THE KING IS BACK!
Hey everybody sorry for the delay. However I had a death in the family at the beginning of December and it's taken me a while to feel back to normal. So I do apologize, but I just couldn't bring my self to write.
The important thing though is that I'm back.
Review Replies!
Dage: That's not as much fun to hate on.
Silvermane1: Haku yes, Zabuza I'm still debating.
The Lazy Bastard: Thanks for the support and understanding.
MidnightHunter563: I can't kill him I have to many plans for him!
Krazyfanfiction1: All Kakashi lost was Minato.
bloodshound: Or he might do it for his own amusement.
Joe Lawyer: Thank you for your input. Vampiric culture is very similar to medieval, only in politics and combat does it differ significantly from that of the ninjas. Also 'lover' was simply because I was running out of words to refer to Hinata.
SPark681: Close but not quite.
Qzh: This chapter should make you feel better then.
Did it: Um... I don't know how to respond.
Phoenixblade: It won't be an accident.
Enough of that! Time for a fight!
Please enjoy the product of my Ramen and Grape Soda induced hallucinations!
Disclaimer: Turns out I'm a better writer than a thief, I now own one half of a jail cell.
April 1st 7:00 AM
Were Naruto a normal child he would have leapt from his bed, run down to the kitchen, scarfed breakfast, bid a hasty farewell to his parents and raced out the door. That is what Naruto would have done, if he were a normal child. Being anything but normal Naruto's morning was a little different.
As it was he slowly opened his coffin and pulled himself up and out of it with a somewhat loud grunt of exertion. He clothed himself in his usual black, red and silver outfit, and silently made his way out of his room towards the dining room. In truth it wasn't actually the dining room, it was just the kitchen in the living quarters. Being a somewhat large castle the various actual dining rooms and kitchens were humongous rooms designed to hold hundreds of people. Due to the fact that only a few dozen people were currently living within the stone confines only the smallest of the kitchens was used. It also doubled as the 'family' eating area.
When he arrived he found things were just as they normally were. Kenshin was curled up with his sword in one corner, while Chris sat tinkering with some new weapon on a table. Several of the guards were taking a break at another table. In the middle of all of this Seras sat bleary eyed slowly sipping from a steaming mug of A positive.
"Morning mom!" The young prince exclaimed as he hugged his mother.
A small smile appeared on her face. "Good morning Naruto."
As she hugged him back a maid hurried over with a platter carrying another steaming mug. She hurriedly placed it down before scurrying away.
Naruto took no notice of the maid's arrival or departure, his entire being became focused on the mug as soon as he saw it. Within seconds the mug was at his lips as he drunk the sanguine fluid within. He released a content sigh as he placed the now empty mug back on the table.
Seeing that he was done with his drink Seras spoke in a warm motherly tone. "Well now that you've had your meal you should be getting to your test."
Naruto nodded quickly before running to a coat rack that hung beside the door. On it hung his coat and his beloved scythe. Grabbing them and putting them on Naruto waved good bye before shooting out the door in a black streak.
Unfortunately in his haste to leave he didn't notice his father standing a few feet outside the door staring into the rising sun. The younger vampire did notice however when his nose slammed into what felt like a cement wall.
"A true vampire does not rush to where he is going Naruto." Vladimir chided without turning around.
Naruto bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry."
Neither of them said anything for a few moments.
"Do you remember all that I taught you?" The King asked with a deeper tone than usual.
"Of course I do." Naruto replied defensively.
"Then tell me the rules a vampire adheres to when in combat." Vladimir commanded somewhat harshly. "What are the rules of a duel?"
Naruto straightened up as he replied confidently. "A duel is a fight between two people, and two people only. In a duel you are to face your opponent directly, no trickery, no outside influence, only your power against that of your opponent. However if your enemy is far weaker than you lower yours so that the duel may be even until the victor becomes obvious. The point of a duel is in the combat, not the victory."
"And what of the rules for a battle?"
