Chapter 3: The starting line
In retrospect, Sasuke wasn't sure why he was surprised.
In all honesty, all of them should've seen this coming.
Their sad excuse of a sensei was late, over two hours late, again. And a part of him was severely tempted to follow Naruto's lead and try to get some form of revenge on the guy. It probably wouldn't work out but it would make him feel just a bit vindicated. If not for the apparently chronic tardiness then for the fact that he was starting to feel more than just a little bit hungry, and he knew Kagome was on the same boat. all thanks to their oh so wise and great teacher's instructions.
Next time he gave this sort of idiotic commands he was going to make sure to eat a buffet. It saved him from having to make breakfast but the hunger and waste of time were most definitely not worth it.
Taking a deep breath he concentrated in ignoring his blond teammate's ever-increasingly grim muttering and focus on the scroll in his hands. Lying down with her head in his knees Kagome was attempting to do the same without falling asleep. Despite the mostly relaxed atmosphere during dinner last night, the girl still woke up in the middle of the night gasping and choking down sobs. And like always all he could do was hold her as she let her thoughts swirl around that person...
Focus, he reminded himself as he moved his eyes to read the same line for the fourth time, he could already feel his thoughts beginning to drift away. He'd have to re-read the whole thing once they were back home, he was sure not a single word would stick with him for long.
Idly he wondered if their new sensei was actively trying to have all his students try and stab a kunai on his back. If that was his aim then the man was making great strides to make that particular goal a reality.
Had he not had the few extra seconds to steel himself to what he was dreading would be his permanently infuriating teacher Kagome gave him by groggily sitting up as a sign she could feel someone approaching, the young Uchiha was sure he'd have lost it as soon as the man opened his mouth.
"Ah, sorry, sorry. There was this black cat on the street I always use and ended up having to take a detour."
"Liar! That's a blatant lie!"
At least the scream seemed to have fully woken Kagome up. The girl hurriedly shoved the scroll in her hands on her waist pouch, left hand swiping his own as well. "Just let it go Naruto-kun."
"But Kagome-chan!" The blond whined. "He's just as late as he was yesterday, what if he does the same thing again?"
"He is standing right here." None of them could really tell what kind of expression the jounin had thanks to the mask covering half of his face (and the headband another quarter) still all of them felt a small shiver at the man's lazy drawl. "Now, like I said yesterday this test has a 66% rate of failure, so really there's a good chance all of you will be getting back to the academy."
Tension flooded his veins in an instant. After all the relief he felt just yesterday now here he was, the threat of separation hanging over their heads once more. The jounin moved to the center of the clearing, gait relaxed, lazy, almost mocking. Rage pushed down the anxiousness.
"I've set this alarm to go out at noon, and here I have two small bells." The cheery sound of said bells seemed to laugh at him from his annoying sensei's hand as the man raised them to his eye level. "Your test is to steal these from me before the timer sounds."
It was as if the man was rubbing salt in the wound. Not only would the jounin have to defend against three opponents, but their target was also loud and easy to see, clearly contrasting against the black and dark green of his clothing. He knew getting the bells from him shouldn't be easy but this set up was just making the gap between them look too far to ever hope to bridge.
"Anyone who fails..."Kakashi-sensei continued "doesn't get to have any lunch. Instead, you will be tied to that tree stump so I can eat your lunch in front of you."
Oh...well, that explained the odd instruction he gave them last afternoon. The ache in his stomach rose and he could see the other two attempting to ignore the loud growls their own stomachs chose to make known their dissatisfaction. He should congratulate the man, really only two days, and their teacher had managed to completely unify the three of them perfectly. In their hatred for Hatake Kakashi that is.
"All you need is one bell per person." He resumed "But since there aren't enough to go around one of you is definitely headed for the stump...and whoever that is will be the first to fail..." The man paused again for dramatic effect. "One of you will be on your way back to school before the day is over, in disgrace."
The young Uchiha made sure to take a deep breath, the last thing he needed was to let his emotions make him do something stupid like charge at the experienced elite ninja without a plan. A shinobi was not supposed to fall to provocations.
"You may if you want to, use shuriken." Again just cheap provocation, Sasuke was not going to give the man the satisfaction. "Attack as if you mean to kill or you'll never stand a chance."
"Even the best can make mistakes, are you sure it's alright to take this so seriously sensei?" Kagome said, polite smile firmly in place like she hadn't just suggested they could accidentally kill the man.
Higurashi Kagome was unquestionably one to hold on to grudges if she wanted to.
Trying to be as discreet as possible the young boy grabbed the edge of his female teammate long sleeve and gave the slightest pull. Kagome was not usually the type to get so hotheaded as to forget to keep her composure and taunting the man certainly counted as losing her cool.
"Yeah, yeah, if you had so much trouble trying to avoid a simple trap then you'll get killed for sure!" Of course, the blond menace would go and follow up with the mocking. And in whose mind was that death trap he made in the classroom a 'simple' trap? "I mean if I was serious who knows where you'd end up!"
Unsurprisingly their new teacher didn't change his expression, though judging by his next words Sasuke was starting to think maybe the man was more annoyed than he let out. Calling one of his students a dunce after the 'elite' shinobi himself failed to appear on time to his own classes twice in a row wasn't exactly a professional attitude.
