The Beginnings of Change: Hengesai Naruto

Summary: In a world were Mizuki wasn't evil, and he and Iruka had been training Naruto in secret during his time at the academy, Naruto will realize his true potential, and become the true Henge Master! (Note: I am not that good at summaries.)

Warnings: Sasuke bashing, Sakura bashing, slight Kakashi bashing(increases when in Naruto's POV), possible Harem for Naruto, good Orochimaru (not pedophile!), possible non-Yondaime father. Possible Soul Caliber Crossover, Bleach, Yuyu Hakusho, Rurouni Kenshin, and Final Fantasy

Pairings: tentative (Subject to change w/o warning)

Anko/Iruka

Mizuki/Wife

Naruto/Harem?

Sasuke/Naruto(onesided)

Lee/Sakura(onesided:If Sakura is redeemed, she will return his feelings)

Shikamaru/Temari

Gaara/Matsuri

Chapter Three: Introductions of the Real

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Naruto wondered if it was considered wrong to drive his teammates to insanity, since they seemed intent on driving him there first. What had Ibiki-sensei said?

"Act unto others as they would act unto you." Yeah, that was it, but that probably wouldn't satisfy him in this situation. Which meant he could do one of two things.

First, he could get indirect revenge via being an utter nuisance, or he could retaliate with interest, as Anko-sensei had taught him. He could start with the sporks...

'Wait, Hokage-jii-san would so not buy into that. Which means, I'm going to have to make do with indirect vengeance.' Oh well, perhaps there would be opportunities to get full recompense for this later, when he could hide the evidence of his involvement.

It would take some time, but that just gave him longer to plot out his vengence.

What was he seeking for, some would ask? Well, they'd have to understand what he was going through at this very moment, atop the roof of the building that had once been known as hell to him, aka the Konoha Ninja Academy. He and his 'teammates,' and he used that term loosely, had been waiting for three hours, for this grey haired incompetent pervert, who was obviously too lazy to get there on time.

The man had told them to meet him on the roof, and when they got up there, he had told them that they had almost been late. The hypocrisy of that statement was next to infruriating, but thanks to training with Ibiki-sensei and Anko-sensei, he refrained from expressing his opinion in his rather extensive vocabulary at the top of his lungs. Instead, he began plotting how to leave the jounin a few untraceable 'surprises' when he got home.

Taking a deep breath, Naruto sat down in front of the lazy ass jounin with his fellow genin, wondering if he'd ever adjust to these people before he went on a homicidal rampage. Normally, he'd give people a chance when he met them, but something about all this felt like it was going to end very badly for him. Kinda like he'd already been through it all before, and ended up some kind of loudmouth brat whose only strong points were chakra capacity and sheer determination.

Shuddering at the feeling of deja-vu that that possibility inspired, Naruto returned his attention to the lazy jounin who is apparently meant to be his sensei from now on.

As if he could possibly compare with Ibiki-sensei, Anko-sensei, Mizuki-sensei, or Iruka-sensei....

"Now, I'd like you all to tell us a little bit about yourselves." The lazy bastard, leaning against the rail with his arms crossed over his chest, now appeared slightly more like the ninja he was supposed to be.

"Like what?" Sakura's voice was respectful, but that probably came from her obsessive tendency to memorize everything she could in books.

"...You know. The usual. Your favorite thing...what you hate most...dreams, ambitions, hobbies. Things like that." The man's nonchalance was becoming increasingly irritating. That was somewhat worrisome. Naruto's tolerance for people was usually much higher then this.

"Sensei, shouldn't you go first? After all, we're all from the same Academy class, we already know each other." Sakura's volunteering of information so carelessly was so going down in his list of reasons why he shouldn't trust her with sensitive information.

As soon as he actually wrote one down. Just like his lists of people he could trust, places he could shop, places he couldn't shop, people who would stab him in the back, people who would stab him in the front...

Pulling himself out of his distracting train of thought, he focused on their new teacher.

"Oh...me? My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes and dislikes! My dreams for the future are none of your business...but anyway, I have lots of hobbies.." The lazy expression on the man's barely visible face never changed, but his tone was mildly amused, but mostly monotone.

"Hey...he said a lot, but all we really learned was his name..." Sakura's statement did not ring true for himself, but Naruto held his silence on that matter. If they didn't want to pick up on the fact that their new instructor was apparently very good at talking without saying anything, and thus probably very resistant to interrogation, than that was their blind spot, not his.

"Now it's your turn. Starting with you on the right." Since they were seated with Sakura on the left facing Kakashi, Sasuke in the middle, and Naruto on his other side, they knew who he was referring to. Since Naruto had decided it was to dangerous to act like a total clown now that he was an actual ninja, he was going to keep the mask to a minimum.

