Chapter Three: Revelation
Three years later…
"And don't forget, class, that your first practice missions are in two weeks," said Iruka. "So practice your jutsu. The teams for the missions are posted outside the classroom; teams are based on grades and compatibility. Dismissed."
As the Academy students left the room, they went to go check the squads.
"Nee, Sasuke-niisan," said Naruto. "They put us on the same team, dattebayo!"
"That's good," Sasuke said, smiling. "Who does it say the third person is?"
"Hyuuga Hinata," answered Naruto.
As Naruto said this, a slightly short girl, who had short, dark hair, pale eyes which lacked pupils, and wore a beige sweatshirt over black pants, appeared. She moved through the crowd to where Naruto and Sasuke were. She looked down and blushed slightly as she asked, "Did you call my name?"
"Well, sorta," said Naruto.
"He was saying that you were assigned to the same team as us," explained Sasuke. "Team…three."
"Really?" asked Hinata.
"Hai," said Naruto.
Sasuke then asked, "Who does it say our taichou is?"
Naruto looked at the chart, and then responded, "Ikari Asuka-sensei. I don't think I've heard of her, though."
"Ano, Naruto-kun," said Hinata. "I know who she is. She teaches Neji-niisan's class. She has a short temper, according to Neji-niisan. She also supposedly moved to Konoha from some country in the east."
Then it really hit her. I'm…on the same practice team…as Naruto-kun! thought Hinata as she blushed again.
"What's up with Hinata?" asked Naruto.
"How should I know?" replied Sasuke. "Anyway, now that we know what team we're on, let's go home, Naruto-niisan."
The two boys left the school and went home together, glad to know that they were on the same team.
When they got home, Sasuke told Kushina, "Kaa-san, Naruto-niisan and I are on the same team for the practice mission!"
"That's great, boys," she responded.
"And Hyuuga Hinata is the third member of the team," added Naruto.
"Naruto-niisan, want to spar?" asked Sasuke, running outside to the back yard.
"In a minute," said Naruto. He went up to Kushina with a depressed look on his face. He said quietly, "Kaa-san, with Hinata on the team, I'm the only person who isn't part of a clan."
"Sasuke-kun's in our family," said Kushina.
"You know what I mean," said Naruto.
"Well, if it will make you feel better, Naruto-kun," Kushina said. "I'll teach you a special ninjutsu."
Naruto's head immediately perked up when he heard this. "What kind of ninjutsu?" he asked.
"An advanced ninjutsu that usually only jounin can learn," said Kushina. "It's called Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."
Naruto smiled at the thought that his mother considered him that skilled.
"But if you want to learn how to do it well enough to used on the practice mission," continued Kushina. "We'll have to start now, and we'll practice it every day."
"Arigatou, Kaa-san!" said Naruto.
"Naruto-niisan," called Sasuke from outside. "I'm still waiting."
"Gomen, Sasuke-kun," said Kushina. "But I'm going to be training Naruto-kun personally tonight."
"Well, what about me?" asked Sasuke.
Kushina didn't want to make Sasuke feel left out, especially since he was the one member of the family not biologically connected to the other two. So she said, "I'll train you one-on-one afterwards for just as long."
"Alright," said Sasuke as he went in the house and up to his room.
Naruto and Kushina went outside to the small training ground that was their back yard. The two of them stood underneath one of the trees.
"Now, Naruto-kun," began Kushina. "The principle behind the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu is quite simple, but only in theory. In practice, it takes a lot of chakra control."
Naruto nodded in understanding.
"In order to produce Kage Bunshins," she went on. "Focus an even amount of chakra over every part of your body. But it must be an even amount. Even the slightest difference and the jutsu will fail."
"So it's like those jumping exercises we do at the Academy, when we focus lots of chakra in our feet so that we can jump a lot further," Naruto responded. "Only I do it over my whole body?"
"Hai," confirmed Kushina.
"What do I do after that?" asked Naruto.
"That's step two," replied Kushina. "I think we should just focus on the chakra control now."
"But Kaa-san…" begged Naruto.
"We have two weeks before the practice mission starts. I'm sure that's plenty of time," said Kushina. "Now start focusing your chakra."
"Hai," said Naruto.
Naruto made a hand sign to concentrate, and almost immediately, yellow chakra began leak out of every square inch of Naruto's body. So much that Kushina could actually see it.
