Chapter 6: Teams to Testosterone

On training ground 7, in a random part of the forest

Neji's POV

Sensei is faster than the Gentle Fist despite the fact I'm right in front of him. I sneered as I had to dodge a kick from Kakashi once again.

I launched two quick jabs toward Kakashi's leg, but he moved it slightly out of the way to slip past my jabs and connect across my face.

"You know. After fighting me for about a minute, one would stop fighting the same way. You're way too slow to be trying stuff like that."

"Stop talking!" I yell back, focused on the fight.

Kakashi glides between all my kicks and punches, and even the few kunai I threw after Kakashi tossed me.

I roll to my feet and rocket myself low to the ground to close the gap to perform a Gentle Fist. However, just like all the other times before, Kakashi somehow dodges.

I transitioned my Gentle Fist into a knee aimed at Kakashi's right leg. However, all I can seem to do is just get close.

Kakashi leaned his body out of the way of the attack and elbowed me right in the face.

"God, you're getting increasingly bad. Like a knee attack toward a person's leg. You could've thought of a better attack." Kakashi said in a mock-like tone.

I jump again towards Kakashi's left side, always keeping my eyes on him.

"Like, for example, you could have gone for a knee but had a kunai in your hand to go for a different attack once you missed." Kakashi said while staring at me with an impassive face.

'At this rate, I'll have to use the Byakugan and risk running into chakra exhaustion.' I realized ignoring Kakashi's words. I roll on the ground and stop next to a tree. While rolling, I throw two kunai at Kakashi's head and push the chakra toward the soles of my feet. I force a small amount of chakra to collect and spasm at the soles of my feet.

The build-up of chakra launches me toward Kakashi as line up my right hand with the bells on his side.

'Hopefully, I can do this quick enough.' I focus on the chakra around my eyes and brain and link the familiar mental signs to perform my clan's dojutsu.

'Byakugan'

My eyes became laser-focused as well as extremely wide as if I was lost in my mind. The veins around my eyes bulge and flare to life. My field of view expanded, and the world became much clearer.

Kakashi throws a few shurikens at me while I sore through the air, but I can see them all while focused on the bells and Kakashi. I use my hand closest to my kunai pouch and toss a kunai to deflect projectiles away from me.

I reach out for the bells, and everything happens at once. Kakashi slaps my hand away, but I move my hand enough that the slap barely does anything. I slide on the ground with my legs taking most of the impact. I reach my hand with the kunai towards the bells as I lean towards them.

I touch the bells, but Kakashi launches himself away with his chakra.

"Shit." I say not only because I missed the bells but also because of the idiots in the distance.

Kakashi's POV

Neji's attempt to reach the bells was great, so I allowed him to touch the bells, but that's all.

"Shit!" Neji barked out while rolling to a stop.

I landed on one of the many trees in this forest. Neji's eyes stared daggers into me.

Three kunai fly past me, barely missing me. Sasuke soars above my head with a hand full of shuriken in his hand. Sasuke twisted his body in mid-air while multiple shurikens flew at me, but the wide arc Sasuke threw them allowed me to dodge most without moving too much.

"Kakashi-sensei. Did you think I was done with you? Guess again!" Naruto yells from behind me, but I realize Sasuke's plan when I turn around.

Multiple of Naruto's earth clones are hit with shuriken, but they begin to pull the ninja wire connected to the shuriken. WAIT, ninja wire!?

Almost hearing my thoughts, the clones pull all the wires as tight as possible. The wide arcs were purposely done to force me to pay attention to Sasuke, thinking that he'll be the one doing something. What an exciting plan.

A shadow appears on my right; dark brown hair fills my vision. Meanwhile, my peripherals see Sasuke jumping off of the ground to get as close as possible to Kakashi in the tree.

"You kids are something else." I say as Naruto and his clones force the wire to become tight around my body. Neji launches himself at me with his Gentle Fist aimed dead center at my chest.

In one motion, I twisted my hand and arm out of the wire and slapped Neji's attack away from its target into one of the many wires holding me.

