Drifting

by AlphaDelta1001

Naruto is many things; troublesome, wild, unpredictable, adventurous, untamable, unique. But there's a benefit to being wild and unpredictable; no one has the faintest idea what you're going to do next. NarutoHarem

8. Graduation Arc - Aiming High

NARUTO

Drifting

Aiming High

After lunch…

Following a very enjoyable conversation with Tayuya's team and his own, which even Sasuke found surprisingly pleasant from the small smile he wore on his face, the two groups then parted ways. They promised to meet up with each other later onwards, and once numbers and addresses had been exchanged, retreated to their designated rendezvous points.

Also, for whatever reason that was shaking her, Naruto couldn't help but notice that Sakura was acting more distant towards both him and Sasuke after her little chat with Tayuya. She was a lot more anxious than before, a sight that told the jinchuriki that something was bothering her.

All the same, as long as she was still with them back in the classroom they didn't have to worry about the team going on unaccounted for. At least Sasuke was pleased at the change in atmosphere, since he was no longer getting swamped by the pinkette or her blonde haired rival. This made their journey back to class far smoother than it probably would have been if Sakura were in a better mood.

When the bell sounded and all the newly graduated Genin filed back into their soon to be former homeroom, they found a group of uniformed adults already there and waiting for them. Doing the logical thing, Team 7 decided to stick together for the upcoming procedure so upon finding their own row at the side of the room, sat in the usual manner prior to their recess hour and waited to be introduced to their sensei.

"I hope you all had a good break," Iruka began with a smile as he directed everyone's attention to the shinobi behind him, "Because it's time to get down to business. The men and women you see standing before you are going to be your Jonin instructors for the duration of your tenure as Genin. They will be the ones who will be leading your team on missions and overseeing your training as a group, so make sure to work hard, study hard, and listen well."

With that said and done, each of the Jonin captains at the front of the classroom then stepped forward one after the other and began taking teams away by the number they were assigned. The squads were led out in no particular order, but soon enough every single group was transported out of the room, leaving only Team 7 and a slightly confused looking Iruka standing at the front.

Sakura, confused and concerned, stood up and raised her hand, "Umm… Iruka-sensei… what about our team leader? Isn't he here yet?" She hoped he was late because if he wasn't and she was about to learn that they had in fact failed as a squad she was going to cry.

Iruka sweatdropped and looked down at his clipboard, "Uhh… you guys have Hatake Kakashi as your instructor, right?" He looked up and saw three affirmative nods. He then smiled in amusement, "Yeah, you're going to be waiting here for a while."

Mouths opening to gape, Naruto and Sakura looked like they were about to mount some sort of complaint until they saw the Chunin turn tail and grip the frame of the entrance. He turned and grinned back at them, "I've got a lot of work to do now, so I gotta go. Good luck you guys." He then slid the door shut, leaving behind two very perplexed kids and one who was still in a state of complete composure.

Sasuke laced his hands together and propped his elbows up on the desk, "Well… he said we'll be here for a while."

The pink haired girl beside him huffed and folded her arms, "That's just great."

The three of them then planted themselves wherever they were presently stationed and waited.

The first fifteen minutes was spent in relative silence in the same row the group had picked out when they first arrived. But as the clock continued to tick and time pulled into the half-hour mark, the trio started to grow a little more restless. Naruto took to wandering the classroom and jumping around the desks, whereas Sakura had moved off to the side to look out the window. The only person who was really able to keep it together was the Uchiha, who spent his time in contemplative hush and trying to block out the rest of the world around him.

When an hour came and went, in which Naruto then found himself lying across one of the desks up in the middle row, the boy suddenly found the rays of sunlight he was bathing in blocked by the familiar silhouette of Sakura coming to stand behind him. The jinchuriki sat up with a start and looked at the nervous looking kunoichi with inquiry, "Hey, Sakura-chan. What's up?"

Shuffling uncomfortably on the spot, the pink haired teen slowly turned to look up at the boy with an apologetic expression. It was apparent from her long period of silence after their break that she had been thinking a lot on whatever it was that had been troubling her, and so had chosen now rather than later to finally bring it up.

Based on her current state of appearance and mood, she obviously had something serious she had to say to him.

"N-Naruto… I… I just wanted to say… I'm sorry."

"Huh? For what?"

"It's just, after lunch I had some time to think and… well," the girl sighed and, clenching her fists tightly for a moment, faced the boy with utmost intent and purpose. Kami, this was difficult. But if she didn't say this now she wouldn't be able to move forward and their group would suffer because of it. She had to say it. She HAD to. "In all the years I spent here in the academy, I only ever thought of you as nothing more than a delinquent and a troublemaker, and I always ignored you every time you tried to speak with me. Because you were always acting silly and always causing problems for the teachers, I didn't try to get to know you like everybody else, because I thought you were a bad influence on people."

Naruto blinked, tilting his head towards the girl as he listened in to what she had to say. It was compelling stuff, particularly since it was all concerning him, and he had no intention of stopping her.

From the way she approached him before all anxious and rigid, he knew she had to get this off of her chest.

Sucking in air, Sakura tensed up, "I was stupid and insensitive. I labeled you as an idiot and a nuisance right from the start, and stayed away from you. Because of that, I wasn't able to get to know you like I should have. I misjudged you and avoided you, so I wasn't able to see what a nice guy you really were. It was awful of me to treat you the way I did… and I'm sorry." She bowed low and clenched her eyes shut in dread, afraid that the boy might snap at her. He had every right to, "I'm very sorry."

Remaining silent for what felt like an eternity, Naruto meditated on the girl's words for the next minute or so. It was a lot to take in, especially since this was the most words he could remember Sakura ever speaking to him, even after all the times he'd tried to approach her. It was a surprising change of pace to actually have the girl come to him instead, so it took a while for everything she had to say to sink in.

After a certain amount of time of contemplation had passed, Naruto then allowed a cheerful smile to creep across his face and sat cross-legged on the desk, facing the kunoichi. The posture he took and body-language conveyed a sense of growing enthusiasm, "I don't really know what you're apologizing for Sakura-chan, but if it'll make you feel any better, is it okay if I said 'thank you'?"

Sakura's head shot up to look at him in surprise. "Y-You're not upset? B-But I've… I've been so rude to you…"

Naruto shrugged his shoulders. "Why would I be upset? We're Genin now and on the same team together. There's no need to get angry over stuff like that, it's all in the past now. As long as we can work together from now on and be friends, I'm okay with it." He then leaned towards her with a hopeful gaze suddenly making a play on his expression, "We… can be friends, right… Sakura-chan?"

Overwhelmed, Sakura flashed the boy a warm smile and nodded enthusiastically, eyes shimmering happily, "Of course we can, Naruto! Th-Thank you…"

Chuckling, Naruto then fell silent and gave the girl a slightly harder stare than before. The smirk he wore next had the kunoichi lean away in surprise, "Tayuya-chan told you about us, didn't she?"

Sakura appeared stunned, "H-How do you know?"

The boy tapped the side of his head sagely, "I've got pretty good hearing Sakura-chan. A tree standing between two people isn't going to keep a guy like me from eavesdropping. Though I may not look the part, I can be pretty sharp when I want to be."

Flabbergasted at his response, Sakura then looked away and rubbed her arm uneasily. "So… you heard everything? Everything she and I said to each other?"

"Yeah. Pretty much," Naruto chuckled and folded his arms. "But it's okay. I'm not mad at you. Like I said, it's pointless to be mad about something like that. All I want now is for this whole team thing with you and Sasuke to work out, so as long as I have you guys to support me, then I don't want there to be any hard feelings between us." He grinned happily at the girl, "As long as we can work together and look out for each other. We're more than just teammates, Sakura-chan. We're shinobi of Konohagakure, classmates… friends. That's what really matters."

Sakura, eyes shining with unshed tears, smiled gratefully towards the boy and wiped her eyes clear. She nodded toward him in understanding, "Thank you… Naruto."

"No problem, Sakura-chan," the jinchuriki grinned.

While the two spent time up in their row shaking hands and starting anew, unbeknownst to them, Sasuke was looking back at the pair rather curiously, yet managed to shade his inquisition behind his usual stoic veil of equanimity. After hearing everything that was said between them, he too allowed a smirk to appear across his face and turned away, pleased that at least one wall in their small group had been torn away to make way for something better.

By the time the first hour and a half went by, the entirety of Team 7 had started to get really agitated waiting around for their teacher. This was made absolutely clear to the world by the pull into the second hour, where both Sasuke and Sakura began showing the boredom on their faces, with the former continuing to sit with pins and needles in his ass. Naruto had chosen to use this time wisely trying to make some modifications to his gauntlet arm, using a lock and pick to adjust the settings on his paintball launcher.

