Disclamer: Refer Prologue

16th October, 5:30a.m.

Konoha Third Training Ground

Naruto yawned a little tiredly as she worked her way to the appointed training ground. Upon arrival, she was surprised to find both Sasuke and Sakura already at the field. Though judging from the looks of their faces, they didn't get much sleep either.

"Ah, good morning." She greeted.

Sasuke looked at her before grunting a non-committal "Hn." Sakura seemed startled awake before replying "Ah, Good morning." blankly.

Looking around, Naruto noted with no real surprise that Kakashi was nowhere in sight. Geez, of all the traits he could've picked to emulate, it has to be that one huh. She felt like sighing but a chuckle escaped her lips instead. Ironic that I used to think it was funny.

Noticing Sasuke frowning at her, she shrugged. "Just thinking that it's so like him to be late as usual." She casually explained as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She didn't however expect to see his frown deepen.

"As usual?"

Naruto looked back at him puzzled. "Hai, Kakashi-san is always late. In fact, he's almost famous for it."

The other two Genin groaned as they realised they would probably have to wait for an unspecified amount of time before their tardy Sensei decided to show up while Naruto simply shrugged. "You'll get used to it." Before plopping down under the tree with her teammates.

She turned to face Sasuke when he kept staring at her. "You seemed to know him very well." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Well see, I hear about him a lot from a reliable source!" Naruto replied cheekily before countering, "And, you seemed to be unusually talkative today."

Sasuke chortled, "I'd like to see you try to speak when each time you open your mouth, your voice is drowned out by screams and squeals. It's easier to just keep quiet."

The statement caused her to burst out laughing and Sakura to blush in embarrassment. Naruto was surprised when Sakura didn't protest at all. She must be really tired.

"Ne, Sakura-chan. Just sleep if you need to. We'll wake you up when Sensei is here."

Forcing herself awake, she protested, "I don't want to make a bad impression…"

"And you won't make a good one either by falling asleep during the test." Sasuke reasoned, surprising Naruto. "He's right you know. Besides, we're talking about someone who's always fashionably late. Bad impression would be the last thing I'll be worried about." She added.

Convinced, Sakura gratefully closed her eyes after mumbling a sleepy thank you.

"I'm surprised. I didn't think you cared." Naruto asked after she was certain the girl was fast asleep.

"Hn. She'll just be a deadweight if she doesn't."

"You do realise that when she wakes up, she'll think that you actually do care."

"Tch."

They sat in silence for a while before she noticed Sasuke trying to stifle a yawn. "You should probably sleep a bit too."

She resisted rolling her eyes when Sasuke started protesting. Tired of arguing, she feigned a small yawn herself, "Look I'm a bit sleepy too, so why don't you just get some rest now so I can do the same later?"

That seemed to get Sasuke to back down a little but not without adding "Be sure to wake me up after 15 minutes."

Needless to say, Sasuke was pissed when she woke him up an hour later, but upon noticing their still absent Sensei, he managed to let it go.


10:00 a.m.

Naruto felt herself being shaken awake by a now reasonably well-rested Sakura. Sasuke was wide-awake at her side. She smirked as she recalled him saying something along the line of not sleeping while Sakura was awake during one of their shifts. Standing upright, she dusted herself off. Still feeling somewhat cranky from the lack of sleep, she couldn't resist voicing her complaint. "Man, this has got to be a record. I don't think he's been this late before."

"Hey guys! Good Morning!"

Of course, he has to pick just now to show up.

"You're late!" Sakura screeched.

Naruto found herself smiling and saying in a dangerously sweet voice, "Good morning, Sensei. How nice to see you so early in the morning!"

"Ah, sorry I'm late. A black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long way." Ignoring the annoyed glare of the Genin, he proceeded to set an alarm clock on top of a wooden post. "Alright, it's set for noon. Your objective for today is simply to take these bells from me before the time is up." Kakashi announced, jingling a pair of bells before Team 7.

"Those who cannot get a bell by noon gets no lunch and will be tied to this post. That person will also be sent back to the academy. Since there's only two bells, at least one of you will be sent back to the academy." He paused a moment, letting his words sink in before finally adding.

