Chapter 2: A Different Test

"…" = Talk

'…' = Thoughts

"…" = Kyubi/Inner Sakura/Jutsus

The light of the evening was shining dimly from afar, barely lighting the lively village of Konoha.

But for one Naruto Uzumaki, it was more than enough as he walked around his village. His upbeat cheerfulness was full-on display as he passed by the numerous streets and villagers. However, if one were to examine his face closely, he would notice that his teeth were gnashing, if barely, in what appeared to be an annoyance. Also, his eyebrows were twitching ever so slightly.

Now, what would cause him to do so, you ask…?

"Hey look! Isn't that the demon child? Is he finally back?"

"I think he is. He looks different though…"

"Big deal if he does… I say we give him a nifty end and be done with him! He's been around for way too long."

"That will get you killed you, idiot! Or have you forgotten that he is a shinobi now!?"

This.

And it was such a mood killer in what he otherwise thought was a very good evening.

'Give me a break… I just came back yesterday…' Naruto thought as he moved on. He kind of got used to the 'whispers of hate' as he liked to call them, annoying as they were. But he thought that after being away for such a long time from the village, they would kind of forget about "the demon child".

"…And I thought I told you that you would be wrong…" a deep voice grumbled in his head.

'Hello to you too, Kyubi…' Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Finally, deciding to talk? You went pretty silent yesterday…'

"I had no interest in your mundane life with that pink screeching doll and those children…"

'And you have interest in something now?' A few seconds of silence, then it clicked in the blond's head. 'You don't want me to kill these people that just dissed me, do you…?'

The giant fox chuckled darkly. "Well, I would love to. Especially if you do it yourself. In a brutal way. Then bathe on their blood. And take some women and screw her in the middle of it. Preferably the wife and/or daughter of one of your victims…" Naruto sweatdropped at his demon's eagerness as he rambled. "But I digress. You're still too mellow to do that. I simply wanted to see how you would handle this so-called 'test' they want to put you in…"

A blond eyebrow rose in perplex.

Earlier this day, and after a sound sleep, he had woken up quietly after his encounter with his 'associate', and quickly hid the scroll he was given as he sensed someone approaching. True enough, an ANBU appeared in the middle of his room and told him that the Hokage wanted him to meet up at their usual training ground with his pink teammate and Kakashi. Apparently, they needed a test of some sort before coming back as a team.

The blond took his sweet time and was three hours late to the scheduled meeting. He figured Kakashi would be late as usual. So he spent the morning reading the scroll he hid, eating a little, napping a little, and then he took the road to the training ground.

'Really? That's it?'

"I don't need to tell you what I think of, kit, but if you really want an answer: yes, that's it." The fox answered bluntly. "Hopefully you'll kill someone and make it interesting…"

'Sure I would…' the blond replied with sarcasm.

A random civilian then bumped into him.

"Watch it you demon punk!" the man shouted before huffing away.

Naruto ignored him and just kept walking, not caring about him. "You are just going to let him disrespect you like that?" Silence. "Hmph. Such a waste, letting a bunch of hypocrites share the same air as you…"

The blond cut off the mental link with his Biju. He didn't need to hear any more of the fox's rambling.

At the training ground, one Sakura Haruno was angrily standing. Tapping her foot in the ground. Alone.

She had been told that she needed to show up for a test, and she did so immediately as the time arrived. Although it seemed there was a bit of detail she glossed over…

Or rather, her team had glossed over it…

"They're late, Shannaro!" her inner self shouted.

The Haruno girl sighed as her thoughts were expressed. She had honestly expected Kakashi-sensei to be late, because… well… it's Kakashi's way of doing things, she guessed, and she got used to it. But Naruto too!?

"Hey, Sakura!"

Speaking of the devil.

The pink-haired girl turned around to see a smiling and waving Naruto approaching.

"You are late by THREE HOURS!" She yelled and pointed at him.