I feel my leg become free after Neji cuts straight through the wire, and I slam my leg down on the tree breaking the limbs from the tree.

Neji, unprepared for me to break the tree limb, falls with the tree and hits the ground hard enough to bounce. He won't be getting back up since his chakra was already getting close to depleted, but now the wind was probably knocked out of him.

I pull out a kunai and chop half of the wire to move more smoothly.

"Naruto, now! Do it now, damn it!" Sasuke says while latched on the side of a tree with kunai.

I pull all the wires and slam them against the ground as hard as possible. The damage should be enough to knock Naruto out and destroy his clones, but that's not what happened.

Every single one of the clones fell into dust, rock, and dirt, while no unconscious Naruto was in sight. So where is Naruto?

I felt chakra pulse through the ground, and everything happened simultaneously. Ripples of dirt and Earth shoot toward me as two more Earth clones rush at me from behind two trees.

Once I touched the forest floor, a wave of dirt slipped under me, pushing me off balance. The second it did, the two clones I saw behind the trees in the distance started to sprint at me.

Sasuke threw two kunai at me. I quickly used a kunai to deflect them. Three kunai slipped past me from where the two clones were coming from.

I smirk just a bit. I'm glad I don't need to do what my counterpart did, but let's see their plan for the bells.

Sasuke threw two more kunai before quickly launching himself toward another tree. The two clones used the moment I deflected the kunai to close the gap to grab the bells.

I jumped away, but a wave of earth messed up my landing. I stumbled and rolled out of the way of the clone who had just phased through the wave.

Were they still connected to Naruto's chakra? I wondered as I blocked a kick for one of the clones. I quickly launched myself into a standing position while throwing the other Naruto clone over my head and elbowed the one I first blocked.

I finally realized Naruto's plan.

Turning around to focus on the clone I threw, I saw Naruto launch himself out of the clone towards the bells. Sasuke quickly launched himself at me with his fist cocked.

I was ready to kick Naruto out of the way and slam Sasuke on the ground. I was about to do it too, but Neji chose that time to attack with everything he had left. Pulling the chakra he could to his hand and feet, Neji pushed himself towards my leg, which was slowly moving towards Naruto's face.

Neji slid and rolled and grabbed my right foot as I swung it. Neji pulled as a wave swept my other foot. So, that was it, the wave of Earth. Neji must have been waiting for that while on the ground.

I smirk under my mask. If I do things right, I could escape with only one bell left, or I could just allow them to win. I almost laugh as Sasuke's fist misses my face, and his other arm snaps back for a passing elbow to my nose, almost breaking it.

Naruto grabs the bells and pulls away just as fast as he launched. I just noticed the wave that got my other leg must have been the last wave, so Naruto had to control the jutsu.

Neji yanked the hell out of my leg and used his momentum to slam me into the ground as I did to him. I really wanted to laugh, but I think I would've caused Neji to snap more than he was already.

Neji jumps back after I quickly jump back and face my new team.

"KAKASHI SENSEI. As you can see, I have the bells." Naruto says with a wide smirk on his face.

"Great, who will you give the other bell?" I ask as I brush the dust off me and rub my nose. I shouldn't have let Sasuke get that close to breaking my nose. Regardless, time to see what Naruto will do.

Naruto looks into my single eye and sighs. He throws both bells to his two respective teammates.

"We already passed, so why does it matter?" Naruto says after plopping his butt onto the ground.

"Huh, whatever do you mean?" I played stupid. Naruto narrowed his eyes.

"When I was fighting you by myself, you were trying your hardest to make sure anything I tried never worked. You even threw me to knock me out like you were done 'testing my skills' or something."

Naruto stands up and dusts his butt off while continuing to speak.

"I bet you did that to everyone. When me and Sasuke worked together, you suddenly started to make more and more mistakes that allowed us to take the bells. When Neji started fighting with us, you just slowly stopped fighting."

"Do you think we wouldn't have noticed, Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke says, staring into my eye, challenging me to call his bluff.

