Yo! I actually had this chapter done like a week and a half ago, but I didn't want to post it until I was nearly finished the third chapter. Which I have now finished. I'm just waiting to if Amiriah wants to become my permanent beta for this story.
Chapter Two: Kakashi's Test: Pass or Fail?
"Nice try Kakashi-sensei! But it's good enough!" Naruto shouted, striking one of his shadow clones.
"Ow! I'm not the imposter!" the clone yelled back.
Naruto turned to another clone. "Then it must be you!" he roared, attacking it.
This led a big battle royal slugfest between the dozen Narutos standing in the field. From their hiding spots, Naruto's teammates could only shake their heads at his actions, wondering just how dense he could be. Naruto had mistakenly believed that Kakashi had used a transformation jutsu to himself amongst the Naruto clones, when in reality he had used a substitution jutsu, swapping places with one of the clones.
'Well, at least they're amusing to watch,' Kenshi thought as pair of shadow clones head butted each other, causing them both to disperse into two clouds of smoke. 'But…that means that Kakashi-sensei is somewhere nearby. Maybe I can ambush him and get a bell!'
Kenshi took a look at his surroundings, searching for some sign of the jonin. To his surprise, Kakashi was leaning against a tree, his attention entirely on his book. 'He's just standing there. It's got to be a trick or something…' Kenshi shook his head, pushing aside his doubts. 'It doesn't matter. I need a bell or I'm going to be sent back.'
Reaching into his thigh holsters, he pulled out half a dozen shurikens. While most of his skills in the Academy had been average at best, his skill with weapons had been second only to Sasuke in their class. Taking a deep breath, he aimed at the jonin, exhaling as he dropped down from his hiding place in a tree, throwing the metal stars.
Without even looking, Kakashi pulled out a kunai, using it to effortlessly deflect each shuriken. Kakashi's eye looked up from his book, shurikens hitting the ground around him. "Ninja Lesson Number Two: Ninja Tools and Weapons," he said in his usual, casual tone.
Kenshi wasn't about to repeat Naruto's mistake in waiting for Kakashi to make the first move, throwing more shurikens and kunai knives as fast as he could.
But the jonin was as fast as lightning, his kunai hitting each and every flying weapon, knocking them down and away from him.
However, Kenshi's attack wouldn't last long as he emptied his holsters. The genin froze, drawing the last two weapons. He glanced down at his empty weapon pouches, his last two kunai in his hands. 'Shoot! I didn't think he'd be able to deflect them all like that.'
With no other option, Kenshi raced forward, swinging his kunai, one after the other at Kakashi.
The jonin blocked the first knife with his own, then flicking his wrist, knocking the kunai from his hand. As the second weapon came at him, Kakashi twisted his body, stepping the knife and striking the back of Kenshi's head with his forearm.
The genin slammed into the tree Kakashi had been leaning against. But before the rookie collect himself and move back from the tree, a barrage of weapons flew at him.
Kenshi could only stare wide eyed over his shoulder at the jonin, his body pinned to the tree by over a dozen of kunai and shurikens that were stabbing through the sides of his pants and jacket. Worst, they were his own weapons.
"A bit of advice, when throwing shurikens and kunai, it's unwise to throw them all at once. It limits your options." Kakashi said, once more reading Make-Out Paradise. "But on the positive side, your throws were quite nice for a rookie. You clearly have some talent in that area."
The pinned genin let out an annoyed sigh, banging his covered forehead on the tree.
Elsewhere, a battered and worn out Naruto looked around the clearing. All of his clones were gone, with no sign of Kakashi. He growled in frustration. "Hey! Where'd you go Kakashi-sensei?" the blond shouted.
That's when he saw it. A bell lying next to a tree. A fox-like grin spread across his face as he chuckled. "He must have dropped one while we fighting!" he said to himself, trying but failing to keep his voice low.
However, just as he was about to reach for the bell, Naruto sprung the obvious trap. A rope wrapped around Naruto's ankles. "AAAAARGH!" he screamed, flying into the air.
Naruto found himself hanging upside-down from the tree, only a few feet from the bell. He vainly thrashed around, making attempts to grab the bell. But he was just too far away.
At that moment Kakashi appeared, approaching Naruto and the bell. "You know, if something looks like it's too good to be true, it usually is," he said, kneeling down to collect the bell. "And as a ninja, you need to be able to see through deception, to see underneath what's underneath."
Nearby, Sasuke watched from his vantage point in a tree, studying Kakashi for the slightest drop of his guard.
"I know that!" Naruto snapped.
