Naruto : Struggle Of Childhood

Kinen

Naruto and the others found Hinata, Sakura and Neji waiting for them outside the hotel. They hadn't seemed to have been waiting too long, or at least, that was what Hinata said. The other two looked more than a little put out at having to wait for the length of time that they had. After regrouping, they, not including Zabuza, who was busy sitting on the bed in his own room, polishing his sword, decided to hold a brief meeting in the room that the guys all shared.

Thankfully the groups from different villages were not placed together. That would have been a pain to work with and might have actually led to at least one war. Particularly with the interesting combinations of personalities that were likely to result. Naruto didn't really want to have Sai in a room with anyone who didn't know what to expect, or wasn't a saint.

"We're going to have to separate ourselves into groups of three," Neji said thoughtfully, "and it would probably be best to have one medic on each team."

Everyone nodded.

"Because Kimimaro, Neji, and I are the oldest," Haku suggested, "maybe we should go together. I mean, it would be more logical for real teams to be arranged by age. Also, since Tsunade always made us team up together we're used to working together."

"But Neji's younger than you," Gaara pointed out.

"We'll say that he was the replacement for another teammate," Kimimaro said, "…one that was tragically too injured to continue being a ninja. Judging by the fact that the Genin here seem to be pretty bloodthirsty I don't think it will be too pried into."

"It sounds like a good plan," Neji agreed, "Team Kekkei Genkai was always a good combination.

"Alright," Naruto nodded, "The rest of us…well, maybe we should go by skills, and I think we should go with the teams that Baa-chan always assigned us.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura, known as Team Dattebayo, much to Sasuke's annoyance and Sakura's amusement, were almost always teamed together in training. They were fighters that produced extremely powerful attacks, and seemed to work well in harmony with one another. Sai, Hinata, and Gaara, Team Shugo had also been paired up together. They were, in a way, more individual than Naruto's group, having vastly different attacks.

"Sounds good," Sai nodded.

Hinata looked faintly disappointed.

"So, we just wait till one, right?" Sasuke asked. They were refraining from saying too much, since even though they had looked for someone, there was always a chance of someone eavesdropping and learning something…dangerous.

"I guess we wait then," Sakura sighed. "I hate waiting."

"Well, there's nothing that we can do," Kimimaro shrugged, "other then maybe harass Honda-sensei a little."

Sai grinned a little.

"Want to steal his sword?"

"And get your hands chopped off?" Neji cut in, "That man is insane."

"Neji-nii-san's right," Hinata agreed, "If you want to prank him, go ahead. It might be good for him, but don't touch that sword. I think he'll take it personally."

"I heard him talking to it in his sleep," Naruto grinned as he leaned forwards.

"You're joking," Neji laughed.