I don't own Naruto or any of the characters or situations associated with it.

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Test

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Hatake Kakashi, Jonin, former ANBU and the only non-Uchiha in Konoha officially known to possess the Sharingan, stared at the note stuck on the classroom door.

-o+o-

Sensei Hatake Kakashi.

After waiting a full hour for you, we decided that our time could be used more productively. We have therefore gone to training ground 7 to do some training and to improve our ability to work together.

Please join us there once you get this note.

Your future genin

Uzumaki Naruto (plus Hive)

Hyuuga Hinata

Inuzuka Kiba

Akamaru o

(Team 7-to-be)

-o+o-

Kakashi grinned wryly underneath his mask as he read the note, noting the paw-print by the final name.

"Something tells me that teamwork won't be a problem with these three."

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Kakashi stared wide-eyed at the sight before him. His three future-genin (assuming that they passed his test) were there, but that wasn't what had shocked him. The two adults with them were heart-breakingly familiar, the blond man who was coaching Kiba through some exercises designed to enhance speed and reflexes while the red-headed kunoichi was using a blunt training sword to spar with Hinata, who was using chakra-coated palm strikes to block and redirect the blows. Off to one side, ten Naruto's were having a free-for-all, one in which they were somehow taking multiple blows without dispelling.

"Sensei."

Kakashi almost fell out of the tree, he hadn't sensed anyone approaching him. Looking round, his eye met the level gaze of yet another Uzumaki Naruto.

"Come on, time for you to meet your team."

Almost in shock, Kakashi followed the blond onto the field. The Kushina and Minato look-alikes saw him coming and, after a few quick words to the children they were tutoring, walked over.

"Kashi-kun." The Kushina-lookalike smiled. "We've started them off for you."

"Kushina and I'll explain everything to you later, assuming the old monkey doesn't first." Said the one who looked just like Minato, then they both vanished in puffs of smoke from which several Kikkai emerged to fly to Naruto. For almost a minute, Kakashi remained motionless, then he shook himself back to reality.

"Okay, sorry I'm late…"

"Minato said you would be." Kiba said as he walked up. "He said that Obito's gift changed you, whatever that means."

Kakashi froze at the comment. Only a very few had ever learned how he had gained his Sharingan. Obito was dead, as was Minato, Itachi had given his approval and declared it a high-level clan secret and the Hokage wouldn't have told anyone.

Could it really have been Minato? And if it had been, how?

"Sensei?"

Kakashi blinked, then stared at the trio in front of him.

The test. Right.

"Okay." Kakashi smiled, pulling out the alarm clock that he had purchased earlier that day and placing it on one of the three wooden posts in the middle of the training field. "The test begins. To pass the test, you must get a bell from me. As you can see, I have two of them."

"But there are four of us…" Kiba said slowly and Kakashi nodded.

"Well-spotted. Since the failure rate for these tests is on average two in three, I guess that means at least one of you will fail."

Kiba snarled, then paused as Naruto reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Kakashi frowned for a second, then shrugged and continued.

"Since I am a Jonin, that means you need to go all-out against me if you want to pass, so show me what you've got. Begin!"

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"Urrrgh."

"They really got you, didn't they." A familiar voice chortled and Kakashi prised open his uncovered eye. The pale blur above him slowly resolved into Hiruzen smiling down at him.

"Urrrgh?"

"They cheated." Hiruzen smiled, sitting down beside the almost-paralysed Kakashi. "Naruto got one of his Death Bite Beetles on you before the test, one that carried a fast-acting anaesthetic rather than a lethal one. When you said to begin, he had his Kikkai bite you and knock you out. They took the bells and came to me, so I certified them as a team, then came out here to keep an eye on you until you recovered."

"Urrrgh. Urrr?"

"You should be able to move in another hour or two, at least according to the tests that Anko did when she helped Naruto and his Hive develop that ability." Sarutobi said, looking up at the clouds. "I gave them the rest of the afternoon off after checking their teamwork skills myself. Naruto and Hinata have almost perfect teamwork, Kiba is making progress. You have a good team."

