Spoiled For Choice

"He got through?"

"I mean what do you expect from an Uchiha…"

"Yeah, but it's HIM though…He probably got in because the Civilian Council kicked up a stink about not having two pedigrees to pick as a status symbol or they need both of them as a matching set…"

"Maybe Iruka just felt bad for him and just handed him one when no one was looking…"

Ryōga was too far into processing that his entire mishap earned him a headband to pick up on what he usually heard from the other kids and took his seat, smirking a little when he saw Shikamaru flash him a thumbs up while Kiba was motivated for the both of them and mouthed "Good job, dude!" at him.

"So, now that we have everything in order; It's time for you all to be made into teams for the next part of your training until you raise up in ranks as Ninja." Iruka explained as he looked to his now graduated class; "These teams will be groups of three under a Jonin so make sure you listen to them both on missions and when you're training."

"Uh…Iruka-Sensei? How exactly are we planning these teams?" One girl with black hair asked their teacher since they wanted to know whether they were going to be assigned someone or if it was everyone for themselves to pick.

"I'll be getting to that so listen up everyone and remember the names I'll be calling out!" Iruka called out to the group as he picked up a sheet of paper with everyone's names on them; "I'll say each name and each three people will form the squad that they'll be in….First up: Shino Aburame, Kiba Inuzuka and Hinata Hyuuga…You three will be trained under Kurenai Yuhi as Team 8 or Team Kurenai."

Kiba grinned as he at least knew Shino through Ryōga so they could at least still be buddies and went to go sit with him.

Hinata went to go join them though she was admittedly a little sad since she wouldn't be able to join a team with Ryōga; "I-I'm Hinata, it's nice to meet you both."

Iruka hummed as he read through the next list and picked out the second trio: "Alrighty, next we have Ino Yamanaka…" He called out with Ino getting hyped about being potentially matched with Sasuke; "Followed by Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi for Team 10 to be lead by Asuma Sarutobi." He then finished while ignoring Ino's rather dramatic cry of disappointment.

"Damn it, Iruka Sensei! I wanted to get on a team with Sasuke….You couldn't even give me any sympathy and put me with Ryōga…Now I'm stuck with the legacy package…" Ino grumbled mentally as she went to go sit with Shikamaru who had already gone into a nap while Choji opened up a bag of chips.

"And finally we have Sasuke Uchiha with Sakura Haruno and Ryōga Uchiha, you three will be in Team 7 under Kakashi Hatake." Iruka named off the final team which nearly deafened everyone with Sakura's loud cheer of delight.

Sakura grinned smugly as she sat back down; She didn't care about the numerous pointed glares at her for nabbing not just Sasuke but Ryōga too for her team, however the Haruno girl didn't really care too much since she got what she saw as the Gold medal of the Uchiha. "They can all suck it! I managed to score the number 1 on my team…But I guess dealing with Ryōga is par for the course." She thought to herself and marched her way over to Sasuke.

"So we'll be on a team together? Hope we wor-" Ryōga tried to play the polite card since he didn't really interact with Sakura all that often…Or anyone else for that matter, however this got ignore as Sakura practically nudged past him to get a better seat with Sasuke and make her move with a very coy "Hey~". "Oh…This is gonna be a fun team…" Ryōga mentally groaned with a voice that dripped sarcasm.

The Jonin came and went to pick up their teams; Kiba, Choji, Shikamaru and oddly enough Shino said their goodbyes to Ryōga as they took their leave, Hinata wanted to approach him but her nervousness compelled her to opt out as she joined the others. This carried on until finally, it was just Sakura Haruno, Sasuke and Ryōga Uchiha in an empty classroom waiting for a teacher that they didn't know who or when was gonna show up; "Where is this guy?! Everyone else has already got their teacher and hurried off!" Sakura snapped as she had been nudged to the side by Sasuke after she got a little too close, though she didn't seem to mind since his smouldering aura and stern look made it hard for her to be angry.

"He clearly has brain damage or a memory problem because he can't forget someone like me." Sasuke grumbled as he was equally getting impatient and rather annoyed at being ignored.


"You know, he could've just lost track of time…it can happen." Ryōga pointed out as he decided that some talk was better than just sitting in silence the whole time.

"A ninja doesn't lose track of time, Dud…The only reason that he'd forget an Uchiha like me is brain damage or he's trying to psyche himself up…Unlike you who people WANT to forget about since you make everyone bummed out." Sasuke admitted with a rather egotistical take; "I'll be sure to change that once I become head of the Clan and outlaw such disrespect."

