For once the classroom was utterly silent and every single pair of eyes was on Iruka. Even Naruto was paying attention, blue eyes fixed on his teacher, although he still sat half slumped on the bench, his chin resting on folded arms.
"Now, for the graduation exam you will perform the Bunshin no jutsu. Come to the next room when your name is called." Naruto's head jerked up, his eyes automatically darting to the person sitting to his left.
"Don't worry, Naruto. You'll pass this time for sure." The girl smiled, her soft brown eyes curving slightly. Someone in the row behind them snickered and the girl's smile vanished. Under the desk her hands curled into fists as she waited for the culprit to say something so she'd know who to hit.
"Let it go, sis." Naruto whispered, "You don't wanna get us kicked out on our last day, right?" The girl's smile returned, but it didn't quite reach her eyes this time. She settled in to wait, one eye on the door, one on her brother, absently scratching at the whisker-like marks she shared with her blonde sibling.
Iruka called Kana first, and the redhead got up to follow the chunin, "Good luck." She whispered as she passed her brother, doing her best not to show that she was nervous. This was, after all, their last chance. Failure this time meant they would never be ninja and even if Kana thought she could handle that she knew Naruto couldn't.
In the other classroom Iruka sat down next to the other teacher, Mizuki. In front of the chunin were four rows of shiny new forehead protectors.
"Whenever you're ready." Iruka nodded to his soon-to-be former student. Despite the unfortunate fact that she was related to that Naruto, Iruka had developed something of a fondness for Kana. Along with a sneaking suspicion that she was more capable than she let on. Last year the scarred chunin had let Naruto take the exam first and he had never quite convinced himself that Kana hadn't failed it on purpose. So he changed up the order on the class list this year, just to see.
Whatever had happened the year before, this year Kana preformed beautifully, almost beating out Sasuke by creating four red haired girls wearing black ninja pants and t-shirts with a long-sleeved orange shirt underneath with hardly any effort. One of the great strengths of having a lot of chakra: once you mastered it most jutsu looked easy as breathing. Something like Bunshin would be easy as breathing.
"Congratulations." Iruka beamed, "You pass." Kana hesitated the barest fraction of a second before taking the proffered forehead protector.
"Thank you." Unlike the graduates before her, Kana didn't immediately put on the symbol of her success. Instead she held it clenched tight in both hands as she left.
Iruka went to fetch Naruto, leaving Kana to wait in the hall. She should go join the others outside, but Iruka supposed she wasn't hurting anyone by staying there. Naruto emerged from the nearly empty classroom, blue eyes immediately searching out his sister. He spotted the gleam of metal between her fingers and a nervous grin spread across his face. He gave her a thumbs up as he followed a stern faced Iruka into the testing room. Kana had passed. Now even more was riding on this exam. If he failed not only would Naruto not be a ninja, he'd be separated from the only person he could be sure really cared about him.
The blonde took his place in front of the two chunin, trying to remember what he had done last night. He and Kana had been practicing, mostly he had been practicing and she had been trying to help him, and he had done it. He had cloned himself. Kana had been yelling at him….
"It's so stupidly EASY!" She shouted, completely out of patience, even for her brother. "What can you possibly not understand?!"
"I don't know, alright! It just doesn't work! No matter how hard I try I get that!" Naruto yelled back, jabbing a finger at the pale, useless lump that was his last attempt at a clone. It vanished with a pop.
"That's it. I give up. You, Uzumaki Naruto are utterly hopeless. I love you, but you are." Kana threw her hands up and stalked off leaving Naruto alone in their little apartment. He stared after her, wondering if this time she'd really leave, just because he couldn't make a goddamn bunshin.
"Damnit." Naruto muttered, why couldn't he do this? It was simple. Picture youself, put your hands together like so, say, "Bunshin no jutsu!" super loud just to be cool, and poof you have a clone. So why….
Naruto's thought process ground to a halt. He blinked, his clone blinked back at him.
"Holy-! I did it, dattebyo!" Naruto whooped, punching the air and attempting to tackle his clone. The bunshin vanished in a puff of smoke and the blinde crashed to the floor. He had done it!
