The Burning Leaves

by ajd09

Naruto has saved his friend and lead to the destruction of Madara. The nations have prospered. However, twenty peaceful years pass and still someone lurks, waiting to take his mark. Will this new generation get caught in the middle of a rising threat? A long fic, recommended for readers who like the focus on future generation OC . Mostly from canon predictions. Now is Alternate TL.

6. Hard Work and Sacrifice

Chapter 6: Hard Work and Sacrifice

Takeshi awoke earlier than normal. The conflicts of his new found feelings towards Yuuki spun in his head. After several minutes of thinking, he finally admitted to himself that he liked her more than a friend should. If I keep acting strange, she'll probably start questioning me. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. I guess I just need to tell her when the time is right. For now, I should focus on getting stronger to protect her. I just need to tell myself I'm not worthy enough yet. Satisfied with his temporary solution, Takeshi began preparing for the day ahead.

OoOoOoOo

"Dad, this is the last time I'll bug you for smoke bombs. I'll buy my own when I go on missions. Please!" Naruto contemplated for a moment and reluctantly agreed.

"I'll give you three this time. I know I don't need to emphasize using bombs wisely. The expense can add up for the fresh genin pay." He smiled as he handed them to her. "Why do you need them today though?"

"Didn't Isami go through a trial when he was assigned to his team?" She narrowed her eyes at him. "Or is there something different planned for our team that you'd like to share?"

Naruto sweated a little. "Nothing inherently important. You should go before you're late." He sealed his lips. Yuuki rolled her eyes and left quickly.

"Just get some cool missions lined up for me and my team. We'll be chunin before you know it." She slammed the door and was on her way towards becoming a true ninja. Naruto was proud to be watching his youngest child growing up so quickly.

OoOoOoOo

Iruka had been going on for what felt like ages. Yuuki had sat next to Takeshi, and Noriko sat on the other side of him. Tension was high between them as usual. After a while of glaring, Iruka moved on to team assignments. "Team five will consist of Nagi, Kobi and Shito." The three just looked at each other and shrugged.

"Hey dry eyes, don't get upset when I'm on the team you've wanted for so long."

Yuuki resumed her intimidating gaze at Noriko. "Please, the only one who is going to be let down is the one with the inflated ego."

Noriko smirked. "Then it's as I said. Redundancy isn't a suitable tactic for your rebuttal."

"Next is Team Seven: Takeshi…" Both Yuuki and Noriko silenced. "Yuuki…" She presented Noriko with a tongue out, clearly agitating the young girl. "And Noriko." Yuuki clamped down on her tongue. She was more pissed off at her father than anything. A look from Iruka told her to wait until he was finished assigning teams. Her rage began to bottle up. "Team Eight will be Inora, Chojiko, and Shikamira."

Takeshi turned to Yuuki. "Try to keep your cool. It's not the end of the world."

"Dry eyes, you were right; now I have to make sure you don't get us killed. This is pretty upsetting." Yuuki felt a quaking rage ringing through her head. Iruka had finished and Yuuki wasted no time in throwing in her two cents.

"Iruka-sensei, why is this thing on my team. It could have been anyone, and I mean anyone else!"

Iruka couldn't help but feel nostalgia. With all of the experience he'd had with these kind of students, he went with the beating around the bush maneuver. "Why are you referring to Takeshi as a thing? That's a terrible way to treat your comrade." The class began to laugh at her as she facepalmed. Everyone was quite aware of the rivalry between Noriko and Yuuki.

"You know I was talking about her." Yuuki jabbed into a point at the source of her anger. "Give me an explanation!" Yuuki continued to point at Noriko and waited for the reasoning. Takeshi just sank a bit lower in his seat.

Iruka sighed. "I think it's up to your sensei to give you a formal explanation, but I can't say that your team makes sense." Yuuki was blatantly not impressed with his explanation. "Complaining isn't going to change these teams. To everyone else: You know where you need to go, so you may go anytime. Dismissed." Iruka made a swift exit, along with the remainder of the room. Yuuki fell back in her seat in defeat.

"Where are we supposed to go to meet our sensei?" She decided to give her sensei an earful instead.

