-Dodges tomatoes thrown my way- WAIT! I CAN EXPLAIN!

So I became the Literary Captain of the year 2013 in my school (My last year in DTS; it's my senior year!) and boy have I been busy with the tests, quizzes, essay-writing competitions, lunch with my kawaii students (they call me Sakura-senpai! ^_^), basketball practices, disaster management stuff (First Aid team baby!), teaching the new scouts (hey I'm the troop leader and I'm like a second teacher' Te bane!) and so on. Gomen!

My net is much better but the only problem is finding time for my fanfics. We have this thing called board exams this year and we don't do home exams anymore. No way, this is a NATIONAL thing. And it sucks -_-

But anyway, here is the 6th chapter. I will do my best to update ASAP. I promise! –Nice guy pose-

Anyone here read the Rock Lee's springtime of Youth manga? :D

CHAPTER 6

Right after Kakashi had disappeared, Itachi retreated himself into the forest. I wasn't going to follow him. I made the tiger hand seal and focused on my chakra, "Shikyaku no Jutsu."

I could feel my senses sharpen as my own chakra enveloped my body. This was one of the basic Inuzuka Clan Jutsu: the Shikyaku no Jutsu. It granted me more animal-like speed, strength and sharper fighting instincts and reflexes.

I sniffed the air for Kakashi's or Pakkun's scent. I wasn't able to get the scent of all the other ninja dogs but I knew if I could track Pakkun, the others would definitely be with him. I checked all around; left, right, above and behind.

The only place left was . . .

I immediately sensed someone below me, under the earth and I jumped into the air, right in time, to see two hands reached out, out of the ground, right on the spot where I had been standing. If I was standing there for another second I would have been caught.

"Very good Hana," Kakashi said with a smile as I landed a few feet away from him. "You have very sharp instincts; I expect nothing less from an Inuzuka."

"Katon: Gokyakyu no Jutsu!" A voice called out. Kakashi jumped out of the way, just in time to dodge a giant fire ball, from Itachi, coming his way. Kakashi had jumped into the air; now's my chance.

"Hiro!" I yelled. Hiro understood and pounced into the air. Kakashi won't be able to move very well when he was in the air so if Hiro was quick enough, he would be able to snatch the bell strapped to Kakashi's weapon's pouch.

I watched as Itachi came out into the open. He made some hand seals, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

A black crow appeared with a poof and flew at full speed toward Kakashi. If that crow got to Kakashi first, it could get the bell before Hiro did. I was planning to pull out a kunai and throw it at the black bird but I didn't have to.

Kakashi did what I had intended to do; he threw a kunai at the crow which disappeared with a poof. He then, somehow, froze Hiro's movements and my companion came crashing down to the ground. I caught him just in time. Hiro's eyes were wide and glassy like he was seeing something horrible. I realized immediately; Genjutsu.

Kakashi had used a Genjutsu on Hiro with his Sharingan. I had to get away from the field and break Hiro free from the Genjutsu. Itachi threw his shuriken at Kakashi who had landed on the ground but Kakashi disappeared again.

I looked at Hotaru and nodded. I carried Hiro and using my new speed from my Shikyaku no Jutsu, we headed for the forest. We didn't go too far in nor did we stay too close. We stayed close enough to see the ground just in case Kakashi came around with his guard down. It was unlikely but still.

"Tsuiga no Jutsu!" I heard Pakkun's voice yell. I turned my head to see Kakashi's ninja dogs emerge out of the ground, like Kakashi had earlier, and bite onto Itachi, restricting him of any movement. But Itachi's body disappeared with a poof of smoke and in its place was a log.

Kawarimi no Jutsu; we were taught that at the academy. It was very useful for quick getaways and I have to say even I'm not as fast as Itachi. I didn't even see the guy weave hand signs. I envied him for that.

I pressed my palm onto Hiro's ribcage and channeled my chakra. He got up with a jolt and looked around with surprise.

I couldn't help but chuckle, "Relax buddy; we're safe."

Hiro whined and licked my cheek. I grinned at him and then looked at the sky. The sun would be atop our heads in two hours or less, signaling the time for noon. If I didn't hurry, time would run out and either both Itachi and I won't have lunch or he will have the bell and enjoy lunch while we starved.

The training ground was much bigger than I thought. I could even see wild life around; rabbits, squirrels, birds and insects of all types. It was like the woods back home. Home; the place seemed almost extinct now . . .

