Chapter 21: The Bell Test
A/N: As you all probably know, in the One Piece manga, there are side stories on the chapter covers, often covering what happened to previous villains or other minor characters after their part in the story has been covered. I'm going to start creating my own and see how it goes.
Arc – The Captured Rain Genin Resolution
Title Page: Yoshino glares down into the basement of her home at the five captured Rain Shinobi from earlier, all bound by their hands and feet, all five currently unconscious. A thought bubble appears over her head, showing that of a ticking clock.
Subtext: How long do we have to watch these guys?
XXXXXXX – East Blue, Baratie, Main Dining Room
The Straw Hat group had settled down somewhat after wondering anew who this Kakashi was and what he was trying to prove. After muttering amongst themselves, they would have resumed eating, except that Sanji had appeared and started flirting with Nami, only to be interrupted by Zeff himself.
"This is a good chance. You just go and become a pirate. We don't want you here anymore."
Sanji immediately stopped flirting and focused his attention completely on the older man. "Watch your mouth, crap-geezer. I am the assistant chef of this restaurant." He blew out a puff of smoke in anger. "You told me that this restaurant doesn't need me anymore. What do you mean?"
Zeff's voice was calm, yet carried a forceful tone as he answered. "You always fight with the customers. And whenever you see beautiful women, you always flirt with them. Your food is not so good. You drag this restaurant down. No one here likes you and I think you know that. Therefore, you'd better get out of here and become a pirate or whatever you want. The best thing is that you get out of this restaurant as soon as possible."
Sanji walked up to Zeff and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him face to face. "Don't step over the line, you old man! You can insult me, but don't ever insult my cooking! I'm staying right here and you have no say in the matter!"
"You dare hold my collar!?" Zeff roared as he calmly grabbed Sanji's hand with his own and easily threw him over his shoulder. Right into the Straw Hat's table of all places, interestingly enough. Each member was able to back off in time, along with their plates of food (Zoro even had one on his head), so at least their food at least was spared.
Sanji quietly swore under his breath, then looked up at Zeff once more. "YOU CAN'T KICK ME OUT!! I'LL COOK HERE FOREVER!! UNTIL YOU DIE!!"
"I won't die," Zeff replied calmly, turning around and walking away. "I'll live another hundred years."
"Always gotta have the last word," Sanji complained as he stood up.
"Great!" Sanji heard the annoying chore boy speak up. "You've got permission! Come be my cook!"
"NEVER!!" A second later, a kick sent Luffy crashing to the ground. Afterwards, Sanji grabbed his arm and began dragging him away. "Enough goofing off, Chore Boy. You go offer hot towels to the customers."
"Okay…" was the reluctant response.
"That cook just wanted to kick him," Naruto commented, before digging in to his food again. He then began speaking out with his mouth full, which roughly translated to 'Hey, Shino, help me train later.'
"Naturally," Shino answered. How he understood Naruto was anyone's guess. Had Naruto not been so engrossed in his food, he might have noted the darker tone Shino was using. The kind of tone he used when he wanted something his way and he wanted it now.
XXXXXXX – Several hours later at the Going Merry
Naruto was currently swearing, sweating, and breathing heavily, and thoroughly pissed off. When he told Shino to help him get ready for his upcoming fight with the one-eyed bastard, he expected some more sparring, maybe another chakra control exercise, and some kind of trump card to royally screw up the man. The mere thought of that had made Naruto quite eager to get ready.
Needless to say… Shino had other plans in mind…
Currently, Naruto had several large, heavy weights strapped to his back – he wondered for the umpteenth time where the hell Shino got these! – and was being forced to do the tree climbing exercise on the main mast yet again. With the weights and his lack of chakra control, Naruto was struggling more than ever to do walk up the damn mast. And to make matters worse, Shino had gone and borrowed some kind of grease and covered the mast with it, making it that much more slippery while simultaneously greatly increasing Naruto's hatred for the bug user.
And what was Shino doing during all this!? He was sitting on a chair watching him! Just lounging about like he was watching some kind of sporting event. He even offered smart-mouthed comments about staying focused, not to lose concentration, and to keep going. And to make sure Naruto did all this (as well as not attacking Shino himself), Shino had planted several of his bugs on Naruto that threatened to bite him in uncomfortable places if Naruto tried to do anything else but his "training".
Finally, after an hour of struggling and colorful words, Naruto made it to the top. "Got it, BUG King!" Naruto shouted down at Shino.
"Insects," Shino replied automatically, calmly reading some book. "Do so ten more times."
"WHAT!?" Normally, given Naruto's poor chakra control, plus the additions made to the mast, he would have slipped and crashed down onto the deck due to that surprised shout. Fortunately, he managed to keep his control and prevent himself from doing so.
That is… until those damned bugs bit him. Then he crashed down onto the deck.
"…I… hate… you…"
"Noted."
XXXXXXX – On top of Baratie
"Fight me."
Sasuke was speaking to Luffy. It had been no easier a feat to dragging Luffy away from his duties. The man named Sanji had been especially insistent that Luffy could not be excused. Surprisingly, it was Zeff himself who allowed the Straw Hat Captain some time off. He seemed to guess Sasuke's intentions and was all for it. Whether it was because the Head Chef pitied Sasuke for his fight tomorrow or if Kakashi really had convinced Zeff to arrange everything, Sasuke didn't know. Nor did he care.
Luffy was staring at him, arms crossed. He merely waited, not saying a word or even giving any indication that he was listening. If the stupid swordsman was correct about Kakashi's level of skill, then he wanted to be ready. And given that this rubber fool was supposed to be his Captain, Sasuke felt he would be an adequate training opponent to hone his skills for tomorrow.
If he could just get the stupid idiot to cooperate!
"Why?" Luffy asked finally.
'So I can pound you into oblivion,' Sasuke thought to himself, getting more frustrated by the moment. What he actually said was, "So I can prepare for Kakashi tomorrow. I intend to win this fight."
"Okay."
Sasuke was about to retort, when he stopped in mid-sentence. What? The idiot agreed? He'd had about fifteen different arguments ready for him. What caused Luffy to agree all of the sudden?
Luffy merely gave his trade-mark smile, as if he knew something Sasuke didn't. He then reared his right hand back and waited. Sasuke wasn't stupid enough to just charge in on him, so he took a fighting stance as well. For about fifteen minutes, neither one of them moved. After all, the first one that moved would be vulnerable to a counterattack from the other. The only thing that seemed to move was the gentle breeze blowing. Then that breeze blew off Luffy's apron.
Immediately, both of them raced towards each other, fists ready.
XXXXXXX – At another part of Baratie
Sakura heard her stomach rumble yet again. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to start her diet tonight. She figured that since she wasn't going to be able to eat anything for breakfast, she might as well start tonight. If only her stomach would agree with her instead of protesting.
She then tried to refocus on her makeshift target as she took out several shuriken and threw them at it. About two actually hit the target (nowhere close to the center) while the others weren't even close. She just looked at the results, shook her head, and wondered how she was supposed to get ready in time. She wasn't about to look bad in front of Sasuke!
"What are you doing?"
Sakura slowly looked behind herself over her left shoulder. To her surprise, it was Shikamaru of all people standing there. Now what could he possibly want? "Practicing," she told him simply.
The lazy boy just shook his head. "Do you really think you'll be able to win like that?"
