Team 7: A Retelling
By: Tellemicus Sundance
#02: Team 7
Konoha Ninja Academy
Four years later…
"The most promising student is Uchiha Sasuke," the Hokage said, speaking to the gathered Jounin who stood in front of his desk. All of them were gazing into the Hokage's crystal, watching the interactions of the young genin-hopefuls. Though most of the Jounin were currently gazing at the Rookie of the Year, the boy sat at his own desk with a disinterested gaze, watching his fellow classmates interact.
"He's the only survivor of the Uchiha clan, right?" asked Kurenai, the newest and only female Jounin of the gathered shinobi.
"Yes," the Sandaime confirmed.
She was looking for a familiar Hyuuga girl, Hinata. It had been a few years since she'd last seen the girl, having to escort her to the academy when she was younger. Though she personally didn't appreciate the kind of attention that her father gave her, she could fully understand his need for precaution; especially after that Kumo incident. So she felt it her duty to continue watching over her, and Kurenai had all but demanded that the Hyuuga girl be placed on her team.
"We also have members of several other prominent clans in this class as well," Sandaime said as he focused the crystal ball to zoom in on the various other students as well. This was a practice that was started with the Shodai Hokage; showing the Jounin instructors the genin-hopefuls through the crystal so they'd have some idea as to what their possible students looked like.
As it came upon the group of gathered and bickering kunoichi, all the Jounin noticed one hot-headed blonde make his way over to the Uchiha. A silver-haired Jounin watched the pair's confrontation with interest since he already knew that they were on his team.
That was either a sample of a rivalry between the best in the class and the worst in class, he realized instantly, or the strangest friendship I've ever seen. With an unnoticed sigh, he suppressed the memories of his long-past teammate. They had been rivals, but ultimately friends in the end. He found himself not exactly looking forward to interacting with this group as he could already tell that they'd stir up a lot of unwanted memories.
"As usual," Sandaime said, more to himself than the others. He sighed in resignation as he watched the kunoichi beat on a thoroughly terrified blonde. "Naruto's right in the middle of some kind of trouble."
One hour later…
"Naruto, would you sit down and relax already!" Sakura said, feeling her own restlessness somehow being amplified by the blonde's inability to stay put for more than a few seconds. "Our sensei will get here when he gets here."
"What kind of Jounin is an hour late for meeting his team?" Naruto demanded, very irritated about that fact.
Sasuke made no statement, merely continued sitting in seat as he watched his two new teammates. They offered up a peculiar pair of paradoxes to him. He had watched, helped, and interacted with them a lot more over the past four years than he did with anyone else. Thus he was given a front row seat to how they grew and changed, not only in life but also from what his scrolls said.
Naruto had more or less grown up as what his Peoples Scroll had foretold; the worst student in the class, always loudly declaring his goal of becoming Hokage, and proudly wearing neon orange jacket and pants. Naruto had even told him when he arrived this morning that the reason he graduated (despite the failing the Genin Exam for his third time) was because he had learned a forbidden Kinjutsu called Kage Bunshin and had managed to whoop the traitorous Mizuki's ass when he attacked him and Iruka. That was actually quite an impressive feat, considering Naruto's abundant lack of skill in anything ninja-related. But Naruto wasn't as obnoxiously terrible as what he could've been like because Sasuke had taken it upon himself to occasionally teach him a few very basic skills, like correcting his kunai and shuriken throwing techniques and taijutsu stances.
Sakura, on the other hand, was nowhere close to being that crazed fan girl he'd been warned of. Sasuke's current theory was that because the Sakura in his Peoples Scroll had considered herself to be a normal person, she hadn't felt the need to develop any worthwhile drive to actually put into her kunoichi training in the early months of her career. But now because she was the only known user of the Yuki clan bloodline in Konoha, Sasuke had spent their Academy years gently nudging her into the training much harder so that she could use her new abilities effectively. In fact, he lately was strongly suspecting that Sakura had been secretly training and developing her own Hyouton jutsu. Since she didn't have a master to learn from on how to control her powers, she had to do all the work and discover the limits of her abilities by herself. And maybe it was because of their early friendship, but Sakura could almost be called 'normal' when compared to the majority of the other girls in their class. She wasn't a fanatical fan girl who stalked his every step outside of the Academy, but she still did seem to have a small crush on him. She valued his friendship far too much to let something like a becoming a fan girl to ruin.
But besides the awakening of her Hyouton bloodline, her changes were as apparent as the clothes she wore. Where the 'previous Sakura' had worn a red dress, had long hair, took great lengths to make herself beautiful, and she was slightly an introverted person. But this Sakura wasn't introverted…not to such an extent at least. This Sakura had shoulder length hair, wore a simple red shirt with a white circle on the back and a low collar. Her Konoha hitai-ate was being used to hold her bangs back and expose her forehead for all to see. She wore a pair of common blue ninja pants, had her wrists and knuckles wrapped in bandages, and she had on Anbu styled forearm armor. Together with a somewhat outspoken personality, which Sasuke was pretty sure she'd gotten from spending so much time around himself and especially Naruto, Sakura seemed much more like an aspiring kunoichi than the pretty doll she had apparently tried to make herself into last time.
Even Sasuke himself wore something slightly different. Thanks to his counterpart's revelations, Sasuke had happily started wearing some of Itachi's old ninja clothes when he turned ten. These clothes included the common Uchiha navy blue shirt with a large clan symbol shown proudly on the upper back, blue ninja pants that he kept wrapped up around his shins, and he also wore a pair of white arm sleeves. He, like Naruto, also wore his hitai-ate around his forehead.
