Chapter 3 - Genesis of a Team

Naruto lounged on his apartment's roof, his legs dangling down over the edge as he distractedly watched the clouds sail by in the sky, and considered his next course of action. Though a number of different plans were still on-going, there had to be more that he could do right now.

He'd be faced with Kakashi's bell test again, this morning. It was almost nostalgic, thinking back on the first time he'd done it (and the repeat, a few years later) and how amateurish he'd really acted. Granted, he was hardly an Elite Jōnin right this moment, but he was no slouch either. It would be interesting to test out his stealth skills against one of the true elites, especially given that he wouldn't be wearing his best suit and tools for the job, and he wasn't nearly agile enough to really be a serious threat.

Getting back in shape was, however, not his main concern. That would happen soon enough, with proper training. Going overboard right now would just destroy him, he wasn't developed enough to deal with it, so he focused his efforts elsewhere. Thankfully, there were no such limitations on focusing his chakra control, a far more important skill, as far as assassinations went; people really underestimated how very little strength was really needed to end a life.

"Man, this handwriting's like a medical ninja's with a bottle of sake down the hatch," Naruto muttered in exasperation as he stored away the fūinjutsu scrolls he'd been deciphering – he couldn't very well leave them up here for anyone to find, after ll. He wasn't having much more luck with their contents, but at least he was slowly dissecting the scribbles until they matched legible text, which would probably be helpful.

He'd really only gotten into the Sealing Arts after the Fourth Shinobi World War; he'd been interested in figuring out the Kyūbi's seal, not to mention all the other ones he'd come across, and with a relative period of peace in the foreseeable future, he'd decided to, for once, dedicate some time to actual studying (Sakura had been, unsurprisingly, amazed.) Unfortunately, without Jiraiya to be a teacher, he didn't really have access to a master in the field, and he'd had to muddle along on his own; it didn't help that a lot of the village's records were destroyed in Nagato's attack. Thankfully, neither of those limitations were present – not anymore.

"Yo."

Naruto looked up in surprise, dropping his storage scroll to the roof. Kakashi sat in a crouch on the edge of his roof, smiling cheerily behind his ever-present mask.

"Kakashi-sensei? I'm not too late, am I?" Naruto asked, blinking. Had he been reminiscing and studying his scrolls for so long that he'd managed to miss his proper Genin exam? That would be embarrassing.

"Don't worry. You still have a while yet." Kakashi stepped onto the roof, and stretched. "I was just curious, honestly – I saw you sitting up here, and wondered what you were up to. Not planning any more nasty pranks, are you?"

Naruto laughed. "Well, I'm a shinobi now, right? I figured that I have some other things to do now, instead of entertaining the villagers." He withered under Kakashi's sceptical gaze. "Fine... I ran out of paint, so I was thinking of waiting until I get some more. I should get some money from the missions, right?"

"Hm, you'll have to pass the test first, you're aware; you didn't eat yet, right?" Kakashi asked, smiling. He glanced around to the other roofs, and then turned back to his student, talking softly. "Naruto, I was curious – about that bingo book you had, yesterday..."

"Yes...?"

"Was there a particular reason you brought it with you to the introductions? Especially such an odd one, at that. If I didn't know any better..." He glanced at Naruto sharply. "I'd think you were trying to make a point."

Naruto looked at his teacher nervously. "What do you mean, sensei?"

"I think you know what I mean." He smiled congenially, dropping down to the roof, then lookd knowingly at Naruto. "There's no crime in showing off, and I can understand your pride, but you should consider the consequences of your actions. You never know who might be watching." He smiled cheerily. "So, I would keep that book of yours at home."

Naruto wasn't terrible surprised that Kakashi had seen right through his facade. Bringing that bingo book to the meeting had been a calculated decision; he'd actually counted on Kakashi realizing what he was doing – laying some groundwork with his teammates. He was certainly not going to run into being a ninja like a complete idiot, this time. If getting along with him required matching the Uchiha's claim to an awesome family, well, that's what he'd do. A ninja uses all his tools, after all.

"I'll try to be careful," Naruto said after a while, frowning. "I hadn't thought about spies. I suppose there's a chance that Iwa might try something if they ever figured out about the Fourth, but I doubt they'd get this far into town." He sighed.

Kakashi nodded, pausing for a moment. "So... how long have you known about that?"