"A battle only occurs when your opponent has broken the rules of a duel or if there are multiple opponents. In battle anything is allowed. Your goal is the complete and utter destruction of your foe no matter what. The point of battle is in the victory not in combat."
Vladimir turned his head slightly so that Naruto could see one of his father's crimson eyes. "Good, remember those rules in your test."
"I will."
Vladimir smiled just a bit letting a few fangs appear between his lips. "Excellent. Now go, do your duty, and bring us back honor and victory."
Naruto nodded before shooting off once more towards the village. Once he was completely out of sight Seras came out to stand beside her king.
"Was all of that really necessary?" She asked in an annoyed tone. "You could have just wished him good luck like any other father would have to their son."
Vladimir looked at the blonde out of the corner of his eye. "I am not just any father and he is not just any son. He is my son, my heir. This is the first true chance for him to show this world his might. I simply made sure he remembered how to do it with honor."
"Sounded a lot more like you were scolding him to me." Seras replied.
"If he takes it that way that is his mistake." Vlad replied coolly. "He is caught between two worlds, I was simply reminding him of the one he came from and must return to. His fate in this world is in his hands."
Naruto arrived at the training ground, which appeared to be just a regular old forest except for the clearing he was in that had three logs sticking up from the ground, with almost a half hour to spare. Thankfully it was a rather cloudy day so he didn't have to put his hood up. The sun's rays couldn't harm him like it could for other vampires, but it annoyed and distracted him. And while he was sure of his capabilities as a warrior He was understandably nervous about his new sensei's test. He didn't even know what it was for crying out loud.
To prevent himself from becoming any more nervous than he already was he took a seat beneath a tree. Crossing his legs and clasping his hands before him he stared towards the entrance to the training area. Fifteen minutes or so into his wait the spiky silhouette of Sasuke emerged from the tree line.
Seeing Naruto sitting beneath the tree Sasuke scoffed loudly. "Taking a nap dobe?"
The silver haired teen didn't even glance at the Uchiha as he replied. "No. I'm simply watching and waiting. Like any good shinobi I feel it is important to be watching for threats at all time."
"Why bother?" the avenger snorted. "Even if you saw someone coming there's no way you could do anything about it."
Naruto's tone became sharper. "And you could?"
"I am an Uchiha, an elite. Your skills pale in comparison to my own."
"Truly? I seem to remember that according to the tests our skills are about equal."
Sasuke scowled and stalked off muttering to himself. "Obviously the tests were wrong."
Naruto rolled his eyes at his teammate's arrogance but said nothing. He returned his eyes to the entrance just in time to see a pink blob emerge.
Sakura, strangely, didn't immediately run to Sasuke like Naruto expected. In fact she seemed rather subdued and lethargic. Naruto chalked it up to the early hour. Not that he could really say anything on the matter of time.
Being a creature of the night he could almost hear his body crying out for him to go home and return to the comforting darkness of his coffin. He resisted these urges through willpower and a bit of Kurama's nearly limitless energy. It was still uncomfortable, but he had made a promise to the old man, and if this was what he needed to do to keep that promise, then he would do it with a smile. Or at least he would try to pretend to smile. Well at the very least he would do it with a straight face.
Eight o'clock came and went without any sign of their sensei. Eight thirty rolled around with a similar lack of jonins. Nine o'clock brought the sun out from behind its cloudy mask causing Naruto to draw up his hood, but there was still no sign of any jonin, their's or another.
Sadly by this point Sakura had finally fully awoken. Shortly after that her shrill voice quickly filled the small clearing as she attempted futilely to engage the Uchiha in conversation. Naruto just ignored her as best he could, unfortunately for the young prince his vampiric senses made it very hard for him to fully tune out her annoying voice.
This went on for two more hours. Naruto kept his constant vigil from his seat against the tree, Sakura continued to spout a continuous stream of drivel which everyone ignored, and the Uchiha simply leaned against one of the three logs sticking out of the ground and glared at the world.
