Seeking a Center

By Smertios

Author's Note: Here we go. For those of you who were wishing for some violence, your wait is over. Without further ado, here is the bell test.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. I don't make money for my writing. Lawsuits would not only be frivolous, they'd be groundless. Have a nice day.

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Chapter Four: Win or Lose

Go on my son my life is win or lose
Go on my son I've got a right to choose
I wanna win
I don't wanna lose – Sham 69

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It is common wisdom amongst shinobi that a shinobi's line of work includes hours and hours of boredom, punctuated by a few moments of sheer and utter terror. For that reason, one of the most important skills that a Shinobi could learn was patience.

Naruto, however, had never really learned it. "We've been waiting in here for 3 hours! Where is he?"

Sasuke snorted at him as he paced by. "Just sit down and wait, loser."

"Who are you calling a loser?"

"You, obviously!"

Hinata shifted uncomfortably in her chair, looking back and forth between Naruto and Sasuke. "P-Please, c-calm down."

Naruto felt a wash of guilt. Here, he had been focused only on his own discomfort, and he had caused an innocent bystander distress. "Sorry."

"Hn."

With that, Naruto plopped himself down in his seat, and turned to introduce himself to the third member of the team. "Hi, I'm Uzumaki Naruto."

The girl flushed. "H-Hyuuga H-Hinata."

"I remember you! You were the shy, dark, weird girl!" Naruto exclaimed. As her face began to fall, he realized his error. "Er… I mean… Not in a bad way, or anything! In my experience, shy, dark, weird people are way cooler than other people!"

She turned bright red, and began pushing her pointer fingers together. Naruto mentally wiped his brow. That had been far too close for his liking. Not that he had lied, or anything. The monks at the Nakayama Monastery had been shy, dark, and weird, for the most part as well (Naruto suspected it came from spending so much time on their own).

"Feh. I don't know what's more pathetic: your excuse or the fact that she bought it."

Naruto shot a glare at Sasuke. "Did anyone ask you?"

The boy turned the other way with a small growl and said nothing. Naruto grinned and added one point to his name on his mental scoreboard. "Maybe he isn't going to show up. Maybe we should just leave."

"M-my father says that Kakashi-sensei is l-late to everything."

"What kind of ninja is always late? Lateness can cause the failure of a critical mission!" Naruto felt a rush of disappointment rush through him. Kakashi had seemed fairly cool to him.

Hinata flinched at Naruto's frustrated exclamation, but straightened up and, as though repeating something memorized from a book. "Hatake Kakashi is the 12th strongest ninja currently serving in Konoha's Ninja Corps. His strengths derive from his use of the Sharingan to amass an unequaled jutsu library. This has earned him the title 'Copy-Cat Kakashi'."

Naruto felt his jaw drop. "Wow, Hinata! How did you remember that?"

At this point, Hinata's face was bright red, giving her the appearance of a ripe tomato. "A-All members of my clan are required to memorize a list of im-important Shinobi."

"Sharingan? How can he have Sharingan? Only members of the Uchiha clan can use that bloodline!" Sasuke had turned around and was looking at Hinata intently.

"I-I d-don't know."

Sasuke sneered and returned to facing the other way. Naruto made a face at his back, surprising a giggle out of Hinata. At that point, the door banged open, and Kakashi entered the room. Naruto stood up and pointed his finger at Kakashi. "You're late!"

The gray-haired Jounin just shrugged. "An orphanage was burning, so I stopped to save the orphans from the flames."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

"My first impression of you is fairly neutral. Meet me on the roof and we'll see how long it takes you to lose my respect."

With that, their Jounin-Sensei disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving the three genin sitting in an empty classroom once again.

- - - - - - - - - -

Birds chirped cheerfully in the branches of the tall oaks surrounding Konoha's Ninja Academy, glorying in the cooling air of the late afternoon. The wind whistled through the treetops, cooling Kakashi as it passed. He sat back slightly, and cast an eye towards his watch. 'It should take them another five minutes to get up here.'

Running up the walls of the Academy had given him a head start on his annoyed students. Hopefully by the time they got to the roof, they would be tired enough to sit down without complaining at all. Now all that was left was to wait.

Five minutes later, Naruto slammed through the door to the roof, panting hard. "Kakashi-Sensei! We've found you!"

