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"Ok," Kakashi said as he leaned against the railing that surrounded the rooftop. "How about we start with some self-introductions?" Pointing at Naruto, he continued, "You first blondie."
"That doesn't really work sensei," Naruto said from his seat. "Elsa and I are both blondes."
The three young ninjas were sitting on a stone step in front of the jonin. Elsa was in between the two boys and was giving the man an unimpressed look.
"Hm, then what would you prefer?" Kakashi said thoughtfully, "goggles, whiskers, orange-wearing idiot?"
"How about my name, jerk?" Naruto growled back.
"How can I use your name when you haven't introduced yourself yet?" Kakashi said smugly.
Naruto grit his teeth in frustration at the comeback.
"Sensei," Elsa said politely, hoping to change the course of the conversation. "How would you like us to introduce ourselves." She wasn't happy with the man's rude behavior toward her friend, but she hoped that it was just because he was still upset at being forced to come to the school at swordpoint.
"Just some basic info," Kakashi answered in a bored tone, "you know, your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and I guess your name too."
"Fine, but you go first," Naruto said. "After all, we don't know anything about you either."
"Ok," Kakashi said, and then rubbed his chin like he was thinking. "Well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I like some things, and I dislike others. My hobbies aren't important, and my dreams for the future are none of your business."
"That was crap Kakashi-sensei, you didn't tell us anything other than your name," Naruto accused.
"Did I?" Kakashi said in fake wonder. "Whatever, I showed you how it's done so now you go, whiskers."
Naruto assumed a disgruntled posture for a moment before switching to a smile as he spoke, "The name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like Ramen and my friends. I don't like waiting, and my hobbies are training and taking care of my plants. My dream for the future is to…" he trailed off and the smile of his face dimmed before disappearing, after a moment he continued but with a much more subdued tone, "I want to be the best ninja I can be."
Elsa looked at Naruto suddenly; shock on her face. She was very familiar with what Naruto's dream had been, or at least she thought she was after listening to him talk about it so often. To hear him have the chance and not say he was going to be the Hokage was jarring and confirmed her suspicions from when she saw him with his headband on his arm. She watched Naruto and saw his eyes flit to her before suddenly his smile returned and he said boisterously.
"Which of course means that I will be the Hokage because he is the best ninja in the village."
When he finished he flashed her a grin as if he had just been playing a prank, but Elsa was familiar with her friend's emotions. Something had been bothering him when he thought about his dreams and he was now trying to cover it up.
"It must be leftover from what happened with Mizuki," Elsa thought, "he still feels guilty about the mistake he made."
Elsa still remembered the emotions she had seen on his face when she had come to his apartment yesterday. She wished there was more that she could do to assuage the burden that her friend must be feeling but she and Sasuke had already forgiven him. Now, it was up to him to forgive himself.
"Alright, snowball, you're up."
Elsa's eyes widened at the nickname. She locked eyes with the man leaning on the railing. They had a brief staring match where she looked for an explanation in his gaze. Eventually, she found it and it was as clear as if he had said it out loud.
"I know"
Taking a deep breath Elsa pushed aside the old anxiety she felt about her special powers. She had finally gained control of them as she trained to use her chakra. After all, that was what they were, another form of chakra for her to learn how to use. Now, unless she got worked up, it was easy to keep the icy energy reigned in. If her teacher wanted to poke fun at that so be it. Straightening up, Elsa introduced herself with a proper and respectful tone.
"My name is Elsa Oldenburg. I like my friends and my neighbors here in Konoha, and of course my family in Arendelle. I dislike rudeness, after all, proper manners don't cost you a thing. My hobbies include training and cooking, though I am still very inexperienced, and my dream for the future is to help people."
When she finished she watched her new sensei in an attempt to gauge his reaction to her. It was like trying to tell what emotions a brick wall was having, he must have let her see what he was thinking when she had met his eyes before.
"Nice one," Naruto said, giving her a thumbs up.
She looked at him with a smile of thanks for his compliment.
"Ok last up is small, dark, and stoic over there." Kakashi motioned to Sasuke for him to begin.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I like people who are kind, and I dislike people who are threats to those I care about. My dream for the future is to rebuild the Uchiha clan. I don't have any hobbies, other than training, I guess." He said all this in a very flat tone of voice. It was the usual way he spoke to people he was unfamiliar with, only showing his emotions to his close friends.
"Ok," Kakashi said, clapping his hands together and wrinkling his eyes in a way that suggested he was smiling. "Now that we got through that, finally" he looked askance at Naruto as he said the last word, prompting the boy to stick his tongue out at the man. "I can let you know that we will formally begin your training tomorrow morning with a survival exercise."
