Chapter 6


"I think I know who will be our jounin sensei."

At those words, Haruno Sakura turned inquisitively towards the person who had spoken them, glad that someone had finally broken the awkward silence. Uzumaki Naruto, her new teammate together with Uchiha Sasuke, shrugged under her scrutiny from the opened doors of the classroom.

"I met him three days ago at the Hokage tower," he continued after a short moment of pause. "He and the jounin with the beard who left with Shikamaru's team were talking about the team assignment meeting with the Hokage. I was looking for both of them earlier but didn't see him. I guess he is our late sensei."

"What is he like?" Sakura asked, glancing at Sasuke-kun and hoping he hadn't noticed the nervousness in her voice.

The blond genin leaned forward eagerly. "He has silver hair spiking up wildly over his head-protector and a mask hiding his face from his nose down." He nodded his head with a grin. "And even above, only his right eye is left visible because he keeps his hitai-ite askew to cover the left one."

Sakura blinked once before frowning disapprovingly.

"Stop making things up, Naruto!" she berated him, putting her hands on her hips. "How can you expect us to believe something like that?"

The orange-clad ninja had already started to protest his innocence when Sasuke spoke up from his seat.

"Did he look strong?"

The pink-haired kunoichi was left gawking slightly in the following silence. She stared at the dark-haired boy agape for a long moment before starting doing that a little more discreetly, meaning with her mouth closed.

Naruto frowned a little at those words, turning towards Sasuke and watching him warily for a long second. "I only met him in a hallway," he explained. "Bu I guess he seemed very… ninja-like."

The Uchiha thought about it for a moment before nodding in understanding and turning away again.

Sakura managed not to gape this time, but it was a close call. In her mind she asked herself for the umpteenth time that day what exactly had happened between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto recently. Something had to, it was impossible to think otherwise.

The kunoichi moved from the sensei desk and started walking up and down the classroom, her eyes still observing the two surreptitiously. Sasuke-kun looked as cool as always behind his steepled hands and his dark fringe. Naruto seemed to be slightly less energetic than normal, maybe, but overall he was his usual idiotic self. No, the difference was not in the two boys separately, she repeated to herself. It just was in their interaction.

Sakura had noticed something was off as soon as the blond had started bragging to the class about his genin status and the secret surrounding it. She happened to be looking in Sasuke's general direction when her classmates first asked Naruto about his head-protector and his presence there, and she didn't see any surprise or scepticism on the Uchiha's face, unlike the others present, Sakura included. He had looked like he had known that already, instead, but at the same time seemed curious about it, even though he masked it pretty well. But Sakura knew her Sasuke-kun better than anyone else, of course, and… well, she was a shinobi trained to pick up and interpreting expressions and body language, after all...

And that was exactly why she thought something had happened between the two of them. Because when she observed them intently, sometimes she could catch a glimpse of something else on the dark-haired boy's feature, something she had never expected to see there and most of all directed at Naruto of all people.

She had first noticed it when they had been left alone in the classroom. Every other team had exited the room, and during the first few minutes, all her attempts at starting a conversation with Sasuke had been crushed down in an eerily similar manner to how Naruto's had been crushed by her. The following silence had been very awkward and uncomfortable until the young Uchiha himself hadn't surprisingly spoken up.

"I met your clone yesterday, you know?" he had told Naruto, turning slightly in his seat with a smirk.

"Clones, really," the orange-clad ninja had corrected with annoyance. "And you just had to go and dispel both of them!"

Sasuke's smirk had grown larger as he gloated silently, earning himself a harsh glower from the blond.

"It wouldn't have happened if you hadn't surprised them like that," Naruto had resumed grumpily. "Really, attacking when there clearly was a truce on… that was a dirty, underhanded trick if I ever saw one."

The dark-haired boy had raised both his eyebrows at that. "There are no underhanded tricks when you're a ninja."

