Author's note: Okay, so sorry for the wait, although, good news: longest chapter ever! I have never written a chapter this long. Yay! So, things are starting to get interesting. Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and made up characters! :D
Warnings: Nothing really, maybe just language.
Word Count: 6,227
Over the years, their friendship rapidly evolves into something else. They became inseparable after they made the pact. All free time is dedicated to one another. What was once kind of friendship, mostly training, is full blown friendship and training. They keep their training a secret and down play everything they are capable of for fear of too many questions. But it has become painfully clear that they are superior to the rest of their classmates, hands down.
By the time the youngest of them, Naruto, turned twelve, they were all at least high genin level. And none of them had graduated yet. Naruto shared with them one of the biggest secrets he had, his birthday was October 10th. The day that the Nine Tailed Demon Fox attack. Kyuubi no Kitsune. That thing that was never to be spoken about.
They spent countless hours in the fourth's estate, looking over all of his jutsu and theories. It seems that Naruto isn't able to actually get into the house through either doors; the front door or the cellar door. Which Shikamaru found extremely strange and spent a long time contemplating. When asked what he was thinking about, the Shirker would just shake his head and grunt. But every time he entered the house he would glare at the seal on the door at the front of the house. But after a few weeks, Shikamaru just huffed at the prospect of studying it and gave up.
But occasionally... occasionally he would make his way back to that door. Back to that seal. And he would stare at it, contemplating. Looking for some way inside.
Kiba just gave him a knowing look and didn't comment. By the time they entered their last year of school and learned the clone jutsu (which was unbelievably easy to learn in comparison to the shadow clone jutsu) and the entire group passed with flying colors. And to be honest, Naruto got a sick bit of amusement out of the looks of shock on all of the Chunin's faces.
But he didn't miss the glow of pride coming off of his sensei.
Iruka Umino has become someone that Naruto has grown extremely close to. He's the only adult other than the Third Hokage that has really taken the time out of his day to spend time with Naruto. Yes, Iruka can't accommodate all the kids in Naruto's friendship group but occasionally he would take both Naruto and one of his friends out for a few bowls of ramen. Or in Naruto's case, a wallet full. But it just shows his infinite apatite and Iruka's shallow wallet.
The next morning, was the day that they find out who their teams out. For the first time since they began school, Naruto and the rest of his friends were the first ones to barrel into the classroom, all of them shaking with excitement. As opposed to nearly being late every day because they are too busy training in the morning at the Fourth's house. They all sit together again.
"Who do you think is going to partner with who?" Choji asks, bag of chips nowhere in sight. In fact, he's been cutting back lately, shifting his focus from eating to training.
Naruto shrugs, propping his head up on one hand. "Who knows? I hope it's at least one of you guys."
"Aww," Kiba says coyly, rolling his eyes. His new two-years-old puppy, Akamaru, wags his tail playfully in Kiba's jacket hood atop his head. "Ain't that cute, Akamaru? Naruto's getting a little sentimental."
Naruto playfully glares at the boy next to him. "Shuddap, Kiba! I'm just saying; I want to be with one of my friends. Come on, this is it. We are shinobi now. We are going to be put into teams with people we might just die next to! I want it to be with someone I actually like. Like Shikamaru for instance."
Kiba nods a little somberly, actually taking the blond's words into account, before considering his final sentence. He raises an eyebrow quizzically. "Shikamaru?" He asks dubiously. Both boys turn around in their seats to look at the boy with his head down directly behind them. The young Nara has his chin resting on his forearms, staring at the two of them with narrowed eyes.
"Why did you say that with such disdain, Kiba?" Shikamaru draws, blinking slowly at them.
Kiba grins while Naruto turns to look back at the boy and his dog. "I was just going to say; I think Shikamaru would be an invaluable part of the team. You know, as cannon fodder." Kiba and Naruto both break out laughing while Shikamaru just stares at the two of them blandly.
"Laugh while you can," he says lazily to the two cackling boys, "for I shall be the one laughing when I'm your boss and sending your asses into Hell."
Choji looks back at him. "Come on, Shikamaru, you're dreading that more than anyone."