Naruto raised his hands defensively. "Now hold on Sakura, we just left it yesterday in a very tense position. I just wanted to give you a bit of time for yourself to recover…" He was obviously lying. But then again, he couldn't tell her that he didn't care about her and spent those hours doing whatever he wanted to do. Again, no need to be impolite…

"And no need to be polite either…" Kyubi chimed in. "You seem awfully considerate of this girl…"

'And you seem awfully talkative for a grumpy ancient fox…' Naruto retorted.

The fox hmphed and got back to silence.

Sakura seemed convinced by his excuse if a little peeved off by his choice of words, but before she could add something to the conversation, her blond teammate turned to his left where, in a puff of smoke, the fifth Hokage, Tsunade Senju, appeared.

"You took your time to get here, Naruto…" Tsunade said with a smirk.

"Lady Tsunade? What are you doing here? And where is Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked. Wasn't this supposed to be a test to see if Team 7 could be a team? Then where is Kakashi?

Naruto however acted more casual. As in he smiled and waved at the Hokage. "Hi, Granny…"

A tick mark spawned on Tsunade's head.

"You look like an idiot…"

'Shut up…'

"Well… I have been told by Jiraya that Naruto has grown significantly, and because I trained Sakura myself, I think that Kakashi is too much of a familiar opponent for you two. So, I came here personally to test your growth…" Tsunade explained and cracked her fists and neck. "You have fifteen minutes. The test is to try and defeat me. Use whatever technique you think is necessary. And don't hold back, because I won't…"

"Kit…"

'Yeah, I know…' Naruto thought. This Tsunade had too little chakra compared to a Kage-level shinobi. Meaning…

"Hehehehe… She wants to fight as a clone, eh? Isn't that disrespectful…"

'I thought you would be way more annoyed than this…'

"Not really, it just seems there is not going to be a worthwhile battle here for me to watch. A disappointment, but I am personally indifferent. This is your test after all, not mine." Kyubi explained. His voice then started to fade… "For that matter, you're on your own."

Meanwhile, Sakura was panicking. 'This is impossible! I can't defeat Lady Tsunade!' "Yes you can, Shannaro!" 'No, I can't! She's way too strong!' "Just believe in yourself, Shannaro!" 'Are you crazy? We can't beat Lady Tsunade! She's too strong for us!' "Ughh, just shut up and fight now! Shannaro!" 'But–' "NO BUTS, JUST DO IT! SHANNARO!" 'Ok, ok! Just don't shout in my head!'.

In another spot in the training ground, a few bystanders were watching with anticipation. One of them however had concerns she couldn't shake off.

"Lady Tsunade, don't you think this is overdoing it?"

The blond Hokage waved her off. "Not at all Shizune. Besides, Jiraya here told me that Naruto has improved enough to rival Kakashi. Add in Sakura and the fight and it would be obvious who would win without a need to test at all…"

Kakashi, who up to this point just listened while reading his signed Limited edition Icha Icha paradise book, paused at the Hokage's explanation. "He is capable of rivaling me? Is that true Lord Jiraya?"

The Sannin nodded. "Yes, he has improved a lot." He then turned back to the soon-to-start battle before them. "Still, I think having them fight a clone of you is a bit much, Tsunade…"

"It is what I use in Sakura's training all the time, so she kind of knows what is coming for them…" 'Even if she never came close to defeating it…' she added as an afterthought. "And that is the point of this test. On his own, Naruto might be able to defeat the clone, but not within the time limit."

"And so they have to work together…" Kakashi completed and closed his book. This was a nice spin on the bell test.

"Exactly." 'And I also get to take a break from that stupid desk job, see Naruto's new strength with my own eyes, and get a bit of an adrenaline rush when the clone dispels…' Truly, this was the best win-win situation Tsunade could have ever thought of.

Back with Naruto and Sakura, both were getting ready to fight Clone Tsunade. though Naruto was much more relaxed than his teammate.

"Ready?" the Hokage's doppelganger yelled and formed a seal with her hands. She closed her eyes and the violet diamond on her forehead disappeared, replaced by black markings.

Team Seven's two members widened their eyes.

'The Sozo Saisei (Creation Rebirth)?' Sakura thought, alarmed. This was going to be a difficult fight.

