Chapter 2: The Two Test

Naruto awoke from his heavy sleep with his head killing him. "I should have stopped sooner." He thought as he rubbed his head. He went to get up but stopped when he felt a weight on his chest. An arm was wrapped around him. He looked over to find Anko snuggled against him holding him very tightly. They were both under the sheets and all he could see was her face.

"Oh yeah I slept over here last night." A smile came upon his face. "I'm glad she's always there for me. I guess I can just wait till she wakes up. Though I feel like I'm forgetting something." His eyes fell upon the clock. "Seven twenty-five." He went to go back to sleep as his eyes snapped wide open. "Ah crap!" He jumped out of bed snatching Anko almost making her fall off onto the floor.

"I'm late. An hour and a half late!" He looked down and saw he was only in his boxers. "Where are my clothes?" Anko now was waking up with a yawn rubbing her eyes wondering what that sudden movement was that woke her up. The old Anko would have already been going for the kunai hidden under the mattress but she was much more relaxed than she used to be. She looked up and found Naruto running all over the room looking for something.

"Morning foxy-kun what are you looking for?" She asked with a wide smile. A frantic Naruto was a normal Naruto. Whatever was upsetting him last night seemed to be over with and she was glad he was okay.

"Anko-chan where are my clothes at? I need to go now!" He was still searching not even glancing toward Anko.

"Where are you in such a rush for? Wait! That's right you were supposed to meet your team up today for their test. Crap. You're clothes are being washed."

"Washed? Why?" He left to go where the washing machine and dryer were at.

"Your whole outfit smelt like alcohol. I forgot you needed to leave so early. I didn't have time last night to do them myself so I took them to the cleaners downstairs." Anko lived in large apartment complex. "They won't be ready till nine they said."

"Nine? Well what am I supposed to wear until then?" A sharp pain erupted in his head. "Ah! My head is killing me."

"Well that's what you get for drinking your weight in sake. Now hold on I probably have some pants you can wear." Luckily with Naruto being so young and Anko being a woman they had similar clothing sizes. Unluckily Anko doesn't own any actual shirts. Just the fishnets she's always wearing. And the one's she had are designed for a purpose not suited for men. "Here we go. You can have these."

She brought out a pair of dark orange cargo pants that looked much like his own. Naruto had talked her into getting these. She never wore them and was glad she could get rid of them. Not hat she didn't like them. Orange just wasn't her color. "I just need to cut them to make them a bit shorter. They'll be way too long like this."

She got the kunai out from her mattress and walked over to Naruto holding the pants next to him to find out where the cut should be made. "Right here should be good." When she was done she handed them to Naruto telling him to try them on. He did so and was glad that they fit. "Great they fit perfectly. Now get going you're late enough as it is."

"What about a shirt?"

"I don't have one so you'll just have to go topless." Waving her hand dismissively. "Now get going. The Chunin exams are two months away and I need to go help them out." "I wasn't planning on going till later but I'll be bored with no one here." "I'll see you later tonight. We're all going to the bar. And no drinking for you tonight." She meant to say this firmly but it instead came out pleading. Hoping he we would not get back in the mood that called for drinking.

"Okay I promise. See you later." He grinned, waved her goodbye and went out the door closing it and ran off to where he should have been an hour and a half ago.

"I'm glad he get's over things quickly, though I need to remember to ask about it later."

Meanwhile three genins and a dog were all waiting in a clearing. All very mad. All very tired. Most of all, very hungry. "Where's that gaki of a sensei of ours? He's more than an hour late to a meeting he himself called for." Kiba was answered by a bark from his canine companion. "You smell someone coming? Well it's about time!"

"Hey who are we waiting for?"

"What's that supposed to mean? We're waiting for-" Kiba turned around to face whoever asked the questioning only to find the answer to the question itself standing there. "Grr. Where have you been? Your over an hour late!"

"Sorry I woke up late." "I'm starting to sound too much like ero-cyclops. I'm not surprised that they're a bit mad at me. Though why are those two being so quiet?" He turned toward Sasuke. "He seems to like acting the cool, calm type. Though after years of knowing Kakashi I can tell he's actually pretty angry with me."