Shikamaru makes a lazy ambiguous gesture before resting his forehead against his arm and makes a loud, obnoxious snoring noise before quieting down. Ino Yamanaka, from across the room, glares at the young Nara, annoyed. She turns back to her equal and opposite, Sakura Haruno. The two girls have had a weird history between them.
They started out as friends when Ino saved Sakura from a bunch of bullies when she was a little girl. Sakura began to admire Ino and followed her around everywhere. Eventually that turned into friendship until a few years prior to now, when both girls realized their crushes for Sasuke Uchiha and it created a rift between the two girls. They swore to be arch rivals in the journey to get Sasuke's heart. Every now and then, the two of them will find themselves next to each other, talking and bonding, like Sasuke Uchiha never came between them.
But that never lasted long and the blue haired boy would return to them and the rift would form once more. Filling with jeers and nasty words and even nastier looks. Almost like they are trying to convince both themselves and each other that what they had a long time ago is gone.
"Alright, class," Iruka says, marching into the classroom. He stops in the middle of the room between the door and his desk, turning to the students. "I would like to be the first to let you know that your entire class has graduated!" He says with a swell of pride. And Iruka is proud. These are children that he's practically watched grow up and become young people. But now is time for them to step out of the classroom and into the real world. Iruka is both extremely proud of them but also very fearful for each of their futures.
For it takes someone truly impressive to become someone of mention. Someone known by the rest of the shinobi world. But it takes next to nothing to be killed. Iruka is just afraid that one day he's going to be looking through the casualty reports, whether it be for a mission or whatever, and see names that he recognized and be able to see that person as a small child. And that scares him.
But this day is about congratulations, not fear. Not uncertainty. It's to be celebrated. Each and every one of them has earned it. So, mustering up his most prideful smile, pushing all his dark fears to the back of his mind, Iruka continues, "Listen up. I'm going to tell you who you are going to be teamed up with. Here in Konoha, we create teams of three genin and one jonin sensei. Of the three genin, two will be boys and one will be a girl. That's standard procedure. Yes, there have been exceptions and there always will be. So, listen up." And the Iruka proceeds to read off a teams and who are part of it.
Naruto kneads his hands apprehensively. His life has always been hard. Ever since his time with the Uchiha clan, life has been a little easier. People still give him those looks and mutter behind his back. But they attempt a lot less, especially with Sasuke constantly at his side. And it only got slightly better than even that when the rest of his friends came into the picture.
Naruto can remember, hanging out with Choji and Kiba, planning out their next prank on Iruka in one of the many restaurants that Choji's family owns. They are able to eat there for free because of Choji and plus they have a quiet little place in the corner to plan out their next jest. Naruto had separated from the other two and headed to the bathroom. It was almost a half hour before nine- Choji and Kiba's curfew. On his way back from the table some drunk civilians started calling Naruto a demon brat. Telling him that he didn't deserve to be alive.
Having heard all of this before, Naruto just shrugged it off and made his way back toward his friends, who were sitting on the opposite side of the small restaurant. One of the men grabbed Naruto by the back of his neck and slurred something incoherent into his ear. Naruto was only ten at the time and was barely able to wiggle away from the full grown adult when another man stepped in.
Choza Akimichi. Choji's dad. He snapped at the man holding Naruto, and pushed the boy behind him, becoming a human shield between the two of them. The man tried to sputter out something about the nine tailed demon when he was cut off. Choza had grabbed the guy by his collar and hissed something into his face before showing him away and ordering him to never come back to their restaurant again and if he ever saw the man anywhere near Naruto, he'd be sorry. After he was sure the man was gone, he turned back to Naruto, smiled friendly, and asked if Naruto wanted to bring some cake back for himself and the other boys.
Naruto agreed, dazed. He'd never really been stood up for like that and it was weird. But not something he didn't like. Sure Sasuke's parents stood up for him when out in public but they never said all that much. They just glared at the offending people so hard that Naruto almost believed their eyes flashed red. The other people must have thought that too because they would usually run off too.
But now that Naruto is going to be a shinobi, everything might change. He won't have people looking out for him like that anymore. What if he becomes unable to make more friends? What if he loses more of his precious people? Like Mikoto? And Fugaku? And Shisui? Sasuke's crazy cousin who always helped out in some of Naruto's pranks. How would he be able to deal with losing more people? What if he lost his best friend? What if he lost Sasuke?