"Cool," Naruto said, "what will we be surviving?"
"Me," Kakashi said, any good nature he had been showing disappeared from his voice.
"What do you mean sensei?" Elsa asked, doing her best to hide the twinge of nervousness at the way he spoke.
"Well, I don't want to tell you too much. You might chicken out after all."
"Hey don't look down on us," Naruto said.
"Fine, if you must know the exam you took at the academy was only the first step on the process of becoming a ninja. You will now be taking a second test administered by your assigned jounin instructor. This test has a fail rate of 66%. Meaning that out of the twenty-seven students to pass, only nine are expected to stay in teams and be taught by a jounin. The rest will be sent back to the academy for additional training." He gave all this information in a deadly serious voice. "You will come to the training ground at 7:00 AM tomorrow for the exercise. Also as a bit of advice, don't eat breakfast, you will just throw it up."
When he finished giving them the information Kakashi hopped over the railing he had been leaning on and disappeared in a blur. The three friends looked at each other and their faces hardened with determination.
"Let's go to my place," Elsa said, "we can discuss what to do during the test tomorrow."
The two boys nodded in agreement and the team left together.
"Hmm, how interesting," Kakashi mumbled to himself from his hidden vantage point.
Normally a newly formed team has trouble coming together to plan because the teammates lack trust in each other. When the Hokage had told Kakashi that he would be getting a team that was already well-developed in their teamwork he hadn't expected anything other than the fact that they were friendly with each other. As he thought about his new charges he pondered what he had learned from each of their introductions.
Naruto was still upset with himself about being tricked by Mizuki. All the reports on the jinchuriki of the nine-tails showed that he was a boisterous and self-assured youth. But he took his bonds to his friends very seriously. He felt that he had betrayed them so he was now beginning to doubt himself. That self-doubt could be a good thing, helping him to become more thoughtful and cautious as he moved forward in his ninja career. If it festered, however, it could stunt his progress and even weaken the seal for the creature he held. The studies of the matrix on his stomach had revealed that it was tied directly to the boy's emotions and mental state. If they passed the test tomorrow Kakashi would need to find some way to build the boy back up.
Elsa was a great example of what a kunoichi should be after leaving the academy. She was skilled, if the demonstration he had seen during her lesson with Neko was any indication, and she was focused on succeeding at her mission. She also wasn't trying to catch the eye of the boys in class, which was a troubling development seen in many fresh genins. There were only two issues with her development. The first was the fact that she didn't use her bloodline limit. It could be that she was just unaware of how to make use of it, but there was also the chance that she feared using it. If she was afraid to use such a useful tool it would hold her back and possibly leave her and her teammates vulnerable. The second issue was the fact that she wasn't a native of Konoha and on top of that she was a visiting dignitary. Kakashi wasn't sure what the Hokage was thinking in letting her enter the ranks of the shinobi. But having that extra responsibility may hamper his ability to help in the development of Naruto and Sasuke. How could they take more dangerous missions when it put Elsa at risk? Kakashi shook his head. He would just ignore it until he knew whether the team would pass his test tomorrow.
The final team member was Sasuke. He was a boy with baggage and mental scars, and Kakashi was very surprised at how well-adjusted he seemed while interacting with the other two. He was nowhere near as light-hearted but he didn't show signs of being consumed by revenge. In his introduction he hadn't even mentioned Itachi at all. Kakashi still needed to probe him mentally, to see if this was merely a facade or if the boy actually was healing thanks to his friendship with the other two.
Shaking his head, Kakashi jumped away in the hopes of finding a nice place to relax and get some reading in before dinner. This was his last day of relative freedom before he was officially saddled with the trio of children, and he planned to enjoy it as best he could. He just had to be careful not to run into Gai because he knew the other man would go to inhuman lengths for the chance to compare Kakashi's new team to his own.
The next morning Elsa, Naruto, and Sasuke were waiting at the assigned training ground at 8:00 AM. They had all arrived at 7:00 AM on the dot but by this point, they were regretting not taking their teacher's tardiness the day before as a red flag for what to expect. Elsa had decided to practice her forms, so she had stepped away from the two boys and was swinging her sword in a slow and controlled manner. Sasuke was still seated in the same place he had planted himself when they had arrived. Elsa couldn't read his mind but knowing him he was probably visualizing the coming conflict with Kakashi-sensei. Naruto for his part was as restless as always. Running about the clearing they were in and the surrounding trees. After Elsa finished practicing the last of the eight forms for what felt like the twentieth time, she sheathed her sword and began to stretch out her arms. She didn't want to exhaust herself before their teacher even got here after all. Walking over to Sasuke she absentmindedly looked around and saw Naruto jogging out of the trees nearby. She hadn't been paying him much mind while she was practicing but now that she looked at him he had a focused look on his face.
