New Formation

Beta by: Cyrro. Thank you for editing the chapter even when you were sick. No, it's not corona guys. She is allright. So a big virtual hug to her.

A/N: Enjoy and review, stay safe.

"Listen kid, now that you are talking-"

Jiraiya, one of the legendary sanin, was cut off by Naruto, the supposed genin, almost instantly.

"Yes, I know Pervy Sage. Everyone keeps repeating it, so yeah, I know. This is getting troublesome." Was her grumpy reply.

Truth be told, Naruto was getting quite annoyed with how everyone was reacting to her speech. She was very much flustered at the beginning with all the attention she was receiving, but now it was starting to get exhausting, especially considering her underdeveloped emotional state. At the dango shop earlier, the situation could have gone out of control quite quickly, if not for the perverted Sanin, who showed up and almost carried her away.

First it was her teammates, then Iruka, The Team Asuma, and now Pervy Sage as well. All were going insane. The most insane of all was her bestfriend, Itachi. Why was he drunk? If he had to talk to her, he could have done the usual, you know, show up randomly and drag Naruto to the second Hokage's head. But no! The nerve of that guy, to get drunk! Then he was spitting nonsense about how ridiculously beautiful her hair was! That thought made her blush in a very invisible and totally Naruto way. Whatever the heck kind of way that was!

Itachi had never complemented Naruto on her appearance before, and truth be told, she was not sure how to react to it. Sure, many people had told her she was quite easy on the eyes, but coming from Itachi...it was different. Others might want to flatter her to gain something from her, but Itachi had nothing to gain. Naruto would gladly give him everything in her power to give if he asked. She shook her head to clear her mind. Itachi was Itachi, her constant friend since forever. She didn't need to over think anything he said. Naruto brought her concentration back to Pervy Sage. She would not admit it out loud, but the old man was growing on her fast.

Jiraya was giving her puppy eyes. "Naruto! Do you have to call me Pervy Sage out loud every time? Can't you do it only when we are not in public? You know I am a proud super pervert, but still! I do everything for research purposes, you know."

"You know," Naruto said, slowly crossing her arms over her chest. A devilish gleam in her blue eyes, "When you say that to a girl a quarter your age, people might get the wrong idea...P.e.r.v.y. S.a.g.e. " She dragged out the last two syllabus intentionally.

The afore mentioned Perverted Sage looked pale for a moment. Damn it, Minato! Your kid is smart!

But he recovered quickly. Jiraiya was known to be a legend, and he refused to be talked down by a point-sized girl. Besides, he needed to talk to Naruto about a very important matter.

"Ahm! Let's forget it for now. Are you hungry? We can go to Ichiraku's if you like. My treat!What do you say kid?" Jiraiya asked, diverting Naruto's attention from the previous topic.

"Yeah,sure. Ichiraku sounds great."

So,the student-teacher duo made their way to Teuchi's restaurant.

Line break...

"That unbelievable fool had the nerve to remove my cursed seal?!" Roared Orochimaru.

He was still healing from the fight at the Leaf Village, where his attempt to take over the village had failed. Utterly.

Orochimaru still had no clue how the Leaf was so well prepared. The Snake Sanin was no fool. The way the whole security force was designated, and the way shinobi were dispatched, the Leaf had to have some idea about the invasion. But how? The main question was; how were they so well prepared? And trapping him with that toad bastard was obviously planned as well. What was going on?

Kabuto, one of his most trusted minions, adjusted his glasses. A habit, Orochimaru had noticed, Kabuto always did when he was about to say something. "My Lord, they had to sacrifice another chunin named Shin to achieve it. But, you might find another piece of information very interesting." Kabuto adjusted his glasses again.

Orochimaru licked his lips. "Oh? And what would that be Kabuto?" The snake Sanin murmured in his unusually raspy, snake-like voice.

"You remember the Nine Tails girl?" Kabuto asked. This was another habit of Kabuto's which Orochimaru didn't like. Kabuto liked to drag a conversation on. Orochimaru was getting impatient, and since his body was not healed yet, he was also unable to take on other people's bodies as well, making him even more frustrated.

"Hurry it up,Kabuto. I do remember her," Orochimaru snapped.

Kabuto adjusted his glasses again. "Very well,my lord. Forgive me,I couldn't help myself. You see,the girl has been mute for a long time now. It was said that her voice box was destroyed. But, it turns out, that wasn't the case."

Orochimaru tilted his head. "Oh. Then what is the case? "

"You see my lord; her voice was sealed."

Orochimaru sat up straight. "Are you trying to tell me that the failed experiment Mizuki was actually able to do that? He was able to fool even my sensei, the Third Hokage? "

Kabuto smiled. He knew his lord would be pleased with his information. "Yes, apparently he was. It's a shame a guy of his talent had to die prematurely."