"I'm Uzumaki Naruto. I like spending time with Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei, training, and eating ramen at Ichiraku's. I dislike the three minute wait for instant ramen, and being judgmental." Watching his teammates reactions of faint surprise, he knew he'd upset their mental image of him, but not so much as to make them question if he was really Uzumaki Naruto.

"My dream is to become a better Hokage then all others before me, and protect this village." Naruto's smile, was very real as he thought of all his sensei, Sandaime-jii-san, and Konohamaru. He would become as strong as he needed to be in order to protect them, and the village they loved.

'And perhaps, one day, these three will be added to the list of people I would die and kill for.' he thought as he watched their reactions to his statement. Sasuke didn't really seem to notice or care, Sakura was looking at him like it had to be a dream, and Kakashi-sensei looked shocked, but then it faded to a contemplative expression.

"My hobbies are pulling pranks, and training, I guess." He watched the silver haired man scratch at his head, as he went over the information in his mind, which apparently did not take long.

"Next!" Since the Uchiha was sitting next to Naruto, that meant it was his turn. Sasuke sat in his usual position, with his fingers interlaced in front of his face, but his elbows were resting on his knees, since they weren't sitting at desks currently. He continued watching as the Uchiha began talking.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are plenty of things I hate, but I don't see how that matters, considering there is almost nothing I do like. It seems pointless to talk about 'dreams'...that's just a word..." The Uchiha's attitude was very worrying, as it indicated, according to what he'd learned from Ibiki-sensei, an extremely negative mindset. Sasuke's near blank tone shifted to something with more determination and drive behind it for his next statement.

"...but what I do have is an ambition. To restore my clan, and there is someone I have sworn..." If the boy wasn't looking more and more like the very definition of a possible future psychopath, Naruto would have called him a total emo drama queen. He might anyway, but something in Sasuke's behavior was making him wary.

"...to kill." A quick glance to the side told him that Sakura just found her crush even cooler for his words, and that Kakashi-sensei expected something like this from the Uchiha. His own expression probably showed that he was slightly disturbed by the words and tone of his teammate, but no one called him on it. Though he did catch Kakashi looking at him from the corner of his eye.

Naruto was pretty sure that no one would take it well if he tried to cut the sudden tension with one of his kunai, although he was almost certain that it would actually work. He'd seen Iruka-sensei do it to break the tension in some of the sessions were most of his sensei had managed to show at the same time.

"And finally...the young lady.." Apparently, Kakashi-sensei was also adept at hiding his thoughts and emotions behind his lazy and bored expression and attitude. Sakura perked up slightly before glancing at Sasuke with a faint blush on her cheeks.

"I am Haruno Sakura. My favorite thing is...well, it's not a thing, its a person. A boy...and that boy is..." Holding her hands up near her face, she glanced at Sasuke with a blush on her face and a love-struck look in her eyes. It was very obvious, especially since Naruto knew she was a member of the USFC. (Uchiha Sasuke Fan Club)

"Uh...let's move on to my dream." Considering the blush and faint squeal he heard, Naruto was certain that he did not want to know what kind of images were playing in Sakura's mind right now. From the look on Sasuke's face, he didn't want to know either.

"I hate....Naruto!" The narrowed eyes looked almost ridiculous on her face. Naruto managed to look slightly upset by her declaration of hatred, but find Sasuke's hidden glare at her far more interesting. Sasuke didn't like something about what she'd just said, but for the life of him, Naruto couldn't figure it out. Was it some kind of possessiveness about who was allowed to hate him, or something, since they had a rivalry going?

"My hobbies are..." Her blush and look towards Sasuke were all Naruto needed to know on that subject, and the faint blush on Sasuke's cheeks was more intriguing. Strange that it had shown up after Sasuke had noticed him looking at him. From the expression on Kakashi's face, and the fact he had his jaw cradled in his palm, he was somewhat puzzled by Sakura's introduction and its lack of anything shinobi related.

"Enough." Kakashi-sensei's expression was serious enough for Naruto to devote his full attention to the still aggravating ninja whom was his official teacher.

"I believe we all understand each other. Formal training begins tomorrow." Naruto nodded slightly to indicate that he had heard his sensei, but Sakura had to know what they were doing apparently.

"What will we be doing, sensei?" He just looked at all of us lazily, with a somewhat droopy eye that made Naruto wonder if he had gotten enough sleep.

"Our first training exercise will be survival exercises with just the members of this cell." It was somewhat obvious to Naruto what was going to happen, but he had the benefit of being trained by people who were very good at molding someone to take advantage of their natural talents. And Naruto was very insightful. Something was up with this.

"But why would that be a mission? We did survival exercises in the Academy." Sakura's question was valid, but only if you were a civilian, or a ninja who felt you had no reason to expect to have to survive in the wilderness. Kakashi was still speaking though, so Naruto returned his attention to the outside world, leaving behind his inner thoughts...for now.