"So what have you been up to Naruto?" Elsa finally asked.
"Huh?" Naruto jumped slightly at her sudden question. "Oh, sorry guys, I probably should have told you. I have been working to prep. I figure that he said the exercise started at seven so I might as well use this time before he showed up to make some traps."
Elsa blinked in surprise at the brilliant idea, if your enemy was going to give you time at the battlefield you knew they were coming to, why would you not prepare in this way? Looking at Sasuke, Elsa saw that he was thinking the same thing.
"Come on guys," Naruto continued, motioning for them to follow, "let me show you what I have set up."
As he walked them through the forest Elsa was reminded that Naruto could be very devious, and very cruel when he wanted to be.
Kakashi read his book happily as he approached the training ground at 8:52. He took a certain sadistic joy in making people wait for him. He wasn't sure where it came from but it was gratifying to see the frustration they showed. He especially liked doing it to the genin teams the Hokage tried to foist on him. This was the fourth attempt to get him to train a group of wet-behind-the-ears academy graduates and each group had disappointed him when faced with the conundrum of the bell test. It always came down to either the two more skilled team members wanting to leave the other behind, or, if they were all equally skilled, the test quickly devolved into a battle royale. None of the children he was assigned showed the kind of teamwork he was looking for, a willingness to work together to accomplish a goal even when you knew it might cost you or one of your teammates something precious. Kakashi mentally shook off the wave of guilt that always hit him when he thought about his own team. Obito had made the ultimate sacrifice to save him, and Rin had made Kakashi kill her to protect the village after she had been made into a living weapon of mass destruction by having the three-tailed demon sealed inside of her. Both of them had sacrificed their lives to help protect the leaf village and its people, leaving him the task of living up to their memory. It was so hard, and he often tried to lighten the load by diverting himself with his game of seeing how late he could get away with being and his preferred genre of literature. But, above all, he wanted to make sure that any genin he trained personally would be willing to make the same sacrifice.
Looking up Kakashi saw that he had arrived, and he was surprised to see how calm the three students were as they waited for him. Deciding to test their chill exteriors he raised his hand in greeting and offered a flippant,
"Good morning, class."
The three children gave him flat stares in response before Naruto pointed at him and said accusingly,
"You're late,"
"Yes, yes, I am sorry but you would not believe how many ladders were set up along my path. I had to take the long way around the village to avoid walking under them." Kakashi smirked inwardly at finally getting to use that excuse.
The three young ninjas just looked at him dumbly so he used the time to pull out his props for the day's exam.
"Anyway, this alarm is set for noon, you have until it goes off to finish your mission. The parameters of which are as follows. I have two bells here. You must use any means necessary to get one of them, if you get one then you pass," Kakashi explained. "If you fail to complete the objective, you will be tied to one of those training stumps and be forced to watch while I eat lunch in front of you. As you can see there aren't enough bells to go around so at least one of you will be skipping lunch no matter what, and whoever it is will also be sent back to the academy. There are no second chances in the real world." As he said this Kakshi leaked the barest amount of killing intent to emphasize the gravity of what he was saying.
He let the statement hang in the air and watched carefully for their reactions. This is where most of the teams he had been assigned in the past fell apart. The three kids looked at each other nervously before Naruto grit his teeth and spoke.
"Guys, it will be ok, let's just focus on getting the bells then you two can have them. I already messed up when I put myself first and let Mitsuki trick me. You guys deserve to be ninjas, I can go back to the academy and try next year."
Kakashi quirked his eyebrow in surprise at the statement. Maybe his sensei's son had some potential after all if he was willing to make that kind of a sacrifice right away. Kakashi couldn't make a decision about the team yet, however, he had to see how the other two reacted.
"Naruto no," Elsa said, "It has always been your dream to be a ninja. Let's get the bells then I will let you two have them. I am not even from Konoha, and at any time my father could decide to order me to go back home. I have loved getting to follow this dream with you both but if one of us has to lose the chance it should be me."
Kakashi's eyebrow twitched again, Elsa's reasoning was pretty sound and it spoke to her character that she was willing to sacrifice for her friends.