No! I have to focus! I can't let my mind wander.

I stood up and sniffed the air. Kakashi's scent was definitely there but there was one problem; it was scattered. Somehow, Kakashi was scattering his scent to throw me and the Haimaru twins off the trail; probably used a shadow clone. Maybe if I focused hard enough, I can find where the original is and track him down.

I closed my eyes and sniffed the air again, focusing on each and every scent that entered my nose. After a few moments, I managed to get about three locations from eight places in the whole ground where the original Kakashi might be; west, north-west and south-east.

"Okay guys," I said as I turned to Hiro and Hotaru. "We have to split up. Hiro, you go north-west and Hotaru, you take south-east. I'll head west."

Hotaru and Hiro gave a bark in response and headed to the direction I assigned them to. After they were gone, I headed west and made sure my eyes, ears and nose was alert. I could sense more life force here; animals, plants and insects. I couldn't sense any humans but Kakashi's scent was still around. The more I headed westward, the stronger the scent became. I masked my chakra, just in case.

I hid behind a couple of bushes and grinned when I saw a familiar figure. Kakashi was just standing there reading his dirty book in the clearing. I focused on how to snatch the bell, which was shining in the light, from Kakashi.

Somehow, even with the Haimaru twins on my side, I felt like I wasn't going to get the bell from him no matter how hard I tried because I worked in combo moves with my ninja dogs and Kakashi did the same, only his was more advanced and better. If I used the Haimaru twins as distraction and went after the bell, Kakashi was armed with his Sharingan which is said to have copied over a thousand Jutsus. No telling what he could do; I was no match for that alone. And if we attacked as a team, his ninja dogs can create a diversion while Kakashi could escape in peace.

But then again, when I think about it, Itachi didn't have much of a chance either. It's not just because he didn't have ninja dogs to work with, but also because Kakashi's Sharingan is far more advanced and stronger than his own. Uchiha or not, Itachi didn't have much of a chance with Kakashi; Kakashi was a Jonin after all. On top of all that, he didn't have much time either.

I wondered why Kakashi was doing this stupid test; neither me, along with the Haimaru twins, and Itachi didn't have much of a chance nor did we have time. He could just check our skills by training with us. Sure, this was a form of training but somehow I felt like there was a meaning behind him giving this bell test. Like the key to getting the bell was in the test itself. If only I knew what it was . . .

Kakashi probably sensed me because he ran off. I cursed and I was about to run after him when something shiny caught my eye. The bell lay neglected and forgotten on the ground; Kakashi had dropped it.

I knew it could be a trap. I made sure no one was around, Kakashi or Itachi, and slowly emerged from my hiding. I aimed a kunai and the bell, to check if there were no traps. I hadn't even noticed the chakra opposite to where I was standing until the person threw a kunai at the bell too.

Both our kunais clashed and fell on top of the bell. As I suspected, it was a trap. The bell disappeared with a poof and a net sprang to life from below me. It scooped me off of my feet and I was tangled in it in a matter of seconds. However, I wasn't alone.

"How annoying; this net's bigger than I thought." Itachi muttered. I did my best to suppress the blush creping onto my cheeks after realizing how close we were. We were tangled in the net, back to back, and if either he or I turned our head, our cheeks would meet.

"I didn't sense you there until after I threw the kunai." Itachi told me.

I rolled my eyes, "The same goes for you."

We struggled in the net for a while but both of us were restricted of much movement and the fact that we were really, really close didn't help.

"This net is restricting chakra usage." I cursed. Damn Kakashi!

"As annoying as it is," said Itachi. "I think I'm going to lose this bell test. You have an advantage over me and so does Kakashi."

"No it's me who is losing," I muttered. "Stupid bell test; I don't see any point to it. Even though I have an advantage over you, having the Haimaru twins, I still won't be able to defeat Kakashi. I'm . . . outnumbered you could say."

It was indeed pointless. Still, I felt like there was more to the bell test and what more I felt the answer was right under my sensitive nose. And then it hit me like a ton of bricks . . .

"Teamwork."Itachi and I said at the same time as we turned to each other. Our cheeks were touching and our lips were inches apart. I cleared my throat and looked away.

"It makes sense," I told him. "We have to work together. But that's still pointless; I mean how that training for the arena is? We'll be on our own then."

