Side Story Two

Kakashi's Point of View - Bell Test

Warnings: Minor spoilers for Chapter Seven of Blackout

"I will say this for you, you did at least come at me with the intent to kill, so you're learning...or finally acknowledging me?" Kakashi mused to himself. "Hehe, it seems like I'm beginning to like you guys. Okay, let's get going. Ready, start!"

Kakashi had expected all three of his genin to find hiding places and plan their attacks. Or if one was going to go on straight to attacking, it would be Uzumaki Naruto. Not his quite, shy female student, Hagiwara Suzue. So for a split second, he was surprised to see shuriken flying towards him at higher speeds than should be possible. Not that it was any problem for him to catch the weapons.

But she was on him almost as soon as he caught her weapons. A low sweep kick that he easily jumped over while pocketing the weapons he had caught. The grab she made for the bells was easily caught and he was spinning as soon as his feet hit the ground. One spin and she was sent flying across the clearing straight towards Naruto who was yelling about how that was not how a fight was supposed to start.

He nearly went to pull out his book to start reading because he really wasn't expecting any of them to keep him on his toes enough to not be able to read it when the girl twisted in midair and opened her thigh holsters. A dozen of shuriken fell into the air and were suddenly coming towards him, again at too high of speed. This time he drew a kunai to deflect them instead of catching.

Which he could totally do if he really wanted to.

Suzue landed safely on the ground and was eyeing him. He took a moment to study the difference between this serious kunoichi crouched in front of him, to the blushing, fidgeting girl who could barely speak to any of them. Really it was just her eyes that made all the difference. She still wore the civilian inspired ninja outfit that made her look soft, spoiled even. There was even an overly large bow that held her long lavender hair in a low pony that all but screamed child. It was obvious that she had taken the suggestion of being able to blend in with a civilian crowd to heart. Remove her headband, thigh holsters, and hip pouch and she looked like a noble child that went to one of those elite schools in the capital.

But her eyes...instead of the wide, nearly terrified look she had been wearing up until about a minute ago, they were now narrowed and hard. He could see the calculation going on behind them. Figuring out the best route for her to go and make another grab for the bells. And just like he half expected after that stunt with introductions yesterday, he could see the spine of steel she had but hid.

She was going to do everything she could to get the bells from him. Kakashi just wondered if she would figure out the test or not. If anyone of his potential students would, it would be her.

Not that he wanted her too. He didn't want students, even if he did have to take this team. But if he didn't like them then he wouldn't care about them. They wouldn't become just more people to disappoint in the end.

Then Naruto attacked him. Not that it took Kakashi by surprise or anything. He had seen it coming before the boy had even finished forming the thought. And unlike Suzue, he seemed determined to just beat the crap out of him then take the bells instead of just going for the bells. One blocked punch to the face, dodged spinning kick to the face, and one prepared punch later, Kakashi was behind Naruto his hands forming the sign of the Tiger. Revenge on one red haired woman was about to be served.

Only he had six shuriken come out of freaking nowhere instead and put an end to that plan. He had to move completely out of the way because he was not in a good position to dodge or deflect them in a timely manner. Had he missed Sasuke joining the fray?

No, it was Suzue again. That's right, she could "Push" and "Pull" on metal. Any metal. No hand signs, not even a gesture to indicate that she was about to use it. Just a tug of chakra as far as he could gather from the file on her kekkei genkai. As he watched her easily catch all six of the shuriken, he had to admit...she was going to make for one terrifying Jounin one day.

He just wasn't going to be the one to help. Mostly.

He flickered behind her before she could attack again. She started spinning almost the moment he appeared behind her. Was she a sensor too? No, he suddenly remembered she wasn't sensing chakra, but the metal on him. Well, he wondered if she would be interested in being a hunter-nin. She could be good as one. And he could put in a good word for her.

She stopped her spin the moment she felt the kunai at her neck. Good, she even forced herself to relax instead of remaining tense. The moment she had an opening she was ready to take it. Then he felt a pressure on the kunai in his hand. He could still hold it to her neck but it felt like someone was pushing against it, making it hard to steady.

"You know," Kakashi started in thoughtful tone. "I half expected Naruto to do what you did. Generally, the smart thing would have been to hide and come up with a plan."

"He did what you expected of him, I just beat him to it," Suzue threw back at him, sounding half distracted. Coming up with a new plan of attack then?