"You can of course, use everything at your disposal. A word of advice, you won't succeed unless you come at me intending to kill."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I mean you've only just lied to us, made us lose a good night's sleep, forced us to wait out for you for over four hours, and now you come up with some ridiculous test like that? Forget the bells. I don't know about you guys, but I'm gonna kill him just for those reasons alone." Naruto replied in a singsong voice laced with malice while whipping three Kunai in between each of her fingers.

Much to her surprise, Sakura found herself nodding along in agreement. Shannaro! You tell him, Naruto!

The Jōnin's eye widened when her two teammates stood up behind her with the same mad glint in their eyes. That certainly wasn't quite expected.

"W-wait, I haven't said start yet!"

Sasuke scoffed. "You should know better, in real combat there's no starting, only finishing."

Surprised by her teammate's unexpected support, Naruto decided to press the advantage. Grinning broadly, she decided to taunt the Jōnin further. "Since when do you even care about rules anyway? Maybe if you had shown up on time, we might have been in a more forgiving mood."

Giving a slight nod, the three Genin leapt back to form a flanking formation around Kakashi. To the Genin's bewilderment, the Jōnin suddenly started laughing. "What's so funny?" Sasuke demanded.

"Ah, nothing in particular. But I'm beginning to like you guys already."

The Genin were shocked when the Jōnin suddenly blurred out of sight. Reacting on instinct, Naruto immediately throw herself into a forward roll as just a split second later, she felt Kakashi's presence behind her. Fast! So this is a Jōnin!

She barely had enough time to slap an explosive tag on the ground before rolling out of his reach, forcing Kakashi to leap back before the tag exploded. Compared to Mizuki, Kakashi's speed and reaction were light years apart. Suddenly wondering if she had bitten off more than she could chew, Naruto decided to crush away any doubts. A little too late for that now. And steadied herself from a back flip.

Sliding away from the blast, Kakashi noted with both surprise and approval. So she's going all out. Good. And it doesn't look like she's underestimating me either. Now what about the others? His first intention had been to take out Naruto since she seemed to be acting as the will of the group. Although he doubt they were aware of it. Then again, he expected nothing less from the child of Minato and Kushina. He fluidly leapt out of the way to dodge a barrage of Kunai that rained down on the ground where he was standing on a second ago and caught one out of the air to deflect the others. Turning around, he found himself being charged by Sasuke.

Sasuke meanwhile felt a shiver up his spine. He wasn't sure what possessed him to make that impulsive outburst against their Sensei. It took him a full moment to realise that tingle is actually the long forgotten sensation of feeling thrilled. It's been so long since he felt that way. Not since Ita- No. Shouldn't bring him up. Still, the reflex shown by the Jōnin was nothing short of impressive. That is what I need to surpass. Saving up his remaining Kunai, he caught sight of Naruto in the corner of his vision. Like a well-oiled pair, the both of them flanked the Jōnin together from both sides.

Naruto dodged under a sweeping kick from their Sensei before returning it with a spinning kick of her own. She wasn't surprised when the Jōnin blocked it with ease, but using it to her advantage, she pushed more force into the kick to launch herself into the air. She had always been disappointed with her small stature but Jū had taught her some awesome Kata that took advantage of her size difference against opponents. Never had she felt more proud of her stature as her deft maneuver allowed her to hurl the Kunai from her fist down at her Sensei, forcing the Jōnin back.

Sasuke on the other hand, found himself fitting comfortably into the impromptu tag team they have formed. Some innate part of his Uchiha ancestry allowed him to read both his teammate and opponent's movement easily as he adjusted his movements accordingly. He couldn't help but felt smug, as the two of them seemed to be driving the Jōnin back. Although a small part of him that was the good Shinobi was nagging that beating the Jōnin was not part of the objective.

Kakashi meanwhile was taking it easy as he gauged his student's ability. Sasuke of course, did not disappoint as he blocked and countered with his almost textbook perfect execution of kicks and punches. There were hardly any holes in his guard and his punches and kicks were precise. He also noted the way the younger boy was following both his and Naruto's movement. I see, so he's not far off huh. Taking advantage of a momentary opening from Sasuke, the Jōnin easily broke through Sasuke's guard with his longer reach, punching him twice near his solar plexus before allowing him to roll out of his range to recover his breath. No need to crush his pride. Yet.