"I'm telling you this because you don't get it," the jonin replied, relaxing his stance. "You think you get it, which is not the same as actually getting it. Get it?"
'There! He's finally dropped his guard!' Sasuke mentally exclaimed, drawing some of his kunai and shuriken.
Naruto opened his mouth, about to respond to Kakashi, when half a dozen kunai and shuriken slammed into the gray haired jonin's side and head. Naruto gasped as Kakashi was thrown by the force of the impact. His eyes shot to where the weapons had come from, to Sasuke. "What did you do Sasuke?" Naruto demanded.
As though to answer his question, Kakashi exploded in a cloud of smoke, revealing a log with kunai knives and shuriken embedded in it.
'Another substitution jutsu,' Sasuke realized, jumping from his now exposed hiding place, heading into a section of deep brush. 'He pretended to lower his guard and like an amateur, I fell for it.'
"Hey Sasuke! Get me down from here!" Naruto called out to the running Sasuke ignored him, disappearing into the brush.
Elsewhere, Sakura had left her own hiding place, having lost sight of everyone, including Sasuke and now traveling through the brush. She was worried about Sasuke. 'Maybe Kakashi-sensei defeated Sasuke,' Sakura thought.
She vigorously shook her head in response. 'No! I refuse to believe that! Sasuke wouldn't lose!'
At that instant, Sakura saw something, her eyes widening. She quickly and as silently as possible, dove behind a nearby bush.
Carefully, Sakura peered through the leaves and branches of the bush. Standing less than a dozen feet from her was Kakashi, reading his book, the bells dangling from his waist.
'He hasn't noticed me. Maybe I can-'
"Sakura behind you!" a voice urgently whispered to her at that instant.
The pink haired genin spun around, coming face to face with Kakashi. Before she could react, he went through a series of rapid hand seals. The wind picked up, blowing countless leaves in front of the jonin, spiraling before him.
Suddenly, he disappeared before her eyes. "Huh? Where did he go?" Sakura asked aloud, searching for their sensei.
"Sakura!" she heard someone very, very familiar called out.
It was Sasuke!
Sakura instantly spun around, coming face to face with her crush…
"Sakura…" Sasuke rasped, his body bloodied and battered, dozens of kunai knives piercing his skin. "Sakura…Help…me…"
The female genin let out a loud, ear-piercing scream before she collapsed, passing out from shock.
"I think I over did it a little," Kakashi commented from atop a nearby tree branch, turning the page of Make-Out Paradise he just finished. "But she's got to learn to see through these things."
He dropped down from the tree, the bells ringing as he landed. "Ninja Lesson Three: Genjutsu, Illusion Techniques. Sakura studied them in the Academy, but she still fell for it. Three down, one to go."
"I'm not like the others," Sasuke coldly stated, standing nearby.
"Save it until after you have a bell Sasuke," the jonin calmly replied, closing his book but otherwise unimpressed by the Uchiha's words.
For a moment, the two just stood there, waiting for the other to make the first move. In the end, Sasuke struck first, throwing a trio of shurikens at the silver haired jonin.
Naruto grumbled as he tried to get the rope around his ankles untied. Unfortunately for the blond, escaping from ropes happened to be one of the lessons he had failed in the past.
Nearby, Kenshi had finally managed to pull out the last of his kunai knives and shurikens, throwing back into his holsters.
Neither of them were pleased by how Kakashi had bested them so easily. He beat them like they were nothing but first year Academy students. It was humiliating!
Kenshi punched the tree he had been pinned to. "It's almost noon. I'm running out of time," he said, frustrated at this whole stupid test. "If I get sent back, it's all over. Who ever heard of a ninja who failed their final test to be a genin?"
"Hey! Kenshi, cut me down!" Naruto called out to his teammate, desperately wanting to get out before all of the blood rushed to his head.
The brown haired genin was pulled from his thoughts, studying Naruto and the tree he was hanging from for a moment. "I don't think that's a good idea," he replied.
"What? Why not?" Naruto demanded.
"Well…Don't you…" Kenshi started, but he quickly paused, thinking about things. 'Wait. If Naruto's out and about, that reduces my chances of getting a bell. Sorry Naruto, but I'm not gonna fail this test.'He cleared his throat. "Never mind, I'll help you out," he said, reaching for a shuriken.
A second later, the throwing star sliced through the rope. Naruto fell, flipping right-side up before his feet hit the ground.
"Ha ha! Thanks, Kens-" Suddenly, the second trap that had been unnoticed by Naruto triggered. Rope wrapped around Naruto's ankles and he screamed as he was thrown up into the air again. As this was happening, Kenshi took off, looking for Kakashi and the bells.
