'Chapter Two'
When Naruto woke up the next morning, he looked over at the alarm clock he had forgotten to set the day before. He had gone to sleep as soon as he had gotten home. He let out a short laugh when he saw that he was already an hour late to the survival test. He threw the blankets off and walked towards his kitchen area to make some ramen. As he waited for his breakfast to cook, he went looking for something to wear that wasn't completely orange. Searching through his closet, he found clothes that resembled what he would wear in years to come. He didn't remember ever owning them, but he also used to wear nothing but orange.
He decided to change after he ate and since it took about ten minutes to find something to wear, he headed back over to the counter where his ramen was waiting and dug right it. He didn't bother to sit, knowing how fast he could finish.
He took a quick shower, not having the time to do so last night. When he emerged from the bathroom he was dressed in an elbow length, black fishnet shirt under a tight red tank top, plain black pants with a buckle on his right thigh and calf, and black shinobi sandals. He had three weapons pouches on his legs. Two were strapped around his right thigh, one holding his kunai while the other contained his shuriken. The third one was tied around his left calf. It held various poisons and scrolls he knew he wouldn't need. His hitai-ate was tied around above it, facing the side.
Checking his alarm clock one last time before heading out of his apartment, he found that he was running two hours late. Naruto just laughed again and locked the door behind him, deciding that maybe he should hurry up to the training grounds so Sasuke and Sakura wouldn't be too mad.
XXX
"Morning guys. I sure hope Kakashi-sensei isn't here yet." Naruto greeted sheepishly as he walked into the clearing.
"You're lucky!" Sakura yelled at him while glaring. "He isn't here yet … and I'm starving." She wined as she sat on the ground. The two of them had been waiting for two and a half hours before Naruto showed up and she realized that Sasuke really wasn't one for making conversation, no matter how hard she tried.
"Heh. Yeah. I was kinda hoping he wouldn't be. I forgot to set my alarm last night." He told her as he sat down, realizing that he didn't bring a bag like his teammates. "Morning Sasuke."
"Hn. Morning." Sasuke muttered, walking away a few feet before coming back. He was getting bored of just standing there, but he wouldn't admit it.
"Why didn't you bring anything? Kakashi-sensei said to bring our ninja gear." Sakura asked. Naruto vaguely wondered why she was being so nice. He distinctly remember her not liking him for a few more weeks, or maybe it was months. He was going to bet on months.
"Huh? Oh. I guess I forgot. I was in such a rush. I hope I don't need anything." He confessed. 'It's a damn good thing I don't. I always hated lugging the thing around.'
Be careful kit. You don't want anyone to suspect anything. You're outfit change is enough attention for one day.
As if Sakura knew Kyuubi had mentioned his outfit, she noticed it as well. She tilted her head to the side. It was a nice change from the orange he always wore, but she was curious as to why he changed. "Why are you dressed like that?"
"Was I not supposed to wear something other than orange?" he questioned. He looked up when he felt Sasuke gaze at him. Sasuke's eyes seemed to go up and down his body and it left Naruto feeling uncomfortable, like he had done something I shouldn't have. "Is it really that big of a deal?"
"No. It's just different." Sakura told him while Sasuke just hn'd. Naruto sighed contently as he laid down next to Sakura and closed his eyes, ready to take a quick nap.
XXX
Naruto woke up when he felt Kakashi getting closer. He yawned as he sat up, feeling Sakura and Sasuke glare at him. He stood just in time to see the silver-haired man walk into the clearing.
"Morning everyone. Ready for your first day?" Kakashi greeted, not bothering to mention that he was five hours late.
"Hey! You're late!" Sakura accused and Naruto chimed in.
"Well a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way." He told them, no one buying it for a minute. "Well." He cleared his throat before continuing. "Let's get started." He pulled an alarm clock out of his bag and set it on a nearby stump. "Here we go. It's set for noon." He pushed the alarm and then pulled out two bells from his pocket. "Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."
"Wait a minute. There are three of us. How come there are only two bells?" Sakura asked.
"Well that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back the academy. Then again, all three of you could flunk out too. You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells." Kakashi grinned, seemingly taking joy in the possibility in failing them all.
"Those weapons are too dangerous sensei!" Sakura yelled. She didn't want to be sent back in the academy and not become a Genin, but she didn't want to hurt her sensei either.
Kakashi just shrugged it off. "When I say start, you can begin." He waited to see if any of them would do anything before he started them. Naruto was tempted to attack like he did before, but thought against it. "Get ready. Annnnd .. start!" Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all went to hide. Sasuke in the trees, Sakura in the bushes below, and Naruto in the bushes on the other side of the clearing.
"Ninja must know how to conceal their movements and hide effectively." Kakashi told them after they hid. He nodded in approval when he saw that they could easily hide themselves, but frowned when he realized that he could only sense two chakra signatures. It took him a few minutes to find that it was Naruto whose signature was missing. He frowned when it would appear for a few seconds before disappearing again.
He shrugged it off for the moment pulling out his orange book, Make-out Paradise, making Sakura and Sasuke stare at him from where they were hiding.
