AN: Howdy all, thanks for coming back for another wonderful chapter. Like always if you want the best experience for this story please follow us on our tumblr page (HyuugaTheEldestSon), a link can be found on my page. Anyway, enjoy.

PS - We still don't own any Naruto content or any other content that we may borrow from other places.

PPS - Also, almost forgot. A list of the new Japanese words is provided below.

Denshi jisho (dictionary - not a word in the story)

Yoshi – (pronounced yosh), this is a term of excitement (similar to yatta)

Yatta – this is a term of excitement (similar to Yoshi)

Chichi-ue – reverent father (when talking about one's own father) (see corner for more info)

Haha-ue – reverent mother (when talking about one's own mother) (see corner for more info)

Baka – idiot


Arc – Genin Exam

Chapter Five: Team Kakashi

Sunrays peaked through the blinds of Naruto's only window shining its light on the floor below. Naruto's bed was long folded away as he worked on the hard surface beneath it. He'd learned long ago that trying to make a perfect seal on the lumpy surface was just asking for it to blow up in his face. When it came to the integrity of his seals, he'd stop at nothing to maintain it. Even going as far as turning down a perfectly good box spring bed to keep his old futon. After all, you just couldn't fold up a box spring.

The small flame from his everlasting (one could last a week with the seal he'd added to it) candles had bestowed what little light he needed so that he could touch up a few of the seals he'd thought might be useful for this second Genin exam. As he hadn't actually passed the first one, he'd known he would need to go all out on this one. And he planned to pull out all the stops.

Every perfected seal he had and every trick in the book he knew, he was going to use them all today. And as his good fortune normally ran, the training ground would give him the home field advantage. At least it would once he finished rigging it. He had everything riding on this test and he wasn't going to let anything go to waste. He intended to utilize every advantage he could get his hands on to its fullest potential.

"Sensei's not going to know what hit him…" Naruto chuckled to himself as he looked over his last seal. A few extra seals had turned into two dozen, which meant he'd spend the better part of the last couple of hours working on them. The one sitting in front of him was one of his firework specialties. He'd been running low on them in the stash he normally kept ready so he'd had to make a few more.

Of course, he didn't plan to use them directly on his Sensei. He didn't actually want to kill the man. However, the light grade fireworks would be sure to act as at least a good distraction. Given his opponent was going to be a Jounin, Naruto was going to need all the diversions he could get to distract against his slightly lower than average taijutsu skills.

This test wouldn't be like any other test. There was no written portion, no impossible to create bunshin, this would be a test of his real strength. Here he could not stumble. He had to prove now more than ever that he belonged, and that he was a ninja worthy of the Hyuuga-hime's friendship. Now that they weren't on the same team, he was going to have to work twice as hard. The only way she'd hear how awesome he was, would be through the eyes of everyone else, and he wasn't naive enough to think that anyone would willingly report his exploits accurately.

She was the Princess of Konoha. To deserve her friendship, he'd have to be the best and she needed to see that. He couldn't show her that if he didn't pass this test. He knew without a shadow of a doubt that she would pass her test, if she hadn't already that was. He could not afford to get any farther behind her than he already was. So, this was his chance! And he wasn't about to miss it! Believe it!

One last look over the seal and Naruto deemed it more than ready. He couldn't see anything wrong with it which was enough validation for him. Over the years, he'd learned to pick up even the slightest stroke error whether it was caused by pressing down too hard on the brush or whether he'd actually managed to draw a portion incorrectly. Which was why, when he looked down at the seals he'd made he knew that they were perfect, or nearly so. Right now, it was missing a final touch.

Carefully, Naruto drew the spiral that was his clan's symbol into the seal. He'd added that little touch as soon as he'd been able to without messing with the integrity of the seal itself, which despite his awesome talent had taken more time than he was willing to admit out loud before he'd actually managed to get it right.

However, he knew the effort he put into learning was important because this wasn't just some symbol he'd made up. It wasn't something he'd concocted because he thought it looked cool. This was the Uzumaki clan symbol and it meant something to him. So, yeah it did look cool, super cool in fact, but this was more than just looking awesome. His clansmen had been adding this symbol to all of their created seals since their conception. This was history. And yeah, whoever had thought to add it, was probably a genius like him because it was totally badass.

Wiping the sweat from his brow, Naruto packed the seal away in one of his storage scrolls. If he was lucky he would still have time to get in a couple more 'zzz'. 'Now what time is it?'

Naruto moved over to open the blinds to his window. He'd destroyed his alarm clock yesterday on his way to get his official ninja identification card and had yet to replace it. Still, he'd gotten pretty good at telling the general hour simply from the position of the sun and the stars. Peering out at the sun Naruto gaged the time to be…

Jumping up in surprise, Naruto hurried away from the window. He had only a couple of minutes before he was late for the second part of the exam. It would be just his luck to be late for the Genin exam again. Well, he'd not really been late to the first one since that bastard Mizuki had told him the wrong time. Now that he knew his true intentions, he was sure that he'd done it on purpose too. Well, as of a few nights ago, he wouldn't be trying to screw anyone over again. At least he didn't have to worry about sabotaging Senseis anymore. He wasn't entirely sure why, but he felt like that wouldn't be the case with this Sensei.

Rushing to put all of his scrolls and his supplies away, Naruto hopped out of his comfortable pajamas bottoms. His floppy night cap moving into his eyes with every hop. Curse the amazingness that was his froggie hat! Naruto rushed through his morning ritual grabbing food and the like as he made his way out the door and onto the nearby rooftops. It wasn't until he was halfway through his regular morning energy bar that he finally remembered Sensei's warning not to eat breakfast…

'Well dang, it was probably too late now.' With a shrug as he continued running along the rooftops, Naruto finished the protein bar and started in on his orange. His favorite fruit to eat for obvious reasons. He hoped his lack of sleep didn't ruin his chances with this test.

Seeing the training field ahead, Naruto couldn't help but be disappointed he'd not gotten to rig the field like he'd planned. It wasn't like there were two of him…

Skidding to a stop, Naruto hit himself lightly on the head. "There aren't just two of me. There's five! Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 'Or six,' Naruto thought as he stared at the five clones in front of him. At least it was only one more than he'd been trying to summon. He was getting better with controlling this jutsu. Awesome!