Slowly he drags his gaze to the blue haired boy in front of him. So close he could reach out and nudge the back of his head. Something that became accustom to Naruto every time he sat behind his best friend. Sasuke would either ignore him, shoot him a dirty look or... or Sasuke would grin, not looking back at him because for some reason that day, Sasuke was in a good mood. He wasn't annoyed by all the everyday headaches that come from being around Naruto. He would glance over his shoulder slightly, as to not alert Iruka of anything out of the ordinary and shake his head at Naruto. Giving him that look that meant "I'm going to kick your ass later, moron."
And Naruto would grin back, because after they fought, they would lay side-by-side and talk about aimless things. Stuff that didn't matter. Their worries. Their thoughts and things that they had planned. Sasuke usually kept to himself, even around Naruto, but the two of them were undoubtably best friends and no one knew Sasuke better than Naruto and no one knew Naruto better than Sasuke.
"And for Team 7: Naruto Uzumaki," Iruka says, pulling the blond from his thoughts, a faint smile on his face. He notice Sasuke looking back at him curiously.
"Huh?" Naruto whispers to him. "What happened?"
"You're part of Team 7, Naruto," Sasuke says, staring at him with impossibly black eyes. "Congrats."
Naruto wilts a little and Sasuke looks away. Both a little down hearted but also a little hopeful, there is still a chance as Iruka continues, "Sakura Haruno."
The pinkette in the corner of the room blinks rapidly at the sound of her name, wishing for anything but this. Ino can't contain her bark of a laugh at Sakura's misfortune and the girl slides down in her seat, wishing to melt into the ground forever. How could she-a genius- be stuck on the same squad as the last in the class? How was this even done? How could Iruka sensei do this to her?
"And Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura blinks rapidly, processing what she just heard before her face nearly splits in half with a smile. She jumps up and lets out a loud whoop, throwing her hands up over her head in a cheer.
For a moment, Naruto has to wonder if he's hearing things. Did he say that Naruto is going to be on a team with Sasuke?
"Wait!" Naruto says as Iruka is about to move on. He jumps up to his feet, eyes wide. "Wait, sensei! Did you say I'm going to be on the same team as Sasuke?"
Iruka looks up at Naruto, blinking rapidly. "Yes, Naruto."
Naruto's eyes fall onto the boy in front of him again and lunges forward, raping his arms around the boy tightly from behind. Sasuke jerks with the foreign weight being pressed against him from behind but he looks over to see two blue eyes staring at him, watering slightly.
"You and me, Sasuke," Naruto says softly.
Sasuke scowls lightly. "Lucky you, moron. Get off."
Naruto laughs and pulls away like a huge wait has been lifted off of his shoulders. He falls back into his seat and sighs in relief. Kiba shakes his head at the blond's actions but looks genuinely happy for him.
After watching the exchange, he looks back down at his list and continues, "Team 8: Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame." Hinata gasps lightly, turning to the boy next to her, who nods solemnly, a slight tilt upward on the corner of his lips. The two look over to find Kiba, grinning at them and giving them both a thumbs up.
"Naruto and Sasuke weren't the only lucky ones," Kiba says. Akamaru barks in agreement.
"Two more teams," Shikamaru says, reaching out to poke the side of Choji's head. "Enough students for two more teams. We still have a chance, Cho."
The larger boy nods, looking back over his shoulder at the skinnier boy. "Here's to hoping, Shika." He crosses his fingers as an added effect.
"And finally, Team 10: Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara and Choji Akimichi," Iruka concludes. He lowers the list and grins at all of the faces around the room, memorizing all of them. Saying a silent goodbye with his eyes. "Alright, come back here after lunch to meet your senseis. Good luck everyone. Dismissed."
All the kids get up and make their way towards the door, pulling friends aside to talk to them. Naruto and Sasuke wave goodbye to their friends before making their way out. They get about half way down the street before Sakura comes running up behind them.
"Sasuke-kun! Hey Sasuke-kun, wait up!"
Naruto grins playfully at his friend while Sasuke rolls his eyes skyward muttering, "Ignore her."
Naruto's grin widens a little. "That's not nice, Sasuke."
