A Story of Resolve.
Nothing to gain, nothing owned.

0o0o0

Everyone dies. That's how it always ends. Be it by a blade to the throat, or breaking a hip in old age, everyone shares a common factor. We are all given a short amount of time, yet some of us are expected to accomplish a great many things.

We tried so hard to meet these expectations, and for what? What did I gain from serving the village? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. In the end, we just proved ourselves as accomplished killers, nothing more.

In order to serve the village, we had to betray ourselves. We did, and came out lesser because of it. Orochimaru is a monster now, ever fearful of death, and evermore hateful of life. Tsunade lost everything and refuses to acknowledge it, hiding her tears behind drinking and gambling.

Some say that I must have been crazy to leave, but I think I was crazy to stay as long as I did. I'm not any happier now than when I was in the village, but at least now I'm free of expectations, free of the constraints that choked me, free of the propaganda that made me think the world would stop turning if Konoha fell.

I say that if you're gonna die, and you will, then die knowing that you followed no one's rules but your own.

-Jiraiya, from one of his unpublished novels.

0o0o0

He sat in the dimly lit bar, with all that smoke and the stale beer.

He rarely drank anymore, but when he felt like being with people, without actually being with them, he went to the dimly lit bar, with all that smoke and the stale beer.

For the longest time, it was the only place he was known to visit semi-frequently. When someone needed to find Hatake Kakashi, they either went to his house, or to that dimly lit bar, with all that smoke and the stale beer.

The patrons of the bar seemed uneasy this evening. Ninja and civilian alike came to this bar as a sort of tradition. It was routine for them, a comfortable constant in their difficult lives.

They were happy to see the same faces, it gave them a sense of normalcy. Why else would they visit this dimly lit bar, with all that smoke and the stale beer? But tonight was different. Tonight was an omen if there ever was one.

Hatake was in a dark corner of the bar, in a booth with torn cushions and stains all over. Whenever he came here, he simply sat in the corner and read his book. It always confused the barkeep as to why he came to such a dimly lit bar just to read, but he never questioned it. No one did, because no one really cared before. They all just left him alone.

But tonight was different.

Kakashi was there, without his bright orange book, and this has never happened before.

As Han the barkeep nervously cleaned a glass, he could not help but glance in the shinobi's direction.

Han could literally feel the uneasiness in the air. He looked around, finally noticing his patrons' nervousness. Han could see everyone in the bar stealing quick glances at Hatake, their hearts not really in the conversations they pretended to carry. Even old man Issun's mad rantings about wolf gods and peach spirits had less feverish passion than usual.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who missed Hatake's porn. It gave them something to ignore.

What were they supposed to do with this guy now?

Kakashi stared ahead, aware but uncaring of the stares he was getting. His thoughts were on other things at the moment, such as the survival exercise he had announced, but totally forgot to actually plan or think out.

I suppose the bell test would work, although it seems a bit cliché. Kakashi's thoughts paused for a minute. Strangely, he could not name one good reason as to why the bell test was cliché. For reasons unknown, it just seemed like an obvious move on his part. Wait, what am I thinking? They've probably never even heard of a bell test before! Kakashi could easily acknowledge that it was the smartest thing to do. It's logical, and a proven test to determine their teamwork. After all, why make up some crazy idea when there's a perfectly good plan to use? It worked just fine for us.

After the brief, one-sided mental debate, Kakashi nodded to himself, eye closed in finality. It settled then...I'll just have to make something up.

I won't treat them as carbon-copies of us. It's not fair to Team 7, both future and past. Let the memories stay as memories, it's time for a new ninja.

Assuming they pass, of course.

Kakashi felt good about his decision, and was getting ready to devise an ingenious plan to test the grit and mettle of his genin, when he noticed that he had two hours before his bedtime, and since he didn't bring his book, he has yet to even get past chapter eight.

Uh-oh, I can't have my evening read and plan an exercise at the same time! I'm going to have to pick one over the other.