"Right here! We don't even need to move." Takeshi attempted to brighten the atmosphere, but it was mostly in vein. Both girls sat eyes closed and arms crossed.

After an uncomfortable thirty minutes passed, Takeshi's eyes swept between the two. He sighed, not knowing if he could say anything right. "How long are you two planning on not talking? Can't you just accept it and move on?" He was answered with a double teaming glare that made him sit back and keep quite.

"As long as 'dry eyes' doesn't get in my way, we should be able to make it. I'm more than good enough to pick up her slack." The fury began raging around Takeshi.

Yuuki slammed the desk and snapped up. "What the hell is your problem? You don't know anything about me or Takeshi for that matter. We've surpassed you and your petty thinking. The reason you piss me off is your lack of any likable qualities. You always stoop lower and lower just to try to emphasize a false superiority. That's why you don't have friends. Grow up already, ignorant b-…" Takeshi grabbed Yuuki's arm to prevent a disaster. For even the slightest of moments, Noriko held a face of shock and a hint of a tear. Yuuki ripped her arm loose and turned away.

"You want to put your money where your mouth is…" Yuuki's interest was piqued. "After we finish with sensei, we'll have a match. I'll make you eat those words." Noriko wasn't playing around. She stood up and locked eyes. Takeshi was prepared to step between them.

"My money's on Noriko." The foreign voice caught everyone off guard. They looked for the source, but struggled to pin-point it. Finally they glanced up to find Konohamaru sitting cross-legged on the celling. "Yo!"

They couldn't help but kick back a few seats in shock. Yuuki was the first to challenge him. "Uncle Konohamaru, what the hell are you doing here?" He flipped down and landed in front of her.

"That's Konohamaru-sensei to you!" Her jaw dropped yet again. "Good afternoon, team 7! I'm your supervising jonin. Before I answer any questions, meet me on the roof in five minutes sharp." With that, he was gone in a flash.

Noriko turned to Yuuki. "What the hell is that? Your uncle is our sensei? And why do we have to go outside when he was damn near an hour late?" Yuuki displayed her irked side further, more about her uncle than Noriko this time.

"Hell if I know! I'm just as annoyed as you. As to why we're meeting outside, I have a few hunches." Yuuki noticed Takeshi was impartial on the situation. "You don't seem bothered by this. What do you think?"

Takeshi put his hands in his pockets. "Well, he's a powerful ninja. He does have his flaws, but that shouldn't matter right now. We only have a couple minutes to get to the roof. I suggest we ask questions later." The girls shrugged in agreement for once and they made their way upstairs.

OoOoOoOo

"What's this? You're four seconds late! Not a good first impression at all." He inhaled the rest of his cigarette and flicked it away. "Regardless, I would like formal introductions from all of you. Just likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future. I don't give two shits about your hobbies, so don't bother." Smoke had poured out into their faces, irritating tears out of their eyes. He held a confused look. "Crying already? You won't last a day acting so soft.

Takeshi was the first to speak out after waving the smoke clear. "With all due respect sensei, shouldn't you go first?"

"Ah, of course." He cleared his throat. "I am Sarutobi Konohamaru. I like smoking, dislike formalities, and I've already achieved my dreams. Expanding more on the formalities part, all I ask is you respect each other and at least be formal this one time. Easy enough, right?" He shifted his eyes to Yuuki. "You first, young lady."

She gave him a glare, but complied. "I'm Uzumaki Yuuki. I like ramen the most, I dislike arrogant people with no emotions, and my current dream is to become stronger than my brother. I don't want his ego to swell too high." Konohamaru was at least happy to see she wasn't fawning over any boys yet. He already saw her drive.

"Alright, good enough. You're next, chivalry boy." He pointed to Takeshi, whose face showed a hint of annoyance.

"My name is Uchiha Takeshi. I like…" He hesitated a little. "Helping others, I dislike the thought of being useless, and I have something sort of an ambition rather than a dream: to become strong enough to protect the ones I care for, no matter what." His eyes were locked with his sensei. Konohamaru smiled a little. It seems the Uchiha really have taken a turn for the better. Do I sense a bit of lust from him? He looked over Takeshi and Yuuki. So these two really managed to survive assassination. Must be tough for them to remain unscarred.

