Chapter 4: For Whom the Bell Tolls

AN: Yay action. Please review. :)

The three genin of Team Five stood ready to wrestle the bells from their sensei the moment the word came. Setsuna was like a coiled spring; she stood ready to strike at a moment's notice. Misato watched her team mates intently, looking for any sign of what they were planning. Musashi gracefully drew his wakazashi from its scabbard, and readied it. He closed his eyes for the briefest of moments, and rid his mind of all distractions, and all doubts.

The word finally came after what seemed like an eternity. "Start," Kakashi said calmly. He stood his ground, in a completely relaxed stance, and waited for them to come to him.

He didn't have to wait long. Almost immediately, Setsuna pounced. She darted forward like a bullet, and aimed a powerful jab at Kakashi's face, right in his left-eye blindspot. He effortlessly caught her punch, and held her hand motionless. She pivoted her body weight on his hand, and swung her whole body into a roundhouse kick. To her surprise, he caught her kick with his other hand, leaving her suspended in the air, her only free limbs denied any means of striking back.

"Setsuna, you idiot!" yelled Musashi as he sprung into action. He charged straight towards Kakashi's undefended right side.

"Who's the idiot?" Kakashi chuckled, as he tossed Setsuna straight at Musashi. Her body hit him straight in the chest, knocking the wind right out of him. He dropped his wakazashi, and the two unceremoniously landed in a heap.

Misato quickly ran over to help her comrades untangle themselves from the mess they were in. She stood over them, holding her kunai ready, in case Kakashi decided to press his advantage. Setsuna muttered "Baka!" as she hit Musashi on the top of the head. She got up, dusted herself off, and grudgingly helped Musashi get up off the ground. "Just because we need to work together right now doesn't mean I like you," she hissed.

"Same here," Musashi grumbled.

To the three Genins' surprise, Kakashi just stood there, half slouching. He lazily dug in his back pocket, and pulled out one of his smut novels, and began reading it casually. After a moment, he spoke, "Are you three just going to stand there staring at me, or are you going to get the bells?"

Setsuna was about to charge, but Musashi grabbed her arm, stopping her. "Baka! We can't hope to get the bells from him unless we work together. You saw what he did to us last time; he laid us out like it was nothing!"

She was angry. Angry because he was right, and she had let her impulses get the better of her. She calmed own, and glared back at him. "Do you have a plan, genius?"

"I'm still working on that," he replied as he picked up his wakazashi. He turned to Misato, and whispered, "Hey, Misato-chan, I need you to figure out a way to distract Kakashi-sensei while Setsuna and I go in to grab the bells."

Misato nodded in silent agreement. She pulled three more kunai out of her pack, and tied smoke balls to them. On the one she had already drawn, she tied what looked like an off colored smoke pall. She whispered, "Stay clear of the black one," making sure both Musashi and Setsuna heard her. "I'm ready when you are," she continued.

Musashi grabbed a flash bomb and a smoke ball out of his pack. He whispered, "Setsuna, when I throw the flash ball, use the opening to hide in the bushes to our right. From there, you'll have about thirty seconds to sneak closer to Kakashi-sensei, near that funny looking, old mangled tree. Misato-chan, you use the opening to take position in the trees to our left. Wait thirty seconds, and then begin your part. After Kakashi reacts, Setsuna and I will engage him in melee. You need to exploit any opening we make."

They both nodded. As he readied the smoke ball and flash bomb, he said, "One more thing: don't take your eyes of Kakashi. If he makes a replication at any point, we are all sitting ducks." He threw the flashbomb and smoke ball, shielding his eyes from the flash. The moment it flashed, he darted forward and to the left, easily reaching cover before the flash wore away, and he was sure everyone else did. He scurried forward, silent as the grave, and got ready to strike.

Kakashi was impressed at how quickly they got their act together. Any lesser ninja, given the situation he was in, would have lost track of their movements. He didn't see where Musashi or Setsuna went at, but he saw Misato for the briefest instant as she moved behind cover. "So, Shinmen Musashi, it appears you're the tactician of this group. Show me what you're made of."

Though he didn't look it, he was keenly alert, even while reading his favorite smut novel. And everything was quiet. Too quiet. One of them must have used the opening to set up a Genjutsu technique to dampen the sound. It was crude, and easily alerted a skilled ninja to its presence, but it did its job: mask the exact location of its user. The trees were swaying in the wind, and the birds were chirping, but Kakashi couldn't hear either. He tensed up involuntarily, thinking, "Did I underestimate them?.

A kunai suddenly hit the ground by his feet, popping into a brilliant purple puff of smoke. Another came, and then another, spreading more smoke. A fourth kunai landed. "Hmm, I think they over did it a bit--" his train of thought derailed, as the fourth kunai exploded, spreading orange fire and shrapnel. Kakashi leaped upwards, out of the way the explosion and out of the smoke cloud. As he looked over his shoulder, he was greeted with Setsuna's feral grin. She threw a punch at him, but he quickly spun around in mid, air, and caught her punch. "Damn. She's quite the jumper," he thought to himself.

