AN: Much shorter chapter this time, merely a filler to transition into the next big arc. Also, thank you for the reviews and follows! Also a note - I updated the summary because I forgot to mention this is eventual AU.

Enjoy!

"[…] it's told that Bethrezen was an Archangel, the most favourite of the Highfather. And thus the Highfather gave him the highest power to create. So Bethrezen went and created Nevendaar and populated it with humans and gave them the greatest gift of all - free will. He asked for assistance of other Angels - Solonielle wept and rivers flowed; Gallean breathed and forests emerged; Wotan struck his hammer and mountains rose.

Bethrezen then went to tell Highfather about his creation, entrusting other Angels to watch over Nevendaar while he was gone. However the other Angels, in their jealousy of Highfather's favouritism, created their own races too. Eventually all the races couldn't coexist and great wars broke out, blood was spilled, forests burned, rivers were stained red.

When Bethrezen returned with the Highfather, both were shocked at what they saw Nevendaar become. Highfather, furious over Bethrezen's use of his higher powers to create something so horrific and then brag about it, banished Bethrezen deep into the Nevendaar's hells, deep in the Netherworld and imprisoned him there forevermore. For a long time Bethrezen raged, and raged over such betrayal, and got consumed by so much anger that from his very eyes lava flowed freely and from it the demons formed. They spewed forth on Nevendaar in order to claim and destroy the mockery of what it has become, in the name of our Master […]"

"[…] over time, He changed. The last prophetic vision of once great Seers foretold of a great cataclysm that approached Nevendaar in a form of a great Star from the heavens, threatening all life [...] powerless to stop it, he felt pity for the first time in a hundreds of millennia […]"

- The Disciple's Archive

The Cultist

Chapter 3

Team 7

It was an early morning and Naruto was sitting in his usual spot in the academy. He was one of the first to arrive, quite eager about today to do anything else. Being here, in the Academy, for the last time as a student was enough to calm him down. Other than him there were other early raisers too - Shino was here, and so was Shikamaru. Admittedly the Nara was napping.

Naruto also noticed that Iruka was sending him inconspicuous glances, full of curiosity. His relationship with Iruka was a weird one - it was a mixture of cold indifference like many others, but also had lots of moments of friendly warmth. From all the instructors and teachers at the Academy, he was the closest to Iruka.

Very few ninjas actually hated or ostracized him. After all, most Shinobi knew the basic theory of sealing - sealing scrolls usage was a common thing. Did they fear the fox? Yes, definitely. Did they knew that the beast was behind the seal, and did they respect Yondaime's unparalleled Fuuinjutsu skills that everyone knew about? Yes. To majority of the ninja population Naruto was but another face in their army. With a mighty beast inside of him.

Nevertheless, cases like Mizuki were very rare. Naruto would even be willing to bet his money that it was mostly Mizuki who led a sabotaging mission against him.

He focused back on the Manual he was reading and tuned out everything else. He only just started grasping the complexity of this new level and the things he could learn to do were just exciting!

Slowly, the rest of the graduates filled in. The silent excitement in the air was palpable.

Suddenly the doors to the classroom banged open and two girls barged in, snapping Naruto out of his focus.

"Get out of the way, Ino-pig!"

"Watch it, Billboard Brow! I was first!"

"No you weren't! I was here first so I get to sit with Sasuke-kun!"

Ino Yamanaka and Sakura Haruno. Resident fan girls that somehow managed to graduate.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke who seemed to be completely lost in thought staring out of the window. But Naruto was observant enough to notice the raven headed Uchiha slightly stiffen and let out barely audible sigh. His lips twitching in amusement and Naruto took pity on the other boy and stood up to take a seat next to him while both girls were too busy arguing. Sasuke didn't seem to acknowledge that but Naruto felt him momentarily relax.

The two girls finally reached their tables and Ino shouted "Naruto! Move!"

He looked at Ino and raised an eyebrow "Why?"

It was Sakura who replied this time, a bit more timidly but no less fierce "Because I'm supposed to sit with Sasuke-kun today!"