She now felt a big urge to punch the boy. "First Zoro, now you," she complained. Was it too much to ask to have shipmates and friends that were supportive? She then turned back around to collect her thrown shuriken. "If you're just here to tell me how poor of a job I'm doing, then get lost or I'll be using you as my target." She held out the shuriken in her hand towards him.
Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, looking quite a bit frustrated. "You know, women really are troublesome." He reached down and withdrew a kunai from his pouch. He then casually tossed it at her target, missing the target by a good meter or so. She looked over at the target. "Are you trying to prove a po-" She stopped when she felt her entire body freeze up.
"I've just caught you with my shadow," Shikamaru told her. "Rather easily too. Much easier than I thought I would."
"What's your point?" Sakura asked, very annoyed now. For an answer, Shikamaru walked forward, causing her to move as well. "As long as I have you with my shadow, you move the exact same way I do." Sakura felt herself walk to the target, then her hand reached for the kunai that Shikamaru threw and picked it up. Shikamaru acted like he held something in his own hand and hovered it over his opposite wrist, making Sakura mimic him.
"What… are you doing?" Sakura asked, fear and panic creeping into her mind as her left hand held the kunai and moved over her right wrist, only centimeters from touching.
"I could make you slit your wrists right now." Sakura then felt her hand raise the kunai by her neck. "Or cut your throat." Sakura then felt the metal touch her neck.
"Shikamaru… this isn't funny…"
"No, it's not." Shikamaru agreed. To her enormous relief, Sakura's hand moved away from her neck and she felt herself regain control of her body. She turned around and faced the shadow user. "Just what the hell were you trying to prove!?"
"You realize how easily I caught you, right?"
"You threw your kunai at the wall, then sprang your shadow on me while I turned to look at it," Sakura answered angrily, her eyes darting to Shikamaru's feet where his shadow was. She wasn't going to be caught by that thing again. That was the only reason why she didn't run over to the boy and rip his head off.
"Rather pathetic to be caught so easily, no?" Shikamaru asked. "And to think, I had countless other possibilities on how to ensnare you. I expected to have to use at least three or four, given your intelligence level, not one."
Her eyes narrowed. What game was he playing?
"You're not going to be able to win your little fight with your skills." Shikamaru continued, ignoring her murderous gaze. "That guy is far above you. You aren't going to be able to close that gap between the two of you in just one night. You aren't going to win with brute force." His left hand tapped the side of his forehead. "You're going to have to rely on this here."
Curiosity swelled in Sakura now, replacing her desire to rip off Shikamaru's head. "You mean… you went through all that… just to prove a point?" He put her through all that just to show her the effects of what it meant to think ahead?! And he called women troublesome!
Shikamaru just shrugged. "Drives the point home better than just telling you, right?" He turned around and started walking away. "And it made sure you listened rather than just blowing me off." He gave her a half-hearted wave as he walked away. Sakura just stared at him for what seemed like an eternity – when in reality it was only a few short seconds – then she jogged towards the lazy boy. "One minute."
"What?"
A second later… "OUCH! WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?"
"For your little demonstration," came the girl's answer.
"So that's the thanks I get?!"
"No," Sakura said, smiling at him. "Thank you, Shikamaru." She then went back to her practice away, while Shikamaru quietly walked away, muttering the usual 'troublesome women' speech under his breath.
XXXXXXX – Back with Naruto
Naruto was lying on the deck, breathing heavily in a pool of his own sweat. "There… done…" he said to Shino in between gasps of precious air to Shino, who was now working on his journal. "Happy… now… bug… bastard?" His stomach roared at him and he made his decision. To hell with Kakashi and his advice, he was going to pig out the first chance he got!
"Insects," Shino replied as his little friends withdrew from Naruto, sparing him another bite.
"Shino… I swear… after… Kakashi… I'm… killing… you…" Naruto swore out loud. Did the hell he just went through even help him at all?!
"NARUTO!!"
Both Shino and Naruto looked over in the direction of the unpleasant voice. Zoro was there, looking straight at Naruto, with a very pissed-off expression on his face. Great. Just what he needed. Now what did he want?
"Ah, Zoro. Perfect timing." Shino said calmly. He then looked over at Naruto. "You're next part of training is a sparring match."
"Says who?!" Naruto yelled, jumping to his feet and pointing directly at the young Aburame. "I'd rather kick your butt around!"
'Interesting,' Shino thought to himself. He had a slight theory that Naruto had more stamina than average for someone his age; his massive amount of Kage Bunshins suggested that. But how much above average remained to be seen. Now, he had apparently regained some more drive to not only stand on his feet after being exhausted a minute ago, but was also ready to fight. Before he could speak, Zoro withdrew his swords, a dark and deadly look on his face, yelling. "Who said you could use my weights, runt!?" he yelled.
Naruto's face dropped as he looked at Zoro, then to the weights on his back, then back to Shino again in rapid succession as with new understanding formed. Shino stole Zoro's weights for his training? "Shino… you… these weights… his… oh crap…"
"YOU'RE DEAD, NARUTO!!" Zoro yelled, rushing him, swords flashing. Naruto gave a short scream, then took off running as Zoro attempted to slice Naruto to bits.
"Naruto," Shino said a calm voice, "Face your opponent; don't just run. Look for openings and take advantage of them."
"COME BACK HERE, RUNT!!"
"SHINO! I'M GOING TO RIP YOU APART INTO TINY LITTLE PIECES FOR THIS!!"
"Do so after you survive your fights."
XXXXXXX – 5 a.m. the next morning
So… after preparing themselves in their own ways… Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke felt they were ready for the arrogant one-eyed man. Two of the said three had their stomachs roaring loudly, while Naruto's was calm. Both Sakura and Sasuke glared at the other boy, but didn't comment at all.
Baratie had raised its fins for the test and set out various things for it: old crates, chairs, tables that cluttered the area as much as they could, etc. All three of them wondered how much influence Kakashi had on Zeff to allow them to use his establishment like this, even using some of the stock to provide cover for them.
Naruto's training – if you want to call it that – with Zoro had resulted in the Santoryu Master chasing and fighting with the blond boy for thirty minutes before Zoro finally stopped and listened to Naruto about Shino's role in stealing the weights. That's when both of them turned and attacked Shino, who burst into bugs the second they attacked him. After both of them cussed for ten minutes, Zoro turned to attack Naruto again, this time merely to vent frustration as opposed to wanting to cut him up about the weights. That went on for another thirty minutes before both got hungry.
Sakura had spent her time working on her skills and trying to think of some battle strategies she could use against Kakashi, or other opponents in general. After a couple of hours, she felt she had a good idea or two, so she called it quits.
Sasuke spent an hour straight fighting with Luffy, with the Captain having the upper hand most of the time. Even more so when Sasuke hit Luffy's hat off, and things got even more intense up for the last ten minutes before Sanji came along. Apparently, Luffy had agreed to help Sasuke as a means to stop working (or destroying, depending on your perspective) as well as helping out one of his crew in need. Sanji brought the fight to a stop and dragged Luffy back to the kitchen to work. Why Luffy had to work that late, Sanji didn't answer. Then it was discovered that Luffy had gotten hungry and devoured a fair amount of the food stores and left a considerable mess that he had to clean up.
And to make things more fun, the entire staff – minus Choji who said that sleep was more valuable than watching some fight – as well a good portion of the customers, had heard about this little match and had come to watch, including the other Straw Hats (Luffy in particular looked excited about this) and Johnny and Yosaku. About a hundred people were sitting in chairs like they were going to watch a sporting event. The chefs were even going around selling various snacks and drinks. There was just one small problem…
Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.
