Me: Hiya everybody!
Sasuke:...
Naruto: Get on with it, author! I need to become Hokage! Believe it!
Kasumi:...Author-chan does not own Naruto. There. Now, story line please.
Me: *sobs* Everyone's so mean to me...
Hinata18809: Thank you! I'll try!
Myki Fri: Why, thank you! Hope I don't disappoint!
The Ninja from Yesterday: XD
Guest: I am so sorry for the mistake! I didn't mean to insult the Japanese language or anything. I've already corrected it and again, forgive me!
Preparations
Kasumi walked slowly up the hill they were supposed to be meeting at, spotting Sasuke and Naruto arriving at the same time she did.
"Good morning." She greeted softly, eyelids heavy.
"Hey..." Naruto trailed off with a yawn.
Sasuke said nothing to nobody's surprise.
"Everyone eat breakfast?" Kasumi sat down on the grass, grateful for a chance to rest. Getting up at 4:30 AM was not her idea of a good start to the day. She liked her beauty sleep, thank you very much.
"Yup! Ramen..." Naruto drooled, his inner chibi dancing around with bowls of ramen.
"Hn. Tomatoes." Sasuke said blandly.
Kasumi sweatdropped a bit, but let it go. "Alright. I suppose we should become more familiar with each other's fighting styles if we're to pass this test." She covered a yawn.
Naruto blinked sleepily and Sasuke frowned minutely.
"Fighting.. style..?" Naruto repeated.
"Mhm. Like jutsus or ways of combat." She explained, surprised they didn't know. Had no one ever told them? Then again, her private education had been rather... unorthodox.
"Oh." A pause. "Okay."
Kasumi looked at Sasuke questioningly and he grunted. She took that to mean affirmative.
"I've go first then." She leaned back against her pack. "I know several jutsu. Reasonably proficient at academy jutsus and taijutsu. I do know some genjutsu, but using it in combat is beyond my skill level right now."
Naruto stared at her in awe and Sasuke stared at her with narrowed eyes.
"Kasumi-chan, that's so awesome!" Naruto gaped, eyes wide.
Kasumi smiled languidly in response, mind still fuzzy, and gestured for Naruto to go.
"Ah. I'm sorta good at taijutsu, but my genjutsu sucks." The blonde admitted, scratching his head sheepishly before visibly brightening. "But I do know a really cool jutsu!"
"Hn. Like you could do a decent jutsu, dobe." Sasuke said snidely.
"Shut up! I can too do an awesome jutsu!" Naruto declared, jumping out to point a determined finger towards the indifferent Uchiha.
"Calm down, you two." Kasumi intercepted lazily. It was too damn early for this. "What jutsu can you do, Naruto-san?"
He grinned smugly. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Her eyes widened almost imperceptibly. "Oh?" Since when had this development occured? And why hadn't she known? Was this how Naruto had passed the graduation exam?
"Yeah!" He gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up.
She hummed thoughtfully. "How many can you do, Naruto-san?" She knew the basics of a clone technique, but her brother had once explained shadow clone to her...
"Eeh? I don't know." Really? It should have been easy enough to count, he was just a genin after all. "Maybe... four hundred?"
...four... hundred...?
"You made several HUNDRED?!" Kasumi demanded, bolting upright in shock. How the hell was he not dead or a vegetable?!
Naruto looked curiously at her, not understanding what the problem was. Sasuke frowned. He didn't get what the problem was either, but it was the first time he had seen the girl so rattled.
"Yeah. Something wrong, Kasumi-chan?" Naruto asked, eyes wide and concerned.
Kasumi shook her head and closed her eyes, leaning back against her pack once more to better absorb the information. God, she had known Naruto had an immense amount of chakra, but to create that many shadow clones? He must have jounin reserves, she thought in dawning understanding. Maybe even Kage's. Although since he was that, maybe it was expected...
