Chapter 2
Hatake Kakashi
"Team seven? Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto, right?" A voice called out to the trio, grabbing their attention from the moment each of them stepped out of the building they had spent the last three years of their lives in. It was strange. The blonde, now Genin, had expected to feel something as he left the Academy for what he hoped to be the last time. Maybe sadness, melancholy or just plain nostalgia. Maybe a feeling of regret for leaving behind the place and people that gave him all the information and power he would need to live his life.
But he didn't. He felt nothing. Life was life. Leaving places and good things coming to an end was necessary for new ones to come forth. And there was nothing he could do about that.
As they all exited, they turned their heads to see a white-haired man leaning against the wall directly to the right of the double-doors, nose-deep into a copy of Icha Icha Violence. Good Taste. Naruto mentally remarked, having been a fan of Jiraiya's work for a few years by then. The man wore the standard Jounin outfit. A pair of black sandals, ninja navy blue pants tied to the sandals with bandages, a green Jounin vest, equipped with a few small scroll pockets over the standard navy blue ninja sweatshirt. However, this one was somewhat modified to include a facial mask that hid all but the eyes. The right one, for that matter, given that the left one was hidden by a tilted forehead protector, which also held the Jounin's white hair up in a gravity-defying angle.
Overall, he seemed rather mysterious, doing justice to his reputation. However, to someone with Naruto's invasive eyes, "to seem" was many times nowhere near to the object or person's real nature. The "Man of the Sharingan Eye" had his right eye on the book pages, but he most surely had his left one staring at each of them through the forehead protector, gauging them up and see what they were worth.
"Hatake Kakashi? Are you our new mentor?" Sasuke took the indifferent liberty of taking the lead, staring at the Jounin with nothing on his face but expectation and a slightly noticeable amount of anxiety. After all, broody, sole survivor or not, Sasuke was still a young Genin, extremely fresh and barely out of the Academy. Some excitement was to be expected.
The man chuckled slightly at the Sasuke's question, leaving the asker somewhat puzzled with his reaction, before closing the book. In Naruto's eyes, his Sharingan lost focus and returned to its deep slumber, satisfied with the analysis it had gotten. The blonde had to hand it to his senior. He was a crafty one.
"We'll see, we'll see. Follow me and don't lag behind."Straight to the point and crystal clear. Traits common to a battle-hardened soldier. In a situation of stress, rapidity and simplicity in communication were essential for the survival of the people involved and for the success of whatever plan was at hand. With time, these combat-ridden abilities burned themselves into the person's personality, making them easy-to-identify in shinobi.
Naruto rubbed his forehead with his right hand. His migraine was beginning to return. He seriously needed to quit over-analyzing. Besides, what was the point? No level of analysis would truly prepare him for whatever test the man had in mind. It had been a long time since he and Hinata figured that there had to be something else other than a final written exam. Every year, a few out-of-the-Academy Genin would return to the boring place with seemingly no explanation other than that their mentor did not believe they were ready to be a ninja. A couple of questions directed at a few frustrated boys and girls and their curiosity was satisfied.
Every teacher had a test of their own. Some Genjutsu users preferred testing their students in the art of fighting without being able to trust sight, smell or texture, sometimes even sound. Some Ninjutsu artists simply had their students fight one another in order to gauge up their capacity.
Unfortunately, Naruto had not done his research on Kakashi, and his test would remain a secret. Thus, he focused his attention on something else. His teammates. Cooperation or last man standing, information on them would be useful, and as thus, he reviewed it.
Uchiha Sasuke. Twelve years old. Approximately a hundred and fifty one centimeters tall. Weighing at fourty-two kilograms. Blood type AB. Last survivor of the Uchiha clan. Possible low-level Sharingan wielder. Confirmed Katon user. Higher than average Taijutsu fighter. Genjutsu skills unconfirmed. Vanguard. Staying behind is not included in his dictionary. Use this to own advantage.
Haruno Sakura. Twelve years old. Approximately one hundred and fourty nine centimeters tall. Weighing at thirty five kilograms. Blood Type O. No bloodline limit applicable. No elemental manipulations confirmed. Average Taijutsu fighter. Excels at Genjutsu detection. High Chakra Control. Support type, mostly. Not a threat alone. Quite irritating accompanied.