Naruto had then looked surprisingly annoyed. "Why do you all say the same thing? You make it sound like tricking and cheating is the right way to go!"

"Maybe because it is?" Sasuke had suggested with a scoff.

"Well, I don't like it at all!" the blond had protested stubbornly. "Now that I'm a ninja, I'm gonna do it MY way! And I'll be the best one ever and show everyone which the RIGHT way is! Believe it!"

And that was when Sakura had first noticed Sasuke's strange gaze. The dark-haired boy had simply stopped looking smug or even – dare she say it – arrogant, and had just observed the other ninja with… respect? Comprehension? No, that wasn't exactly right. Maybe… acknowledgement, yes, that was it.

Uchiha Sasuke was acknowledging Uzumaki Naruto.

"Whatever," he had eventually said, dismissing the whole thing and turning away.

The argument had then died away with Naruto's sputtering, and silence had descended once again, even more awkward then before, if that was even possible.

Sakura had repeatedly replayed the surreal scene in her mind afterwards, failing to make sense of it, just like the strange interaction just ended about their supposed masked, silver-haired sensei. And still, one thing seemed clear. Sasuke looked at Naruto with a different gaze, certainly a better one in respect to what he reserved to her, or anyone else for that matter. The blond idiot had somehow managed to earn the acknowledgement of the Uchiha genius, something many people strived for with no result whatsoever. Sakura wondered why and just couldn't come up with a satisfying answer. It couldn't have been Naruto's genin status – she was one herself now and he still looked at her like she was just a bother, unfortunately – and neither could have been how the blond had attained it – the pink-haired kunoichi was positive Sasuke didn't know what was the big secret behind that. So… what could that have been?

As she mulled this over, she resigned to just observe for the time being, with the hope to find her answer by analyzing her two new teammates. She was good at it, she told herself. She could do it.

For now, though, there wasn't much to observe. Just like she had previously noticed, Naruto seemed somewhat tired and proved it by slumping on his seat and desk and unceremoniously taking a nap, while Sasuke just stayed still and quiet in his usual position and ignored everything and everyone, leaving her to just keep on wondering.

It wasn't until more than another hour had passed that the classroom door suddenly slid open with a loud crashing sound. She bolted upright immediately, having almost dozed off on her desk after the boring wait. Naruto practically mirrored her but he also mumbled a slurred "Wha?" before his eyes finally became alert for real. Sasuke just turned his head slightly towards the doorway and the newcomer standing on it.

Much to Sakura's secret surprise, the man in front of them was indeed silver-haired and almost completely covered by mask and head-protector. He was also very tall and, despite being lean, very imposing as well. His eyebrows were raised slightly as he took in the scene. He looked at Naruto specifically.

"We see again," he said almost lazily. "Last time I caught you stealing, now sleeping. I don't know if I can call it an improvement."

Naruto blushed a little under Sakura and Sasuke's inquisitive gaze.

"I wasn't stealing!" he protested loudly before wiping at his mouth with his orange sleeve. "And I wasn't sleeping either!" Sasuke scoffed at that and the blond blushed a little more before pointing his finger accusingly at the man on the doorway. "And even if I was, it's your fault for being, what? Three hours late? What's your excuse?"

"I got lost in the path of life," the jounin said with such a straight face that Sakura didn't know how to react to that. Was she supposed to laugh? She took her cue from Naruto on this one and just scowled at him.

"What a lame excuse!" the blond genin shouted but the man just shrugged it off.

"It's true. Now, please, come with me to the roof."

He left just like that, expecting to be followed. Sakura diligently did so, looking back at a calm-looking Sasuke and a sputtering Naruto. When they reached the Academy roof, the jounin was leaning against the railing and, after he gestured for them to sit down, he started talking.

"So, let's begin with some introductions, likes, disliked, dreams for the future and things like that," he said, looking only vaguely interested. "Who's gonna start?"

"Why don't you do it first?" Naruto asked sounding still a bit rebellious. He sat down to Sasuke's left while she sat on the other side.

