A/N:- Woo-hoo. Look, another update. But unfortunately, as I will be unable to write for the next two weeks, the next update won't be as quick. Sorry. Anyway, after this chapter, which is all about the bell test, our new team 7 begin missions. This also where things start to diverge from canon, bit by bit. And I have a question. Lots of authors seem to like writing long training montages. Me, I don't particularly like them(they get repetitive). So, I am asking all my readers who consider this story worth following, should I put in long training montages, or not. Answer in reviews, or leave me a PM. Either way is fine. Also two members of the team already have powerful bloodlines. Should the remaining two members develop something similar? please let me know what you think. And oh, enjoy this chapter .

DISCLAIMER:- All that does not belong to Masashi Kishimoto belongs to me.

CHAPTER 4

It was the crack of dawn. The village of Konohagakure no Sato was still (for the most part) asleep. The east sky had just begun to grow lighter, and the landscape was shaded with charcoal hues. Apart from a few teams leaving on missions and the night time ANBU patrol jumping across roofs, the entire village was still and silent. Not even the birds were singing yet.

Four children had gathered in training ground number 7. Three of them were rather sleepy, and one of them made no effort to hide it. He had stretched out on the ground as comfortably as he could, and was already drifting back to sleep. The other two, both of them girls, while trying not to follow their comrade's example, were still nodding off from time to time. The last person, a boy with dark hair and dark eyes, was standing straight, a little farther apart from the other three. It was impossible to understand whether or not he was feeling drowsy like his teammates. His face was stony, and it revealed little of his emotions.

Aiko, for she was one of the two girls on the ground, slid down the training log she had been using as a prop, to a more comfortable position. She had no idea why their sensei had asked them to get here this early, but if it were to be some kind of survival test, she did not think being asleep would be a good idea. Yet the weather was so perfect for sleeping outdoors, there was a nice soft breeze blowing, and it was so quiet and peaceful, Aiko could almost feel her eyes closing of their own accord….

Aiko forced her eyelids open and dragged herself into a sitting position. This was no good. No matter how much she tried to keep herself from falling asleep, getting up at four in the morning did not help at all in that regard. She had spent a lot of time last night worrying about what their sensei had said before he left them alone for the day – which is that this test was supposed to have a measly 33% rate of passing. If she failed, she would get sent back to the academy, and she did not think that she would be able to withstand another year there. Another year with no friends, every single one of the teachers putting her down when she asked a question, or making fun of her when she could not answer (well, Iruka was an exception, but where was the guarantee that said she would be getting him as her class teacher if she had to go back for another year?) And even worse would be if either she or Naruto managed to pass, and the other sibling didn't. Last night, in fact, she had had a nightmare about that very thing. It involved a lot of the people she held close, and all of them telling her how worthless she was for failing to pass even such a simple test, and that she should go hide away, like the freak she was, and not come near them. That last bit, as far as she could remember, was from a crowd of faceless mothers who pulled their children away from her, in the park. She had no idea why she was playing in a park. After she had woken up, she had even joked with Naruto about how even her nightmares were so improbably ridiculous.

When her brother had finally managed to get her awake, her face was soaked with tears, and for a scary while she couldn't differentiate between her dream and her reality. It had taken Naruto a long time to calm her down, and to reassure her.

For the second time, Aiko forced her eyelids open. After that, she had not gotten much sleep, and, she suspected, neither had Naruto. In all probability, he had been lying awake, wanting to be with her immediately if she started having another nightmare. Just like all the times she had had to stay awake for him. Especially after the old fat stupid git who owned the apartment complex they lived in threatened to throw them out on to the streets if he got another complain about 'night time disturbances' from any of his other tenants. Even now, when he mostly left them alone, thinking about him left a foul test in her mouth.

Aiko shook her head and looked around. Brooding over that was not going to help her at all. Unfortunately, for whatever reason known best to him, their sensei had not shown up yet. Why had he asked them to assemble that early in the morning if he himself was not going to take the trouble of getting up and meeting with them was a complete mystery to her. And her brother was just sleeping soundly, like whatever test this sensei was going to cook up was not of much concern at all…

Aiko poked Naruto experimentally with a foot.

No response.

Aiko poked harder.

No response.

Aiko kicked Naruto over onto his back.

Naruto mumbled sleepily.

