Chapter 12: Teamwork… Or Not


"Aaaahhhh," Naruto yawned out. He glanced over at his clock. 4:45 AM. Time to go. With a grunt, Naruto rolled himself out of bed, falling face first onto the ground for all his efforts. Yawning again, Naruto nearly fell asleep on the ground, before he realized what he was about to be late for.

"Crap!" Jumping up, Naruto threw on some clothes and was out the door in a flash, pausing only to lock it behind him.

"I'm gonna be late! There's no way I'm gonna let Kakashi-sensei put me back in the Academy!" He had forgotten all about breakfast. Shame.

Arriving at the training ground, Naruto figured that he was right on time. He found Sakura pacing around and Sasuke sitting beneath a tree, wide awake. "Naruto! Finally! Glad to see you changed out of that jumpsuit. My eyes were practically bleeding," Sakura said, sneering.

Naruto rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at Sakura. He was wearing light khaki shorts, and orange t-shirt, and a blue vest with the Uzumaki crest on the back. He had twin kunai holsters strapped on his legs, and his ninja gear strapped around his waist. Adjusting the head band on his forehead, Naruto nodded once to Sasuke, who deigned to nod back in reply.

"Where's sensei?" Naruto asked, beginning to feel his stomach rumbling.

"That's just it!" Sakura exclaimed. "I don't know! He's supposed to be here by now!"

"Maybe he's just running a little late. He was late yesterday, remember?" Sasuke said from his spot beneath the tree.

"Meh, I'll just take a nap while I wait for him," Naruto said, dropping right where he was, ninja gear and all, and promptly fell asleep.

"Baka!" Sakura screamed, ready to punch the blonde, but thought better of it, deciding to let Kakashi-sensei deal with it. Sakura looked at Sasuke hopefully, as if hoping for conservation to strike up. A lightning strike was more likely.

Sasuke only grunted, but closed his eyes as well, napping under the tree. Sakura was left to pace and pace for three full hours until 8:00, when Kakashi finally showed up, perched on a tree branch. "Morning!"

"You're late!" Sakura screeched, pointing an accusatory finger at her sensei. Sasuke and Naruto suddenly woke, jumping to their feet at the sound of Sakura's scream.

"Who, what, when, where?! The ramen?!" Naruto, still disoriented, whirled around, looking for the enemy. He stopped when he saw Kakashi sensei. "Eh? Sensei? You're late!"

Sasuke just grunted in annoyed agreement.

"Hehe," Kakashi chuckled embarrassedly, his eyebrow crinkling up. "You see, a black cat crossed my path, and I had to take the long way around."

"Liar!" Naruto and Sakura yelled out simultaneously.

"Well, it's rude to call your sensei a liar, don't you know?" Kakashi said nonchalantly, before dropping down to the ground and walking over to his team. "But formalities aside, let's just start," Kakashi said. He took out two bells from his pocket, which he tied to his pants. "Alright guys, here's the test. You have to take these two bells from me."

"What? Is that it?" Naruto blurted out. He was thinking of the eraser incident yesterday.

"That's it," Kakashi answered. "By the way, you have to come at me with the intent to kill, or you'll never even touch me. And if you don't get the bells, you fail the test. You go back to the academy."

"WHAT!" all three genin-to-be yelled out. "You can't do that!"

"Actually I can, and I have for the last six teams the Sandaime has assigned to me."

"Then what about that graduation test?!" Sakura yelled out.

"That easy thing? That was just a test to see who could be a potential genin. This test is to see who will be genin. Being a genin is no walk in the park. After all, this test has a 66% failure rate. Of the 27 graduates, only 9 will be genin."

There was a collective gasp from the three potential genin as they thought about the implications of Kakashi's words. This was do or die here.

Naruto and Sasuke glanced at Sakura. No big challenge there. Then they glanced at each other. Glaring, they both silently vowed to be the victor here. Sakura quailed at the tension arcing through the air.

Kakashi noticed all of this, and sighed internally. If any team could pass this test, it should've been this one. But then again, the Sandaime had been wrong before. It was a lot to ride on these three, considering that the Hokage had specially formed this team with Kakashi as the jounin captain. Brushing those thoughts aside, Kakashi eye-smiled again, unnerving his three students.