"Oh, me?" the man said lazily. "Well, my name is Hatake Kakashi. I have no desire to tell you guys my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future… hmmm… I have few hobbies."

Silence followed those words before Sakura turned to her teammates.

"So all he told us is his name?" she asked as if in need of a confirmation. The two boys just looked highly unimpressed.

"Now it's your turn," the jounin eventually said. "Let's start on the right."

Sakura visibly perked up at that as her eyes travelled to the blond genin who had already started introducing himself. She only listened with half-an-ear to what he said, though, deciding to put most of her attention in the observation of one Uchiha Sasuke. The dark-haired boy just looked uninterested at first, she noted, while Naruto talked about ramen like the obsessed he was. But when the idiot started babbling about becoming Hokage, the expression on his face changed.

The pink-haired kunoichi narrowed her eyes. Now that she knew exactly what to look for, it was impossible not to see it.

Sasuke really acknowledged Naruto, there was no doubting it. What she couldn't help but continue to doubt, though, was the reason why he did that. The Uchiha genius didn't really think the blond could become Hokage, right?

Sakura shook her head slightly. That was wrong on so many levels. The answer must have been another one, she told herself while Sasuke started talking. She momentarily interrupted her reasoning to better listen to the boy's introduction and couldn't help but blush a little at his words. He was so cool…

"Ok…" Kakashi's voice brought her back on earth. "And lastly the girl, Pinky."

Sakura startled a little as she turned to the man. He looked expectantly at her for a long moment before encouraging her with a vague hand-gesture. She swallowed dryly. Crap, she hadn't thought about what to tell him, too distract by her two teammates.

"Uhm, well," she started hesitantly, blushing slightly. "My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is… well, the person I like is... and uhm… my dream for the future is…"

She chanced a look in Sasuke's direction at that but diverted her gaze at once, depressed. The boy's usual mask had slipped once again on his face, and its coldness and indifference, even contempt, felt like a dagger thrust at her chest.

She didn't want to be looked at like that by Sasuke-kun. She wanted him to look at her like he looked at Naruto, with acknowledgement and respect, and, maybe… why not? Love, eventually. She wanted to be his and wanted him to be hers in return.

That was her dream for the future.

But as her heart opened up ready to say that, or something like that anyway, her brain spun furiously against it, raging with all its might and shouting at it about how that was the last thing to say at the moment. They needed to take a page from Naruto's book here, as strange as it sounded, and try to say something, anything, as long as it was boisterous and over the top, if they wanted their real, mutual dream to come true. Her heart reiterated that it would come true anyway, eventually, because Love always won in the end, to which her brain replied with a simple but firm 'Shut up!' which seemed to settle the matter.

For an instant, the dizziness this unexpected fight had caused prevented her to speak. Then, her own voice resonated in her ears.

"My dream for the future is to become the greatest kunoichi ever!"

As she blurted the words out, stiffening like she had just saw death was all she could do to avoid clasping her own hands on her mouth.

What had she said?

A strange, alien force compelled her to turn to the left and to the dark-haired boy sitting nearby. Sakura's eyes widened like discs when she realized there was neither indifference nor contempt on his face, but only slight surprise and curiosity. It didn't last long before coldness and scorn went back to those beautiful dark orbs, only because of her hesitant, even panicked expression, her smug brain reasoned. Sasuke turned away again and didn't deign her of a single look for the rest of the meeting.

The next hour passed by as a blur to Haruno Sakura, the news of the soon-to-happen survival training and of its failure rate being the only statements managing to temporarily shake her from her dazed state of mind. She didn't even shout at Naruto when the idiot fawned over her before leaving like the others. She walked home while reading the paper her Sensei had given her and barely understanding it, Sasuke's expression at her made-up dream unshakably on her mind.

Becoming the greatest kunoichi ever… maybe she could really give it a try… just being looked at by Sasuke-kun like that would be worth the effort.

