AURA
by Random Writer 46

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Oh, man... I keep using these author's notes to address reviews, don't I?

Well, first thing. Kakashi isn't Sasuke's jounin-sensei because I'm lazy. That's it. It probably would've worked the same with Kurenai or Asuma, or even Gai or something, but I'm just more familiar with Kakashi's methods as the readers know him the best and it would've been too much work to develop a personality for Kurenai or Asuma. But if you really want to be finicky let's just say that the adiministration didn't put Kakashi with Sasuke because they were afraid of favouritism.

Second, Kyuubi probaby... PROBABLY... won't be evil. You know how crazy cults are, twisting the words of various other religions and putting their own mark mark on their teachings, not that I have anything personal against cults in general, but still. Heck, I still don't know yet. I'm pulling stuff out of my ass as I get on with the story, though my imagination's never failed me before and always manage to surprise me when everything looks the bleakest.

Third, I love messing with minor characters. There are some that I feel don't have enough development, and I feel that they deserve more. Look forward to plenty of that kind of stuff!

Oh, and I haven't chosen pairings yet. Though this chapter might suggest otherwise. Remember, I haven't chosen the pairings yet!

P.S. I don't think that the Sharingan can be taught. If you'll recall, the only reason that Sasuke activated his Sharingan at all was because Naruto was in danger. Prior to this he had never even known that Kakashi had the Sharingan at all. And even after he activated his Sharingan, the only thing that Kakashi taught him was jutsus and stuff, and not how to utilize the Sharingan. So my idea is that Sasuke can work well with any other jounin-sensei.

Hope I didn't offend anybody with this. Please keep reading my fic! (An author's nothing without an audience.)

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Chapter 5

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"You will have to get these bells from me."

They were in the training grounds of Team 7. Kakashi was holding three bells in his hands. Hinata was looking at them nervously. Shino was indifferent. Kiba was restraining his barely contained excitement. Naruto was sleeping on a branch.

Kakashi stared at the napping genin, and sweatdropped.

"Hey, yo. Get up."

Naruto rolled over in his sleep, mumbling something.

"Get up, or you're going to miss the instructions."

Naruto opened one eye, and sat up. Rubbing his eyes, he turned towards the jounin-sensei.

"Oh...? Kakashi-sensei, when did you arrive?"

Kakashi sweatdropped again. Nobody had ever responded to his late arrival with something like that. Maybe this was what Gai felt whenever he ignored him...

"Okay, okay..." Naruto yawned. "I'm up."

Gracefully, he slipped off the branch he was on and onto the ground. Kiba turned towards the older shinobi.

"C'mon, sensei!" Kiba yelled. "Give us the damn briefing already!"

Kakashi scratched the back of his head. The whole mood was ruined now. Guess there was no way around it.

"Well... I've already told you that you have a sixty-six percent chance of failing this test, didn't I?" Kakashi said. "Your goal is to get these bells from me. Those who manage it will become genin, while those who don't get sent back to the academy for another year to brush up on your skills and analyze your failures."

The genin nodded.

"You have until noon. The person that doesn't get the bell will be tied to the log, and they will have to watch the rest of us eat." Kakashi said, and both Naruto and Hinata groaned. They had taken the teacher's advice to not eat. Kiba grinned, he had defied Kakashi's orders (on principle, nobody ordered an Inuzuka around! Well... except for another Inuzuka), and everything had paid off! Shino just said nothing, his bugs provided him with nutrition from the substances that they consumed, so he didn't need to eat anyway.

"Alright then... We begin... now."

---

"Uh... you two are a little off."

Kiba just grinned wolfishly at the gray-haired jounin. Naruto just smiled and fell into a fighting stance. Kakashi groaned inwardly, it seemed like that he might've given this team more credit than they deserved. The other two genin had done well, what he had expected them to do, but these two...

Naruto coughed.

"Sensei... We feel that you might be underestimating us a little bit..."

Kiba continued.

"...And that since we haven't hid yet we're probably pretty stupid..."

By now Kakashi's spider-sense was prickling non-stop, yet he couldn't tell what was going on. He scanned the two genin in front of him with his non-Sharingan eye, trying to find out what they were trying to do. Neither of them were doing any seals... There was practically no chakra residue on them... He could see their footprints on the ground, so they weren't Bunshin either...

Naruto grinned.