"By the way," Kakashi continued, "I have your lunches here with me. If you fail to get a bell by lunch time, you get tied to those posts over there and go without lunch."

All three genins' stomachs grumbled in protest as all three realized why Kakashi told them to go without breakfast. They all glared at Kakashi for the trickery.

"That's downright low, sensei! Very low!" As he held his growling stomachs Naruto drew his kunai and took three steps ready to rush Kakashi. That was as far as he got. A puff of smoke, and Kakashi was holding Naruto's kunai to the back of his head.

Sasuke and Sakura nearly fell back, surprised at the jounin's sheer speed.

"Now, now. I haven't even said go yet," Kakashi chided. He disappeared, reappearing next to a tree, twenty feet away from the genin. Kakashi reached behind his back dramatically, taking out a copy of Icha Icha. The three genin sweat dropped when they realized what their sensei was holding. "Now, you can start!"

Dashing away, all three genin disappeared in a dust cloud, trying to hide in the surrounding foliage.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, his head buried in his book, furtively moved his eyes around the clearing. One… two… three. Not bad. Their hiding skills aren't terrible.

"Not bad, but is hiding the only thing you can do?" Kakashi called out from behind his book.

"I mean," Kakashi continued, letting his taunts carry in the silence, "I expected that Pinkie over there would be hiding in a tree, but I expected a little better from you, Naruto and Sasuke. Gonna stoop to a girl's level?"

Normally, Kakashi would have been content to let these genin fail on their own, but he was interested by this group. Sensei's son, the last Uchiha, and… Pinkie. It could prove to be interesting at least.

As these thoughts were running through Kakashi's mind, kunai suddenly burst from the foliage near Sakura's position. Kakashi's eyebrow raised in surprise. Interesting. Easily sidestepping the kunai, Kakashi saw Sakura leap from the trees, dashing towards him.

Great. Doesn't Iruka teach his students not to rush into situations like this? Kakashi sighed behind his book, amusedly noticing that Sakura was very angry.

"I'll forgive forgive your implication that I'm a coward. I'll even forgive your sexist comments," Sakura yelled as she quickly closed the distance to her sensei, "But stop calling me Pinky!"

Sakura whipped off another kunai, aiming straight for Kakashi's head, which ever so slowly swayed to the side, dodging the lethal projectile. Grunting in frustration, Sakura started employing her taijutsu, which was choppy at best. Finally, panting and heaving, Sakura jumped back, taking a breather. Her sudden bout of anger gone, Sakura finally realized that she was in way over her head.

Without looking up from his book, Kakashi briefly mumbled, "Ooh, my favorite scene. Oh, hiya Pinky," Kakashi said, as if noticing Sakura for the first time.

A white fury raging through her veins, Sakura suddenly gave a savage battle cry and rushed at Kakashi, cocking her fist back. Without even thinking about it, she jumped in the air and punched straight down at Kakashi… who easily jumped out of the way.

As Sakura's fist connected with the ground, a mini-explosion burst from the point of contact, leaving huge cracks in the ground. Kakashi sweat-dropped as he felt a slight tremor in the ground. That would've probably hurt. The last time I saw something like that was Tsunade.

Far in the distance, Naruto and Sasuke looked in awe as Sakura demolished the area with her fist.

Giving another growl, Sakura rushed again at Kakashi. A yard away, Sakura drew back her foot, looking like a star soccer player. Time stood still as Naruto and Sasuke looked on in horror. Sakura's foot shot forward, connecting with Kakashi's groin. Naruto and Sasuke cringed, their hands instinctively sliding down to protect their manhood.

Then time suddenly unfroze, and Kakashi suddenly exploded in a cloud of smoke, a shattered and splintered log taking his place. That could've been Kakashi-sensei! Naruto thought, shocked at Sakura's display of strength.

Sasuke sweat-dropped as well. I'll never consider Sakura a fangirl after this, He thought. More like half a fangirl.

Meanwhile, Kakashi, hiding in the nearby tree line, also grimaced. Maybe I should stop calling her Pinky, he thought.

"Where'd you go, sensei?" Sakura yelled out her challenge. Kakashi decided that it was time to end this part of the fight.