"But you'll have to survive...against me. It won't be your typical practice." Being confused, Naruto wished to clear up the task he'd be preparing for tomorrow, so he asked the obligatory question.

"Well then, what kind of practice will this be?" He wondered if he should be offended by Kakashi's snort, but decided to take it out of him in the mission tomorrow.

"What are you laughing about, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura was acting somewhat intelligent, oh dear god the world is ending!

"Oh, nothing. It's just that... of the twenty seven members of your graduating class, only nine will be accepted as genin. The other eighteen will be sent back to the academy for further training. The test we are about to perform has a 66% rate of failure."

There was a moment of silence, and then, seeing that nobody was going to speak out against his edicts, he coughed into his hand.

"In any event, we'll meet at the practice field tomorrow morning. Bring all your ninja tools and weapons. And don't have breakfast beforehand...unless you enjoy throwing up." He then walked toward them, holding out three sheets of paper.

"The details of your assignment are in this handout. Memorize it...and don't be late!" With that, Kakashi left, leaving three genin candidates behind. Naruto looked over his prospective teammates briefly, but seeing them absorbed in their own minds for the moment, headed for home.

He would need to shower and get some sleep if he was going to prove himself in the test tomorrow.

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Sitting in lotus position on one of the three logs, sharpening the blade of one of his kunai, Naruto looked the very picture of a shinobi in the early morning light. At least, that's the case now, after he finally chose new clothing to wear in place of the orange monstrosity of certain death.

Yes, he definitely owed Anko-sensei for her aid in getting new cloths to wear in place of that thing. Perhaps he could take her to her favorite dango stand after their next training session?

As he pondered the pros and cons of offering dango to his sadistic older sister-figure, he heard the approach of his fellow genin hopefuls, Sasuke and Sakura. Both of them were carrying huge backpacks filled with weapons and supplies. Since he could see the faint signs of exhaustion and hunger in Sakura's face, he guessed that the knowledgeable kunoichi had not slept well, or eaten breakfast. Similar signs stood out upon Sasuke's pale skin, but he was hiding it better in his expression than the more emotional member of their squad.

Looking at them as they fought to stay awake, he was grateful for the lessons his many sensei had taught him about preparing for missions. Sleep, and eat, even if someone tells you otherwise. He wouldn't be weakened the way his teammates were, however slight the deficiency was.

He could feel their eyes on him, curious as to his lack of obvious equipment. He had all of his extra supplies safely sealed away, his weapons stowed in their places upon his person. He was certain that Sakura wanted to berate him for not following the instructions, but it seems she decided to wait for their teacher to do it.

Too bad she had no idea that she would be waiting for quite a while, if she thought that Kakashi-sensei should be the one to admonish him for his supposed lack of preparation.

Good thing he had lots of weapons to sharpen. This was going to take a while.

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Sasuke had no idea how the dobe was doing it, but he really wished that he had the Sharingan so that he could do it as well. What ninjutsu was it that would allow Naruto, the loudest and most hyperactive pathetic excuse of a ninja wannabe ever, was managing to remain calm and patient in the face of the multiple hour wait for their pathetic excuse of a teacher.

And then there is also the fact that some how, the dobe could ignore the screeching fangirl...

"Hello, everyone!" And now the man was here. At 10 o'clock in the morning.

"YOU'RE LATE!!" Sasuke managed to resist the urge to rub his ears as they rang from the volume of Sakura's exclamation.

Naruto merely continued sharpening the blade of his kusari-gama, seemingly unaffected by the sonic blast. And for that, Sasuke envied him. It would be so much easier to focus on gaining power so he could defeat that man if he weren't being assaulted constantly by inferior females intent on helping him with the second of his ambitions.

Meanwhile, lazy Jounin with silver hair pulled out an alarm clock, which got incredulous looks from everyone except Naruto.

That might be because he was not looking at the Jounin, but at the newly re-sharpened weapons he had been working on. The sheer quantity made even Kakashi sweat, at the thought of them being used on him for the annoyance he had been instilling in his potential little genins.

Clearing his throat imperceptibly so that the genin didn't notice his unusual nervousness, he set the alarm clock down on top of the stone.

"You have until this goes off to retrieve one of these two bells from me. The ones who get the bells get to eat. The one who doesn't will be tied to the post while I eat their lunch in front of them." That had their stomachs rumbling... wait a minute... They all turned their gazes on Naruto, who had not made any sounds of hunger at all. He returned their surprised looks with a slightly sheepish expression.

"Iruka-sensei told me I should always eat breakfast, even if the mission commander told me not to. And you only suggested we not eat, it wasn't an actual order." Kakashi was slightly impressed that the kid had picked up on that. There was a chance that there was more to this kid then he knew... he'd have to watch him.