When eleven o'clock finally rolled around Naruto was beginning to have some serious doubts. Primarily about the skill of his supposed jonin sensei. But his own sanity was also somewhat in question. He was pretty sure that at some point Sakura should have run out of things to say even if she had been going through the encyclopedia by memory, yet somehow she just kept right on talking, even when it was painfully obvious to everyone except the girl in question that the Uchiha wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.
'For the love of Kami! Will she ever shut up?' Naruto pleaded in his head.
'If we kill her she might be quiet.' Kurama answered in a hopeful tone.
Naruto thought about the idea for a moment or two. 'Good idea, but I don't think it would get us a whole lot. Knowing our luck she would come back just to haunt us. Then we would have to spend eternity listening to her blabber on and on.'
The mighty fox shuddered at the imagined horror. 'But we could get a few days of blessed silence before she comes back. In my opinion it would totally be worth it.'
'But then I would be stuck with listening to the banshee when I'm with Hinata to! That would be horrible!'
'…Hadn't thought of that. Well, shit. I guess we're stuck with the pink banshee for a little while longer then aren't we?'
'Ya know, sometimes, I really hate my life.'
At that moment two things happened. Firstly Sakura stopped to take a breath so she could continue to bombard Sasuke with her inane chatter. Her momentary silence caused every being within earshot to mentally cry out with joy. The other thing was that Kakashi finally arrived in a swirl of leaves.
Each of the genin had their own unique reaction to the jonin's sudden appearance. Naruto simply stared at him with the kind of cold soulless gaze that only a member of the undead could pull off. The Uchiha attempted a similar glare, however due to Kakashi's experiences in the war and his skills, the Uchiha's glare was no more threatening or disturbing than a puppy's growl. Of course Sakura simply decided to scream at the jonin for being late at the very top of her lungs.
"Am I late?" Kakashi asked casually.
The assembled genin stared at their sensei for a moment, then at each other, then back at their sensei and nodded at the same time.
"Oh, well, ya see on my way here I ran into a black cat. So of course to ward off bad luck I had to go back to my house and take the long way to get here." Kakashi explained in a happy tone.
"LIAR!" Sakura screeched.
Naruto and Sasuke both gave a cold glare. Well Naruto did, Sasuke just tried and failed.
Kakashi ignored them both and rummaged through his bag for a moment before pulling out two small silver bells and an old alarm clock. "Alright the clock is set for noon and here are the bells. Your job is to take these bells from me before the alarm goes off. Whoever can't get a bell before noon gets no lunch and will be tied to one of those posts while the rest of us eat."
'HA! I already had my blood for the morning! I don't need to eat! SO I don't need to get one of those!' Naruto mentally cried.
Kakashi continued to explain his test. "Also whoever doesn't get a bell… Fails. Since there are only two bells one of you IS going to fail. Of course whoever fails will be going back to the academy for another year."
'…I just had to open my mouth, didn't I?'
'According to my theory about humans, yes you did.' Kurama supplied.
'Should I ask about this theory of yours?'
'No, I haven't quite finished it yet.'
Being unable to hear Naruto's internal conversation Kakashi continued his explanation. "Now, unless you come at me with the full intent to kill, there is no way you will pass."
The two human genin gulped at the look in the jonin's visible eye. Naruto just grinned a bit, had his heart still beat it would have been thundering with excitement.
Kakashi looked at them all one last time. "Start!"
The genin hopefuls leapt away and disappeared into the bushes around the clearing.
Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. Said grin quickly vanished as Naruto walked back out into the clearing.
Kakashi stared at the silver haired youth for a moment. "You do realize that we shinobi are supposed to fight in the shadows, right?"
Naruto nodded.
"Then shouldn't you be hiding?" The jonin asked with a heavy dose of curiosity.
Naruto stared at the jonin for a moment before shrugging nonchalantly. "I would but in a duel that kind of tactic is not allowed."
"A duel?"
"Yes, combat between only two people. Now, shall we get this show on the road?" As he replied Naruto drew Crimson Moon and let it unfold to its full size.
