2 – Team Meetings, The True Test
I'd like to say it now that things will seem slower in these first chapters, but once we get to the Chunin Exams, it should be a fun read. With that said, let's get started!
*DISCLAIMER*
I do not own anything of Naruto. All rights go to the rightful owners. I only own the OC's added to this story.
This story is rated M for mature due to acts of violence and blood.
"As of today, you are all ninja's. To get here, you faced difficult trials and hardships. But that's nothing. What comes next will be far more difficult. Now, you're only genin, first level ninja's. All the genin will be grouped into three man squads. Each squad will be led by a jounin, an elite ninja." Iruka spoke to the class, as a few whispers were heard around the room.
"Well, someone's got to be in Sasuke's group. I wonder who." Ino Yamanaka, one of the many Sasuke fangirls spoke to Sakura, who was sat in front of her.
"I don't know." Was the response of the pink haired girl, but internally, she knew exactly who's team she wanted to be on.
"Of course, that is not all." Iruka spoke again. "As you all know, three teams will be getting extra members, as it has been done for years with our three Primordial Clans. Let it be known that we want each squad to have a balance of strengths and abilities, so that's how we set them up. I will now announce the squads."
Isamu spaced out as Iruka began to announce team after team, eyes slowly closing and opening over and over again. Yet again, another sleepless night, one spent out in the forest surrounding Konoha.
It had always been that way. Some times, the villagers would go farther than they usually would, and so, Isamu would spend his days practically living in the forests instead of the village. Thankfully for him, such a life gave him good experience in such situations.
"Squad seven. Naruto Uzumaki..." Iruka spoke again, the name catching Isamu's attention. "Sakura Haruno..." Naruto cheered in victory, while Sakura put her head down in gloom.
"I'm doomed..." She muttered.
"...And Sasuke Uchiha." This time, the roles were reversed, as Sakura cheered and Naruto's head dropped. Sakura had turned back towards Ino with a victory smirk.
"Ah. How did you get in his group?" Ino asked with crossed arms, an angry look on her face.
"Now squad ten. Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi." Iruka called out, as Ino began to whine.
"Augh! So not fair...!"
"Of course, that leaves our one Primordial Team, Okora Imagawa, Masami Ashikaga, and Isuma Takashi." Several heads turned to those three, as Okora held a smirk on his face, Masami held a warm smile, as Isamu didn't seem to care too much. "As this team works, they will only come together for certain missions. So now, I'll be naming the teams these three will be apart of."
More whispers began to be heard, as Iruka spoke again.
"Okora Imagawa, will be placed with team ten of Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi. Masami Ashikaga, will be placed with team eight of Kib Inuzuka, Shino Aburame, and Hinata Hyuga. Isamu Takashi, will be with team seven of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, and Sasuke Uchiha."
Naruto's face seemed to grow brighter, knowing he would at least have Isamu on his team.
"Now, after lunch, you'll meet your new jounin teachers. Until then, class dismissed."
Everyone slowly left the room, as Isamu slowly stood from his seat, walking much slower than the rest. Just as he reached the door, his name was called.
"Hey, Isamu..." He turned, seeing Iruka looking towards him. "Do me a favor, will you?"
"What is it?"
"When with team seven...watch over Naruto, alright? You and I both know how he can get. Can you do that for me?" Iruka asked, as a small smile appeared on Isamu's face.
"No need to worry, Iruka. It's a big brothers job to protect their younger sibling." He simply said, before leaving the room. Iruka still looked at the door, a small on his face, as he turned to the paperwork in front of him.
During lunch, Isamu sat on one of the benches outside of the academy, head leaned back as he stared up at the sky above. He always enjoyed the silence, as it allowed him to concentrate to the highest level. Some would say you couldn't meditate with opened eyes, but Isamu would do just that. His eyes would focus on one specific spot in front of him, before relaxing his whole body.
His concentration was broken when he heard his name being called. Blinking a few times, he found Ino Yamanaka standing in front of him. Given, Ino did say they were friends, but in the end, most of their conversations ended with 'Sasuke' somehow in the mix.