Naruto faltered; he couldn't very well admit to how he really knew. Kakashi seemed to take his silence as an answer in itself. Naruto finally shrugged. "A while. The resemblance is a bit obvious, isn't it? I didn't really know until..." He paused. "Well, until a few weeks ago, honestly." He didn't mention how he'd found out – Kakashi would probably fill in the blanks himself.

The Jōnin raised an eyebrow. "Does the Hokage know what you found out?"

"We... haven't spoken about it," Naruto said. "I hoped he'd tell me himself, sometime. Then I wouldn't need to act so oblivious about it anymore. I thought maybe he'd do so when I became a Genin, but I suppose I was mistaken." He glanced up. "You won't tell him that I know, will you?"

"Naruto..."

"Ah, c'mon, you're my sensei! Isn't there some sensei-student confidentiality or something?"

Kakashi rolled his eye. "Fancy words, for an idiot. Anyway, the Hokage's not stupid, he probably knows already. He certainly has good reasons to keep it a secret, so he would probably want to talk to you about it." He tapped Naruto on the hitai-ate. "Just keep it in here, unless you get permission to tell someone."

Naruto nodded uncertainly. "What about my team? I can't just lie to them, can I?"

Kakashi smiled. "First, you'll have to pass my test, or you won't even be a team. After that – well, who knows? I'm sure we can figure something out."

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei." Naruto smiled slightly, looking out over the village towards the Hokage Monument. "You know... Maybe you could tell me about dad, sometime. You were his student, after all."

Kakashi nodded sagely. "I will."

Nearly two hours later, Naruto sauntered onto the training ground; Sasuke and Sakura were already there. The former was studiously ignoring the latter's enthusiastic attempts at gaining his attention, and neither paid any attention to his approach.

"Hey, guys."

Sakura glanced up and nodded. "Good morning." She looked over Naruto's shoulders and frowned. "Have you seen Kakashi-sensei? I figured he'd be here early, since it's the first day..."

Naruto snorted loudly. "Early?" He shook his head mirthfully, glancing at Sasuke who leaned against a nearby tree disinterestedly. Even though he'd met his sensei just this morning – and it was definitely not the last such meeting, he figured – he was certain the man would drag out the test enormously, as always. "If the stories are true, we'll probably be waiting for a few hours."

"Whaaat?" Sakura exclaimed. "Don't be silly, Naruto! He's a Jōnin; he can't do something like that! I bet he'll just appear out of nowhere, real soon; I've seen them do that, you know." She looked Sasuke and smiled. "I'm sure he's really strong, since he gets to teach Sasuke-kun."

"Oh, brother..." Naruto sighed, glancing between the two others. "Eh, whatever, I guess I'll go find a good spot to wait, then." He walked over to one of the trees and walked straight up the side, hands in his pockets. The complete silence that fell over the clearing before he was even halfway up was quite telling, and an irrepressible grin made its way onto his face. Unfortunately, the calm wouldn't last.

"NARUTO? How the heck are you doing that?" Sakura exclaimed, staring and pointing at him. Even Sasuke paid attention, eyebrows raised as he noticed the seemingly impossible feat. Naruto stopped and turned to look at the two, managing a vaguely puzzled expression.

"What do you mean, Sakura-chan?"

"You're like... defying gravity!" Sakura said, narrowing her eyes. "I've seen Chūnin do that, sometimes – walking up walls and such – but we never learned anything like that in the academy!"

Naruto smiled, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, right... I sort of taught myself this one. It's not really hard. I'm sure you'll get it right away; you just have to concentrate chakra in your feet to stick to the bark, and then walk up. It took me a while to stop falling off, though."

"You taught... yourself?" Sakura repeated, perplexed. She smiled and balled her fist, staring at a nearby tree confidently. "If the Dead Last can do it, then I'm sure it's a piece of cake!" She walked over to the tree, concentrating briefly on gathering chakra.

"Don't overdo it, Sakura-chan; you still need energy for Kakashi-sensei's test," Naruto reminded, her. He smiled though. Getting Sakura's self-confidence up was easier than he'd thought – though his 'total idiot' reputation probably wouldn't last for very long, it was useful while it lasted. It helped that he'd picked an exercise that was perfect for her.

