Team Placements Part 1

Ninja Academy Advanced Class

This was their last session of class. Each of them had already passed their graduation exams and were just waiting for team placements. In the last year, the top academy students were separated out and placed into an advanced class where the top prospects could be cultivated with chunin-level knowledge. Really, it was the idea of the shinobi council to accelerate the development of their clan heirs during this time of peace. The reality of the situation was that clan members would be stifled if they languished in the same class as normal civilians.

There were ten shinobi in this class and the only one who wasn't a clan member was Sakura Haruno. While she had trouble keeping up with the pace physically, she was mentally and academically above all but Kamui and Shikamaru. The only problem was her lack of professionalism, which was a concern that could also be attributed to Ino Yamanaka. Long story short, they were fan girls. Ino for Naruto and Sakura for Sasuke.

Standing in front of the class was Iruka, who looked a little older than he did eight years ago.

"Congratulations class. You've all graduated and will be going into the shinobi force. I would like to thank you for these outstanding eight years. While there may have been some challenges." He paused as he glanced at Naruto, then at Sakura and Ino. "At the end of the day, the ten of you have risen to the top of the class and proven yourselves extremely competent for your age group. Now, it's time for team placements." As he said this, everyone perked up. "I won't be the one assigning you though. For this class, the Hokage has asked to do the honors." He finished and stepped aside.

Slowly, Minato walked to the center of the room, drawing everyone's attention.

"As Iruka said, congratulations on graduating. Everyone in this class has been identified as a critical resource for the leaf village. We are expecting you to be the future leaders of this village." At this, Naruto's nose raised to the sky in pride, causing Minato to chuckle before continuing. "Now, it's time to assign you to your teams. As you've likely gone over numerous times, you will be grouped into squads of four. One jonin will lead three genin. These will be the ninja you conduct all your missions with for the duration of your time as genin and will be labeled as a preference when grouping you together beyond that point. In essence, they'll be your second family, so it's best to treat them as such." The class members nodded seriously. What he just said was something their parents had beat into their heads at length. Even Sakura had a similar lesson from her mother, who was a chunin in her youth.

"Now, I will list your team placements.

Team 7. Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto perked up. Naruto had grown pretty tall for his age. He had blond spiky hair that looked very similar to his father. The only difference was the shorter bangs. He wore a black jacket with orange accents over a mesh shirt and black shinobi pants.

"Sakura Haruno." Sakura looked at Sasuke hopefully. She had nothing against Naruto, but she really wanted Sasuke on her team as that third member. If her fan girl personality wasn't taken into consideration. Sakura had become quite beautiful. She had pale white skin and back-length sakura pink hair. She wore a red short sleeved qipao dress with slits along the sides accompanied by a zipper and white circular designs. She also wore tight dark green bike shorts with a shuriken holster around her right thigh and blue sandals.

"And Sasuke Uchiha" Minato finished. "Yes!" Sakura jumped up; on the other hand, Naruto and Sasuke groaned at the revelation. Sasuke wore a dark blue short sleeved Uchiha shirt. It had the emblem on the back and was complimented by white shorts. On his forearms were white sleeves. His shins were also covered in white bandages.

"Your jonin sensei will be Kakashi Hatake". With that, a tall man in his late-twenties appeared next to him. He had gray gravity defying hair and was wearing the standard leaf Jonin Uniform with the dark green flak jacket and a full dark blue shirt and pants. He also had a mask that covered everything from the nose down with his forehead protector slanted to cover his left eye.

"Stand to that side, while I call the others." Minato said as the four moved to one corner of the room.

"Team 8 will include Hinata Hyuga." Hinata perked up. She had waist length dark blue hair and white pupilless eyes. She wore a lavender jacket with white sleeves and dark blue pants.

"Kiba Inuzuka" Kiba jumped up and cheered. Kiba wore a black collared jacket with a mesh shirt underneath and dark blue pants. His dark brown hair was also cut short.

"And Shino Aburame" Shino nodded. Shino had dark brown bushy hair with sun glasses. He wore a long-sleeved super high collar shirt with an olive hooded trench coat over it. On his lower body were black pants and shinobi sandals.

