There's one in the tree 60 meters to the north, one under the shrubbery 45 meters to the east and one on the branches 30 meters to the southeast. Kakashi observed as he flipped to the next page on his carefully-maintained book. She's already doing better than you when you started, Naruto.

Kakashi wasn't a particularly adapt sensor, but combine careful observation with intuition and experience, and you can tell almost anything. And now you've given away your location, he thought as 3 shuriken launched themselves towards him. As he plucked them out of the sky, he observed a flock of birds taking off from the vegetation in front of him. That's a lot of birds headed my direction, meaning the target is moving in my direction; quickly too. Judging from that speed, I'll say it's the boy.

His deduction proved to be correct as several kunai shot out from the trees, followed by the redhead. Kakashi lazily dodged the projectiles before batting away the kick aimed at his head. Michio wasn't deterred, landing on his feet and spinning around to throw a punch at the masked jounin. Again, his attack was effortlessly swatted away and his opponent calmly flipped a page.

"First step of attacking an enemy," Kakashi spoke, eyes still on his book. "Know the grounds well." He avoided a blow aimed at his face and instead placed his palm on Michio's chest, gently giving him a little shove. The boy stumbled backwards and tripped over a rock that he hadn't seen, landing on his hide. Irritated, he scrambled to his feet and fired a myriad of weapons at his teacher, hoping at least one would hit him. His prayer, obviously, went unheard as Kakashi stepped back, narrowly avoiding the shuriken.

"Gonna have to do better than that, kid," he mused.

"Fine!" Michio responded, kicking away from Kakashi before flashing through hand signs and landing on his feet. "Earth release," he dug his hands into the ground. "Fissure!" Cracks broke through the ground from Michio to his unsuspecting sensei, shattering the earth and shaking the balance of his target. "I got you now!" Taking advantage of Kakashi's lack of footing, Michio launched himself forward, hand targeting the shiny bells on his sensei's waist.

But he never got there.

The person he had been in combat with only seconds before disappeared into smoke and left the redhead standing alone on the cracked earth. I've been fighting a clone the entire time?

"An earth user, huh?" A voice rang through the air. Michio swung around. Where is he? Not behind, not above. "I'll show you an earth technique."

Without further warning, a pair of hands wrapped around his ankles and dragged him below the earth, leaving only his head above ground. Tried as he might, he couldn't move his arms. Without much else to do, he begrudgingly watched as his sensei slowly pulled himself to the surface, before squatting down in front of him, the twin bells hanging teasingly just inches from his face. "Earth release," Kakashi recited, patting Michio on the head. "Inner decapitation technique." He stood up and pulled out his book again, combing through to find the page he had left. "It's one of my personal favourites. You're pretty good, kid; just not good enough. Your technique is incomplete. That technique was made to create canyons in the earth. But you? You made a couple of cracks."

Michio growled, his black eyes flashing with rage. There was no way he was going to allow such shame to be his defeat. He had to get revenge on his sensei, but first, he had to get out of the ground.

One and a half hours left. Kakashi thought as he flipped another page. Time to check on the other two.

He realised belatedly that in his altercation with Michio, he had lost track of his other students. Had they moved? Were they observing from afar? His questions were soon answered when the sound of kunai slicing through the air caused him to duck. Turning around, he was met with a fistful of chakra. Knocking the attack off its course, Kakashi smiled.

"Hitomi-chan," he praised. "I get to face the legendary Byakugan. What an honour."

"Kakashi-sensei," Hitomi said. "I would a-appreciate it if...if you could g-give me a b-bell." She was dipped forward, palms open, one in front of the other. She was ready for an attack, but Kakashi could detect the slightest quivering in her knees. She was no match for him, and she knew it.

"Well that's the first time someone has tried that approach," he commented, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "No can do, little lady, you've got to earn your pay check in this world. You going to have to fight for a bell. In fact, I'll teach you. Shinobi fighting lesson number one-"

Hitomi launched forward with a series of palms and fists, determined to land a blow to her sensei's chin. They were, of course, avoided with the slightest shift in weight. "Taijutsu," Kakashi finished. "Distracting me with conversation and then attacking before I was ready, nicely done." Hitomi quickly followed up with an elbow headed to his head. That, too, was blocked. Her Byakugan desperately searched for an opening in his lazy stance, but it found none. How could anybody be so effortlessly powerful? She continued with a flurry of attacks, undeterred by his nonchalance, but she eventually grew frustrated when she noticed that his eyes remained focused on the book in his one hand, while the other effortlessly blocked Hitomi's advances. And even as he blocked her hits, he never budged. It was as effective as attacking a concrete wall. Taking it up a notch, she sped up and continuously attacked with a flurry of attacks, all, of course, to no avail. Batting his hand away, she thrust her palm towards his chest.

