Here we go! The next chapter!
Author notes
'Thinking'
"Jinchuuriki speaking with thoughts"
"Bijuu speaking in Jinchuuriki's mind"
'Bijuu thinking'
"Bijuu speaking / transformed Jinchuuriki"
Inner speaking
Flashback/Dream/Letter
A Fox's Deception
Beginning of Team Seven
A week later, Naruto's sandaled feet clacked against the stone as he winded down the sunny, mildly populated path, heading to the academy for the Explanatory Meeting. As soon as he walked through the door, Kiba called out, "Failures aren't allowed here, baka!"
Sighing at Kiba's outburst, the blonde just pointed to his hitai-ate, which was tied across his forehead, "See this, Inuzuka? This is my hitai-ate. It means that I passed, dog breath."
Kiba looked stunned for a moment as he comprehended the fact that Naruto had actually managed to pass… he was, after all, the 'dunce'. Kiba stuttered an incoherent sound, before choking it back and glaring at the Jinchuuriki as Naruto made his way lithely to his seat.
"Troublesome," came an annoyed mutter from an abruptly awakened Shikamaru as Naruto clipped past him, catching Shikamaru's elbow with the zip of his open jacket. Rubbing his abused elbow, Shikamaru grumbled under his breath as his forehead gently smacked against the table, falling once more into slumber. He didn't bother to confront the dead-last on his miraculous graduation – it would be too much of a bother.
Flopping unceremoniously into his seat, Naruto put his head on his arms and relaxed his limbs, pretending to sleep as he challenged Sekimusha to another round of mental Shougi; he even added in fake snores to boot – he was, in fact, quite good at imitating real snores… though, he didn't know yet if that was a good thing.
Suddenly, with a crash that resounded around the relatively low murmur of the classroom, the door burst open to reveal a pink haired girl alongside a platinum blonde. As the two boisterous fan girls began fighting and bitching over Uchiha Sasuke, Naruto was very tempted to shove a textbook in each of their mouths. When he couldn't take the raucous din anymore, he 'woke' with a jolt and exclaimed, "For Kami's sake, shut the banshees up!"
The room fell quiet at his outburst and he rubbed his eyes dramatically, looking around 'blurrily' as though to get his bearings – his mind being hazed with 'sleep'. He had, in actual fact, gotten his ass completely kicked by the thousand year old Kyuubi… the thousand year old Kyuubi that knew how to kick his ass at Shougi.
Blinking a few times, he noticed that every single eye was on him. The two obnoxious girls were glaring, affronted by his venting irritation. "Oh, never mind…" He yawned widely, "My mistake… it was just you girls." He grinned happily, seemingly oblivious to the cracking of knuckles and the glares he was receiving.
In the Hokage's office, the Third and some assembled Jounin were looking into a crystal ball. Sarutobi sighed resignedly and motioned towards its glazed surface, "Naruto is causing trouble… as always." He watched with an acquiescent countenance as the rest of the mini-'drama' unfolded.
Instantly all the fan girls' glares were directed at his 'innocent-looking' face. The pink haired Sakura yelled, shaking her clenched fist at him, "Take that back!"
Ino nodded her platinum blonde head in agreement, "Yeah, kisama, take that back!"
Naruto huffed and retorted in a clipped tone, "My parents were married, thank you very much." Seeming nonchalant, he then dared to ask the dooming question, "What's so good about that Uchiha-teme anyways…-? He's just an ice-cold, stuck up prick of a pretty-boy Barbie with a pole stuck so far up his ass that he can never get it out."
"Don't call Sasuke-kun 'Uchiha-teme'!" came the predicted fan girl screech from every fan girl in the room, "–Or a 'prick of a pretty-boy Barbie'!" They angrily stomped their feet childishly, while shaking their clenched fists in the direction of the blonde.
Naruto just rolled his eyes in annoyance and exasperation. Honestly, he couldn't stand that Uchiha-jerk, Sasuke-kun – blergh, just hearing that prat's name made him pissed off. Kami help him if the Sasuke-bastard was on his team.
'Teme…'
He glared over in the Uchiha's direction, barley resisting the urge to bare his teeth in a feral manner.
Just then, Iruka came into the room in holding a clipboard in his hands. His eye twitched a bit at the murderous intent rolling in tsunami waves off the gathered group of fan girls, which was aimed entirely at the bothersome blonde. Sighing, he saw them flex their fingers as they started to circle round the 'unsuspecting' Uzumaki, who sat, painfully ignorant of the girls' plan, at his desk. Iruka was only a tiny bit surprised to note that Naruto was also radiating a subtle amount of killing intent – glaring at Uchiha Sasuke. Then again, he really shouldn't be even a bit surprised, as practically everyone knew that Naruto hated said Uchiha with a roaring passion.
The Uchiha had noticed the Kyuubi's container's glare directed at his person and mentally rolled his eyes at the dunce's antics. With a cock of a slender eyebrow, Sasuke gazed intensely right back, with calm nonchalance breezing over his pale features. Naruto's eye began to twitch at the Uchiha's audacity – Sasuke was acting so uncaring towards Naruto's obvious bitter loathing. Invisible competitive sparks of anger began forming between the two of them.
