Kakashi, who had been standing quietly beside the desk and looking at the orb intently, saw the ball's view slowly maneuver around and land on the familiar face of one Naruto Uzumaki, who was laughing boisterously alongside Kiba. After watching him and his companion for a few minutes, the Jonin smiled underneath his mask and nodded towards it, "What about this one?"
"Naruto Uzumaki?" Hiruzen murmured, a smile appearing on his own face, "Ah yes, the most interesting student."
A Jonin wrapped in bandages looked up towards the village leader, "Isn't he the one that single-handedly brought down two enemy kunoichi and Mizuki in one night?"
"The same kunoichi that attacked him two years ago, mind you," Kakashi added before looking towards the elder. "What do we have to say about him?"
"Though his character says otherwise, Naruto is also an incredible prospect," Hiruzen stated, lacing his fingers together and breathing evenly on his pipe. "His grades vary above average, yet his experiences outside of the academy tell a different story. He's a fast kinesthetic learner and Iruka has mentioned time and again that of all the students he's taught, Naruto's skill in combat is the most diverse, and that he's also the swiftest and fittest in the group. His fighting prowess actually surpasses Sasuke's."
Asuma and Kurenai looked up in surprise, whereas the other Jonin around them started to stir over the student tied for number one of the group. "No kidding…"
OOO
Following the arrival of Iruka Umino to the class, any and all tussles that had been taking place prior were quickly suppressed and all students scattered around the room retired to their seats. Through determination and pure strength of will, Sakura had managed to win her place beside Sasuke from the other girls, mostly for the fact that she was already in the seat beside him by the time their academy instructor came around. So in the end, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke all ended up sitting together in the same row, with the jinchuriki leaning on his desk with an excited grin in play, Sakura beaming happily with rosy red cheeks, and Sasuke looking more annoyed than he had ever been in his life.
It was probably thanks to the whole ordeal he had to sit through leading up to this moment.
"From this day forward, all of you are officially recognized as shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato," Iruka began with a smile on his face and clipboard in hand as he looked around at all the expectant faces in his class. "As such, the tasks, trials and responsibilities of a shinobi have now been placed upon your shoulders, and you will all be expected to carry out missions to the best of your abilities for both your home and for your comrades. To get here you have faced great tests and hardships, but know that all of that was just the beginning. From here on out things are only going to get tougher and the trials, more difficult."
"Awesome," Naruto whispered eagerly, his feet rocking from heel to toe as he sat listening to the words of his sensei.
Iruka beamed up at his students. "Now you are only Genin; first level ninja. As with every other year all of you will be grouped into three-man squads, each of which will be led by a Jonin; an elite ninja. The Jonin assigned to your team will become both your squad leader and your new teacher. You will follow your sensei's instructions to the latter in order to successfully complete any and all missions given. I wish you all the best for your future as shinobi and kunoichi of our village." He gave his speech a brief moment of pause to allow all the information to sink in, before raising the clipboard he was holding up and clearing his throat, "I will begin announcing the squads that will be formed for the duration of your career as Genin."
This statement immediately had everyone's attention locked onto him.
One by one, name by name, the teams were listed off of Iruka's clipboard as the man went over the sheet provided to him by the Third. The Chunin had something of a satisfied grin on his face as he announced each name in turn, with each announcement accompanied by either an affirmative 'yes', a groan of dismay, or a small whoop of delight. His smile seemed to grow in conjunction with every groan he was able to pick up, so it was safe to say that the scar-faced man was enjoying his position as God over his soon to be former students.
This instilled the belief in Iruka that the next trials his class was sure to face would be their next, greatest challenge, one he was looking forward to seeing the results of.
The homeroom teacher than arrived at the next set of names, "Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Your instructor will be Hatake Kakashi."
"Cha!" Sakura cheered, before turning in her seat and giving Ino the 'V' sign, "Take that, Ino-pig!"
The blonde haired girl with blue eyes and wearing the purple uniform glared back with her teeth bared, "Lucky call. How in the world did you end up on that team?"
"Don't know," Sakura replied smugly while shrugging. "The power of love? It is the strongest force in the universe. I'll let you think on it a little." After seeing her rival attempt to bore a hole into her with her glare, the pink haired girl then turned her attention to the stoic as ever Uchiha and sided up a little bit closer to him. "We're on the same squad. Isn't that great, Sasuke-kun?"
"Hmph…" the boy grunted back before smirking across at the blonde he could see returning the sentiment. "Looks like I'll be getting my rematch sooner than I think."
Naruto chuckled, "Looking forward to it," he replied, turning back toward the front of the class. "I'm totally cool with this."
Iruka smiled when he heard the blonde's response and nodded proudly, before glancing back down at his list. While all this was going on, a couple rows behind Naruto to his right the blonde failed to notice the disappointed gaze he was receiving from one Hinata Hyuuga. The blue haired girl wearing the light brown jumper gave a sad frown as she glanced down at the boy in orange, feeling a little bit let down at missing her best chance of getting closer to him.
"I won't be with Naruto then," the girl thought, breathing a heavy sigh.
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