And of course, the blond reacted with his usual impulsiveness taking a kunai and charged straight on with no plan in mind. Because of course he did.
He didn't blink, he was sure, and yet he couldn't help but be taken aback as Kakashi-sensei all but disappeared only to reappear right in the middle of their little group. One hand stopping Naruto's kunai with ease and the other grabbing the back of his hair. Right, this was what an elite shinobi was supposed to look like.
"Not so fast, I didn't say go." Their teacher's drawl was the same as ever, not a trace of effort in his voice despite the speed he'd just displayed. A quick glance at his left told him Kagome had noticed the same. "But at least you went for the kill so it seems you've begun to respect me a little.
"Ready...set...GO!"
He moved on pure instinct, letting go of Kagome's sleeve and jumped towards the tree line. Trying to fight the man on his own was not a part of his rapidly forming plans but trying to pull her along could slow them down if her instincts pushed her to move in a different direction. For now, all he could do was trust in her abilities to keep herself safe. With only two bells attempting a full group attack would be impossible but fighting one on one was a risky bet to take, meeting up with her was more urgent than even right now.
Cautious, he left his eyes to study the space behind him. With an opponent like this trying to get too far away would only equal to exposing his back, the first thing to do would be to wait until he went to a different area and then...
"It's time for our match to begin!"
The loud and familiar screaming froze his plans midway, wrenching his eyes back to the clearing he though all of them vacated. Numbness and disbelief washed over him as he recognized the irritatingly bright orange form proudly and very visibly challenged the experienced shinobi.
As quickly as he was able to, Sasuke scanned the rest of the clearing, praying that Kagome's kindness wouldn' t win against her common sense and pushed her to remain in the open out of pity for the one person they called a friend, only to almost blow his own cover letting out a sigh of relief when he found no one else. She was probably still close by, trying to gauge the situation and erasing her presence. Not that it meant he could relax, he knew the boy well enough to fear there was still a chance Naruto would do something stupid enough the girl would feel compelled to intervene.
Oddly enough he may have to thank Naruto for this. Now he'd get a chance to see some of his sensei's skill before having to face him
If the prankster ever managed to make the man fight seriously that is.
Which seemed more impossible with every passing second of their 'fight'. For all the screaming and over the top threats going on the whole thing was little more than an unbalanced game of tag. Naruto was doing nothing but running blindly after the albino.
He understood, he truly did, had he been the one taunted only to find out his opponent had chosen to read a book of all things instead of focusing on their fight even Sasuke would be enraged. It was not an excuse however for the sloppy stance the blond began to use as he rushed towards Kakashi-sensei. Because really, what was the point in spending hours of training correcting his form if he was going to forget how to use it with the slightest provocation.
Tch, this guy's spacial awareness is just too good. He thought as he watched the jounin avoid Naruto's attacks one after another, his one eye never leaving the little orange book.
It was an exercise in futility, what was going on in front of him, there was no way Naruto would be able to get a hit on the man unless by some sort of miracle their teacher got distracted by something in the book. Maybe he should just move already, staying here wasn't giving him any new or useful information. he was only wasting valuable time and placing himself in too close a range from their sensei for him to feel comfortable in.
His thoughts froze as the man finally did more than dodge, placing himself behind his blond teammate, book closed, hands joined together in...imposible, now he's making the sign of flames, that damned teacher wasn't just running around...and this is taking things way too seriously...
Carefully, Sasuke moved closer, he wasn't about to show himself but he wouldn't let Kagome do something foolish if she tried to interfere to save the prankster. Time seemed to slow down, the tension growing with each passing second.
Silence swallowed the clearing...the young Uchiha blinked slowly, just to make sure what he thought he'd just seen really happened...their supposed elite teacher had really just launched Naruto to the pond by pushing his fingers up his student's ass...
They're both buffoons.
He shook his head, this really was a waste of time. The man was simply playing around, which would explain why Kagome remained silent, the girl's intuition was always astoundingly accurate. They could probably lean on that when they confronted the jounin come to think of it.
In fact, he thought as his mood grew grim at the sight of their teacher catching the shuriken attack while laughing at whatever the hell his orange book said, it might be crucial if we want to have a chance.
Again the boy made to move away from the clearing just to be stopped once more, this time because of Naruto...
Eight distinct bodies? Was this the technique he bragged about yesterday?
The technique was from a forbidden scroll, after all, he shouldn't have been so quick to dismiss it last night. And the blond was not as idiotic as he seemed, his pranks were pointless but his plans were not really that bad, he shouldn't have been surprised by learning the blond used misdirection to get closer to Kakashi-sensei...if he actually managed to get a bell, however...
He was unsure whether to frown or feel relief as the Naruto clones began fighting between them once the sensei being held down escaped via a substitution jutsu. Of course, he'd momentarily forgotten the blond's plans hardly ever worked without a hitch, and of course, he should've seen his teammate falling for the very obvious trap of the bells miles away.
