5. Team formation

"From this day forward, you are all genin of Konoha. As one of your academy teachers, I just want to let you all know how proud I am of you." Iruka admitted to the class with a smile on his face. "You've all done excellent in your studies and training. I believe with all my heart that this may be one of the finest classes Konoha has ever produced, and I can't wait to see what extraordinary shinobi you all become!"

Nearly every student in the classroom smiled at their now-former sensei's words. Naruto was grinning more than anyone else, however.

'Finally...I really am a ninja now! Finally!' He thought to himself excitedly.

"Now, I'm going to start reading off the team names! Pay attention carefully, cause I will not repeat!" Iruka informed everyone. "Now...Team One..."

Everyone tried hard to pay attention to Iruka's words. It proved too difficult, however, to listen to every name that was called. Everyone seemed to only notice when their name was called or when their friends were called.

"...now Team Three!" Iruka continued reading. "Uzumaki Naruto..."

Naruto lifted up his head and started to pay attention.

"...Hyuga Hinata..." The chuunin continued.

'Yes!' Naruto cheered inwardly, grinning even larger. 'I at least got one of my friends on my team. And it's Hinata of all people! This is amazing dattebayo!'

Hinata's thoughts were less coherent, but even more excited. 'Naruto-Kun and I are on the same team? Naruto-Kun and I are on the same team! HE'S ON MY TEAM!' Her mind repeated the same words over and over again, each time getting faster and louder. Her thoughts were a strong contrast to her outward reaction, which was merely a silent, but large, smile and a rather red blush.

"...and Nara Shikamaru!" Iruka concluded.

"HELL YEAH!" Naruto couldn't hold in his thoughts any longer. "The top three shinobi here! We are so going to kick ass!"

"Naruto-baka, shut up! Some of us are trying to concentrate here!" Sakura shouted, not trying to hide her annoyance.

Naruto really didn't care that she insulted him: he was just too happy. He was on a team with Hinata AND Shikamaru. This was everything he had hoped for! 'We really are going to be the best damn team in Konoha dattebayo!'

Hinata, too, was pleased at this revelation. Although she was still more excited about being partnered up with Naruto, she really did like Shikamaru. He became a great and important friend to her and their friendship was growing each day. She was excited to know that he would be joining her and Naruto on the same team.

Shikamaru, although pleased, was very shocked at the team's reveal. 'I could have sworn they would have put me on a team with Chouji and Ino. Our parents' teamwork was legendary and our parents even mentioned talking to Hokage-Sama about purposely recreating the team through us! Not that I'm going to complain: I work well with Naruto and Hinata! Just wondering, what could have changed his mind...'

When the classroom got quiet again, Iruka continued reading names. Naruto failed to pay attention until his sensei got to Team Seven.

"Team Seven: Inuzuka Kiba, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke!" He read off.

Sakura's scream of joy could have been heard a mile from the academy. Ino's roar in disapproval could be heard just as far.

"The prick and the fangirl? Just my frickin luck!" Kiba groaned loudly.

Once again, Iruka waited for class to quiet down before he continued to read. Naruto, once again, failed to pay attention to his names. He only paid attention to the last team Iruka read off.

"Team Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Couji, and Aburame Shino!" Iruka concluded.

"What the hell? Not only am I not with Sasuke-Kun, but I'm put with food boy and bug boy?" Ino complained loudly. She couldn't believe that these team assignments happened.

"Chouji..." Shikamaru mumbled sadly, turning to face his best friend sitting next to him.

Chouji gave his friend a sad smile. He was happy that Shikamaru got to be on a team with their other friends, but Chouji was a little upset he didn't get to be with him. He was also saddened that he didn't get to be with anyone he considered a friend with as well. It also hurt that Ino was complaining about being on the same team with him.

"I'm s-sorry Chouji-Kun..." Hinata apologized to him, noticing his discomfort.

"Yeah...I really wish we could be a four-man squad." Naruto added, frowning as well. He was originally so happy about his team, but he felt bad now knowing that Chouji was left out and on a team that he wasn't going to like.

"No, it's okay." Chouji told them all. He stayed quiet for a second before coming up with a silver lining. "You know, Shino's kind of quiet. He might be really nice when I get him to talk."

"He probably is! Maybe you can get him to join our group!" Naruto declared, his frown turning upwards. Chouji was right, in his mind. Shino could be a pretty cool guy, and it would be nice to have another friend to hang with.

"Shino-San is p-polite." Hinata told him.

"And smart! He probably rivals you Shikamaru!" The blonde added, taunting his friend.

The Nara shrugged in response before turning his attention back to Chouji.

"You want to meet up after all of this? Cloud watching or something?" He asked.

Chouji's smile turned more genuine again. He knew that being separated from his friends wasn't going to end their friendship. Shikamaru's offer reminded him of that. The Akimichi heir nodded in response, accepting his friend's invitation.

Iruka, after a verbal spar with Ino, quieted down the classroom with a cough.

"Well, now that you all know your teams, you are free to take an hour break for lunch. You will come back here to meet up with your Jonin Sensei. You are dismissed for now!" Iruka informed the students.

All of the academy graduates nodded in response to their sensei's words. They all immediately got up and started to walk out of the room.

"Don't leave just yet you little brats!" A voice called out to them.