The look Sasuke sends Naruto is chilling, but Naruto is mostly immune to Sasuke's dirty looks. He turns around to walk backwards, facing Sakura. "Hi, Sakura-chan!"
Sakura's hand goes flying out, shoving Naruto out of the way to stand next to Sasuke. "Move it, Naruto!" She smiles playfully at Sasuke, big green eyes staring at him. A tinge of red under her eyes. "Hi, Sasuke. I was wondering, since we were a team and everything... that well, maybe we should eat together?" she asks, then quickly adds, "To get to know each other better, I mean."
Sasuke stares at her blankly, glancing away from her for a moment to make sure that Naruto was okay. He was, brushing the dirt off his butt from where he fell over. Sasuke looks back at Sakura with a very bland look. "Are you seriously asking me that?"
Sakura nods, oblivious to the chilling edge in Sasuke's tone. "Yes, Sasuke-kun." Her eyelashes flutter in an attempt to appear flirtatious.
Sasuke's upper lips curls slightly in barely masked disgust. "You want to have lunch with me? You are seriously asking me that right after you just shoved my best friend over?" Sakura blinks rapidly, smile faltering.
"W-What?"
"Sasuke, it's okay," Naruto says. "It's not like it hurt or anything."
Sasuke shakes his head at Naruto, annoyed. "Shut up, Naruto." Then his eyes slide back to Sakrura, narrowing into tiny slits. "No, Sakura. The answer to your question is no. And it will continue to be no until you can pull your head out of your pretentious ass."
Sakura visibly pales, her smile completely falling, as Sasuke walks by Naruto, away. Naruto spares Sakura an unreadable look before walking after his friend. He doesn't say anything at first, just keeps pace with Sasuke's slightly larger steps. Once they get out of sight from the girl, their feet automatically taking them toward the Fourth's estate, Naruto turns to look at Sasuke.
He doesn't look back, his eyes straight ahead, a nasty glare on his face. Naruto's lips part, words at the tip of his tongue, what he's going to say... he has no idea, but Sasuke's mouth tenses, a sure sign that he'll snap if he says anything. With a single sigh from the blond to express his displeasure, he lets it go. They stop by Ichiraku's Ramen shop and eat on the way. Neither speak to one another. Naruto mostly chatters away with the shop owner and his daughter about his day, about his new team. Sasuke responds politely when addressed but otherwise doesn't go out of his way to speak.
They finish up quickly and say their goodbyes. They head for their secret hideout. They pop their clones when they get there, relishing in the feeling of their chakra coils expanding slightly before creating more clones to take their place. The more you use Shadow Clones the more one is able to tell what they are getting from the clones. Sasuke and Naruto and really the rest of them, are starting to get really good at it.
Naruto glances around the open field that is the Fourth's back yard to see different clones of all of his friends. Now, after two years of training. Meditating and chakra control almost every single day, all of their reserves have grown immensely.
Hinata is now capable of making 199 clones. She's spent a great deal of time dedicated to her control. Because naturally, with only one clone working on chakra gathering, two must work on chakra control to keep it at the same level. Hinata focuses on for every one clone meditating, three are working on chakra control, steadily improving her overall control at the end of the day. She is currently having 40 clones meditating and 120 are working on control.
Shino is now capable of making 225 clones. He's spent a great deal of time gathering a lot of chakra in a short period of time and then dedicating twice as long on chakra control. So, if he dedicates a week to purely gathering chakra, the next two weeks is hard core chakra control. He's currently got all of his clones working on their second week of chakra control.
Kiba has gone by the book, focusing on both chakra control and gathering at the same rate and is now able to make about 214 clones.
Choji has also been playing by the books, but he's been continuously eating Akimichi food which is laced with chakra increasing supplements which is also gradually helping him increase his own chakra control. Because of this, he has to focus on chakra control more than meditating. So, like Hinata, he's doing a three-to-one ratio with chakra control as his primary focus. He's now capable of making 247 clones.
Shikamaru fluctuates between by the book and Hinata's method. Because he had a small amount of chakra to begin with, he primarily focused on chakra gathering, but doesn't let his control falter even a little bit. He's now able to make 187 clones.
