Soft knocks on the door were what woke me up, surprisingly. After Kakashi-sensei's warning the other day, I decided that going to bed early would be a wise decision. This really isn't like me, as the earliest I go to bed is only after midnight. The nightmares and thoughts always keep me up, but this time it was different. Well, not only this time, really. Ever since I became a genin, I felt more secure of myself, like I wasn't as worried as before. I was a lot calmer during the night and honestly, I think the fact that I am a pretty light sleeper had to do with me waking up so easily.
"Akira, you better be up and un-eaten." I immediately recognized my brother's voice behind the door, and I groaned. "Yep, of course you're still in bed." He said, entering.
"Ugh, I don't want to meet our creepy sensei again..." I grunted, putting the pillow over my head.
"Come on, Akira. We're already pretty late." Sasuke said, pulling the pillow away from me, resting it next to the bed.
"We're not going to be later than him, anyway." I said, getting up. I yawned, looking out the window. "The sun has barely risen, what do you mean we're pretty late?" I asked, going to the fridge to get some breakfast, but Sasuke stopped me.
"No breakfast, remember?" He said, handing me my clothes. "And he said to be there at five. It is almost five and the training grounds are pretty far from us."
I shook my head, getting my clothes from him and going to the bathroom. Listen to him, he's such a little prat. Why does he have to be so perfect, huh? Why? Would it hurt him in the ass to make one mistake? No, I really want to know, will he die? Will his ego devour him? You better be a multitasker, Akira. His sudden appearance in my head unsettled me, as I made a few steps backwards in surprise. Ugh, I hate it when he does that!
I quickly jumped into my clothes, put on my other stuff, like scrolls, shurikens and kunais, just in case of anything, and left the bathroom. Sasuke was tapping his fingers against the kitchen island as I exited the bathroom, and jumped up once he saw me. I sighed, grabbing my backpack and shoes. I put them on, opening the door, mentally preparing myself for what was about to come.
On our way to the training field, the sun had risen and Sasuke was quiet, once again. To be honest, I was too tired to even try to talk to him and make small conversation. I expected to be late, like Sasuke said, but it seemed like only Sakura was there. I greeted her and she smiled at the both of us. I threw myself on the ground, closing my eyes, with my head on the backpack as a pillow, but Naruto's arrival didn't let me sleep. I didn't even bother to greet him.
The time started passing, and no sign of Kakashi-sensei. My brother was up, looking forward, but Naruto, Sakura and I were just too tired and hungry. We were sitting on the ground, waiting. I was too hungry to fall asleep again, so that sucked.
"Good morning, everyone. Ready for your first test?" We heard Kakashi-sensei's voice. We got up, facing him. He was really chill, he had no worry.
"Hey, you're late!" We yelled, as he raised his hand and started motioning.
"Well a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way." He excused himself, and that made us pop. We were growling at him, until he cleared his throat, saying, "Well, let's get started."
He pulled out a clock from his backpack, placing it on a post.
"Here we go. It's set for noon." He placed his backpack on the ground, grabbing two bells from his pockets. "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'll go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and you'll watch as I eat my lunch in front of you." He explained, pointing at three posts.
"Great, not only that we won't get any lunch, but now two of us will have to get cosy on a post?" I asked, sighing. Why aren't there four posts?
"Besides that, there are only two bells and there are four of us." Sakura pointed out.
"Well, if only two of you get the bells, the other two will be tied to the post and be considered as they have failed the mission. Those two go back to the Academy." Kakashi-sensei said, shaking the bells.
This doesn't make any sense! All our training was in vain? I feel like there's something that our sensei isn't telling us. What if he doesn't mean it? What if he's only trying to determinate us to work harder for the bells? And this makes me even more skeptical about our four-men squad. Everyone in our class got in a three-men squad, while we made an exception.
I got pulled out of my thoughts, as I realized that I had missed something, when I saw Naruto rushing towards Kakashi-sensei with a kunai in his hand. The next second, Kakashi-sensei was behind him, holding Naruto's hand with the kunai behind the blond's head. I bet that he triggered him somehow. The sensei let him go, and we took a step backwards. How is this dude so fast?
"You came at me with a full intention to destroy me." Kakashi-sensei paused, before continuing. "So, how can I begin to say this? I am actually starting to like you guys."
That's an odd reason, but okay. I'll take the compliment. We smiled at that, taking our places.
"Aaaand, start!" The jonin announced, and the four of us jumped in different directions.
I hid in a nearby tree, trying to make a plan inside my head, but the scene before me wouldn't let me. Naruto stood his ground before Kakashi-sensei, ready to take him on. I looked for my brother and Sakura who seemed to have hidden like me.