A few minutes passed, Ino now sitting next to Isamu, arms crossed as she stared at the ground.
"I don't see how you didn't expect this, Ino." Isamu spoke, referring to her team. "Of course you would be paired with Shikamaru and Choji, with the whole Ino-Shika-Cho formation that usually happens." He stated.
"Of course I know, Sa. Doesn't mean I'll like it..." She muttered, earning a small chuckle from Isamu. If there was anything Ino could do for Isamu, it was get a laugh out of him.
"So do you dislike the team itself, or do you dislike it because Sasuke isn't on your team?" Isamu asked, an eyebrow raised. Ino shook her head. "Let me tell you this now, Ino. Having some little crush in the ninja world isn't gonna help you at all. You should focus more on your training, rather than fantasize about some little fairy tale world." With those words, Isamu stood up, but turned back to Ino. "Oh, and if you were to ask me, I'd say stop with the whole diet thing. Most guys I know like girls with some meat on their bones."
What Isamu didn't see was Sakura sneeking up behind him. His senses decided to take a break for the day, as he couldn't even sense her presence, but it was too late. Her evil laugh sounded behind him, before he was pushed into Ino, and Sakura ran off after making sure it had occured as she wanted.
Isamu had falled onto Ino yes, but more specifically, their lips had crashed onto one anothers. Isamu had immediately gotten off of her and apologized, before running after Sakura. Though, he didn't notice the small blush on Ino's cheeks, as her fingers brushed against her lips.
Isamu was back in the classroom with team seven, sat in one of the farther back seats. Sasuke was sat near the front with Sakura, as Naruto paced the front of the room.
"He's late." Naruto groaned out. He stuck his head out the door and looked around the hallway.
"Naruto! Just sit down!"
"I don't want to. How come our teacher's the only one that's late? I'm ready to roll. Believe it! The other groups already met their new teachers and took off on some adventure or something, and Iruka-sensei's gone, too!"
"Being impatient won't help, Naruto." Isamu suddenly spoke, his voice as heavy as ever from his lack of sleep.
Naruto didn't listen, though, as he grabbed a stool and an eraser. He set the stool up next to the door.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Sakura asked, as Naruto began to chuckle evily. He placed the eraser high up between the door and wall. "Naruto!"
"This is what he gets for coming late, Surprise!" He said as he jumped off the stool.
"You're just asking for trouble. You know you shouldn't do that." Sakura scolded.
"Our teachers a jonin- an elite ninja. You'd think he'd fall for that?" Sasuke spoke up as well, hands still placed in front of him.
Suddenly, a hand reached into the classroom, causing heads to turn. The door opened, and the eraser fell on a spikey-haired ninja with a mask covering most of his face, his forehead protector made to also cover his left eye.
Naruto began to laugh, pointing at the jonin.
"I got him! He totally fell for it!" He yelled out, as the ninja simply looked them over.
"I'm sorry, sensei. I told him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen. I'd never do something like that." Sakura spoke, as Sasuke simply looked at the man.
'He actually fell for that cheap trick? Is this guy really a jonin?' He thought. Isamu gave a sigh, feeling more annoyed with the team, since he recognized the man.
"Hm. How can I put this? My first impression of this group...you're a bunch of idiots." He spoke, as everyone gave their own reactions.
Shortly, everyone was on the roof of the academy, the four genin sat on the steps as their jonin leaned against the railings.
"All right. Why don't you introduce yourselves one at a time?" He suggested.
"Introduce ourselves? Well, what do we say?" Sakura asked with raised eyebrow.
"Your names, for one. Things you like. Things you hate. Dreams for the future, hobbies. Things like that."
"Why don't you tell us stuff first. I mean, before we talk, tell us about you, so we can see how it's supposed to work." Naruto spoke up, as the jonin put a finger to his chin.
"Me? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate- I don't feel like telling you. My dreams for the future- never really thought about it. As for my hobbies- I have lots of hobbies."
"That was totally useless. All he really told us was his name." Sakura spoke, as Kakashi turned to the hyper blonde of the team.