Iruka sighed and mentally checked that he still had one or two aspirins in his desk drawer. With as small huff, he proceeded to demand the children's attention.
"Settle down, class! Now, get back to your seats! Sasuke, Naruto, would you kindly stop looking lovingly into each other's eyes while I'm trying to take a class!"
"The hell?-! Iruka-sensei!" hollered Naruto irately.
At the Umino's last remark, both Sasuke and Naruto had whipped round to the teacher immediately, the former having only a healthy, disapproving scowl on his face, while the latter burst into a yell, with a faint red tinge tinting his tanned and whiskered visage from anger at the false implication.
"Ew, Iruka-sensei! Don't even imply false remarks like that! The stupid Uchiha-teme doesn't even deserve my full attention, let alone anything like that!"
"Well, Naruto, it's easy to jump to conclusions if you insist on fixing eyes with Sasuke so often. Stop glaring at him, sit down, quiet down and stay down!" Came the smart reply.
Naruto 'hmphed' and flopped back into his seat, crossing his arms and glowering at Iruka, each and every once in a while shooting a snarling glare at the ice-cold Sasuke, who shot a repulsed scowl right back.
Unbeknownst to all of them, in the Hokage's office, Sarutobi and the Jounin were chuckling quietly at the two boys.
Iruka stepped up to the front of the class, clearing his throat modestly, with a sheaf of paper in his hand.
"Class," He began in an important tone, "From this day you are no longer mere students of ninjutsu, but you are fully-fledged shinobi–"
A few whoops and scattered cheers punctured his speech. He was a bit peeved, seeing as he knew the speech off by heart – having said it quite a few times before. Even though he understood their excitement, once having been in their shoes in the past, he still didn't appreciate being interrupted.
He cleared his throat once more, "Anyway, as I was saying… Amid the ranks of shinobi, however, you are just novices – the lowest of the low. All your challenges still lie ahead. The next step that you will undertake is the assignment of official duties. You will do this on behalf of your village. You will be divided into three-men cells and receive a Jounin instructor as your mentor."
Naruto felt his eyelids dropping – they had all heard most of this information before from one of Iruka's punishment rants… Even then, they had been put to sleep. Sure enough, this time was no different, and Naruto distinctly heard the sharp smack of Shikamaru's head collide with the wooden desk the Nara sat at. Naruto was truly surprised that he had even been awake to start with.
"Shikamaru! Wake up, this is important!"
There was a sleepy groan from the Nara and he lifted his head, shooting a tired, disgruntled glare at their sensei. With a sigh, he rested his head on his hand to refrain from using the desk as a pillow once more.
"Now, moving on…" Iruka began again, eyeing the class with a fierce eye to see who else was on the verge of dreamland. "As I was about to say, these teams have been selected so that each person's individual grades and skills will balance out the cell's overall abilities and every team will be approximately equal…"
As Iruka began to read out the new Genin cells from the sheets of paper, there were a multitude of barely hidden groans from those who had managed to grasp every word their teacher had uttered through their drowsy haze. Naruto felt Sekimusha stir at the back of his mind. Before he could ask the Kyuubi anything, however, Iruka interrupted him.
"Team Seven will consist of Uzumaki Naruto–" Naruto straightened in his seat as he heard his name issue from the Umino's mouth. "Haruno Sakura–"
"Nani?-! I'm teamed with that?-!" A banshee-like shriek came from Sakura's seat as she pointed a quivering finger at Naruto. Naruto rolled his eyes and scoffed at her.
'Great… the frickin' Forehead Banshee…If I happen to get the pair, I'll quit immediately… I swear…'
"Quiet, Sakura. Team Seven: Naruto, Sakura and–"
Sakura crossed her fingers in her lap. 'No one but Sasuke-kun!'
Naruto gritted his teeth, eyes fixed on the paper in Iruka's hand. 'Anyone but Ino…'
"–Uchiha Sasuke."
"Yatta–!" yelled the pink haired girl as she danced in her seat. The girls groaned in disappointment as they shot heated glares of jealousy towards the cheering girl.
"…or Sasuke-teme. Fuck it!" Naruto swore at his own mask, cutting off Sakura's cheer. 'Stupid cocky bastard… just because I'm 'dumb' I get teamed with him and Pinky…' In his mind, Naruto heard the sinister, echoing laughter of the Kyuubi no Kitsune.
"I'm blaming this on you, Fox!" he pouted angrily.
"Honestly, Kit… you brought the whole 'mask' thing on yourself…"
"But I made sure I had about the same grades as Shikamaru! Why couldn't he be with Pinky and the Bastard instead?-!"
"Well, kit… It's kind of obvious that Yamanaka, Nara and the bloated Akimichi will be put together… their fathers being the original Ino-Shika-Cho trio."
"Oh, urusai, you… you… bastard!"
Naruto mentally cut off from the conversation as the Kyuubi began to laugh once more, his deep chuckled echoing in his ears, making it hard for him to hear.
"…Team Eight: Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata and Inuzuka Kiba…"
'A tracker team…' Naruto thought automatically. He was vaguely aware of Sasuke's glare on the back of his head as he blocked out Sakura's animated daily Sasuke-obsessing ritual.