These kids are something else. I chuckle as I walk towards the pillars where their lunch has been since the match started.

"Congrats, you are all a part of Team 7." I say once we got into the clearing and walk towards the pillars.

I can practically hear their thoughts and faces. Naruto smirked at being right and passing. Sasuke widened his eyes at the reality of passing a test he thought he would fail. Neji sighed and let the tension in his body escape.

When the newly formed Team 7 finally arrived, I sat beside their lunches, and they gathered around me.

I toss Naruto's lunch toward him.

"Naruto, your taijutsu is good for a genin. Add your clones, and you are a dangerous foe. Your ability to come up with tactics quickly is one of your strongest points for you. However, you also habitually show your hand during a fight." I put up one finger and continued my speel.

"One, your clones keep leaving obvious gaps for you to enter during the fight. Two, your chakra control is not delicate enough for you to send clones to surprise people under the ground. If you had a bit more control, you would be able to make clones with minimal chakra displacement."

I held another finger for the other point I made while I looked toward Naruto. Turning my head to Sasuke, who sat beside Naruto, I threw his lunch toward him.

"Sasuke, you are very talented. However, you blind yourself by thinking that you are the best. Sasuke, you, like Naruto, chose to fight me by yourself. Thus, I humiliated you. Sasuke, you also have the same issue as Naruto, but not to the same degree. You need chakra control to perform better. Regardless, your aerial ability makes you an extremely difficult fighter."

I turn my gaze to Neji, who twitches at my stare. I throw his lunch toward him.

"Neji, I forced you to act after you sat back and watched me attack. Your taijutsu is great, same with your chakra control. However, you are too direct. You could have thrown many different attacks, but you stayed with your strong but very rigid style. If you had the speed to attack quickly, then your style would be perfect. However, you currently don't have near enough speed to allow yourself to be so stiff."

I clap my hands together and eye-smile at my new genin team.

"Anyway, meet me here tomorrow at dawn for our first team training and mission. Maybe. Bye!" I use the Body Flicker technique before even giving my new students a chance to respond.

I arrive at the Hokage monument overlooking Konoha.

"So the world's fate is on my hands and my teaching skills." I breathe out a heavy sigh rubbing my face with my hands.

I take out a kunai and throw it at a tree. It sinks itself up to its hilt. I walk over to the tree to grab the kunai.

"Sasuke and Neji. What should I do with you two?"

In Naruto's and James' Apartment

James POV

"FUCK! ONE MORE!"

I scream as I prepare myself again in front of the wall of my training room. I place one foot on the wall and focus.

"Push my chakra to my feet. Focus on having it grab onto the wall." I say as I place my second foot on the wall.

"Visualize it. See it as you move." I take another step.

"Tighten your abs and walk up the wall. NOW!" I start walking up the wall faster and faster. I finally reach the top of the wall and place my foot on the ceiling.

"Don't let gravity pull you down. Keep your chakra at your feet level with the surface you're sticking to, James. Come on."

I lean on my toes to activate my calves. I start my exercise again. I kick my right foot towards my right and flatten them against the ceiling. My other foot is still placed directly under me on my toes. I squat deeply until I'm unable to squat any deeper.

"Ok, same height, same height." I say as I alternate my position to my right and left as my upper body lends towards the ceiling. I've been doing this exercise for the past 30 minutes, and I'm finally on my last set.

I hear the front door open, but I pay it no mind. As rock back to my right side for the fifth time.

"Come on, five more to go." I say as I continue my exercise, but the training room door opens.

Naruto steps through the door and sees me on the ceiling, exercising.

"What the hell! How are you… nevermind. Want to spar for a bit today?" Naruto asks me.

"Yeah, I have no issue with sparring with you." I stop my workout, release my hold on the ceiling, and flip in the air to land on my feet.

"YES. 1, 2, 3, GO." Naruto launched himself at me before I even had a chance to settle myself.

I block Naruto's lunge and try to slip an elbow into Naruto's jaw, which Naruto dodges by jumping back.