And so everyone waited… and waited… and waited some more, for a total of six hours before Kakashi finally showed up, walking on the water towards the restaurant. He looked up lazily and waved. "Good morning every - "
"YOU'RE LATE!!" roared a hundred voices.
'Wow… I ticked off over a hundred people by being late. That's got to be a record,' he thought to himself, feeling a bit of pride with that thought. "Well, my boat sprang a leak so I spent all this time trying to bail the water out with a spoon, but in the end I failed miserably so I had to walk here," he greeted the people as he pointed at Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke. "I recall just telling them to meet me. It's not my fault you all decided to watch."
That's when the audience began throwing their beverages, snacks, a couple of chairs, and various other items at Kakashi. After about a minute of that, everyone finally calmed down as Kakashi walked on to the fin deck towards his three opponents. He pulled out a small clock and set it down. "It's set to go off at noon. That's about an hour. That's how long our match will last."
"Ha! An hour's more than enough time to beat you down!" Naruto roared happily. He then yelled something loud in the shinobi tongue, causing Kakashi to look at him in confusion. "I'm a four hundred meter tall ballerina that has purple hair, silver wings and burps too much? Kid… you seriously need your eyes examined and perhaps your brain as well."
Naruto's jaw dropped, while snickering could be heard throughout the area. "No!" Naruto shouted in horror. "What I said was – " Sasuke put a hand on the other boy's, cutting him off. He wasn't in the mood to hear Naruto's pathetic whining.
"You're loud," Kakashi said, rubbing his ear. "Let's ignore the loser and get down to business then." Naruto yelled in anger and probably would have jumped the man, except that Sakura was holding him back by his collar. The silver-haired man pulled out his two bells and placed them on his belt. "If there are no objections, let's get started. You all remember our little agreement from yesterday?"
Sakura nodded. "Yes," she said irritably, while still holding Naruto. "We remember. And we're all ready to go. We're just waiting on you."
Kakashi looked at her and gave a half-apologetic look while waving her off. "I know, I know." He then turned his back to them, spreading out his arms. "I'll give you a little handicap. You have one minute to do whatever. Attack me if you dare."
So it began. The crowd watched eagerly as the three youngsters moved. Sasuke and Sakura had decided to hide amongst the clutter, while Naruto debated with himself about whether to attack or not. He got his answer when he noticed Kakashi reaching behind himself, pulling out a familiar-looking orange book and beginning to read, small chuckles escaping from his mouth.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Naruto demanded.
"I'm reading. What's it look like?" Kakashi asked, his back still to Naruto as he turned a page. "Question is: what are you doing? Are you just going to stand there like a complete idiot?"
Naruto twitched violently as he pulled out a kunai and charged Kakashi with the intent to bury the weapon firmly in the man's back. As he got close, he jumped into the air to strike, only to have Kakashi – without looking or turning – calmly swing his left leg backward and deliver a kick to the boy's chin with his heel, making Naruto crash into several crates.
"Shinobi Skills: Part 1 – Taijutsu, the physical part," Kakashi said out loud while Naruto pushed the crates aside and stumbled out, rubbing his head. "Involves physical hand-to-hand combat, the fitness needed for such skills, and the handling of weapons as well." He looked over his shoulder and gave Naruto a smile with his eye as he held up his book. "Like this."
Nearly everyone, not just the three youngsters fighting, looked at Kakashi like he was a complete idiot (Sanji began ranting about how such treasures should never be used in such a way and to even suggest such a thing warranted the most brutal and violent death penalty ten times over). "You expect me to believe that book is a weapon!?" Naruto shouted. The mere thought of it was sheer idiocy! With that, he withdrew a kunai for each hand and charged the silver-haired man. "THESE ARE WEA – "
He was cut off as Kakashi spun around, opened the book wide, and practically shoved it in Naruto's face. "Look at the pretty pictures."
It was like Naruto had been frozen solid as he looked directly at the… contents… of the book. After approximately thirteen seconds of that, his jaw hit the floor, his eyes bulged out, and indistinguishable sounds escaped from his mouth. Kakashi then slammed the book close on Naruto's nose, who immediately recoiled from the unexpected sharp jolt of pain. He began rubbing his nose and swearing loudly while Kakashi made a V for victory sign with his free hand, smiling with his eye again.
'What kind of fighting style or technique is that supposed to be?!' was the collective thought of not only Sasuke and Sakura, but the onlookers as well. Those who were also fans of the Paradise series briefly wondered if Naruto had been scarred for life, or if it just gave him inspiration to upgrade his Sexy jutsu.
That's when two more Narutos suddenly appeared right behind Kakashi, kunai armed and ready. Before they even got close to the man, he calmly threw his arms back, throwing a shuriken as he did, and made the two Shadow Clones disappear. The sound of them exploding actually made Kakashi look over his shoulder. "Wow… those were the real things. Who knew?" Mentally, he added 'So, he used his real body as a distraction, and allowed his two bunshin time to sneak up behind me. Too bad their shadows on the ground gave them away.' This little brat was turning out to be a tad bit impressive. With that thought, Kakashi looked back down at the boy. "Done already?"
He was answered by several shuriken thrown at him, to which he easily avoided. "Not by a long shot!" Immediately, twenty more Narutos appeared and they all rushed towards Kakashi. Deciding to test the boy's current skill in Taijutsu, Kakashi casually engaged the multiple Narutos by punching the first one straight in the head, making it vanish. He then spun around and kicked another, making it crash into three others. Two came up behind him, so he brought his arms back, grabbed their wrists, and threw them over at some more Narutos, all of which exploded. As Kakashi continued to destroy the clones, he thought something was off. These were being destroyed far too easily. Was he simply that bad at creating them or… 'Oh,' he thought as he looked at the small traces of smoke lingering. Now he got it.
That's when a Naruto came falling from the sky, letting out a fierce battle cry as he shouted. "GOT YOU NO – "
Before that Naruto could finish his promise, Kakashi merely sidestepped him, making him crash headfirst into the deck. "It's not a surprise attack if you yell it," he commented lightly. On the deck, Shino shook his head in disappointment at the act and made a mental note to include that little feature in their next training session. Naruto quickly stood back up with the intention of throwing a punch when he felt Kakashi's hand clasp firmly on his head. He must have used some sort of jutsu because with a quick gesture, he spun Naruto around very fast. Naruto spun around like the Tasmanian devil for a few seconds before coming to a halt, very dizzy and disorientated. As it began to clear up, he tried to look around to find his opponent.
"It's not a bad idea…" Naruto froze when he realized the voice was right behind him. "Deliberately making your Kage Bunshins weaker as a means to create a smokescreen isn't a bad idea at all, but if I may say so, the smoke doesn't last long enough to create an effective smokescreen. Such a tactic would only work against rookies like yourself, not someone like me."
Naruto slowly inched his head around to see that Kakashi was indeed right behind him. That smiling eye was back as the man began speaking. "By the way… you ate something, didn't you?"
Immediately, Naruto felt a VERY painful poke to his rear. As an added bonus, Kakashi sent a surge of chakra through the poke directly to the boy's stomach (something he had learned while observing the Hyugas back in the old days). "Konoha's Ancient Taijutsu Supreme Technique: Sennen Goroshi (One Thousand Years of Death)!"