…..And now he couldn't quite remember how he had. It had seemed so ridiculously easy. Was that the trick? Kana was always saying how easy the jutsu was, and that stupid Sasuke-teme never passed up an opportunity to brag about how pathetic the Academy jutsu were….Naruto frowned, could he really do this? Did he really have a choice?
"Whenever you're ready, Naruto." Mizuki offered a slight smile, counterpoint to Iruka's blank stare. The blonde's eyes fixed on the rows of forehead protectors and all his uncertainty came rushing back full force. There was no way he could do this. He clamped his eyes shut, willing himself to forget what was at stake. He took a shaky breath, trying to calm down. Trying to remember exactly what he had done the night before, and maybe what he hadn't done.
'It's simple.' He told himself. 'Picture yourself, make the handsign, shout, "Bunshin no jutsu!" just like that, and then, you get a clone, right? Naruto kept his eyes shut, afraid he'd failed again. He hadn't heard the 'pop' or the 'poof' or whatever. He hadn't done it. He had failed. What the hell was he supposed to do now?
Iruka and Mizuki stared at each other, then looked back to the pair of Naruto's standing in front of them, blue eyes screwed shut, and so tense the clone was likely to dispel from a muscle cramp soon. Despite himself, Iruka caught a smile creeping across his face.
"Open your eyes Naruto." He commanded calmly, patient like he never was with Naruto. The blonde slowly, slowly cracked his eyes open, an expression of shock stamping itself onto his face when he registered what he was seeing. His mouth opened, but no words came out. They got lost somewhere under the slowly dawning realization that he had done it. Somehow, someway, he had done it. He was going to have to thank Kana for yelling at him.
Iruka held out a forehead protector, his hesitant smile now edging on a full-blown grin. That had been almost exactly the face he had made when he graduated. Naruto grabbed his forehead protector, shock evolving into an elated grin that threatened to split his face in two. He exchanged his beat up old goggles for his new status symbol and threw himself at the door. He had to tell Kana!
"I did it!" He exclaimed, standing half in, half out of the classroom. Kana stopped pacing the hall, her eyes quickly finding the forehead protector perched on her brother's forehead. Carefully, Kana tied her own forehead protector into place.
"We did it." She corrected.
"Hey, will you let me through?" Kana looked up, glaring at the pink haired girl standing pompously at the end of the bench the Uzumakis were sitting on. Naruto glanced from her to the empty seat next to him and back.
"No." Kana replied before Naruto could say anything stupid.
"What?" Sakura snapped, her voice rising in pitch and volume as she spoke, "Don't think you can have Sasuke-kun all to yourself!" At the mention of his name Sasuke turned to glare at the annoying girl with the pink hair. She was only marginally better than the annoying one with the blonde hair. And here he thought sitting next to the Uzumakis would keep the damn fangirls away.
Sakura shoved her way past Kana and Naruto, sliding onto the bench so that she was seriously invading Sasuke's personal bubble. He glared stoically over his hands, his Uchiha pride warring with his desire to punch the girl in the face.
Naruto glared at the Uchiha, and Kana didn't bother stopping him when he jumped up onto the desk to antagonize him in person. Naruto crounched on the desk, face inches from the glaring Uchiha's. The brunette saw an easy outlet for his annoyance, if the idiot picked a fight it wouldn't be undignified to pummel him.
"Hey, Naruto! Quit bothering Sasuke-kun!" Sakura demanded. The other fangirls joined in, yelling, "Kick his ass, Sasuke-kun!" Completely oblivious to the way Kana was glaring at them.
Oblivious to the drama in the rows behind him, another new genin turned, bumping Naruto's butt with his elbow. The equilibrium-less blonde toppled forward, right into Sasuke.
For a moment time seemed to freeze as everyone stared. Somehow fate hated the boys enough that instead of Naruto simply falling on his face, he fell on Sasuke's face. And so Sakura's (and a good percentage of her age-group's) dreams of claiming the last Uchiha's first kiss died.
"Agh! My mouth is rotting!" Naruto exclaimed, gagging. The Uchiha wasn't much better, although he wasted his breath threatening Naruto.
"Narutooo," Sakura intoned, cracking her knuckles as she glared death at the blonde who had killed her dream. Well one of her dreams. She could, after all, still marry Sasuke. Naruto started stammering apologies, wondering where the hell he could run to where she wouldn't find him. Behind the furious pinkette Kana stood up. The only one who could get away with threatening her brother was her, not some stupid bitch with a celebrity complex.