"Well, this is the best showing I have seen so far." Kakashi thought to himself. "But let's get the blood pumping a little then we can see if they keep their altruistic attitudes." Before he could act, however, Sasuke piped up.
"Don't worry, both of you. We can get the bells and let you two have them. As the last Uchiha, I have enough political clout to get myself passed regardless of what happens here."
Sasuke grimaced as he said this, and his two friends looked at each other before turning to him with angry looks in their eyes.
"You can't do that," Naruto said.
"No, you cannot." Elsa agreed, "doing something like that would put you under the thumb of whoever you went to politically, you would put the entire Uchiha clan at risk. They could leverage a favor of that size into anything from, taking your land, to forcing you into a political marriage."
"Yeah," Naruto said, "At least Elsa and I are only risking a year's worth of time. You would be risking your whole future."
The three stared at each other intensely, each trying to make the other two back down. Finally, it was Naruto who acted first, again.
"You know what, let's figure this out later. For now, we know what we have to do, beat the crap out of this lazy teacher and get those bells. We will argue about who gets to keep them after."
As one the team focused on Kakashi, determination burning in their eyes.
"Now that's just not fair," Kakashi thought.
The three exploded into motion. Sasuke began the fight by launching a barrage of kunai that Kakashi dodged easily, moving toward the nearby trees. Elsa caught up to him before he made it very far, her sword unsheathed and already flying through a complex pattern of cuts and thrusts. Kakashi quickly flicked out a kunai he kept up his sleeve and deflected the attacks. Her form was very good but she hadn't yet built up the strength she needed to swing her sword at a speed that would be dangerous to him.
"I didn't even get the chance to pull my book out," Kakashi griped to himself.
Normally, when he fought genin, he liked to rub in the difference in their ability by reading. Unfortunately, all the self-sacrificing outbursts had distracted him too much this time. After Elsa's last strike was deflected she stepped aside and Naruto was there to attack. Only instead of one flying mass of orange and black, there were two. One launching a flying kick at his face, and the other a knee at his stomach. Kakashi wasn't sure which of the two was an illusion so he just blocked both, and was surprised when he felt both hit his hands. He was even more surprised when he suddenly felt a short figure latch onto his back and attempt to pin his arms.
"Shadow clones?" Kakashi thought. "So the reports were right, he did learn a technique out of the scroll when he took it."
Suddenly the two clones in his hands burst into a cloud of smoke obscuring his vision. From the smoke emerged the hands of Sasuke, reaching for the bells at his waist.
"Ok, play time's over," Kakashi said.
Suddenly, Naruto was holding Elsa with her arms pinned at her back and Sasuke hand grabbed her waist. The three young teens were frozen in place before suddenly Naruto and Sasuke launched away from their female teammate each with a burning blush on their face.
"What happened," Elsa said, flustered at the sensation of suddenly moving from where she had been standing into Naruto's arms.
Sasuke, cleared his throat to gain control of himself and answered, "That was a substitution. He got out of our trap using such a basic technique." Sasuke's teeth gritted as he spoke, his embarrassment replaced by indignation at the realization.
"D-did anyone see where he went?" Naruto said, looking into the forest to hide his still red face.
"I didn't" Elsa answered, "but chances are that he went into the trees so that he would have more places to ambush us from. Let's go in but stay close enough so that if something happens we can come to help each other quickly."
"Right," the two boys said in agreement before the squad entered the trees.
"Well, that was fun," Kakashi said under his breath as he watched the three move into the woods. "I guess they pass, but I don't think I want to end this just yet."
Forming a cross-shaped hand sign Kakashi molded his chakra and three clones popped into existence with almost no sound and small puffs of smoke.
"Let's dig a bit deeper into what we saw yesterday, just to be safe."
Naruto's eyes scanned his surroundings carefully looking for anything that would be out of place: a broken branch, some scraped bark, even disturbed leaves on the ground could be signs of a passing shinobi. He was upset that their initial trap hadn't worked, but was hopeful that they would have the advantage now that they were in among the trees. This was where most of his traps were placed after all. As long as Elsa and Sasuke remembered where everything was placed they should have the advantage. Looking over to his teammates he watched as they perused the area as well. He felt a renewal of his determined spirit that had been missing ever since the night he had stolen the forbidden scroll, this was his chance to make it all up to them. They would get the bells and he would make sure they took them. Sasuke and Elsa deserved it, and if he made this sacrifice maybe he could start to forgive himself. Turning back to the forest Naruto was shocked to see Kakashi standing in front of him, within arms reach.