"All right, your turn. You on the right- you first."
"Believe it. I'm Naruto Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like ramen Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop. But I hate the three minutes you have to wait after your pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them. My future dream is to be the greatest Hokage. Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and start treating me like I'm somebody- somebody important."
"All right. Next." Kakashi turned to Sakura.
"I'm Sakura Haruno. What I like- uh- I mean, the person I like is...Uh, my hobby is- uh...*giggles* My dream for the future is...*squeals*"
"And what do you hate?"
"Naruto!" Said blonde nearly face planted, as Isamu let out an annoyed sigh. Kakashi then turned to the raven head of the group.
"You."
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. " He spoke slowly. "I don't particulary like many things, and I dislike lots of things. I don't really have any hobbies. My dream, is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I will restore my clan, and kill a certain person." He spoke, as both Sakura and Naruto looked at him with certain looks, unable to describe how they felt about what he said.
"Finally, you." Kakashi spoke, all heads now turned to Isamu.
"Nice of you to remember me..." He spoke, causing a slight chuckle to come from Kakashi. "My name is Isamu Takashi...I don't like many things, nor do I really dislike anything. My hobbies, I suppose include training, meditating, and stargazing. As for a dream..." He paused. "My goal is to restore my clan, the clan I never knew, and change the way the Hidden Leaf Village sees the Takashi clan. At the same time, I wish to...understand love." He state, his eyes facing the skies above the entire time.
'Understand...love?' Both Naruto and Sakura thought at the same time, as Kakashi's lone eye stayed on Isamu. He knew the boy very well, considering he was his caretaker when he was younger- well...not a real caretaker, but he watched over the boy and helped him train a bit.
Other kids around his age were free and alway happy. He didn't have such luxuries. All he knew his life was hatred, and he had never truly experienced love unless it came from his mother. He didn't know what it meant or what it felt like from others who weren't his family, so Kakashi could understand why he would have such a dream.
Eventually, Kakashi nodded as he uncrossed his arms.
"Good. You're each unique, and you have your own ideas. We'll have our first mission tomorrow."
"Uh, what kind of mission are we going to have?" Naruto asked happily.
"It's a task the five of us will do together." Naruto began to bounce a bit.
"What? What? What? What?"
"A survival exercise."
"Huh? Survival exercise?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I thought we were suppoed to have a real mission, not more practice. We already did this stuff at the academy. That's how we got here." Sakura stated, but Kakashi shook his head.
"This is not like your previous training."
"What kind of training is it then?" Isamu asked, his head tilted to the side. Kakashi just laughed at his question. He practically knew that Isamu was smarter than he let on. His intellect could possibly be compared to that of the Nara clans heir, if not just a bit lower.
"Hey, hold on. That's a normal question. What's so funny?"
"Heh, well, if I tell you the answer, you're not going to like it." Kakashi stated, confusing them.
"Huh?"
"Of the 28 graduates who just came here, only 9 will be accepted. Of course, the Primordial Team is required for the village, so they have already been accepted. Of the other students, the other 19 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is make it or break it, pass-fail test, and the chance that you'' fail is at least 66%" Kakashi explained.
Naruto and Sakura held shocked expressions, while Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. Isamu on the other hand, didn't hold any look on his face. Kakashi said it himself, the Primordial Team was needed for the village, so his graduation was already confirmed. It was a tradition of the five hidden villages to have their Primordial teams, so Isamu had no issues. Even still, Kakashi knew he would make him participate in the exercise.
"See? Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't like it?"
"That's crazy! We worked hard to get here! Believe it! What was that graduation test for anyway?" Naruto asked.
"Oh that. That was just to select candidates who might be Genin- or not."
"What...!?"
"That's how it is. I decided whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at 5:00 a.m, and bring your ninja gear." Kakashi stopped leaning on the rail, heading for the stairway downstairs. "That's it. You're dismissed. Oh, tomorrow you better skip breakfast, or else you'll puke."
[You're late!]