"Yo boss!"

"What's up, chief?"

"Aren't you late, big man?"

"Man I'm hungry."

"Butterflies!"

Man did he have an attention span problem. "Alright guys, listen up. You already know today's a big day. And you know what we do on big days."

"Puke?"

"Skip class?"

"Pull a really cool prank?"

"Ramen, ramen, ramen!"

"Cheat!"

Naruto sweat dropped at his clones' responses. After today, he was going to have a nice long talk with himself. "Stack the deck in our favor…"

"Yoshi! I had it right, suckers." The clone stuck his tongue out before he broke out into a little dance. Naruto nodded to himself, he was actually pretty good at dancing. He should probably remember that little bit of information for later. "Its ninja master pranking rule number ten."

"Lucky" and "bastard" could be heard from the four other clones. At least they were unified in that regard.

Naruto tossed the scrolls at the clones. "You know what to do."

They were gone in a whirl, at least all but one. "Have fun boss!" He waved goodbye before he too was gone.

With his clones gone, Naruto made his way to the clearing. He might be a few minutes late, but he'd still have home field advantage. If this worked out well, Naruto's mind wandered to the possible pranks, ah training exercises, he could pull off. Man did he love the clone jutsu now…


A young boy stumbled through the trees moving aimlessly. Lost in his turbulent thoughts he fumbled through the forest lacking all of his natural poise and grace. Pale eyes, the same shade as the full moon peered sightlessly through the trees as his long dark locks blew through the gentle breeze of the wind. His Hyuuga heritage clear for all to see. He shouldn't have been out here in the middle of the village's vast forests, a virtual nowhere as far as his limited experience outside of the village was concerned.

He was much too far from the confines of the Compound, but no one ever missed a lonely orphan. His chores were done, and he'd been given time away from classes. There was no one out there that would notice his absence. Thus, young Tsuyoki was here, lost in thought, contemplating the hard decisions that lay ahead of him.

Absentmindedly picking up a nearby rock Tsuyoki tossed it in the air as he regained his footing, no longer stumbling as he traversed the thick tree line. How did they expect him to choose? How did they expect anyone to choose? He was barely ten years old. Heck, they were all barely ten years old. How was anyone supposed to know what they wanted to do for the rest of their life now? And all he had were the next two days to finally decide.

Did he chose the life of a Konoha ninja? Allow the distant family member holding his General Council seat to keep it indefinitely? Join the Ninja Academy where he'd be expected to graduate top of his class. Despite the pressure, he was sure he could do it. After all, he could become something great. At least his instructors all claimed he could.

Could he follow in his father's footsteps? Though he couldn't remember the man, his instructors had told him about his father's skill, skills surpassed only by his mother. However, Tsuyoki couldn't imagine following the path of people he couldn't remember. Not when the clan had been his home, his only family no matter how distant, for the past ten years.

Tsuyoki didn't want that. That wasn't his dream. And he certainly didn't care if he had a natural talent for the gentle fist and chakra manipulation like the faceless mother before him no matter how the skill would have made it easy for him to excel at the Ninja Academy. He had no desire to fight for the village. A village he'd never seen outside of the Hyuuga parade.

Of course he could join the honorable Hyuuga Police instead. Spend the next two or three years in the Hyuuga Police Academy and serve both the clan and the village directly. He'd be with other Hyuuga. A familiarity that would have comforted most Hyuuga, but not him. At the Police Academy, they would neither be friend nor foe. While orphans weren't exactly rare in the Hyuuga clan, they typically ended up with uncles or aunts. Close relatives that they grew up with, that loved them because of that close connection. Unfortunately, Tsuyoki hadn't been quite so lucky.

As it was, the noble Tsuyoki Family was horribly small compared to both the other noble families as well as the more numerous branch families. A product of the rapidly changing times. Tsuyoki had only bothered to check the records once, curious as all orphans were, to see the history of his family. They, the protectors of the clan sealing arts, had once been the most important noble Family in the clan, second only to the First Family. But now they were little more than a joke. Who needed the input of the noble sealing family when the honored seal hadn't changed in generations? What did they protect now? The stigma that still surrounded his family had kept his classmates at a distance. As such, he'd made no friends within the Clan.

Years ago, Tsuyoki, ever invisible to his distant relatives, had overheard that his mother, a warm faceless memory, had often appointed a stand-in on the Council so that she could go on missions for the village. Though her position as the Tsuyoki Family heir had prevented her from becoming an official ninja, she hadn't let that stop her from her apparent dream. Tsuyoki wondered if he'd ever be so lucky.

Tsuyoki sighed heavily as he calmed his breathing, slowing his aimless walking. No, he didn't want to join the Ninja or Hyuuga Police Academy. Ever since his sixth birthday, he'd had only one dream as impossible as it was. He'd had his heart set on joining the service of the Yotsugi-dono. He'd not known then how impossible the goal really was, joining the retainers. As the heir to the noble Tsuyoki Family he apparently had obligations he'd not known about until this year.

It was tradition for him to apprentice to the most knowledgeable seal archivist in the clan. A seal archivist! Not even a master because there hadn't been a seal master in the clan in decades. It was a lost art held by a dying Family that only held a General Council seat because of tradition. He'd heard the whispered comments made about his line. No one thought they were important any more. He could understand why his mother had done everything to escape her antiquated fate. No one should be confined by tradition.

Of course that wasn't even his biggest hurdles to joining the Yotsugi-dono's service. As it was, the retainers were a tight knit group. Four families made up the extent of Hyuugas chosen to join their ranks. Sure there were exceptions like Tatsuki-sama, but she was a rare gem. Tradition dictated that those families would be allowed first pick at the retainer apprenticeship. Outside of the official head retainer trials, it was nearly impossible for anyone outside of those four families to obtain an apprenticeship.

So, Tsuyoki's frustration was not really in the choosing, given his limited options there really didn't seem to be a choice in the matter. No, he'd likely stay in the Hyuuga Academy on the apprenticeship track like tradition dictated. And when he was done, he'd apprentice with one of his distant relatives that disliked him for reasons he'd yet to uncover. And he'd hate every minute knowing that he wouldn't be able to choose the path that he really wanted most. He would not get the opportunity to help and protect Yotsugi-dono. The first Hyuuga, the first person, to really see him.