"No you're not, Forehead! I stepped into the classroom first!"

"Girls," Naruto deadpanned "If we go by that logic then it's me who gets to sit with Sasuke - undeniably I was here before any of you. Now scram, you don't want your precious Uchiha get grey hair from all the stress you're causing him."

"EEH?"

"Settle down!" Iruka shouted "Ino, Sakura. Please sit so we can proceed."

The girls had no choice but to comply and they sat at the table directly behind Naruto and Sasuke.

Naruto's lips twitched in amusement – he could feel them glaring daggers at his back.

"Okay, good," Iruka began "Now let me begin by telling you how proud I am of…"

Naruto conveniently tuned out Iruka's speech only paying quarter attention to it. His reading material was infinitely more interesting but he didn't want to miss possible team assignments.

"… and Team 7 will consist of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki," here Naruto's attention snapped back to Iruka full force. He also absentmindedly took notice that Sasuke relaxed a bit, "and Sakura Haruno. Your Jonin sensei will be Kakashi Hatake."

Immediately there was a collective groan and an incredibly loud squeak of excitement.

Iruka once again expressed that it's their time to make the village proud before leaving the classroom. After that, different Jonin senseis came in and team by team the classroom got emptier and emptier until at last, some 20 minutes later, it was only the new Team 7 waiting.

"I suggest you get yourself comfortable. We will be waiting for at least 2 hours," Naruto said as he relaxed in his chair and did something he always wanted to – plop his feet on the table. With a satisfied smirk he nodded and turned to Sakura who was looking at him with a questioning glance. "Yes?" he raised an eyebrow.

"Well," she began uncertainly "How do you know that? Why would we wait for so long?"

Naruto looked at Sasuke. Even though the raven head hadn't even turned his head to look in their direction, Naruto saw that Sasuke was looking at them from the corner of his eyes. "Kakashi Hatake. In the Elemental Nations famous as the Copy-Nin Kakashi, rumoured to have copied and mastered over one thousand jutsus."

"Copy?" Sasuke thought curiously.

"In Konoha, however, he is mostly well known as a lazy, chronically late Kakashi. He would always arrive to all meetings, even with the Hokage, at least 2 or more hours late." Naruto finished.

"Hn," Sasuke scoffed "That can't possibly be true."

"Yeah!" Sakura was quick to agree "Why would they keep someone like that around if that was true?"

Naruto shrugged and got his book out again "I don't know, I am not the Hokage yet. I can only guess that his experience, prestige, and fame overweights his habits. He is still extremely skilled too, and highly respected across the Elemental Nations." And with that he left any further conversation by resuming reading.

Sasuke curiously looked at Naruto before resuming staring out of the window.

The next hour passed agonizingly slow. Naruto had to extort all the willpower he could muster to keep focus on reading and not lash out at Sakura. The girl was being unnecessarily loud and was pestering Sasuke almost non-stop, asking for dates and trying to fish for his opinions on her.

At this point his eyebrow was twitching like it had a life of its own so with a loud snap Naruto closed his book. "Right," he said loudly to draw both of their attentions. Sakura didn't seem to be stopping any time soon so he decided it would be better to take the control before he'd do something he'd regret. "How about we do something productive while we wait? I suggest sharing some of our strengths and weaknesses, any skills or jutsus we might possess. You know, start being a team."

"Why would we do that?" Sakura was a bit confused "We already seen everything we can do during the academy and the exam."

Both Sasuke and Naruto blankly stared at her "Surely by that you're no implying you didn't train outside of the academy?"

"Hn?"

"Er, no, I didn't. I mean, I practiced what we were taught, but I didn't train anything beyond that. I didn't think we had to!" She was quick to defend herself.

"What were you doing then in your spare time if not training for the shinobi life?" Naruto pressed.

Sakura blushed in embarrassment even further "N-Naruto! That is none of your business!"

The blonde acquiesced "I suppose not," he then turned to the Uchiha "What about you? I'm sure someone like you didn't sit with his thumb up his arse and brood? You did plenty of that in the Academy."