"Urffhum."

Sarutobi pulled out his pipe and started putting tobacco in it.

"Naruto showed me something amazing today. Did you know that his parents placed a part of themselves into his seal? Apparently his Hive discovered this during the time he was in a coma last year. It was wonderful talking to Minato again. Although Kushina was not happy with my decision to put Naruto in an orphanage, and I have the bruises to prove it."

"Hrrrhuummmrrr?"

"Naruto uses his unique Bunshin skill to bring them out. Did you know that he gave the Hyuuga clan the Rasengan at his parent's request? Turns out that Minato and Hiashi had discussed linking the Hyuuga clan with the embryonic Namikaze clan, with the Rasengan and a better version of the Caged Bird Seal as the dowry to be paid to the Hyuuga. Naruto gave both to them before graduating."

"Wrrrwwr?"

"The Rising Bird Seal. Hinata has it, as do several of the Main family and the younger members of the Branch family now. I don't even pretend to understand it, but apparently it's far superior to the Caged Bird Seal, although it doesn't have the pain-inflicting part. Hiashi told me that he'll probably have all the Branch Hyuuga's seals changed by the end of the month."

Kakashi tried to sit up, but his body refused to obey him and he slumped back down. Swallowing, he tried to speak.

"Thaawazem? Natonshina?"

"The Kage Bunshins they placed in Naruto's seal, yes."

Kakashi managed to nod slightly.

"Thdwldexpn."

Hiruzen frowned and Kakashi tried again.

"Isawm. Theysedwuldepln. Bfrtst."

"They said they would explain." Hiruzen repeated and Kakashi nodded again. "They can probably explain better than I can, but I thought I'd better let you know it isn't a trick."

"Why didden eetelme?" Kakashi managed and Hiruzen laughed.

"Only a fool tells all their secrets, Kakashi, and Naruto is no fool, no matter how he used to act like one. I think he only told me because his parents decided that I needed to know…""

.

"Why are you even a genin?" Kiba asked between mouthfuls. "You should be a chunin at least. Heck, you should be a Jonin!"

"Nah, I need to truly learn teamwork first." Naruto shrugged. "Sure, some of my skills are Jonin-level and I'm one of the more lethal shinobi in Konoha, but if I can't work with others, that means nothing."

"I thought I was gonna be in a recon team." Kiba noted, "But a heavy combat team's pretty cool too. I'm gonna need to get some serious jutsu under my belt, though."

"Hinata's already got one that lets her smash straight through walls." Naruto grinned, ignoring Hinata's blush. "Between her eyes, my Kikkai and your senses and bond with Akamaru, no-one'll be able to get close enough to take us down."

Naruto stopped eating and tilted his head slightly, then lifted his hand.

"Neji-san! Lee-senpai! Ten-chan! Gai-sensei! On a mission, or do you want to join us?"

Hinata and Kiba both turned to see Team 9 (aka Team Gai) walking towards them.

"Uzumaki, your situational awareness puts the Hyuuga to shame." Neji grumbled, although Hinata saw the slight upwards twitching at the corner of his mouth that indicated that he was in a good mood.

"Meh, your Kikkai always let me know where you are." Naruto said and Neji looked at his left arm, then sighed.

"I keep forgetting they're linked to you. Good afternoon, Hinata-sama."

"Neji-nii-san." Hinata quietly replied.

Neji nodded, then turned his attention back to Naruto. "Something occurred to me today during our mission. While your clones proved incredibly useful, as I'm certain you already know, just how did you get them to us so fast?"

"How many clones? And when?" Hinata asked curiously.

"About seventy, at about eleven thirty."

Hinata gaped, then her eyes narrowed in thought, but Kiba beat her to it.

"Hey, I remember, you looked distracted for a moment, then you said it wasn't important."

