A/N: I told you it would be longer. Course, that's longer by my standards. Some writers are like 'sorry this chapter's only thirty thousand words lol' and I'm like 'how did you-that's half a novel!' Anyway...


Two Bells One Sensei

The next day.

"Okay, this is ridiculous." Naruto growled to himself, pacing outside the entrance to training ground 27. "It's ten thirty! He should have been here ages ago!"

"Two hours thirty minutes ago, yeah." Sasuke grumbled, laying on the floor. "And he warned us not to eat breakfast. This is planned."

"You know a bunch of ninja. Do any of them remember doing this extra test?" Naruto asked his friend. Sasuke frowned. "Not that I've asked. But now that I think about it, Itachi has been smiling suspiciously ever since I mentioned Kakashi was my Sensei..."

Hinata tuned the Uchiha's voice out. She was technically sat facing away from the two, but convenient 360 Byakugan vision meant she could still watch Naruto's face as he was complaining.

"So what's this then, teaching us to not listen to him? Teaching us how to be unprepared?"

"Actually..." Sasuke pondered. "He might just be fucking with us."

"...That son of a-"

"I brought bentos." Hinata said, softly, cutting off Naruto's complaining.

"You...what?"

"Lunch." Hinata simplified. "I didn't eat breakfast either, but I brought lunch in case we were busy all day. If it's an emergency we can have it now."

She had, admittedly, only brought two bento boxes, one for her and Naruto, but the Uchiha was probably lying about not eating. Hinata was willing to bet his older brother had told him all about this bell test and he was playing dumb to fit in. It must be nice to have an older brother.

Naruto was about to accept her offer but there was a whirl of leaves and Kakashi finally showed up. "I wouldn't use your alternative method of passing just yet if I were you." He called to them, sounding bored.

"You!" Naruto yelled, getting to his feet. "Why are you so late! It's been, uh-"

"Two and a half hours." Hinata supplied.

"Two and a half hours!" Naruto finished. "Thanks Hinata, Sensei what were you doing?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Good question actually. You see I was on my way here when an army of squirrels arrived and-"

"Can we skip this and get to the exam part?" Sasuke called. He still hadn't gotten up.

"Sure." Kakashi replied, strolling through the entrance to the training ground. "Follow me."

The training ground was very similar to plenty of other training grounds, with dummies lined up in a row, a copse of trees, and a river running through it. Kakashi stopped somewhere in between all these landmarks and pulled something out of his pocket. They jingled.

"Bells?" Naruto asked, confused.

Kakashi nodded. "Two of them. You have until midday to get them from me. Use whatever methods you feel you need to. Begin." He clipped the bells to his belt and pulled out a book.

Team seven stood there for a moment, confused.

"So do we just..." Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who shrugged.

"Well alright then." Naruto made a hand seal. "Lets do this thing! Multi shadow clone jutsu!" Suddenly, there were a whole lot more Naruto.


Kakashi glanced upwards from his book to see about fifty orange-clad headaches running towards him. He considered a handful of methods of neutralising the attack, but eventually went with the simplest. He went back down to his book as his spare hand drew a kunai. As the Narutos moved towards him, he began a rhythmic thrusting motion with the knife. The first ten or so popped because he just had a longer reach. The next twenty or so came in with flying punches and kicks, without realising that he could just stab their hands and feet to dispel them. The last dozen surrounded him and jumped at him all at once, from different directions. He stabbed a bit faster and took one step to the left. The shouting and 'poof's stopped, so he holstered the kunai and looked up. "Did I not make myself clear? You're free to attack me now."


Naruto was in shock. "He's...a bit stronger than Mizuki." He acknowledged.

Sasuke let out a breath. "Hinata." He addressed the girl. "I know you're good at taijutsu. I might be able to help if I can-"

"I don't need your help, Uchiha." She spat. Sasuke blinked, surprised, as she sprinted forwards, bee-lining for Kakashi. Then he scowled. "Alright then. You can be the distraction instead." Sasuke turned to Naruto. "I've changed my mind. I'd rather date Ino than her." He started running too, leaving a flustered Naruto behind.

