CHAPTER TWO

One of the lookouts standing at his post in a tower above the entrance to Konoha let out a yawn as he continued his task of keeping track of who came and went. His tiredness quickly vanished as he saw a pair of targets at a distance. Jerking his hand down to grab his binoculars, he took a sharp breath as he stared out, hoping that he wouldn't have to defend the gate from an outside attack. When he poured his chakra into the binoculars to enhance the visual, his mood and expression brightened. He got out of his chair and bounded down to the ground below. "Jiraiya-sama! Naruko-chan!" he shouted, running up to them.

Jiraiya smiled as he saw the familiar village come into close view. He turned and said, "I bet you're going straight to see Iruka, ain't you?"

Naruko hugged his side. "Got it, sensei," she said, and quickly scooted off.

She dashed past the guards and the gate, making her way through the streets of her familiar home. The villagers looked at her oddly, having spent the last five years not having to see her around. She ignored some of their ugly looks and focused instead on the sight of the academy approaching her vision. The last time she saw Iruka, she had been a very less advanced student than she currently was. She longed to show her former teacher and still best friend some of the amazing things she'd learned on her journey.

Iruka exited his office and quickly jogged out the front door once he heard a very familiar voice cheerfully ringing down the street. He hadn't heard Naruko in such a happy mood in a very long time. She ran past the secretary near the entrance of the school and almost leapt into Iruka's arms. "Hey! You're back!" he shouted, holding her tight. "This place has been a lot quieter without you around." He held her at arm's length to see how she'd grown. "You've gotten taller, and I can't wait to see what you've learned!"

She gave him a thumbs-up. "I thought multi shadow clone technique was amazing," she admitted, "but you should see some of the other things that Jiraya-sensei taught me!"

"Let's not waste time," he said, standing up and walking quickly with her into the building.

"He taught me how to properly summon toads, how to use the fox's chakra, and I even learned this amazing technique he had called Rasengan!" she said, walking towards the training room.

Iruka shook his head in disbelief. "Rasengan?" he said. "Seriously! How the hell did you learn Rasengan? And wait, he told you about the fox?"

She looked up at him. "What's wrong with that?"

He couldn't stifle his amusement and surprise. "Nothing, it's just that the Fourth took almost a year to make rasengan, and only about three people in the world know that technique. That must've taken you almost a year or two to learn."

"Actually," she revealed, "I managed to do it in only about a week."

"Ha!" As he opened the door to the training hall, he rolled his eyes. "I can see you've still got the knack for telling tall tales."

"It's true," Jiraiya said, walking up.

Iruka jerked his head over to Jiraiya. "You're…kidding."

He spun towards Naruko. She grinned and gave him a thumbs-up. "See? Told ya."

He took a deep breath." A…mazing."

"Anyway, I've been travelling for quite a long time now, I'm going to go to my place and relax," Jiraiya interjected, then turning and walking away. "See you around, Naruko."

"See you, Jiraiya-sama!" She entered the gym area and set up a wooden training dummy. Standing a few feet away, she held her right hand out. A shadow clone appeared and created a swirling, glowing energy in her palm. As it swirled faster, it began to create a distinct sound. She then burst forth, jaunting ahead and planting the rasengan directly on the middle of the dummy's torso. As she shoved it in, the torso and entire upper body of the dummy exploded, leaving the legs and lots of tiny splinters of wood to fall to the ground.

Iruka whistled. "That was amazing form, Naruko!" He analyzed her attack. "Instead of wasting motion running forward, you simply leaned and stepped in to attack with incredible speed. If you had actually stepped before leaning forward, you'd have wasted a precious half-second or so. Plus, you attacked with such suddenness that very few foes would have been able to dodge enough to avoid lethal damage."

She bowed. "Thank you, sensei."

He checked his watch. "Tell me something," he said. "I know you've spent a long time on your own, but I want to assign you to a typical three-man squad so you can get used to the normal business of doing missions. Are you ready for that?"

She nodded. "I am, sensei," she said.

He checked his watch again. "My last class for the day is the assigning class, where I assign everyone a team. Would you follow me please?"

She nodded and began following him. They walked down the hallways, passing by other teachers and their classes of students. Most of them were either already graduated, or were lower-level students in the process of learning grade levels that Naruko mastered years ago. After a brief bit of walking, they both entered the classroom where Iruka had been teaching since he first became a chuunin.

