Late again, Sakura!

Sakura was running with all she had.

Damn I'm so late! I missed Team Assignments! What if they already left without me?

Forehead, you're completely late. You just passed by Ino's team and sensei.

Sakura ran faster.

There's no doubt my team left without me! Where am I supposed to go now? Straight to the Hokage and apologize and ask where my team went?

You wanna get in trouble when there's a chance you won't get in trouble? HELL NO! Let's check the classroom and hope our new Sensei is extremely extremely late and Naruto and Sasuke didn't ditch us!

What a long shot.

Sakura prayed as she zoomed into the Academy halls towards the classroom she was supposed to be 4 hours ago.

The lights are still on! She slammed the tatami door open and took a quick step in, only to have something hard bang atop her head. Luckily, her forehead protector covered the top of her head, so the object that fell from above the door gap only collided against the metal cover before bouncing to the floor.

It was a chalkboard eraser full of white dust, and that stuff went onto her pink hair and face. She gasped and coughed and waved the dust off her face.

WHAT THE FUCK?!

It shocked the other two occupants too.

Naruto had fallen onto his butt and stared up at Sakura with surprise, fear, relief, and shame.

Sasuke looked furious from his seat, whether at Naruto or Sakura, she didn't know.

Wait, does this mean our Sensei hasn't arrived yet?! Yes! I'm not late! Sakura did a little cheer which only surprised the boys further. In her excitement, she wanted to pull a mini-prank too.

She reached down and picked up the eraser, intending to throw it at the forehead protector of Naruto's headband instead of simply yelling at his stupidity. Sakura smirked mischievously, holding back her giggles as she said vindictively, "This is what you get," and drew her hand back.

Naruto gasped, his eyes looking above Sakura, and Sasuke tensed.

"Well, now," a deep lazy voice drawled, and her wrist was grabbed by the older male, the eraser dropping to the floor with a clang, and suddenly she was being pushed inside the classroom. "I didn't think you were going to show up," he droned sarcastically. And what's worse than your tardiness is your first action being an attack against your soon-to-be-teammate. He could tell that he wasn't going to like her.

"Eep!" Sakura leaped back from him and pressed her lower back against the desk in front of the Uchiha as she took in his appearance. Tall. Gravity-defying silver hair. Face masked by a black cloth. An eye covered by his forehead protector. Sakura bit her lip. If only I'd just arrived one second sooner, this wouldn't be happening! "I-I'm sorry I didn't mean to," she tried. "I-I was just finishing up but an old woman fell and-"

Sasuke reached over and grabbed her arm. Relax, Sakura. She did, and Sasuke stood up, walking around from his seat. "Hn. You're supposed to be our new sensei, aren't you?" He challenged.

Kakashi narrowed his eye, more focused on the pinkette than the raven. She was an unknown factor, one he didn't get the chance to observe from the Hokage's Crystal Ball.

Naruto snapped out of it and leapt to his feet. "Yeah! You were late too! Stop blaming Sakura-chan!"

His eye swept towards Naruto. Not only the Last Uchiha, but the Yondaime's Legacy was sticking up for her as well. Hmm. Interesting.

..He cleared his throat. "Alright, kids. Let's meet at the roof." He vanished in a cloud of smoke.

..

..

"What was that?"

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Kakashi's eye twitched.

Sakura was wearing his orange goggles, wearing his goofy grin. If he recalled earlier, she had used his excuse.

Is this some sort of joke from heaven?

"Alright, why don't you three introduce yourselves, one at a time. You in the orange, go first."

"YATTA!" Naruto jumped to his feet. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm gonna become Hokage one day!"

Hyperactive, and blunt. Kakashi sighed. "I meant your likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dream. You've got the dream part down."

"Umm, ramen! Eating ramen!" Naruto bounced on his feet. "Waiting for the ramen to cook!"

How in the world did Minato-sensei's son end up this stupid? Kakashi tilted his head. "You next."

"Hn. I'm Sasuke Uchiha. I don't like anything, so my dislikes are self-explanatory." His hands were folded contemplatively in front of his face, intensifying his gaze as he turned it towards Kakashi. "And my dream, is to kill a certain someone."

...Just as I expected. I'll work on you first, until the other two mature. "Last but not least..."

"Heh, I'm Sakura Haruno," her nose tilted up confidently as she stood, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm going to be Hokage."

Sasuke looked at her, shocked that she'd taken Naruto's stupid dream. Naruto was even more shocked. "B-But, Sakura-chan, t-that's my role!"

Sakura turned towards him and grinned, "Well then, I guess that makes us rivals." Suddenly, something churned painfully her stomach. This was the exact same line she said to Ino all those years ago when they became rivals for Sasuke-kun's affections, they lost their friendship. Now, Sakura wasn't so sure anymore. Hesitatingly, she rubbed the back of her head. "Heheh, um, I mean..."

Naruto saw it in her eyes and forced a smile. "Nooo, Saku-chan, I need the competition or I won't be the best I can be! You can try but I'll win anyway! HA, do your best!" He nodded arrogantly. "Yup, don't ya try to say ya didn't do your best when you lose to me!"

A vein formed in her head. "NARUTO you idiot!" She grabbed his shirt. "Oh we'll see about that!"

Not again, Sasuke thought. In a flash, he was between them, holding them at arms-length apart. "Idiots, both of you. Forgot we're right in front of our Sensei?" He looked towards Kakashi, who was watching them silently in amusement. "When are you going to start training us?"

Us? ...He couldn't decide if they were friends or enemies...but not for long. Kakashi chuckled darkly, "Tomorrow."

He kept laughing evilly under his breath, and Sakura was alarmed.

"Hey, what's so funny?" She pulled her legs close. "What's in the training exercise?"

He looked at her, trying to discern whether those goggles were the same brand his old teammate used to wear. "Well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it."

She curled defensively.

"It's a survival exercise, and you'll have a 33% chance of passing."

To Kakashi's surprise, Sakura looked relieved at that.

But not Naruto. "WHAT?! Pass what? We already passed! We worked hard to get here!"

"He's right!" Sakura perked up.

Kakashi just smiled. "That graduation test you took back at the Academy was only to select the candidates who might become genin, or not. I conduct the real test, and I decide whether you pass or fail."

"What?" Sasuke shook.

"That's how it is; bring your ninja gear, and meet at the designated training spot tomorrow at 5AM. Oh and, don't eat breakfast," his eye curled, "or you'll puke."

Then, he vanished, leaving behind three befuddled kids.

...

Sakura was the first to break the silence.

"He's a total jerk."

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