"Taijutsu: Lesson one. You shouldn't let your opponent get behind you, Sakura." Sakura jumped in fright, trying to spin around to hit her sensei, but Kakashi was faster. Kakashi shot his right hand forward, placing a finger on Sakura's forehead, and promptly burst into leaves. Or that's what it looked like to Sakura at least. Naruto and Sasuke looked on as Sakura stood stock still, then suddenly fainted with a scream. They could guess what their sensei had shown her.

Kakashi shook his head. He was hoping that Sakura wouldn't fall for such a simple genjutsu, but oh well. "And that was lesson two. Genjutsu."

Genjutsu, both boys thought from their hiding spots in the trees. This could be dangerous, thought Naruto, who was just about to rush in himself. This could be interesting, thought Sasuke, who also had thoughts about rushing in.

Throwing caution to the wind, both boys burst from their hiding places in the trees, intent on taking down their sensei. Both boys made eye contact, and momentarily paused in surprise. Then, glaring, they both rushed Kakashi again, all the more intent on being the first to get a bell.

Kakashi, barely glancing up from his book, gave another sigh. These genin were just like everybody else. Then, Naruto put on a burst of speed, pulling ahead of Sasuke. Launching forward, Naruto gave a straight punch at Kakashi's head. The jonin easily ducked, letting Naruto sail past, only to be met with Sasuke's foot. Fast as lightning, Kakashi's hand came up and blocked Sasuke's kick.

But as Kakashi's back was turned, Naruto flipped in the air to land on his feet and in a split second, whipped a kunai right at Kakashi's back. Kakashi twisted his arm, quickly throwing Sasuke away, and jumped to the right to dodge Naruto's kunai. He was forced to dodge again, as Sasuke threw a kunai as well, hoping to catch his sensei of guard. Jumping back, Kakashi's instincts pricked up again, and he threw himself to the ground.

The air whistled above him as Naruto's leg swept past the space where his head had been seconds prior. Naruto gave a short growl of frustration, before punching down at Kakashi's exposed back. Quick as lightning, Kakashi dropped the book in his hand and turned on the balls of his feet, raising his left arm to deflect Naruto's punch. At the same time, the jonin stood up, striking with an upturned right fist.

The breath left Naruto's lungs in a whoosh and he was sent careening backwards. Kakashi huffed in slight annoyance that the boys had managed to make him drop his book, but as he bent down to retrieve it, he sensed Sasuke nearly on top of him. Rolling into his motion, Kakashi picked up his Icha Icha book and deposited it neatly into his ninja gear pouch.

In the same instant, Sasuke had launched himself forward, hoping to catch his sensei off guard. Armed with a kunai, Sasuke tried for several lightning lunges. Kakashi rolled back onto his feet, swaying backwards, dodging the first few strikes. Then, like a striking snake, Kakashi's hand shot forward, catching Sasuke's wrist in mid-lunge.

Without thinking about it, Sasuke dropped his kunai, letting it fall into his right hand, poised for an upward slash. Seeing the movement, Kakashi moved accordingly.

Deflecting with the metal plate on his glove, Kakashi twisted. But Sasuke had predicted the motion and spun upside down and kicked at Kakashi's head, using Kakashi's grab as leverage against him. At the same time Sasuke dropped his kunai and reached for a bell. Kakashi's eyes widened as he blocked with his free arm. This kid…

Realizing he needed some space, Kakashi kicked Sasuke hard in the stomach just as the boy's finger glanced across a bell. Sasuke shot away, skidding and rolling along the ground straight into Naruto.

Naruto, who was just getting up from Kakashi's blow, tried to get out of the way, but too slowly. Sasuke bowled right into Naruto, both falling on the ground in a heap.

"Get offa me, Uchiha! I've got a fight to finish!" Naruto growled, pushing Sasuke's body off of him.

"Right," Sasuke wheezed into the ground. "Like you're doing any better than I am, Namikaze!"

Naruto growled in reply. "I'll end it after this!" Turning to Kakashi, Naruto formed the tiger seal. From across the clearing, Kakashi narrowed his eyes. He had seen this once before. It had been quite deadly then. Who knew what it would be like getting hit by that now.

"Fireball jutsu!" Jumping high in the sky, Kakashi dodged the giant projectile. That's the real thing. I'm still surprised that he can perform that jutsu. Or maybe I shouldn't be.