"Yeah, Sasuke's great! It's not his fault that people can't handle themselves around greatness!" Sakura added and looked to the other Uchiha; "Just because you an Uchiha doesn't mean that you're on the same level."

Ryōga frowned as he felt put out; "Well, rules are rules…" He mentioned as he got up and walked towards the door.

"H-Hey, Ryōga…What are you doing?" Sakura asked as she saw him leave; "Our teacher hasn't shown up yet!"

"Sakura, what's the one thing that happens when one of us ends up late for class?" Ryōga asked her as he pulled a chalkboard eraser from the table and pat it to check it's dustiness.

"You're kidding right? You're gonna get us all into trouble before we even start training!" Sakura scolded him as she crossed her arms; "Do it! That's what the lazy jerk gets for making us wait this long!" The mental voice of her inner mind voiced the contrary however as she watched Ryōga climb up onto a chair to shut the door with the eraser stuck at the top.

"Let him do it, if he gets kicked out then that's his problem…Just means that I get to advance and prove myself better while he doesn't." Sasuke voiced himself as he rolled his eyes at Ryōga's sudden act of pettiness but decided to let whatever happen to happen.

After sitting back down again, their teacher finally decided to open up the door; With the chalk dust hitting his head with a cloud and the varying looks that smattered their faces. "Alright, I already don't like any of them…"

"K-Kakashi-Sensei, I'm sorry! I tried to stop him but he wouldn't listen to me at all….It's his way of getting attention." Sakura pleaded with Kakashi who just looked non-plussed at the whole thing. "Serves you right, you dummy! You kept us waiting for hours!"

"Everyone up to the roof, now! We'll begin our orientation together." Kakashi simply said before vanishing into a puff of smoke almost as quickly as he finished his sentence.

"That…That's it? That's all he's gonna say; No reprimands for knocking him with that eraser? No apologies for being late? What kind of Jonin is this guy?" Sakura grumbled as she, Ryōga and Sasuke gathered their things to head for the roof.

——On the Roof of the Academy Building——

"So, how about we break the ice since you guys are going to be a team together? Y'know; hobbies, dreams and whatnot." Kakashi mentioned as the wind shuffled his silvery hair in the wind.

"Um, shouldn't you introduce yourself first since you're our teacher?" Ryōga pointed out since he didn't exactly see the point from his perspective; Sasuke and Ryōga were cousins and knew each other pretty well..willing or not while Sakura was more interested to learn about Sasuke or as she put it "Her future husband".

"Alright, if you insist; My name is Kakashi Hatake, my hobbies are many and my dreams are my own…I do have some dislikes as well as my likes…" Kakashi listed off with the vague and uninterested tone that seemed to irk the three in front of him. "Alright, Pinky…You're up."

"Me?" Sakura asked as she pointed to herself; She hadn't expected Kakashi to turn on her first; "Okay…I'm Sakura Haruno, my hobbies are…." She glanced to Sasuke and giggled; "And my lifelong dream is to become a capable person worthy of HIS love…..Oh and I dislike Ryōga's sad face."

Both Kakashi and Ryōga looked to her with the same level of dumbfounded confusion as the Jonin then looked to Sasuke; "Okay, how about you?"

Sasuke huffed as he was now called on but he was secretly happy that he could have centre stage for this. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha…My hobbies are irrelevant, my likes don't matter to you and I dislike plenty of things…One of them is my worthless cousin's existence…My dream? It's more of a dedicated vow: To kill a certain someone."

Sakura was blushing from the intensity that came from the more grim looking Uchiha but it made her shiver in delight rather than depress her. Ryōga on the other hand looked like he had tuned out Sasuke's ranting…A talent he picked up over the years.

"Hoo boy…The Third Hokage really made sure I had my work cut out for me…Though what else can I expect from Itachi Uchiha's younger brother…" Kakashi raised an eyebrow on hearing Sasuke's tirade and then made his final glance to Ryōga; "And how about you? Care to enlighten us with your own story?" He asked the other sullen Uchiha kid in the hopes that he'd take it seriously.

Ryōga sighed as he looked to Kakashi; "My name's Ryōga Uchiha; My likes and dislikes aren't really that much…I have hobbies but they're not really a whole lot worth talking about."

Sasuke smirked as he somehow believed that he proved he was the superior Uchiha child by having a "good" goal to work for but Kakashi wasn't eager to give up on this.

"Come on kid…You gotta have something at least, Sasuke and Sakura both told me SOMETHING." Kakashi insisted as he wanted the kids to open up to each other even a little.