Kakashi cocked his head for a moment but then just smiled and reached into his ninja pouch. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he waited for Kakashi to draw his weapon. To the prince's surprise Kakashi brought out a small orange book with a dramatic flourish.
"I somehow doubt that will protect you." Naruto deadpanned.
Kakashi didn't even glance at him. "It's not for protection, it's for entertainment. It's not like I'm going to have to take this fight seriously."
Naruto hissed and launched himself forward. Kakashi stepped to the side without even the decency to look at the flying genin.
Using the tip of his blade like an anchor Naruto pulled a one-eighty and flung himself back at the jonin's now visible back. Sadly the jonin sidestepped the attack once more only to jump over Naruto's mid-air strike. The jonin then snapped one foot into the air-born prince's midsection causing him to crash to the ground.
"Well that was certainly unimpressive." Kakashi noted with a bored tone as he turned over a page. "Might I see some of the Tepes clan's techniques, or is this going to just be a regular, boring old brawl?"
"Weeeeell, since you asked so nicely, I am forced to oblige." Naruto replied.
Kakashi nodded slightly. "I thank you for your generosity."
In the bushes nearby Sasuke and Sakura both sweat dropped at the rather civilized conversation.
Deciding to start off round two with a bang Naruto swept his scythe around behind him and squeezed the trigger. Kakashi dropped his book and leapt back in a desperate move to get out of the way only to find that Naruto had somehow reversed direction and was coming back. Being in midair the jonin was unable to dodge and so made a quick substitution with a conveniently placed log
With Kakashi now somewhere in the woods waiting to attack Naruto decided now would be a good time to up the ante. So he made a series of seals before slashing his scythe horizontally. As he did a distortion appeared, almost like a heat ripple.
"Onipou: Kazeshini." (Death Wind"
The distortion flew through the air at tremendous velocity straight towards the trees. When the ripple of air reached the first tree the tree simply fell to the ground having been cleanly cut in two. As did all the trees less than twenty feet behind it.
Naruto repeated this technique several more times in an attempt to flush his sensei out of hiding. As he released his last one though he felt a hand grip his ankle. Suddenly he found himself neck deep in the dirt.
Kakashi slowly rose from the ground in front of him. "Doton: Shinjuu Zanshuu no jutsu. I really had hoped that you wouldn't fall for such a low level technique."
"Then this should cheer you up. Onipou: Tetsu funka." (Iron eruption)
Suddenly a pillar of Iron as thick as a tree trunk shot up from the ground beneath Naruto. Said you prince the leapt down from the top to strike at Kakashi. Only this time he had fired twice making it very difficult for the silver haired jonin to fully evade. Instead of ducking or sidestepping Kakashi leapt over Naruto's strike and spun in midair to deliver a brutal axe kick which was avoided by Naruto flipping his body over the haft of his weapon. He then struck out with his magic once more.
"Onipou: Kaze Shinko!"
Contorting his body in air Kakashi was able to narrowly avoid being struck by the fist of condensed air only to have a pair of feet slam into his side as Naruto performed a Stomp kick off his buried scythe.
The jonin landed in a crouch and instuictively threw a handful of shuriken to buy himself some time. Naruto simply uprooted his scythe and spun it with his hands knocking them all away. But they served their purpose.
"Katon: Goukyakku."
Kakashi's fireball shot towards Naruto who signed as fast as he could before punching the earth before him.
"Onipou: Tetsu Shirudo!"
As the flames impacted his iron dome Naruto was trying to think of a strategy that could win him this duel. Unfortunately due to his lack of information about his opponent this was far more easily said than done. Thus he decided that he would go with the oldest strategy in the world, just wing it.
The moment the roar of flames died down he shot out of his cover like a bullet aiming for the possible safety and cover of the tree line. Seeing this Kakashi drew a kunai and threw himself towards the prince with all of his not inconsiderable speed.
Naruto spun around as he heard the hiss of displaced air. In doing so he managed to bash Kakashi in the side with the scythe's counterweight. Kakashi grabbed the haft of the scythe and spun on top of it landing a brutal kick on Naruto's jaw.