Sakura put a foot on the tree – and then another. On her very first try, she slowly made her way up the tree, setting herself down on a branch about fifteen feet off the ground. Sweat beaded on her brow, but she laughed victoriously. "That was awesome!"

Sasuke glanced between his two teammates, both of whom were now in the trees, and shrugged. "Pretty good, for the Dead Last and a weakling."

"Hey, don't be a prick, Uchiha!" Naruto yelled, and he winced. Insulting Sasuke was almost a reflex, he'd been so used to it for such a long time; he quickly tried to salvage the situation. "Ah, sorry, Sasuke. We're supposed to be a team, right?"

"Hn." Sasuke shrugged, staring out over the training ground. It was a few minutes later that he stood up, staring contemplatively at the tree he was leaning against. Naruto had taken his own spot on one of the branches of his own tree, and looked on with interest. Finally, the Uchiha tried to walk up the tree – and slid right off.

"A little more chakra," Naruto commented. "Otherwise you won't stick. Not too much, or you'll launch right off."

"I know," Sasuke muttered, trying again. Several attempts later, he still hadn't gotten beyond two or three steps, and stared in frustration at the tree. He sent a reproachful glare at Naruto and Sakura, but didn't comment.

"You just decided to learn this on your own?" Sakura wondered after a while, turning to Naruto. "You never paid attention in the academy..."

"Eh, the academy's boring. Ninja skills are far more exciting! I saw some Jōnin do all these cool tricks on the roof, so I decided I'd try and copy them – I've been using them to get around since forever." He grinned. "I got a lot better with chakra, even if I didn't really know any techniques – I couldn't do the Bunshin until a week ago!"

Sasuke was still struggling to climb the trees, but he wasn't getting much higher than four or five steps; Naruto let him muddle on for a little longer, then decided to show a little mercy. "You're doing pretty well, Sasuke. It took me two days to get as high as you're doing, now. Maybe you should continue later, though. You might exhaust yourself."

The Uchiha muttered something uncomplimentary, and then did something that Naruto hadn't expected he was even capable of – he swallowed his pride. "What's the trick?"

"Trick?" Naruto paused. "Well, practice, of course!"

"Oh, I understand!" Sakura exclaimed suddenly. "This is a chakra control exercise, isn't it? We learned about those in the academy, and it said that control was much harder to train when you have lots of chakra, compared to if you have little. I don't have much, so I walked right up!" She looked at Sasuke and smiled. "It must mean that Sasuke-kun has a lot of chakra! Well, not that I would've doubted that..."

Sasuke nodded warily; it took him a moment, but then he sent a suspicious look at Naruto. "You took two days, eh?"

"Well, it took me longer to get to the top all the time," Naruto explained. "I didn't have anyone to tell me what to do, though." Silently, he cheered – knowing a little about their personalities really did help in getting along with his teammates, even this early. Sakura hadn't yelled at him once in the last ten minutes!

"Hn." Sasuke returned to his tree, leaning against it once more. For once, Naruto realized, he actually kept an eye on his teammates, staring from under his fringe.

"Hey guys, good morning!"

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura screeched, pointing at the lazy Jōnin and fuming. "We've been here for hours, waiting for you to show up!"

Kakashi smiled. "Ah, you know, I had to see the Hokage about something." He immediately glanced at Naruto, still sitting on his branch. "Along the way I remembered I'd forgotten to pick up some food, and then I…"

"Yes, yes," Naruto muttered in annoyance, striding down the tree leisurely. "Let's get the test over with, shall we?"

The Jōnin stared at his blond student for a few long moments; the casual tree walking certainly hadn't evaded his attention. Sasuke strode over to join the others, scowling. He might not have yelled about the lateness, but he certainly didn't appreciate it.

"Right." Kakashi pulled a little clock from his vest, quickly setting the alarm. "This will go off at noon."

"So, what do we have to do?" Sakura asked. Kakashi smiled, pulling something else from his pockets: two little bells. "Your task is to take these from me. Those who cannot get the bells by noon, get no lunch." He glanced at three tall tree stumps a little ways away, and nodded in their direction. "There are only two bells, so one of you will end up tied to a stump, forced to watch the others eat in front of them – and they'll be sent to the academy."

Sakura gulped; Naruto and Sasuke didn't react at all.

"You won't succeed, unless you come at me with intent to kill."