As he began to hang upside-down again, Naruto started thrashing and hollering, cursing out Kakashi, his traps, and Kenshi for not warning him. But it was during this tantrum, that Naruto spotted something…
There, sitting on the large stone that stood across from the three logs, were the three bento boxes that Kakashi had brought with him.
A foxy grin spread across Naruto's face. "A ninja needs to see underneath what's underneath," he quoted, formulating a plan.
In another clearing, Sasuke sat on his knees, taking a moment to recover from his latest attempt to acquire one of the bells. He had come very, very close, managing to brush a finger against one of them.
Across from the Uchiha stood Kakashi, who aside from no longer reading his beloved Make-Out Paradise showed no sign of slowing down anytime soon. "Well… I will acknowledge that you are different from the others," the jonin admitted. "But not by a whole lot-and certainly not enough to get a bell from me."
Sasuke scowling, growing increasingly annoyed at Kakashi and his taunts as well as frustrated at himself for not being able to acquire a bell for himself. But he still had an ace in his sleeve, something the jonin wouldn't see coming.
The genin stood up, bringing his hands to together, forming the horse hand seal, followed swiftly by the tiger seal. "Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!" he shouted just before he began to inhale.
Kakashi was stunnedthat Sasuke was actually managing to perform a more advanced ninjutsu technique than what they had been taught in the Academy. 'A genin shouldn't have the chakra for that technique!'
Sasuke exhaled, breathing out a giant ball of fire at Kakashi, consuming him within the flames. After a few seconds the jutsu ended, leaving a large scorch mark before Sasuke, but no sign of his target.
The black haired genin snapped his head left and right, looking for Kakashi. 'No. Above?'
He looked up, seeing ifthe jonin had jumped up in the air. But he hadn't.
"Below you," a voice stated at that moment.
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise for a split second before a hand shot up through the ground and grabbed his left ankle. "Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!" The hand pulled, dragging Sasuke into ground, burying his entire body up to neck in the dirt and earth.
It was then that Kakashi emerged from his hiding place from below the grass and dirt, towering over the immobile genin. He knelt down, coming as close as he could to Sasuke's current eye level. "Ninja Lesson Number Four: Ninjutsu, Ninja Techniques," the jonin said. "You're certainly head and shoulders above the others."
Sasuke scowled as Kakashi's mocking comment, looking ready to start trying to bite the jonin to death.
"But it's just like they say, the nail that sticks out, is the one that gets hammer down," Kakashi added, standing up while pulling out his book again.
The genin could only watch and glare as Kakashi left him alone, stuck in the ground.
Of course, he wouldn't be alone for much longer.
A few minutes after Kakashi had left him, Sakura stumbled into the clearing. She took one look at Sasuke and let out a bloodcurdling scream before fainting again.
Sasuke rolled his eyes as he began working his way out of the ground. He absolutely loathed those clingy fangirls like her.
Naruto grinned as he sat behind the stone, the bento boxes sitting on his lap. "Instead of wasting time trying to get one of the bells, I can just sit back and have some lunch," he said to himself. "And there's nothing that weirdo can do about it."
Chopsticks in hand, he grabbed the first box, preparing to open it and dig in.
"Hey there," a very familiar voice said.
Naruto broke out in a cold sweat. "I was just joking," he claimed, letting out a nervous chuckle.
"I don't think so," Kakashi replied.
'Come on! Where is he?' Kenshi thought, searching for Kakashi.
Time was running out, he knew that much. Though how much exactly they had left, he didn't know. By his best guess, Kenshi figured that they had fifteen, twenty minutes left until noon and the end of the test.
"What do you wanna bet that Sasuke has managed to get one already," he mumbled to himself.
Sasuke Uchiha was the Rookie of the Year, the top student of this year's class. If any of them were going to get a bell, it would be him-which meant that it was very likely that there was only one bell left for the rest of them.
At that moment, Kenshi stopped, carefully listening to his surroundings. He could hear someone talking, but he couldn't make out who it was or what they were saying. But they were close.
He took off, running towards the voice.
However, as the distracted genin brushed by a tree, he tripped over a root, landing flat on his face on the edge of a clearing. "Stupid, stupid, stupid," Kenshi muttered as he picked himself up.
To his surprise, both Sasuke and Sakura were in the clearing, but to his even greater surprise, the dirt-covered Uchiha did not have one of the bells. Neither of them did.
"So…I guess Kakashi-sensei has gotten the better of both of you as well," he commented, absently feeling one of the holes in his sleeve.
Sakura nodded her head in agreement; a sad and defeated look on her face. "We haven't managed to get any-"
RIIIIIING!