A light breeze blew across the nearby clearing as Tsuyoki looked to the trees. The wind carrying the loose leaves and grass that fluttered throughout the air, he moved to the edge of the tree line. Nearby trees rustled in the wind as if softly touched by the blowing wind, the light gust like the caress of a new lover, gentle as it blew through the green life surrounding it. Tsuyoki moved to a thick tree on the edge of the clearing allowing the warmth of the sunlight to calm him as he began the mediation ritual that all Hyuugas learned at a young age. The soft light of the sun warmed him from the outside in. Soon, Tsuyoki found his inner peace.

He was a Hyuuga. He would accept what could not be. He would accept his responsibility and attend to his duty. Turning to leave, he hesitated as the light glinted off the hard black stone in the center of the clearing. He'd seen the stone only in books. The memorial to ninja long past. Those gone before their time. Tsuyoki turned to it, drawn to the stone. His parents' names were marked on that stone. They'd died supporting the village and though his mother had not been an official ninja, the Hokage had honored her sacrifice. The solitary stone reminded him of the sight of the Yotsugi-dono, strong and unwavering, but alone.

Moving closer to the stone. Tsuyoki only stopped when he heard the cadence of a soft voice bubbled from the isolated clearing. Ducking behind a nearby tree Tsuyoki looked at the sole figure trying to find the hidden body the figure was speaking to. On a quick glance, he could find no one else. Activating his doujutsu, Tsuyoki confirmed what his eyes had already told him. This man was alone.

'What are you doing? Talking to that memorial stone?' Tsuyoki stood silently as he deactivated his doujutsu, watching the man as he continued to speak to the black polished stone. Fresh flowers lay innocently by his feet as he stood next to the stone. The very solemn nature of the place permeated the atmosphere. So much so that even the hurried movement of the birds and the light pitter-patter of the other woodland creatures seemed to be muted. The sounds of their activity placed far into the background.

Even so, the lone figure was not out of place. Tsuyoki noticed that the animals moved around him as if he were a common fixture. Given what he knew of body language, Tsuyoki would have to say he was more than comfortable here. There was no awkwardness or hesitation in his stance, but why? 'Why speak to those who cannot hear, cannot reply?' Tsuyoki noted his attire, the hitai-ate draped across one of his eyes denoting his ninja status. By the way he held himself, he had to be a Jounin, but other than that knowledge Tsuyoki wouldn't know. As Tsuyoki concentrated, he just managed to pick up the words that the lone Jounin spoke.

"…Remember the bet with Anko-kun I told you about the other day?" The man snorted in amusement. "Yeah, well the plan worked. Worked better than I thought it would too. No, don't give me that 'it was only dango'. Not this time, Obito-kun. No, this time it was two, hai two, special edition copies of Icha Icha Paradise, signed by Jiraiya-sama no less. So, I had to get Itachi-kun there." There was a short pause as if the Jounin were waiting for a response before he continued. "Yeah, I know. Not the easiest guy to convince to go anywhere, as you well know from the many times I've told you about him. Hasn't really changed much in the last couple of years either, but none of us really do."

The man put his hands up in defense as he spoke to the stone. It was as if Tsuyoki was actually watching a real conversation and not this one-sided affair. "Yeah, I know we can change if we want to. We're in charge of our own paths. You taught me that remember? But that's beside the point, with a little convincing I finally got him to agree. Few would want their younger sibling to randomly find copies of Icha Icha Paradise in their very respectable older sibling's room. And as you can imagine, he couldn't agree fast enough."

The lone figure paused again as if waiting for a response before laughing softly to himself. "Yeah, you bet it had him pulling me out for drinks." His one uncovered eye wrinkled up in a smile as he continued. "Okay, so maybe he didn't so much as pull me out for drinks, but I did get him to change his plans. Yeah, he might have come to me for advice on his team test, and I might have used a little Icha Icha Paradise blackmail to get him to switch his waiting location to the best bar in town. But really, he was just going to wait in some restaurant anyway. Where's the difficulty in that?"

"I know, I know…that's playing with fire, but it was two special editions, Obito-kun. You can't expect me to not pull every dirty trick I know for that kind of reward. And it's not like he didn't enjoy himself. He stayed a lot longer than I thought he would. So really, it's a win-win."

The man sighed as he moved onto another less jovial topic of conversation. "I'm trying another team again… No, I know what you'd say, but you more than anyone should know why I can't just pass them because Sandaime-sama said to. I'll give them a chance like every other group, but if they don't realize the importance of teamwork…" He shook his head at his unseen companion. "I'll not teach a bunch of students that are worse than trash, Obito-kun. I'll not teach anyone that is as stupid as I used to be." There was a steel in his voice that spoke of an unshakable conviction as the soft cadence of his voice mingled with the muted sounds of nature surrounding him.

Tsuyoki noted the man's actions as he paused again, as if waiting for some kind of cue before he continued. "Haruno-san, Haruno Sakura, seems like she might take the most work. And no, it's not because she's a girl. We both know Rin was way better than half the shinobi out there. And Anko-kun would murder me, after she tortured me of course, if I thought that way. Not to mention her friends, Kurenai-san and Hana-san." The man shivered at the thought. "No matter how skilled I might be, no one would want to face that type of trifecta. I value my life and sanity too much to tempt fate like that."

"It's just, Haruno, no Sakura-san, is a civilian. It's hard enough becoming a ninja with a ninja clan to back you up, but to have no ninja background." The one eyed man shook his head again. This time hard enough that his silver, spiky hair moved to briefly block the sight from his one good eye. "She does have a good score sheet, but it's mostly book smarts and the Academy isn't like it used to be, Obito-kun. No, I'm not complaining, but… I won't know what she really knows until I see her in action. Sakura-san was top kunoichi of her class, so that's got to say something. Well, it probably would have meant more if Koushi-sama had been scored with her. So maybe it doesn't say nearly as much as I wish it did."