Naruto sighed as he rubbed his forehead once more. He felt like a Nara.
How troublesome.
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Ten minutes later, they were settling in a nice plain field with a slow-stream river passing through the middle. It seemed a nice area for combat. Long-range attacks would easily be permitted thanks to the wide area, but also easy to fight covertly thanks to the surrounding forests. Overall, it was a nicely chosen place, in Naruto's opinion.
"Alright. Welcome to Training Ground number Three. If you pass this next test, you'll be seeing it a lot more. Mostly with your vision blurred with your own sweat and your ears bursting from the sound of your desperate breathing."
If that had been an attempt at getting the trio nervous, it had horribly failed. Naruto kept his passive facial expression, evaluating the humidity in the air and floor and overall calculating the conditions for physical exertion, while Sakura and Sasuke held the confident smirks of who had just confirmed a suspicion. It seemed that they too had done their homework and figured out the little post-graduation scheme that had been implanted so many years before.
"What does this test consist in?" A certain raven-haired Uchiha went on and asked. Sakura was standing by his side, a determined look on her face. Her body language suggested a relationship of submission towards Sasuke. She was willing to either take orders from him in a confrontation against the mentor or to refuse to fight him in a gauntlet. Naruto realized he could take advantage of this. Were they to fight Kakashi, he'd just have to catch Sasuke's attention and convince him and he'd be in charge of the whole team. Were he to engage on a three man last-man-standing, all he'd have to do was worry about the Uchiha and everything would be fine.
"It's pretty simple to understand, even for fresh-off-the-Academy scrubs." The white-haired man spoke, turning his head down for a moment as he searched his back pouch for something, that he would pull out and display in front of them quickly after.
"What I am holding here are three bells. One for each of you. All you need to do to pass this test and become my students is to take yours before the end of the day. A quick warning, though. If you're not willing to outright murder me, you're just not going to get your hands on them."
The trio slightly moved their bodies, unconsciously revealing that they were adjusting to the sudden news. They had to take a Jounin on and manage to steal something from him. From the way Kakashi was attaching them to his pouch right by his right upper thigh, it seemed there was no other means of getting them than through close combat.
Tricky. Naruto thought to himself.
"When does it start? Are there any rules?" The blonde boy asked from his lower position. He was once more in a fetal-like position, crouching and looking forth. The answers to these questions would be what determined his following course of action.
"There are no rules. Strike with whatever you want. Do it alone or team up, I don't care. It starts right about..." Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to the sun clock that had been placed behind him on the floor.
All were expectant. Sakura nervously fidgeted with her arms and legs. Sasuke swallowed deep, not sure about his own abilities. Naruto remained in his position, not moving a finger, blowing small amounts of air out of his semi-closed lips. With this, he caught his teammates attention. At first they were somewhat confused, but they quickly caught on. It was morse code. This specific message meant: "Follow me."
"...now."
They vanished.
The seasoned Jounin stared at the spot where they had been for a few seconds, before pulling out Icha Icha Violence, once more burying his nose into it. This would certainly be interesting. He'd had heard of what the Academy Tutors liked to call the "Three Djinn". Also known as the three prodigies: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Uzumaki Naruto. Though no Uchiha Itachi or Hatake Kakashi, all three of them were definitely going to be featured in the Academy's History along the best students, each with their own ridiculously high prowess for their age.
Giving them this test would allow the man to see for himself just how much they were being overrated.
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Meanwhile, the trio were all huddled together on one of the branches of the medium-sized trees by Kakashi's left. Naruto was in his typical crouching position, Sakura by his right, staring down at Kakashi, and Sasuke by his left, crouching as well, keeping an eye on the white-haired man and the other on the blonde.
"So I guess that since the three of us are here, we've all come to the same conclusion." Naruto opened up the discussion, hands in pockets, eyes never leaving Kakashi. His brain was undergoing one of the few overdrives that didn't actually harm him.
"We can't take those bells alone." The Uchiha replied, to which Naruto simply nodded, accompanied by Sakura.
