It surprised approximately nobody that Uchiha Sayaka and Hyuuga Hinata were placed on the same team together upon graduation. There were several, very quiet, jokes made about the "old couple getting back together", but everyone was well aware of how creative Sayaka could be if adequately motivated.
It surprised approximately everybody that Naruto had managed to graduate.
"You are a massive idiot," Sayaka said, folding her arms and giving Naruto an unimpressed look that she had learned from Hiroyo. "Mizuki fed you that crap and you believed him?"
"I mean, like, I couldn't just fail when you guys passed!" Naruto protested, waving his arms and somehow not spilling his ramen. "I was like, desperate, yanno?"
Sayaka increased the power of her disapproval. "Like it would have mattered. You'd only be a semester behind. Maybe less, since Iruka-sensei's nice."
Naruto made a face.
"Sayaka is right," Hinata said quietly. She sighed. "At least it w-worked out in the end."
"Yeah, I guess it did," said Naruto, suddenly subdued.
"Is Iruka-sensei going to be okay?"
"Gramps says he'll be fine," said Naruto, stirring his noodles. "I just— it all worked out, but I wish Iruka-sensei hadn't gotten hurt, you know?"
The three of them sat in silence in Ichiraku Ramen and thought about how badly everything could have gone.
"Bah, you kids, cut it out with the long faces," Teuchi said, showing up with three, very slightly filled glasses of sake, and one for himself. "Iruka-san's going to be okay, right? Then you learn from it and try not to make the same mistake in the future. In the meantime, you've graduated, and that's worth celebrating. Kampai!"
The three Academy graduates glanced at each other, taking the proffered glasses and raising them. "Kampai!"
"So you're meeting your jounin-sensei later, right?" said Teuchi. "Any idea who they are?"
"Nah, they said they'd tell us after we came back from lunch," said Naruto. "Something about team bonding or whatever."
"It is important for other teams," said Hinata. "S-since we already know each other, it is less so."
"Meh, I think they coulda just told us and then sent us off to lunch," said Naruto. He slurped up a bundle of noodles. "Like, it'd be cool, yanno?"
"Don't talk with your mouth full," said Sayaka, poking Naruto in the arm.
Naruto made a noise but closed his mouth to finish chewing.
"Do you have any ideas, Hinata?" Sayaka asked.
Hinata shook her head. "That information is k-kept very secret."
"Tch," said Sayaka. She returned back to her ramen.
The group fell silent again, though this time it was a companionable one. The three of them had been through some interesting ups and some interesting downs in the last year. Hinata had started being formally trained as the heir to the Hyuuga clan, Sayaka had gotten into some serious trouble for burning down Training Ground 17, and Naruto was Naruto and therefore never far from trouble. They tried to help each other, often failing but often succeeding as well. It wasn't too surprising that they'd been grouped together after graduation.
Hinata had never confessed, and honestly it would have been a pretty huge scandal, so it was probably best that she hadn't. It didn't help that Naruto had taken a shine to Haruno Sakura, who was certainly cute in her own way and had ultimately outcompeted both Sayaka and Ino for the position of top kunoichi.
Sayaka told herself that it was because she couldn't be bothered to deal with flowers any longer. It definitely wasn't the fact that Sakura snapped up information like a steel trap and could talk about almost any lesson within the last three years with nearly perfect recall.
Sakura had in fact ended up on Team Eight, with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino. It was a bit of an odd choice, since the other two were excellent trackers and Sakura had no natural talents in that field. But, she was intelligent and an excellent analyst, so it would probably be fine.
Which reminded Sayaka of the invitation sitting on her desk at home. It was her second arranged marriage request, this time from the Inuzuka Clan, with Kiba as the proposed match.
It was extremely odd. She didn't know the boy very well, except that she might have broken his nose once by accident during sparring. She knew that he enjoyed Naruto's pranks and cut class with him frequently, but didn't actually participate in any pranking himself. He was temperamental, but friendly, so that people didn't usually shy away from him like they did to her. Reasonable grades, at least good enough to graduate, but not the most devoted student.
Well, hopefully, he had something to show her.
"It is nearly time to meet our sensei," Hinata said.
"Ah, crap, I guess we should get going," said Naruto, glancing up at the clock. "How's my tab goin', Teuchi-oji?"
"Eh, don't sweat this one," said Teuchi, waving him off. "Call it a graduation present, alright?"
"Gee, I dunno," said Naruto, wincing a little. "I kinda feel bad…"
"Nah, it's fine," said Teuchi waving the ladle for emphasis. "Your team too, alright? It's only a couple of yen, so don't worry too much. You'll be making mission pay soon enough anyway, so you can pay me back later if it really bothers you."