All the onlookers sweatdropped at the sight, while Choza buried his face in his hand, shaking his head in embarrassment to hear such a vulgar technique described as Konoha's supreme taijutsu move. What kind of ancient, supreme technique was that supposed to be!?
Naruto launched into the air over the ocean itself, letting out a loud scream that only lasted a few seconds. From that point, he began making gagging noises. Though he tried to prevent it, he couldn't help himself as he threw up right at that moment. He couldn't help but look as the contents of what was once his breakfast fall down into the ocean. Then he started to fall… OH NO!! instantly, Naruto instantly tried squirming, wiggling, farting, anything to make him move just an inch! Otherwise...
…Naruto crashed into the sea… the exact same area where his leftovers had landed. A collective 'ewww…' from the observers was heard next. "COOL!!" Luffy cried out in completely awe as he put his fingers together in an attempt to mimic the gesture. He put on an excited grin as he looked at Zoro.
"Do it and you die," the swordsman promised, hands on his swords. Shino's face was impassive behind those sunglasses of his, Nami and Usopp were both appalled by the act, while Shikamaru just shook his head in disbelief. Sasuke was mentally snickering about what happened, and Sakura was very grateful that she had started her diet early, though one mentally realized that Kakashi had dropped his guard, while Naruto surfaced and looked over himself to see himself wet and covered in his own vomit. "GROSS!!"
"It's your own fault," Kakashi said, a hint of amusement in his voice as he opened his book again. "I did warn you that you would throw up if you ate. I wonder if the other two ate at all (both Sakura and Sasuke gave a big mental sigh in relief at the fact that they hadn't eaten). Didn't you…" a series of shuriken and kunai struck him on the left side before he could finish his statement.
Despite the situation Naruto was currently in, he couldn't help but gawk in disbelief at such an attack. He wanted to do that, not Sasuke-bastard! "Sasuke! Stay out of – "
"Oops," Sakura said coming into the view. "Did I use too much?"
HUH!?
Sakura was the one who threw the shuriken and not Sasuke!?
The pink haired girl continued to walk forward, looking uncomfortable with what she had done as the body continued to fall to the deck. As soon as she took another step towards it, there was a blast of smoke and a crate appeared. "Substitution?" she said out loud as she immediately looked around, to see Kakashi sitting on another crate still reading his book like nothing had happened. "Don't mind me," Kakashi said, waving her off. "Your attacks are too weak and pathetic to work on me anyway."
Thoughts on the conversation she had with Shikamaru entered her mind with those words. "Maybe so," she said, mostly to herself. He was almost in the right spot, but not close enough. She then threw a kunai at the man as she ran towards him. He batted it away without taking his eyes off the book while she formed several signs and two more of her appeared. Curiously, Kakashi looked up. 'Most interesting. Even though the ordinary clone jutsu is an E-Ranked one, she performed it perfectly and expertly. Is she a genjutsu type?'
One Sakura jumped in the air with a kunai ready. Kakashi simply tossed the book in the air, which went right through it. "One down," he said as he back-knuckled a second Sakura, making that one vanish was well. "Two down." He looked down to see the third one actually sliding towards him on the deck. He gave her a soft kick in the chest and sent her rolling backwards as he calmly caught his book.
The girl rubbed her chest as she stood up, moving over to the left, while Kakashi did the same. "Don't move," Sakura warned, bringing her hand up, forming a half tiger sign.
"Are you referring to this?" Kakashi asked lazily, holding up an exploding tag that had been previously been attached to his leg.
Sakura didn't stop moving, but surprise was etched on her face as she looked straight at her target. "You knew?" she asked. 'Just a little more… little more…'
"That the clones were just a diversion for you to get close enough to plant this on me?" Kakashi finished as they continued to move around. "It was fairly obvious," he said as he took another step and his foot hit a tripwire. Immediately, a kunai was launched from the crates, courtesy of the trap Sakura had set up. 'Got him. That'll just impale his shoulder and…'
To her real surprise this time, Kakashi merely pivoted his body slightly, allowing the kunai to continue flying on… right towards Sakura herself. The poor girl was so surprised, she couldn't even move from her spot. All she could do was watch the kunai come straight towards her face.
Then it stopped all of the sudden, hitting the spot between her eyes but not with enough force to break the skin. Kakashi's hand was holding the weapon and he was standing right in front of her. 'I… I… I didn't… even… see him… move…'
"To fall for your own trap," Kakashi began, withdrawing the kunai and shaking his finger in a disapproving manner, like a parent who caught their child with their hand in the cookie jar. "That's unbecoming of a shinobi."
"H-how… how did… you…"
Kakashi merely jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "You kept looking over my shoulder as opposed to me. That told me that you had something set up in that direction. Moreover…" he held up the exploding tag from earlier. "The design on this is wrong. Clearly, it's a fake. That told me you had no real intention to blow me up. You just wanted to distract me."
Sakura merely gulped. What would he do now?
"Do you know what Genjutsu is?" Kakashi asked suddenly.
She blinked at him, confused. Why was she being asked a question? "Um… the Illusionary Arts," she answered hesitantly. "Using chakra to affect one or more of the five senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing, or taste to entrap and confuse the enemy." She took a small gulp and continued. "Why… why do you ask?"
In response, Kakashi merely pointed over her shoulder. As if her body had a will of it's own, Sakura turned around and looked to see Sasuke bleeding all over, missing an arm and a leg, with his other leg bent the wrong direction, shuriken and kunai sticking out all over him, including one of his eyes.
"S-ak…ura… help me… please…"
Sakura stared at the sight for a few seconds before giving a fierce scream and then blacking out. On the deck, the spectators wondered what just happened. To their eyes, Sakura had just turned around, screamed, and passed out for no apparent reason. Nami leaned over to Shino. "So, what just happened?"
"Kakashi has likely captured Sakura in a genjutsu, effectively casting an illusion on her and making her see something quite unpleasant, thus rendering her unconscious."
Nami and the others near her nodded, while Luffy put a hand on his chin. and stated. "So, it's a mystery technique," he stated.
They all shook their heads at him. He didn't get it at all.
Back on the battlefield, Kakashi looked at the girl's fallen form. "Maybe I overdid it just a little?" he asked himself. He then shrugged it off as he walked over her. "That's what happens when you think more of love than ninjutsu. Speaking of which…"
Several kunai came hurling towards him with little orbs tied to the end of them. 'Smoke bombs?' Kakashi wondered as he threw two shuriken at the kunai. Sure enough, once they hit, the bombs exploded into a thick cloud of smoke. Kakashi began looking all around. 'Alright… where are you going to come from?'
He almost missed sensing the chakra presence. He swung to his left just in time to catch Sasuke's fist. "Coming from my blind side. Nice move."
Sasuke didn't bother with a response, merely turning into a left kick towards Kakashi's side, who easily caught it. To Kakashi's slight surprise, the boy jumped with his right leg despite the fact that it was the only leg he was standing on. Kakashi intercepted that leg as well, then saw that the young Uchiha was forming several signs. 'Does he really know a Katon?' Kakashi asked himself, recognizing the sequence. Not willing to take the chance, Kakashi spun around and threw Sasuke in the opposite direction.
That didn't stop Sasuke from finishing. "Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu (Fire Style: Grand Fireball Technique)!" A fireball surged from Sasuke's mouth towards the one-eyed man, who quickly grabbed a crate and threw it at the fireball, which exploded on impact. Kakashi then kicked the burning remains into the ocean so the fins wouldn't get caught catch fire. He then waved lazily. "Sorry Zeff, I hope that wasn't anything important."