"Students," he began, "I'm sure you're all familiar with Naruko, and how she's been away for a while. She's here because she's going to be assigned to a team just like the rest of you will."

"Nice to meet ya," she said, bowing. Nobody said anything.

"Now," Iruka continued, "When I call your names, you are free to leave. Naruko, since I don't want to waste your time, I'll start with you. You're on team seven with Sakura Haruno," from the second row above the ground came a loud yell of disapproval, "and Sasuke Uchiha." The same person then gave a very approving shout.

"Thanks, Iruka-sensei," Naruko said, bowing and exiting the room. She walked down the hallway, slower than her usual rapid pace of walking, because she wanted to wait for her teammates. The very next thing she knew would happen would be to be assigned to a jounin and given to a training exercise. She looked across the signs on the wall to where the waiting room for team seven was, and entered, waiting.

Not five minutes later, a girl came storming in. "You!" she shouted, pointing to Naruko. "I don't know what you did to get Iruka-sensei to put you on a team with Sasuke-kun, but I'm not about to lose to you!"

Naruko lowered her eyebrows for just a moment, staring. Then she forced herself to cheer up. "So you're Sakura. Nice to meet you!" She held out her hand.

Sakura pushed it aside. "If I'm not about to let Ino get in the way of my love for Sasuke, I sure as hell ain't about to let you!"

"I need you to get something," Naruko said, standing firmly. "This isn't a game. How can I be trying to get between you and Sasuke, when I know nothing about you!"

Sakura gave her a stronger glare than before. "Are you saying I'm not important enough to know about?"

"No, Sakura," she said. "I have zero interest in Sasuke that way. You can have him all to yourself. Don't get all worked up over something that isn't happening."

Sakura sat down, folding her arms. "Hmph. Well, just know that I'm watching you."

"Good," Naruko countered. "That means that we're both keeping track of each other, which is what teammates do." She leaned back, resting her head in her hands, rolling her eyes as she reclined in her chair. Geez, she thought. Great first impression.

Sasuke entered a few moments later. Sakura practically shot out of her chair to hug him. "Sasuke-kun!" she cried. He had a distinct look of his desire not to be hugged, but she ignored it, clasping tighter.

Naruko turned her head away from them and rolled her eyes. GEEZ. Couldn't get any more fan-girly, can you? she thought.

"I think since we're going to be working together, we should agree to get along," she said. She looked at Sakura. "If we get distracted by pointless bullshit, we'll never succeed as ninja."

Sasuke ignored her attempt to shake his hand, sitting down. "I guess."

"I'm glad we get to work together, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura chimed in. Naruko sat down and rolled her eyes.

"Whatever," Sasuke replied.

"You know what? I'm glad you completely distrust and disrespect me," Naruko said to Sakura, currently holding on to Sasuke. "Why don't you tell me why?"

Sakura disconnected from Sasuke, and folded her arms. "You're trying to get between me and Sasuke!"

Naruko shook her head. "I don't give two shits about you and Sasuke!" She stormed closer. "I've gotten tired of everyone treating me like shit. This bullshit argument you've got is incredibly annoying. Why are you so adamant about romance? You think if you put some of that drive into training?"

Sakura clenched a fist. "Oh yeah? You think you're such an amazing shinobi?" She pounded her fist into her open palm. "Come on. Until our sensei gets here, just you and me."

Naruko let out a pleased sigh. "I was kinda waiting for that," she said, popping her knuckles. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"Shannaro!" Sakura exploded forward from where she was standing. Sasuke leaned back in his chair, not even looking at the two.

Sakura went in for a punch that Naruko brushed aside with remarkable ease. Naruko grabbed Sakura's leg and flipped her over in one smooth motion. Sakura landed deftly on her opposing foot, aiming to throw a kick at her blonde opponent's face, only to find the air empty. "What…?" she uttered.

Naruko draped her right arm around Sakura's neck and pushed against the back of her head. "You let me get you in a hold," she explained to the pink-haired kunoichi. "Against an opponent like me, that means this fight's over." She let go and backed off. "Now calm down."

"The hell I'll calm down!" she charged her opponent. This time, Naruko didn't even bother to engage her, she simply held the fist with one hand and clamped down on her foe's throat with another.

