Episode 7: Survival Test (Team 9)

Shortly after Zuko, Mai, and Ty Lee left, a man with short brown hair and black, almond-shaped eyes greeted the remaining genin. He was wearing a variation of the standard attire of a Leaf ninja, with a flak jacket. The differences between his attire and that of the standard one is that his did not have the red swirled crest on the shoulders of the sleeves, and the neck of his shirt was form fitting and went up to his chin. He also had two hip pouches strapped to his lower back instead of just one. In addition to that, he had a happuri-style forehead protector that framed his face.

"Team 9, please follow me," he announced as he headed for the door, followed by Naruto, Hinata, and Katara. Just like Aoba and Genma, the man led Team 9 to a training field labeled Training Ground 8. There was a view of mountains in the landscape and a large and deep river with forests on both of its sides. There was a glade and in its center were three stumps lined side by side.

"Alright, since we'll likely be working together lets introduce ourselves. My name is Yamato, I like walnuts and reading books on architecture, I dislike a few things, I have a few hobbies like reading and planting trees, and my dream... probably to fight a person I've admired for a long time."

"Really?" asked Katara, curious, "Who?"

Yamato just smiled, "All in good time. Now what about you guys. Let's start with you,"' pointing to Katara.

"Alright. My name's Katara, I like water, the full moon, love my brother, father and mother, and waterbending. My dislikes are the war we were in, the one who took my mom away from me..." she paused, trying to hold back tears, "...and the fact that I'll never see my father again. Hobbies... waterbending and swimming I guess, and I don't know what my dream is anymore."

Hinata and Naruto looked at Katara with sympathy. Both of them, Hinata especially, knew the pain of losing a mother all too well. Her father had never been the same since the day she passed... and neither had she.

Naruto decided to lighten the mood and went next, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, believe it; I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen Iruka Sensei got me at the Ichiraku Noodle Shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is pulling pranks and eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them... And my future dream... Is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody, somebody important!"

Hinata and Katara looked at Naruto in admiration at that proclamation. They could tell that Naruto was serious about this dream, even Yamato could tell as he widened his eyes slightly and barely raised an eyebrow.

'Looks like he's grown up in an interesting way.' Yamato thought. He then turned to Hinata, "And finally, you."

"M-my name is H-Hinata H-Hyuga." the heiress began, as she pressed her fingers together shyly, "I-I like s-sweet things, l-like cinnamon buns... and I-I also l-like... w-well," she stuttered glancing at Naruto as she began to turn pink, "I-I don't e-exactly l-like s-seafood very m-much, o-or b-being seen as a n-nuisance. M-my hobbies... I-I d-do enjoy p-pressing flowers i-in my s-spare t-time. A-and m-my d-dream i-is to become a great n-ninja, s-strong l-like my f-father, a-and k-kind like my m-mother."

Yamato nodded, "Alright good, you're all unique with your own strengths and weaknesses." He then walked over to one of the stumps and placed a timer on it. He then took two bells with red string out of his pocket. "Now, this test will be one of the hardest ones will ever have. There is only about fifty percent chance you'll pass. If you want to pass you must attack with the intent to end my life. The goal is simple, you need to take these from me." After giving them a moment to look at the bells when he shook them he continued, "If you noticed, there are only two bells, so that means only two of you can pass. Your time limit is noon, so you have until then to take the bells. Ready?" They all got into attack positions, "Begin!"

Immediately, Katara took a smoke bomb and threw at Yamato's feet, temporarily distracting him. Both the girls then grabbed Naruto before he could charge blindly at the jonin and hid in some bushes a ways away.

"Katara! Hinata! What are you two doing? We need to try and get the bells!"

Katara sighed and tried to explain, "Naruto, running blindly at an opponent that you have absolutely no knowledge about will get you killed in real life. We have to work together to get them."

"A-And besides," Hinata continued, "K-Katara has n-never fought a n-ninja before. I-It would n-not only help her, b-but all of u-us as well if w-we work t-together. W-we need t-to work t-together to g-get the b-bells."

