Afterthoughts

by Epidot

Time-travel, that isn't really time-travel. Naruto makes his way from his first day as a genin, with a 'feel' about how he should do things as a shinobi, and dreams about what 'a' future holds.

3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: This story is written without permission, for fan purposes only. Naruto and the Naruto world, belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

Afterthoughts.

Chapter 3.

Anger management…and phobia.

Early morning...

It was early…too early in Naruto's opinion.

His head was still fuzzy when he arrived at the training ground, where they'd been instructed to meet up with their new sensei.

He wanted to curse that particular sensei right now, as the note didn't specify exactly when they were to meet, so it forced him to get up bright and early (even if it was still dark) to avoid the risk of running late. He could only hope that he was on time.

The night had passed without any dreams that he could remember, and for that he was rather thankful. It had been a relief with a good night's sleep, and a much needed too, considering he had to get out of bed when the alarm rang.

He'd tried to go to bed early, but had been kept up when he made the final preparation on his t-shirt. He had picked up a thicker thread on his way home, and had proceeded to stab himself to death with the needle as he worked.

In the end, he'd managed to fasten the patch in place. You could hardly even see the stitches on the outside, and luckily, due to the dark colour of the fabric, few of the bloodstains were visible.

When he stumbled into the clearing, in the middle of the training ground, he noticed that his team-mates were already there. Both of them looked about ready to drop.

Sasuke seemed to have trouble keeping his eyes open, something that made his expression look even dumber than Shikamaru's on a test day. A little voice inside Naruto's head scolded him for not bringing a camera for this occasion. He would have loved to immortalise the image, showing that even the great 'Uchiha', could be brought down a notch by such an ungodly early morning.

Sakura was just as out of her element as Sasuke, maybe even more so. She wasn't seated more than a couple of feet from her crush, but there was no hint of her even registering the fact. She just sat there, making half an attempt to keep her eyes open and her mouth closed, whilst her head bobbed up and down, as she fought the sleep that threatened to take her.

It was a bit scary to see them act so differently then normal, but then again, he was probably no different.

He tried and failed to greet them, as the only sound he managed to make was the incomprehensive noise he made during a yawn. Sakura responded with a tired nod, as she probably wanted to avoid the contagious effect of his yawning.

Sasuke didn't react at all. If Naruto hadn't known better, he would have thought that the genius didn't even register his presence.

Naruto wasted little time standing upright; he was too tired for that. He just walked over and seated himself on the other side of Sakura and tried to stay awake a little while longer. After all, Kakashi would show up soon, he probably should be awake when he did.

Taking a closer look at his team-mates, he noticed how uncomfortable they both seemed to be. Sakura's stomach was complaining loudly about the advice to skip breakfast, but she seemed too tired to actually be embarrassed over it.

Sasuke's stomach mirrored Sakura's reaction as angry growls came from him as well. Naruto on the other hand, hadn't done as Kakashi had told them, and was somewhat better of because of it.

Ayame's oranges had done wonders, just like the late night supper that Teuchi had advised him to eat. He wasn't exactly stuffed, but he wasn't that hungry either and that's what counted.

After waiting for what seemed like forever, but probably was little more than ten minutes, Naruto seriously started to question why they'd even bothered to get out off bed. He was just getting sleepier as the time passed, and not being particularly hungry made his brain think that it was just as well not to waste time being conscious.

The other two didn't have the same problem. They were tired, sure, but it isn't easy to sleep on an empty stomach. When they registered snoring coming from Naruto, they could only watch on in envy.

/

"We really need to work on that temper of yours," Jiraiya scolded Naruto as they stepped off one of the many ferries that transported travellers between O'uzu Island and Tea country.

It had been a long and slow journey, and Naruto had gotten himself into several arguments on the way. "He had it coming," Naruto grunted in response, not the least bit embarrassed over what he'd done. "It was his own fault, he pushed me first."

Jiraiya sighed. It was true that the one Naruto talked about did in fact push him, and it was no accident. If he was to be perfectly frank, he'd been downright rude, but that was no reason to throw the man overboard.

Fortunately there'd been another boat coming in the opposite direction, and the very surprised and very drenched person was lucky enough to get a ride back to O'uzu Island with it.

"Even so, we're supposed to be keeping a low profile," Jiraiya reminded him. They'd discussed his temper before…on several occasions, but that was a lesson that had yet to sink in.

"Did you at least try to count to ten, like I told you to?"

Naruto had the good grace to look embarrassed as he shook his head.

The port where they had landed wasn't much to talk about. There were probably no more then five buildings in the area, and all of them had seen better days.

The only building of note was a dirty looking tavern that even he would think twice about entering. Not just because the hostess, who had the good grace to stand outside to greet any potential guests was something out of his worst nightmare, but also because she was eying him hungrily.

He was the pervert of perverts, and as such, he was attuned to the perversity of others. What his instinct (and sadly experience) told him about that kind of 'hostesses' were that they were much more accurately described as 'hosts'.

So, like a man who knew a thing or two about possible dangers related to women sporting a 5'o clock shadow, he proceeded to pull Naruto along the road leading away from the tavern and into the safety of the forest.

It was night time, but anything was safer than in that tavern.

When they were a sufficient distance away from the buildings Naruto spoke, "…It's just that…I don't know…I just get angry so fast…"

Jiraiya was glad for Naruto's lack of protests on the matter with the tavern. Some lessons seemed to be absorbed faster than others.

He placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "I know, that's why we're working on it," he reassured him.

After a short pause he added, "besides, it was funny to see that bastard realize he was pushing a shinobi…I don't think I have ever seen anyone go from being the bully to becoming the victim that fast…and I have been a ninja longer then most."

Naruto couldn't help but smile at the memory. It had been rather funny. He turned his head and looked up at his teacher, "Yeah…you are very old…"

Jiraiya gave Naruto a fake expression of shock. "What? Me? Old?" he asked in an over dramatized voice. "I'm shocked! I'll tell you now, I am in my prime. Young people today have no respect for their elders!"

It was hard to keep from laughing, and Naruto failed utterly. The two of them laughed until they lost sight of the building among the trees. When they calmed down a little, Jiraiya tried again.

"You remember why it's important not to get agitated when you're fighting, right?" he asked in a light tone.

The fourteen year old boy nodded, but kept his eyes on the ground.

Jiraiya sighed, "Well, I'm going to tell you anyway…who knows, maybe it'll stick this time."

He heard Naruto snort in response to the bad joke, but that only meant that he was listening.

"When you get angry, you stop thinking straight. You're not alone in doing that…but it is still bad. Think about what would have happened if people acted purely on what their emotions told them…"

Naruto looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he didn't understand. Jiraiya didn't blame him for it.

"Take a hidden village as an example. If the majority of the village was to decide what it should do, then anger would probably be the most decisive factor," Jiraiya began.

He knew it was probably too late for this sort of lecture, but maybe he'd get lucky, and it would make sense to the boy.

"People love different things than other people; their own family, their own friends and so on. Sadly, people often hate the same things, which is often something that has wronged them before. Most Konoha shinobi doesn't like Iwa-nin, due to the last war…the same goes for Iwagakure towards Konoha. That would leave us constantly at war."

Jiraiya risked a glance down towards the boy. To his surprise, he was actually paying attention. "Now, let us take an example from something closer to us. Let's say diplomats. If diplomats were to say exactly what they felt or meant, they wouldn't get anywhere. That would mean politics would go out the window like an old rag."

Another glance at Naruto showed that he was loosing interest. Jiraiya silently cursed himself for going with the diplomats. He needed to change tactics.

"Okay, another example. I think you would want to hear this one. It is about traders…more specifically, ramen merchants."

Now the boy was all ears. The words 'ramen' was like a large billboard, with flashing colours to get Naruto's attention. "Merchants need to think about profit and loss more then anyone. They know they need to spend money to make money. You remember that weasel from Wave?"

Naruto thought it over and nodded. To Jiraiya, it was clear that Naruto was getting tired.

Jiraiya hadn't met the man, Gato, but Kakashi's report gave a good description. Much better than the copy-nin's personality would indicate.

"He wasn't a proper trader. Every merchant was probably seething with anger after meeting him…they just couldn't do anything about it. They were probably out of options when they dealt with him. In any other situation they would have tried to find a better deal..."

Jiraiya could hear from his own example that he too was getting tired. He was messing up his own arguments. He needed to wrap it up, and try to present the point better.

"What it comes down to is this…in stead of getting angry, try to find another way out…another deal so to speak," he tried.

Naruto's eyes were all questions, and his expression could indicate that Jiraiya had grown a second head. "…another deal?"