"He-"
His call of alarm was cut short when the jounin's hand slammed over his mouth and in a rush, Naruto was somewhere else. He still recognized his surroundings but he was far enough away that his friends were nowhere to be seen.
"Finally got you alone," Kakashi said.
"Heh, that was a mistake. I can take you on all by myself," Naruto said boastfully. Though internally the boy was frantically thinking about what he could do to get back to his team.
"Yeah, you like going it alone, don't you. All you really care about is yourself, that is why you were tricked by that traitor Mizuki isn't it?" Kakashi said.
Naruto's eyes widened but he pushed down all other emotions but anger.
"So what," Naruto said, rushing forward and engaging the older ninja in taijutsu.
He launched a barrage of punches and kicks that Kakashi dodged and blocked with contemptuous ease.
"You just had to get the top score, even if it meant undermining one of your best friends."
"That isn't true," Naruto said back, "You wouldn't understand."
Launching a push kick at the jonin, Naruto waited for it to be blocked. When it made contact with Kakashi's forearm Naruto used it as a springboard to launch himself away. Ducking behind a nearby tree he performed a quick shadow clone technique and in a large puff of smoke eight copies emerged from their hiding place, all attacking Kakashi at once.
"What is there to understand," Kakashi said as he continued evading the attacks, the number of opponents doing nothing to affect his ability to control the fight. "He promised you extra credit so that you could take the top spot. You finally had the chance to beat your rival and you didn't care what it took."
The clones attacked with renewed ferocity. A group of them tried to execute the same strategy that was used when Naruto, Elsa, and Sasuke were attacking together. Two attacked Kakashi from the front while a third waited behind to attack as soon as he blocked. This time however instead of blocking Kakashi substituted with another clone just before the attacks hit forcing the two clones that attacked to dispel one of their allies.
"It wasn't about beating Sasuke," Naruto insisted.
His voice seemed to reveal his position amidst the clones as Kakashi suddenly moved, dispelling four clones before grabbing one of the Narutos and pinning him face-down to the ground with one arm twisted behind his back. The remaining clones started to move in but stopped when Kakashi held a Kunai to Naruto's throat.
"Then what was it about?" Kakashi asked.
Naruto glared at him over his shoulder, not responding, until Kakashi twisted his arm further, making the boy grunt in pain.
"It was about not losing Elsa," Naruto finally blurted out. "Mizuki said that the top-scoring boy and girl are always put on a team with the lowest scoring student. Sasuke and Elsa would have been put with someone new and I would have been stuck on a team with two complete strangers. It felt like I would have been alone again. Elsa was the first person ever to care about me, I couldn't stand the thought of losing her. I know it wasn't right, but I panicked and got suckered by that traitor."
"So just because you know it was wrong that makes it alright to help someone betray your village huh?" Kakashi asked with a disgusted tone of voice.
"Sasuke and Elsa may have forgiven me, and even the Hokage let me still graduate, but I haven't forgiven myself. There is something I can do to start making up for it though." Naruto said, a smirk forming on his face.
"And what's that?" Kakashi said
"I'm gonna get those bells," Naruto said, then the arm Kakashi didn't have pinned lashed out and hit a tripwire set up beside where Naruto was laying. With a twang, the wire released a bent back branch with a Kunai tied to it. The branch swung forward, and Naruto expected the jonin to jump away. His clones all prepared to launch themselves at the ninja while he was in the air and unable to dodge. Contrary to their expectations, however, the branch with the kunai collided with Kakashi's head and he vanished in a cloud of smoke, his weight disappearing from Naruto's back.
"A clone?" Naruto said before he suddenly got worried for his friends. "We have to get back to the others."
He called out to his doppelgangers in the area and they ran through the forest as a unit. He, unfortunately, couldn't afford to send them off to scout as the jutsu was initially designed for because he wasn't trained to handle the backlash yet. The Hokage had explained that it took a few months before someone's brain adapted to being able to process sudden floods of new information. If he kept his clones close, however, his mind would overlap similar memories with each other, giving him only a slight headache rather than the debilitating migraine he had experienced on the first night he used the jutsu. That is how he had survived summoning a hundred clones to fight Mizuki because they had all stayed roughly in the same area and had been doing the same thing. His mind considered most of those memories as just excess noise that it could ignore rather than new memories that it had to store. Eventually, this technique would be a great boon for information gathering but for now, it was just a force multiplier in combat.