A sudden loud hiss followed by the sound of air cracking sharply drew Sasuke and Sakura's attention over to the blonde on the desk next to them, where they saw his face and clothing splattered with multi-colored paint.

The blonde, shocked at the unexpected discharge of his weapon, blinked away the smear that managed to get into his eyes before staring ahead of him in utter bewilderment. "Ow."

Sakura snorted, a full two seconds before hunching over and desperately trying to hold back laughter (failing miserably), whereas Sasuke turned away to hide a snicker. Naruto saw the raven haired boy's cheeks puff even when his face was averted and pointed at him accusingly, but wasn't able to pull off his usual death glare on account of him now looking like he got violated by a clown.

"I saw that!" The moment he shouted that, Sakura started laughing hysterically enough that she had to hold in her guts to keep herself from falling over and Sasuke's body begun shaking from silent fits of his own. The chorus caused Naruto to blush brightly in embarrassment, though you couldn't really see under the multi-colored pallet that was now his current visage.

It was while everyone was getting their full minute's worth of hollers that the main door to the classroom decided to open up and a man with gravity defying silver hair, wearing the regular Jonin garb, a facemask and his forehead protector pulled over one eye, poked his head into view. The appearance of the Jonin had all three kids stop and stare, while the instructor saluted with his right hand and an eye smile. "Sorry I'm late, but I had to help an old lady carry all her shopping to her house on the other side of the village, so I got a little side-tracked." He looked around at the surprised and expectant looks on the trio of Genin in the room, and upon taking stock of the group, nodded pleasantly, "You all look like you're having fun."

Naruto stared at the man with a blank expression while Sakura smiled and Sasuke grunted.

The Jonin then turned his only eye to the boy in orange… and several other colors, giving him an inquisitive look-over, "What happened to you?"

Naruto, hoping to get some ground back on this first meeting and not look like an idiot, glanced around once before staring back at the newcomer to give him the straightest answer he could think of, "I was attacked."

"By what?"

Crap, he hadn't thought that far ahead…

OOO

The newly formed Team 7 was shortly afterwards led up to the roof of the academy by their Jonin commander, who remained completely silent throughout the walk until arriving at their destination; a balcony with a line of trees and a great view of the village in front of them. He quickly instructed the bunch to take a seat over by a set of stairs while he leaned against the railing in front of it with his arms folded. He watched Sasuke take a spot further back with his fingers laced together, Naruto plop down in a carefree manner and wipe his face off with a damp cloth, and Sakura sit with her knees pulled up to her chest.

"So," the man in the mask began with a nod, "Why don't we start off with some introductions. Tell me about yourselves."

"Huh?" Sakura looked up at the man in surprise, "W-What would you like us to say?"

Kakashi held out his hands and shrugged, "Things you like, things you hate, dreams for the future… stuff like that."

Naruto tilted his head, "Well… why don't you tell us a bit about yourself first so we can see how it actually works?"

"Yeah, you look kind of suspicious," Sakura said with a frown, giving the Jonin an uncomfortable scowl. It had to be the mask. You just couldn't fully trust a guy who kept his face covered. It always sent out mixed signals.

The Jonin pointed at himself, "Me? Okay then, I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… hmm… I… don't feel like telling you any of that." He saw the three of them look at him in surprise, a cue for him to carry on. "Dreams for the future… never really thought about it. As for my hobbies, well," he looked up thoughtfully, "I have lots of hobbies."

"So all he really told us was his name," Sakura thought with a sweatdrop, something she shared with her other teammates as they stared across at the odd Jonin with deadpanned expressions.

Blinking a bit after staring at the man for a little while longer and listening to his introduction, Naruto then suddenly came to a surprising realization. Snapping his fingers, he then pointed at the Jonin triumphantly, catching everyone off guard, "Ah, now I remember where I met you before! Yeah! You were with Izumo, Kotetsu and Iruka-sensei when you came into the woods to hunt for those three kunoichi two years ago!" He was wondering why the guy's face seemed so familiar. It was impossible to forget a masked visage like that.

So he was Kakashi?

The man in silver hair gave the boy an eye-smile and nodded to him, "I'm glad you remember me, Naruto-kun. It's nice to see you again."

"Yeah, same!" Naruto chirped, feeling infinitely more cheerful to learn that their teacher was actually a really good guy. He then beamed across at the Jonin brightly, "Oh, by the way, Hanare says 'thank you'!"

"Hanare?"

"She's a farmer lady I met in the Land of the Great River a while ago. She said that she knew you and wanted me to give you her best," the jinchuriki exclaimed.

"Oh. Well… that's very nice." Kakashi smiled sincerely in kind. "Tell her I said 'thank you' the next time you run into her, okay," he replied with a cheerful tone.

"Sure thing." Naruto then went back to sitting comfortably with an eager stature, but then turned when he felt a couple of pairs of eyes on him. Looking across at Sasuke and Sakura, he saw that both of them were looking at him strangely with raised eyebrows, which had the blonde blink in confusion. "What?"

"You know this guy?" Sakura asked while pointing towards their instructor.

"Yeah. From a long time ago," Naruto shrugged casually, "I was in a bit of trouble and he came by to help out."

Dismissing the subject, seeing as that it would probably lead into a long story that was best put on hold for the time being due to other matters of importance, Sakura and Sasuke then turned their attention back to their teacher, who seemed to be watching them with great interest. Upon seeing their collective attention work its way back to him, Kakashi gave a nod of acknowledgement and folded his arms again.

"Okay. Now that I've talked about myself a little it's your turn," the silver haired man said before gesturing towards the blonde, "I'll let you go first, Naruto."

"Awesome, dattebayo!" the jinchuriki exclaimed, adjusting the headband around his head before straightening up a little, "My full name is Naruto Uzumaki. I like training, hanging out with my friends, and going out to see as much of the world as I can. I really like cup ramen, but I hate how you have to wait the three minutes after pouring the hot water into it. My hobbies are training and foraging, oh yeah, and my dream for the future." He swiped his thumb under his nose, "To become the greatest Hokage there ever was, so that everyone in the village will acknowledge me as a person and somebody they can depend on."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow briefly at the boy's heart-filled exclamation and nodded in understanding, smiling a bit on the inside. "Hokage-sama was right in saying that he was the most intriguing prospect of his group." Filing away this information for another time, the man then turned to Sakura, "Alright, next."

"I'm Sakura Haruno, I like a lot of things… especially uhh… well… the person I like the most is umm… uhh…" A light blush appeared on her face and, for reasons quite obvious, started stammering incoherently. Every exclamation was accompanied by a happy giggle and every glance was directed towards the Uchiha situated in the center of the group. Kakashi and Naruto sweatdropped at the jumble of words and the occasional 'Oh yeah' they heard from her as she attempted to give them her introduction.

"Girls of this age are more interested in love than ninjutsu," Kakashi sighed, finding the youngster's ramblings quite mindboggling. When she was finally through making her interests known to the world, the Jonin then directed his gaze to the one in the middle, "Very well… last one."

There was a brief moment of dramatic pause before the abovementioned started to speak, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha," the raven haired youngster began, in a voice both level and serious, "There are a lot of things that I dislike and very few things that I do like. I have no dreams in life, only goals, with my main goals being the resurrection of my clan and becoming strong enough to kill a certain someone." When he said this, he said it without tearing his eyes away from the faraway look that he wore or shifted even an inch from the spot on the tiled floor he'd secured. Hell, not even his hair moved he was so rigid.

This made his statement more powerful then what it was, something that had Naruto shrug carelessly at and look back at him rather tiredly. "Well… whatever helps him sleep at night."

While Sakura swooned and Naruto picked at his ear, Kakashi nodded his head upon processing all of the information given to him and gazed intently at his little group. "Alright then. That's it for introductions. It's good to see that all three of you are unique individuals with your own interests and ideas. We'll have our first mission as a team tomorrow…" He saw the squad look towards him with excitement and a gradual build-up of anticipation. Once Kakashi was certain their eagerness had risen to a suitable height, he then decided to drop a bomb on their supports, "It will be a task that all four of us will do together; a survival exercise."

Naruto blinked, "Huh? Survival exercise?"

"Aren't we, like, supposed to be having a real mission or something?" Sakura asked, her face pinching into a tight scowl, "We did plenty of exercises in the academy. That's how all of us ended up here in the first place. Why are we having a survival exercise instead of going on an actual assignment?"

