When Naruto showed up at the training field with the three big logs buried in the middle vertically, Shikamaru and Choji were already there. But that wasn't all that was there.

"It sure is foggy today!" Naruto said as he walked towards the meeting place. Shikamaru gave a significant look to Choji right as Naruto approached and his friend immediately hit something in his pocket.

Naruto's orange getup was bright enough that he was easy to spot through the fog as he approached

"Also, what's that noise? Huh?" Naruto said, approaching the logs.

"It's called a stereo," Shikamaru said, straining his voice through the fog to reach Naruto. He had it playing some generic pop tune.

"Oh, OK, whatever." Naruto said. "Where's our teacher anyway? I want to start this already."

Kakashi had sent word that they weren't to eat lunch this morning, and that they should show up here at this time. Kabuto had said that normally you met with your Jonin ninja leader before your first mission, but it seems like this Kakashi had decided not to do it that way for some reason. Maybe because Kakashi had apparently failed every other scout-class, Genin Ninja that had ever come to him. Why meet with academy graduates if you're probably just going to fail them?

Shikamaru turned his attention back to Naruto.

"I think you've gotten a bad rap in this village," Shikamaru told Naruto straight out when he got close enough. "My understanding is that there's no particular reason to find you dangerous just because you have a demon fox sealed in you. But everyone treats you badly because they associate you with the great calamity that happened a decade ago. This is irrational."

Naruto was quiet during this speech, which was strange.

Kid was a loudmouth in class half the time, Shikamaru thought. It was certainly interesting that he was quiet now.

"It happens in part because of a bad type of thinking called 'Appeal to Tradition.' Basically this means that an old way of thinking is just accepted as correct because it's part of some tradition. So, in your case, the adults all thought that everything connected to the Nine Tails fox demon was bad, because it had just almost destroyed their village, but also because it had often been seen that way traditionally. Appeal to traditional fallacy means that not only do you think that something is true just because it's a tradition that people have always said was true, but you also believe that some traditional thing is true no matter what changes."

"Huh?" Naruto said. "What are you talking about Shikamaru? You talk way too much. Get to the point already."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, resisting the urge to call Naruto an idiot. That would be counterproductive because it would go against the entire point of this whole thing. He really didn't want to have to go through it all again. That would be a serious pain in the ass.

"The point is, that's why everyone is so cruel to you," He blurted out.

Naruto's eyes widened, but he didn't say anything. His mannerisms were back to docile and quiet again.

It bothers him a lot but he refuses to admit it, Shikamaru thought. Made sense, what could you say to people who lost parents and friends 10 years ago due to a monster that was now sealed inside you?

"The older folks around here can't help but hate you because of what they associate you with, or because of the traditional idea that the Nine Tails is evil. Their kids accept that there's something wrong with you because of that traditional view passed down to them from their parents. Any traditional piece of information or ideas that's handed down to you when you're young is going to stick in the back of your head without your knowledge if you aren't careful."

Shikamaru sighed as he sense the blur approaching that was undoubtedly Kakashi.

Finally.

"This is true of anything you're new to, by the way, whether it's a story, a skill, a piece of technology or anything. You tend to just accept initial traditional information about that thing without realizing it," Shikamaru said. For some odd reason those eyes he saw earlier, the red with the tear drops popped into his head. Why? Odd. He'd have to think on that more later.

Shikamaru was pitching his voice loud enough so that anyone with the means to witness this scene, like Kakashi or anyone else really, could hear what he had to say clearly.

"I don't care if they hate me," Naruto said. He stuck out his lip when he said it though, making Shikamaru suspicious.

"I'll just make them see how great I am, you'll see Shikamaru!" He said.

"I already see," Shikamaru said lightly. "You have a power far more powerful than anyone here realizes," He said. "And the nine tails is only a tiny part of it. The three of us," he said, waving his hand to include Choji who was sitting down behind one of the logs currently," could unlock a power that makes us more powerful than all other shinier combined. And it's all because of you. I will need you to follow the plan I have though," He added, nonchalantly.

This last seemed to stun Naruto a bit. At least, he was silent for several long seconds as saccharine pop music blared out cheerfully.

Finally, he doubled over and burst out laughing.

Shikamaru let himself sigh and roll his eyes as Naruto continued letting out long bouts of pealing laughter. He dropped to his knees and pounded the rocks with his fist.

"Me, follow you! Hah! That's a good one Shikamaru! You should follow me! I'm way stronger than weaklings like you two!"