He turned to Sakura, whose cheeks seemed to be matching her hair. "Why is she so red? I hope she's not sick or anything. Might as well ask." "Sakura is everything all right, you seem to be quite red? You don't have a fever do you? Sakura? You there?" She seemed to be pulled out her trance and answered.

"Huh? Oh y-yeah. I'm just fine." That's what she said though what she was thinking was on a different subject. "Oh my god he looks hotter than Sasuke-kun! Wait, what am I saying? Bad Sakura!" Kiba was doing his best not to laugh.

"This guy is a Jounin? He can't even tell that she's been staring at him the whole time." "Hey Gaki-sensei, where's your shirt at?"

"Like I said I was in a rush this morning. I didn't have time to go by my house and get one." Kiba didn't know what he meant by that.

"He wasn't at home? Where did he sleep? Then again who cares?" Kiba then caught a scent that confused him. "I smell a woman. Not a girl but a grown woman. It's coming off sensei. Wait a minute. He woke up late. His shirt's gone. And I smell the scent of a woman all over him. I see what's going on here. Nice try GakI-sensei, but you can't fool my nose." "Hey sensei if you weren't at your house just where were you?" Naruto was a bit troubled by the grin Kiba had.

"At a friend's house."

"This friend wouldn't happen to be a woman would it? Because if so you got her scent all over you. Which can only mean you've been very close to her for the past several hours." Sasuke and Sakura were catching on but their sensei was seemingly oblivious.

"Yeah it's a woman. And we did sleep together so I guess I would smell like her. Why are you so interested anyway?" Sakura and Sasuke's eyes widened considerably. Kiba walked over and threw his arm around Naruto.

"Well I must say this is a surprise. By the way you better teach me your skills with the ladies or I'm going to be mad." Naruto didn't really know what was going on but was glad that he seemed to be gaining a bond with his team so he just decided to play along.

"Alright I'll teach you later but for now you all have one more test to take that will decide if you're going to be ninjas or not." He paused for the reaction he knew would be coming. He was right. Sakura looked very confused, Sasuke got a look that broke his usual composure and seemed a very angry, Kiba took his arm away and looked incredulously at the blonde.

"Say what? What does that supposed to mean? If you haven't noticed Gaki-sensei we got our headbands already. See, we're all wearing them."

"He's not." Pointing at Akamaru and deciding to play around a little.

"That's my dog Akamaru, of course he doesn't have a headband!"

"I'd hate to break it to you but dog or not, none of you are official ninja. You're just candidates. And I'm going to be the one deciding if you become full fledged shinobi or sent back to the academy. So be quiet as I'm about to explain the test." The three did so looking toward, and a bit downward, to their examiner. Narto pulled out two bells. "Can't believe I remembered these." "The rules are simple. Get a bell by nine, you pass. If you don't, you fail.

This test originally came from a mission several years ago. A team of three shinobi had been poisoned and the one responsible only carried two antidotes. This was made into a test by one of the survivors seeing as how this could make it apparent how you would react in a real life situation. His original plan was to mimic it down to the letter and actually use poison but he was denied and he settled for this as it tests you in the same way."

The team seemed scared of that and relieved that the guy had been denied to use actual poison. "Just to make you want it even more, after this we're going out to eat. Those who pass will get food as whoever doesn't will get nothing and be made to watch us eat before I drag them back to the academy myself. I'll tell you right now to attack me with the intent to kill. Pretend as if all your lives really are in danger. Now...Go!" And with that the three genin candidates were gone, hiding, waiting for an opening.

To make it easier Naruto closed his eyes to make sure he didn't see where they went and opened them back up a few seconds later. "I'd hate to fail them but this is a very important concept to get. Still I'm a bit surprised. I thought the Inuzuka would pass this no problem. Acting as a pack is supposed to be in their very blood. I guess he doesn't see them that way yet." Naruto then laid down on his back, yawned, and went to sleep.

"This should speed things up." He was right once again. Several kunai and shuriken came speeding straight for him. He didn't make a move to get out of the way as every weapon hit all around him but not hitting him. "He actually expected me to move right into their path." "Now I know where you are." In a poof of smoke, he was gone.

Sasuke was running through the branches planning to evade the Jounin that was now after him. "Damn it. I shouldn't have given away my location like that. I just hope I can get away from him." His hope went unanswered. He felt a pain in his chest and he was sent flying backward into a clearing. He regained his balance and landed on his feet wincing from the pain. Looking up he saw the nin he had been running from standing in front of him.