Their sensei continued with his impromptu lesson, insulting the prankster who was now dangling from the tree. Dark eyes narrowed as he focused on the man, his guard was still pretty high but his motions seemed to become just a bit more relaxed the further he went on with the insults...if his guard dropped for just a second then maybe...
His hands barely had the time to stop their movements as his eyes caught the four smoking bombs being launched towards the clearing. So that was Kagome's move then. Nodding to himself the boy turned to run, that was a clear retreat signal and after years of training together, he learned the girl's seemingly impulsive decisions tended to pay off.
"Shh."
A small hand covered his mouth the moment he turned, bright blue eyes were narrowed in concentration looking somewhere to his left. Doing her best to keep her movements as silent as possible Kagome motioned for him to follow, Sasuke nodded. Meeting up with her was his plan from the beginning, he didn't fully like the idea of leaving their blond teammate behind but he was not about to let them be separated. If he had to choose between the two there wasn't even a competition. Not that he didn't appreciate Naruto, in fact, the Uchiha heir was rather grateful the blond always did his best to keep Kagome smiling...if one had to be abandoned though he would show no hesitation.
Foolish as he liked to act the prankster wasn't brainless, he'd understand why Sasuke had to do it, and even if he didn't Naruto would only blame the Uchiha for his failure. The chances of their childhood friend taking his anger out on the azure-eyed kunoichi were ridiculously small and he'd make it clear who would be the one at fault for his eventual failure.
Shaking those thoughts away he focused on his female companion. The two of them always trained together but their usual strategies would need to be revised. There was a big difference between fighting with someone on his same skill level and going against someone who surpassed him in both skill and experience, the young Uchiha began creating a plan. It was a good thing Kagome found him so quickly, it was too dangerous to stay separated when they had no idea just how capable their sensei truly was.
The best in his class he may be but Sasuke wouldn't fool himself into thinking he could take on a jounin by himself. Lazy as the man presented himself he'd still been promoted to the elite class.
If you were to judge the strength of a ninja based solely on their physical appearance you were sure to end up dead. He would know, after all, that person was most certainly not what anyone would call intimidating when looking only at his physique. Trying to judge a shinobi based on their apparent personality could very well yield the same result.
At last, Kagome stopped in a small clearing, her eyes closed as she tried to concentrate to make sure no one followed them. The slight loosening on her shoulders allowed him to relax a little.
"I don't think he's with Naruto-kun anymore but I can't feel him anywhere nearby."
"He's probably waiting for us to come to him then." He said. "It would be best if we can ambush him, lure him into a place more convenient for us. With all our equipment we should be able to trap a decent amount of terrain and..."
"Wait." There was tension in her voice. "We need to go and get Naruto-kun."
He sighed, he feared something like this could happen, it was just like her to worry about others regardless of her own situation, taking a deep breath Sasuke made sure to keep his voice even. "There are only two bells Kagome, even if you convince him to work together with us instead of charging like an idiot on his own..."
"That's not it," The girl interrupted him, frustration clear as she pulled his arm closer to her. "I mean we need to get him, I have a feeling Kakashi-sensei was messing with us. Just think about it," The volume of her voice rose a bit before he could try to speak over her "his instructions don't make sense, do they?
"He's a jounin, with years of experience, the way he phrased the whole thing it feels like he wants all of us to go fight him on our own but that's just stupid, isn't it? We just graduated, even if we do attack intending to kill there's no way any of us will be able to actually hit him...besides...don't you remember..." her voice trailed off, azure eyes looking up at him with uncertainty. "the standard team is a four-man cell formation, only specialized missions end up with different numbers...he told us that..."
Ice steeped through his veins.
Teams would normally be composed of four people.
Unless there were exceptional or very specific requirements like infiltration and spy work or tracking missions in which speed or being able to pass unnoticed were prioritized. He taught them that.
He'd done it often enough, humor their curiosity and just spend hours doing nothing but answering their questions. There were very few things Itachi ever refused to answer them.
"It's not just that." Kagome was quick to add, Sasuke wasn't certain what kind of expression he was making but it must not be too nice if the speed she was trying to speak with was anything to go on. "Think about it, we've all heard of people who never managed to get promoted from genin, and every now and then you hear about some just dropping out or being forced to quit, even some teams as a whole end up being dismissed. But just one person from a newly created team being sent back to the academy the very next day? We'd definitely have heard about it and yet..."
"You think he lied."
Deep breathes and calm thoughts, this was not the place to lose his cool.
"I think the way he phrased the instructions was just so he could mislead us. He made it clear just how far ahead he is from us only to tell us we have to go confront him one on one and all but tell us to fight each other, all in a very small timeframe when all of us are already tired from hunger. No recent graduate would be able to steal any bell from him on those conditions."
"A mind game." It...could be possible, a test to see if they could bend the rules, see underneath the underneath. "To pin us against each other."
"It's either that or he never intended to pass any of us in the first place. " Kagome said, voice low and eyes locked onto his, compelling him to see things her way. To trust her. "These are the only options that make sense."
"Is this what your intuition tells you?"
Kagome nodded.
"Great, we need to get the moron then."