There was a long pause as the silver haired man lost himself in deep thought for which Tsuyoki thought he would stop talking out loud altogether, but soon enough he continued. "Oh yeah, I've also got an Uchiha. Itachi-kun's little brother actually, which will probably end up being a pain." A deep sigh left the one eyed man's lips as he continued. "Makes me wish Sandaime-sama would have just given him to Itachi-kun, but I guess that's politics for you. You'd have hated how that conversation had gone down. But what's happened has happened, and there's nothing I or anyone else can do about that now."

A sour look crossed his face, his one visible eye wrinkled in a frown as he digested the facts before him. "From what I've seen of this Uchiha Sasuke, he's got more of his father's attitude than Itachi-kun's. So, pretty much like every other Uchiha out there, arrogant just like you remember. He graduated top of his class at least, but again Koushi-sama wasn't scored with them so there's no real way to gage just how good he is without testing him. And no, his skills are nowhere near Itachi-kun's levels when he was that age, but Itachi-kun's something special, so I'm not all that surprised. Still, I know Itachi would have trained him at least some, so I'll have to keep my eyes on him during the test."

There was another pause, but this time much shorter. "And then there's Naruto-kun. Hai, I got Naruto. I wasn't sure Sarutobi-sama would give him to me. Wasn't even sure he'd pass, to be honest. But he's strong. So much stronger than the last time we talked about him, Obito-kun. You can't even imagine. He's just so much like you too. Loud and obnoxious. You remember I told you he'd been going around in that kami-sama awful orange jump suits. How he manages to hide from the Hyuuga police in that get up, I'll never know."

The smile returned to the young man's eye as he was lost in thought. "His heart's in the right place, though. His pranks are mostly good-natured even if they are extremely embarrassing. He'd make you proud that the prankster spirit still lives on so strongly in our leaf village. I'm just worry about his basics. If anything's going to hold him back, it's that. I couldn't spend as much time with him as I'd have liked, and he's missed so much time and information from his Academy classes. Dead last like you, but then again, maybe that's a good thing. If this team has someone like you on it, Obito-kun, then I'm sure they'll pass. One way or another they'll pass…"

Looking up at the sky, the man traced the path of the sun. "It's past eleven. So, I suppose they've waited long enough." Turning to go the young silver haired one-eyed man spoke over his shoulder. "Same time tomorrow Obito-kun?" The birds' soft chatter was the only answer he received, but it seemed to be enough as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Tsuyoki paused still unmoved as he took in what he'd just seen. Moving forward, he found himself in the same spot as the friend to Obito-san. Tsuyoki found Obito-san's name first. "Uchiha Obito." He read out loud. "Your friend must really miss you. Do you bring him happiness? Is that why he came to talk to you?" Tsuyoki paused waiting for the mysterious Obito-san to reply. The wind blew shifting the flowers and the long tail ends of his hair, bring his attention to the bottom of the stone. As if by fate the flowers pointed to the names of his parents, Hyuuga Tsuyoko and Hyuuga Yusuke. Their names right on top of each other.

He'd never known them, but his instructors had nothing but good things to say about them. The two of them together had been the last time the Hyuuga clan had seen true fuuinjutsu users, instead of the specialist that could apply only the family seal. They'd been completely self-taught as the art had lost its importance among his family long ago. "What would you have wanted me to do, haha-ue, chichi-ue?" he asked softly.

Tears silently fell down his face as he stood in front of the black stone. The wind gently caressing his face, blowing away some of his fallen tears. For whatever reason, the image of the Yotsugi-dono seeing him with her kind eyes appeared before him on the black stone. Alone, cold, and strong. It stood like a symbol of everything she stood for. Her strong figure brought back words that had been spoken by the man whose spot he'd just replaced.

Turning away, Tsuyoki began his long trek back to the Compound. The road before him would not be easy. No one would give him anything, and everything would be placed to block his way. But it was his dream to protect the Yotsugi-dono with his own two hands. We forge our own paths, and she would need a fuuinjutsu user on her quest to greatness. He wouldn't let tradition stop him from his dreams.


Kakashi crouched quietly in a small group of trees only a couple of meters away from his 'team's' meeting place. From his position, he could observe his would-be students as they suffered, ah learned, from the first part of the test. Naruto-kun was sleeping under a sturdy looking tree. On the other side of the field was Sakura-san and Sasuke-san. Sakura-san going in and out of a seemingly one-sided conversation with Sasuke-san, and Sasuke-san doing his best to imitate a stone. Kakashi thought he was succeeding.

Either way, a quick assessment of the would-be Genin showed they were all unaware of their immediate surroundings. A soft growling sound could be hear from this distance away. From the look on Sakura-san's face, it was her stomach growling. He knew he'd told them to skip breakfast, but the loud groan of her stomach sounded more like she'd missed more than one meal. Did she forget to eat dinner too?

What was the world coming to when kunoichi didn't eat regular meals? He'd have to break her of that habit if she passed this test. Though his second impression on this team didn't lead him to think they'd make it. Maybe it was fate they got him as their Sensei, because they didn't look like they were ready to join the ninja world and any other Sensei would have passed them on Sandaime-sama's orders.

If they weren't ready, then Kakashi wasn't going to send them into harm's way. Those who disregarded orders were trash, but those who let their teammates down were worse than trash. They were his team now, and he might be comfortable being trash, but he wasn't comfortable being worse than that. Never again.

Besides, he was sure Naruto would do well in the next round of Genin teams anyway. He might even take him on as a mini apprenticeship until then. Sandaime-sama owed him a favor after all. It was the other two he was worried about. But they weren't his concern, at least not yet.

No, his charge needed to be taught a lesson about ninja awareness. Traveling fast Kakashi appeared beside Naruto-kun and causally kicked him awake, hard. Instead of Naruto yelling awake in his overly loud way, he popped into a puff of smoke. 'A clone?' No, that can't be right. Kakashi was sure that had been the real Naruto. Naruto-kun might know the shadow clone jutsu, but Kakashi had known it longer and would have been able to spot it.

"Hey!"

Kakashi causally looked up at Naruto-kun high in a tree. He was pleased to see that Naruto-kun's kawarimi no jutsu was getting very good. "Yo," Kakashi replied causally as he leant back into the tree Naruto-kun had been occupying only moments before. He wasn't all that surprised he'd not noticed the clone in that tree before the switch. Naruto-kun was a master at stealth, and if he wasn't actively looking for him, he wasn't likely to see him. Still, Kakashi couldn't let that happen again. He didn't want to give Naruto-kun an even bigger head.