"If I were a real enemy you'd be dead by now." Sasuke growled and quickly began going through hand signs. "Some kind of fire jutsu most likely." Naruto concluded. Right for a third time.

"Fire style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" A flame at least eight foot high erupted from Sasuke's mouth engulfing Naruto entirely. The flame died down revealing a large crater that had resulted from the attack. "Where'd he go? If I had burned him his body would still be here." Looking all around him he couldn't see Naruto anywhere. "Where'd you go?"

"Right under your feet." Sasuke looked down and saw a hand shoot up from the ground and grab his leg.

"What the-?" He was pulled under the ground and buried up to his head Naruto reappearing in front of him.

"Earth style: Inner Decapitation Jutsu." For future reference a Genin like yourself should have never attacked a Jounin without backup. It's a foolish thing to do." Sasuke glared.

"I could beat you any day of the week!"

"Really now? You do realize I haven't even begun to try don't you? The difference in our level is far too great. You should try getting your teammate's help." Naruto looked towards his right. "Or I guess just Sakura. Kiba's trying to break my rules." He disappeared and Sasuke was left to get out of his predicament on his own.

Kiba was busy messing with the clock Naruto had set earlier. "Now I'll have enough time to convince those two we need to work together. 'bark' Yeah I know Akamaru, those two should already know how to work as a pack. It's one of the most basic concepts to work togeth-."

"Secret Leaf Taijutsu: Thousand Years of Death!"

"Aaaahhhh!" Kiba was sent flying and landed hard next to a nearby tree with a very sore rear end.

"It's also a basic concept to not cheat in an exam. Though you seem to have trouble understanding that." Kiba began to stand up cursing what his sensei just did.

"What the hell was that for? I was just checking what time it is."

"Lesson number one. A ninja takes in any and all information surrounding them. Especially what other ninjas say and do."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I was in a rush to get here this morning, so much so I couldn't even grab a shirt. What makes you think I would have grabbed a clock?" Kiba turned back to the clock wondering what else it could possibly be when a loud poof and a puff of smoke exploded from the clock.

Kiba stared at the cloud not realizing what happened when another Naruto came out of the smoke and landed a hit on his jaw before he could even realize it had moved. "I didn't get a clock, so I made a clone and had it transform into one. Like the Third always says, look underneath the underneath. Now what time is it really?" Naruto had asked his clone.

"Eight Fifty-six."

'sigh' "I guess it's over. I hate it but I have to fail them. So much for working with people my-, well there they are and not a moment too soon, let's see what they got." A kunai shot out and Naruto allowed it to hit him in the thigh.

"Sakura now!" Sakura leapt out of the bushes, kunai in hand, and attacked Naruto. Her attacks weren't that great but they got his attention. Just as planned. Sasuke came in and joined the fight, the two were now double-teaming their sensei trying their best to land a hit. Even with a kunai weakening his leg Naruto was moving out of the way, though with great difficulty. Kiba saw that the clone was focused on those other two and with a sweeping kick hit the clone dispelling it.

"Alright Akamaru let's get the Gaki. Beast Mimicry: Man Beast Clone!" Akamaru turned into a replica of Kiba and the two ran in for their attack. "All right you two out of the way fast! Fang Over Fang!" Sakura and Sasuke quickly moved out of the way as Kiba approached. Naruto saw this a smile coming across his face as he decided to stand and take the hit.

"They passed the first part. Let's see how they do with the second part." The attack collided and Kiba and Akamaru jumped back. The spot covered with dust where they came from. The smoke cleared and they saw Naruto slowly getting to his feet. Not wanting to miss the opportunity Sasuke lunged forward and grabbed both bells before Naruto could get up. Just as Naruto knew would happen.

"Congratulations. You got the bells. And you worked together to do it. Now comes the hard part."

"Hard part? That was easy?" Kiba asked.

"Well this won't be physically more difficult but it might be hard for you though. You three got the bells. Now which two get to keep them and pass the exam?"

"What? We all got them shouldn't we all pass?"

"Remember, this is a poison scenario. In the real world you have to make tough decisions that will end up with people getting killed. Now make your choice. You can decide in any way other than violence. We'll just say the poison weakened you all keeping you from doing anything like that."