"I told you to calm down," Naruko repeated.

"She got you, Sakura," Sasuke nonchalantly echoed from the seats. "In a one on one, speed always wins."

Sakura looked at him and back at Naruko and returned to her seat in a huff. "I could've won," she pouted.

"Not with that speed, Sakura," Naruko replied. "You need to work on your speed because you leave opponents wide areas to grab you."

"Naruko." Sasuke said flatly.

Both looked at him. "What?" Naruko fired back.

He stood up. "You got a chance to gauge her," he said, "now I want to gauge you."

Naruko gave him a threatening grin. "You want to see how you match up to me?" she said.

"I want to see how you measure up to an Uchiha," he corrected.

Her positive look darkened into a somewhat angry frown. "A bit arrogant, aren't you?"

"Stop talking and fight."

Sasuke lowered into a fairly common stance. Naruko took up an offensive stance. They both launched at each other at the same time. Sasuke went for a rising right knee that Naruko blocked with one arm and quickly had to grab a punch with her other. He pulled back and shifted to a low kick aimed at her left shin, which she turned to avoid and turned inward with a punch that he leaned backward to avoid, bringing up his foot for a spin kick mid-turn. She nimbly ducked below the kick and then leaned back to avoid a straight palm strike. Rapidly bending again, she pulled her stomach back to avoid another punch. She stepped back. He jump-kicked at her torso, she caught his right leg under her arm and turned around, throwing him. He landed on his hands and sprang onto his feet. Immediately he leaned back, letting a punch sail over him. Using the momentum, he dropped, throwing up his feet in an attempt to kick her in the face. She scooted backwards just in time, causing him to land on his upper back and kip-up to a standing position. He blocked a punch of hers and attempted to turn inward to an elbow strike to the head. She managed to block and tried to use the proximity to headbutt him. With significant speed, he turned out of the way, got behind her, and pushed her forward.

"Got you!" he cried, as she stumbled forward.

He went for a rushing attack, but she recovered from the push much faster than he anticipated. She leapt, spun mid-air, and landed a vicious downward right punch square on his forehead, knocking him both down and senseless.

"I win," Naruko said.

Sasuke pushed his way to standing. "Damn it!" he shouted.

"I'm glad I got to fight someone like you," she said. "You're really good."

"Not good enough," he whispered under his breath.

Sakura hugged Sasuke. "Sasuke, are you ok?" She turned to Naruko. "How dare you…"

"Damn it Sakura give it a rest!" Sasuke's bellow caused her to sit down and tense up. He walked over to his desk and sat down, rubbing his head and looking at Naruko. "How'd you learn to fight like that? Is this the product of Jiraiya's training?"

"Jiraiya-sama gave me tips and basics," Naruko explained, "but I was left to train myself. He has a lot of business I can't talk about."

He silently cursed and sat pondering something. Naruko sat down, just staring at him for a moment. Why does it seem like that wasn't the answer he wanted? she thought. It's like he wanted my skill to come entirely from Jiraiya-sama. She leaned back in her seat, ignoring the thought. It was approximately two whole minutes later before their sensei walked in.

The sensei, a gray-haired shinobi wearing a mask covering from his nose down, quickly glanced at the group and thought for a moment. "Let me introduce myself," he began. "My name is Kakashi, and I'll be your sensei, and based on my immediate impression, I hate all of you."

The group then followed him out of the school compound and out into the open area out behind in the recreation area. He sat down with them and made a gesture of openness. "Well, you already know my name, Hatake Kakashi, and so, I figured we'd start with an exercise on trust. Tell me about yourselves. Hopes, dreams, whatever. Be open and honest with me."

Naruko stood up. "I'm Naruko Uzumaki, I really like ramen! Especially when Iruka-sensei or Jiraiya-sensei take me out to eat!"

Kakashi rolled his eyes. Does she think of anything else?

"My dream in life, is to become the greatest Hokage that ever reigned!" She sat down, ignoring the looks Sakura and Sasuke were giving her.

Kakashi grinned under his mask. At least she's grown, in a way.

"I'm Sakura Haruno," Sakura explained. "My dream is…well, my goal is…" Naruko gave her a glare, and she looked over and gave an angry sneer, then turned back. "The person I hate is Naruko!" Naruko gave a humored smile and rolled her eyes.