So what if I don't graduate this creep's test? I go back to the Academy and get placed in a team of three genins, like it's supposed to be. And I get another sensei. To be honest, I am not really fond of this Kakashi guy. He doesn't seem like a trustworthy ally. He's mysterious and unreadable. And besides that, what kind of jonin falls for a sponge? He is fast, I will give him that. But that's all I've seen so far good about him. He's late and he doesn't seem that friendly. I don't want to be quick to judge, but my specialty is reading people. Even if I haven't awakened my Sharingan yet, my eye doesn't let details escape. I can read people just by knowing them for a few minuted, but Kakashi-sensei? All I've been able to tell about him is that his reasons of being late are lies and it has become a bit of a habit for him. That's about it.
I shook my head, analyzing the ground and Kakashi-sensei and Naruto's battle. If I want to win against him, I should pay attention to his movements. Oh, who am I kidding? I could know him perfectly and I still wouldn't be able to win against him. I suck at fighting. Taijutsu is my worst out of all three styles of combats. Then it's Ninjutsu and something I am good at, Genjutsu. If only I could fool him using that, I'd grab a bell in no time. If only I had Sharingan, combining it with my skills in Genjutsu it would be awesome. But no. Why would I awaken my kekkei genkai?
"The only thing weird here is your haircut!" Naruto yelled at Kakashi-sensei, running towards him for an attack.
Soon, the genin stopped as he saw Kakashi reach inside his pocket for something. From the movement in his pocket I could see that he wasn't going to pull out a weapon. My face dropped as my assumptions proved to be real and he was holding a book. Not an ordinary book; Icha Icha. A novel about the love between a man and a woman, indicated to be read by people who are 18 and above. Is he really going to read that in front of us?
"Don't let it bother you." Kakashi-sensei told Naruto. "With your weak attacks it doesn't really matter if I am reading or whatever..." He clearly challenged him.
Naruto started attacking the jonin with a lot of anger, but Kakashi-sensei was effortlessly dodging his strikes. He didn't even raised his eyes from the book. He is fast, and he seems to be thinking two moves ahead of Naruto. Just like me, great. As Naruto was focusing on throwing another punch, Kakashi-sensei moved way too fast behind my friend, performing the tiger sigil. But, from the way he was standing and having his book between his hands I realized that he wasn't going to make a hand sigil to use Ninjutsu.
"Naruto, get out of there quick!" I heard Sakura trying to warn Naruto. "He's going to destroy you!"
Naruto didn't react fast enough and Kakashi did destroy him alright. He teared his butt with this so-called Jutsu; 1000 Years of Death. You don't even want to know. He sent Naruto flying in the river.
Okay, so he is fast and has weird techniques. Noted. He sees two moves ahead of you and basically you have no chance of winning against him. Innit just great? Two flying shurikens were sent in Kakashi's direction, but he caught them with two fingers. Naruto pulled himself out of the water and moments later a couple of his Shadow Clones came out of the water. Real clones. Last time I remember, Naruto couldn't even make an image. He failed the test three times because this was his weakness. I really need to catch up with him sometime.
I watched as another clone quietly sneaked behind Kakashi-sensei, getting on his back, grabbing him. The other Narutos grabbed sensei too and I saw Kakashi quickly changing places with a clone, hiding himself. Naruto didn't notice and nailed a clone of his. Now I really am scared of Kakashi-sensei.
I was too busy to think of a way how to catch the sensei off-guard and missed to see how Naruto got himself trapped, as he was hanging from a tree and Kakashi-sensei was lecturing him. Then, all of a sudden, a couple of Shurikens were thrown at him and this time he didn't manage to catch them. Lucky him, he used a Substitution Jutsu, as the supposed Kakashi-sensei turned into a lodge. The Shurikens were most likely thrown by my brother. I know his technique just too well. Ever since we were kids I've been watching him train to catch up to our older brother and make him and our father proud. I never needed that. I didn't need my father to be proud of me because of my skills when it comes to killing and I knew that my older brother loved me no matter what... Well, at least that's what my stupid self believed. Boy, was I wrong. Anyway, so I only trained to be average in the Academy.
Now I am starting to regret that.
You better be up and running, Sasuke. I told my brother. Don't worry about me, you should watch your back. He's no joke. I nodded, analyzing the perimeter. Kakashi was already gone after Sasuke, who was running in the woods after he had blown his cover and I could tell that Sakura was after him. It was just me and Naruto. I decided to get out and give him a hand, but he had already freed himself from the rope. Just as he was about to fall to the ground on another trap, I rushed there and caught him.
"Gee, Akira, I am not that bad at landings." He said.
"Especially landing in other traps. Look, you idiot." I said, pointing at the rope that he had failed to notice.
"Thanks." He smiled, fist bumping me.
"You think you can handle yourself?" I asked him, and he nodded. "Please don't do anything stupid. I am going to look for Sasuke and Sakura. That's the only logical way for us to win. Feel free to join me."
"I think I will sit back in case one of them returns." He said, and I nodded.
They better be still in one piece.
