The Unknown Goddess: A Naruto Fanfic - Volume 1 Chapter 38

Hiruzen was again doing the most common job of the Hokage. For once he was trying to separate each doc.u.ment into groups, because it was again a mess and he was getting tired of it. He couldn’t just request Athena or Naruto to come help him. They had their own things going on.

Speaking of which. Hiruzen still had to go over the teams. It was already written in stone that team ten will consist of Ino, Shikamaru and Choji. That is basic. The formation needs to remain seeing as the family works very well with each other. In all Honesty he had every team except eight and sevem down. The class consisted of uneven number. The teams are supposed to be of three genin and one jonin. The way things are he would end up with a team of four genin. He sighed. He could make an exception and allow a four man team or he could alter it in some way. He didn’t necessarily know, but he did know who he wanted to be together.

Athena, Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata. He thought long and hard about this and decided they would make a good team. Why? They go well together. Athena works perfectly with Naruto and has a strong bond with Hinata, which pushes said girl to grow stronger. He added Sasuke onto the group because he was aware of the questions he had and to make sure he doesn’t end up going down the wrong path Athena would be there for him. There’s also the fact that he found it would be better to do things differently. Normally each team would specialize in a field. Team seven are supposed to be the front liners. Eight is supposed to be trackers. Those sent out to locate a target. Team ten are sent in to stall and distract. That is how it was planned. Hinata was originally supposed to be a member of team eight, because of her Byakugan. She’s a skilled tracker. He would then add Sakura onto team seven because of her book smarts. She could come up with strategies, but things have changed. Mostly he was just going with his gut with the new team seven formation.

He just knew they would be a good team. They are each skilled children that would excel on the front line. And he had a feeling that if Hinata was not in the same team as Athena she would be angry. She would accept it and he doubt she would be angry at him, but she would be angry. Which is a double Edged sword.

He sighed. What to do?

He looked up when his door was kicked open. In walked Naruto, dragging a body behind him. He waved with a smile as he dumped the body on the floor.

“Mizuki? ”

“Yeah” Naruto adjusted his forehead protector. “He wanted to learn the shadow clone for some interesting reasons which involved taking over the village and stuff. He tried to win me over by telling me what I already know, thinking I would hate the village and go along “Naruto kicked the man in the side.”I’m not that naive, so here he is. If you want make sure my claims are true just drag him off to the IT department ”

Hiruzen nodded. “Thank you Naruto, I’ll see to it that this is taken care of”

“Cool” Naruto retrieved his book as he turned to leave. “Gotta go or I’ll be late and Athena will scold me”