Kana didn't waste time with words. She grabbed Sakura by the shoulder and pushed her down onto the desk. The pinkette's head cracked against the wood, the sound of the impact loud enough to draw most of the attention in the room. Sakura's green eyes slid out of focus for a second before locking on Kana with the sort of ire usually reserved for those who made a move on her Sasuke-kun. Kana matched her ire and raised her some righteous fury with a little murderous intent. Sakura opened her mouth, but her words withered to dust when she felt the redhead's hand wrap around her throat.
"If you ever lay a single hand on my brother I will kill you." She promised, meaning every word, even if at this point it would get her convicted of treason. Sakura quailed, honestly scared. Even her inner-Sakura was silent for once. She wriggled, trying to unpin herself from the desk, wanting very little more than to get the hell away from Kana and that scary glare, but she was stuck fast.
"Let me go, you psycho!" The pinkette squeaked. Kana's expression shifted, tipping the balance toward danger. Her eyes flashed and Naruto paled, quickly grabbing Kana's arm. Her eye flicked toward him and the balance tipped back. Slowly she eased back, just a little scared herself, and let Naruto lead her to a seat in the back of the classroom, leaving Sakura to be rejuvenated by the scowling presence of her precious Sasuke-kun. The Uchiha quickly looked away from Sakura, trying to convince himself that he wasn't intimidated at all and not doing a very good job of it.
At that moment Iruka walked in, surprised at the heavy silence that hung over the genin. Usually the new graduates were so excited they could barely sit still. And judging by the rest of the year he had expected things to be even wilder than usual. Still, he wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and launched right into his end-of-year lecture.
"Beginning today you are all shinobi of the Leaf. However you are still only genin. The hard part is just beginning. Today you will receive your jounin sensei as well as your three-man cell. We tried to balance the teams so they would all be equally strong." Iruka glanced down and started reading from the list of teams he had spent most of last night putting together.
"….Now Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto," Iruka paused, Naruto and Kana stared at him, waiting to find out fate had played another cruel trick on them and put them on separate teams. "Uzumaki Kana." Naruto let out a whoop, Kana grinned, a little of her brother's enthusiasm rubbing off on her. "And Uchiha Sasuke." Iruka finished, already braced for the storm. If he had made the final decision he'd never put those three on a team together, but hokage-sama had the last word and he insisted the prodigal 'last Uchiha' not be placed with one of his many admirers. That left very little choice. Iruka would not like to see the fallout if he tried to place an Uchiha and a Hyuuga on the same team, so Kana was the only choice. At least the other teams were actually organized according to grades.
"Alright, I'll introduce your jounin sensei this afternoon, so relax until then." Iruka concluded after listing off the rest of the teams. The genin scattered, and all too soon they were gone. It was always kind of sad, sending the new generation of shinobi off into a world they couldn't possibly understand.
"Why is our sensei so damn late!?" Naruto demanded, scowling out into the stubbornly empty hall. "All the other teams've left, even Iruka-sensei's gone." He muttered, still scowling.
"Maybe he's waiting until Uchiha quits glaring at the blackboard." Kana commented, looking at her reluctant teammate who was sitting in the exact same posture as before the lunch break, if in the first row. Sasuke didn't acknowledge her. "Well Uchiha? You'll have to look at us sooner or later. Or were you going to quit because you don't like your team?"
Sasuke snorted, like hell he'd quit because of these two. He had a goal. It didn't matter who his teammates were. A badly suppressed chuckle drew both Sasuke and Kana's attention to the door, where Naruto had lodged an eraser between the door and frame.
"Real mature, Naruto." Kana rolled her eyes. "And this is a jounin you're trying to trick. Don't you think it should be a little more subtle?"
"A little what?" Naruto blinked,
"Subtle, idiot. As in less obvious. He'd have to be the laziest jounin in the world to fall for that." As if on cue a hand reached in and pushed open the classroom door, depositing the eraser on a gravity-defying mop of silver hair with a puff of chalk dust. The three genin stared for a moment, then the Uzumakis burst out laughing. Even Sasuke managed a smirk, half concealed behind his twined fingers.
