A/n: I didn't mean to have this chapter come out this late. But, since school started, my mother wants me to concentrate everything into scoring high in school. So, I have been spending my time actually doing my homework and studying shudders. Anyway, sorry for the long wait and I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.
Disclaimer: You and I both know that I would never have the imagination that great to create Naruto……Unfortunately.
Chapter 5: Teamwork is Key
"Mou, today's the test and my students are laying here sleeping. What's a teacher going to do? Should I fail them? That would make my life easier. Hmm…what to do, what to do?"
It was 9 in the morning that we find Kakashi standing in front of his students to be--- who were still sleeping. Of course, he showed up three hours late and they were probably bored, but still. So being the caring Jounin that he was, he decided to wake them up the kindest way possible:
"Wake up!!!" By kicking them.
5 minutes later
"It's so good to see that you three are awake. Are you ready for your test now?" Kakashi asked smiling at the genins who were holding their sides and throwing the strongest death glare that they could produce.
"Fucking bastard…." Ino mumbled to herself as she rubbed her side once more.
"Why the hell did you have to kick us for sensei!!!!??" Naruto shouted at Kakashi who just gave him a hidden smile.
"It was the only way to wake you up."
"I doubt it." Sasuke said as he threw another patented Uchiha glare. Kakashi just brushed them off and placed an alarm clock on one of the three stumps in the field.
"This alarm will go off at noon. That should give you enough time to fail---I mean pass your test. It's very simple actually. All you have to do is take these from me." The three genin watched as he pulled out two small bells and jingled them lightly.
"One bell for each will do. If you get one, you pass."
"But sensei…there is only two bells." Ino stated.
"This means one of us automatically fails." Sasuke said. 'I have to get that bell.'
"Bingo."
"But, how can we be a genin team if one of us fails?" Ino asked. Naruto nodded and Sasuke looked at Kakashi silently.
"You'll figure it out." 'She's sharp.' "Time to start the test now! Are you ready?"
"You bet Kakashi-sensei!! We are gonna pass!" Naruto exclaimed as the three genins tensed.
"Begin!" Kakashi watched as he watched them vanish into the forest.
"They don't waste anytime do they? Well, neither should I." 'If they pass, I'll teach them how to properly mask their chakra. Ino's is 5 meters away crouched under a tree. Sasuke is also 5 meters in the bush to my left. Naruto is directly behind me.'
"Shouldn't you be hiding? A shinobi shouldn't be in plain view of their enemies."
"I could take you on by myself! Watch!" Kakashi turned around and watched as Naruto formed a hand seal and yelled out the name of his jutsu.
"Kage Bunshin no jutsu!!" Five clones of Naruto appeared and quickly engaged Kakashi in a taijutsu battle. Kakashi calmly attacked all of them; each popping until one remained.
"Lesson one: Taijutsu. Never engage an enemy head on if you don't know their abilities. You can die that way."
"Shut up! I'm getting that bell!!"
"Oh? Then it's time for my secret weapon." The Jounin reached into his pocket and Naruto, as well as the hidden Ino and Sasuke tensed. What he pulled out though, was something all three of them wasn't expecting.
"A BOOK!? Your secret weapon is a BOOK!!!!???" Naruto yelled.
"Not just any book! It is my prized Icha Icha Paradise!"
"Come, Come Paradise? What type of book is that?" Ino whispered to herself. As she thought about this, she realized that Kakashi-sensei's back was facing her. Here's my chance! Ino silently pulled out a shuriken and threw it. It flew until it impaled itself into his shoulder.
Ino gaped at her hit and cheered loudly "Yatta!!!"
"Not quite."
"Huh?" She quickly turned around and saw her sensei standing right behind her.
"Shit! Kawarimi no jutsu!" Ino ran away; deeper into the forest in order to get away. But as soon as she stopped, he was right there, waiting for her and reading his book.
"Lesson 2: Genjutsu. Let's see what you truly fear. Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu!" Ino watched as her sensei vanished and had to shield her eyes from the leaves that blew in her face. The wind died and everything was back to normal.
"What did he do?"
"Ino-chan…" Startled, she turned around and almost vomited at the scene. In front of her was Naruto…but he was missing an arm and a leg. Shurikens and kunais punctured every inch of his body and his golden blonde hair was drenched in blood. He grasped on the tree next to him and coughed up more blood.
"Ino-chan…why didn't you help me? I thought we were friends." The body shook with pain and he coughed up more blood.
"Naruto---Naruto-kun!!" Ino sobbed as she took a step forward the scent of blood sickening to her.
"We are friends! We –"
"Ino-chan! Snap out of it!"
Kakashi watched from a tree as Ino stood there immobilize and staring off into the distance.