"Alright, cool. Moving on to the next young lady…" He signaled for Noriko to go.

She wore the same unenthusiastic face as usual. "Just call me Noriko. I prefer being efficient, dislike loud mouths, and dream of being the greatest combat medic ever known." Konohamaru went to comment, but she cut him off. "Don't ask, I only have the one name. Even if I did have two, you would be none the wiser."

"Well, you're a boring one." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "At least you have a good goal to work towards. Not many kids know what type of ninja they want to be at your age." She made no hint of emotion, making Konohamaru feel awkward. "Anyways, who can tell me the significance of this team?"

"It makes no sense." Yuuki was quick to get a blank stare from her sensei.

"I agree with that." Noriko spoke out. "Why are the three strongest genin on the same team? Shouldn't there be a power curve?"

Konohamaru scratched his head. "Well, that's not necessarily true…Takeshi, what do you think?"

Takeshi crossed his arms. "From what I gather, many teams were set up to mimic previous teams. If I remember correctly, Team Seven's strongest team consisted of my parents, the current Hokage, and Noriko's father. That would make our team more of an experiment than anything."

"Very perceptive. In fact, the Team Seven you believe to be the strongest started out with the power balance Noriko mentioned. They put a dead last graduate in a team with the smartest and top graduate. It wasn't the strongest team on paper, but as time went on, the dead last ninja proved that paper doesn't show a ninja's potential. Even with the addition of a new member and a string of conflicted ideals, the team persevered against trifling odds. That same dead last is now the most renowned member of our village. The Sixth Hokage." He diverted his eyes to his trainees. Yuuki was looking off into the distance, completely ignoring him. Konohamaru was a little upset with how none of them really seemed to genuinely care. "Bottom line: You aren't even true genin yet, so don't just assume you'll always be tough shit because your graduation rank."

What he said seemed to grab their attention. Yuuki decided to snap back to reality. "Hey, Uncle-sensei." He gave her a stern look, causing a roll of her eyes. "Sensei…what kind of trial are we gonna do? I already discerned that it's not happening today."

He felt like a little of his leverage was being lost. "It appears your father is as dense as ever. You will be doing an advanced survival evaluation. It will take place at sunrise." They listened intently. Got 'em! "Oh, and skip dinner and breakfast. Unless you want to taste it a second time!"

"Well, bananas taste the same coming back up." Everyone looked at Yuuki with a static face. She didn't see anything wrong with her logic. "What? If the concern was bad taste in your mouth, it's really a good solution."

"That's not the…" Konohamaru rubbed his eyes. "Just be on time tomorrow. I'd hate to send you back to the academy because you couldn't wake yourselves up." He was gone in a flash. Within an instant, the two rivals locked eyes. Takeshi could see the fire behind either one.

"Don't even think about it. Both of you." He knew conflict would be unavoidable if things remained this way. "We're all headed back together." This grabbed the girls' combine glare to him. "Get over it. We're a team."

OoOoOoOo

As they prepared to leave, nature made its call to Takeshi. The afternoon sun was eclipsed by the clouds, and what remained of a cool breeze vanished into nothingness. The area became desolate. Yuuki and Noriko deadlocked in a menacing stare. "You already know how this ends. I'll give you only one chance to back down. I'm not in the mood for holding back today."

Yuuki just prepared her hand seal. "Even if you used to hold back half of your strength, you would need quadruple that amount to challenge me. You aren't invincible. In fact, you're not even intimidating. This is my only offer: Quit while you're ahead. I won't even need to move." The words didn't trouble Noriko as much as the calm tone did. It was as if Yuuki knew she'd won already. "Fine by me. Kage bunshin no jutsu!" This was a first for Noriko. Instead of her rival blindly charging in for a punch, she performed a clone jutsu. There were a total of ten on top of that.

"Not bad, dry eyes. But do you really think illusions are going to scare me?" Before Noriko could gloat, one of the clones charged her back. As if by instinct, Noriko instantly recognized they weren't mere clones. She flipped over the attacker and jabbed a kunai down through its spine. What the hell? That had resistance to my attack. These bodies are real? "So you've learned a trick. Blindly charging in still leaves you wide open." Her words reached Yuuki, but her stance just turned into a cross-armed intimidation stare. Her clones had formed a circle around Noriko. "If you insist on being made a fool of…" Seven clones staggered in to attack her escape route. Noriko was successful in dodging the first series of combinations, but soon the attacks became organized chaos. It wasn't long before she took a powerful kick to the face. Noriko was sent down by the impact.