All three genin spun towards the sound of the buzzer, horrified at the sound. It was noon. Time was up,and they had failed…
Sasuke, Sakura and Kenshi sat silently around Naruto, who had been tied to one of the tree stumps. All of them were sulking from their defeat, a pair of bento boxes sitting before them. The only noise they were making was coming from their empty stomachs.
"My my, listen to all the growling stomachs," Kakashi said to the starving genin, a hint of amusement in his tone.
"By the way, I have an announcement about this exercise. None of you need to worry about being sent back to the Academy."
The four immediately perked up, surprised by the announcement. He wasn't going to send them back? But they had failed the test, hadn't they? Perhaps they weren't supposed to get the bells. Or maybe they had impressed him somehow.
"Really?" Kenshi asked. "We're not going back?"
"Yeah!" Naruto cheered, shaking his body as much as he could under the rope. "We did it! We're not going back!"
Sakura and Kenshi both began to cheer as well while a slight smirk spread across Sasuke's lips.
However, it was not to be.
"Anymore schooling would be pointless," Kakashi spoke up, silencing the group instantly. They could only gape at the jonin wide-eyed, stunned and horrified. "The four of you are completely hopeless. None of you will ever become shinobi. You should all just give up."
"What? What the hell does that mean?" Naruto angrily demanded from the silver haired man. "Okay, none of us could get any bells, but why should give up on being ninjas just because of that?"
"Because none of you have what it takes," the jonin replied, his tone as calm and casual as thought he was talking about the weather.
Suddenly Sasuke, bitter about failing to get a bell test and fed up with Kakashi's words, took off, sprinting towards the man with a kunai in his hand.
Unfortunately, Kakashi was still just as fast as he had been earlier.
In an instant Sasuke was on his stomach, his weapon gone and Kakashi on top of him, restraining the Uchiha. "You're all just a bunch of spoiled brats, playing at being ninjas," he continued as though nothing had happened.
Sakura leapt up to her feet. "Get off of Sasuke!" she shouted, worried about the wellbeing of the boy of her affection.
Annoyance appeared in Kakashi's eye. "Are you trying to make fun of real ninjas with your behavior?" he said, the normal casual tone in his voice gone, replaced with clear anger and frustration. "Did it ever occur to you to ask why you were divided into teams?"
None of the genin answered, their expressions revealing the truth of the matter.
"Obviously not; you all completely missed the point of this exercise," the jonin scolded.
"Huh? There was a point to this test?" a confused Naruto asked.
"Yes. A point that would determine whether you would pass or fail."
"But you haven't explained what it is," Sakura pointed out.
Kakashi shook his head.
"Tell us what it is already!" the blond shouted.
Kakashi's answer was simple and to the point. "It's teamwork."
All four were surprised by Kakashi's words. It didn't make sense. How could the test have been about teamwork when there weren't enough bells?
"Had the four of you worked together, you probably would have gotten the bells from me," Kakashi added.
"What do you mean by that? There are only two bells!" Sakura argued, voicing the questions that all four of them had. "Even if we work together and get the bells, two of us would still fail! That would just make us fight each other!"
"Of course. This test was purposely set up to sow dissension among your ranks," Kakashi admitted.
Sakura blinked. "What?"
"The purpose of this exercise was to see which of you would set aside your own interests and propose to the others to work together for the good of all," Kakashi explained. "Instead you, Sakura, ignored Naruto and Kenshi-who were right in front of you and focused your attention on Sasuke who had run off."
Then he turned to the tied up blond. "Naruto, you were just running around, trying to do the task of a team by yourself."
Next, he focused on the boy next to Naruto. "Kenshi, you had a chance to help Naruto with the traps, and potentially could have worked together against me. Instead, you believed that if Naruto remained ensnared, it would increase your chances of getting a bell because there would be one less person hunting for them, so you let him fall into the second trap."
Finally, Kakashi looked down at the Uchiha underneath him. "And you Sasuke assumed that the others were too weak and would only get in the way. Like Naruto, you tried to do everything yourself." He shook his head. "Arrogance."
"Ninja missions are carried out by teams," Kakashi lectured, trying to drill the truth into their skulls. "Of course, you need superior individual ability as well, but what's most important is teamwork. Every shinobi knows this. When an individual puts themselves before the team, it can lead to failure and death."
Suddenly a kunai knife was placed against Sasuke's throat. "Sakura! Kenshi! Kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!" Kakashi ordered, his tone dead serious.
All four were pale, utterly shocked at out his order to kill Naruto. "What?" Naruto shrieked, thrashing against the ropes that held him, desperately trying to get free.
