Disclaimer:
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 08: Team 7
As soon as he entered the classroom, Naruto felt all their eyes fall on him before they started murmuring.
'It looks like no one was expecting me here… Professor Iruka must have failed to inform them.'
His eyes moved across the room, trying to identify the students here.
Oddly enough, he did remember the names of them all.
At the back of the class were Chouji and Shikamaru.
One row ahead was Kiba along with his dog, Akamaru. His eyes were filled with hostility towards him for some reason.
Next to him was the mysterious boy, Shino.
Naruto stopped for a moment on him… he could feel something stirring beneath his dark robes… something alive.
On the other side was a shy girl called Hinata.
Finally… sitting next to a window was a black-haired boy named Sasuke Uchiha.
He was well aware of what happened to his clan and could sympathize with the young boy, but he was not going to show him any pity.
'Just seven?... there should be nine, according to Iruka. Looks like we are still missing two.'
"Oi Naruto, what are you doing here?" Kiba could not hold any longer and decided to confront Naruto, thinking he was up to something.
Naruto turned to face the Inuzuka boy. "I am here for the same reason that everyone else."
The cold way in which he answered Kiba seemed to have surprised everyone present, even though only a few showed it on their faces.
They knew Naruto as the loudest boy in the class. And having Kiba in that same class… that was saying a lot.
"The same reason? Don't make me laugh. We all saw you fail the test! Did you steal that bandana?"
Naruto stared at the boy for a moment and wondered what was the best way to handle this.
With these types of people, violence was often the fastest and most efficient way to shut them up.
Before he could take any action, the door opened and two girls walked inside.
They both immediately glanced toward Sasuke and smiled.
"Sasuke!" The pink-haired one called with joy. "I bet we are going to be on the same team. Isn't that great?!"
"Wait right there, forehead. How do you know he is not going to be in my team?" The blonde one pushed her aside. "We should ask him. Which one do you prefer?"
Naruto recalled the names of those two… Sakura and Ino.
Ino just then noticed Naruto, who was still standing up.
She appeared surprised for a moment. "Naruto, what are you doing here?" She was not only surprised by his presence in the graduate class but also because she almost didn't recognize him without his usual orange jumpsuit.
"Naruto?..." Sakura gave him a look of pure disgust. "Are you trying to look cool by dressing more like Sasuke?..."
Naruto looked down at his clothes. He was wearing some very simple black robes and a utility belt with some kunais and shurikens.
He only got these robes because they were cheap and he was able to afford two of them so he could at least wear one while cleaning the other one. He was not able to buy better footwear so he still wore his old sandals.
It was the bare minimum when it came to basic hygiene.
"I don't know what you are talking about… those are just normal clothes," Naruto answered.
Sakura was about to yell something else when Iruka entered the classroom.
"Professor Iruka, look!" Sakura pointed at Naruto.
"Professor! I think Naruto has stolen someone's bandana. You have to do something," Kiba exclaimed.
"Okay okay, everyone calm down and take a seat," Iruka said with a calm voice. He was already expecting this. "And Naruto didn't steal anything. He is a graduate, like the rest of you."
"But he failed the test! We were all there," Sakura complained.
"Yes, there were some special circumstances that occurred after that… I cannot reveal the details but in any case, Naruto has passed. The Hokage himself gave him that bandana."
"Special circumstances?..." Shikamaru murmured.
"The Hokage gave him that bandana?!" Kiba could not believe it.
"Amazing…" Hinata used her hands to cover her smile.
"Yes, now shut up and sit down. I am about to announce the teams," Iruka said with authority.
Sakura was the fastest and sat down in the empty seat next to Sasuke.
Ino sighed and had no choice but to sit a bit further away.
Naruto chose an empty seat away from those two girls. He barely had any memories of them other than their names and that they were obsessed with Sasuke… but he could already tell that he was not going to get along with them.
"Let's begin with Team 10. Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji, and… Yamanaka Ino."
"Nooo!" Ino shouted. "Why am I stuck with those two?!"
"Ha!, take that!" Sakura screamed with joy.
"Next… team 8."
"Wait, what happened to team 9?" Kiba asked.
"It's already taken, now shut up," Iruka said. "Team 8 will be Hyuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, and Inuzuka Kiba."
"Yeah!, best team ever!" Kiba shouted.
"Wait… this actually means…." Sakura stared at Sasuke with teary eyes.
"Team 7… Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura…"
"It's not fair!" Ino cried.
"Hell yeah!, he is mine!" Sakura shouted.
"And… Uzumaki Naruto…" Iruka finished.
"Oh no!, I got Naruto…" Sakura groaned.
Ino laughed at her. "That's the least you deserve…"
"Now… team 7, wait here for your instructor. The rest, follow me." Iruka did not want to waste more time so he turned and started to walk out of the classroom.
The six students left the room while discussing with excitement about their potential instructors.
"Who do you think our instructor is going to be, Sasuke?" Sakura leaned closer to him.
"Hmmm…" Sasuke mumbled something she didn't understand and continued to stare out of the window.
Naruto looked at his two teammates. He was not really looking forward to working as a team with these two.
'Let's hope that at least this instructor is an incredible ninja who can teach me something useful…'