Serena and Kira, age 15:
Serena is waiting by the gate with both her team and her sister's team. The only one missing is Kira.
"She's going to be late," mutters Hiroki.
"She's usually very punctual. Serena, do you know where your sister is?" asks Kenzou.
"No, Kenzou-san. She didn't mention any other plans to me," she replies.
Although she does have her suspicions about what Kira is up to. Kira and Naruto had been plotting something last night. Even though Naruto was supposed to be in class, she could sense him running throughout the village. What prank had he pulled this time? And why did her sister not only encourage this behavior, but help him with his pranks as well?
Her sister finally appears a minute before they are supposed to leave. Since she wasn't technically late, neither of their sensei's scolded her.
"Let's go everyone. The Chunin exams await," says Nozomi-sensei.
The Chunin exams were held every six months. The current exam was being held in Kumo. Relations between Kumo and Konoha were still tense; so everyone needed to be on their best behavior. No one wanted to be the fool that started a war.
Once they were on their way, Serena asked her sister why she was late, causing Kira to laugh. Kira pulled a picture out of her pocket and handed it to her. Her wide eyed expression causes her sister to giggle.
"You painted the Hokage monument?" she asks in exasperation.
"Yes, we did."
"Why?"
"Naruto's reasoning was because he's going to become a greater Hokage than any of them."
"And your reasoning?"
"The Hokages sacrificed their lives for a village that doesn't deserve to be saved. Anyone that mistreats a child does not deserve my respect."
Naruto, age 12; Iruka:
Naruto stood facing Iruka-sensei and Mizuki-sensei. He had passed the taijutsu and shuriken throwing part of his test. Full scores on taijutsu and 9 out of 10 shuriken had hit the bull's-eye. He knew he hadn't done as well on the written part, but he was pretty sure he had gotten enough right to pass. Now all he had to do was create a few clones.
"Alright, Naruto. Begin whenever you're ready," says Iruka.
Naruto goes through the hands signs as quickly as he can, and with a puff of smoke, three shadow clones appear. The most difficult part about learning this jutsu from Aunt Yumiko had been figuring out how to only create a few clones at a time. He had so much chakra that his earlier attempts had resulted in several dozen clones at once.
"Those weren't the hand-signs for the regular clone," says Mizuki. "Are those shadow clones?"
Iruka walks up to a clone and taps it. "They're solid. Naruto, where did you learn how to create shadow clones?" he asks.
"From Aunt Yumiko. She's a retired shinobi, and said I have too much chakra to create normal clones," says Naruto.
"The test requirement was for regular clones though, wasn't it? Can he pass with shadow clones?" asks Mizuki.
Naruto frowns at him. He didn't trust Mizuki at all. Serena had said that Mizuki was one of the villagers who didn't like him, yet Mizuki acted friendly towards him. It was suspicious.
Iruka looks uncertain. "I don't know."
Naruto wasn't surprised by their reactions. Kira and Serena had predicted that something like this might happen and had prepared an argument for him to use.
"There was a student last year who couldn't use any chakra at all, but he became a Genin. I think his name was Lee. If he can pass with no chakra, shouldn't I be allowed to pass using a higher level jutsu than what is required from the Academy?" he asks.
"How did you know about that?" asks Iruka, startled.
"I know people who know things," says Naruto vaguely.
Iruka considers the way Naruto treats the Hokage like a grandfather and realizes it's not that surprising that Naruto would have ways of finding things out. "Very well then. You pass, Naruto. Congratulation," says Iruka.
Naruto cheers and accepts the shinobi headband from Iruka before rushing out of the room. Iruka watches him go with amused fondness. He turns to look at Mizuki and wonders why the man seemed angry. But a moment later the anger is gone, so Iruka decides to worry about it later.
After the rest of the students have finished their tests, Iruka goes outside to see if Naruto is still here. He sees the new Genin by the gates of the Academy standing next to Sasuke. The two of them are talking to a woman he's never seen before. She appears to be in her seventies with long red hair and blue eyes. Judging by her fitness level, he would guess that she's a retired shinobi rather than a civilian. Is this the Aunt Yumiko that Naruto had mentioned?
Naruto sees Iruka and waves him over. "Iruka-sensei, I want you to meet Aunt Yumiko. She's helped me train, along with her nieces Serena and Kira."
Yumiko smiles at Iruka. "It's nice to meet you. Naruto's told me about the nice teacher who will sometimes take him out for ramen. I'm glad to see that there are other adults in Naruto's life who aren't prejudiced against him."
Iruka rubs the back of his head. "Naruto is a good kid. I just wish I had seen that sooner."
Yumiko eyes him thoughtfully. "We're having a celebratory dinner tonight at the Hakuo clan compound. You could join us," she says.