"Naruto, what do you think you're doing?" Sakura's irritated voice interrupted his thoughts. Refocusing his attention upon his teammates, he saw that Naruto had set up a very simple trap at the entrance of the classroom with an eraser wedged between the sliding door and the frame.
"Well, it's his fault for being late!" Naruto chirped with a maniacal grin on his face as he bounced about in a restless manner.
"You do know that a Jounin will never fall for such a simple trap, right Naruto?" Sasuke asked lazily. 'This probably won't be good for first impressions I bet.'
"Whatever, I'm not involved!" Sakura muttered as she moved back to the desks and took a seat near Sasuke. "I'm never helping you with anything ever again."
"You mean you still haven't forgiven me for that glider accident, Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked, a pained expression on his face. He still had potent memories of the beating she'd given him after she'd finally gotten out of the hospital. That had been the first of many since they became friends. "I said I was sorry…like a thousand times already! Won't you give a guy another chance?"
"Nope, never," Sakura said bluntly.
"That was a loooong time ago," Naruto pointed out. "and neither of us even got hurt from it!"
"I used to worship the Hokage Mountain and everything it stands for, Naruto," Sakura growled out, glaring at the blonde as the air temperature started to slowly drop around them. It was one of several signs that the boys had come to realize meant that she was starting to lose her temper. "Now I can't even look at it without flinching. A Konoha kunoichi with a fear of flying because of the Hokage Mountain! And it's all your fault!"
"But, Sakura, how can I prove myself if no one gives me a chance?" Naruto whined.
"That's your problem, Naruto," Sakura answered, turning her head to glance out the window.
"That's cold, Sakura-chan," Naruto grumbled, crossing his arms and pouting.
"Would you like to see just how cold I can be?" she demanded as the temperature took an even more severe drop to accent her point
Further conversation was interrupted when they heard the approach of someone outside the room, the room temperature rapidly returned to normal as they turned their attention towards the door in anticipation. A hand appeared on the door and gently moved it open. As he was movig through the open door, the Jounin seeemd to notice the frigid air inside the room and instantly froze as caution and paranoia struck. But it wasn't the only thing that did.
With a small cloud of chalk dust, the eraser dropped gracelessly upon the gray hair of a masked Jounin with his hitai-ate pulled down over his left eye as he entered the classroom. Naruto broke out into hysterical laughter immediately, secretly grateful for the distraction—I mean, interruption—that the man's arrival caused.
"Hahahaha, he fell for it!" he laughed, roughly nudging Sasuke triumphantly as though to prove a point to him.
"Don't mind Naruto, sensei," Sakura immediately piped up, trying to get on his good side. Her sudden loss of animosity caused her to instinctively release the cold chakra she'd been molding, causing the cold temperatures to vanish almost instantly. "He's always been like this, for as long as we've know him."
Sasuke just watched the man he recognized as Hatake Kakashi bend down and pick up the fallen eraser. As the man moved over to the chalkboard, Sasuke noticed that he was looking around the room in an almost curious manner, searching for something. Setting the eraser back on the chalkboard, he turned to the three of them and inclined his head in a thoughtful manner. "My first impression of you guys is…you're a bunch of childish idiots."
The new team of Academy graduates had relocated to the balcony over the entrance of the Academy. Kakashi was casually sitting upon the railing, watching the three children with a disinterested stare. The three of them were all watching him with a type of excited but restrained curiosity, examining him closely as though they felt they might divine the answer of whatever he was apparently hiding from them.
From his sharp eye, he could spot a number of telling characteristics about each of them. The girl was relatively pretty for her age, though she seemed a slight bit different from the normal genin-hopefuls in that she didn't seem to go out of her way to apply various beauty products to accent her budding looks. Though she wore a slightly less than common attire for kunoichi her age, she carried herself with a quiet confidence.
He guessed quite easily that the blonde was Uzumaki Naruto. And from the short time he'd interacted with the boy, Kakashi felt that he could be easily describe the boy in two simple words: clumsy idiot. The neon orange jacket and pants he wore were slightly irritating to his professional ninja eye, it was like he was begging for the enemy ninja to spot and attack him. But, given how most boys were at this age, that idea didn't overly surprise Kakashi; especially given who the blonde's loud and rambunctious personality was reminding him of: his mother.
The Uchiha seemed like he was trying to do his best impersonation of a stone wall. Though the boy was clearly trying to put on a façade of cool indifference to all those around him, there was a soft warmth that would come to his gaze whenever one of the other two caught his attention. That informed Kakashi that the Uchiha was, if nothing else, friendly with the other two.
A major step up from the past six genin teams who'd already taken and failed his test; most of which had been fiercely competitive of one another, even to the point of attacking each other on certain occasions.
"Okay, let's begin with some introductions," Kakashi said once the genin had seated themselves a short distance away from him.
"What do you wanna know, sensei?" the girl asked.
"Well…how about your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future, and hobbies for starters?" Kakashi suggested, his disinterest clear in his slouch and lazy gestures as he spoke.
"Why don't you introduce yourself first?" the blonde suggested in a slightly aggressive tone, making it almost sound like a demand than a request. The girl nodded in agreement as she mumbled something to herself, something about him looking suspicious. The Uchiha just remained silent as he kept his gaze fixed on Kakashi.
"I'm Hatake Kakashi," Kakashi answered simply. "I have no desire to tell you guys my likes and dislikes. Dreams for the future? Hm… And, I have lots of hobbies."
This earned a shared glare between the girl and blonde, and the Uchiha's brow was ticking slightly in annoyance. Something that didn't escape Kakashi's notice. That was rather fun. "Okay, how about you on the right?"