"Hn!" Sasuke huffed "I trained. Two Katon jutsus, shurikenjutsu and I can use wire in combat, proficient in Uchiha taijutsu style, speed is decent."

Naruto nodded. Good to know that Sasuke actually trained. He was pleased to know that he knew a taijutsu style outside the Academy Style that he always used in spars.

"What about you Naruto?" Sakura asked "If you're asking us then it means you know more than you showed at the Academy too?"

Naruto nodded, glad that the girl was at least smart "Yes. I am proficient enough with Katon and know a couple of jutsus," here Sasuke actually fully looked at him, quite intrigued "I have mastered the Academy taijutsu. I make up for my lack of specialised taijutsu with my speed and strength which I honestly think I have higher than most, if not all, of our graduating class," Sasuke really doubted that "I also…" here he hesitated for a moment, something that Sasuke picked up on "I also specialise in a unique branch of jutsu that only I can use. It can be offensive, defensive, and supplementary but I usually focus on the supplementary."

"Hn. Extensive."

"I trained my ass off! I had to for my dream!"

"What is your dream, Naruto?" Sakura asked. Even Sasuke looked curious.

"I will become the greatest Hokage ever and to make its people feel happy and protected," he replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

Both wanted to scoff at that but couldn't bring themselves to do it openly. Every ninja wannabe claimed to be the next greatest Hokage.

After that, the next hour passed quicker with them making brief conversation here and there. It was mostly Sakura pestering Sasuke and Sasuke just 'hn'ing here and there. When it was almost approaching three hours of wait time and even Sasuke was losing his patience, the doors to the classroom slid open and a silver haired ninja in a standard Jonin garb casually walked in while reading an orange book.

An orange book that Naruto has seen Hiruzen read from time to time.

"Yo," Kakashi greeted without even lifting his eyes "My first impression of you all is… meh," he shrugged "Meet me on the rooftops in 5 minutes." And with that he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Told you," Naruto said and left the classroom with others quickly following suit.

When they finally got on the terrace of the rooftop they saw Kakashi sitting on the railings. They quickly sat down on some steps and Kakashi addressed them "So lets introduce each other. Say your name, your likes and dislikes, your hobbies, and dreams, etcetera"

"Maybe you should go first, sensei? So we know what to say," Sakura suggested.

Kakashi looked at her "Mm… sure. I'm Kakashi Hatake. I have some likes, and some dislikes… my hobbies are none of your business. My dreams… hmm… Well, you next pinkie."

Everyone sweat dropped. All they learnt was his name which they already knew.

"Right. My name is Sakura Haruno. I like Sasuke-kun, and I dislike Ino-pig! My hobbies include make-up, helping mother around house. And my dream," here she looked at Sasuke and giggled while blushing madly.

"Great." was the collecting thought of everyone else present.

"Alright… You next, broody."

"Hn. My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I have no likes or dislikes, my hobby is to train, and my dream… it's more of an ambition – to kill a certain person." If it possible the aura around Sasuke got gloomier.

"Okaaay, and you blondie?"

Here the young Uzumaki smirked and drawled trying to imitate Kakashi "I'm Naruto Uzumaki… I have a lot of likes, and very few dislikes… My hobby? Hmm… as for my dream… ahh."

Sasuke and Sakura both face faulted, and Kakashi almost choked on air before regaining his composure and then chuckling. It's the first time someone actually shot his own words back at him.

"Funny," he commented "Now, meet me here tomorrow at 8am sharp for you Genin test. I advise you not to eat or you might get sick."

"Genin test?" Sakura asked "I thought we already passed those with the exam?"

"No. those were just preliminary exams to see who had the potential to become Genin. The real Genin test is with their Jonin sensei. Only 33% of graduates pass," and with that he lazily waved his hand and disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"Hn…"

"I really need to learn shunshin," Naruto decided. Well, the day was still young and now that he was Genin he was sure he had more material available to him at the library.