"We have to use teamwork. You know that that's all teachers preach about. Chances are this test is to see just that."
"To see that or not, the goal is to get those bells. I'll be straight-forward, my close combat is average at best. It'd probably be better if you two kept the offensive and I provided support. Genjutsu and Ninjutsu." As Naruto spoke, he shrugged his shoulders. It was the simple truth. He hadn't had much time for his physical development as he had had for his mental. He would correct that later on, but for the time being, he had no other choice.
"What about your eyes? What can you do with them?" Sasuke was quick to ask. He had always been interested in Naruto's eyes. They were nothing common. Apparently, no one had even heard of such a thing. It would be a great time to learn about them. However, the blonde decided he would not give the Uchiha the benefit of such information, and simply shrugged once more before deeply sighing.
"For the time being, let's act like I don't have them. At most, they give me a hawk's ability to "zoom in" on something, and I can, to a point, see chakra as a color. Aside that, nothing really defined. I'm still trying to figure out by myself." He explained. It was no lie. He and Hinata had been experimenting and pushing him in several different ways, but none had bore significant or relevant fruit. He assumed it would only do so in a truly stressful situation. "What about you? Do you have your Sharingan yet? Do you have it at all?"
Sasuke shrugged in the same way.
"Yes. Level one. No tomoe, just a simple red eye. With it I can track Taijutsu movements and close combat is slower and easier to respond to. I can see chakra as a color. Nothing else, really. Well, I'll take care of the front lines. I'll focus on Taijtusu and Ninjutsu up to a point, but Genjutsu is still something of a farfteched idea for me." Neither Naruto nor Sakura had expected Sasuke to ever be this humble and honest about his abilities, but it wasn't a time to question it. This test would determine whether or not they spent three more useless years in the Academy. A lot was on the line, and arrogance and ego weren't about to risk it all.
"What about you, Sakura? Anything worth telling? I know you've got high Chakra Control and can detect Genjutsu, but anything else?" The blonde was glad that the others were allowing him to direct the conversation. This would make planning much, much easier.
"I've been experimenting with medical techniques and chakra control. I've got a couple of close combat techniques, but nothing that I can just throw out there and expect a hit out of. I'd say that if you two could get me an opening, I could very well throw him off his feet and give us a victory. But that is only if you manage to get me that. Otherwise, I've got a few middle range bukijutsu techniques."
Naruto's eyes narrowed as they zoomed in on Kakashi's face He could bet he was using his Sharingan to scan the whole forest at that moment. There were many variables in this situation, certainly enough to keep the blonde busy. However, not enough to make it impossible.
"Alright, listen close..."
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Ten Minutes Later
"Jūha Shō"
The Jounin's book-buried face snapped to the side just in time to see a wide blade of wind flying straight towards him.
"Hmm. Interesting, interesting. But..." As the blade came close, Kakashi literally fell back, his feet still planted on the ground as he curved backwards, with his legs being upright only to his knees. The blade flew over him, causing no harm, before crashing through a pair of trees, cutting their trunks cleanly. "...certainly not enough."
"Too early to tell!" Sasuke's voice replied, attracting Kakashi's sight to his left. The boy was there, letting himself lose height as he viciously attempted to sweep the man's legs.
"Don't get arrogant, now." The Jounin literally hopped over the sweep, falling with his upper back on the ground. However, he wouldn't stop there. As Sasuke rose with his back to the Jounin, confused from the fact that his attack hadn't hit, Kakashi crunched his whole body before snapping it up in a kip-up movement, striking Sasuke's back with both feet, kicking him a few feet forth before falling on his back once more, now performing the kip-up again, standing as if nothing had happened. Icha Icha violence was still on his right hand, and his nose was still buried in it.
"Take THIS!" Sakura swung a mean right hook towards the man's left cheek, hand glowing with chakra, which he only noticed at the last moment, slightly leaning back to avoid it and keeping his left foot out to trip her. She did trip, only barely maintaining her balance. By then, it was too late. Kakashi's left hand firmly took her right forearm. He spun, dragging her in a circle three times.