Reeling in pain and shock Naruto unconsciously gripped his scythe tighter inadvertently squeezing the trigger. Thus to his immense surprise he and his weapon went flying backward rather suddenly.
With his handhold ripped from beneath him Kakashi land on the ground much like a cat before readying another kunai and leaping once more after his would-be student. Much to his surprise however he found himself ducking beneath Naruto's massive weapon as both it and its wielder suddenly flew at him.
Internally Naruto was almost cackling with glee. He had managed to get Kakashi into the forest. No he had the advantage, with all the trees around the younger silver-haired ninja would be able to fight Kakashi much as he had Kenshin so long ago. Capitalizing on his advantage Naruto struck again and again each time using a tree or thick branch to catch himself and change direction. Of course each time he did this he would fire again slowly but surely increasing his speed until even the veteran jonin couldn't keep up. Finally after almost a minute of this Naruto finally managed to land a hit, granted he barely scratched the man's arm, but still a hit was a hit. Imagine his surprise when, at the moment of impact his enemy exploded into a cloud of smoke!
In fact he was so surprised that he failed to watch where he was going and slammed headfirst into a tree at close to twenty-eight miles an hour. As he groaned and pulled himself to his feet Kurama decided to add his two cents.
'Well, that was sure entertaining as hell.'
'…The fuck was that? Did you do something?'
'(Snort) Of course that was me… You know 'cause I can totally cause a ninja to turn into smoke from the inside of your stomach.' The fox replied with a mocking tone.
'How the fuck should I know? I haven't been a vampire for very long you know. Besides you're supposed to be this all-powerful all-knowing demon lord of chaos and destruction.'
'Firstly you're not a vampire, you're a fledgling and secondly WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW! On a side note yes, yes I am.'
Naruto felt a bit woozy due to the fox's volume but replied equally loudly. 'MOST OF THE OTHERS DON'T HAVE DEMON LORDS AS FAMILIARS SO HOW SHOULD I KNOW WHAT FAMILIARS CAN AND CAN'T DO?'
For a moment silenced reigned in Naruto's mind. But only for a moment.
'…Did you just actually make a logical argument? Or are we sharing a concussion? I'm really leaning more towards concussion.'
'Fuck you.'
'That's more like it. Well, now that that's over with…'
'…Right. So… What just happened?'
'You killed the Kage Bunshin of your sensei.'
'I killed a what?'
'It's a ninja technique that allows it's user to create a physical double of his or her body that can then go off and fight by itself.'
'So I didn't just kill my sensei?'
'No, in fact you haven't fought him since he used that Katon technique.'
'And you failed to point this out to me because?'
'I wanted to see how long it took you to figure it out.'
'…I really hate you sometimes, you know that right?'
'Yup. I feed on your hate, it tastes like chicken, lots of chicken…Shit, now I'm all hungry again.'
'Really? You feed on hate?'
'Of course not that would be way to cliché. I don't do clichés.'
'Oh. I knew that.'
'Sure you did.'
'So… Now what?'
'We play hide and go eat.'
A fearsome smirk adorned the fledgling's face. 'I think I might like that game.'
On the other side of the training ground Kakashi sighed with boredom as he stood before the Uchiha heir. Said heir was growling like some sort of wild beast, which would have been somewhat off-putting had the boy not been trapped in the earth up to his neck.
The jonin sighed again as he looked at the supposed prodigy before him. "You know, for the rookie of the year, you suck."
The Uchiha glared at him with an impressive amount of rage for a genin, he even managed to put out a good amount of KI. Not enough to even remotely phase someone of Kakashi's caliber, but it was still just a smidge impressive.
Kakashi glanced down at the Uchiha again and started to speak however just as he opened his mouth his head shot up and his visible eye widened a bit.
Without another word the jonin spun on his heel and walked away completely ignoring the raven- haired genin he left behind.
As he walked towards the wooded area Naruto and his clone had run into not long ago the jonin's mind was running a mile a minute as he analyzed what his clone had experienced.
