9
Now, Sakura might have matured a little from the put-down Naruto had given her yesterday back in the classroom, but she hadn't given up on Sasuke yet. The girl was more blatant about it than ever, which was saying something. After two minutes of obvious staring and her trying to engage Sasuke in a somewhat (at least more than usual) intelligent conversation, which didn't work, by the way, and of Naruto and Sasuke trying to keep their hands away from anything on their person that was pointy and sharp (hard to do when you're a ninja), Naruto decided enough was enough. He'd needed to talk to the two of them today anyway.
"Hey, guys?" Amazingly, their attentions were immediately given. "Before Kakashi-sensei shows up, I wanted to tell you something." He double checked the area just to make sure the man wasn't hiding like he usually did. "I heard from someone that the test he's gonna give us has to do with teamwork. Can you handle working together?" Naruto asked, not really caring of their answer, but knowing it would help everything move more smoothly.
Surprisingly, Sasuke was the first to answer, seemingly not even having to think on his decision. "Yeah. Kakashi is a Jounin, after all. He's probably gonna have us try and beat him in a fight or something."
Close, but not quite. Naruto thought. He was only glad that Sasuke had not acted as his old arrogant self. He glanced at Sakura, who was looking between the two suspiciously. Then, after a moment, she, too, agreed.
"Fine."
Then, Kakashi arrived. He poof-ed into a tree not too far away from the three of them. Naruto nodded at the other two in acknowledgment of their decisions and settled down to wait. It would probably be another good hour before Kakashi decided to join them.
xXx
Kakashi tapped a small clock that lay on a small stump a few feet away from them. When he turned back to face them, he held up two small silver bells.
"Your task is to steal these two bells from me. You have until noon. If you do not get a bell, you will go back to the academy." He said simply.
"What? But there's only two bells. What would the third person do?" Sakura asked.
"Like I said, anyone who doesn't have one by the time the exercise is over will be sent back to ninja school. Now, ready? Set. GO!" Sasuke and Sakura immediately moved to hid in the surrounding forest. Kakashi looked around.
"What? You aren't going to go hide?" He asked Naruto.
"What use is hiding when you can find me?"
"Well, that's a good point."
"I always did prefer the direct approach anyways." Naruto grinned as he shook out his limbs, stretching the already warmed up muscles
"Are you sure you're up to it?" Kakashi asked, somewhat more quietly as he was sure his other two students weren't supposed to know much about what happened. "The Hokage told me what happened last night."
"I'm fine." With that, Naruto shot forward.
Funnily enough, Kakashi's book was nowhere in sight. Naruto swiftly threw his right fist at Kakashi's face, towards his blind side. The silver-haired man dodged back and grabbed Naruto's hand, bringing his knee up towards the boy's stomach. Naruto put his other hand on Kakashi's knee and used it as leverage to jump over the appendage, using his small stature to his advantage and pulling Kakashi's hand along with him to put the man off balance.
Kakashi released Naruto's hand and brought his other leg forward into a low kick that Naruto also avoided. In turn, the blond gave his own kick at the back at Kakashi's head. The man jumped forward to avoid it as well, and they stood in a stand-off. Then, all of a sudden, blurs of yellow, pink, and black jumped from the woods at Kakashi's back. Sasuke and Naruto gripped Kakashi's arms, and Sakura and another Naruto clone each grabbed a hold of Kakashi's legs. The original Naruto rushed forward, taking the chance his clones and teammates had seized for him. A moment later, just as Naruto touched the bells, he heard a sizzling sound.
"Back!" He ordered.
Sasuke and Sakura both jumped back at the order, and just in time. Kakashi's clone blew up. The three of them all retreated back into the woods, realizing that Kakashi was nowhere in sight. Naruto jumped high into the branches of a tree that he knew a certain dark-haired Uchiha to lurk in. Sasuke turned his head to look at him, when he silently landed next to him.
"Impressive." He said quietly.
"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto grinned. 'Sasuke's' eyes opened a little wider and he jumped back to avoid a punch Naruto threw at his abdomen. Then he grinned as well.
"How did you figure it out?" Kakashi asked as he released the Henge.
"One of my clones just canceled its summoning. It was with Sasuke." Naruto said. Then, he charged Kakashi again.
They moved back and forth for a while, each gaining the upper hand for a while (even though it was obvious that Kakashi was going easy on him),then the odds leaning towards the other, and then Naruto froze. And grinned again.
"Hey Kakashi-sensei. I bet you don't know where Sasuke and Sakura are right now."
"What are you talking about Naruto-kun?" Kakashi asked, taking the bait.
"I'm here." A voice called. He turned to see Sasuke step out of the trees.
"No, I'm here." Said another Sasuke coming into view from behind them.
"Sasuke, I think you're confusing him." Said Sakura from yet another angle.
"Well, of course he is. I can't tell the difference between us either." Said Sakura, from her position next to Naruto. Like that, another twelve Sasukes and Sakuras stepped from the trees along with ten more Narutos.
"You know this won't make much of a difference, Naruto. Just because I don't know which are the real ones, doesn't mean that I can't defend myself from them." Kakashi said.