"My name is Uzumaki Naruto," Naruto said, the soft blush on his face was probably due to the attention he was getting from Kakashi and his friends. "I like cup ramen, but I especially love the ramen sold at Ichiraku's. I hate the three minutes it takes for ramen to cook. And my dream is to become the greatest Hokage of all time and make the people of the village acknowledge me!"
That last statement caused Kakashi to blink in surprise. He hadn't been expecting such a steep goal from the boy. Rather, he had somewhat begun to think that the boy's dream would also be something related to ramen as well. If nothing else, he had definitely grown up in a…interesting way.
"And my favorite hobbies are…pranks, I guess. And training with my friends!"
Now Kakashi was finding himself feeling somewhat resigned to what his inevitable fate was. If the boy chose pranks as his favorite hobby, it would only mean that he was going to be a handful to deal with if this team managed to pass his test. He had of course known that the boy was a notorious prankster, his last public escapade involved painting the Hokage Monument for the fifth time and leading a considerable force of Chuunin and Jounin on a wild goose chase for the better part of the morning before finally getting caught. Pranksters usually were some of the worst students in class, often missing many classes or just not paying attention at all. Teaching Naruto, especially in these early months, was probably going to be like pulling teeth.
Shrugging to himself, Kakashi glanced over at the Uchiha and simply said, "Next?"
"My name is Uchiha Sasuke," Sasuke said simply, speaking for the first time since Kakashi had met the boy. "I don't have many likes and have many dislikes. My…ambitions are to resurrect and avenge my clan." That final statement had brought out the first true emotion Kakashi had seen on his face yet: repressed anger in those obsidian black eyes.
'I thought so,' Kakashi thought with resignation. Training this boy and getting him to give up on living for his vengeance would probably be one of the toughest things Kakashi would ever have to do. Although, he had no doubt that Sasuke would eventually be able to accomplish his goal of killing his brother, Uchiha Itachi. As an Uchiha, it was practically guaranteed that he'd become extremely powerful once he finally started to mature into the type of fighter he was going to become.
"Jeez, lighten up, Sasuke," Naruto chirped, nudging the boy slightly as though trying to break him of his foreboding mindset. "You make it sound like you're gonna do something stupid later."
The Uchiha merely glanced over at the blonde with a raised brow, his deadly gaze vanishing as though it had never existed. "I seem to recall you being the one who always comes up with all the stupid ideas around here, dobe."
"Name one!" Naruto challenged immediately.
Rather than verbally answer, the boy merely gestured to the side, in the direction of the Hokage Monument. Kakashi didn't need to glance over at where the boy was pointing to know what he meant. Naruto, in response to the reminder of several of his not-so-good ideas that had taken place on or around the Mountain, flinched back slightly and quickly settled down. Strangely, the girl seemed to start trembling slightly and was resolutely keeping her gaze focused downward and not even glancing over in the direction that the boy had gestured. Now what was up with that?
"Anyway," Kakashi said, bringing them back to the subject at hand. He looked pointedly at the girl and nodded towards her when she looked up at him.
"I'm Haruno Sakura," she said in a faintly hesitant voice. "I like training with Sasuke-kun and making my own special jutsu. And I want to become the strongest kunoichi in Konoha ever!" Well, wasn't that a surprise. Most girls her age cared more about falling in love and romance than taking their ninja training so seriously. If she could hold onto that focus, she might even turn out to be a rare gem in the rough. Maybe even being the one kunoichi of twenty who had the drive and ability to actually make into the ranks of Jounin.
"And what do you hate?" Kakashi asked, surprising himself because he found himself somewhat curious to her response would be.
"NARUTO!" the girl cried out with exuberant passion as her face scrunched up into an angry scowl. Her shout also caused a pained cry from Naruto, as though she'd punched him in the gut. It even got Sasuke to actually roll his eyes in an annoyed, knowing fashion.
Watching Naruto try to beg Sakura into changing her mind, which she stoutly refused and even went so far as to clobber him when she felt he got too close to her personal space, and with Sasuke just watching their interaction from his position between them with a tiny smile, Kakashi quickly understood. Unless their families were old friends with one another, genin-hopefuls usually rarely ever socialized with one another until they had been chosen for their teams. But these three clearly had a…colorful history shared between them.
This revelation actually gave Kakashi some hope. Maybe these three would be the first ones to actually have a chance at passing his test, especially if they could manage to use their friendships to work together like a real ninja team.
Training Ground 15, Konohagakure
Next day…
None of the three genin-hopefuls were thrilled about the situation they found themselves in. Not only were they starving from having missed breakfast thanks to following Kakashi's 'advice', but now they learned that they needed to somehow steal at least one of two bells from Kakashi in order to pass the test. If not for the scroll's hint about the secret of the test, Sasuke knew he wouldn't have seen it until after Kakashi had to explain it to them.
But as he watched Naruto futilely try to fight the legendary ninja on his own, Sasuke decided that he couldn't just rush in there to help Naruto or Sakura. No, it would probably be better to let Kakashi face them all one on one at first before doing anything that might hint to the man that he knew of the test's purpose. Besides not only was he anxious to test himself against the abilities of the infamous Sharingan Kakashi, but he was mildly curious to how the man would react when he was confronted by Sakura's Kekkei Genkai.
"I GET IT!" Naruto's loud voice tore through Sasuke's contemplations and returned his attention to the present. Naruto was hanging upside-down in a simple snare trap with Kakashi standing not too far away holding one of the bells in his hand as he absently tied it back to his waist. It didn't take a genius of Sasuke's caliber to guess what had happened.