"What's wrong, Noriko? I haven't even moved an inch." A new fire raged within her rival as she stood back up.

"You have numbers, I'll give you that. But I'm stronger on my own. I've always been alone!" This time a group of six attacked. However, Noriko's killer intent unsheathed along with a small blade. Acting like a completely different person, she flipped onto a clone and snapped its neck. She quickly dismounted and rolled around the next punch, impaling under the shoulder into the heart. The remaining clones pushed in to attack at once. "Useless." Noriko spun carefully, slinging two senbon needles into the forward and backward charging clones while drawing a second blade longer than the first. Thrusting her arms out on either side, she caught their throats in a fatal strike. The clones burst into a cloud of smoke. She now pulled her body into a sword stance. In her left hand she gripped the smaller blade reversed and down. Her body bent back and dipped slightly as her right hand held the longer sword properly and across her back. "We were born into separate lives. In my very blood, the genes of a true ninja flow. Give up!" She had spoken in a dead serious voice. She had just thwarted the majority of Yuuki's offense. But standing in front of her was true conviction. Yuuki had changed. What's this feeling? She still believes she can win?

Suddenly, Yuuki smiled. Her clones held a similar pleasure in their face. "Warmed up? Let's begin then. Byakugan!" Noriko's eyes shrunk. Yuuki had never been able to use her eyes before. What was worse was the three remaining clones followed suit. "I don't believe for a second that you're an 'assassin'. Have you figured out why I'm not cowering in fear?" The four Yuuki's performed a kawarimi jutsu, quadrupling the confusion. "Because I've been almost killed by two, real enemy assassins!" Noriko felt a very intense sweat start running down her neck. She knew her sensing skill wasn't good enough to track down the real clones. She sheathed her swords. The Yuuki's held their ground. "Have you admitted defeat for once?"

Noriko sharply snapped her neck up. "You think you scare me?" She felt her senbon needles and closed her eyes. This wasn't how she wanted to resolve the fight. "I can knock you out in one motion!" Her hand flashed and two senbon nailed the stationary Yuuki. "Just because you can make clones to confuse you're enemy, doesn't mean you get to just stand in place. This is my victory." Slowly, the clones began dispersing. Finally, Yuuki collapsed face first into the ground. Noriko's eyes widened. "Shit, I was warned not to go too far!" She ran to Yuuki and rolled her over. "What if I missed the safe zones?" As she checked for a pulse, she felt a kunai press against her neck. Her body froze in disbelief. "What? Impossible!"

"I knew you hated me, but if you doubted yourself even a little, how could you make that throw? You really could have killed me, Noriko." The collapsed clone dispersed. Noriko's eyes were widened; a subtle trace of moisture collected in them.

"I never miss. It's just…" An authentic tear trickled down her face. "This one time, what if I'd let my emotions affect my aim? What if I committed murder on the only person who had ever acknowledged me?"

Yuuki took her kunai away from Noriko and sighed. "We've taken rivalry too far. I was going to catch up to you one day." Noriko's head sunk in shame. Yuuki turned away. "Listen up; I'll only admit it once: You are far stronger and more skillful than I at being a ninja. I only won through the art of deception. If you can't stand losing that badly, I'll give you a rematch any day. My ninja record against you is 1-0." Yuuki began stretching her neck. "Next time, don't try to brutally slaughter everything that looks like me. Like it or not, we're teammates now."

Noriko wouldn't show a soul, but she gave a genuine smile as she wiped her eyes. "Going for a fresh start on the record book are we?" She stood and turned to her rival. "I suppose it's appropriate in this case. For once, I'm looking forward to fighting you again, Yuuki." Hearing her name come from her rival's mouth stopped Yuuki in her tracks. Noriko hadn't acknowledged Yuuki's name in years.

