Chapter 38: Kakashi: The Bell Test

After that day, Hiroki and I trained together for a week. I was glad I had time to catch up on all the basics and show her practical applications for all that Tsunade had taught her while I was out of commission. Finally, she had started to look something like a good genin, knowing enough techniques to be able to be useful in a battle. I tried to forget the slight pain I felt when at the end of the day we split and got back to our respective homes. I wanted to defy orders and bring her back to my apartment, but it was Iruka's role to take care of her now. I had to accept it and let her go... and because it was to Iruka she went, I did.

Today, we were finally getting back to team training. I came to get Hiroki in the morning to make sure she understood that the rules had changed, that I would become harsher with her, but after a month of calling me by first name, the clever child had reverted back to honorifics without being told, greeting me with a joyful Kakashi sensei as she opened the door. I remembered that this was one of the reasons why it was so easy to be with her. She could read beneath the underneath with a surprising ease and on the most sensible topics, there was never any need to explain anything to her. I called her a child because she was one of my genins, but she clearly was more mature than that. My eye crinkled as it met hers and we were on our way.

When we arrived at the training ground five minutes early, Naruto almost had a stroke.

"K... K... K'kashi sensei?! Did something bad happen?"

I laughed happily. Maybe I had overdone it with the lateness.

"No, really, all is fine."

But the boy kept glaring at me as if I was an impostor.

"Don't worry Naruto, it won't last. In a few days, I should be back to normal," I said my eye curving upward from my hidden smile. Naruto and Sakura both rolled their eyes.

We were back in our usual routine.

It had been a long while since I hadn't seen them train. We wouldn't have a real mission for another few days, but I wanted to see what Team 7 looked like after this month off. I knew they all had trained hard and I was curious to see them in action.

"Today, we'll make a variation on the bell test. We'll work in teams, girls against guys," I explained.

This sent Naruto shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Yes! I am with Kakashi sensei! There is no way I'll ever lose!"

I had the urge to drop my head in my hands in discouragement, but I resisted and chuckled instead.

"Wait a bit Naruto. To even out the chances, you can snatch each other's bells, but I will have to make you girls give them to me willingly."

This did not reassure the girls. Sakura remembered very well her first bell test and knew the odds would be even worse this time. I gave everyone 15 minutes to strategize. The girls went far enough so that we couldn't overhear them and I did the same with Naruto, dragging him even further knowing how loud the teen could be.

"So, what do we do, Kakashi sensei?"

I could see he was still celebrating his future victory. Maybe it was a good time to show Naruto the other side of the medal so he could understand the responsibilities of being a leader.

"You decide," I said joyfully. "You are the captain of the boy's team. I'll follow whatever plan you come up with."

He was astonished.

"You'll... follow anything I say?"

His eyes were sparkling. This could be dangerous...

"Well, I wouldn't do something you wouldn't be willing to do yourself, but I'll follow your orders as I would any team leader."

"Woah!"

I smirked. Only him could survive a harsh shinobi life and still be so enthusiastic about little things like that.

"Now don't get too excited and think of a plan."

I was wondering what the girls would come up with. I had a fairly good idea of how Sakura would go about it, but Hiroki could be a total surprise. My guess was they would attempt to divide us and make it two against one, but I was curious to see how they would achieve that.

After the fifteen minutes had passed, Naruto and I walked out in the open. The girls did the same. After a few attempt at hand to hand combat, Sakura showed an opening and Naruto ran for her. There was no other reasonable move for the pink-haired kunoichi but to try to escape and hide in the woods, a place where the blunt and energetic teen wouldn't be as comfortable.

I was surprised to see, Sakura coming out of the opposite bushes as soon as Naruto had left. She had used a clone to lure him.

Not bad.

So, there I was. Alone against the two of them. Sakura and Hiroki nodded to one another and moved to my sides. Probably an idea of Sakura. She was keenly aware I didn't have a full 180-degree vision, and she was taking advantage of that by going to my left, hiding at the limit of my blind spot. Hiroki was probably there just to grab my attention on the other side.

I didn't want to lose sight of the pink-haired kunoichi, so I threw a few kunai at Sakura's feet to force her to move back into my field of vision.

There was a puff of smoke.

It was a clone. The real Sakura was with Naruto.

I turned to Hiroki questioningly.

"So, one on one with me? What kind of a plan is that?"

I walked toward her. She took a defensive stance. Something was wrong. She must have a strategy, she knew she had no chance against me... For the last few feet, I ran hoping to force her to betray her plan. If she had no way to deal with a frontal attack, she would lose the bell and it would be too bad for her. If she tried something, I might be lenient and give her another chance to come up with something.

As my arm made contact with hers, there was a splash of water and Hiroki disappeared.

Fuck!

That was a clone too... and a very good one!

I didn't have the time to wonder what was happening. Hiroki was right behind me, the bell touched her fingers, but I wouldn't let her get more than that. I grabbed her wrist and twisted her arm behind her back, but she was so slippery from the sweat that she managed to escape. She retreated to a safe distance, her sharingan spinning. Good. Her ability to defend herself had improved... but what would she do now?

