Next morning, team 7 gathered in the training ground, waiting for Kakashi to arrive. The 3 genins were waiting anxiously. Well, at least Sakura was. The girl was pacing back and forward nervously. Meanwhile, Naruto was leaning against a tree and meditating. Saori was simply sitting on the ground.

Sakura, still seeing the heavy atmosphere, stepped back. Eventually, she balled her fists and determination appeared on her face.

"Waiting for this exam sure gets on your nerves, huh?" Sakura asked with a nervous chuckle.

...

Nothing.

Sakura's smile became forced as she was blatantly ignored. "I wonder why Kakashi-sense is late? He said to get here at 7 am, but he is nowhere to be found," Sakura said as she glanced around.

...

Nothing.

A vein bulged on Sakura's forehead. "AH, fine! Do what you guys want!"

Sakura also sat down near the three, ignoring Naruto and Saori.

Naruto opened one eye and glanced at the brooding pink girl. His eye then traveled to Saori, only for their gazes to meet.

Sparks formed in the air as Saori looked away with an angry huff.

"Is this girl going to target me during this exam?" Naruto wondered.

As the three were sitting around the tree, Kakashi appeared in a cloud of smoke.

"Good morning, everyone," Kakashi's right eye turned into a smile.

"You're late!" Sakura lashed out, still angry from being ignored.

"Well, you know, strange things happen in life. One second I was walking to the training ground, and the next second, I was trapped in a genjutsu. There is nothing I could about not being able to get out, right?" Kakashi waved away Sakura's anger.

Sakura stared at him with an 'are you serious' face.

"In any case, it's time to start your exam"

The three genin then gathered around Kakashi who took out two bells from his pouch.

"This will be your exam. You guys have until noon to take these two bells from me. If you can't, then you will be sent back to the academy," Kakashi smiled as he tied the bells to his waist.

Sakura also smiled.

Take the bells?

She had the two strongest students in her grade... Kakashi may be a jounin, but if they work together, then they should be able to take those bells.

Sakura then turned to the side and her expression froze.

Saori's eyes had 'Competition' written in them, obviously intending to compete against Naruto.

Naruto also had his patented 'leave me alone' look on his face, having no intention of working in a team.

"Da fuq, you guys? Do you guys want to fail?!" Sakura screamed in her head.

"Ehem, I also forgot to mention one thing. Each bell is a ticket to pass this exam. In other words, only two people may pass while the last one will be sent back to the academy," Kakashi smiled.

Sakura broke out into cold sweat as she felt an aura of fire erupt from Saori while an aura of ice erupted from Naruto.

Sakura shivered as she shook of the snow. She wanted to protest, but was completely cut off.

"All right, all preparations ready?" Kakashi then raised his right arm. "3...2...0," He said lazily.

The three genin were caught off guard by the lazy voice and jump in numbers. However, once they gathered their bearings, all of them disappeared.

Kakashi nodded his head as he walked to the tree and sat down.

"Good kids, good kids," He then took out an orange book. "With this, I just have to not show any openings, and I will have about 4 hours to read my book in peace."

...

About half an hour had passed since the start of the test, yet nobody had moved for the time being.

Saori had been crouching on a branch, observing Kakashi all this time. However, Kakashi had shown no opening all this time. He had been simply reading his book, but he gave off a feeling as if nothing could touch him.

Sweat flowed down her white cheek, dripping below her. Saori let out a sigh as her eyes narrowed. Chakra faintly covered her legs and she jumped from one branch and to another.

She silently tree hopped and switched her position. Once she arrived behind Kakashi, Saori took out several shuriken and threw them at him.

Kakashi watched with an interested look in his eyes as the four shuriken flew out from both sides. He didn't bother standing up or putting away his book. He simply observed, curious as to what Saori would do next.

Those shuriken seemed like they would fly off into the distance, but Kakashi then saw something reflect off of the shuriken.

With a tug of Saori's hands, wires revealed themselves. Following her hand movements, the four shuriken started changing their trajectories and started flying in a circle around Kakashi, the wires tying him firmly to the tree.

After Kakashi was tied to the tree by the wires, Saori fell from the top of the tree and landed before Kakashi.

Her hands shot out towards the bells and grabbed them before putting some distance between them. Once she saw that Kakashi was still firmly tied to the tree and the bells in her hands, Saori was in disbelief at first.

However, a confident grin broke out the next second.

"Can I take it that the test is over, sensei?" Saori asked as she shook the two bells.