Naruto smiled viciously. "Are you sure, sensei? You'll be in danger." Granted, he hadn't taken any poisons along, or anything particularly dangerous, in general, but it was the thought that counted.

"I think you'll find that I'm a Jōnin – I can take on a few Genin." He smiled, attaching the bells to his belt and scooting back. "Remember, you have until noon. Whoever doesn't have a bell loses! Begin!"

The clearing was empty in an instant; Naruto flung himself into the bushes and immediately darted across to the next, leaving a Shadow Clone behind; it wouldn't work for very long, but it might be sufficient to distract his teacher for a few moments. Making a quick hand sign, he used Henge to turn his orange-and-black attire into a mottled green – not the greatest camouflage out in the open, but it was better than nothing.

Right – plan of attack. He knew Kakashi's strategy for this little test, which allowed him to come up with some pretty good solutions; usually you didn't have such insight into the enemy's movements. Conjuring two Shadow Clones, Naruto quickly climbed into the nearest tree while sending the two others off, making sure to tone his chakra down as much as possible – a pretty tough feat, for a jinchūriki. He smiled as he considered what the Jōnin would say if he actually lost, this time around.

Naruto dropped down next to Sakura, drawing a startled gasp from the pink-haired kunoichi as she raised a kunai defensively. It took her a moment to calm down. "Ah, it's just you… Wait, when did you change clothes?"

He put his finger to his lips, glancing around himself. "Sakura-chan… we should find Sasuke," Naruto whispered. "Kakashi must've gone after him first; otherwise he'd already be here."

"What do you mean?" Sakura wondered aloud; the blond grabbed her arm and in one movement dumped both of them into the bushes. Thankfully, Sakura was too shocked to retaliate and Naruto quickly released her.

"Silence!" he said softly as Sakura prepared to scream. He drew three shuriken, glancing around the area carefully. He made sure to keep one hand on the ground at all times, remembering one of Kakashi's favoured techniques all too well: Digging underground. "Sakura – you probably have the best chakra control out of all of us; can you sense where Kakashi-sensei is?"

Sakura blinked uncertainly, frowning as she wiped the dust off her arms. "I haven't learned anything like that, idiot. We went to the same academy, remember?"

Naruto sighed. He should've realized that he was dealing with this early Sakura again, who barely knew anything yet. "Right, well, then we'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. When I say run, you should head north. I'll meet you along the way. We'll go to Sasuke together, from there." He gestured behind him. "I'll make a diversion in the other direction."

"What did you mean, meet you there? You're already here! How's going the other way going to help?"

The clone only smiled. "Don't question it, go!"

Thankfully, she did. Jumping out of the bushes with as much stumbling and noise as he could manage, it didn't take long for Kakashi to find him – the one-eyed Jōnin appeared in an instant, smiling cheerfully. Naruto raised a kunai before him, amused at how very similar this was to what he remembered from the first time around.

"You know, I thought you had this stealth thing figured out, but I guess you're just a bit dim." Kakashi said, gazing lazily at his new target.

The Shadow Clone growled, pointing in outrage. "You take that back!"

"And you were doing so well…" Kakashi said mournfully, rummaging through his bag. After a few moments, he retrieved a very familiar book. "You can attack me now, if you wish. You won't hit me, you know."

"Fighting you was never my intention, Kakashi-sensei," he declared with a smile, stabbing himself with his kunai. Sakura was long gone; he'd done his job. He popped away in a puff of smoke.

Naruto jerked upright as two clones popped, nearly simultaneously. Sakura was heading his way. Sasuke hadn't listened to a word the clone had to say, unfortunately, and it had popped itself in frustration. Stretching from his prolonged uncomfortable position up in the tree, the real Naruto quickly ran in Sakura's direction; he'd have to intercept her, at least. Hopefully Kakashi hadn't gotten to her, yet.

While he was waiting to hear back from the clones he'd sent after his teammates, he'd made more – many more – and they were now spread all across the forest. Using Henge to turn into twigs or logs or other unimpressive objects, they'd serve as decoys, and surveillance. If necessary the clones would make for a great diversion from his true position, as they resembled his real self quite a bit as far as chakra went, and if Kakashi popped any, the real version would immediately know where the Jōnin was. Actually, abusing his Shadow Clone technique had been one of the first reliable assassination techniques he'd ever developed, back in his previous life. Barely any skill required.