The Gama-Sennin rubbed the bridge of his nose before answering. "I mean…another way to deal with the anger. You know…shrug it off, answer back…best to do that childishly in your case."

It was one of the rare occasions when Naruto was too tired to argue, so he accepted it.

"Answer back?"

"Yes, I know you're not good at that, but even the weakest retaliation, delivered with confidence, can be enough to put your opponent off."

That made sense Naruto supposed. Not the weak retaliation part…but confidence. Confidence was the answer to everything. Naruto had a lot of confidence.

"I promise that you'll do much better if you keep your temper under control," Jiraiya finished. It was late, so it was little use prolonging the lecture more then necessary.

"Let's just find a place to sleep…we'll talk more about it in the morning."

After a lengthy pause, where they didn't talk, Jiraiya added, "Just one more thing Naruto. I think you should wake up…"

"What? What do you mean wake up?" Naruto asked confused. Wasn't it time to go to sleep?

Jiraiya shook his head, "I said…"

/

"…GET UP! BAKA!" was the words that greeted Naruto when he joined the land of the living.

Sakura had added a kick when she woke him but that was not unusual. Sakura may be cute, but she was also violent, and his endeavour to get a date with her had left him painfully aware of the fact.

Kakashi was approaching them with some type of alarm-clock when Naruto seated himself upright. The sun was halfway up on the sky, and the dim light he'd arrived in was nowhere to be seen.

Sakura was angry for some reason that was unknown to him. At least it was unknown until she shouted, "YOU'RE LATE!" at their approaching teacher.

"Sorry, sorry," Kakashi began. "I'm late because my alarm clock broke, so I had to buy a new one," he answered with what could easily have been a smile on his face. It was hard to tell with the mask.

'He's late?' Naruto thought to himself as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.

He was brutally introduced to total consciousness when he heard Sakura shout an angrily at the Jônin, "LIAR!"

To Naruto, it was like nails on a blackboard.

Kakashi's voice held no trace of anger or irritation when he replied. "Nope…and here it is." He held up the clock so they could see. He then turned sharply on his heals and started to walk away. "Follow me please…" he ordered them over his shoulder.

He led the three of them into a clearing, where three training-posts were imbedded into the ground. There were one or two at the academy, and they had been used to build up striking force in taijutsu.

It was essentially just a tree stump, but they worked just fine for training target and punching bags, as they hardly ever hit back.

A short distance away stood a square shaped rock, which seemed to have writing on it. The ground around it was paved, and there was a flagpole a few feet away. It looked important.

Kakashi walked over to the poles and placed the clock on top of the one in the centre.

"I've set this alarm to go off at noon," he informed them whilst activating the alarm. Naruto noted that the clock was actually ten past eleven. He'd been asleep for nearly five hours. "Is the time right?" he interrupted before Kakashi could continue.

Kakashi made a show of bending down to look at the clock before answering. "Yes, yes it is," he said with a friendly smile.

"We got here over five hours ago!" Naruto nearly shouted back at him.

Kakashi didn't even flinch. He just raised his eyebrow and asked, "And…?"

"You're late!" Naruto resorted.

Silence followed. Sasuke and Sakura looked at him as if he was stupid, as did Kakashi. In the end, Sakura just hit him on the head, "Baka."

After a few seconds without answering, Kakashi took out two bells and held them out for them to see. "I have here two bells…" he started. "Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds."

It was strange to note that Kakashi seemed to become even happier when he said, "Anyone who fails to get a bell…doesn't get any lunch. Instead, you'll be tied to that tree stump, so I can eat your lunch in front of you."

The statement was followed by a series of growling stomachs, as if they'd been waiting for a cue. "All you need is just one bell apiece. But since there aren't enough to go around, one of you is definitively headed for the stump." Kakashi made the bells jingle to make the point.

What was said next however, instantly raised the tension. "…And whoever fails this test will no longer hold the rank of genin. One of you is on your way back to school…and disgrace." He said the last part with a glare. The effect was very intimidating.

Naruto was sure that, if he had moved, either Sakura or Sasuke would jump. For that matter, had any of them moved, he would probably jump as well. He could almost feel the pressure in the air.

Kakashi snatched the bells into his fist, and his expression changed instantly back to the bored look with his eye only halfway open. "You may, if you choose, use shuriken. Attack as though you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance."

Sakura was the first to comment. "But…but that's so dangerous!" she said, worry clearly written on her face.

Naruto agreed, to use shuriken was never allowed in the academy, for everyone's safety. "You couldn't even dodge an eraser!" he proclaimed nervously. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

Kakashi just sighed, and looked even less interested than before. "It's always the weakest that shout the loudest," then he turned to the other two, "Now let's ignore the loud one, and you'll start on my signal."

The familiar twig of anger shot through Naruto. He hated being underestimated. People always underestimated him.

He wanted to draw a kunai, just to show how dangerous he could really be. His fingers itched…but something just wasn't right. Instantly he remembered the dream. It had been one of those…with the old pervert.

He realized that he'd gotten angry really fast, and it had only been one comment. This was one of the first times Naruto had ever thought about how easily he would get angry…it was a scary realization to see how little it actually took.

With a sudden insight, he realized that it was because he was a shinobi.

He would never get angry like that before. He was less willing to take any crap now that he had a title, than when he didn't. It made him embarrassed when he thought about it.

He actually thought people would instantly respect him, just for being a genin.

He remembered what the white haired figment of his imagination had said. He should answer back. It took him less then a second to come up with a response. The time used reflected itself in the quality of the answer.

"No, it isn't!"

Kakashi stopped himself from giving the signal to start, and just stared at Naruto with a raised eyebrow.

"Isn't what?"

"It's not just the weak that are loud," Naruto answered with confidence. It was probably the most childish way to deal with it, but at least he wasn't angry anymore.

"Yes they are…" Kakashi responded after a few seconds.

"No, they're not," Naruto answered back.

"Yes, they are," Kakashi replied just as calmly as before, but Naruto could have sworn he heard a little suppressed laughter in his voice.

Kakashi then made a show of looking at the clock. "You still only have until noon, no matter when we start," he pointed out.

"But you're still wrong," Naruto continued, oblivious to Sasuke and Sakura's growing irritation.

"Shut up Naruto, he said we only have until noon," Sakura scolded as she again hit him on the head again.

Kakashi just smiled at the display and said, "Go!"

/

When Kakashi gave the signal, Naruto darted out of the clearing as fast as he could. He grabbed onto a tree as he shot past, so he swung to a sudden halt behind it, effectively hiding himself from view.

He needed a bell. He couldn't fail now, not after passing the genin exams for the first time. What he really needed though, was a plan. He could see that Kakashi hadn't moved at all. He was just standing there…looking bored.

It was actually rather infuriating that he acted in such a way, but Naruto fought the frustration back. The perverted figment of his imagination had helped him before, so it was probably best to heed what it had said.

Naruto had actually worked it out the night before. The dreams about the old man, it was his own genius talking to him. After all, he'd never seen anyone like that in his life.

The imaginary figure was smart and gave good advice, pointed out things he needed to work on and so forth...in short, Naruto was a genius.

The only strange thing about it was that the genius was the same part that was perverted…and old. Even so, the thought of him being an actual genius brought on a boost of confidence and with it, a half formed plan. For it to work however, he needed to move fast.

Without a second thought, he formed the ram-seal and made four shadow clones. It wasn't as many as he could have made, but it was enough for what he had in mind. They all roughly knew the plan, so they wasted no time standing around.

All the clones and Naruto darted off to fulfil their part of the plan, and hopefully, the 'dead-last' position would work to his advantage.

/

Kakashi had just given the signal for the test to start, and was pleased to see that all of his potential students did what they'd been trained to do.

Even so, this was just the beginning, and his test wasn't about what they were trained to do, it was about what they hadn't trained to do (Kakashi didn't believe in the grading system).

Just as he was about to take out his beloved book, the loud one of his genin came back out into the clearing. He was making enough noise to wake the dead, not a shinobi approach at all.

"It is common for shinobi to conceal their presence you know," he informed the boy in a deliberately bored voice.

"I don't need to hide from someone like you!" Naruto proclaimed loudly. "I'll kick your ass and show you what an awesome ninja I am!"

Kakashi didn't know if he should be laughing at Naruto's words, or cry at the apparent lack of any useful training. Suddenly feeling a bit empty, he decided to see just how bad it really was, starting with his temper.

"Ok, come at me then, I will teach you about the first of the shinobi arts. Taijutsu," he said flatly, as he moved his hand to his equipment pouch, enjoying the sight of Naruto tensing.