'First, it's obvious he's more than capable of thinking on his feet and seems able to react to just about anything I throw at him, definitely not a one trick pony. Second from what I've seen he has quite the collection of techniques to counter my jutsu, not to mention I have no idea how many others he may still have in reserve. Third that weapon is very dangerous and he seems to wield it like a master, almost as an extension of himself. Coupled with his speed going in close is likely a bad idea.' The Cyclops mused as he entered the woods. 'So the question is, how to bring him down? I can't get too serious as I don't know exactly how much punishment he can take, but at the same time I can't hold too much back or he might actually injure me.'
The jonin continued his musing for a few more moments until Naruto's voice called out to him.
"Watcha doin' sensei?" Naruto asked playfully as his voice seemed to echo through the close packed trees.
Kakashi kept up his façade of nonchalance as his replied. "Not much, just thinking."
"About what?" Naruto asked teasingly.
"Well, honestly I haven't made up my mind as to whether or not I like the pairing in the newest Icha Icha book." Kakashi answered with an exasperated sigh.
"I really don't think you should be worrying about your book sensei. Don't you have more pressing problems?" The hidden genin asked with a touch of humor.
"Not that I can think of. What do you think I should be worried about?" As Kakashi replied he felt a spike of energy from directly behind him. It wasn't chakra it felt to dark and heavy to be the energy of life but it was there.
Thus when Naruto came rocketing out of the underbrush with a roar of "ME!" Kakashi back flipped over the attacking teen and put a snap kink into the boys back. The jonin tensed himself just in case Naruto began to use the trees as he had earlier. So when he found himself duck over a swinging scythe he was a bit surprised.
However as the surprise wore off so too did Naruto's advantage. Crimson Moon was a deadly weapon to be sure and in Naruto's skilled hands it could be downright terrifying. With its long reach and great weight the scythe could do unbelievable amounts of damage to anyone who was hit. However of the two combatants Kakashi was far more experienced.
Slowly but surely Naruto felt the control of the fight slip out of his hands. Kakashi was slowly driving him back with a pair of kunai. He did all he could but during the day Kakashi was faster and stronger. Not to mention that Kakashi was constantly abled to weave through the scythe's deadly arcs. After almost a full minute of fierce combat Kakashi finally broke into the young prince's guard and and with one sure movement brought both kunai to either side of the genins neck.
"Well…" Kakashi stated with a bored tone." I do believe I win this little 'duel' of ours."
Naruto growled deep in his throat but said nothing vocally. Instead he turned inward seeking advice.
'Kurama? Any ideas?'
'Yup, I got one.'
'…'
'…'
'Well, what's your idea?'
'Oh, so you wanted to know what my idea was! Why didn't you say so?
'I did say so you furry pain in the ass!'
'No, you just asked me if I had an idea. Which I do. You said nothing about telling you what the idea was.'
'Now is not the time for this shit! Just tell me your idea already!'
'I should groom my tails, they're looking rather ratty.'
'…'
'…'
'THAT DOESN"T HELP ME AT ALL!'
'I feel I should point out you never asked if I had a useful or helpful idea. Only if I had an idea.'
'…I want to kill you so much right now.'
'The feelings mutual. Now if you don't mind I have tails to groom and you have a jonin to deal with.'
With that said Naruto found himself once more face to face with Kakashi's completely emotionless face. At least it looked emotionless the mask made it rather hard to tell.
Kakashi brought the knives just a little closer to Naruto's throat. "Well? Do you submit, or am I going to have to go looking for your head in a minute?"
"I'm pretty sure most teachers don't threaten to kill their students." Naruto replied with a grin.
Kakashi inclined his head a bit. "Not vocally anyway. Then again I am not most students and you are not most students. So what's your answer?"
Naruto growled again, the sound rumbling from deep in his chest. After a moment he quieted. "Fine, I submit." The teen said with a bit of anger, and a good quantity of disappointment.