"I'm telling you this because you don't get it," Kakashi answered lazily. "You think you get it which is not the same as actually getting it, get it?"
If he were anyone else, Sasuke might've chuckled at that statement. Though it only seemed to incense Naruto all the more. Then Sasuke saw it. An opening! At last. Hurling a barrage of kunai and shuriken, Sasuke watched in anticipation as the projectiles raced towards the man. However, he was startled when the barrage revealed that the man had used the Kawarimi once again.
'He must've been heard the leaves I hit when I threw the kunai!' Sasuke realized too late. Then he realized something else just as important. 'Shit—he knows where I am!' Quick as his legs could carry him, Sasuke dashed away from his hiding spot with all the stealth he could manage in his hurry.
Sasuke wasn't the only one on the move. Sakura was also dashing through the woods in a frantic rush, trying to find Sasuke and help him. With his great skill, it was inevitable that Kakashi was going to target him next after all. She knew that he was going to need all the help he could get if he was also planning to fight their sensei one on one like Naruto.
Something off to the side attracted Sakura's attention. It was Kakashi-sensei! Immediately coming to a halt and ducking behind some brush to hide, she watched the man suspiciously as he just stood there reading that orange book. What was he doing? Surely the man must've sensed her approach. Was he setting up some kind of a trap or something?
"Sakura, behind you," a voice whispered behind her.
Spinning around, Sakura found herself face to face with the very man she'd been watching a split second ago. She noticed too late that he was flashing through several handseals. After a moment of disorientation as the jutsu took effect, Sakura vigorously shook her head to clear the haziness that had overtaken her for a moment. Why did it feel like there was a strong wind blowing up from under her?
Looking down, Sakura just stared uncomprehendingly at what she saw. Why did it look like the ground so far below her? Then she noticed that the strong winds were due to her rapid descent towards the ground below. Half a second later, Sakura let out a piercing scream of absolute terror.
Off where he was lounging on a tree branch, Kakashi glanced up at the girl as she let out an echoing shriek. 'I wonder what she screamed for?' he wondered rhetorically. While many people did let out a cry of some kind the first time they experienced Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu, it rarely ever resulted in the shrieks of terror that Sakura had just done. And because of the uniqueness of each individual, the exact vision that the Narakumi gave the victim always varied from person to person. 'Hm…Maybe I went too far? …Then again, she needs to learn to see through such things.'
Shrugging to himself, Kakashi left to seek out the final member of this team. Maybe Sasuke might be a little more entertaining than these previous two had been.
Sitting up and groggily looking around her, Sakura rubbed her eyes as she tried to remember what was going on. The last thing she remembered was falling from a tremendous height.
"Hey, Sakura!" a loud voice called. Looking up, Sakura spotted Naruto running towards her from the other side of the small clearing she was in. "You okay? You screamed really loud a while ago."
"I'm fine," Sakura said, still somewhat disoriented. "Where's Sasuke-kun?"
"Last I saw, he was getting his butt kicked by sensei," Naruto answered, a slight smirk tugging at his face.
Jumping to her feet immediately, Sakura rushed over to meet Naruto as she yelled, "Then why didn't you help him? Come on, I think it's time to teach sensei a lesson!"
"Hell yeah!" Naruto cried out enthusiastically. "Look out, sensei, here comes Team Dattebayo!"
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura snapped as she dashed past him. She was heading towards where Naruto had come from, which likely meant that Sasuke and Kakashi were in that direction as well. Turning back to yell at Naruto as he turned and chased after her, she continued, "And don't you dare call us Team Dattebayo anymore! We're Team 7 now! Remember it!"
Team Dattebayo was an old favorite nickname of Naruto's to describe the trio of them when they were younger. At first, Sasuke and Sakura hadn't minded the nickname because they were younger and more 'playful' back then. But nowadays, it was more of an annoyance than anything.
"Naruto, where's Sasuke-kun?" she demanded.
"This way!" Naruto chirped as he passed her and started leading the way.
After only a few minutes of travel, they came upon Sasuke, who was buried neck deep into the dirt. The scene that greeted them wasn't exactly what they'd expected. They'd been mentally expecting to see Sasuke covered in scratches and bruises and barely able to stand after his little run-in with the Jounin, especially knowing just how incredibly seriously Sasuke always pushed himself while in training and fights. Yet what they found was probably the funniest thing they'd ever seen. Just how did Sasuke get to be only a head above ground?
He tried to hold it in. In all true and pure honesty, he did try to hold it. But in the end, he couldn't and Naruto exploded with uncontrollable laughter.
"BWAHAHAHAHA! That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!" he yelled out to the world. "Sasuke's totally soiled! Hahahaha!"
Sasuke tried valiantly not to ignore the blonde idiot as he wriggled and tried to free himself. Sakura had rushed forward and was helpfully prying at the rough dirt that held him captive. Painstakingly slowly, he could feel himself coming loose. He made a mental note to beat the blonde to a pulp later.
"Shut up, Naruto!" Sakura yelled back at the blonde without turning her attention from her work. "It's not Sasuke's fault! Kakashi-sensei did it to him!"
But the blonde, for once, completely ignored the pink-haired kunoichi. He had collapsed onto his back, kicking the ground as he futilely tried to vent his pent-up amusement while trying to burn the image into his memories permanently.
"Naruto, you'd better start preparing your will," Sasuke growled out. "When this test is over, I'm gonna kill you."
That got Naruto's attention. "And how do you plan on doing that? You did so well against sensei alone after all. I bet you didn't even land a single good blow on him!"