"Sakura!" Naruto said, stepping out from behind the trees. She looked shocked at his sudden appearance, but that could probably be attributed to his attire – he was actually blending in, at least a little. He idly wondered why he only ever saw Gai and Lee dress in something entirely green (even if an obnoxious shade) given that they lived right in the middle of a forest. He could only really imagine the Chūnin flak jackets, and those were probably too bright to serve as camouflage.

"How did you do that?" Sakura asked, her eyes wide. She glanced back where she came from. "You were just there, and now…"

"Later – we'll need to find Sasuke, now." The mention of her crush diverted Sakura's attention away from Naruto's sudden appearance; explaining his Shadow Clones and how he'd managed to get that particular technique, would take way too long. "Come, he's northwest of us."

Sakura quickly followed Naruto, trying to follow his movements; she didn't even question how he'd located their other team member. Taking extra care to avoid detection, Naruto darted from tree to tree, sticking to the shadows and avoided disturbing the leaves and branches around them. Sakura had to fend off quite a few of them as they whipped back and forth by her passage, and she grumbled in annoyance. Thankfully, Kakashi didn't appear, and they emerged from the copse of trees into the next clearing. Right next to Sasuke, buried up to his neck in the ground.

Naruto winced as Sakura screeched, quickly walking over to Sasuke, and frowning. "Can you move at all?"

"…I don't need your help." Sasuke muttered, trying to look away. Naruto remembered this - it was just like Kakashi had trapped him the first time around. It figured, given that he'd gone off his own, just like then. He really needed to figure out a way to get rid of that attitude - perhaps lending assistance would be a good step.

"I think I have something that might be helpful here, hold on…" Rummaging through a pile of small papers that he had stashed in his pockets, Naruto finally retrieved a rather crudely drawn, but very complex symbol imprinted on thick paper. "This should work, I think."

"What's that?" Sakura wondered, looking around nervously, though Kakashi seemed to keep his distance. Naruto suspected he was simply keeping an eye on them, for now. He placed his seal next to Sasuke's scowling head, feeding chakra into the intricate symbol until it shimmered with a soft blue glow. Sakura stepped back in surprise as it gave off a spark.

Naruto laughed nervously. "Don't worry, it's just fūinjutsu. It's the 'Soft Solid' sealing technique, I finished it a few days ago. It's supposed to turn the earth to liquid around it, so we'll see if it works." He smirked as he gingerly tapped the ground and found that it gave way; it felt almost like quicksand, though the seal's only affected a small area. "Now, Sasuke, grab my hand."

It took two pulls with all his strength until Naruto managed to drag Sasuke out; the ground hardened again almost immediately, the little seal he'd used sputtering as its chakra charge ran out, and it destabilized. That one was certainly not reusable, as it crumbled. Naruto frowned briefly as he watched it happen. He really needed to get some proper sealing paper again, but he'd need to get Jiraiya's help for that – or the Third's.

"How did you of all people learn the Sealing Arts?" Sasuke asked after a few moments, as he wiped the last of the dirt from his clothes. "It's one of the most difficult ninja disciplines there is."

Naruto didn't respond immediately, gazing up at the sun. "Let's talk about that another time. We only have about half an hour left, if even that much, to complete the test. What are we going to do about the bells?" He glanced between Sakura and Sasuke with an expression that he hoped didn't expose the cackling manipulator he felt like. "I mean, Kakashi-sensei took down Sasuke, so he has to be too strong for any one of us on our own…"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, leaning against a tree. "You want to work together? There are only two bells…"

"We'll decide who gets one afterwards," Naruto declared airily. "If none of us get a bell, what's the point?"

"Hn." Sasuke frowned, looking back to the burned-out seal. "Dead Last… how many of those do you have?"

Author's Note: Next chapter has the end of the Bell Test, and Naruto gets his first response to one of his letters. Meanwhile he has to make sure he keeps his budding team from self-destructing, and keeps an eye out for an old pervert with sealing skills.

We get our first bit of Fūinjutsu/Sealing here - nothing major, of course, but then again nobody else is even using the things beyond Tenten. It won't be too long before Jiraiya makes an appearance, and Naruto's already planning another solo mission to get rid of a future threat. Still, not everything can be solved with killing (even if in Naruto's world, it is a popular method.)