Naruto grins excitedly. "That sounds great. What do you say, Iruka-sensei?"
"I'd love to. Thank you for having me, Yumiko-san," says Iruka.
The Hakuo clan compound was on the other side of the village from the Academy. When they reached the gates, Naruto rushed in. From where he was standing, it seemed that there was a basket hanging from the inside of the gate. Naruto came back a moment later carrying a black cloth bracelet. Naruto handed the bracelet to him, and he saw it had a seal stitched onto it.
"This is a visitor's bracelet. The seal barriers will only allow entrance to someone who has that bracelet or who has the family seal on their hand," says Yumiko. She holds out her right hand, palm up. She channels chakra into her hand and a seal similar to the one on the bracelet appears on her palm.
"Seals on the right hand are for blood related family members. A seal on the left hand is for those who marry into the clan or for honorary clan members," she says.
Iruka looks at Naruto and Sasuke. Neither of them are wearing a bracelet. Yumiko sees his curious look and explains, "Sasuke's great-great-great grandmother was an Hakuo. He was given the family seal when he was a child. And Naruto has practically been adopted into the clan. He has the seal on his left hand."
"Iruka-sensei, I want to show you where I live," says Naruto. He grabs Iruka's hand and leads him over to one of the three houses in the compound. Sasuke follows behind them silently.
When they enter the house, Iruka is surprised to see that someone is already there, in the kitchen. "That's Noriko and Sumiko, our cousins" says Sasuke.
"Welcome home, Naruto, Sasuke. Mom is in the main house cooking supper with the other adults. There wasn't enough room in the main house, so Noriko and I are making desert here," says Sumiko. "Dinner should be ready soon."
Naruto sees Sumiko and Noriko looking curiously at Iruka. "This is my academy sensei, Iruka. He's been invited for dinner."
"The more the merrier," says Sumiko.
"There's more than enough food for everyone. You'll like the food, Iruka-san. Mom and Dad cook for a living," says Noriko.
"I'm sure it will be wonderful," says Iruka.
Naruto walks past the kitchen. "My room's down the hall, sensei."
Iruka follows Naruto down a hallway that contains four doors. Naruto points at them and says, "That one's the bathroom. Over there is Sasuke's room. My room is here. The last one is technically the master bedroom, but Sasuke and I don't need that much room. If we ever have guests, it can be used as a guest bedroom, I suppose."
Naruto opens the door to his bedroom and steps inside. Iruka looks around curiously. The room has less orange in it that he had expected. There are movie posters on the wall and a bookshelf in the corner of the room. There are sheets of paper and ink sitting on the desk next to Naruto's bed. From what he can see on the paper, it looks like Naruto is learning sealing. There are boxes under the bed, but he isn't sure what's in them.
Naruto notices his curious look and says, "I keep weapons under there-kunai, shuriken, ninja wire. Serena says the only time weapons should be out when at home is for training or maintenance."
"That does sound wise. Having weapons lying around the home could lead to accidents," replies Iruka.
"Hey," says Sumiko from the doorway. "Dinner's ready."
Sumiko leads them outside and over to a few picnic tables. "These weren't here earlier, were they?" asks Iruka.
Sumiko smiles, "They weren't. You can store pretty much everything in seals, you know?"
Iruka glances around to see how many people there are. Nine adults including him and eight children. He's starting to understand why there wasn't enough room for everyone to cook in one kitchen.
During the meal, Iruka asks them how they met Naruto. He's shocked to learn that Naruto was kicked out of the orphanage. He hadn't realized the prejudice against Naruto was bad enough for someone to kick a five year old out onto the streets.
"Luckily we had already met Naruto. He knew we were friendly, so he came to us and told us what happened. We took him in right away. I think, if my sister and brother-in-law had lived, they would have tried to adopt Naruto. He gets along very well with their children, Serena and Kira. I've often heard them refer to him as their brother," says Sayuri.
"You keep mentioning those two, but they're not here, are they?" asks Iruka.
"They're taking the Chunin Exams," says Sasuke. "They'll be back in a couple of months."
"They're lucky. I wanted to take the exams as well, but sensei doesn't think we're ready yet. He did say we might attend the next one though," says Kenta.
Towards the end of dinner, Iruka notices that Sayuri and a few others are looking around, with confused frowns. He looks around but doesn't see anything.
"What's the matter?" he asks.
"It's the Anbu. They seem agitated," says Sayuri.
"Some of the Jounin as well," says Sora. "I wonder what's happening."
"We should find out. If there's a threat to the village, we need to know about it," says Kenta. He gets up from the table and heads to the gate, Sora following after him. Naruto and Sasuke exchange glances before rushing after them.