And so, Kakashi did just that.

0o0o0

Naruto was seriously growing sick of those faces following him. At first he could ignore them, but the more he avoided them, the more he seemed to run into them.

Not only that, but it seemed that no matter which path he took, he always came back to the village square, the sun big and intimidating, yet the sky was still as dark as the blackest night.

The disembodied faces stopped their alien conversations to stare at him, judging him, hating him. Those floating faces, some he recognized, others he wished to forget, all finding him unworthy. Every time he blinked his eyes, he opened them to the sight of more faces, each one unique, yet sharing the same look of disgust, fear, and loathing.

Naruto closed his eyes tightly, trying to will those faces away.

Naruto opened his eyes, and saw his own face in front of him.

Naruto stared at his own face, awed and terrified by the malevolent red eyes that stared back.

This cruel face smiled, but there was no mirth, only a dark promise.

As the terrified boy looked at the the hateful faces surrounding him, he realized what that promise was.

Uzumaki Naruto screamed, and the cruel smile widened.

0o0o0

With a gasp of air, Naruto bolted upright, eyes wide and face sweaty. Taking a minute to calm himself and taking deep breaths, Naruto looked around the room. Feeling disoriented, he tried to forget the dream and try to regain a sense of where he was.

He looked over the small blue couch to see his bedroom light still on. Why am I on the couch? Naruto asked himself, slowly getting up and stretching his legs. His stomach decided to answer him, a low growl, louder than usual in the dark silence of his apartment. That's right! I was gonna take a nap, and then get some food! Perking up at the thought of food, and just happy to be awake in general, Naruto looked around for his grocery list.

Peeking into his small kitchen, Naruto spotted his list next to the sink. Hope the shops haven't sold all the good stuff like last time. Naruto strolled casually out the door, holding his green froggy wallet in one hand, the list in his pocket. He looked around, noticing it was still dark, and there seemed to be no one around. It's too quiet out here. About to close his door, Naruto decided to give the clock above his fridge a quick look. What he saw surprised him.

Holy crap! It's four thirty in the freakin' morning! Up until now, Naruto had no idea that four thirty in the morning even existed!

Naruto looked unhappily at his wallet, the frog's eyes staring back at him. Suddenly, Naruto didn't like his wallet. Naruto walked back inside, taking his wallet and list putting them both on the table. No shops are open now, guess I'll have to go without until I finish this big test. Naruto looked at his bedroom, his light still on, and contemplated laying back down. He headed to the bathroom first, getting sick of the feeling of sweat on him.

After a quick cold shower, Naruto went to the sink to brush his teeth. Feeling much better, Naruto felt like he could put that dream behind him and get some sleep.

That is, until Naruto looked in the mirror, and nearly jumped out of his skin at the sight of his own face.

As he picked his tooth brush up off the floor, Naruto glanced at his bed again, and didn't much like the idea of going back to sleep.

0o0o0

Feeling content with a job well done, Kakashi got the best four hours of sleep in a long, long time. Well rested, and ready to get to work, Kakashi decided to get an early start.

As he walked through the empty streets of Konoha's marketplace, Kakashi began to wonder if he did the right thing last night.

Maybe I should have come up with a plan instead of reading my literature. Kakashi mulled this over in his mind for a few seconds, and realizing that the past was the past, he forgave himself for the minor lapse in judgment. I'm sure I'll come up with something. After all, I told them to meet me at nine o'clock this morning, so I still have about four hours before I have to see any of them.

As he turned a corner, Kakashi ran into someone barely past his waist. The kid lost balance and fell over from the impact, and shouted at Kakashi when he hit the ground.

"Hey asshole! Watch where yer goin' huh? I'm walkin' here!"

0o0o0

Naruto looked up, and was surprised to see that he had run into his teacher! Meeting his new sensei at this strange hour? What were the odds?