When he revealed the little orange book, Naruto's expression turned into pure disbelief. Fighting himself not to laugh, Kakashi proceeded to taunt the boy a bit more.

He made a show of opening the book and started to read. After a few seconds he looked up, "…? Is something wrong? I thought you were going to attack me."

"...but…you…I mean, I…I mean…why are you…that's a book!" Naruto stuttered, clearly not sure what he should do.

"Of course it's a book. I've been dying to find out how it ends," Kakashi replied whilst turning some pages, making it seem as if he was reading. "Carry on…It shouldn't make any difference to the outcome, considering who I'm up against."

At first Naruto just stood there, staring at the white haired Jônin with an unreadable expression.

Then he exploded.

"I'm going to beat you to a pulp!" Naruto roared as he charged forward, all thoughts of plans and scheming forgotten.

Naruto leapt into the air, intending to feint a strike to the Jônin's face.

No sooner than leaving the ground, he knew something was wrong. He twisted his lower body, so it would seem like he intended to kick, but the whole movement was off. The worst part was that he really had no time to think about it, as he was already in motion.

Without stopping his spin, he lashed out with his fist towards Kakashi's face. The attack was easily blocked, but Naruto wasn't done.

He used the force of his own attack to twist around in mid-air, trying to follow up with a sideways spinning kick. The very same he had feinted a moment before.

As with the first attack, he instantly knew it wasn't good enough. Kakashi dodged easily, just by bending his knees faster than Naruto was able to rotate. His attacks were just too slow.

He couldn't stop however, as that would only open more room for counter attack than he already had. With a last effort to land a hit on the tall shinobi, he settled for a simple strike propelled by the same rotation caused by the kick…which hit nothing but air.

From behind him, he heard Kakashi's voice say, "Showing your back so many times in a fight is not good at all…"

He also suddenly heard Sakura shout from the bushes on his left in an alarmed voice, "Naruto! Get out of there! You'll be killed!"

It just had time to register before he again heard Kakashi, "Too late."

A glance over his shoulder made chills shoot up his spine, there was something dreadfully familiar about the situation. Something that went deeper than anything he could explain.

Pure terror shook him as he heard Kakashi's next words "Konohagakure no Sato's most secret and most sacred taijutsu technique! Sennen Goroshi!" The words were followed by a sensation of horrible wrongness and utter despair, and then…Naruto dissolved into a cloud of smoke.

/

From the bushes, Naruto had a good view of what Kakashi had done. It was some sort of horrible torture technique, he was sure of it. It was so horrible that he could almost feel it from where he stood.

He'd hoped that the clone would last longer than it did, but it had gotten angry and just rushed in like a madman.

It reminded him of what his genius dream had said. It was no good getting angry over something like that. After all, if the teacher was reading a book it would only mean that he had one hand busy, and wouldn't be able to fight as effectively as if he had both hands free.

Still, that teacher was really something else. He'd managed to fight the clone with just one arm. That was seriously good taijutsu. The worst part was that he'd done it all while reading that book of his.

The book! The book was the key! The original plan had been to navigate Kakashi closer to Naruto's location, closer than he was at the moment anyway, and attack from two different angles at the same time with another clone that was close by. Now that that plan was out, the book would have to suffice.

Naruto darted out from hiding, sprinting towards Kakashi's back.

/

When the clone dissolved into a cloud of smoke, Kakashi was baffled. 'Kage Bunshin?' he thought. It had to be the technique he learnt from the forbidden scroll, the technique the boy used to defeat the traitor Mizuki.

Kakashi was also silently impressed. Using clones to test out the enemy was a tactic that even Jônin used when it was necessary. The taijutsu that the clone had used however was not much to brag about. There'd been several times where the boy could have been disabled without much difficulty.

He knew that in a second or two, he would see if it really was all the boy had to fend with.

He spun around and blocked high with his left hand, as Naruto tried to deliver a drop kick aimed at his shoulder. As he blocked high, Naruto would be out of balance for a follow up. The boy was in no position too attack again before reaching the ground, as he was out of reach.

Kakashi expected Naruto to drop towards the ground to follow up with more attacks, but was surprised when he felt Naruto's weight pressing down on his blocking arm.

Naruto was using his own momentum, combined with whatever leverage he got from the block, to go up, over Kakashi, kicking with the other foot downwards, towards his head.

He blocked the kick easily with his right elbow, whilst grabbing Naruto's other leg with the same arm. It was at that moment that Kakashi noticed not one, but two mistakes on his part.

The first; and probably greatest mistake was that he was holding his book with his left hand, open, content pointing upwards, where they could easily be read…by a minor.

The second mistake was that his left hand, which his beloved book occupied, would be unable get a good hold of anything without dropping the content, risking damage to the 'signed' work of art. If that wasn't enough, Naruto proceeded to fold his legs, trying to get a hold of Kakashi's arms which Naruto was currently using as a floor.

Naruto's attempts to trap his arms made Kakashi aware of a body moving at high speed towards his back. For half a second he thought that it could have been Sasuke or Sakura that came to help the blond…but they were still concealing themselves in the trees. No…it was another Kage Bunshin.

One clone was distracting him, occupying his arms and his focus, prohibiting him from using any jutsu, as another went for the bell. The boy's plan was coming together.

A kunai was thrown out of some nearby bushes at high speed, aimed at his head. Kakashi instantly knew it was not meant to kill. It was a deadly weapon, true, but it was thrown form his right side, so it wasn't in what people considered his blind spot.

It was another diversion, probably intended to keeping his attention away from the second attacker…whom from the sound of it had gone airborne.

This was a bad situation for Kakashi, especially if the lesson was to sink in. With speed and force that he previously had no intention to use against the genin, he broke the hold that Naruto had on his arms and flung him away. The second Naruto connected forcefully with the back of Kakashi's knees.

Kakashi however had been able to weave the seals for a Kawarimi no Jutsu, so Naruto only hit the lower end of the log that Kakashi swapped place with, tipping that end upwards. The result of this action was that the upper end came tipping down, connecting not too gently with the attacking Naruto's head.

In hiding, Kakashi allowed himself to breath.

That was unexpected. Naruto was supposed to be dead-last in his class, with no real natural talent.

Now however, Kakashi was in doubt. True, both his form and technical abilities wasn't very good…but to use such an advanced technique to gain the tactical advantage that early was something that one would only expect from an experienced fighter.

If he were to judge, he would have thought that the first clone was most likely intended to heard him into a trap, as the second had to move in the open longer than what was advisable.

Even so, it had played a key role for the trap to work. It occupied his attention and his arms…and after a second thought, Kakashi realized that it was probably supposed to act as a weight when the third would kick the back of his knees, effectively folding Kakashi backwards.

The third Naruto seemed to be the real one…as he was still cursing angrily under his breath and holding his head where the log had hit him. The only thing Kakashi could fault him for was that the boy was louder than Gai, and needed to work on his taijutsu.

Naruto managed to push him into a corner, but that was mostly because Kakashi wanted to see what he would do. The boy's attack's in general was a bit weak, and his movement's was unsure and hesitant, as if he wanted to do two things at once. If this team against all odds were to pass, he would have to do some work on it.

About the overall effort, Kakashi could only say that it was a clear team-effort. Too bad, Naruto's team consisted entirely of himself. If Sakura and/or Sasuke had joined him, Kakashi would happily have allowed them to get a hold of one of the bells.

As it was however, Naruto would learn nothing if he was able to get one by himself.

The encounter had also taught Kakashi something useful. He was not going to underestimate the other two like he had Naruto.

/

Naruto was not happy about the outcome. It hadn't been enough, not enough at all. It was unfair how strong this new sensei seemed to be. How on earth were they supposed to beat someone like that?

He made haste getting out of the clearing; he needed to get into cover to plan his next move. When he got clear, he hid himself among the branches of a nearby tree.

What should he do? He had enough chakra to create several more clones, but somehow he felt that numbers would do him little good against the Jônin.

Maybe he could lure the white haired man to chase him into a trap? Thinking back on how the man had acted during their encounter, he dismissed the idea. The objective was for them to get a bell, not for him to fight them.

Why would he make it so that only two people could pass anyway? It just seemed like and idiotic idea to Naruto. It was clear that they couldn't fight someone like that on their own, so it made little sense to split them up like this.

Then again…Kakashi did start to read a book right before he fought Naruto, not exactly sensible behaviour.

He started to wonder if he should try to team up with someone when it happened. From somewhere to the east he heard a scream.

It was a girl's scream, so it had to be Sakura. Without even thinking about how much he exposed himself, Naruto made his way towards the scream as fast as he could manage.