The next morning, exactly at 8am, Naruto appeared in a swirl of leaves at Training Ground 7, shocking both Sakura and Sasuke who were already there.

"How?" Sasuke asked.

"Good morning to you too, Sasuke," Naruto said with an eye roll "How what?"

"You can do what Kakashi did yesterday."

"It's called the Shunshin," Sakura supplied "Requires Chuunin level chakra control, but theoretically is easy to perform."

"Hn."

"I'm surprised you know that, Sakura. Good for you," Naruto complimented "I saw Kakashi-sensei do it yesterday and I wanted to learn it too. So I did. Didn't even take half a day to get it right, and then it's just practice."

"Teach me." Sasuke demanded.

Naruto looked at the teen funnily "No."

"Hn?"

"Because you're not being polite about it."

"Hn."

"Thought so," then Naruto burst out laughing "Look at me, I speak in Sasuke!"

"Naruto!" Sakura chided "Be nice!"

Naruto stopped laughing and looked at Sakura and the girl won't lie - she was a bit creeped out. Naruto always gave off a weird, cold vibe. She didn't listen to her parents warnings much seeing as Ino, her best friend, treated him decently like any other classmate. So she tried to imitate that, but there was just something off about him. Is that what her mum warned her about?

But then he cracked a smile and said "Sure," and went to sit under the shade of the tree to read. He had a pretty good feeling they will wait for a while.

An hour passed and Kakashi was nowhere in sight. Even Sakura started getting irritated - she stopped pestering Sasuke in favour of silently fuming.

A subtle growl was heard across the empty Training Ground and Naruto was amused to see Sasuke's ears reddening. Not even a minute later, like a chain reaction, Sakura's stomach growled in protest too.

Naruto's lips twitched in amusement when he saw both of his other teammates look at him expectantly. After good 10 minutes of no reacting from Naruto, Sakura began looking between Naruto and Sasuke. Silently sighing seeing that her love interest preferred not to comment, she steeled her nerves and asked "Naruto," the teen in question looked up "Are you not hungry too?"

"I'm not. I had breakfast before coming here."

Sakura looked almost scandalous at that "Naruto! Kakashi-sensei forbid us from having breakfast!"

Naruto closed his book and pocketed it "No, Sakura, he didn't forbid us. He only advised that we don't. Besides, who skips breakfast when they know they have potential physically intense morning?" he took a scroll out from his pouch and unsealed two bento boxes. Immediately he heard twin growls again, "Come. I guessed you would've listened to him and I'm glad I wasn't wrong. I got these two for you."

They didn't need much convincing and not even 20 minutes later they sat there satisfied.

"Thank you very much," Sakura smiled and Sasuke nodded in thanks too. Maybe Naruto wasn't that bad after all "Did you make these yourself? It was delicious."

"No. I can cook well enough for myself but I wouldn't trust me with making something for others. Bought them on the way here."

"Oh. Well, thank you!"

After that they resumed to what they were doing before. Another hour and a half later Kakashi finally strolled into the Training Ground.

"Yo."

"You're late!" Sakura screeched but Kakashi just waved hand in dismissal.

"Eh, I was lost on the road of life and then had to help an old lady with her groceries."

Needless to say no one believed that.

"Now, for your test. See these two bells?" Kakashi took two bells out from his pouch and dangled them in front of the Genin. Seeing them nod, he tied the bells to his waist. "Your aim is to get these bells from me. If you get a bell then you pass. If you don't, then I will tie you to a training post for a whole day and later you will have to return to the academy. Any questions?"

"Only people who get the bell will be on the team?" Sasuke asked.

"That's right," Kakashi replied. He silently chuckled at everyone's incredulous face expressions. "If no one has any further questions, then let's start. If you want any chance of succeeding then come at me with the intention to kill. You-"

"Kakashi-sensei," Sakura interrupted "Is that not dangerous for you?"

Kakashi sweat dropped. Surely the girl was joking "I am an experienced Jonin and you are fresh off the Academy. I will be fine. You have until noon today to complete this task. Begin!"