Orochimaru licked his lips. "Indeed, it's a shame." The Snake Sanin was the one to teach that brat Mazuki about the sealing techniques. His mind raced. This was good information. So, Minato's brat could speak again? That was good,very good indeed. He needed to find out if there was any way to get the cursed seal on the brat. If Mizuki was able to stick a seal on her, may be there was an way after all. Now only if he could get his hand on both the Uchiha brat and Minato's spawn. Things would go smoothly. He could easily combine their DNA, and then he could have the perfect vessel. Indeed, the most perfect one. But the problem was that Orochimaru doubted he had any way to control the Nine Tails itself. The vessel was a weak child, but the beast would not allow him to control her with any seal. Kukukukukuku! It seemed Orochimaru had some research to do. He needed a way through which he could get his hands on the perfect vessel.

Line break...

The universe had its own way of setting its course. Every decision made led to a different path. Every small impact could cause a butterfly effect on the cosmos, every decision had its own consequences.

Haku was never meant to be alive. She was a tool and a weapon. She was supposed to die protecting her master. But the master had given his life to protect hers.

They had not anticipated involvement of ANBU blackop forces from the Leaf Village. May be a genin team at best, but not the elite squad. Now she was stuck at the same village which had caused the death of her master. Moreover, she was serving them. Things had not gone the way they were supposed to.

Haku, for her part, had no ill intention towardst he Leaf Village or their forces. They were doing their jobs the same way she did hers for years. She could have been killed too, or worse: sent her back to that bloodline-slaughtering village. But the Leaf Village had a weird way of doing things. They brought the ice user back, and actually made her part of their force, with a lot of investigation and adjustment of ofcourse. Haku didn't know what to do, she could easily betray them, and Haku was sure that, if she did, she would not Leaf Village was not weak in any way.

For a long time, Haku had no place to call her home. Her master would move from place to place and she would go with him. She never had a childhood and was never treated the way a child was supposed to be treated. But the Leaf had surprised her in that field as well. Haku was under probation and was watched 24/7. But the civilians had no idea about it, and actually treated her with much kindness. The old man in the vegetable shope always gave her a little bit more, because apparently she needed more meat on her bones. The fruit vendor would always tell her how important fruits were for her skin, since Haku looked so pale. The owners of the weapon shope down the road had a daughter of their own around Haku's age, who was also a genin - Tenten. They always encouraged Haku to come and be friends with their daughter. Haku had yet to meet Tenten; she was careful to avoid direct contact with any Shinobi other than the ANBU. Life in the Leaf Village was as ideal as it could get for a Ninja trained to kill on command.

Then came the invasion by the Sand and Sound villages. Haku had fought and was surprised to note the anger she felt towards both the Sound and Sand villages for attacking the Leaf. She had helped in the evacuation, and had helped the kind vegetable shop owner to safety. The old owner had told her that Haku had inherited the Will of Fire. Haku had yet to figure out what the will of Fire actually was. But she felt connected to this village. Don't ask her why, but she was getting very protective of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Their previous Hokage was a very kind old man. When he died, Haku was not very sure of her position in the village.

But the Fifth Hokage was, although fundamentally different from the old man, but is a very honourable Lady.

Lady Tsunade was very quick to pull Haku from ANBU and place her on the Genin corps for the time being, all the while muttering something about ANBU not being a place for kids. Haku had no desire for rank or anything else, so it never bothered her.

So, when she was summoned to Hokage's office one morning she was a bit surprised. Usually her D-ranks came via the supervisor of the Genin corps. Lady Tsunade usually never summoned any Genin directly. So Haku was very curious, and a huge part of her was nervous as well.

Haku reached the tower and knocked on the door. The door opened revealing a sight she was not ready for.

The Hokage was sitting on her chair, and Shizune was dutifully standing beside the lady. Two Genin teams were standing in front of the Hokage along with their jonin sensei. She recognised both the jonins as Kakashi Hatake and Asuma Sarutobi. Both were famous and they had a very heavy presence. She also note another, pink-haired girl to be present as well. She was standing away from the Genin teams. The pink haired girl was showing signs of being very nervous.

Haku quietly went in and waited for the discussion to begin.

"Now that we have everyone here. I would like to congratulate two people here for passing their Genin exam and advancing to Chunin rank," said Lady Tsunade. The genin spresent in the room took a collective sharp breath at the announcement. So two people passed regardless of how incomplete the exam was? That still didn't explain why Haku was with them.

"Shikamaru Nara and Naruto Uzumaki please step forward and receive your chunin vests. Your bravery during the invasion was well recognised." Lady Tsunade declared.

A bored looking guy,who was muttering troublesome under his breath, stepped forward From Team Asuma. A blond girl with bright blue eyes stepped forward as well. Haku could feel unusual power coming from the girl. Naruto Uzumaki, Haku would remember that name. Both the Genin received their vests and stepped back to their team. All the remaining team members congratulated them.

"Now, as for why I called you both, Haku and Sakura. You will be replacing the Genin who made chunin today. Haku Yuki will go to team Kakashi, and Sakura Haruno to team Asuma. You have your jonin instructors, but in the absence of them, your team will bell lead by your newly-made chunin comrade."