The reprise was short lived as Kakashi found himself under a furious onslaught of fist, kicks and Kunai from the little blonde spitfire. A complete juxtaposition of Sasuke's controlled and measured strikes. There were also a considerable number of openings in her guard and frowning, he noticed that she seemed to be using some less suitable muscle groups for some of her maneuvers. Oddly enough, none of her Kata seemed to be out of the standard taijutsu forms commonly practiced around the region. To most observer, it may seemed like a bunch of sloppy punches and kicks coupled with flowery acrobatics, but having copied over as many forms of Taijutsu as Ninjutsu, he managed to identify them as a bastardization of some odd but impressive collection of schools and styles. There's even Gai's strong fist element in her attacks as he blocked a familiar drop kick from the blonde.

It seemed Iruka was right. This Jū person seemed to be teaching Naruto how to fight, although the effectiveness of the style seemed to be questionable. If anything, it gave him the impression that Jū was either an overzealous teacher or trying to get Naruto killed. Having seen enough from both his students, Kakashi dodged another kick from Naruto and a punch from Sasuke before hurling the former over his shoulder, punching the latter in the guts and leaping onto the branch of a tree.

"I'm impressed. It seems there's no need for me to teach you about Ninja fighting lesson #1. Taijutsu."

Recovering his breath, Sasuke retaliated by throwing a volley of Shurikens and Kunai at Kakashi. He was surprised however when all of it hit the Jōnin dead on before it suddenly revealed itself to be a log. Damnit! Kawarimi! Panicking, he started looking around for the real Kakashi.

"Let's see how you fare against Ninjutsu."

Naruto's eyes widened as she felt a presence and churning sound moving towards Sasuke in high speed. "Sasuke, he's underneath you! Jump!"

What? She can tell where I was? For once, Kakashi was glad that his face was both concealed by his mask and that he was still a few feet underground or they would have surely seen his uncool look of astonishment.

Heeding his comrade's warning, Sasuke launched himself upwards just in time to avoid being ambushed by Kakashi while perching safely up in the branch of a tree.

"Maa, I'm impressed, Naruto. To be able to sense me even when I've hidden myself away, but I'm afraid if you want to pass or even beat me up, you'll have to do better than that."

Naruto yelped as a pair of hands grabbed hold of her legs from the ground and she found herself dragged down into the earth, leaving her head above the ground.

Glaring at her sensei, she pouted "No fair! A Kage Bunshin!" Squatting down, Kakashi petted her head nicely, "Well, a Shinobi has to look underneath the underneath."

He was taken aback at the huge grin from Naruto and even more surprised when she dispelled in a puff of smoke.

"Heeh, so Mizuki was right! I guess this Jutsu is useful after all!" A gleeful Naruto sang from a nearby tree.

"But, I know that the real you is hiding over there!" She exclaimed before throwing a few Kunai tagged with explosives towards a deserted spot in the ground, forcing the Jōnin to abandon his earthy cover before it blew up. So, she's a sensor type. And she could tell apart clones?

Sakura found herself struggling to find an opening to fit into the fight. She couldn't help but be amazed at her teammates. They're both awesome. Suddenly, she felt so very small. All these time she had been laughing with the class at Naruto when she never realised he was actually this much more skilled. His fighting with Sasuke earlier was almost flawless and both the boys seemed to be working well as a team already. A team that seems to be functioning flawlessly without you. Her inner voice mocked.

No! That's not true!

Oh, you know well it is. Hiding behind this façade of yours again, Forehead girl? Face it, we both know that when it comes down to actually getting anything done, you're absolutely useless.

I… I'm not…

There you go again, denying the truth and surrounding yourself in this fantasy of yours. If it weren't for Ino, you'd still be hiding behind books, living in shame of that ridiculous forehead of yours!

I'm not useless Shannaro! I'm the Kunoichi of the year! I'm better than Ino-buta!

Then prove it!

I'll show them I'm worthy of being on the team in my own way!