"This isn't like your previous training. It's a little more… involved then what you're probably thinking," Kakashi stated, a cheeky smile appearing on his face as he waved a hand at them. A series of chuckles escaped his lips, "I warn you guys, you're going to freak out when I tell you this." The trio all frowned at once, not liking that sinister laugh or the smug expression he was now wearing.

Okay. The Jonin felt he'd beaten around the bush long enough. It was time to go in for the kill. Putting on the best intimidating expression he could muster without frying the kids' brains in the process and placing his hand over his face, Kakashi leaned forward and propped his elbow on his leg.

"Of the twenty-seven graduates who came out of the academy only nine will actually be accepted as Genin. The other eighteen will be weeded out and sent back for another year. In other words, this next test I'm going to give you is a make-it or break-it, pass-fail assessment, and the chances that you will fail it is at least sixty-six percent," Kakashi informed, upon which he saw the faces on all of them change drastically. The flinches were a big enough indicator that he'd really dropped the big one on them, which brought a smile to his face, "See… I told you that you'd freak out."

Naruto blinked, looking across to see that Sasuke's scowl had darkened somewhat and that Sakura was now looking especially pale. Admittedly, the jinchuriki had also suffered his own electric shock at the news, but being the kind of person used to expecting the unexpected, his outward reaction didn't exceed beyond that of a blink and a blank stare. After seeing the responses from everybody else, the jinchuriki then grinned and eagerly gazed back at the Jonin, "Sweet…"

"Wait! Then what was the point of the graduation exams?" Sakura asked hurriedly, finding the new piece of information hard to digest.

"Oh that? That was just a preliminary test to select candidates who might become Genin. Or not. Sorry."

"Ugh…" Sakura groaned, now starting to feel queasy. Iruka was really onto something when he said to the class that the trials they were expected to face from now on were only going to get even tougher. Guess she should have seen this one coming.

"That's how it is. I'm the one who decides whether you pass or fail. Be at the designated training spot at five A.M… and bring your ninja gear. Don't be late," Kakashi stated, hopping off of the railing and walking over to the group. Pulling out several sheets of paper from his vest pockets, he then handed each of them one to read before turning away and allowing the information he had just given to sink in. "That's it, you're dismissed. Oh… and one more thing." The man glanced over his shoulder and smirked at the kids when they turned to face him, "You may want to skip breakfast tomorrow otherwise… you'll puke."

Sasuke scrunched up the paper after reading it, letting out a low 'huff' of indifference before getting up and heading off. Sakura remained where she was seated for several minutes longer, holding her sheet tightly between her fingers and narrowing her eyes on it. All her thoughts and feelings became focused on the final obstacle standing in her way.

"If I fail this, I'll be separated from Sasuke-kun! This is a trial of love!" Scrunching her paper in her grip, she then look across at Naruto to see how he was taking it. Surprisingly, she saw the boy was rocking back and forth on his stair with a wide grin on his face. She gave him a deadpanned look when she heard him giggle enthusiastically and shook her head, "Why is he so cheerful? Shouldn't he be freaking out right now?"

"Well! Time to get some training in!" Naruto exclaimed, jumping to his feet and waving down at the kunoichi still sitting next to him. "See yah tomorrow, Sakura-chan." He then sprinted forward and without prior thought or care, dived straight over the railing of the balcony and into the streets below like an Olympic swimmer leaping from the block, a sight witnessed by his baffled teammate and a thoroughly amused Kakashi.

Sakura deflated miserably, "I so wish I had your confidence, Naruto…"

OOO

That night…

Tayuya chuckled as she watched Naruto load up on ammunition and weapons, all in preparation for the test he was going to be taking part in tomorrow morning. From the way he was grinning so broadly you could swear he was scheduled to be doing something else the next day, like heading off to a ramen eating contest or something. Unfortunately, that was not the case.

He was pretty much wearing the same stuff he had worn all day, so there was absolutely no change or alteration made to his attire. All he did was grab several more knives from his room and wash his face of the problem he'd earlier had with his gauntlet. After a quick scrub, he was soon ready to move out, performing some stretches to warm himself up for the long haul over to the training field…

…where he was supposed to be meeting his team in about seven hours…

"Rough day, huh, shithead?"

"Not really," Naruto replied, adjusting the brace on his wrist and tugging on the goggles around his neck, "It was actually pretty cool. I got to spend time with my team and I found out that I'd already met our Jonin sensei a while back."

"Right on. Guess that makes you one of the lucky few. Maybe he'll take it easy on you guys?"

"I doubt it. He seems like the really tough kind. Plus he wears a mask, so you know he's going to be pretty hardcore. Either way, I'm totally psyched about the test sensei has prepared for us. I can't wait!"

"My. Aren't we overflowing with confidence," Tayuya chuckled, taking spoonfuls of stew and downing them one after the other. She then looked up in time to see the blonde open the kitchen window and begin clambering out of it, "Try not to overdo it, shithead. You know what happens when you do."

Naruto, halfway out, looked back at his flat mate curiously, "Do you have to do another test with your team tomorrow?"

The musician nodded mournfully and set her spoon down, "Yeah. Genma-sensei said that we were going to do our first mission as a group in the morning… but then he kept talking and said that it was going to be an exam. Damn it." She let out a sigh as she picked at her food, "I hate when they do that to you. Anko-sensei was exactly the same every training day. The moment you think that you're home clear after going through hell, she sends a fucking gargantuan snake to block your way." The girl then noticed Naruto's puzzled look and waved it off, "Never mind. Just get going you troublesome bastard."

"Right," Naruto grinned, pulling his goggles over his eyes and nodding, "Have fun, Tayuya-chan."

"You too, Naruto-kun," the girl exclaimed back, before watching him disappear into the night air.

XXX

Early the next morning…

Naruto didn't sleep a wink that night. Not a wink.

Having spent the entire time up and about, the jinchuriki had taken to wandering the entire training field foraging for all manner of interesting plant and wildlife he could find. In months past he'd made it a point to traverse as much of every area inside of the village as possible, putting his senses to the test to familiarize himself with the region in question while also making sure to memorize every path, hiding spot, branch and tree. Hell, he didn't even really need to know that much since he just did this out of habit. He could just as easily survive in any area he was dropped into.

Call it two years of wild animal instinct pounded into his brain.

Anyway, with his adrenaline pumping and mind completely set on the day to come, the boy explored the woods the entire night and met up with some of the nocturnal creatures he had previously befriended on his many adventures. When the sun finally started to rise over the distant mountains several hours later, Naruto felt that he was more than ready for the challenges awaiting him. All he needed was a good breakfast first.

To hell with what his instructor said to them. He wasn't dumb enough to skip out on a meal. He'd be running on nothing if that were the case. If he threw up during the test, he'd throw up. What was so bad about that?

Coughing up blood though, now that was even worse.

What he had was just a simple morning meal; a small amount of fungus, herbs, bugs and lizards he managed to snatch up in the woods and cook over a small fire. Believe it or not, toasted newt was really delicious. It actually tasted like… well… toasted newt.

You couldn't say a beetle the size of a shot glass tasted like chicken, because it didn't. It tasted like a God damn, mother-fucking beetle.

Sated and ready for action, Naruto then headed for the clearing where the team would be meeting up. He arrived at the exact same time as Sasuke and Sakura decided to show up, but while they were walking in from their respective homes in the village, he came out of the woods. With a couple of sticks of roasted lizard held firmly in hand, the boy munched on the extra treats in delight while he met with his companions in the center of the clearing.

"Good morning," Naruto chirped, hand in his pocket. "How'd you guys sleep?"

"Well," Sasuke grunted.

"Terribly," was Sakura's tired response and was followed immediately by a yawn. She then noticed the thing in the jinchuriki's hand and looked at it apprehensively, "What the hell are you eating?"

Naruto, chewing on the meat still in his mouth, gave the kebab a contemplative glance, "Roasted leaf gecko I think." Not noticing the girl turn a slight shade of green, he then held out the second one to her, "Want one? They taste great and they're really high in protein."

"No thanks," the kunoichi replied rather nauseously. While it was an incredibly thoughtful gesture, Sakura just wasn't in the mood for exotic delicacies right now. Plus she was on a diet, so what else could she say? "Didn't Kakashi-sensei say not to have breakfast, Naruto?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So… aren't you worried about puking your guts out when he's got us running around and doing stuff?" Sakura asked with a frown, something that even had Sasuke's full attention as he looked across at the jinchuriki.