"My first impression is," The silver haired jounin spoke in a falsely cheerful voice, "I hate you." Ignoring the stunned looks on his new students' faces the jounin walked out, beckoning them to follow.
He led them to a rooftop near the Academy, two rows of small trees growing in neat lines along the length of the oval space. The genin sat down on a set of three steps, Sasuke a little apart. The jounin leaned against the safety rail that lined the roof, taking a moment to look over his team.
Even discounting the odd markings on their cheeks, it was easy to see the Uzumaki's were related. There was just something about the way they moved that put a connection there. Going by test scores, however, Naruto had gotten most of the chakra and Kana had gotten most of the talent. Or maybe she just took training more seriously. Naruto looked very much like the prankster he was known as in his bright orange outfit.
Despite what he had said earlier, he didn't hate them, he more hated that he had to teach at all. He was actually kind of intrigued. They all had above-average chakra capacities for genin, Naruto more so than the others, which was good. It meant he wouldn't have to spend a lot of time building up their chakra like most jounin sensei. Still, it looked like he had his work cut out for himself on the teamwork side of things. Getting Sasuke to integrate into what was already a unit would be difficult to say the least.
"Let's start with introductions." The jounin sighed, even more unenthusiastic than usual. "You know, likes, dislikes, dreams, that sort of thing." He finished with a vague gesture.
"Why don't you go first? Show us how it's done and all that." Kana suggested, propping her chin in her hand, one finger unconsciously scratching at her markings.
"My name is Hatake Kakashi, I'm the type who doesn't like to talk about likes and dislikes. I have a dream, but you're all a little young to hear it." Kakashi pointed lazily at Kana, "Why don't you go next, young lady?"
"I'm Uzumaki Kana, I like my brother, and dislike most of the village because they're mean to him for no reason, and my dream is," Kana hesitated, then finished in a rush, "to find out who my parents are." Kakashi frowned under his mask, between that and her file it was clear Kana was abnormally protective of Naruto. That could present a problem if he got hurt on a mission. Not for the first time Kakashi wondered why the hell the sandaime had insisted the Uzumakis be on a team together.
"Next." Kakashi pointed to Naruto.
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto, I like ramen, the color orange, pranks, and Kana. I don't like stupid jokes or waiting, and my dream is to be hokage!" The blonde finished with an excited grin. Kakashi nodded to himself, he had pretty much seen that one coming. He pointed to Sasuke.
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke." The Uchiha spoke to empty air, glaring out over his hands, elbows braced on his knees. "I don't like many things, but I dislike a lot. My dream is more of an ambition." Sasuke paused dramatically, and Kakashi nearly rolled his eye 'Drumroll, please.' He thought sarcastically, "To kill a certain man." The brunette finally said. Naruto's shock showed clearly on his face, Kana just looked vaguely curious, like she was more concerned who his target was then that Sasuke had just professed his life goal was murder
"Alright, that's enough of that. Tomorrow we will meet again at training ground three at seven AM. Bring all your shinobi tools, and don't eat breakfast unless you like throwing up."
"Why?" Naruto asked, "Are we going to learn some kick-ass new jutsu?"
"Uh, no." Kakashi deadpanned, ignoring the blonde's obvious disappointment. He sighed, "I wasn't going to tell you this yet, but…" The jounin trailed off, making a show of it.
"Tell us what?" Kana spoke up, even Sasuke was watching his new sensei, waiting for the answer.
"Tomorrow you'll be taking the real genin test. It has a 66% fail rate, and if you don't pass you'll be sent back to the Academy. The details are on this print-out." The silver haired shinobi leaned forward, handing off three copies of something to Kana, who passed two to Naruto, who gave one to a scowling Sasuke. "Don't be late." Kakashi waved and vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving his genin to worry.
Sasuke grunted, crumpling the paper and stuffing it into a pocket before jumping down from the roof. He'd pass this stupid test no problem, and maybe get another team when those two dorks flunked.
"You're late!" Naruto and Kana accused when Kakashi finally showed up roughly three hours after the appointed time. Kakashi ignored the outburst, removing an alarm clock from his backpack and placing it on a convenient stump.