Had the bastard Jônin hurt her? He wouldn't do that, would he?

It didn't take him long to locate her, and she looked horrible.

Her face was contracted in an expression of pure terror. Foam was coming from her mouth and she was pale as a ghost. What the hell happened to her?

"Sakura?" he tried carefully.

There was no response. "Sakura?" he tried again, shaking her gently by the shoulder. As before there came no answer. What should I do? What is wrong with her?

/

From his hiding place in a nearby tree, Kakashi observed Naruto's attempt to wake the girl. He had no idea how such a simple genjutsu could affect her as strongly as it apparently did. But now that he observed at least one of his temporary charges taking priority of a team-mate over the objective, he allowed himself to hope.

There was the off chance that Naruto had figured out the meaning of the test, but studying the little scene below, assured him that wasn't the case.

Naruto was genuinely concerned over the state Sakura was in.

Now if only he could get the others to work with him to get a bell. That would enable them to pass the test, and actually becoming a team.

Looking at the sun, Kakashi decided that it was time to find the last member of the team. Sasuke needed to be given a chance as well. He was the top of his class after all.

There had been some shuriken that he threw earlier, but that had been easily avoided. And even if Sakura had been easy to trap, Kakashi would not underestimate Sasuke.

Making his way back towards the start point, he found the boy hidden in a tree. Sasuke hadn't seen him yet, but that was about to change.

Kakashi moved himself, so as to appear to just be strolling along a path beneath the tree. He had his book out, but wasn't paying attention to the content, as he'd done with Naruto. Sasuke needed to learn, just like the others.

From the corner of his eye, and from the boy's scent, he kept close attention to Sasuke's movements.

The boy moved quickly from one area to another, probably setting some traps. That was a clever idea, but hardly educational. Kakashi hid himself and made a couple of shadow clones and sent them, unnoticed by Sasuke, to disable the traps. Then he was back in the open as if nothing had happened.

It took less than five seconds for the clones to disarm the traps. Both traps were designed to toss kunai at two different locations, indicating that he wanted to move Kakashi away from those areas. Rookie number one would be in for a little surprise when he decided to strike.

It didn't take long before several shuriken was hurled out from Sasuke's hiding place. Kakashi didn't even bother to use a Kawarimi. He just turned himself out of the way, all the time keeping his nose buried in the book.

Kakashi had to smile at the noticeable lack of action in the seconds that followed. It would seem that Sasuke still had a little to learn about how to deal with unexpected turn of events.

After a couple more seconds, Sasuke walked out of hiding, with a dark scowl plastered on his face. Kakashi would probably have found the expression a bit more intimidating, if it hadn't come from a twelve year old boy.

Kakashi lowered the book and peered over the top. He made sure that the look he gave Sasuke was portraying boredom, as to make the boy even more annoyed than he already seemed to be.

"I was wondering when you would show up," Kakashi said, lowering the book enough to show his whole face.

"I'm not like the other two," the boy stated as he walked closer.

Sasuke had a body language that told Kakashi that he would underestimate anyone. It told the world that he was the superior no matter who he was facing. The way he acted superior was at some level designed to make his enemies mad (it had been a clan trait)…probably worked most of the time to.

At the moment, he was almost daring Kakashi to lower the book...and in doing so, encouraging him to keep reading in defiance.

Kakashi decided that he would abide to the boy's body language and see how it would go. "That is a lot of talk…now let us see if there is anything to it shall we?" he replied while putting the book away.

Not one muscle in Sasuke's face moved. Kakashi had to credit the boy for keeping his true feelings hidden as well as he did. Only experience told Kakashi what the boy was about to do next.

Sasuke shot forward with good speed for a genin. As he leapt into the air, Kakashi deducted what the genius wanted to do. The angle of the attack was not good for a convenient attack intended to harm. A high kick aimed at his side, would force Kakashi to block high, making it easy to grab the foot with the other arm, occupying both of them.

Kakashi had no more time to think as the boy was too close, but whatever his plan was, Kakashi would make sure that it failed. With sudden increase of speed, he grabbed the boy's leg before it connected, and used Sasuke's momentum combined with his own to throw the boy along the direction he had jumped.

Sasuke tumbled on the ground but managed to recover quickly. He shot to his feet and immediately started weaving seals.

Kakashi noted the combination and his eye widened in recognition. Is the boy able to use such an advanced jutsu at that age? He hurriedly weaved his own hand seal combination for a 'Doton' jutsu.

Kakashi finished before Sasuke, and dropped into the ground as the earth liquefied beneath his feet like water, but even underground he felt the soaring heat of the jutsu Sasuke unleashed.

No wonder he was the rookie of the year, if he had learned that kind of jutsu at such a young age. It usually took years of practice to be able to use elemental techniques, and would require that you, at the very least had someone to teach you how it should be done.

That would mean that Sasuke had learnt it when his family was still alive…year's ago. No wonder he considered a genius.

Now was not the time to dwell on such things however, as the boy needed to be taught why he was better off when he had help than on his own.

Kakashi shifted his location so he was directly under the boy, and proceeded to grab his leg and pulled him under in the same movement as he got out.

As Kakashi left the ground, the earth solidified, trapping Sasuke's body from the neck down.

Kakashi kneeled in front of the trapped genin, mostly just to annoy him. "Much talk, but not much to show for it," he teased.

Sasuke didn't respond verbally, he just continued to glare.

"The third shinobi way…ninjutsu," Kakashi said to no one in particular before looking down at Sasuke. "That was an impressive jutsu…so you were right about not being like the others…they could at least use their techniques effectively."

Now he was just teasing. Sasuke's jutsu was in a completely different league than anything his team-mates would be able to dish out. Naruto's Kage Bunshin was just impressive in the amount of chakra it took to produce them. Sasuke's combined amount with manipulation, to the extent that most chuunin wouldn't be able to do anything like what Sasuke just did.

Sasuke didn't respond this time either, but his scowl deepened at the insult.

Not having anything to do with his remaining time, Kakashi just stood up and left for the clearing with the training-poles and the memorial stone.

From over his shoulder he heard Sasuke curse angrily under his breath.

As he walked away, he thought about the genins individual performances.

He would say that Naruto was the one that did best, even if his taijutsu form was lacking. The reason he'd done so well was Kakashi's own slip.

Naruto had caught him off guard with an attack that should have been leagues above his abilities. His use of Kage Bunshin also wasn't lost on Kakashi. He worked them as a team, doing different tasks directed at one goal, just the thing Kakashi was looking for…if only he would include the rest of the real team.

Sakura had been the most disappointing of them all. She'd just run back and forth, trying to find Sasuke. It had been ridiculously easy to trap her in a simple genjutsu that had knocked her out right away. What was most surprising was the fact that the illusion was designed to create panic…not to knock people out.

The rookie of the year wasn't disappointing at all. He'd planed ahead, and would probably have succeeded in leading him into a trap if he hadn't disabled them.

The boy had the skills, there was no denying that. The Katon he used also showed how advanced his chakra was developed, and hinted at a potential that was largely untapped. The last Uchiha still had a lot to learn about surprises though. He didn't seem to handle plan deviations as well as one could have hoped.

Still, they all lacked the basic skill that this test was designed for. None of them resorted to real teamwork. He would give Naruto a point on the fact that he rushed back to Sakura when he heard her scream. That was a trait that should be in place with every shinobi, but it was far from enough.

Thinking it over, he took off in the direction he had left her. No harm observing them during the remaining time.

He found Naruto there, still trying to wake the girl. Kakashi noted that Naruto had no clue what he was doing, so it appeared that his ninja talent wasn't only lacking in taijutsu.

What was interesting to note however was that he seemed to have completely forgotten about the mission to get a bell and was now fully occupied with Sakura's wellbeing.

After a moment or two, Sakura started to stir. She got up in a sitting position so fast that she actually knocked Naruto over with her head. She then started looking around, not really seeing anything, muttering "Sasuke-kun? Sasuke-kun!" over and over, as if she expected him to be there.

She was in shock.

/

Naruto seated himself upright and rubbed his forehead where Sakura had head-butted him. "That hurt Sakura-chan," he whined, but her expression was enough to shatter any annoyance on his part.

He was genuinely worried when she didn't wake up no matter how much he tried to wake her. He had thought her paralyzed or maybe even worse.

Now, Sakura's eyes seemed to search for something, but she didn't even noticing him. She kept asking "Where is Sasuke-kun?" in a small voice.

The question wasn't directed at him, but seemingly to the world in general.