All students turned around and faced the front. They turned around in time to see a black banner fly through one of the academy windows. When the banner reached the center of the room, a figure jumped out and threw kunai at its edges, pinning it to the floor and the ceiling. The entire banner could now be seen, and the words "The Sexiest and Strongest Sensei in all of Konoha" could be read on it.

In front of the banner was the figure. She was a purple-haired woman who tied her hair up in a spiky ponytail. She was wearing a large tan coat over a fishnet undershirt and an orange skirt. She also had a pendant worn around her neck and was also wearing shin guards.

"You're all looking at the sensei to Team Three, Mitarashi Anko!" The woman introduced herself to everyone, a large, almost insane grin on her face. "Now, Uzumaki Naruto, Hyuga Hinata, and Nara Shikamaru! Come here! We will begin our meeting and discuss protocol. Let's go!"

The room fell into a deathly silence. Pretty much every student was gawking at the woman standing in front of them in surprise, annoyance, or fear.

Hinata couldn't help but fall in the last category. 'She's...she's very confident...and intimidating...and...oh boy...'

Naruto looked at the woman, unsure of what to think. 'She seems kind of weird. And annoying! But she's kind of cool and awesome I guess.' Naruto continued to wrestle down between the two ideas of the woman before he finally settled on one. 'Guess she is pretty cool. That was a flashy entrance dattebayo! I'd probably do something like that if I had a genin team!'

Shikamaru's thoughts were extremely simple compared to the others. 'This woman...troublesome. Very, very, very troublesome...'

"Um...Anko-San? You do realize that the genin are allowed a lunch break of an hour right? The meeting with their sensei isn't till that is over..." Iruka mentioned nervously.

The purple-haired woman immediately sweat dropped in response to Iruka's words.

"Er...well...I decided I was going to take my kids out to lunch instead! It would kill two birds with one stone: their lunch break and our meeting! And it would be a good way to get to know them. So yeah...heh..." She laughed nervously.

Iruka sweat dropped as well in response to her statement.

"...very well." He told her. "Team Three, you will go to lunch with your sensei. Everyone else, meet up here in an hour!"

"Awesome!" Anko cheered, relieved that she was off the hook for arriving early. "Now, come here brats. Lunch is waiting!"

The woman immediately ran out of the room, hurrying outside. Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru followed closely behind. The Uzumaki was excited at the offer of a free lunch and was excited that his sensei seemed 'awesome'. The Hyuga heiress still felt nervous and intimidated by her sensei. And the Nara heir...

"...this is going to be an extremely troublesome time..." Shikamaru sighed, already feeling the headache forming.

Mitarashi Anko dragged her new genin squad to Dangoya, a dango and sweets restaurant located near the academy. The second the four walked into the restaurant, a waiter escorted them to a spot that was 'reserved' for Anko and any company she brings to the restaurant. After he took the orders of Anko and her squad, the four were left alone.

The three genin were staring at their sensei in silence, waiting for her to begin the conversation about the team. Anko didn't notice the attention of her students, however. Her mind was too focused on the scent of the dango shop around her.

'Mm...I love the smell of dango in the afternoon!' Anko thought, slight drool coming out of her mouth.

"...um...sensei?" Naruto finally broke the silence.

"What? What do you want brat?" The woman snapped at him.

"...shouldn't you be going over team protocol and stuff now? I mean, that's what you said we'd be doing." Shikamaru pointed out to her with a yawn.

"I should be..." Anko thought to herself with a sigh. "...fine, let's begin already! Let's get this over with before our food gets out!"

The three genin nodded at her words, still staring at their sensei.

"So, let's start with introducing ourselves to each other." Anko stated excitedly.

"...we already know each other. Very well I might add." Shikamaru told her with a shrug.

"But I don't know you guys, smart ass!" The purple-haired woman rolled her eyes in response. "Introduce yourselves to me then! Tell me about yourselves."

"W-What do you want to know s-sensei?" Hinata asked nervously. She was still intimidated by her new sensei.

"Your life story. Every detail. Don't lie to me about anything in it." She deadpanned in response, getting into the heiress's face.

Hinata's eyes widened in surprise and let out a quiet 'eep'. Anko heard the noise and started to laugh loudly.

"No need to freak out or anything. Just messing with ya!" She laughed. "How about this: tell me your name, things you like and dislike, hobbies, dreams...that kind of stuff. Just your basic shit. Why not you go first?"

"Um...o-okay..." Hinata replied back, pointing her index fingers together.

"Um...m-my name is H-Hyuga Hinata. I l-like spending t-time with my friends. And...um..." Hinata started. At this point, she grew a slight blush and turned her head slightly in Naruto's general direction. "Um...I also l-like cinnamon rolls. I dislike p-people who are r-rude to others and s-some of my clan's traditions. My hobbies are t-training and s-spending time with my friends and f-flower pressing. My dream...I w-wouldn't mind having a family o-one day..." Hinata's blush grew exponentially at this comment as she took another look at Naruto. A few seconds after, her blush died down completely and her eyes gained more focus. "...but before that, I-I want to be a s-strong clan head and ninja t-that can f-fix the problems in the H-Hyuga Clan."