Aiko frowned. While she completely understood Naruto's need for sleep, she didn't think it would be a smart idea to actually fall asleep. For one thing, he was making her sleepy, too. For another, their sadistic (as Aiko was convinced by now) instructor might turn up any time, and it certainly won't be good if found them sleeping.

She leaned over, grabbed Naruto's jacket sleeve, and shook him as hard as she could manage.

Naruto cracked open one eye and mumbled something. Aiko leaned over towards him.

"Get up, nii-san. This is not a good time to be sleeping."

Naruto grumbled something. Aiko leaned closer, trying to listen better. "What?"

"I said," Naruto answered a bit more clearly, "just let me get some sleep, 'Ko. It's not my fault that sensei asked us to get here at four in the morning but is refusing to get his own butt out of bed by then."

And he turned to one side and went back to sleep.

Frustrated, Aiko turned to look at her two other teammates. Hinata had been really tired, apparently, because she was already asleep. Aiko didn't feel like waking her up as well, especially when it was beginning to seem more and more like their sensei was not going to appear any time soon. Sasuke was standing apart from them. For some reason, he did not look sleepy at all. However, Aiko did not feel like trying to strike up a conversation that would most likely consist of monosyllabic grunts for replies. Instead she decided to try and keep a lookout for her other two teammates.

And they proceeded to wait… and wait… and wait…

…For the next several hours.

The sun was pretty high up in the sky, and even Naruto was awake and grumbling by the time Kakashi Hatake appeared on the scene. By then, all four of the genin, even Sasuke, who normally went around with a face so blank it could be disconcerting, were showing distinct signs of irritation and discomfort, in the form of grumbling, shuffling and twitching. So unsurprisingly, when Kakashi finally arrived on the scene, the members of the group didn't hesitate to voice their displeasure.

"…YOU ARE LATE!"

Behind the mask, Kakashi winced. His right eardrum might just have ruptured from the volume of that shout. Yeah, that was Kushina-nee's son alright. His personality was all Kushina-nee. Thank the gods, he decided, that his other three teammates did not seem like they were about to voice their displeasure for the whole village to hear. Even if two of them looked like they were contemplating the most enjoyable way to murder him. A small grin formed on Kakashi's face. Now that was always fun. He gave the four genin whom the Hokage had placed under him to become his team another once over. Well, they look sufficiently grumpy and tired and hungry by now. Hey, there's the sound of a stomach rumbling, too. Right then, time to get this show on the road.

While he was musing, his students had been growing even more restless and fidgety. Kakashi offered them an eye smile, but decided to forgo the standard excuses for now. Maybe if they become a team…

"Well, you see, I had these things to take care of. Besides, if I arrived early, you wouldn't be hungry, you see. Then where would be the point of the test?"

All four genin looked at him in confusion. Finally, the timid looking blue-haired girl spoke up (that was Hinata Hyuga, wasn't it?), "Um sensei, what do you mean?"

"Yeah." Naruto interrupted. "And what is in that shopping bag?"

Kakashi let out a full chuckle this time. Explaining this part was always the most entertaining. He set down the package he was carrying in his right hand on a stone slab in front of the training logs and pulled out here bells from his pocket, which he proceeded to tie to his belt.

"See, kids, this is how this test works. In that package, there are three bento boxes, with a big lunch." Kakashi grinned again when further sounds of stomachs rumbling were heard. "In my belt, I have three bells. And here," he finished with a flourish as he pulled out a small alarm clock from an equipment pouch and put it on top of one of the logs, "is an alarm clock, set to ring when it strikes 12. As you can no doubt see, it's five minutes to 10. You have two hours; all of you; to get one of those bells form me. If you can, you get to eat at the end of those two hours, and you pass. If you can't, you get tied up to one of those logs right behind you, you go hungry till you get back home, and, of course, you fail. And return to the Academy for another year. I believe we already went over that part yesterday. So is that perfectly clear?"

"Hey, wait one moment, sensei. You said there will be three bells, and we have to each get one in order to pass, so how does that work out? There are four of us here."

Kakashi was sincerely hoping someone would go and ask that question. That was where the test really began after all, from the way the genins reacted when they realized exactly what the test entailed, or what they thought it entailed. It just felt a bit surreal to be standing in front of a boy that could have been Minato-sensei shrunk down to kiddy size when he thought back to his own bell test, all those years ago. Kakashi shook his head to blow away the cobwebs, and refocused on the genin.