"Well, I had been planning on teaching you Shinobi lesson number two, Genjutsu, but I guess you and Naruto will both get Shinobi lesson number one, Taijutsu," Kakashi informed her. It was generally the female on the team who became genjutsu specialties. She was also the most likely of the three to use genjutsu in battle.

"No Shinobi lessons on weapons?" she quipped. Hmm, that was a thought. She would definitely be the one to get that one.

"Lesson number four that I hadn't even thought I would teach today," Kakashi happily told her. And one he hadn't even thought about until this moment. But whatever. "You're surprisingly good with them. For a freshly graduated genin."

Oh, there was that blush.

"Caught you Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto's voice shouted, warning him of the incoming attack. "Now let Suzue-chan go!"

Kakashi will admit to being taken by surprised when the kunai was ripped from his hand by some invisible focus that also sent his arm in a wide arch and nearly pulled his shoulder out of joint. It was amusing to watch as said kunai went through one of the Naruto's heads making it go poof into smoke.

"Hey!" several of the Naruto shouted even as they dog piled him. Suzue, ever the opportunist apparently, took the opening it gave her and went for the bells.

Well, couldn't have that now, could he?

One signless Kawarimi Jutsu and he was gone. Hiding in a tree that was fairly far from the clearing but still gave him a good view of his two students, Kakashi watched as the Naruto clones got into a brawl over who was Kakashi and who was not. He was mildly surprised that not once during that did the blond think of Suzue being Kakashi. Suzue's eyes flickered briefly towards where he was and he wondered if she knew where he really was or if it was just by chance.

Probably that she knew. But she didn't do anything as she focused more on Naruto for the moment as he spoke to her.

"You're not Kakashi-sensei, are you?" Naruto demanded. He took his teammates head shake no at face value and let out a huge sigh. "Man, even with both of us we couldn't get him."

That nervous girl seemed to be back as she started fidgeting with her sleeves. She seemed to be thinking, and Kakashi wondered what sort of plan she was going to come up with next. Her kekkei genkai was proving to be more interesting than he had thought. After all, it was one thing to read about something, it was completely something else to experience it. He had no idea if he was in a danger zone of being attack by metal again. Not to mention whatever she could she do with just the metal on him. Pull all his weapons out of their place then Push them all back at him? Snap his neck by Pulling or Pushing on his headband? Just what were her limits?

"A bell!" Naruto's voice sounded through the clearing. Oh, so Naruto had found his trap. "It's mine! He must have been desperate to escape if he dropped a bell!"

Naruto went running straight into the trap and Suzue was now facepalming. Did she see the trap? Possibly. It was rather simple and made in a hurry. He half expected her to go help Naruto but instead, she used a Kawarimi Jutsu to go talk to Sasuke. Had she figured it out?

He went back into the clearing to retrieve the bell and taunt Naruto for a bit. It was sometimes hard to believe that this kid was the son of his sensei and that terrifying red-head woman but then he looked at Naruto and could see both of them in him. At least in looks.

And now Sasuke had taken his opening to attack. Focusing on where Sasuke was he noticed that Suzue wasn't going with him as he disappeared into the woods. Kakashi hummed to himself as he debated for a moment then decided to see what Suzue was up to as she walked out to Naruto. He'll give Sasuke a couple of minutes to prepare.

"Suzue-chan! What are you doing back here?" Naruto asked her while waving his arms around making him spin in a circle.

"I have a plan to get the bells but need your help," Suzue answered easily enough. So did she figure it out or is she just playing her teammates? Kakashi couldn't decide at the moment.

"Huh? My help? But aren't we supposed to get the bells on our own? And, well, our combo attack didn't work that well either," Naruto rambled at her, still spinning.

"Kakashi never said we couldn't work together," Suzue pointed out. She was right. "And Sasuke's going to help us, but we need to hurry."

"But there's only two bells! Who gets a bell if we all work to get them?"

"You and Sasuke, I can live with another year at the academy," Suzue shrugged like it wasn't that big of a deal. Kakashi wondered once again if she had figured it out or was playing her teammates. "Are you in or not?"

"Alright," Naruto agreed in a tone the suggested he wasn't completely sold on the idea but was willing to go with it. "But I think you should keep a bell and not give one to Sasuke-teme."

"Wait-"

Snickering as Suzue facepalmed again when Naruto triggered the second trap, Kakashi decided to go see what Sasuke was up to.