'Hmm...she's totally crushing on the Jinchuuriki. But she seems to still be a capable kunoichi from her dream and stuff. Thank God she's not a fangirl!' Anko silently praised. 'Hmm...but she is different than most Hyuga members though. She has like zero confidence what so ever! That'll need to get fixed asap if she wants to achieve her goal..."

"Well, thanks a lot Stutters-Chan!" Anko told her with a smile.

"S-Stutters-Chan?" Hinata repeated the name.

"You were stuttering really badly, so that's what I'm going to call you from now on until you don't stutter." She explained, her smile not faltering.

"Hey! Don't make fun of Hinata-Chan! She's just probably intimidated by how weird you are!" Naruto shouted at the woman, defending his friend.

"Ah, be quiet Whiskers!" Anko shrugged. "...on second thought, keep talking. It's your turn!"

"Whiskers?" Naruto repeated with a scowl. "Don't you know our names?"

"I do, but I like giving nicknames, especially to little bratty genin who don't follow orders." She replied with a smirk. "So, your turn Whiskers."

Naruto scowled once again, but decided to just get his intro out of the way. "My name's Uzumaki Naruto! I like spending time with my friends, training with the Nara clan, and learning new jutsu. I also like ramen, especially miso ramen! I hate the time it takes for ramen to cool down and arrogant bastards who think they are better than everyone else like Sasuke-Teme. My hobbies are training, pranking people, and gardening. And my dream is to become the greatest Hokage! That way I can earn the people's respect in this village and not be looked down on like I'm something else..."

'Earn the people's respect? Looked down as something else? Eh...' Anko frowned as she remained in thought. She felt she could understand and relate to the boy. If she were to be completely honest, she might even say that he reminds her of himself to an extent. '...I'll probably have a one-on-one conversation with him at some point about some things if I end up becoming his sensei...'

"...thanks." Anko replied after shaking herself from her thoughts. She then turned to the final kid. "Now you."

Shikamaru sighed in complaint, giving no response.

"...say something about yourself for my sake. Seriously!" Anko shouted at him.

"...troublesome." The boy finally mumbled, giving another sigh. "Name's Nara Shikamaru. I like being with my friends and doing things that don't require much effort. I don't like doing most things and things I find really troublesome. Hobbies are cloud watching, star gazing, playing shogi, and sleeping. My dream is to become an average ninja and have a wife that's neither pretty nor ugly and have two kids, a daughter and a son. I'll retire when my children become successful shinobi of their own and live the rest of my days playing shogi and watching clouds until the day I die, before my wife."

Anko stared at the boy in shock. She stayed in silent thought for a few seconds before her eyes narrowed on him.

"Lazy ass." She declared.

Shikamaru, who had expected to get the same thanks that Hinata and Naruto got, was shocked by her words. "What?"

"You complained about doing this intro for me, you hate doing things with effort, and your dream is one of the most boring and average things I've ever heard! I'm calling you as I see you: a lazy ass!"

Naruto couldn't help himself from falling over in his seat in laughter. Hinata barely stifled her giggles. Shikamaru only shrugged in response, mumbling something about a 'troublesome woman'.

"Well, since you all introduced yourselves, it's only fair I do the same. Listen well brats!" Anko started. "I'm Mitarashi Anko, a tokubetsu jonin, the second in command in the Torture and Investigation Department, and your sensei. I like dango, tea, traveling, training, and working at the T&I Department! I dislike spicy foods and the 'fangirl' kunoichi who give kunoich a bad namei. I also hate a certain snake I've met in my life. My hobbies include hosting tea ceremonies, training my ass off, and torturing. And my dream...well, I have three actually. First is to kill that snake I mentioned. Second is to make sure I can keep my friends safe and protected. And third is just simply enjoy life!"

All three of the genin stared at their sensei. They all seemed to have different reactions to the parts in her introduction. They were curious about this 'snake' and who he was. They thought she was pretty thoughtful with her other two dreams.

...they were also terrified that she admitted that torturing was one of her hobbies and that she was technically a professional in the art.

"Well, now that we know each other, let's get straight to the business part." The purple-haired woman broke them out of their thoughts. All three started to pay attention to her again. "Now...I hate do this to you guys, but I have to break it to you: you aren't genin yet."

"What!? That's a load of crap dattebayo!" Naruto shouted. "We passed the stupid test, so that makes us genin!"

"That test is bullshit." She laughed in response. "It's like a 'pre-test' to make sure you guys are good enough to be genin. Eh, whatever. Basically, tomorrow you all have to take another test that has a thirty-three percent pass rate. Fail and get sent back to the academy."

All three members of Team Three had wide eyes at these words. Shikamaru was groaning about the thought of another test, Hinata was worried about failing and disappointing her father, and Naruto was scared of not being able to become a genin.

Anko seemed completely oblivious to her students' frustrations. As soon as she informed them of the second test, the waiter came back with a plate of dango. The tokubetsu jonin was currently drooling and giving nothing else a thought.

"Food's here! Yes!" She shouted in joy as the plates were put on the table. "Let's leave the test discussion until after we finish lunch!"

The purple-haired woman didn't wait for her students to respond. She immediately started to chow down on the dango on her plate. All three of her genin watched their sensei eat rapidly in shock.

'...that's just like me with ramen!' Naruto noted with shock. Hinata and Shikamaru seemed to notice the comparison as well, as they looked back and forth between their sensei and their friend.