Whatever it was Naruto thought becoming a ninja (even if still a genin) would mean it didn't include being dangled upside down for fifteen minutes with his belly rumbling its complaints because the blond shinobi did what good shinobis were supposed to do and listened to the 'don't have any breakfast' advice of his so-called teacher.
Oh, he was so pranking him as soon as he could and the albino wouldn't be able to avoid it this time.
The blond moved, trying to reach the rope around his feet with the kunai he'd managed to shuffle out of his pouch only to stop as soon as he felt the metal touch the rope. He hadn't even thought about it, not really, after spending some time forcefully still though the weight of the test finally began to set in.
Passing this test meant someone else was going to fail, Sasuke or Kagome, one of his best and only friends were going to be left behind. He would never dare to leave Kagome-chan, the girl had been his first friend, the first person to reach out and not wince when his fingers touched hers, to feel genuinely happy to see him. And sure, Sasuke could be a bastard and he was always brooding and causing troubles for Kagome but...he still paid for his meals whenever they invited him out, he'd never kicked him out of the training grounds nor would he look at him with hatred and disgust. Neither of them did. Not now, not even when they first met and he was just a stray the blue-eyed girl had picked up, not even when they decided to ignore the world around them.
Thinking about it now, Naruto knew he wouldn't feel right forcing any of them to fall behind.
This was important to them, he knew Sasuke was looking for revenge and knew Kagome would never forgive herself if something were to happen to the moody Uchiha if she wasn't with him.
Hell, even inside the village the girl had difficulty being calm on the odd occasions they were separated for more than half an hour, starting to fidget and look around as if searching for him.
As much as he hated to admit it the two of them shared a pain he couldn't understand, his words never felt emptier than when he was trying to offer comfort for the first time after the incident, they remained empty even now. Naruto was their friend, the jinchuuriki knew the two truly considered him a friend. Were they to find out about the demon inside of him he had no doubt the two would stick with him as if nothing had changed. Kagome-chan would still smile and offer him a homemade bento three times a week and the bastard would still scoff at him and tell him to make himself useful and help clean the training equipment as payment for Kagome's food knowing full well that meant dinner that night would inevitably end up being for three.
Could he truly go against them? Was he really going to betray them?
Maybe...it would be best for him to withdraw...he could always try next year, catch up to them, with a bit of luck he'd even be reassigned to their team. The thought hurt, after trying so hard to be recognized, to pass and become a genin the last thing he wanted was to be sent back to the academy but was it really worth the price of hurting his best friends? Such a thing...
"Are you planning on hanging there all day?"
There it was, the mocking and grumpy voice he knew so well. The expression on his face was the exact same Naruto had seen many times before, annoying smirk and all as the Uchiha heir leaned against one of the trees, arms crossed.
His hand moved in reflex, metal cutting the rope in a fluid, practiced motion before his mind even had the time to process exactly what it was his childhood friend said. An angry retort halfway out when his feet touched the ground and a strong pulling motion moved him upwards, again, and the world was upside down...again.
"Don't laugh you bastard!"
The Uchiha chuckled, the duck haired bastard was actually laughing at his predicament and...
"Stop screaming moron, do you want to attract his attention again?" This time the words were spoken in a more hushed tone. The one he usually used when reprimanding him but didn't want Kagome-chan to hear him. "Now move it or you'll waste Kagome's distraction...unless you actually like being dangled like that?"
A normal friend (a normal person, Naruto was sure of it) would've probably help slowly lower the rope, Sasuke though simply sent a shuriken his way, not caring if the blond had yet to prepare to flip. The damn bastard was probably hoping he'd fall on his head. Normally that would cause a screaming match between them the jinchuuriki was too focused on the second part of his comment though.
"What do you mean Kagome-chan's distraction?"
"Exactly what it sounds like, now move it. We have to get back before the sensei finds her."
The black-haired genin moved without waiting for him, simply sprinting back to the trees and Naruto could already feel a smile forming on his lips at the familiarity of the situation. Hope started to blossom in his chest, Sasuke could be a jerk but had he wanted to take him out he would've simply attacked him straight out when he was still dangling on the tree, there was no need to lie about Kagome. They must've figured something out, a way to avoid fighting between them. If anyone could do so it would be the two of them.
It took all of his self-control not to cheer when the trees gave way to the comforting sight of his best friend sitting, crosslegged, eyes close probably trying to sense their surroundings.
"The bunshins I made are probably gone already but we should still have some time." Bright azure eyes opened the second the two of them entered the clearing. "Glad to see you're okay Naruto-kun."
"Hehe, you know me, I won't go down so easy."
"Leave the pleasantries for later." Sasuke was already frowning, he was way too tense, then again with the situation as it was, it was understandable.
"Oh yeah, did you guys figure a way around the two bells thing?"
"I think so, at least I'm pretty sure there's no way he can send only one of us back this fast." Hope arose in his heart at the same time as outrage as he finally processed her words.
"So the test was a fake?"
"Calling it a fake might not be fair," she said, wincing either due to his loss of volume control or in trying to defend their lying teacher. "if you think about it this test makes it easy to see just how far the students have improved and what areas need more work. In that way it seems legitimate, what I don't think it's true is the elimination part."