"...I guess you think that none of us have even though of working together, being genin..."

"...Well, guess again."

Kakashi's eye widened.

The Kiba and Naruto in front of him both disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kage Bunshin...! I didn't expect either of them to know a jounin-level kinjutsu...

Behind him there came a rustling sound, and he turned around immediatley. Put popped the two missing genin, who scrambled towards him in a straight on charge. Without even trying, he raised his hand and chopped them both in their sides. There was another surprise awaiting him though as he realized that not only did they both pop into smoke, his hand was suddenly in an excruciatingly large amount of pain. He took a look at it, and was surprised. There was a pretty big part of it, the part where he had struck the clones with, that had been burnt.

Those Bunshin weren't Kage Bunshin... But they were solid. When I touched them I suffered a burn, a type of damage cause by Katon jutsu. A bunshin made out of fire, eh... Ingenious. Maybe I did undersetimate them a little bit too much.

But there wasn't enough time for him to wonder about it. Another Kiba and Naruto had arrived, out of the air, and were now trying to lay the smackdown on their jounin-sensei. The gray-haired shinobi deftly avoided their attacks, finding no room to counter. The two genin worked in nearly perfect unison... something that shouldn't be possible, especially when either shinobi had only met each other a four days ago. And with a hidden grin, Kakashi realized what was going on.

"Hey, look! Ramen!"

Both Naruto and Kiba turned around.

"Where?"

Kakashi grinned, and both genin turned back to the jounin-sensei, their hearts sinking. Kakashi delivered a powerful punch to the blonde-haired foxboy, sending him into a large group of trees. The blonde-nin burst into smoke as he flew, and Kakashi grabbed a surprised Kiba by the collar and held him up into the air.

"Good job... you nearly had me fooled there. Naruto."

Kiba grinned, and a puff of smoke turned him into the fox-nin.

"How... did you find out... Kakashi-sensei?"

"Your bunshins worked in perfect unison. Nobody... nobody could achieve that kind of cooperation in just a few days. It'd take years... even months with supervised training. You've known Kiba for four days... It was a good deception, trying to fool me into thinking both you and Kiba were double-teaming me even though it was just you... and here I thought Kiba had managed to learn himself something bunshin jutsus too. There was also the fact that Kiba wasn't fighting alongside Akamaru, and it was just himself. The Inuzuka don't leave their companions behind."

Naruto grinned.

"Well... that's what you think, isn't it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto said. "Well, you've missed a pretty important part..."

Kakashi tilted his head.

"...I'm not working alone!"

"GATSUUGA!"

Two spinning tornadoes crashed into Kakashi's back, sending him flying into the soil. Naruto fell from his grip, and high-fived both Kiba and the transformed Akamaru. Kiba held out two bells that he had taken from Kakashi's belt when he had slammed into him, and Naruto took one gratefully.

"Thanks, Kiba."

"No problem, buddy." Kiba said, grinning. Akamaru barked in agreement, and turned back into the little dog he was before. "Dogs are the loyalest animals ever, you know. Now that we've got the bells, let's scram!"

Naruto grinned. "Loyalest isn't a word."

Kiba just shook his head, scooped Akamaru up, and disappeared into the foliage. Naruto followed shortly.

Kakashi picked his head up from the dirt.

Mental note. Never ever underestimate your students again, or you might just end up being the laughing stock of all the other jounin... and the chuunin too. Though at least they got the gist ot it. Maybe they'll pass after all...

---

"...What's happening, Hinata?" Shino asked.

They were hiding on a branch that stood somewhere above the clearing. Hinata currently had her Byakugan activated, and was staring down at the clearing. From his position in the tree, Shino couldn't see anything. The only sensation that his kikkai bugs were passing to him included the sense of chakra, and he knew there was a lot of it going around down there. Most of it seemed to come from Naruto, though there was some chakra that carried the tint of Kiba and Akamaru.

"U-Um... Naruto-kun and Kiba-kun have both managed to grab their own bells." Hinata confirmed. "That means there is only one bell left..."

Shino nodded.

"I guess that means we're on our own for this..." Shino concluded. "But that doesn't mean I'll hinder you, Hinata. Let us split up and begin attacking Kakashi-sensei seperately. May the best shinobi win."

Hinata nodded, unsure of herself. Shino vanished in a flash of bugs, and the only sound that Hinata could hear now was the pounding of her own heart.

