I'd like to thank the guest for telling me about the mistake in the previous chapter. If anyone else catches a mistake I missed, please let me know!
xxx
8 o'clock.
It was 8 o'clock before Naruto and Sasuke decided to show up. Sakura glared at them with such a fury that it made the boys freeze in terror. None of the pranks they had pulled on the pink-haired girl had ever earned them such a glare.
"You knew, didn't you?" she all but screamed at them.
"Knew… what?" Naruto replied cautiously.
"You knew Kakashi-sensei would be this late! That's why two are just getting here!"
"Uhhh… yeah?"
"AND YOU DIDN'T WARN ME!"
It was a statement, not a question, so neither boy opted to reply.
"I have been up since four o'clock this morning while you two were snoozing away!"
"To be fair, you did kind of leave before we did so we didn't get a chance to warn you?" Naruto offered weakly.
Sakura quickly shut him up with a glare. Without another word, she walked over to the tree she had sat her bag next to and sat down.
"I really hope Kakashi-sensei gets here soon, dattebayo," Naruto mumbled.
xxx
"Good mornin-"
"YOU'RE LATE!"
Naruto and Sakura cut the Jounin off. Sasuke winced at the sound.
"What are you complaining about? You've only been waiting for an hour!" Sakura turned on Naruto.
"Eh? But-"
"Now, now, let's not lose our heads," Kakashi fished an alarm clock out of his bag and placed in on a tree stump before turning it on.
"This clock is set for noon, and here," Kakashi held out his hand to show them two belle hanging from strings, "-are two bells. Your task is to take these bells from me before time is up. Anyone without a bell by noon will get no lunch and I will tie up to one of these logs and eat in front of you."
"That's why you told us not to eat breakfast," Sasuke grumbled. "Damn sadist."
"But there's only two bells," Sakura pointed out.
"That's right. One of you will definitely end up tied to one of those stumps. Not only that, but the person who doesn't get a bell will be sent back to the academy. Use any tools at your disposal, weapon or otherwise. You will lose if you don't come at me with the intent to kill."
"Hey, isn't that dangerous?" Sakura asked. "What if you get hurt?"
"I wouldn't worry about him," Naruto said.
"It's us you should be worried about," Sasuke said.
"You two are right," Kakashi said. "If you don't take me seriously, I'm not responsible for what may happen to you- Hokage's son or not. Now…"
The genin tensed.
"... let's get going, shall we? Begin!"
xxx
"The most important thing for a shinobi is the ability to completely hide one's presence."
They've hidden themselves pretty well, Kakashi had to admit. There was no apparent trace of where the genin had gone of to. Not that it would be too much of a challenge for the jounin to find them, but he wasn't going to go all out on them. It wouldn't be fair to not even give them a chance, right?
xxx
"Stay down you idiot!"
"But-!"
"Don't even think about it!"
Sasuke held Naruto back with an arm around his neck. Naruto struggled against him best he could without giving away their position in the tree.
"Challenging a jounin head on in by far the worst idea you have ever had!" Sasuke hissed at him.
"Even worse then-"
"Yes, even worse than the one you had in Suna!"
"Then what do we do?" Naruto asked.
Sasuke peered over at where the Jounin had yet to move.
"He's not even doing anything, dattebayo," Naruto whispered.
"He's waiting us out. Probably seeing who makes the first move…"
"Which we should be making…" Naruto said with a suggestive tone.
"Quiet," Sasuke warned. He watched the Jounin closely for a few moments before smirking.
"Where's Sakura?" Sasuke asked.
"Huh?"
xxx
What is he doing? He's just standing there!
Sakura watched Kakashi as he leisurely looked around the clearing. Sakura felt like every hair on her body was standing on end. Why wouldn't somebody just make a move already? Something, anything!
Kakashi sighed and reached into his pouch. Sakura tensed. Was he going to attack? Which weapon would he choose? A shuriken? A kunai? She held her breath as he drew his… book?
Sakura stared in disbelief. A book? What kind of book? Maybe it was like a scroll or something? Kakashi flipped open the book and began to read. Sakura squinted as she tried to read the title. Icha Icha Paradise? Was this some kind of joke? He wasn't taking them seriously at all. Than again, why would he? They were all just a bunch of kids who weren't even real shinobi yet.
There was a flash of silver right beside her head. The kunai barely missed her head and even took a few strands of hair with it. She tried to stop herself from making a sound as she jumped back but couldn't help the small cry that escaped her mouth. It wasn't much, but it was enough. She looked back out to the clearing and to her horror, her eyes met Kakashi's.
"Dammit!" she cursed as she bolted from her hiding spot. What the hell was that? Where did that kunai come from. Sakura growled quietly to herself when it hit her. Sasuke and Naruto! They must have done it on purpose to draw Kakashi's attention away from them so they could find an opening! She was s o going to make them pay for this! When she's done with them, they'll wish they were never born!
xxx
"She is so going to make us pay for that," Naruto grumbled.
"Whatever. It worked didn't it? He's going after her. We just have to follow and wait for an opening to-"
"Hey look!"
"Hey!" Sasuke reached for Naruto as he leapt from their hiding spot but Naruto was too quick. Sasuke rolled his eyes before chasing his friend across the clearing.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Sasuke snapped at him.