Takeshi ventured outside to find Yuuki and Noriko staring at each other suspiciously. "Sorry, you two didn't try to kill each other while I was preoccupied, did you?"

"Dumbass, how long does it take you to take a crap?" Yuuki demanded the inappropriate truth. "You fell in didn't you?"

Takeshi reddened a little. "N-No, it's not like I was…I took a wrong turn and…"

The usually quiet Noriko chimed in. She decided to at least start involving herself in the conversations. "This is quite disturbing, Takeshi. It's not advisable to do the other thing in public."

Takeshi's face reddened to a near burgundy color. "Why the hell would I do that? I don't even know what this 'other thing' you're accusing me of would be." He finally noticed the lack of hatred and rage between the two. "Wait, you two seem to be feeling better."

Noriko turned and began walking away. Yuuki smiled and started pushing Takeshi forward. "Well, we talked out most our differences while you were gone. We had a little argument, but I managed to prove my point and win."

"Really? That's great news!" Takeshi blinked a few times before narrowing his eyes. "What do you mean you won? Since when have you two ever settled an argument without fight-"

"Shh, you're not as cute when you're digging into other people's business." He blushed. "The problem has temporarily resolved itself, that's good enough." He stopped struggling for a moment. A subtle scent of lavender relaxed him and he wanted the feeling to linger. She finally took her hand off him and let him be. "See? Nothing to worry about."

He realized that he could be making the situation awkward between them, so he put on an annoyed face and walked faster. "I can take a hint without you muffling me." He didn't dare turn back.

"Takeshi!" As he kept walking, she realized he probably felt insulted by her carelessness. She just wanted to feel his lips a little longer. She slapped her forehead.

"Clueless…" Noriko had been observing everything and piped in that one-liner quietly.

"What'd you say?" Yuuki and Takeshi harmonized with each other.

"Nothing. I need to split off here. I'll be at the training field early." Noriko casually separated.

"Alright overachiever. Hey, you might as well go on a diet since we're skipping breakfast." Yuuki decided she had to say something. "It'll help with some of those tremors we've had lately."

"I'll try to keep that in mind. At least attempt to control your banana fetish. You'll be mistaken for the missing link." Takeshi sighed, but this time, no further remark was made. They just continued on their separate ways. Although it gave him worries, that's when he first had a sliver of hope for the future of this unlikely team.

OoOoOoOo

"Alright, I'm going to kill him!" The morning sun had risen long ago and there was no sign of their sensei.

"Is your uncle always this unreliable?" Noriko had been there for three hours already.

"Maybe this is part of his test." Takeshi jumped to his feet. "We could take some time to figure out some tactics and what not."

Yuuki displayed a less than enthusiastic face when her mood lifted. "Hey, maybe we should. And the first step is teaching him not to be late." Takeshi and Noriko looked to each other and shrugged. It was justice after all. "Alright, let me get a good look at everyone."

OoOoOoOo

Konohamaru finally approached his team an hour later. He became suspicious of their good behavior. "Sorry I was late. I had to help my wife with a few things and I ran out of cigarettes, so I had to-"

Yuuki cut him off and called him out. "Aunt Hanabi doesn't need your help that much, liar! Did you forget about the very test you assigned us?"

Konohamaru sighed before continuing on. "Right, we can argue all day, but let's just cut to the chase. This test isn't as original as it used to be, however it's by far the toughest." The group's attention was aroused immediately. Konohamaru slowly reached into his pocket, drawing on their anticipation. The speed at which he pulled his hands out gave them a shock, and in his hands rested two bells. "We are doing a bell test."

"What the hell is a 'bell test'? Can't we just do normal things, and how is this advanced survival evaluation?" Yuuki seemed to be voicing the opinions of the group's thought.

"Well, you don't have to criticize it so harshly based on appearance." He fastened the bells on the left side of his waist. "Your test is to get one of these bells. If you don't have a bell by the end of the day, you fail."

The group remained silent. "Sensei, there are only two bells. Someone is going to fail, so what's the consequence?" Noriko was the first to pose the question.