Haku could hear the Nara kid groaning softly. He obviously didn't like the part where he had to lead his team. Naruto remained silent and her eyes fell on Haku for a small moment.

"Since the invasion, the jonins have been pulled from their teams from time to time, so this had to be done. Now,dismissed. I recommend both of you communicate with your new teams and get to know them." Haku knew the instruction was specifically for her. She didn't know any of her team, unlike Sakura who was smiling brightly at the blond girl of Team Asuma. The day just became very troubling.

Line break…

Kakashi had no idea how to handle the girl. He knew Lady Tsunade was actually trying to figure out on what extent Haku can be trusted and thus this new team. But he still had no idea how to communicate with her, the girl's file was a mess. A childhood with Zabuza had left her in a disturbed state. They had departed from the Hokage's Office, and had gone to Training Ground Number Seven.

"Umm...okay," he said, after a long moment of awkwardness. "Team: introduce yourselves. Names, likes, dislikes, hobbies, jutsu you prefer. Your aim in life."

Naruto had raised an eyebrow at his request. Her expression clearly said, are we playing this old game again? Real smooth sensei.

But Sai was the devious one in his group. "Sensei,why don't you go first," he requested.

"Ma, ma Sai! Do I have to?" Kakashi asked, earning bored expressions from his team,and a confused expression from his newest charge.

"Ok. My name is Kakashi Hatake. Things I like..." he trailed off. Obviously, he had no intention of saying anything. But Sasuke beat him to it before he could go on.

"Perverted books written by Jiraiya, one of the Sanin," Sasuke supplied, and Naruto and Sai nodded their heads sagely. Kakashi Sweat-dropped. Haku looked even more confused.

"...I like a lot of things, Sasuke. But thank you for adding that. I dislike..."

"People who betray their friends and comrades." This Time it was Naruto who supplied it.

Kakashi sweat-dropped more. His team was filled with smart-mouth kids.

"...yes,definitely Naruto. My hobbies..."

"Are reading very questionable books during important missions and training,"Sai helpfully chipped in.

Kakashi could see the new girl had gone even more pale with confusion. By the end of the session, Haku might get an anaemic attack. His team should be grateful that he loved them so much, otherwise they would have gotten their asses kicked right then and there.

"Thank you again for the contribution,Sai. My preferred Jutsu is.."

"Copying people!" All three of them added at the same time. Kakashi felt his heart warm. Oh, the joy of being a proud papa-sensei. His team knew him so well! Kakashi eye-smiled.

"That is correct. My aim is..." this time Kakashi wasn't interrupted, but he didn't finish his sentence anyway. "Now Sai why don't you go for it."

Sai gave them his signature creepy smile. "I am Sai. I like my team and painting. I dislike fan girls, lung diseases and cursed seals. I hate snakes. My preferred jutsu is my man beast scroll, and I like teaming up with my two best friends. My aim is to smile the way my brother wanted me to, and kick Orochimaru's butt." Sai finished, and Kakashi noticed how both Sasuke and Naruto had moved towards him. Both Sasuke and Naruto had concerned expressions on their faces as they almost cuddle Sai, to comfort him. It seemed that the scar left by Shin's death wasn't easily forgotten. Sai gave his friends a reassuring smile. A genuine one, and the Uchiha and Uzumaki relaxed a bit.

Kakashi cleared his throat. "Why don't you go next, Sasuke. "

Sasuke took a deep breath. "I am Sasuke Uchiha. I like tomatoes and my teammates. My hobby is training with my brother. My preferred jutsu is chidori and I also prefer teaming up with Sai and Naruto. I dislike fan girls. My aim is to kill a certain someone and avenge my clan." Sasuke said plainly. Kakashi could feel the tension rolling off his team. Within a span of 6 months a lot of things had changed, and Kakashi wasn't sure if they were headed down a good path or not.

Naruto went after them. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like my teammates and the ramen that Iruka buys me. I prefer rasengan and shadow clones. My hobby is training and spending time with people I care about. I hate anyone who harms my village or people I care about. My aim is to protect this village till my last breath dattebyo!"

Dattebyo?! Kakashi blinked. Hmm interesting, Naruto had more Kushina in her than he had thought before. Kakashi smiled inwardly.

"Now, Haku, your turn. "

Haku seemed a bit hesitant. "My name is Haku Yuki. I am from the Yuki clan, so my preferred jutsu is my blood line ability. I like snow. I don't particularly dislike anything...my aim is to find a home to call my own someday."

Haku finished and Kakashi could see the gears turning in the heads of his students.

"Well, Haku,that is good. Now, we have a traditional team bonding exercise we do every time we come together as a team," Kakashi said standing up. He could see his other three students standing up quickly. Everyone loved a good old Bell Test, after all.

He smiled and held up three bells."You have to take these from me. If you can do it with in 3 hours, you win. If not, I win. If Iwin, you will be in trouble. Ready team?" Kakashi asked with a bright smile. "Go!"

Hence it began: a new formation.