"Well, if you say so, then thanks Teuchi-oji!" said Naruto. He hopped off his stool and stretched, before pointing a finger towards the Academy. "Alright guys, let's go meet our jounin-sensei!"
"Team Seven is dangerous," said Danzo, looking out over Konoha with his hands folded behind him. "The last Uchiha, the Hyuuga heiress, and our jinchuuriki? Separating them would have been wiser."
Hiruzen grunted, turning a page of his paperwork and reading through the boilerplate text. "Perhaps. But they would train together, regardless."
"Within Konoha, that is acceptable," said Danzo. "It is outside of Konoha that worries me."
"You will not order ROOT to shadow their every move, I hope," said Hiruzen, looking up as he set the sheet of paper aside. "It would be a terrible waste."
"ROOT does not have those kinds of resources," said Danzo, snorting. "Even if we did, using them in that fashion would ultimately be counterproductive. For a tree to grow strong, it must first encounter adversity."
Hiruzen chuckled. "Ah, I remember that line well."
Danzo glanced at him, smiling minutely. "The Second was always full of wisdom."
"And additional training."
The two old men shared a laugh over that, recalling the Second Hokage's fondness for drills.
Hiruzen groaned as he stood, then walked over to stand next to Danzo. The window they both looked out of watched over Konoha's eastern side, with the village gates in the distance. The market district was busy this time of year. Strawberries and apples would be in season, and Hiruzen considered making a visit later to pick up a bag of them.
"Peace is a wonderful thing," Hiruzen said quietly. He pulled his pipe out from his sleeve and set about lighting it. "You are valuable, Danzo, but sometimes you make me sad. To look out at all this and see only the darkness that might snuff it out…"
"It is why we trained, wasn't it?" Danzo asked. "Why we fought? To ensure that those without the ability could live peacefully in the light, while we watched the shadows?"
Hiruzen took a long drag of his pipe, then slowly blew out a great cloud of smoke.
"Yes, it is," he said. "But the shadows are quiet today. The Cloud and Stone villages, despite our fears, have not acted on our vulnerabilities. They do not help, but they do not attack either. ROOT has not found a security breach in a year, nor have the ANBU."
"With ROOT being the lesser of the two?"
Hiruzen frowned at him. "Come now, Danzo, no need to dredge up old fights. We agreed that it was useful, even if I found your methods amoral and unethical."
Danzo huffed, but withdrew. "Regardless, you are correct that no breaches have been found. It is… almost unnaturally quiet."
"It is our duty to look this gift horse in the mouth," said Hiruzen. "But it is also our duty to exploit it, no? The members of Team Seven will be good for each other. Both girls will be a good influence on Naruto, giving him better judgment and tact."
"And quiet."
"That too," said Hiruzen, chuckling. "And both Sayaka and Hinata could use someone to force them to be more… well, less formal, shall we say."
"They are also very close to each other," Danzo said. "Hinata's childish infatuation with Naruto remains strong, and both Hinata and Naruto are the only friends the Uchiha truly has. Their emotions will cloud their judgment. It will be dangerous."
"Our emotions are also what give us the Will of Fire, Danzo," said Hiruzen. "Your fear for Konoha's destruction, of a return to chaos and anarchy, is what gives you your insight into the darkness of others, while my love for the people I lead is what allows me to fight for them even when all hope is lost. We do not discard our emotions, only temper them."
Danzo sighed. It was an uncomfortable truth. He was an old man now, but it still stung to hear his shortcomings, the things that Hiruzen called his strengths, spoken so plainly of.
"I am sorry, Danzo," Hiruzen said after a moment. "I did not mean to bring up old memories."
"It is nothing," said Danzo, swallowing his bitterness like a pill. "You are right, of course. And what of the children? What do you judge of them?"
"Ah, well, it is a bit early," said Hiruzen, "but I suspect that love, the fraternal kind, don't give me that look Danzo, will be what bonds them together. When you have people precious to you that you would do anything to protect, then the Will of Fire becomes an unstoppable maelstrom."
"If the peace holds."
"If the peace holds," agreed Hiruzen, nodding gravely. "It is a gamble, but the odds are not unfavorable, and we must ensure that the deck remains stacked against the will of our enemies. These walls will never be unbreachable, but we can at least ensure that those who breach them do not succeed in their aims."
Danzo sighed. "It is times like these that I wish I was your student. I could use a drink."
"Tea?" offered Hiruzen. A fresh pot appeared on his desk.
Danzo sighed. "Please."
Kakashi had been very late.