When lunch was over, Anko told the students to meet her at Training Ground Seventeen tomorrow at 8:00 for their second exam. After that, she left to go to work at the Torture and Interrogation Department.

A couple of screaming victims later, Anko was brought a bar by the head of the department, her partner in crime, and good friend Morino Ibiki. The two made an effort to go out drinking once a week after work and both felt they deserved a drink or two.

"I swear, sometimes the job isn't even fun anymore. They give in way too easily!" Anko complained as she chugged down the rest of the sake in her bottle. "Remember that Mizuki guy from a day ago? Gave all the dirt on the snake bastard he was working with in twenty minutes!"

"There really has been no challenge. At least we get the information Konoha needs for it's safety." Ibiki replied, simply staring at his drink. "Although, I would like someone tougher to break."

Anko gave a smirk in response. That was one thing that bonded her and Ibiki together: the two had a slight sadistic side to them.

"So, should I be expecting to handle more cases on my own though for the time being?" The head of the department asked, still staring at his drink.

The purple-haired woman, who was currently getting another bottle of sake, turned to her partner and gave him a quizzical look. "What do you mean Ibiki?"

"I've heard you've been assigned a genin team." He informs her.

"Oh. Yeah." Anko shrugs as she chugs her new drink. "I don't know. Maybe they'll pass, maybe they won't. I'd prefer if they didn't."

"Your personal preferences don't really matter on if they pass or not." Ibiki reminded her, narrowing his eyes a little.

"I know that! I wouldn't fail the brats just cause I don't want a genin team!" She shouted, a little louder than intended. "It's just...I still don't know why Hokage-Sama assigned me a team!"

Anko thought back to the conversation she had with the Sandaime. At first, she was giving a simple mission report from a long-term mission she was on. He accepted it, but then changed the topic to the genin teams. He had informed her that he was planning on assigning her a team. Anko freaked out, stating that she would not be a good sensei to 'some random brats' and that she'd be better off spending her talents elsewhere. Nevertheless, the Hokage was very adamant about his decision. Apparently 'Only she can accurately train each and every one of these students to their full potential'.

'Yeah. The one person that can, and will be stuck babysitting them, is me? Bullshit' The tokubetsu jonin thought bitterly.

"It's not like you to doubt your own abilities Anko. You seriously think you can't train them?" Her superior asked her.

"Hell no! I got the talent and skills to train anybody!" She fired back, starting to get a little irritated. "It just feels weird: I would much rather spend my time doing something more productive for Konoha. Also it's my first time as a sensei, and the only sensei I have ever had to use as a reference is him."

Ibiki knew exactly who his co-worker was referring to and sighed in response.

"Well, if the Hokage thinks it's a good decision, then it is. He must know more about them then you and must think you can help them become better shinobi for Konoha. Probably not a waste of time if that's right." Ibiki told her, finally taking a small sip from his bottle of sake. "You won't make a bad team sensei either. Just teach them what you know and let them do the rest. Let them become Konoha shinobi."

"You know I'm not really upset or anything, right? I don't really need comforting." Anko mumbled in response as she took another chug of sake. "Still, thanks. Appreciate it. Although it's weird to see you trying to help someone. Getting soft 'Biki-Kun?"

Ibiki scowled at the nickname and Anko's words.

"Not at all. I'm trying to get you to take the team. Perhaps if you aren't working at the department, I'll get more victims to myself and maybe I'll get one that'll be fun to break down." Ibiki informed her with a smirk.

"Heh, if that happens, I'll be joining you still. Can't leave me out of all the fun!" She responded with a laugh before picking up her bottle.

Anko downed the rest of her sake and got another bottle. She decided then and there to stop thinking about the genin team. She lied: she was frustrated about being assigned a team and was confused on what to do. Ibiki did help out a little though and she appreciated it.

'I'll deal with them later. If they pass, they pass. Then I'll just learn and be a kickass sensei!' Anko declared mentally as she raised her new bottle, as if toasting to her idea. 'But for now, screw them. I'm just going to enjoy my sake!'

She enjoyed it indeed...

After waking up, Hinata got ready for the day as quickly as she possibly could. She was actually surprised that she even got any sleep at all. Her mind was completely focused on the second exam that Anko mentioned.

'Sensei never said too much about it. Only the time and place of it. I wonder what it could be on...' Hinata contemplated as she finished collecting all of the weapons she may need for a test.

When Hinata finished, she was almost ready to leave. She had already gotten dressed, prepared for the day, and had eaten breakfast. All that was left was to let her father know she was going out.

It didn't take long before the Hyuga heiress left and arrived at her father's private study. As usual, Hyuga Hiashi was sitting at his desk, performing clan duties and paperwork, as if he had been doing them all night.

"Hinata." Her father greeted, not even looking up. "Do you have something thing you wish to talk about?"

'Don't stutter, don't stutter.' Hinata muttered to herself as she took a deep breath. Although she was getting better, she still stuttered a lot when she was intimidated. Her father could be very intimidating...

"I...I have t-to leave now. I have a s-secondary test I need to take to be a g-genin." Hinata informed him.

"Oh yes. The second test the jonin sensei gives." The clan head noted as he looked up from his work and at his daughter. "This reminds me: you failed to tell me who your team was composed of."