"Don't 'yo' me! I was sleeping down there!" Naruto-kun yelled back as he hopped down from his tree. "That hurt," Naruto continued to murmur as he rubbed his side from phantom pain.

Kakashi smiled at Naruto-kun's childish response. Perhaps, a lesson had been learned after all.

"Well, it was time for you to wake up. I didn't ask you all out here to sleep. It's survival training time. I hope you're all ready?" Kakashi asked to Naruto and the rest of his would-be students. Causing them to come out of their shocked stupors.

Sasuke-san moved toward him with a rapidly turning red Sakura-san in tow.

"You're late!" Sakura-san finally yelled.

"Yeah. You're late!" Naruto-kun chimed in, adding his two-ryo.

Sasuke-san also looked like he wanted to accuse him as well even if he didn't say anything. So, he'd picked up some mannerisms from his older brother after all. He was likely to have picked up a lot more. Kakashi would keep that in mind.

"Well, you see. I got lost on the road to life," Kakashi replied causing Naruto-kun to face plant and Sakura-san and Sasuke-san to look at him in disbelief. "But now that I'm here, we can get started." Sakura-san's stomach growled loudly in protest followed shortly by Sasuke-san's growling stomach. Kakashi turned to Naruto-kun expecting the same, but several seconds of silence told him enough. "I see some of you can follow directions."

"Hey, it was an accident."

"Yeah, dope, because food just accidently falls into your mouth."

"Hey temee! I was going to be late and I forgot not to eat! You're just mad you didn't accidently eat too!"

"Yeah, that's alright and good for you guys, but I didn't have dinner either!" Sakura-san complained her stomach growling even louder.

Kakashi cut his students bickering off here. "Well, then you guys will like this," he replied as he pulled out two box lunches. Everyone's eyes gazed hungrily at the two meals.

"But Sensei, there's only two," Naruto-kun stated, the question clear in his eyes.

"Well, clearly Naruto doesn't get one, since he can't follow the rules," Sakura-san commented as she moved to grab one.

"Ah, not so fast," Kakashi replied as the box lunches disappeared back into his jacket. "First, the test." Kakashi pulled the two bells out of his jacket. "I have two bells, two lunches, and three of you. I told you before this will be a survival test. A survival battle in which each of you will attempt to take one of these two bells from me. If you succeed, you'll get lunch and you'll pass."

"But Sensei, there's only two bells," Sakura-san spoke hesitantly, an almost timid timber to her voice.

The smile in Kakashi's eye disappeared. "That is because only two of you will pass. The other will be sent back to the Academy."

There was a moment of silence before Naruto-kun interrupted by attacking him. Kakashi dodged easily while sticking his leg out to trip Naruto-kun. Naruto bounced back ready to go again. "I didn't say start yet, Naruto-kun."

"Then bring it! I will not fail! Not here, not now, not ever! Believe it!"

Naruto-kun's pep talk seemed to cheer up his teammates as well. 'Not bad Naruto-kun. Not bad at all.' "To make it interesting, you have until noon." Kakashi pulled out a timer and set it less than an hour from now. Moving to start the time, Kakashi paused. "If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you'll never get a bell."

Naruto-kun smiled a frightening grin. "Time's a wasting Sensei."

"Go!"


No sooner had Kakashi-sensei said 'go' had he and Sakura moved to hide. This was still survival training. The dope of course didn't seem to get the message. Although he couldn't overhear what they were saying, he was sure it had something to do with the dope's stupidity. What the dead last thought he was going to do against a Jounin, Sasuke didn't know. And honestly didn't care. With the dead weight of his two teammates, there wasn't a way in hell he was passing. Best he could do was put up a good enough attempt to get passed along to another team. With any luck, the dope would at least give him enough time to think of something.

As Sasuke sat there watching, attempting to come up with a plan so impressive he'd amaze Kakashi-sensei with his skill, he was actually surprised that no one moved. It didn't make sense. He figured that the dope was fool hardy enough to rush into an attack. After all, he had failed to hide like the rest of them, and he had rushed Kakashi-sensei before the test had even started. It figured that he was an act before he thought type of guy, so he at the very least should be on the attack.

And even if the dope didn't attack right away, Kakashi-sensei should have immediately taken the dope out of the running. If not because he could, then because he planned to teach the dope a valuable lesson in survival training. After all, he had the upper hand. However, he just stood there as if he was surrounded. Of course that couldn't be right. The dope hadn't moved or done any hand signs. There couldn't be anything to worry about. Still, Sensei's attention was squarely on the dope like he was some kind of threat. Again, it didn't make any sense.

Then out of nowhere, it happened. The ground glowed bright red and fireworks, fireworks that were more gunpowder and less color, a particularly deadly alteration, destroyed the spot where Kakashi-sensei had once been. All at once, the battlefield was a light with action. For the next five minutes, the training area was transformed into an intricate dance of clones and traps. Somehow that dope had placed traps over the whole damned field.

And they weren't the simply traps they'd all learned at the Academy either. No, these were something more. While Sasuke hadn't seen many seals in his lifetime, if he had to guess he'd bet that all of those intricate traps were the result of seals. And given the complicated design, he'd guess that these weren't just your regular garden variety seals either. No, these were something more, and he wasn't sure how that was even possible.

Of course, even with the dope's impressive use of seals, Kakashi-sensei was still able to blast through the lot of them. Like any skilled Jounin, he tore through the last of the clones with ease only to dodge a barrage of flying kunai that was flying kunai with explosive tags attached to them. Despite the fact that they were far too close to Sasuke's hiding place for him to be comfortable with, he had to admit that the dope had some talent. Not just anyone could manage that kind of wave of explosive kunai.

Another barrage followed the first forcing Sasuke to change locations. The incoming assault was so quick that he only just made it to new cover before his old hiding place was blown to pieces. All that was left was a hellish shower of metal shrapnel and flames all of it consuming the once tall Konoha trees. As he turned back to the scene still playing out in front of him, he just barely managed to catch the tail end of the dope's next assault.