"Naruto, you're producing way too much chakra!" warned Kushina. "But you are releasing it from every part of your body; that's good."
"Where do I need to give more, and where do I need to give less?" asked Naruto.
"Well, you need to give less all around," Kushina replied. "But I know what you mean. You produce too much from your hands and feet, while your face and upper torso are lower than everything else."
"Arigatou," said Naruto.
Naruto again released chakra from his body, and Kushina could see a faint yellow haze barely outlining Naruto's body—evenly.
"Naruto-kun, you're still producing too much," Kushina said. "I shouldn't be able to see your chakra. But you are releasing it at an even rate, this time."
Naruto smiled, glad that he was advancing so quickly with this jutsu. He tried again. Kushina could see him concentrating, but she could not see his chakra.
"How about now, Kaa-san?" asked Naruto.
"I can't see it, but my guess is that you're still using too much chakra. Just barely let it out, like watering the garden," explained Kushina.
Naruto tried again, and Kushina thought that by the look on her son's face he was releasing the right amount.
"OK, Naruto-kun, it looks like you've got this part down," said Kushina. "Now I'm going to explain step two to you."
Naruto smiled.
"Now that you have an even amount of chakra around your entire body," Kushina began. "Release it all at the same velocity."
"Velocity?" asked Naruto, unsure.
"Velocity is both the speed that something travels, and the direction it travels in," explained Kushina.
"So in other words, I send all my chakra from my body at the same speed to wherever I want the Kage Bunshin to be?" asked Naruto.
"Correct," confirmed Kushina. "And since chakra is energy, it travels at the speed of light."
"So the Kage Bunshin shows up instantly wherever I want it to be?" asked Naruto.
"Not quite," said Kushina. "It manifests itself almost immediately after you dispel it, so the Kage Bunshins will only be a few feet away from you when they appear. Ready to give it a shot?"
"Dattebayo!" said Naruto.
He focused his chakra once again, declared, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" and the results were instantaneous. Right next to Naruto, lying on the ground, was copy of himself. Partial copy, that is. The skin was pale, the eyes were discolored, the bodily proportions were off, and some of the joints were set up the wrong way.
But for a first try… thought Kushina.
"Good try, Naruto-kun, but you didn't send it all in the same direction," said Kushina. "That difference in direction caused the deformities on the Kage Bunshin."
"Gomen," said Naruto.
"No need to apologize," said Kushina. "I'm surprised something appeared at all."
It disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Try again," encouraged Kushina.
They went on for a few hours. Naruto gradually got better at producing his Kage Bunshins. But he still had a lot of room for improvement. Although they were able to stand upright, they were still deformed some, and though their skin became less bleached, they still seemed physically ill. Kushina was continually amazed at his rapid progress.
Finally, Kushina said, "That's enough for tonight, Naruto-kun. If we go on much longer, I won't have much time to train Sasuke-kun."
"Wait, Kaa-san!" said Naruto. "One more try! I'll get it this time, dattebayo!"
"Sure," said Kushina. "Why not?"
Naruto declared, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Suddenly, amidst the usual smoke that came with a ninjutsu, was an exact replica of Naruto. His facial expression was the same, his pose was the same, his jumpsuit had identical wrinkles, and even his messy hair was the same. The Kage Bunshin and Naruto looked at each other, and Naruto yelled, "Yatta, dattebayo!"
Indeed he did, thought Kushina. It's amazing that he was able to learn that jutsu in just one afternoon, and to progress so much on the last one. Then again, I shouldn't be surprised, considering how quickly Minato…well, did anything.
"Great job, Naruto-kun," said Kushina as she hugged her son. "It seems like this jutsu is a perfect fit for you. Most jounin take months to learn it, and you just mastered it this afternoon!"
"Domo arigatou, Kaa-san," thanked Naruto. "You were so helpful, it was easy!"
Sasuke had been watching them train from his room. Not only that, but he was trying the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu along with Naruto. He wasn't even able to evenly release chakra from his whole body, let alone make a proper Kage Bunshin. He, too, was amazed at Naruto's ability to use it. He decided that his time would be better spent practicing some taijutsu and Katon ninjutsu, so that was what he did when he went out to train with Kushina.
"Great job, nii-san," said Sasuke.
"Arigatou," said Naruto. "I wonder what jutsu Kaa-san will teach you."
"I hope she can teach me how to do an advanced Katon ninjutsu," replied Sasuke. "But since that isn't Kaa-san's chakra type, I'll also ask if she can teach me some high-level taijutsu."