Ryōga sighed heavily as he decided to admit; "One of my hobbies is taking care of animals…Dogs, cats…I'd actually like to try making it more of a thing once I graduate."

Kakashi was surprised and admittedly a little impressed; He hadn't expected someone so sullen and introverted to have such a social hobby. "Guess that explains the trips to the Inuzuka Compound that Iruka talked about…That and the faint smell of dog. Maybe I could introduce him to a contract with the Ninja Hounds…"

Sasuke on the other hand snorted in derision, it was probably the closest thing he got to outright laughing in his face; "Pft, of course the mutt would want to hang around other mongrels."

"Hey, hey! Enough of the snaps…You guys are meant to be a team." Kakashi casually waved Sasuke down as he took a seat and pulled out some blank pieces of paper; "Now onto our next little assignment…Well, you could technically call it homework for your first assignment with me tomorrow morning."

"Paper scraps? Is this some kind of joke?" Sasuke questioned without waiting for Kakashi to explain what said scraps were for as Sakura picked up on what they were while Ryōga rolled his eyes.

"They're Chakra Paper….We channel some of our chakra into it and it shows us what our Affinities are for Jutsu when we start learning." Sakura explained ad verbatim as she gazed at it like it had the most intricate picture on it.

"You should listen to her a little more instead of complaining." Kakashi admonished Sasuke as he held a piece between his fingers. There was a brief pause as everyone watched but the piece of paper then started to crinkle inward. "So here's the basics for what you should expect…If your affinity is Earth then it'll crumble the paper into dirt, if it's Fire than it ignites the paper into flames, a Water Nature makes the paper soggy, Wind Natures make the paper cut into itself like a pair of scissors and Lightning will fold like a lightning bolt hit it."


Sasuke decided to be the trailblazer that he thought himself to be and focused his chakra into the paper; Causing the paper to crinkle inward and steam before releasing a spark, then ending his show by igniting into flames. "Hmph! Only the best and most powerful Nature for the greatest Uchiha in the Clan."

"And also the most modest." Ryōga rolled his eyes mentally as Sakura wanted to go next to try and prove her worth for Kakashi as her teacher and for Sasuke.

Sakura managed to prove how much more gifted she was at Chakra channeling as the paper in her hands started to get damp and then drip water before crumbling away like dust. "I did it! I did it! Sasuke, did you see?!" She cheered gleefully as she looked to Sasuke who didn't even glance away from whatever pebble on the ground that he pretended was Itachi.

"Alright, now it's your turn." Kakashi said as he looked to Ryōga to see how the other Uchiha heir could use his Chakra affinities though he saw a hint of hesitation on his face.

"I already know mine, it's not really much to talk about…" Ryōga mentioned with a note of dejection; Providing a satisfied "Hmph!" from Sasuke towards what sounded like an acceptance of his cousin's place in things.

"Ryōga…Sasuke and Sakura have both been able to do it so I expect you should be able to as well, you ARE an Uchiha too." Kakashi mentioned to him with the hope of trying to goad him.

After some thinking, Ryōga took the sheet of Chakra Paper and began to channel through it; First the paper dried out and started to crumble into dust but then it lit up into small flames like a candle display.

Kakashi took out a book and started noting; "Alrighty, so Sakura has both Earth and Water Affinities, Sasuke has Fire and Lightning while Ryōga has Earth and Fire…Good, we got ourselves a solid lineup; Now for your homework, I want you to find a jutsu from that set element and learn it for your assignment tomorrow."

"But Sasuke and I both know elemental Jutsu, doesn't that already cover the assignment?" Ryōga pointed out as he stood up.

"Get over yourself, Dud! I know better Fire Jutsu than you and I can make it better too." Sasuke snarked as he then looked to Kakashi; "But we DO know Elemental Jutsu so I naturally pass with flying colours."

"No, you don't…Uchiha naturally learn Fire Style Jutsu when they're kids as a rite of tradition, I'm talking about NEW Jutsu that you haven't learned already." Kakashi pointed out and then handed three small bags of Ryo to the kids; "You have three choices on how to approach this; First and the most simple: Go into town, buy a basic Jutsu scroll and start learning it by heart. Second is that you can talk to your families or friends and see if they can show you a Jutsu, I will preface this by saying that you can only do this if they're willing to show you so I won't accept it if I find out someone's been shaken down for a lesson." He said and then made a quick glance to Sasuke since he looked like he either would do this or "coerce" his cousin into showing him. "Lastly, you can go out and make one of your own…Though if you do try then good luck with that, see you tomorrow! Oh, one last thing…Don't eat breakfast before training tomorrow, you'll just throw it back up again." Their teacher warned before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

"Don't eat? Sounds like he's trying to psyche us out for whatever mediocre kiddy training that he has planned." Sasuke grumbled before wandering off to go find a Lightning or a Fire Jutsu.

