They were the first to be back. Only Sasuke and Sakura were in the training area, quietly talking to each other. Neither Morino nor Naruto made any secret of their return, and they were spotted as soon as they walking into the clearing. Sakura glared at him, whereas Sasuke just stared with mild interest. Interest, Naruto noticed, that was solely focussed on him.

He grinned, locking eyes with Sasuke and it took another few moments before Sasuke realised his stare was answered with a lot more intensity. Sasuke gained a small, suppressed smile when he noticed the returned attention, but quickly broke eye contact after that. Naruto cocked his head, not really sure what to make of the smile, but it made him giddy. He felt happy that Sasuke didn't seem to mind being defeated by him with relative ease. Naruto would've hated it for his new toy to be so easily riled. He much prefered slowly working in the animosity himself. You know, give actual good reasons and not just the weak 'I don't like you because you're stronger than me' motivation.

Sarutobi and Kakashi returned at the same time, along with Jiraya and Tsunade. Jiraya made eye contact with Naruto and grinned guiltily at seeing the boy. He had just spent ten minutes being berated because he used such overpowered moves when it had been a test to see how strong Naruto was. Needless to say, if it had been anyone but Naruto there was a good chance the first attack would have killed. Something that was definitely not in the planned course of action. Naruto's clothing were still stained with blood, not to mention they were ripped where the rock had cut into him. Jiraya would need to buy him some new clothing.

"Morino, could you please join us?" Sarutobi called out. Morino nodded and started to walk over, Naruto right on his heels. "Naruto, could you please wait somewhere else?" Kakashi asked when he saw the boy follow. Naruto gave a nod and a smile and let his eyes wander around the area. There wasn't a lot to distract himself with, so he went for the obvious option, Sasuke and Sakura. Mainly Sasuke. He grinned and slowly made his way to them. They were still having a conversation, until Sakura noticed his approach and she fell silent. Sasuke followed her glare and looked at Naruto as well. He crossed his arms and kind-of-but-not-completely stepped in front of Sakura to guard her.

"Hiya!" Naruto greeted, holding up one hand, blue happiness shimmering in his eye.

"What do you want?" Sakura snapped at him. She really had no interest in interacting with this murderer.

"Nothing much. Morino-san is busy, so I thought we could talk a little. I'm curious about our classmates. Care to fill me in?" He asked with a cheeky grin. It was enough for Sasuke to drop his guard a little by letting his arms fall to his sides. Sakura, on the other hand, crossed her arms and turned away in a huff.

"Including us three, nine have graduated and made it through the final test. Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, Hinata, Kiba and Shino made it as well. Because you weren't there, they couldn't make three three-man-teams, so I got placed with team Guy, containing Neji, TenTen and Lee, who graduated a year before us. Sakura was placed with Kiba, Shino and Hinata." Sasuke said, just stating facts.

"I met Ino." Naruto said. He got two curious looks, one masked in indifference and the other thinly veiled in disgust. "Yeah, when Morino-san was walking me out of the department. She and her father were on the way in. I like him, Inoichi-san. It was always nice to talk with him. They went to interrogate the man I just broke into confession. That was fun. It's not often I get to play like that." Naruto said with a fond smile on his face, reminiscing the scene as he had made it play out. "Oh, but don't worry. There's no need to break either of you. I'm still going to play with you, just... differently..." Naruto's focus drifted, leaving him staring blankly in front of him.

Not wanting a clearer picture, neither of them said anything in return. Instead, Sasuke steered the conversation in a different direction. "Why didn't you get out of the way of Jiraya? Even you should have seen the danger that the Rasengan would be."

Naruto nodded, thinking about his mini-breakdown just before their attacks collided. He looked at his hand again. A little too long, it seemed, because Sasuke spoke up again. "Hey, you alright?" He waved his hand in front of Naruto's face, trying to break his stare. Naruto blinked and looked up with a big smile. "I figured I could take it!" He yelled cockily, clenching the hand he had been staring at into a fist. Both Sakura and Sasuke sweat dropped, but didn't get a chance to respond further.

"Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto, come here, please!" Kakashi called them over. They walked over, Sasuke and Sakura behind Naruto, almost looking like they were flanking him as a royal guard would. He grinned at the thought. Maybe he should be gunning for Hokage or something? But no, just the idea of the paperwork involved was enough to set him off that path again. Well, it was good having considered it, even if it just lasted a second. Never shut a door on yourself, right?