"This is set to go off at noon." He informed the confused genin before pulling a pair of silver bells out of his pocket. "There are two bells. Your task is to retrieve one before that alarm goes off. If you fail to get a bell, I'll tie you to one of those stumps and eat my lunch in front of you." Kakashi smirked under his mask, he could tell by the genin's expressions that they had taken his advice not to eat breakfast. "There are only two bells, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump." With a flick of his wrist Kakashi concealed the bells in his fist. "You may use whatever weapons you have, even shuriken. I advise you to come at me with the intent to kill."
"Are you sure about that sensei? You might actually die." Kana half-smiled, cocking her head to one side.
"If a team of fresh genin can kill me I wouldn't survive my next mission anyway." Kakashi responded point-blank. "We'll start when I say 'go'."
Naruto's cerulean eyes gleamed, he had totally just said 'go'! With a grin Naruto pulled a kunai only for his intended target to vanish. The next instant, before either Sasuke or Kana could register what exactly had happened, the jounin was behind their blonde teammate, the kunai still in Naruto's hand poised at the boy's neck. "Easy now, you didn't let me say 'go'." Kakashi chided the blonde, eyeing the slightly nervous smiles growing on his genin. "At least you're prepared to come at me with the intent to kill. So you're finally respecting me?" The copy nin chuckled, "It seems I'm beginning to like you guys. Let's get started. Ready…GO!"
The jounin released Naruto and all four of the shinobi vanished, scattering into the training ground's patch of forest. Kakashi positioned himself in a clearing near a small river, taking his time picking out the genin's hiding places. Sasuke was just to the north, close enough to watch but too far for a ranged attack to be really effective, a good position. Naruto was closer to the water, and closer than Sasuke, but still not quite too close. Kana had taken up a post in a tree opposite Naruto. Kakashi was a little surprised, he had expected them to stick together. This meant they were probably up to something.
Effecting an air of nonchalance, Kakashi pulled out his near-legendary orange Icha-Icha book. Naruto glared at the jounin from his hiding place, but resisted the urge to go and punch that perverted look of his sensei's face. Kana hadn't given the signal yet, and the blonde had learned through many pranking escapades that his sister was better than him at the patient waiting part of things. He always had the good ideas, and she picked the perfect time to execute. Together they'd never been caught.
On the other side of the clearing Kana too was sorely tempted to go in early, but she knew she had to wait. When the Uchiha made his move, then would be the time. Even though they were genin three would pose more of a threat than two, and if Sasuke got a bell she'd have little problem with taking it from him by force. For some reason she couldn't name she'd never liked the brunette, not from the first time she laid eyes on him.
After the sun had inched perilously close to its apex, even Kakashi was starting to get nervous. None of the genin had moved more than a few inches since the start, and for the life of him Kakashi couldn't figure out what plan needed them to wait this long. He had already finished his Icha-Icha and had nothing to distract him from the inevitable tension of waiting. They were genin, but they were still going to attack him at some point.
The rustle of leaves drew his attention toward Sasuke, it seemed the Uchiha was making the first move. The copy nin kept his eyes on his book, watching in his peripheral vision for the boy's attack. A small hail of shuriken flew toward him, each from slightly different angles, and Kakashi prepared to dodge, only for more shuriken to come at him from two sides when he was helpless in the air. He used kawarimi, but when he landed in the nearby tree that had supplied his ever-helpful log, he felt a familiar sting on his forearm. The brats had managed to score a hit. It was only a scratch, but still. Kakashi smiled under his mask, they were working together, even if Sasuke was probably an unwitting accomplice, they were thinking before they attacked, and they had injured him. He might just have to like these kids. But first, he had some vengeance to enact.
Kana swore when she saw her and her brother's projectiles pierce a log. All that waiting and their plan had failed. She did not, however, waste time moving. Even if he had probably known before, now that she had attacked Kakashi definitely knew her position. She headed away from the river, toward where Sasuke had been, keeping strictly to the treetops to leave less of a trail. She could sense Naruto moving in the opposite direction, just as they had agreed. A flash of movement below made her freeze, holding her breath until she realized it was only Sasuke.