"One of us should go with them," says Sayuri.
"I'll make sure they return home safe," says Iruka before going to find them.
He finds them outside the clan gates just as Sora has finished talking to one of the Anbu. All of the children look worried.
"Someone has stolen the Forbidden Scroll," says Kenta angrily. "It would be a disaster if that scroll ended up in the hands of an enemy."
"We should help find the thief and bring the scroll back," says Naruto.
Sasuke gives him a skeptical look. "We've just been made genin and you want to go rushing off to fight enemy nin?"
Naruto frowns at him. "You don't think we can do it?"
Sasuke shrugs. "Depends on the skill of the enemy, I suppose. Your clones and our explosive tags could work on a weaker opponent, but I don't think we could win against a Jounin."
"What if we don't fight him then? The Anbu don't know who the thief is, but we could find out using our Kekkei Genkai. Once we get close enough to the enemy, we can alert the Anbu," says Sora.
"Your family's ability is to sense emotions, isn't it? Will that really help you find the thief?" asks Iruka.
Kenta frowns, exasperated. "It will. If you could sense emotions, you would understand. People feel a variety of emotions all at once. Some of our clan can only sense the stronger emotions, but Sora and I are able to sense everything they're feeling at once. We'll know the thief when we sense him."
"And you're sure you won't fight him? I promised your parents I'd bring you home safely," says Iruka.
"We're sure. Besides, you can't drag all of us back home at once. Better to come along with all of us rather than risk a few of us rushing into danger," says Sora.
Iruka sighs. "True. Alright, let's go."
The five of them decide to start their search at the edge of the village as the thief will be trying to escape. Kenta and Sora can sense where the Anbu are already searching and pick different locations to start their search. It takes them about an hour before they sense someone they think could be the thief.
"Doesn't this chakra feel familiar?" Kenta asks, puzzled.
"It does," replies Sora. She focuses on the chakra and tries to remember where she's felt it before. "I think from the Academy. Judging by the person's chakra level, I would say they're about Chunin level."
Kenta looks a bit baffled. "Has one of the Academy Instructors turned rogue?" The idea is a bit ludicrous to him. How could a Chunin think he could escape from the Anbu with something as important as the Forbidden Scroll? Nobody with any loyalty to the village would allow him to leave alive.
Iruka attempts to sense the chakra of the thief. They are a few miles away from his location, so it is a bit difficult for him. However, he's had practice tracking down Naruto's chakra whenever his student skips class to play pranks. He may not be able to sense emotions like the Hakuos can, but he should be able to identify the thief's chakra.
Iruka's eyes widen when he realizes who the chakra belongs to. "That's Mizuki. Did he really steal the Forbidden Scroll?" he asks, shocked.
Kenta and Sora exchange determined looks. They know, without a doubt, that they're sensing the thief's chakra. "One Chunin against a Chunin and four genin. What do you think his odds are?" asks Kenta with a sly grin.
"What?" asks Iruka. "You said you were going to alert the Anbu, not fight him."
"That was before we knew we were dealing with a weakling. Also, Mizuki was one of Naruto's teachers. Mizuki has betrayed our cousin's trust. Our honor as Hakuo demand that we get justice," says Sora.
"I never liked him," says Sasuke, pulling out a kunai.
Naruto looks determined. "We can't let Mizuki take the scroll."
Iruka tries to protest, but the four genin ignore him and run off to confront Mizuki. Iruka gives a sigh of exasperation and follows after them. Why were children so impulsive? The Anbu could have dealt with Mizuki; they didn't need to do it themselves. He knew they felt personally betrayed by Mizuki, just as he did, but they shouldn't risk their life for revenge.
"Do we have a plan?" asks Sasuke.
Kenta pulls out explosive tags and ninja wire. "We're going to capture him and hand him over to the Anbu for interrogation."
Sasuke would like to point out that is a goal not a plan, but they've already arrived. Mizuki is leaping from branch to branch towards the village wall. The Chunin looks over his shoulder and sees them. His expression is a mix between surprise and rage.
Mizuki stops running and grabs one of the large shuriken from his back. "Do you really think a bunch of brats can defeat me?" he asks.
"Obviously, or we wouldn't be here," says Sora.
Kenta and Sora throw their explosive tags, attached to kunai, at Mizuki. He dodges, though the force of the explosion causes him to stumble. Mizuki finally throws the large shuriken at them, but they are easily able to dodge it. They've trained with Kira before, and she throws weapons faster. Does that mean that Kira is definitely Chunin level or that Mizuki is weak?
Right after Mizuki throws the shuriken, Iruka sneaks up behind him and punches him in the face. The two of them fight proceed to fight using taijutsu while the rest of them plan out how to capture Mizuki.