They stopped a few feet in front of Kakashi. "We've decided to change the last test. There isn't a lot more value in just seeing your skill. Instead, we will do another type of test." Kakashi held up two bells. "You three will each need to get a bell from me in order to pass this test. There will be a special reward for each of you if you succeed."

"Really? What do we get?" Naruto asked. Having been practically raised on rewards for jobs well done, he loved this.

"That will be a surprise." Kakashi answered. Naruto scowled. He didn't like secrets when it meant something being kept from him. The other way around was, of course, completely fine.

"What about the one who doesn't get a bell?" Sakura asked. As expected, she was the one to call out that little detail.

Kakashi grinned, the mischievous evilness of it reaching his uncovered eye, almost impressing Naruto. "You'll be doing D-rank missions for a month, with the Tora the Cat missions saved especially for you!" He said happily. It would solve a great deal of reluctant and battered Genin if they were to be able to ship off that particular mission for a short time. Sakura and Sasuke both took half a step back in horror, sharing a glance in which they reached the silent agreement that they were going to work together to avoid such a horrible fate. In the face of such a horrible fate self-preservation was the only thing that mattered. Throwing Naruto under the bus, since he was technically still a Genin and he had no experience in doing missions, wasn't that much of an evil act, was it? It would be a good experience for him...

Most people who had watched the first two tests didn't return, having their curiosity satisfied or having prior engagements to that kept them from returning. This meant it felt like a lot less pressure was leaning down on Naruto, and a lot more freedom to act like a maniacal lunatic should he feel like that. The grin this produced made Kakashi wonder whether it was a good idea to pitch himself against the blond, but he didn't really have the option of backing out anymore.

"Time limit is one hour. Go when I call start..." He looked at all three and thought about how everything could have gone if Naruto hadn't been imprisoned and the three in front of him would have been his students four years ago. Would he have been able to handle it? "And start!"

Sasuke and Sakura disappeared, but Naruto just stood there with that blasted grin. Kakashi could practically see the plan form in those glinting eyes and he braced himself for what was to come. He blinked, and in that short moment all trace of Naruto disappeared. Literally. Kakashi wasn't the most examplerary when it came to sensing chakra, but he was good enough to know he could rely on it. Now, however, he didn't even sense a lingering trail of chakra from Naruto. The volatile nature and the constant flux Naruto's chakra seemed to be in was almost impossible to hide, so what had he done and where was he?

Kakashi uncovered his eye, knowing that if not for Naruto, Sasuke was enough reason to go full power. And even Sakura would be able to cause him problems if she got the drop on him. He couldn't deny her strength when it came down to it. All she needed was an opening to land a punch and he would be floored. Not out, but definitely floored.

Sharingan blazing, he carefully studied his surroundings, identifying disadvantages and advantages for himself. He moved to the middle of the field, where a lone tree was standing strong and he used that as a cover for his back. In his movement, the bells gave a reassuring ring and he sensed Sasuke. As expected from the genius Uchiha prodigy, he was already in action, making his way to a very well hidden chakra signature belonging to Sakura.

The were close enough to be at least aware of each other's presence, but it was more likely Sasuke and Sakura were talking to each other. A short flare in both their chakra, almost at the same time, indicated an emotional response of some sort, but was covered up so fast Kakashi didn't have the time to interpret it.

Sasuke made his way to the other side of him and Sakura took a spot in front of him, both still hidden in the woods and dividing his attention into two fronts. And after that... they didn't move anymore. Kakashi wondered if they were trying to lure him to either of them so the other had more chance of sneaking up on him, but with the time limit in place that would be wasting precious time they didn't have a lot of.

After a few minutes Kakashi's eyes widened when he realised the chakra signatures weren't moving. At all. There was no natural ebbing and flowing in the chakra, no small lapses in control and no spikes. Just one, long, equal, unnatural signature. There was also no wind and Kakashi was sure it was definitely not a windless day. He took a step closer, trying to focus on Sakura's chakra and getting a better read on it.

Suddenly he was face to face with Naruto. He stood so close to him, their faces were almost touching. Kakashi jumped back and up, into the tree behind him. "Yo, Naruto. I lost track of you there for a sec." He sheepishly greeted the grinning boy.

