Chapter Four

The Test

Hitomi looked around the clearing, shoving her hands in her pockets and kicking the dirt.

"This is going to be tough," She heard Hara tell Yamamoto, "We should work together."

"Don't talk to me, ever." Yamamoto scowled.

Hitomi raised an eyebrow, wondering if the fact that Hara failed to even bother talking to her meant that Yamamoto's rudeness had defeated his team spirit, or if he just didn't like her personally.

It didn't matter, she didn't need him or anyone else. She'd trust her father's spirit to guide her through this, to twist her gaze where it needed to be just as it always had, to help her see what she needed to see.

Uzumaki appeared without warning, waving cheerfully at them, "Hello there my fellow miscreants."

"Howdy sensei!" Hara said cheerfully.

The dweeb.

Uzumaki wasn't their sensei yet, they might not even pass today, and if they didn't Uzumaki wouldn't be their sensei at all, so there.

Naruto held up a pair of silver bells, "I had to borrow these from my own sensei . . . now not all Jounin sensei train their Genin the same way, and what I'm going to do to you three to test your worthiness had never been attempted to my knowledge . . . you should feel honored."

Hitomi didn't.

Yamamoto was examining her nails as if she weren't paying attention but Hitomi's sharp eyes took note of the way the other girl stiffly kept one eye on Uzumaki Naruto and said nothing.

Hara appeared to be listening intently but he was sizing up Uzumaki, staring at the bells.

"Your goal is to capture these two bells, everyone who obtains a bell passes and gets to be trained by me. Those of you who fail will have to go back to the academy for further testing."

"Figures." Hara sighed.

"Stop whining." Hitomi soffed.

"I'm not." Hara sneered.

"Hey!" Uzumaki Naruto scolded them, "Don't talk when I'm talking. Now listen up because here's the twist . . . you're all going to start in different areas of the training ground, your job is to find me and get a bell before they're all gone, understand?"

"Some twist." Hitomi scoffed.

"Furthermore, none of you have eaten since lunch yesterday, which means that when we're finished no food will have graced your system for the past twenty four hours, which is good because if any of you cheated and ate you'd vomit it all up anyway, and fail the test. This is survival training at it's rawest because you're not surviving off the environment, you're surviving from me."

"We should work as a team." Hara whispered again, "Three of us together have a better chance."

"Do . . . not . . . talk . . . to . . . me . . . ever." Yamamoto said very slowly with mock sign language.

Hitomi said nothing. She didn't want to have to argue with them, or hear Uzumaki scold her again.

She waited patiently and Uzumaki suddenly split himself into four people, "I'll be in the center, these three will take you to your starting points. You'll be blindfolded, just hold onto their hands."

Hitomi smirked, she hadn't seen yet the blindfold that she couldn't actually see through, this would be a breeze.

She'd reach Uzumaki first and she'd get the first bell. She shut her eyes and put her goggles on her forehead, she had to remove them so she could be "properly" blindfolded but she didn't want her possible sensei to see her gross, disgusting eyes.

"One last thing," Uzumaki announced, "We're not playing soft or friendly, you'll all have to come at me as if you intend to kill me, don't worry, you don't stand a chance of actually pulling it off."

Yamamoto scoffed at that, Hara laughed nervously but Hitomi didn't see why Uzumkai had to point that out like they were idiots. None of them had ever even killed another human being before, right? So how could any of them hope to make a Jounin their first kill?

She hated it when adults told her stupid things they didn't have to tell her, it was like they thought she was stupid just because she was a kid when in fact all of her stupidity came from their refusal to actually teach her the things that she needed to know, rather than the watered down tooth fairy nonsense they felt she should know.

That's why she tolerated Iruka-sensei, he'd always taught them the important facts, he hadn't been overly kind or soft on them, he'd taught and those who, like Hitomi, were intelligent enough to realize they were stupid, had listened and learned and therefore become less stupid.

Mostly . . . there really didn't seem to be much explanation for the likes of Uzumaki Naruto. Maybe Iruka-sensei hadn't been his teacher.