"…Ten: Yamanaka Ino, Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chouji…"
'Bastard Musha…' Naruto slipped back into sulking at his self-bought about misfortunes.
"Iruka-sensei! Why do I have to be with Naruto of all people?-!" His name slipped off Sakura's tongue with a bitter note, almost as though every syllable threatened to choke her as she spat it out. Naruto sighed and closed his eyes… lunch break couldn't come fast enough.
During lunch, he sat at his swing outside the academy as usual, eating some rice balls. The swing was considered his because no one else would go near it after he first swung on it. As he finished off one of his rice balls, a sharp sting was suddenly felt from an invisible seal at the back of his right hand.
Naruto blinked in surprise and his eyes shot towards the back of his hand, where –of course– there was nothing there… Nothing there but the seal. He knew immediately what it meant.
'An intruder is at my home!'
Quite a few years ago, Sekimusha has taught Naruto how to make some useful seals – this one being one of them. This seal alerts him whenever someone enters the place the seal was at – which, in this case, was Naruto's apartment.
With this seal, Naruto also could tell who went in there. If it was someone whom he had placed chakra samples of in the seal –which was basically anyone he knew and met– the seal on his hand would sting and give him a chakra sample of that person. If it was a stranger, it would just sting.
Forming a familiar cross-shaped seal and into another seal, Naruto whispered, "Henge Kage no Bunshin." With a very small puff of ninja smoke, a small canary with blue eyes appeared on his shoulder. He looked at it, "You know what to do."
With a nod, the canary flew off in the direction of Naruto's apartment. It landed on a tree near the window and spied the intruder. The canary watched, unblinkingly.
The intruder had gravity-defying sliver hair and an onyx black eye. His other eye was covered by a slanted hitai-ate belonging to the Leaves. The lower half of his face was covered by a black mask that only left his one eye seen. Judging by his clothing, he was a Jounin.
The Kage Bunshin instantly recognized him as the infamous Hatake Kakashi from the Bingo books he owned. His name was in almost every copy.
Name: Hatake Kakashi
Registration ID: 009720
Age: 27
Hidden Village: Konohagakure no Sato
Rank: A-Rank Jounin, Former ANBU captain
Kekkei Genkai: Sharingan (Only known non-Uchiha member to possess it)
Alias: Copy Ninja no Kakashi, Sharingan no Kakashi
Trademark Technique: Raikiri, Chidori
Trademark Weapon: White Chakra fang
Others: Sole son of the deceased Hatake Sakumo 'Konoha's White Fang', can be recognized on occasion with an Icha Icha Paradise book
It differed slightly in every Bingo book, but that was about what every one of them stated.
'What is he doing here?'
Inside the apartment, Kakashi looked around the living room with menial interest, and spotted an open scroll. Filled with curiosity despite himself, he went over to the table and picked it up.
'Shit!'
"Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu?" the Jounin muttered to himself, "Now, where did he get this? I'm sure that the academy doesn't teach its students these sorts of jutsu's…" With the scroll still in his hands, the Hatake gazed around the small, neat apartment. There was something quite out of place… Why was the house so tidy, when the kid himself obviously was not?
'Perhaps there is more to this prankster than meets the eye…' The Jounin thought, fixing his single eye once more on the scroll in his hands. 'I wonder… is there anything more behind the pranks?'
As the Jounin continued to mull around the apartment, outside, unknown to the copy ninja, there was a small puff of ninja smoke and the canary turned into Naruto. He walked through the door casually and spotted the Jounin for the 'first time'.
With a great theatrical start, the blonde yelled and pointed an accusing finger at him, "Hey! What are you doing here, teme? This is my home!"
Kakashi smiled lazily at him, "Oh, I was just checking your home, as the Hokage ordered me to do so." Kakashi smiled kindly, his eye upturned, as Bunshin-Naruto surveyed him suspiciously.
"Then why do you have my jutsu scroll in your hands?" He demanded angrily.
Kakashi blinked, realizing for the first time that he, still, indeed had the jutsu scroll clasped lightly in a gloved fist. "Oh, about this…" Kakashi shifted a bit, not being used to being 'caught in the act', so to speak. He managed avoid the accusing question, however, with a simple, "How did you get it?"
Naruto-clone blinked, cautious of the fact that the Jounin knew full well that Academy students didn't learn these types of jutsu (especially ones only used by other higher ranking shinobi or young-prodigies) – such as Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu.
"That? Well, I found it lying around at a training ground. Since no one was there, I took it." The clone suddenly adopted a very childish and exasperated look. "I've been trying to do it for months now!" lied the Kage bunshin, "All, I've managed to do is getting stuck underground!"
Kakashi's one visible eye was narrowed in slight suspicion, "I see…"
Suddenly, Bunshin-Naruto looked at him and adopted a wide, toothy grin, "You're a Jounin, right?"
Said Jounin nodded warily, "Right…" His ninja senses were tingling suspiciously at the bouncy boy.
"Then can you teach me how to do it? Please!" Naruto had even put on the most basic form of his puppy-dog eyes that, he was proud to say, quite a few can't resist. He didn't put on his better puppy-eyes though, because, truthfully, he had mastered the jutsu in Kakashi's hand years ago.