Kakashi only smiled in response. Saori suddenly had a bad feeling and her body tensed up. She watched with surprise as the tied up Kakashi went up in smoke and was replaced by a log.

Her mouth hanging open, Saori stood there dumbstruck.

"When did he?" Saori asked quietly.

She then felt that something was wrong and looked at her palm, only to see that those 'bells' were actually two rocks.

Tap, tap.

Saori froze as she felt 2 taps on her shoulder. She turned around and saw Kakashi standing there, smiling at her. He then pointed at the two bells at his waist.

"I'm afraid this test is not over yet," He chuckled.

Saori quickly jumped back and threw a volley of kunai straight at Kakashi. The volley flew forward with great speed, but they weren't very accurate. All Kakashi did was catch one kunai, spin on his heel, avoiding the majority, and, after completing his spin, he threw the caught kunai at Saori.

Kakashi's kunai was quick and precise, appearing before Saori in a flash. The girl watched with surprise as the kunai was about to hit her, but at the last second she came to her senses and slightly moved her body, just barely moving out of the way with the kunai only leaving a deep wound on her body.

Saori winced slightly as she felt the pain. She looked down and saw her blue shirt stained with blood. She then looked up at Kakashi who stood there as if nothing had happened, reading his book in leisure.

"One hand... With just one hand," Saori stammered as she felt a sense of desperation.

However, she then suddenly remembered Itachi, the man who had killed her entire clan. Her thoughts then – unwillingly – traveled to Naruto, the strongest student in the academy.

These two had always been her goals to surpass. She even fought regularly against one of them.

"Right, there is no time to get depressed here," Saori encouraged herself and got into a stance.

Seeing this, Kakashi quirked one of his eyebrows, "Even after being shown the difference, she still hasn't given up? If anything, she has the spirit," He noted in his head.

Saori's body was covered in chakra and she charged forward at Kakashi.

She quickly arrived before him and punched him straight in his left rib. Because Kakashi held his book in his left hand, it was awkward for him to defend with that hand.

However, Saori was surprised when Kakashi leaned back slightly and raised his left leg, blocking the attack with his knee.

Saori then dropped to the ground and did a leg sweep, trying to knock Kakashi to the ground. However, Kakashi jumped off the ground with his right leg, dodging the attack again.

Two kunai knives shot out from Saori's sleeves and appeared in her hands. She charged forward again and caught up to Kakashi, stabbing him straight in the stomach and chest.

With a small chakra burst, Kakashi jumped again and flipped in the air. Saori could only observe with wide eyes as Kakashi was straight above her, his right hand extended and he placed it on Saori's head, doing a handstand.

Saori gritted her teeth as she spun on her heel and slashed with one kunai, forcing Kakashi to avoid again.

Once she completed her turn, Saori threw her free kunai straight at Kakashi, who dodged it lazily by leaning his head to the side.

Saori wasn't done as multiple shuriken flew out from her hands. The two stood with a distance of only a few meters, so the shuriken reached Kakashi very quickly. What surprised Kakashi was that only a few were aimed at him.

Kakashi's eye narrowed as he jumped to the side to avoid the shuriken. But he was surprised once he saw that some shuriken started hitting each other and redirected their flight path, continuing their pursuit of Kakashi.

"Ho-oh... That is Itachi's technique, if recall correctly," Kakashi mumbled.

With a graceful dance, Kakashi avoided the shuriken one by one. His eyes then travelled to the sky once a shadow fell over him.

Saori was in the air, multiple kunai in her hands. With a spin, the kunai flew out in seemingly random directions. However, Kakashi observed with fascination as the messy flight path started correcting itself once the kunai hit each other.

The kunai flew quickly and would stab the shuriken right in their empty middle sections, nailing them to the ground.

Kakashi was confused at first, but the he noticed that more and more kunai knives nailed these shurikens and a bad feeling formed in his stomach.

His feeling came true as soon as Saori fell from the sky and landed on the ground. Once the sun was no longer blocked, it was reflected off of countless wires around Kakashi. Only now did he understand that Saori's seemingly random volley of shuriken and kunai was actually a trap.

As the last of the shuriken were nailed to the ground, Kakashi was tightly bound by wires from all directions.

Saori also didn't waste time as she quickly went through several hand seals and placed her hands to her mouth. Her modest chest puffed out as she yelled out, 'Fire Style: Fireball'

As she let out her breath, a massive fireball flew out of her mouth at the bound Kakashi, hitting him head on.