What a troublesome pain in the ass, Shimakaru thought. After explaining all of that and now Naruto wasn't taking him seriously at all. If this had all been for nothing, Shikamaru was going to quit on the spot and watch clouds for the next 6 weeks.

At least his response wasn't unexpected, he thought. Although, he hadn't expected Naruto to laugh quite that hard. Annoying.

"It's what you want isn't it? To show everyone how powerful you are? TO have people acknowledge you? Well, I already do. That's what I'm telling you. And I can get everyone else to do it too."

"How did you know that? Naruto said sharply.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"You only loudly tell everyone you meet," He said. Naruto was starting to open his mouth and point fingers again, which prompted Shikamaru to hold up a hand. "OK already, yes I know you don't care about what I have to say since I'm so weak. So, here's what we can do."

He gestured vaguely in the direction where he knew Kakashi was hiding and listening in before making his entrance to make sure it wasn't obvious that he knew Kakashi was there.

"Pretty soon, Kakashi is going to come over here and offer us a test. Instead of working together, Choji will sit out, and you and I will see who can pass it faster, and by how much. If one of us passes it first by a little, then that person is better than the other, but they are still mostly equal."

Naruto got up from where he'd been rolling on the ground laughing and said,

"And if they win by a lot, then they are much better!"

"Correct," Shikamaru said.

"OK!" Naruto said. "I got it. You'll see how much better I am!"

"What's all this?" Kakashi said, finally deciding he had heard enough. The fog was really rolling in now. He stopped, cocking an ear to the loud pop music coming from the forest.

"What's that enchanting music?" Kakashi asked. "It's like it's speaking directly to me."

He then looked around at the fog rolling in from the forest and drifting over the lake on one side of the training grounds.

"That's not right, either," He said. "There isn't any major source of water in nearby in that part of the forest. Fog should roll out from the lake, not the other way around."

Shikamaru swallowed. Kabuto had been right about Kakashi's level of intelligence. He had to put all of his hopes squarely on the logical fallacy that he was betting existed at the heart of most every Konoha shinobi currently.

"You're late!" Naruto said, pointing at Kakashi. The man had a shock of white hair sticking out over his forehead protector with the Konoha symbol on it. The protector was pulled down over one of his eyes. The rest of his face was hidden behind a blue mask.

"I heard you talking over that strangely interesting music," Kakashi said finally.

"You knew that the mission would be a test, how?"

"The ancient post that's been here for like a hundred years? That has a picture of one person tied to it and two other people holding bells in a bunch of different homes in Konoha? Wow yeah, I can't imagine how I figured it out."

Although actually, Kabuto told me, Shikamaru thought. But the logic still holds since that's how he knew. But really, if the test is that important they should really be more careful at keeping the info secret.

"I see," Kakashi, said, looking around. "Were you also anything additional about why the test was made in this particular way?"

Yes, of course, Shikamaru said, though out loud he said-

"No."

"Well, OK then," Kakashi said, rubbing at his spiky white hair sheepishly.

"We can still do the test then," Kakashi said with a relieved sigh. "We probably should be more careful to let you academy students see pictures of the test lying around everywhere. "

"A test?" Naruto said, perking up. "What test?"

"The one I just told you about," Shikamaru said patiently. "You have to get a bell from the teacher. Whoever gets it first is the most impressive. The better than they do than the other, the more impressive they are."

Naruto gave Shikamaru an obviously disdainful look up and down.

"You're on!" Naruto said. "I'll have no problem beating a loser like you."

Shikamaru gestured magnanimously to Naruto.

"You can go first," He said.

"Hey, wait a second," Kakashi said, scratching his head again. "You're going to try to get a bell one at a time? You know that there's only two, right? What about the third member? Choji?" He pointed over at Choji who was sitting on the other side of a post, not looking in their direction at all.

"I trust Shikamaru!" Choji said good-naturedly, and in a suspiciously muffled way.

Shikamaru felt a chill go through hi as Kakashi spent a few seconds staring in that direction. He had heard enough about Kakashi from Kabuto to know that he had no chance against beating him with Ninjutsu, the sort of ninja magic he was only just learning, no chance beating him hand to hand which he was also a bit too lazy to be very good at yet, and probably no chance in outsmarting him conventionally.

I can see the gears turning in his head already, Shikamaru thought as he saw Kakashi looking at the fog, listening to the music, watching Choji sitting behind a post and asking himself questions about what they all might mean if he took them all together instead of as random separate events.