Watching avidly, his eyes followed Kakashi-sensei's movements as he managed to get ahold of one of the dope's clones. However, the moment he'd caught it the clone popped in a puff of smoke, a wide grin painted across its face. Even to Sasuke, it was fairly obvious that the clone had been a part of another trap. In another second his assumptions were proven correct as Kakashi-sensei's flak jacket glowed a brilliant red before it too blew up taking Sensei with it.

'Kuso!' Sasuke cursed to himself as he continued to watch the scene below. 'How the hell had the dead last been able to do any of that!? He hadn't shown any of these skills in class, so why now?' he asked himself as he took a closer look at the scene. On closer inspection, it looked like the flak jacket was attached to a stump, or what could have been a stump, rather than their new Sensei.

Sasuke let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. 'So, the dope still isn't good enough to best a Jounin,' he thought with a relieved sigh. He was still probably better than him. Settling back into his spot in the tree, Sasuke watched Naruto approach the flak jacket during the small calm that had followed his last attack. Obviously checking for bells, Sasuke surmised there hadn't been one left for him when he heard the disappointed sigh that escaped from the dope's mouth. That was not good. It could only mean that a good showing wouldn't be enough to get a bell. Which meant he was going to have to come up with a new plan. They were actually going to have to grab them to win.

Suddenly, as if from nowhere, Kakashi-sensei reappeared, his clothes a little singed, already in the process of forming a very familiar hand sign. 'Shit, I know that sign. The dope's in a lot of trouble,' he thought as his body moved automatically. "Naruto watch out!" he yelled, but it was already too late.

"One thousand years of pain!"

"HAAAAA!" Naruto screamed as he popped out of existence. Clearly, he hadn't been able to make a substitute fast enough with one of his nearby clones.

Cursing, Sasuke moved away from the immediate area to a better hiding place. He'd just given away his previous location for nothing. But that was fine. With the knowledge he'd gained from previous spars with his brother as well as all that he'd learned from watching Naruto's fight, he knew what he had to do. There was just no way he, or any of them really, would be able to win a one-on-one battle against Kakashi-sensei. Additionally, it seemed that Sensei wouldn't just give him a bell if he could impress him. That left just one option. He was going to have to team up with the dope.

Shaking his head, Sasuke started his search for his brightly dressed teammate. He wasn't sure when the dope had gotten so good with seals, but his display had been impressive. Thinking about it now, he had just the plan to get ahold of those bells. Of course, it would only work if they worked together.

Now, he was going to have to convince the dope that they would only stand a chance against Kakashi-sensei if they fought together. There were two bells, and two of them. Sasuke was pretty sure that Sakura would only slow them down. Now if only he could find the dope. 'It really shouldn't be this hard,' he thought as he continued his search.

Finally, after several minutes of searching, he managed to find his deceptively hard to track teammate.

"What do you want Sasuke-me?" the dope questioned him as he landed beside him. Sasuke was a little peeved that he didn't even bother to look up at him. Shaking the slight from his mind, Sasuke went straight to why he was here. He didn't want to talk to the dope any longer than he had to.

"You can't win this by yourself," he stated simply as he shifted slightly on the tree branch he was standing on, absentmindedly taking note of the Naruto clone on watch a couple of trees over.

"No, I got this. I just went at him in the wrong way. I don't need your help," the dope countered, but Sasuke wasn't about to give up that easily. He wanted to win. So, if the only way he could do that was with Naruto, then he'd get the dope's help.

"No, you don't," he replied easily, confident in his next argument. "He's not just a Jounin level shinobi. He was in Anbu, a Captain like my brother no less. No single Genin is going to be able to take him down," he finished. The dope finally looked over at him with his statement. Sasuke hid a smile, pleased to see that he'd finally gotten the dope's attention.

"So you're saying even the great Sasuke-me can't take him on?" the dope teased, but Sasuke didn't let it get to him. He was going to be on this team no matter what it took.

"No, not even myself," he replied seriously. "At least not alone," he continued looking the dope right in the eye as he spoke.

"So, you want to team up?" the dope questioned and Sasuke took that as a sign that he'd finally convinced the dope.

"Come on, I've got a plan," Sasuke replied simply, a light grin on his face. This might work.


Sakura stumbled over the foliage below as she shook the remains of the genjutsu Kakashi-sensei had put on her. She considered herself fairly well versed in genjutsu, she had been the best at the Academy after all, but Sensei's genjutsu was something else. It had seemed so real, nothing like the type of genjutsu they used in the Academy. For those few minutes she'd been lost to the jutsu, Sasuke-kun had really been in danger. He'd really been dead. At least it had seemed that way to her. And the worst part was the reason he'd died. It had all been because she hadn't been strong enough to help.

Of course, now that she was no longer under the major effects of the genjutsu, she realized that wasn't the case. She was strong. She was the best kunoichi in her graduating class, and that meant something. Which was why she was currently scouring the training area to find Sasuke-kun. She was sure that if they combined their skills and teamed up, they would be able to get the bells from Kakashi-sensei.

Normally, she wouldn't bother Sasuke-kun with her assistance, but after watching Naruto's battle against Kakashi-sensei, she knew that he wouldn't be able to do it alone. As strong as Sasuke-kun was, he was definitely going to need some extra help against their stronger Sensei.

Unfortunately, it had been that desire to find Sasuke-kun that Kakashi-sensei had used against her. She'd let her guard down in her hurried search and hadn't felt the genjutsu being placed on her. So, when she'd thought she'd finally managed to find him, the sight she'd seen wasn't something she could easily live with. Sakura shivered, stumbling upon Kakashi-sensei brutally defeating Sasuke-kun had really shaken her.

'And the Baka would have sat there and laughed! Where does that Baka get off being that strong anyway!?' her inner voice raged in her head. Sakura couldn't help but agree with her violent inner thoughts. She was just as angry with Naruto as she was with herself for failing Sasuke-kun. That Baka had shown such amazing skill and strategy when fighting against their Sensei. Naruto, the dead last, had actually held his own against a Jounin. She was beyond angry because that could only mean one thing. He must have hid his abilities while attending the Academy.