Sasuke saw Naruto get taken. He was ashamed to say that he froze momentarily at how quickly it happened. In one instant his friend was there and in the next Kakashi appeared and disappeared with Naruto in the blink of an eye. Turning to Elsa to warn her, Sasuke saw that her eyes were slightly glazed over, a common side-effect of being under genjutsu. Sprinting to her side to dispel it, Sasuke never got the chance as a hand grabbed his face and pulled Sasuke away at speeds that left the forest as a blur around him. After a moment, Sasuke felt his back collide with a tree dazing him, and knocking the wind from his lungs. Rolling over Sasuke began to cough as he tried to recover.
"Well that was easy," Kakashi's voice said in a cocky tone. "You aren't likely to avenge the Uchiha clan with that level of skill."
"Don't waste your breath," Sasuke said with a cough. "I can guess what you are doing. Elsa and Naruto may not have noticed, but while you appeared lazy yesterday, I could see that you were paying careful attention when we gave our introductions. I bet you have read all the psych evals about me and you are trying to do what they did, see if deep down I am just pretending to be as well adjusted as I am."
"You are awfully smart," Kakashi said.
"Maybe, or more likely I have just been dealing with this for the last couple of years and all the people the academy and the Hokage sent me to talk to used that same approach. Put me off guard then ambush me with something about revenge. Like that is all it will take for me to drop my mask and start spouting about how nothing matters but killing my brother."
By the time he had finished speaking, Sasuke had brought his breathing back under control. He looked at Kakashi with determined eyes and brought his hands together.
"I will say however that your method has been the most painful so let me return the favor."
His hands flashed through a series of signs before finishing with the forefinger and thumb of his right hand in front of his lips. A ball of fire three meters across burst from his mouth engulfing the small clearing they were in. The sparse vegetation on the ground was burned black in an instant and the lowest leaves became singed. The trees however were big enough that they didn't sustain much damage. When the fireball disappeared, Sasuke looked for any sign of Kakashi but he found none until a kick suddenly slammed into his side, throwing him into another tree.
"And how did that make you feel?" Kakashi snarked, before speaking seriously, "So that's it, you are all better. Even after seeing your whole family slaughtered?"
"No," Sasuke grunted, "I never said I was all better. Why does it have to be either-or?"
Whipping his hands forward, Sasuke sent four shurikens screaming through the air. He ran after them and as Kakashi batted the flying weapons aside Sasuke launched a brutal taijutsu combo. He tried to attack the jounin's left knee but Kakashi caught the attack on his shin. Sasuke then threw a punch for the solar plexus hoping to wind his opponent but Kakashi caught the fist. Undeterred Sasuke leaped into the air and tried to send a flying knee at Kakashi's face which Kakashi blocked with his other hand. Now that both of the man's hands were occupied, Sasuke's other hand shot out, reaching toward the bells on Kakashi's waist. Just as Sasuke's fingertips brushed the cool metal of the bells, however, Kakashi slammed his knee up into Sasuke and sent him flying across the little clearing and crashing through the charred underbrush.
"It doesn't have to be either-or," Kakashi said, "The issue is whether you are being genuine. Maybe an ambush question won't get you to drop a facade, but what about getting betrayed by a friend?"
Sasuke growled as he pulled himself off the ground, brushing ash from his shoulders.
"Oh yes, I read the reports about what happened on the night of Mizuki's betrayal, and I know that Naruto was trying to take your spot both at the top of the class and on a team with your other friend Elsa."
"Naruto is my friend," Sasuke said firmly.
"Who are you trying to convince, me or yourself?" Kakashi asked with a raised eyebrow, "If it's me, then you are going to have to work harder than that. After all, when push came to shove, Naruto put himself first."
"Yes, he did. But he recognizes that what he did was wrong. He is trying to make up for it. Right now Naruto is filled with guilt, he doesn't even think he is worthy of his dream of being the Hokage." Sasuke stood tall as he continued, "I am not going to lie and say his betrayal didn't hurt, and yes I was partially trying to convince myself when I said he was my friend. But what kind of friend would I be if I let one mistake outweigh the years of friendship we have had." Sasuke then smirked, "Besides he is too valuable not to have around, he was the one who took advantage of you letting us prep the battlefield after all."
Sasuke threw a kunai at a nearby tree, slicing through the wire there and dropping a log that had been suspended above Kakashi's head disguised as a tree branch. The jonin didn't move, letting the falling mass hit his head before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Sasuke stared suspiciously at the spot Kakashi had occupied. It could be another substitution jutsu so Sasuke kept his guard up. After a while though, it looked like no new attacks were coming and Sasuke decided to make his way back toward where he had last seen Elsa.