Being an ex-ANBU captain, Kakashi wasn't even fazed by it. He looked at the teen calmly, "Maybe if I have time."
The blonde's grin grew even wider as he jumped up and down in excitement. Since Naruto was distracted, the Jounin disappeared with a twirl of smoke and leaves without the teen's notice… or so he thought. Once Kakashi was out of the range of a twenty meter radius of him, Kage-Naruto calmed down and dispelled itself with a puff of smoke.
Back at the academy, all the knowledge of the Kage Bunshin was instantly transferred to the original Naruto, who was waiting for the Jounin instructor with the other members of Team 7. 'So, by the way he was looking around my apartment, he's our Jounin instructor. Hm… this can be both a blessing and a curse. He would focus mainly on Sasuke-teme as everyone else does and leave the two of us behind. While I can train myself without his knowledge easily because of that fact, the pink banshee can't. She'll be our weak link. What should I do?'
He looked around the room as he 'woke up from his sleep'. Sasuke was still brooding and Sakura was staring at said Uchiha as she always did drooling a bit at the mouth. Naruto clicked his tongue quietly, disgruntled by the unfavorable sight of saliva trickling down and messing amongst her dark pink kunoichi clothes.
Sakura, glancing over, noticed that he was 'awake', "Naruto-baka! Why the hell did you fall asleep for?-!" she exclaimed in her complaining voice.
"Sa-ku-ra!" Naruto mimicked her whiney voice making the girl scowl. "If you didn't want me falling asleep, why didn't you just wake me up? Perhaps you were to busy drooling over your 'Sasuke-kun'… And, by the way, you are literally drooling." He finished in a monotone matter-of-factly voice.
Sakura gasped and hastily wiped her mouth, blushing furiously as she glanced over at Sasuke. The Uchiha was pointedly ignoring his two new assigned team mates.
'Humph, probably thinking about his brother...' Naruto mused. 'I wonder what would happen if he ever find out about the Uchiha clan's cursed blood…' A slight frown appeared between blonde furrowed eyebrows. 'I think…that was the reason Itachi-nii killed his clan.'
Despite the alleged rumor –that was mostly true– that Itachi had murdered his clan, except for his little brother, the blonde remembered the older Uchiha fondly. Naruto remembered him without scorn or hate, for Itachi had saved Naruto from assassination attempts several times and had been kind to him of his –Itachi's– own accord. Naruto had once asked the young ANBU captain why he had saved Naruto. Itachi's answer was simply that the villagers were blind fools who couldn't see beyond their own pain.
"Sakura?"
The girl turned with an angry air towards the blonde 'dunce'. "Nande?" She practically snarled, her banshee-growl putting even the Kyuubi to shame.
Naruto just looked nonchalantly at her, "The supply closet is down that way," He pointed out the door. "I'm sure you'll be able to find a porous-enough mop for that drool."
Before Sakura could even try to kill Naruto, a familiar chakra essence announced itself to Naruto, via Shunshin no Jutsu. The door opened to reveal the Jounin that was at Naruto's apartment about two hours ago – one Hatake Kakashi. With a soft thump, a chalkboard eraser, which Naruto set up about two and a half hours ago, dropped onto his slivery hair emitting a small puff of white chalk dust.
Kakashi blinked in slight surprise. Naruto grinned dumbly, pointing at him as he laughed. Sakura panicked a little and hastily apologized to their new master, "Gomen, sensei, I told Naruto to not do it, but he wouldn't listen and… and…"
She trailed off sheepishly, embarrassed by Naruto's childish behavior. However, what goes on inside her mind was a completely different story. Inner Sakura was giving Naruto two thumps up, SHANNARO!
Kakashi looked at them lazily before smiling at the three of them, "My first impression of you is… I hate you." Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura all sweatdropped as Kakashi deadpanned in the absence of a reply. Basking in their silence, the Jounin continued, "Meet me on the roof." With a twirl of leaves, he disappeared.
Naruto trudged his way up the stairs, Sasuke and Sakura lagging in behind. As they appeared onto the roof, its structure awash with sunlight, they saw their new sensei, Kakashi, waiting for them patiently on the railings with an orange book in his hand. Naruto eyed it warily, noting that it must be the famed Icha Icha volume the Bingo Books broadcasted about.
'Ero-sensei.'
Kakashi let out a small girl-like giggle as he motioned for them to sit upon the steps in front of him. He didn't glance up from his novel. They waited patiently for a few minutes as the Hatake let out another perverse chuckle, turning a page in the book.
"Oi!" Naruto exploded, seemingly impatient, "Are you going to take your nose out from that book or not?-!" Sakura aimed a slap upside the excitable boys head and Naruto, although he clearly anticipated its coming, decided to let the hit land, and so maintaining his idiotic appearance in front of present company.
Kakashi looked up and smiled lazily, "Let's see, why don't you introduce yourselves?"
"Introduce ourselves?" Sakura asked, blinking confusingly. "What should we say?"
'Is she stupid or what?' Unbeknownst to Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi, they had all thought the exact same thing.