That night, Haruno Sakura fell asleep grinning sillily, grand plans about a legendary ninja career alongside a dark-haired boy dotting her recurring dreams.

Reality would knock on her door, and quite loudly too, the next day.


"Ok," Hatake Kakashi said, his hands gripping Naruto's wrist and head firmly.

The blond ninja gritted his teeth angrily in his subdued position, his own kunai pointed at the back of his neck.

He would totally kick this bastard's ass and get a bell.

'Naruto, get ready to hide,' the Kyuubi immediately hissed to his host, as if sensing his foolishness.

'What?' The genin protested in his mind. 'But I want to fight him!'

'Listen to me. You'll fight him soon enough.'

"Let's get going," the jounin continued unperturbed, unaware of Naruto's inner turmoil.

'Why not now?' the blond tried again stubbornly.'I can-'

'Just trust me, okay?' the Demon interrupted him, starting to lose his patience. 'Hide in the bushes.'

"Ready?"

Kakashi started loosening his grip on him and Naruto tensed eagerly.

'Oh, come ooon,' the genin pleaded. 'What if I-' he started to suggest but the bijuu apparently had had enough.

'JUST FUCKING HIDE, YOU LITTLE DIPSHIT!'

"Begin!"

Startled by the Kyuubi's hostility, Uzumaki Naruto wisely decided that hiding was probably the best thing to do for the moment, at least to not enrage his tenant more than he already had. When the hold on his arm and head vanished, the blond genin immediately jumped away and into the wooded area, mirrored, he noticed idly, by his two teammates.

'Thank you, Naruto-kun,' the Demon Fox said with mock sweetness, his deep voice dripping with sarcasm. 'I feel better now.'

The blond genin was about to say something back, possibly in the most scathing manner, when Kakashi spoke up from the centre of the training ground.

"The most important thing for a shinobi is to be able to hide yourself," he stated, and Naruto could practically feel the smugness radiating from the bijuu.

'Tell me about it,' the Kyuubi said dryly.

Not having the possibility to direct it to his inner prisoner, the blond genin levelled his scowl on Kakashi instead.

'I am able to hide myself, and you should know it,' he retorted. 'I just didn't see the reason now, that's all!'

'The point of this whole thing is to impress your Sensei. So of course he would want to see you performing at least the basics of what is expected from a shinobi, like hiding! This test is all about that.'

Naruto blinked owlishly.

'About hiding?'

The Demon Fox would have facepalmed if he could have.

'No, Naruto. I meant about the basics of a shinobi,' he answered blandly.

'Ah,' the blond said as if now that finally made sense. 'But I thought this was about taking a bell from him.'

'He's a jounin, and you saw a bit of what he can do when he made a fool out of you earlier,' the Kyuubi pointed out. 'Nobody would expect a mere genin to be able to get a bell from him. Trust me, I fought my fair share of jounin back in my time, and there is no way for you to succeed.'

'So…' Naruto tried tentatively, 'all I have to do is to try and impress him?'

'Yes, although probably in a quirky way I have yet to figure out.'

'But how can I do it if I just hide?'

The bijuu rolled his eyes. 'Of course you don't just hide. You're gonna try to get a bell.'

'Great!' Naruto cheered, already moving to face his Sensei. 'I'm going then.'

'Wait!' the Kyuubi called before he could reveal himself. 'Send a clone at least, before going yourself. Think of it as scouting your opponent's skills in advance instead of just jumping against an opponent you don't know anything about. That's exactly the kind of things that will impress Kakashi.'

The blond genin paused for a moment before nodding. 'That makes sense,' he said as if it was a surprising thing, which annoyed the Demon to no end. He then performed the Kage Bunshin no jutsu and watched as his clone entered the clearing with a determined expression.

"Come here and fight me!"