It was as if she was asking herself, searching for an answer she didn't know. He recognised it from one of Iruka-sensei's lectures. Sakura was in shock.

"Sakura-chan?" he tried carefully.

She didn't respond more than to turn her head a little in his direction. Her eyes however didn't focusing on him.

"Sakura-chan….? He tried again in a softer voice that came out a little hoarsely.

This time she did respond, but not to his words. She suddenly just got to her feet, and started to franticly look around, repeating "Sasuke-kun?" over and over.

When she suddenly took off, Naruto scrambled to his feet and ran after her. He managed to follow but had to work to keep up.

"Sakura-chan, wait!" he shouted.

This time, he got an answer. "We have to find Sasuke-kun!" she yelled back almost desperately.

"Why? What happened?" he shouted back. He wondered if it could have something to do with why she had been out cold.

He had no time for more musing, because just as Sakura entered a clearing, she suddenly froze in mid-step. She went white as a ghost…then she screamed and fainted.

Worried, he darted over to protect his unconscious team-mate. What he saw however made him blink in surprise, and then he lost his breath to hysterical laughter.

Sasuke was there, buried to his neck in the ground. He had no idea why Sakura fainted and felt a bit guilty about not helping her right away, but the sight was just too much.

"Stop laughing you idiot!" shouted the buried Sasuke who didn't find the situation that funny at all, and seeing Naruto bent over laughing just made it more humiliating.

When Sasuke resumed his effort to try and dig himself out, Naruto regained his self-control, and moved to help him, chuckling as he did.

Sasuke only huffed when Naruto started to dig him out. Sasuke was too proud to actually ask for help, but wasn't about to refuse.

When he finally was free, he didn't even thank Naruto for the help. He just moved over to Sakura and proceeded to wake her up.

He didn't have to put much effort in it; he only kneeled by her side and said her name, "Sakura."

He had much more success then Naruto did and she came too in a few seconds. The first thing she did was to hug Sasuke fiercely and start to cry.

"You're alive!" she managed to shout in between sobs.

Naruto rushed over, worried again, "Sakura-chan! What's wrong?" he tried, but she didn't answer. She had buried her face in Sasuke's neck, making the fabric damp with her tears.

Sasuke on the other hand wasn't that worried, and he just shook her off. It took some work, but he managed to pry her off him when she calmed down a bit.

"I-I thought y-you w-were hurt…" she tried to explain, still crying.

"Well I'm not," Sasuke answered back as he got to his feet.

"Yeah…but…I-I saw you…You h-had so many k-kunai a-and s-shuriken in y-you…" she calmed down and got her voice under control again. "I thought you were hurt…" was all she managed as way of explanation, voice still weak.

Naruto got a lump in his throat when he heard how much Sakura cared. She had really believed that Sasuke was hurt, and it had hurt her feelings really badly. A stray thought of Sasuke and Sakura as a happy couple entered his mind. For some reason, he thought they would make a good match.

There was a brief moment where the world got a little out of focus, and he had to stifle a yawn. It would seem he was a bit tired still.

Sasuke's sigh brought him back in the moment.

Sasuke looked up at the sun. "Time's running out. It's almost noon."

He turned towards the other two before he started to walk away, "I'm off."

Naruto was about to give a rude comment, but Sakura interrupted him, "Sasuke-kun do you honestly believe you can get one of those bells?"

Naruto wasn't sure, but he thought that he detected a little bit of desperation in Sakura's voice.

Sasuke just grunted as way of response and continued walking.

Sakura continued her rant, somewhat more desperately. "Uh…I mean…there's no more time and…even if we couldn't manage it this time…I'm sure, next time…if we give it our all…"

Sasuke cut her off with one of the nastiest glares Naruto had ever seen him make. Sakura, whom the glare was intended, looked like she'd been struck, then she just dropped her head in defeat.

Sasuke turned to leave again, but after a few steps he stopped and lingered. His back was against them, so they couldn't see his face.

"Only I can kill him," he stated. His voice was low and held no determination. It was as if he were confessing something.

Naruto wasn't sure what to do. It was like he was intruding on a conversation he wasn't meant to hear.

Sakura looked up again, suddenly very nervous. Naruto knew how she felt. He was afraid to move, and remind them that he actually was there.

"Who…? Do you mean Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked perplexed, very carefully, so not to disturb the Uchiha's train of though.

Sasuke didn't visibly react, he only continued to talk. "He made me…cry…"

Naruto wasn't sure what to think about that. He didn't see the great harm in crying. Sure it was a waste of time, but not serious enough to kill over. He himself had cried on several occasions…usually when he was very happy.

Neither did Sakura seem all that sure after Sasuke's statement, she resorted to repeating what Sasuke had said, forming it into a question. "You cried…?"

This was starting to get ridiculous Naruto thought. He was actually starting to become scared by the scene. What would they do if he interrupted? Would they get angry? Embarrassed?

With slow motions, he tried to walk away from the two, who didn't seem to notice him any more.

As he moved further away, he heard Sasuke mutter something under his breath, too low to make out any real words. Sakura on the other hand was a little louder, "What…what are you talking about…!"

What he heard next chilled him to the bone for some reason he didn't fully understand.

"My only goal is to have my revenge. I have to become stronger than he is…now," he heard Sasuke say with determination.

Something clicked in Naruto's head. Something was very wrong…like towers of cards just came crashing down all around him, and he had no idea why.

Sasuke's words were very egocentric and disturbing, true, but it was more than that…It was as if the words somehow represented a deep down fear, making Naruto's stomach contract painfully and he felt physically ill.

He didn't know exactly why, but he needed Sasuke to stop talking about…whatever he was talking about…'Killing his brother! Avenger!'...He just needed him to stop.

Without thinking he stormed back into the clearing, "Sasuke! Listen to me! Don't think like that! Please, just don't think like that!" he pleaded. He just needed Sasuke to stop.

Before Sasuke had time to answer or look at him for that matter, the bell signalled the end of the exercise.

Sasuke looked in the direction of the sound, and Naruto heard him say, "Crap! I should have saved my breath." Then he just walked away towards the sound.

Sakura didn't say anything. She just sighed heavily and followed Sasuke's lead.

Naruto realized that his hands were trembling and his t-shirt felt damp with cold sweat. It wasn't from cooped up energy, or anger, but out of fear.

He was genuinely afraid of what Sasuke had talked about. The bell felt like a blessing, as it had effectively stopped Sasuke from talking about whatever it was he was talking about.

With a deep breath he started to jog after his two team-mates, trying intently to forget the horrible feeling he'd just felt. "Hey guys! Wait up!" he shouted, but neither of them bothered to answer.

It was getting irritating to be ignored, but the irritation also washed away any lingering fear, so he stuck with it. If they didn't want to talk, he wouldn't talk to them either.

As the silence stretched on, his thoughts involuntarily drifted back to what Sasuke had said. It was strange to realize that he didn't know the reason why he reacted like he did.

It had just felt so horrible wrong when Sasuke talked like that. It was a bit like yesterday on the school roof, only a hundred times worse. Maybe the Hokage would know what was wrong. After all, the old geezer knew about everything.

When the trio walked into the clearing with the three training-posts, they found it empty. There were a couple of bento boxes by the stone that hadn't been there before when the test started, but no Kakashi.

Without saying a word Sasuke walked over to the poles. In no hurry to talk, Sakura just followed him in silence. Refusing to be the first to break the silence, Naruto shuffled after her, grumbling as he did.

"Ah, you're all here," they heard Kakashi say when they were halfway to their destination. All of them turned towards the masked Jônin, who was now standing by the stone, but Sakura looked unsure about something.

"What do you mean, all here? I can't see Naruto anywhere," she replied.

Naruto found her words downright hurtful. "Hey! I'm right here you know!" he replied angrily over his shoulder.

Sasuke didn't say a word, but raised an eyebrow.

Kakashi on the other hand just shook his head. "I'm very disappointed in all of you. Naruto is here, in fact, he's been with you for a while now."

Naruto nodded sagely and pumped his chest. "Damn right I have!"

Sakura and Sasuke just looked at the white haired Jônin. After a couple of seconds Sasuke muttered, "…genjutsu."

Sakura immediately started weaving hand-seals, "Kai!"

The world around Naruto started to wobble a bit, but nothing more happened as far as Naruto was concerned. For Sasuke and Sakura however, Naruto melted into existence a few feet away.

"What were you doing Naruto! Why didn't you end the genjutsu when the bell rang?" Sakura scolded.

Naruto however didn't even know what she was talking about. "What do you mean? What genjutsu?" he resorted irritably. This was getting ridicules.