Then Kakashi's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as another fireball flew towards him. Good pseudo teamwork, but it wouldn't be enough. "Perhaps it's time to go onto lesson three. Ninjutsu! Water bullet jutsu!"

A similar sized ball of water shot from Kakashi's mouth, intercepting the second fireball. The air hissed as the two jutsu canceled each other out. Safe and in the clear, Kakashi dropped to the ground. Then Naruto was suddenly behind him, locking his arms in place. "When did–"

"Don't let your opponent get behind you!" Naruto chuckled, as he struggled to reach for a bell. Kakashi wasn't making it easy, though.

"Fireball jutsu!" Kakashi and Naruto looked on in shock as a huge fireball arced their way. Naruto held grimly on, holding his sensei in place, while the jonin struggled briefly, trying to dodge the fireball. At the last moment, the thing exploded in their faces. In the ensuing cloud of ash, Kakashi flew out of the debris, closely followed by a coughing Naruto.

"Uchiha! What the heck?! Were you trying to kill me?!" Naruto coughed out.

Sasuke only glared. "You shouldn't be in the way next time, Namikaze."

Naruto's angers suddenly burst forth from behind the dam. "Alright, Uchiha! You've wanted a fight ever since Mizuki, like you're trying to prove you're better than me. Well why don't you eat this!" Without warning, Naruto's fist swung straight at Sasuke's jaw, causing the raven-haired boy to fall back to the ground.

Narrowing his eyes, Sasuke coiled his muscles. "You wanna fight, let's fight." Springing up, Sasuke shot both legs forward, catching Naruto square in the chest. Falling onto his back, Sasuke flipped up, just in time to raise his arms to block Naruto's punch. Both boys jumped back, before giving a hoarse yell and charging at the other.

Kakashi looked on, slightly amused, and slightly alarmed. Maybe I should let this play out. Cocking back his fist, each boy swung with the weight of their self-imposed loneliness. Blocking with their other hands, both boys were at a stalemate, struggling, fist against palm, their very beings locked in combat.

Suddenly, it was over as Sasuke quickly released Naruto's fist and reached behind the blonde, stealing one of Naruto's shuriken. Jumping back, Sasuke flung the deadly projectiles at Naruto, who took out a kunai and deflected. Naruto realized that Sasuke really was putting just about everything into this fight. Fine then.

Naruto rushed at Sasuke, this time going in for a low sweep. Sasuke jumped, and while he was in the air, Naruto snapped off his kunai. Sasuke easily dodged, but was unprepared for the kick that sent him flying into the air. "Fireball jutsu!" Naruto called out.

Sakura dashed to the edge of the tree line. She was embarrassed that Kakashi-sensei had taken her out with such a simple genjutsu. Of course, Sasuke would never die like that! I've gotta be more careful, if I wanna be on the same team as Sasuke! I have to get a bell!

"Fireball jutsu!" Sakura was startled to hear Naruto's voice. Peering through the leaves, Sakura was shocked to see a huge fireball shooting towards Sasuke, who was floating in the air.

Sakura gasped in horror as the fireball exploded, obscuring Sasuke from her vision. "Sasuke-kun!" She yelled out. Suddenly, out of the smoke, another fireball raced down towards Naruto, who was standing on the ground.

What? Sasuke is trying to hit Naruto? And was the fireball Naruto's. What's going on? Are they fighting? Sakura thought in a rush.

Naruto jumped back as the jutsu smashed into ground he was just standing on. Then a blur appeared behind Naruto, but Naruto was just as fast. Whirling around, Naruto raised a hand and caught the foot aimed at his head, before blocking another kick with his other arm. Back flipping away, Naruto threw Sasuke away. Naruto landed in a ready stance, raising his arms none to soon, as suddenly, Sasuke was on him. The punches were hard and fast.

Eventually, it got the point where neither boy cared about their own injuries, only hurting the other. Fists were flying at the head, jaw, stomach, chest. Neither boy was giving an inch, locked in a painful stalemate.

Sakura looked on in horror as the her two possible teammates pounded on each other. She could see their punches getting sloppier, their faces getting more bruised. Finally, after what seemed like ages, the boys were swinging at nothing but air, the area around their eyes so swollen, that neither could clearly see anymore.