"Maa, well, I guess if I have to do this, I should get to know you a little," drawled Kakashi, slouching against the railing of the Academy rooftop. He was the most unkempt ninja Sayaka had ever seen. Had his clothes ever seen an iron? "I'll start. My name is Hatake Kakashi, jounin of the Leaf. My hobbies and likes are too mature for you, my dislikes are the same, and my dreams are none of your business. Now… how about you go first, Hyuuga."
Hinata eeped. "A-ah, um, m-my name is Hyuuga Hinata. My hobby is flower pressing. I like…" Hinata paused, flushing, then continued onwards, "I dislike s-seafood? My dream is, um, I suppose it is to b-become strong."
Kakashi regarded her with the one eye he left exposed in his outfit. The other was covered by his headband, which raised all sorts of questions.
"How incredibly uninteresting," Kakashi pronounced after a moment. "How—"
"Oi! Don't talk about Hinata-chan that way!" Naruto shouted, popping out of his seat angrily.
"Ara, then why don't you go next?" said Kakashi, folding his arms lazily and tilting his head. "I guess you like the color orange?"
"No! I mean, yes, but no!"
"What do you mean? Surely you must know your own likes and dislikes?"
"I do!"
"But you don't like orange?"
"I do like orange!"
"But you said you don't?"
"I— wait, I'm getting confused."
"Not surprising," Kakashi said dryly, before turning to Sayaka. "How about you, Uchiha?"
Sayaka bowed slightly from her seat. "My name is Uchiha Sayaka. I like fire and dislike marriage proposals. My hobby is training, and my dream is…"
Sayaka paused to consider the best phrasing.
"My dream is to honor my family's death," she decided.
"How incredibly morbid," said Kakashi. He turned back to Naruto. "Did you figure yourself out, loud and orange?"
Naruto growled at him but bit his tongue. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto. My hobbies are training and pranking. I like ramen, I dislike you, and my dream is to become Hokage one day."
"Hokage huh," said Kakashi, completely ignoring the jab even as Sayaka reached over and poked Naruto very hard in the arm. "Well, we'll see if that ever happens. In any case, with that over with, it's time I explained our next steps."
There was a beat.
"Wow, patience from Academy graduates?" Kakashi asked rhetorically. "Amazing. You three might be tolerable."
"What's that mean?!"
"And we're back to me hating you all," Kakashi sighed, looking up at the sky momentarily in apparent supplication to any watching kami. "I was going to say that graduating from the Academy isn't enough. Most any idiot can manage that."
He paused to look pointedly at Naruto, who bristled.
"Each Jounin Sensei is given discretion to test his or her new team as they see fit," Kakashi continued, putting his hands in his pockets. He sighed. "It's annoying, but yours will be given at 6AM tomorrow morning. If you pass, you become genin. If you don't, you go back to the Academy."
"What?! You can't do that!"
"Of course I can," said Kakashi, looking over at Naruto and somehow making the orange-suited blonde flinch. "These are orders from the Hokage after all."
"Is there anything we should do to prepare for the test?" Sayaka interjected before Naruto could yell again.
"No," said Kakashi. He smiled and clapped his hands together. "It's a surprise! The only advice I'll give is: don't eat breakfast. You'll just throw it back up."
Then with a flicker of chakra and a swirl of leaves, Kakashi disappeared.
"What," said Naruto, "a massive asshole."
"Naruto."
"It's true though!"
Hinata sighed. "H-he is still our sensei," she said. "We must s-show respect."
Sayaka didn't say anything, but turned to give Hinata a look.
"Sayaka."
"Mm," Sayaka emoted, turning back and looking up at the sky again.
The team fell silent as the last of the leaves Hatake Kakashi had used in his Shunshin whisked off the Academy rooftop on a passing breeze.
"We should talk to Hiroyo," said Sayaka, standing up and smoothing down her skirt. "We need information."
"It's really weird that you're wearing skirts now," Naruto said as they stood up.
"You said that already. Months ago."
"That just means it's extra weird!"
Sayaka rolled her eyes and ignored him. To the rest of the world, the day that Sayaka had shown up to class in something cute had been jarring, to say the least. Everyone still remembered the prickly girl who wore pants and training gear and could knock you down in two seconds flat. Just about every boy in class felt the need to test the waters a little, if only out of curiosity.
Sayaka grinned. Right, that had been the day she'd punched Kiba in the nose. He thought that since he'd turned twelve, that made him a man or something. Moron.
"Will you be changing your clothes for the test tomorrow?" Hinata asked. "If it involves any fighting…"
"Eh, maybe, maybe not," said Sayaka. "I wear shorts underneath, anyway."
"You should totally hide, like, smoke bombs or something then," said Naruto as they made their way down the stairs. "That's what I would do if I were a girl."
Sayaka considered this. "I could, that's true," she said. "Maybe ninja wire instead? It's light and wouldn't change the way the skirt moves."