Kakashi shrugged, "Well… let's see…What you like, hate, your dreams and hobbies… something like that." He looked back at Sakura, who seemed a bit slow on the uptake. He mentally sighed. "I'll start off. I'm Hatake Kakashi. I have no intentions of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dream…" He paused for the longest moment. "I have a few hobbies."
Sakura sweatdropped, 'So all we found out was his name.'
"Now it's your turn." Kakashi looked at Naruto, "Blondie's first."
Naruto grinned foolishly, "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like instant Ramen! What I like even more is the Ichiraku Ramen that Iruka-sensei buys me! What I dislike is waiting three minutes for the ramen to cook!"
Kakashi gazed apathetically at the boy. 'Does he think of anything but ramen? …Maybe he really wasn't as smart as I first thought.'
Naruto grinned again, adjusting the hitai ate on his forehead. "My dream is to have everyone in this village to acknowledge me, surpass the pervious Hokage and become one myself!"
'Well…' Kakashi blinked slowly. 'He has grown up in an… interesting way.'
"My hobbies are… pranks, I guess."
Kakashi nodded as Naruto finished, turning to the only girl. "Pinky, you next."
Sakura glared at him, before smiling sweetly, "I'm Haruno Sakura! I like…well, the person I like is…" She blushed and looked at Sasuke, who promptly ignored her. "And my hobby is…" She glanced at Sasuke once again. "Well, my dream is to…" She looked at the Uchiha once more and almost squealed. Suddenly, she snapped up straight. "I hate Naruto! …and Ino-pig!" She added, as an after thought.
Naruto and Kyuubi sneered, 'Typical fan girl.'
Kakashi sighed, 'Girls at her age must be more interested in love than ninja training.'
"Now, the brooding one."
Not bothering to be offended, Sasuke answered monotonously, "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are many things I hate and there aren't a lot of things that I like." Sakura shifted a bit and looked downcast. Sasuke ignored her. "Also, I have an ambition that I have no intentions to leave as just a dream – the revival of my clan, and to… kill a certain man."
There was a short silence, where everyone was lost in their own thoughts.
Sakura looked at the avenger with hearts in her eyes, 'Sasuke-kun is soooooooo cool!'
Kakashi frowned slightly, 'Just as I thought…'
'Like hell, you can kill Itachi-nii! I won't let you!'
"Ne, ne, sensei, what are we going to do first?-!"
The Hatake smiled at Naruto's hyperactivity, "First, we are going to do something with just the four of us……Survival training."
Sakura protested, "We did enough training in the academy." Sasuke secretly agreed with her, while the blonde just grinned – thanks to Musha, he knew just what the survival training was truly for.
Kakashi continued, "I will be your opponent, but this isn't normal training…" The others had questioning looks on their face as Kakashi began to chuckle once more.
"Sensei? Is something funny…-?" Sakura ventured, her pink eyebrows knitting together.
'He saw your face…'
"Be nice, Kit…"
"Dammit! Out of my head, Musha!" He could hear the Kyuubi's echoing chuckle. Kakashi suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
"No… Well… It's just that… When I tell you this, you guys are definitely going to flip." All three pairs of eyes were on him. He smiled once more. "This training is a super difficult exam with a failure rate of over 66. Of the 27 graduates, only 9 at maximum will be chosen as Genin. The rest will be sent back to Academy."
There was a shocked silence. Kakashi looked at his team to see there reactions. Sasuke had a surprised look on his face, while Naruto and Sakura's faces were covered in shadows.
Sakura injected, spluttering, "Then what's the point of the Genin exams?"
The Jounin looked at her and shrugged indifferently, "Oh, that? That's just to select those that have the chance to become Genin."
"Nani?-!" Two of the three kids cried – Sasuke just 'Hn'ed.
"See? You're flipping already!" He continued, "Anyway, tomorrow you will be graded on the training field. Bring all your Shinobi tools." He stood up from the railings. "…Oh, and don't eat breakfast, or else you'll throw up." Then he disappeared in a swirl of leaves and wind.
Naruto huffed mentally, 'Why the hell should I listen to you?'
"That's the spirit, kit!"
The three probational-Genin sat there for a minute. Inner Sakura was yelling in Sakura's head, This must be a test of love! I can't get sent back to the Academy without my precious Sasuke-kun! True love WILL prevail! Cha!
Naruto detected a minor change in Sakura's chakra and noticed the determined look on her face as she glanced over at the already retreating Sasuke.
'Well… She doesn't seem too anxious about it… This may be interesting…'
"Damn right, Kit, now let's go, you've got training to do."
"Dammit! Musha! What did I say about listening in on my thoughts?-!"
"Hmm? Sorry, Kit, you say something?"
"Damn you, Kitsune-teme!"
Kyuubi was laughing the rest of the way home.
------
The Next Day…
Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto each frowned as they waited for their sensei. Sakura frowned, for their sensei was late by at least two hours – that, and soon, if she didn't move about, the sun would begin to fade her hair. Naruto frowned, for the annoying pervert of a Jounin was late for their 'training'. Sasuke frowned, for he was Sasuke.