Elsa's eyes flitted about looking for any sign of Kakashi. Suddenly she heard what sounded like a stifled shout coming from the direction of Naruto. As she turned to face him, she made eye contact with Kakashi through some trees. Blinking in surprise at his sudden appearance she looked again only to find him gone. Taking a breath to calm herself she began systematically looking for him amidst the trees, only to notice that both of her teammates were gone. Drawing her sword, Elsa assumed a defensive stance and waited for an attack to come. After what felt like a few minutes, however, nothing happened. Elsa slowly lowered her guard and gave one last look around before deciding to try and find her teammates. Stepping toward the spot she had last seen Naruto, she stopped when her footsteps made an odd crunching noise on the plants at her feet. Looking down, she was confused to see that where her foot had fallen was now covered in sparkling ice crystals. Placing her foot back down, she saw that a slowly growing circle of frost began to form centered around the point her foot made contact with the ground. As she watched, another circle began to spread from her other foot. The two circles eventually combined and continued spreading until the ice had filled the clearing and started to touch the trunks of nearby trees and creep upward. As the circle grew larger, it increased in speed as well. In no time the surrounding trees were iced over and Elsa could see it spread even farther throughout the forest. Suddenly she felt the temperature around her drop and the sun started to dim. Looking up a swirl of clouds was forming directly above her and as they grew white flakes of snow started falling. An anxious feeling began to grow in her gut as she watched the landscape morph from the lush forest she had grown accustomed to, into a frozen wasteland blanketed by snow.
"Elsa?" a voice suddenly called from behind her.
Turning around she saw Naruto coming toward her, pushing through a snowdrift.
"Elsa, what's going on? Are you doing this?" Naruto asked.
"No, I-" Elsa started to say and held out her hand toward her friend.
When her arm extended, a blast of icy energy shot out hitting Naruto in the chest. She watched as his eyes morphed from concern to fear as he slowly changed, warm flesh becoming cold hard ice. Elsa covered her mouth in shock and horror.
"Elsa, what did you just do?" Sasuke's voice called out.
Turning around quickly Elsa raised a hand to warn her other friend but again a ray of frost shot out and struck Sasuke who in no time had also become a statue of ice. Turning to run she made for the village, hoping that someone there might be able to help her. When she made it into the trees however she suddenly found it impossible to tell what direction she needed to go. Soon the light of the sun was completely blotted out by storm clouds. As she turned a corner she stumbled when a figure appeared. She felt relief for a moment until she got closer and realized it was another ice statue. She couldn't identify who it was due to snow covering the face. With trembling hands, she reached out and cleared it away only to see Hinata's face twisted in terror. Turning around she was halted by Kurenai similarly frozen, and with the same expression. She ran through the forest constantly running into crystalline figures: Yugao, The Hokage, Teuchi, Ayame, Iruka. On and on she found her friends frozen with looks of pain and fear on their faces. Unable to go on Elsa dropped to her knees with her head in her hands. Her mind grabbed frantically for any piece of knowledge that could help until finally remembering the lesson the academy had taught about genjutsu. Praying to any deity that might be listening Elsa formed a hand sign and pulsed her chakra as strongly as she could.
"Release," She screamed in frantic desperation.
Opening her eyes slowly she was terrified for a moment. The ground beneath her was covered in ice. When she looked up, however, she sobbed in relief at seeing a green forest. the ice at her feet caused by the frantic release of chakra she has used to disrupt the illusion.
"Is that what you are afraid of?" Kakashi's voice said calmly.
Shocked at the voice, Elsa grabbed her sword from the ground where she must have dropped it while gripped by the illusion and spun around to face the jonin who stood about two meters away from her.
"You," Elsa said venomously.
"Me," Kakashi agreed, "you know I read your file and I was trying to figure out why you are here. You have this amazing power, but why would any kingdom send such a valuable weapon away?"
"Arendelle is peaceful," Elsa spat out. "I am not a weapon."
"And yet you chose to be a shinobi," Kakashi countered. "You chose to enlist in Konoha's military. Do you realize that? If the village were to enter a war tomorrow, all of your little friends would be sent off to the frontlines to fight, kill, and probably die."
"I am aware," Elsa said, cutting off any further comment.
"Then why are you wearing that headband?"
"I told you yesterday," Elsa said, "I just want to help people."
"But not people in Arendelle," Kakashi responded, "No, you are afraid to go back home, and judging by your reaction to that illusion, it is because you hurt someone."