Sasuke didn't bother to stand. "Sasuke Uchiha," he stated. "I don't particularly have any goals, but I do have an ambition. There's a certain someone I want to kill." Sakura swooned at how deep she perceived Sasuke to be. Naruko just rolled her eyes again.

Kakashi stood up. "Alright," he began. "Now that that's over, we can focus on the next thing: survival training."

Sakura and Sasuke both stared. "We did plenty of that in academy," she questioned. "Why do we have to focus on survival training?"

"That was just the basics," Kakashi explained. "This'll be a full-on test of your survival skill. Under something similar to 'real' circumstances."

Sasuke cocked his head. "What do you mean by 'real' circumstances?"

Naruko folded her arms. "He means we'll be graded based on how well we do," she said, rolling her eyes. "It also means this won't be a child's exercise. We'll be actually fighting for real."

"That's right, Naruko," he replied. "It also means if you fail, you'll be sent back to the academy."

Sakura almost fell over. "What! Are you kidding?" She pointed at him angrily. "What the hell did we go through graduation for?"

Naruko put her hand on Sakura's shoulder. "That was just to see which of us had the potential to become genin in the first place," she reminded her.

"Right again." Kakashi pointed at Naruko for a moment before turning back to Sakura. "Twenty-seven students graduated the academy right away; nine will become full-fledged shinobi genin. The rest will go back for more training."

Sasuke let out a nasal sigh. "Just another pointless setback," he uttered.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow out on the field," Kakashi said, leaving. "Don't eat breakfast unless you enjoy vomiting."

Naruko turned from where Kakashi was standing to her two teammates, who were walking away. "Guys! Don't leave yet! Let me talk to you a minute!"

Sasuke stopped, turned, and folded his arms while standing in a bored position. "What do you want now, idiot?"

Sakura stomped. "Look, you! You don't understand! If I fail, I'll be separated from my Sasuke! This is a test of love!"

Naruko clenched her fists. "Will you two GET OVER YOUR DAMN SELVES!"

"Whoa!" Sakura screeched, falling over. Sasuke stumbled backwards, not expecting her yell.

Naruko huffed. "Look. Guys." She made a calming motion with her hands. "Guys. You don't understand what's at play here. This isn't some baby's game. This is a serious matter. If we don't work together, we will not pass. That means another few years of academy. You'll be a student until you're almost fifteen. I don't want that."

Sakura and Sasuke turned away. "No," Sasuke said, furrowing his brow, "you're probably right. Kakashi's not a teacher, and he's not a chunin either. He's the best."

"Jounin are elite," Sakura concurred.

"Now, I know you guys probably won't like this," Naruko began, "but if we're going to work together to take down Kakashi, we'll have to combine what we're good at to keep him from seeing what we're bad at."

"To play off our weaknesses is his best strategy," Sasuke said, "so we need to play off each other's strengths."

"Which means we have to talk about it, damnit," Sakura sheepishly said.

"Jiraiya always told me my weakness is that I try to do too much myself," Naruko explained. "Which means I need to have someone with me at all times. Sasuke is the best choice…"

Sakura stomped again. "See? I knew it! You're wanting to be with…"

"Shh!" Sakura went silent. "As I was saying, Sakura, Sasuke is the best choice because he isn't a distance fighter. Like me, based on what I've seen, he does best getting right down and dirty with the enemy."

"So what about me?"

"You, Sakura, should be at a distance and suddenly strike while we have Kakashi focused on us. With both him and me on it, Kakashi won't have a chance to notice you. I hope."

Sasuke folded his arms again. "That's your big plan? How lame. I could've come up with that. That's as basic as it gets. I think we should lay traps for him and ambush him."

Naruko waved her hands to the side. "I thought of that one, but Kakashi isn't likely to fall for any traps we could lay for him. He's not going to fall for that one. We'd be better off forcing him to fight one of us while another strikes from behind. I don't know what the goal of the exercise is going to be, but more than likely it's going to be to either get or protect some object."

Sakura leaned on Sasuke. "I think we should go with Sasuke's plan."

Naruko clenched her fists again. "Look. If you want to go with his plan, fine. I'll go with it. We have to work as a team." Both of her teammates smiled. "But answer me one question. Tell me honestly that you can think of some trap that you believe a jounin twice our age won't have, and I will submit to you on this."