Kakashi nodded in acceptance and spun the knives in his hands as he pulled them from the genin's neck and place the back in his weapons pouch. "Don't feel so bad about your loss, you really pushed me and I'm one of the strongest jonin in the village."
As he said this Kakashi also realized something, a genin had actually made him try! Granted Naruto was no ordinary genin but still!
'Man, I've really let myself go haven't I?' The jonin mused as he heard the clock alarm go off in the distance.
"Well, that's that. Come along Naruto, it's time you heard the results of our little 'test'." The jonin said with a bright tone.
Naruto, still a little upset over his loss, merely grunted before hefting his scythe and following the jonin back to where they started.
A few minutes later all of Team seven found themselves arrayed around the logs in the ground. Sasuke sat on top of the first crouched on top like some sort of strange bird. Naruto leaned on the third with his scythe folded up and held tightly to his chest. Sakura stood bound by rope to the center pole. Thankfully Kakashi had had the good sense to lay a silencing seal over her lips to keep the others eardrums intact.
"Well I've got good news and bad news." Kakashi drawled.
"What's the bad news?" Sasuke asked after a moment.
"None of you will be going back to the academy." Kakashi replied.
Naruto's eyes narrowed a bit but said nothing. Sasuke just raised an eyebrow questioningly.
"In my professional opinion all three of you should quit being shinobi entirely." The jonin explained in his monotone voice.
All three genin hopefuls stared at the jonin with varying levels of shock.
In a burst of rage Sasuke leapt off his perch and charged Kakashi. In a swirl of leaves though Sasuke lay pinned beneath the older shinobi.
Kakashi's visible eye narrowed making his normally bored expression into something rather disturbing. "None of you got the real purpose of this test at all."
"And what purpose would that be?" Naruto inquired.
The jonin's glare somehow worsened. "Simple. It's… teamwork. Together two of you might have gotten the bells, all three of you together would certainly have managed to do so."
Sakura looked like she was dying to speak, so Kakashi made a single sign allowing the seal to fall away.
"But sensei, there are only two bells, wouldn't one of us have failed anyway?" the kunoichi yelled.
Kakashi just rolled his eye and replied. "Of course! This test is designed to make you fight amongst yourselves. If you can set aside your personal goals and work together in this test you can do so anywhere."
Once more the look in his eyes changed to a far more piercing glare than his previous one. "Naruto, Sasuke, you both challenged me by yourselves completely ignoring you teammates. Sakura, you went looking for Sasuke though you had no idea where he was and so walked right into my trap.
All three looked suitably humbled.
"Having skills as an individual ninja is important, but when that fails teamwork won't. Playing the lone hero can get both you and your teammates killed." The older shinobi looked at a small square stone nearby with a sad expression for a moment before turning back to his charges. "I'll give you three one more chance after lunch."
He handed the two lunch boxes to Naruto and Sasuke. "You two may eat, however since Sakura didn't do anything she gets nothing, and don't even think of feeding her. If you do, I'll fail you all."
With his piece said the jonin disappeared.
As Naruto and Sasuke opened their lunches Sakura stared at the food longingly, her hunger obvious in her eyes. Sasuke pointedly ignored her and focused on his own meal. Naruto on the other hand looked at the kunoichi with a small amount of pity. He knew how it felt to watch others eat while going hungry yourself.
With a small sigh Naruto placed his lunch into Sakura's hands.
The pink haired genin looked at him strangely. "What are you doing Naruto?
"We are going to need all the strength we can get to take those bells." He replied.
"What about you?"
"I had a big breakfast."
"But sensei said-"
"Yet he didn't stop me this morning and he's not stopping me now. So just take it and eat."
A tiny smile appeared on the Kunoichi's face. While Sasuke just sat and did nothing.
Suddenly Kakashi appeared before them in a cloud of smoke. "We're done here." Taking out his kunai the jonin cut Sakura free.
Said kunoichi looked up at the jonin's expressionless face. "So did we pass?'
Kakashi sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "I haven't decided yet. You'll get a message telling you if you passed or not in the morning."