0o0o0

Kakashi didn't need to look down. He recognized the tone of brazen disrespect easily. It was Naruto. One of the individuals he had woken up so early to avoid, was now directly in front of him. What were the odds?

Not in my favor, obviously.

0o0o0

"Why are you up so early?"

Naruto looked up from where he was dusting his orange pants off, and just shrugged his shoulders in a non-committal gesture. Kakashi sighed in annoyance, and spoke once more.

"The test doesn't start for a few more hours, you should be resting up for it instead of causing trouble, Naruto."

Naruto returned Kakashi's words with a scowl. "I ain't done anything wrong out here, ya jerk! And I don't feel like sleeping right now anyways."

Kakashi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at his almost-student.

"Bad dreams keeping you up or something?"

Upon saying that, Kakashi mentally braced himself for a very immature, very loud response. So it's understandable that Kakashi was completely thrown for a loop by what Naruto actually said.

"...Yeah."

Kakashi looked down at Naruto, surprise evident in his eye, but Naruto didn't seem to notice. The young boy seemed to stare right through him, eyes vacant and lost in thought. Kakashi started to wonder what he should do, when Naruto finally broke the silence for him.

"Hey, sensei."

"Uhh...yeah?"

"Thanks for wearing a mask."

"Uhh...sure thing. Anytime."

With that, Naruto put his hands behind his head and started smiling again. He seemed to brighten up very quickly.

If he took the time to describe it, Kakashi would compare it to turning on a light switch.

"So, what's this exercise all about anyway? Are we gonna kick some ass, or is this like a written thing, because I don't like written stuff."

A very annoying light switch.

"Oh! I know! We're gonna go into the woods and fight bears and shit!"

One that he can't turn off.

"Or maybe we'll go on a road trip! Yeah! Let's go on a ass-kicking road trip!"

Sick of his ranting, Kakashi put a hand on Naruto's mouth, muffling his words, and effectively gaining the boy's attention. After the boy was done spitting on his glove, Kakashi lowered his hand to get a word in.

"Sorry, but I can't tell you right now Naruto, you'll have to wait until everyone is together first."

"Well, since half of the team is up already," Naruto responded, gesturing to himself and Kakashi, "why don't we go ahead and get the others so we can start this thing?"

"I guess you have a point there." Kakashi said. 'Might as well get this farce over with.'

And so, they walked down the street, heading towards their teammates, and their destiny.

"Hey, Naruto."

"Yeah?"

"How about you go on ahead and get Sasuke and Sakura, while I get things ready? After you get a hold of them, meet me at the bridge near Ichiraku in half an hour. Understand?"

"Right! No problem!" And with that Naruto sped on excitedly towards his teammates, and his destiny.

All alone in the streets, Kakashi smiled to himself and turned in the direction of his house.

"Sucker."

oooo

Words of Resolve:

See there? Did you see that? Things happened. And brace yourselves, more things are gonna happen in later chapters!

I stuck some Jiraiya in the top of this thing. Don't ask why, I don't know. But expect more.

The bit about the bell test being cliché is just a little jab at all those stories I read that follow the bell test word for word. It's just so worn out. If you're not gonna change anything, then just skip it altogether.

If it's not clear, Naruto was glad for Kakashi's mask because he didn't see Kakashi face, so he wasn't in that nightmare.

This will be AU, the big changes will come as soon as I think of them.

Mistakes will be fixed as I recognize them, and I can only recognize them when it's published, and available for others to mock and insult. Go figure.

I'm about three chapters too late for some of these, but thanks to Joyeu, Nightmother, and greengirl6 for their reviews.

Reviews are not demanded, nor are they expected. But they certainly are appreciated.

Next chapter!

Naruto annoys people, Sasuke says very little, Kakashi is late, and Sakura does whatever the hell 12 year old girls do.

Oh yeah, and SOMEONE DIES!

...No, not really, but someone does get a stern talking to!