Two weeks later…
Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata were sitting outside of the Academy in front of the chuunin kunoichi who was supposed to be their team leader for the practice mission.
"Hello, my name is Ikari Asuka Langley-sensei," said the woman who stood before Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. Her figure was one desired by most women, but she was dressed in modest and practical red clothes. Her orange hair flowed halfway down her back, and she wore her hitai-ite around her neck, just like Hinata. Her voice was firm and confident, but it sounded like it could turn into an angry yell at any moment. "I'll be the taichou for this team today. How about you each show me some of your jutsu?"
"Alright!" said Naruto, excited to show off his new technique. He got out in front of everyone and made a Kage Bunshin. Asuka's eyes widened, but she didn't say anything other than, "Interesting. Next."
Sasuke got off the bench and performed his usual Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu. Asuka said, "Good. Next."
Hinata got up, walked over to a tree, and started to slam into it with her palms using her chakra-based taijutsu, Jyuuken. She said to Asuka, "Gomen, sensei, but I don't know any good ninjutsu."
"You have nothing to be sorry about—" Asuka began.
"Gomen," Hinata said again.
"Stop saying sorry!" exclaimed Asuka. "As I was saying, taijutsu is just as good as ninjutsu; especially Jyuuken, which is difficult to learn."
"Arigatou, Asuka-sensei," said Hinata.
"So, you three are lucky," said Asuka. "You got the equivalent of a C-rank mission. Your task is to provide bodyguard service to a traveler—me—who desires protection from simple bandits, thieves, etc. Your grade will be based on three factors. The first is whether or not you actually complete the mission. The second is how well you work as a team to dispel any threat that presents itself, and the third is how advanced the jutsu and skills you use during the mission are."
The three of them nodded.
"Then let's go!" said Asuka.
A few hours later…
The group of four was walking through the forest along the path that had been designated for their practice mission. Naruto tried to start conversation with Hinata to see if she would become more lively, but he actually seemed to be making her more shy, if that was even possible. Sasuke was merely focusing on watching out for any danger.
So it was Sasuke who heard the rustle in the bushes ahead of them.
"Hold it," he said. "There's someone about twenty feet up ahead." He flung a pair of kunai in the direction of the rustle.
Out of the bushes came an instructor from the Academy, brandishing a kunai, who advanced on the group.
"Give me your money," said the teacher in a convincing voice. "Or else." He held up the kunai.
"No way, dattebayo!" said Naruto. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" said Naruto. Four Kage Bunshins appeared alongside Naruto. They ran up to the false thief in an attempt to beat him up, but he jumped out of the way, and stabbed each of them with his kunai, causing them to disappear. He charged at Asuka with the kunai, but Hinata got in the way and disabled his arms with her Jyuuken. Sasuke threw a few shuriken at his shoulders for good measure. He kneeled on one leg and gave the group a thumbs-up, saying, "Good job!"
"Hehe, we got passed one, dattebayo!" said Naruto.
"There are still more," said Asuka. "Don't get cocky."
They traveled a little further, until at one point, Asuka needed to go to the bathroom—she had told the three students that she was only human—so she went into the forest on the left to go by a tree. While the group was waiting for Asuka, a senbon flew right in front of Naruto's face, startling everyone in the group.
From the forest to the left of them came Mizuki, the weapons instructor at the Academy. He had an angry look on his face; since the previous teacher had been convincing, the three of them also assumed this was an act.
"Kuso, I missed," he said.
"Into the trees, guys," said Sasuke, taking control of the situation.
When they jumped onto a branch high in the air, Sasuke said, "We're going to need a plan. Hinata, you go down there and disable his limbs with your taijutsu."
"Hai," she said.
"After that, I'll try and burn him with Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu. Then, Naruto-niisan, I need you to use your Kage Bunshin no Jutsu to beat the crap out of him."
Naruto nodded.
"Then get down there Hinata," said Sasuke.
As Sasuke said this, four shuriken flew up at the group. One of them hit Naruto in the left arm.
"Ungh!" he grunted painfully.
The others looked at him; he pulled out the shuriken, saying, "I'm alright."
Suddenly, some more shuriken were thrown up at them. That time, they were ready, so they easily dodged them.