"Have a nice fall." He spun once more before pulling her up and releasing the grip he had on her arm. Naturally, she ungracefully flew four meters into the air and fifteen across the ground before beginning to fall.
"Zankūha" Naruto quickly finished a pair of hand-seals, planting his hands on the ground and forcing Fuuton chakra through them. The stream left a small track through the earth as it flew towards the place where the pink-haired Kunoichi would land. There, it expanded, creating an air pocket directly below a small layer of ground.
She crashed into it, her impact being extremely cushioned, barely suffering any kind of damage at all. The ground slowly lost its "bump" as it fell to its original size, allowing Sakura to stand up, coughing.
"Thanks, Naruto."
"Don't thank him just yet." Kakashi was now standing directly over here, peaking out of the side of the book at her with his only eye. Sakura shook.
"Sakura, get out of there!" Sasuke shouted at her as he completed his own sequence of hand-seals, molding the chakra in his chest. He took one, long, deep breath, readying himself for letting it all out at once.
"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" He spat it out in the shape of a gigantic ball of fire with at least five meters of diameter.
Sakura rolled and jumped out of the way, saving herself from harm while Naruto monitored the whole situation from the back. The real plan had failed and died out long ago. Now they were, as expected, merely going by gut and instinct. The important was acting together. Planned or not, it was all they had.
Kakashi put away his book, muttering something about undisciplined, rude brats who didn't let anyone read a good story, as he performed yet another sequence of hand-seals, molding chakra on his palms, before striking them into the ground.
"First ninja ability: Ninjutsu!" He announced.
"Doton: Doryūheki!" A small, fourty centimeter-thick, two meters-wide wall made of nothing but earth itself rose two and a half meters above the ground directly in front of the Jounin.
The fireball slammed with its full power into the wall, voraciously attempting to consume the dirt and rock with its flames, but achieving nothing more than charring it and eating away a couple of centimeters of width off of it.
Meanwhile, from the white-haired man's side of the wall, one could see performing more hand-seals, readying himself for a counter-attack. After all, these kids couldn't just cheat him out of a few pages of perversity without punishment.
With a single hand-seal, a picture perfect copy of him appeared. Picture to which he nodded, receiving a nod back, before literally diving into the ground, as if it was nothing more than nice, soft water.
The clone jumped over the wall, running straight at a certain raven-haired boy, probably attempting to engage him in close combat.
"Second ninja ability: Taijutsu!"
"Whatever!" Sasuke threw him half-a-dozen shuriken, spinning like buzzsaws through the air, before pulling out a kunai.
While they engaged each other, Naruto and Sakura traded glances. Mentally, both were pondering as to why the Jounin would ignore both of them to simply go after the Uchiha prodigy. Seemed more of a distraction then anything.
As such, Sakura signalled him to confirm, and as he stared into the floor, he definitely identified the faint blue of chakra moving below the ground at frighteningly high speeds.
"Shit! Sasuke, it's a Kage Bunshin! Watch out below you!"
It was too late. Sasuke drove a nasty uppercut into the clone's gut, spinning, slapping the clone's incoming hand away and driving one last solid left elbow into its stomach, causing it to cough out blood and poof into a cloud of white smoke.
"Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu"
As the Uchiha glared down with his red eyes, Kakashi's head and arms popped up from the floor. It was too late to evade him now.
"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu"
Kakashi grasped onto Sasuke's legs, making Naruto swore between his gritted teeth, immediately performing a few hand-seals once more.
"Sakura! I'm going to give you a boost! Go for it!" He planted his hands on the floor once more, making sure he'd send in an extra burst of air for this one. "Zankūha!"
The air travelled through the pre-defined trajectory, raging through the ground before feeling the air cushioned ground once more, now with more power to it. Sakura allowed it to push her up before jumping off of it, using it as a trampoline.
As she gained altitude, Kakashi pulled Sasuke down, as he himself went up, effectively trapping the Genin's body as a whole, except for his head.
"You were too cocky. Even with those eyes, you see nothing, Sasuke..."
"Ōkashō!"