Okay, so Sasuke was a bit better than his two teammates in direct combat. Not that surprising since all he did seemed to be training. And not the stealth and trap training Naruto was famous for in ANBU. Or the conditioning training Suzue put herself through that had Gai giving motivational speeches at way too early in the morning with way too many mentions of springtime and youth. No, Sasuke did combat training and it showed.

Kakashi was somewhat surprised when Sasuke went for the bells after he had tied up Kakashi's hands. He had thought the boy would be a bit like Naruto, wanting to beat him first, then take the bells. But it seemed he was more like Suzue; the bells were the goal. Still, Kakashi could get out of it.

Then Naruto ambushed him.

His focus was all on the two boys that he didn't notice that the bells were gone until Sasuke was about to attack him again after a brief argument with Naruto.

"Hn, it actually worked."

A grin spread across Naruto's face as he noticed it as well. "Haha, of course, it's because we're awesome!"

Kakashi glanced around and saw a flash of lavender in one of the trees. "Well, it seemed like you three worked together to get the bells, or one of you just saw an opportunity and took it. So I wonder...which is it?"

It was the first time any of the teams had managed to get a bell from him, let alone both. Kakashi had to admit, he was impressed. Maybe in another life, he would be more happy about this team. But...he was more annoyed in this one. He couldn't get attached.

"We totally worked together!" Naruto shouted at him.

"Then let's see if that's true or not," Kakashi smiled at him. "So can the three of you keep the bells out of my hands until the bell rings?"

They only had about five minutes left. Easy enough, maybe.

He was on Suzue in a heartbeat. Her reflexes were rather good as she actually tried to attack him when he appeared in front of her instead of just flinching back. He dodged and did a brief scan to figure out where she had put the bells. Somewhere hidden. Probably hip pouch. Then she was throwing the shuriken in her hand at him. And that took more skill than he really wanted to admit to using for a genin to avoid being hit with any of them.

And now she was flying. What the hell?

Well, more like floating in the air above him rather than flying but still. Did her kekkei genkai really allow her to do something like this? He guessed so since she was doing it.

He quickly accepted it and was jumping up after her. She wasn't that far into the air. He could reach her and hopefully knock whatever was keeping her afloat out. But, she panicked and knocked herself off whatever she was using to float making Kakashi miss her. Then she was completely out of reach and flying. Sort of.

Watching her move it was more like she was making jumps from one point to another than a smooth guild through the air. Interesting, and then he had to fall back to the ground to the two boys just waiting to pounce. It quickly became apparent that Sasuke was more able to work around Naruto's wild attack method than Suzue was. He entertained them for about a minute before ditching them and going to find Suzue again.

She was still up in the air. Further than before and out of reach of even his jumping ability. Even from the surround trees. Well, it was a good strategy if you knew you could last longer than your enemy. The girl seemed to be enjoying herself up there, perfectly at ease with being up so high. Kakashi was pretty sure anyone else would be terrified of being that high in the air.

Curious on whether or not she could still deflect attacks, Kakashi lazily threw the same shuriken he had captured from her during her first attack. Without even moving she sent the weapons back at him and he re-caught all of them. So she could still deflect attacks. If he wanted to do long range attacks on her, it would have either be a non-metal weapon or jutsu.

The two boys found them before he could decide to do anything else and attacked him. Naruto was once again all over the place. Enough so that Kakashi started wondering if he had even been taught properly in Taijutsu. It saddened him a bit to realize that he wasn't even surprised to think that it was a high possibility.

Sasuke at least was making up for it with his skills. He had been taught properly unlike Naruto and it showed. Between the two of them and Naruto's endless clones, they managed to keep him busy until the timer went off. He was a little surprised Suzue hadn't just tossed weapons at him during the brawl. Maybe she was worried about hitting one of her teammates?

He called an end to the test and looked up at Suzue. She seemed to hesitate for a second before she was suddenly free-falling to the ground. For one heart-stopping moment, Kakashi thought she was going to hit the memorial stone and he was preparing to catch her when suddenly she stopped mid air. He blinked as she hung there for a second, then lowered herself to the stone before jumping off it.

He calmed his racing heart as she passed out the bells to each of the boys. Not even hesitating over doing so.

"Mah, that was interesting," Kakashi said once his heart didn't feel like it was going to beat out of his chest. "I really didn't expect any of you to get the bells, but I guess that's what I get for underestimating Suzue-chan's kekkei genkai."