Naruto however quickly overcame his surprise and replaced it with excitement. "Bring it, Granny!"

Brown eyes snapped open.

"Begin!"

Immediately, Naruto used his signature technique. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)!"

Thirty Narutos poofed into existence and rushed toward Clone Tsunade.

'Charging in with numbers? Guess that part of him didn't change…' Clone Tsunade thought as she literally fly-swatted each one of Naruto's clones, dispelling them with one hit each.

The real Naruto sweatdropped at this. 'I guess that was a dumb move…'

"You think!?"

The blond's eyebrow twitched. 'Didn't you say I was on my own?'

The Kyubi snorted. "Not when you act so i-DOOOOOOOOOOODGE!"

The sudden roar startled him, and before he could do anything, a punch connected with his head and sent him flying through a tree…and another…and another…and another… Before finally crashing into the ground.

"Keep your attention on the fight, brat!" Clone Tsunade called out.

Kakashi winced from his spot atop a tree. "That would leave a mark…"

"Not really, Kyubi's regenerative power is going to heal him in seconds…" Jiraya explained before looking at Tsunade. "Nevertheless, the Creation Rebirth, really? I think Shizune was right, you're overdoing it…"

Tsunade snorted. "Please, I am giving them a fitting challenge. Fighting a simple clone wouldn't do it, even if it is a clone of myself." Tsunade said, her eyes not leaving Sakura and her clone.

The Toad Sannin sighed at this. "Let's continue watching then."

Shizune stayed silent.

On the field, Sakura Haruno was trying to steel herself. She had fought her sensei's clone only twice in this state, and she hardly managed to do anything against her. The Creation Rebirth was a stupidly hard technique to beat once activated, even if on a clone. Normally, it regenerated the user by amplifying the speed of the body cells' division process, giving him or her ungodly regeneration. But since clones were not living organism and just pseudo-sentient chakra, the Sozo Saisei keeps their chakra flow and control at a maximum, insta-healing any damage the clone sustained and keeping it from dispelling.

She didn't know any weaknesses she could exploit in this technique except that it dispelled the clone automatically after a short amount of time. But she guessed that is why their test was on such a short time limit.

She flinched as Clone Tsunade turned to face her and cracked her neck. She really didn't want to face her teacher's clone in that state. She couldn't do anything against it!

"Stop being such a wimp and fight! Shannaro!" Inner-Sakura shouted.

The pink-haired was snapped back to reality as she saw her sensei's clone lunged forward. She needed to get rid of these defeatist thoughts. She didn't train all this time to give up so easily!

And so, she rushed at Tsunade.

A punch to the head. Another to the stomach. One to the side and an uppercut. A high kick. Another high kick.

Clone Tsunade blocked all of her apprentice's moves before attacking herself. Sakura blocked like her teacher, but the clone's strength was just too much for her and she was pushed a few feet back.

The clone was about rush at her again, but she caught a blur coming quickly from her left.

"Rasengan!"

Naruto appeared before her, a blue orb of chakra on his hand. 'Back already…?' She thought and went for a kick, trying to strike the brat before he could…

"Shannaro!"

But before she could do that, the ground before her shook and cracked, destabilizing her. Naruto used this opportunity and slammed the Rasengan into her stomach. The Hokage's clone hitched on her breath from the impact and was sent flying away. However, she quickly regained her composure and the injury on her stomach was already healed.

Jiraya sweatdropped as he looked at the cracked ground. 'Great. She created a mini-Tsunade…'

Kakashi had the same thought on his mind, though he expressed it. "Um, Lady Tsunade, was it necessary to train Sakura to do that?"

Tsunade just smirked.

Naruto for his part was a bit annoyed. He saw the wound he inflicted on Clone Tsunade heal instantly as if nothing happened. The clothes were shredded though. 'She tanked a Rasengan…I know this is Granny Tsunade's clone, but still…' Maybe this was not going to be as easy as he thought.

"Naruto!" Sakura called out as she appeared next to him. "Listen. This clone is not normal. Your Rasengan and brute strength are not going to hurt her!"