Kakashi sighed, "And you two didn't even notice when he disappeared," he said in a disappointed voice. Turning towards Naruto he added, "More surprisingly however, is that Naruto here didn't seem to notice anything at all."

"Didn't notice what?" Naruto asked, still confused. He had lost track of what was going on.

Sasuke scowl deepened. "You cast the jutsu," he accused, "Why?"

Kakashi smiled back at him, "To see if you would notice."

"You cast a jutsu on me!" Naruto demanded outraged. He received a slap on the back of his head from Sakura. She was getting tired of Naruto's stupidity. "Shut up and listen Baka!"

"Yes I did," Kakashi replied, unfazed by Naruto's outburst.

/

Five minutes later Naruto found himself tied to the pole in the middle. Sakura and Sasuke were seated on either side of him, not looking happy at all. Kakashi stood a few feet away, not looking all that pleased himself, then again, he didn't look disappointed either.

The silence was only broken by the genin's growling stomach. Even Naruto joined, as his makeshift breakfast hadn't filled him up, just like Ayame warned him it wouldn't.

"Well, listen to the little stomachs growl…" Kakashi began. "By the way you three, I have an announcement about this exercise."

No one interrupted him. They just continued to announce their hunger without words.

"None of you need worry any more about being sent back to the academy," he told them with a smile.

Naruto felt the edges of his mouth being drawn upwards into a smile. They'd passed? He told them they had passed!

"We don't need to…It means all three of us…" Naruto tried, but was too exited to say anything right.

Kakashi interrupted him before he managed to correct what he said or add anything more, "…are hopeless. More schooling would be pointless."

The Jônin didn't move a muscle. He just stood there smiling, with his hands in his pockets. As the excitement died down he added, "None of you will ever be shinobi!"

No one said anything at first. Naruto was so shocked that he couldn't even protest.

Kakashi lost his easy going attitude and looked much more serious as he glared at them. "Give it up. None of you will ever be a ninja!"

Somehow, to Naruto, this wasn't as bad as when Sasuke had talked about revenge, but it was close to it. If he didn't get to be a shinobi, then how could he ever become Hokage? How could he win the respect of the village? How could Hinata ever respect him?

Naruto panicked and pointedly forgot everything he'd learned from the dreams and from the academy. "What do you mean give up!" he shouted. He fought against the ropes, but they were too strong. "Give me a break! Okay, so maybe none of us got our hands on one of your stupid bells but why the heck should we quit over that!"

"Because not one of you has what it takes!" answered Kakashi without missing a beat.

What happened next took Naruto completely by surprise. Suddenly Sasuke was charging towards Kakashi. It all happened so fast that Naruto hadn't even registered him getting to his feet. He heard Sakura cry "Sasuke!" just next to him, forgetting the '–kun' altogether.

Sasuke drew a Kunai in mid sprint, and raised it for a stab.

What happened next was done so fast that Naruto was unable to see what really happened; only that Sasuke was suddenly pinned to the ground with one arm held behind his back by Kakashi, who was sitting on Sasuke's back and resting a foot on the teme's head.

Naruto was speechless. A small part of him remembered what the white haired man had said. Two things he had said actually; about fighting fast to conceal secrets, and about loosing control of your temper.

Kakashi had moved so fast, and defeated Sasuke so easily that Naruto could only look on in awe. And then there was Sasuke, whom was usually calm and acting as if everything about him was cool, brought down like Chouji without lunch. It didn't take him long to realize that he to had not been thinking straight a few moments ago.

All that prevented him from doing something stupid was the ropes that held him in place. He didn't think that he would have attacked the teacher like Sasuke did, but still…he would have done something stupid.

Kakashi just sat calmly on Sasuke, looking as bored as ever, "What you are is a trio of spoiled brats…"

He was cut off by Sakura who shouted at him in outrage "Don't step on Sasuke-kun! Get off him!"

Kakashi silenced her, and any addition Naruto cared to offer with another irritated glare. "Are you trying to make fun of shinobi with your behaviour?" He demanded. "Well, are you?"

Neither Naruto nor Sakura responded. "Did you even stop to wonder for one minute why you were divided into teams?"

The question struck a tune for Naruto. Teams generally worked by…well, working together. There had been several group assignments in the academy…could it be?

"Uh…Excuse me?" Sakura ask in an uncertain voice.

"Obviously not," Kakashi said, while putting pressure on Sasuke's arm, making him winch. "So you missed the entire point of the exercise."

Naruto was still a little out of the moment, so when he thought out loud, "…teamwork?" he didn't really realize that he had said it out loud.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow, and his mask moved as if he got a smug smile under it. "That's right."

Sakura glanced over her shoulder at Naruto, her eye's where asking a silent question. Sasuke actually managed to look surprised that Naruto seemed to know something at all, but that was more because it is hard to remain proud and all knowing when you got someone's sandal on your head.

"If the three of you had come at me…together…you might have been able to take the bells," Kakashi explained. He had a more relaxed tone than before.

Naruto felt proud of his lucky guess. None of the others seemed to notice his surprise; he wanted to keep it that way.

Sakura on the other hand noticed something that Naruto had not. "If we were expected to function as a team, why do you only have two bells?" she asked bewildered. "Even if we'd worked together, one of us still would have had to go without lunch. You're preaching teamwork, but you played us against each other!"

Naruto got a bit nervous. It wouldn't be good if she asked him anything about that.

Kakashi just gave her a bored look, as if she had missed something obvious.

"That was the idea."

Naruto and Sakura stared at the masked Jônin. Seeing their reaction, Kakashi decided to elaborate. "The situation was set up to reveal which of you would set aside your individual interests and propose to the others that you should work together."

He settled his gaze on Sakura before he continued. "Instead of which you Sakura, ignored Naruto who was trying his best, right in front of you, while you focused your attention on Sasuke, though you didn't know were he was."

Sakura blushed in embarrassment and was saddened by the accusation.

"Sasuke here," Kakashi dropped his gaze down towards Sasuke, "had already decided that the two of you would just get in his way and he would be better off on his own…"

Sasuke scowled as Kakashi moved his foot a bit, forcing his face down in contact with the ground.

Kakashi shifted his attention onto Naruto, "And then there is Naruto, who tried to do single-handedly what should have been the work of all three." Naruto felt embarrassed by the comment, but reacted only with a pout.

There was a moment of silence before Kakashi continued.

"You are a team! Learn to act as one! Yes it is necessary for a ninja to have individual skills, but what is even more important now is teamwork! Making a play as an individual is bad for the team and exposes you comrades to unnecessary danger."

Kakashi reached behind his back into his equipment-pouch while he talked. "You might as well kill them yourself…here's an example…"

The Jônin took out a Kunai and held it to Sasuke's throat. "…Sakura! Kill Naruto. Or Sasuke dies."

Sakura's eyes were wide open. She looked frantic, which made Naruto very nervous. 'She wouldn't…would she?'

"That day could come, when one of you may be taken hostage, and you're forced to make such a choice," Kakashi explained as he got off Sasuke's back.

"When you are on a mission your lives will always be on the line."

Sasuke seated himself upright as Kakashi walked over to the stone.

"Look at this marker…all these names carved into the stone. Hero's of our village…ninja."

Naruto's ear caught the word 'hero'. If the names on that stone belonged to heroes…then his name should be on it too.

He wanted to shout out that his name was going on that stone, but then he decided against it. He had a good thing going, being the one that was right about the real meaning of the exercise, even if it was mostly luck…why spoil it with an outburst.

Kakashi was silent for a moment before he continued.

"It is a memorial. These are the names of people that have died in the line of duty…"

Naruto felt his determination to get his name on the stone just drain away, leaving a pit where his stomach should be.

"…It includes the names of my best friends," Kakashi continued. He looked at the genin over his shoulder, his expression showing dead seriousness.

"…If this had been real…you would not only have failed you're mission…you would most likely be dead. Only one of you would have had a chance of having you're name added to this stone."

Kakashi's words didn't just tell them how serious he was, it also teased their curiosity. Naruto found himself hoping that it was him Kakashi was talking about. That way, he would at least have that much.

The Jônin turned around and faced them. His expression didn't change. "…it would have been Naruto."

Naruto didn't know exactly how to react. He started to smile, but the sudden tension in the air stopped him. He could literally feel the anger coming off Sakura and Sasuke.

"After he failed to get a bell, and he heard Sakura scream…" Sakura blushed when Kakashi mentioned it,"…he went out of his way to help her. When the two of you found Sasuke, he was the one to dig him out."

Naruto smiled at his team-mates irritation, which only helped to make it flare up again. He knew it was stupid to make them angry, but it wasn't often someone told him he was better than the teme.