She took a moment to consider that, before forcibly shoving her shock into a dark corner. Okay. Okay, she could use this to her advantage. Her mind spun, calculating the advantages and disadvantages of Naruto's vast amount of chakra. He could be a jutsu powerhouse, but chakra control... would be a large issue. Best to get started early. He would not suffer from chakra exhaustion easily, but would most likely have trouble with the limits of his physical body...
When Kasumi opened her eyes again, both of her teammates were staring at her. Naruto was worried, a little bothered that whatever he had said might have upset her. Sasuke was eying her shrewdly. Assessing her reaction and knowledge, she assumed. She didn't mind; she did the same thing herself all the time. It was just that no one else realized it.
"I'm okay, Naruto-san. It just surprised me, that's all," She reassured the blonde. "Your turn, Sasuke-san."
The Ice Prince frowned, but said, "I'm good at taijutsu. I know how to release genjutsu, but I don't know any. I am well-versed in the academy jutsus and I can use the Great Fireball Technique."
Kasumi raised an eyebrow. "Impressive. That'll be useful later on."
Sasuke narrowed his eyes, not sure whether to be smug at her compliment or suspicious of her following sentence. "Useful?"
She nodded. "I know the Wind Release: Great Breakthrough. If we were to use that in conjunction..."
"It would become a much stronger attack." Sasuke realized, eyes widening. Wind and Fire was an explosive combination to say the least.
Kasumi smiled secretively. "Useful, no?"
He smirked.
Naruto looked from Sasuke to Kasumi and back to Sasuke. "Eeeh? What are you two talking about?"
"Hn. Dobe."
"What'd you say, teme?!"
Tired
"How are you not tired?" Kasumi asked some time later.
She was lying on the ground, conveniently using her pack as a pillow. Next to her, Naruto was completely asleep. Sasuke, however, was still standing like he had been since the beginning.
He looked down at her, both physically and metaphorically. "Maybe I'm just stronger than you." His tone indicated there was no maybe about it.
She laughed and it was the last thing he expected her to do. Kasumi had a silvery laugh, all airy and light. Sasuke couldn't decide whether he liked it or not.
Arrival
"Hey, guys! Good morning!" Kakashi raised a casual hand.
"You're late!" Naruto screamed, Kasumi deadpanned, and Sasuke glared.
Kakashi laughed nervously and rubbed his neck. "Oh sorry." He pointed to his right. "A black cat crossed by path so..."
Three glares were aimed at him. One was furious, the other was frustrated, and the last was annoyed. He sweatdropped. "Anyways..."
He set an alarm clock on a tree stump and set it. "Ok, it's set for noon."
Kasumi blinked. What was going on?
"Here are two bells," He held them up. "Your task is take these from me before the time's up. Those who don't have a bell by noon, gets no lunch. I'll not only tie you to one of those stumps, but I'll also eat right in front of you."
The glances the three exchanged were those of pure relief. 'So glad I eat breakfast today,' They each thought. No one liked fighting hungry.
"You only have to get one bell. There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to the stump. And... the person who doesn't take a bell fails, so at least one of you will be sent back to the Academy."
Naruto's eyes widened.
Kasumi frowned.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed.
"If you want to use kunai and shuriken, you can." Kakashi went on. "You won't succeed unless you're coming at me with the intent to kill."
"I see." Kasumi muttered softly, mind already spinning. They would never be able to hurt their sensei... but distraction was always a possibility.
Naruto opened his mouth, but closed it again, obviously remembering the information they had read on Kakashi yesterday.
"Everybody ready?" Kakashi eye-smiled at them.
Kasumi gently nudged her teammates. "Naruto-san, when he says start, create some clones to distract him, then come find me. Sasuke-san, meet me and Naruto-san at that clearing at 5 o'clock." She murmured lowly. Kakashi could probably still hear them, but that didn't really matter. She already knew the heart of the matter wasn't combat skills.
She could tell from the boys' faces that they didn't like the orders, but they nodded. Probably because the words A-class ninja and ex-anbu and jounin were floating around in their heads and they had no other plans.
"Ready... START!" Kakashi called out.