"Of course, there are only three bells. It's the same reason that there are only three packed lunches. It just means that no matter what you do; one of you is going to fail." Looking at the horrified faces Kakashi chuckled again. "What, did you expect that all four would pass? Come off it. Have any of you ever seen or heard of a five man team before? Things don't work that way in Konoha."

"Oh, and one other thing. If you really want to get the bells, you had better come at me with intent to kill. You won't be getting any where near the bells otherwise."

Kakashi stopped to watch their expressions. None of them were saying anything, but the way Naruto and Aiko looked at each other, before moving closer together, the way Sasuke's expression tightened even more, or the way Hinata started to poke her fingers together and stare at the ground, was all really interesting. Oh, very, very interesting indeed. But now wasn't really the time to analyze that.

"Any more questions? No? Good. Then, your time starts…"

Tick.

"…now…"

Tick.

"…now…"

The hours hand moved into the 10'o clock slot.

"…NOW."

He watched in satisfaction as, the moment the words were out of his mouth, three blurs shot off into the foliage. Good, so they were all hiding themselves properly. Maybe he would give them 10 minutes to hide and prepare, before he started to go after them…Wait. Wait, wait. Three blurs? What was the fourth…? Ah, there he was. And what, exactly, did he think he was doing?

"Naruto, the test has already begun. If you want to pass, shouldn't you be following your teammates' lead and hiding?"

"Hey, I don't need to that sensei. I will show you. I will beat you here and take the bells from you, and then you will have to accept me as the best ninja ever. Come on."

Oh dear merciful God in high heaven.

Kakashi put a hand in the equipment pouch tied to his hip. Naruto tensed, thinking that Kakashi was going to pull out a kunai or a shuriken to attack. Instead, Kakashi pulled out a book, with an orange cover. He flipped it open, pulled out a bookmark, and started to read.

Naruto stared.

Kakashi paid him no attention.

Naruto's face clouded. He had always hated it when he tried to talk to anybody and they ignored him, like he didn't matter. Receiving the same treatment from a man who was supposed to be his teacher hurt even more. He gritted his teeth.

"Hey! Don't ignore me. I said I am going to get that bell from you."

Kakashi looked up. Naruto was standing in front of him, literally seething with anger. His loudness, stupid, and apparent overconfidence (engendered, no doubt, by said stupidity) irritated him to no end. For a moment, Kakashi just considered walking off, and leaving the kid to his own devices. Or even better, failing him on the spot, son of his mentor and the woman who was as close as an elder sister to him as could be be damned. This kid was a danger to himself, at the very least, even more so to all of his teammates. In fact, he had almost opened his mouth to say as much, but something stayed him. Something in the kid's eyes. Maybe it was desperation, maybe something else. Maybe it was something Kakashi used to see in his own eyes when he was younger. Whatever it was, Kakashi could not put a name to it. But it held him back, and instead of harshly dismissing the boy, he lowered his book a little. He said something else.

"Well, if you really want the bells that much, I suppose you could make a grab for them. Though I would count it as an achievement for you if you can get me to take my eyes off the book. Or the hand, for that matter."

Naruto didn't reply. He just growled and charged at Kakashi. Kakashi did not drop his book, or even try to straighten out of his sloppy, lazy posture. As Naruto reached him, he jumped up and used all his momentum to kick at Kakashi's chin. Without even looking, Kakashi caught his foot in one hand and lifted him right off the ground. Not wasting time, Naruto twisted his whole body around and again kicked at Kakashi's chin. Kakashi dropped Naruto and took one step back. Naruto landed on all fours and immediately lunged again, aiming for Kakashi's groin. Kakashi sidestepped. Naruto shot past him and straightened. For a moment, the two combatants looked at each other. Or to be more accurate, Naruto glared at Kakashi while Kakashi kept his own eyes on the book, even letting out a schoolgirl like giggle for good measure. Naruto growled again and put his fingers in a ram seal. Kakashi's eyebrows rose. A jutsu? But according to his file, Naruto could perform only two of the standard Academy Three, and the… Ah. So that must be it.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Kakashi winced. It was nice and all that a genin was able to perform this jutsu, but was it really necessary to shout like that? If he can't concentrate properly on molding chakra in the middle of a fight without resorting to sloppy aids, his concentration needed a lot of work. Well, Kakashi decided, even if he fails the entire lot, as seemed to be becoming more and more likely each passing second, he would put that on the report and ask the Hokage to ensure that his teachers for the next year paid special attention to that. Maybe he could just have a few words with that chuunin, Iruka Umino. He was the one teacher that appeared close to Naruto. In the meanwhile, he had to deal with the six identical clones of Naruto that had appeared from behind a curtain of chakra smoke. He looked up.