"Um..." Hinata poked her index fingers together. "I'm with Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki N-Naruto. Our s-sensei is Mitarashi Anko."

'She's with the Nara heir and the Kyuubi vessel? Hmm...' Hiashi thought to himself. '...a random match. I know Hinata has been training sometimes with them, but their skill sets shouldn't match up. It would have been better for her to be on a tracking team. What was Hokage-Sama thinking with this team? And under Mitarashi Anko? She has no experience with training.'

"...I see." He said aloud, not voicing most of his negative thoughts.

"Our e-exam is soon. M-May I be dismissed?" Hinata asked.

"You may. Make sure to perform up to the Hyuga standards today, Hinata. Do not disappoint and fail the test." Hiashi informed her in a cold tone.

"...understood. G-Good day father." His daughter responded before leaving.

Hinata couldn't help but feel upset by her father's words. The way he said them made it seem like he doubted she would pass, that she would disappoint him and the Hyuga clan. These were doubts she had already placed on herself. While her father has let her know before of his little faith in her, hearing them again hurt badly.

She could almost feel tears starting to form in her eyes when a thought occurred to her: she was not alone in taking the test. 'Naruto-Kun and Shikamaru-Kun are taking it with me. We all need to pass to be genin! That means...I can't fail! For their sake!' She informed herself. Her eyes almost immediately cleared up and were filled with determination.

Was she nervous? Yes. Did she have doubts in herself? Yes. Did she doubt her teammates? No. Was she wanting to disappoint them? Not a chance! Hinata felt the determination rise within to go against her doubts and help her friends.

The Hyuga heiress hurried away from the clan compound as quickly as she could, ready to take on whatever Anko had planned for her and her friends.

Mitarashi Anko, having never had a genin team assigned before, based most of her opinions on how they worked from the complaints she heard from her acquaintances. She heard many stories of the 'genin teams from hell' that arrive ridiculously late to the training sessions and missions.

Anko had heard so many of these stories that she was legitimately surprised that her three students were at the training ground at exactly 8:00.

"Oh, lookie here. You all are on time!" Anko noted happily. "That's good. I was afraid that at least Lazy Ass would be showing up late, cause he didn't want to get out of bed this morning."

Naruto cracked up once more. Hinata didn't even try and hide her giggles. Shikamaru merely scowled in response.

"S-Sensei, are you going to l-let us know what the test is now?" Hinata asked when she stopped giggling.

"Oh? And you all are focused too and don't waste time? I like that!" The tokubetsu jonin declared with a laugh. "So, you all ready for this thing?"

All three kids nodded in response, with Hinata being the first one to nod.

"Okay...so basically, it's a survival training test. We are going to fight: the three of you against me." Anko told them.

Naruto, Hinata, and Shikamaru all looked at their sensei with wide eyes.

"Basically, I'm going to evaluate your skills and such through combat. We'll continue until I make a decision whether you guys should pass or not." She told them, cutting off any questions. "To pass, there's only two things you guys have to do. The first thing is impress me. Don't hold back and show me what you are all capable of as Konoha shinobi! And you all better damn well be coming at me with the intent to kill, or I guarantee you'll fail!"

The three graduates nodded in understanding.

"W-What's the second?" Hinata asked.

"Survive." The tokubetsu jonin deadpanned. The woman allowed some killing intent to be released with her words.

All three genin had wide eyes at the feeling of her killing intent. It felt like nothing they had ever experienced, even during the fight with Mizuki. Anko noticed their reaction and burst into laughter.

"Oh come on! Don't get all scared on me yet brats! This isn't even near half the killing intent I'm capable of releasing, and this is also nowhere near the type you can feel on a battlefield!" She said in between her laughter. She took a few seconds trying to compose herself before she spoke again, this time with a much more serious tone. "So, are you all ready to begin?"

The students started to focus once again. They each tried to calm themselves down. Hinata, to Anko's surprise, was the first to recover completely. "Y-Yes. Let's d-do this, A-Anko-Sensei."

Naruto and Shikamaru nodded in agreement with her words, having recovered themselves.

"Yeah, enough talking. We get it! So let's do this thing dattebayo! We're ready!" The blonde-haired jinchuuriki exclaimed excitedly.

"Good. Very good." Anko grinned sadistically in response. She bit at her thumb, causing it to bleed, and started doing hand signs. "Then let's get this over with. Your true graduation exam starts now!"

Anko immediately slammed her hand down on the ground, causing it to erupt in smoke. All three genin pulled out a kunai and stared attentively, waiting for their sensei's first move. When the smoke cleared, to their surprise, Anko was no longer in sight. In her place, a giant camouflage-colored snake was curled up. The second it saw the three genin, it hissed and attacked.

The snake moved faster than the genin could react. It slammed its large tail straight into the stomachs of each genin, sending them backwards and knocking the breath out of them.

"...damn...that hurt like hell!" Naruto groaned as he pulled himself up.

"...well what were you expecting? We're...we're going up against a jonin after all!" Shikamaru said, still out of breath, as he pulled himself up. He kept his eyes on the approaching snake.

"We...we need to be more careful..." Hinata added quietly, getting up herself.