"Well, I see that someone here actually knows an important fact. Always follow the instructions of trusted sources first." Naruto looked somewhat embarassed at being given such praise, which actually brought a slight hint of real happiness to Kakashi's eye smile.

"I'd like to see any of you disobey Iruka-sensei..." Kakashi noticed that though they both probably wanted to comment on it, the other two genin hopefuls couldn't really complain. They'd both been taught by Iruka-sensei as well, after all.

"Well, anyway, if you don't get a bell, you don't eat. And you're going to want to come at me with the intent to kill, or your going to fail..." Kakashi waits for an imperceptible sign that one of the genin was going to go for it immediately.

"But... we could hurt you! That's way too dangerous sensei!" There was silence. Then Kakashi looked at his other two potential students. The Uchiha, with whom Obito had nothing in common save distant genetics that were in question, was standing radiating arrogance and ego. For a moment, Kakashi was impressed. If ego were chakra Sasuke had just outdone Kami and all the Bijuu. Combined. Times three. Trillion.

(....oh god, it was going up!)

Then he checked the Uzumaki. Then he did a double take. The look of abject horror at Sakura and Sasuke's total lack of anything resembling common sense or survival instincts was impressive. Amazing. One of the three understood the situation. They were doomed, and two of them didn't even recognize it.

'Oh dear god, what lies have these people been perpetrating on the village.' Hatake Kakashi had lost all faith...in the Academy Grading system.

This was going to suck very badly.

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Oh holy mother of Satan!

Wow, nice one. The thought had to belong to the demon residing in his stomach.

...

When did it start talking to him? Oh who really cares, he was going to die! The supposed genius Haruno, whom he had faked a crush on, had just insinuated indiscretely that they had a chance in the pit of the Yamato no Orochi shit-hole of even touching this person when he wasn't letting them think they had a ghost of a chance.

A gay ghost clown appeared in the sewer of his mind. Then there horrifying screams. Followed by gulps and a burp. This shocked back to the original life-threatening dilemma.

How the fuck was he going to get away from a very high class assassin, from the assassin clan no less, that had war experience? With a Sharingan, from a questionable Uchiha. Anko-sensei had told him what to do in situations like this. Unfortunately the advice had been geared towards survivng an encounter with her sensei.

Hope hell is really just like that for the crazed religious fanatics. Whoever they were. It was old advice passed down alongside the contract of Serpents from Master to Apprentice. One day, he would tell his student that advice...

Oh wait, no he wouldn't. Because thanks to his idiot genius and retarded prodigy teammates, he was going to die here. Unless maybe...Hatake-sama would accept a servant? Or a human sacrifice? It works with dragons... Sasuke was a virgin right?

Oh wait, that was his fallback for getting away from Orochimaru in case he ever accidentally invaded the Sannin's roaming territory of death, affectionately dubbed the kill-zone by Anko-sensei.

He'd have to try sacrificing Sakura then. Too bad he didn't know the consequences of non-virgin sacrifice. At least it would buy him time to flee to the presence of Ibiki-sensei. Who scared anyone. Roaming kill-zones don't count as anyone, they count as certain death in ball of fun. Oh joy.

Ahem, he digressed. He was twelve. He now knew his date o'death. Today.

Unless... perhaps a plan would save him. Or at least calm down.

'Must come up with a plan....'

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That was somewhat weird. He could swear that the blond had just had an extremely potent, but even faster mental meltdown on account of needing to somehow defeat his desire to kill them... What the fuck was with this group?

What happened to the good old days when freshies knew their place and got used as cannon fodder? That is it, one more minute of arrogant stupidity and the black and pink would be delivered... STABBITY DEATH!

.... Ahem, it's time to get started on the test so that I can get rid of the self-centered brats. Uzumaki might be worth keeping an eye on, though. Oh wait... the Council tried to order me to pass the bratty Uchiha...

Dammit, I might end up stuck with the idiot geniuses for the rest of my life! There's no way it's going to last very long if they're on my team, because they'll do something blatantly idiotic and I'll have to save them!

I might end up fighting Itachi, because Sasuke's completely useless.... I know! I'll get on Naruto's good side! Then when I inevitably end up in hell, Kyuubi will vouch for me! Torture every other hour, instead of constantly, and no unmentionables... such as those imperceivable crimes, whatever they may be...

A-hem... he'd gotten side tracked again, he really needed to work on that problem of his...

"Well, Sakura, you'll just have to trust that I know what I'm doing, won't you?" Peeking through his eye-smile, Kakashi noted that Sakura still looked mildly concerned that she could hurt him if she came at him with intent to kill.

'Either she has a very high opinion of the skills of herself and the Uchiha, or she thinks that I can't possibly be too much stronger then their genin class mates.' Either way, her thinking process was seriously lacking in information. Freshies take on a season jounin in a serious fight? No contest.