The… fight, if it could even be called that, turned out weird and short. It ended with the secret technique A 1000 Years of Pain, after every one of the Shadow clone's attack had been easily defended against by a reading Kakashi. When the copy of Naruto was dispelled, though, the jounin appeared surprised.

"Hmmm… Kage Bunshin no jutsu… the technique that creates not just an illusion like a normal Bunshin, but a real, corporeal body," the silver-haired man mused aloud while turning around. "Sent to gauge my skills and take a look at just what you're gonna deal with." He looked around the bushes before opening his book again. "I admit I didn't expect that."

His voice didn't sound very impressed, but the roundabout praise only served to boost Naruto's morale. A second later, another five Shadow clones sprang in existence and dashed towards the clearing and the ninja standing in the middle of it.

'I don't think that will be of any use, Naruto,' the Kyuubi said. 'You can't simply attack him head-on and hope to get lucky.'

The blond genin grinned slightly at that.

'But I have a plan for it,' he pointed out. 'The first clone didn't have time to use the Lightning Materia, and maybe that was for the best. I want to see how he fairs against it now.'

'Probably with as much nonchalance as he did against your taijutsu,' the bijuu said bluntly, although interested in what the jinchuuriki had exactly in mind. 'I already told you – Materia isn't the solution to every problem or every fight. At least, not until you can back it up with something else.'

Naruto just grunted at that, having heard the argument enough times already. 'It will impress him in any case, I think. It's a pity Tenten's got the Ice Materia for measurements, though.'

"Five now, eh?" Kakashi said, looking up from his book. "But no matter how many you line up, you're just Naruto. You can't beat me with that jutsu."

The blond genin watched intently as the Kage Bunshin started their attack. At first, it seemed like it would go pretty much like last time - despite there being more opponents, Kakashi easily parried or dodged every punch and kick the clones sent his way, while continuing to read his Icha Icha Paradise and barely moving from his spot. For a moment, a nice impromptu tactic initiated by three Narutos seemed to put one of them in a favourable position to get a bell, but the silver-haired man just stopped paying attention to his book for a moment and deflected the searching hand. That went on for a couple more minutes until suddenly, every clone but one charged at once against the jounin and managed to trap him in their midst. Even then, they didn't manage to land a single hit against the insanely strong opponent, but they were only meant to be a distraction.

Naruto leaned forward eagerly from his hidden spot as the lonely Kage Bunshin, stayed behind while his allies attacked, quickly pulled out the Lightning Materia and raised it over his head.

"Take this!" he shouted over the noise, right as the green light flashed around him.

'This is it,' Naruto told the Kyuubi while grinning maniacally. 'I got him!'

And it surely looked like it, at least until the masked man didn't notice what was happening outside of the orange mass circling him. His only visible eye then widened in seeing the eerie fluorescence rising from the ground and in hearing the rumbling thunder above. The instant later, when the bolt of lightning came crashing down to the ground, Kakashi wasn't there anymore. From his position of vantage in the bushes, the original Naruto clearly saw the man magically appearing a few feet from where the clones were left blinking confusedly at each other and at the completely charred log in their midst.

'Kawarimi!' he commented to the Demon Fox as if he didn't know already, sounding oddly pleased by it.

The Kage Bunshin were yet to realize what was happening when, surprisingly enough, the jounin decided it was time for a nice demonstration. He went for the clone with the Materia first, maybe because he classified him as the greatest threat or because he was isolated. Either way, he dispelled it with a swift punch and continued quickly towards the others. He had eliminated another one before the others could finally react, but it was no use anyway. He was left alone in the clearing a second later, only the already fading wisps of smoke around him showing there had been some Kage Bunshin around him.

"Wow..." Naruto breathed out, unable to contain himself. He couldn't even see when Kakashi saved his book... he was so fast!

"That," the man started while dusting his clothes off lightly, "was impressive. A good show of teamwork between clones coupled with a lightning jutsu. C-rank from the looks of it. But still... I only had to use a Kawarimi to get away. You have to do better than that if you want to pass."