Both Naruto and Sakura had yelled at Isamu as soon as he showed up. As soon as he got home yesterday, he told his mother. She had laughed, and told him much of Kakashi's late antics and that he'd been that way for a while. It wasn't something Isamu didn't already know, since Kakashi was his trainer back when he was a bit younger. The reason? Let's just say Kakashi knew Isamu's father when he was alive.
"I've know Kakashi for a while, I already knew how late he was going to be." Isamu stated as he walked past them, sitting down against a nearby tree. "By the way..." The three turned to him. "...You guys didn't actually listen about the whole not eating breakfast thing, right?" He asked, an eyebrow raised. His question was answered when Naruto's stomach growled almost on que, making Isamu sigh.
He didn't say anything after, as they waited for Kakashi, who appeared after another half an hour.
"Morning everyone. Ready for your first day?" Both Naruto and Sakura shot up with accusing fingers pointed his way.
[You're late!]
Kakashi simply chuckled as he scratched the back of his head.
"Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." He gave an obvious excuse, which made Isamu sigh at his usual personality. "Well...let's get started."
Kakashi walked over to the three posts in the training grounds, placing a clock on the middle on, before setting it for noon.
"Here we go. Set for noon." He said, before pulling out three bells from his pocket. "Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take the bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get 'em by noon, you go without lunch."
Three stomachs instantly growled, showing their clear displeasure of not being fed.
"So that's why..."
"He told us not to eat breakfast to make it harder on us..." Sakura muttered. Kakashi had turned to look at Isamu, who made eye contact. The two seemed to be having an unspoken conversation, before Kakashi nodded and turned back to the rest. "Wait a minute! There's four of us. How come there's only three bells?" Sakura asked.
"Heh. Well, that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy." Kakashi stated, as eyes widened at the statement. "Then again, all of you could flunk out, too. You can use weapons, including shuriken. if you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells."
"Those weapons are too dangerous, sensei." Sakura stated, clearly against the use of the weapons, as Naruto began to laugh.
"Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser." He snickered, as Kakashi sighed.
"Class clowns arae usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them- lowest scores, losers." He said, which got a glare from Naruto. "When I say start, you can begin."
Naruto growled, as he grabbed a kuni out of his pouch. He charged at Kakashi and tried to stab him, but the jonin quickly avoided the attacked and grabbed the kunai, twisting Naruto's arm to his back to the point the kunai was pointed at the blonde himself. Sakura gasped, as Sasuke's eyes narrowed, seeing how easily Kakashi got Naruto on the ground. Isamu could only sigh, knowing Kakashi would easily get under Naruto's skin.
"Don't be in such a hurry. I didn't say start yet." Both Sakura and Sasuke began to step back, as Naruto was let go.
"He's so fast, I didn't even see it."
"So this is a jonin."
"...Though, you did come at me with the full intention of destroying me, so- How can I say this? I'm actually starting to like you guys." Kakashi looked them all over, seeing Isamu had finally stood up and his eyes had narrowed very slightly. "Get ready...and...start!"
When he called out, everyone jumped and moved in different areas. Kakashi looked around, a judging look in his eye.
"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively. Well, they understand that much. They've hidden well." Even now, Kakashi could still at least pin point Sasuke and Sakura, but Isamu seemed to have gone much farther than the others.
'Knowing him, he'll use his senses to keep watch over my movements, and think up a strategy. There's no doubt he doesn't know the meaning behind this test.' Kakashi thought.
"You and me! Right now! Fair and square! Let's go!" He was brought of his thoughts when he saw Naruto was still in front of him.
"You know, compared to the others, you're a little bit weird." Kakashi stated.
"Oh, yeah/ The only thing weird here is your haircut." Naruto shot back. Kakashi sighed, as his hand reached back into his pouch.
"Shinobi battle techniques, part one. Taijutsu- the physical art." Kakashi stated, as he brought out...a book? "Well, what are you waiting for? Make your move." Kakashi said, not even looking at Naruto.
"B-But- I mean, why are you reading that book?" Even Naruto was confused.