Sasuke smirked knowingly. It was a look that both Sakura and Naruto recognized instantly and it caused Naruto to reflexively prepare himself for something bad. "Why should I worry about touching the guy when I already touched one of the bells?"
"What?" Naruto asked, honestly dumbfounded. He hadn't seen that part in the brief time that he'd glimpsed Sasuke fighting Kakashi. Sure, he knew that Sasuke was pretty good, okay he was really good, but to actually touch one of the bells when fighting Kakashi-sensei alone?
"Wow, that's great, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cheered happily, smiling at him as she finally managed to pry him out of the hole he'd been buried in.
Shaking the excess dirt from him, Sasuke turned and closely looked at each of them. "Guys, I think it's time we tried one of those tactics we were talking about earlier." Seeing that he had their attentions, he added, "Kakashi must've returned to the training posts area by this time. There's a river over there also. I think we should use the Kasen no Jutsu."
"But, Sasuke-kun," Sakura spoke up, a look of worry on her face. "What about the bells? Even if the Kasen works, only two of us will be able to pass, remember?"
"Don't worry, Sakura-chan!" Naruto said, grinning widely in confidence and an attempt to ease her anxiety. "We can worry about the little details like that after we've gotten the bells!"
Sasuke glanced over at Naruto with a raised brow before he let out a small smirk and nodded his agreement. Seeing that she'd been outvoted, Sakura just sighed and joined them in their mad rush back to where they guessed sensei had gone.
Unnoticed by any of them, the very man they were intending to ambush had been watching their interaction for the whole time. Despite himself, Kakashi found himself mildly interested in what they were planning. Whatever it was, it clearly wasn't any of the standard Academy tactics they were taught. What was this 'Kasen no Jutsu'?
Smiling slightly under his mask, Kakashi sprinted ahead of his students to reach the spot they assumed he was at. Now he was really getting interested in what they had up their sleeves.
They found him exactly where Sasuke had suspected they would. Kakashi was sitting upon the left post, book out and reading with quiet chuckles. The man looked up when the three of them dropped out of the canopy and raised a brow questioningly at them.
"What's this?" he asked sounding almost amused. "You couldn't beat me separately, so you now wanna gang up on me?"
"That's right, baka-sensei!" Naruto yelled in reply. "And this time, you're going down!"
With that declaration, Naruto sprinted forward with every intention of doing a frontal assault. Sasuke and Sakura dashed off to the sides, clearly intending to support their teammate from long-range. Bringing his hands up into his favorite cross-seal, Naruto called out loudly, "Kage Bunshin!" Twenty Narutos appeared, ten of them suddenly Henged into Sasuke.
"Naruto," Kakashi said amiably as the clones suddenly dashed in to attack him. "Just because you Henge your clones into Sasuke doesn't mean that they'll suddenly gain Sasuke's skills. You do know that, right?" He accented this point by backhanding a pair of Sasukes that had tried to attack him from behind while ducking under a pair of shuriken that Sakura had thrown at him.
"Whoever said anything about that?" one of the Narutos asked, smirking.
Kakashi just stared at the one that had spoken before he lunged forward to engage them. Kakashi was almost like a whirlwind of fists and feet as he systematically took each of them apart. After only a few moments, the fight had ended with all the clones being destroyed. Looking up, Kakashi found Sasuke standing directly in front of him with Sakura and Naruto a little off to the sides of the Uchiha.
"What was the point of that?" he asked, sounding quite bored and slightly annoyed.
Sasuke and Naruto just glanced at each other before nodding to each in agreement. Turning their attentions to the Jounin, they both formed handseals. Naruto used the Kage Bunshin and filled the clearing with clones. As the clones all simultaneously reached into their weapons' pouch and threw a massive barrage of shuriken and kunai, Sasuke finished his handseals and leapt into the air as he drew in a deep breath.
"Katon: Hoenka no Jutsu!" Several large Goukakyuu rained from the sky towards the general area that Kakashi was standing as a massive wave of deadly shrapnel raced towards him.
"That won't work," Kakashi pointed out.
It might not have worked, but this barrage would definitely not be easy to maneuver through. As he leapt into the air and nimbly dodged the fireballs and weapons, he couldn't help but wonder where Sakura disappeared to. Clearly the boys were planning to use this attack to mask her movements, especially since it demanded quite a bit of his attention. But why Sakura? As far as he could tell, the girl's physical skills left a considerable amount to be desired.
Landing daintily on the river's surface as he dodged the last of the barrage, Kakashi looked up at the boys with a curious gaze. If he hadn't known any better, he'd have thought that the boys were herding him towards the river. Did they know how to water-walk already? He knew that the Uchiha already had his Sharingan active, and it wouldn't have been all that difficult to use it to copy how ninja used their chakra to water-walk.
He watched as the Naruto clones rushed forward and leapt high into the air. What were they planning? Most of them weren't even close to him. Tucking themselves into fetal positions, they each called out, "CANNONBALL!" The effect of having almost two dozen bodies suddenly dropping into the river's surface caused large splashes and sprays of water to be thrown about, coating Kakashi with water. The impacts also seemed to have caused most of the clones to dispel, kicking up a surprisingly dense smokescreen.
Suddenly Kakashi felt the temperature plummet. The sudden drop sent shivers down his spine as the river and water covering him began to freeze and encase him in a light layer of ice. 'What's this? A genjutsu?' Breaking his arm free of the ice, he reached up to his hitai-ate and uncovered his Sharingan to break the genjutsu.
With the power of Obito's Sharingan, he gazed around him, trying to find the chakra that was inducing this hallucination on him. It was as he was gazing off to the side that he spotted her. Sakura was dashing forward along the river's surface, crouched low with her arms trailing through the river. With the Sharingan, Kakashi could see her chakra leaking into the water and gathering it along her forearms. Then the water froze into the shapes of long ice blades that were attached to her forearms and wrists.