Naruto laughed, "I'm not worried about that at all. To be honest, I'm way more concerned about what he'll have us doing that he says will have us puking our guts out." He held out the kebabs to both of them; the one he had already taken a bite out to Sasuke while the other one he handed to Sakura. "Look, it's better to have something to eat and go in with energy to burn than none at all; otherwise we won't be able to concentrate. Trust me. It sucks when you're running on an empty tank."

Hearing two loud growls coming from those who didn't have anything to eat that morning, both Sasuke and Sakura blushed and tried to cover the noises up with their hands. After some careful consideration in regards to what Naruto had said and what was being offered to them, on top of the complaints their insides were giving them at having no food in them, the pair eventually gave in. Sasuke took the kebab offered to him and ate the side that his teammate hadn't already taken a bite of. Sakura was more hesitant about it, giving the lizard a dirty look before having the tail end first.

It was surprisingly a lot tastier than the two earlier expected, so after a few tentative nibbles, the pair eventually horked down the roasted reptiles till there was nothing left. In addition to the lizards, Naruto also pulled out some salad with sweet grass and mushrooms from his pocket, both wrapped in large leaves similar to what sticky rice came in.

He tossed it to each of them, "You can eat these things whole. They're all edible, even the wrappings," Naruto exclaimed, watching happily as his teammates did as advised. Sasuke was wise enough to only have half of his and wrapped the rest of it for later, while Sakura pretty much consumed all of hers. "Didn't eat dinner either, huh?"

Looking a little ashamed, the girl glanced away with red in her cheeks, "Yeah."

"That's okay," Naruto exclaimed while slipping both hands into his pockets, "But you may want to drop the habit of dieting. We're shinobi; so we get out more than ordinary people do. If you deny your body the fuel it needs to burn while moving or fighting, you'll starve."

Sakura looked towards the jinchuriki in slight astonishment, with Sasuke even giving the boy an impressed glance before turning his back on the pair.

It was quite rare to see this side of Naruto, since all they'd ever saw of him in class was his everyday tomfoolery and lack of interest in everything remotely educational. Based on his character and interests, they figured he was just one of those who didn't bother to prepare for the worst and didn't know anything about the world around him, when in truth he was really quite sharp. This brought a more fascinated glimmer to Sakura's gaze as she took to staring at the boy for a while, up to the point he turned away from them and had a bite of a long-mountain mushroom he'd also picked up in the woods.

"Since when was Naruto… so cool…" the kunoichi wondered in awe, shortly before snapping back into reality when she realized who it was she was thinking so deeply about. She shook her head fiercely before also turning away, "Th-Thanks for the tip."

"No problem, Sakura-chan."

The talk of food and preparation soon deteriorated into silence as all three Genin began waiting patiently for the arrival of their instructor. What shortly followed a decent hour into their wait was an ordeal almost reminiscent of the day before when, for the next few rotations of the clock, the group stood in the middle of the clearing doing absolutely nothing of value but waiting around for a man who was more than likely to show up by the end of next week or the turn of the century.

Seriously! Who the hell was this late for a meeting that they organized? Did their teacher forget to set his alarm clock? Was he still asleep? Was the man doing this to them on purpose? These questions plagued the minds of all of them as Sakura decided to sit and have a little nap, Naruto went to chase grasshoppers across the field, and Sasuke just stood in the same spot and stared off towards the distant horizon.

Finally, after approximately five hours of waiting, judging from the position of the sun, Kakashi decided to show up. He smiled pleasantly and gave a wave, "Morning everyone. Ready for your first day?"

"HEY! YOU'RE LATE!" both Naruto and Sakura shouted, with Sasuke looking across at the Jonin with clear displeasure.

The silver haired former truant chuckled and pointed sheepishly over his shoulder, "Well, a black cat crossed my path so I had to take the long way around." That had to be the worst lie ever concocted by a human being, living or dead, something that the entire team had no problems frowning at. Clearing his throat of the awkwardness, Kakashi then made his way over to the three large tree stumps standing nearby, "Okay. Let's get started."

Instructing them to set their gear down beside his next to the center post, along with a clock which he primed for noon, he then led the squad back to the middle of the field. With their undivided attention fixed on him, he then reached into his pocket and pulled out two bells, which tinkled loudly when he flicked them.

"Your assignment is very simple; you just have to take these bells from. That's all there is to it," Kakashi exclaimed, glancing down at the items in question before pointing towards the three stumps over where their gear was. "If you can't get them by noon you'll go without lunch. You'll be tied to those posts and you will watch while I eat my lunch in front of you."

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto frowned all at once, "So that's why…"

"You only have to get one bell," Kakashi informed as he dangled the two goals in front of them. "There are only two, so one of you will definitely be tied to a post by the end of the day. The person who doesn't take a bell will be disqualified for failing to complete the mission and get sent straight back to the academy. But then again… all three of you could cop it and fail. Are there any questions?" He got three hard stares from the trio, which was a response he had no quarrels with as he casually tied the two trinkets to his belt. "Very well; feel free to use any and all means to get the bells from me, weapons, jutsu, shuriken… because if you're not prepared to kill me you won't be able to take the bells."

"B-But sensei," Sakura said with concern lacing her voice, "Are you sure? Those weapons are really dangerous."

"Oh, I can handle it," Kakashi exclaimed before smiling when he saw the glares of determination being directed towards him from the team. "Okay. Now that you're all fired up, let's get going…" Upon seeing all three of them crouch, he then raised his hand and, after a few seconds of allowing the tension to build, dropped it to signal the start of the mission, "BEGIN!" They all broke off and vanished from sight.

OOO

The bell test started off well for the members of Team 7, particularly for the ever collected and experienced instructor Kakashi Hatake, who maintained his position in the middle of the clearing while surveying the surrounding field and woods for any signs of his students. He had given them the chance to put some distance between themselves and him, and now that they were hidden it was time for the real fun and games to start.

With the first twenty minutes passing without a sight or sound, the masked Jonin slipped his hands into his pockets and scanned the tree line of the forest to see if he could pick out any traces of the three.

If they were smart they would have hidden themselves well. The ultimate goal of the mission was obvious, so it was only logical that the teens would stay well within sight of their instructor but act smart enough to find a spot where they couldn't be seen in kind. After a lengthy silence and an even longer time spent searching, the Jonin nodded his head approvingly at the results he could make out thus far.

"The main basic for a shinobi is that he or she will use their surroundings to their advantage, conceal their presence and hide effectively," Kakashi recited as he glanced about, "Nice. They're all hidden well."

Unbeknownst to the team leader though, the rest of the squad had fanned out around the clearing and were watching him carefully from the shadows. Whilst Sasuke had perched himself in a tree on the edge of the clearing, Sakura had managed to squeeze herself underneath a bush on the far side and had gone completely prone. It was obvious that they had chosen their spots based on the feel for the environment and were determined not to give away their positions until they had figured out an effective strategy to use against their teacher.

The only problem at this point was that they had no idea what the man was capable of. His high rank and elite status was one thing, but neither of them had any idea how he fought, how fast he moved, how strong he was, or what kind of techniques he had. Hell, they didn't even know if they were really hiding themselves properly. Maybe he had already found them but was taking it easy on them so to give them a fighting chance.

These were questions without answers that continued to run rampant in their minds as both the Uchiha and his kunoichi teammate opted to keep themselves out of sight and just watch their instructor carefully… for the time being at least.

Naruto on the other hand had just up and vanished. No one, not even the teacher knew where he went… and that was the point.

The other male member of the squad's concern wasn't focused on the jinchuriki's situation though; it was focused on the man standing plain in sight with the goal hanging from his waistline.

"He's standing in the center of the clearing with an open field all around him," Sasuke thought as he scrutinized the Jonin's position and all aspects related to it. "The fact that he hasn't moved since the outset of this test means that he has absolute confidence in his ability to be able to spot and counter any attack from any direction. I bet he's just waiting for one of us to break silence. So… factoring in all the negatives; his advantage: the view of the area, open ground, as well as his superior strength, skill, speed, and experience. Our advantage: we're hidden from sight and his overconfidence."

The Uchiha added all of this together to form one single conclusion; to wait until their sensei's guard dropped and attack him from behind. If he could blindside him, then he'd be able to jump through the opening.

It was all a waiting game now; a test of nerves to see who would break first.

Problem was though that the genius had overlooked one other important factor that, in all likelihood, would be able to swing this contest in their favor. He simply wasn't in the correct frame of mind to backtrack on his current string of thoughts and basically moved forward without any additional concern or feeling. All he was interested in was acquiring the bell. If he got that, he'd be one step closer to his ultimate goal.