"A ninja must always recognize when they are caught in a genjutsu or they will be easy to kill." He mumbled to himself and jumped away to find his next victim. As soon as he left, Kyouka ran into the clearing and in front of Ino. When she looked, Ino had tears silently streaming from her eyes, which remained the blank aquamarine shade.
"Ino-chan! Snap out of it!" A few seconds later and her mistress eyes blinked slowly.
"K-Kyouka-chan?"
"You have a test to finish Ino-chan! Now get to it!"
"What happened?" Kyouka watched as Ino rubbed her tears away and let out a shaky sigh. Kyouka just patted her on the head and sent her in the direction of Kakashi.
"You were caught in an illusion. Now hurry up and help your friends. We are watching you." Ino nodded before running back towards her starting point.
When she got there, she saw a strange site. Sasuke's head was on the floor and Naruto was hanging upside down in the tree.
"What happened?"
"Don't ask; just get me out of here." Sasuke mumbled as he tried to twist his head back and forth to see if that would loosen him up.
"Me too Ino-chan!! Kakashi-sensei cheated."
"Shinobi don't cheat dobe."
"Yes they do teme!"
"Shut up and stop arguing! We have less than an hour to get those damn bells and we need a plan!"
"I'm not working with Sasuke-teme!"
"I am an Uchiha, I don't need anybody." Ino growled and stomped in front of Sasuke's head.
"Listen hear buddy: we have been put on a team for a reason. Just because you are the number one rookie in the class doesn't mean that you are the strongest in the world. You couldn't even fight on par with Kakashi-sensei! So obviously you need help. Look, it's not wrong to ask for help once in a while. Not asking for help only makes you weak. And you don't wanna be weak, do you?"
"…Hn."
"I'll take that as a no. So get rid of your arrogance and be smart for once. I wonder what I saw in you before. Now for you Naruto! I better not hear you complaining about working together with Sasuke or there will be dire consequences! Do I make myself clear!?"
The two boys just stared at her in astonishment. They were lectured by a girl. A mere twelve year old girl!
'Ino-chan is scary!' Naruto thought as he gulped lightly.
'Who does she think she is? How dare she scold me!?An Uchiha!? But…unfortunately, she is right. I am weak and I need to get stronger….I'll listen to her for a little. Besides, she seems to be surrounded by strong people who called her 'mistress'. If I pretend to accept her attempts of becoming my friend, they may teach me something.' Sasuke quietly contemplated and nodded slowly.
"Can you…sigh…help me out, Ino?" He quietly asked. Ino and Naruto blinked in shock.
"What the hell is this? Uchiha Sasuke is asking for help? THE Uchiha Sasuke!?" Naruto teased as he grinned widely.
"Shut up Naruto! At least I'm making progress in making him nicer. Okay, Sasuke-kun, I'll help you out. Let me just cut Naruto-kun down so he could help me out too."
"What!!!!!!!!?? I have to dig him ---" Naruto's sentence was cut short when Ino threw a kunai at the rope holding him and dropped him to the ground.
"Itai!!!"
"What I said about complaining?" Ino growled out before she turned away and began to dig Sasuke out with the help of a kunai. Meanwhile, the team didn't realize they had an audience.
'Wow. She got those boys whipped into shape in just a short period of time. She would be important later on to their growth. They need someone like her. Looks like the test is almost over.' Kakashi stretched and got ready to move as soon as the clock rang. As he stood up he noticed three forest creatures: a rabbit, a sparrow, and a wolf cub.
'Strange…' He looked back to the scene and saw that they were finished digging Sasuke out and was huddled together.
"I wonder why three shinobi are here watching this test? You wouldn't happen to be the Hokage's new recruits, eh?"
The creatures said nothing and he just shrugged. "Suit yourself. I'm almost done here. Afterword, do as you please."
Kakashi walked out of the trees to see that once again, his students were hiding. Of course he knew where they were, but just to indulge them, he played dumb. He continued to walk to the center until he heard the leaves rustle and Naruto and Sasuke hop out and run towards him. Naruto formed a quick seal and yelled out.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" 10 clones popped into existence and they all began to engage in a taijutsu match with Kakashi. They continued to punch and kick while Sasuke jumped on one of the clones back and propelled him into the air. He twisted himself as he fell so he could be behind Kakashi. As he dropped, he made several hand signs:
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" A large fireball flew out of his mouth and towards the distracted Kakashi. When it was about to hit, Kakashi turned around and jumped back before being engulfed by the fire along with Naruto clones. Naruto landed next to Sasuke and looked around.
"Where is he? Did we get him?"
"No. He replaced himself." Sasuke and Naruto continued to look around the clearing for any signs of their teacher.
"Where the hell is he!?"
"Who?" Naruto screamed and spun around and saw the person they were looking for right behind them.
"I got you."
"'No...We got you." Sasuke said before poofing out of existence. Naruto waved before he also disappeared. Kakashi's eyes widened slightly before he felt his arms being held by the two boys.