The snake, seeing that the kids were starting to recover, struck again with its massive tail. This time, however, the genin had the chance to react. They activated the Substitution Jutsu in time, replacing themselves with nearby logs. They then moved further into the surrounding forest around the training ground, creating distance between them and the snake. Hinata took the time to activate her Byakugan to keep her eyes on the snake.

"The snake is trying to find our scent. It'll probably be here in soon, maybe a minute or two..." Hinata noted, still focusing on the snake to see its movements.

"Just enough time to set up a trap!" Naruto stated excitedly before turning to Shikamaru. "You still have exploding tags on you right Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru nodded in response as he pulled out a few tags. The Nara, after a conversation with his parents, realized that explosive tags would be the perfect weapon for him to increase his offense plans. Explosive tags were a strong offensive weapon, but also were a tactical weapon. They could be used in a variety methods as traps or to set enemies into a deeper trap. Shikamaru grew attached to such a weapon and offensive strategy.

Naruto was about to speak again about a strategy but was cut off by his lazy friend. "I'll set up tags for when the snake comes after us. We just need to lead into the trap and then I'll activate the tags. After that, we just pound on it until it's taken out."

"Hmph. It'll do." Naruto grumbled. Truthfully, his plan was pretty much identical to his genius friend. He was just irritated that his friend got to voice it first.

"It'll work. Good thinking Shikamaru-Kun!" Hinata informed her friend. "W-We should get them set up quickly. The snake seems to have found our scent. It's heading in our direction!"

Hinata's words caused Shikamaru to become completely focused. He sprung up quickly and immediately started scanning the surrounding area for the most opportune places to place his tags. He was able to set up four tags up in trees before he was interrupted by Hinata.

"It's here. It'll be out in the open in a second." Hinata shouted to her friend as she readied a kunai knife.

Shikamaru immediately took out a kunai and waited in quiet as he waited for the first sign of movement from the snake. Naruto also made the hand sign for his favorite jutsu, the Shadow Clone Jutsu.

The snake soon pulled into the area, hissing. As soon as it arrived, Naruto activated his jutsu and the area was soon filled with fifteen clones. Five of the clones immediately charged the snake while the others waited near one of the locations of Shikamaru's exploding tags. Hinata jumped down from her place up in the trees to join Naruto and his clones.

The snake didn't waste a second to attack the approaching clones. It moved forward and slammed its head forward, hitting one of the clones and causing it to disappear. The clones attempted to physically attack through kicking when they got close enough, but failed to do too much damage. The snake slammed its tail after the first hit, eliminating two more clones. It then swallowed the two remaining clones after they got too close to its mouth. The snake then turned its attention to Hinata, Naruto, and his clones.

Hinata and all Narutos started to toss kunai from their position, attacking from a distance. The giant snake took a few hits before it was able to squirm away and start approaching the genin, its mouth wide open. Naruto and Hinata jumped out of the way in time. Seven of the clones there, however, were unable to get away and were subsequently eaten. The snake proceeded to turn around to find its prey again only to be attacked by Hinata and the remaining clones. Hinata was trying to push the snake further back towards the tree through her palm strikes while the clones were just piling damage with their fists.

Anko's summon was pushed back from the assault, very close to a marked tree. It hissed angrily as it slammed its tail into the attackers. The remaining clones were dispersed and Hinata was sent flying towards another tree. Despite the pain, she couldn't help but give off a smile.

"He's close enough. Now Shikamaru-Kun!" She shouted, the adrenaline of the fight causing her to speak louder and clearer than usual.

Shikamaru didn't need the reminder, but followed it anyway. He activated the exploding tag that was on the tree where the snake was at. The explosion occurred, the strong force of it sending the snake flying into another tree. Shikamaru noticed where it landed and couldn't hide a smug smirk as he activated the exploding tag on that tree's branches. When activated, the explosion knocked off the branches, which hit the snake hard on its head. It hissed in pain it tried to get up.

Naruto, seeing an opportunity to end the fight, tossed kunai at the snake that was struggling to get up to keep fighting. The snake moaned in pain as the kunai made direct contact with its tail before it disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Hell yeah...there we go dattebayo." Naruto said with a proud smirk.

Hinata couldn't help but smile, feeling accomplished from the fight. She pulled herself up from the ground and walked over to the grinning Naruto. Shikamaru moved around to the other areas of the forest to collect the unused exploding tags before he jumped to meet his friends.

"Not bad brats. That boy's nowhere near as strong as most of my snakes are, though. Still, for a couple of academy graduates, you guys really gave him a pounding!"

The three kids turned over to the direction of the voice and saw Anko laying on a tree branch. She seemed very relaxed and amused, as if she was just watching a show.

"How long have you been there Anko-Sensei? And shouldn't you be testing us yourself?" Naruto shouted to her.

"I've been here the whole time. And I am testing you! If you couldn't tell, that snake was one of my summons. You were meant to fight it as part of the test!" Anko fired back, giving off a slight yawn.

"So do we pass then?" The blonde asked excitedly.

"Not yet. You think that'd be enough to impress me?" The tokubetsu jonin scoffs.

A tick mark grew on Naruto's face as he took out another kunai and tossed at his sensei. "Well, then let's see how impressed you are with this!"

Naruto had expected his sensei to block the kunai or dodge it. What he did not expect was her to take the hit. The kunai landed directly in her head. Anko fell off the tree lifelessly...before disappearing in smoke.