"Right. You keep telling yourself that. Some of us are a bit more solid than others." Naruto smirked. They all pulled out kunai. Then they attacked. Kakashi was surrounded. Kicks and punches and narrowly avoided blades flashed by his face and he blocked and dodged. Then there were ropes flying around him, catching his arms first, keeping him from using a replacement jutsu and slowing up his movements.
Sakura, or at least one of the clones that looked like her, grabbed his arms, keeping his arms back behind his back with the help of the ropes, allowing one of the Sasukes to land a punch to his gut. Regardless of the fact that Sasuke was twelve years old, he still punched hard. Kakashi lost his breath for a moment and tried to jerk his hands away from his bindings. That was when it happened. Naruto stole the bells.
Everything froze for a millisecond, then there was a large pop as his clones disappeared, leaving the original Naruto, who was holding the bells, Sakura, who was still holding Kakashi's arms, and the Sasuke who had punched the older man in the gut.
The three of them grinned. Kakashi looked shocked.
"Hah! We did it!" Sakura yelled, but then she quieted down when she remembered the rules of the test. Before she could even turn towards Naruto, the blond tossed the bells to Sasuke, who caught them and looked at him, puzzled.
"You guys can have them. You were the ones who held him back so I could get the bells, anyways."
"No." The two of them turned to look at Sakura, who had let go of their sensei's arms. "No, it was you who did most of the work. You should get to graduate, too. If you don't get to stay a genin, then I'm going back to the academy as well." To say that he was shocked was an understatement. Sasuke shook off his surprise and nodded, agreeing with Sakura.
"Same with me."
There was a long silence, then…
"Well then. You guys all pass!" Kakashi said, suddenly free of the ropes.
"Huh?" Sasuke and Sakura said at the same time. Naruto just smiled, touched by the sentiment that his friends would have stayed back with him in the academy. He'd already known it would end up like this.
"There is one rule you absolutely must know if you live in the shinobi world." Kakashi continued, lifting his finger in his lecture mode. "In a ninja's world, those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders are lower than garbage. But those who do not care for and support their fellows are even lower than that! By refusing to accept the bells from Naruto, you have demonstrated that. And Naruto's offer in the first place shows great value for the lives and happiness of his comrades. So…You pass~!" Kakashi said, his visible eye closing in an arch, the only way for them to tell that he was smiling.
"Yay!" Sakura jumped up and down, and Sasuke allowed a small smile.
"Now, you guys can go home and get some rest. Be glad to know that you are the very first team to pass my test. Team Seven's duties will commence tomorrow. You are now officially genin!"
The team all left from there, Naruto soon after disappearing back to his house after splitting up from Sasuke and Sakura.
Well, that's over.
It turned out different this time.
You were able to see that last time? Naruto flushed remembering how foolish he'd acted when they'd first taken Kakashi's test.
Yes, the only difference was that I couldn't interact a lot with you back then. It was only after the incident in the Wave Country that I could speak to you at will, remember?
Yeah. Hey, you up for some more training later today? I still need to do some chakra training, too. I can't believe I was even able to hold that many clones today, and it used almost all my reserves up.
I've got the perfect training schedule for you.
Naruto groaned aloud. In other words, it's probably gonna kill me?
Now, now. Don't have so little faith in me. After all, isn't there a human saying that goes like: 'What doesn't kill you makes you stronger'?
Slaver.
Kyuubi just laughed.
xXx
Over the next month, they went on the same missions that they had had when Naruto had first become a genin. Catching annoying cats, painting fences, weeding gardens, playing delivery ninja, and whatever else needed doing around the village. Then came the fated day, almost a month and a half after the test of Kakashi's, just after they had caught that rich lady's cat again, they were in the Hokage's office.
Naruto knew that this was his one chance at getting the mission to the wave country, so he set his face to pleading, and subtly guided the hokage's decision by meeting the man's eyes and then directing his eyes to an open mission folder on his desk. The old man quickly took the hint and put his hand on the folder Naruto had looked at, silently asking if that was the one the blond had been pointing out. Naruto nodded just slightly.
"Gramps, we need a harder mission. We've completed all these other ones pretty easily, we need a challenge." He asked in a stubborn voice. Thankfully, Sakura took over from there.
"Yeah! I'm tired of all these little kiddy missions!"
"Sakura, enough. The Hokage knows what missions he should send us on." Kakashi said, just as Naruto could see Iruka itching to say the same.
"No, it's fine. They're right. They've completed enough D rank missions to qualify for a C rank, I think." Sarutobi said, shaking his head as if his hand were being forced. He was pretty convincing. The other three on the team looked like they hadn't thought the old man would give in. "I have a C rank escort mission you can do. It'll take you to the Land of Waves while you're guarding a bridge builder on his way there… Please invite him in, Iruka." He finished. Iruka, who had been sitting to his right, got up to open the door.
A middle-aged looking man holding a bottle of liquor walked in, leaning against the door-frame.
"What's going on here? They look like a bunch of wet-nosed brats. Especially…the midget. He's got the face of an imbecile. It's a joke, right? You kid's aren't really ninja, are you?"
