown on her pretty face. "I don't know. I guess I want to know more about chakra, and why it varies so much from person to person."
Kakashi quirked a brow as she returned to her seat. "Interesting. Naruto?"
Naruto stood, following Sakura's example. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like ramen, training, and hanging out with Choji, Shika, and Kiba. I dislike bullies and people who judge others. My goal is to become the Hokage, and I won't let anything get in the way of that, believe it!" He had started off talking at a normal decibel level, but had inadvertently started shouting halfway through. The blonde noticed Satsuki giving him an odd look, different from her usual haughty glares. He shifted uncomfortably under the unfamiliar gaze, quickly sitting.
If Kakashi was impressed by Naruto's declaration he didn't show it. Instead he turned to the team's final member. Satsuki, unlike the others, didn't stand. She just leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees. "My name is Satsuki Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. I don't have a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain someone." Her dark eyes burned with restrained passion. It was the most passionate Naruto had ever seen her, and it was actually really attractive, not that he'd tell her that in a million years. He liked his boy parts right where they were. Kakashi still seemed unimpressed, but nodded along as if Satsuki's introduction was exactly what the Jonin expected it to be.
"Well, that's enough for today. Tomorrow will mark our first team exercise, which might also be our last. It will determine whether or not I will take you on as students." He smiled at the Genin's puzzled faces. "Don't you know that there is a final test beyond the Genin Final Exam? If you fail, then all three of you will be washed out into the Shinobi Corp, so you'd better take it seriously." All three of their faces morphed from puzzlement to shock. "Meet me at Training Ground Seven at 0700." The Silver haired Jonin turned to leave. "By the way, I'd skip breakfast if I were you. You'll just throw it up anyway." With a final jaunty wave, he disappeared in another puff of smoke and leaves, his students staring after him.
"This team sucks," Sakura whined after a long moment. "I'm going home. Maybe I'll wake up in the morning and this will all be a horrible nightmare." The rosette disappeared through the rooftop door, and when Naruto turned around, Satsuki was standing in front of him, her arms crossed beneath her chest.
"If you do anything to mess things up tomorrow, I'll castrate you," she said, her voice low. Her dark eyes bored into his. "Do we understand each other, dobe?"
"Uh... yeah," the blonde replied, shifting in discomfort under her gaze. "Don't worry about it. I got this."
"You'd better," she snarled, before leaping off the roof, her long hair streaming behind her.
"What a weird day," Naruto commented to the empty rooftop.