"You would have done it anyway," Chef Zeff answered from his spot. "I'm billing you for that."
"Aw…" Kakashi said, looking up. "The whole world hates me." By this time, Sasuke had landed and began rushing Kakashi.
By this time, Naruto had swum back to the fin and finished wiping the vomit off his body. He looked around to see Sasuke-jerk and the one-eyed bastard fighting it out. 'Alright… direct attacks didn't work… what now?' He thought about it and figured he'd save kicking the man's rear for later and try for a bell this time around. Now… Naruto looked over the area, trying to get an idea on what he should do. He stopped when he saw Sakura's unconscious form. Hey… that could work! He'd get Sakura to help him, and the two of them could steal the bells while Kakashi was distracted fighting Sasuke! It was perfect!
Of course… he'd have to wake her up first. Smiling happily, he quickly ran over to her. Looking over her still form, he made the quick resolution that the only way to wake her up would be…
Mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Giggling under his breath, he quickly got on his knees and bent over, lips ready. 'Oh yeah! Score!' Naruto ranted mentally, quite pleased with himself. However, a few centimeters from making contact, Sakura's eyes snapped open, causing Naruto to freeze on the spot.
"NARUTO!!"
As Naruto got the living daylights beaten out of him by Sakura, Kakashi skidded back a ways on the deck as Sasuke to get away from Sasuke's second attempt at getting the bells. The crowd was now thoroughly enjoying the show. The fight between Kakashi and this Sasuke was turning out to be quite entertaining! And the side drama of misplaced love with the other two was just as amusing.
"Bad move, Naruto…" Nami said to herself, shaking her head while Sakura was ranting. She gave Naruto six points for that. "HOW DARE YOU TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME WHEN I'M OUT!! DO THAT AGAIN AND I'LL MAKE SURE TO REARRANGE YOUR FACE AND OTHER CRUICIAL BODY PARTS PERMANTENTLY!!"
"S-sorry…" was all Naruto was able to say throughout all this.
Back at the match, Kakashi was looking at Sasuke. 'His taijutsu moves are straightforward and well-disciplined. To be honest, it's more than just impressive. It's astounding. Granted, I'm not going all out, but it's still quite a feat.' He saw Sasuke reaching into his kunai pouch. Deciding to let the boy make his move, Kakashi merely waited.
Sasuke took out several shuriken and threw them at him. 'That's it?' Kakashi thought dimly as he prepared to move aside, when he noticed the caltrops scattered around him. Sasuke must have planted these while they had been fighting. So instead of moving aside, he casually dodged the shuriken, allowing them to fly right past him.
"Hey!" shouted a voice. Kakashi quickly glanced back and saw the boy on the upper deck with the long nose shouting. "Those caltrops are mine!! Sasuke! You stole them behind my back!!"
"Shut up," Sasuke responded, not denying the accusation.
Kakashi looked back at the boy and saw that he was holding several strings, one in his mouth. 'No,' Kakashi thought disapprovingly. 'He wouldn't be arrogant enough to…'
Sure enough, Sasuke began using the strings to recall the shuriken back. The man quickly tried to dodge again, but the caltrops prohibited him from doing anything big. Two of the projectiles managed to ensnare him: one on the left arm left, the other on the right arm. Good enough. Quickly forming some signs, Sasuke was going to strike first before the man could counterattack. "Katon:…"
Before he could finish, there was a puff of smoke and a log was in place where Kakashi had once been. Damn! Sasuke had been so close. Dropping the strings, he looked around for his opponent. Where was he?
Sasuke felt something grab the back of his head. Kakashi was right behind him. "I'm disappointed with you," he said, while Sasuke tried to pry off the fingers grabbing his skull. "To use the Sharingan Soufuusha Sannotachi, you're supposed to use the Sharingan itself to guide the weapons and tie up the entire body, whereas you only managed an arm and leg without it. And that didn't do you any good, now did it?"
"Y-you…" Sasuke said when he realized something big. Wait… how did this man know of the Sharingan and that it was a requirement for this move?!
Before he could demand an explanation, Kakashi twisted around and threw Sasuke at a fast speed towards into the ocean. Swearing mentally, Sasuke quickly swam up to the surface. Taking a breath of air, he looked around once again for the older man.
"Suirou no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique)." The water erupted and encased Sasuke completely. Sasuke swallowed a few gulps of water before he managed to close his mouth and hold his breath. He had to get out of here and fast!
"This is Ninjutsu: the third Shinobi Skill," Sasuke heard. Turning around he saw that man standing on the water, his hand placed firmly on the water prison. "Tick tock. How long can you hold your breath?" Kakashi asked. "A minute? Two? Tell me you yield and I'll let you out."
Sasuke replied with two middle fingers at the man. He then punched at the edge of the water. Doing so was like moving his arm through tar; it was going so slow there was no force at all in his punch. He shot out a right kick, only to meet similar results. He had to get out now! But how…?
On the deck, the atmosphere had changed dramatically as the tension had increased greatly. Would Kakashi keep the raven-haired boy trapped so long that he would drown? Nami looked at Luffy, who wasn't moving. "What are you waiting for!?" she shouted, pointing at them. "Do something or Sasuke's going to drown!"
"No."
"No!?" she repeated in disbelief. Looked like he was a typically pirate captain after all! He didn't care about his crew anymore than he did his tools! She gave him fifteen points for that! "Why the hell not!?"
"It's not my fight," Luffy answered, his voice strained. She looked down and saw that his hands were gripping the side railing so hard, the wood was about to snap. Nami saw that Zoro also had a hard look in his eyes, but made no attempt to move anymore than Luffy did and that look of Luffy's was the only reason Nami did not give him more points. Usopp was panicking at the moment, while Yosaku and Johnny grabbed their swords and attempted to jump down and help. Luffy grabbed both of them by the collars and with one mighty gesture, pulled them back on deck. "Stay out of it," Luffy ordered in a hard voice.
"How can you not do anything!?" Nami shouted, pointing. "Help them!"
Luffy didn't seem to hear her at first. He then threw his head back, took a deep breath and shouted. "NARUTO!! SAKURA!! STOP MESSING AROUND AND HELP SASUKE!!"
Sakura – who was still beating the crap out of Naruto – paused and looked up, as well as Naruto himself. The two of them then remembered where they were and what they were supposed to be doing. They saw where everyone was looking, turned to see for themselves, and saw Sasuke still struggling inside the Water Prison.
A loud ringing sound was heard next before either Sakura or Naruto could say or do anything.
"Time's…" The water prison collapsed on itself, freeing Sasuke, who immediately began gasping for air as Kakashi grabbed the back of his shirt to prevent him from falling into the ocean again. "…up." He then tossed Sasuke towards the other two, colliding with them and causing all three to fall on top of each other.
"Hey! Whose hand is that!?"
"Sorry… that's mine..."
"Idiot… that's your foot… GET IT OFF!"
"I don't care whose hand it is, move it now!"
"Once someone gets their elbow out of my face!"
"Whoever's knee that is, REMOVE IT NOW!"
"Ahem," all three stop fighting and identifying as they looked at Kakashi once more. "Time's up." The man said once again, kneeling down and looking at them. "Know what that means?"
"If you lose… I'll permanently strip you of your "shinobi" status. I'll even perform a special kinjutsu on you so that you can't ever utilize your chakra again. That is assuming any of you can actually use chakra."