Instead of blowing up the last time Tazuna had insulted him, Naruto smirked. "Is that any way to talk to the ninja who'll be protecting you, old man?" Tazuna glared at him.
"Be quiet, brat! I am Tazuna. A bridge-builder of ultimate renown. Until I am safely back in my own country, where I'll be completing my next bridge, you'll be expected to protect me…even is it costs you your lives!"
After that, the man swaggered out the door and presumably to his hotel for the night. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"Get ready for your mission tonight and get a good sleep. You'll be leaving at dawn tomorrow."
"Hai." Chimed the voices.
"Naruto and Kakashi. I need to speak with you two, please stay."
Sasuke and Sakura glanced back at them, but Naruto just waved at them and said he'd see them tomorrow. The two of them walked off out the door and back to their homes. Naruto felt for their chakras before speaking, though.
"Thanks, gramps."
"Why did you want me to give you that particular mission?" Sarutobi said, ignoring the questioning looks Kakashi and Iruka sent them in favor of his question. They apparently hadn't noticed the interaction between the two of them earlier.
"This was a very important mission the first time around, and it could prove to yield some powerful allies, as well."
"…this isn't really a C rank mission, is it?" Kakashi suddenly asked, perceptively.
Naruto shook his head. "No, it had a rank A difficulty level. But don't change the team. We can handle it."
Sarutobi nodded. "Alright. But be careful. To think that you three went on such a difficult mission and completed it…" He mused.
"Well, we didn't come out unscathed. It was during this mission that Kyuu started to get through the seal. And that Sasuke activated his Sharingan. We even met a boy who had a kekkei genkai that involved hyouton creation. Not to mention, we fought Momochi Zabuza-" There was a gasp.
"Zabuza of the Silent Kill?" Iruka asked.
"Yeah, but in the end he turned on his employer, Gato, after the bastard kicked Haku's body."
"Who is Haku?" Kakashi asked.
"He's the ice user. He jumped in front of Zabuza just as you were about to use your Chidori on him…I think. No one ever told me exactly what happened, but that's what I gathered from looking at the results of the fight."
"What do you mean? You weren't there?"
"No…I was there, it was just that, right before that, I had just been about to kill Haku myself." Iruka and Kakashi both gazed at him, surprised. "Me and Sasuke had been caught in his ice trap jutsu, and I had thought that Sasuke was dead because Haku used his senbon needles to make it seem like he was dead, and then Kyuu came out and busted the mirrors up. Then I was about to kill him for killing Sasuke, when he just disappeared. I'm guessing it was because he sensed that Zabuza was in danger…"
He shrugged. "But I'm not gonna let that happen this time."
"Why?"
"Because I'm gonna try and turn them to our side. They can be our spies in the…darker aspects of the other countries, and especially Akatsuki."
Naruto had no qualms about giving any of this information out. He'd spent many hours now, speaking to Kyuu and determining their plan of action. He'd come to terms that this was his time now. His precious people were all alive and well, except for maybe Gaara and Sai, but he'd work on that when he could. He wouldn't let what had happened come to pass, so there was no point in hiding it. He was still amazed at how well the three men were taking the situation. He'd told them his decisions and they had supported him fully.
They were coping magnificently, Kakashi even going so far as to help him with retraining his muscles. He was almost on par with Kakashi now, but that was a far cry from his former condition, not that he'd tell Kakashi that. But they didn't ask about his past and didn't try and pry further when he released information. He was grateful for them.
"But, don't worry, Kakashi-sensei. I'll warn you when something's gonna happen. Just to begin with though: A pair of Mist ninjas called the Demon Brothers plan on attacking us not far from the village and Zabuza himself will come after us once we reach the village. After that, though, I'm not sure what will happen. I plan on going after Haku before he can get too far after he rescues Zabuza. You'll need to give me a reason to go after him, so I don't look suspicious, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto mumbled, outlining his plans and getting lost in them. He would have kept talking if he hadn't heard the chuckle from Kakashi.
"You sound like Minato."
"You've told me that before." Naruto smiled. He'd told the three of them that he knew of his parentage as well. The Kakashi from his original time had said much the same as this one had, but he'd had to wait almost five years to hear it. But he hadn't realized that Kakashi had known the fourth was his father when he was this young.
Kakashi returned the smile, then suddenly jumped up on the windowsill. He raised a hand in farewell. "I'll see you tomorrow, Naruto. This should be an exciting mission." Then he was gone.
Iruka laughed. "Only Kakashi would think it was exciting. But, seriously, Naruto. Be careful."
Naruto nodded.
"Do you want me to send out a patrol to the area you'll be passing to take care of those two Mist ninja?" Sarutobi asked.
Naruto thought for a moment and then shook his head in the negative. "No. I'll need to talk to them, myself."
"Alright then, but, as Iruka said, be careful. Don't get in over your head; you won't be able to fix anything if you're dead.
"On the contrary, it might make everything quite a bit easier." The two older men exchanged glances. "But I plan on living along with everyone else. There's no point in saving them if I can't live with them." They nodded in understanding. With a set of farewells preceding his departure, he left to get his things ready and to get a good night's sleep.