The brunette froze, coal dark eyes darting to the treetops, he had sensed someone up there, but where…? He blinked, and let himself breathe again when he saw it was just Kana. Strange, but more or less harmless. He took a step back when she jumped down just a few feet in front of him. He didn't know why, but something about here put him on edge. Where Naruto was irritating simply by virtue of being Naruto, she was irritating like the hole from a recently lost tooth. There was something about her that wouldn't let him leave her alone. So of course he tried to keep his distance; an avenger couldn't have unnecessary attachments.
"Took you long enough to move." Kana whispered, wishing they knew sign language. For all she knew Kakashi was hiding nearby listening to her every word.
"You didn't have to wait for me." Sasuke shot back, irritated that she seemed to be mad at him for being cautious.
"But I did. Three genin are a helluva lot better than two, even if one of them's you." Sasuke snorted, she said that like her idiot brother was better than him. Kana ignored his reaction. She had more important things to worry about at the moment. "I'm saying we need to coordinate. I'd have said something to you earlier, but I didn't want to give away my position to find you."
"I don't need help. And don't tell me you wouldn't make sure you and Naruto were the ones who ended up with the bells." Sasuke started to walk away, nervous about being in one place for so long with Kakashi roaming the area.
"What if I told you I didn't want one?" Kana's words stopped the Uchiha in his tracks. Disbelief was stamped all over his face when he turned around,
"Why the hell would you do that?"
"Because you and Naruto need this more than I do. I don't like you Uchiha, but I think I can understand a little."
"Like hell you can." Sasuke spat, but his well honed venom felt dull, and it certainly didn't seem to have any effect on Kana.
"Well, will you team up with us?"
"Go to hell."
In a nearby tree Kakashi sighed, that had been a very interesting conversation, but he had to say Sasuke's reaction had been disappointing. He knew the boy was smart enough to figure out that it was best to work in a team, but he obviously was either avoiding that conclusion or simply refused to try. He would have to teach Sasuke that he couldn't do everything by alone.
In the meantime, even if it was a bluff, Kakashi had pretty much already passed Kana. Although he wondered if she simply didn't care that much about whether or not she passed. He'd have to keep an eye on her, if she started to drag the others down because she lacked drive it would be a problem. And then she had claimed to understand Sasuke of all people. Either she was operating under some kind of delusion that growing up without parents was the same as having them murdered, there was something there. Her words had sounded too true to be a complete lie.
On his branch the copy nin smirked under his mask, a wicked, wicked idea forming in his perverted mind. He put his hands together in a seal, and a harsh wind swooped down from the sky, temporarily stopping Kana in her tracks. That moment of stillness was all he needed.
Kana threw up an arm to shield her face from the sudden blast of wind and the leaves it carried on its back. When the gust calmed something felt off, but she couldn't quite place what.
"Kana…" The kunoichi froze at the sound of that familiar voice twisted in agony. "Help…me." Naruto whispered, falling out from behind a tree, his left leg dragging behind him, the foot pointing up to the sky, dozens of kunai and shuriken pierced his body, turning his bright orange clothes the same deep red color as Kana's hair. Kana stared, transfixed by the horrible image. There was so much blood. She took a step forward, he sandal rustling among the leaves scattered on the forest floor. Naruto coughed, a spray of red dripping from his pale lips. His blue eyes dimmed, threatening to close. Slowly, he fell, collapsing to the ground, the weight of his body driving some of the weapons deeper, a longer kunai ripped through his back, the tip emerging shiny red with blood.
Kana stared, frozen. This couldn't be happening. It simply couldn't be happening. But it was. She started to shake, staggering back a step. She hit a tree trunk with a soft thud, hardly noticing the impact. Something was screaming inside her head, but not from fear, no. It was a horrible sound, unintelligible and unmistakably enraged. A soundless roar of fury that shook the girl to her core.
Kakashi was watching Kana's reaction to the genjutsu, and was so far disappointed. She hadn't even tried to dispel it, simply acted horrified. Maybe he should've used Sasuke instead of Naruto, the shock might've been too much for her. In a brief bout of pity, Kakashi raised his hands to dispel the genjutsu, only to feel it forcibly broken as chakra exploded from the young girl. The jounin shivered, this did not feel like his student's chakra. In fact, if he had to put a name to it…but that was impossible. Kakashi quickly dismissed the notion, and then he had no more time to think.