Sasuke snorted. "In other words, he was lying to us. The guy probably has no intention of passing any of us."
Right, he could see it, the man seemed just the type of sleazy guy who'd lie to his own students. Hell, he'd done so already when he oh so kindly advised them against having breakfast out of supposed concern yesterday just so he could be all sadistic and torture them with eating in front of them. "We'll definitely get him back then, but wait...how do we do that? He seems lazy but he's faster than I thought he'd be."
And stronger too, even with all his clones the blond had still be unable to land a single hit. The jounin, on the other hand, managed to get rid of every one of his duplicates.
A glimpse at his friends' faces told him they were very much aware of it already. Expressions tense and cautious, calm and focused, familiar. All of a sudden the task didn't feel as impossible as it did when he was hanging from that tree. If they already knew their sensei's strength then they were already planning on a way to win around that. He could trust them to make the initial strategies, they took over that part of his plans whenever he managed to rope them into helping with one of his pranks. And when things inevitably took an unexpected turn it was his role to take care of improvising their way out. Thinking on his feet, as Kagome-chan often said, was something he excelled at.
Between the three of them not once had they been caught.
"What do you have in your pouch?"
"The basics" he answered the girl as he pulled out what he packed. Some of the stuff had been damaged a bit by the water but most of it should still be usable.
"How are paint bombs basic?"
"I figured I might as well have my payback for yesterday." Naruto said, choosing to ignore the disbelief in the Uchiha's voice.
"We can use it, it will attract his attention for sure."
The blonde smiled at the kunoichi's words, this was why Kagome was his favorite.
"So we're ambushing him?"
It could work, ambushes were not exactly his favorite strategies but he couldn't deny they were useful...
"It's likely we won't be able to get both bells like that." Sasuke interrupted his train of thoughts. "The surprise of us working together won't last long, even if we manage to get one, getting the second will be almost impossible once his guard is up. We'd have to take both at the same time and the timing for that is..."
Really impossible. They tried something similar before, an all sync attack, but someone was always either a second too fast or a second too late and their opponent this time was far more skilled than any of the people they'd pranked. Could a genin even fool someone that was supposed to be leagues above them?
"Oh wait, what was it Kagome-chan did with her bunshins?" the blond asked. "Can't we do it again? Use the clones to make it look like us and then attack together from behind?"
"If it was that easy we'd have come up with it already, idiot." Sasuke grumbled, not even looking at him. "That guy probably saw through the bunshins from the beginning, clones are a basic technique taught at the academy, as a jounin, he has to be able to see through something that's little more than a low-level genjutsu."
"I thought it worked though?"
Kagome looked up at him and smiled before explaining. "That's because it did. I mean the bunshins were meant to be detected. From what we've seen it feels like he's trying to personally take us out one by one, so I figured if I were to make it look like there was a trap ahead by sending the clones he'd probably follow them. We trapped a bit of land and had the bunshins guide him there but I'm pretty sure he knew he was going to a trap."
"But why would he do that? I thought you said he didn't want to pass us." Confusion laced his words, this whole thing was getting more and more complicated.
"It's not just that he wants to fail us. Think about it, the easiest way to get rid of us would be to erase his presence. He's an elite shinobi, he has to know ways to hide and make us search in vain until the time limit, and yet instead of getting away from you he stayed and continued to pound on you." Sasuke's frustration started to leak through his words, though for once Naruto was fairly sure it wasn't directed at him. "He wanted to humiliate you, humiliate us."
The more he heard his friends deductions the less convinced the jinchuuriki felt about their teacher, the guy seemed way too sketchy. Normally he would've accused the Uchiha of being too paranoid or overthinking the situation. The fact that Kagome was not only supporting the bastard but had been the one to come up with the theory, however, left him no choice but to believe they were being realistic. On the bright side, he supposed, he felt even more determined to get back at him and he just decided the best way to do so would be to pass this stupid test and to pass it with all three of them. If the albino thought he could get them to fight him on their own or worse to have them fight each other, then he had another thing coming.
"We already used the clones to trick him into a fake trap though, I don't think he'll fall for it a second time so..." So none of them had any idea of how to lure their sense to a convenient place while hiding themselves.
Silence followed the girl's words, they all knew how her sentence and what it meant. The time limit they were running on was certainly not helping those two to keep calm, even the blond was beginning to feel a little panicky. After everything it took for the three of them to come together...
"We'll attack on our own, then." Sasuke growled, annoyance at a lack of a proper plan evident in his tone. "Trap the terrain as much as we can without compromising our mobility and go at him. No coordinated attacks, no patterns, there has to be a limit to what he can avoid, the randomness of the hits has to throw him off at some point."
"With a couple of easy signals we can still try to do some of the more wide-spread attacks, he doesn't know our code yet so it should work for a little while I guess..." Clearly, the girl wasn't convinced with the whole thing but Kagome was still attempting to make it work.
The blond frowned, it was a bet and a risky one at that. It was easy to tell from his teammates' expressions none of them wanted to go ahead with this half-assed plan. Not that he blamed them, he'd been so relieved when he realized they wouldn't have to fight each other for the stupid bells but coming up with a strategy was proving to be way too hard...