Hitomi counted her steps, noted when her direction was changed even slightly, and when the blindfold was removed shut her eyes tight until her goggles were back over them, protecting them from the world but not the world from them.

Just the way she liked it.

Unfortunately when she opened her eyes everything was . . .different. With frustration she realized she'd been so caught up in thought that she forgot to keep her eyes open during the trip. The training ground looked entirely different, alien even. She stood on an island of stone surrounded by water she was certain she hadn't crossed over before, and there were trees now, several of them blocking much of her view, engulfing the center where Uzumaki was supposed to be . . . at least she suspected it was the center.

She looked around just to make sure she hadn't had her blindfold taken away while she faced the wrong direction.

She scratched her head and glanced at the Naruto clone--for she'd decided it must be a clone if she could hold its hand, a doppelganger wouldn't have been solid--and raised an eyebrow.

He shrugged and pointed in one direction, then looked uncertain and pointed with his other finger in another direction, then smirked as if it were supposed to be funny.

Adults. Can't live with them, can't convince them you're capable of living without them. Hitomi thought.

She sprang for the trees, climbing as high as she could into one of them and looked around, where was her sensei?

Miyuki scoffed again when she saw the trees set out before her. "Of course, Genjutsu." She reasoned. She knew there was no seeing through the Genjutsu of a Konoha Jounin, she'd just have to play his game until he revealed himself in some way. Yes Genjutsu users always gave themselves away in some shape or form, Master Iruka used to say that.

So Yamamoto Miyuki would keep her eyes open and find out what it was that Uzumaki Naruto had left behind to reveal himself, and thereby hopefully break out of his illusion.

Hara Masamune flipped the knife he'd secretly stolen from Uzumaki's clone as they'd walked. He figured it was a cloned knife and therefore wouldn't actually kill anyone, but if he could get a killing blow on Uzumaki with it surely that'd prove he was worthy of being a Shinobi.

The sensei was wrong, he could kill him, but he wouldn't. Still, he'd prove that he could, and thereby pass the test with or without a bell.

Hitomi rushed quietly through the woods and then suddenly she stumbled forward.

"Sorry to trip you," A girl said. "Oh wait, I'm not sorry at all!"

Hitomi glared, and there, standing over her was Akane.

"Akane." Hitomi scowled, "I don't have time for you."

"Really? So what, you gonna kill me?" Akane asked.

"Hardly. You're not worth the effort, I taught you a lesson long ago and I'll teach you another if you don't leave me alone." Hitomi said coldly. "I kicked your butt and I beat up all your friends, I can do it again."

Akane stared at her, "You really are clueless aren't you?"

"Whatever." Hitomi scoffed, shoving her way past Akane only to discover that Akane wouldn't just let her pass.

Akane was strong, really strong.

Hitomi blinked and Akane sneered, "That's right, I'm real."

"Of course you are." Hitomi said, why should Akane not be real? Was she so stupid she thought Hitmoi's lack of fear meant she didn't know the girl was real?

"I'm going to do to you what you did to me those years ago, Hijiri. I'm going to beat you so bad you'll never recover."

"Don't make me laugh." Hitomi scowled, leaping back, "I'm a ninja now, you can't hurt me anymore!"

Akane smirked and reached behind her back, placing a forehead protector on her brow, "So'm I, brat. Now show me what you've got."

"Hey, hey, Hara." A familiar voice said.

Hara spun around, "B-boss? H-hey!" Hara gulped, "I thought you were, I mean I . . ."

"Stabbed me, killed me? Thought I was dead? Well guess what . . . I'm not."

"So I see." Hara scoffed.

"I've come back to kill you."

"I figured." Hara admitted.

"Shall we get on with it?" The older boy asked.

"No." Hara said flatly, and he turned and ran.

He wasn't scared of fighting that boy, he was scared of what he'd do to that boy.

Uzumaki-sensei would hate him if he killed a person, Uzumaki-sensei would hate him if he found out he'd killed someone while he was supposed to be taking his test.