"You already have tons of ninja wire though."
"More isn't bad."
"But you don't need more, so pick something else!"
"Mmn."
Naruto rolled his eyes at her and shoved his hands in his pockets. Hinata hid a smile behind her hand. Some things never changed.
Hiroyo hadn't had any useful information, unfortunately, at least not about what Kakashi-sensei might have in store for them. She knew of Kakashi, since he was apparently quite infamous amongst the older ninja, but she knew nothing of his training practices, except that, despite Kakashi's advice, skipping breakfast was probably a bad idea.
"Jounin, especially jounin who grew up fighting in the last war, do this sort of thing," she said. "It's just misdirection. Eat something light, but eat something, or else you won't have the energy to complete the test."
This left the team clueless and with nothing to do but prepare. Training just before a mission was a bad idea, which meant that the team loitered around Sayaka's apartment for a while before finally heading home to pack for whatever it was that Kakashi had in store for them.
Sayaka decided against spare ninja wire in her skirt, and stuck with what she could fit in her pouch. It probably wasn't going to be some kind of months-long wilderness survival mission either, so just enough weaponry to fight a particularly long fight was probably sufficient.
Then she did a chakra control exercise and went to bed.
The next morning dawned unnaturally warm.
"This sucks," Naruto groused as he, Sayaka, and Hinata settled in to wait at Training Ground Three. It was one of the smaller training grounds, but had a wide variety of terrain that made it suited to sparring practice. A river ran across one end, while the other was a small clearing surrounded by trees, with some kind of monument in the middle.
"It is very early," said Hinata. She passed out a thermos of tea, which the other two gratefully drank while the sun slowly crept over the horizon.
"Didya bring smoke bombs, Sayaka?"
"No."
"Aww, why not?"
Sayaka shrugged. "I couldn't figure out how to hide them."
"Bah, I coulda done it."
"Well if you want to get dressed up in a skirt to figure it out…"
Naruto seriously considered this. "Actually, with Sexy Jutsu—"
Sayaka threw a pebble that bounced off Naruto's head. "Perv. Why are we friends with you?"
"Okay okay, but with Transformation at least it wouldn't be that hard," said Naruto, rubbing his head. "Like, the problem is that skirts go swish, right?"
Sayaka rolled her eyes at Naruto. "That's not even close to all the problems," she said. "Just drop it Naruto."
Naruto made an irritated noise and flopped back against the training post he was sitting in front of. Hinata patted his shoulder comfortingly.
The morning stretched on towards lunch time. At some point, Naruto fell asleep.
Then Kakashi appeared with a thunderclap that startled all three of them and made Naruto pop up like a wind-up toy.
"You're late!" Naruto shouted, pointing an accusing finger. "What's the big idea, huh? It's been hours!"
"Maa maa, I got lost on the road of life," Kakashi said cheerfully. "It's really quite fascinating. You should try it sometime!"
Sayaka threw another pebble at Naruto before he could shout something profane and disrespectful, then bowed to Kakashi with Hinata. "Good morning, sensei," they said together. Naruto grudgingly followed their lead.
"My my, such polite little students," Kakashi said. "You almost make me feel bad for this."
He paused, thinking over what he had just said.
"Actually, not really, I've killed enough wannabe ninja your size to be dead to guilt by now," said Kakashi, shrugging. He pulled a pair of bells out of his waist pouch. "Let's get on with it then. Your mission today is to take one of these bells. Those who manage to get the bells are officially genin! Those who don't get sent back to the Academy. Or the morgue."
Sayaka gave Hinata an unsettled look. It wasn't… really possible that a Konoha jounin would just kill them, right?
Hinata looked back with unsure eyes.
Naruto was oblivious to it all.
"Fine!" he shouted. "We'll take your stupid test and get those stupid bells and then go and kick the ass of stupid people like you! Bring it on!"
"Naruto…"
"Ara, I hadn't expected to enjoy this test so much!" Kakashi said cheerfully. The atmosphere abruptly changed as he glared at them. "You have until noon, which is in half an hour. Come at me with intent to kill, or you're sure to fail. Begin."
There was usually no plan with Naruto. Sayaka and Hinata both retreated as Naruto went for his classic flying tackle, Kakashi dodging it with contemptuous ease. A small orange book appeared as Naruto made another failed attempt. Kakashi seemed to be… reading while dodging Naruto's attempts at an attack.
"Okay, so, step one is get the bells," Sayaka said, taking a deep breath as she dropped behind a tree with Hinata. "Step two is… later."
Hinata ignored step two as well. "The Gentle F-fist is good at disabling stronger opponents."
"Then you go in for taijutsu, I'll try and herd him with fire techniques?"
Hinata nodded. "I will try my best."