"Your Jonin Instructor will be Kurenai Yuhi." Kurenai is a fair-skinned woman with long black untamed hair reaching her upper back, and very unique iris's that are red in color with an additional ring in them. It could honestly be mistaken for a sharingan. She wears make-up consisting of red lipstick and purple eye shadow. Her regular outfit consists of a red mesh armor blouse with only the right sleeve visible. The material of the armor resembles bandages with a pattern on it similar to those of rose thorns. Her hands and upper thighs are also wrapped in bandages. On her forehead was the Konoha forehead protector. Kurenai was clearly the depiction of a Kunoichi most females would want to emulate for a successful career. It's a pity that Hinata was the only one of this group who did. Sakura and Ino were too caught up in their respective love interests and Kamui was more interested in living up to her predecessor's legacy. She also had her mom and aunt to look up to, so Kurenai didn't really factor in for her.

"Kurenai, take your team and stand to the side." Nodding, Kurenai and her team went to another corner of the room.

"Alright. Team 9 is still in circulation, so the number will jump to team 10. Team 10 will include Shikamaru Nara." Minato started. "troublesome" those with good ears heard Shikamaru mutter. He had a pineapple shaped haircut. Both hair and eyes were black and we wore a mesh shirt covered by a grey jacket and black pants.

"Choji Akimichi" "Alright!" Choji cheered as he and Shikamaru nodded toward each other. They had been best friends for years, so this was perfect. Choji was an average sized fat boy with back-length light brown hair and black eyes. His cheeks had red swirls on them like ramen toppings; naming him Naruto would have been a better fit. He wore a red coat with armor plates along critical points on his upper body. He also wore black pants and shinobi sandals.

"And Ino Yamanaka" "No!" Into shouted in a depressed tone. She really wanted to be with 'her' Naruto. Ino had long light blond with a long bang covering half her face. She had green eyes and wore largely purple. She wore a purple sleeveless top that exposed her mid-drift and had a short purple apron-like dress. Underneath, she had bandages coming just below the dress. She also wore mesh knee and elbow guards.

"Your sensei will be Asuma Sarutobi" Asuma appeared next to him. He was a tall man, with brown eyes, olive skin, short spiky black hair, and a black spiky chin curtain beard. Like Kakashi, he wore the standard Jonin uniform. One difference though, was a white sash on his waist with the kanji for fire, denoting him as a former member of the twelve guardian ninja who guarded the land of fire's daimyo. Without Minato's prompting, team 10 picked a corner; they saw the pattern.

At this point everyone was curious about what would happen with Kamui. They weren't concerned; she was the uncontested strongest in class. They were just curious as the class's number of students had always been a strange point. The number in the class should always be a factor of three. The fact that there were 10 students in the advance class was strange. The students had always thought Sakura would be the odd one out. As much as they tolerated her, she was the sole civilian in a group of clan heirs after all. Apparently, that wasn't the case.

"Kamui." Minato said to get her attention. "You're going to be in a special unit. You'll be the sole genin in your unit and will be under the command of Yugao Uzuki. You two will be a pair." Minato said, shocking everyone in the room. Special treatment wasn't really what was on their mind. Well, it wasn't on the mind of most of them except the more hot-headed ones like Kiba. It had to be known that genin were put in squads for their safety. It allowed for a level of synergy that couldn't be achieved in a pair. Pairs were reserved for more experienced ninja, so this placement, which clearly wasn't an accident based on the number of students in this class, was a testament to the fourth's trust in his daughter's abilities.

Kamui had really grown up over the years. She stood at 70 inches tall with her trademark silvery-white hair at waist-length, bangs framing her face, and amethyst eyes. She wore a dark blue short sleeved haori with a design that depicted the night sky. The haori was over a black sleeveless kimono top that had a silvery-white sash tied around her waist. She also wore black anbu-styled pants with shinobi sandals. On her forearms, she wore silver-white wrist bands that seemed to be decorated with a dragon scale-like pattern. No one knew where she got them; she just showed up to class with them one day. When asked by her father where she got them, she just said she made them with her chakra, which he accepted with little fuss. He stopped being surprised when he saw the many feats of mastery she performed with the five basic elements.

With that, a young woman appeared next to Kamui. She had straight, purple hair reaching down to her waist, warm brown eyes, and a shade of red lipstick. Like the two male jonin, she wore the Konoha Jonin Uniform. It seems like she wasn't the showy person that Kurenai clearly was.