Neji's eyes widened, his Byakugan active before he could regain control. "You created the Kage Bunshin remotely? I thought you'd shunshined them to us. How did you do that?"

Naruto grinned in embarrasment. "Ah-hehehe. Um, you remember when I swapped out your arm communication bracers for new ones soon after I got out of the cocoon? Well, they kinda have the Hiraishin seal in them. Since the Hive knows how to use Hiraishin thanks to my old man, we sent a group of bugs for me to use to create my Bunshin."

"You. Hiraishined. Your. Kikkai." Neji stated in shock. "Sweet Kamis above, you can Hiraishin your Kikkai?! You can use your Kikkai to create Kage Bunshin remotely?! If I ever find myself going up against you, I'm forfeiting instantly. Is it just your Kikkai that can do it?"

Naruto grinned and vanished in a pale flash of yellow light, appearing instantaneously just in front of the older boy.

"Nope, I can… Neji? Neji! Neji, speak to us! Neji!"

"Wow." Kiba said, staring at the motionless, wide-eyed genin. "Naruto, I think you broke him."

Naruto spared Kiba a slight glare, then turned back to the cousin of his other team-mate.

"Neji? Neji, I… Hinata,can you come here? I have an idea on how to get him back."

Hinata walked over and Naruto whispered into her ear. Kiba watched curiously as Hinata blushed bright red, then nodded and hugged Naruto. A moment later, they kissed…

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING TO MY COUSIN!"

"Welcome back, nii-san." Hinata smiled as she released Naruto and moved to hug the raging Hyuuga. Naruto stepped back as Neji glared at him, then Neji forcibly calmed himself and slowly returned Hinata's hug.

"Next time, please find a different way to snap me back to reality." He sighed. "Hiashi-sama is going to kill me for this."

"What?" Kiba asked. "Why?"

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"So." Kakashi eye-smiled, "Congratulations. It's been years since anyone managed to take me down."

As the three genin looked slightly embarrassed, the two deceased adults laughed.

"And with my former sensei and his wife available, I'm almost superfluous to requirements." He continued.

"You know, we worked out the final few issues with the Hiraishin." Minato noted. "Now, Hinata-chan and Kiba-kun need to do a lot of work before they can hope to use it, but I think I can get you up to speed with it, once you get back into peak condition."

Kakashi blinked and Minato smirked as he accepted a scroll from Naruto. Unrolling it, he unsealed a dozen tri-pronged kunai, causing Kakashi to gulp.

"Now, the Hive was kind enough to let me use a dozen Kikkai to stabilise this Bunshin, so I can take quite a few hits before dispelling." Minato said as he hefted the kunai. "All you have to do is land enough hits to dispel me. I'm sure that as a former ANBU, that shouldn't be too hard, hmmm?"

"In the meantime, I'll train the kids." Kushina laughed. "Good luck, Kashi-kun. I'll return them in two hours for their first mission.

Kakashi gulped as he drew his own kunai and adopted a defensive stance as the tri-pronged kunai embedded themselves around the training field.

"Is this really necessary, Sensei?" He asked nervously and Minato smirked, then vanished in a flash of yellow.

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The pipe clattered onto the desk as Hinata entered the Hokage's office, a purring ball of fur in her arms.

"I… you… Tora… how?" Hiruzen managed after a few moments of shocked silence and Hinata smiled as she used one hand to tickle the cat under its chin.

"Hinata's good with animals." Naruto shrugged as Tora gave him the kind of I am your superior and you will do what I want look that all cats seem to know.

Hiruzen nodded, then smirked at the sight of Kakashi limping in behind them, several spikes of his hair cut short and his clothing still shedding dust.

"Tora put up a bit of a fight then?" He asked and Kakashi grumbled under his breath.

"Don't worry, I know what really happened." Hiruzen smirked while tapping the crystal ball. "You've let yourself get rusty, Kakashi."

Kakashi glared at him for a long moment before sighing and nodding ruefully.