"Oh, I know." Naruto responded. He was looking up at Kakashi without blinking, unnerving the man. Why did it always seem like the blond was in perfect control of the situation, even when he barely seemed to be able to control himself?

Naruto took a few steps back so he wouldn't have to look straight up anymore and held up the two bells while grinning. "What?" Kakashi looked at his belt, but the little bells were indeed gone. "When did you get them?"

"The first time you heard them chime, they were no longer yours but became mine." Naruto smiled. "Hey, that rhymed, nice." He giggled.

"What about Sakura and Sasuke?" Surely nothing happened to them in the few minutes that had passed.

"Well... " Naruto waved his hand through the air, and it seemed to shimmer for a second. The wind was back, the sun seemed to be a lot further into the day, about an hour or so, and Sasuke and Sakura were right next to Naruto. Sasuke in his classic pose of crossed arms and turned away to the side a little and Sakura alternating between glaring at Naruto and glancing at Sasuke. "Truth be told, I was bored, so I kinda put a Genjutsu on you before you even uncovered your red eye. The moment I disappeared, to be exact. After Sakura and Sasuke took their places, I looped that moment in time for you so we could do whatever we wanted without you noticing. Granted, I already had the bells and was just messing with them and you, but hey, I had fun so... Yeah, all good." He took the bells apart and gave one to each, before he sat down, stretched and continued to lay down, arms and legs spread and soaking in the sun. "Ah... the sun is so nice. I really missed it." He said closing his eyes.

"Well, this went... a little too easy..." Kakashi commented.

Naruto looked up. "I know, right? It's like you didn't even try! How are you a Kage with how lazy you are?" Naruto sat up and winked at Kakashi with a cheeky smile.

"Sure... that was it... Well, let's blatantly ignore that comment and go back to the test. Are you sure you're giving the bells away to your teammates and getting the punishment all by your lonesome?" Kakashi asked.

"You're asking me if I would pass an opportunity to wander around the village under the cover of doing missions instead of being confined somewhere yet again? Yeah, I'm going for option B in this case. Look how pale I am! I could use some time outside." There was a heavy sarcastic tone in his voice, leaving the three around him to wonder if he meant it and he was stating the obvious or he didn't mean it and still went through with it to 'save' his teammates.

Kakashi sighed. He didn't understand the appeal Sarutobi saw in this kid, honestly. He was complicated, difficult to understand and so utterly random it hurt sometimes. How was he ever going to become someone you could rely on in the face of danger, or when it came down to loyalty? He hoped Sasuke and Sakura would be able to build some kind of trust up with him in their team, but since Sarutobi already made up his mind, there was little he could do about it. "If that is your final answer, I guess you all made it." He said disheartenedly.

"What? I'm not gonna get missions?" The saddest of voices whispered, even able to pierce Kakashi's heart.

"N-no, you will, just not boring D-rank missions and chores..."

Naruto jumped up with a smile. "Nice!"

Morino and Sarutobi walked up to them, both with a smile. "Well, I guess you three are officially a team now. Naruto, here you go." Sarutobi held up a Hitai-ate, completely undamaged and attached to a black cloth. Naruto grabbed it and wrapped it around his forehead with a happy smile.

"Hmm, that doesn't look right at all..." Morino said, stepping up to Naruto and he took the Hitai-ate off of Naruto's head. Morino ignored the very hurt look in Naruto's eyes, and fought against a pang of guilt when Naruto actually cast his eyes down. The slump in his shoulders just made the guilt a little stronger. Naruto didn't want Morino to disapprove of him. Morino chuckled. This just proved how much Naruto valued loyalty and friendship. Relationships were precious to him, even if he had weird ways of showing it. Morino lifted Naruto's chin and smiled at him. He replaced the Hitai-ate on Naruto, but instead of placing it around his forehead, Morino tied it around his neck. "There, perfect!" He said, watching the sadness in Naruto's eyes warp to happiness and pride. Naruto hugged Morino, and Morino returned the hug with equal strength.

"You three are getting a few days to settle and train together and become a team. After that, report to me and we will get you on your first mission. Kakashi and I will further discuss what rank to assign to you, Naruto, so we will fill you in on that then too." He received nods from everyone. "Well, then, I'll be going. Will you join me, Kakashi? There is still paperwork to do." He chuckled at the defeated reaction from Kakashi and walked towards the Hokage tower.