Sakura on the other hand was sweating bullets over what to do. She laid there in the grass, her mind a whirl with what ifs and doubts. Though she had complete and utter faith in Sasuke's ability to handle the situation, on the other side of the spectrum there was her and her debacle.

"Where should I go? What should I do? I don't know?!" the girl thought as she swallowed nervously. "Kakashi-sensei is in the middle of the clearing. He hasn't moved since the start of the exercise and isn't doing anything other than looking around. Is he going to move anytime soon? Is he going to try and look for us?"

Perhaps. Maybe if the Jonin got impatient. Would he get mad if they didn't do anything through until the time ran out and fail them? God… this was so nerve rattling!

"If he's going to move then maybe I should stay… b-but if I do… I won't be able to get a bell and I'll fail. Ohh… this is so hard. If I try to leave this spot he'll see me. If I stay I'll just waste time and fail. I… I need…" She looked around the trees anxiously. "I need to find Sasuke-kun. He'll know what to do!"

After half an hour of nothing but white noise and the sounds of birds singing, Kakashi, who had still yet to move even a single step, was now feeling a little bit concerned. It wasn't that he was bored, it was just that neither one of his students had decided to show themselves or had made any attempts to try and get to him. Perhaps they were smarter than he had earlier anticipated.

That or they were too scared to approach him.

"Hmm… they haven't moved an inch," Kakashi thought, eye shifting from right to left curiously. When several more minutes ticked by and not a sound was made, the Jonin relaxed himself and let out a weary sigh. "Well then, if they won't make the first move then I will." With that said, the masked man then reached into his pouch, an action that caught the attentions of all those watching.

At first Sasuke and Sakura thought he was reaching for a blade or something he would use as a means of tracking them. This immediately had alarm bells ringing inside their heads as they quickly made guesses as to what the man was reaching for.

They then nearly face faulted all at once when they saw their instructor pull an orange book out of his pouch and flip it open; the cover reading Icha Icha Paradise.

"Now… let's see…" Kakashi murmured as he looked down at the page he'd doggy-eared. "Ah yes."

"You've got to be kidding me!" Sakura screeched in her head as she stared across at the instructor with a twitching eyebrow, "Is he that confident that he can read while there's an exam going on?!"

"Cha! Take this seriously you damn Cyclops!" Inner Sakura shouted vehemently. Her more composed counterpart could only shake her head in dismay and continue watching from a distance as the man giggled perversely over his novel.

Sasuke on the other hand, who had managed to recover from the shock, took note of the development and quietly reached into his pouch behind him with both hands. His glare tightened as he watched the man turn his back to him and continue running through the pages. Upon considering the situation, the distance to target and the time it would take for his weapons to reach, the Uchiha smirked.

"An opening!" Drawing the blades, he pulled them back and in one smooth motion, chucked them, "Finally!"

His blades and stars zipped through the air, separating in flight before converging on the Jonin's back. In two seconds flat they reached their target and, much to the Genin's shock, they hit home. His success was accompanied by a surprised gasp from the Jonin and his body being thrown forward by all of the blades burying into his spine. His whole form went limp as it began to fall, blood trailing from the entry wounds.

"H-He got hit!" Sakura thought in alarm.

The Uchiha frowned, watching the body fall for the longest second he'd ever experienced before suddenly seeing it burst into a white cloud of smoke. The struck individual then revealed himself to be nothing more than a log impaled with several throwing knives, a sight that startled all of the teens in the area.

"Damn it!" Sasuke cursed and immediately took off running, bursting out of his hiding place and into the woods. "Kawarimi! So it WAS a trap! He purposefully turned his back to the tree line I was hiding in to create an opening and waited for one of us to attack! Shit! Now he knows where I am!"

Meanwhile, in the forest across the clearing, in a tree overlooking the entire field, a familiar eye could be seen staring out from the shadows in the direction the shuriken had been thrown from. Perched on the branch of a larch, the face of Kakashi Hatake then poked into view as he followed the trail left behind by his target, "So there he is."

Realizing that her sensei had moved, Sakura seized the opportunity presented and quickly made a beeline out from her hiding place. She dashed through the woods towards where the knives had been thrown, wondering whether it had been Sasuke or Naruto that tried to take out their instructor. Whether it was one or the other she didn't care, all she hoped was that Kakashi hadn't gotten to them first.

"I'll bet it was Sasuke-kun!" Sakura thought desperately as she leapt through the trees, "My gut's telling me that it was! I hope sensei hasn't got-no! That would never happen! Not to hi-" The girl's thoughts were then cut off when she suddenly felt something clamp across her mouth and, giving a startled yelp, was forcefully whipped around the tall oak she was just about to pass.

Silenced by the hand over her gob, the pink haired girl tensed up when she felt her body press up against that of another, her eyes widening in horror and mind immediately racing.

Shit! Was it Kakashi? No. It couldn't be! There's no way he could have gotten to her so quickly. He was after whoever threw those knives. Trembling nervously, Sakura felt the arm around her stomach tighten and, still unable to speak, looked over her shoulder to whoever it was that had managed to catch her in mid-jump.

Her heart skipped a beat when she saw that it was Naruto who was glaring over his shoulder through the thick brush they were now concealed behind.

"N-Naruto… what?" the kunoichi thought, her mouth attempting to verbally address her question before she suddenly saw his other hand pop up in front of her. Confused, she looked down at it and saw that it was pointing in the direction she had been running in, and quickly followed it. When Sakura glanced through the gap in the leaves and branches, she saw the all too familiar form of their teacher land on a tree several meters away.

Upon stopping, the masked Jonin looked around a few times, as if searching for something. After several seconds and nothing, the man then focused his attention back onto his previous task and moved on, disappearing in a shunshin.

"H-He was looking for me?" Sakura felt a river of relief flood through her, "Shit. That was close."

"He's good," Naruto whispered, his hot breath hitting the girl's neck and sending a chill up her spine. When Sakura's eyes turned to the boy and she saw him still staring off into the forest their instructor had disappeared to, he then slowly relinquished his hand from the kunoichi's mouth and continued. "I've never seen anyone move that fast before. Kakashi-sensei was able to pop a Kawarimi right in front of us just before the shuriken hit him. We don't stand a chance by ourselves."

Sakura blinked as she gazed up into the serious expression of the jinchuriki as he spoke and gulped when he turned to her. Feeling a bit of heat come to her cheeks the girl stared back at him nervously. "Th-Then how are we going to get the bells from him? If he's so fast, then wh-" The girl stopped when she remembered why she had been running in the first place and snapped in the direction Kakashi had gone, "Oh no! Sasuke-kun!"

"It's okay, Sakura-chan," Naruto exclaimed, getting the girl to look at him again to see him smirk, "I've got it covered…"

OOO

After making his way into another clearing further away, Sasuke took the time to survey his surroundings before coming to a complete stop. His glare hardening as he stared ahead of him, the boy maintained his position firmly as a familiar presence suddenly washed over him. He didn't even bother to look behind him because he knew he'd been found out.

"That was a good move back there, Sasuke-kun. But you were too impatient and attacked before fully considering the possibility of a trap, and thus fell for an obvious setup," the voice of his more than lax teacher came drifting over to him through the air.

As a gentle breeze blew leaves into the vicinity, the raven haired boy furrowed his brow under his fluttering bangs and lowered his head. "I should have seen that coming from a mile away. But I guess it's too late for any do-overs. You've got me."

"Indeed I have," the Jonin chuckled while leaning against the solitary tree he was standing by, book in hand and nose buried in it. After flipping to the next page, the silver haired man then pushed himself off and strolled forward, stopping till he was face to face with his student when he finally decided to turn around. "So, I'm facing down a member of the village's most powerful clan, the Uchiha Clan. This could be interesting…"

Teacher and subordinate glared across at one another intently, the atmosphere around them quickly growing thick with hostility as they sized each other up. In their current positions, the Uchiha was clearly being the one put under the most pressure, as he realized he was up against a man who was not only quick on the draw, but deceptively powerful and intelligent. It became painfully obvious to him why their teacher was considered an elite Jonin in the first place.

He definitely possessed the skills to back up his more than idiotic behavior and laidback attitude.

Sasuke lowered his head as his fists clenched, another breeze hitting the pair as the silence dragged on.

Then… it happened!

The boy crouched and immediately chucked a barrage of shuriken at the Jonin, who leapt to the side just in time to dodge.

"Such obvious attacks won't work on me," Kakashi informed, almost missing the sound of a rope snapping. As he skidded along the ground, he glanced over his shoulder, "A trap?" He then sprang backwards, barely avoiding a hail of kunai that had been attached to a launcher hidden in the nearby shrubbery. The Jonin looked up at the tree that got hit by the barrage in surprise as he slid to a stop, only to look behind him when Sasuke appeared, a kick flying in his direction. "What?"