Naruto creates several dozen shadow clones and Kenta pulls Iruka out of the way as the clones throw several dozen shuriken at Mizuki. The man dodges all but a few of them. Kenta can feel the man's anger. "You damn fox!" says Mizuki.
"Mizuki," says Iruka warningly. Speaking about that was forbidden. Was Mizuki so confident that he would get away that he would reveal an S-class secret?
Naruto looks between Mizuki and Iruka-sensei, confused. He didn't understand why Mizuki had called him a fox, but Iruka seemed to think it meant something.
Mizuki saw the confusion on Naruto's face. "Don't tell me you don't know?" he asked, gleefully. "The reason that everyone hates you? The one that destroyed our village and killed countless people twelve years ago is you. You are the Kyuubi!"
Naruto was in disbelief. Him…the Kyuubi?
"Don't listen to him, Naruto. You're not the Kyuubi," says Iruka.
Kenta throws a shuriken at Mizuki, who deflects it, but a second shuriken appears from the shadow of the second. Unlike the first one, this shuriken has a modified explosive tag attached to it. Mizuki's eyes widen as instead of exploding, a gas is released from the shuriken. He tries to get away from it, but the gas works quickly, causing his movements to become sluggish and slow. Sasuke then throws shuriken connected to ninja wire to capture Mizuki.
After a minute, the knock out gas has fully kicked in and Mizuki is unconscious. Sora walks over to him and grabs the Forbidden Scroll. She looks at her cousin who is giving Naruto a concerned glance. "I can't believe that there's a ninja who can't tell the difference between a sealing scroll and the kunai sealed within," she says.
Naruto and Sasuke turn to look at her. "What was Mizuki talking about earlier?" asks Sasuke.
Kenta and Sora look at Iruka. "Since Mizuki has basically already told him, are we allowed to explain?" asks Kenta.
Iruka looks conflicted but eventually nods. "I think that would be for the best. I wouldn't want Naruto to misunderstand the situation," he says.
Naruto and Sasuke look expectantly at them. "Okay, so you know how the bijuu are made of chakra, right? Well, humans can't kill bijuu. Stronger bijuu can kill weaker bijuu, but they risk their own life in the process. Since the Fourth Hokage couldn't kill the Kyuubi, he sealed him into you, Naruto," says Sora.
"It's better if a bijuu is sealed into an infant. Their chakra coils aren't as developed and are better able to adapt to the bijuu's chakra. An adult Uzumaki could probably handle it. I don't know if it's a Kekkei Genkai or what, but Mito Uzumaki was able to survive having the Kyuubi sealed into her as well as the Uzumaki woman after her," says Kenta.
"Those who have bijuu sealed within them are called Jinchuriki. You're the third Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi," says Sora.
"The Fourth Hokage wanted the villagers to see you as a hero. If he hadn't sealed the Kyuubi in you, the whole village would have been destroyed. Unfortunately, not everyone sees it that way. When the Third Hokage realized how the villagers were reacting, he ordered them not to tell anyone else about you being a Jinchuriki. He hoped that if the younger generation didn't know then they wouldn't act hateful like their parents," says Iruka.
"Wait," says Sasuke. "If it's illegal to tell the children, how do Sora and Kenta know?"
Naruto looks at them curiously. "You've always know, haven't you? Everyone in the clan, but none of you hate me for it."
"That's right," says Kenta. "But our parents never said it outright that you were the Jinchuriki. They didn't break the law. What they told us was that it was impossible for a bijuu to be killed; it can only be sealed. Eventually, every one of us figured it out. The way the adult civilians looked at you made it obvious, especially since some of them would mutter the word 'fox' or 'demon.' "
"Everyone in our clan is taught about sealing, even the civilians. None of us have mistaken you for the Kyuubi, Naruto. We've known you for seven years. We consider you a member of our family, our cousin or brother. Hakuos value loyalty a great deal. You don't have to worry about us ever turning our back on you," says Sora.
"And you don't just have us. I know the Third Hokage thinks of you as like a grandson, and Iruka is fond of you as well," says Kenta.
Naruto looks at Iruka with hopeful eyes. "Iruka-sensei?"
Iruka steps forward. "You're Naruto Uzumaki, not the Kyuubi. You're loyal, hardworking, and creative. I wasn't able to see that at first, and I'm sorry for that. On that night, the Kyuubi killed my parents; and for the longest time, I couldn't see past that. After getting to know you, I find it difficult to believe that anyone could mistake you for the fox. You're too kind to be him. I've started to see you as like a little brother, Naruto."