N-No... I can't do this. There's a jounin down there... He can kill me without using one tenth of his chakra... There's no way I can--

Her monologue was interrupted with the arrival of a certain blonde-haired fox-nin. Naruto had sat down beside her with a smile on his face.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be trying to get the last bell from Kakashi-sensei down there?"

Hinata shook her head.

"I--I can't do it... There's no way that I can take a bell away from him... You're much stronger than me, and Kiba-kun too. If you had to work together to get the bells away from him, then there's no way I can..." Hinata mumbled, before she realized she was rambling. She covered her mouth with her hand, blushing.

Naruto smiled.

"Did you hear what you just said?"

Hinata raised her head with a confused look.

"W--What?"

"'If you had to work together'... That's the point of the whole exam."

"A--Ano, I don't understand..."

Naruto nodded.

"Alright, let me explain it this way. Genin operate in three-man teams, right?" Naruto asked. "I did a little bit of research before this, and I found out that this exam applies to all newly-graduated teams. Not just our four-man exception. If this exam was to root out the weak, then why would Iruka-sensei go through all that trouble to form us into teams that compliment each other's abilities?"

Hinata's eyes widened.

"Ahh..."

"You get it now, don't you." Naruto said. "A jounin can't be defeated by a genin, no matter how powerful."

"He expects us to work together..." Hinata realized.

Naruto grinned, and gave Hinata a thumbs-up.

"Alright, see here... This is what we're going to do..."

---

Kakashi smiled as he read his little orange book. It seemed like this team had some potential after all. Those two had perfectly orchestrated their attack, the many Bunshins and Henge turning his attention away from the second genin, and the final Gatsuuga to his back when he had let his guard down. It was a clever strategy, and if they really wanted to, they could've killed him right then and there.

Suddenly, to his right came another rustling. Kakashi put his book away.

Out popped Naruto again, this time followed by a slightly-hesitating Hinata.

Huh...? He's already gotten a bell, why is he...?

Naruto aimed a hard strike at the gray-haired jounin's head, which he deftly dodged. Kakashi was baffled. Had Naruto gotten slightly slower, or was it just him? As he backflipped onto a branch of another tree, the gray-haired jounin took another look at the blonde genin below him. It seemed like Naruto had also slightly changed his fighting stance as well...

Dodging a Jyuuken strike from the left, Kakashi groaned as he realized a combination of Naruto's crazy Bunshin-utilizing fighting style and the Jyuuken would really put him at a disadvantage without his Sharingan. The Bunshins were great at absorbing blows like sponges, and were also proficient at moving their enemies into positions which the Jyuuken can then take advantage of.

Speaking of Bunshins... Naruto hadn't pulled off a Bunshin yet. That was strange, considering how earlier he had been spamming those things like commercials.

Hey, wait... Bunshin... What a great idea.

Silently, he made a quick seal, and replaced himself with a Kage Bunshin while he hid behind some foliage. Watching as the gray-haired clone duked it out with his students, he was silently thankful that neither of his students below him had been taught to sense chakra yet. Yeah... He was pretty sure this was going to be the team. All he needed was the Aburame kid to show some sign of teamwork, and he could officially pass them.

Suddenly, he noticed the kikkai bug on his left shoulder, and laughed inwardly. He reached his hand to his waist... Yep, the last bell was gone.

Both Naruto and Hinata stopped fighting the clone, and turned their eyes towards his hiding place. He had been sure that the constant fighting would've kept the Hyuuga busy, though he guessed it was wrong now. As for Naruto...

"That was a pretty good deception you pulled off there, Shino."

Naruto vanished in a puff of smoke, and was replaced by the bug boy, who held a bell in his hand.

---

"So... the only person who hasn't gotten a bell here yet is Hinata?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto and Kiba looked at eachother, and Shino just looked indifferent. Hinata looked downwards.

I... I've failed.

The thought hit her hard. She had failed... failed the Main House, failed her father, failed the Hyuuga's honour, and failed herself... She could feel the tears coming to her ears. There was nothing to be done now. She was going to be known forever as the heiress that had failed her genin exam. There would be no end to it. Her father held the Hyuuga's honour above all else, and the thought of his own daughter being so... so weak...