"Well. It appears that you do have that technique at your disposal. For a moment I thought it was just rumor."

Instead of replying, the six Naruto clones charged at him. Kakashi sighed and reluctantly put away the book. He was perfectly capable of destroying those clones even with one hand occupied, but he would rather not have had the book damaged. "I suppose you achieved something after all," he added in a deadpan, as he knocked aside the punch the first Naruto to reach him had thrown (was that a clone?). He then proceeded to grab onto the hand and pull to destroy his balance, before sweeping his legs out from under him. He finished up with a heel kick that dispersed "Naruto" in a cloud of smoke (a clone, then), before spinning around and moving aside to get out of reach of the two Naruto's that were trying to sneak up behind him. Another Naruto jumped at him, but this one left himself so open that Kakashi just crouched lower and grabbed him by his collar and belt as he passed overhead. Then he spun on one foot and body slammed him into another Naruto behind him, dispersing both. Of the remaining three, two leaped at Kakashi at the same time, probably trying to tackle him to the ground. Kakashi performed a seal less kawarimi with the last clone, which had just thrown a handful of shuriken at him. When the chakra smoke cleared, Naruto was sitting on the ground with a dazed look. Some of his own shurikens had caught him, even though the wounds were not particularly deep. Kakashi slowly walked towards him.

"Reports say that when fighting against Mizuki, you created almost a thousand clones. Why so few now?"

Naruto got to his feet and glared at Kakashi. "I don't need any more to defeat you," he growled.

"Continuously underestimating your enemy can be a very fatal mistake, Naruto. Not to mention a stupid one."

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

Ten clones this time, Kakashi noted. That hardly changed anything. Kakashi shot through the clones dispersing one with every strike. Within the space of a second, he had decimated all but one. That had to be the real one. He got behind the last one and crouched down, bringing his fingers together in the tiger seal. There was a gasp from somewhere near, but he didn't pay it attention.

"Konoha's secret taijutsu technique: One thousand years of pain."

And before Naruto could turn, Kakashi channeled chakra into his fingertips and poked him in the backside, hard. Then he proceeded to watch with satisfaction as Naruto flew straight up in the air, and…disappeared?

Kakashi jumped up immediately, senses on alert. The real Naruto was nowhere near. He let out a slow breath. So, maybe there was some hope for them after all. And if that whole show was put up to allow his teammates to hide without interference from him…

Kakashi stretched. Now he would have to track the brats down. Well, best begin from that undergrowth over by the large tree. That was where the Hinataesque gasp he had heard a few seconds ago had come from, after all.

Behind a tree, Aiko took a deep breath and straightened to her feet. Enough time had passed. Naruto would be joining her soon. Then they could make plans to grab a couple of bells. She peered around the tree. No sign of Kakashi yet either, although Aiko did not think she would really be able to sense him before he dropped onto her, if he did not want to be sensed. Still, it was some comfort, not being able to see him.

There was a rustling sound overhead and then Naruto dropped down beside her. They smiled at each other.

"Well, that should throw him off us for sometime. Any ideas now, 'Ko?"

Aiko looked at him thoughtfully. "Well, let's do this like the way we used to do when stealing from those stores."

Naruto grinned. "That was always fun. Now then, what do we know about the target?"

"To start with, he is a seasoned jounin. Obviously, the difference between our skill levels is going to be astronomical. Equally obviously, it is extremely unlikely that he will be actually using all of his skill to fight us. If he did, there is no way any of us could get the bells."

Naruto nodded. "There is no point fighting him directly. I used so many clones, and I could not even touch the bells. We have to trap him somehow."

"Yes, but how? And where is he now, anyway?"

"No idea. He will probably be coming after us now. One by one."

"Then we will also have to consider how to fight him if he comes after us. We can't allow him to separate us, or we are lost."

"I have an idea. First, let's find out where sensei is. Then I attack him, and buy time, while also occupying his attention. You prepare a trap, in the bushes, underground, somewhere he can't see. Then you join me, and we try to spring the trap and immobilize him. That way we can get the bells."

"You know what, Naruto? If we can find out where Kakashi sensei is, that might actually work. Just as soon as you explain to me how you can occupy the attention of a seasoned jounin long enough for me to set a trap that can immobilize him."