After that, Iruka drags Mizuki to the Anbu for interrogation and gives the Forbidden Scroll to the Hokage. Once that's completed, he escorts the children back to the Hakuo clan compound. Sayuri thanks him for bringing the children home safe and says he's welcome to visit Naruto at the compound. She shows him their version of a doorbell. There is a specific seal on the clan gate that is connected to three other seals, one inside each of the houses. When you channel chakra into the gate seal, then the seals inside the house create a flashing light to let everyone know that there is a visitor. "We can't let anyone take the visitor seals outside the compound in case they get stolen, so we created this instead," says Sayuri.
"Team 7 is Sakura Haruno, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha. Your Jounin-sensei is Kakashi Hatake," says Iruka.
Sakura is ecstatic to be put on the same team as Sasuke but disappointed that she'll have to put up with Naruto. She doesn't like Naruto; he's always taking Sasuke's attention away from her. She turns towards Sasuke to ask him to eat lunch with her, but Sasuke and Naruto are already gone.
"Was it alright for us to ditch her like?" asks Naruto. The two of them had snuck out the window while Sakura was distracted. They had then quickly looked for somewhere to hide from Sakura. Sasuke was used to hiding from fangirls and found them an empty classroom to hide in.
"Did you honestly want to listen to her insult you and praise me during our entire lunch hour?" asks Sasuke.
"Well, no. But she's our teammate now. Kira says we'll be stuck with our genin team until we become Chunin. We have to learn how to work with her eventually," replies Naruto.
"Hmph. I'll work with her when she stops insulting you," says Sasuke. He didn't know why it hadn't occurred to Sakura that insulting his best friend wasn't the way to win his love. And it hadn't occurred to any of his fangirls to ask permission from his clan head to court him. He knew Kira wouldn't be ask restrictive as his father would have been. Kira would let him choose his own bride as long as the woman wasn't an enemy of the clan. Still, it was the principle of the thing. It was considered polite to ask the clan head before trying to pursue someone from their clan. Perhaps they didn't understand because most of them were civilians. He had heard that civilians expected the men to ask the woman's father for permission to court her.
The Hakuo clan didn't care about gender though. If Sasuke became interested in someone in the future, he would first be expected to tell Kira. After confirming that the person wasn't an enemy of the clan, then Sasuke would tell to the person he was interested in to get their permission to court them. After that, he would talk to their clan head or their parents and make sure they didn't have any objections. Although if the person wasn't from a clan, it wouldn't necessarily matter if the parents objected as long the person was willing to be in a relationship with him despite their parent's objections. It was likely that whoever he married would change their name to Uchiha as he was, technically, the Uchiha clan head.
"Hmm, what are you brooding about now?" asks Naruto curiously.
Sasuke snaps out of his thoughts. "It's nothing. We should eat now."
The two of them each pull out a scroll from their pocket. When unrolled, this scroll is several feet long. Every inch of the scroll has a storage seal on it, along with a label underneath it so that they don't forget which seal contains what item. The items they use the most often are sealed in the front of the scroll while the least used items are sealed in the back.
Their lunch is sealed in the fourth storage seal. "Aunt Yumiko is a good cook," says Naruto, scarfing down his food.
"She is," replies Sasuke. He eats just as quickly as Naruto but is less messy. The future Uchiha clan head cannot have bad table manners.
After lunch, they head back to the classroom to wait for their sensei. And wait….and wait….and wait. "What's taking him so long?" asks Naruto, angrily.
Sasuke, although generally more patient than Naruto, is just as pissed off. It's been close to three hours, and their sensei still isn't here. And Sakura has spent the last three hours staring at him. At least she hasn't tried to talk to him. All she ever wants to do is flirt or ask him out on a date. If she wants him to like her, couldn't she at least talk about something interesting?
"What are you doing?" asks Sakura. Naruto has climbed onto a stepladder and is placing an eraser on top of the door. "You're going to get in trouble."
"Isn't that kind of tame for someone who's kept us waiting for three hours?" asks Sasuke.
Naruto looks surprised then grins deviously. "You're right. I can do better than this," he says.
Sakura watches curiously as Naruto sets up a more elaborate prank. She didn't know her teammate knew any sealing, but those definitely looked like storage scrolls. She wondered if their sensei was really going to fall for one of Naruto's pranks. Jounin were supposed to be elite ninja, right?
The three of them watched the prank unfold as their sensei entered the room. First, the eraser fell on top of him. He started to say something but as he walked farther into the room, he activated the seal on the floor. On the ceiling right above where he was standing, there was a storage seal. Standing on the seal on the floor caused different colored paint to be unsealed from the ceiling.
The three of them couldn't help but laugh at the sight of their sensei covered in green, pink, and blue paint. It was difficult to see his expression through the mask, but she was sure that he was scowling at them.
"My first impression of you is….I hate you all," said Kakashi.