"Then the only question is what to do about Naruto."
"Mm, yes, what to do about Naruto?" asked Kakashi, plopping his head on one hand. "Tell me more about your plan."
Sayaka and Hinata both screamed, leaping out from the trees. Naruto turned in surprise as Sayaka blasted the trees with a Grand Fireball before landing in a crouch, Hinata beside her.
"Ara, you shouldn't lose focus," said Kakashi. Naruto whirled in place just in time to get punted into the river. "First lesson: Taijutsu!"
"Damn," Sayaka said, twisting to stand back to back with Hinata as she watched Naruto go howling into the water.
"Byakugan!" Hinata intoned. "Naruto is f-fine. Sensei is… left!"
Sayaka whirled, wires springing to life in her hand. "Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
Kakashi dropped to the ground as the flaming wires whipped through the air, their ends weighted with shuriken, then leaped forward and underneath Sayaka's guard. The first impact knocked the breath out of her, and the second sent her skidding across the ground.
"Second lesson," Kakashi began, even as Hinata's hands flared with chakra and raced for him. "Genjutsu!"
Kakashi flickered, and was replaced by Naruto at the very last second. Hinata watched in horror as her palm sent a spike of chakra into the top of Naruto's chest. His eyes went wide in pain as his internal organs spasmed, the chakra spike overloading them, before—
Hinata gasped as Sayaka hauled her to her feet, a massive fire flickering out in the background. "It's just a genjutsu, Hinata!" Sayaka hissed. "Naruto's fine! Where is Kakashi?"
Hinata took a steadying breath. "Six o'clock, high!"
Sayaka turned again, throwing a spread of kunai while Hinata raised her hands again. She was not as skilled as her sister or her cousin, but she would do her best.
"Better than expected, but not good enough," Kakashi said in midair. "Third lesson: Nin—!"
"MASS SHADOW CLONES!"
A small tsunami of bright orange rugby-tackled a small log as Naruto, soaked to the skin, landed next to Sayaka and Hinata.
"You guys okay?" he asked while rubbing his rear with a wince. "That jerk got me good, but he didn't figure on the Shadow Clone!"
"What— that's not an Academy technique," said Sayaka as the team settled into a three-point defensive formation.
"Nah, I learned it from that scroll before Iruka showed up."
"You what?!"
"It's fine, I have the chakra to pull it off," said Naruto. He pulled a kunai from his pouch. "Yell at me later, where's the dickhead?"
"Circling," Hinata said. "I'm not sure w-why."
"The mission is to get the bells," said Sayaka. "He should be running away."
"B-but it is still a test," said Hinata. "H-he is probably waiting to s-see if we can find him."
"And what we do about it," said Naruto. "Damn it, I hate tests."
"We will do our best," Hinata said quietly.
"Hell yeah we will."
"We need to pin him down," said Sayaka. "He's faster than us, so—"
"Shadow clones can do that," said Naruto. "He can't dodge fifty of me!"
"Fifty times zero is still zero," said Kakashi from inside their circle. "Third lesson: Ninjutsu!"
And then everything went dark.
"Maa, maa, that was shockingly pitiful," said Kakashi later when they woke up, each of them tied to a different training post, heads throbbing and foggy from their brief unconsciousness. "The Instant Knockout technique isn't even that strong. Well, I guess that's what happens when you use it against two girls and a deadlast."
Sayaka stifled her fury and tried to think about how to escape. She was missing her weapons, her arms were bound together with no leverage, but her legs were free. Maybe she could shimmy her way out?
"Now, normally, I'd just fail you all," said Kakashi with a clap of his hands, "but since I'm such a nice guy, and because the Hokage makes me, I'll give you guys a way out."
Even Naruto gave him a skeptical look. Good, he had learned from the Mizuki affair.
"Here's the deal," Kakashi began. "Since dealing with three genin would be super irritating, I'm willing to pass two of you for free! All you have to do is pick which one to send back to the Academy. The remaining two get to keep their genin registration cards, easy peasy."
"What's the catch?" Naruto asked, squinting at him suspiciously.
"No catch!" Kakashi said cheerfully. "I just hate kids, but since the Hokage is making me do this, two brats is better than three."
"No deal," Sayaka said immediately. "Nobody makes that kind of proposal without a catch."
"Well, I'm one of the best jounin in Konoha," said Kakashi with a shrug. "So sure, the training will be brutal. But you know, if you're afraid, or don't think being the best is all that important…"
Sayaka choked back her anger again and struggled to maintain her composure. She focused on her breathing: in, two, three, four—
"I'll do it then," said Naruto, scowling at Kakashi. "I'll only be like a semester behind, anyway, so who cares if I go back?"