Oh… crap…
"Well," Kakashi said, putting his hands together. "Let's – "
"GUM-GUM ROCKET!!"
"Huh?" Kakashi said as he saw Luffy launching himself at him. The fight was over, after all, so as far as the Straw Hat captain was concerned, that meant that this masked man was fair game! "AND YOU CAN FORGET ABOUT JOINING MY CREW!!"
Kakashi nearly got hit due to the sheer surprise of Luffy attacking and the fact that he was flying at abnormal speeds, just missing Kakashi and crashing into the fin violently. His little feat surprised a great number of people. Sanji's cigarette dropped out of his mouth as he looked directly at Chef Zeff. "What the hell did Chore Boy just do?!"
"Must be a Devil Fruit user," was the only answer Zeff gave.
Luffy picked himself up, and readied himself for another attack, while Usopp shouted. "Don't worry! The Great Pirate Usopp is on the job!" A short pause later… "Zoro! Get him!"
"No," Zoro said. Both Nami and Usopp shouted at him. "You're as heartless as Luffy!"
"It's for them to settle," Zoro replied calmly, while Shino merely gazed at the sight, not commenting, and Shikamaru yawned. Usopp ran over to both of them and grabbed them by their collars. "Aren't you two worried!? That supreme, elite ninja Cyclops freak is going to take away their shinobi skills!"
"It's their problem to solve," Shikamaru said, yawning in Usopp's face.
"That is what the agreement was," Shino replied calmly. "If it was a matter of life and death, I would agree to help. More importantly," he pointed down at their three crewmates. "They have not asked for help."
At this point, the three young kids managed to untangle themselves and stand back up. "Luffy…" Naruto said hesitantly as he took a deep breath. "Let us handle this."
Luffy looked at them each in turn. "You sure?"
Sasuke merely snorted, his way of saying yes, while Sakura slowly nodded. Luffy then looked at Kakashi. "Very well," he said. He then tipped his hat over his eyes as he began walking towards them. "Whatever happens," he said to them. "You'll still be welcome in the crew." As he said that, the other Straw Hats quickly jumped down and joined them, while Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke all looked at Kakashi. It felt like these three were walking to their own executions for the mood everyone was feeling. Kakashi walked up to them and looked at them sternly. He then shook his head. "As I thought… you three are just wannabes. You have no idea what it means to wear that symbol." He pointed at each of their hitai-ite.
"That's rather harsh, don't you think?" Usopp asked. "Sure they may have lost, but they still put up a good fight."
"Obviously, that is not the quality that Kakashi is looking for," Shino said simply, pushing up his glasses.
"I wouldn't act so smart if I were you," Kakashi said told him. He looked directly at him and Shikamaru. "At least these three tried to prove that they were the real thing. You two are just as much wannabes as these three are as far as I'm concerned."
Shino raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?"
Instantly, a horde of Kikaichu insects swarmed out of Shino's sleeves and launched themselves at Kakashi. They began to spread out, going in seven separate directions towards the man. Kakashi immediately jumped back as he began making several signs, but before he could finish, he noticed a shadow streaking towards him. Not able to deal with both bugs and shadow at once, he opted to quickly retreat with a series of backflips. "So the insects were just a distraction, for the shadow to get close to me." Kakashi said. "But you're going to have to do better than that."
"That will not be necessary," Shino said, holding up his hand. In his grip were the two bells, one of which he tossed to Shikamaru, who caught it easily.
Naruto's, Sakura's, and even Sasuke's jaws dropped at the sight. Those two just got the bells!? And so easily?!
"The shadow was a diversion as well. I had deployed several insects prior to the swarm I had just released," Shino stated evenly, jingling the bell in his hand as if he wanted to rub in the fact that he did have a real one.
"We just needed to distract you for a few moments to allow those ones to get to the bells," Shikamaru added. "By constantly keeping you on the defensive, we made sure you wouldn't be able to notice those few insects, much less be able to counteract them."
Kakashi said nothing, but his eye did glance downward. Sure enough the bells were gone. His eye glanced back at the two other shinobi boys and he smiled with it. "Well… at least you two seem to understand what defines a true shinobi. Just what I would expect from an Aburame and a Nara."
"Or they just got lucky," Nami commented.
"That's entirely possible too," Kakashi said, laughing slightly. "Luck is just as much a part of a battle as everything else is." He then looked back at the trio. "As for you three, are you trying to make fun of shinobi behavior?"
"US!?" Naruto said. "Who's the one fighting with perverted novels, making us throw up, and…"
Kakashi's hard gaze cut him off, though Sakura and Sasuke silently agreed with Naruto. "Did you ever stop to think, for one minute, why I had three of you fight me at once?"
"Because you're an arrogant jerk who wanted to make fun of three of us at once?" Naruto suggested.
"Because you were that confident in your abilities that you could handle three?" Sakura added.
"Because you wanted to humiliate three of us at once under the pretense of a fight?" Sasuke finished.
"No," Kakashi said, putting his head in his hands. "You three missed the entire of point of this exercise, yet two of your shipmates figured it out easily."
"I thought the point was to kick your butt!" Naruto shouted.
"The point was to prove if you were true shinobi or not," Kakashi countered. "And you three missed that point. Miserably."
"Why don't you just tell us what this point is?" Sakura asked, feeling both annoyed and upset over all this.
"It's so basic: Teamwork."
That was not the answer any of them were expecting. Even the crowd and several of the Straw Hats seemed to be taken aback by the answer. "Teamwork?" Sakura repeated. "That's what you wanted to see? Teamwork?"
"That's correct," Kakashi answered. "If all three of you had come at me together, you might had been able to get the bells and win. Theoretically, you could have even defeated me." In about fifty years, maybe. "Just like those two did," he said, pointing to Shino and Shikamaru again.
The two names made something click in Sakura's mind as she turned back and looked at them herself. "Wait a second…" She looked back at Kakashi. "If you wanted us to use teamwork, then why only have two bells? You're preaching teamwork, yet you pitted us against each other!"
"Exactly," came his response. "This task was designed to cause dissension in your ranks. The situation was set up to reveal which of you would put aside your individual interests and propose to the others that you work for the good of all." He looked at them fiercely. "But that's not what happened. Instead, each of you tried to work on your own, not even attempting to work together. When you're put on a team, you need to learn to act like one. Yes, it's important for each of you to have individual skills, but it's ultimately teamwork that's needed to succeed. Making a play as an individual exposes your comrades to unnecessary danger."
Kakashi's voice grew hard and dark when he said the next words. "Like this."
In a flash, he appeared right in front of Naruto and grabbed his neck. He quickly jumped backwards and put a kunai to Naruto's throat. The Straw Hats all tensed up – Luffy clenched his fists, Zoro put his hands on his swords, Shino's arms moved forward, and Shikamaru's gaze turned hard – as did a number of Baratie employees, while the customers looked on in shock. "Don't anyone move, or he dies." To prove his point, he pointed the kunai right at Naruto's neck. "If you want to save his life, do exactly what I say," Kakashi finished. Naruto was looking down at the blade at his throat, trying to think of something to do.
"What?" Luffy asked, not rushing into things like he usually did, much to Naruto's relief.
Kakashi gestured at Sasuke. "You." He then inclined his head at Sakura. "Kill her."
If the atmosphere had been cold when Kakashi took Naruto, it was now sub-zero. Luffy arched his arms back, about to spring into action when Nami hit him on the head. "Careful, you idiot!" she shouted. "You can't just rush him!"