"Hey, guys...I think I have an idea..."
At the very least, Kakashi thought, it seems like the girl was quite creative.
And in a more productive way than her blond teammate. It was also a testament to the education she received that her deductions apparently went a bit further than what he was accustomed to finding in new graduates.
So far no one had executed a plan acting on the presumption that their techniques would be seen through, or that he'd follow them anyway based on what had to be a small sample of his character. Yet the Higurashi girl did exactly that. Lead him on a goose chase to a trap filled with absolutely nothing at all.
Well, half a dozen senbons and three kunais along with a couple meters of wire wasn't exactly nothing but it was clear the girl had planned the whole thing as a diversion and had no intention of wasting precious equipment on a trap meant to fail from the beginning.
He'd be impressed was it not for the fact the kunoichi completely failed to make a move after the fake ambush. Even after lingering no other traps were activated and the genin did nothing. So far it seemed she decided to use the clones as a decoy and simply hid.
According to the reports he'd gotten from the academy and the psych evaluations she was forced to go through after the Uchiha massacre Higurashi Kagome was deemed as a calm individual, the kind that would rather avoid confrontations whenever possible. If Umino Iruka's words were to be believed then she acted more like a peacekeeper between the only surviving Uchiha and the rest of the world than anything else, showing little to no interest in starting or continuing fights. It was, in all honesty, not that hard to see. From just their two meetings it was obvious the girl would always be positioned in the middle of their little trio, her actions soft and calming, often interrupting the boys whenever they edged a bit too far in the line dividing friendly teasing and plain insults. Not a bad trait to have, but completely wasted if she expected to be protected all the time and chose to run away from confrontation, even when it was unavoidable.
As for the Uchiha heir, the jounin was genuinely surprised the boy had yet to face him.
While the Higurashi girl could easily be classified as a pacifist Uchiha Sasuke was every letter of the word confrontational as humanly possible. Not a troublemaker, granted, but he would be the last one to back down and the psych evaluations also labeled him a far more violent individual compared to his family's ward. Even his stated goals surrounding his search for revenge reinforced that part of his character so then...
The sound of a loud explosion broke his musings.
Should he laugh...he wondered as his mind struggled to fully digest the sight in front of him. Or maybe he should just go and tell the Hokage senility must really be getting to him because there was no way any jounin would agree to deal with this.
In a way, he supposed, at least the reports about his team's behavior were correct. Higurashi Kagome avoided fights, Uzumaki Naruto was impulsive and Uchiha Sasuke was confrontational to hell and back.
To the point that instead of trying to find him and steal the bells or hiding to come up with a plan the Uchiha brat had decided the best course of action was to eliminate the variable...to go and fight against one of his teammates.
"Just give it up, will you? You'll only weight us down." He drawled, trying to get a rise out of the blond.
"Oh yeah, like you can do so much better" It was obvious being in the defensive was frustrating the jinchuuriki, his breathing agitated and loud. "The only thing you've done since this began is run away!"
"Because getting yourself thrown into a lake was so much more productive!"
The level of the fight was pretty basic, Naruto's form was considerably sloppier but the boy could endure the hits he was getting far better than Kakashi expected, and while the Uchiha's stance was nearly flawless and his hits connected fairly often neither was doing anything with a particularly high skill level.
A strong kick hit the prankster's stomach causing the brat to smirk. "The dead last shouldn't have graduated in the first place."
"I'll show you dead last!"
In what the jounin was starting to think was Naruto's favorite move, his hands quickly went through the seals, his visibility momentarily fogged thanks to the smoke the kage bunshins were creating as at least two dozen Narutos covered the field. Kakashi could already feel the headache this was going to become next year when the Hokage placed him as their sensei once again. Might as well let them beat each other up, maybe then after he buried the two idiots for a while the lesson about teamwork this whole test was supposed to be about would sink in.
How in the hell did they think either of them would have the slightest chance of defeating him when they were bound to end up exhausted and injured from infighting?
"What's the point of adding more trash?" The Uchiha sneered. "It'll just burn anyway."
No...no, the brat couldn't be meaning to...
With a speed no genin was supposed to have Uchiha Sasuke's hands moved through the seals he'd apparently memorized and perfected. The copy ninja's mind whirled with denials, genins were not supposed to have enough chakra to perform ninjutsu of this high a level and this was certainly not listed in the files he'd received. Panic began to fill him, was the brat really so hung up on revenge he was willing to risk killing his classmate's well being just to avoid being sent back to the academy?
The first sight of a spark near the boy's mouth forced him back to the present. Even with all the clones in the clearing, Naruto was still very much in the direct line of the fire jutsu and while this Uchiha was not the prodigy his brother had been he was most definitely above average, far more than Kakashi had been led to believe. It didn't matter if it wasn't enough to kill the village troublemaker, with a single blow the boy could still end up with third-degree burns. Like hell he'd allow his sensei's son to end up in the hospital because of a training session.
His legs were moving before he was fully aware of what he was doing. Moving to intercept the original Naruto before the flames could reach him when the Uchiha turned.
Heat reached for him as the fireball he thought was directed to the blond suddenly changed directions towards him. Its range was far larger than he'd thought, how did he...