Naruto couldn't help but grin brightly at those words. It took him all his restraint not to stand up and brag aloud.

'And again, I'm proved right.' The arrogance in the Kyuubi's voice effectively wiped the smile off his face, although his good mood remained. 'As I said, that was no use.'

The blond genin shrugged a little. 'What if I sent a hundred Kage Bunshin?'

The bijuu shook his head. 'That would be useless as well. Kakashi would probably have to take the fight more seriously, but not even so much. What he said was right. No matter how many of you there are. It's still just you.'

'Hmmm...' Naruto murmured noncommittal. 'What would you propose, then?'

The Demon was surprised to be so openly asked for his opinion, but masked it after a moment of silence.

'Well, Kakashi's words right now made me think,' he explained. 'He actually praised your clones' teamwork. So how about you team up with Sasuke and Sakura?'

The blond frowned. 'Only with Sakura, you meant?'

'I would have meant only with Sasuke, if I had to choose. Sakura is the most useless of the two. By far.'

'She's not-' Naruto started to protest before the Kyuubi interrupted him, leaving him sputtering.

'But, anyway, I meant with both her and Sasuke now. Together.'

'No way I'm gonna team up with the Teme!' the genin refused. 'Besides, there are only two bells. I'd risk ending up without one and I don't want to go back to the Academy!'

'And this is where I think the trick is!' the Kyuubi exclaimed heatedly. 'The two bells! This test is all set up to put you three against each other, to make it a sort of competition. But Kakashi can't expect a single genin to be able to get a bell. That's impossible!'

'So you think he wants us to cooperate even if we know one of us will fail?' Naruto asked pensively.

'Or maybe he wants you to understand the whole point behind this test and act accordingly. Think about it...' the Kyuubi told him. 'He praises your clones' teamwork and tells you you alone can't beat him. He practically told you what to do!'

The blond started nodding slowly.

'I think you're right,' he said seeming persuaded before frowning. 'But still, teaming up with the Teme...'

'Shut up, Dobe,' the bijuu said amusedly, earning a low growl from the jinchuuriki. 'And start searching for your teammates. You don't have the whole day.'

'I know, I know,' Naruto agreed standing up from his position as carefully as he could. 'But first...' A quick hand-seal later and behind him, all safely hidden, a dozen Kage Bunshin appeared. 'Just to keep Kakashi distracted,' he explained.

"You!" he called to one clone in a small but firm voice, ducking under a tree branch and walking up to him. "You're the Boss!"

The clone in question just pointed at himself with an uncertain expression before grinning widely. "Really? I mean... boss as in Boss?" he asked hopefully.

"Yeah." The original nodded looking serious. "Just like in our Boss-Spars. You take my place. And... you all try to take advantage of it, okay." He looked at his Kage Bunshin with a meaningful look, bringing a finger up to his temple. "Get it?"

The Kyuubi listened to Naruto as he reported his orders and was slightly impressed by the plan.

'Surprisingly clever,' he commented. 'But it won't be enough.'

The blond genin just shrugged as the Kage Bunshin jumped away and towards Kakashi.

'I know, but it won't hurt to try, right?' He turned towards the woods behind him and started walking.'Now, on to find my teammates and see if the Teme agrees with us on teamwork,' he continued quietly before scowling. 'He'd better.'


Author's notes – Strange chapter, in my opinion. My plan is to change Sakura as soon as I can- she's far too useless at the beginning of the manga – but I don't mean to make her strong immediately. Quite the opposite. I'm trying to change her approach first, and not very fast either, so the results will show much later. As for Sasuke, of course he doesn't think Naruto could become Hokage – not yet, anyway – but he at least sees him in a different light.

The next chapter is practically complete already. I thought about making it one with this, but decided against it. The whole thing would have resulted too long and this felt like a good enough end of chapter. Anyway, expect an update soon. Bye.

Uncle Stojil