Hinata looked stricken. Sayaka grit her teeth and very, very carefully began moulding her chakra. The training post was too big for handsigns, but if she was lucky…
"Are you sure?" Kakashi asked, raising his one visible eyebrow.
"Yeah, it's fine," said Naruto, voice catching in his throat as he made furious eye contact with Kakashi. "H-Hinata has clan stuff, and so does S-Sayaka. Hokage c-can wait a semester."
"Well if that's really the case…" said Kakashi, drawing out the pause. "You all pass!"
Sayaka twitched as the ropes binding them fell away.
"Wait— what?" Naruto asked, scrubbing at his eyes furiously. "What the hell do you mean, we pass? And what the fuck was with all that shit you said?!"
"I'm sorry for saying hurtful things," Kakashi said, bowing deeply at the three of them. "But to be a ninja is to fight with your body and your mind. Please, allow me to explain."
Kakashi stood to attention, feet shoulder-width apart and hands behind his back.
"The Bell Test is an old tradition, dating to the founding of Konoha," he began, speaking with a sharp and clear tone that rang out in the training ground. "The goal is to test the ability of the genin team to work together under duress. For children, the threat of going back to the Academy is usually sufficient to cause significant internal strife. Usually, each of the students will attempt to get a bell on their own and, of course, fail."
He paused, glancing at the three of them to make sure they followed.
"However, this team was originally selected precisely because you three all know each other, and would potentially have better teamwork from the very beginning," Kakashi continued. "Because of this, it was important to stress you and your relationship. Teamwork when calm is all well and good, but it is meaningless if teamwork breaks down under stress."
"Is that all?" Sayaka asked sarcastically. "And I suppose you're about to say that yesterday was an act too?"
"…yes," said Kakashi, shifting his weight uncomfortably. "It was necessary to preserve the illusion."
Sayaka took a deep breath, held it, then breathed back out. "You should apologize to Hinata."
Kakashi winced beneath his mask, then turned and bowed deeply to Hinata. "My apologies, Hyuuga-san. I was very rude to you yesterday."
Hinata seemed entirely unsure how to react to an adult bowing to her, but returned the bow. "U-um, well, n-no apologies are n-necessary?"
"I assure you, they are," said Sayaka, folding her arms. "As is ramen for Naruto. You're paying sensei. For everything."
Hinata was a very forgiving sort of person, and getting into, or back into, in this case, Naruto's good graces was as easy as emptying your wallet to feed his ramen addiction. They were both people that were easy to get along with, if for entirely opposite reasons. So when lunch was over and Kakashi had paid for Naruto's stack of ramen bowls, both of Sayaka's teammates had largely forgiven him.
Sayaka was not so quick to forgive. It was honestly fairly surprising that she got along with either of her two friends. So she made a distinct point to show up to team training the next day with a scarecrow purchased from the village shops. It had been easy enough for a girl of her skills to dress it up very similarly to their sensei. Carrying it to the little red bridge that Kakashi had specified was a little awkward, but only because a life-size scarecrow attracted quite a lot of attention.
"U-um, w-why are you carrying t-that?" Hinata asked softly as Sayaka set it down with a thunk.
"Motivation," Sayaka said, before helping herself to Hinata's thermos of tea.
Naruto showed up soon afterwards, and the trio spent a moment trying to wake up before getting to their feet to spar for lack of anything better to do. Sayaka had a suspicion that Kakashi would be late, again, if only to try and force the genin to get some training done early and ensure plenty of time for missions in the afternoon.
It was somewhat unnecessary. Hinata had known that Naruto and Sayaka trained frequently, but the sheer extent had surprised her.
"Show us that shadow clone you pulled out yesterday," Sayaka said as she set the scarecrow up in a clearing. "Is it really a forbidden technique?"
"Well, when I asked Gramps about it, he said the big thing was that it needed lots of chakra, and if you screwed it up you basically died instantly," said Naruto, raising his hands. "But of the ones on the list, it wasn't really the worst, so he sort of let it go."
Sayaka and Hinata gave each other looks of quiet horror but kept their silence as Naruto shouted: "SHADOW CLONE TECHNIQUE!"
The volume of the shout seemed to correlate with the number of clones, because the clearing was suddenly full of twenty Narutos, each getting in another's way.
"That's too many," Sayaka said. "Can you dismiss them?"
There was a cloud of smoke, that cleared to leave five Narutos, plus the original.
"So the shadow clone's basically like any other bunshin," Naruto explained, "except—"
"—you can totally transmit thoughts, like this," said another, "which is super weird—"
"—oh right Gramps said something about losing your mind too," one of the Narutos mentioned.