"Why? To find out what happenes in the story, of course. Don't let it bother you. With your weak attacks, it doesn't really matter if I'm reading or whatever." Naruto growled again, before charging Kakashi. Both Sasuke and Sakur watched as Kakashi blocked and or avoided all of Naruto's attacks.
Suddenly, Kakashi appeared behind Naruto in a crouched position.
"Don't let your enemy get behind you all the time." Kakashi said, as he made a hand sign.
"Naruto! Get out of there, quick! He's going to destroy you!" Sakura yelled out, as Naruto looked a bit confused.
"Too late. Leaf Village, secret finger jutsu!" His words confused the onlookers. "A thousand years of death!" He yelled out, his pointer fingers shoved up Naruto's behind. Naruto's face scrunched up, as he was launched into the air and into the nearby lake. With a nod, Kakashi opened his book and resumed his reading.
As Sasuke reached into his pocket, but stopped when two shurikens flew out of the water, but Kakashi easily caught them with his fingers.
Naruto began to climb out of the water and complained about how hungry he was. However, seven more Naruto's jumped out of the water, and ran at Kakashi.
Kakashi stared at the clones, when out of nowhere, a Naruto jumped onto his back. He looked at Naruto in shock, it seemed.
"Didn't you say, 'Don't let your enemies get behind you'? Good advice, sensei. Believe it. I had one of my clones come out of the river, then sneak up behind you super quiet."
The clones began to grab onto Kakashi's legs, holding him in place as the real Naruto launched into the air at him.
"Now, this is for nailing me in the butt earlier!" He yelled out, before suddenly, Kakashi had turned into a Naruto clone when he hit him, shocking not only Naruto and his clones, but also Sasuke and Sakura.
Naruto stared at the clone he punched and accused him of being Kakashi, and before long, all of the Naruto's began to argue with each other over who was Kakashi. They all began to fight one another, eventually ll disappearing and leaving a single Naruto, beaten up and laying on the ground, groaning in pain.
He slowly sat up, seeing no one around, but a single bell was lying in the grass. He laughed, and went to grab it. However, when he grabbed it, his feet were wrapped up in a rope, and he was left hanging from a tree branch. He immediately called out for help, as Kakashi appeared and picked up the bell.
"Think before you use a jutsu, or else your opponent might use it against you. Oh, and also...if the bait is obvious, don't take it. A ninja must see through deception." Naruto ony growled as he swung wildly.
"I...get...it! Ah!"
"I'm telling you this because you don't get it. You think you get it which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?"
With Isamu, he is sat farther in the forest, high on a branch of one of the larger trees, his eyes barely open as he seemed to be in thought.
'The poing of this is obvious, and yet knowing the three of them...teamwork is basically out of the question. Sakura doesn't care for Naruto and only shows attention towards Sasuke. The Uchiha is arrogant beyond belief and sees others as things he has to carry. I swear, his arrogance is large than the village itself. As for Naruto...he probably wouldn't mind working with me or Sakura, but he sees Sasuke as someone he has to surpass. So...as I stated, teamwork is basically out of the question, and if that's the case...then there's no point in them even bothering.' He thought to himself. 'Besides, if they can't learn this lesson themselves, then perhaps they don't deserve to be here.'
Suddenly, his eyes sharpened, turning wolf life as he looked around. His nose scrunched up, before he took off. He landed on another branch, looking down to see Sasuke trapped underground with only his head sticking out, and Sakura near, down on the floor unconscious.
He dropped down, seeming to spook Sasuke for a second. He looked at the situation, before sighing.
"And this is why I think up strategies before anything else." He muttered, before looking down at Sasuke. "Need some help?" He asked.
"Hn."
Isamu stared him for a few seconds, before walking off.
"H-Hey! Where are you going!?" Sasuke called out. Isamu turned, giving a clueless look to the Uchiha.
"Well, you obviously don't want my help, so I thought I'd just leave." Isamu turned fully back around, hands on his hips. "What? You actually want my help?" Sasuke turned his head to the side, but did nod. Isamu sighed, before walking back over. He knelt down, as Sasuke saw lightning dancing across his fingers.