"That's alright. I will keep swamping him with lots of shadow clones. And you can use them to help with the trap making too. "

Aiko frowned thoughtfully. It wasn't much of a plan, but it had a lot of room to improvise. She liked it.

"Alright," she said. "Let's try your idea out. So, how are you going to go about…"

Whatever she was going to say next was cut off by a high pitched scream coming from a little way off. Brother and sister immediately whipped around toward the sound.

"That sounds like…", Naruto whispered.

"…Like Hinata." Aiko finished for him. Both of them stood still for sometime. "What happened?"

"Did sensei get to her? But he would not hurt anybody seriously, right?"

Aiko bit her lip. "We need to go and check. With luck, we may catch sensei himself there. And if something's happened to Hinata, well…"

Naruto nodded, and they set out, as soundlessly as they could manage.

Hinata Hyuga was not having a good day. In fact, she was pretty sure labeling her day as just "bad" would shortlist her for the Understatement of the Century award, if such an award existed. She was hungry, she was tiring, she had no idea how to get a bell from her sensei anymore than she did when she started, and she was pretty sure that she had given her position away when she had squeaked during the fight between sensei and Naruto-kun. On top of all that, her fathers' angry, disappointed face if she failed this test kept popping into her mind. That did nothing to help her concentrate. She kept wishing she had not given her position away like that, but at that time she could not have helped it, no matter how much she berated herself for it afterwards. For a moment, when she saw Kakashi sensei form the tiger seal she had thought that Naruto was going to die. Until, that is, he did that…that…whatever that is called. Hinata felt her face redden every time she thought of it. But be that as it may, as a consequence of that, she was now on the run. Kakashi sensei was probably coming after her even now. Panting, she quickly shot past a large tree, and then stopped as she realized there was enough space between its roots to hide. She considered for a moment. Her Byakugan was active, but her range wasn't particularly great. She could not see more than 25 yards in any direction, and obstacles made it all the more difficult. If she kept running, sensei was sure to find her sooner rather than later. On the other hand, if she hid there, she might get enough of a warning to think of something. Even if escaping from that hole would be pretty difficult in an emergency.

Decision made, Hinata made to squirm into the hole. Before she could, however, a flash of movement registered at the very edge of her vision. Jumping up, she turned around with her back to the tree trunk, breathing heavily. For a moment there was nothing. Then there was another flash of movement behind her, and her sensei landed on a branch in front of her.

For a moment they stared at each other, while Hinata's brain tried to catch up to the situation and stop spouting broken sentences like, "Oh crap, he caught us," and "God I am going to fail now." Then Kakashi leaned forward, his one visible eye upturned creepily.

"Well Hinata-chan, you seem to be looking for something."

Hinata couldn't help it. She screamed.

When Aiko and Naruto arrived at the place where they had heard Hinata's scream come from, they had expected to find Hinata badly injured, at the very least. Instead, they were greeted with the sight of Hinata, kunai in hand, standing in a defensive position. Although she was doing her best to stay calm, her hands gave her away. They were shaking. Kakashi was standing in front of her, but he had not positioned himself to strike. Instead, he looked almost wary of approaching Hinata, and when Aiko broke a twig under her foot and he looked over and saw them, his expression seemed to be relieved.

His greeting left them even more confused.

"Oh, thank the gods you have arrived."

Aiko and Naruto stared at each other. What?

Kakashi elaborated. "You see, I had just surprised Hinata here, and she screamed so loud you would think she was being sacrificed or something. Then she just took out this kunai and started slashing wildly. I wasn't sure what to do, so I stepped back. Now it's been like this. Can you please convince her to step back? If I get too close to her and she starts slashing at me again and I hurt her somehow, Kurenai-chan is going to kill me."

Still nobody moved. After a moment Kakashi pleaded, "Oh come on. Don't worry about the test; I have got a far serious problem on my hands now. Just get her out of there; I swear I won't try to attack or harm you unless you try to grab the bells. I need your help on this one."

Naruto looked at Aiko. He was afraid that this might a trap, but everything looked genuine and above board. Hinata really seemed to be having an actual panic attack, and Kakashi was looking really worried. Of course, they could still have refused to help, but his whole soul rebelled at the thought of leaving a comrade helpless or in the way of greater harm (Kakashi's threats hadn't been particularly subtle). He nudged Aiko. She jumped and turned to look at him, and Naruto realized that she had been thinking along the same lines. Naruto looked over at Kakashi.