Which of course meant that she couldn't trust what she knew of his skill from their Academy days. It also led to the conclusion that if Naruto could do it, hide his abilities so well that he went so far as to 'fail' the Genin exam just to keep up the presence of stupidity, then why couldn't anyone else do the same? Who was to say that the skills and abilities she'd witnessed at the Academy from any of her classmates was their limit? How was she supposed to know anything about their skill set when she couldn't trust what she'd seen with her own eyes?

Thanks to Naruto, she had no idea who else could have hidden talents. Heck, she wasn't even sure if she was still stronger than the dead last.

'That Baka has some explaining to do! Some nerve too! Pretending like he was weak and stupid during class, when he knew all this interesting seal stuff! We ought to teach him a thing or two.' Her inner voice continued to rage.

Of course he had struggled with creating a simple bunshin. Had that been an act too? At the time, it hadn't looked like he was pretending. She and everyone else in the class had seen him struggle constantly with some of the simplest techniques. But that didn't explain how he could now preform an even more complicated version of bunshin. Making solid clones was a heck of a lot harder than the simple technique they'd learned at the Academy.

'Obviously he was hiding that too! He was faking the whole time! He knew he'd never be good enough to beat Sasuke-kun out right, so he came in dead last to get on the best team!' her inner voice justified, the rage in its tone almost all-consuming.

Sakura shook her head. The scenario would have made sense if there was a reason for him to come in dead last, but the Baka wasn't friends with Sasuke-kun or her for that matter. They barely managed civil conversation when they were in the same room. So, no matter how much Inner Sakura raged, it just didn't make sense. How could Naruto have become this good?

Sakura stopped suddenly when she heard the sounds of battle ahead. Was that Sasuke-kun or Naruto at it again? Crouching low, Sakura got a good look at the fight in front of her. It was Sasuke-kun, but it also looked like there were three of him? That couldn't be right.

It was only when the bunshin made solid contact with Kakashi-sensei that the pieces seemed to line up. It seemed that her precious Sasuke-kun had teamed up with none other than the dead last! But why?!

'That backstabbing, two-timing, CHEATER! I'm going to string him up by his balls and paint his face pink. He thinks he can team up with that BAKA instead of ME! I hope they fail!' Her inner voice nearly howled its anger as her eyes continued to take in the scene before her.

Unfortunately, though she hated to admit it, they were good, really good. Sasuke-kun distracted their Sensei with several powerful, well-timed fireballs. The action causing Sensei to land in the middle of one of Naruto's seal circles.

"Kuso." Sakura heard Kakashi-sensei mutter as he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Where was he? Right, left, up, no… Kakashi-sensei exploded from the ground pulling Sasuke-kun under only for him to disappear in a puff of smoke. At that point, the sun light beamed down on to Sensei as he looked around. A sudden flash drew Sakura's eyes to the ninja wire attached to Sensei's hip. 'The bells!'

Reacting immediately, Sensei severed the wire causing a series of explosions to go off around him. Each bigger than the last. Stunned, Sakura found herself coming out of hiding on instinct. 'Had they killed their Sensei?' she thought as she continued forward into the clearing.

When the smoke cleared, Naruto and Sasuke-kun stood confidently with the bells in hand. Kakashi-sensei scorched in several different places, but otherwise unharmed in front of him.

Working together, Naruto and Sasuke-kun had gotten the bells. She was the only one who hadn't. She'd lost. 'There ain't no way we're going back to the Academy! We're the top kunoichi! TOP! Our ninja career can't end here!' her inner voice yelled, completely refusing to believe that the situation was hopeless.

"We got the bells, Sensei. That means we won!" Naruto shouted in joy, jumping up and down and doing a little dance. It was Sasuke-kun's smug look that destroyed her. Her head bowed at the knowledge, she had really, truly, failed. She was going back to the Academy.

"You mean these bells?"

Sakura's head shot up at their Sensei's statement. Where just seconds ago the bells were in Naruto and Sasuke-kun's hands, now they were absent. She shook with shock. She'd seen it. Together they had gotten the bells, but now. Turning her head back towards Kakashi-sensei, she noticed the bells were back at his waist, leaving her two teammates completely empty handed.

"What? No! That's not fair! We got the bells fair and square!" Naruto yelled in protest and though it hurt for her to admit it. He was right.

"But you didn't keep them now did you?" Sasuke-kun glared at Kakashi-sensei for his statement, a dark look that nearly sent shivers down her spine. Looking at her other teammate, she noticed the growing red coloring to his face as he shook, shuttering and muttering nonsense.

Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.

"And that would be the timer. And seeing as none of you have a bell that means you all fail," Kakashi-sensei stated simply.

"Bastard," Naruto bit out, unable to hide his anger.

"You're to fail us on a technicality?" Sasuke-kun asked with a raised brow. Sakura wasn't sure how he could keep his cool given he'd just been told he'd failed, but she chalked it up to him being himself. Sasuke-kun was just amazing like that.

Speechless herself, Sakura wasn't sure what to say to this new information.

"Hai. But fear not, I'm only going to send Sakura-san back to the Academy," Sensei continued, not even bothering to address Sasuke-kun's question.

"Me?" Sakura asked, her inner voiced raged at how meek she sounded.

"Yoshi! We're going to be Genin! Here I come Princess of Konoha," Naruto shouted, already jumping for joy. The display left a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"No, you three have failed to grasp what this test was really about. There's a reason they put you in three-man teams," Kakashi-sensei explained, a disapproving look coloring the small part of his face they could see. "And to think that two Genin fresh out of the Academy could take on a seasoned Jounin. Ha! Naruto-kun, Sasuke-san, I'm the most disappointed with you. Clearly, you two have failed to grasp one of the most important aspects of being a shinobi. So, instead of sending you back to the Academy, I'm recommending that you be dropped as ninja completely."

"What? No! I worked hard to get here!" Naruto complained earnestly, no longer jumping around the clearing.

"Please Kakashi-sensei, just give us one more chance," Sakura pleaded as she stepped out from behind her two teammates. She may not have contributed much to the last hour of fighting, but she wasn't going to continue to sit back and watch as Naruto and Sasuke-kun got booted from the ninja program. They had fought their Sensei and succeeded somewhat. No matter how much she disliked Naruto, it just wouldn't be fair to bar them from becoming ninja. "Please, Sensei. I don't want to go back to the Academy. And Naruto and Sasuke-kun don't deserve to be barred from being ninja. Just give us one more chance."