"Well…I guess if we both have Earth Affinity then we can…go…together…" Ryōga offered to where Sakura was but she had already walked off while mumbling about how being on a diet was bad enough. "Looks like I'm stuck to do this alone…Once again…Maybe Kiba or someone knows?" He thought to himself and made his way back into the Village to see if he could find something for Earth or Fire Jutsu.

Much as was expected, everyone had either sold out or they were holding off until the Great Sasuke Uchiha decided to buy from them in the hopes that they could get an in with him once he became old enough to inherit everything…but they oddly enough seemed to have something for Sakura who declared she was going to boyfriend Sasuke and that quickly changed their attitudes. "Lord Hokage, do you know if any teachers are around that know any Earth Jutsu or at least any other Fire beside Uchiha clan Jutsu?" Ryōga asked since he had ran out of all other options.

"Well, I don't know whether there's any specialists around…Earth Style isn't particularly popular outside of the Land of Fire since flashier Natures have become more apparent." Hiruzen mentioned rather plainly; He was all too aware that Earth Style was often overlooked despite it's versatile form; "I would offer to teach you myself but some of the techniques I recall are a little above your grading."

"I will throw literal rocks if I have to…I have to find something because I know Sasuke's gonna get Fire and Lightning Jutsu out the wazoo…" Ryōga tried to insist. "Besides, isn't the whole point of me being a Genin to learn anyway?"

The Third Hokage grumbled as he realised that Ryōga did have a point; "Alright alright…Wait there for a moment, I can loan you a scroll that'll show you the basics." He relented before putting down his pipe and getting out of his chair to head for the scroll shelf.

Ryōga smirked a little as he finally had a way in and happier that he didn't have to resort to blackmailing him with the girly magazine that he saw not so subtly tucked under a book on calligraphy.

"Here you go, hopefully this will give you the help you need. I'd say go to one of the training grounds nearby….There should be able to help you." Hiruzen explained as he went back to his desk.

"Wait, you're not going to help? But you're the Hokage, I thought that you were able to help people with what they need." Ryōga complained as he eyed the scroll in his hand.

"It is precisely because I am the Hokage that I can't." The Third Hokage said sternly, he noticed that the young boy was still an Uchiha at heart…Just less so than his sibling. "What do you think that people will say if they find out that you have the head of the whole Ninja Village to help you with learning Jutsu…I'm sure you don't want the attention." He pointed out as he gestured to his pipe; "Later down the line once you've covered the basics or if you can demonstrate that you have a good Affinity for this then I can take a more proactive role in training you…Until then you can always count on Kakashi to help you with your training." He promised though felt his reassuring smile falter when Ryōga gave him a less than subtle look of disappointment followed by a quick bow as he left the office.

If it wasn't the looks of pity or the blatant ignoring of his existence from most people; It was the excuses and the ranging they had from fair and reasonable to the obscure and just outright ignoring him. By the time he had gotten to the training grounds, it had been late afternoon and luckily enough; He seemed to be the only one there, he then unfurled the brown scroll with a quick and fluid hand motion to lay it out flat. "Okay…This works out better….Now I can at least do this in quiet…First off we have…Okay, I can work with these…" Ryōga grinned to himself as the fundamentals of Earth Style seemed easy enough to grasp though the application was the problem; Earth was slow, methodical yet powerful similar to how Fire was versatile and quick to spread but equally quick to burn out.

"Let's get creative…"

——From the Night into the Morning——

6am…

It was way too early for anyone to be up and around at this time, though for three Genin who had been awake without eating breakfast but were exhausted for a number of reasons; Sakura thought she was the first to arrive but was surprised when she saw Ryōga and Sasuke sat under two far apart trees. This wasn't anything new since the two were always ignoring each other; Ryōga being instinctively and Sasuke intentionally, with some renewed excitement in her eyes despite her tiredness. "Sasuke!" She cheered out and planted herself next to him, not even acknowledging Ryōga's presence though the grumbling of her stomach was partly to blame for that.