The unexpected surge of chakra behind him pulled his attention to the tree line that was now full of Naruto clones charging at him at full speed. An ambush.
Pushing chakra on his feet the jounin jumped back, landing at the start of the forested area. The original had to be within the trees.
It was soft, the feeling of the wire breaking, had he any less experience with traps Kakashi wasn't sure he could've avoided the barrage of kunais, shurikens, and senbons, let alone notice the tags in some of them marking them as explosives.
Forced back into the clearing the copy ninja cursed silently. He'd landed in the middle of dozens of Narutos waiting for him and he couldn't see Sasuke.
Once again he had little time to move out of the way before flames were licking at his heels.
Well then, I know I gave them permission to attack with the intent to kill but still...
"Kagome!"
A new presence at his right was all the warning he got before six senbons hit the place he'd just been standing on. No time to keep reading was the only thing that managed to stick in his mind as the student he'd all but forgotten about made her entrance into the fray.
Whoever was supposed to be keeping an eye on these two really needed to get fired. Regular senbons shouldn't be able to make the places they hit rip apart without the aid of chakra infused tags (which were clearly not there) nor did the needles look like the ones made to be charged. This had to be a jutsu, a skill that was most certainly not in the files he got two days ago.
For the first time since he'd been told he was going to be dumped with yet another genin team, Hatake Kakashi felt motivated. At this rate, he may have to stop playing around so much.
Glancing at the Higurashi survivor he moved towards Sasuke, this could be a nice chance to see if she was willing to forgo whatever plan they made for her pseudo family's sake. Halfhearted teamwork could be just as dangerous or worse than no teamwork at all.
He flashed towards the one dark figure within the sea of orange, he'd remove one opponent and test the other two in one move.
Or that was the plan.
Smoke surrounded him as his hand moved through his target, fingers grasping nothing but air as he slammed the boy against the ground, just like the bunch of kage bunshins he'd dispatched before...
"Now!" The feminine scream was followed by a wave of heat surrounding him all at once. Wires, there were wires hidden in the ground and the girl had lifted them so the real Sasuke could lit them.
Nice, this was far more structured than he'd thought them capable of. A quick glance around the field confirmed his suspicions, with the henged clone gone there was now nothing but a mass of Narutos and a single Kagome rushing back to the outskirts of the impromptu battlefield after the wires failed to trap him. So the Uchiha transformed into his teammate to keep the katons coming up from as many unexpected places as he could. If he really took this seriously Kakashi could still beat them up in less than five minutes but they could probably hold their own against more experienced genins and maybe some chuunins.
Still playing on the defensive the jounin moved back, avoiding the burning wires and back into the Naruto fray.
He'd give Iruka credit on his reports though, the young kunoichi's aim was just as good as her file suggested (for once) considering she went back to sending weapons both normal and charged his way without ever hitting any of the clones. The question of how much trust did the boys had in her for them to move without any sign of hesitation or worry about getting accidentally hit even when projectiles would slash through places they'd just been standing in came and went as he felt one Naruto slip through his guard.
The motion his arm had begun to block the kunai aimed at him was forcibly stopped by having to pull back to avoid three precisely thrown senbons that dug in the dirt with far more force than should be possible for a regular weapon.
His last-minute kick still connected though. This time the solid body of his student was sent back flying from the force he'd unintentionally used, destroying a series of clones in his wake. A bunch of smoke exploding all around them made it clear, the jounin had finally hit the originals as the rest of the Narutos poofed out of existence.
His one visible eye blinked slowly as the smoke lifted to reveal a ragged looking Sasuke lying on top of an irritated looking Naruto. That explained the change in taijutsu form of the one that managed to break through his guard and the golden bell hanging from the Uchiha's hand explained the cheery noise he kept hearing even after Kakashi stopped moving.
"Well, that was halfway decent. I'm afraid getting the second bell will be much harder though."
"Will it now?" The arrogant drawl from Sasuke was a bit too confident for him to be bluffing.
Fingers moved to close around the second bell tied to his vest only to find nothing but air. It was gone, when...
"Is this what you're looking for, sensei?"
Avoidance of conflict was one of the characteristics of the one girl in his team but apparently holding onto grudges was another if the saccharine tone she was using was anything to go by.
Moving his gaze back he couldn't stop his eye from widening as Kagome waved an empty hand and used the other to make a simple seal. One that lifted a genjutsu and allowed the loud rings of the bell she was happily shaking echo through the field.
"From the very beginning" Sasuke smirked.
"Reiki has a very different feeling compared to regular chakra if you're not used to it detecting it can be hard." So it was her kekkei genkai then, Kakashi would give it to them. Taking advantage of using an ability no one had encountered in generations was a smart move. "I figured if I sent a senbon so the reiki could rip the cord of the bell but not close enough for the needle itself to actually cut it there was a chance it would go unnoticed as long as you were sufficiently distracted. Like when you decided to intervene in the fight. For a little while at least.
"The low-level genjutsu would've been busted had your attention not been in another place. And if the loss of the first bell went unnoticed we suspected your guard would be less focused on the remaining one. I just had to be careful to time the genjutsu and then went back to provide support."