And with that all the three Genin leaped away from the clearing all in their own directions.

"At least they can hide," Kakashi thought. For an experience Jonin like him it was still no trouble finding them. He didn't chase them though and instead took out his beloved orange book and started reading.

For 10 minutes nothing happened – it seems they all waited for someone else to engage first to see what would happen. Kakashi sighed – if they won't come to him then he will have to come to them. Just as he was about to start moving, some shurikens flew at him from some treetops.

Casually dodging them by leaning to the side he saw Sasuke rush him. What followed was a brief trade of Taijutsu blows, with Sasuke finishing by performing a Goukakyuu. Kakashi had to even put away his book for a second. Too bad for Sasuke was that due to his sense of victory he lowered his guard and thus was dragged under the earth with Headhunter jutsu.

Afterwards Kakashi went and found Sakura. He didn't even need to lift a hand to deal with her – a simple Genjutsu did the trick.

Naruto saw both of these things and he knew Kakashi will give it some time before going to find him too. His stealth was bad anyway so it wouldn't take long for Kakashi. However, Naruto thought that he actually figured out the true meaning of the test.

Instead of allowing Kakashi to ambush him, Naruto jumped in front of the Jonin taking a ready stance.

"Ah, Naruto. I was just looking for you," Kakashi said "I only have you to deal with and then the test will be over."

"I don't quite think so," Naruto said carefully.

"Hmm?"

"I think I figured out this test."

With that Naruto threw some shurikens in a wide angle while at the same time dashing towards Kakashi as fast as he could.

Kakashi casually dodged the shuriken but then his one visible eye widened at Naruto's speed "Fast!" Naruto attacked him with a quick kick to his side that was holding the book and Kakashi was forced to let go of it to block – he did not expect high Chuunin speed from a fresh Academy graduate.

When the kick was blocked Naruto bent sideways and leaned while suspended mid-air and tried to grab the bells. Kakashi seeing this quickly pushed Naruto's leg that was still connected with his block, and made a step backwards. Naruto's hand grasped nothing but thin air.

Not perturbed, and quite expecting this, Naruto didn't lost his momentum and dashed forward while quickly performing a sliding leg sweep. Kakashi jumped over him but that's what Naruto wanted him to do. At the end of the slide Naruto took out two smoke bombs and threw one at Kakashi while the other one under his feet, enveloping the area in a thick smoke. When it cleared, Naruto was gone.

"Interesting," was all that Kakashi thought.

Naruto quickly found Sakura and helped her with the Genjutsu, after which he convinced her to help him with Sasuke. Naruto chose not to comment on how tearful Sakura was when he said Sasuke needed help.

So together they found Sasuke and dug him out. All the while Naruto noticed how embarrassed the raven head was. When Sasuke was firmly on his two feet he was about to leave to look for Kakashi when Naruto stopped him.

"Wait! I think I figured out the true meaning of this test."

Sasuke frowned at the blonde "What do you mean?"

"When I spoke with Mizuki and later with Jiji, they pretty much confirmed that teams are supposed to be balanced. Jonin can also ask to take someone for apprenticeship, but that's rare. If there was a possibility of an apprenticeship then why give us two bells," he took a breath "Come to think of it, Konoha always prided itself on its ninjas superb teamwork and the Will of Fire. Have you ever seen or heard of a Genin squad that didn't consist of 3 Genin and 1 Jonin? I think that's the aim of this test – to see if we can work together despite the circumstances that puts us against each other. After all, we can't defeat an experience Jonin of Kakashi's calibre on our own but we just might work together to get the bells. If my suspicions are correct then it should be enough for us to pass."

"Jiji? I thought you're an orphan," Sakura commented and Sasuke almost winced at how insensitive that sounded.

"I meant the Hokage."

"Oh."

Both of them were quite curious what kind of relationship Naruto and their Hokage had.