"Oh, that?" Konohamaru let out a brief laugh before grinning. "If you fail, you will get set back to the first day of the academy. If you fail badly enough, I will see to it personally you are banned from becoming ninja." The collective group was shocked by his revelation. A cold sweat broke out among them. They had all become too anxious to formulate a response. Konohamaru looked over them before lighting up a cigarette. "Well, if you don't come at me with intent to kill, you'll never get the bells. At least try not to fail. You can count the teams that have passed this test with your fingers." As he finished his sentence, a kunai zipped at his face. "Whoa!" He tilted his head back to avoid it, and it sliced the tip off his cigarette. Yuuki pulled down her eyelid and stuck her tongue out.

"That's for being late, Uncle-Sensei!" The entire group vanished in a white smoke.

Konohamaru grunted as he picked his lighter back out of his pocket. "Yeah, it is kind of hard to get used to her calling me sensei." He inhaled a giant breath of smoke and filled the rest of his lungs with air. "I wonder if she has already figured shadow clones out then. It was actually a decent display of information gathering." He exhaled the rest of his lungs. "So what's your next move Yuuki? I'll try my best to help you reach the right conclusion, but I can see from yesterday you'll have conflicts with Noriko." He continued his bad habit.

OoOoOoOo

"Why can't we go out there now?" Noriko grew inpatient listening to Yuuki. If it weren't for Takeshi's vouching, she wouldn't have agreed in the first place. Before Yuuki got an attitude, she seemed to get struck by a bolt of lightning.
"Because we have the advantage in our test now!" This is more complex than I thought…Should I tell them about the consequences? "Basically, he's got two bells attached to his left hip and we have to get them. We will fail the test if we can't retrieve them. I assume I don't need to tell you that failing is bad."

The two considered the information. Noriko looked back to Yuuki and narrowed her eyes. Takeshi prepared to get between them. "We're going to need a good plan, so think quick before I do my own thing." They shared an intense stare before Noriko smiled. "Well, hurry up already! Let's see if your diversions can help us as much as they seem to help you." Takeshi knew the atmosphere between them was different, but this was unexpected. How did Noriko already know about Yuuki's diversion skills?

"Don't underestimate me. I have a two-phase plan to get a feel of how he's going to be testing us. We need to see how serious he is."

Takeshi looked over to Noriko. "What kind of style do you fight in right now? We should get to know each other's strengths and weaknesses." Yuuki muffled his mouth with a little more force than last time.

"I said don't underestimate me, didn't I?" She let go as he narrowed his eyes. "Noriko is an excellent swordsman up close and a sharp-shooter with senbon needles. I have a general plan for getting the bells that involves her marksman skills, but for now." Yuuki pulled out a kunai and began drawing up her first phase of the plan. "I'll think of phase two later, but this should do for now."

Noriko scanned over the plans as Yuuki summed up what the formations were. "How do you know he's going to check these formations out first? What if he just lets us come to him, or slaughters the formation?" Yuuki smiled.

"I've known my uncle for a while now. He's just like my father: curious to see if we used the best combination and how we intend to use each other's strength. He will be quick to jump in when we split up." She looked into her teams eyes and they nodded their heads in agreement. "Takeshi should have more time to set up. Our ultimate goal is to drive him into that clearing over there." She pointed to an open area with a semi-circle of forest line and a small lake completing the perimeter. They nodded again, returning their gaze to their sensei. Suddenly, he disappeared in a cloud of smoke himself. "Enough talking, its game time. Kage bunshin no jutsu!"

OoOoOoOo

Konohamaru studied what he could deduce from a tree branch. "Splitting up? That's exactly what I didn't want you to do." He flicked his cigarette out and went into motion towards Noriko. It didn't take him long to reach her and he made his presence known. "Do you really think I'm that dense Yuuki?" The two rivals spun around to face him. Noriko already had her swords out and ready, and Yuuki had her Byakugan active.

"I saw you coming, sensei. We won't go down as quickly as you think." She inched closer to him ready to attack. However, he was too quick for her and landed a heavy kick to her chest.

"Don't look down on me. I could tell just from your introductions that you aren't actually here. It's just typical rivals refusing to work together. You left a clone with Noriko and went with Takeshi. It was more convenient that way, wasn't it?" The clone dispersed. Noriko didn't give him a chance for a break. Konohamaru pulled out a kunai and blocked her swing.