That, at least, caused the girl to stop laughing, but the two boys just laughed harder. Kakashi looked curiously at Sasuke. He had expected the last Uchiha to be a bit more stoic. "Originally, I was going to have us introduce ourselves and we'd have the survival test tomorrow. However, I need to wash the paint off. We'll skip the introductions. Tomorrow, you'll meet me at Training Ground 3 at five a.m. I suggest you don't eat unless you want to throw up," he said.
The girl looked a little bit afraid, but the two boys just continued to look amused. He would make sure they weren't laughing tomorrow. "You're not officially genin until you pass my test. If you fail, you get sent back to the Academy."
"What?" asks Sakura, shocked. "What was the point of the Academy test then if not to make us Genin?"
"That was to see if you have the potential to become Genin. If you couldn't even pass that test, there's no way you'd be able to pass the test from a Jounin," says Kakashi. He looks at the two boys a bit suspiciously. Neither of them is surprised by this information. Who had told them about the Genin test?
"Remember, Training Ground 3 at five a.m. See you," he says before disappearing using the Body Flicker jutsu.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Naruto squinted at the alarm clock. 4:30 a.m. There should be a law against waking up this early. He forced himself to get out of bed and go to the kitchen. Sasuke was already there, as he had expected, but finding Kenta there was a surprise.
"Good morning, Naruto," says Kenta. The older boy sets two plates of food on the table. "Breakfast is ready."
"Kakashi-sense said we weren't supposed to eat," says Naruto. His stomach grumbles in protest.
"Or else we might throw up," says Sasuke, eyeing the food longingly.
Kenta smiles at their reactions to the food. "Your sensei was also three hours late yesterday. And from what I've heard of the man, he's always late unless it's a life or death situation. He won't be there until at least eight. Three hours is plenty of time to digest enough of the food that you won't throw up."
Sasuke and Naruto apparently agree with his reasoning because they start eating. "He probably wanted you to be weakened. How can you fight against a Jounin when you're weak from hunger? I suggest taking some fruit with you for your teammate. If she hasn't eaten, she'll be useless during the test," says Kenta.
"Considering her taijutsu skills, she'll probably be useless anyways," says Sasuke.
Naruto frowns at Sasuke but doesn't say anything. He wished Sasuke wouldn't be so harsh, but he did have a point right now. Sakura wouldn't be much use in a fight against a Jounin.
Kenta sighs. "If you pass the genin test, you'll need to help her train; otherwise she'll be a liability to you. But as for the test, her usefulness will depend on what the test's goal is. A lot of Jounin sensei test your teamwork more than your ninja skills. Everyone expects recently graduated Genin to be weak. Just try to work together and do your best. With any luck, you'll pass."
"Least encouraging pep talk ever," says Naruto.
Sasuke grabs a few apples from the fridge. "But thanks anyways, Kenta," says Sasuke.
"Yeah. See you boys later," says Kenta.
They arrive at their destination at 5: 30. As they had expected, Kakashi-sensei isn't there yet, but Sakura is waiting for them on the bridge.
"Good morning, Sasuke-kun," says Sakura cheerfully, and then flatly, "Naruto."
"Hn."
"Good morning, Sakura-san," says Naruto.
Sakura looks between the two of them curiously. "You got here at the same time. Did you walk together?"
"Yeah. Sasuke and I live near each other. We met up on the way here," says Naruto.
'She doesn't know where I live,' thinks Sasuke. 'I suppose that means she's never followed me home. I guess, at the very least, she's not a stalker like some of my other fangirls.'
Sakura notices the apples in Sasuke's hands. Confused, she says, "I thought Kakashi-sensei said we weren't supposed to eat."
Sasuke shrugs. "Technically, you could look at it like a suggestion since he added the 'or else you'll throw up.' However, a relative of mine has said that Kakashi being late is rather common. Naruto and I didn't want to wait three hours on an empty stomach and then try to fight a Jounin. I brought the apples in case you haven't eaten."
"For me?" she asks, pleased.
Sasuke grimaces. "Yes. If we're going to be teammates, then we should look out for each other." His eyes narrow. "Which means you should at least attempt to get along with Naruto. I know you don't like him because I spend more time with him than you. But acting cruelly towards my friends is not the way to get me to like you."
Sakura's eyes widen. She looks between Sasuke and Naruto. It hadn't really occurred to her that her behavior towards Naruto would upset Sasuke. "I'm sorry, Naruto. I'll try to be nicer," she says.
Naruto grins. "Thank you, Sakura-san. I'm sure we'll all get along well."
Sasuke hands the apples over to Sakura. She thanks him and then begins eating.
"I wonder what kind of test sensei will give us," says Naruto.