With that he disappeared once more leaving the three to find their own ways home.
4:00 PM
The old Hokage surveyed the jonin before him. Each one of them had been assigned a team of three genin to test for readiness. Now it was time for the jonin to report who had passed and who had failed.
Strangely Kakashi was for once on time. Currently he stood in the corner of the office quietly musing to himself.
Hiruzen sighed and motioned for the jonin to begin.
"Team one, failed."
"Team two, passed."
"Team three, passed"
"Team four, failed. Miserably, I might add."
"Team six, passed."
"…"
Everyone looked expectantly at the cycloptic jonin waiting for his report. Instead he just waved them on, apparently he wasn't done thinking.
"Team eight, passed."
"Team ten, passed."
The Hokage nodded before looking back at Kakashi and coughing lightly in his hand. "Kakashi, what of team seven?"
The jonin ran his hand through his hair before answering. "Team seven failed."
The Hokage was taken back for a moment but marked his paper before rising. "Thank you all. I expect to see those who passed tomorrow morning ready for missions. You're dismissed."
The jonin saluted before beginning to file through the door.
"Kakashi, please stay. I want to have a word with you." Sarutobi said in a commanding tone.
Once the other jonin had left the room the old warrior made a strange gesture and four hidden ANBU suddenly revealed themselves before exiting. The aged leader then motioned for the jonin to take a seat.
The Hokage pulled out his pipe, lit it, and took a few deep draws before speaking. "I hope you realize the shit storm you've brought upon yourself Kakashi. The council is going to throw a fit because of you."
For a moment Kakashi was silent. "Permission to speak freely sir?"
The Hokage raised a brow but nodded.
"What the fuck were you thinking?"
The old man almost choked on his pipe. "What?"
"There is no way in hell this team would ever work together. They're almost designed to fail."
"How so?"
"Well let's start with Sakura. A useless fangirl with no skills what so ever. She fell for one of my absolute most basic genjutsu. She may be smart but she lacks any and all real world skills. Then we have Sasuke. A revenge obsessed little pain. He may be more skilled than most genin, maybe even some chunin, but he lacks control over himself, and has absolutely no regard for his comrades whatsoever."
"And what of Naruto?"
"I'm honestly not sure. From the way he approached our battle I'm guessing he was more trained to be a warrior rather than a shinobi. Don't get me wrong, he is quite skilled, but he seems to lack subtlety, but he would make a powerful assault shinobi. And of the three he seemed to be the only one willing to work with the others."
"So essentially Naruto passed your test but the others didn't? Is this correct?"
"For all intents and purposes, yes."
Sarutobi pulled long and hard on his pipe before releasing a large stream of smoke with a sigh. "So, it worked."
This time it was Kakashi who was caught by surprise. "Excuse me?"
The Hokage smiled like a fox. "Oh please you don't think I'm actually stupid enough to think that team would work. No, I just need a way to prove that Naruto was capable while satisfying the council's requirement that he be treated no differently."
"So… Now what?"
Sarutobi exhaled another stream of smoke. "Simple. I have an assignment for you."
"And what is my assignment?"
"You are to act as Naruto Tepes' master in the shinobi arts."
"What would that entail?"
"Find ways for him to fit in amongst the rest of our forces. As he is not actually loyal to the village, but instead to me, you and he will make up a two man squad under my direct command. Beyond that though I still expect that you will train him to the best of your abilities. Do you understand?"
A wicked gleam appeared in Kakashi's eye. "I accept."
A similarly wicked smirk appeared on the hokage's wizened face. "Good, then I expect to see you both here at 9 AM sharp. Understood?"
Kakashi stood and bowed before exiting the room.
As the door shut the Hokage spun in his chair and looked out upon the village. 'Let's see how the world fares with a demon of its own making!'
What will be the Hokage's command?
What kind of missions will Naruto have to do to fulfill his promise?
Why am I out of Mountain Dew again?
All of these questions and more might be answered in the next chapter!
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