Finally, after another hour of waiting, where Sakura reprimanded Naruto and Naruto fought the building urge to hang her upside-down from a tree, and where Sasuke just brooded in the shade, their sensei finally showed up.
"Yo."
"You're late!" yelled Sakura and Naruto… loudly.
Kakashi just chuckled. "Sorry I'm late, but I woke up just an hour ago, and found that I had finished my book. I had to rush out immediately to buy the next volume!"
"Liar!" Sakura yelled. Naruto, however, didn't join in, as he suspected that the Jounin was probably telling the truth… mostly.
"Now," Kakashi said cheerily, placing a clock on the stump next to him. "I've set this alarm to go off at noon." He slowly drew his hand out of his pocket, a small tinkling sound becoming apparent. Two bells were clasped in his fingers. "Here, I have two small bells…" He looked around at the slightly confused faces. "Your task is to get them off me before the timer sounds. Whoever doesn't manage to get a bell, will be tied to the post while the others eat lunch in front of him."
'No wonder he told us to not eat. Good thing that I didn't listen to him.' Naruto mentally grinned. He, Sasuke and Sakura all just gazed at Kakashi as his voice became serious.
"Come at me with the intent to kill, or you will never get a bell."
All of a sudden, Naruto started to laugh. "You couldn't even dodge an eraser! You'll be killed!"
'If I come at him with the intent to kill, I mean to kill to him.'
Instead of frowning, like Sasuke and Sakura thought he would, Kakashi smiled at Naruto.
"You know, Naruto, only the weak speak loudly…" Naruto pouted and glared.
'Ero-sensei…'
Suddenly, without a warning cry, Naruto rushed towards him with a kunai in hand, ready to stab the unsuspecting Jounin. In a blink of the eye, said Jounin had the kunai pointed at the back of the blonde's neck, "Maa… Maa… I didn't say start yet… although, you did come at me with the intent to kill… It seems you've begun to respect me. I think…" Sasuke and Sakura looked up at him while Naruto just glared. "I'm starting to like you guys…"
'Fast…He's fast…' Naruto eyed Kakashi warily over his shoulder. 'But… not as fast as I thought an ex-ANBU captain would be.'
Unexpectedly, Kakashi let the Genin go and barked out, "Start!" Immediately, the Genin all jumped away.
'Good,' Kakashi observed, 'They all know stealth.'
Naruto hid in the tree branches nearby, watching Kakashi suspiciously. With a sudden brainwave – courtesy of the Kyuubi – Naruto formed a familiar hand sign…
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu…"
------
Kakashi stood alone in the middle of the training ground. Suddenly, he felt a familiar presence standing behind him. Turning, he came face to face with—
"Naruto…"
"C'mon sensei! Just you and me, let's go!"
Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura – from their respective hiding places – all sweatdropped. Naruto, from within the tree leaves, was embarrassed at his own clone's sheer brashness and foolish acting.
'Did I really look that stupid all the time…-?'
"You better believe it, Kit…"Musha began to chuckle sinisterly again, the laughter echoing in Naruto's ears.
Silently, Naruto groaned.
'Kami, save me…'
Sighing, Kakashi slowly reached for his weapons pouch.
"Let me teach you… your first shinobi skill…"
Bunshin-Naruto narrowed his eyes in suspicion, while the real Naruto just heaved an exasperated sigh.
"Taijutsu." Kakashi announced. "The Art…"
'—Of the Trained Body… blah, blah, blah… get on with it, Ero-sensei… If I wanted a Taijutsu-theory lesson, I would've gone to that Maito Gai freak…'
"Yosh, Kit…-!" Musha's voice rang in his head. In the branches, Naruto froze, a look of pure horror crossing his face.
"Oh Kami, Musha, Gai got you too! Noooo! I don't wanna contain a green-spandex-wearing, nine tailed Kyuubi! No, no, no! No-no-no-no-n—"
"…I was…joking, Kit…" Sekimusha sweatdropped in his cage as he too shivered from the thought.
Naruto immediately stopped screaming in his mind. "Oh…Heh, never mind…" Naruto scratched the back of his neck sheepishly as he watched his clone charge at Kakashi, cutting the Jounin off.
Naruto-Bunshin threw a punch, but Kakashi just sidestepped it, his hand still in his weapons pouch. Glowering up at the Jounin, 'Naruto' leapt back. Kakashi tilted his head a bit, raising an eyebrow at the boy.
"Compared to the others… you're a bit weird…"
"Ha, yeah right, sensei! The only thing weird here is your haircut!"
Sighing, Kakashi withdrew his hand from his pouch. The clone froze, expecting a weapon. Instead, he saw–
"Icha Icha Paradise…" The boy spat out its name and glared at it, disgusted, as if it was his archenemy wearing green spandex and had just sprouted a purple and green version of Kakashi's wild hair… The Hatake noticed the look and chuckled, turning a page and giggling purposely, just to piss Naruto off more.
With a growl, Kage-Naruto charged, pulling back a fist to slug Kakashi in the face. Unconcerned, Kakashi blocked the fist as 'Naruto' brought rough his knee, to connect with Kakashi's face. Kakashi just ducked, letting out a girlish giggle as he turned another page.