Sakura carefully raised a hand. Kakashi nodded for her to start asking, "Sensei, if Naruto is the only one that would have ended up with his name on the stone…why is he the only one tied to a pole?"

"Yeah! Why?" Naruto agreed. It was nice being the centre of attention but he was somewhat curious about that himself.

Kakashi shook his head. "I didn't say that he would have ended up on it, just that he was the only one that had a chance," he answered in a disappointed tone.

Naruto frowned.

Kakashi looked directly at Naruto, "When he helped the two of you, he forgot all about the target. A ninja who chooses team-mates over an important assignment isn't rewarded…often it's downright frowned upon."

For some reason, Naruto got the feeling that Kakashi wasn't really disappointed. Not at him anyway. It just sounded so odd…and out of place when the Jônin said it.

"In this scenario, Naruto has compromised the objective and is now being punished for it." Kakashi looked at the stone again before he continued. "He had the chance and opportunity to rally the two of you…but he didn't."

Naruto felt more confused than embarrassed from what Kakashi was saying. It was as if the Jônin was praising Naruto at the same time as he was criticising him.

"That said…he did better than the rest of you. He was at least trying to do something in stead of just running around like children," Kakashi added harshly.

Sakura looked at the ground, refusing to meet Kakashi's gaze. Sasuke didn't react at all, not visibly.

The silence stretched on, making the genin uncomfortable.

"…Listen. I'll give you all one last chance. One that will be far more difficult than our last little game with bells," Kakashi said after a while. "If you are prepared to continue, you may have one of the lunch boxes here...But no sharing with Naruto, he goes hungry."

Naruto's stomach growled in protest along with him. "Why?"

"Because you abandoned the objective, shinobi are not rewarded for such acts," Kakashi responded as he made to leave.

After two steps he stopped and glared back at them. "If either of you two feeds him, you fail the test right there. My word is law. Do you understand?"

Before anyone had time to respond, the Jônin disappeared in a swirl of leaves and dust.

"I don't need to eat anything! I ate breakfast so I'm not hungry!" proclaimed Naruto in an effort to keep the spirit up. His stomach however was disagreeing with him, somewhat more convincingly than his words.

The other two didn't say anything, and from their expressions, Naruto didn't think they would say anything friendly if they did.

Sasuke shuffled over and took one of the boxes without a word. Sakura followed his example, and both of them seated themselves by the poles next to Naruto.

He could smell rice, which seemed to still be warm. It made his mouth water.

Naruto could do nothing but listen to the eating. He thought the noises were a bit louder then necessary, but that might just have been because he was hungry.

Luckily it didn't take long for his stomach to start growling again trying desperately to stop the sound of the other two eating.

Hungry as he was, he couldn't help but notices that after a few minutes Sasuke had stopped eating.

After another couple of agonizing minutes, Sasuke trusted his bento box in Naruto's direction. "Here, eat," he ordered without even looking up.

Sakura nearly chocked on her food. "Bu…But Sasuke-kun, Kakashi-sensei told us—!" Her protest was cut short by Sasuke, whom still had not raised his gaze from the ground.

"I'm not worried. He's probably miles away by now. And we'll all need our strength if we're going to work together to get those bells."

He paused two seconds before he continued. "You're no good to me if you're just going to be a liability."

Naruto didn't know what to say. The teme wanted him to eat, even if Kakashi had said otherwise.

A moment later, Sakura trusted her lunch towards Naruto as well. She didn't say anything, didn't even look him in the face.

A rush of emotion washed over Naruto. They were in fact risking their own chance to become real genin…for him. It made him feel both embarrassed and touched. It felt somewhat like when he was eating ramen with Iruka-sensei.

He was so moved by the act that all he managed to say was a weak, but emotional "thank you," to show his appreciation.

Out of nowhere, a large cloud of dust and smoke whirled up before the three.

The furious masked face of Kakashi appeared right in front of them, shouting at the top of his voice. "YOU…"

The face twisted into a smile, "…Pass!"

The genin stayed silent, too shocked to even move. Kakashi stood over them, as happy as they'd ever seen him.

Sakura was the first to say something. "We pass! But…why!"

"Because you have now taken a great leap forward," Kakashi answered cheerfully, if not very helpfully.

Sakura was the one to ask the next questions as well, but Naruto was just as curious. "Umm…what do you mean?"

"Up until now, all you've done is to listen unquestioningly to everything I've said," Kakashi explained, straightening up.

"A true shinobi seeks for the hidden meaning within the hidden meanings. In a ninja's world, those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders…are trash."

Kakashi paused and looked up at the sky. "However…those who don't care for, and support their comrades…are even lower than trash!"

Naruto was stunned. Moved, confused, embarrassed, surprised but most of all stunned. This teacher was actually very cool.

Kakashi looked form Sasuke to Sakura. "I made sure that you were set against little Naruto-kun here…", Kakashi was cut off by Naruto's instinctive exclamation-

"Hey!"

-But just continued as if it never happened. "…but you still decided to give him food…even after I specifically ordered you not to."

None of the Genin said anything.

"This exercise is now concluded. You all pass!" Kakashi gave them a thumbs-up.

"That's all for today, Team seven. Your duties will commence tomorrow!"

Naruto's cheering could be heard all the way back to Konoha.

/

"So, how'd it go Naruto-kun?" Ayame asked as he and Iruka arrived at the ramen stand.

Iruka had met up with Naruto, not long after he managed to pry himself off the pole where Kakashi and the rest of the team had left him.

It may have been a cruel thing to do, but Naruto had a sneaking feeling that it had something to do with escaping techniques, and in the end he had managed to free himself anyway.

"It was great Ayame-Oneesan!" Naruto replied happily. "That Kaka-sensei is really cool! And his test was really easy!" he lied proudly.

"Oh? Was it now?" Teuchi asked as he joined his daughter at the counter to take their order. Both Naruto and Iruka ordered regular flavoured ramen, before continuing.

"Yeah, it was! It was all about teamwork and stuff!"

Iruka smiled at how exited Naruto was for passing the test. In truth, he was really impressed. He'd eaten his lunch with the Hokage, who had told him about Kakashi's record for failing teams. Naruto's team was the first he had ever passed.

Iruka was dragged back to the moment when he heard Naruto say, "Thank you Oneesan and Ojisan! The oranges and all the ramen before bed really helped! You're the best!"

He looked at the ramen making duo in search for clues about what the genin was talking about. Naruto noticed, "They gave me some really good advice Iruka-sensei!" he explained.

Ayame folded her arms and nodded sagely, "People don't work without food. That goes without saying."

Teuchi, whom had started working on their order nodded in agreement. "Telling people not to eat isn't what you would expect from a responsible adult…not even shinobi is able to go without food."

Iruka was getting confused and turned to Naruto. The boy scratched the back of his head in mild embarrassment, "Kaka-sensei told us not to eat breakfast before the test…but I got these oranges from Ayame…"

Naruto suddenly seemed to panic, and he continued in a rush, "…They really helped me! They didn't break any rules…not really! It was more advice than an order!"

Iruka waved his hand in front of him and smiled to show that nothing was wrong. "It's alright Naruto. From what you said on the way, I would think that it was a way to keep you from having an easy time…anyway, wasn't the whole idea behind the test to have you disobey orders?"

Naruto calmed down and smiled. He was relived that he didn't get Ayame and Teuchi in trouble.

"That was a great favour you did for Naruto," Iruka said thankfully to the chef and his daughter.

"If I didn't know better…you could be the prime reason why Naruto here passed…" he added in a more playful voice while he messed with Naruto's hair.

Naruto didn't object, even if he was confident that he would have managed even without the food. He was after all an awesome ninja!

Ayame leaned a bit over the counter and got an evil glint in her eye, as she placed a couple of bowls in front of the two customers. She waited until both Iruka and Naruto said their "Itadakimasu!" before she mentioned the little deal she had made on Naruto's behalf.

"You know Iruka-san, it was more of a trade then a favour…sort of," she started. Iruka looked up at her with a cocked eyebrow and a mouth full of ramen.

Teuchi seemed to materialize by his daughter's side, eager to hear what she was trying to find out. Ayame smiled sweetly towards Naruto, who seemed oblivious to the danger he was in.

"He still hasn't told us who the new 'lucky girl' is."

Naruto started coughing with his mouth full, as Iruka swallowed. He looked from Ayame to Naruto and back again. "Lucky girl?" he asked a bit baffled.

Ayame nodded innocently, "Yeah…he was going to tell us last night…but then he seemed to be late for something and he had to rush off. Now however, he seem too have a lot of time to spare."