He was really glad he was facing her as a genin not as a jounin for the first time. If she had been jounin level, he wasn't sure he would come out of that battle alive.

"Hell ya! Suzue-chan is totally awesome and we kicked your ass!" Naruto crowed, looking way too pleased with himself.

"Yet she's the one who's going to be sent back to the academy," Kakashi pointed out just to wipe that look off Naruto's face. And he was curious to see if the boys would just let her go back to the academy. "And won't get lunch."

"Really?! But that's so unfair!" Naruto complained. "She was totally awesome and we wouldn't have gotten the bells without her. Couldn't she pass too and be on the same team as us? We would make a kick ass team! Even with the Teme on it."

At least Naruto wasn't going down without a fight. Would Sasuke?

"Rules are rules, she doesn't have a bell, therefore she has to go back," Kakashi threw in. What are you going to do about it?

"Screw the rules! Right, Sasuke? We all deserve to pass."

"Hn, the Dobe is right," Sasuke agreed. Kakashi gave an internal sigh as Sasuke finished, "We should all pass."

"Is that so?" Kakashi pressed almost hoping one of them would cave. "So you think you should all pass or all fail?"

"Yes," both boys said at the same time. Well, one last avenue to try.

"What do you think, Suzue-chan? Do you think all of you should pass even though you were the one to do all the work in getting and keeping the bells?" Kakashi asked turning towards the girl.

At that moment, Kakashi knew the girl had figure out the test. Before she even opened her mouth to speak he knew she had it all figured out and had been working towards this goal.

He really wished the three of them didn't seem to get along so well. It was going to be heartbreaking when the three of them were split apart later on.

It was going to break his heart too if he was being honest with himself...if they managed to actually stay alive that long.

"I think that you've been trying to play us off each other and that the test all along was to see if we could work together even when it seemed better not to. It was always, we all pass or we all fail, there was no in between."

"Figured that all out did you?" Kakashi grinned at her. He made a note to go through her file more thoroughly later on.

"It wasn't that hard," the girl muttered looking embarrassed. "Iruka-sensei pretty much told us something like this would happen during orientation yesterday."

Wow, a genin who actually listened to those lectures. Even he hadn't really been listening to that speech when he graduated.

"He did?" Naruto asked looking confused. Sasuke, on the other hand, looked like he had just realized that he missed something that had been right in front of his face. Suzue looked like she was trying not to laugh at the Uchiha while giving Naruto a nod.

Nothing else left to do.

"Well then. There is only one course left," Kakashi started giving them all serious looks. "You...PASS!"

They all stared at him as it sunk in. Then Naruto was tackling Sasuke in a hug. The dark haired boy elbowed him rather hard in the ribs and Suzue was smiling at them looking happy and pleased. Kakashi noted that when she finally hit puberty she was going to be fighting off boys at every turn if she smiled like that at them.

He kind of hoped that the team was no more by that point in time because he did not want to deal with a love triangle on his team. Being on a team with one had been horrible enough.

But he hated that a part of him hoped that the team would never be broken up because for the first time in a long time he could see a team that could function and could go places. But that wasn't going to happen. Team Seven's fate had already been decided.

"You three are the first team to have not only gotten their hands on the bells but figured out the test," Kakashi informed them then added on because at least for the time being he could give them this much. They could be a team for as long as it was allowed. "So remember, those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash...but, those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash."

"Yes, sensei," Suzue nodded that steel appearing in her eyes once more. He wondered if she would apply what he said to other teams? He hoped so. She was already marked to be a combat shinobi that jumped from team to team as was needed.

"Great!" Kakashi announced deciding that he was not going to think anymore about depressing thoughts. "And that ends the training. All of you pass! So starting tomorrow Team Seven will begin its duties!"

Kakashi mentally banged his head on a wall when he realized that he had just struck one of Gai's poses. When did Gai become his think happy thoughts person...thing?

Suzue was giving him an odd look.

Had she met Gai yet? Did she know where that pose came from? Gods, he hoped not.

Somehow, after an argument about food, they all ended up at Ichiraku's for lunch. Even him even though he had planned to bail.

He deliberately did not think about the future as he enjoyed the moment with his new team.

It made it seem like they could last forever that way.

Someone mentioned wanting a POV of Kakashi's opinion on Suzue's kekkei genkai. This somehow translated into my brain as write bell test from Kakashi's POV. Thus here it is. I hope you all enjoyed it and Chapter Seven for the main story should be up. Thank you everyone for reading!