When the Uchiha kicked he struck with a full swing, only to have his instructor block the blow with his arm. When he saw the Jonin grab his ankle to stop him, the boy then swung in with a right overhand, which hit his instructor's hand when it shot up to stop him. They were good blows, precise and heavy, but Sasuke wasn't done yet. The boy quickly twisted his body downwards, swinging his other free leg over for a hit straight down onto his teacher's cranium, but Kakashi managed to cross his arms overhead to block, inadvertently opening up his midsection.

Sasuke smirked as he swung down, his left hand coming down and fingers stretching out.

Kakashi's gaze widened when he saw the boy making another move he never expected him to, "Damn!"

The sound of a bell tinkling rang out, a split second before the Jonin leapt back in lightning fast time to avoid a follow-through. Sliding across the ground, Kakashi stopped to see Sasuke land and come to a crouching stop too, both glaring hard at each other.

"This kid is fierce. I didn't even have time to read Icha Icha Paradise," the Jonin thought, watching as the Uchiha gritted his teeth back at him. After a minute or so longer of staring, Kakashi then gave an eye smile and rose up to full height. "Well, I'll admit that you're different from the other two." Opening his eye up again, he looked across at his student just in time to see the boy start flipping through hand seals and jumped in alarm when he recognized the seal he stopped on, "Wait a second, a Genin shouldn't…"

"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

A torrent of fire then shot forth from Sasuke's mouth, consuming the Jonin in a great ball of fire that engulfed the entire area in front of the Genin. The prodigy torched both the ground and airspace, making sure that his opponent got hit good before disengaging from the technique and watching the blaze die down. A smoldering crater emerged from the smoke shortly afterwards, but the Uchiha was startled when he saw that his opponent was no longer there and began looking around wildly.

"He's gone!" Sasuke thought, glancing up, "In the air? No? From the sides? Where?"

"MOVE!" a voice shouted before the Uchiha was suddenly tackled by something orange and fast-moving.

Sasuke looked down with a start, where he saw Naruto had rammed into him from the side and blasted him off his feet. When he did, he also saw a hand jut out from the ground where he had been standing a second earlier, which aimed to grab but ended up missing. It was then the Uchiha realized what must have happened and gritted his teeth, "Holy sh-… he went underground?!" After being thrown back both he and Naruto landed and slid to a stop, spinning around to see Kakashi jump out of the earth.

The Jonin stood before them and glared, seeing Naruto now standing beside Sasuke and both looking ready to fight.

"I was wondering when you were going to show up, Naruto-kun," Kakashi exclaimed while giving the boy an eye smile, "Nice save."

Sweating a bit, the raven haired boy frowned. "Yeah, thanks dobe," Sasuke muttered, earning a glare and a tick mark from the jinchuriki.

"Oh. Yeah. You're welcome, you bastard," the blonde growled. The guy really knew how to show his appreciation to someone who just saved his skin. "Next time I'll just sit back and watch him drag you under."

Kakashi continued to smile pleasantly as he looked between the both of them. "Now that the two of you are here, I think now is as good a time as any to restrain you." He began marching forward.

Naruto jumped in front of Sasuke and flipped through hand seals of his own, startling the Jonin at the technique because he'd never seen that kind of combination before. After finishing on Dog, Naruto brought the fist he'd made outward trailing white smoke, which he then opened up and, in a matter of seconds, flooded the place with white and black clouds.

"Futon: Oroshi!" (Wind Release: Wind Blowing Down from the Mountains)

The white mass of smoke exploded outwards, hitting Kakashi full on and sending him sliding back under the force of hurricane like winds. He shielded himself against the blasts of dust, debris and clouds, and managed to stop himself from hitting the tree line. The Jonin then looked up in astonishment, wondering how the hell Naruto knew such a technique, but was unable to focus due to being consumed in dark storm clouds and rushing gales. Looking around, the man saw nothing black and white plumes going everywhere, filling up the sky and blocking out the sun high above.

From a distance, it looked like an atomic bomb in both form and scale had just gone off as rings of grayscale smoke choked the entire forest.

Clicking his tongue, Kakashi flipped through his own hand seals. "I'll admit that was a good one. Futon: Daitoppa!" (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough) A massive gale of wind then exploded off of his body, clashing with Naruto's technique and forcefully parting the clouds. It was a fight which ended quickly with the white and black smoke dissipating on the wind as Kakashi's jutsu fanned outwards.

Within moments the haze dissipated, allowing the Jonin a clear view of the whole field.

As he expected, both Naruto and Sasuke were gone, having left in the chaos brought on by the jinchuriki. This had the silver haired man scratch his head and breathe a sigh of exhaustion.

"Boy, I didn't expect for the test to go this far… or for them to do this well. I'm surprised," he exclaimed in an amazed tone of voice. "Clearly the most competent ones have shown a lot of skill and grit… but it'll take more than brute force to overwhelm me." Slipping his hands into his pockets, the Jonin then looked off to the side with a careless expression. "Now let's see… where would they have gone?"

OOO

Sasuke wasn't sure if he'd ever run that fast in his life. But as soon as Naruto popped that massive smoke screen, whatever the hell it was, both of them had high-tailed it out of there before their instructor could even get a bead on them. It had helped a lot that the blonde's technique produced such strong winds it gave them a boost out of the area, but the jutsu was supposed to be a stalling one, and apparently an effective one.

Nevertheless, after several minutes of hard sprinting and, by the Uchiha's estimate, after putting several miles distance between them and their teacher, the pair soon found themselves reunited with Sakura and standing in some patch of grass somewhere in the middle of the forest.

Reunited, they all stood around in the one area doing their own things. While Sasuke was catching his breath, Sakura was fussing over him and Naruto was standing by a tree glaring out into the woods. His ears and eyes were twitching to every sight and sound, but not sensing their teacher anywhere near there, he was quick to calm.

Managing to recover, the Uchiha looked up at the jinchuriki with a glare, "Why the hell did you jump in like that you idiot? I nearly had him!"

"Yeah, I'm sure you did," Naruto replied, glancing back at the boy with a glare of his own. "You were a second away from being pulled straight into the ground and potentially killed. Believe it. I was watching you the entire time."

Jaw tightening, Sasuke wanted so badly to have an argument with his class rival. However, with them now back in hiding and with the events of his battle with Kakashi still fresh in his mind, the raven haired boy managed to quell any debatable tendencies and looked away. Sakura watched the teen calm himself and step away, hands in his pockets and appearing frustrated.

After a few moments of silence, the kunoichi smiled towards the Uchiha and spoke up, "L-Listen Sasuke-kun, there's no need to push ourselves. We can always try again. Let's just rest for a moment and take things slowly. I'm sure that you want to have another shot at those bells before the time runs out."

"Don't worry about me. I'm far beyond giving up at this point," Sasuke replied, still looking away with his usual cold demeanor in play. "When I fought him I was able to touch it. Next time, for sure, I'll get one…"

"No you won't," Naruto shot back immediately.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed and he quickly turned on the jinchuriki. "How do you know?"

The blonde rounded on him just as he did, "Because I know. On your own, as you are now, you don't have a hope in hell of getting one of those bells." He approached the Uchiha, his expression all serious as he fell into full tirade mode. "He's faster than you are, stronger than you are, has better reflexes, his timing is better, and if his age and ninja-know-how means anything he's also smarter than you. I've been watching him closely the entire time, how he held the center field, how he baited you, chased after you, and cornered you. Hell, he nearly caught Sakura-chan just from chasing after you." Naruto pointed towards the girl who shrunk away when she was placed under the spotlight. "Not even I'm stupid enough to challenge someone like that."

Sasuke turned to face the boy fully. "It's not like you weren't thinking about going after him too, dobe."

The jinchuriki smirked and gave him a nod. "I'm not going to lie; I was tempted to," he replied with a deep frown. "But he's a Jonin. Get it? Jonin! That's one step down from Kage and that means he's super tough."

Sakura, looking between both the irate Sasuke and the equally irate Naruto nervously, gulped and panned back towards the jinchuriki anxiously. Though she had expected her blonde teammate to be one of the boys from their graduating group who would've been more than willing to take their instructor on one on one, apparently he wasn't. In fact, Naruto was vehemently jousting against the idea of fighting their teacher, and that was saying something that even the normally solitary Sasuke was willing to listen to.

Something about the energetic boy's instincts was telling her that the man that was testing their group had even the notorious prankster of their village who wasn't afraid to mess with anyone shaking in his boots. This was something to take to heart.