This Academy year was not living up to the expectations that had been set for them, if this was the smartest kunoichi in her class. In fact she looked like a complete idiot.

"After all, it's not like you have any chance against me, even if you did come at me with intent to kill." The tone he used was full of lazy smugness, and he could see that it was getting to her. Just a bit more pushing, and she'd snap, and he'd see what she was really made of.

Decision made, Kakashi whipped out his copy of Icha Icha Paradaise, and began to read. This blatant disregard would surely be enough of an insult in her head to be worthy of attack.

"YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Sakura ran across the field, as the arrogance of the silver haired Jounin overwhelmed the little common sense she had left after years of devoted worship to Sasuke and his awesome coolness. Kunai drawn, she went to claim the bells so that she could prove herself worthy of being Mrs. Uchiha Sasuke.

'Apparently, that was enough to make her snap.' Kakashi watched as the pink haired kunoichi wannabe ran toward him with a raised kunai, her intent obviously on getting the bells. He could definitely make use of this as an object lesson.

As Sakura traversed the field at a pace only slightly faster then a civilian running from a debt-collector, Kakashi waited for the perfect moment. Then, when she was just over halfway between her two teammates and him, he reappeared behind her, using his free hand to hold her kunai to the back of her own head.

"Whoa there Sakura, you did a good job on the intent to kill, but I hadn't said start yet." Unfortunately for Sakura, when Kakashi grabbed her wrist, she did not stop running, which resulted in her running her own feet out from under her. She landed on her ass with her torso being held at an incline by the grip on her wrist that her now crouching instructor was using to hold her own kunai to her head.

As if this was not enough humiliation, Sakura knew that the love of her life was there, watching her right now. Not to mention the presence of the dobe, Naruto-baka. Curse him... that stupid blonde with his blue eyes...

Now that Sakura thought about it, most of her troubles seemed to stem from blondes with blue eyes...

Was there some kind of conspiracy at work? Were all blue eyed blondes out to prevent the acheivement of true love between herself and Sasuke-kun?

There was a brief moment of silence, before inner Sakura began ranting about how she would one day annihilate all blue eyed blondes.

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In the dim lighting of the fire, two unusual people sat next to each other as they discussed the details of their upcoming mission in the Land of Waves.

Then, suddenly, one of them sneezed, and got the urge to go to Konohagakure and bomb the Haruno clan compound.

He quickly suppressed the urge, as it was part of one of the many incidents that No-One-In-The-Organization-Would-Ever-Speak-Of-Again. One of the ones that had occurred when he had gotten drunk.

He, and the rest of the organization shuddered as the thought passed through the rings that linked them together.

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With the disturbing feeling that the pinkette he currently had pinned had earned the anger of one of the entities in the shinobi world that all fled before if they were smart, he decided to continue the test anyway.

After all, he had already come to the conclusion that this team would likely be the death of him anyway. Why delay the inevitable, when you could do your best to avert it all together?

Moving back to his position across the field, he watched with outward apathy as the loud pink menace moved back to her position as a constrictor, doing her best to cause the necessity of amputation on Sasuke's right arm. Not that she was aware of that, of course.

She's far too stupid to possibly be pulling the necessary level of deception to be attempting to maim a kekkai genkai clan heir before he gets the chance to become strong enough to protect himself from the other clans and villages that might threaten him.

Naruto, on the other hand, had the hallmarks of being capable, but uninterested in such a thing.

Of the three genin before him, only the Uchiha was a real concern. While Naruto had the greater power and skill, he was also a person with self-control. Sasuke was likely to suffer a psychotic break and injure him with some kind of crazy trick while trying to really kill him.

"Start." And before his eyes the little ninja (and two wannabes) disappeared into the surrounding environment. Checking around him, he spotted Sasuke in the tree, and Sakura hiding in the bushes. Naruto, on the other hand, was much harder to find.

'Well, he is the kid who managed to elude pursuit while wearing the bright orange monstrosity. Perhaps I should try chakra detection.' Searching his surroundings, he felt the bright, averagely controlled flare of the Uchiha, the pathetic reserves of Sakura, and the decently controlled, decently hidden chakra of Naruto coming from the trees near the pond. For a genin, Naruto's chakra control was excellent, and more then enough to hide from most chuunin. Kakashi was an elite jounin, however, and it would take more experience and training before Naruto could really hide from him.

While Kakashi was noting that the three could at least hide themselves decently enough for beginners, he noted that Sakura was still angry about his earlier actions against her. Leaping out of her hiding place, she ran towards him with the kunai drawn, attempting to either stab him or cut a bell loose.