The three jumped down, and Hinata, activating her Byakugan, charged at Mizuki. She immediately began to pound his tenketsu on his arms and legs, ignoring his torso out of the fear of the punishment for lethally wounding a teacher in a practice exercise. Mizuki tried to keep her at bay by dual wielding kunai against her, but she was too fast. Eventually, all his tenketsu in his arms and legs were closed, making it very difficult for him to move them. Hinata kept going, but Mizuki suddenly slammed Hinata under her chin with his fist, sending her straight into Naruto.
They both fell over, and when Hinata saw the position they were in, she blushed a deep crimson.
Naruto, thinking that it was because she was hurt, offered her some ointment for the wound under her chin. Hinata gladly accepted, though she blushed even deeper.
Meanwhile, Sasuke was busy launching balls of flame at Mizuki from his mouth.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" he cried as he breathed bright orange flame.
Mizuki was enveloped in the fire, and though he tolerated the pain, it was still damaging his body, scarring his tissue. Sasuke stopped after several dozen jutsu.
"I'm low on chakra. Nii-san, you're up," he said.
"Got it, Sasuke-niisan," said Naruto. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
Naruto clearly had made no effort to restrain his chakra, as a thousand Naruto Kage Bunshins surrounded their area.
"Whatever you got, I'll throw it back at you a thousand fold!" he declared.
Mizuki was obviously surprised to see so many Kage Bunshins, but his expression quickly changed. He began to say, "Heh, nothing more than I would expect from—"
At that moment, a senbon, traveling so fast that there was a smoke trail behind it due to the friction it generated, slit Mizuki's throat, muting his voice.
Asuka emerged from the bushes, battered and bruised all over, as she clutched a badly bleeding wound on her left side.
"That's what you get for attacking a woman when she's going to the bathroom, pervert!" she yelled.
It was when the three students saw Asuka's condition that they knew Mizuki was attacking them for real.
Mizuki, unable to say anything, merely removed his large shuriken from his back, put his hand through the hole in the middle, spun it, and hurled it at Naruto.
"Nii-san!" cried Sasuke as he got in front of Naruto. He stuck his hand out to try and catch the shuriken, but the shuriken made an awkward turn at the last second, and hit Sasuke's forearm at an odd angle. He sustained a large gash on his inner forearm, and Naruto was sure he heard something crack.
"AAAAAARGH!" Sasuke yelled.
"Sasuke-niisan! Are you OK?" asked Naruto.
"Do…I…look…OK?" Sasuke managed.
"Gomen," said Naruto.
"It's not your fault," said Sasuke. "But I can't fight this battle any more. And it doesn't look like Hinata or Asuka-sensei can, either. It's up to you and your Kage Bunshins, nii-san."
"Hai," said Naruto.
At that moment, all one thousand Narutos converged on Mizuki. Even though only four or five could physically contact him at a time, the Kage Bunshins coordinated their efforts, and Mizuki was knocked out after only taking out a few dozen of Naruto's Kage Bunshins. When he was done, Naruto made his clones disappear.
"Well done…Naruto," said Asuka. "In fact, you all worked well as a team. Congratulations to all of you. I think my body is enough to tell you that Mizuki attacked you for real, not as part of the mission."
"Domo arigatou, Asuka-sensei," Naruto.
"Hai, domo arigatou," agreed Hinata.
"Domo arigatou," finished Sasuke.
"Let's get you all to the hospital," said Asuka. "You look pretty beat up."
"Well, look at you, Asuka-sensei," said Naruto.
"Look, I was caught off-guard by a perverted rogue-nin, OK? Give me a break," said Asuka.
Later that day…
When Naruto got home, he told his mother about how his team had been attacked by Mizuki.
"Naruto-kun, that's horrible!" Kushina exclaimed as she hugged her son. "It's a good thing you weren't hurt that badly!"
"Hai, Kaa-san," agreed Naruto. "But…why did Mizuki-sensei attack me?"
"How do you know it was you that he was after?" Kushina asked.
"He only really tried to attack me," explained Naruto. "Even Sasuke-niisan got hurt just trying to protect me."
"Yeah, he got hurt pretty badly, too," noted Kushina. "His arm was broken in two places, and he had to get stitches for that slash alone."
"You still haven't answered my question, Kaa-san," said Naruto. "Why did Mizuki-sensei attack me?"
Kushina sighed. He's old enough to know, she thought. He can defend himself.
"I suppose there's no keeping it from you any longer," conceded Kushina.
"Keep what from me?" asked Naruto.
