Author's Note: Not sure if I mentioned this, but there's a poll on my author page. If you read this story and enjoy it, please vote.
Also, I know this one's a little short. I apologize both for its shortness and the delay in posting the previous chapter.
Naruto ducks under Hatake's incoming leg and moves backward, giving himself some breathing room. The two combatants circle each other warily, waiting for gaps or lapses in concentration.
All of a sudden, Hatake brings a hammer blow arcing downward toward Naruto's skull. The blonde catches it and yanks the jounin toward him, then head-butts Hatake in the face. As one, they step away from each other. The jounin's nose is dented slightly, like someone opened up the skin and scooped out a piece of bone. Blood dribbles out of his left nostril and down his chin.
He wipes it away and grins at Naruto, making a 'come-hither' gesture with his bloodied hand. Naruto strikes with a series of quick punches aimed at Hatake's midsection. The first two are blocked easily. The third punch, however, is a different story. Instead of blocking it, Hatake grabs Naruto's oncoming fist and uses the genin-in-training's forward momentum to dump him over his shoulder.
"Nice try," Hatake says, turning to face the prone Naruto.
"I only scored one hit," the boy says from the ground.
"Sometimes, one hit is all it takes. Besides, if you show as much creativity scoring that one hit as you did today, you'll do just fine."
"With what?"
"In the long run? Being a ninja. Your short-term goal, however, is the Genin Examination at the end of the week. Personally, I think you'll do just fine on the taijutsu portion."
"And what about the ninjutsu portion?" Naruto's voice is slightly quieter than normal, as though he dreads the answer Hatake might give.
"That's for me to decide," a feminine voice quips from next to Naruto's ear. He freezes as he feels the pricking of a kunai's cold steel blade across his throat. His hand comes up and he shoves the kunai away before elbowing Anko in the stomach.
He flashes through three quick hand seals and suddenly a copy of himself poofs into existence. The copy is dispelled almost immediately by Anko's fist. "Good, one down," she says, crossing her arms. "You need to make two more, though." Naruto concentrates, running through the hand seals for the clone technique again. A second clone pops into the clearing, followed soon after by a third. The third clone, however, looks lighter than the first and second, as though someone drew it out in pen and then took an eraser to it.
"What's up with my third clone?" Naruto points to the construct in question, which looks down at itself then back it him, its expression quizzical. "Too much chakra," Anko replies, knowing exactly what caused it.
"Wouldn't that make the clone better, though?" Unfortunately for Naruto, they really haven't taught him much jutsu theory, focusing instead on the practical skills needed by a shinobi. Anko decides to give him the layman's version.
"Imagine that your clone is a balloon. What happens when you overfill the balloon and then try to use it?"
"It pops," Naruto says, not really seeing the connection.
"Exactly. And what would have happened if you had tried to make a clone with too much chakra?"
"It would have – oh, okay, I see where you're going with this."
"Good," Anko uncrosses her arms and claps him on the shoulder. The hand withdraws and comes arcing downward again, this time bearing a kunai. Five hand seals later and the kunai strikes a log instead of join between Naruto's shoulder and his collarbone. "Quick thinking is always good, kid," Anko says. "A plus on the body replacement technique. Now let's see how good your transformation technique is. Turn into whomever you'd like."
Naruto flashes through the dog, boar, and ram hand seals. A plume of smoke envelopes him as he completes the jutsu. When it clears, a carbon copy of Ibiki is standing in his place.
Anko circles Naruto's transformation, checking for any obvious discrepancies. "Pull off your forehead protector," she directs. Naruto-as-Ibiki does so, removing the cloth cap and its attached metal plate. In their place is a scalp devoid of hair and scars. "Nice try. 'A' for effort. You missed the scars on his head, though."
The transformation dissolves and Naruto stares back at her. "What scars?" His voice is curious.
"Ask Ibiki about it sometime."
"Alright. So now what?"
Anko pulls a sheaf of papers from her jacket and hands them to Naruto. "Keep these safe. Let no one see them, and deliver them to Ibiki tomorrow. You're dismissed." Naruto nods, tucking the papers under his arm and leaving the training ground.
As soon as he's sure that Naruto is out of earshot, Hatake moves to stand next to her, hands slid into the pockets of his pants. "Think he'll pass?"
"He'd better," Anko replies, grinning sadistically. "If he doesn't, I'll rip his arms off and shove him over a cliff."
Hatake winces slightly, shuffling as far away from Anko as his feet will take him. "Remind me never to piss you off."
"Never piss me off," she says, grin sickly-sweet.