This was fantastic news though, it meant that he hadn't really killed his boss. Somehow the older boy was still alive and kicking, he wanted revenge but that wouldn't matter, he'd never be able to hurt Hara, not now that Hara was a ninja.

He was absolved of his crime, the murder had never happened, he felt an incredible weight lift from his shoulders as he ran.

He could find Uzumaki, pass the test, then tell him what had happened, explain everything since now he knew he was innocent of murder and had nothing to hide.

"Where do you think you're going, Miyu-chan?" A man in a mask asked.

"Bugger off." Miyuki snapped.

"You're not going anywhere." The man said, removing his mask.

Miyuki stumbled when she laid eyes on him.

"Impossible." She said coldly, "You're dead. I killed you."

"I've forgiven you for that." Her uncle said easily. "But I think you're still going to have to be punished."

"No!" Miyuki screamed, throwing a kunai at him.

She knew it had to be Genjutsu, he was dead, she'd killed him, she'd slashed his throat and she'd destroyed his face before his stunned companion managed to pull her away.

But that was the face she was looking at. A gashed throat and a carved up face, empty soulless, eyeless sockets, a nose split down the middle and missing its left nostril, Miyuki would never forget her own handiwork, it had both horrified and pleased her.

He caught her kunai and tossed it right back at her, it passed so close to her head that she could hear it cutting through the wind near her ear, but she didn't feel it cut her.

"I won't let you touch me, I won't ever let you touch me again!" Miyuki roared, ripping a pair of kunai from her equipment pouches and throwing them, she also reached for a knife she carried, the knife she'd used to kill him before.

She sprang for him and he easily dodged her, she struck out again and again he dodged.

But he didn't strike her, he didn't make any attempt to inflict pain.

That wasn't like him, he usually beat her silly at the slightest thing, here she was trying to murder him a second time and he hadn't even taken a swing.

She narrowed her eyes, "You don't have any power over me anymore, do you?" She said, "You've become that weak. You're not even real, are you? You really are just an illusion. A distraction. Uzumaki means to use you to torment me, well in that case I quit. I won't serve a sensei who thinks my past is something to be joked about or used against me for the sake of a simple test."

"What's simple about this test?" Her illusionary uncle asked. "This test determines whether or not you become a Shinobi."

"I never wanted to be a Shinobi. I just wanted to live my life." Miyuki said, sitting down on the ground.

"You really want to give up?" The illusion asked her.

"You can't speak to me, you're not real." She told it, but she said so fighting back a sob and holding back tears. "You're dead, you're dead, you're dead! You'll never touch me again, I killed you and I'll kill you again if you don't go away! I quit, I don't want to be a ninja anymore so take your illusion away Uzumaki, before I kill you too!"

"You might have made a mistake with Yamamoto." Sakura said.

"No, she's doing well." Naruto said.

"No, she really isn't." Sakura said, "She's falling apart."

"She's pulling herself together." Naruto shot back. "They're all doing well, you'll see. You too Granny, you'll see these kids are going to pass. They're more than murderers."

"Naruto, Hijiri doesn't know she killed that Akane girl, your test is wasted on her. Hara seems to have decided to run for his life, and Yamamoto has just resigned and threatened your life. What are you trying to accomplish?" Sakura asked.

"I want them to face their past and defeat it." Naruto said, "They can do it. They will do it. They're more than just tools, or murderers."

"How does making them fight the skeletons in their closets make them Shinobi material?" Sakura demanded.

"Don't you see? They're not fighting them." Tsunade spoke up, looking at Naruto, "That's your intention isn't it? To prove that these children aren't uncontrollable killers or something like that?"

"Pretty much." Naruto nodded.

"Foolish." Sakura scoffed,

"And unnecessary. Pay closer attention, Naruto." Tsunade said. "You might think Yamamoto is doing well because she hasn't killed your shadow clone, but in fact your clone has her so terrified and ashamed that she's shutting out the rest of the world. She's not focusing on the test anymore, she's closing her eyes and waiting for you to stop tormenting her, and I for one think she was tormented enough before she met you."