Sasuke, already having slightly more chakra than a boy his age should, without the assistance of this training method, has put a little more focus on his control over his chakra but he keeps up with gathering chakra as well. Now he is able to make 234 clones.
Naruto, on the other hand, has unbelievable amounts of chakra to begin with. His chakra control, while only getting slightly above what is needed, is still leagues behind the amount of chakra he has. Naruto is capable of making 302 clones.
The two boys look around the field filled with clones of themselves and their friends. Some straight backed, eyes closed and faces twisted into looks of serenity as they meditate and the rest are walking around, going from tree to water, or are twirling leaves around, a slightly more effected chakra control method that the hokage had recommended.
The two boys go sit on the porch, looking at the gate and around the well kept lawn. Hinata of the Green Thumb, began buying flowers from the Yamanaka Flower Shop and planting them in front of the Fourth's house and around both sides. She has brought it upon herself to take care of them and to keep the place looking somewhat decent.
"Sasuke," Naruto says softly, glancing over at Sasuke in the corner of his eye, "thank you for what you said. To Sakura, I mean."
"Don't worry about it," Sasuke murmurs, leaning back on both hands and closing his eyes.
Naruto turns his head to actually look at Sasuke, a small smile on his face. "I know, but you didn't have to say that."
"Yes I did," Sasuke says, eyes still closed.
"It didn't hurt, though," Naruto says.
Sasuke slowly shakes his head, almost lazily. The sun beating down on his pale skin, illuminating it in the light. His lips part slightly and he lets out a small whoosh of breath before saying, "That doesn't matter. You're my best friend, idiot." He looks over at Naruto, opening his eyes to stare at him evenly. "Regardless of how annoying you are."
Naruto's grin widens slightly. "I love you too, man. Regardless of how uptight you are." Naruto chuckles to himself.
"Alright," Sasuke says, heaving himself to his feet. "Let's head back. Let's meet this sensei of ours."
Naruto jumps up and follows after his best friend with a huge grin on his face. As they leave the Fourth Hokage's estate, Naruto holds his hands behind his head and looks over at Sasuke, "Do you think Sakura likes me?"
Sasuke gives him a bland look. "I'm putting my money on no."
Naruto pouts.
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto sit in the classroom almost an hour later, still waiting for their sensei to show up. No words have been exchanged amongst the trio as they wait. Naruto lays his head down onto the desk, next to Sasuke and groans really loudly.
"When is he going to get here?"
"Who knows?" Sasuke sighs, leaning back in his chair and slumps.
Sakura looks between the two of them, before lowering her gaze to the floor. Her feet dangling over the side of the desk closest to the door. She mumbles something incoherent under her breath before turning slightly to look at the two boys. Before she can chicken out, she mumbles out something.
Sasuke doesn't react to the sound but Naruto raises his head slightly. "Huh? Did you say something, Sakura-chan?"
A tinge of red splashes beneath her eyes. She looks down at his hands on the desk. "I said..." she sighs, running a hand through her hair. "I said I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you, Naruto."
Naruto blinks rapidly for a few moments before he grins brightly. "Thanks a lot, Sakura-chan! I'm okay."
Sakura nods, quickly looking away. "O-Okay. Good. You're, uh... you're welcome."
The door opens and a white haired man steps in. Sasuke opens his eyes and the other two look over at the one eyed man staring in at them. His single black eye goes from Sakura to Naruto to Sasuke, then back. He steps all the way in and raises a hand. "Yo."
"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura call out at once. They both look at each other a moment before looking back to their sensei.
"Sorry about that," he says, not sounding apologetic in the slightest. "Come on, let's go." He drops his hand and turns to leave without even waiting to see if they were going to follow. For a moment, all three students look to one another. Sharing annoyed expressions. Sasuke and Naruto can read each other so easily. They know the other just as well as they know themselves, but both notice that while very different from them and any of their other friends, they look at Sakura and see something they both didn't expect.
She looked like she could read them too.
"Okay, tell me your name, likes, dislikes and dreams for the future," Their sensei says, leaning against the rail across from the steps the trio are sitting on.
"Can you give us an example?" Sakura asks.