"—yeah yeah, but anyway, the point is that a shadow clone's different 'cause you can punch and hit things with it," finished Naruto. "So if clone-me takes out a kunai—"
The clone in question drew a knife and threw it at the Kakashi-scarecrow. It thunked into the lower abdomen.
"And then if he pops—"
The kunai disappeared with the clone, but the hole in the cloth remained.
"….interesting," said Sayaka. She sat down and crossed her legs, thinking. Then she twisted around to give Naruto a look of shock and exasperation. "Wait, losing your mind? What does that mean?"
"Oh, yeah, so, like, if you screw up dismissing the clones, apparently you might forget which one of you is the clone or something," said Naruto, rolling his eyes. "And some people's clones get all uppity about dying or something which is stupid but whatever I guess."
"You are completely insane," Sayaka pronounced. "This is a technique that causes insanity and death if misused, and you're acting like it's nothing special."
"Ehhhh but like, it's really not that hard?" Naruto said. "You just sort of go—"
He waved his hand and two more clones appeared, striking poses.
Sayaka groaned and buried her face in her hands. Hinata very carefully didn't say anything and activated her Byakugan.
"The clones have a chakra system j-just like Naruto's," she said. "It is an exact replica."
"They can mould chakra then."
"Yes."
"Well then, we should spar," said Sayaka, standing and brushing her skirt off.
Hinata stepped aside as Sayaka slipped into a ready stance.
Naruto grinned. "Ready?"
"Try to come up with a plan this time," said Sayaka. "Instead of just tackling me."
"Alright, if you're sure!"
The spar began with Naruto and two of his clones leading charge straight down the middle. The other three circled around, trying to form a classic hammer and anvil formation. Sayaka pursed her lips and deepened her stance. Then, as Naruto closed for a punch, Sayaka jumped over him.
It wasn't like Naruto's taijutsu was even that bad anymore. He was still unlearning years of bad habits, but he was a credible threat to Sayaka—if she wasn't trying. He still telegraphed his hits far, far too much. Naruto sailed underneath her, yelping as he tumbled into the ground, then yelped again as Sayaka's practice kunai beaned him in the skull. The other two clones managed to dodge, so Sayaka only had enough time to bring her arms up before the clones were attacking her.
It required a little work to actually emerge unscathed, slipping to the side here and ducking there, before she was able to trip one of the clones and slam her knee into the back of its head. It popped with a yelp, and Sayaka turned to smack the second clone with a roundhouse but ducked a practice kunai instead.
Hmm. Three clones, and Naruto, was definitely a problem.
"Time!" Sayaka called, ducking to the side. "I yield."
Naruto blinked at her. "What? Why? We didn't even get to do anything!"
Sayaka twitched a shoulder. "Four of you is hard. I don't want to use Dragon Fire on you."
Naruto frowned, dismissing his clones, then cocked his head, before finally breaking into a grin. "I guess I'm finally a match for you, huh Sayaka?"
Sayaka snorted. "In your dreams. Go fight Hinata."
The spar against the Gentle Fist was much more decisive. Hinata popped the clones with ease, flitting back and forth like a butterfly on the breeze. It was impossible for Naruto to catch her, if only because every time he did she would paralyze a limb.
"Jeez, Hinata-chan, your taijutsu hurts," Naruto said, rubbing his arm as Hinata unblocked his tenketsu and feeling slowly returned to his fingers. After a moment, he flexed them and turned to her with a smile. "It really is amazing how easy you make it look."
Hinata flushed and ducked her head. "T-thank you, Naruto-kun."
"Arara, you're all very busy this morning," Kakashi said, crouched on a nearby tree branch. The jounin gave them all a very deep, considering look, then glanced at the scarecrow. "Ne, Sayaka, is that supposed to be me?"
"Yes," said Sayaka, folding her arms. "I was hoping to light it on fire sometime today."
"Maa, well, I suppose that's fair," Kakashi said, swinging down from his tree. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, then seemed to reach a decision and sat down. "Well, kids, take a seat."
There were a series of raised eyebrows, but the genin complied.
"There are some things that we need to talk about," Kakashi began. "I mentioned yesterday that Team Seven was assembled because your instructors noticed that you three might work well together. I am pleased to say that your performance has confirmed this. Do you understand why this was such a strong factor in your team placement?"
The three of them glanced at each other, then shook their heads.
Kakashi nodded. "I thought not. As you know, missions are always run in teams. The Hokage assigns missions to ninja based on what he knows of their abilities and how good they are at working together. To do well, a team must have trust in each other's abilities and their judgment, and be familiar with how every other member works and thinks. This is something that you three already have. Somewhat."
Sayaka, Naruto, and Hinata looked at each other again. It was true that they knew each other well and had trained together frequently. Or rather, Sayaka was constantly training, Naruto never turned down a chance to train, and Hinata was always along for the ride.