This wasn't a genjutsu!
Too late did he try to break himself free of the ice encasing him. Sakura bore down on him as she lifted her ice blades towards him, clearly aiming for where the bells were frozen to his waist. As he was fighting to break himself free, he tried to do a frantic Kawarimi, but he realized that there was chakra in the ice and it was disrupting his attempts to switch with something. Sakura was nearly on him!
Using his free hand, Kakashi managed to catch the first ice blade that Sakura was trying to attack him with. Before he could angle the captured blade to block her follow-up, Sakura was already slashing her forward. She easily cut through her own ice on his waist and sliced the small strings holding the bells to him. As the ice chunk fell, Sakura reversed the direction of her slash and turned the ice blade's angle, batting the bells towards the shore and her awaiting teammates. Finally breaking free of the ice, Kakashi turned and threw the girl over towards the opposite shore, using her captured ice blade against her to aid in his jujitsu throw.
"What was that?" Kakashi demanded as he stared coolly over at the girl as she recovered from the throw. "The Academy never mentioned anything about you knowing any elemental jutsu."
"And for good reason," Sasuke spoke up from behind. Kakashi glanced back at the Uchiha and Uzumaki, who were both standing at the water's edge with proud smiles and smirks on their faces. Naruto was looking particularly triumphant as he was trying to use a kunai to chisel the bells out of the ice. "Sakura kept her Hyouton Kekkei Genkai secret from everyone, except for her closest friends. She didn't want to have Kirigakure coming to demand her blood if rumors started spreading before she was strong enough to deal with them."
'The girl has Kirigakure's Hyouton bloodline?' Kakashi realized going slightly wide eyed as he turned to carefully examine the girl as she slowly started walking back out over the water's surface, somewhat more at ease this time.
"Sakura-san, you are a very lucky girl," he said in a very serious voice. "Kirigakure has been hunting down and exterminating that bloodline for the past two years. It was believed that everyone of that Kekkei Genkai has been killed by this point. If we'd lived in Kirigakure, I'd be duty bound to execute you right here and now on orders of the Yondaime Mizukage."
For her part, Sakura paled a little bit at that statement. Her focus on her jutsu faded and the ice crumbled off her arms, dropping into the water under her. As he was lowering his hitai-ate back over his Sharingan, Kakashi watched as the girl began rubbing her hands together, trying get them warm again after the exposure to the ice that had been encasing them. Now he understood why the girl wore forearm armor, it was to protect her from the ice's chill when she used that ice sword jutsu of hers.
Kakashi turned and walked leisurely back towards where the boys were standing, fully intending on recovering the bells. Until that bell rang, this test was still active and he wasn't planning on just letting them leave this training ground boasting that they'd managed to catch him by surprise and got the bells as a prize. No way was he going to become the laughing stock of the other Jounin because he'd finally been outwitted by some Academy-fresh genin!
"Well, it's a good thing we're not in Kirigakure, isn't it?" Naruto asked in response to Kakashi's previous statement. The triumph was clear in his voice as he finally successfully plucked the bells out of the ice. Turning to Kakashi, he grinned proudly as he held up the bells victoriously between his index and middle fingers. "I'll just hold onto these, Kakashi-sensei."
It was this instant that was all the former ANBU needed. Only Sasuke seemed to realize that something had happened because his eyes suddenly widened slightly as suspicions began rising. "Keep what?"
"The bells," the blonde said as he looked at...where the bells used to be. "Huh? The bells!"
"What? You mean these bells?" Kakashi asked as he held up the item with same victorious gesture that Naruto had used. The Uzumaki and Uchiha stared up at him, quite surprised at his tremendous speed yet again. But that surprise was crushed as anger boiled over.
"That's not fair, sensei!" Naruto screamed. "We got those bells fair and square!"
"Yeah!" Sakura yelled angrily in agreement from where she was now sprinting across the river to attack him from behind. "Give them back!"
"No," Kakashi said with a finality in his voice. "Until that timer rings, this test is still in session and I have every right to take them back. To be real ninja, you need to learn how to protect your prize, not just attacking and capturing it."
"FINE!" Naruto yelled as he rushed forward. "THEN WE'LL TAKE IT FROM YOU AGAIN!"
"Wait, Naruto!" Sasuke yelled, but he was too late to stop the blonde from attacking.
With one punch, the blonde was sent flying across the field. Sasuke just barely managed to catch the blonde before he could hit a tree. The Uchiha barely had enough time to set the boy to the ground before Kakashi was on top of him and sent him flying away with a powerful kick. Turning around quickly, he found Sakura once again attacking him with those ice blades. She could form those things pretty quickly when she wanted to, couldn't she? Plucking out a pair of kunai and strengthening them with chakra, he blocked her anger-empowered attacks and lashed out with another kick, sending her bouncing across the river like a skipping stone.
Hearing a noise beside him, Kakashi spun around to find Naruto standing to his feet. Unlike what he expected, the boy was clearly dazed and was wobbling on his feet badly. 'Maybe I hit him in the head a little too hard?'
Suddenly the boy leaned forward and fell slightly into Kakashi's chest, his eyes were unfocused he tried to stare up at the man. In a slurred voice, he asked, "Which way did he go, Kaka-nii? Which way did he go?"
'Kaka-nii?' the man wondered, smiling despite himself. Seeing that the boy was waiting for a reply, Kakashi's smile widened as an idea came to him. Pushing the boy slightly away from him, he brought his hands to his jaw in a contemplative manner as he hummed loudly.