She could feel a sob coming on, but angrily held it within herself. If she would fail, she would do it with pride. The little bit of boldness that Hinata usually kept deep down within her had risen up, yet she knew it couldn't stay for long. If only... If only she had been a bit stronger...

Suddenly, a bell came flying and landed at her feet. Lookin upwards, Hinata looked into the eyes of the blonde fox-nin.

"Take it." Naruto said. Though there was a bit of hesitance in his expression, she could tell that he meant it. "I don't need it."

Kiba looked at his newest friend with shock.

"Really?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah..." Naruto said. "I can tell you need it more than I do."

It was mostly his Bloodline that had allowed him to do this... But looking at the expression on the poor girl's face and her dejected posture, he couldn't help but feel some kinship with her. There was no doubt in his mind that she had a hard upbringing. Her lack of confidence, everything about her... They all spoke of incredible family pressure. Inwardly, he knew that he didn't want to give his chance for shinobi-hood up, but...

"You just lack confidence, that's all." Naruto said to the shy girl. "I can't help you out that much... I'm not good with feelings. You can become a great kunoichi... Kiba and Shino will be great teammates for you. I haven't known them very long, but I can tell that they're both very loyal to their friends..."

He turned to Kiba.

"Help her out Kiba, I'll join you next year."

Kiba's look of shock had turned into a look of pride.

Naruto turned to Shino.

"Hey, I don't know you very well. But I can count on you to help her out, right?"

Shino nodded, indifferent as ever.

Naruto turned back to Hinata.

"Good luck, Hinata."

And with that, Naruto turned his back to the group and walked out of the training grounds, his hands in his pockets and with an even posture, leaving the three other genins with their own thoughts.

---

After a few seconds, Kiba turned to Kakashi and tossed him the bell. When Kakashi fixed a nonchalant eye on the dog-nin's face, Kiba explained.

"I'm not going on a team like this. Naruto is my friend now, and friends don't leave other friends behind. Sorry, Hinata, I can tell that you've got the potential to be great, but I'm not going on without Naruto. Even though I've only met him a few days ago, he's a great guy! He'd definitely save my ass in a fight, and that's the kind of teammate that I want as a genin. Shino, you take good care of her now like Naruto said. I'll be seeing you next year, just you wait!"

And with that, the dog-nin walked away. Akamaru followed his master, proud at him for showing such maturity. Both of them walked off into the streets of Konoha, their noses high in the air. They weren't sad for their missed chance to become genin. They weren't afraid of the consequences of their actions.

They knew dogs were the loyalest animals in the world.

---

As Kiba disappeared around the corner, Shino also turned towards Kakashi as well. He took the bell out of his pocket, and tossed it over at the silver-haired jounin.

"I guess you too, huh..." Kakashi said.

"My place is with both Kiba, and recently Naruto too." Shino said. "My apologies, Hinata, but like Kiba said. I cannot imagine a genin team without either of them."

Shino bowed, and disappeared in a cloud of kikkai bugs.

---

Hinata looked at the bell in her hand, and once again though of her father. Suddenly, the though of the leader of the clan didn't frighten her anymore... She had stared at her teammates eyes as they failed on choice, and realized their determination. They hadn't hesitated at all. She could feel their strength within her.

Silently, she gave the bell to Kakashi.

"Why?" The silver-haired jounin asked. "They did this for you."

She smiled, nearly all traces of the shy little girl gone. In her place stood a determined and unafraid young woman.

"...I--I... I really didn't want to fail." She said, and followed her teammates steps. "I can tell... they're all really strong, because it takes strength for them to do something like that. I'll go back too... It wouldn't feel right, succeeding only because my teammates willingly failed for me. I'll go back too, and because they're there, it wouldn't be so bad..."

She turned around, and disppeared into the crowds of people that littered the streets of the Hidden Leaf.

---

Kakashi closed his one single normal eye, and smiled. Silently, he tucked the bells into his pocket. Taking a look at the stone tablet that sat in the middle of the clearing, and walked up to it. The stone was really dusty... the gray-haired jounin carefully brushed off some of the dust that covered a certain name and its description. He had memorized its position a long time ago...

Uchiha Obito. He showed us the importance of teamwork. He showed us that the value of a human is how far they are willing to go for another. Respected Uchiha, may you rest in peace.

Still smiling, he got up. Taking out his little orange book, he looked up towards the heavens.

He had found the team that he had been wanting all these years.