"That works for me, sensei. I don't need that dead weight sitting around." She began thrashing out combinations at Konohamaru to no avail. It became clear that he was on a completely different level than she was. Noriko pushed off one of the parries and gained some distance.

Konohamaru sighed as he readied his hands. "You guys are disappointing me more and more the longer this goes. You are skilled physically, but there is always a weakness. In your case, it's arrogance. Let's see how tough your mind is…" Just before he could activate his genjutsu, a smoke bomb struck between the two. He was forced to cancel and retreat to avoid getting stuck by a kunai.

"So you had it all figured out, Uncle-Sensei?" Yuuki showed herself and stood next to the smoke. His eyes widened, genuinely shocked that Yuuki went with Noriko after all. "This situation isn't ideal for even you, now is it?"

Konohamaru smiled. "Clever Yuuki. It's good to see you taking advantage of your group's weaknesses. Let's see how sound your logic is then." Konohamaru began retreating towards where Takeshi went. The two relaxed as Yuuki made a hand seal.

"Release!" She shifted her eyes to Noriko and pointed.

"I'll give you props; he did exactly what you wanted him to do." They began running towards Takeshi's position. "And you really gain any information your clones gather?" Yuuki grinned and nodded. I've got to admit that's pretty useful. Combine it with the byakugan… "Anyways, now he takes the shortest flanking route, landing him closer to the open area. And you're hoping Takeshi does his job and we force him to stay in the open?"

Yuuki ran quicker and looked forward. "It will work. Trust me."

OoOoOoOo

"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Two more clones spawned next to Takeshi.

"That means Yuuki's plan is working, doesn't it? I see the other clone was dismissed." He halted, in an ideal, less clustered area.

"Yup, but this is where it gets tricky. It won't take much for him to knock these clones down. You know what you need to do, and by that time they should arrive for backup." He nodded and activated his sharingan. A clone pointed by motioning with her head.

"Aren't you going to attack, Sensei?" Takeshi drew a kunai along with several shurikens. Konohamaru descended on them and stood tall. "I won't wait for you to get comfortable!" He chucked the shurikens at his sensei, making him dodge to the left. Takeshi chucked the kunai as hard as he could to Konohamaru's left side now, making his sensei halt. Takeshi moved much faster than the other two and he came swinging. Since Konohamaru was off balance, he began parrying Takeshi's fast attacks. They held a good amount of power behind them. Noticing the lack of teamwork, Konohamaru landed a heavy punch to his face. Takeshi was blasted back at a violent speed. The Yuuki cones looked wide eyed as he struggled to get up. They shot looks at their sensei; He wasn't pulling his punches at all.

"I figured your teamwork would have been better than this. You were more in synch with Noriko, Yuuki." This prompted the group to attack. They bunched in her typical formation, more aggressive than normal. The leg sweeps and flurry of gentle fist attacks were incredibly fluent. At the level he was fighting at, it would have been impossible to avoid. Catching on to her combo, he allowed a leg sweep to hit. It wasn't powerful enough to knock him down, and he took the opening to parry and destroy the other two. What appeared to be a final stand by the last one was thwarted by an elbow drop to the head. "Why don't you two get it?" The smoke from the clone began to clear, revealing a massive fireball in front of Konohamaru. "Hey, hey, hey!" As he leapt to the side, he let the fire singe his cigarette. "I appreciate it, but I have a lighter." Takeshi couldn't help but smile at their sensei. It seemed like he was having fun with it when they worked together.

"Well, Yuuki's final piece of the plan falls into place here anyways. You've lost; we wanted you in this clustered environment." Konohamaru nodded as he exhaled smoke. He noticed both Yuuki and Noriko were hiding in the area already.

"So everything goes according to her plan then?" He looked to where she was hiding. "Well tell her that things don't always go so smoothly in the ninja world. You guys have to come to me, remember." He retreated to the exact area Yuuki wanted him to go. He casually began smoking in the clearing.

That prompted them to jump out and checked in on Takeshi. "Are you hurt? I saw what happened. I didn't plan on him knocking your face off."

He rubbed his face a little. "I'd be lying if I said it tickled, but I've gone through worse." He smiled. "Did you like that line I gave him?"