"If we have to fight against him, it would be to our advantage to set up traps ahead of time," replies Sasuke. He looks at Sakura. "You were decent at making traps in the Academy, weren't you?"
She nods her head. "I got a slightly above score at trap making," she replies.
"Good. The three of us can work together and set up traps," says Sasuke.
"It can be like a team-bonding exercise," says Naruto, grinning.
The three genin spend the next two hours setting up traps and coming up with plans on how to lure Kakashi into their traps. Sakura was surprised to realize that both her teammates knew how to create storage seals. Naruto agreed to teach her if they passed, as storage seals were too useful for her not to know. If their teammate had to carry all her supplies in a backpack, it could slow her down, thus slowing down the entire team.
Their sensei finally showed up at eight thirty. The three of them stared at him for a moment, silently. "You're late," says Sakura.
Kakashi blinks at them. He had expected a stronger reaction from them. "Sorry about that. I got lost on the road of life," he says cheerfully.
"Uh-huh," says Naruto skeptically.
"I suppose now that you're here, you'll explain what our test is?" asks Sasuke.
Kakashi pulls two bells out of his pocket. "You have until noon to get one of these bells from me. If you get a bell, you pass. If you don't get a bell, you'll be sent back to the Academy. Also, those who don't get a bell will be tied to that tree stump and have to watch the rest of us eat lunch." Kakashi went over to the tree stumps and set down three bentos.
"But there are only two bells, sensei," says Sakura.
"Exactly. One of you is definitely getting sent back to the Academy. Two of you could pass, or one of you could pass, or none of you could pass," says Kakashi. The mask made it difficult to see his face, but Naruto was sure he was smirking.
'I could get separated from Sasuke-kun!' thinks Sakura, staring at Kakashi in horror. Naruto looks at the bells, puzzled, while Sasuke just looks annoyed.
"The test begins…now," says Kakashi. The three genin vanish into the forest. He can tell where they're at by sensing their chakra. 'They went in the same direction,' he thinks. 'How odd. The other teams always split up at this point. Have they somehow figured out what this test is really about?'
"I think we're out of hearing range now," says Sasuke.
Sakura looks worried. "Our plan depended on the three of us working together. How can we get the bells from Kakashi-sensei without teamwork?" she asks. 'Naruto and Sasuke could have set those traps without me. They don't need me; and I know Sasuke would rather be on a team with Naruto instead of me.' she thinks sadly.
"That might be the point, though," says Naruto. "One Genin is no match for a Jounin, but three Genin might have a chance."
"According to Aunt Yumiko, all Genin are put in teams of three with a Jounin sensei. Would the Hokage have made an exception for Kakashi or is he just bluffing?" asks Sasuke.
"Why would he lie about that though?" Sakura asks, but the answer occurs to her before they can say anything. "He's trying to turn us against each other. The real test is to see if we can work together, to put the team first instead of being selfish."
"Konoha is known for its teamwork. On missions, Konoha nin will sacrifice their lives to save their comrades," says Sasuke.
"Kakashi-sensei wants to see if we have that same mindset," says Naruto.
"So if we work as a team, he should let us all pass?" asks Sakura hopefully.
Sasuke shrugs. "If he doesn't, we'll just have to try again next year with a more reasonable sensei."
"If he was actually serious about sending one of us back, then I don't think I'd want him as a sensei. We don't need someone who would try to teach us to stab our comrades in the back," says Naruto.
"We should get started then. We've only got three hours to get the bells from Kakashi," says Sasuke.
Kakashi looked up from the book he was reading when he heard the sound of shrunken being thrown at him. He pulled out a kunai and deflected them. 'I guess they're finally making their move. I was starting to wonder if they'd given up,' he thinks.
About a dozen Naruto's emerged from the woods and began to attack him. Who had taught a Genin the Shadow Clone jutsu? It was easy enough for him to dispel the clones, though he noticed as he was fighting them that they weren't using the Academy's taijutsu style. He thought it was familiar, but couldn't remember who he had seen fighting like that. He would ask Naruto who had trained him later.
One of his attacks sent the real Naruto flying over to the river a few feet away. He noticed with a great deal of surprise that instead of landing in the water, Naruto landed on top of the water. How did Naruto have average marks in the Academy if he could already do the Water-walking technique?
Several shuriken came flying out of the forest towards him. It seems that one of the Genin had tried to take advantage of his surprise to get a hit in. Unfortunately for them, it didn't work. Sasuke emerged from the forest and attacked him using taijutsu. He recognized Sasuke's style of fighting as the Uchiha's taijutsu style. He also noticed that Sasuke's way of fighting involved more flexibility when the kid almost grabbed one of the bells after trying to kick him in the face.