"A bell!" Naruto called back.
"What?"
Sure enough, there was a bell beneath a tree on the other side of the clearing. Sasuke frowned. Something wasn't right.
"The idiot must have dropped it, dattebayo!" Naruto snickered as he bent to pick it up.
"Wait, don't-"
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
Sasuke winced as Naruto was flipped upside down in the air. His friend flailed pointlessly as he swung by the rope tied around his feet. Sasuke sighed and shook his head.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS, DATTEBAYO!"
"It was a trap, usuratonkachi!" Sasuke snapped. "Seriously! What kind of shinobi gets caught by such an obvious trap!"
"JUST SHUT UP AND GET ME DOWN FROM HERE, DATTEBAYO!"
"I don't know… I may just let you hang there and think about your mistakes while I go take both of the bells for myself…" Sasuke pondered.
"DON'T EVEN JOKE LIKE THAT, TEME! GET ME DOWN FROM HERE OR I SWEAR I WILL TELL EVERYONE ABOUT THAT TIME YOU-"
"Jeez, I was just messing around with you," Sasuke said. "No need to…"
Sasuke tensed. Someone was watching them. He frowned. looks like his plan didn't work out the way he hoped it would.
"Yeah, well, it's not funny," Naruto crossed his arms and grumbled. "So not cool, teme!"
"Indeed," Kakashi said. "Seling out a teammate so that you can gain the advantage is not very 'cool' either."
Sasuke spun around to face Kakashi who now stood in the center of the clearing with his book in hand. His tone was light, but the look in his eye was anything but. There was something cold in the way he stared at Sasuke that sent shivers up his spine.
"When did he get there?" Naruto asked.
"He's a jounin… I should have known something like that wouldn't work," Sasuke said. He cursed himself mentally for underestimating him.
"Of course," Kakashi said. "A shinobi must never underestimate his opponent. One misjudgement can lead to the death of an entire team."
"I won't make the same mistake twice," Sasuke assured him.
"What are you going to do next, Sasuke- kun?"
"Oi! Get me down, Sasuke!"
Sasuke didn't reply. He refused to take his eyes off of Kakashi for even an instant. He considered his options. Getting Naruto down would be an advantage. Two was better than one, even if one worked best as a distraction.
"Don't ignore me, teme!"
But could he afford to take his attention off Kakashi that long? He could try using a shuriken, but even the second needed to aim for the rope without hitting Naruto could leave himself to open for an attack. Defeat was not an option. He had two choices: try to distract the jounin long enough to get Naruto down and risk that opening, or attack Kakashi head on and hope Naruto figures it out himself.
"TEME!"
Option one it is.
Sasuke made the first move. He moved for his shuriken in his pouch and launched his attack quick enough to catch most off guard. As he predicted though, Kakashi easily evaded the attack. However, Sasuke did notice the book disappear back into his pouch. The attack served it's purpose though and gave him enough time to prepare his next attack. Kakashi's eye widened in surprise as he watched Sasuke form the seals.
That can't be… a genin shouldn't have enough chakra to perform that jutsu!
Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu!
Naruto had to shield his eyes from the fireball that emerged. The heat was intense even from where he was. Before the fire even had a chance to dissipate, Sasuke turned and ran for Naruto.
"What are you still doing up there, usuratonkachi?" Sasuke asked.
"Just get me down already, 'ttebayo!"
"On it-WOAH!"
A second rope snapped around Sasuke's foot and flipped him upside down and into the air. The back of Sasuke's head slammed into the ground along the way. Sasuke groaned as stars flooded his vision.
"Did you really think I would let you guys get away so easily," Kakashi said as he leisurely walked towards them. He wasn't even looking at them but rather at the book that was once again in his hands. "A shinobi must learn to look under what is underneath. You have to look for the trap hidden under another trap. This is a very common shinobi tactic."
Sasuke glared at Kakashi balefully.
"Now, now, this is an important lesson! If this were a real mission, both of you would be dead already," Kakashi scolded with a light tone. "Although, you wouldn't be the first genin's to die during these last tests. On accident of course… mostly."
"Oi, was Kakashi always this scary?" Naruto whispered the question to his friend nervously. Sasuke didn't respond.
"Well, I'll go see what Sakura is up to," Kakashi sighed. "This is such a waste of time."
With that, Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke. Naruto groaned.
"We're never going to pass this test, dattebayo!"
"Okay but seriously," Sasuke interrupted Naruto's whining. "What are you still doing up here?"
"Huh?"
Sasuke rolled his eyes. He reached into his pouch and retrieved a kunai. He he took a breath before reaching up to cut the rope around his foot. He effortlessly righted himself as he fell and landed safely.
"Ohhhh…. Sorry," Naruto said with a grin. Sasuke threw the kunai at the rope still tied to Naruto's feet and Naruto crashed into the ground.
"We don't have long until noon. We need to make a plan-"
"Hey, look, bento boxes!" Naruto exclaimed.
"No."
"But-"
"I am not going to risk getting our asses sent back to the academy because you decided to cheat," Sasuke said firmly.
"But- OW!"
"Now shut up and listen," Sasuke smirked. "I've got an idea."
xxx
Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu: Fire Style: Fireball Technique