Now it was Naruto's turn to sigh. He knew Katara and Hinata had a point. "Alright then, do either of you have an idea of how to get the bells? Only two can pass after all."

Katara thought for a moment. Coming up with plans was more of Sokka's forte, but she was able to pick up a couple tricks from him here and there through the years. "Well, what's that Yamato guy doing right now?"

"I'm on it," said Hinata, "Byakugan!" Hinata's veins bulged out and her pupils became more visible. "R-Right now h-he's just s-standing by the s-stumps."

"So he doesn't know where we are yet." Katara concluded, fascinated by Hinata's eyes.

"You got a plan Katara?" asked Naruto, eager to move.

"I have an idea that might just work..." Katara pondered aloud. There's no way a jonin would fall for such a simple tactic. But then again what did they have to lose if they tried?

"The first thing we're going to need is a distraction." explained Katara to the other two, "It would roll easier if there were more people though."

Naruto gave a foxy smirk as he cracked his knuckles, "Leave that to me!"

Nodding Katara continued, "Alright, when he's distracted, I need you two to..."

o~o

Yamato leaned against one of the posts as he waited for one of the teens to come at him. Though this was his first year doing this, he had been around genin squads long enough to know that at least one of them would try and attack him right off the bat. 'They haven't attacked yet... Meaning that they are either trying to think of a plan to take me down... Or they're waiting for a chance to attack me when I let my guard down.'

He suddenly caught a movement out of the corner of his eye and caught the kunai that came inches toward his face. Naruto then leapt out of the tree and attempted to land a punch on him, which he blocked. Shifting his weight, Yamato held Naruto by the arm and threw him into the river behind him.

'If they think I'm going to fall for something like that, then they can keep dreaming.' Yamato suddenly sensed something moving in the water. He turned around just in time to see multiple Naruto clones explode from the water.

"HERE WE COME!" they shouted simultaneously.

Recovering quickly Yamato swiftly ducked under the first clone's punch. He then sidestepped two more clones before grabbing the one on his right by the jacket and swinging him into the first clone. As they both dispelled into smoke, a figure charged through toward him. Hinata, with her Byakugan active, swung her hand outward in an attempt to block a chakra point in his arm. Yamato dodged once again as the heiress and the remaining clones got into a fighting stance. The three of them charged him together to try and overwhelm him, not noticing him doing several hand signs of his own.

"Wood Style: Domed Wall!" Out of the ground wooden pillars appeared from the left and right. They then joined together in a dome-shape with the Yamato at the center. The attacks Hinata and the Naruto clones shot at him had barely any effect. "You'll have to do better than that to best me."

Forgetting to check behind him though, Yamato felt something, or someone, grab him, his arms pinned to his side as someone's own arms wrapped around him. It was Naruto, still soaking wet, as he struggled to hold the man in place.

"Good Naruto hold him there!" shouted a voice from the riverside, "Hinata, get out of the way!"

Nodding, the Hyuga heiress leapt back from the wooden dome. Yamato had no idea what was going on at first, but his eyes widened when he saw the wood from his domed shield suddenly shrivel and dry up as water was forcefully pulled out of it to combine with the water in the river. The water was then thrown right back at him as he and Naruto were hit square on, sending both of them sprawling to the ground. The now soaked Yamato then got another surprise he felt the water in his clothing get cold frighteningly fast before freezing and immobilizing him from the shoulders down.

'I see... not bad. The first Naruto was a shadow clone that forced me to attack him so he could get to the water; he then sent another set of clones out with Hinata to attack me until he saw an opening. Then he could catch me and have Katara use the water not only the river, but also the tree roots as well, to freeze and trap me. One of the clones I fought was no doubt the real Naruto. It seems that they already have teamwork down in such a short amount of time already. That strategy could easily have taken down a genin and maybe even some lower-ranked chunin.'

Katara walked out of the bush she was hiding in by the riverside and met with Naruto and Hinata as they stared at Yamato now frozen to the forest floor. "So now all we need are the bells right?" she asked the two who nodded. She was about to thaw the area the bells were kept when Yamato suddenly puffed into smoke. When it cleared all that remained was a log.