He looked down in surprise when he felt the weight of his book disappear. Sakura had snuck up to him while he was fighting Naruto and Sasuke and had grabbed his book. He had been expecting the kids to only go after the bells, so it hadn't occurred to him to be on guard against book theft!
As Sakura ran into the forest with his book, he was prevented from immediately going after her by Naruto and Sasuke. He knocks both of them away from him and runs after Sakura. He catches up to her quickly, but several dozen shuriken fly at him before he can grab her. He dodges them and looks around to see who threw them, but no one is there. Instead, he sees seal paper stuck to a tree branch. Had the children set up traps around the forest?
He can sense Sasuke and Naruto nearby. Instead of coming towards him, they seem to be circling his location, always staying just out of sight.
He catches sight of Sakura again. The girl has slowed down and is out of breath. This time it's a blue gas, instead of shuriken, that prevent him from catching her. The mask blocks some of the smoke from entering his lungs, but it still causes him to cough and his eyes are watering. His nose, which is more sensitive than the average person's, feels like its burning. 'This smells like some kind of pepper and onion spray. The blue is probably from a dye,' he thinks.
Kakashi spends the next hour dodging projectile weapons and balloons full of paint. At some point, Naruto gets the book from Sakura and creates several shadow clones. So now he has to find the real Naruto to get his book back. It's after he's dispelled the twelfth shadow clone that he begins to stumble. Confused, he looks at the paint on his clothes with suspicion. He brings his arm to his nose and sniffs the paint. The strong chemical smell of the paint was hiding the chemical smell of a poison. He assumes it's a type of knock out gas, as he doesn't think his students would be trying to kill him.
Whatever it is, it knocks him out within a few minutes. He wakes to the sound of a buzzer going off. He's lying in the clearing, next to the logs. The alarm clock reads 12:00 p.m. The gas had knocked him out for about an hour. He slowly sits up, feeling somewhat lightheaded.
"Kakashi-sensei is awake," says Naruto. The genin walks over to him, grinning, and holds up a bell. "I bet you weren't expecting us to actually get them, eh sensei?"
"I am a bit surprised," he says as he stands up. "The three of you worked together, but there are only two bells. So, which one of you is going back to the Academy?"
The three genin exchange glances before looking back at him. "That isn't an option, sensei. Either we all pass or we all fail," says Naruto.
"We're comrades. Stabbing each other in the back goes against everything the Academy taught us," says Sasuke.
"We wouldn't have been able to get the bells if we didn't work together. I don't want to pass if it means one of them fails," says Sakura.
Kakashi smiles. "If that's how you feel, then you three…..pass!" he says, cheerfully.
Naruto lets out a cheer and the other two genin smile. "We should get ramen to celebrate," says Naruto. "Ichiraku makes the best ramen in the village."
"Sounds good. And Serena isn't here to restrict how many bowls you eat," Sasuke says, amused.
"What about you, Sakura-san, Kakashi-sensei?" asks Naruto.
Sakura looks at Sasuke and blushes. "Ramen sounds good," she says. 'If I only eat one bowl, it shouldn't mess with my diet too much,' she thinks.
"I'll come as well. I'll even pay for one bowl for each of you, as a graduation present," says Kakashi.
"Thank you, sensei."
The four of them then head to the restaurant. "Good afternoon, Naruto-kun," says Ayami. "I see you've brought some new friends with you."
"Ayame-chan, Teuchi-san. This is my genin team. You've already met Sasuke. The other two are Sakura-san and Kakashi-sensei," says Naruto.
"It's nice to meet you. What would you like to eat?" asks Teuchi.
The four of them place their orders and sit down. Naruto loves to eat at Ichiraku, not just because of the food, but because Ayame and Teuchi are friends of his. Rina had brought him here for the first time when he was six years old. Ayame and Teuchi had been wary of him at first, but Rina had convinced them not to kick him out. He still remembers what she said to them.
"This is Naruto Uzumaki. He's never had ramen before, which I think is a shame. Everyone should be able to enjoy ramen, don't you think, Teuchi-san? In fact, it would be a shame if no one was ever able to eat your ramen again. You don't mind me bringing Naruto here, do you, Teuchi-san?" asks Rina with what Serena referred to as her 'wolf smile.'
("A wolf smile because it reminds us of the way a mama wolf might smile before ripping out the throat of someone who hurt her cub," Serena had told him later.)
Teuchi looks at Rina, slightly wide-eyed. "I don't mind at all," he says with a nervous smile. "You can bring him here anytime."
To this day, Naruto still isn't sure if Rina had been threatening Teuchi's life or his ramen shop. Either one would have made it impossible for someone to try his ramen. Threats aside, Teuchi and Ayame eventually grew to become close friends of theirs.