There was a long pause as Kakashi-sensei took in all three of them before he relented. "Alright. One more chance after lunch. But since Sakura-san didn't even attempt to get a bell, she's going to be tied up to the post with no lunch."

Sakura sighed as she listened to her inner voice rant about the unfairness. No matter what inner Sakura said, she knew this was the fairest decision. Out of the three of them, she had contributed the least to their test.

"And no one, no one is to feed her. If you do, you fail," Kakashi warned before he pulled some rope from seemingly out of nowhere. The inner voice in her head seemed to almost scream at the prospect of being tied up and made to watch the others eat. And she couldn't help but agree. If anyone needed food, it was her.

Distracted by her inner thoughts, Sakura missed Naruto's strange behavior as he tilted his head to the side. "Alright, the coast is clear," he whispered before he moved to untie her.

"What are you doing?" she asked alarmed. "You'll fail…" she tried to continue only to be interrupted by Naruto.

"You're going to need your hands to eat," he said simply as if that explained everything.

Bewildered, Sakura turned to see what Sasuke-kun thought only to see his nod of agreement.

"We'll have to figure something out. There must be a way around there only being two bells," Sasuke-kun muttered while setting his food down so he could get up and help Naruto untie her.

"What do you mean?" she asked while rubbing her wrists. They were still sore from the small amount of time she'd spent tied to the post.

"If the two of us couldn't get the bells and keep them, then we're going to need your help Sakura," Naruto explained while handing her his half eaten plate. "There must be something we've missed," he continued as Sasuke-kun moved to give her what was left of his meal. "There has to be something underneath the underneath…" he trailed off, completely lost to the world.

Sakura thought it was rather strange to see him like this, obviously lost in thought as he tried to come up with a new plan.

"Look, all I know is we'll need to eat to be strong for the next part of the test so hurry up and finish eating. We're going to have to tie you back up before Kakashi-sensei gets back," Naruto stated once he'd returned to the world. Sakura continued to eat as fast as she could, only slightly embarrassed by how undignified she must have seemed. Shaking that thought from her head, she turned back to her teammates. "I've a few more areas that have a good amount of traps still up so we'll plan the attack over there," Naruto stated as the last of the food was consumed.

Climbing back to her feet, Sakura headed back to the post only to be stopped by the loud sound of Kakashi-sensei's angry voice.

"You all fail!" he yelled as ominous clouds seemingly appearing from nowhere. "Not only did you release Sakura before I told you to, but you also fed her," he accused.

"You have no proof of that last one," Naruto yelled right back.

"There's a piece of rice still stuck on her face. I have more than enough proof," Sensei countered. Slowly, she raised a hand to her face, only to realize that he was correct. Now, not only were they in trouble, but she was also completely mortified. "Now what to do with you?" Sensei pondered aloud.

For a while no one spoke, no one even chanced to move. However, the quiet didn't last long as Sakura spied the calculated grin that grew across Naruto's face.

"You should pass us," Naruto demanded.

"And why should I do that?" Kakashi-sensei countered.

"Because we passed your test. We fed Sakura because she needed to be as close to one hundred percent in order to fight with us. We are fully prepared to fight you again, together, as a team despite the fact that one of us still might not get a bell. We're a team," Naruto explained.

"Yeah, we're a team," Sakura agreed, completely blown away by Naruto's speech.

"Hai," Sasuke-kun added with a curt nod. They were a team and they were going to act that way.

"Well, I guess that only means one thing. You all…" Sensei began ominously, his disappointment clear. "Pass," he continued leaving them all speechless. "You all pass because you've finally grasped what it means to be a Konoha shinobi. We work in teams for a reason. And while those who don't follow the rules are trash, those who leave their teammates behind are worse than trash. Always remember that your teammates are always more important than the completion of the mission."

For a moment no one spoke. They were all too stunned to even move. Then out of nowhere Naruto shouted. "Yatta!" The tension broken, they all cheered their success.

"You know what this calls for?" Naruto asked as they all calmed down from the good news. "This calls for ramen!"

"Baka!" "Dope!" Sakura and Sasuke-kun yelled together.

"Hey, it's the only good way to celebrate," he defended as they all headed back towards the village.

It was official. They were Team Seven, Team Kakashi.


KJ's awesome Japanese corner. (Because we all knew this is the real reason you're reading…)

(1) Haha-ue and chichi-ue. This is a respectful way to address one's own parents. Similar to ani and ane (if you remember last corner… yeah, I'm looking at you hard… you short memory people…), haha and chichi is how one would talk about their own mother or father, respectfully. Adding the ue, which means above, is an honorific that shows a high level of respect to the name attached. Hinata would use this honorific when talking about her father.

(2) Hyuuga Hinata's titles – a review of Hinata's many titles. Hinata is called many things, none of them her own name. This is solely because of her position within the village. To her family (the Hyuuga clan), she is the world's heir or Yotsugi-dono. To the village and the Fire Nation, she is the next successor or Koushi-sama. To her father, she is his heir, Reishi. But you will know her as the Princess of Konoha. And if you didn't know it yet, Naruto will be sure to tell you. In fact, it is one of his life mission to make sure the world knows about the Princess of Konoha, and soon enough the world will. Currently, Naruto, as the respectful shinobi he is, calls her Hyuuga-hime. After all, there's no other way to address a princess.


AN: Hello all, so now that you've read the chapter some of you may have noticed Kakashi mentioning he could tell a shadow clone apart from the real deal. Now as you may know, this is a deviation from canon. As typically described in the Naruto world, shadow clones cannot be distinguished from the original (except that one time that Sasuke did it, but I don't like to count that). However, for our story to work the way we wanted it to, we had to change the mechanics of the shadow clone jutsu up a little. Now, I would say I'm sorry for this, but I'm not. This decision works for our story and doesn't really change much about the overall jutsu. We do however hope that this small change in the mechanics of such an iconic jutsu does not mean we lose you as a reader. Please do continue on this journey with us. Anyway, thanks and see you next week.