Naruto looked around to spot where his teammates where hiding. He laughed when he saw Sasuke grab kunai and shuriken out of his weapons pouch, thinking that Kakashi was unaware due to the book. As the weapons hit their target, Naruto heard a gasp directly in front of him from where Sakura was hiding. As Kakashi's body hit the ground, smoke appeared and when it dissipated, the three were left looking at a log. Replacement Jutsu.
There was movement on the other side of the clearing and Naruto saw both the trees and bushes move. I can't believe she had followed him.
Why are you so surprised, kit? I know you were obsessed with her at this time, but couldn't you see the lust she held for the Uchiha boy? Naruto just shook his head and ignored the fox for the time being. He made sure his chakra signature was hidden before carefully following his teammates. He stopped in the trees when he saw a clone of Kakashi. Looking around, he saw Sakura running and sliding to a stop on her knees when she saw the man.
"Sakura. Behind you." Kakashi whispered. Naruto was thankful of his enhanced hearing to be able to listen in.
"Huh?" Sakura questions as she turns around. When she saw Kakashi she let out a scream and watched as he made hand signs. Leaves started to swirl around and Sakura started to sway. Naruto quickly dispelled the jutsu, not really caring for what it was going to be. The blond let out a quiet laugh when he watched as Sakura fainted.
"I think I overdid it a bit, but … she's got to learn to see through these things." Kakashi muttered to himself as he flipped to the next page in his book, knowing that Sasuke was coming up through the trees. "A shinobi battle skill, the illusion jutsu. Sakura studied it in class, but she still couldn't see it coming."
"I'm not like Sakura and Naruto." Sasuke told him, showing himself.
"Say that after you grab one of these bells, my Sasuke." Kakashi laughed as he pushed himself off the tree he had been leaning against. He put his book back in his pocket as he stood facing the raven. After standing there for what seemed like hours, but was only a few minutes, Sasuke reached into his weapons pouch and threw several shuriken at his silver haired sensei. Naruto watched in from the trees as they both dodged to the right.
"There's no point in using normal attacks." Kakashi sang, smirking slightly underneath his mask.
Kakashi dodged as Sasuke threw a kunai at him and then quickly realized that he wasn't the target. The kunai cut a rope just above his head which sent several more shuriken and kunai at him. He quickly slid out of the way while Sasuke appeared behind him at an attempt at taijutsu and tried to kick him in the head. The Jounin blocked the kick while grabbing the Genin's ankle with his hand. Sasuke flipped around to punch Kakashi in the face, but he was blocked again. As the raven flipped around again at another attempt to kick his sensei, Kakashi let go of his fist to grab his other ankle.
As Sasuke was held, upside down, in his sensei's grip, he smirked and reached out to grab a bell. Kakashi noticed what his student was planning just in time and dropped the boy, sliding out of grasp. Neither one noticed Naruto as he sped past; grabbing the bell Sasuke had just ghosted over and slipping it into his teammate's pocket.
"Well, you are different from the other two, I'll grant you that." Kakashi admitted as he straightened up. He watched as Sasuke preformed the hand signs for the fireball jutsu.
'What? Genin can't do fire jutsu! It takes too much chakra! There's no way!'
'You know Uchiha is powerful, but you had also been hanging upside down in a tree at this time. Or maybe you were attempting to eat lunch. Who knows?'
'Oh shut it Kyuubi. I still can't ... oh who am I kidding? Of course Sasuke can do fire jutsu. He's a damn Uchiha!' Naruto just growled as he heard Kyuubi laughing inside his head.
As Naruto watched the smoke blow away and wondered for a moment where he went; he dashed into the trees behind Sasuke as he watched the boy look around for their missing sensei.
"Where?" Kakashi asked. His hand shot out of ground, grabbing a hold of Sasuke's foot. "I'm where you least expect me." Sasuke let out a blood chilling scream as he was pulled into the ground. "Right under your feet." Kakashi crouched down in front of Sasuke's head, his only body part above ground. "Earth style. Head hunter jutsu. That was ninjutsu, another shinobi battle skill. You have talent and you were right. You are ... different from the others, but different isn't always better." Kakashi stood up and started to walk away. "They say that the nail that sticks up in the one that gets hammered down." He told him as he pulled out his book and began reading again.
"Great." Sasuke muttered as he watched his sensei walk away. Naruto choose that moment to come out of his hiding place, letting his charka signature show. Kakashi whipped around when he felt Naruto's presence.
"Hey sensei?" the blonde asked, making sure there was an innocent expression on his face. Kakashi humed something in response as he continued. "Why do you only have one bell?" Sasuke's eyes went wide as Kakashi looked at his side. He did, in fact, only have one bell. Their sensei looked at him, thinking that he took it, while Naruto just shrugged. "Hey. Don't look at me! I don't have it." 'At least that much is true.'
Kakashi's gaze immediately went to Sasuke, whose eyes were still slightly wide. The Jounin walked up to the raven and easily got him out of the ground, hearing a jingling in the process. Sasuke dug his hand into his pocket and gripped something cold. As he pulled it out, he found that he had the missing bell. He wouldn't fail.
"Now how did you get that?" Kakashi muttered. Sasuke didn't say anything, but Naruto's eyes just twinkled with knowledge as he yelled his goodbye and went off looking for Sakura.
Authors Note I'm so sorry for taking so long with this next chapter. My computer crashed and I had no access to another computer until now.