"...wait, was that a shadow clone?" Naruto asked in surprise as he started to scan the nearby area.

"Makes sense she would know it. It is a jonin level jutsu after all." Shikamaru mindlessly mentioned as he scanned the area himself, prepared for any possible attack.

"G-Guys!" Hinata gasped in shock, her Byakugan activated. "S-She's here!"

"Where?" Naruto asked frantically, getting even more prepared for an attack.

Hinata gave no verbal response. She only tossed a kunai in the direction opposite of where Naruto was facing. Her kunai blocked a shuriken coming from that direction.

"Does that answer your question?" Anko asked in a fake sweet tone as she started to appear into sight. She was charging at the kids, making hand signs. When she finished, she raised her left arm towards them. "Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"

Snakes shot up from her coat's sleeves and were sent forward towards the academy graduates. Before they had time to react, the snakes grabbed onto Naruto and sent him flying towards the jonin sensei.

"Naruto-Kun!" Hinata shouted in surprise as she immediately started to run after her crush. Shikamaru followed closely behind.

Naruto gasped in pain as the snakes bit harder as he was being sent towards his sensei. As he approached her, Anko then redirected her attack, sending Naruto straight into a nearby tree. She then charged at the boy with great speed, slamming her fist straight into his stomach. He groaned in pain and barely registered the fact that she pulled out a kunai. Anko then made a small cut on his cheek.

"Give an enemy shinobi the smallest of opportunities and they'll have you in their mercy. You'll feel a hell of a lot of pain and know you can't make a mistake, even in your weakened state, cause you know you'll die if you do!" Anko informed the boy as she licked the blood of the kunai. She released another wave of killing intent to show her point. "So, how do you face this situation, Whiskers?"

"He won't be facing the situation alone!" Hinata shouted.

Anko turned around at the sound of the noise and was met with the Hyuga heiress's assault. The tokubetsu jonin fended off the girl's attacks, making sure that the girl wasn't hitting any of her tenketsu. After awhile, Anko turned the tables on the girl, focusing on attacking back. The girl struggled to block the older woman's stronger blows and received many direct hits from her sensei.

"I admire the fact that you rushed into save your ally, but that doesn't always cut it in the real world. You can't just rush in blindly to save a friend, cause you may just end up needing saving yourself!" Anko informed the girl sharply as she dealt a punch to the girl's face. Hinata fell down in pain and immediately got up, breathing really hard. "You need to be more careful next time or else you'll be dead!"

"I...I was Sensei." Hinata mumbled out in between her breaths. "You...you should be more careful y-yourself..."

Anko was about to respond but was cut off when she lost all feeling in her body. She couldn't move any muscle. Suddenly, she felt her head turning and saw Shikamaru standing behind her.

"Hey Sensei." He replied lazily. Despite the fact that his head was turned so that she could see him, Anko knew the boy had a smug grin on his face.

"I'll give you guys this, I didn't expect that. I wasn't really expecting you to actually try and trap me in your shadow while Stutters-Chan was attacking me. Didn't know you could make the effort." Anko admitted, slightly teasing the boy in her praise. Her tone of voice then took a slightly mischievous and sadistic twist. "But, you do know that I have enough chakra that I can easily break from your control, right?"

"I'm aware. However, I didn't really intend on trapping you for too long. Only to stall you." Shikamaru told her, his grin still on his face.

'Stall? What?' Anko thought in confusion. She immediately broke the boy's hold on her through overpowering it with her chakra. She was about to start preparing for an attack, but she was too late. Naruto immediately pounced on her. He slammed her body down hard to the ground and delivered a punch to the face before he got out a kunai and held it to her neck.

"Give the enemy any opportunity and they'll have you at their mercy. Isn't that right Sensei?" Naruto asked her, taunting her with the words she used on him.

'So, the two others were really just distracting me so that he could recover and actually land a pretty damn good hit on me. Not too bad. They actually work well together and could do some serious damage if trained more.'Anko noted, actually impressed.

"That's right Whiskers. However, I did ask you how would you respond to that situation, didn't I? Well, this is how I would!" She replied aloud before disappearing in a poof of smoke, replaced by a log.

"Heh, I figured as much." Naruto mumbled with a smirk. He turned to Shikamaru, who was grinning in response back as he made a hand sign.

Anko was sitting in a nearby tree branch after she used the Substitution Jutsu. She was watching the three kids, wondering exactly what they were doing.

'Why are they just standing still? Shouldn't they be flustered or shit? Trying to prepare for an attack? Or maybe hunting me? Why are they just standing still?!' Anko thought in confusion, still watching her students.

She was finally about to give up wondering and just charge at them when she noticed Shikamaru make a hand sign. All of a sudden, she noticed a noise coming from her coat's pocket. She reached in and pulled a kunai out: a kunai with an explosive tag on it. The explosive tag was in the process of activating.

'Ah! So when Whiskers was recovering while Stutters-Chan attacked me, he got an explosive tag from Lazy Ass. He then put it on a kunai and slipped into my pocket when he had me on the ground. Clever son of a bitch...' Anko thought, impressed.

The explosive tag went off, creating a large explosion in its place. Anko managed to get away, but took some damage on the right side of her body when escaping.