In seconds, Naruto had around forty clones attacking Kakashi and the three genin had already leapt away.
Plan
"Alright, we need a plan and a good one." Kasumi stated as soon as Naruto joined them in kneeling in a circle.
"Hn. Why are we working together? We should be competing for the bells. I will not be sent back to the Academy." Sasuke said, eyes suspicious.
She frowned at him in exasperation. Really, did her teammates have to be so stubborn and prideful and... male?! Okay, maybe that wasn't fair, but God... "Sasuke-san, do the words 'ex-Anbu' mean anything to you?"
Sasuke didn't answer, but his eyes showed his acute annoyance.
Kasumi sighed. "Kakashi-sensei is much too powerful for us to take on alone. Thankfully, all we have to do is get the bells from him and not straight out defeat him. Individually, none of us stand a chance against snagging those bells from him."
"He is so far beyond our skill level right now that I doubt we'll be able to trick him for long, but as a team, we may be able to distract him long enough to make this work. Besides... teamwork is the foundation of Konoha. Now, will you be proud and arrogant and fail this test, or are you in?" Her gaze was piercing, relentless.
Sasuke scowled, but didn't argue against her logic. "Hn. I suppose you have a plan then."
She shrugged gracefully. "Something like that."
Action
Kakashi read his porn, languidly keeping an eyes out for his cute students. He had dispatched the clones with ease a while ago and since then, there had been no movement from the trio whatsoever.
He had been aware Kasumi had managed to get the boys to have a gathering per se... but did it work out?
Before he could ponder some more, a bright, loud voice interrupted.
"Hey, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouted from his perch at the top of the small hill. "Prepare yourself to be defeated!"
"... Did you say something?" He casually turned a page. Where, oh where, were Kasumi and Sasuke? Had the three ducklings split up?
A vein popped out from the blonde's forehead. "You asked for it!"
Naruto charged down the hill, creating multiple shadow clones as he did so.
Kakashi sighed and dodged a punch smoothly, dispelling a clone to his left.
Dodge. Kick. Dispel.
"You aren't going to get the best of me!" One Naruto yelled from behind.
Dodge. Dodge. Punch. Kick. Dispel x2.
"Take this!" Several shuriken came flying.
Dodge. Kick. Snap. Dispel x5.
A Naruto charged at him, aiming a kick right at his head. Kakashi lazily dodged it, only to be surprised with a punch that sent him flying back several feet.
His eyes widened. Naruto didn't, couldn't do that. He wasn't fast enough.
'Naruto' put brought his hands together.
Tiger. Ram. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger.
"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke yelled, letting his henge dispel. A massive fireball formed from his mouth to roar right at him.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes, inhaling sharply. Talented, talented...
He performed a seal-less replacement jutsu and ended up on the other side of the field.
The Narutos and Sasuke faced him determinedly. Kakashi surveyed them with some approval and interest. Good, good. They were working together. But where was Kausmi...? He was fairly certain she had been the one who came up with the plan.
"Charge!" One Naruto declared and all his cute little students ran straight at him. Somewhere in the process, Sasuke disappeared again.
Kakashi's approval grew just a little bit more.
Sighing tragically, he put his little book away. It wouldn't do to be caught off guard again.
Ducking low, he effortlessly began to destroy the clones, all the while keeping an eye out for Sasuke and Kasumi.
"Hah!" Another Naruto came at him from behind and he absently lashed out with a kick. An attacking Naruto in front of him suddenly backed off and began making hand signs again.
Kakashi frowned. Did they really expect for him to fall for that again? He punched Sasuke straight in the face...
And was met with a bloom of smoke. His eyes widened. What?! A ruse?!
"Fire Release: Grand Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke called out from behind him.
Shit! He spun around, but to his surprise, a Naruto near the back was doing handseals, too. Different ones.
Tiger. Ox. Dog. Rabbit. Snake.
Letting her henge dispel, Kasumi called out, "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" She slammed her hands in front of her, palms out, and a ferocious gale of wind blew through the clearing.