An explosion broke the ground and shot out countless rocks in all directions. Saori had to cover her eyes from the bright light and the scalding heat.

She panted heavily and wiped off the sweat. She never had large chakra reserves so it was difficult to release a fireball that big.

"Did I get him?" She asked weakly as she looked at the large burn mark on the grass.

"Hmm... Don't think so," Soari's eyes widened as she turned her head and saw Kakashi standing right next to her. He was holding his chin and looking at the burn mark like a detective trying to solve a mystery.

"I think he is still alive," Was the conclusion he said out loud.

Saori's mouth hung open. Suddenly, a hand popped out of the ground and grabbed her ankle. She watched with surprise as the gloved hand quickly pulled her underneath the ground, leaving only her head above.

The ground before her moved as another Kakashi appeared and dusted off his clothes. "Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation, a pretty handy technique, don't you think so?" He smiled.

She turned to the first Kakashi and saw him disappear in a cloud of smoke and the second Kakashi took out his book again.

"In any case, it has been fun playing with you, but I still have other genin to test. How about you stay here and cool off for a while?" Kakashi smiled and disappeared.

Saori only felt the cold from the ground seep into her body and felt her mood drop.

"I couldn't do anything to him," She sighed.

...

Sakura had been sitting in bushes for almost an hour now. She had been thinking of how she could face off a jounin alone but just couldn't come to a conclusion.

Earlier, she had heard a loud explosion.

"Guuhh... One of those two are already fighting sensei. What if one them takes the bells? What do I do?" Sakura lamented as she grabbed her head.

"I don't think you have to worry about that," A voice came from her side.

"Why so?" Sakura asked.

Sakura turned to her side with a curious expression and froze once she saw Kakashi standing there. No, rather, he was lying down right besides her.

Kakashi had taken out a pair of binoculars, looking around the forest. He then turned to Sakura with a smile.

"Don't worry, I don't see him."

Sakura yelled in panic as she jumped back. She quickly took out a kunai and took a stance, but her trembling legs clearly displayed her nervousness.

Kakashi inwardly shook his head. "Now then, just how am I supposed to test her. Her profile stated that taijutsu isn't her forte. On the other hand, neither is ninjutsu or genjutsu... Wait, what?"

Kakashi tilted his head as he observed Sakura. Suddenly, he smacked his fist onto his palm. "Right, her profile said she is good at chakra control and she is smart. In that case..." Kakashi went through a series of hand seals.

Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing

Sakura only saw Kakashi go through some hand seals and disappear into thin air. She looked around, confused, as the wind picked up and started swirling around her.

Suddenly, Sakura heard the rustling of the bushes to her side. She swallowed her saliva and the grip on her kunai tightened. She could feel cold sweat appear on her back as she was anticipating Kakashi's attack.

A moment passed and the bushes calmed down. Sakura, seeing this, also calmed down, loosening her grip. However, that proved to be a mistake as a giant brown bear appeared out of the bushes and rushed straight at Sakura.

"Hell no!" Sakura yelled, turned around and dashed away. "There is no way I am fighting against a bear!"

Sakura ran out of the forest at the speed of light and stopped once she noticed some ball on the ground. She looked down cautiously and saw that it was Saori's head. Her black hair was all around her lone head, her eyes closed and mouth open.

Sakura screamed at the top of her lungs as she dashed the other way.

"Killed... I am going to be killed!" Sakura yelled but was suddenly forced to a stop again.

The bushes in front of her started moving again. A black and white figure appeared from between the bushes.

"It's! Is that... Huh?" Sakura was confused by the figure.

The bushes started moving again and the figure completely revealed itself. Sakura's two eyes widened, because the figure turned out to be a very small, adorable creature.

"A... A penguin?" Sakura asked with a blank look.

"So it is..." A rough voice came from behind Sakura.

Cold sweat covered Sakura's voice as she had never heard this voice before. Carefully, Sakura turned around to face whoever spoke.

Her eyes popped out of her head once she saw the bear was right next to her, standing on its hind legs.

"I wonder what this penguin is doing here?" The bear asked as it scratched its head.

Sakura stood with a blank look on her face.

"Talking bears, penguins, Saori's decapitated head... Haha... ehhhh I think I'm going to sleep," With that said, Sakura promptly passed out from an overload.

Once Sakura was down on the ground, blissfully sleeping, Kakashi appeared from the forest and shook his head.