Sasuke pushed Sakura's hand off him. "You have to have everything your way, don't you? Well, let me tell you. I have a bunch of ideas for traps that'd work."

"Let me in on it."

"For example…"

Naruko waited several moments. When Sasuke had no response, she smiled a bit. "Thought so. Now, this isn't about me. This is about us, NOT going back to academy. Got it?" They both nodded. "Good. So, since we don't know a great deal about him, or his abilities, other than him being really good, we have to test him. Now, nobody let their ego get in the way. None of us are at a level near his. We have to test his abilities first."

"So we're up against an opponent we know almost nothing about," Sasuke said, "who has a huge advantage over us, where we have a slim to none chance of winning, and where we don't even know the conditions for victory?" He grinned. "Sounds like my kinda fight."

The next day, the newly-formed Team Seven took their place on the field. They waited patiently for their sensei to arrive. None of them stood pleased due to the perpetually late Kakashi. He arrived after many long minutes of them staring at the open field. Naruko took care to analyze the surroundings. Hmm, she thought, there's plenty of room for cover and we have to deal with the fact that he is almost certainly an expert at hiding and remaining covered. Damn it, I don't want to draw this out. She leaned against a rock and thought of several possible ways of attacking.

Kakashi arrived in a puff of smoke. He hastily analyzed the three of them. "Looks to me like the three of you actually came to something of an agreement yesterday," he noticed. They could see a smile under his mask. "You guys are taking me seriously and are listening to reason; I like that." He produced two bells that hung from his belt. "Here is the exercise: by lunchtime, set on that clock over there, you three are to take these two bells. Anyone who has a bell gets to eat. Anyone who doesn't have a bell, well, they get tied to the pole."

Sakura raised her hand. "Sensei, there are only two bells. So does that mean someone doesn't eat?"

Kakashi nodded. "Exactly. Only those who are good enough to get the bells get to eat. When I say go, you can start."

Naruko quickly shot her a look. Sakura gave a disapproving "hmph" but didn't argue further. Sasuke just folded his arms; he seemed to understand what his blonde-haired teammate implied. The eager moments passed by. Kakashi seemed to want to get as good a grasp of them as possible, looking back and forth at the surroundings for long seconds before briefly turning back to his team.

"Go!"

With their sensei's shout, the team spread out in different directions. Each one of them went in the direction that the plan seemed to imply. Sasuke took to hiding in areas that he thought it would be difficult to be spotted in, and Sakura managed to take to the trees right away. Each of them could see their target from where he stood. Even though they were almost certain he would find them extremely quickly, none of them varied from the agreement. Naruko, dashing under the brush, with mouse-like footsteps, held her breath for moments at a time. All the responsibility was on her; as Jiraiya's student, she alone had assumed the responsibility of formulating a strategy.

Kakashi moved along the outer areas where he could more easily set traps, each time checking in every way taught to him. The last thing I want, he thought, is for some low-ranked genin to take me by surprise. He felt intent to attack and spun around in more than enough time to brush aside a pocket-size shuriken. "So, it's Sakura that attacks first!" He threw a kunai in her direction and moved in to attack. I wouldn't do this normally, but the fact that they're sending her out first tells me something. He drew his arm up to attack.

Sakura clenched up, fearful. Kakashi smirked slightly under his mask. He thrust his blade downward. Almost at the last moment, Sakura moved backward. He stopped his attack just in time to see a leg coming his way. "Hyah!" Sasuke shouted, coming in for the surprise flying kick.

Damn it! Kakashi thought. I was careless! He blocked the kick and another that came after, almost effortlessly. Even with the fluster of almost being caught off guard, he still managed to switch into taijutsu mode at once.

Sasuke bounded backwards in order to deliver an intense strike to the chest, which Kakashi pushed away. "You're good," Kakashi said, puffing between blows to catch his breath. "I can't even slack off for a moment."

Naruko came up from below the ground and went for the waist. Her target swiveled his waist to prioritize. She landed on her feet and went in for a combination of punches in time with Sasuke's kick-based taijutsu. He would go for a spin kick to the head, Kakashi would dodge, which put him immediately in the path of Naruko's arm thrust. "I'm impressed with how well you two flow your attacks together. It's almost like clockwork. You might just make it." He turned the tide by catching both their attacks midair and pushing them backward. "But ultimately, you seem to be a bunch of good ideas with little flavor."