Kakashi barely had time to gape before the fire and the wind met... and suddenly the already large fireball was a congregation of flame and destruction heading straight towards him.
The inferno consumed the area where Kakashi had stood and kept going. Sweeping over several Narutos, it proceeded to devastate the nearby vegetation and start a forest fire.
"... That... was... a bit... bigger... than I thought it would be..." Several beads of sweat fell down Kasumi's face as she eyed the growing fire with dread.
Sasuke stared with the same horror and slight exasperation as the girl. "... We probably shouldn't have tested it on the field."
"No." Completely deadpan.
"Great observations, my little minions!" A cheerful voice spoke up behind them. Startled, everyone spun around to see their completely unscathed sensei eye-smiling at them. "Good thing I'm here or else you all would be in big trouble! But I applaud your efforts."
Bringing up his hands, Kakashi rapidly went through some hand seals, ignoring the tensing of his adorable students. "Water Release: Wild Water Wave." He blew out a torrent of water that quickly extinguished the fire before turning to Sasuke, Kasumi, and all the clones. "Now, where were we?"
Briiinnnggg!
Sasuke paled and Kasumi winced. Kakashi eye-smiled. "Ah. Nevermind then. I do believe that was the alarm."
"That's what you think, Kakashi-sensei!" A familiar exuberant voice shouted behind them.
Turning, Kakashi's eye widened upon finding his last student standing tall and proud behind them - the effect a bit ruined by his short height - and jangling two bells from his hands, smile brighter than the sun.
Explanation
"Well, well, well, you all must be very proud of yourselves." Kakashi commented.
Sitting in front of the logs, none of them were tied, he was met with a cheerful grin, a sweet smile, and a smug smirk. Kasumi lightly jingled the bells - Naruto had given them to her as soon as they had sat down without comment - in her hands.
"So? How did you do it?" He asked casually, curious despite himself.
Both Naruto and Sasuke glanced at Kasumi who blinked innocently at Kakashi.
He narrowed his eyes. "Kasumi-chan?"
She blinked slowly, her long lashes masking her expression for a moment. When her eyes were open once again, they were calm... reflective. Grudgingly, Kakashi found himself impressed. Not many genin knew how to hide their emotions like that. They hadn't had enough time to learn control... but then again, Kasumi was hardly normal.
His entire team was positively abnormal. Good thing he wasn't normal either.
"When Naruto-san first created the clones, Sasuke-san and I were in the trees. While the clones attacked you, we used that as a distraction to slip down and camouflage ourselves in the crowd. The real Naruto-san stayed in the bushes." She explained mildly. "The first time Sasuke-san cast his fire jutsu was to lure you into a sense of security. When you fell for the bait, we drove you towards Naruto-san and he created a clone that grabbed the bells while you were distracted. He threw them to Naruto-san before dispelling from the fire."
Outwardly, Kakashi eye-smiled and rubbed his chin, AKA his mask. Inwardly, he raised an eyebrow. That was good-planning for a new genin team, especially with one as dysfunctional as this was supposed to be. Nice teamwork, too...
"I see..." He mused. "And who came up with the plan?"
Kasumi simply looked at him, delicate features blank.
Naruto, smiling widely, pointed happily to his female teammate. "Kasumi-chan did! She's really smart."
Sasuke hnned, but gestured reluctantly to Kasumi as well.
"Interesting." Kakashi muttered, before perking up obnoxiously. "Well, now that you have the bells, what will you do with them, Kasumi-chan?"
Sasuke and Naruto instantly tensed up, glancing at the brown-eyed girl. Cautious hope flickered on Naruto's face tempered with a lifetime of neglect. Sasuke was suspicious, onyx eyes harsh and distrusting. Both deciding. Both judging. Kakashi realized, to his faint surprise, that he was judging as well. Judging the younger sister of 'Tsunami' Taishi.
To her credit, Kasumi didn't hesitate. A nonchalant flick of her hand and both Naruto and Sasuke caught a small bell.