"Her profile said she was good at dispelling genjutsu... Though I suppose detecting it is a whole other thing," Kakashi sighed.

Kakashi then turned and looked at Saori. She was still underground, unable to get out of it by herself. Previously, Saori was simply yawning as the cool ground had made her slightly sleepy.

"That, however, was not part of my plan... Oh well, I suppose I'll continue the test," Kakashi then disappeared from is place, off to find his last student.

...

Deep in the forest, Kakashi reappared on a tall branch.

"Now then, I sensed his chakra somewhere nearby," Kakashi looked around cautiously. His lone eye suddenly widened as he saw a figure.

"This is a bold way of 'hiding'," Kakashi mumbled quietly.

To his surprise, Naruto was not hiding at all. He had simply ran deep into the forest and was now relaxing. Kakashi observed Naruto, who was casually leaning against a tree, reading a book.

Kakashi also didn't feign ignorance and walked up to Naruto without hiding his presence.

"Having fun?" He asked.

Naruto simply shrugged his shoulders and ignored Kakashi, making him twitch his eyebrows.

"So... Are you not going for the bells?" Kakashi pointed at the two bells hanging by his waist.

To his surprise, Naruto extended his palm towards Kakashi, but while still reading his book..

"If you give them to me, then sure. Otherwise, no," Naruto smirked.

Kakashi's eyebrows started twitching as he looked around the place to see if there were any traps. Though no matter how much he looked or sensed, there were none.

"You know you will fail if you don't get these bells, right?" Kakashi pointed out one single flaw in Naruto's plan.

Naruto then moved his book away and looked at Kakashi, the edge of his lips curled up into a smile.

"Fail? Me? I would like to see that," Naruto then turned back to his book.

Not understanding what gave Naruto so much confidence, Kakashi couldn't help but ask, "Yes, you will fail. No matter how good your grades in the academy were, do you think they grant you a free pass? I'll tell you now, there were a lot of geniuses who did even better than you, and they still had to take exams."

Naruto scoffed."Fair enough. Then tell me this, how many of those geniuses were jinchuriki?"

Hearing the term 'jinchuriki', Kakashi's eyes narrowed.

"Tell me, Kakashi, is Konoha in any position to fail our team? Mind you, our team has the jinchuriki of the Kyuubi as well as the heiress to the Uchiha clan. This is your only chance to tie us down to your village and you are still talking about failing us?" Naruto lazily explained as he read his book.

"I'm not in the mood to engage in witty banter with you, sensei. You should know that if you don't accept us, then Konoha will lose their only jinchuriki and the Uchiha clan. That is the very reason why you are coming to find us yourself, right?" Naruto's pleasant disposition disappeared and was replaced by cold indifference.

Kakashi released a sigh as he shook his head, "Smart one, aren't you... In any case, you are not even interested in testing out your strength against a jounin? I recall that your dream was to become strong, right?"

Naruto nodded his head, "Right. However, the 'strong' pick their battles wisely. Why would I fight against you when I know I can't defeat you? In any case, I think its best that you spend some time thinking about the excuse you are going to give everyone so we can pass."

Kakashi felt stiffled as he wanted to strangle the cocky kid. However, all he could do was sigh and disappear. He already understood that Naruto was not going to move. Instead, it was best to spend some time with those other two and to come up with a plausible excuse to pass them.

Time passed and noon eventually came around. An alarm rang in the training ground, signalling the end of the exam.

Everyone then returned to the main clearing and waited for Kakashi to appear. Sakura and Saori were both worn out and filthy at this point. Both of them had bruises on their arms, legs and faces, dirt covered their clothes and their hair was messy.

In contrast, Naruto was sparkly clean. No even a speck of dirt was on him, causing the two girls to look at him strangely.

Poof!

A cloud of smoke appeared in front of the genin. As soon as the cloud of smoke dispersed, Kakashi appeared, also looking worn out and tired.

"The test is now officially over. I am sorry to say this but none of you could get the bell," Kakashi shook his head, as the two bells on his waist jingled.

Saori and Sakura both became depressed at the thought of going back to the academy. Especially Saori. Kakashi then glanced at Naruto who had an indifferent expression on his face.

"The true meaning of this test was teamwork. I wanted to see if you guys could put aside your diffecrences and work together, despite the risk. Unfortunately..." Kakashi shook his head.

"However, you guys don't have to despair," Kakashi smiled and he saw the hope lit up in two female's eyes.

The two girls looked up at Kakashi, surprised.