"Yup, and I just made sure there were enough clones so there was no time to breathe or check on the bells." The blond laughed. "And all the bastard had to do was be fast enough to take the last one."
"Even the best make mistakes, it was simply a matter of waiting for one to happen."
Unsurprisingly the Uchiha was just as vindictive as Kagome, the deliberate repetition of the girl's words just proved his point.
Ever so slowly the man began clapping in a dull purposeful rhythm. Skill-wise it was clear the three of them passed with flying colors, their strategy had been good and the execution careful, then again it was not their skills he was trying to judge here.
"Good, good. Very nice, truly!" It was nothing but vindictive pleasure, what he got from the way the brats shivered at his overly cheerful tone. He wasn't going to make this any easier for them, new found respect or not. "Now you only have to knock one of you out."
"Yeah, no way!"
The elite jounin thanked his extensive training to stop him from twitching in annoyance as his sensei's son stuck his tongue out at him.
"It's one for bell."
Waving her hand again Kagome shook her head, smile firmly in place. "Which is why I have one," she pointed to the boys that had managed to stand up, the prankster still grabbing the Uchiha by his wrist. "Sasuke has another and Naruto-kun is holding both Sasuke and the bell at the same time."
"That's a nice little word-game you have there but not what I meant and you're all aware of that."
They wouldn't move, he could already tell. Not one of them had fidgeted at his ultimatum, instead, all he could see in their faces was determination. "You'll defy a direct order then?"
"The standard team consists of a captain and three subordinates, there's no point in dividing us into perfect teams only to break them the next day. We're not defying direct orders, we're defying your bluff." Surprisingly it was the Uchiha who spoke, voice firm and unwavering.
To the shame of the former ANBU captain, it took a full three seconds for his brain to properly process the words the trio in front of him. Though to be fair this was the first time someone actively refused to follow his orders to his face in the entirety of his career.
A laugh escaped him, he couldn't help it, from the very first moment with the dead last Naruto being able to master a jounin level ninjutsu; to the very last with him a former ANBU captain being fooled by a low-level genjutsu, not a single thing went according to his expectations. Plus the look on his three genins' faces as they stared at him like he'd lost his mind was also far too funny to resist the first full-fledged laugh he'd let out in years. Kakashi would give it to the old man, maybe the arrangement of this team wasn't as delusional as he'd first thought. And maybe, just maybe the little genin trio was cuter than he'd given them credit for.
"Well, congrats, you pass. All of you do." The copy cat ninja said after finally getting his laughter under control.
"Hell yeah!" The loud blond cheered, launching himself at his teammate sending them both to the ground much to the Uchiha's annoyance. "We passed! We're the first to pass!"
"Get off me, you moron!" Oh, so the screamed insults were more common than he thought.
"We need to celebrate!"
"Ah, sure we can celebrate later but you guys should stand up." The kunoichi said, passing him by to get closer to the boys.
"But we passed Kagome-chan! We're the first ones to ever pass this stupid test!" Naruto cheered again, ignoring his disgruntled teammate to pull at the arm the girl had offered to help him stand only making her lose her footing and end up falling at the top of their pile with a scream.
"We have to go to Ichiraku's!"
"I told you to get up moron!" The Uchiha stopped trying to flip them over but kept elbowing the blond with renewed effort. "And since when does celebrate means having to eat the garbage you like!"
"Take that back! Ramen is the best food in the entire world!"
"Ah we still have some meat back home, we can cook that." The girl was fast to add cutting the surly Uchiha before he could add another insult. "Naruto-kun can buy his ramen as takeout."
Sasuke seemed to sigh before huffing and finally pushing the other two off him. "Fine, but we're not paying for you this time."
Idly the jounin sensei wondered if his cute new little students had completely forgotten his existence…that would be a first. Then again, today seemed to have been a day for many firsts so Kakashi figured it was somehow fitting. Of course, he hadn't forgotten the fact that while he'd assigned the time limit to be noon and the little trio had indeed finished on time he'd yet to give them leave. Truthfully his original plan was to keep them in the training grounds for the whole day and an unexpected early victory was not going to change that tiny little fact.
Though maybe he would need to change his half-hearted made lesson plans of beating the meaning of teamwork into the brats considering they were decent enough on that front already…hmmm…there was a bit of a problem, quite insignificant honestly but he'd failed to prepare for anything other than the bell test for the rest of the day. Truthfully, he had no idea what to have them do.
Well, there was no harm in strengthening the basics, and things like endurance and stamina were never bad to focus on so maybe he could just make them run till they dropped.
Purely for training purposes, of course, it had nothing to do with the fact that Hatake Kakashi just discovered he did not appreciate being completely ignored, nothing at all.
AN: For some reason I had so much trouble trying to upload this chapter, the format kept getting messed up whenever I tried to upload the document. Anyone has any idea of why? I'm not doing anything different than before...
Anyway, this one is bit longer but I didn't notice until I was editing (I tried to break it in two but then they ended up too short). Still hope you enjoyed it. Any comment or constructive criticism is really appreciated.
To anyone out there try to stay safe and thank you for reading