"I can kind of see that! Tell me something I don't know…"

"Do you have any jutsu that can slice?"

"…Yeah. Why?"

"Then do as I say! I think I have a plan…" Sakura explained, both of them readying as Clone Tsunade charged.

Sakura stomped the ground and created another crack, hoping to destabilize her opponent. 'Not going to work again…' Clone Tsunade jumped, only to be surprised by a fast-approaching Sakura, followed by Naruto. Clone Tsunade punched at the pink-haired girl, but in a surprising display of finesse, Sakura grabbed her hand and used it to get over her, just as Naruto flew at them with a flying kick.

Clone Tsunade blocked his kick with her free arm, then grabbed his knee and used him to hit Sakura, making her let go of her arm. Reaching the ground by now, Clone Tsunade, now grabbing both Naruto and Sakura, slammed them both on the ground. A small crater was created from the impact. 'Five minutes have passed…' she noted to herself as she looked at the makeshift watch she pulled from her pocket before the two bodies below her poofed out of existence.

Right there, Sakura appeared behind her, and without moving, Clone Tsunade caught her punch before elbowing her in the stomach. Clone Tsunade then grabbed the girl by the throat.

"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

Fifty Naruto appeared around them and lunged at her with a battle cry.

Clone Tsunade used her pink-haired student as a literal fly swatter and repeated the same thing she did to the former clones of Naruto, dispelling each with one hit. It was then she noticed something.

The Sakura she had caught in her hand, despite all the injuries she had on her, was not injured!

It dawned on the Hokage's clone then. 'Genjutsu!'

She threw the pink-haired girl and immediately dispelled the Genjutsu. All the Narutos around her dissipated. Same with Sakura.

And her ears were attacked by the sound of loud…shrieking metal?

"Too late Granny!" She heard Naruto yell, and just as she turned around, she was attacked by what appeared to be a flying Rasengan, with a shuriken layer around it. She only had time to hear the technique name and see a far away grinning Sakura and Naruto before the oversized wind shuriken blades cleaved her in half and an explosion of wind engulfed her.

"Futon: Rasenshuriken!"

Shizune was gaping at the big crater the jutsu created.

"He completed the Rasengan!?" Kakashi said in shock. He couldn't believe his student one-shotted the clone of the Hokage with her greatest defensive jutsu activated. What he witnessed was easily S-class ninjutsu!

"Yep." Jiraya for his part was grinning, proud of his student. 'Although he didn't use the Kyubi's Chakra in this fight for some reason…'

Tsunade was watching the two members of Team Seven, her body twitching lightly as the memories of the clone got to her. 'I see. Sakura knew from her training with me that brute force was useless against my clone with the Creation Rebirth, so she used Naruto and tried her hand at slashing Ninjutsu. That he possessed such a powerful one was a bonus, and she acted as support by using an area-wide Genjustsu…' The Hokage thought, herself proud with her student and Naruto as well. She then looked at Kakashi. "What is your verdict Kakashi?" she had her answer, but since Kakashi was their teacher, she wanted to hear his thoughts.

"They seem to have passed the test with flying colors Lady Hokage. And they appear ready to me. We would probably start missions together first thing tomorrow." Kakashi said with his eye-smile. Then he turned more serious. "Although, I do want to know if you think this test alone is enough. It was quite short if you ask me."

"I think it is better this way." Jiraya was the one to answer. "Naruto is chased by Akatsuki, a group of S-rank shinobis, the likes of Itachi Uchiha and Hoshikage Kisame. He and Sakura, and to a lesser extent you as well Kakashi, will need to get used to fast paced fights against high-level ninjas, and develop strategies that work exactly for this specific type of fights."

"I see..." Kakashi nodded. "Then I have no objections."

"Good then. You can go congratulate your students Kakashi. Dismissed." The masked Jonin immediately disappeared. "…Your say on this fight, Jiraya?"

"He didn't use Kyubi's chakra even when he clearly had the ability to. I don't know if it was because he himself felt disappointed that he was fighting a clone, or maybe he didn't want to do it inside the village..." Jiraya commented.