"Naruto," Kushina slowly began. "Ten years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. Every ninja in the village was deployed to fight it, except for myself, because I had just given birth to you. Since a bijuu cannot be killed, the only way to defeat a bijuu is to imprison it within the body of a human. A human who contains a bijuu in his or her body is known as a jinchuuriki. When the human dies, the bijuu dies along with him or her. And a bijuu can only be sealed inside the body of an infant whose umbilical cord has just been cut. Unfortunately, the sealing jutsu takes the life of the person casting it."
Naruto gulped. He knew where this was going. "Y…you mean…tou-san…"
"Hai. Your tou-san gave his life to seal the Kyuubi inside…"
Kushina paused.
"You," she said finally.
"M…me?" Naruto asked, sounding nervous. "S…so you mean that I'm…the Kyuubi?"
"No, no, no, Naruto-kun!" said Kushina, hugging her son again. "You are the Kyuubi's jailor; you're the one keeping him from destroying the village! What you are doing is very honorable!"
"Then why do people hate me for it?" asked Naruto.
"Because some people can't see that the Kyuubi is locked away inside you. They see you only as the Kyuubi itself," answered Kushina. "Fortunately, the Sandaime passed a law saying that it was illegal for anyone to mention this fact soon after you were born, although it doesn't prevent other parents from telling their kids to shun you. There are two exceptions to this law, though. The first is that I am allowed to tell you. The second is that you are allowed to tell whomever you deem trustworthy."
"Like Sasuke-niisan," said Naruto.
"Hai, Naruto-kun, like Sasuke-kun," agreed Kushina. "Let's go visit him at the hospital."
At the hospital…
"…I see," said Sasuke when Naruto had finished. "This actually makes perfect sense."
"Yeah, now we know why everyone always looks at us with disgust," agreed Naruto.
I can finally be completely honest with the boys, thought Kushina. She felt like a tremendous weight had been lifted off her chest.
Meanwhile, in the Sandaime's office…
"Ikari-san! Shouldn't you be in the hospital right now?" remarked the Sandaime as Asuka walked in on crutches.
"Probably," she responded. "But I need to discuss something with you. And I've brought Iruka along to contribute to the conversation."
Iruka walked into the office after her.
"What is so urgent that you have to postpone medical treatment?" asked the Sandaime. He knew from Asuka's personality that it probably wasn't that important, but he asked anyway.
"We believe that Uzumaki Naruto, Uzumaki Uchiha Sasuke, and Hyuuga Hinata have displayed such a high level of combat prowess, teamwork, and overall skill as shinobi in fighting Mizuki, who has been defined as a B-class threat," began Iruka.
"That they should be allowed to take the Academy's graduation exam at the end of this year—two years early," completed Asuka. "They are at the minimum age for graduation that you set after the Uchiha massacre, after all."
"Very well," said the Hokage. "If you think that this is best for the shinobi careers of these three young kids, then I'll sign the form allowing them to take the graduation exam early."
"Domo arigatou, Hokage-sama," said Iruka.
Several months later…
"Uzumaki Naruto," said the proctor. "You're up."
Naruto got up from the desk where he had working on his written test—it was difficult but passable—which had since been collected. He walked over to the room across the hall. He went inside the empty room and stood across from Iruka and another teacher, both of whom sat at a desk covered in hitai-ite.
"Naruto, please perform a Bunshin no Jutsu," said Iruka.
"Even better," said Naruto. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
An exact copy of Naruto appeared right next to him. "That good enough?" the Kage Bunshin asked.
"Hai," said Iruka. "You pass. Here's your hitai-ite."
Naruto smiled broadly as he received his proof of being a shinobi. He immediately placed it on his forehead. "Kaa-san is gonna be so proud, dattebayo!" he said.
"Hai, hai, now go tell your brother to come in here," said the other teacher.
"Sure," said Naruto.
Naruto was going to, but when he re-entered the exam room to sit back down, the proctor in that room announced, "Uzumaki Uchiha Sasuke, your turn."
"Sasuke-niisan, I hope you pass," whispered Naruto as the two passed each other in the doorway.
"I'm glad that you did," Sasuke whispered back.
Naruto waited in the exam room for Sasuke, who returned, smiling, wearing a hitai-ite of his very own.
That afternoon…
"That's wonderful news, boys!" exclaimed Kushina. "I'm so proud that my two sons graduated from the Academy two years early!"