Catching him completely unawares, Kana very nearly landed her first attack. Kakashi quickly regained his balance, bringing out a kunai of his own to match Kana's, expertly blocking each of her wild strikes. Confident in his knowledge of his surroundings Kakashi kept his eye on Kana's face, the young features twisted with rage.
Kakashi dropped to the ground, barely dodging a flying heel kick from a certain blonde genin.
"Kana!" Naruto shouted, immediately looking to see if his sibling was hurt, but she looked okay, just beyond really fucking pissed, madder than he'd ever seen her.
"Naruto." Kana whispered, barely resisting the urge to go over there and hug him just to make sure he was real. She could feel him, could feel his confusion, and that was all the proof she needed. She flashed a relieved smile, and followed Kakashi to ground, Naruto hard on her heels.
The silver haired jounin was surprised Kana had calmed that level of anger so quickly, and quickly shoved aside thoughts about why it had been so important that the Uzumakis be on a team together to focus on their attacks.
The clanging of Kunai clashing with kunai echoed through the training ground, and Sasuke easily followed the sound to the source. He watched, a little bit amazed as Kana and Naruto pulled a nearly flawless tag-team on their sensei. They alternated attacks without either one breaking the flow of movement, doing their best to get one of them behind the jounin to finish it, but Kakashi expertly kept them at his sides, each side of his body seeming to move independently as he flawlessly blocked every strike. He had put his book away, Sasuke realized with some surprise, but he wasn't countering at all.
Sasuke smirked, this was his chance. He drew a kunai and settled in to wait, sooner or later Kakashi would be forced to turn his back on the Uchiha and then it would all be over.
Sure enough, slowly but surely Kakashi turned in his efforts to keep both Uzumakis in sight. He was almost in the perfect position when with sudden, blinding speed, he knocked both the attacking genin away. Sasuke didn't even see how he had done it, he just saw them both stumble back, Naruto smacking into a tree as Kana skidded back a foot or so before inertia kicked in and left her laying dazed on the ground for a moment. Sasuke froze in a half crouch, kunai still in hand, certain that he would be next to hit the ground. Then, like a distant godsend, the alarm clock went off.
A few minutes later Sasuke found himself tied to a log. He was spared physical bruises, but his ego was beaten black and blue by the indignity of it all. He hadn't even gotten to show off his Katon jutsu.
"Well, you all look hungry." Kakashi smirked, "But about the training, there's no need for any of you to go back to the Academy."
"We passed?!" Naruto exclaimed, utterly disbelieving. "But we didn't get a bell!"
"You idiot." Kana sighed, "The bells weren't the point, were they, sensei?"
"They were part of it. The two bells were there to pit you against each other, but at the same time you have no chance at retrieving a bell alone. This test is to see if you can put aside your own desires and work together. You two did well, Sasuke however failed completely." The Uchiha glared at his sensei, his ego panting for a chance to pound the masked man's face in. "That's why you're tied up, you know." Kakashi added unnecessarily, only fueling the fire. "Unfortunately, genin must work in three-man teams. I'll give you another chance after lunch, but this time if you don't get a bell you really will fail. Naruto, Kana, you can eat, but don't give any to Sasuke, as punishment for being a stubborn brat." Kakashi finished his speech and vanished, leaving the genin to do what they would.
As soon as Kakashi was gone Kana threw a kunai at the log, severing the rope that held Sasuke up. The Uchiha fell on his ass and his wounded pride, and scowled as he tried to rub feeling back into his hands.
"Kana, what're you doing?!" Naruto whispered, frantically looking around for signs that Kakashi was returning to fail them all.
"If we're going to fight again after lunch he'll be useless unless he eats something."
"I guess." Naruto muttered, "Do you suppose sensei has more food? I'm way too hungry to fight on just this." Kana snorted, trying to cover up a burst of laughter, but even Naruto couldn't quite banish the thing slowly gnawing at her gut.
All three genin jumped, and Naruto dropped his bento, its contents spilling to the ground, as a furious Kakashi appeared in a huge cloud of smoke.
"YOU!" He roared, effectively scaring the pants off his genin. He pulled up short, stopping just before he would have stepped on Naruto's spilled lunch. "Pass." He chirped, getting a kick out of the stunned expressions on his student's faces. He might have to make of habit of surprising them, if they always made faces like that.