Setsuna quickly swung her whole body into a kick, which Kakashi also effortlessly caught. But, that was the plan. Now that they were both being called back to mother earth by gravity, he, had no way of disposing of her. If he tried to throw her, she could just latch on, and they'd both be sent off balance. He landed awkwardly on the ground, and to his surprise, another Setsuna had just darted out of the bushes, heading straight for him. He quickly maneuvered the first Setsuna in the path of the second's attack. It disappeared in a small puff of white smoke, and the real Setsuna was able to land a kick to Kakashi's chest, knocking him off balance. Kakashi heard the distinctive sound of a sword slicing through the air. He quickly drew a kunai from his belt, and blocked Musashi's attack of opportunity. "He must have ran through the smoke cloud, pacing himself so he'd arrive just as I landed. Clever."

The two young Genin were quite fearsome melee fighters for their age. In the ensuing flurry of punches and sword slashes, they left Kakashi no avenue for safe retreat. Kakashi deftly parried all their blows, bobbing and weaving around in a way that would have put a ballet dancer to shame. This fierce melee continued relentlessly. It wasn't long before Misato joined in. She wasn't as fast or accurate as Setsuna or Musashi, but the added stress of dealing with a third opponent was taking its toll on Kakashi. Every now and then, someone would land a blow. At this rate, he'd quickly end rather well bruised.

He decided to change the field a bit. In one swift motion, he parried one of Misato's punches, and punched her straight in the chin, knocking her out of the melee. She quickly pulled back to catch her breath. Kakashi quickly decided to press his advantage, and aimed a strong kick straight for Setsuna's stomach. She tried to block it to no avail. The blow knocked the wind right out of her, and she doubled over in dry heaves. As Kakashi began to make his getaway, he felt a strange tug on his belt. Musashi's wakazashi sliced into the ground right in front of Misato, the bells caught on its guard.

"Shit!" he cried, as he rushed to get to them before Misato did. He quickly fell flat on his face. He looked behind to find that Setsuna had grabbed his feet and tripped him. Misato quickly grabbed a bell, and tossed the other to Musashi. "Ugh, I'm getting old," Kakashi moaned as he got up. "A promise is a promise. He grabbed Setsuna, and before anyone could blink, she was already tied up to the post at the edge of the training ground.

"Wait a second! How did he do that!" cried Musashi. Kakashi quickly motioned Misato and him to come over to the post. Kakashi was leaning on the post, smiling. Setsuna was on the verge of tears.

"Well, looks like you two pass," Kakashi chucked, "and its only 10 o'clock! I guess we get to have lunch early. Since you all worked together so well, I'm going to give Setsuna another test after we have lunch to see if she's up to snuff. If she passes, she gets to join you. If she fails, she's back to the academy." He threw Musashi and Misato boxed lunches. "Here, eat up. But don't give any to Setsuna, or you'll all fail."

Musashi looked at the lunch as if it were stolen goods. He had passed, but he still felt awful. If it hadn't been for Setsuna's help, he wouldn't have gotten his bell. And now he had to eat it in front of her, after all the hard work that they'd all been through. He didn't like her, but this was too much.

"Well, I've got some important business to attend to, so I'm off." Like that, Kakashi disappeared.

A tear ran down Setsuna's cheek. She was fighting them off, desperately trying to put up a strong front. Her red hair was tousled, and she was bruised and scraped up all over her arms, legs, and face. "It's okay, guys. I'll just wait for Kakashi to come back, and then I'll show him what I'm made of. I'll pass in a jiffy, and then everything will be fine…" Setsuna said, desperately trying to convince herself.

Musashi couldn't stand it any longer. He stood up, and offered his lunch to her. "Here," he beckoned, "have some of my lunch. You're gonna need it, if you have another test ahead of you."

"W-why are you doing this for me?" she stuttered, "I mean, you've got every reason to hate me, after what I've done to you, and now you're helping me."

"What Kakashi-sensei is doing is cruel and unusual, and I won't stand for it. Without your help, we wouldn't have gotten the bells. This is the least I can do repay you." Since she was tied up, Musashi quickly started feeding her from his lunch. "Hurry up and eat, before sensei comes back." Misato soon joined in, and a small smile formed on Setsuna's face.

Unbeknownst to them, Kakashi was watching them from the bushes. "Looks like they pass after all," he thought. "Looks like Musashi's a bleeding-heart, even though he'd hate to admit it. I didn't peg Setsuna to be capable of selfless behavior, either. Looks like life is full of suprises. Oh well, looks like it's time to end this Kodak moment."

Quickly and silently, Kakashi darted from cover, and stopped right in front of the group. "What the hell did I just say?!" he yelled.

All three of them turned to look at him in fright. Kakashi began making hand seals, as storm clouds appeared on the horizon. "You broke the rules. Are you prepared to face the consequences?"

"Don't punish them, Kakashi-sensei!" blurted Setsuna, "They only did because I asked them too, don't make them –"

Musashi cut her off: "Now wait a second, Kakashi-sensei. You said that this test was about teamwork. Well, I'm not going to abandon my teammate, even if it means breaking the rules."

"Yeah, that's what you said!" Misato shouted, backing him up with a level of courage that seemed unbecoming of the usually timid brunette.

The storm clouds suddenly disappeared. "Good. You all pass." Kakashi gave them the thumbs up.

Everyone was speechless. Finally Misato spoke up. "Okay, I'm lost, what just happened."

"You proved to me that you can work together, and that you'll stand by your teammates, win or lose. Shinobi who break the rules are considered scum, but shinobi who abandon their friends are even worse scum." Kakashi untied Setsuna, and handed her a boxed lunch. "You are all now officially Konoha ninja. From now on, your formal training is over, and the missions begin." Kakashi flashed them his famous masked, one eyed smile as they returned to their lunches, famished from the long fight.