Nevertheless, no Sakura nor Sasuke could deny the sound reasoning and in the end they agreed to work together. It wounded Sasuke's pride that he couldn't do this on his own strength. Kakashi handed his ass to him but he wasn't so blind as not to realise he couldn't beat him just yet.

So they started scheming their plan of action while utilising all of their skills. From afar Kakashi smiled "Maybe they have potential after all."

Not long after, Sakura jumped out from the bushes and rushed at Kakashi. The man saw this and attempted Genjutsu again but Sakura was already prepared for that and dispelled it.

The pinkette conjured two bunshins and engaged Kakashi in a taijutsu battle. He could've finished it in one hit but he decided to play along to see what would happen. Sakura kept twirling around Kakashi and discreetly dropping ninja wire and trying to misdirect with the bunshins, until at last she threw two kunais on either side of the man, and pulled hard with her hand. With a small chakra application the wire immediately moved into action and tightened around Kakashi, effectively binding him.

Sakura immediately leapt away, and the two other boys jumped down on opposite sides of Kakashi with the Jonin in the middle between them. They already had the final hand seal prepared as both released their jutsu.

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!

Two massive balls of fire, Naruto's being by far the larger one, quickly approached him from both sides and Kakashi actually let out a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. That was a dangerous strategy but so deadly. Sakura never stopped leaping and jumping back trying to make as much distance as possible.

The two balls of fire met and exploded in a fiery blaze, scorching a large area around it. Sasuke's and Naruto's fire fought for dominance before Naruto's finally won out and rolled forward.

Kakashi successfully used Kawarimi to escape his predicament but had no more time to think as loads of shurikens flew out from the blazing fires in a wild pattern courtesy of Sasuke. Kakashi quickly deflected some while dodging others and it's there, while he dodged in a specific angle that he saw something glisten in the air while being reflected by the sun - even more ninja wire.

Before he could dodge that, the wire was already circling around him and Naruto was stretching his hand out, appearing seemingly out of nowhere to grab the bells.

Naruto's fingers brushed against the bells and in an incredible show of flexibility Kakashi twisted around from Naruto's hands while at the same time kicking him and dodging the wire. Then kunais came sailing at him, this time thanks for Sakura throwing them at a distance. These were a bit sloppier so the Jonin had no troubles avoiding them with one roll.

Kakashi looked up and saw Naruto with a cut on his hand and a bloodied knife in the other. But that was not what caught his attention. He immediately froze as terror overtook him. There, above Naruto, were two massive glowing eyes – veiny eyelids and red, bloodshot eyes that seemed so big they looked unnatural. To Kakashi it seemed like they glared at him with all the hate and rage in the world, and his mind started supplying an image of a great horned face and a sneer with fire coming out of the eyes.

As quickly as it came it disappeared, and not even a second later an alarm rang that Kakashi set up at some point. There in front of him stood the three Genin.

"A Genjutsu then," Kakashi thought "Well, it seems you have failed."

"Actually, Kakashi-sensei, we've got the bells," Naruto said and pointed at Sasuke. The Uchiha pulled out his hand from the pocket and sure enough he was holding two bells.

Kakashi quickly looked at his waist only to find it empty "When…"

"Naruto!" Sakura shouted "Did you really have to cut yourself to shock Kakashi-sensei like that?"

Naruto looked at Sakura and showed her his palm which was already healed "All good, see? Besides, it got us the bells, didn't it?"

"Yes, well… Kakashi-sensei was probably scared for you!"

Naruto only shook his head but didn't choose to comment further, instead opting to turn to Kakashi to answer his initial question "When you were frozen for moment or two, Sasuke was already in position to grab the bells. Fire was great cover so you wouldn't see where he was coming from."

"Must have been one of Naruto's special 'skills' that Hokage-sama briefed me on. Looked like Genjutsu but didn't feel like any I've seen before," he thought and then acknowledged Naruto "I see. A well thought out plan. Now Sasuke, you have two bells but only two can pass. What are you going to do?"