"Is it really so important?" Sayaka asked. "There are other teams not like us."
"They will learn, eventually," said Kakashi. "You have a small advantage, but it is not enough. A team needs more than familiarity with each other to be successful. In battle, your team is the most important thing in your life. You eat together, sleep together, fight together, and, if it comes to it, you will die together. This means that you must have absolute trust in each other."
He paused.
"Yesterday, I was very harsh on you," he said after a moment. "It will not get much better from here. Now that you are part of my squad, my goal is to make sure that all four of us succeed as a team. I am your squad leader, and your superior in skill and experience, and so it falls to me to lead and to teach you. I want you to trust and depend on me, as I will trust and depend on you. Is that understood?"
The three genin looked at each other again. It was a very serious talk for something that, to them, seemed not terribly serious. But it seemed important to Kakashi, so…
"Yes, sensei," the three of them said together.
"Good," said Kakashi. He pulled out a scroll and unfurled it onto the ground. "Today we will conduct several different trust exercises. After yesterday, I expect you are all either slightly afraid of me or want to burn my corpse in effigy." He paused to eye Sayaka. "But, sensei is here to help you, not to hurt you, so we will begin there."
"Have you ever learned how to jump off a building?"
Kakashi's method of building trust between the team and himself apparently involved each member jumping off of higher and higher objects and trusting that he would catch them. At first it had been very silly, and Sayaka had been treated to the slightly absurd sight of Hinata dangling from Kakashi's hands, toes just clear of the water underneath the bridge that she had just jumped off of.
Sayaka had to admit that it was very hard to allow herself to fall without even trying to brace for the landing. It had gotten worse when Kakashi had her fall backwards off of the bridge, and for a brief moment she was sure that Kakashi was going to miss, but then a pair of very strong arms had plucked her from the air and carried her princess-style back to the bank.
That had made her feel very weird.
The next step was apparently to jump off of the tallest tree in the area. It was over three stories high, just enough that it would break her legs if she landed wrong, and definitely way too high for her to want to jump off of and trust in the mercies of someone else.
So Kakashi had taught them how to use their chakra to disperse the energy of landing and how to orient themselves to land properly. It had involved him ferrying them up to the lower branches and having them drop off backwards, twisting in midair, and then landing as gently as possible. It wasn't the most difficult thing in the world, and both Hinata and Sayaka had picked it up easily. Naruto had more trouble because of his poor chakra control, and he had a tendency to blow up the ground on landing.
"On the one hand," Kakashi had said dryly after the fifth explosion. "That's probably a useful combat technique. On the other hand, you'll end up telling everyone within five hundred meters where you are. So let's try again."
In the end, all of them had mastered the technique, which left them with only jumping off of the top of the tree and waiting for Kakashi to catch them.
"Are you ready?" Kakashi called up to Sayaka.
"Yes," Sayaka called back, trying very hard to pretend that this was fine and she wasn't scared.
"On your own time."
Sayaka took a deep breath, counted to three, then jumped backwards off the tree. Just enough force to get her clear of the branches, but not enough to launch her into the next one. Then came the fall and the rush of wind and Sayaka was getting very sure that the ground was right there—
Kakashi's arms wrapped around her like an iron vice and she stifled a squeak as they landed softly on the ground.
"There, not so bad, right?" Kakashi asked as he gently let her down. "Are you alright?"
Sayaka swallowed and straightened her skirt. "Yes, sensei."
"Did you have fun?"
Sayaka made a kind of strangled noise.
"Good enough," said Kakashi with a chuckle before patting her on the head. "Who should go next, do you think? Hinata?"
"Maybe Naruto," Sayaka said.
"Ah. Good choice."
And so it had continued until lunch, and Sayaka did actually find jumping off of the tree kind of fun. They transitioned eventually to landing on their own, then from tree to tree, which had rapidly turned into tree-hopping tag, which was a little dangerous because if they slipped it would hurt a lot,but they stayed out of the high trees and they weren't very fast yet, so the worst that would happen was a very large bruise.
"Alright, go get lunch," said Kakashi after they had finished for the morning. "Today was pretty light, so don't get used to it. We'll do a few D-ranks this afternoon, and then tomorrow we'll try something different."
"Yes sensei," the three genin chorused.
Kakashi smiled at them, then disappeared in a whirl of leaves. There was a moment of silence as the breeze carried the leaves away.
"I feel like a dog," Naruto remarked.
"Same."
"M-me too."
"Onigiri?" Sayaka asked. "We had ramen yesterday."
"Sure," said Naruto. "You okay with that, Hinata-chan?"
"Y-yes."
"Cool! Then let's go get some food."
