"You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."
The three young genin stood perfectly still for a moment. Then both Naruto and Sakura looked to Sasuke.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow. He hadn't really expected any of them to really look to any of their teammates for guidance. Naruto would offer Sakura help and she would reject it. Sakura would offer Sasuke help and he would reject it. Naruto and Sasuke would almost certainly not help each other.
Sasuke stared at the jonin silently. Eventually the raven-haired boy spoke. "You're not taking us seriously."
Kakashi clicked his tongue silently. Of course he wasn't taking this seriously.
"And you're lying." He declared.
Kakashi stared back unimpressed. Sasuke continued.
"The test is a measure of our ability to work together as a team. The bells don't matter, our disposition does. You've offered this test before, several times. You push each genin team apart and attack them separately while egging them on. You make the match personal. It makes them less willing to work together to get back at you. Then you push them back together to see if they can get past your first manipulation."
Sasuke grinned at the older man. "I've seen through your whole test. We'll join up to take you down."
Kakashi stared at the boy deadpan. He really didn't know how to feel about this kid ripping his test apart so cleanly. Right in front of his teammates too, so they would all know the purpose of the test.
A thought clicked in place. The other two had looked to Sasuke for guidance. He had given it. They had been prepared to work together. The jonin smiled beneath his mask.
This might just be fun.
"Hmm… so you know about my test? That's no good. Now you all know to work together. I guess I'll just add a third bell…" He dangled another silver bell out of his weapons pouch and attached it to his belt. "And only accept those who get a bell as my students. Congratulations, Sasuke. You shifted the test from teamwork to combat."
In response Sasuke's smile turned to a smirk. "Just as planned."
Kakashi rolled his eyes.
Sasuke kept his eyes on their sensei while he spoke to his teammates. "Kitchen stand 3."
The other genin nodded.
Naruto turned and leapt into the nearby bushes. Kakashi could sense the boy had kept running. Sakura put her hands into a seal and vanished in a puff of smoke. The replacement technique.
A good decision: facing a superior opponent head on was rarely a good idea. He didn't know why they were leaving but he wouldn't put them past setting up traps or try leading him into an ambush.
Kakashi slowly took his book out-
Sasuke leapt forward with a kunai in hand. The jonin regretfully put it away. The boy was more skilled than he had expected.
The battle between the two was fast paced and precise. Jabs, kicks, and parries were traded as Sasuke continued his aggressive assault.
"Not bad Sasuke. You seem pretty good at predicting my movements even without a sharingan." Kakashi said even as he landed a solid hit to Sasuke's gut.
The Boy backed off his attack as he rubbed his injury. "I don't need the sharingan to know what I know."
Kakashi shrugged his shoulders as he put his hands back in his pockets. "And just what do you know?"
The boy backed off of his attack and snorted. "You're ambidextrous but favor your right, you have a lightning affinity, you're toying with us to test our abilities, you have eighteen kunai, thirty-two shuriken, a ninja scroll, and…" His black eyes widened before narrowing dangerously. "…you have a sharingan. How?"
A hand rose up from the dirt beneath Sasuke's legs and pulled him into the earth. Only his head remained visible.
"That's how." The jonin answered as he stared down at the immobilized Uchiha. "It looks like your strategy failed; whatever it might have been. What was your strategy anyway? Surely it wasn't to be abandoned by your teammates?"
Sasuke sneered up at the masked man. "Three."
A massive tree with a trunk as wide as Kakashi was tall swung towards him. The man's eyes widened as he jumped over the rapidly moving conifer. The enormous piece of lumber passed harmlessly over the submerged Uchiha's head. The tree was yanked backwards and tossed upwards slightly.
As Kakashi landed softly on his feet he took a look at who, or what, had done that.
He stared blankly at the figure. It was a black and white striped girl with one arm raised above her head. She was bouncing the massive tree as if it were nothing more than a paperweight.
Kakashi frowned behind his mask. The figure looked like an older Sakura but... the real Sakura didn't run around naked and crisscrossed with black and white stripes.
At least he hoped not.
A transformation of some kind? Or a specialized clone technique? Well, it was time to find out. Hs hands blurred through a series of seals. 'Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique.'
He sent the illusion towards the girl.
Kakashi's visible eye widened. The illusion had simply not taken root. It had slid off of her as if she were a rock instead of a person.
The tree she was bouncing over her head with one hand shot forward. The silver-haired man dodged the projectile plant with a well-timed replacement justu. He watched as the tree smashed its way through handful of others before skidding to a stop in the ground.
He sweated lightly at the sight of the ruined landscape. 'Damn it, Tenzo is going to be such a jerk about fixing this.'
Kakashi blurred into motion and appeared behind Sakura. His arm whipped forward, intent upon a quick knockout. His hand slammed to a halt as it hit the base of her neck. Sakura didn't even twitch. His hand throbbed painfully.
The girl didn't even bother trying to hit him. She just aimed at the ground at his feet. With a single kick downwards the ground shattered from the impact point, tossing the jonin away. He managed to regain balance and right himself as he was thrown through the air. He slid to a stop a good distance away from her.
Then he heard a roar. The masked ninja sighed to himself. 'So much for stealth, Naruto.'
Kakashi leapt once more to the side, dodging the massive flaming figure as it crashed into the earth. The jonin didn't even pause for a moment as he took in the blonde's new appearance.