Hinata came up on Kakashi fast, showing impressive speed for someone her size. She landed in front of Kakashi in a perfect gentle fist stance, launching her hand forward to Kakashi's head, two fingers brimming with chakra. Kakashi caught her by the wrist without looking up. Then Hinata pulsed chakra out the tenketsu on her wrist, right into Kakashi's palm. It should have completely numbed that hand, but instead Kakashi exploded into smoke. Hinata coughed and stepped backwards, and Sasuke halted a few metres behind her.

"Shadow clone." Sasuke growled. "I'm starting to hate that technique. You can't tell the difference?"

"No." She glared at him, like she was angry he'd dared question her abilities, and began walking in a random direction. Or...was it random?

"Can you see him?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes."

"What are you doing now then?"

"I'm going to get the bells."

She accelerated to a run.

"Hinata, wait!" She stopped.

Sasuke turned to Naruto, who had jogged up. Oh, so she'll listen to him.

"We can't just keep running at him one after the other!" He explained. "We're just genin and he's a jonin, he'll just keep stopping us."

"You're saying I'm not strong enough?" Hinata's voice was testy.

"I mean...yeah, pretty much."

Hinata looked like she'd just been slapped in the face with a wet fish.

"He's a jonin." Naruto repeated. "He could probably have taken us all out without us noticing, even if we were prepared for it. So, we've gotta get better. Better means we need a good Jonin-Sensei, which means we need to get the bells, which means we need to work together. Duh."

Hinata paused. Sasuke looked on in awe. The talk no jutsu...I'd only heard rumours.

Eventually Hinata blushed and nodded. "Alright. What's the plan?"


Kakashi was having a lovely morning. Jiraiya's new volume was superb, tying up multiple plot threads from his previous works. The bit he was at; five of the main characters were trapped in the same room, and things seemed to be building to a (he sniggered internally) climax.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like he was going to get a chance to start the next chapter as the kiddies were making another attempt. He sighed and made a note of the page. A glint was all that could be discerned before a trio of kunai came hurtling out of the forest edge towards him. Sasuke's work, probably, Kakashi seemed to recall his elder brother being fond of throwing techniques. The spray was wide, the centre kunai going straight for him but the other two going to pass by on either side. An inexperienced ninja might think that was just to stop him dodging, but Kakashi was not an inexperienced ninja. He plucked the first kunai out of the air and swung it, severing the razor wire tied between the outer two knives and leaving them to fly harmlessly to either side. By that point, Sasuke had leapt from the forest and completed a very familiar set of hand seals, making Kakashi's eye widen in surprise. He can do that already?

"Great fireball jutsu!" The boy called, before launching an impressive burst of flame at the copy ninja. He could have dodged (it was a slow technique) if not for the two kunai that had passed him dispelling their transformation jutsu as both appeared as Naruto. Both orange clad ninja had their hands in position to call out "Shadow clone jutsu!" And summon a good dozen more miniature menaces. The original two Naruto continued to fly away, but the new copies hadn't inherited the momentum and formed a semicircle around the back of Kakashi, readying to throw their own kunai, and that great fireball was getting worryingly close.

Kakashi sighed, dropped the kunai in his hand, and started forming hand seals. At which point that kunai, the first that had been thrown, transformed back into Hinata, who, as she was falling, snatched the bells from a preoccupied Kakashi's belt, and flung them away. Kakashi finished his jutsu, producing a dome of wind that should counteract the fire and any more thrown knives, and then the original two Naruto finished the hand seals for their "Substitution jutsu!" And both the bells and Hinata appeared on the other side of the clearing. The original two Naruto, now sat inside the wind dome with Kakashi, grinned sheepishly. He popped both clones, annoyed, as Hinata grabbed the bells and took off towards the edge of the forest with them.

The whole affair had taken no more than five seconds.