"Alright, sensei. But you stay where we can see you. And don't move."

Kakashi just eye smiled in response.

Aiko started to move slowly toward Hinata. No matter how genuine it looked, she was still suspecting a trap somewhere. Naruto tiptoed along behind her. Apparently, he didn't trust sensei completely either. But they got as close to Hinata as they dared and still there was no sign of any trap anywhere. She remained locked in the same position. Aiko called out softly to Hinata.

"Hinata-chan? Can you hear us? It's alright; sensei isn't going to hurt you. You are safe."

Hinata didn't respond.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto had arrived beside her, but his voice was hesitant. And now Aiko's sixth sense, honed by living on the streets and running from danger most of her life, was tingling too. Now that they were close to her, they could see a couple of things that they had missed before. For one, Hinata was not staring at Kakashi. She was staring at a tree behind him. The expression on her face was one of absolute terror and her posture was abnormally stiff, as if she could die if she tried to move. Sweat was pouring down her face in small streams. Also, Aiko realized with growing horror, there were a lot of ropes on the ground around her feet. And they were very nicely disguised. Even Naruto, an expert at making traps as he was, had not spotted them. She whipped around to look at their sensei, who was still standing there, smiling in that creepy way. Quickly she palmed three kunai and threw them at him, hoping to disrupt whatever plan he was cooking up. Kakashi made no move to defend. Stunned, Aiko watched as the kunai flew straight towards him, and passed through his abdomen. "Kakashi" dissolved into a pile of earth. At that moment, Hinata came out of her daze. Aiko turned towards her, but Hinata shouted desperately.

"Aiko-san! Naruto-kun! Get out of here, now. He said he's going to kill you."

"What?" Aiko couldn't believe her ears. She whipped around, trying to get a location on their sensei. He was nowhere to be seen. She turned to her brother.

"Naruto, take Hinata and get out of here! Now!"

Naruto turned towards her, but before he could move further, there was a whipping sound. Next second, there was a tremendous tug on Aiko's ankles. A rope tightened around them, and before she could do anything, she was hoisted roughly at least twenty feet into the air. Dangling by her legs, she realized that both Hinata and her brother had suffered the same ignominious fate. Looking at the ground, she was momentarily startled to see Kakashi standing there, looking up at them.

"Ninja lesson number one," he drawled. "Always look underneath the underneath."

"You bastard, "Naruto growled. "You threatened to kill Hinata-chan, if she said anything, didn't you? That's why she was frozen up like that."

Kakashi frowned. "Your anger is understandable, Naruto. But there's a time and place for shooting your mouth off, and this is not it. As for me threatening to kill Hinata, well, even you should have realized by now that it was a bluff. I can hardly go around killing genin assigned to be under my protection. The kunai trap that she thought would have killed her had she tried to move or warn you…well, I am sure you can see it pretty clearly form that high up, right? What does the "trap" look like?"

Aiko turned herself around in the direction of the tree Hinata had been staring at earlier. She squinted. There was a rope tied to a low branch, and it led through some bushes into the clearing, but the rope itself…

She let out a long breath. The rope snaked back to the tree, where it was looped around the trunk of the tree itself, near the base, hidden quite well by some bushes. It was a beautiful bluff.

"Well, now that you have seen that. Why don't you try to untangle each other? I have to go check on your last teammate, you see?"

And Kakashi Hatake vanished in a high wind and a pile of leaves.

Sasuke Uchiha was getting positively worried. He didn't know exactly how much time was left, but he was pretty sure there wasn't much. And he still hadn't managed to find sensei. This was getting bad. He knew that if he could find sensei, he could somehow get a bell from him, so long as he met him on his own terms. He was pretty confident about that. More confident than he was about the chances the other three had, anyway. But he had been working on the presumption that sensei would come hunting after each of them. That's why he had chosen a nice clearing in the forest, fortified it with as many traps as he could manage, and waited. If he didn't show up, then Sasuke would have to go after him. And he had no illusions how that would end. He didn't think he could take on a jounin single-handedly. The face of his brother floated up from his memories for a moment, but he ruthlessly squashed it. Now was not the time to get distracted. After he had gotten a bell, after he was one step further ahead on the road to avenging his clan, then he could think about him. Not now.

Sasuke suddenly straightened. Someone was coming, and he was not bothering to be particularly stealthy about it either. Sasuke tensed. If it was sensei, he would have to attack at once.

The footsteps were closer…closer still…NOW!