She said it all with a sweet smile that would unnerve even the most enduring torture victim. It was the smile that a big sister would use when she knew an embarrassing secret about her baby brother, or one a mother would have before the first meeting with her son's girlfriend.

Naruto started to sweat. He was trapped. It was the choice between leaving Ichiraku's Ramen or telling them he had a crush on Hinata...life could be really hard sometimes.

Iruka put his hand to his chin and seemed to remember something. "You know…I think I saw something at the academy yesterday…" he started slowly.

Naruto momentarily panicked. 'What on earth has Iruka seen? I haven't talked to Hinata at all!' That last thought brought his breathing back under control. He hadn't talked to her, something he was both sad and relieved over. Iruka couldn't know about it.

Ayame's smile grew positively evil, "What did you see Iruka-san?" she asked in the same sugar sweet voice.

Teuchi was now leaning on the counter as well, keen to find out whom the mystery girl could be.

Iruka was oblivious to how it would be for Naruto, so he just started retelling what he'd seen. "Well it was during the team assignment…you see, I noticed that Naruto had turned around in his seat. I think he was looking towards the back row in the classroom…"

Iruka gave Naruto a sideway look, and noted that the boy was looking unfazed, so he continued. "I didn't actually see that much actually, just how they acted."

It was true, Iruka hadn't seen anything really, just some glances and reactions. Naruto's thoughts wandered back to the team assignment. All he'd done was glance back…towards…the back row…where... Naruto's eyes widened as realization dawned. Iruka-sensei knows!

"Iruka-sensei!" he pleaded desperately, but it was too late. Iruka was already in 'lecture mode', and any good teacher is able to block out pleading voices that doesn't sound like a question. "…and then I noticed that a girl was pushing her fingers together…"

Ayame was now leaning so much forward, over the counter that Iruka was a bit concerned she would fall over it. "…Yes?" she urged him.

Naruto on the other hand was blushing madly.

"I think he was looking at Hinata…" Iruka said before he noticed that Naruto was blushing madly. He scratched the back of his neck nervously, "I'm sorry Naruto…I thought it was okay."

Ayame on the other hand had become ecstatic. "Hinata? What a beautiful name! What is she like? Is she cute? Is she nice? What is she like Naruto?" she practically demanded in a blizzard of questions.

Naruto was too embarrassed to speak. He wasn't ashamed for liking Hinata, far from it, but the way Ayame was going on just from her name was unnerving him to say the least.

She was asking so many questions that it was impossible to choose which one to answer. And how was he supposed to know what Hinata was like? He'd never really spoken to her in the first place.

Naruto was so busy trying to answer her questions too himself, and being embarrassed in general that he didn't notice exactly when Ayame stopped her interrogation. When he noticed the silence, he looked up at her.

She had a gentle smile on her face and was nowhere near as worked up as before, "It is alright Naruto-kun. You can tell me when you are ready."

With a heartfelt sigh, Naruto thanked her. It was hard to speak of something so new.

"I'm sorry Naruto-kun," she said again, "I was a little too forward. I apologize."

"Its okay, Ayame-Oneesan," Naruto replied. "I…I'll tell you another time."

Ayame smiled and nodded. "In your own time Naruto-kun, there is no need to rush it."

Iruka and Teuchi, who had been silently observing the two youths, just smiled. Ayame and Naruto was much like a little brother and an older sister. Ayame would tease Naruto in a good natured way, but never going too far.

With a chuckle, Teuchi patted Ayame on the head. Normally you didn't do stuff like that to a seventeen year old girl, but Ayame let it drop. Her father was only keeping the conversation on a playful level.

Iruka messed with Naruto's hair and apologized again. "I'm sorry Naruto…I didn't know you wanted to keep it a secret."

Naruto swallowed what he had in his mouth before answering. "It's alright Iruka-sensei…it's just so…new," he tried to explain.

"Well, if it means anything, I think she is a very sweet girl," Iruka assured him.

As Ayame walked to the back of the stand to wash some dirty dishes, Teuchi whispered to Naruto, "Don't be mad at Ayame-chan, Naruto. She only wants what best for you."

Naruto smiled and nodded. He wasn't mad at all. "It's okay Ojisan," Naruto reassured him. "I'll tell her when I know the answers to some of her questions."

Teuchi made sure Ayame was nowhere near before he responded. "That's good, because I'll never hear the end of it if you don't."

/

Sarutobi was seated in his office, smoking his pipe. It was a vice, he knew, but it was one that he felt was acceptable at his age. At the moment he was looking over an issue that was causing him to stress, feeling the uncomfortable worry of the unknown.

There were two written reports on his desk, both concerning a little boy that he'd watched grow up.

One of the reports was from his old student, Jiraiya, and he found the topic both concerning and suspicious. Jiraiya was coming home long before he was expected.

That wasn't what caused the concern. Neither was it the supposed mountain of information he was bringing with him, though that was really suspicious.

What worried the elderly Hokage was the message he received about Naruto. Jiraiya wrote that the boy may display unusual behaviour or abilities far above what he should be capable of in the time before he came back.

It was strange to get such messages from Jiraiya, whom had only met the boy a few times in all his life, every time before the boy's third birthday.

What was even more concerning, to Sarutobi at least, was the message that said Naruto may be changed. Jiraiya wrote that he'd mention it so any unusual behaviour on Naruto's part wouldn't be looked upon with too much suspicion and expose the boy to unnecessary suspicion.

Sarutobi could see logic in what Jiraiya had written, what little there was, but to him there were several other reasons for worry. Naruto was like a second grandson. To hear that there might be something wrong with him was like a hammer blow to his chest.

What was worse, Jiraiya also wrote that he shouldn't do anything about it, or confront Naruto about it before he got there to explain the situation. It was just a request, true, but Jiraiya had been very insisting on that point.

Sarutobi wasn't an unreasonable man, never had been, but it was hard to hear that something might be wrong about people you cared about and not doing anything about it…it was difficult.

The other report was from Kakashi. It had arrived late as usual, much to Sarutobi's annoyance. If there were anything wrong with Naruto, and he had to wait until Jiraiya arrived to confront the boy, then he could at least try to observe his exploits from a distance, to see if there was anything to his worries.

What he read in the report confirmed that there was something that was different. Naruto had launched a very skilful attack, found the secret goal of the bell-test before his team-mates and he didn't shout nearly as much as he was expected to.

These were all good changes, but it made the elderly Hokage worry about the cause. How did he change? Why did he change? What did it have to do with Jiraiya?

There were just too many unanswered questions. Not for the first time since the letter arrived Sarutobi felt nauseous. It would take Jiraiya a couple of days…maybe a week to arrive. It would probably feel much, much longer.

Sarutobi removed the pipe from his mouth and looked at it. It wasn't decorated or very expensive. It was just a plain old pipe. Putting it back in his mouth, he decided that he wouldn't go against Jiraiya's request, but that didn't stop him form talking to the boy about other things.

He would have to make time to eat with the boy in the coming days. Now that he was a genin, they should have lots to talk about.

End Chapter 3.

Updated: 10/11/09

There, I think I got most of the mistakes I made originally.

Author notes:

It was a short dream, because he didn't have a full nights sleep…and for some strange reason, I got really tired every time I tried to edit it.

The reason for Sasuke's lousy performance is simply the fact that Naruto did better than he did in canon…and the other more important fact, that Naruto imitated Sasuke's original attack from canon, but modified it by using his clones. I just want to make it perfectly clear that I didn't think of that attack myself, so the credit should still go to Kishimoto. I just wanted a less… (irritatingly) simple clone attack, than the 'Naruto Rendan' (which in my opinion is the least imaginative taijutsu move Kishimoto has created so far.

Naruto had already passed in Kakashi's book (not make-out-paradise) when he was tied to the pole. The reason he was tied up was simply that Kakashi wanted to test the other two. I tried to create a simple 'split-and-rule' strategy. He wanted to give the impression of favouring Naruto over the other two, but still keep him at their mercy. The British Empire used it very successfully during the colonial times.

Sasuke's ambition caused Naruto a great deal of trouble in canon, and is still going on, so I think Naruto has a good reason to feel uneasy about it (even if he does not know why yet). So there is the phobia. He's afraid of Sasuke's ambition.

Naruto's thoughts about Kakashi's disadvantage by holding a book are only apparent to him, because he observed the clone fight. It is always easier to spot other's mistakes than your own. Not because he knows more about being a shinobi than in canon.

Sennen Goroshi: A thousand years of pain. / Kawarimi no Jutsu: Substitution technique.