But then he stopped and turned back around. He was smiling. “Tell Konohamaru I said hi ”

~~~~~~~~~

Athena was seated next to Hinata a usual. She was watching the door, waiting on Ino and Sakura. She just wants them to race into the class to claim Sasuke. She was suddenly amused by the idea of seeing it first hand. Why? Because, she may be sitting next to Hinata, but Sasuke was next to her. She allowed him to sit with her. She was aware that he was trying to get away from the fangirls. So she let him. She was starting to feel sorry for him.

“Ah” she perked up slightly when the door was thrown open and the two girls struggled to get through. She was smiling as she watched the scene.

Hinata was watching her and wondered why she was so amused. She looked from th girls to Athena and back again. She glanced at Sasuke and suddenly made sense of everything. Was Athena amused because the girls would try to sit next to Sasuke? Was she amused because she sat next to him and wanted to see what they would do about it?

“Ha! I win” Ino exclaimed as she pushed past Sakura.

“Stop lying ! My foot stepped into class seconds before you” Sakura retorted.

“Get your facts straight billboard brow! ”

“Oh shut up Inopig”

And just like that the two got into an argument about who entered class first but it didn’t last for they raced up the stairs to come and stand next to Sasuke, still arguing. They made to ask him to sit next to him when they noticed Athena sitting there with a big smile on her face as she observed them.

That smile was full of amus.e.m.e.nt and the two took it as a smile of arrogant victory. In their head she was taunting them because she arrived first and hence has the right to sit next to their beloved Sasuke. How very far from the truth.

“You” Sakura said slowly.

Ino only glared and Athena smiled brighter.

“Is there a problem? “Athena asked casually as she rested her chin in her palm and raised an eyebrow. “It looks like you want something ”

“I want to sit next to my beloved Sasuke! “Both girls exclaimed and Sasuke sighed.

“Ah, well, you should have arrived sooner and maybe you would have gotten to do just that, but as you can see this bench is full so, you can move on” Athena said very camly and very sweetly. “It’s not like you’ll never see him again, you’ll just be seeing him less from now on seeing as the chance of any of you ending up on the same team as him is very slim”

“You don’t know that ”

Athena shrugged. “Ino Yamanaka. You’ll most likely end up with Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi. It’s your family’s tradition ”

Sakura snickered at that. That eliminates one opponent, but she could still end up in a team with Sasuke. They are both high scorers in the academy and while he may be awesome at Taijutsu she had the brains to go along.

“And you Sakura” Athena seemed to be in thought for a moment. “I really can’t say anything about you so maybe you have a chance. Slim, but it’s there”

The smug smile on her face only amused Athena further.

“Word of advice” she sat up a bit straighter. “You both like Sasuke, that is very obvious. You want him to notice you and all you’re doing is making him dislike you. You’re focused on him while you should be more focused on you. You are genin now. It’s your first step into the world of ninja. Do you think that crush of yours will do you any good when you end up dead because you focused more on a boy instead of your training? How good are you at Taijutsu? How’s your weapon skills? If you’re caught in a genjutsu will you remain calm and immediately deactivate it or will you panic like a little girl? And if you do end up in a team with Sasuke, do you think he’ll have time to save you when he has to look out for himself as well? ” Athena raised an eyebrow.

The girls were silent. So was everyone who heard the conversation. Most had to admit she had a very good point. What had the girls done other than fantasize over the boy? They could hardly defend themselves. Book smart won’t help on the field. What will they do then?

Before anything else could be said, Iruka stepped into class and everyone had to go take a seat. Athena was satisfied. Hopefully she opened their eyes and made them realize how childish and idiotic they were being.

“Good morning class” Iruka greeted and only continued after the class returned said greeting. “Starting today you are all ninja but don’t get too c.o.c.ky, you are only genin. You still have a ways to go”

Athena started looking around class. She still wasn’t sure how things would turn out. She could feel eyes on her. She eyed a corner of the class for the moment and sighed. The Hokage was watching the class. She caught Naruto staring in the same direction. Sasuke and Hinata as well. She smiled. Good to know her friends are skilled enough to detect such a thing.

“Soon enough you will be receiving missions to help the village. Today three man teams will be formed with exception of one. Due to the uneven number of genin today, there will be one team consisting of four. This team was specifically designed by the Hokage himself”

Athena raised an eyebrow. She had a feeling she would be in this special team. She could see the girls eyes light up with hope that it gave them a chance to end up with Sasuke . Lost causes.

“As we all know, each team will be lead by a jonin. This jonin is your new teacher and you must listen to them if you want to succeed. Each team has been balanced out ”

And so the teams were announced. Athena paid no attention to team one to six. When she heard team seven her eyes were back on Iruka. It’s time to see what changes had been made or what had remained the same.

“Team 7 will be the four man team consisting of Naruto Uzumaki”

That remained the same. As expected.

“Sasuke Uchiha”

Athena glanced at the boy and he looked to Naruto who held a thumbs up.

“Hinata Hyuga”

Athena blinked and looked to the girl. Hinata in team seven. Now that is a very interesting change. She wondered how that would work out.