"Hi Kakashi-sensei!" Ino said cheerfully as she did a couple of hand seals and held her hands out in front of her. The chakra flowed into the hands and she yelled out "Shintenshin no Jutsu" and her body fell limp. The boys let go of Kakashi to see if the jutsu worked. They looked to see if she got control of the body yet and the body twitched before the hand began moving towards the bells.
"Yatta! We did it!" Naruto cheered and Sasuke nodded in agreement.
"Not quite."
"What!?" Naruto and Sasuke stared as they saw Kakashi curved eye and then looked at Ino who still lay motionless.
"She is too weak to posses my mind. She has to work on that jutsu more for it to ever become effective."
"But what happened to Ino-chan?"
"She'll come to soon. But, just to tell you—" The alarm rang loudly in the clearing. "The test is over. To the post all of you and I'll tell you the results." Sasuke frowned and began walking and Naruto muttered curses under his breath as he followed. Kakashi picked up Ino and also followed them.
"Well as you know, you failed to get a bell from me. Meaning that you failed your mission."
"Don't need to remind us." Ino muttered.
"Well, to tell you the truth, even if you were able to get the bells, with your earlier performances, I would've failed all three of you right away. Do you know the true meaning of the test?"
He received blank stares and he sighed in annoyance.
"The purpose of the test was teamwork. In the ninja world, completing the mission is very important, but your first priority should be the well being of your teammates. The reason why we ninjas are put into cells of threes when we are genins is for us to understand that you can't do everything alone--- that you aren't as powerful as you think you are.
"Now at first, I was planning on sending the three of you back to the academy because you all decided to attack me on your own. Considering the fact that you were all in a close enough vicinity to help the one closer to, you refused to acknowledge that. But, I was proven wrong when all three of you decided to work together. Especially you Sasuke. With a little scolding, you sucked in your arrogant pride and accepted help from your teammates."
"So what are you getting at Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked and Kakashi smiled.
"I am saying that you three passed. You are the first ones to have every passed my test. A quote I heard long ago was that 'Those who don't follow the rules and regulation are trash. But those who don't care about their companions are worse than trash.' The fact that you were able to come together as a team and help each other out shows how much potential you have. Now team meetings are 6 in the morning everyday at training ground seven. Make sure you aren't late. Ja!"
Kakashi disappeared and left three shocked genins alone in the clearing. A few seconds passed and Ino and Naruto began to cheer loudly.
"We passed!! We passed!!" Sasuke just nodded and stood up and began walking away.
"Where are you going Sasuke-kun?" Ino asked as she pause her celebration.
"Home." He said and continued walking away.
"Ino-chan, wanna get some ramen with me?"
"Unfortunately, Ino-sama has to train now. " The two stopped as they saw Aki, Kyouka, and Gentou walk out of the forest.
"I have to train right after the test?"
"Ino-sama, in order to be our mistress, you need to be stronger. Today's performance was unsatisfactory. I was not impressed."
"Aki-chan!! Have more respect!" Kyouka reprimanded but was brushed off.
"I agree Aki-dono. She is still young."
"I don't care. She needs to be stronger so I will make her stronger. She has no time to wait. Midoriko-sama 's life is ticking away day by day and she needs her heir now."
"But still, you can't force her to train that much to get to our lady's strength." Kyouka pressured. Aki scoffed and adjusted her glasses.
"Watch me. Gaki—" She pointed a slender finger to Naruto and he fidgeted under her cold brown eyes. "Leave. Ino-sama's training starts now and I have no time to waste."
"Why can't I stay here and watch?"
"Because our methods are a secret. You are not worthy enough to view our techniques. Now leave." Aki turned around and stared at Ino who glared at her.
"Do you have a problem milady?"
"Why are you so rude to Naruto-kun? He should be able to stay and watch! He is my friend!" Aki was about to reply but was cut off by Gentou.
"Ino-sama, it is in Aki-donor's nature to be this… unpleasant. But please understand that we really can't divulge our secrets to Naruto-kun yet. So please, don't take it so hard." Ino stared at him for a moment before nodding slightly. She then turned apologetically towards Naruto.
"I'm sorry Naruto-kun. Maybe we can get ramen tomorrow?"
"Sure! Remember, it's a promise!" Naruto flashed a quick smile and dashed away. She stared in his direction even though she could no longer see him and sighed.
"We are ready to begin Ino-sama." Ino looked up at he three instructors and nodded to them.
"I'm ready."
A/n: As you all read, I suck at action scenes. I am more into writing fluff scenes. So, if anyone thinks they can write better action scenes than I can I got two things to say:
If you can't back it up, shut the hell up.
If you can back it up, give me some pointers and/or help. I seriously need it.
Okay, now that that is over, I hope you enjoyed and please review; it'll make me oh so happy. Thank you!!
Until Next Time!!