But as quickly as it started, Kakashi pulled back the knife. "You see?" he said, getting off Sasuke. "The enemy takes a hostage and you're faced with an impossible choice. Someone ends up dying."
The jonin started walking from the group, heading for a monument stone that stood oppose the three logs. "Every mission, you'll be risking your lives," he said. "Have you ever taken a look at this stone and the names engraved on it? They are all ninja hailed as heroes by the village."
"That's it! I've just made up my mind!" Naruto yelled, his enthusiasm returning at full force. "That's where my name is going to go! I'm gonna be like them-a hero!"
"The ones listed here aren't just normal heroes…" Kakashi solemnly replied, trying to drop Naruto a hint.
Unfortunately, he remained obvious to it. "Oh yeah? What kind are they?"
"…"
"Come on! Tell me!"
"The ones who died in the line of duty."
Naruto froze, the big grin sliding from his face. He had known that there are ninja that die in battle, but he never given it any thought. Now he was coming face to face with the fact that not all shinobi lived long lives and that plenty of them died in battle. It was a sobering fact for him, for all of them.
"This is a memorial," Kakashi said, placing a hand on the stone. "The names of my closest friends are all engraved on here."
After what seemed like the longest and quietest minute of the genins' lives, Kakashi pulled his hand back and turned around, facing the genin. "Alright… I'm giving you all one more chance," he announced, sparking renewed hope within the four. "However, this time it's going to be much, much harder than before. Those who wish to take the challenge can eat those bento boxes-but no sharing with Kenshi and Naruto."
"What? Why?" Naruto yelled.
"Punishment for trying to steal the lunches and eat them by yourself," the jonin answered.
"But why am I going without lunch too?" Kenshi and his stomach demanded.
"Because I said so," Kakashi replied dismissively.
"If anyone gives either of them any food, they will fail right then and there. My word is law here. Got it?"
The genin nodded their heads and Kakashi disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
With him gone, Sasuke and Sakura picked up their bentos while Kenshi sat down against one of the logs, biting his fingernails, trying to feed his empty belly. All Naruto could do was try to get out of the ropes as his stomach loudly demanded food.
And that how was for nearly five minutes. Sasuke and Sakura sat in silence, consuming their lunches while their teammates went without food.
Until Sasuke, his bento box half-eaten, did something unexpected.
The dark haired genin thrust the rest of his lunch at Kenshi, offering it to him. "Here."
Everyone else could only gape and stare at the Uchiha. "But Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei just said-" Sakura started.
"I'm not worry. He's probably miles away by now," Sasuke replied, dismissing her. "We're going to need all of our strength if we're work together to get those bells. Without food, they'll both be useless when we try again."
Kenshi accepted the lunch, his belly screaming in joy and hunger.
He stared at the bento for a moment, before turning to his teammate. "…Thank you Sasuke," he said, a second before digging into the food.
Naruto gave the brown haired boy looks of utter envy as his stomach growled even louder. Somehow it knew that Kenshi had just been given food, but not it.
Sakura looked at Naruto, then at her own lunch. "Here Naruto," she said, doing the same for him.
The blond could only stare at Sakura, his eyes watering. "Sakura… Thanks."
No sooner had he said those words, than Kakashi reappeared, looking ready to explode. The four genin could only gape in horror as the man rushed towards them. "YOU…"
"…pass," Kakashi finished, grinning and giving them the thumbs up.
Silence descended on the field. None of them could utter word, too stunned by what had just happened.
"We passed?" a bewildered Kenshi uttered, finally breaking the silence.
"But we broke your rule," Sakura added, just as confused. "So why?"
"You four have taken a giant step forward. Up until, you've been obeying my every order unquestioningly, like mindless little drones," Kakashi explained. "Ninja need to see the hidden meaning behind the hidden meaning."
Kakashi lowered his arm and continued, "They say that those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are trash. But those who abandon their comrades are lower than trash."
Sasuke smirked as Kenshi wiped a bit of rice from the corner of his grinning mouth. Naruto, still tied up, was in awe, his mouth open wide while Sakura pumped her arm triumphantly.
"This ends the exercise. You all pass," Kakashi said. "Starting tomorrow, Team Seven will officially commence its duties."
"Yeah! I did it! I did it!" Naruto cheered in jubilation, his eyes beginning to tear up. "I'm a ninja!"
Moments later, Team Seven was packed up and walking from the field.
…Leaving Naruto, still tied to the log."Hey! Don't leave me here!" he yelled at his departing teammates. "UnTIE me!"
And done. Next up, the Chunin Exams and the beginning of the really good stuff I have planned.