Behind him, Sasuke rolled his eyes. ""He told us where he was going to be, dimwit!"

"Shut up, you arrogant dick!"

"Ignorant moron!"

"Self-impor-"

Kakashi stepped in between the arguing Genin. "What kind of teammates start their friendship by insulting one another?"

The boys paused, and looked away from one another. Kakashi directed them all to sit on the roof in a small circle. "Now then… Introduction! You go first, Blondie, since you're so happy to talk."

"Okay!" Naruto sat up a little straighter, and started bouncing slightly. "I am Uzumaki Naruto! I like to train and to eat Ramen! I hope to become Hokage, and to gain the respect of Konoha! I don't like arrogant people!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's last comment. "Uchiha Sasuke. I train. I have no dreams, but I have an intention. I will kill someone."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. 'No surprise, I suppose. Itachi destroyed everything he lived for. All the same, he could end up becoming a threat to Konoha if he felt we were in the way of his goal."

"I-I am Hyuuga Hinata. I like making tea and reading. M-My dream is to become a good head of the Hyuuga Clan, and to make my F-father proud of me. I d-don't like people who yell at one another."

Naruto winced at that comment. Once again, he and Sasuke had been causing their third teammate discomfort. "What about you, Kakashi-sensei?"

The masked shinobi shrugged. "I am Hatake Kakashi. I have no intention of telling you my likes or dislikes. Hmm… I have dreams."

'He said a lot,' thought Naruto. 'For telling us so little'

Kakashi rose and began digging through a pocket. "Well… That's it for today. Tomorrow we will be taking out first steps as a team."

"Ooh! Ooh! What are we going to do? Kill a dragon? Learn how to blow someone up with one finger?" Naruto bounced up and down, excitement filling his eyes. "Maybe we can rescue a Daimyo's daughter!"

Kakashi laughed. "No. Tomorrow we are going to be doing survival exercises."

Sasuke frowned. "We did those in the academy."

"Not like this," Kakashi said, in a menacing tone. "Hmm… Should I tell you? If I did you might not even show up. Tomorrow's exercises will be a test to see whether or not you become Genin! They have a 33 failure rate."

Hinata, who had remained silent up until now, spoke up. "S-Sensei. We passed the academy test. Doesn't that already make us Genin?"

The Copy Nin shook his head. "Hardly. All that test proves is that you have learned enough from the academy to BS your way through a test. Tomorrow's test will judge whether or not you have the skills needed to be a real ninja!"

"What a waste." Sasuke rolled his eyes. "What will this test entail?"

Kakashi produced three cards from his pocket and handed them to his students. "There you are. The test begins tomorrow morning at 4:00. Be there or fail. Don't bother eating breakfast. You'll only throw up."

With that, Kakashi disappeared once again, and left his three Genin standing on the rooftop. Naruto suddenly let out a scream. "It- it's all in Kanji! I can't read these!"

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(The Next Morning)

"And um… Kyuu… Shu… If we fail, it will lead to a crime? Huh?"

"Naruto-kun, that's Menshoku…"

Naruto scratched his head, and smiled at Hinata. "Yeah, 'if we fail, it will lead to a dismissal.' That makes much more sense. You know kanji really well, Hinata!"

Hinata blushed bright red. "It w-wasn't that hard, Naruto-kun."

Sasuke, on the other hand, was growing more and more annoyed. "Only an idiot can't tell a difference between the Kanji for evil with the Kanji for excuse!"

To his shock, Naruto simply held his tongue, and turned back to the now translated instructions. 'Apparently he doesn't want to cause her any more distress. Hn, who cares about her? She's just weak!'

Naruto began reading the translated paper aloud. "Tomorrow morning, meet at Training Ground 7 for a test. This test will consist of a practical evaluation of the skills necessary for you to become a Shinobi. Please show up on time, and fully prepared for a field mission. Failure to show up on time will cause you to be dismissed. If you fail, it will lead to your dismissal."

Hinata sighed, and looked at the note. "All of that archaic language for nothing…"

Sasuke harrumphed and began pacing. Naruto shrugged and leaned back on the bench, content to let everything be for a moment. As he began to relax, a sudden whoosh of air brought him back to the present. "Yo."