Sakura had her fingers crossed as she prayed to hear her name next. She could be on the same team as Sasuke . She had a chance.

“And Athena Senju”

“Whoo! “Naruto fist pumped the air in joy. He was hoping Athena ended up with him. He liked his team. He thought it would work out pretty well.

Hinata had a happy smile on her face when she heard the name. She would be on the same team as Athena. Which meant she would be seeing her as often as often as she liked. She almost giggled and Athena glanced at her. Immediately she went red in the face.

“Now this is an interesting team” Athena said with a smile. “Very interesting indeed.

“Next up, team eight ”

The look of total depression on Sakura’s face when she found out she was paired with Shino and Kiba. She had the worst luck.

Athena on the other hand saw the benefits that team would offer Sakura. She has near perfect chakra control and a good knowledge of genjutsu. Kurenai is a genjutsu specialist. She could learn a lot from her. Sakura would end up pretty good if she studied genjutsu. And because she is with them she would be seeing Sasuke less and less. At some point that crush would have been reduced to nothing. And if she still had such feelings maybe she would come to realize how stupid she had been and try to improve overall.

“Iruka sensei, may I ask why team seven is consisted of the four? ” some random Uchiha kid asked. Athena remembered him somewhat. He seemed to have a thing for her, along with almost every boy in class.

“Well” Iruka looked down at his clipboard. “I don’t really know, the Hokage made this team. He didn’t inform me as to why he found them to be a good pairing”

The boy grumbled and stared out the window.

Athena will have to go talk to the old man.

After all the teams were announced Iruka told them to take a break until it was time to be introduced to their jonin.

“Alright team 7! Let’s go have lunch together ” Naruto happily exclaimed as he stood proud on a desk. Athena hit him behind the knee and he tumbled. “Hey! ”

“Get off the desk, other students have to use it”

Naruto did as told with a sigh and followed after his new teammates.

“So where are we going?”he asked.

“You proposed so you tell us” Sasuke said as he was already enjoying the rice ball his mother had made him.

“Let’s find a tree or something ”

Athena shrugged as she handed Hinata the lunch she had prepared for her.

“Your special cinnamon lunch”

Hinata was more than happy to accept it. She loved Athena’s cinnamon lunch. It has a different but delightful flavor to it that she was still trying to decipher.

Naruto already had his bento box in hand and plopped himself under the tree he had located. He hummed happily as he opened it to reveal his noodle lunch.

“Thanks for the food Athena” he grinned happily and separated his chopsticks. “Since we’re a team now maybe you can make lunch for Sasuke too, ya know? ”

Athena nodded as she offered said boy a stick of dango. She knew his mother loved to make the food and also knew that he loved it as much as she and his brother did.

“Thanks”

“What type of lunch do you prefer? “She asked.

“Rice”

“Dango for desert? ”

He nodded.

“I wonder who our sensei will be” Hinata said quietly. She looked up to find three pairs of eyes looking at her.

“No stutters, nice going” Athena praised. “Here’s an extra cinnamon roll as reward” she offered one she had in her own lunch box. She had some there for such an occasion.

Hinata was embarrassed but accepted the extra delicacy with a smile. She was almost out of cinnon rolls as it was.

“I know who our sensei will he” Athena said at some point. “He was my first sensei”

“Who is he? ”

“Naruto, try to remember that uncle Minato was the leader of the former team seven ”

“Yes? What does that have to do with anything”

“We’re the new team seven so the Hokage is assigning the last remaining member of the former team seven as our jonin”

“Kakashi Hatake? ”

“Yes, exactly ”

“He was your teacher? “Naruto suddenly lit up. His parents had told him a lot about him. From what he gathered he was very skilled. “What did he teach? ”

“He helped with my chakra control and discovering my chakra nature. He also taught me some of the jutsu he knew”

“I bet he knows a lot, they call him the copy cat of the leaf”

“Why? “Sasuke suddenly asked. How could he gain such a name? He also heard he was called Sharingan Kakashi. Which could only mean one thing. He has a Sharingan, but how? Who gave it to him.

“He copied over a thousand jutsu”

Athena sighed when she noticed the look on Sasuke’s face. The boy was an interesting one to say the least.

“Doesn’t matter. He’ll be our teacher and that’s that”

“I wonder why we are all on the same team” again it was Hinata who wondered aloud and again she was offered a cinnamon roll as reward for no stutters.

Naruto shrugged. “Maybe it’s because we’re kinda from high ranking clans although both mine and Athena’s are practically extinct ”

“Is it not because we are all skilled enough to be placed on the front lines? “Sasuke questioned. “We all have the highest scores of the graduating students. I haven’t know you blondes for long but your obviously strong, why would the Hokage enter you into the academy just a day before graduation and let you take the same test as everyone? And you, Hyuga. You’re timid but intelligent and very good at taijutsu. Your chakra control is impressive which makes sense because of your clan. ”

Athena chuckled at how fast Hinata turned red and tried to stutter out a response to the unexpected praise. Athena liked this Sasuke.

“I guess you have a point” Athena admitted. “Front liners need to be skilled because they are sent out to handle the situation. It also helps that we all have our own set of skills that would help in the field of battle. ”

Naruto nodded along. “There could be lots of reasons but one thing is for sure. ”

“Team 7 will be the best of best”