"This kind of self-sacrifice is very difficult. It is difficult to find it even among veteran teams. That's why, I had also looked into your individual abilities, "Kakashi then pointed his finger at Sakura.

"Sakura, your performance was the worst of the group, "Sakura hung down her head embarrassed, "However, you were a quick learner. You acknowledged your weaknesses and tried setting up countless traps in order to capture me. Many of those traps were actually very good. Overall, your attitude was good from beginning to end and you showed good aptitude. Although you failed to get the bells, you just barely pass based on that," Sakura's eyes widened as a happy smile appeared on her face and she stomped her feet in happiness.

Next, Kakashi pointed at Saori.

"Saori, your performance was excellent. Your combat abilities are definitely top grade among genin and your talent shined through here. Your greatest weakness is your lack of experience, but that was covered by your talent. Every time we fought, I could feel your growth and you improved by leaps and bounds. No matter how I look, you have the makings of an excellent kunoichi, though your mindset needs to be adjusted," Saori also puffed out her chest and nodded her head.

Lastly, Kakashi pointed at Naruto. The two girls also looked curiously at him. Sakura and Saori were aware of each other when fighting Kakashi. The only reason these two didn't team up was because they were afraid that the unseen Naruto would appear at the last second and steal their spoils. However, he had not appeared a single time throughout all the exam. Did this guy fail?

"Naruto... You, err, displayed excellent situational awareness. You perfectly understood your own situation and were careful in choosing your own battles. Though your attitude needs some adjustment, you also have the excellent makings of a shinobi," To the end, Kakashi's tone was flat and dead as he was speaking to Naruto.

"Anyways, we all learn and grow from our mistakes, right? You guys can rejoice, for you have passed the test and team 7 is officially formed. Now I will go and report this to Hokage-sama," Kakashi went through his heand seals and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

"We passed!" Sakura threw out her arms and then turned to Saori with sparkling eyes, "You were amazing, Saori. I saw you fighting against sensei, you know. I knew you were strong, but you surpassed all my expectations."

Saori nodded her head, "Well..." Saori paused as she saw Sakura looking at her with sparkly eyes. Saori faced the other direction, before saying, "After seeing you struggle so much against sensei, I think I see you in a new light."

Sakura nodded her head with a wide grin. Her eyes widened as she turned to Naruto. "How about you, Naruto? How did it go on your end?"

Naruto only gave her a casual look before turning away and walking away, "Nothing much."

Saori and Sakura frowned after Naruto poured a bucket of cold water on their parade. They were now official genin and the two girls had fiercely struggled to their last during these few hours. It was an emotion roller coaster of disappointment and happiness. However, Naruto treated it as if it was nothing.

"What's his problem?" Sakura huffed.

"Don't mind him. We shouldn't disturb Mr. Strongest there," Saori said as she rolled her eyes.

Naruto didn't react to the blatant insult and simply walked away.

"Well... Anyways, would you like to go grab something to eat? I have not eaten anything, so I am starving," Sakura said.

Saori nodded and the two were also making their way out of the training ground, chatting.

Only Naruto was left as he was casually walking back. Suddenly, he stopped as he looked at his bandaged arm. Originally, his bandages were white, but a smear of red appeared on the bandages and started extending.

"Che!" Naruto clicked his tongue in annoyance.

Truth be told, no one would know just how much Naruto wanted to join into the fight. After all, this was an opportunity to test his strength against a jounin, as well as using the sharingan to expand his own arsenal.

However, Naruto's injuries from his fight against Mizuki hadn't healed yet. Those injuries may not have been serious, but having multiple shuriken and kunai stabbed into your body won't disappear after a few hours.

Naruto sighed as he tightened his bandages and continued making his way back.

Author's Notes:

Well... What can I say? For some reason, I got the urge to upload this one chapter.

Is it OCD? Perhaps I couldn't stand the fact that I had left the scene right before the exam. Yes, probably the LSD kicking in... Wait, what? I mean OCD! OCD!

In any case, this is over and done with. My inner weirdness has been satisfied as I feel that the loose end has been tied up.

Because I will be moving out in a few hours, I will be gone for a few days now. No need to panic and start writing poems in my honour, because I have no plans of departing this world yet. And I have all the plans to return to this fanfic once I am done.

Really...

No need to give me that blank look.

Thank you very much for reading this chapter, and I hope you enjoyed it. If I won't be crushed under a mountain of luggage, I will see you guys in a few days. Toodles!