Hatake Kakashi stood next to him, one of his perverted books in one hand, and two bells in the other. To Naruto's surprise, Sasuke's control snapped first. The dark-haired genius turned a frustrated gaze, and said, in a deadpan voice, "You're late."

Kakashi shrugged. "An old lady-"

"Yeah right… We've heard it." Naruto glared at their Sensei. "C'mon. Let's get this tested started."

Hinata and Sasuke nodded in agreement, the former looking nervous and the latter looking very frustrated. Kakashi put his book away, and his one visible eye curved upwards in a smile. "Alright! The rules of this test are simple. I have two bells, right here. To pass this test you must take them from me. If you do not take them from me, you will be tied to that rock while the others eat lunch, and then sent back to the Academy."

Naruto adopted a foxy grin of determination. "Alright! This should be a synch!"

"Do not be so sure, Naruto," Said Kakashi, tying the bells to his belt. "You will need to come at me with killing force if you hope to get a bell… And you are the least formally taught shinobi here. I would not be too confident in your shoes."

"Get on with it."

Kakashi smirked at his student's arrogance, and pulled a cloth from his pocket. "When this cloth strikes the ground we begin."

He let go, and his students disappeared, scattering into the nearby underbrush. 'Which one will attack first? The Uchiha will wait things out, and the Hyuuga is likely to seek assistance…Naruto seems to be the likely candidate.'

At that moment, Naruto sprung from the underbrush, diving for Kakashi's side. Kakashi sidestepped, and the boy went tumbling to the ground. "I suppose I should give you credit for at least trying to use stealth."

Kakashi settled into a comfortable fighting stance. Naruto, on the other hand, crouched far lower than was normal for a Tekken user. "Well, old man, credit will be needless once I have one of those bells."

"Arrogance is a useless trait for a Shinobi. It will lead you to your ruin." Kakashi's hand snaked into his kunai pouch, and he withdrew his book. "Shinobi Lesson Number One: Taijutsu; the art of physical combat."

The boy charge towards him, hands raised. His form, however, was awful. His movements were clumsy and his defenses were sloppy. 'How could someone with such poor taijutsu become a genin? He was better than this when he ran away from me before.'

Naruto's ill-prepared charge concluded, as he punched out towards Kakashi's chest. Kakashi pushed the blow away quickly, and returned half of his concentration to the pages in front of him. Naruto growled in frustration, and attempted to use his momentum to send a ground-spinning side-kick into Kakashi's knee, but Kakashi merely jumped over his feeble assault. "Your form leaves something to be desired."

"Shut up, old man!" Naruto shot back to his feet and slipped back into his sloppy stance. "I've only just begun!"

Kakashi gave a small shrug and made a beckoning motion. "Shinobi Rule 64: Talk does not win a fight. The great prove themselves with their actions. The weak stall and brag."

"Why you!"

Naruto lowered a shoulder, and attempted to bull-rush his Sensei. However, Konoha's Copy Nin was much faster than he. Kakashi stepped out of the way, and then moved behind Naruto, in a crouch. "I believe 'never show your foe your back' is also a Shinobi rule, Naruto."

Kakashi formed the tiger seal and put on a face of concentration. "Now you must face the cost of your arrogance. Konohagakure Hiden: Taijutsu no Ougi: Sennen Goroshi!"

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Hinata watched Naruto fight Kakashi with growing dread. The man was far too powerful for Naruto to even have a chance of defeating him. The object of her affections was going to be beaten, and beaten badly. "N-Naruto…"

Kakashi appeared behind Naruto, and she gave a gasp. 'The tiger seal? That means he's going to use a powerful Fire jutsu! He wouldn't do that! It might kill Naruto.'

The man drove the seal into Naruto's rectum, and a hand lightly tapped Hinata's shoulder. "Aaah-"

"Shh!"

Her assailant covered her mouth, and she whirled around to face him. "N- Naruto! B-but then… Who is down there?"

He grinned mischievously and made a seal jokingly. "I asked a few friends of mine to help out. I figured that I could use a Kage Bunshin to gauge his abilities, and give me time to catch up with my teammates and fill them in on my plan. Plus, I told them to hold back so that he would underestimate me in the future."

Hinata found herself giving the boy a shy smile, and she nodded her understanding. "H-he is too powerful for any of us to beat him on our own. Even the three of us working together would be unable to defeating him in all out combat. Therefore…"

"We need to trick him."