Sasuke threw a kunai at one of the many trip wires across the clearing. Just as Kakashi sensei – for it was he – walked into the clearing, a log covered with explosive tags slammed into him. Kakashi lazily switched himself with a stone, and turned to look at Sasuke. He gave another of his eye smiles.

"So, Sasuke-kun. Showed up to the party at last?"

Instead of answering, Sasuke threw another kunai, cutting through another trip wire. Almost as if he was expecting it, Kakashi jumped aside, not even glancing at the large tiger pit that opened under his feet. Sasuke gritted his teeth. Another trap wasted.

"Do you know, Sasuke-kun, this might have been a bit easier for you if you had teamed up with one of the others? "

Sasuke palmed four shuriken. He might not have been anywhere near as good as his traitorous brother had been, but he was good.

"I don't need help. Especially not from them."

And he threw the shurikens, cutting the remaining trip wires.

"Bad choice," Kakashi murmured, before he leapt right over another log that swung at him, then rolled into a ball, the added angular momentum making him rotates faster and carrying him right over a barrage of kunai. Looking down, he saw Sasuke staring at him expectantly. Apparently, there were more traps on the ground. Reorienting himself so that he landed to the left of where he had started from, Kakashi was unbalanced for a moment as another huge tiger pit opened up, It's edge right next to his feet. He immediately switched with the log from earlier. Unfortunately for him, this put him right in front of Sasuke, with his back turned to him. Sasuke immediately lunged for the bells with a kunai in hand. For a brief moment, he was sure he was going to win. The tip of his knife even touched the ropes of one of the bells. Then Kakashi whipped around, grabbed his wrist, wrenched the kunai from his hands and threw him over his shoulder. Sasuke landed on his feet and rolled twice before getting up, facing Kakashi. Without stopping, he began to form the hand seals for his strongest technique. He saw the way Kakashi's visible eye widened briefly, and smirked. Evidently, Kakashi had not been expecting a genin like him to know such a high rank jutsu. He took a deep breath.

"Katon: Goukakyu no Jutsu."

The fireball that formed, and the smoke accompanying it obscured his vision for sometime. When it cleared, Kakashi was nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke whipped around. Not in front. Not behind him. Not above him either. Where the hell was he?

A pair of hands suddenly erupted from the ground in front of his feet. Before he could react, he was pulled under and buried up to his neck, and Kakashi was crouching in front of him.

"Doton: Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu." Kakashi said. "You were right, Sasuke-kun. You were different from them. But you know what they say? A nail that stands out gets hammered down. Try to dig yourself out, won't you?"

By the time Naruto, Aiko and Hinata had managed to untie themselves; Hinata had apologized for not warning them a thousand times. Both Naruto and Aiko had tried to tell her, over and over, that it wasn't really her fault and that anyone else in her position would never have taken the risk, like she did, to warn them. This failed to console Hinata at all, who seemed to believe that she should have somehow realized that her sensei was bluffing and should not have been cowering in fear, like she was. As Aiko gathered up the ropes Kakashi had tied them with, they heard a bell ring in the distance. They looked at each other dejectedly. Finally, Aiko spoke up.

"Well, let's go back."

Naruto shuffled his feet.

"Yeah. Maybe we did well enough to pass anyway."

Soon all four of them were sitting at the foot of the same training logs they had been leaning on, what seemed like a million years ago. Even Sasuke was there, grumpy, dirty, and distinctly bell less. Kakashi had tied Hinata to a stump, saying she did the least to actually get a bell. Everybody's stomachs were rumbling loudly. Kakashi himself stood in front of them, looking as though trying to find something in their faces they themselves were unaware of. Finally, he nodded to himself, and straightened up.

"I have come to the conclusion that you lot should all quit trying to become ninjas."

The pronouncement made Hinata hang down her head, defeated. Naruto just growled, but made no further moves, while Sasuke gritted his teeth harder. Aiko gave no outward reaction, even though that statement made her seethe with anger. Unperturbed, Kakashi continued.

"None of you were able to understand the true meaning of this test."

Naruto interrupted, his brows scrunched up, "the true meaning of this test?"

Kakashi exhaled slowly. "Yeah. The entire purpose of this test. Did you think it was about the bells? Did you think you were really expected to get three bells from an elite jounin who does not want to give up even one?"

Aiko spoke up. "What is it then?"