Shaking away all remnants of negative thoughts, Sakura renewed her resolve as she calmed herself and started analysing the situation.


Having flushed out the real Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke renewed their assault. Getting tired of toying with the Genin, Kakashi decided to step it up a little as he swiftly grabbed another wheel kick from Naruto, only this time, he effortlessly hurled the diminutive girl across the field and into the lake with just one hand.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he confirmed his suspicion. So he's really been toying with us all this time. Still, throughout the fight, he couldn't help but feel happy. Happy to be able to cut lose and let out all his frustrations. Happy to be able to fight alongside someone. A feeling he had almost forgotten.

I guess there's no helping it. No shame in using it against an opponent of this level. Snapping his hands together in a quick series of handseals, he gathered up his Chakra and prepared himself.

"Katon – Gokakyū no Jutsu!" Kneading the chakra inside his lungs, Sasuke exhaled, expelling an intense fireball towards their sensei.

Kakashi barely managed to substitute himself in time after recovering from the surprise of the Jutsu, not expecting a Genin to be able to pour that much chakra into that particular technique.

Over the lake, Naruto managed to right herself and came to a skidding stop on the surface of the lake. Seeing Sasuke cutting lose with his fire Jutsu, she grinned. "Well now, I guess we'll have to step it up too, huh, Nee-chan? We won't lose out to Sasuke!"

Holding up her hands together in a single Tiger seal, she gathered her chakra and saturated the water to form a ball the size of a large watermelon in front of her.

"Suiton – Teppōdama!"

While not nearly as large and impressive as Sasuke's Gokakyū, what the water bullet lacked in ferocity it made up for with sheer speed. Kakashi was startled when his sharp hearing picked up the surge of the Suiton Jutsu hurtling at him from the lake. Turning around, he again barely managed to twist himself out of the bullet's path before it sailed clean across the entire clearing and collided violently against a tree, sending barks and splinters flying.

He winced. I guess it's time to end this now or someone might really get hurt.

Dodging from more shuriken coming from Sasuke, Kakashi suddenly felt his leg caught against a thin wire before a spring noose tightened around his leg and hung him upside down from a tree.

"Ha! We got you now, Sensei!" Naruto exclaimed proudly as she rejoined smug Sasuke and elated Sakura.

Kakashi returned their looks with an amused smile. "That's all very good. Except there seems to be three problems."

His smile widened as the statement seemed to catch the Genin's attention. "Firstly, you guys appeared to have totally forgotten the goal of the test, which is to get the bells. Secondly, you didn't really catch me." The three Genin were shocked when the Kakashi before them turned into a log again while the real one stepped out from behind a tree. "While I commend your well placed trap, Sakura. I'm afraid your inexperience in using them made it obvious to anyone paying attention." As he gestured to her dried leaves camouflage, causing the girl to blush in embarrassment.

"Which brings us to the last problem." Right on cue, the bell rang. "You just ran out of time." Kakashi announced cheerily.


"Why the hell am I the one tied to the post?" Naruto protested indignantly as she glared upwards at Kakashi.

Looking up from his book, Kakashi smiled, "Well, I don't know. Maybe it's because you're the one who riled up the team and caused them to lose sight of the objective?"

"Well, we almost had you." Naruto mumbled weakly.

Snapping his book shut, Kakashi fixed them all with a stern glare. "In the shinobi world, there's no such thing as almost. You either make the cut. Or you don't. Little difference like that in the field could mean saving or losing the life of a comrade."

"So tell me. Why should I pass anyone of you when none of you clearly have a bell?"

Naruto gritted her teeth together for a moment before looking away in shame. Pushing thoughts of how to break the news to Jū to the recesses of her mind, she took a deep breath, keeping her voice from wavering. Damn it. Well, if I fail, might as well fail in my own terms and with dignity. "Pass the other two, Sensei. You're right. It's my fault. I got carried away and dragged them both into this." Naruto sighed resignedly.

Her declaration seemed to startle Sasuke and Sakura out of their respective thoughts.

"Tch. Pass Naruto and Sakura. I understood but still ignored the objective on my own volition. It's not fair to push the blame on him. An Uchiha accepts responsibility for his own mistakes." And it's not like father cares. He thought bitterly.