"How are we supposed to decide who fails?"

"Like I said. You figure it out." The three looked at each other. Each had a different look in their eyes. Sasuke had agitation, Sakura sadness, and Kiba disbelief. Sasuke broke the silence.

"I grabbed them so I'm taking one. You two can decide which of you pass."

"No way! That took all three of us you can't just claim one." Kiba couldn't believe the Uchiha would make such a claim. Sakura though felt as if she did nothing.

"No you both deserve them. Kiba landed the attack and Sasuke got the bells. You two take them. It's only fair." Kiba looked up in surprise. She's sacrificing herself. Sasuke closed his eyes before speaking up.

"No Sakura. Kiba's right that took all of us. We can't just make a decision on this based on our own ideas."

"Then how do we decide."

"He said we can use any method. A coin toss is as fair as it gets." Sasuke took out three coins from his pocket. "We all flip and the odd one out is the one that leaves. That alright with you two?" They looked at each other and nodded. "All right here." He handed out the coins and they flipped them into the air. Not a second after they left their hands the coins were grabbed by a fast moving hand. Naruto's.

"You three know what? I've made my own decision." He stopped just to play with the suspense. "You all pass." The three looked at him shock in their eyes.

"We all pass?" They all asked at the same time. "How? Why?"

"This test had two parts. The bells themselves were never really important. What was important was if you understood one thing. Teamwork. If you really were poisoned would you just split up assuring that all three of you would die. No. A true team would still work together even if only two of them will live. That was the first part. Working together no matter the conditions.

The second part was handling who would pass. The wrong thing to do would be to claim one because of your own accomplishments, which you nearly did. You see, squad members have no accomplishments. Only the squad itself deserves credit. So you found a way to get the decision made without letting your own judgment interfere. Believe it or not, a coin toss is said to be what the original team did when they went through the real thing."

"So we all pass?"

"That's right. Now if I remember we were going out to eat after this weren't we? Let's go! I missed breakfast and I'm starving."

"Well Gaki-sensei now you know how we feel. You told us not to eat."

"You should have seen through that." And the now official squad seven made their way into town. their sensei leading the way.

They came up to a ramen stand the name Ichiraku written on the banner hanging across the roof. On the way Kiba couldn't contain his excitement at being a full fledged ninja, Sasuke was just walking along, though obviously pleased with himself, and Sakura was having a hard time not staring at Naruto who was still shirtless, a bit of sweat now covering him only making him that much harder not to look at.

Naruto of course didn't notice as he was actually even happier than his team with them passing. They stepped through the curtains and all took a seat. The team could only think one thing. "Ramen. Of course."

"Hey old man I need some ramen over here fast." Teuchi Ichiraku turned around from his cooking to see his best and favorite customer along with three more kids his age.

"Hello Naruto It's good to see you. These some new friends of yours?"

"Yeah, they're also my students."

"Students? Well I can't let you all keep waiting. If you three are anything like your sensei you're probably waiting for anything to eat. Let alone my delicious ramen. Ayame get out to the front I'll need your help out here." Ayame walked out and saw Naruto, a slight blush reaching her face.

"Hey Naruto-kun, don't you look good today?" 'He's twelve. Snap out of it!' She thought as she shook her head back and forth.

"Thanks Ayame-chan, so do you."

"So what do you four want?"

"I'll have five miso's please."

"I'll take beef ramen though if you could, leave the meat raw. And also a smaller bowl for Akamaru, same thing."

"I'll just have a small bowl of the shrimp please."

"I guess I'll order mine with pork." Ayame nodded and turned around to help her father. Kiba leaned in to Naruto.

"That wouldn't happen to be your girlfriend now would it sensei?"

"Ayame? Nah, she's like an older sister to me."

"What about that other woman you were with? The one in her twenties."

"You know her age just by the smell? Well I'm not dating her either, that would be a bit weird for me."

"You said you slept with her."

"Well yeah but I don't get how that means we're dating. Wait a minute, what do you think we did?"

"You said you slept with her didn't you?"

"Yeah I did and I meant just that! We slept in the same bed. We didn't do anything like that."

"Ohhh. And here I thought you were getting some action." Naruto turned a bright shade of red.