"Ero-kisama!" The clone cried, hefting his fist once more. From the shadows, the real Naruto seethed at the sight of the book, disregarding the fact that the clone was making him look like a complete fool. Suddenly, Naruto spied a bush below him… it was covered in red berries.
Slowly, Naruto grinned, like a fox who had just found its prey.
Meanwhile, the Bunshin-Naruto was not fairing well. Just as his fist was amount to make contact with his sensei's face, said sensei suddenly wasn't there.
"Huh?-!"
"Yo, Naruto, too slow."
With a sudden foreboding feeling, the clone turned around to see Kakashi crouching behind him, forming a tora sign. The clone's eyes widened.
"Don't let your enemies ever get behind you…"
"Kuso!"
Sasuke and Sakura both watched from the bushes as 'Naruto' tried to bolt.
'Hn, dunce…'
'He'll be killed–!'
Suddenly, Kakashi lurched forward, an evil glint in his eye. "Too late, Naruto—"
"Hell no!" In the blink of an eye, 'Naruto' leapt away from Kakashi's outstretched form. The Hatake came up short, blinking in surprise. "No one, and I mean no one, probes my ass!"
In the bushes, Sakura blinked. "Huh?"
'The kid's fast…' The Hatake's eyes narrowed a bit, before he chuckled. In the trees, Naruto formed a hand sign. The clone glared at Kakashi. The Copy-nin stood up and brushed himself off, facing 'Naruto'.
"So…" The Hatake chuckled. "You've come across 'One Thousand Years of Death' before, ne?"
A young girl laughing as she pulled a six year old Naruto to his feet. Naruto was rubbing his ass, wincing in pain. A disgruntled blush was across his cheeks. The girl just proceeded to laugh even harder…
"…Once or twice…" The clone huffed, sniffing in disgruntlement. Without warning, the clone charged at the amused Jounin again. Sighing, Kakashi was about to flick open his book again, when a large splash from the river behind him drew his attention, causing him to whip around.
"Wha—?-!"
Distracted by the sight of a dozen clones launching out of the water, Kakashi failed to notice the 'real' Naruto until he grabbed him from behind… 'Naruto' grinned. From the place where he had slipped out to join his clones, a mirroring grin spread across the real Naruto's face.
"Like you said, sensei, never let your enemies get behind you… No matter how weak I seem!"
'Practice what you preach… Kakashi.' As the clones were still flying through the air, the real Naruto quickly used Kawarimi to replace himself with the clone on Kakashi's back without Kakashi noticing the exchange. Leaping off Kakashi unexpectedly, he landed and skidded backwards a bit, before pushing off from the ground and aiming a punch at Kakashi's side.
The Hatake side stepped easily, Naruto's fist missing his side by inches. The bells jingled as Kakashi's hip twisted away. Naruto smirked as his momentum still carried him forwards. All the other clones suddenly charged towards Kakashi as they landed on the ground. Using a Kawarimi, Kakashi replaced himself with Naruto noticing… so he thought.
Noticing that Kakashi had suddenly disappeared from their midst, all the clones puffed away as Naruto crossed his arms and pouted in the middle of the training ground.
"Dammit! Sensei, that's no fair!"
His voice rang through the trees, and all he received in answer was a perverted giggle, echoing about the area. Naruto swore.
Suddenly, Naruto spied a bell lying forgotten on the floor. He mentally sighed, knowing it was a ploy, but bounded happily up to it anyway – he was a 'dunce' after all…
"Gah!" A rope snapped around his angle and suddenly, he was hanging upside down from a tree. An image of Sakura flashed across his mind.
'Dammit! Why couldn't it be her hanging from a tree, like I wanted?-!'
He could hear the Kyuubi's howl of laughter.
"Irony is a fickle friend, Kit…"
Naruto growled as Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of him – upside-down from Naruto's view, of course. He held the bell in his hand.
'Musha, it's no friend at all…'
Naruto glared as the blood rushed to his head and Kakashi smiled good-naturedly.
"You used your Kage-Bunshin Jutsu well, Naruto… But not well enough." Kakashi said, making the bell dance in front of his whiskered face. "A ninja must learn to read underneath the underneath…" Suddenly, Kakashi chuckled. "Nice trick, Naruto…" He made the bell jerk once more when, suddenly, he was struck by a multitude of weapons, poof-ing away into a log.
"Tch, overkill, Sasuke!"
But Sasuke was already gone, with Sakura in tow. There were a few heartbeats in which Naruto felt for their presences, but found none nearby. Slowly, his face split into a grin and he poof-ed away, revealing that he, too, had been a clone. The rope hung in a limp noose as the real, real Naruto stepped out from behind the tree.
He stood in the middle of the training ground, alone, and slowly opened his fist, to reveal two, small bells that glinted in the sunlight. That's when it struck him – as they sung in front of his face, Kakashi's bells hadn't chimed.
'Nice trick, Naruto…'
Kakashi knew.
Underneath the underneath…
…
…
Naruto grin widened even more, his eyes twinkling with a light of laughter.