Feeling suddenly very incompetent, Sakura bit her lips before stuttering "A-Ano… since I contributed the least in the whole exercise. So please just fail me and pass Naruto and Sasuke-kun." She implored with a bow.

An awkward silence descended the team for a few seconds until Kakashi started laughing hysterically while his team stared at him as if he's lost it.

Recovering from his fit of laughter, he smiled "Congratulations, you guys passed!" Looking at their confused and bordering on weirded out look, he sighed, "The goal of the test is to test your teamwork. It is designed to pit you against one another while it's real purpose is to see if you can overlook your own self-interest and successfully work as a team."

"While you guys certainly managed to work as a team in the beginning, your motivations were more of getting even." He smiled as Naruto looked away embarrassed. "A more lenient Jōnin would probably have passed you guys on that account."

"However, as you guys just demonstrated earlier with your willingness to put aside your self-interest, I'm proud to say you're now officially Shinobi of Konoha." He announced while cutting Naruto free.

It took a while for the realisation to sink in. Naruto was the first to speak. "So. All of that was just some elaborate mind game to mess with us huh?" She asked in annoyance. While she hated it, she could certainly agree that it was effective.

"Well, look at it this way, at least the waiting helped you guys bond over the morning!" Kakashi blurted out before he realised his mistake. Uh oh.

The atmosphere suddenly chilled as the trio spoke in tandem.

"So…"

"You were here…"

"All the while?"

Scratching his head sheepishly, Kakashi chuckled nervously.

"Get him!"

This time, Kakashi offered little resistance as he allowed his team to take out their frustration on him as they ended up laughing in a sprawl on the ground.

Hehe! Ne, nee-chan, maybe this team doesn't suck after all!

Tch, least they're not complete deadweights.

I'll show them. I'll show them that I'm capable too!


12:40 p.m.

Hokage's Office

The group of Jōnin reconvened back in the tower. Seeing that most of the Jōnin are present, Hiruzen decided to speak up.

"Those of you whose Genin team passed please step forward and announce your name and team."

Looking around the room, there was a momentary silence until Asuma sighed softly before taking a step forward. "Jōnin Sarutobi Asuma. Team 10 – Akimichi Chōji, Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino, passed!"

Kurenai followed up without missing a beat, "Jōnin Yūhi Kurenai, Team 8 – Aburame Shino, Hyūga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, passed!"

There was a brief murmur among the Jōnin, which died down soon.

They waited around for a few more seconds until no other Jōnin stepped forward. Just as Hiruzen was about to dismiss the Jōnin, Kakashi Shunshin into the room. "Jōnin Hatake Kakashi reporting in. Team 7 – Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto..." Wait for it...

"Passed!"

Immediately, the whole office broke out into a cacophony of excited chattering.

"Seriously?"

"You're not pulling our leg are you?"

"What did they bribe you with?"

Kakashi smiled, "Maa, Maa. They passed with flying colours with their own abilities. That's all you need to know."

"Tell us about them!"

Hiruzen had to resist rolling his eyes. Sometimes his Shinobi can be so childish. Catching Kakashi's eye, the two men shared a knowing smile.


1:12 p.m.

Konoha Streets

Strolling leisurely down the road, Naruto walked with her head held high, resting against her folded hands behind her head, proudly displaying her status as a Konoha Shinobi with her headband reflecting the afternoon sun, humming happily, she felt as if a great load had been lifted off her shoulder. On hindsight, it was pretty typical of Kakashi to come up with something like that. She chuckled. The only thing that could make this day even better is if Jū was here to share it with her.

"Hey! Watch where you're…!" A random pedestrian shouted rudely at her when he bumped into her until he realised who she was before turning tails and backed away hastily. Looking at the retreating figure of the man, Naruto simply shrugged and went on her way. Her mood was just too good to be ruined by an idiot.

Following not far behind, Hinata kept taking deep breaths. Telling herself for the hundredth time that she can do it. Alright, I'm going to go up to her and ask if she wants to have dinner together tonight. That thought caused her heart rate to increase to dangerous levels as she tried to calm herself down by remembering the pep talk with Kurenai-sensei.