Hinata's heart fluttered as the real Naruto walked out of the forest. He'd been frustrated that after a few iterations of the plan, he hadn't actually been there in person, but he was grinning from ear to ear now. She loved to see him smile. "We did it!" She cried, separating the two bells and tossing one to him. Sasuke walked up, trying to control his happy expression but failing.

"Hell yeah! Go team seven!" Naruto was cheering, elated, turning back to Kakashi and shouting "how's that for your bell test, ya big lazy...uh..."

"Ninja?" Sasuke supplied.

"Yeah! Big lazy ninja!"

Kakashi walked up, clapping. "Well done. Excellent example of how basic jutsu can be used to great effect if used intelligently. I guess that means Naruto and Hinata pass."

There was a pause while the trio contemplated that.

"..and Sasuke?" Naruto ventured. Kakashi smiled. "Oh no. You see there are two bells, which means only two of you get to pass."

"What?" Naruto exclaimed. "That's not fair!"

"The numbers seem to add up to me." Kakashi replied, shrugging. "But if you want to trade those around, change who gets to pass, go head. Or you could fight for them, that's always fun."

Hinata was on edge. On one hand, this was ideal. Just her and Naruto, without the Uchiha getting in the way. On the other, said Uchiha was also on edge, and eyeing both her and Naruto very carefully. Don't try it. She thought. Don't you dare.

Then there was a jingle. Hinata watched, mouth agape, as Naruto flung his bell across to Sasuke, who caught it on reflex with a look just as surprised as Hinata's. "Naruto." She whispered. "What are you-"

"Don't worry about me!" He said in a too cheerful voice. "You two are the best in the class, big fancy clans and all. It's probably best if you both go forwards without me."

Hinata knew the smile Naruto was sprouting, as one of his hands moved to scratch the back of his neck in embarrassment. She had seen it all too often from him. It meant he wasn't actually happy, but was pretending to stop the people around him from being sad for his sake. Hinata hated that look. Hated it hated it hated it.

"No!" She interrupted, rushing up and pressing her bell into his hands, then jumping away before he could try to give it back. "You want to be Hokage, remember?" She told him. "I won't let you squander that dream!"

Then she flicked her hand up in front of her face on reflex, as her Byakugan spotted a projectile coming towards her. The bell in her hand jingled. "What-"

"Go ahead." Said Sasuke, his hands empty. "I have Itachi and the rest of my clan to train me if I need to. You two are orphans. You need this opportunity more than I do."

Hinata practically snarled, and started walking back to him with the bell outstretched. "Don't pity me Uchiha, I don't need this to-"

"Well then." Kakashi's voice cut across the burgeoning argument between the three. "This is very funny to watch, but I'm going to cut it short. Seems to me like you can't decide, which leaves me with one option. All three of you-"

They tensed.

"Pass!"


Aww, look at their excited little faces. I'm getting cavities. Kakashi watched the three of them start celebrating again. "Rest assured." He cut in. "If you had decided selfishly who got the bells, I wouldn't have passed any of you. Always remember: those who fail to complete their missions are trash. But those who abandon their teammates are worse than trash."

"So the whole point of there being two bells was just to set us against each other?" Sasuke confirmed.

"That's right."

"Fuck you!"

"Language." Kakashi cautioned, shaking a finger. "And remember not to get too cocky that you 'beat a jonin'. If I'd jumped those three kunai, it wouldn't have worked. If I'd used any element that wasn't transparent for my defence, it wouldn't have worked. If I'd been a shadow clone, which you already knew I could do, it wouldn't have worked."

"...But it did." Naruto hedged.

"Kiddo, Haircut does not keep his kunai as perfectly clean as your transformed versions were. I knew what you were doing. It worked because I let it work."

"Aww."

Kakashi turned. "Actual missions and training begin tomorrow. Ciao." He vanished in a swirl of petals.

"Welp." Naruto clapped his hands together. "That was a thing, and now I'm hungry. Hey Hinata, didn't you say you had, uh..."