Itachi sighed, "Well whatever it may be, for this test we have to use teamwork."

I nodded, "Let's get out of this fix first."

"Hana, can you reach my weapons pouch?" he asked. I gave a nod and wiggled my hand through the mess and pulled out a kunai from Itachi's pouch. I then started to cut the net. Soon, both of us were free and we landed with a soft thud on the ground. Well, Itachi landed as gracefully as a cat and I . . . ended up on my rear.

He gave me an amused smirk, "Clumsy as ever." He held out a hand to me.

I glared at him and slapped his hand away, "Shut up. I picked myself up and dusted off the dirt from my tracksuit.

"Where are your ninja dogs?" Itachi asked me.

"Hiro headed north-west," I said. "And Hotaru went south-east."

"Kakashi probably used clones to throw you off his scent," Itachi said as he looked at the sky. "We don't have much time. The real one was here minutes ago before we ended up in the trap. I have a plan to get him but we're going to need your ninja dogs. We need to get to them."

I smirked, "Don't worry about them. Hiro and Hotaru are very smart; they'll understand the plan once it's put into action; we're Inuzukas after all. And you're not the captain here so you have to listen to what my plan is too."

Itachi smirked and nodded, "Fair enough."

Just then, I caught two very familiar scents heading our way. Itachi probably sensed them too because he said, "Look whose here."

In a blur of grey, Hiro and Hotaru, who emerged from the bushes, pounced on Itachi and pinned him down. But seconds later, Itachi disappeared with a poof and in his place was a log. Hotaru growled and Hiro slashed the log.

Itachi appeared on the branch of the tree behind me. He jumped down gracefully, "Tell your ninja dogs to behave."

Hiro looked at me with a confused look. I held up my hands, "We're on the same team now."

Hotaru tilted his head in confusion. Itachi walked over, "We don't have time; we better discuss the plan."

For the next fifteen minutes or so, we laid out a strategy on how to snatch the bell and complete the test.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"So approximately we have an hour or less before noon." Itachi said as he stood up from the ground.

"This plan better work." I muttered. It would have taken ten minutes to get everything ready but we argued about whose plan would be more effective. In the end, we simply combined the two.

"It has to," Itachi said as he rolled his eyes. "You're the one who hijacked my plan."

"Oh don't start." I said as I stood up and pulled out a kunai.

"Whatever," said Itachi. "We need to track down the real Kakashi."

"Leave that to me." I said. I sniffed the air and focused on finding the one scent that belonged to. I couldn't smell Kakashi's ninja dogs; they might be hiding underground.

I went back to finding Kakashi. He had used shadow clones to scatter his scent. Before, I had pinpointed three locations from eight where I was sure Kakashi was at because I couldn't tell from the three I had pinpointed whether if it was the real Kakashi or not. I was confused.

But now I won't pinpoint any more locations and split up. I will find the real Kakashi himself and track him down. I concentrated my chakra to my nose and sniffed the air again. The scents were stronger and sharper now. Suddenly, I caught the scent I was looking for.

"He's about three kilometers east," I told Itachi. "He's nearby the main grounds but not close enough."

Itachi did some had seals and placed his hand on the ground, "Kuchiyose no Jutsu."

Three black crows appeared and flew into the sky. They dispersed into different directions and soon they were out of sight.

"They'll keep look out from the sky," Itachi said to me. He pulled out a kunai. "I'm taking another route to the main grounds. I'll set traps there. Lead him towards the main grounds and not anywhere else."

"See ya there. "I said with a two fingered salute.

"Disperse." said Itachi.

The Haimaru twins gave a bark before they followed me towards the east. I was confident that this was the real Kakashi. I picked up speed and so did my ninja dogs. Kakashi was definitely up ahead.

I wonder if Itachi would, in the end, take the bell and declare himself winner. Maybe he was using me. I know looks can be deceiving but Itachi did not seem like the type to do something like that. But whatever it may be, I won't do that; I don't play dirty unless it's necessary.

When I saw him through some bushes, I smirked. It was now or never.

"Now!" I yelled. Together, the Haimaru twins and I jumped out of hiding, ready to attack Kakashi. Kakashi had already sensed us so he jumped out of the way to dodge Hiro's claws, threw Hotaru over his head and deflected my kunai attack with his own.

The fact that he didn't take the attack and disappear with a poof of smoke indicated that this was the real Kakashi and not a shadow clone.