Side stepping the bum rush with the casual air of a man on a sidewalk, he let her run right into one of his traps. The snare catching around her ankle, Sakura was now upside down, hanging from a branch. As she fumed, muttering about how rude it was to do something like this to a lady, Kakashi pulled out his beloved Icha Icha Paradise.

Then kunai and shuriken flew out of Sasuke's tree, and he replaced himself with a log.

Reappearing in the tree above Naruto, he noted that his potential genin had noticed his arrival, but was doing a very passable appearance of being unaware. He smiled faintly, pleased as the blonde leapt away from the tree, tossing a kunai up at him, and another cutting the rope binding Sakura, who barely managed to land on her feet.

Dodging the kunai, Kakashi moved in front of Naruto, who looked wary, but moved into a taijutsu stance that reminded Kakashi of the Jyuuken.

"Lesson one: Taijutsu." Moving with more fluidity then Kakashi would have expected, the blue-clad genin closed with him, lashing out at his chest with a palm strike. Brushing the move aside with his free arm, he ducked the follow up high kick, then jumped over the swift leg sweep. Naruto continued to attack, flowing from one move to the next with no sign of difficulty, a fluid grace that comes from long practice infusing his movements. Impressed, Kakashi jumped back when Naruto finally made a swipe at the bells, putting away his book and taking his own stance. To his surprise, Naruto smiled slightly and ran into the trees, keeping one eye on him as he essentially fled from the higher ranked ninja.

'Smart of him, now where are the other two?' Glancing, he noted Sasuke hadn't left his tree, and Sakura was making her way towards the object of her lust from a round about behind route. For a moment, he wondered if this was the stalker/rapist behavior rearing its ugly head. Oh well, he'd worry about Sasuke's virginity later. Like after he blocked the new wave of kunai and shuriken.

Using the log from before, he switched positions, and snuck up on Sakura.

"Sakura." Jumping with an audible squeal, she spun to face him, and he held up the ram hand seal, and leaves swirled around her, as she gained the blank look of genjutsu. And then, when he was certain she was fully under the illusion, he moved up into the trees again to watch what would happen.

'Well, I thought she was supposed to have a decent score in genjutsu, apparently not...' he thought as he watched her scream and pass out from whatever the Hell-viewing jutsu showed her.

"Lesson two: Genjutsu. Fail." Well really, he would say worse, but its a fangirl. Thus, all expectations need to be low, or you'll suffer endless disappointment and frustration. Hopefully, the years that this... girl spent as a worshipper of Uchiha, would not prevent all chance of rehabilitation into a semi-decent piece of cannon fodder. It was highly unlikely.

"You can come out now, Sasuke." Kakashi didn't show it, but the slight signs on the mini Uchiha's face of smugness and assurance, were really making it hard for him to avoid thrashing the kid all around the training grounds.

"Both of the others have already met up with me, and now we'll see how you do, Sasuke." A scowl overtook the boy's face as he moved into a stance.

"I'm different from those two." As soon as the words finished leaving his mouth, the boy was throwing himself at him in a taijutsu combo to try and reach the bells. The movements and pattern were nothing to Kakashi's superior experience, although he did make it look like Sasuke had surprised him enough to almost grab one of the bells.

And then, he separated the two of them by several feet, and watched as Sasuke ran through the handseals necessary for the Katon: Goukakyou no Justu. Going underground, he pulled Sasuke into the earth with the wonderful technique he'd learned when he'd been fighting an Iwa-nin.

"Lesson Three: Ninjutsu." he could have told Sasuke that he was right, as the other two were at least slightly concerned about other people, but he decided that dealing with the sneak attack he was about to suffer was a better idea.

Jumping backwards away from the buried Uchiha, Kakashi was slightly impressed with the attempt Naruto was making to get him away from his buried teammate via clones and weapons while the blue-clad genin pulled his pseudo-teammate out of the ground. Kakashi had to admit that he was impressed. The Academy had finally sent him a team that had someone in it who understood that you didn't leave comrades behind, no matter how much you personally dislike them.

The azure-eyed genin moved into a slightly Juuken-like taijutsu stance, leaving some Kage Bunshin to dig his teammate out while he distracted the Jounin from being able to interfere. Naruto was treating this like it was a real battlefield situation, the way Kakashi himself had warned them to.

This kind of serious behavior from a novice was something to be proud of, and Kakashi knew that. If only the other two would behave this way, he wouldn't be so against the idea of taking this team on.

When Naruto lashed out with a palm thrust aimed at his chest, Kakashi moved it to the side with a simple forearm block. He was surprised, however, when Naruto swept the arm he had struck with to the right, and Kakashi's arm was pulled in the same direction. The kick to his newly presented back sent his confused form careening into another encounter with his old and well known acquaintance the ground.

'What the hell?' While he struggled for a moment with the newest set of oddities to force themselves into his life, his body was on automatic. Kakashi's long career as a ninja had given him the ability to set aside things that were bothering him in favor of continuing to fight, which is a necessary ability in the world of shinobi.