He had told her that the boy was a somewhat skilled sensor, even though he himself didn't teach him that specific ability.

This made Tsunade remember their chat about the blond yesterday.

FLASHBACK

"You were attacked by Akatsuki!?" Tsunade all but shouted the question, standing up and slamming her hands once again on her damaged desk.

"Yeah… four of them to be exact." Jiraya clarified. "Kisame Hoshikage, Itachi Uchiha, Kakazu of Taki, and a certain Hidan. They attacked us exactly three months after we left, at the borders of Earth Country. I fought them for a while, and then I got the upper hand by going full-on Sage mode. A few moments after that, they all ran away. I hastened to check on Naruto after that, knowing that the Akatsuki are hunting his 'kind', and he wasn't there…"

The Toad Sannin ducked to avoid a flying chair.

"And why the hell didn't you tell me about this until now!?"

"And what? Get myself beaten up and yelled at like you are doing right now!?" Jiraya shouted back. "I kept looking for him all the time when he was missing. I didn't even get any time to research for my books! Give me a break!"

Tsunade fumed. "You don't talk to me about our godson like that you perverted idiot!" She then calmed down. "…what happened next?"

"I found him a year later. He was sleeping in an inn in a small village near Kiri. I started asking him about what happened. But he told me he remembered being captured by Akatsuki and then waking up there a day before I came in. I doubted him since he still had Kyubi sealed within him, and the seal didn't seem damaged. As you know, Akatsuki is after the Bijus and their Jinchurikis, and them capturing one and leaving him and his Biju untouched was an unlikely scenario."

"You think he is lying?"

The male Sannin sighed. "I don't know, and that's what is bugging me. I even checked to see if Akatsuki did any weird seal to him, but I came up with nothing at all. It only got weirder after we resumed our trip and continued his training. He showed and used techniques I didn't teach him, like sensory skills, among other things. He became less talkative about wanting to save Sasuke and becoming Hokage, and more… I don't know how to describe it, but I guess I would say eerie. He still is overall the same cheerful brat, but he acts very uncharacteristically, especially if he wanted to do one of his 'pranks', and sometimes he just oozes this feeling of…evilness…"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow at this. "You're sure it's not Kyubi trying to control him?"

"No. I checked and double-checked his seal multiple times. It is still intact. I even confirmed it when he transformed in his Four-tails chakra cloak and still was in control. If the Kyubi was trying to control him, he would have taken over him when he transformed into that." Jiraya explained. "He often takes things to the extreme with a cheerful face. It just feels wrong…"

Tsunade was silent.

"He also helped me a bit with my research. But that was an appreciated act…"

Anger flashed the fifth Hokage's face. "JIRAYA!"

"Don't hit me I am saying the truth!" Jiraya blurted out and waved his hands defensively in front of him. This didn't calm the Hokage down, but she didn't seem keen on attacking him… yet. "This isn't a joke for me Tsunade. My godson may have a problem that I didn't figure out for a year. I want to help too."

"Maybe it is puberty hitting…"

Jiraya deadpanned at her. "I am pretty sure puberty doesn't make you think of killing people with a smile on your face, or actually kill people WITH a smile on your face. Plus, he already had his first time…"

"Noted…wait what!?"

"Some random girl we met with when we were staying in a small town. They've been going at it like rabbits for the two weeks we've been there. Horny teenagers. Although, it had been good writing material, to be honest…"

The Hokage growled. "No, you idiot! I am talking about the killing part! Did Naruto actually kill someone?"

"Umm… yeah, he did. Gruesomely, and to multiple people too. He was humming happily while doing it…"

"But… But… Naruto doesn't kill! He never did! I saw his mission documents. He never killed anybody!"

Jiraya rolled his eyes. "Well, now he does, and rather casually might I add. But that brings me again to my point, something is off about him, and we need to figure it out." He then remembered something. "By the way, a few days after we left, he asked me who his parents were, and what was the meaning of his last name…"

Tsunade's heart almost stopped. "…and what did you say to him?"

"… that I don't know an answer to either…"

Now it was the table that flew at the Sannin, making paperwork fly all over the room.