Our kunais met with a metallic 'ting.' Kakashi chuckled, "I was wondering when you were going to come out of hiding."

"Really now?" I taunted. "Well, now that I'm out why don't you stop running away and fight me?!"

I threw a fury of kicks and jabs but he deflected easily. It was simply a battle of Taijutsu and I wasn't so bad at it. I'm actually pretty good at Taijutsu. But Kakashi was better. However, I didn't mind; I was slowly backing him towards the training ground. If I kept this up, Kakashi would fall right into the trap that lay waiting for him. I hope Itachi's done by now . . .

Kakashi was too busy focusing on me. And that was just fine; I smirked when I saw the metal wire ahead. All I had to do was back Kakashi into it. The plan was a success. Kakashi's foot triggered the metal wire which was almost invisible. His eyes widened when he realized the trap.

I jumped out of the way just in time for the two large logs to emerge from the woods and towards Kakashi. Kakashi jumped out of the way as well but he could only do so by jumping in the air. Itachi was behind him in a flash. He made hand seals and called out, "Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!"

At the same time, I heard Pakkun's voice, "Ninken Ninpo: Sajin no Mai!"

I was only able to see Kakashi's ninja dogs jump over my head and land in front of me and Pakkun's evil doggish smirk before they started to dig up the earth and create a cloud of dust.

I covered my nose and mouth; this was not good. We could barely see anything in the dust cloud. We may end up attacking each other. Again, that feeling of worry washed over me, thinking Itachi would betray the truce. But I pushed it away and tried to focus on the situation.

I heard Pakkun's voice again, "Ninken Ninpo: Ryoken Bunshin!"

Suddenly, I was surrounded by hundreds of Pakkuns. They were clones. Pakkun laughed gruffly, "Well Hana, let's see how your Inuzuka instincts can handle this."

I crouched low, ready to attack but Pakkuns clones moved faster. Before I could even blink, they were attacking me with jabs and punches. And I was helpless because the dust storm was disturbing and irritating my sense of sight and smell.

This way, both Itachi and I didn't have a chance. I could hear the sound of clashing metal; Itachi was up against Kakashi. I need to think fast. I then remembered that Hiro and Hotaru were hiding in the forest, just in case we needed back up.

I put two fingers in my mouth and blew a sharp whistle. I heard two barks and then suddenly, the sound of the ground being drilled filled the air. The dust slowly started to clear but just a little. I could see silhouettes and I could vaguely smell Kakashi's and Pakkun's scent along with Itachi's. Hiro and Hotaru were ahead, in front of me, using our special move; they were rotating in a buzz-saw shaped movement rapidly.

Slowly the dust cleared and I could see everything around me clearly. I ducked just in time for me to see Pakkun jumping over my head, his paw held out in a jab. I swiftly kicked him and with a small whine, he landed a few feet ahead of me.

Itachi's limbs were immobilized again by Kakashi's other Ninken and Kakashi stood in front of him with his hands in his pocket. He turned towards me, observing the cleared dust storm. Itachi looked at me and yelled, "Hana, now!"

I understood immediately and gave a small nod. Kakashi pulled out a kunai and braced himself. Itachi disappeared with a puff of smoke. Hotaru and Hiro came up to either side of me.

"Let's go!" I said with a smirk. They gave a curt bark and the three of us jumped into the air.

"GATENGA!" I yelled. The three of us used our chakra and our bodies immediately became rotating buzz saws. This was the Haimaru brothers (including Sora) and my special move; Gatenga. We came up with it own our own after my mother taught us the Inuzuka clan technique Gatsuga. One could say this was the modified version of Gatsuga.

In this Jutsu, the user and their Ninken roll at a ferocious speed in a buzz saw shape and deliver many beast-like attacks. I never got the chance to use it in real battle and I often worried that it wouldn't work. I have been proved wrong.

Hiro went for Kakashi's Ninken while Hotaru and I aimed head on for Kakashi. As I predicted, Kakashi jumped high into the air again. I smirked. Suddenly, a hoard of crows surrounded Kakashi, blocking his line of vision.

I changed directions and so did Hotaru. This time we aimed for the sky, towards Kakashi. Kakashi had nowhere to escape unless he used teleportation ninjutsu or a substitution. He used a substitution because right before Hiro and I reached him, he disappeared with a poof of smoke.