Naruto's continued control of his arm was disconcerting, but not enough that Kakashi didn't catch on to at least part of how it was being done. It was somewhat like what the Suna puppet users did, attaching chakra strings to objects in order to control them.

'And yet, somehow, this feels completely different.' Kakashi ducked underneath a high crescent kick, and then was forced to jump back away from a low spinning leg sweep. On top of all that, he was being forced to maneuver around his arm moving without his will.

'Dammit, if my arm keeps pointing towards Naruto, I won't be able to do ninjutsu!' With frustration clouding his mind, he missed Naruto jerking the chakra string towards himself, and knocking him to the ground by slamming the chakra rope into it.

This time, Naruto didn't give him time to try and get upright, bringing his right leg down from overhead in an ax-kick. Kakashi rolled out of the way, and saw that where he had been laying now possessed cracks in it. Springing upright, he managed at last to break free of whatever kind of chakra cord Naruto was using by flaring his chakra.

He began making some rapid handseals, wanting to keep the wily little trickster from doing that trick to him again before the time ran out and he could tie someone to the logs.

Using some blood from a nick on his arm from his roll across the ground, he spread it down the scroll he used to call to his summons.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" a very large cloud of smoke appeared, much larger then when he usually called for his dog pack. Plus, when he said it, it had sounded like there was another voice saying the same thing much more quietly.

As soon as the smoke cleared, Kakashi was given proof that he had not been imagining the second voice, and that he really needed to start listening to the part of his mind that gave him the feelings that something was a bad idea.

As he expected, the six dogs that made up his personal summons from the dog clan were surrounding him from the front.

He had not expected to see his potential genin standing on the head of a python that was big enough to swallow him whole.

He was still staring at it when it began to swing its tail toward him in order to aide its Summoner in defeating him. Fortunately, the aforementioned ninja reflexes kicked in.

Unfortunately, as he was sent crashing to the ground, he did not jump high enough to get clear of the overly large reptile's attack. Although he didn't feel anything broken really badly, but he definitely had cracked ribs, as well as cracked bones in his forearms.

"I think you hit him too hard." The serpent, nameless for now, was shocked and confused. What did the summoner mean? Everytime it had been summoned by the others, it was to kill their enemies, or be 'killed' in the attempt.

Did...did this Summoner... believe in him? Believe that he could defeat an enemy without killing it, and not be killed? The large serpent was filled with both awe, and determination. This Summoner, he would not fail. This one would not be disappointed by him.

Kakashi was holding his ribs gingerly as he knelt on the ground, the pug Pakkun sitting on the large bulldog's head in front of him, while one of the small dogs ran off to get a medic nin. It could just be the pain, but Kakashi could almost swear that the enormous serpent in front of him had had sparkling eyes for a moment, before they filled with flames that were scarily reminiscent of some of Gai's more...passionate...moments. Kakashi shuddered at the comparison.

Right, hallucination induced by pain it was.

In the meantime, while Kakashi was combating the pain of his fractured bones, Pakkun was making a deal with the hebi-summoning genin. He normally wouldn't do this, but Kakashi was his summoner, and was decent enough for a non-canine. All right, it was time to make the deal.

"Hey kid." The blonde on the snake looked around, and pointed at himself.

"Yes you. Don't attack Kakashi, and I'll let you touch my paw." The kid was down on the ground in front of him so fast it was astonishing. Plus, he was poking his paw.

As if to interrupt the sudden tension filled peace, the alarm clock finally went off.

'Saved by the bell. How ironic is that?' Kakashi thought, as Naruto dismissed with his thanks.

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Log clearing, 12 minutes later.

Sasuke had no idea what was going on. Not that he would ever admit that, for Uchiha were never confused or disoriented. His father had told him so. And his father, as Head of the Uchiha clan, was never wrong.

Not even when he contradicted himself, as whatever was said before was right then, and whatever he said recently, was right now.

The current situation, was this. The annoying pink haired fangirl was bound to the log, his accursed enemy.

Naruto, the dobe, had somehow gotten his dirty filthy unworthy non-Uchiha claws on one of HIS bells! And then he had the gall not to hand it over to its rightful owner and his master.

And Kakashi, the worthless jounin, had passed the dobe! Without passing him!

Apparently, he and the fangirl would be getting their second chance in an hour after lunch. And the fangirl wasn't getting any food. Serves her right, the useless whiny bitch. Like he would ever soil his clan with her useless genes.

However, the dobe, unlike the stalker, was apparently not going to be available to help him in the second chance, as he had already secured his place as Kakashi's student when he somehow managed to get one of the bells. YEARGHBLE!!!

...ahem... what Sasuke meant was, fortune always favors fools. Must be why the dobe is a genin instead of at the academy since he failed the exam.