Sakura, meanwhile, felt herself freeze up as fear grabbed her. She didn't know what was worse: the fact that she had to die so Naruto could live, or the fact that Sasuke would be the one to kill her! And she hadn't even gotten to kiss him yet! Life was too cruel! She wasn't ready to die! Not like this! They had to do something… anything!
"Well?" Kakashi said, pushing the kunai closer on Naruto's neck, where the boy was now very much aware of the thing.
Sasuke seemed to be at a loss for what to do. He kept looking at Sakura, then Naruto, then Sakura again, over and over again. Slowly, he reached down and withdrew a kunai from his pouch.
Everyone seemed to stop breathing. What was he going to do?! Would he actually… no… he wouldn't… he wouldn't sacrifice Sakura to save Naruto, right? Would he? Or would he let Naruto just die? Even if the two didn't get along as well as they could have, that didn't mean Sasuke was willing to let him die… did it? He didn't dislike or even hate the other boy that much… did he? Sakura felt her heart lodge itself in her throat, her eyes firmly on that kunai. Already, she could imagine that thing penetrating her chest and… she quickly shook the image off. She didn't want to think about that!
Then, without a word, Sasuke dropped the kunai as he glared at Kakashi. "Let him go now or…"
In response, Kakashi raked the kunai across Naruto's neck and several people screamed, Naruto among them. They all shut up when they realized the supposed dead boy shouted. Kakashi gently put Naruto down, and he gasped for air with much eagerness. Hatake held up his kunai, then grabbed it with his other hand and bent it. "Relax, it's just rubber."
"YOU SCARED US HALF TO DEATH!!" shouted everyone.
"That's the point," Kakashi said lazily. Noting that everyone was about to jump him, he quickly added "The day may come when one of you may be taken hostage and forced to make a choice." He looked directly at Sasuke. "Had this been real, he…" he pointed at Naruto, "…would be dead now and perhaps you and her as well. I'd tell you to remember it, but…" He brought his hands together and formed several signs. His right hand seemed to glow an eerie blue as he held it out. "You're about to lose your status as "ninja" anyway, so what's the point?" He held out his hand so each of the three could see it clearly. "Now… who's first?"
Silence reigned once again, though several death glares focused on Kakashi and the injustice of all of this, but Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke had spoken. They wanted to handle this themselves and everyone was going to respect that decision… no matter how much they might hate it. Many planned to personally attack the older ninja once everything was done, for their own personal satisfaction if nothing else.
"Me," all three said at once.
That answer surprised everyone. "Oh really?" Kakashi said. "Trying to prove teamwork now when it's too late?"
"No…" Naruto said, remembering the fight in Syrup Village and how he had yelled at everyone to use teamwork. Even though he had tried to get Sakura to help him, he had thought of it too late. "You're right… we should have worked together and I should have known that, so I offer to be first." He then glared at Kakashi. "But even if you take that away from me, that's not going to stop my dreams! Just take me and leave them out of this!"
"No, it should be me," Sakura said, feeling most ashamed of herself. She allowed her temper to get the better of her and she ended up losing everything! What would her parents think? "I should have realized that we would need help and when Naruto came, that would have been a perfect opportunity. Instead, I just beat him up, wasting the last of our time. So just seal me and let the other two go."
"In the scenario you gave us, I would have let someone die," Sasuke said simply. Images of that night flashed through his mind once again. He hated those feelings from that night! It made him feel helpless, scared, and most of all, responsible. Like he had the chance to stop it, but screwed everything up! "I'm never going to let that happen again, so shut up and get on with it. Just seal my chakra, then beat it."
Kakashi looked at them each in silence as he said. "Very well." He walked towards Sasuke and placed his right hand on his forehead. After a few seconds, he moved to Naruto and repeated the process. Then Sakura last. "Done." Kakashi said, stepping back. "Your chakra's sealed now."
The other Straw Hats walked towards them as Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke looked over themselves, as if they had expected to suddenly grow warts, extra limbs, and a few extra facial features. "How do you guys feel?" Zoro asked.
"Normal…" Sasuke admitted, looking over his hands. He really couldn't use chakra anymore?
"Same here…" Naruto and Sakura admitted, sounding confused. Naruto crossed his fingers and muttered 'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu.'
To his immense surprise, two more of him appeared. All of the Straw Hats' jaws dropped, even Shino's, though he recovered before anyone could witness the act. "What the hell?" Naruto said, looking at Kakashi.
"Just kidding," Kakashi said lightly, smiling brightly.
"JUST KIDDING!?" EVERYONE yelled angrily. VERY angrily.
"That's right," Kakashi confirmed. "I forfeit to you guys."
"YOU FORFEIT!?"
"What did you do to them!?" Usopp demanded.
"Absolutely nothing," Kakashi said, holding out his hand. "It's just normal chakra. That's all it is. Truth is, I can't take away anyone's ability to use chakra."
"SO YOU LIED TO US!?"
"Yep," Kakashi answered, laughing a bit. "Shinobi must be able to see underneath the underneath. To be able to look past the surface and know the true meaning of what it is that you seek." He looked at each of the trio in turn. "You all said that you would be willing to be first and that you alone would take the fall for the other two, but I wanted to see if you actually meant that, but not one of you resisted when the time came." He felt a tinge of pride on his voice as he said, "You each stood your ground with each other, even with dire consequences. Now you're acting like true shinobi."
"So that was just a test!?" the three Narutos yelled.
"Yep," Kakashi said yet again. "In another lifetime, I might have tested you by allowing two of you to eat and saying the third one couldn't to see if you would fall for that trap as well or if you would break the rules and feed your third comrade anyway." Three stomachs growled, to which he shrugged. "But that would be cliché and boring, so I did something different.
"Remember this: those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Keep those words in mind and you'll always stay on the path of the shinobi. You three just took that first step, so I forfeit to you guys." He gave them a small bow. "You win."
At those words, the crowd on top of the restaurant started applauding loudly, while the Straw Hats began cheering. The Narutos began jumping for joy, while Sakura collapsed in relief and Sasuke merely smirked. Luffy put his arms around them all and grinned proudly. "I knew you guys would pass! You're members of the future King of the Pirate's crew, so it was only natural!"
"Damn straight!" Naruto agreed. He then smiled directly at Kakashi. "And now for your other promise."
"Ah, yes," Kakashi said. "I did promise to tell you something, now what was it?" He acted like he tried to recall what it was, but once they all started to get pissed at him again, he waved them off. "The location of the Five Main Shinobi villages, was it?" He nodded before he got an answer. "As agreed, I'll tell you." He held up a single finger. "But first, we have one more tradition to keep."
"What's that?" everyone asked.
XXXXXXX – Inside Baratie, the Main Dining Hall. Approximately ten minutes later.
"THIS IS JUST FREAKIN' RIDICULOUS!!"
"I'M GOING TO CRUSH EVERY BONE IN YOUR BODY FOR THIS!!"
"YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, I SWEAR IT!!"
Like everyone else, Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke (respectively) were in the main dining hall. Unlike everyone else, though, each one was securely tied to a supporting column inside, forced to watch everyone eat, while their own stomachs grumbled. "I THOUGHT YOU SAID YOU FORFEIT!!" All three yelled at Kakashi, who was currently sitting at the table with the other Straw Hats, reading his book.
"That's right, I did say that," he agreed. "But you three still failed the exercise the first time around, so some form of punishment must follow." He turned a page. "Don't worry… I'll release you in a few hours or so. This will make sure you never forget this lesson."