He's going to see right through this if I don't keep distracting him, Shikamaru thought.

"What's the hold up?" Shikamaru said, making his voice as annoying as possible. He scratched at his neck and walked away from Naruto for a few paces as if he were too boring to pay attention to in general. "Didn't you say something about how easy it was going to be to get a bell and much of a loser I am compared to you?" Shikamaru said.

It was definitely a bit mean to goad someone like Naruto that way, but desperate times.

Predictably, Naruto saw red and immediately rushed Kakashi.

"Yeah, that's right. I'll show you right now!"

Kakashi gave Shikamaru a look that he could tell was full of suspicion, even with that mask on.

"Now hold on," Kakashi said as Naruto started just running right at him. "You'll never get anywhere unless you work together-"

Naruto wasn't listening anymore though. He was already punching and kicking at Kakashi with a vengeance.

Kakashi sighed as he blocked everything Naruto dished out. There was a flurry of movement, and it ended with Kakashi sitting on the loudly complaining Naruto.

"Lesson One, Taijutsu, or Hand to Hand Combat" Kakashi said lightly. He let Naruto struggle free after a second.

Naruto scrabbled away on his hands and feet and soon enough, he was up and coming at Kakashi again.

"Ninja Arts Lesson Two, Genjutsu," Kakashi said. He made a series of combined hand signs much faster than Shikamaru had ever seen before since he was a rank beginner at it. Shikamaru remembered when his father had explained what was going on-that the hand signs were basically a kind of mnemonic to help you shape your inner life energy, or Chakra.

Apparently somehow that made magic powers happen. Shikamaru had informed his dad about how that was pure nonsense with the complete assurance of a student of the very decidedly non-magical Fire University.

His dad had then made his own shadow dance around the room, pick up various objects, and hand them to Shikamaru.

Lesson learned, the world is really weird, Shikamaru thought. Never be too sure about anything.

After Kakashi finished his hand signs, Naruto began acting really weird, and proceeded to run off and start punching one of the posts in the training field. Choji said something to Naruto to stop bothering him that still sounded muffled.

After that wore off, Naruto looked really pissed, especially when Kakashi pulled a book out of one of the many packs he wore as part of his standard military uniform that looked suspiciously like a romance novel.

"Fine, I'll show you what I can do!" He said. He then made a new hand sign that Shikamaru wasn't familiar with. It seemed to involve forming two fingers on either hand, and then making a cross between them.

Suddenly, there were a lot more Narutos in the field.

"Kage Bunshin," Kakashi said. "Shadow clones, and not just illusions, real bodies. So the rumors are true," He said.

Thank God, Shikamaru thought. So far his plan was working, but the real hard part was just coming up.

Even without the extra information Kabuto had provided about this secret technique that Naruto had somehow learned, the technique was insanely useful. It wasn't just the normal kind of 'Bunshin' where you made an illusion that looked like you but that couldn't really do anything but dance around, it was a real second body.

All the new Narutos then ran at Kakashi again.

"Third Ninja Lesson-Ninjutsu," Kakashi said. He formed more seals with his hands, and then blew a huge ball of fire at Naruto that caused all of the extra bodies to dissipate with a cloud of smoke, with the real Naruto falling backwards and splashing into the lake to avoid it.

Kakashi turned his gaze back on Shikamaru and Choji. He'd pulled up his headband now, and was using that special red eye of his to look around.

Wow I am so screwed, Shikamaru thought. Not only is he good at fighting and full of magic, but he's also figuring it out. Kakashi was already letting his gaze sweep in the direction of some of Shikamarus hidden surprises with a thoughtful look on his face.

He thinks so fast. He's too experienced, Shikamaru thought. Even with all my effort, he's still smarter than me.

Shikamaru took a beat, took a breath.

But that's the thing about the Logical Fallacies, Shikamaru thought. It doesn't matter how fast you think or how much general or specific knowledge you have. If you weren't used to specifically looking out for the fallacies, you would fall to them every time.

Even people like me and Choji, with one lame trick that took us all of yesterday to setup can bring someone like Kakashi down.

Or well, steal bells tied to his waist anyway, I mean, Shikamaru thought.

Ninja Art Lesson Four: The Logical Fallacies, he thought to himself, and got ready for his wild shot in the dark.

Note-If you like my stuff, try out my website:

Reality-zero

(Also-I'm trying to make it a bit more accessible to people new to Naruto which is why things are a bit redundant. Figured I might as well try.)