Katara looked at the log in shock and confusion as Naruto and Hinata stared, mouths agape.

"A-a substitution jutsu!" Hinata realized as she immediately activated her Byakugan and scanned the area.

Seeing the confused look on Katara's face Naruto explained, "A substitution jutsu is one of the ones we learn in the academy. It basically replaces the body of the victim with some other object, usually a block of wood, right before an attack makes contact.

"So that means he's still around here somewhere!" exclaimed Katara as she and the other two got into defensive positions, their backs facing each other.

"Hinata, any sign of him?" Naruto asked.

"N-no, nothing. I d-don't sense him a-anywhere."

Naruto growled as he they continued to wait. The blonde then caught something in the corner of his eye. He couldn't believe it, it was a bell! Katara and Hinata followed Naruto's finger when he pointed to it before he ran for it.

"Naruto hold on!" shouted Katara, catching Naruto by the arm and leg with a water whip as he came within inches of the bell. "It could be a trap! Hinata."

Hinata used her Byakugan to look at the spot the bell was located. "Naruto, th-there is two snares u-underneath the bell."

"In that case..." He thought aloud as he made another clone to trip the snare, which it did rather comically. "Glad that's not me." he laughed as the clone cut his ankle lose, only to be caught in the second trap the moment he hit the ground.

"OH COME ON!" shouted the clone, flailing around, causing the group to giggle a little at the scene.

"Looks like I underestimated you guys a bit," said a voice in the trees to their side. They looked for the source and saw Yamato on a tree branch and leaning against the trunk. "I have to admit, I am pretty impressed with you three, and that's saying a lot coming from me. To be able to attack me with that team attack, trap me in that ice prison, and even find a way to use my wood style against me to a degree. You almost had me. That would have easily beaten a genin and maybe even a chunin. So, since I'm feeling nice," he tossed the other bell to the ground, "you can have the bells."

'But now what are you going to do?' Yamato thought. This was where the real test came in. Would they truly work like a team, or was that just a one-time gimmick.

The trio looked at him confused. Katara narrowed her eyes, "Alright, what's the catch?"

Yamato chuckled a little, "Well, like I told you before, only two of you can pass. So now you need to decide... who's going to fail?"

The group was silent for a moment before Katara spoke, "Alright I'll stay... you two go. I literally just got here so it only makes sense."

"N-no Katara!" Hinata protested, "Y-you're the one that th-thought of the p-plan to trap him. I-I barely d-did anything. I-I'll stay."

"No way!" Naruto exclaimed, getting the girls' attention before he turned back to Yamato. "Sorry Yamato Sensei, but if you fail one of us you fail all of us! There's no way we're leaving someone behind."

Yamato raised an eyebrow at this proclamation, before smirking, "Alright then... the result of this exercise is... you all pass."

The trio looked at him like he just transformed into a platypus-bear. "HUH?!"

Katara recovered first and glared daggers at the jonin. "What is this? Some kind of joke?! You said that only two people could pass!"

"Yeah... well I lied about that." he explained only to earn glares from the group, "You see, I was testing you... to see if you would put the squad in front of yourself or vice versa. When Naruto told me that they were going to stick together that was the moment you passed the test... The three of you are thinking like a team, which is exactly what we ninja do in missions. True, you need individual skills, but teamwork is what it comes down to in the end, or else the mission could fail, or worse, one or all of you could die. A person I admire once said this to me: "A ninja who breaks the rules is considered scum... but those who abandon their comrades and friends... are even worse than scum."

The trio stared at Yamato in awe. Whoever this person he was talking about must truly care about his friends deeply to say that.

"Well done, Team 9 is now officially a genin squad. We begin our training session here tomorrow at 7:00, I'll see you then." he concluded before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

o~o

AN: So that wraps up the 'Survival Test' Arc. Next chapter will be when they each go on their first missions. Not telling where who's going where though, but keep your eyes peeled for next chapter in coming weeks hopefully.

Team 9: R&R Please!