"Hmmm…That way!" Crossing his arms in front of his chest, Kakashi pointed both left and right, quite sure the boy wouldn't comprehend the contradictory actions regardless.
Sure enough, the boy didn't. Reaching forward with surprising speed, the boy grabbed both of Kakashi's hands and began shaking them wildly as he slurred out a happy response. "Oh, jeez, thanks a lot, Kaka-nii, thanks a lot!" Turning around, the boy promptly collapsed in an unconscious heap.
All was quiet in the clearing for a few precious seconds.
Despite his best effort, a soft chuckle broke out Sasuke's lips from where he was still crumpled on the ground himself. His quiet chuckle caught both Sakura and Kakashi's questioning gazes. But before he could stop himself, Sasuke's quiet chuckle at Naruto's actions quickly changed into full-fledged hysterical laughter. Laughter that was extremely contagious as Sakura and even Kakashi began to chuckle and laugh at the unconscious blonde.
"RIIIINNNNGGGG!" the sound of a loud alarm was very quick at silencing their humor as they turned to look at the offending instrument. Once Kakashi stopped the alarm, he turned back to his two still-conscious students with a blank gaze.
"Ano," Sakura spoke up, looking quite awkward. "Was that a pass or a fail, sensei?"
Ten minutes later each of the genin sitting at the training posts, looking at their sensei who had been silent for some time and was staring at them with a peculiar piercing gaze. Curiously, none of them had been tied to any of the posts like the man had promised to do after the test was over.
"Sensei?" Naruto finally spoke up, growing tired of waiting for the man say something. "Did we pass the test or not?"
The man's gaze shifted over to him for a moment before he finally spoke up. "Tell me, did any of you figure out the real purpose of this test?"
Naruto and Sakura looked equal parts confused at that statement, but Sasuke had a small smirk tugging at his face. "It was an exercise of teamwork, wasn't it, Kakashi?"
"That's right, Sasuke," Kakashi nodded, smiling slightly under his mask. Of course the Uchiha would be the first to realize the purpose of the test. "Like you've already proven; because the three of you had worked together, you had been able to briefly take the bells from me."
"But, sensei," Sakura spoke up. "There are only two bells, even if you'd let us keep them, we would've just ended up fighting each other over who would get to keep them!"
"Exactly," Kakashi said seriously. "This test is designed to do that. It was meant to see if you could put aside your own interests and be able to work together, regardless of the circumstances."
"What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked, not entirely sure he understood the man. "Are we supposed to always just gang up on our enemies just to win a fight?"
"Don't misunderstand, Naruto," Kakashi answered. "As a team, there are certain duties and missions that you will have to face by yourselves. Which is why having superior individual abilities is very important to a ninja. But what is even more important is a ninja's ability to work as a team to accomplish the mission. Trying to be an individual in a team can disrupt the group and put your comrades in danger, even getting yourself or your teammates killed."
That statement drew serious gazes from each of the kids as they glanced at one another, clearly trying to think about what could happen or how they would feel if they were the cause of one of them getting killed because they weren't trying to work as a team. Under his mask, a small smile was pulling at Kakashi's face. Yes, these kids would most definitely make an excellent ninja team because not only were they friends but they clearly cared enough for one another to not want to be the cause of one another's death. They were the first team he'd ever come across who seemed to automatically grasp the principles he was trying to teach them.
"If you guys never remember anything else, remember this," Kakashi said, immediately putting on a deathly serious gaze with an extremely hard tone. Sure that he had they undivided attention, he continued, "A ninja must be able to see underneath the underneath. And those who break the rules are considered trash in this world. But you know what? Those who abandon their comrades…are even lower than trash."
Each of them nodded slightly as they took in his lesson and committed it to their hearts.
Standing up, he shot them a thumbs-up as he loudly and proudly declared. "You guys pass the Genin Exam! Starting tomorrow, Team 7 is officially instated as a Konoha genin team!"
Naruto and Sakura both leapt high into the air, letting out loud cheers of pride and elation. Even Sasuke had a small but proud smirk on his face as he glanced off to the side, unwilling to lose his composure as his more expressive teammates were doing. They were genin! They made it! They were ninja! FINALLY!
"Hatake Kakashi of Team 7," Kakashi announced formally once he'd entered into the Hokage's office, which also had two other Jounin in the room with him. "I declare that Team 7 has passed my test and request their immediate commissioning as a Genin team."
That was a statement that drew two surprised gazes from his fellow Jounin and a knowing smile from the Hokage. After all, no genin team had ever passed Kakashi's test. It was developing into something of a running joke among the Jounin instructors that Kakashi held his standards far too highly for any average Academy student to reach, let alone pass.
"Very well, Hatake Kakashi," the Hokage answered, just as formally as his underling, following tradition and protocol to the letter. "Your request is hereby approved… Tell me, Kakashi, how did they perform?"
"Very surprising," Kakashi answered. "I faced them each individually first. But after I'd fought Sasuke, he seemed to realize the purpose of the test. He was able to get Naruto and Sakura to work with him and attack me together. They used a strategy they'd apparently come up with on their own…Did you know that Haruno Sakura is of the Yuki clan from Kirigakure?"
That last question caused his audience to immediately flinch and stare at him disbelievingly, even the Hokage looked surprised.
"The Yuki clan?" Asuma asked, very surprised and it was showing on his face. "But weren't they all wiped out a few years ago?"
"Apparently, one of them had managed to flee the Water Country and took up residence here," Kakashi answered, glancing at his comrade. Returning his attention to the Hokage, he asked, "Who are Sakura's parents?"