A single white eyebrow rises slightly and he looks at her blankly. "Sure..." He blinks slowly. "My name is Kakashi Hatake. My likes... hmm... my dislikes... ahh, well... my dreams for the future... I don't feel like telling you that."
All three of them stare back at him like he's sprouted a second head. Sasuke lets out an exasperated sigh and rolls his eyes.
Naruto purses his lips. "I'm Naruto Uzumaki. My likes include ramen, training, and hanging out with my friends. My dislikes include people who are mean to my friends, waiting for anything, really and having to constantly deal with the huge stick up Sasuke's ass." He grins at the dirty looks Sasuke sends him. "And my dream for the future is to be Hokage."
Kakashi stares at him for a long moment before a little, "huh" escapes him and then he looks over at Sakura. "And you?"
"Sakura Haruno. My likes..." she giggles to herself, glancing over not-so-discreetly at Sasuke, before continuing, "...my dislikes are... Ino and-" she hesitates, the boy next to her name on her lips. But that's not true. She doesn't hate Naruto. Nor does she really dislike him. He's just a little annoying at times. "And... hurting my friends..." she mumbles. "And my dreams for the future...?" She giggles to herself and sends another not-so-discreet look toward the last of the Uchiha before falling quiet.
Kakashi stares at her for just as long as he stared at Naruto, making another, "huh" sound before looking over at Sasuke. "And you?"
Sasuke leans back on his elbows and stares at his sensei cooly. "Why should I tell you anything about me when you told us nothing about you?"
Kakashi tilts his head slightly at the young Uchiha, pasted that bored expression of his, the young sensei is, and has been, carefully analysing each little thing that the kids have said and what they exhibited whether they meant to or not. Evenly, he says, "Because I told you to and I am your sensei."
Sasuke's endless black eyes stare back critically. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, my likes are puppies and unicorns, my dislikes are annoying people and my dream for the future doesn't matter because you don't give a shit."
"Sasuke," Naruto says, looking back at his friend, nudging his knee. "Come on."
"What?" Sasuke snaps. "He doesn't give a shit about us, why should I give a shit about this stupid excercise when he's just going to forget about it in a total of twenty seconds?"
"What makes you think that?" Kakashi asks.
Sasuke sends him a dark look. "Call it intuition."
"Fine," Naruto says, turning around to face him. "Tell me. I want to know. And I'm sure Sakura wants to too."
Sakura nods and Sasuke about comments that he honestly didn't give a shit what Sakura wants but there's a look in Naruto's eyes that tells him that the blond is serious. Plus Sasuke knows Naruto well enough to know that should he refuse, the blond is going to make a big deal out of it and try to somehow express the importance of being honest with the teacher. So, he relents.
"Whatever." Sasuke rolls his eyes and blatantly ignores Kakashi to speak to Naruto. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha," his eyes flicker to Sakura to see her staring at him, before looking back into Naruto's familiar blues, "my likes include training and hanging out with my friends. My dislikes are people wasting my time and stuff that hinders my training. My dream for the future is to hunt down a certain someone and make him pay."
Kakashi watches the exchange with an unending bored expression. He crosses his arms and makes a small humming noise in the back of his throat. "Alright. Come to training ground 7 tomorrow morning at eight." He stalks past them slowly before stopping and turning around slightly to look back at them. "Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll just throw it up."
Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto watch him walk away in silence. After he's out of sight, Naruto looks at Sasuke, twin yellow eyebrows pulled together.
"Sasuke, are you ok-"
Sasuke stands up, cutting him off. He barks off a stiff, "No." And stomps away. Naruto climbs to his feet and follows after his best friend. Sakura stands up, making to follow as well, but then she stops and watches the two boys walk off. Side by side.
"Not only were you late, but now you won't let us eat lunch unless we get some bells from you. And here's the kicker," Sasuke says dryly, "but there is a very good chance that at least one of us won't get to eat at all? That and we only get until noon?"
Kakashi nods. "Yep. I couldn't have reiterated it any better myself," he says just as dryly.
Sasuke gives him an annoyed look.
"Oh great," Sakura says, her shoulders drooping. "I was so nervous I didn't even eat dinner last night."
Naruto and Sasuke share a look. Naruto's is more of pity and Sasuke's is blatant annoyance. Naruto raises an eyebrow at Sasuke look, silently conveying to him that Sakura is going to need the food more than they are. Sasuke sighs, running a hand through his hair, silently cursing his friend's big heart.
