Kakashi was, for the first time in his life, earlier than three hours late. There was a reason for this, of course. Using a loophole, he was going to get two genin, and they had better pass or it wouldn't be pretty for the two of them.
---
Earlier in the day...
There is an old saying, commonly brandied about by older generations, that goes like this: 'It was the little things that make life interesting.'
That's one of the reasons that no one could say 'It's another boring day in Konoha, and nothing new is happening.'
Or it could be that the rumour mill was working it's way into a frenzy.
Either way, two young people were entering the academy to a vast audience, (To them, an audience of just over a hundred was vast. Not due to the number of people, but the fact that they thought they would never see the academy again just a few days ago. Then again, no one had expected these two to come back as they were pinning their hopes on 'The Uchiha'.), and it was not a good feeling.
The reason that Sasuke and Sakura were back at the academy was simple. Their idiot partner had so injured their jonin sensei that they now had to wait for him to heal, or at least have a new one assigned. Fortunately for them Naruto gave them the bells, which was the reason he had been dropped from the program.
Or so they believed.
This was something that Iruka-sensei soon disabused them of, much to the Angry Chagrin of Sakura, and the clenched jaws of Sasuke. "What do you mean we've got to go through the academy again? We passed the test! Naruto was the one who failed!"
Iruka blinked, "Umm, who told you Naruto failed? I was informed by the Hokage that due to unusual circumstances, he passed while the two of you failed?"
"It's obvious!" Sakura stated while holding up something, "We got the bells and Naruto didn't!"
Iruka stifled a laugh, "Ah. Well, I'm sorry to inform you but Naruto has been confirmed as a genin, while the two of you failed completely."
Sasuke came up with the only reason that he could think of for Naruto to be the only one who passed. "How did that Dobe learn that jutsu?"
"Dobe?" Iruka asked looking puzzled, "I don't know who you mean?"
"Naruto! The 'Dead Last' of the class. How did he learn to do whatever it was he did to take down a jonin?" Sasuke stated seemingly calm, his eyes giving away his severe irritation.
Iruka's eyebrows raised and he rubbed the scar on top of his nose, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but Naruto was not the dead last of the class. If he wanted to, he could have passed the course three years ago."
Sakura blinked, "That...that..idiot could have passed the class? Then why didn't he pass on the day of the exam?!"
"I can't answer that, Sakura, It's classified. And if Naruto didn't pass, then why was he able to be on your team?" Iruka smiled.
Sasuke snorted, "I thought it was just to provide someone to balance the team."
'Yeah! No way that idiot could be better than Sasuke', Sakura screamed to herself, however, there was still the matter of how Naruto passed. 'Then where was he on the exams? I know Sasuke was rookie of the year, and I was the best in all the tests."
Iruka looked at his two students in wonder, "Do you really believe that?"
"Of course, we compared marks during the year." Sakura replied. Unspoken, of course, was the fact that Sasuke never participated in the comparison of marks, and also left unsaid, and very forgotten, was the fact that Naruto never participated in them either. Sakura, of course, didn't let little things like details get in the way of her rose coloured world.
"Then you didn't really look at the marks carefully. I can't tell you who was the top in both areas, but I can tell you that neither of you is where you thought you were."
At this, Sasuke started to grind his teeth. There was someone more powerful than him, better than him, which meant that he had to find out how in order to take care of matters that were important. Before he had a chance to ask a question, or have his original question answered, the door to the classroom slammed open.
"Kakashi-sensei?!" Sakura shouted in surprise.
Iruka looked amused at the jonin, "Is there something I can do for you Kakashi-sensei?"
Having a good idea of what the smirk was about, Kakashi replied. "I'm here to give these two one more chance to become genin. The test was over too fast for these two to do anything but fail."
Iruka's look of askance said it all, but he also said it out loud, "I thought they failed because they didn't know or take in what we've been subtly training them in."
Iruka then looked at the two potentials in front of him frowning slightly, "Then again, given their information gathering abilities, and sheer arrogance, it's no wonder they failed themselves."
Kakashi had to stop this fast, before the two attacked Iruka and failed again. "None the less, they will be given a second, and final, chance."
Here he looked at the two, leaking a bit of killing intent as he had enough time to think of what they had done. True, Naruto had almost killed him, (Well, knocked him out due to shock as painful pebbles, while not going far into his skin, hit too many points in the front of his body as well as one...delicate...organ.), but these two were willing to leave him there to die while they fought for the bells. "If you don't pass, I will recommend that you be dropped from the program completely. I have no time for supposed genin who are so full of themselves that they cannot pass a simple exam. Konoha does not need you so badly that we can't maintain high standards."
He then led the two of them out of the classroom.
"Those two will be very surprised if they ever find out that Naruto was both the best in all tests as well as rookie of the year. Then again, the two of them weren't even able to figure it out from the very unsubtle hint I gave them." Iruka mumbled to himself. He pitied Naruto if the two of them passed. They would hold his favourite student back.
---
"Why did we fail the exam, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked the jonin she and Sasuke were following.
Kakashi silently berated himself for being talked into trying to teach a genin team again. Hadn't they figured out why he didn't accept a team yet? He stopped and turned to look at the two kids. "You've had several days to think about what happened, and you don't know why yet? Maybe we should forget the test and take you to the Hokage to ensure that you're taken out of the academy and the program entirely."
Sakura gulped, she didn't think that asking a question like that was pushing him that hard, "N-no Sensei!! We'll figure it out."
Sasuke looked at Sakura, and then at Kakashi. It was at this point he realized that he knew little of one of his potential teammates. "What can you tell us about Naruto?"
Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow, "Why are you interested in Naruto?"
"Yeah, why are you interested in the braggart?" Sakura asked.
Sasuke snorted at Sakura's answer to his question, "He passed. He also became a genin without passing a test in class, and how he passed is classified. What do we really know about him?"
Kakashi's visible eye became almost like a smile. He hadn't expected either of them to actually think, and had been considering fudging the test, if only to have someone to keep him sane, but this could work out if he changed the exam a little. That, and there were several questions that he had that Naruto's official file that the Hokage had given him missed. There were a lot of blacked out areas and lines, and activities, except for the "D" mission category, were classified. "Good answer. However, there is not much I can tell you that isn't classified. All I can say is that he's lived alone most of his life, has no known parents, and has been going in and out of the Hokage's tower on his own since he was four. I can, unofficially, say that he has already completed at least one mission. Your test will be to find out as much as you can about Naruto and his life. I doubt you'll be able to get his file, but if you can give me general information on his life since the age of 4, lets say three pages of information per year, then you will pass. You'll find me at the site of your last test when you're done. Oh, and you also have six hours to find all this information and report it back to me, neatly written out."
He teleported out leaving two stunned students behind.
"He never answered the question!" Sakura raged.