She met Kakashi's eyes squarely, fearlessly.
Naruto's eyes widened in astonishment and pleasure before narrowing in determination. "No. Kasumi-chan, you came up with the plan so you should get the bell." He shoved the bell at Kasumi who frowned and pushed it back.
"No. You need to become Hokage and you did most of the work." She replied reasonably.
"That's a stupid reason. Take the bells, Kasumi-chan!" If anything, Naruto was stubborn.
"No." Unfortunately, she could be just as stubborn.
Kakashi couldn't tell who was more surprised when Sasuke grunted and held out his own bell to Kasumi: the girl, Naruto or himself.
"Much as I hate to admit it, the dobe is right. You came up with the plan. Take the bell, I don't need it." Sasuke spit out quickly.
"Yeah! See, look, Sasuke agrees with me!" Naruto shouted in triumph before pausing. "Hey! Teme, stay out of this! Kasumi-chan is taking my bell!"
"She's taking mine." Sasuke's eyebrow twitched.
Kasumi furrowed her brow. "I'm not taking anyone's bell." She said firmly.
"Yes, you are!" The boys snapped in unison, thrusting their palms in her face, before turning to glare murderously at each other.
"She's taking my bell, teme!" Naruto declared.
Sasuke snorted. "Like she'd want a dead-last's bell."
Naruto stiffened. "What did you say?!"
Pressing her lips together, Kasumi grabbed both of the bells in a lightning-quick move and dropped it down the back of their shirts. They jumped.
"Wha - Kasumi-chan!" Naruto wailed, jumping around to try and get the bell out. "That's cold!"
Sasuke snapped his teeth together and reached back with his hand for the bell. "What the hell was that for?" He glowered, managing to successfully fish out the bell, unlike the blonde. Naruto stopped dancing to frown at her, too.
Kasumi stared back at them calmly, not at all fazed. "Neither of you are going to be sent back to the Academy and that's final."
Of course, that only made them more determined to get her to accept the bells. Sasuke scowled at her darkly and Naruto set his jaw doggedly.
Kakashi quickly cleared his throat before violence could break out. Over who got the bells, no less. And not in the usual way. "Actually, I have to say: You all pass!"
That did it. Both Sasuke and Naruto snapped their necks back to stare at him so quickly that he was a little surprised they hadn't sprained something. Kasumi blinked and looked back at him more slowly, tilting her head to the side in an absolutely adorable way.
"Wait, what?!" Naruto broke out of his shock first.
"What do you think the purpose to this test was?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto blinked, screwing up his forehead in obvious confusion. Sasuke kept quiet, dark eyes pensive. Kasumi continued to look at him with those patient brown eyes specked with amber.
None of them answered.
"Well? What do you think, Kasumi-chan?" He turned to what seemed like his smartest student.
She frowned thoughtfully. "Is it... teamwork?"
"Yup!" He eye-smiled at her. "The purpose was to see whether you can forget your own interest and work together in these designated circumstances. In a team, it is the teamwork that is most important. Individual skill is needed as well, but individual play that disrupts the team can put your comrades in danger. On missions, it is essential that all the members of the team can and will work together without conflict and problems."
Kakashi began to walk towards a large stone. "Do you know what this stone is? The numerous names carved on this stone are ninjas who are recognized as heroes of the village."
The kunoichi kept quiet, her face carefully blank.
Sasuke said nothing, but Naruto...
"Hey, hey, hey, hey! I'm going to get my name on that stone! Hero! Hero! That's what I want to become!" He shouted for the world to hear.
Kasumi grimaced and shook her head.
"What?" He questioned, a slight hurt tone to his voice. "I can do it! Believe it!"
"These aren't normal heroes, Naruto." Kakashi informed him.
"Oh yeah?! Then what kind are they?" Naruto challenged rashly.
"They're K.I.A., Naruto-san." Kasumi said softly, eyes quietly respectful.
