A Test of Skill
Kakashi was running incredibly fast through the forest while his visible eye darted around looking for anything pink, black or blonde. He decided to give Naruto some respect and take him more seriously after that display of wit from the 'dead last' of this year's batch of genin. He wondered if Sasuke and Sakura were stronger or better than Naruto, them being at the top of the class. He was impressed at how Naruto caught him off guard and wondered how many skills he was still hiding. Suddenly he saw Sakura crouching in front of a bush facing away from him. Kakashi Body Flickered behind her and grabbed her shoulder as he prepared to knock her out with a mild genjutsu. However, she turned around and Kakashi saw his own face sitting on her neck. He stared at the absurd sight in front of him for a few seconds before the deformed… thing raised its hand in greeting.
"Yo." it said. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. I'm a huge pervert who likes to read smut and even though I'm supposed to be this big shot Jonin, I let a genin fresh out of the academy outsmart me and now I'm wasting my time listening to a henged clone made by the same genin, obviously to stall me, as he outplays me agai-"
The rest of its speech was interrupted by Kakashi's shaking fist as he let that insult sink in. How on earth would he live that one down? Deep down however, he hoped that this team passed. Naruto had grown up to be very interesting and Kakashi could see endless potential in him. But first he needed find the little shit and give him a major ass kicking…
Elsewhere, Naruto was resisting the urge to roll on the ground and laugh. The plan he made on the fly actually worked. Kakashi's expression was worth more than a million ryo. He had already found Sasuke and tried to inform him before Sasuke interrupted him and told him he already knew. Naruto was pretty sure 'knew' meant 'watched you get the info from Kakashi but since I am such a huge prick I won't acknowledge you'.
He simply shrugged Sasuke's attitude off and told him what he had in mind to pass the test.
"You don't get to tell me what to do, dobe." Sasuke retorted.
Naruto simply stared at him. "Trust me, I'd rather fail than have to work with you. But passing this test is the fastest way to achieve my goals. So don't ever assume I'm doing this willingly. Question is, do you have the will to do what's necessary to reach your goals fast? Since you're just complaining about petty issues and all." and with that the clone dispelled leaving Sasuke with gritted teeth. Who was Naruto to question his resolve? What did he know of his goals? Sasuke set these thoughts aside and decided to comply with Naruto's plans. Only to get to Itachi faster, nothing else.
The real Naruto had a satisfied smirk on his face. He had just found Sakura when the clone's memories hit him. He knew he said the right things to get Sasuke to comply with his plans.
"Sakura! Over here! The test is about-" WHAM!
Naruto was slammed into a tree by a kick from what turned out to be Kakashi henged as Sakura.
"….Ugh…. Should've seen that coming…." Naruto groaned.
Kakashi smiled. "I'll admit, this is the most fun I've had in a long time, Naruto. Very impressive."
"How'd you get here so fast? I just got the memories from the clone- that was a clone of yours, wasn't it? The one that found Sakashi?"
"Indeed! And now that I've found the real you, imagine how much fun we shall have together!" Kakashi replied, cracking his knuckles and giving off a dark and haunting aura while smiling with his eye.
"Sounds interesting. My clone just found Sakura anyway. We all know the meaning of the test now, and you know we'll pass, so why don't we just uh….skip whatever 'fun' you had in mind?"
Kakashi continued smiling. "No." he lunged at Naruto with a kunai drawn.
Naruto drew his own kunai and managed to block Kakashi's swipe. Kakashi tried to sweep Naruto's feet from the ground with a vicious kick, but Naruto back flipped and landed with both feet on the tree behind him and jumped up using chakra to stick onto the bark.
"Full of surprises, aren't you?" Kakashi commented before following him up the tree at a faster pace. Naruto made the cross sign and two clones appeared beside him and rushed Kakashi. Kakashi destroyed both with one swipe and blocked the original's kick with one hand. Naruto bent backwards and, still hanging from Kakashi's grip, grabbed onto the Jonin's waist and pulled, resulting in Kakashi losing his balance and letting go of Naruto's leg in the process. They both flipped mid air and landed on their feet but Kakashi was quicker and grabbed onto Naruto's hands and forced him face first into the ground. And to add insult to injury, he sat on top of Naruto while he struggled to dismount the heavier ninja.
"Impressive. Just how many tricks and skills do you have hidden?" Kakashi asked.
"Pass us and you'll get to see first hand. Please get off."
Kakashi got off of him and helped him to his feet. "Who taught you tree walking?"
"Saw a team being instructed a long while ago and gave it a shot."
"Hmm. Come out you two and drop your weapons. Time's up."
Sasuke and Sakura appeared from behind trees, both stowing away their shuriken.
Naruto brushed the dirt off of himself and stood beside on the left with Sakura in the middle.
"You cooperated and were waiting for an opening to save your teammate even though this was every man for himself and- why am I doing this? You guys know what this was about. Pass." Kakashi said running a hand through his hair. What a hassle this turned out to be.
"Hn."
"Yes, dattebayo!"
"I did it!"
'More like Naruto carried both of you onto this team… both of them need to change.' Kakashi inwardly thought. Indeed, Naruto did the most planning and work and got both Sasuke and Sakura to pass the test. He still hadn't seen Sasuke's or Sakura's skills in combat, and he didn't have any knowledge on them other than reports from the Academy, but he wondered how much those were worth, seeing how much skill Naruto had in tactics, combat and mind games.
"We'll meet at the same spot tomorrow for training and the day after we'll have our first mission as Team 7. Go home and rest up, my cute little genin."
And so Naruto accomplished one more of his objectives and earned respect from his team, whether or not they would admit it.
A/N: Poll is up. Please check it out. If you don't vote, I'll- I'll do something! Eh who am I kidding PLEEEASE VOTE.