Naruto shuddered under that verbal lashing, but it wasn't over. "You've bred false hope in Hara, see how happy he is? He probably thinks that clone is the real deal, that the murder he committed never happened, that somehow the boy was saved. What will happen when he finds out it was all a cruel joke you were playing on him?" Tsunade demanded. "Well Naruto? How would you feel? Don't you see this is not helping these kids at all, you're making things worse!"

Naruto shook his head, "No. They're going to pass, you don't understand yet, but you will when you see it. They're going to pass, Granny. They're all going to be Shinobi before the end of this day."

"For your sake I hope so," Sakura said, "I think you'll take their failure harder than they will."

Hitomi glared at Akane, and she said "Why?"

"What?" The older girl asked.

"Why?" Hitomi repeted.

"Why what?" Akane balked.

"Why any of this? Why do you hate me, Akane?" Hitomi asked.

"After what you did to me you dare to ask?" Akane scowled. "I exist only to destroy you now!"

"So . . . because my family was too poor for me to give you money, and because you thought my eyes were stupid you've devoted your life to hurting me?"

"My life? Hijiri you moron, I haven't got a life to devote to any--"

Hitomi ignored Akane. The older girl might hate Hitomi's eyes, but since she'd become a Shinobi her eyes had proven more and more useful.

They saw everything, the fastest hand seals were easy and slow to her eyes, the slightest movement was detected by her gaze, and the bell Akane wore at her waist, identical to the two Naruto-sensei had, was detected the instant Hitomi looked at Akane.

Probably the girl had one from when she passed her sensei's test, so if Hitomi took hers she could give it to Naruto.

He'd said she had to obtain a bell, he didn't say it had to be one of his.

She sprang with speed that Akane clearly hadn't expected, snatched the bell and ran.

She saw Akane disappear in a cloud of smoke, and she ran faster. She was a great runner, that fat cow would never catch up to her, ninja or no.

She had her bell, she'd passed the test.

Miyuki watched her illusionary uncle as he walked circles around her, "So you're just going to sit there?" He asked, egging her on.

She didn't answer. She wouldn't acknowledge him as anything more than a cruel joke by that prankster Uzumaki.

And then Hara slammed into the phantom, and he disappeared.

"Ogh! Sorry! Hey wait, where'd he go?" Hara demanded.

Miyuki glared at him. "And why are you running? Scared of something?"

"Have you been crying?" Hara gawked, "What's the matter?"

"Shut up!" Miyuki hissed, "Go away."

Hara frowned at her, "Is there anything I can do?"

She considered this for a moment. "Yes . . . help me find Uzumaki-sensei." She didn't add 'so I can make him pay for what he's just done' she instead said "If we work together we can take him."

"What about Hitomi?" Hara asked.

"What about her?" Miyuki scoffed.

"If we all work together we can pass, but if it's just the two of us . . ." Hara shrugged.

"There are only two bells." Miyuki said.

"I think I have a way to pass without a bell." Hara said, "I'll run the risk and you two can take the bells."

Fine, I'd rather be on a team with another girl anyway, I don't care what happens to you, Miyuki thought , but she said "That's brilliant, clever you figuring out a way to pass without the bells. Let's go then and find Hitomi, we'll be a team just like we were meant to be."

And she'd decide when the time came whether or not she'd bring her body count up to two.

Uzumaki had wronged her almost as badly as her uncle had, the difference was that her uncle was a deranged worthless piece of filth, Uzumaki probably thought he was being funny which made his intentions just as evil even if his act had not been.

But no . . . Miyuki didn't want to kill anyone, she hadn't even wanted to kill her uncle, there just hadn't been any other way. She didn't like hurting people, if it were up to her she'd heal people instead of hurting them, but she didn't want to be hurt anymore herself, and when it came down to it she had decided long ago that pain was better given to another than to herself.

Uzumaki Naruto didn't need to die, she decided, but he'd have to learn not to hurt her again.

She'd teach him that.

To Be Continued . . .