His eyes widened when he saw the veins in Isamu's hand bulge outwards, and his nails grew into claws. With great speed, Isamu digged out the ground around Sasuke, allowing him to stand up. With a slight nod, Isamu began to walk off again.
"I'm sure you can wake her up yourself."
"You don't seem like you're really trying here." Sasuke spoke up. Isamu gave a small shrug as he turned his head.
"In reality, this is a test for the three of you. My status as a genin is already absolute. I'm only around because this is my team and Kakashi still wanted me to participate. Oh, and...if you can't find the underlying message of this little test, then maybe you don't deserve that headband. Ja ne." He called with a wave, jumping back into the trees.
Soon enough, Isamu heard the bell go off. He soon appeared in the clearing, seeing Naruto was already tied up, so he took to sit on top of one of the other wood stumps. After a few minutes, both Sasuke and Sakura turned up, sitting near the tied up Naruto.
Kakashi has set the three lunches in front of them, as their stomachs slowly growled, even louder than before. Kakashi had crossed his arms and looked at them.
"Uh, oh. Stomachs growling, huh? That's too bad. Oh, by the way, about this exercise? Well, I've decided I won't send any of you back to the academy." Kakashi stated, before his head turned to Isamu. The boy nodded, basically knowing what Kakashi was about to do.
The other three looked at Kakashi in shock.
"What? I passed? All I did was faint and fall over. Do you get points for that?" Sakura asked, as a smirk found it's way on Sasuke's face. When Isamu saw it, he shook his head with a sigh.
'Like I said before, way. Too. Arrogant.' He thought to himself.
Naruto began to giggle, while Sakura jumped up and down while cheering.
"Then- Then that means all four of us- I mean, all four of us?" Kakashi gave his closed eye smile, before speaking.
"Yes. All THREE of you are being dropped from the program. Permanently." He stated, as their faces turne into ones of shock.
"Drop us from the program? That means we can never become ninja. You said if we couldn't take the bells, we'd be sent back to the academy! You can't just change your mind and kick us out! Why would you do that1?" Naruto yelled out.
"Because you don't think like ninja. You think like little kids, like brats." Kakashi stated, and Sasuke immediately charged at Kakashi, shocking the others, bar Isamu. He expected this kind of outburst from him.
Almost immediately, Sasuke was pinned to the ground, Kakashi practically sitting on him.
"Let go of Sasuke! You can't step on him like he's some bug!" Sakura yelled out angrily, as Sasuke tried to get out but failed.
"You don't know what it means to be a ninja. You think it's a game, huh?" Kakashi asked, a glare in his lone eye. "Why do you think we put you on squads? Did you consider that question for one moment?" He asked.
"Uh, I don't know what you mean?" Sakura asked, her face showing her obvious confusion.
"I mean, you never realized what this exercise is all about. Not even close."
"What's it about?" Naruto asked. Kakashi didn't answer, instead looking towards Isamu, which made the others as well. The boy sighed, before resting his arm on his left leg.
"Teamwork, a rather simple thing." Isamu stated.
"J-Just working together, that's what you mean?"
"Did I stutter?" Isamu asked with a raised eyebrow. "Let me break it down for you all, on why I didn't think you three can work together. Maybe you'll prove me wrong afterwards." Isamu's eyes fell on Sakura. "You first. If it doesn't involve Sasuke, then you simply don't care for it. You wouldn't work with Naruto for anything, well, maybe if Sasuke told you to, you would." His eyes turned to Naruto. "With you, you could probably work with me or Sakura, but you only see Sasuke as someone to surpass, not a teammate." His eyes finally met Sasukes. "And probably the worse of them all. Your arrogance is your ultimate downfall. You see others as baggage you have to carry because you believe they'll slow you down. Having that mindset alone is a setup for failure." Isamu finally finished, not caring for the glare he was recieving from Sasuke.
"You..."
"If you're trying to frighten me, then you may wanna try harder. I've recieved much worse looks from others before you, I'm practically immune to them at this point." He spoke, before Sakura spoke up.