Earlier

Kurenai dragged Hinata aside after Kiba and Shino went their separate ways. Hinata knew it was bad news the moment she saw the smile on her sensei's face. It was the same one she saw the day before.

"So, Uzumaki Naruto huh?" The effect was immediate. Hinata paled and stiffened like a board at the statement.

"Maa, you should relax a bit Hinata. It's alright I won't judge. After all, you can't help who you fall for." As the older woman placed a placating hand over her shoulder. However, the big sister part of her couldn't resist teasing the younger girl "So, you got the hots for the tomboy huh?"

"Kurenai-sensei!"

"Wakata, wakata. You know, why don't you ask her out for dinner tonight?" Kurenai slyly suggested.

"D-D-Di-Dinner?" Hinata stammered as her mind verged on overload. "I'm not sure I'm ready yet... What if she thinks I'm weird? What if…"

Laughing, Kurenai placed a finger on the younger girl's lips. "Relax. It doesn't have to be that kind of dinner. Think about it. If she passes her test, it could be a congratulatory dinner and if she fails, it will be a consolation dinner. Either way, you get to spend time alone and strengthen the bond with the person you care about."

She had to keep herself from giggling at the suddenly enlightened expression on her student's face when she asked with a small amount of suspicion, "Why are you suggesting this?"

Kurenai smiled, "Think of it as a test to become a bit more assertive. You're going to be working in a group from now on. I know you've known Kiba and Shino for a while now, but there would be times when you're required to work with other teams eventually. Sometimes special requests are called in for specific Shinobi and you might be assigned a different team and not have us to back you up. I think if you can find it in yourself to ask Naruto out for dinner, you can take anything that comes your way."

Digging her brain, Hinata realised she couldn't come up with a counter argument.


Sighing, Hinata hurried ahead as she started loosing sight of Naruto in the crowd. It all sounded like a simple task when Kurenai-sensei mentioned it. Find Naruto and ask her out. Swallowing nervously, she wiped her sweaty hands and steeled herself before approaching Naruto.

She nearly leapt out of her skin when Naruto suddenly turned about. "Ah, Hinata! How did your test go? You passed right? I'm sure you did, cause we got the worse Jōnin possible for that test!" How does she do that? It's almost as if she has the Byakugan!

Hinata found herself at loss for words as all her rehearsed speeches were pouring out of her mind. "A-aa oh, yes. We passed!" She replied dumbly.

"I knew you guys could do it! Ne, where's the rest of your team?"

"Hehe, I thought I smelt someone familiar." Kiba drawled, followed by a sharp bark from Akamaru. However, seeing Hinata, Kiba inwardly winced. "Ah, sorry. I'm not disturbing anything am I?"

Before Hinata could manage to open her mouth, Naruto gushed, "Oh, not at all! In fact, we were just talking about you and Shino. Congratulations on making the team…"

Hinata hesitates for a moment as she considered her options. It's all right. It's only Kiba. He knows. He understands. He'll back off once I ask her.

"Ano… Naruto…" Hinata started weakly before Shino interrupted her.

"Ah, Naruto. I've been looking for you."

"Yosh, Shino! So the whole gang's here huh? Congratulations on passing. So what's up?"

"Congratulations to you too, Naruto. Because I've heard you passed. Well, you see my mother decided to hold a party tonight and would like to invite you over for dinner today. Of course, the two of you are invited too."

"Oooh! Is she making those awesome pudding of hers for dessert again?" Naruto enthused excitedly while Shino nodded affirmatively. "Count me in! Ne, you guys should come too, it'll be great!"

Sensing a mood change in Hinata, she regarded the quiet girl curiously. "Ah, sorry Hinata, you were saying something?"

"I-Iie…" She replied gloomily.

Kiba meanwhile was flabbergasted. "Y-You have a mother?" he stuttered at Shino. "This I gotta see."

I really hate him.

.

.

.


*A/N: And there you have it. Chapter 6. Chapter 7 should go up soon, though its length might disappoint some people. I simply feel it appropriate to just have it at the length it's at.