As the two of them struggled to keep him at bay, kicking and punching with all their skill, Kakashi managed to utilize his greater experience in order to take advantage of things that none of them could have anticipated.

"Now!" Naruko shouted, looking over Kakashi's shoulder.

Kakashi tensed up for a brief moment. What? I didn't sense anything in that direction! Without turning his head, he focused his feelings as best he could behind him.

Naruko immediately lunged for the waist, and Sasuke went in the upward direction, bounding off of her back. Sakura came in from the side. Kakashi swore silently as he realized the truth and did his best to move in the direction they weren't blocking. With a single jump, he landed outside of their attack zone.

"It seems you truly are the embodiment of unpredictability," Kakashi praised. "You faked me out perfectly. If it had been another jounin, I would've immediately known they wouldn't signal a comrade by yelling."

"But ya thought a knucklehead would!" Naruko exclaimed.

"As brilliant as your scheme was, I still have…" he reached for his hip and immediately felt like an idiot. "I still have…completely been outdone."

Sakura and Sasuke each held up a bell. "We got it, sensei!" she shouted.

He shrugged. "Alright. I guess there's always a first time to look like an idiot." He led them over to the area by the stump. "Since you guys did so well working together, and listening to your team leader…"

Sasuke immediately protested. "She's not the team leader!" he said. "All I did was go along with her plan because it sounded good. Next time we go with my plan!"

Naruko gave him a dirty look. "Yes, let's go with your plan, mister I-love-traps-that-don't-work."

"Hey! Leave Sasuke alone!" Sakura shouted.

"Enough!" Kakashi said. Oy. They might meld their strategies well, but they don't have good personable skills, he thought. "Anyway, since it was Sakura and Sasuke that were holding the bells, Naruko doesn't get to eat."

Naruko pumped her arms above her head. "Hey! It was my plan!" She clenched her teeth angrily.

"My rules, kids," Kakashi replied. "Anyway, I'm going to be taking a break. When I get back, we do exercise two. Now, I swear to heaven above, if I see any of you feeding Naruko, all of you will fail!" He walked away.

Sakura gave a half-grin. "Serves you right, Naruko." She started eating from her box.

Sasuke looked at Naruko, standing mad with arms folded, and offered her his box. "Eat half," he said.

Sakura looked at him. "Sasuke, you heard what Kakashi-sensei said! We can't do that, we'll fail!"

Sasuke returned only disdain. "Sakura, listen. If you fight hungry, you're a hindrance to your team. I don't want to fail just because I couldn't make up for the shortcomings of another teammate."

Sakura reluctantly handed over her box. Naruko started eating her portion. At once Kakashi emerged in a puff of smoke, snorting from his nose and his eyebrows turned downward in anger. "You guys…!"

All three of them tensed up.

"Pass!" His wrath melted into a pleased smile.

Naruko turned up an eyebrow. "Uh, wha?"

Sakura shrugged. "But you just said…!"

Kakashi folded his arms. "Have you ever heard of the rules within the rules?"

Naruko looked left and right. "There's what?"

"A shinobi is not just an instrument whose only purpose is to do whatever he is told," he explained. "A shinobi has a dual purpose. A shinobi is also there to determine the meanings underneath the meanings. For example, I've failed lots of students because, when it came to this part, all they did was exactly what I told them, without question."

"But that's what we're basically to do as shinobi," Sasuke countered.

"This whole experiment was designed to accomplish two things: first, to ascertain if you can overcome the attempts to divide you amongst yourselves, and second, to see if you can determine the best outcome instead of just the stated outcome."

"So the bells and the food were to make us fight against each other?"

"Yes, Sakura," Kakashi confirmed. "In a mission, there absolutely must be no infighting. Any at all can cause the death of an entire team and the loss of important information. Also, remember these words: those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their teammates are lower than trash."

Naruko pumped a fist. "Yeah!"

Sasuke glanced at her. "Whatever."

Sakura ran over and hugged Sasuke. "We're full-fledged ninja now! Now we don't have to be separated!"

Sasuke sighed. "Joy." He said.