Satisfied for the moment with his view of the situation, Sasuke returned his attention to his prospective sensei. Apparently, the man had been giving some kind of speech or something about the stone nearby. Something about comrades, and dead people.

Pfft, it wasn't like they were Uchiha. Therefore, they were unimportant. Even if one of them was Kakashi's best friend.

(AN: Ironic, no?)

Kakashi handed the dobe a bento, and then passed the second one to him. Obviously, he needed to have someone tell Kakashi how things really worked in this village. Perhaps this bento had better food or something.

While Sasuke and Naruto sat down on either side of the bound Haruno, Kakashi was heading off to get some bandages for his injuries, just before he departed the clearing, he looked back over his shoulder at them.

"Remember, Sakura doesn't get any food." Then he disappeared from sight and view. Kakashi's voice carried one further thing to Sasuke's ears however.

"Remember to look underneath the underneath."

Glancing to the side as he opened his bento, he watched as Naruto opened his, so that he could make certain that the blonde wasn't getting anything that he wasn't. After all, the dobe didn't need the food. HE was the one who would have to fight a Jounin for the bells so that he could get stronger. Sasuke needed to get stronger, so that he could finally be strong enough to complete his goal.

Perhaps he should ask what the dobe had done that had ended with him getting a bell, so that he could do it better. No, that would be like admitting that the dobe was better then him, and someone he needed to learn from. There was no way that he, as a Uchiha, needed to learn from someone inferior to him. Look at the way the dobe had been in class. He was practically a disgrace to ninja everywhere.

Where as he had been the best student and the Rookie of the Year. He was superior to Uzumaki Naruto, and he would prove it to the dobe.

Perhaps he could use the fangirl as some kind of shield or distraction, but that would only work if she had the energy to stand, let alone move. This meant that he would have to do something to make sure she wouldn't pass out before he could use her. Perhaps if he gave her some food, she would be willing to follow along with his plan.

Decision made, Sasuke held some food out to the bound Haruno, who tried, desperately, to refuse in order to prevent him from getting into trouble with their sensei.

"Eat it. You'll be of no help to me if you can't even stand." She looked at him with adoring eyes filled with awe and worship. Because she was bound to the log and unable to do so herself, Sasuke was left with the task of feeding her. It was humiliating, but he wanted to win.

"Thanks, Sasuke-kun." He held up a small piece of sushi. As soon as she chewed and swallowed the first bite, an explosion of smoke appeared before them, with an enraged Kakashi coming towards them.

"YOU..." Sasuke waited, brave in the face of danger, quivering in readiness to strike, while the dobe stupidly sat there, hand frozen in the middle of eating his sushi.

"Aagh!" Sakura made a frightened cry at the aura radiating off the apparently angry Jounin, while Sasuke bravely reached for his kunai pouch.

"Pass!" Just as suddenly as the aura of death appeared, it was gone, replaced with the earlier easy-going feeling that emanated from the masked ninja.

For a moment, there was shocked silence. Sasuke could not believe what he had just heard. They passed? For what? What had they done in the last fifteen minutes that meant they didn't need to retrieve the bells from their Jounin-sensei?

"What? What do you mean we passed? Sasuke-kun and I didn't retrieve any bells yet!" the bound weakling's words were screechy and not very well received by any of the males in the vicinity. Therefore, for a moment, there was a ringing silence in the field that contained the logs and the Konoha Memorial Stone.

"...yes, however... Sasuke and you disregarded my orders in order to help your teammates. Those who do not obey orders are scum, but those who abandon their comrades are lower then scum."

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A pale man with piercing green eyes and midnight black hair looked in the direction of Konohagakure no Sato. His black and white lips parted.

"Such individuals are trash."

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(AN: Like canon, no?)

"The exercise is now concluded. You all pass!! That's all for today, Team Seven. Your duties will commence tomorrow." With that the grueling test was ended, and at last, Sasuke was one step closer to achieving his goal.

As he headed toward his apartment, he heard Kakashi-sensei cut the pink banshee loose.

Probably concerned about public health risks. After all, who knew what a drunk might do to himself if he stumbled across a bound Haruno. Even if they are well known as sources of misery.

Oh well, time to go home for his three hour power nap, so that he could defeat that man.

And tomorrow, he would seek for more power....

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And at long last, OWARI DA!

This chapter was hell on my mind. Writer's block struck at every given opportunity.

Hopefully, the next chapter will come easier.

A slight spoiler, I do not plan to follow the exact order of events. The Wave mission will come, but a certain land bound in cold will be saved first...

And, we'll meet some new faces in the next installment.

See you all next time.

And thanks very much to those who reviewed. Were it not for you and my friend Yami no Orochi, this might still be in progress.

Next Time: Breaking of Illusions