"If teamwork is the answer, then how come there's only three bells when there are four of us?" She asked.
"I can see how that would confuse you, but that's the point." Isamu said.
"H-Huh?"
"Kakashi was purposely pitting you against one another, trying to see if you would overcome that and put the team before yourselves. It doesn't seem that ever crossed your minds." He explained. "Ninja missions are carried out in squads. Of course, individual skills are there, but teamwork is the most essential element. When someone puts themselves above the team, that can lead to failure, or maybe worse, death. Almost every mission, your life is on the line."
"W-Well what about you, Samu?" Naruto spoke up.
"What about me?"
"How come your not apart of this. How come your the only one who won't be sent back?" He asked, as Isamu saw the other two were asking the same thing.
"Well, it's basically due to the fact I'm of a Primordial Clan. Didn't Kakashi say it before, back when we first introduced ourselves to each other? The team of those from the Primordial clans are already set to be genin no matter what. We're trained from the age of four to become shinobi. It was set in stone that I would become a shinobi."
"Isamu." Kakashi spoke up. "If you knew the purpose of this test, why not tell your team."
"I simply did what you did for me when you trained me those years ago. What was it you said?" Isamu asked, as Kakashi sighed. "If you can't learn it yourself, then maybe you don't deserve to be a shinobi. I took those words and used them in this situation. I was the same as you, someone who knew the purpose of the test from the beginning, and thus they needed to understand the test themselves. Say, in a real test, would it be right if someone, say the teacher themselves, to just give the answers away. I'm basically a teacher in this situation, giving the test and leaving the students to find the answers."
"Alright, I see your logic." Kakashi said, before turning back to the other three. "I'm going to give you one more chance. But I'm going to be much harder on you. You'll have three hours to get a bell. Eat lunch now to build dup strength, but Naruto doesn't get any."
Isamu raised an eyebrow, as Kakashi talked directly to Naruto.
"It's your punishment for breaking the rules and trying to eat by yourself. And if anyone tries to feed him, that person will immediately fail. I make the rules. You follow them. Got it? Isamu, come with me." Isamu nodded, as he jumped off the wood stump and placed his hand on Kakashi's shoulder, before the two disappeared.
The two now stood behind a tree, silently watching. Isamu didn't hide his shock when Sasuke was the one to hand Naruto his bento. Shortly after, Sakura did the same, although a bit reluctantly.
Isamu heard Kakashi chuckle, before he disappeared, reappearing before the three. Isamu walked out from the tree, walking over with his hands in his pockets.
"You broke the rules. I hope you're ready for the punishment." He spoke, lightning crackling behind him. Isamu could only sigh and shake his head at the scene.
"B-But you said- You said that there were four of us. That's what you said! And that's why Sakuraa, Isuma, and-"
"We're all on this squad. And we're all in this together."
"Yeah, that's right. We gave our lunches to him because the four of us are one!"
Naruto looked at the two, a smile appearing on his face.
"Uh, yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! Believe it! That's right!"
"The four of us are one? That's your excuse?" Kakashi put his hands on his hips and leaned towards the three. "You pass."
[Huh?]
"You pass."
"What do you mean? How did we pass?"
"You're the first squad to ever succeed. The others did what I said and fell into every trap. They couldn't think for themselves. A ninja must see through deception. In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, that's true. But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."
They all had their own reactions, as Naruto spoke up.
"He's a- You know, he's kind of cool."
"The exercise is over. Everyone passes. Squad 7 starts its first mission tomorrow." Kakashi spoke. "Let's go." Sakura and Sasuke followed after Kakashi, as Isamu walked up to Naruto. He took a kunai and cut the rope, letting him free.
"You're coming to my house to celebrate." Naruto nodded with a grin as the two walked off. Isamu's eyes shifted up towards the sky, as a solemn look overcame his face.
'So many trials will come at us in the future, but...I'm confident we'll get through them, no matter what it takes...'
Until chapter 3...
Stay Safe...
Stay Healthy...
Have a Good Day!