"No clones, Naruto." I say as I launch myself toward Naruto. I quickly slide into a split leaning on my shins before popping a roundhouse kick at Naruto's liver. I land the kick, but Naruto pulls my leg and throws me across the room.

"Ahhh!" I scream as I fly through the air and slam against the wall. I quickly move my head out of the way of Naruto's knee and tackle him on the ground.

I throw two quick jabs into Naruto's side as he kicks me off him.

"How was your first day with your team?" I ask as I run back at Naruto with a flying knee, but Naruto slips himself out of the way.

"It was great. Sasuke was ehh, as usual, but he's still better than Neji. It sucks they are both on my team. Sasuke and I formed a great plan to win the test that sensei had us do though." Naruto says with no hidden amount of glee.

Naruto hits me with a good two-piece combo, but I slip in an uppercut to his chin knocking Naruto back far enough for me to land a jumping switch kick to Naruto's head. However, Naruto was jumping forward before I could hit him, but his momentum carried him into my balls.

Naruto's hard head hit my balls, and I felt my soul trying to leave my body as I fell.

"Shit, sorry. James, are you okay?"

I felt like throwing up.

"NO!" I say as I feel myself, but I am already seeing black.

"Wait, don't pass out." Naruto says before I pass out.

I say one more thing before I pass out.

"If you tell Yugao what happened, I swear." I say right before I pass out.

Minutes later

Training Room

I woke up a few minutes later. Naruto had left to do something with Hiruzen, and Yugao still wasn't home.

'Home? I didn't even realize that I considered this place home. I wasn't living a bad life and wanted to leave it. I didn't lose my family at a young age. I was a college student going on to complete my first year.'

I continued my thought as I sat down on the couch. I lean my head back and stare at the ceiling. I begin to voice my thoughts out loud.

"I was going to be an engineer. I was something, yet why don't I feel broken? I'm upset, but I haven't had a panic attack yet. Here I am, talking to myself. Yet, I don't feel crazy."

I sigh and lay down on my back against the couch seat.

"Why? Is it freedom? What is it? I'm in a world with gods and shinobi that can kill me and take my soul. Yet, I'm not scared. I miss my parents. I miss my family, yet… Oh. that's why."

I finally realized why I hadn't had a panic attack. It was staring me in the face yet I didn't realize.

"I distracted myself with work and projects. I spent all my time making things to distract myself from the reality that I won't be returning to my world. I spent so much time making the apartment larger. I spent so much time making a soldering station. I fucking made instruments because I loved them so much. Yet, I refused to look at the pictures of my family." A tear falls from my eye, yet how little falls out surprises me.

"I think, however, that's only part of the issue. It might be chakra. I gained the ability to use chakra. It's possible that chakra mended something in me that was hurting. Wait, why doesn't Kakashi… He was born into a world with chakra. I was not. My chakra pathways were never opened, so when chakra was introduced to my system, it repaired my soul. No, that doesn't sound right."

I look outside the window. It is sunset. They should be home soon.

"Is chakra for people from my world like a drug? Does it connect within the brain and produce more hormones, thus increasing the person's capabilities? That would actually explain why I lost so much fat and gained so much muscle within a short amount of time. Then the hormones that were low and caused me to develop anxiety and depression were increased to appropriate levels."

I jolt up and walk toward my lab.

"I need to do some testing to prove that I'm right, but something is happening. I grew so much in four years; testosterone should be my starting point. Compare testosterone levels with the average for black men in America, and I should see if something is different." I hear Naruto open the door while talking to Yugao.

'That can wait until tomorrow.'

"We're home!" Naruto says.

'I guess this is home.' I smile brightly and turn around and walk toward them.

"What's popping?"

A/N: It's been a while. I've been busy with life and shit, but I'm still working on this. It took me forever to get out of my writer's stump. But I think I'm back in action. If I have the time, I'll have the next chapter out by September. If I get in the best mood ever, it might even be August. Who knows. Thanks to everyone that left a comment. I love them all.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Peace, Love, and Hairgrease.