The rest of their ramen was done and set in front of them and the team enjoyed their congratulatory meal. They ate in relative silence and once they were all done, Naruto paid for the meal and told them to meet up at the Hokage tower in one hour to receive their first mission. "D-rank missions. I hope I train them fast enough to get off these quickly and move on to at least low C-rank missions. D-ranks are way too boring. But I guess they can help with us getting better acquainted."

"Alright. Try not to be late. I'll see you all in one hour." He disappeared in cloud of smoke making them wonder if he had shunshined or if they had been with a shadow clone the whole time. They decided they would separate for now and meet up at the tower at the appropriate time.

"Gaki-sensei better not be late again."

Nearly an hour later in the Hokage's office Naruto was discussing what his team would be doing for the rest of the day with his grandfather figure. He was going through several scrolls the Hokage handed him that would be his missions. Just like he thought they were the regular D-ranks. Getting trash out of the river, re-painting one of the old buildings, weeding a garden, catching Tora the cat...

"Are you serious? That cat again? How many times is he going to run away? I thought I was finally done with this repeating mission when I became Chunin. Should have known he'd be back." The Hokage would have chuckled at Naruto's complaining but he had heard about last night.

"Naruto. I heard you were drinking quite a bit last night. Is this true?" Naruto looked up a bit remorseful.

"Yeah."

"What for?" Naruto looked at his team's file his eyes drifting towards the picture of Sasuke.

"He wants me dead. He wants to kill me. And I deserve it." The Hokage followed his eyes and understood the situation.

"I doubt he wants to kill you Naruto. There's no way he could know the truth."

"It doesn't matter. He's saddened by the death of his clan. He wants to kill the one responsible. Whether he knows it or not, I'm the one he should be after. Yet he's chasing his brother."

"Naruto, you can't blame yourself for what happened. Not even I could have prevented that tragedy."

FLASHBACK: Five Years Ago, the council conference room

The room was shared by only four people. The Third Hokage, his two advisers, and the proclaimed war-hawk of Konoha, Danzo. They were in a heated discussion discussing the information that just came up. Danzo started.

"So it seems the Uchiha clan plans to take control of the village. Our only option is to eliminate them. If they make the first strike, the consequences will be dire." The two advisers agreed but the Third voiced his opinion.

"Danzo there is no need for that. We can call a meeting with them and discuss this. We can't simply kill them off that's utter madness. How would you go about doing that anyway. The Uchiha clan can hold themselves well even if you send all of root."

"I don't plan to send the entire division after them. Just one."

"You had better not be talking about who I think you're talking about."

"I don't see why not. Namikaze Naruto has far surpassed the level any ninja were at his age. Even his own father's. I assure you he can handle this."

"Because of the circumstances I may have put him under your training five years ago but I will not allow him to be used like this. The contract we signed keeps me from interfering as long as he is a ninja, but I can still dismiss him from service which I will do if you actually think you're going to send him to do commit a massacre!"

"Gullible old man, not like this would be his first massacre." "What if I said this would be his final mission?"

"What do you mean?"

"Allow him to complete this one last mission and I will make that contract null and void giving his care back to you." The Third's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"You're serious? No, either way I still say we seek negotiation."

"We've all decided on this. Your vote has a lot of power but it can be overruled as long as all three of us vote against you. The decision has already been made. Naruto is perfect for this mission and he will be out of root if he completes it, though I can always send some others. Though then I can guarantee we will have casualties.

The fox will make their eyes have no effect on the boy rendering them defenseless as they depend on those eyes so heavily. You know this as well as I do. Sending Konoha's Crimson Death is the perfect strategy. Even someone three times his skill would simply be hit by their eyes and killed off." Sarutobi lowered his head in defeat. Danzo was right. Though he was morally against this he was the Hokage first and foremost and he had to do what was best for the village.

"Fine. Send him. But you will keep your word. He is dismissed from Root the instant his mission is completed."

"Trust me Hokage-sama. This problem will be over before the night is over." He walked out of the room to send his assassin. He was truly sad to be losing such a shinobi. But this had to be done. The Uchiha could not be allowed to take over at any cost. Besides, the kid just couldn't be broken of his spirit, his will. He would soon be useless to Danzo because of those 'damn things called emotions'.