Kakashi's head snapped up in time to see Sakura flying down, chakra-enhanced fist raging and begging for a shot at the white-haired Jounin's face. Sasuke had a confused look on his face. Was she trying to kill him? However, when he realized the plan, he only smiled.
"Shit!" Kakashi jumped away with all of his power just as Sakura crashed into the ground, breaking boulders apart with almost no effort, releasing Sasuke from his earthen prison. Kakashi was in a bad position. All three had been keeping him on the run, taking little to no damage of their own. How was it that they could operate so well together? They had barely just met?
"Looks like someone's confused." Sasuke spoke, slapping the last few bits of dirt and dust off of his clothes, while Sakura cracked her knuckles, readying herself for yet another punch. Sooner or later, she was going to hit him. And when she did...
"It's fine, I'll explain sensei. It's pretty simple, anyway. We're at the top of the scoreboards. We are known as the Rookies of the Year because our cognitive ability is higher than any other in our year. Aside that, we've developed our shinobi skills with one another for the past few years. We know each other better than anyone, even if we haven't fought together." Sakura had a matter-of-fact expression on her face as she spoke. Kakashi couldn't reply or say anything at all. She was right. He should have expected it.
"Genin or not, it's three against one...sensei." Naruto hissed from behind, forcing Kakashi to turn around in a blur, attempting to deliver a mean punch straight into his left cheek. However, the Jounin had no intentions of allowing it to happen, swaying back. It was fine. The blonde had him just where he wanted him. He focused chakra into his right eye, looking deep into his teacher's right eye. He knew exactly what he was doing, and even though the kick that the man was loading up was going to hurt like hell, it'd be worth it.
The roundhouse struck against his middle torso like a train, shooting him through the air and into a tree, causing a small explosion.
The blonde had to admit it. It hurt a whole lot more than he had expected. The tree's lower trunk was halfway caved in, and he was unsure as to how many ribs had been broken. Still, he could move, somewhat, and Kakashi was about to get in a whole world of hurt.
To the Jounin's eye, he would see Sakura and Sasuke Shunshin to Naruto's sides and start taunting him, asking him if he was insane for hurting a student like that.
"This is the world of ninja! The weak get hurt! If you can't handle close combat, don't get in on it! That's a lesson for you. And now, without you to cover their asses, your two friends are going to crumble. What are you going to do now? Real life situation, they're dead."
"And so are you." Sakura's voice spoke out in a weirdly sadistic tone, a little distance away and behind Kakashi.
His eyes wide, he turned his head to see her smiling, many kunai in her hand with small bags attached to them. How could she be in two places at once? She hadn't created clones, he was sure of it!
He stared back towards the fallen Naruto, who was breathing heavily and grinning manically as the images of Sasuke and Sakura by his side began to become static and fade into static, as if they were being watched through old, poorly connected television. Then, they completely zoned out, with Naruto being the only person left in the scenario. Him and his right eye, which was darting straight into Kakashi's.
"Ninja...ability...*cough*...number three. Genjutsu."
Kakashi made a "tsch" sound, turning back to Sakura. He'd been caught. Now to assess the damage. His eye widened as he saw that Sakura had made preparations. Small papers were falling all around, some already on the ground. All of them miniature exploding tags.
"Sakura Fubuki no Jutsu"
She threw one last exploding tag, forcing the Jounin's eyes to widen. He couldn't run to the sides. It was too late. He had to jump. Crouching and forcing chakra into his legs' muscles, he shot off from the ground at the same time that a massive explosion took place, propelling him through the air. Using his surprising Taijutsu skills, Kakashi manipulated himself and flipped through the air to maximize aerodymanics, allowing for better movement.
"Missed me!?" Sasuke flew down on Kakashi, flipping forward several times as he came crashing down with a horribly hard axe kick. The Jounin barely had the time to respond, and even when he did, crossing his two arms to absorb it, he realized he couldn't. The kinetic energy itself was too hard. He was going to be flying and crashing down. Hard.
No snarky replies came Sasuke's way as he used Kakashi as a stepping stone, jumping even higher into the air as the white-haired man flew down.