"What's that?" He asked, blatantly confused.
"Killed in Action." Sasuke explained curtly.
"They are all heroes who died while on duty." Kakashi said coolly.
Naruto's eyes went wide and his smile fell. He turned away, face somber.
"This is a memorial." Kakashi told them. "My best friend's name is carved on here..."
He turned back to them, his eye serious. "Remember, a ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are called trash, but you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash."
Naruto flushed, eyes shining. 'He is so cool...'
A small smile touched Kasumi's face, even as she accessed her new sensei closely. 'Hatake Kakashi may not be so bad as a sensei after all...'
Sasuke closed his eyes briefly, but took the words to heart.
"That ends the training. All of you pass!" Kakashi gave them all a big thumbs up. "Ok! Starting tomorrow, Team #7 will begin its duties."
"Yay! I did it! I did it! Ninja! Ninja! Ninja!" Naruto cheered, tears in his eyes.
Sasuke smirked.
Kasumi grinned despite her misgivings of the upcoming weeks. 'Let's see how this goes.'
Pass
"So we all passed?" Kasumi inquired nonchalantly a few hours later, kneeling with her back turned towards the Hyuga Heiress.
Her group of friends were lazing around at their usual location and it was nearing sunset.
"H-hai." Hinata said quietly, her deft hands gently braiding the other girl's long cream-colored hair. Kasumi's hair was unbelievably light and weightless. It flew in the slightest breeze, which was why she tied it up in the first place. Hinata wove in wildflowers as she worked, the colors bright and vibrant against the neutral shade.
"Yeah. Our test was so troublesome." Shikamaru yawned. "We had to immobilize our sensei and actually do work."
She laughed daintily.
"Chip, Kasumi-chan?" Chouji offered.
She smiled and took it. "Thank you, Chouji-san. How was your test, Hinata-san? Shino-san?"
"W-We had t-to find K-Kurenai-sensei." Hinata offered.
Kasumi blinked. "Find?"
"Yes." Shino confirmed. "Our sensei is a genjutsu user and our task was to find her. Why? Because we are meant to be a tracking team. Why? Because as a Hyuga, Hinata has superior vision, as an Inuzuka, Kiba has a superior sense of smell, and as an Aburame, my bugs can spread out and discreetly search a large area."
"I see." She murmured, too used to her friend's logical speaking patterns to be caught off guard. Kasumi looked up at the blue, blue sky. "Well, I'm happy then. None of us will have to go to the Academy."
"Tch. Yeah, but you have Naruto and Sasuke." Shikamaru pointed out. He didn't elaborate; he didn't need to elaborate.
Hinata blushed tomato red at the mention of Naruto. Everyone pretended they didn't notice.
She made a face. "Day by day, Shikamaru-san. Day by day."
He smirked and continued to cloud watch.
Home
When Kasumi got home, the lights were off and the table was empty. She didn't panic; this was a normal occurrence after all.
Putting her pack in her room, she wandered over to the fridge. There, on a large note, and written in bright red ink was a note from her brother.
Hey, Kasumi-chan!
I have a mission today, but don't worry! I'll be back by the end of the week.
I heard you passed Kakashi's test! Congrats, little sister! You've done the impossible. Looks like you are Mother's daughter after all! XD
Good look on your D-ranks! Hahahahaha
Your loving brother,
Hiroshi
Kasumi shook her head, smiling despite herself. Hiroshi would be Hiroshi.
As she grabbed some ingredients out of the fridge, she let out a heavy sigh. She hoped the D-ranks weren't too bad.
Next Time:
"N-N-Naruto-san...y-you...id-diot..." Kasumi managed to get out, gasping and coughing between the words. Thoroughly soaked, she had been unconscious when the boys had dragged her ashore and recovering from almost drowning was no easy feat.
Please Review! Give me the feedback! Come on! Give it to me!
Ahh and I need a beta. I really do. Anyone available? O.O Please PM if you're interested!
Question: What elemental affinities should Kasumi have?
See you all soon~