"B-but why do you n-need us, Naruto-kun?"

If he had noticed her sudden use of the familiar form, he showed no sign of it. "I needed the clone to get a reading on him, but now he knows that I will use them. Next time, a few clones would be enough to distract him."

"That's a fairly good plan… Maybe you aren't as stupid as I thought, moron."

Sasuke dropped down beside them, and gave them both a scathing look. "On the other hand, the two of you just revealed Naruto's entire plan to anyone listening out in the forest. What if he had a clone in here?"

Hinata blushed, and Naruto merely shrugged. "Really, if he wanted to, he could keep all three of us dancing on his string forever. For the sake of the exercise, we have to assume that he is giving us a fighting chance. Otherwise, he wouldn't bother with this."

"Hn. You have a point."

Naruto and the Uchiha avenger gave eachother a measuring look. Hinata could have sworn that angry lances of light were fighting back and forth between their eyes. Finally, Sasuke broke the staring-match, and stuck out his hand. "I think I can work with you, even if you are a total idiot."

"And I think I can work with you," Said Naruto, taking Sasuke's hand and shaking it. "Even if you do have a kunai stuck up your ass. Now here's the plan."

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Kakashi finished his technique, and began to force chakra into his fingers in an attempt to catapult Naruto up into the air. However, rather than being greeted with the sight of a projectile Genin, he saw a giant cloud of white smoke replace his student. 'A clone? Impressive… Clearly I underestimated his intelligence.'

The Copy Nin relaxed, and began to scan the forest. However, as his glance danced towards the forest, three more clones jumped out to attack him. "Kakashi-Sensei! That was painful! I'm gonna make you pay!"

Kakashi stepped back, and let the three clones run into one another. 'Interesting. So he's already beginning to realize that he can learn from what happens to his clones…'

He felt his back come into contact with something, and his arms were caught in a Full Nelson. "Gotcha!"

One of the Kage Bunshins charged towards him to punch him, but he replaced himself with a log. 'Well done indeed. He kept me off balance enough that I didn't have time to think to replace myself with one of his clones.'

His technique had given him a moment to disappear from the sights of any Naruto still in the forest, so he hunkered down, and began to look for his other two students. After all, it was clear that Naruto was going to take more time than the other two to defeat. He was shocked, however, when he saw all three of them sitting on one branch, fairly well hidden, and making motions as if they were planning. 'That would be a first…'

The hyperactive blonde made a motion, and his raven-haired rival gave him an incredulous look. However, before tensions could really break out, the Hyuuga meekly stepped in, forcing both to cool down with a few words. The boys abandoned their glares, and both turned back to planning. However, before he could begin to move towards them, he was halted by the appearance of the group of clones he had just frustrated. "Kakashi-sensei, eavesdropping is rude."

One dove at his feet, attempting to tackle him, but Kakashi jumped above that clone, and kicked the one behind it, which had been angling to punch him. It disappeared, and Kakashi landed upon the clone that had targeted his feet, causing it to puff into non-existence as well. One more of the clones was dismissed by a kunai, which Kakashi sent through the doppelganger's skull. "Not enough."

The last clone just shrugged. "Honestly, if a group of clones could defeat you on their own, you'd be a pretty sorry Jounin, wouldn't you?"

Kakashi threw another Kunai, but the clone hit the ground at let the knife impact into the tree behind it. "Too slow!"

Suddenly, the clone burst into smoke, as a branch fell on top of it. Kakashi smirked, under his mask, and remarked, "Indeed. Too slow!"

The silver-haired Jounin returned to journeying towards his students, decidedly under-whelmed. None of the clones had been anywhere near the level a Kage Bunshin should have been, even for a genin. Either Naruto was so technically unskilled that his clones were too weak to defeat a normal human, or something was escaping his attention. 'Unless Naruto is holding back to keep me guessing.'

A fireball shot through the clearing, and Kakashi was forced to hit the ground or be toasted. "The game is over, Kakashi-sensei."

Sasuke and Naruto entered the clearing, the former scowling at the latter with a vacant smile plastered across his face. "Sorry it took us so long to get back to you, but we had more important things to worry about."