Where he would retreat I didn't know but what I did know was that our plan was working. Now there was only Itachi's part left to be done.

"Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu!" Right on queue Kakashi, landed at the edge of the forest and Itachi's fireball shower started immediately. Kakashi's eyes widened and cursed a bit too loudly as he dodged it. He was fast; but not fast enough.

I walked over to Itachi who had a small smirk playing on his lips. Hotaru gave a bark and started to clean himself up. I noticed that Hiro was still wrestling with Kakashi's other Ninken. I looked at Hotaru and he met me gaze. Hotaru gave a gruff bark and went to help Hiro out.

Kakashi stood a few feet in front of us. He was now covered in dust and I could tell his breathing was a bit uneven. His eyes crinkled; he was smiling at us, "Well now what is this? You two are a team now."

"That's the point of this test," I told him. "Teamwork right?"

Kakashi's eyes widened a bit. He then sighed, "So you figured it out. But can you get the bells in time?"

"Yes." Itachi replied. Kakashi raised an eyebrow waiting for an explanation. A crow flew down and landed on Itachi's shoulder. In its beak was a familiar shiny object.

Kakashi's eyes widened again, "How . . .?" He glanced down at his weapon's pouch and back at us.

The crow dropped the bell land I caught it in my palm. I held it up, "It was when Itachi used his crows." The crow gave a caw and disappeared with a poof.

"We knew you had many tricks up your sleeve," I told him. "It was no use no matter how we attacked since you had the Sharingan. With our teamwork, one of us would be a distraction while the other snatched the bell."

"Your Sharingan would be able to predict and counter every attack we threw at you," said Itachi. "I summoned my crows to block your line of vision and I had one of the crows quietly take the bells."

Kakashi stared back and forth between us. We stared back at him. Suddenly Pakkun's voice called out, "Time's up! It's noon!"

Kakashi's covered his Sharingan with his head band and his lone black eye crinkled, "Congratulations; you passed!"

We won. We won the bell test. Kakashi's Ninken disappeared leaving Hiro and Hotaru wrestling with themselves. Pakkun trotted over lazily and gave us a doggish smirk, "You're the first to do so with the actual meaning of the test itself."

"What do you mean?" I said as I raised an eyebrow.

"The real purpose of the bell test is teamwork," said Pakkun. "People have passed the bell test but no one has ever been able to figure out the actual reason for the test except you guys."

"Why teamwork?" Itachi asked. "It worked but it's useless to both of us in the arena; we can't trust anyone. Not even each other."

Funny thing was I trusted him on this test. I couldn't deny it even if I wanted to. I didn't believe he would betray me or cheat me to win himself. I had whole-heartedly trusted.

And that was bad. Really bad.

Itachi was right; we couldn't trust anyone in the arena. Not even each other. It was just too dangerous. This meant life and death and it was not to be fooled around with. But the real reason of my uneasiness, the thing that was bugging me was: Why and how can I trust him so easily?

"That's true," Pakkun agreed. "Even when you are on missions, sometimes teammates become a burden and nothing else matters but the mission itself. No breaking the rules for silly things such as friends. You are on your own in the end; it's always that way."

"Exactly," said Itachi. "And those who break the rules are regarded as scum."

"Indeed those in the ninja world who break the rules are scum," said Kakashi. He looked up wistfully towards the sky, as if he were remembering something; a memory. "But those who abandon their friends are worse than scum. Remember what you learnt today; it will help you the most in the arena."

The silence that followed wasn't uncomfortable but it was mysterious. Teamwork was a useless value in the Ninja Games. It's every ninja for himself. People often created teams during the games but in the end, even those teams have to disperse when it's down to the finals. Like I said; every ninja for himself. There was no use for such a thing as teamwork.

Even so, why did I feel that . . . Kakashi was right?

I suck at fight scenes. Please go easy on me. Here are the Jutsus used:

-Shikyaku no Jutsu (Four Legs Technique)

-Katon: Gokyakyu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)

- Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)

-Tsuiga no Jutsu (Forgot what it's called in English. Look it up k?)

-Kawarimi no Jutsu (Body Replacement Technique)

-Ninken Ninpo: Sajin no Mai (Ninken Ninja Art: Dance of the Dust Cloud)

-Ninken Ninpo: Ryoken Bunshin (Ninken Ninja Art: Hound Clone)

-Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu (Fire release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique)

The credits for the Jutsus go to .

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