An hour passed as Kakashi still hadn't arrived yet and no one had been talking so far, unless you counted Sakura talking at Sasuke about her potential Jutsu abilities in the hopes that her talent was able to impress him. Sasuke then looked to Ryōga with a disdainful scowl as the early awakening and hunger made him more irritable than normal; "Didn't see you back at the Compound…Too afraid to show your face when you turned up blank with new Jutsu, Dud?"

"You don't see me because you don't look past your own house, Sasuke….Besides I did turn up some Jutsu and I've already gotten a decent grasp on some new ones." Ryōga retorted back; Having spent a good number of hours at the training grounds to practice that Earth Scroll that the Third Hokage gave him turned up some pretty good Jutsu or at least made for some adequate groundwork.

"For what? Learning how to sling pebbles? Splashing mud at our teacher? Face it…Your Chakra is just like you in general: Dirt…" Sasuke took another stunning chance to belittle his cousin with more ammunition now that they know what kind of Jutsu that they could use. "I can easily incinerate whatever's in our path or crash down like thunder on them without even trying." He added to give himself more of a reason to brag about what he considered a duet of awesomeness.

"Sasuke, we're both still Genin…You can't really expect to do anything than I can right now…Especially when I can hear your stomach growling." Ryōga snapped back though his own stomach gurgling wasn't exactly any better to hear.

By the time it hit 10am, Kakashi finally arrived without much of a care; "Sorry I'm late…I got lost on the path of life." He remarked rather cheerily though he either didn't notice the triad of resentment of the kids for making them wait or he ignored them. "But in any case, have any of you managed to get anything decent with your homework assignment?" He asked them with curiosity, reflexively catching the two money pouches that were thrown at him by Sasuke and Ryōga. "I guess that answers my question…"

"As head of the Uchiha clan, I already have good knowledge on Fire Style." Sasuke bragged as he got up along with the others, he already felt like his Fire Style was more ferocious than Ryōga's by default…Though forgetting that his cousin also knew these too.

"Okay…But did you learn any Lightning Style Jutsu?" Kakashi asked with a pointed gaze at Sasuke; "Because that was part of the assignment I set you."

"I-I learned the theories on some of the Water and Earth Styles, Kakashi-Sensei!" Sakura jumped in, wanting to impress him and unintentionally saving Sasuke from admitting that finding good Lightning Style Jutsu that fit him was harder than anticipated.


"Okay, just remember that Theory is different then actually knowing but we'll see…And what about you, Ryōga? I'm assuming that tired look is from training and not from a power nap?" Kakashi asked with some lighthearted ribbing to the other Uchiha heir.

"I found something on Earth Style but I already know good fundamentals for Fire Style regardless." Ryōga explained while ignoring Sasuke's scoff of derision; "Plus I've spent some time last night trying to get used to them."

Kakashi nodded as he took note; "Interesting…Well then, it looks like we're gonna put all of your work into practice for this exercise of mine…Judging from those looks that you're shooting; you've kept true to word and skipped breakfast, smart decision." He then reached into his pocket and started fishing around; "The exercise that we'll be doing is a very, VERY important one that can make or break any team."

"What exactly? Good Jutsu? Strength?" Sasuke quizzed with possible answers.

"Trust in my partner?" Sakura chimed in with what many would see as a genuine concern but considering that she was staring right at Sasuke who was thinking off the top of his head for more answers, it was clear that it wasn't the altruistic version.

"Yes…But also partially wrong…" Kakashi cleared it up as he pulled out a pair of jingling bells on a string; "Your task is to steal these bells from me…You can use whatever method you can think of; Jutsu, tools…I expect nothing less than the intent to kill, the more at your disposal then the better." He explained as he placed a clock down; "You have until….Let's say around midday to get the bells, you fail to get them by then…No lunch for any of you."

"Hold on, if you want us to steal the bells than how come there are two bells and not three? Wouldn't that make sense if we could all earn one?" Sakura asked him curiously, even the fact that they had to swipe such a small thing from a Jonin was a hefty task…But surely he'd ensure everyone earns a bell.

"Oh, well that's the simple part; The person who can't steal a bell from me is immediately failed and sent right back to the Academy." Kakashi mentioned casually; "So if you're wanting to earn a spot on the team…There's your motivation."

"If it means that I earn a spot with Sasuke, then I'll do it!"

"All too easy…I could just steal both and push on ahead."

Ryōga in all honesty didn't need to be a Yamanaka with Mind Reading Jutsu to know what the other two were thinking and slumped his shoulders a little; "Fine…Good a time as any to show what I'm good for…"

"You kids got it? Good, now get to i-" Kakashi was cut off as his head was stuck with kunai and shuriken before he could signal the start.