"Arigatou, Kaa-san," the two boys said together.
"Hinata also graduated two years early," added Naruto.
"I'm sure Hyuuga Hiashi is just as proud of his child as I am of you two," said Kushina. "Let's celebrate!"
Naruto and Sasuke didn't even have to ask; in the Uzumaki household, the word "celebrate" was synonymous with only one thing. Actually, it was a place:
Ichiraku's.
Two days later…
Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata had been put together on the same genin team. When they had first heard this, all three of them had been overjoyed. Naruto and Sasuke were glad to be teamed up with each other, and Hinata was inwardly glad at being teamed up with Naruto.
She was also glad that she had set the bar impossibly high for Hanabi by graduating two years early, before even Neji. Which was quite a feat, considering Neji was older—and, some considered, better—than Hinata. Her father had been so proud of Hinata; he also abandoned the attitude he had been developing in which he favored Hanabi over Hinata. She was glad that her father's faith in her had been restored.
Naruto and Sasuke were busy talking about their sensei being late when the door opened, and in walked a man who was about 6' 8", wore standard-issue shinobi garb, a mask over the lower half of his face, a hitai-ite which covered his left eye, and, curiously, had grey hair which was skewed to his left side.
"Hello, class. Today I got lost on the path of life," he said. "I'm Hatake Kakashi. Let's go outside, where the air is fresh, so we can introduce ourselves.
The all walked outside and sat at a semicircular bench on a balcony.
"As I said a few moments ago, I'm Hatake Kakashi. How about the three of you go around and tell me a little about yourselves?"
"I'm Uzumaki Naruto," said Naruto, smiling. "I'm going to be Hokage, just like my tou-san, dattebayo!"
Sasuke continued, "My name's Uzumaki Uchiha Sasuke. I am going to rebuild my clan. After that, I intend to become head of the Konoha Police Department."
"Ano, I'm Hyuuga Hinata. I plan on becoming a jounin, and eventually taking over as clan head when I am old enough," finished Hinata.
"Glad to meet you all," said Kakashi. "I'm honored to be your sensei. Now you three should realize that being allowed to take the graduation exam two years early is a special privilege; it is only granted to students who show very promising skills as shinobi."
The three nodded.
"So this means that a lot more will be expected from you all throughout your ninja careers," Kakashi continued.
"Well I'm not going to disappoint anyone, dattebayo!" said Naruto.
I'm sure you won't, Naruto-kun, thought Hinata.
Kakashi continued, "Tomorrow, we'll have our first mission."
"What is it, Kakashi-sensei?" asked Naruto.
"Survival training," answered Kakashi.
"Huh? But we've already had plenty of training at the Academy," said Sasuke.
"Well, this is no ordinary training," explained Kakashi. "It is essentially the final part of the graduation exam. Additionally, of the twenty-seven genin who passed the exam, only nine will pass this training. The other eighteen will be sent back to the Academy for another semester. In other words, this will be a test with a 2/3 dropout rate."
"Then we'll just have to be better than everyone else, dattebayo!" Naruto told Sasuke and Hinata.
"Ano, of course," said Hinata.
"We do have a whole third of a chance of passing, after all," remarked Sasuke.
"Good to see you're not disappointed by this," said Kakashi. "Well, that's about it for today. Bring your gear and meet me at the training grounds at 5:00 A.M. tomorrow for the survival training."
"Hai, Kakashi-sensei," the three genin said.
The next morning…
"Come on!" Naruto said impatiently. "We've been waiting here for four hours! What's taking Kakashi-sensei so long? It's just like yesterday!"
"Ano, I'm sure he has a very good reason for not arriving on time," said Hinata.
"Well, he better show up soon," said Sasuke.
Just as they said this, a cloud of smoke suddenly appeared. As it dissipated, the three kids could see Kakashi standing there.
"Oh, hello, class," he said. "I must have overslept."
"By…four…freaking…hours!" yelled Sasuke angrily. "We probably could have been done by now if you had arrived on time like we did!"
"Perhaps," conceded Kakashi. "But there's no sense in arguing about it now. Let me explain the exercise." He opened up one of the small compartments in his chuunin vest and took out two small bells on black string. "When I say go, I want you to take these bells from me."
"That's all?" asked Naruto.
"You must retrieve these bells from me before noon—"
"If you had shown up on time…" mused Sasuke.