"You idiot! Why didn't you answer him! Old Sarutobi is dead and you were with him, alone!"

"And what will I tell him when he'll ask me how or how long did I know this, huh?" Jiraya replied angrily. "Maybe I should tell him that I was away all the time when he had his crappy childhood when I am his godfather? Or that my teacher and the Hokage of our village was the one who came up with the 'no one talk about this' law? He'll be overjoyed, won't he?"

Tsunade placed a hand on her forehead and sighed. "Could this be the reason he changed…?"

"I don't think so. He never brought this subject back after we reunited. One time later on I tried to tell him about them, and he flat out told me that he didn't care who his parents were. And I didn't sense any malice or lying from him. He probably just wanted to know if I knew anything about them. Plus he is an orphan, so he might have asked just out of curiosity."

After this talk, Tsunade was thankful for telling her ANBU to change the soundproof seals with stronger ones. She glanced at the sprawled paperwork on the floor. Each paper representing a headache she needed to deal with. And now she had a new potential headache to worry about, which was her godson. 'Isn't this just fantastic…'

FLASHBACK ENDS

'Well, the part about taking things to the extreme with a cheerful face seems true enough…' Tsunade thought as she gazed at the crater the Rasenshuriken created, then at the now 'complete' Team Seven talking with each other, before Kakashi poofed and went away. More specifically, she focused her gaze on her blonde godson. He didn't seem fazed at all even after throwing what was probably S-rank ninjutsu. And he had that usual upbeat demeanor as if he didn't obliterate someone to oblivion. Then again, said someone was a clone, so he shouldn't feel that bad about it anyways.

Was she just overthinking the situation? From what she's seen, Naruto didn't appear to have changed much except for his abilities. But then again, she has what Jiraya told her, and he didn't seem to be joking about it.

"… Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama!"

The blonde Hokage woke up from her thoughts. "What is it Shizune?"

"I was saying that Lord Jiraya has gone, and we should head back to the Hokage tower. There's still a lot of paperwork you need to work through…"

Tsunade groaned at the mention of paperwork. She turned around and saw that indeed, Jiraya was gone.

"Do I really have to, Shizune? I just want to have a bit of sake right now…"

"Yes, you do!"

Groaning once again, Tsunade left with her apprentice.

She would deal with this later.

"Well, I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Sakura…" Naruto said and turned around to leave. They just talked with Kakashi, who congratulated them and told them to meet up tomorrow at the Hokage office to start their new missions as a team once again.

"About time. This whole thing was a waste of our time…" Kyubi grumbled once again.

'Correction: it was a waste of MY time. You left me on my own there, remember?'

"Precisely. I left you on your own because it was a waste of time. Mine and yours."

Naruto rolled his eyes. 'Just shut up, will you?'

"Hey, Naruto!" Sakura called out. She was kind of glad for the help Naruto gave her today. It certainly was a confidence boost for her that they managed to beat her teacher's clone at its strongest. Even if she was a tiny bit scared when Naruto used his Rasenshuriken.

When her teammate stopped and looked at her, she continued. "How about we both celebrate this victory and your return? We kind of met at the wrong time yesterday, and I want to apologize for it." She paused before she added. "My treat."

Naruto still looked at her, contemplating.

"Don't tell me you're going to accept?"

'That's old Naruto, not me. Besides, I have a way better solution to this…' he internally smirked.

Without answering, he turned around and continued walking.

Sakura was perplexed. 'Is that a yes or no?' "I don't know, Shannaro!"

The blond steeled himself as much as possible before turning to her with an emotionless face. "No. I don't like ugly girls."

Sakura was shocked to her core by his words. And her world shattered around her.

…Until her teammate burst out laughing.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA! Oh man, your face was priceless! I'm sorry I couldn't keep it in! Finally, after so long, I got someone pranked!"

Angry Sakura mode was on again.

"YOU JERK!"

AN: I took some liberty with Tsunade's ultimate healing technique in this one to write a new spin on the otherwise quite common "Kakashi Test". So no need to say that what I did isn't canon. I know it isn't.