"H-He's really that strong?" the kunoichi asked.

"You saw him yourself, Sakura-chan," Naruto murmured, looking back at her gravely. "How he reacted, how he played, and how he came after us. I've never seen anyone in the village move like that before. I'm pretty sure not even Iruka-sensei can touch the level this guy's at."

This had both Sasuke and Sakura look at the jinchuriki incredulously, before turning away to reconsider their chances.

From that point onwards, it seemed that the more they thought about the exercise given to them, the more impossible the challenge of getting the bells became. Sasuke admitted he'd been tricked, baited, lured out, and nearly beaten had it not been for Naruto's timely intervention. Even Sakura had to thank Naruto for the save.

The fact was she had been so focused on finding Sasuke that she jumped out without thinking and inadvertently nearly ended up as the Jonin's first kill. That thought gave the girl a sickly feeling that had her look down at the floor grimly.

After several minutes of silence in which all members of the team meditated on the details of the challenge, they then looked towards each other quietly with varying looks of doubt drawn across each of their respective faces.

"This is impossible… isn't it?" Sakura asked, glancing hopefully towards the Uchiha.

Sasuke, having been the first one most adamant about acquiring a bell and passing this absurd test, stepped forward. With a battle hardened expression in play, he confronted the other two and looked between them considerately. First looking towards the kunoichi, he then looked towards Naruto who had just as serious a look in play and was staring back at him with a telltale glint in his eyes.

Seconds into the silence, the Uchiha then furrowed his brow and smiled, "Not unless we work together."

Sakura turned with a start while a smirk crossed Naruto's face. The kunoichi gazed across at the raven haired boy fearfully, "W-Work together? But… what about the bells?"

"What about them?"

"Th-There are only two of them? Aren't you worried about not getting one?"

"It doesn't matter," Sasuke replied before panning towards his class rival, "What matters is getting the bells. That's our goal. But we're not going to do it on our own, right dobe?"

The blonde chuckled, "Now you're talking, teme." The jinchuriki smirked at the confused Sakura with an expression conveying a restored confidence, one which seemed to have been lost when the three of them reunited not too long ago. "The three of us are going to get the bells together. On our own we don't stand a chance, but if we work together…"

"I-It just… might… work," Sakura mumbled to herself. Her eyes shifted wearily as she thought about what the team was saying. When she ran the idea several times in her head and considered their numbers, as well as their collective skills and abilities, the girl then clenched her fist and looked back up. A smile appeared on her face, "Yeah. W-We can do it! We can absolutely do it, CHA!"

Naruto raised an eyebrow at the girl's sudden exclamation, which the kunoichi blushed at before averting her gaze. "I think I've found something I have in common with her, dattebayo." Chuckling, the jinchuriki then focused on Sasuke. "I don't know. What do you think?"

"Probably the same thing you're thinking right now," the Uchiha replied and looked around as they all gathered in the center. Pulling his hands out of his pockets, the raven haired teen smirked, "We were put into a team for a reason."

"Working together, we're a lot stronger," Naruto asserted.

"There are only two bells. But together, the three of us are one, right?" Sakura asked, switching between the two quickly. She saw them nod towards her approvingly, especially the blonde whose grin just kept on growing. Nodding as well, the girl raised her fists up, "Okay! Then let's do it!"

"My, aren't you three getting along."

Startled, the trio whirled around and looked straight up towards the canopy of the trees, where they saw their masked instructor crouching low on a high branch and looking down at them from over his book. Expressions changing from shocked to serious, the entire squad jumped back and dropped into fighting stances, ready to take the man on at a moment's notice.

As soon as he saw them take defensive measures, Kakashi clapped his book shut. "So… you were saying about taking me on together? As a team, right?"

Naruto, gritting his teeth, glared back at the Jonin, "Yeah! That's right!"

Giving a chuckle, the masked cyclops stood up to full height and slipped a hand into his pocket. "Very well. If that's how it's going to be."

Looking alarmed, Sasuke then glanced across at the other two, "We've got to move! Naruto, give us cover! Me and Sakura will swing around and take him on both sides! We'll box him in!"

The two of them nodded, with the jinchuriki reaching into his pouch quickly, "Right!"

He pulled out a smoke pellet, but the moment he began bringing his arm back around, he felt a firm hand suddenly grab his wrist from behind before suddenly locking his arm directly behind his head, which was also grabbed roughly. The jinchuriki stopped dead with a shocked look on his face as his eyes glanced around, where he saw the Jonin standing right behind him. It took them a second, but eventually Sasuke and Sakura also noticed their instructor standing in their midst and jerked away in shock, the latter looking up at the adult before glancing towards the tree where he had once been standing.

"H-How?" Sakura's eyes darted back to their instructor, "How did he do that?"

"So fast," Naruto thought, stunned, tugging against the man's grip but finding he was unable to move.

Again, how the hell did he do that?

Kakashi smiled as he gazed down at the blonde he now had at his mercy, who was struggling to get out of the headlock, "You shouldn't have taken your eyes off me. That was your mistake." He glanced around at the other two, where he then saw both Sasuke and Sakura reach for their holsters and draw their kunai. They then took offensive stances, ready to attack to free Naruto from the man's grip. "So that's your answer, is it?"

The three braced themselves, ready for the next move. Even though Naruto was being held he was pretty sure he could get out. Even Sasuke was confident he could hit his target at this range, as was Sakura. However, when all of them prepared themselves to take action against the masked Jonin standing within range of them, Kakashi then nodded his head and gave him his trademark eye smile.

"You pass."

The three Genin all blinked when they heard that.

Sasuke and Sakura ended up staring at the man a little bit flabbergasted whereas Naruto just stared ahead of him with wide eyes. It was after the news finally settled into them that the Jonin released the blonde from his grip and allowed him to fall back into line with the other two, who stood up out of their stances and looked at the man attentively.

"Huh?" Sakura asked, conveying the same thought that the other two were having.

"That's it. You pass," Kakashi said with more cheeriness in his voice.

"Pass? But why?" the kunoichi asked, this time using words instead of dull exclamations.

"Simply put, you guys are the first," the Jonin continued without skipping a beat, stepping back and slipping his hands into his pockets.

"First? First for what?" Naruto asked.

"What I mean is that you guys are the first team I've ever tested who were able to set aside your personal interests and resolved to work together to complete a task that would have otherwise been impossible to do on your own," Kakashi exclaimed with an affirmative head nod, "Even if it meant that one of you would fail, in the end you were willing to work as a group to see it through the rest of the way. Everyone else would have continued blindly until the final bell fighting on their own without even sparing a second thought to their teammates. You guys though… you really came along."

The man walked out a little, taking on a faraway look as his team stared up at him intently. As confusing as the results were to them at first, things shortly thereafter started falling into place.

"While individual strength is important for a shinobi, what's even more important is teamwork. Everyone in this village knows this. Ninjas are also required to think beyond the normal. Look underneath the underneath. In this world, it is said that those who break the rules and codes of a ninja are called trash," Kakashi recited, before looking back at them and giving an eye smile. "But you know what?" He pulled out a familiar wrapped leaf from his pocket and tossed it up and down in his hand, with Sasuke blinking in surprise and checking his pocket for the forest food Naruto had given to both him and Sakura earlier that day. All of them then looked at their instructor in astonishment. "Those who don't take care of their comrades are even worse than trash."

At this, the sun seemed to shine a little more brightly through the trees, and the small clearing they were standing in lit up in the noon sun. The warmth that flooded the area from the brilliant rays filled the team's hearts with triumph and understanding, with Sasuke giving an approving smile and Sakura giggling in excitement. Naruto on the other hand was gazing up at their teacher admirably, taking the words he'd spoken to heart with shimmering eyes.

"He's so cool," the jinchuriki thought.

With that said and done, the Jonin handed back the food to Sasuke before patting him, Sakura and Naruto on the head, "The training ends here. Everybody passes. Team 7 will start its first real missions tomorrow morning." He saw them all nod at the exact same time, to which he smiled warmly at them and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Meet up at this same training field at seven o'clock sharp over at the stumps. Great work you guys."

Once that announcement was made the trio and their teacher then began heading off, leaving the clearing in the woods well behind. When they arrived at the training pillars to collect their gear, Naruto was stopped by his teammates walking up to him and holding out two boxes. The jinchuriki looked between the two containers in confusion before glancing up at his friends, whom he could see were smiling at him and looking away respectively.

"This is for earlier, Naruto," Sakura exclaimed happily, thrusting the box further out.

The blonde recoiled a little in surprise, "Huh? R-Really?"