"Eight divination signs," she cried out. "Air Palm!" Please hit, please hit. But her palm never made contact with her target.

"Shinobi fighting lesson number two," Kakashi's voice whispered in her ear. "Genjutsu." Hitomi swung around, ready to land a blow on her sensei's head, but he was nowhere to be found. Pumping more chakra into her eyes, she scanned the area. Oh no, my range is only 20 meters. What if he's further away? She tried to pump more chakra into her eyes, but there was only so much that the inexperienced girl could do. So she ran. Whether it was to find cover or to find her sensei, it didn't matter. However, after an hour of searching, she found no sensei; worst, she found no teammate. She had cut off the flow of chakra to her eyes in hopes of preserving just a bit of chakra, but even without her eyes, she knew something was wrong. She shouldn't have been able to wander so long without finding anybody. There was no wind, no birds, and, she realised too late, her footsteps had no sound. What the hell is going on?

Suddenly her sensei's word hit her like a bucket of bricks. Genjutsu. I'm in a genjutsu. How do I get out of a genjutsu? She struggled to remember her lessons from the academy. What would uncle Neji do? She was already extremely drained of all her chakra, but she searched deep within her core and juiced out just enough to perform her next technique. Carefully moulding what little chakra she had left, she directed it into every tenketsu in her body.

"Gentle Fist Art," she called out. "One Blow Body!" She pushed that last remaining chakra out of her body and watched in satisfaction as her scenery changed to that at her original spot, her sensei watching her with admiration.

"Well done," he clapped. "A bit of an overkill if you ask me; such a high level technique isn't needed to overcome such a low level genjutsu, but well done all the same." Hitomi felt a swell of pride grow within her chest as she allowed herself a smile. "However," he continued, placing his hands together in the tiger seal. "Now you're left with no more chakra. How will I teach you Shinobi fighting lesson number 3 – ninjutsu?"

A torrent of water shot out of his mouth and hit Hitomi straight in the chest, lifting her off her feet and into the air. Waves and waves of water soon surrounded her and pushed her around as she struggled to stay afloat. She clawed her way to the surface and greedily gasped for air, but the current had caused the water to inevitably enter her lungs. The currents pushed her around, heedless to her cries for help, slamming her into trees and pushing her where she didn't want to go. She pulled herself to the surface as hard as she tried to remain conscious, but soon, both endeavours were too hard for her to manage.

When her vision finally cleared and her consciousness returned, she found herself coughing out more water than she thought her lungs could hold, and once again, alone. How long had she been out? Where were her friends? Deciding that now was no time to be catching her breath, she shakily rose to her feet and limped onward. She had to get that bell.

::::::

Chiharu wasn't having a very easy time. Sure, she had broken some rules and eaten before the test, but hey, it was just a couple of sandwiches, and she was beginning to hear her stomach complain. Behind her was a dirty Michio, who had finally been unearthed with the aid of his blonde teammate.

"Are you an idiot?" She had asked him upon pulling him out. His reply was a disdainful glare. "Don't fucking give me that look," she had scolded. "He's one of the most powerful Shinobi who have survived 2 Shinobi wars, and you thought you could beat him with the only jutsu you know? Now look what happened. Tell me, do you like having girls come to your rescue?"

"I didn't need to beat him," he had replied haughtily. "I just needed to get the bell."

"Pffft," she scoffed. "Same difference."

"Fine," he sighed. "How would you do it?"

"Oh you adorable little boy," she had grinned cheekily and gently placed a hand on his cheek. "Don't you know who I am? I'm Uzumaki Chiharu, the number one prankster in the entire village of Konoha. How do you think we're gonna beat him?"

A/N: I know, I know, it's a short chapter. But the next one will be longer! I promise! Thanks for y'all's concern, I can somewhat move my hand, but there's a nice little scar as proof of surgery ^^ Also I'd like to thank St3rfire for your consistent support of this story, every time I think it's forgotten, you remind me it's not, so thank you for that =] Anyways! Please review, and I'll have the next chapter up in no time!