Sasuke instead looked at Naruto and Sakura and then at the bells. He still thought Sakura was useless and weak, but she did her job well enough and helped a bit with planning. Naruto was definitely strong and could even be his rival. Besides, if Naruto was right then this was all a test of teamwork so the right decision would be to give away his bells. And if Naruto was wrong, then he could always go and demand someone to apprentice under.

So he threw the bells towards his other two teammates without saying anything, shocking both Naruto and Sakura.

"Are you sure about that?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke only shrugged in reply "In that case you all… pass!" he said with an eye smile.

Immediately all three Genins relaxed before the excitement overtook them.

Afterwards, Kakashi asked if they knew what the hidden meaning of the test was and he was pleasantly surprised when they answered correctly. Probably Naruto shared that with them if he already knew. Kakashi also stressed at how important teamwork is, imparting on them his philosophy of "Those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum."

The Jonin said that they will properly begin as a team tomorrow, as well as explained the schedule for the next few weeks – team meetings and training, then some missions before ending it for the day. Sasuke and Naruto were very excited to begin with the missions and Kakashi had to hold down the urge to manically cackle. Kakashi just doesn't cackle.

They were then free to go home for the day and as the trio was leaving Kakashi called out for Naruto. Bidding Sakura and Sasuke goodbye, Naruto approached his sensei "Yes, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hokage-sama briefed me on some of your more obscure skillset," Kakashi said.

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise. But then he shouldn't have – he did express to his Jiji that he didn't want to keep all of this a secret from his team and he guessed that was one way for this situation to be approached: by informing the Jonin sensei. And it only made sense that he would be, after all Jonin had to know about their team's capabilities to see if they could fit. "I see." was all Naruto said in the end.

"Why didn't you use and showcase any of those skills today?"

"I didn't want to do something like that on our first test thinking that their reaction wouldn't be too positive and could potentially jeopardise the result of the test itself, and I also wanted to show that I have skills outside my Infernal Arts even if it's my chosen speciality. Besides, I did use one mild jutsu and it turned out well in the end, no?"

Infernal Arts, so that's what he called them, Kakashi mused. Hiruzen briefed him on Naruto (and the rest of the team and their abilities) but never went into any specific details. He knew that whatever Naruto could do was obscure, unique, and ritualistic in nature and should be encouraged, not shunned. Kakashi didn't understand at the time, but after seeing the bloody palm and knife he was starting to get an inkling as to what the Hokage meant.

"That jutsu you did at the end, right?" he asked.

Naruto nodded and winced a bit. Calling what he did 'jutsus' always felt kind of wrong to his ears but there's nothing he could do about that. That's the way ninjas saw the world. "Yes. It's only supposed to work on relaxed state of mind so the only reason you were affected was probably because you weren't taking us seriously and weren't worked up enough."

"Mhm," Kakashi hummed and then looked at the sky before addressing Naruto "Next time don't ever hold back regardless of what you think the reaction of others might be. Such notions do not belong outside of the village's walls where not going full out might mean the difference between your allies' life and death," he looked back at Naruto "Hokage-sama didn't give me any detail so I am quite looking forward on discovering on what you will bring for Konoha. Now, off you go!"

Naruto nodded and waved him a goodbye and disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Kakashi once again was surprised at that before chuckling. He sure had talented Genin on his team.

After a brief while he also disappeared from the clearing.

It was time to inform the Hokage he has passed a team. Other Jonin sure will be shocked - last he heard there were bets going on about him failing yet another team.

AN: And that's that!

Again, for those who are uncertain - the characters that will be mentioned in the "lore" section won't appear in the story in any way, shape, or form. It's there purely for background infos for those who are curious. I am not sure if this chapter's "lore" implication was clear but basically the way I am writing them to link Bethrezen to Elemental Nations in at least some way is that "Nevendaar" is what the whole planet/land was called before the so called "cataclysm". Hence why the 'Old World'. The same parallel can be drawn with an example of dinosaurs - a calamity happened and wiped out whole life on the planet, erasing all traces of anything that existed before the history of the Elemental Nations started as we know it.

See you next chapter! I am quite excited about that one!