More yelling mixed with many cuss words was heard next, followed by a roar of laughter, teasing, and Kakashi feeling satisfied for the first time in a long time. Perhaps there was hope for the next generation after all.
XXXXXXX – Omake: Poetic Justice
Omake from myself this time around. A regretted idea that was considered for this chapter.
"Ahem," all three stop fighting and identifying as they looked at Kakashi once more. "Time's up." The man said once again, kneeling down and looking at them. "Know what that means?"
"If you lose… I'll permanently strip you of your "shinobi" status. I'll even perform a special kinjutsu on you so that you can't ever utilize your chakra again. That is assuming any of you can actually use chakra."
Oh… crap…
"Well," Kakashi said, putting his hands together. "Let's – "
"GUM-GUM ASS POKE!!"
Luffy's arms stretched across the fin at a rapid speed, his fingers mimicking the tiger sign he had seen earlier. He hit his target dead on.
"WAAAAHHHHH!!" Kakashi screamed, his hands covering his rear protectively as he went flying into the air and crashed into the ocean mere seconds later. Luffy retracted his arms and laughed proudly. "HA! HA! HA! That was just pure awesomeness!"
XXXXXXX – Omake: What Sakura REALLY saw (by paintball-gamer)
She blinked at him, confused. Why was she being asked a question? "Um… the Illusionary Arts," she answered hesitantly. "Using chakra to affect one or more of the five senses: sight, touch, smell, hearing, or taste to entrap and confuse the enemy." She took a small gulp and continued. "Why… why do you ask?"
In response, Kakashi merely pointed over her shoulder. As if her body had a will of it's own, Sakura turned around and looked to see… two strange-looking guys, one younger than the other, wearing green spandex and orange leg-warmers. They both sported hideous bowl cuts and the thickest eyebrows you ever saw. At the moment, they were both giving her a thumbs-up and bright white smiles that hurt Sakura's eyes just looking at them.
"Ah, Haruno-san! I am Maito Gai, and this is my adorable student, Rock Lee!" shouted the older one enthusiastically, as well as entirely too loudly.
"Yes, Sakura-san! We have come to help fan your Flames of Youth so that they burn as brightly and fiercely as ours!" declared the younger of the two, also entirely too loudly.
"Now come, let us go train the powers of your youth so that you may become a genius of hard work! We shall start by doing 500 push-ups! And if we cannot do that, we shall swim 300 laps around the restaurant using only one foot each!" shouted the older man.
"Yes, Gai-sensei! And if I cannot do that, I will attempt to hold my breath underwater for an hour!" shouted the younger boy.
"Yes, Lee-kun! And if you cannot do that, I will attempt to tread water under the weight of this entire restaurant for two hours without the use of my hands!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
"Gai-sensei!"
"Lee!"
The two burst into happy tears and hugged each other as a backdrop of an ocean sunset, complete with crashing waves, suddenly appeared out of nowhere, despite the fact that it was morning and the ocean water was still as ever.
"GAAAAAHHHHH!!" screamed Sakura, clutching her head with both hands and rocking back and forth while curled into a twitchy ball. "MAKE IT STOP!! MAKE IT STOP!!"
Kakashi sighed. "I know the feeling, Sakura-san, I know the feeling."
End of Chapter 21
A/N: Whew… one of the longest chapters I have ever written for a fanfic. I wanted to have this chapter out last week, but I ended up helping a friend write his next chapter and I had a slight author's block during Naruto's part of the bell test (I had forgotten a part of it and spent a few days trying to come up with something new). And I'm a lazy bum, so that didn't help matters any either, heh heh.
The last few pages were a struggle for me for a variety of reasons. One is that I typically tend to run out of steam once I hit ten pages (which is why I tend to aim my chapters to be around 10 pages long, though it doesn't always work out that way, obviously) so additional pages after that I find harder to write, and this was over ten pages past that mark. Also had a small problem with Kakashi handing out his "punishment"; wasn't exactly sure how to portray the rest of the Straw Hats during that time, but Paintball-gamer was able to help me through that, so a big thanks to him!
A glimpse of Shino's new training regimen. A brilliant trainer or an idiot who has no idea what he's doing? You be the judge.
How was this version of the Bell Test and the deciding test afterwards? I personally had the most fun with Naruto's part of it. Kakashi using his book as a weapon was a personal homage to myself, since I'm known to use my various books – hardcover, mangas, etc – and hit my little brother on top of the head with them. Admittedly, sometimes for no reason at all, but that's brothers for you.
The more I write Shikamaru, the more… frustrated I get with him. His whiny, lazy side is easy and fun to do, but when it comes time to displaying his genius and tactical mind, I find myself struggling to do him justice. I felt that with his mind and with Shino as his partner, the two of them should be able to easily steal the bells from Kakashi by thinking several steps ahead, but I wasn't sure if I would be able to adequately display such thinking. I think the method I ended up using was rather simple, but sometimes, simple is all that's needed. Maybe I'll get better with Shikamaru in future chapters once I get the hang of him. I can only hope.
I couldn't decide who Luffy's first victim would be when he would try and use the Thousand Years of Death move. I considered virtually everyone from Sasuke, to Usopp, to Shikamaru, to Zoro, Naruto, and several others. In the end, I couldn't decide, so Luffy's first victim of that move will have to come at a later date.
Jutsu used in this chapter:
Sennen Goroshi (One Thousand Years of Death) Though it is called "Leaf's Ancient Supreme Technique", Sennen Goroshi serves more as an insulting shock technique rather than a skilled Taijutsu technique. The ninja forms their hands into the seal of the tiger, and then jabs their fingers into the nether regions of their target. The result is shocking violation of the targets sanctity and often their launching in the air to stop the awkward feeling. E ranked Taijutsu. Canon Technique
Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu (Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique) Narakumi no Jutsu is a Genjutsu technique that causes its target to see a horrifying vision. The ninja will use the serpent hand seal to cause a circle of leaves to spin and envelop the target and then fall away. Once cast the world will appear normal to the target until they see the illusion. D ranked Genjutsu. Canon Technique
Sharingan Soufuusha Sannotachi (Sharingan Windmill Triple Blade) is a Ninjutsu technique utilized by Uchiha clan. Using the developed vision of the Sharingan eye, the clan member hurls three Windmill Shuriken which have wires attached. While in the air the clan member can manipulate wire to make the blades circle the target, which results in the attached wire binding them. C ranked Ninjutsu. Canon Technique
Suirou no Jutsu (Water Prison Technique) is a Ninjutsu technique that utilizes water to imprison an opponent. The ninja forms the necessary hand seals which causes the water to form around the target into a spherical prison which only allows for limited movement. The ninja must keep their body touching the water prison to maintain its existence. If the contact is broken, the water falls away and their target is released. When combined with a bunshin technique, the ninja can imprison their target but still allow for a clone to attack others nearby. C ranked Ninjutsu. Canon Technique
Gum Gum Ass Poke is Luffy's own use of the Sennen Goroshi, using his ability to stretch long distances as a means of surprise. Original Technique (More or less)
Nami's Ultimate Idiot Competition – Luffy: 49, Naruto: 58
May the Kage Bunshin and Gomu Gomu no Bazooka be with you!
Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Naruto. They belong to their respective owners: Eiichiro Oda and Masashi Kishimoto. Big thanks to Paintball-gamer for beta-reading this!