"Or else you fail," Kakashi continued, ignoring Sasuke. "Whoever fails to retrieve a bell before noon gets tied to one of those posts." He indicated a row of three wooden poles about twenty inches in diameter and six feet high. "He or she will also be forced to watch his or her teammates eat lunch in front of him or her. Additionally, those two are not permitted to share their lunch with the person tied to the post. Understand?"
They all nodded.
"Go," said Kakashi.
The three ninja immediately jumped up into the trees. Kakashi pulled out an orange book labeled Icha Icha Paradise.
Up in the trees, Naruto said to Sasuke, "Nii-san, we should help each other get our bells. If Kakashi-sensei has to deal with two of us at once, one of us will be able to reach over and get the bells."
"That'll probably only work for one bell, though," said Sasuke. "How are we going to get the other one if we can't get two?"
"We'll deal with that problem if we can only get one," said Naruto. "So how are we going to do this?"
Kakashi was reading his book when he sensed someone coming at him from behind. He turned around to catch a punch Naruto had thrown at him as a kunai shot past Kakashi's left waist from behind. He looked up to see where it had come from, and saw a collapsible large shuriken fly at his legs. As he jumped up to dodge it, Naruto crouched down and ran off in the direction that the shuriken had come from. As he saw Naruto run off with the recovered shuriken, he shrugged, returning to his book.
"Nii-san, I got one!" said Naruto. "But I couldn't get the other; your kunai shot was a little off, so it only broke the string of one of them."
"Nee, that just means we'll have to try again to get the other one, huh?" said Sasuke.
Meanwhile, Hinata was busy setting up an elaborate network of kunai and shuriken attached to a common trigger.
He'll keep dodging these, and eventually, he'll come right to where I am, Hinata thought.
Indeed, when Hinata was finished, she pulled one of the ten strings attached to her hands. Five kunai flew from the trees above Kakashi's head right at him. He merely ducked down without even looking up from his book and let them pass over his head.
Hinata pulled another string. Half a dozen shuriken came at Kakashi from his right side, ninety degrees along Kakashi's "clock" from where Hinata was. Kakashi jumped backwards; Hinata dropped her strings and leapt forwards, right into Kakashi, activated her byakugan, and attempted to close some of the tenketsu in his arms. However, Kakashi quickly jumped up into the air, so Hinata picked picked up her strings and launched three of her weapons clusters at him. Not one weapon hit Kakashi.
Then Hinata decided that her strings were too clumsy and inaccurate, so she fired the last of them at where Kakashi was and dropped the strings, again, they all missed. She reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a shuriken and a kunai with an explosive tag attached to it. Since she could see where Kakashi was hiding due to her byakugan, she flung the kunai and the shuriken in rapid succession at his two sides. The explosive kunai hit the tree that Kakashi was leaning on to read; this caused him to dodge to his right, right into the shuriken Hinata had thrown. Undamaged by the attack, Kakashi leapt to another part of the forest.
Hinata scurried over to the place where Kakashi had been standing and picked a shiny bell up off the ground. I got one! she thought.
Suddenly, Kakashi appeared in the middle of the large clearing, right by the three posts. He said in a loud voice, "Alright, you can all come out now. I've just had the second bell taken."
Hinata walked out of the trees where she had recovered her bell and displayed it to Kakashi. Naruto and Sasuke also jumped down from the branches where they had been hiding. They were both holding onto the string attached to the bell with one of their hands.
"Well, this is certainly an interesting situation," commented Kakashi. "Since two of you are sharing the bell between your two hands, and the third one of you has successfully retrieved a bell, none of you will get tied to the post. And since the rest of the test is reliant on one person being tied to the post, I suppose we're done."
Naruto looked at Kakashi. "Kakashi-sensei, you mean…"
"Since you have displayed a satisfactory amount the quality which was the main objective of this exercise—teamwork—you all pass. As of today, you are all genin. Team Seven sets out on its first mission tomorrow."
"We did it!" cried Naruto and Sasuke as they gave each other a high five.
"Ano, tou-san will be happy," Hinata said.
That afternoon, at Ichiraku's…
"So tell me again how you passed the bell test without getting tied to the post?"
"Sasuke-niisan and I held the same bell in both of our hands at the same time," responded Naruto.
"So we managed to divide two bells among three people," added Sasuke.
"You know, compared to the test they made us take back in Whirlpool Country, you guys got off easy," Kushina smiled. "But you boys still continue to surprise me."