Both boys then took a major swing at the other, hitting nothing but air. The force of their blow spun each around, where they collapsed against the other, back to back. They kept swinging in front of them, not realizing for a while that they were leaning back to back.

They should be almost done, Kakashi thought from the tree he was sitting under. He then glanced up at the sun. Hmm, it's past noon already. Well, since it seems like they're having such a great heart to heart, I'll let them wrap this up.

"Come on, Uchiha!" Naruto groaned out wearily. "I've still got fight in me!"

"Hn," Sasuke grunted painfully. "It's obvious who won here, Namikaze."

"Don't call me that!" Naruto tried to yell, his voice coming out more as a croak. "I hate it when you call me that!"

Sasuke took a moment to breath before replying. "Isn't that who you are? Naruto Namikaze?"

A pause. "Yeah, but when you say it, you say it like it makes me a different person!" Both boys eventually slumped down to the ground, sitting back to back, too tired to continue fighting.

"I… I don't mean it like that," Sasuke offered tentatively. Both boys were bone weary, and the emotional walls they had placed between themselves were coming undone.

"Yes you do, Sasuke, and don't even try to deny it." Naruto felt tears rising to his eyes, but he pushed those away. Sasuke didn't hit that hard.

Sasuke paused a moment. "Ok, so maybe I do mean it like that, but that's because you did become somebody else. You abandoned me!"

"How?!" Naruto yelled in reply, his anger rising quickly.

"Your new friends!" Sasuke spat out. "Look at them! They try not to even look at me, much less talk to me, and what do you do? Nothing! Friends don't do that to friends, and that's what I thought we were." Sasuke made to rise, but his anger left him in a rush, leaving him even more tired than before.

Naruto was quiet. A part of him realized that Sasuke was right. He had been a jerk. But that was because… "But that was because of you," Naruto replied.

"How was that because of me?" Sasuke growled back.

"Because you said we weren't brothers."

Sasuke suddenly went still.

"That day, you said that revenge was personal. A family matter. I thought I was family, but then you said I wasn't an Uchiha." Naruto paused, the emotion welling in his chest. He could feel it was the same for Sasuke.

"I thought that if after everything we'd been through, that we weren't brothers… I don't know… I just felt betrayed." Naruto waited for Sasuke's reply, and when one wasn't forthcoming, he sighed.

Sasuke sat in silence for a while. It wasn't true. He didn't want Naruto to say that. But I don't want to apologize. He's done some pretty bad stuff to me too. As Sasuke struggled with his pride, Naruto felt that Sasuke really thought nothing of their bond.

He was just about to get up, when Sasuke began to speak. "Naruto, I'm sorry."

"What?" Naruto said, shocked. In all the years he'd known Sasuke, his friend had never ever said I'm sorry.

"I said…" Sasuke sounded like he was biting out his words. "I'm sorry. I was wrong to say that."

Naruto paused. Wonders never cease. "I was angry… so angry," Sasuke continued, the emotions of that night springing up in him again. "You have no idea how much I hated Mizuki, Shisui, and that assassin. They murdered our entire family, and… I just let control me. And then, when they announced that you were the son of the Fourth Hokage, I hated you."

Naruto was shocked. "You… You hate me?"

"I hated you for your name, a big name. It made you suddenly so popular in the village, while I was still an outcast. And then I thought that you had abandoned me, and I hated you for it."

"I never wanted their attention!" Naruto protested.

"But you soaked it up either way!" Sasuke yelled in reply.

Naruto was silent. That was true. Naruto waited a while before he too started talking. "Sasuke, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I never meant to do that to you. It was just that when you said… when you said that, I thought that was how you really felt, so I reacted. I was just stupid enough to keep it going."

Sasuke sensed that Naruto's apology was genuine, and for the first time in a long time, he smiled. It felt like a huge burden, a terrible blackness had been lifted from his heart. "Dobe."

On Sasuke's other side, Naruto grinned lopsidedly. "Teme."

A shadow then fell over the two boys, bruised and battered from their intense fight, but grinning happily at their reconciliation.

"Well, that fight was impressive," Kakashi said, his eye crinkling. Especially since they're both wearing weights. "And I'm glad you two made up, but since noon passed half an hour ago, I'm afraid that all three of you fail."

Sakura burst out of the trees just as Sasuke and Naruto got up on their feet. "WHAT?!" They cried in unison.