"Fine," Sasuke turns to Sakura, "You stay back, attack when you can, but leave the heavy hitting to me and Naruto. Okay?"
"Yeah, don't worry," Naruto gives Sakura a thumbs up. "Sasuke and I can take this guy."
Sakura nods, her face taking a slightly more serious look. It actually looks nice on her. Kakashi watches them, head tilted slightly. So they are going to work together? But, they did just say their plan out in front of their enemy. They have a lot to learn.
"And..." Kakashi says, staring at them blandly. "Let us begin."
Sakura takes a step back while Naruto performs a single hand sign and shouts, "Shadow Clone jutsu!" 30 clones pop into existence. Then a stampede of Narutos and a single Sasuke head toward the surprised sensei. Kakashi forces the thoughts tot he back of his mind to deal with later. He may actually need to focus a little for this fight.
Kakashi ducks away from a punch, and then jumps out of the way of another one going for his legs. He nails one Naruto with his elbow, making him pop. Knees another and he pops. Then kicks another in his gut and then punches another. Both of them pop. Another Naruto jumps up behind him and wraps his arms and legs around his sensei in the attempt to hold him in place. Kakashi's eyes widen a little more as another Naruto runs up, arms pulled back and ready to strike.
He does, and hits another Naruto instead, sending both of them flying. Both Naruto's pop. Leaving 24 behind to look around confused.
"Huh?" One of the Narutos says. "What just happened?"
"Naruto!" Sakura calls, pulling out a kunai. "Be careful! It's a substitution jutsu. He was able to get out of the situation by putting someone or something in his place. But he's got to be nearby!"
Kakashi stares down at the frantically searching blond and his many clones. He hunches down on the tree branch he's standing on.
"Fire style: fireball jutsu!"
Kakashi spins around to see a large fireball working its way towards him. He jumps back to get out of the way of the searing heat. A child knows a jutsu like that? But before he can analyse it, another presence tickles its way up his spine. He twists around to see another Naruto flying toward him armed with a kunai. Kakashi bends back mid-air to avoid a swipe.
His leg shoots out, getting Naruto in the gut and he goes flying into the group, hitting two other clones, all three popping. The fireball burns through at least 8 of the clones remaining, leaving 12. Wait, 12?
Kakashi's eyes search around for the original and the single missing clone and barely overlooks Sasuke spinning around on his heel holding the hands of another Naruto. Sasuke lets go, launching the boy off of the tree branch that Kakashi had only moments before occupied and sent him hurdeling toward the white haired man. Kakashi braces to avoid when he hears the sound of metal slicing through the air. His gaze flickers down to Sakura, throwing kunai and shuriken in an attempt to throw him off.
The white haired man chides himself for forgetting the last remaining team member. Kakashi quickly snatches two of the five flying weapons and tosses them at the clones chest, making him pop. Kakashi finally lands on the ground, right in front of the pond. The remaining 12 clones charge at the stalled man back him onto the lake, and then follow him out there.
Both Kakashi and Sakura watch in shock as the clones push chakra to their feet. Sasuke drops from the tree branch and also follows. Kakashi quickly works on blocking and then destroying the clones until only Sasuke remains. Sasuke aims a kick to the center of Kakashi's chest, he catches his foot. Then Sasuke goes to punch the man in the face, to which he also catches. Sasuke twists around to kick him with the other leg, Kakashi blocks his too.
Upside down, Sasuke is eye level with the chiming bells at the older man's waist and makes a sharp motion toward it. But he's not fast enough, Kakshi shoves him away before he can get too close. The raven haired boy skids across the water before slowing down. Another two kunai go flying over his head toward Kakashi. Annoyed, the white haired man uses the metal on the back of his glove to block both with two distinct ting.
Then, beneath Kakashi's feet, Naruto appears from under the water. Hand flying to the older man's waist, grabbing the bells. Kakashi barely sidesteps before swiftly kicking Naruto in the gut, sending him flying toward Sasuke. Knocking them both down. But surprisingly they were able to stay afloat.
Kakashi tenses when the bells sounds. Signaling noon.