'That's another 'hit' they got on me. I may not be giving near my full strength at all on them, but that's damn impressive! Even when going easy, I should still be too much of a match for most genin...' Anko noted. '...I have to pass them now...'

The tokubetsu jonin soon reappeared in front of the three kids. Naruto and Hinata were the most tired, having taken the most hits. Still, all three were notably happy and curious about their standing.

"So, Sensei, did we impress you enough? Or do you want us to keep going?" Naruto asked, a smirk still on his face.

"Is that a challenge? Believe me, I haven't even done a fraction of what I can do!" Anko replied confidently.

"Bring it on!" The blonde-haired kid responded as he glared at his sensei.

Anko returned his glare with one of her own. Sparks flew between the two stubborn shinobi before Shikamaru interrupted the staredown with a cough.

"Not that I care if you guys want to fight again, but can you tell us how we did Sensei?" Shikamaru replied lazily with a yawn.

Anko sighed in frustration. "Sure, sure. Whatever. Anyway, you all did impress me. More than I expected. So, that makes you all my team!"

"HELL YEAH!" Naruto shouted. He seemed to momentarily forget any exhaustion or injuries from his fight and started to jump up and down in excitement. "We're a team now dattebayo!"

"You better damn well believe you are!" The purple-haired ninja stated. "You're MY team! You guys all have some serious potential and I'm going to take advantage of it and make you all into the greatest damn shinobi to ever come from this village!"

'That also means I'll be training you guys like hell. Heh, good luck brats!' Anko chuckled inwardly, starting to plan the tort-...er...training.

Anko's words only made Naruto jump even more in excitement. Her words also added some mood to his two teammates. Shikamaru had a pleased, happy smile on his face while Hinata seemed just as excited as her blonde friend, only she wasn't outwardly acting on it.

'So it's official! Nothing can change it! We're all a team together! I didn't let them down!' Hinata cheered inwardly, her 'inner-self' doing backflips and jumping up and down even more excitedly than Naruto was doing now.

Anko couldn't help but laugh as she looked at the genin. "Just letting you guys know, you're dismissed for the day. We'll meet up here at 8:00 tomorrow morning and we will do that every day unless I say so! So, now, you guys are dismissed!"

The three genin bowed in response, thanked their sensei, and left together. They were probably going to celebrate the fact that they passed their exam.

Mitarashi Anko watched as her genin squad was leaving. Inwardly, she was thinking a thousand different thoughts a minute. She was having trouble deciding on exactly what she was feeling.

'On one hand, I'm pissed that they're going to take up a lot of my free time. I also wonder how good of a sensei I can be. But on the other hand...damn, they'll be kickass shinobi in the future! And I have to admit, they aren't that bad for brats...' Anko thought.

'...you know, I'll be excited and happy. Why the hell not? I just may like this thing...' The tokubetsu jonin nodded to herself, finally deciding on how she felt about this whole thing.

Anko was about to leave and head to go get some dango to celebrate this new-found realization when she remembered something. She immediately turned to face a nearby tree.

"You know, the brats are all gone. You can come out and stop hiding now." She called out.

Nearly on cue with her words, a figure jumped out of the tree and landed right in front of it. The figure was a woman with long black hair and red eyes. She wore a white and red tight-fitting armor that resembled a blouse and had bandages over her hands. The woman greeted Anko with a wave and walked up to her. She responded back with a wave of her own.

"You've been there for awhile Kurenai. Don't you have your own kids to fail? Should you really be wasting too much time with me?" The tokubetsu jonin asked with a laugh.

"Already did." The woman, Kurenai, said with a sigh. "I had a team already planned out, but then Hokage-Sama felt the need to change up my request. I got a different team instead: a team made up of kids who should never be made genin!"

The purple haired woman noticed a hint of bitterness in her friend's voice.

"You know, I really am surprised that you passed your team." Kurenai admitted to her friend, a smile back on her face.

"Oh come on! I may not have been too excited about having a team. Hell, I'll admit to being pissed and complaining a lot! But I'm not gonna deny talent when I see it. There was no way I couldn't pass those brats!" Anko replied back.

"Oh, I have no doubt you would see their talent. But still, I can't believe you actually passed a team." The red-eyed jonin stated, stifling a giggle. "You know what that means right?"

"...what?" Her friend replied nervously. She saw the smile and her struggling to hold back her laughter. Anko had a feeling she was not going to like whatever she was about to hear.

"Well, you just took up a team. A team of new genin. Hope you have fun doing D-Rank missions for awhile!" Kurenai informed her friend cheerfully before making a hand sign and diseapping through the Shunshin.

Anko blinked. She blinked twice. Memories starting to fill her mind. Horrible memories from her time as a genin.

'All those hours...those boring hours! The painting, the babysitting, the grocery shopping...that damn cat!' Anko's mind replayed various mental images of menial tasks around the image. The image of her chasing after a cat replayed multiple times.

It was too much for the tokubetsu jonin. She lost her balance and fell to the ground, her eyes still filled with shock.

'No more meaningful missions. Less time for torture. No more fun. More lame chores. More hours boredom. MORE TIME WITH THAT DAMN CAT!' Anko fumed within her head.

"DAMN IT! THIS IS THE LAST TIME I TAKE UP A FRICKIN GENIN TEAM!"