Elsa didn't respond, choosing instead to attack. She ran forward and began swinging her sword viciously through the eight forms of the Dance of the Crescent Moon. Kakashi just dodged the attacks and continued to talk.
"Who could it have been, maybe your father? Did you endanger the King's life so he sent you away to protect himself?" Kakashi said.
Elsa responded with a horizontal slice at his abdomen.
"You mother perhaps? Left daddy a widower so he sent you here so that he didn't have to kill you?"
Elsa made a series of slashes at his arms and legs trying to hamper his mobility. None of them landed.
"No, it must have been your little sister. You were trying to experiment with your new powers and something got out of hand leaving the poor little girl on death's door."
"Rah," Elsa roared as she made a wild swing at the man's body, only for her sword to be stopped short by a kunai.
"Bingo," Kakashi said smugly, before pushing her sword to the side and kicking her in the chest. Elsa flew back a few meters and struggled to stand as she caught her breath.
"If you really want to help people then you need to learn to control your power, if you really want to avoid losing control and hurting someone then you need to learn to control your power, and if you really want to be a shinobi then-"
Before Kakashi could continue Elsa stomped her foot sending a stream of icy energy out and freezing Kakashi's feet to the ground.
"You, shut up." Elsa said crossly, "I already know that and I was hoping a jounin sensei would help. So we are going to pass this test whether you like it or not."
Throwing a shuriken, Elsa cut a tripwire that was set up behind Kakashi and caused two slabs of wood that bristled with sharpened wooden stakes to swing down and sandwich the trapped ninja. Elsa prepared for him to escape, but the jonin didn't move as the trap closed on him and he exploded into a cloud of smoke. Elsa blinked in surprise at how the fight had ended. Before moving through the forest in search of her teammates.
Thirty minutes later Elsa was still alone and she was starting to get frustrated.
"Naruto!" she shouted, "Sasuke!"
She knew it was a bad idea to reveal your position when an enemy combatant was also in the area but honestly she was more worried about finding her team. She knew from the last fight that she was hopelessly outmatched if she tried to take Kakashi on by herself. In answer to her call, she heard rustling and entered a guard stance just in case. Luckily a blond head poked out of some bushes letting her relax.
"Hey guys I found her," Naruto yelled.
Elsa was confused until she saw three more Naruto heads poke out of the forest. One of them landed next to her, then formed a hand sign and the rest vanished in clouds of smoke. Naruto grabbed his head and stumbled slightly from the onrush of information. But after a moment of blinking and shaking his head, his delirium passed.
"Are you ok?" Elsa asked.
"Yeah," Naruto said to reassure her, "I am still adjusting to the rush of info because I had the clones out for so long. If it is only for a minute or two I barely feel it but I have been running with them for like forty-five minutes now."
"OK, well let's see if we can find Sasuke." Elsa said.
"No need," Sasuke said as he walked up to them. "I heard your shout. Not the best idea but I agree that we should be together when we face Kakashi next."
"Perfect, the gangs all here," Kakashi's voice said.
The three young teens all assumed defensive postures and looked up to see Kakashi in a tree above them. He was nonchalantly reading an orange-covered book and had the clock from the start of the exercise on his lap.
"Ok, let's get him," Naruto said with an eager smile on his face.
The three prepared to jump only to stop when the clock went off.
"And, that's our time," Kakashi said. "And would you look at that? I still have two bells here." He dangled the bells playfully at them as he spoke.
All three teens grit their teeth in frustration.
"Don't worry though," Kakashi said, standing up as he did. "I have decided you all pass. The purpose of this test was to check your teamwork and you showed that off in the first ten minutes when you were all willing to sacrifice yourselves to help the others. Personally, I was hoping for another battle royale like my last group of assigned genin."
"Wait, hold up," Naruto said incredulously. "You can just pass us even though we didn't complete the mission?"
"I am the sensei, I can do what I want," Kakashi said. "Anyway, report to the Hokage tower tomorrow at 6:00 AM for our first team mission."
"Ok so we will see you at 8:00 then," Naruto muttered.
"Oh," Kakashi said, "I almost forgot, don't be late or I will make you run laps around the village while carrying me on your back. Also, Naruto, make sure to disarm all your traps, you could hurt someone."
With that said the ninja disappeared. Elsa, Naruto, and Sasuke all shared a look.
"Our new sensei is a jerk," Naruto said abruptly.
"Agreed," Elsa and Sasuke said.
Special thanks to ACreativeMindAtWorkHere for being the beta reader.