Metallic scales had formed over the boy's body. Flames covered almost his entire body. His bright orange pants were stretched tight around his legs, but they weren't burning from the flames. Were they fire resistant?
The blonde charged forwards. Flaming punches and fireballs were thrown constantly, forcing him to dodge. The boy created a pair of shadow clones, each breathing a gout of flame towards Kakashi as the original charged forward.
The pace of the fight was being set by the young Uzumaki. But not for long.
Kakashi effortlessly dodge the real Naruto's swipe and rolled between Naruto's still growing legs. He ended in a crouch right behind the boy's backside.
The older ninja placed his hands together and coated them with lightning chakra. He struck without hesitation.
The enlarged blonde was propelled towards the nearby stream. He arched with surprising grace through the sky before falling into the small canal. The water were he landed began to steam.
The masked man turned on his heel and took a look back towards Sasuke and Sakura. The two-toned girl had dug her teammate out of the soil and had been watching the fight. The black and white Sakura was gaping in disgust and surprise while Sasuke had put on a look of utter revulsion.
Then the stream exploded upward as the blonde, even bigger than before, rushed out of the waterway. Flames coated his entire form and the metal scales were even larger and visibly thicker. His body had begun to move towards something… draconic. Limbs and joints were shifting as they changed. Naruto's bright blue eyes were the only recognizable features still visible on the reptilian face.
Even those were narrowed in utter rage at that last attack.
Kakashi exhaled softly. Sweat, from both the hot flames and his exertion, was making its way down his face. His hand still throbbed from striking Sakura and his fingers were now aching from poking an armored rear-end.
Kakashi spoke to all three of the genin. "You are all very skilled. Much better than I expected. But I'm not sure if that's good enough."
"It doesn't matter. You're surrounded. We are going to take those bells… one way or another." Sasuke intoned.
The dragon raised its arms as thick fingers shaped into a hand seal that Kakashi, in the coming months, would come to know very, very well.
There was a series of smoke bursts across the clearing. When it faded, only his years of experience let him master his rising panic. Dozens of dragons were arrayed before him. Genin should not be able to make that many shadow clones.
The black and white version of Sakura took a step forward and glided towards him. She landed softly in a combat stance, ready to move in closer.
Despite the scores of dragons before him and the invincible little juggernaut waiting behind him, despite the young Uchiha watching him for any openings, Kakashi smiled. He looked over each of his prospective students with an appreciative glance. He nodded his head.
"Well, well. I am impressed." His eye crinkled into a smile. "You pass."
The draconic form of Naruto snorted. Even if they did pass, their sensei was going to get a beating for that horrible, horrible technique. Naruto cracked his elongated neck as several dragons took intimidating steps forward.
"Gonna. Kill you." Naruto spoke. His voice was thick with anger and his odd jaws made his words sound broken.
"Ah, ah, ah." The jonin wagged his finger. "That implies you can catch me."
Then the silver haired man vanished. From sight, from scent, from sound. It was as if the man had never been there.
The group of genin stood silently for several long moments. They knew they were focused on the area for some reason… but… what was it? They had been fighting… someone…
Some of the dragons began to shuffle and look around in confusion and uncertainty. Sasuke's eyes were darting back and forth while Sakura looked around in a panic.
Sasuke motioned to the group to slowly make their way forwards. After all, they had been focused on something that had been there. 'Fighting an opponent; vanished. Disappearance immediate but not complete. Footprints visible at last location; likely still in area.'
He managed a single step forward before something struck the back his head and sent the genin sprawling.
A piece of paper landed softly on the ground next to his face.
Sasuke picked himself off the ground and brushed off the dirt. He leaned down to pick up the piece of paper. His brow furrowed as he gestured for the others to come over to him.
The trio looked at the note together. Naruto slowly reducing in size look over Sasuke's head while the striped Sakura stood at his side.
You pass.
They stared in confusion over the note.
Sakura wanted to state the obvious-
"But we didn't even meet the guy!" Naruto beat her to it. "…and why does my ass hurt?"
AN: Did a dice roll for myself as a challenge. The challenge was to pick one or more characters from a franchise and write something about the random powers they get from the dice.
For those who aren't familiar with Worm, here's a bit of a breakdown on the powers:
Naruto-Lung: Think of the Hulk, but as a metal-scaled dragon. The more dangerous the opponent and the more you fight, the more powerful the dragon form becomes. Includes pyrokinesis and a healing factor.
Sasuke-Tattletale: Imagine a mixture of Batman's and Sherlock Holmes' deduction and inference skills. The slightest clue will give extreme amounts of information. Habits, secrets, passwords and hidden items, it can deduce a lot.
Sakura-Siberian: The ability to create an invincible avatar that the creator controls. Key word is 'invincible'. Only the most powerful space/time manipulation abilities are capable of disrupting the avatar. Even then, only for a short while.
Kakashi-Imp: The ability to 'remove the knowledge of their existence from others'. You can be introduced to the person, shake their hand and get their number. Once the power is turned on, you forget you ever met them and wonder whose phone number that is. It also works in real time, granting total invisibility to that person. Your eyes are seeing them, but your brain won't recognize they're there. Probably the most broken power of the lot.
Kind of surprised at how well these fit them. Naruto desperately wanted the strength to fight those stronger and more talented than himself. Sasuke wracked his mind over why his family was murdered. Sakura's projection is an idealized version of herself. And Kakashi wanted to just disappear after his father's failed mission and suicide.