Kakashi himself had a hard time with his landing. He had to flip a few times, and even then, attempting to get in as much air resistance as possible, his legs sent jolts of pain into his nervous system as he cushioned the impact with his feet and crouching. There would be no time for recuperation, however, as a certain pink-haired girl was rushing towards him, chakra-enhanced fist ready to deal damage.
Naruto's eyes widened at the Jounin's response. He was charging up that devilish roundhouse. If he hit her first, which he would due to a simple matter of length and distance, she would be shot backwards and then it would be Sasuke vs Kakashi one on one. Which would mean defeat.
The blonde focused, as his right hand instinctively moved up, palm pointing straight at Kakashi. His Rinnegan was glowing, and altough he had no idea of what he was doing, he was certain that it would be their savior.
"Banshō Ten'in"
It was a weak technique. Naruto knew it. Or at least, it was still weak. However, it worked exactly as it was needed to work. It pulled the man's leg backwards suddenly, stopping and countering all of the force he had gathered up, leaving him absolutely astonished.
"What?"
"SHANNARO!"
Sakura's heavenly blue right fist slammed into the confused Kakashi's left cheek, pushing him off of his feet and forcing him to stumble across the ground for quite a few meters. Sasuke was still in the air, kunai in hand, Sharingan activated.
He threw three, and then three more, before throwing the final one. As Kakashi slid across the floor with violence, the three kunai rebounded off of other three, before all colliding with the last one, striking the string that held the three bells. Perfect timing, perfect placing, perfect force. Shurikenjutsu had never seen such an artist.
Sasuke landed, Sharingan fading away. Although he was tired out, he picked up the bells, casually throwing one at Sakura.
"Naruto. Catch." He threw it perfectly over the air, allowing the blonde to catch it with little effort, smiling and giving a thumbs up as he hugged his destroyed ribs.
"Nice one. Best team I've seen so far."
The voice had come out nowhere near close Kakashi's unconscious body on the floor, but yet, from behind the sun clock that had been pointed out before. From there, they saw the man rise, book still in hand, before he closed it and shot them all an eye smile.
"What?!" Sasuke glanced at the Jounin, and then back at the Kakashi on the floor, which gained the static-like appearance before fading into nothingness.
"Genjutsu..?*cough*...When?" Naruto asked, his brain going into overdrive. His nose was bleeding and his head was blaring. That last jutsu, whatever it had been had certainly taken way too much off of him.
"Simple answer, actually. From the moment you cast a Genjutsu on me. I used another genjutsu. Magen: Kyō Tenchi-ten. Demonic Illusion: Inversion of Heaven and Earth. Basically, I recast your own illusion on yourself and on your friends. Pretty sweet." Kakashi's eye smile never left his face. To him it had all been a simple joke.
"But the bells!" Sakura spoke, quickly realizing the bell she had had on her hand had disappeared into absolutely nothing.
"An illusion as well. But you know what, you three can have them. Out of all the teams I have been assigned, geniuses or not, prodigies or not, you are the first to actually work together. When one of yours fell, you didn't go for personal glory, you went for a way to help them, all three of you. And that's what I wanted to see. Welcome to team Seven. I am Hatake Kakashi, twenty-six years old, blood type O. I do not want to say what I like and what I don't like and I don't really have any hobbies that I'd like to refer. Now that introductions are over, meet me here tomorrow at seven a.m. No delays, no being late. You won't like to find out what happens if you are. Ta ta for now!"
He gently slung the bells towards Sasuke, spun, brought his book out and disappeared.
By then, it was nightfall, and all of them were hurt, exhausted or both.
"Any of you hungry? I'd go for dinner now." Naruto asked, making both of his teammates laugh as Sasuke went over and picked him up, throwing his arm over his shoulders, helping him walk.
As Naruto painfully chuckled a bit, he accidentally glanced out towards the trees. There, he saw a certain navy blue-haired, white-eyed girl staring back. She stood there a few moments before turning and walking away once more.
He understood the message. They needed to talk. Soon.
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And that was the end of it. Second chapter, stopped bolding text. Hope you enjoyed the first bit of combat. Next chapter will revert back into what this series started out as. Stay well and see you soon. Review, Favorite and Follow if you'd like to see this turn into something better and prosper.