"Haruno Iwama and Kazangan Aoishi," Hiruzen answered after a moment of thinking. "Kazangan-san is a housewife and I do believe that her entire family has lived in Fire Country for generations. Haruno-san is a wandering merchant, I believe he's also from a long family line of Fire Country residents."
"If that's true, then I wonder where she got this Kekkei Genkai," Asuma muttered more to himself as he started fiddling with his lighter. He was just itching for this meeting to be over and he could get another cigarette to puff on. Why couldn't the Hokage have just let him and Kurenai leave after they'd confirmed their teams' acceptance? And why did Kakashi always have to be so late?
"What I'm curious of is when she first manifested it," Kurenai said as she glanced between Kakashi and the Hokage. "Who else knows about it?"
"According to Sasuke," Kakashi answered. "Sakura only told him, Naruto, and maybe a few of her other friends about it… I had hoped that you might've known about it. Do you know why she wouldn't have told you about it, Hokage-sama?"
The Hokage merely hummed to himself and he glanced out the window contemplatively. Truthfully, he had no idea why young Sakura would hide such a prestigious ability from almost everyone. When he had selected her for Team 7, he had mostly done it because he knew that both of the boys were friends with her. Her academic scores aside, he suspected that the boys would be able and willing to help her out in her training and protect her from some of the more dangerous opponents they'd eventually face until she was able to grow into her full potential. But he had never suspected, not even for an instant, that she had such a special ability like the Hyouton.
It would seem that Team 7 being slotted as the attack squad was appropriate than he'd originally believed now that they consisted of two Kekkei Genkai users and a Jinchuuriki. They'd be a juggernaut on the battlefield once they got properly trained!
"I know that she hasn't had the best of childhoods or many friends growing up, aside from Naruto and Sasuke," Hiruzen said after a moment as he idly stroked his chin. "Perhaps she hasn't told anyone because she was scared of other people knowing she's not from Konoha? Illegal aliens are literally spies for their home villages and there's the stigma of being a gaijin as well." The three Jounin nodded their agreements to their leader's musings. Looking back up at Kakashi, he asked, "Did Sakura happen to say anything about it?"
"Sasuke mentioned something about her wanting to stay hidden until she grew stronger to protect herself," Kakashi said.
"Maybe that's why she didn't even come to me," the Hokage muttered to himself. "What curiously perceptive children we have here."
"Do you think…she and/or the boys could be…plants?" Kakashi asked, almost uneasily. Such a thing wasn't unheard of, sadly.
"Do you?" Hiruzen asked, seriously.
Kakashi could only shake his head slightly. "Slightly more skilled than I originally thought, perhaps. But I don't think they're spies."
"Keep an eye on them, Kakashi," the Hokage ordered. "I want a full report on the extent of Sakura's abilities with her Hyouton by the end of the week."
"Hai," Kakashi answered easily. He had every intention of following that order, even before the Sandaime had given it.
(Author's Note) I had a surprising amount of fun thinking up this new chapter. After reading so many Naruto stories, some of the first meetings and Genin Exam fights can get repetitive and boring. I hope I was at least able to keep some of your attentions during this chapterd. I wonder just how many of you saw this strategy of theirs coming? It definitely pays to be friends with your teammates before you get partnered together, eh?
On another note, I've recently (FINALLY) gotten a new job. Sadly, the hours are simply brutal (four 11+ hour days in a row!) and I'm finding myself trudging home more exhausted than I should be. So, until I get used to this new routine, don't expect too many more updates from me in the near future. I'll keep brainstorming and writing as I can, but I can't promise that I'll keep to a schedule for posting updates. Alright?
Team 7 Databook
Kasen no Jutsu—Fire Arrow/An ambush strategy that Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto all came up with during the free time they had when waiting for Kakashi to arrive. It consists of Sasuke and Naruto creating a driving wall that forces their opponent to flee in the direction of their choosing (preferably close to a water source). This wall is created by Sasuke using a large Goukakyuu and Naruto using several dozen Kage Bunshin to surround their opponent and then throwing shuriken. The opponent is forced to dodge away from these attacks and be attacked from behind by Sakura's Hyouton jutsu. It is a good jutsu but most experienced opponents (i.e. Jounin, Anbu, etc.) can recognize it early on as a diversionary assault and be ready to counter Sakura when she attacks. (C-Class strategy) (Team 7)
*Haruno Sakura*
Jutsu:
Hiken—Ice Swords/ A taijutsu style that revolves around the creation of large ice swords on her arms and/or legs that can stand up to many types of attacks, slowly freeze things upon contact, and reflect sunlight at an enemy to blind them. (Taijutsu Style) Based on the Aisu Toku by rablondeman
Hyouton: Damashikomu—Ice Style: Ensnare/A simple ice jutsu that encases the opponent in chakra-enhanced ice, but no more than that. Because of this simplicity, this allows the user to cast the jutsu from a far range. Unless the opponent is familiar with Hyouton jutsu, it is easily mistaken as a genjutsu because of the cold air that surrounds the user and opponent as the jutsu is being initiated and used. Because it's so simple, it is quite easy to break out of in a few short moments. It's no more than a mere stalling maneuver to cover or prevent a retreat. (Upper D-Class ninjutsu) Based on Hyouton: Damashikomu by FictionReader98
*Uchiha Sasuke*
Jutsu:
Katon: Hoenka – Fire Style: Fire Flower: The user jumps in the air and shoots multiple Goukakyuu no Jutsu from above, so that it appears to be a meteor shower. (High C-Class Ninjutsu) Created by Pryotra