She inclined her head, blushing a little. "Yes, Naruto. We can eat the bentos."

She even shared some with Sasuke.


Later that evening

"You passed the bell test?" Itachi asked, incredulously. "I've never doubted you, but you know Kakashi's never actually passed anyone, right?"

"As expected of our son." Said Fugaku, the Uchiha clan head. "Could you pass the potatoes please?"

This wasn't a celebratory dinner, Sasuke had already had one of those for making genin and it wouldn't do for him to get a big head, but it was still one of his favourite meals.

"So you do know about my crazy Sensei." Sasuke pointed a fork at his big brother. "When were you planning on telling me he'd try to make me betray my teammates?"

"Never." Said Itachi between mouthfuls, refusing to be guilted. "You'd have made it, or failed, on your own merit. The Uchiha way, or something."

"Speaking of teammates, who have you been put with?" Asked their father. "They will be your partners until you make chunin, and many teams remain close long after that. It's important that you're paired with suitable individuals."

"Of course. I believe we will work well together." Sasuke replied, waiting for his father to take a drink. "One is Hyuuga Hinata."

Fugaku spat his drink across the table and broke into a coughing fit.

"Are you alright, father?" Sasuke asked, innocently.

"Yes, I only...the last Hyuuga?" Fugaku managed, taking another drink to clear his cough.

"Yes. And Uzumaki Naruto."

Fugaku sprayed even more water over the table, prompting his wife to move over and begin patting his back.

"Sounds like a good combination." Said Itachi, impassively, helping himself to some peas.

"Out of all the-" Their father got over his coughing fit. "Sasuke, I will go and speak with the Hokage. I'm sure I can arrange your movement to a different team."

"That won't be necessary father." Sasuke replied, trying to sound forceful. "Me and Naruto..." he failed to accurately describe their relationship. "...get along. Hinata is a bit contentious, but has proven we can work together."

"But, but," (this was the most flustered Sasuke had seen his father in a long time.) "The Uzumaki brat? Why was he even allowed to graduate?"

"You're going to have to explain why everyone hates him, or Sasuke's going to stay best friends with him on principle." Itachi chipped in.

"But the Hyuuga girl!" Fugaku changed tack. "Her cousin murdered her entire clan, cousin from her father's twin, they're practically siblings! Even if she doesn't snap, when she grows up she's going to restore the Hyuuga's influence and wrest it from our own clan!"

"ohyeahwhat'reyougonnadolaunchacoupd'etat?" Itachi murmured into his glass.

Fugaku managed to avoid another coughing fit. "A-Anyway. Her interests are diametrically opposed to yours. Watch out for her."

"Actually, that might not be the case." Sasuke's mother spoke up. "It might be possible to...bring her around to our side."

"How do you mean?" Asked Sasuke, but Itachi had already caught on.

"Mother has a point, Sasuke." He said, smiling. "She's a very pretty young girl, and you've reportedly seduced a lot of the girls in your class already."

Sasuke went red. "Itachi, stop. I already changed my mind about her."

"Changed your mind?" His mother chipped in. "How did you feel before?"

Sasuke buried his face in his hands. "I was joking with Naruto, I hate you both. Father, save me."

Fugaku, even more horrifyingly, was actually thinking about it. "It would neutralise the threat quite elegantly." He mused. "And I've always been curious what would happen if the two bloodline limits were combined. Your children-"

"Enough!" Sasuke shouted. "I am going to great fireball all of you!"

"No jutsu at the dinner table Sasuke!"


Fight!Fight!Fight! Yeah, they actually succeeded. Not a small reason for that is Hinata's competence (Also I love This show's strategic fights.) And some more Uchiha family dynamic, which I wanted to include.

To those of you who mentioned characters being a bit OOC...yeah. All three members of team seven have led different lives up to this point. Even Naruto has had at least one friend, which if nothing else has boosted his ability to talk in coherent sentences