"Shinobi Lesson Number Two: Genjutsu" Announced Kakashi, as he formed hand-seals. "The art of illusion, used to trick and misdirect foes."

Naruto just smiled and charged, with the Uchiha following. He lashed out, but his fist was met with a tree-trunk. From behind them, Kakashi snickered. "Never assume that your eyes are telling you the truth, unless you know that your opponent is using a genjutsu"

Both fighters whirled around, and found their teacher holding an unconscious Hinata by the back of her jacket. "It was a good plan, I admit, and it would have worked quite well against a foe at your level. However, I knew you were coming long before you fired the first shot. You need to work on your stealth abilities."

"You bastard! Put Hinata down!"

Naruto charged forward, and Kakashi jumped from the branch, leaving Hinata to fall from where he had dropped her. Naruto redirected his movement and caught his falling teammate. Sasuke followed in Naruto's path, and engaged Kakashi with a series of punches. Kakashi warded them off and shot a front kick into Sasuke's stomach, sending the dark-haired avenger into a tree. Sasuke slid down the tree, and fell to the ground, where he sat, holding a hand over his stomach and gasping.

Naruto set Hinata down beside Sasuke and glared at his teacher. "Let's do this seriously, then."

"I'm waiting."

Naruto pulled a kunai from his pouch and threw it at Kakashi, making seals. "Kunai Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"

A wave of Kunai appeared, making Kakashi pause for a moment. "Damn…"

Kakashi made a seal, and disappeared. Naruto cursed. "Where did he go?"

Then a rumbling noise caught his attention. "Wha-"

Hands grabbed his feet, and pulled him down. He sunk into the earth, and found himself up to his neck in dirt. Kakashi smirked, and looked down at his helpless student. "Shinobi Lesson Number 3: Ninjutsu. The art of injuring and disabling your opponent with elemental techniques."

Naruto struggled for a moment, and then contented himself with glaring at his teacher. "How did you know?"

"It wasn't a bad plan at all, actually," Kakashi remarked. "The only problem was that I knew what to expect from you, since this is a very standard shinobi exercise. Using yourself and Sasuke to keep me distracted while Hinata stole the bells was a fairly cliché tactic. Still, it might have worked, if Hinata hadn't seen through my genjutsu. When she saw me, she rushed from her hiding place to warn you, and I saw her."

:"Damn…"

'Good teamwork, a clever, if orthodox, strategy, and genuine concern about the well-being of an injured comrade so that she was placed before the completion of the mission.' Kakashi felt a feeling of amusement and pride grow in his chest. 'I think I may have found them. Just one test left.'

The bell rang and Kakashi grabbed the back of Naruto's jacket to pull him out. "I tell you what. I'll give you some food, and you can lead them in a second test after you eat. However, since they were knocked out, they don't get any food."

"No thanks."

Kakashi's eyebrows rose. "Why not?"

Naruto just shrugged. "I'm not gonna make them go on a mission without having eaten in over 12 hours after having been knocked out. They need to eat and rest, or they'll be in danger during a test. It would be irresponsible of me to ask them to do that for my own good. I'll wait and try again in a year."

"Really then…" Kakashi put on his most serious face, and gave the disappointed Genin a stern stare. "Well then, I'm afraid that you…"

The boy's head lowered and he looked away, from his sensei. "I'm sorry Hinata… Sasuke…"

"Pass!"

"Eh?"

Kakashi dropped his act and smiled at the young man. "You passed the exercise. If you had managed to get a bell from me I would have been shocked. The test was intended to judge your teamwork. The three of you worked together flawlessly, and without any prompting. Sure, you failed to get the bells, but you demonstrated that you were capable of working as a team. More than that, when I gave you a chance to sacrifice the safety of your teammates to complete the mission, you refused. Those who break the rules and regulations are trash... But... Those who don't care about their companions are worse than trash!"

Naruto grinned broadly at his teacher and did a victory dance. "We passed! We passed! Wahoo!"

Kakashi laughed and turned around. "Have fun bringing them back into town, Naruto."

"Wha-. Sensei?" The boy whirled around, but his teacher had already disappeared. "Bastard!"

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Author's Notes: Only 2 weeks this time, I think. Not bad, considering. Hopefully I can keep up this pace, but I doubt it. Look out for Chapter Five: Here We Go Again!

Reviews are always appreciated.