Naruto quietly sat down near what he knew to be the Memorial stone, pondering whether to just eat the food that lay in front of him. Minutes passed by, and he suddenly heard Sakura's scream hit the air. Naruto just snorted, wondering what Kakashi had done to the girl – maybe she was now hanging upside down in a tree. Naruto didn't dare get his hopes up. Behind the trees, relatively nearby, Naruto soon heard the yell of a certain Uchiha, along with the crackle of a fireball. Then, all fell quiet.
Amid the silence, the alarm rang indicating the end of the test. Tied to the post was none other than……
Haruno Sakura!
The pink haired banshee cried out angrily in indignation, "Why am I the one tied to the post?-! Naruto-baka should be the one here instead of me!" Shannaro!
"Well…" started Kakashi, "Out of the three of you, you did the least. You didn't even bother to try to take a bell. Besides, Naruto, here, got them both."
Kakashi said it simply, but Sakura immediately fell quiet and turned to the blonde boy with a stunned look. Sasuke just scoffed, "Like hell the dobe can do that. I can still see the bells on your belt."
As if on cue, the bells on the Jounin's belt disappeared with a puff of smoke, leaving two red berries in their place. Said blonde took the two real sliver bells out of his pocket and jingled them, the sound reverberating through the air. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "How did you know that I took that bells, Kaka-sensei?"
The Jounin smiled lazily, "I noticed it when I completed the Kawarimi. My suspicions were confirmed when I jingled them in front of your face when you got trapped." Naruto pulled a sulky face at the thought of hanging upside-down from the tree. Kakashi smiled in amusement at the face the blonde wore. "Next time, don't fall for such an easy trap, Naruto! So, how did you come up with that switch you pulled?"
Naruto scratched the back of his head awkwardly once again, "Oh, that? It was just a better version of a prank I did to a shop owner a few years back. Last time, I had to find other keys to replace it with, but this time all I needed was a simple henge on the berries from that bush over there." Naruto pointed in the general direction of said bush as he finished explaining, grinning in satisfaction.
The Jounin smiled and looked at all of them, "Now, Naruto here is the dead last and, yet, he has gotten both bells without my knowledge. You two, Sasuke, Sakura, are the Top Rookie and Top Kunoichi, are you not? Now, if Naruto managed to get the bells and you didn't, what does that make you?"
'It makes them complete idiots… But, then, who around me isn't?'
"I agree, Kit…" Musha knew he was referring to the fact that no one could see through his 'dunce' act. " And, besides, to them, we've made it seem like fluke, because we've done this before."
"Ahem, we?"
"Fine, just you, Kit." The mock sarcasm was clear in his growling voice."Besides, it's not like they've seen your real power."
"Not that I want them to."
"For now…"
"…Hai, for now…"
At Kakashi's words, Sasuke clenched his fist so tightly that it drew some blood. He glared angrily at Naruto while Sakura just hung her head in embarrassment.
Naruto was 'taken back' by the glare and put his hands out in front of him as a sign defense, "Hey! It's not my fault I did it and you can't, Sasuke-teme! I just used one of my old pranks."
Before the Uchiha can retort back, Kakashi interrupted them, "Maa… Maa… we have to get back to the topic here. Now, Naruto, you have both bells in your hands, so who are you going to give the other bell to?"
Eyes widening a bit at the choice he was allowed to make, the blonde first looked at the bells, then at the other two before turning back to Kakashi, "Both of them." He proceeded to throw the bells at Sasuke and Sakura without hesitation.
"And, why's that?" the Jounin asked with amusement laced in his voice.
"Well," Naruto explained. "For one, Sasuke-teme over there doesn't want to work with anyone anyways, so why be a teammate of an unwilling one?" Naruto shrugged, "Two, Sakura doesn't want to work with anyone but her precious Sasuke-kun. Since both don't want to be my teammate, what's the point of keeping a bell?" Naruto stood up and dusted himself down. "I can wait for next year. I bet Jiji would allow me to some of the similar missions by myself." Then he proceeded to walk away from the stunned group, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.
Kakashi smiled at him approvingly, "There's no need to wait for a year, Naruto." Then he turned to the other two. They looked up at him, eyes wide. "You pass." He said simply, gesturing to the Jinchuuriki. "And it's all because of Naruto. The answer to the test was teamwork." Seeing the looks on their faces, he explained, "If he didn't give you the bells and sacrificed himself, I wouldn't have passed you."
"So, we all pass?" Naruto confirmed.
Kakashi smiled down at him, "Hai. You pass, Team Seven."
As his words sunk in, Sakura suddenly let out a cheer and Sasuke's visage settled into a smirk. Naruto just grinned cheekily and laughed. Kakashi's eye upturned, showing that he was smiling at them all. Opening his eye, he then held each of them in a serious, yet kind, gaze.
As two of the three –now official– Genin laughed at their success, Kakashi's gaze drifted the to memorial stone in the corner of his eye. "Remember, those who break the rules are called trash," Kakashi spoke to the joyful kids. "But those who abandon their friends are worse then trash!"
'Isn't that right…Obito?'
Amidst the joyful cheers of the new Genin, the small Memorial was silent, holding no answers. But still, Kakashi smiled.
…There was laughter on the wind.
Disclaimer: We Don't Own Naruto