Kakashi looked at her. "Think, Aiko. Why were you divided into teams? Why are you being made to take this test as a team? Which quality have you always been told was the greatest strength of Konoha's ninjas?"

Hinata gasped as the she connected the dots. "Teamwork?"

"That's right. Teamwork."

"But sensei, there are only three bells, and four of us. Even if we worked together to get them, someone would have to give one up, and nobody would want to."

Kakashi turned towards them. "And that was the entire point. This test is designed to see if you are willing to sacrifice your personal concerns, your happiness, dreams, even your very life, to see the mission completed and your mission safe. If you can't do that, you won't be welcome in Konoha's ranks." He paused. "Do you guys see that black stone over there? That's a memorial stone. It has a long list of names, of people who fell during wars or missions, fighting for their village." He turned back towards them, and they were startled to see a deep sadness in his eye for a moment. It was the most unguarded they had seen their sensei. Then it was gone. Kakashi looked up at the sky and spoke. "Most of those heroes fell trying to protect their comrades, sacrificing themselves so that their friends could live to see another day. Remember, in the ninja world, those who disobey the rules are considered trash. Well, that may be so. But those who would abandon their comrades, their crime is unforgivable. They are worse than trash."

After a moment of silence, Kakashi turned back towards them. "I will give you another chance for the bells after lunch. Just remember, it's going to be a lot harder. The lunch boxes are right there. Just don't give Hinata any, or you lot all are going to fail." Hinata's head drooped further on hearing this. "I will be back in 20 minutes."

And he vanished in a swirl of leaves.

Even after Kakashi left, the four genin stayed where they were, thinking about his words. Finally, Naruto handed out the lunch boxes. "We need to eat first. Then we can make some plans."

"Agreed," Sasuke murmured as he took his bento.

"Hey." Aiko had opened her bento, but instead of eating, she was staring at them. "What about Hinata?"

"Oh." Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other. Then Sasuke said, "I can't sense him nearby."

"Good." Naruto pulled out a kunai, and began to saw off Hinata's ropes. Hinata went red in the face and started spluttering.

"Oh, shut up, Hinata." Aiko said, as she divide up the food from her and Naruto's bentos for Hinata. "You need to eat if you are going to be able do anything later on."

"Besides," Naruto added, "we can hardly leave you trussed up like this, can we?"

"We can always tie you up again before sensei comes back." Sasuke added.

Hinata forcefully blinked away the tears forming in her eyes as she was lowered. "Thank you."

"Here. Eat. "Aiko held out a bento.

As soon as Hinata took the bento, a high wind sprang up. Startled, everybody looked around. Then Sasuke shouted, "He is coming!"

Kakashi appeared right in front of them, bowling Naruto over. Hinata began to shake again. Now she had really messed it up for everybody. Sasuke just got into a combat stance. Aiko drew out a kunai.

Kakashi glared at them. "You brats...!"

Everybody waited with bated breaths for the sentence to fall.

Suddenly, the wind stopped. Kakashi's visible eye turned up again in a 'U'. "...Pass!"

It took everybody sometime to comprehend his words. Then Aiko shouted. "What?"

"Yes." Kakashi straightened up and grinned at them. "The kids I had before this were a bunch of idiots, blindly following what I told them to do. You guys are the first team I passed."

Naruto gave a large whoop and drew Aiko in a fierce hug, who laughed and hugged him back. Hinata smiled, while a corner of Sasuke's lips stretched up.

"From now, we are officially team seven. We will meet here at six every morning for training and going to missions. Bring your basic gear, kunai, shuriken, the works. You can go and celebrate now. Dismissed."

And as the newly christened Team 7 walked off, Naruto dragging Sasuke and proclaiming that there was no way he was going to get out of this celebratory dinner, Kakashi stood watching after them.

"Both of them remind me a lot of you two, Minato-sensei, Kushina-nee. I hope wherever you are, you can see them and be proud."

Kakashi sighed. Well, if he was going to take these brats on, he had better go back to the Hokage and report that. Then he would need to work out some kind of training program for them. Maybe he could ask Gai for some guidance… Kakashi shivered. On second thoughts, maybe he should try Asuma and Kurenai first.

He made the hand seals for a shunshin and disappeared, leaving behind a pile of leaves that a breeze began to scatter across an empty training ground.

Ending note:- I hope you liked that. If you have the time, please leave me a review. Let me know what you liked and what needs to be improved. Even if you can't do that, a Plane "I love your story." Is enormously gratifying, you know. Thank you. Sayonara.