"Yeah. I mean… we were starving today and you gave us food. It only makes sense that we should return the favor," Sakura replied sincerely with the brightest of smiles. The Uchiha however maintained radio silence and just held out his thing with his gaze continually averted. Even though both of them had come to the same gesture of good faith at the exact same time, clearly they both had different ways of conveying their gratitude.

Feeling his stomach grumble, Naruto glanced down at himself apprehensively to listen to it voice its complaints before beaming back up at his teammates. He took their bento boxes and bowed to them gratefully, "Thanks so much, Sakura-chan. Sasuke."

The two smiled back at him, glad to see that he was satisfied.

Soon after that, with bags on their backs and a spring in their step, side by side with their teacher, the squad walked back to the village. Allowing the youngsters to get a little further ahead, the Jonin gazed at them all with an approving smile, watching as Naruto and Sakura chatted and Sasuke just listened in with an open ear.

"I have a feeling that things are about to get a whole lot more interesting around here," Kakashi thought, above everything else looking forward to the festivities tomorrow.

OOO

That night…

On the road leading across the Land of Fire away from Konohagakure, locked inside a horse-drawn wagon and guarded by several armed Chunin, the three kunoichi that had been involved in the Scroll of Seals incident were currently being escorted to Konoha's Strict Correctional Facility. Having no further need for them and feeling that they'd spent enough time in the village's dungeons; the officials had quickly decided to move them out for an extended sentence.

After aiding a now dismissed Konoha shinobi in the theft of an important historical and potentially dangerous artifact, it was no surprise they were being moved to their main holding facility for criminals. Even if their threat to the village was minimal, they were still too troublesome to keep an eye on, so you could say those that had been charged with their imprisonment had become fed up with looking after them. This was how poor Noriko, Kureha and Shuko took their dismissal from the underground cells and their processing by guarded transport. The leaf ninja were taking no more chances with them.

"This stinks," Kureha sulked from her spot against the walls, looking around at all the seals keeping them locked up. The fact that they were still dressed in their shinobi garb but had their hands cuffed was another thing worth noting. They were probably going to have their clothes changed at the facility. "I'm getting sick and tired of getting my ass kicked by that blonde haired kid."

"Yeah well… let's just be grateful that he didn't kill us for trying to take out our frustrations on him," Shuko spoke up, pulling her legs up as she thought back on their defeats. "If it were anybody else, they would've killed us on the spot for trying to take their life. I'm just thankful that our opponent was merciful and that I'm still breathing right now."

Noriko, their leader who was still showing some signs of her defeat at the hands of the boy's companion, huffed and glared towards one of the corners of their moving carriage. The bumps in the road were accentuated by every rattle and shake of the wooden hull, which didn't exactly make their ride comfortable. "You guys may be happy, but I'm sure as hell not. That mission was a complete fuck up. I've never felt so weak before in my life."

Kureha sighed, "That's because we spent all of our time in prison lounging about and letting our skills deteriorate. We could've at least done some training and kept up our strength."

"Well… if that's how you feel," Noriko looked back up at them, "The moment we get dropped off at prison, I'm going to start training from scratch and hitting the courtyard. There's no way I'm going to let myself get beaten again."

"B-But," Shuko looked across in surprise at the woman's assertive tone, "Wouldn't that be kind of redundant in our case? To do any kind of worthwhile training we'd need to use chakra, wouldn't we? And… well…" She pointed around them at the seals on the walls, "It's not like our hosts are going to be letting us have those kinds of privileges in our cells, are they?"

"We don't need chakra to get stronger," Noriko said with a determined smirk. "All we need are our bodies. If we strengthen our bodies and strengthen our taijutsu, then we can strengthen our ability to use chakra. It's how the whole spiritual and physical material works." She looked away again, still holding that smile of hers as her companions looked at her attentively. When they saw her lower her gaze, her voice softened. "That Naruto kid… when he beat us the first time, all he used was taijutsu and cheap tricks on us. Well… if he can be strong just using his body, then we can to." Her fists clenched tightly in memory of the fight and the kind of battle they'd just been involved in. "I won't be beaten again… that I can promise you."

Realizing that their leader had had some kind of sense knocked back into her, both Kureha and Shuko looked at each other momentarily and smiled proudly.

Honestly; getting your butt handed to you by a child really did open your eyes to the bigger picture. Anybody who was anybody could win a fight. They just needed to become that anybody in order to do so. Whether Noriko was determined not to get beaten by the same person again or not was unclear, but what was clear was her resolve to never get caught off guard in a one-on-one battle again.

Before their enlightening conversation could go any further however, loud explosions and blasts from outside rattled their moving prison. Their cart shaking violently, with flashes of light outside pouring in, the three kunoichi looked around with a start and held their ground firmly. Again and again their wagon was rocked by repeated concussive forces, the Chunin guards outside yelling out in panic and moving quickly to repel the sudden attack. When their voices fell silent, so did the commotion.

Panting heavily, the three kunoichi looked around before a panicking Shuko glanced towards their leader, who was now on her feet.

"W-What's going on?"

"Shh!" Noriko responded, raising her hands.

Eyes turning towards the door of the cart, they suddenly heard the sound of metal being bent and snapping. Several seconds later, the seal to their now stationary wagon was suddenly thrown open, and the light of a fire outside lit up their dark chamber. Blinking away the glare, all three kunoichi got to their feet and backed away when they saw the silhouette of a tall man with spiky hair step into their midst.

It didn't escape their notice that their Konoha escort was being held captive outside, trapped inside of slabs of rock, with two other people guarding over them; one a short girl with long spiky hair, and another huge man with a similar haircut and a massive build.

The jail breaker the kunoichi were confronted with was a tall individual, with long, spiky orange hair, wearing a long blue shirt, pants, a white vest, and two gauntlets on either arm. His piercing blue eyes landed on the women, whom also noticed he was wearing a headband with no village symbol on it. It was just a plain plate.

In fact, looking around at all three individuals dressed in matching clothing but different colors, all of them had headbands with no symbols on them. Weird.

The petite woman guarding over the trapped and unconscious Konoha shinobi outside grinned as she looked into the carriage. "So who do we have this time, Ishidate? Any big fish?"

"No. Just some tiny shrimp. Nothing to get excited about," the man named Ishidate replied in a suave voice and a disappointed sigh at the end. He shook his head at the three women glaring at him. "It's a real shame, because I was hoping for someone more important… or at least someone who would give me a challenge."

Noriko gritted her teeth at the man speaking in such a condescending tone towards them and snapped, "Who the hell are you?"

The rogue ninja glanced at her uninterestingly and smirked, "Me? Well… to you little miss, you can just call me the Big Bad Wolf." He then raised his right fist and flashed them his arm brace, an orange eye appearing across the back of his hand and sending chills down the trio's backs. The gauntlet he was wearing was made of stone, and judging from the chakra glowing through the cracks, it didn't look too friendly. "Now then; if I'm not mistaken you three are headed off to prison."

Kureha frowned. "Why do you ask? Is this some kind of breakout?"

"Not exactly," Ishidate grinned menacingly despite his cool visage. "Think of it as… the changing of the guard. We're simply taking you out of the hands of these hidden leaf shinobi and moving you to a newer, much cleaner facility where you will be spending the remainder of your life sentences in peace. I promise; you three are going to love the lavish accommodations our boss has reserved for you."

From the tone of his voice, that didn't sound so promising…

TO BE CONTINUED…

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Author's Note: And that's another chapter.

I played this one out like in the one in canon, but again I changed it based on the differences in my story and the changes in Naruto's character.

I wrote the whole Naruto and Sakura situation around the idea I got from canon. When Sasuke shot down Sakura in the the original story for making fun of Naruto's situation of having no parents, she had time to think a little on how she treated Naruto and thus led into the not too stable bond as a group they had in the test afterwards. After getting some sense smacked into her by Tayuya in this story however, she opens up a little bit more, and decides to make up with Naruto and start out fresh.

Which leads into the next point. In a way, Naruto is the glue that holds the team together. He's clearly the type who's able to connect with others, never lets anything get him down, doesn't hold any grudges or negative feelings, and can move mountains with his actions (metaphorically speaking), and inadvertendly get his friends to see the errors behind their own actions and work things out a lot faster than would have happened in the original series. They are able to grow and change as a group by following Naruto's example, which shows how Naruto affects the people around him. However, they still have their limits as a group. Kakashi was still able to overwhelm them despite their resolve, but nevertheless acknowledged their strengths.

I hope you guys are looking forward to the next chapter. I've got a little surprise in store for you all.