Surprisingly, she threw kunai at me. I had to make a note to myself to teach her a few long range techniques because, even with her sharingan, she was a somewhat poor kunai thrower. I snatched one of the kunai in the air, and I could see a small change in her expression. Probably surprise.

"Hiroki? Is it really a good idea to fuel your opponent with weapons like that? You can do better, think a bit."

I couldn't believe she would be so careless in battle, even if it was with me. I wanted to believe there were some secret motives for her actions, but I was slowly exhausting all possibilities.

She knew she couldn't win in long range combat. In a last, desperate attempt, she ran toward me. I moved aside and pushed her back against a nearby tree, holding the kunai at her throat.

"Well, it's pretty much over for you," I said daringly. I looked at her in the eyes, but she wouldn't flinch.

Instead, she smiled... the kind of smile an enemy does when you have fallen into his trap, a smile that forecasted the enemy's doom.

It sent a shiver through my spine.

She moved forward. I was ready for anything but that, and I could only look in disbelief as she sliced her own throat over the kunai. I remained motionless as I watched the crimson liquid pouring out of the cut, hoping to see a clone dissipate, but it didn't. It was her blood on the steel. This was for real.

The panic coursed through my veins as my brain brought back images from those two days of torture.

Kakashi? Are you awake?

I was back in ANBU. I saw the chains hanging from the ceiling, the walls painted in blood...

What are you dreaming about, Kakashi?

Hiroki was lying on the floor a sword stuck in her body. Her skin had become as white as snow, drops of blood followed the curve of her lips... she was dead.

It was just like back then, she was talking to me, but I knew it wasn't her.

You're right, I am just an image... living in your mind.

Those were the very words she had said right before I was about to lose my mind... but I couldn't detach my gaze from the lifeless body in front of me. Losing a team-member, one of my genins, her in particular, there was nothing I feared more...

Open your eyes, Kakashi. The real one... she is safe.

Probably, but what would I see when I'd look at her? She got me with such a simple trick. Would she figure it out? Would she realise how weak I had become and leave me behind?

I knelt on the tile floor beside her lifeless body.

So that's what you are afraid of, Kakashi?

I am too weak. I can't protect you. I knew I couldn't protect you from Konoha's politics, but it seems that now I can't protect you even when I am merely inches away.

I caressed her dark hair and let my fingers glide along her cheek, her neck... If this was nothing but a dream, then what I did didn't matter.

You know you need to open your eyes and face it. Hiding here won't change that.

You could have died, right here, in my arms...

If you think like that, they'll take me away from you...

Maybe it's better that way...

There was a flash of light. I saw her on my doorstep, just like the day she had escaped from ANBU. Her eyes were wide and full of fear, her clothes torn and her hands shivering.

Kakashi... don't let them take me away!

The sound of the bell brought me back. The shadow clones, the kunai, the one on one fight, it had all been planned to place me in that precise situation. I had spaced out for only a fraction of a second, but it had been enough for HIroki to steal the bell and jump away in the foliage. I sensed Sakura's chakra. She was probably there to heal her.

"Naruto," I said. "They are together now!"

That was the signal. A horde of kage bunshin ran in the trees. Naruto had been surprisingly patient, letting one of his clones fall into a trap, waiting for the girls to expose their plan, making a move only once they got together again.

They were surrounded and quickly surrendered.

"Congrats, team Naruto has won," I said showing a brave face, but deep inside, I was still under the shock. Fortunately, Hiroki was fine. The cut on her throat was barely a scratch... but what a daring move she had pulled off! "Congrats to the girls too. If Naruto hadn't used a clone, you might have been able to pull it off."

After this, we discussed some strategies they could have used, but my mind wasn't all there. Hiroki's little stunt had affected me more than I thought. It seemed my students were not the only ones who had work to do!

I dismissed the team for the day, but Hiroki stayed behind. She took the small bell she had managed to steal and handed it back to me.

"Kakashi... I am sorry for what I did during the bell fight. It was rude to you..."

She looked at the ground her hand hesitant. She had fought well, really well. She had severe limitations in terms of training, but she used that to her advantage. She did what she had to do.

I pulled her against me ruffling her hair.

"Don't worry about it," I said. "You taught me something important today... This was all your plan right?"

She nodded.

I bent a little so I could look at her in the eyes.

"Hiroki, you'll be a great shinobi. You've got the guts and the brains."

I was not lying to her. It would be exciting to see what she will become once her body would become as strong as her mind.

I couldn't wait to see it happen.

I dropped Hiroki home and took a cold shower, but I was restless. My mind kept dragging me to the training ground, reliving that short fight of ours over and over.

As I put on my gear again, I realized that my kunai holster didn't close as smoothly as it used to. I remembered the kunai I had snatched from her. In my adrenalin rush, I had forgotten to give it back to her. I took it out. The blood had dried on it. There wasn't much, only a few drops, but in my panic, it had felt as if she had bled to death on it.

I cleaned the weapon and sharpened it, removing the rust and the chips on the blade. She definitely did not care more for her weapons than she cared for herself. It was a cheap set Iruka had found in the school depot, but I didn't remember it being all that bad. I guess I made a lousy job teaching her that.

There was no way I would rest if I stayed at home, so I decided to go and see some old friends.