She laughed. "I'm surprised he didn't see straight through it, but it did its job perfect. We need to formulate phase two quickly, and I already see our victory." Her stomach reminded her of the missed meal. Everyone else seemed to be having the same issue. "Let's finish this quickly. Listen carefully."

OoOoOoOo

I don't think I'm being too soft on them, am I? I've gone along with this plan good enough, but if I don't see them all work together here… He flicked his cigarette away. Yuuki and Takeshi showed themselves in the clearing, not even twenty feet from him. "So this is how you're plan has adapted? Neglecting a member to press the attack?" Yuuki gave a sinister grin.

"It's our victory, for four distinct reasons." He raised an eyebrow. She slammed a smoke bomb down at her feet, masking the duo. Noriko came around their right and kept her running pace and distance from him. As he looked forward, he made hand seals to counter the fireball jutsu with a stronger one. To his surprise, emerging from the haze was Takeshi with Yuuki following behind. As he pulled away from his jutsu, three kunai rained down on him, hindering an immediate counter. Three feet before Takeshi was to him, he made an aggressively far and high leap.

Konohamaru was not distracted and focused on the advancing Yuuki. "Four reasons, it seems they've failed. Who will stop me from attacking you?" Suddenly, she pulled her arm back and thrust it forward from a couple meters. His eyes widened as she smiled.

"Reason one: Empty palm thrust!" He crossed his arms as he was blown backwards. The sun beaded into his eyes, barely seeing Takeshi dropping his heel to his face.

Takeshi added to her declaration. "Reason two: Pulverizing heel drop!" Konohamaru caught it with his right hand. He pulled a kunai and twisted to his left, noticing the incoming kunai from Noriko.

"Wait!" As he parried the kunai, she dispersed in a smoke. The bells dangled towards the ground at that instant. Before he could do anything, the bell strings were cut loose by two senbon needles.

Noriko began running towards the bells. "Reason three: Marksmanship!" As the bells touched the ground, Yuuki's last smoke bomb met them. Takeshi struggled free and flipped into the cover of smoke. Konohamaru caught himself and waited for the smoke to clear. All three of his pupils seem to be scattering for the bells. Finally, Yuuki was revealed to have both bells.

"Impressive, but now who fails is on you. Who's it going to be, Yuuki?" Takeshi and Noriko both showed their confusion. Konohamaru smiled. "So you didn't pass on the word?"

Yuuki looked at the bells and sighed. She forced them onto her comrades, and left herself empty-handed. "Reason four: Sacrifice. I accept my failure to allow my team to move on!" Konohamaru's eyes grew wider than her teammates.

"What are you talking about Yuuki? We have the bells. We passed, didn't we?" Takeshi put his arm on her shoulder, hoping she had forgotten the objective.

"It wasn't as simple as just retrieving the bells, was it? Whoever didn't get a bell would fail as well." Noriko glared at her sensei. "She may have withheld information, but you were intentionally trying to pit us against each other, weren't you?" Konohamaru seemingly ignored their remarks.

"You know what this means, right Yuuki?" She sank her head in a somber nod. "For withholding vital information from the team, I should deem you unfit for being a ninja. You can forget about getting off easy and returning to the academy."

Takeshi stepped forward. "What? That's the punishment for failing? That's bullshit and you know it!" His fist clenched the bell tightly. "This is what makes us ninja material?" He pelted his sensei with the bell. "I don't give a damn about your tradition. Banning people from their dreams is like pulling the wings off a hatching butterfly!"

A second bell hit Konohamaru, his face still stern. "In this situation, I agree. She withheld that information, and we were none the wiser. It helped us focus on working together to accomplish a goal. On top of that, she atoned for that by sacrificing her own future." Noriko stood in front of Yuuki as well. "I don't need to accept her pity, but what gives you the right to deny your own niece for her selfless acts?"

Konohamaru pulled out his lighter and struck it. He sucked in a lung full as he closed in on his students. Yuuki's head was still sunk. "I said I should ban you from being a ninja. I never said I would." The group's eyes shot open. "Hell, I hate being the deceiver. The whole point of the bell test isn't even getting the bells. It was to show you could come together as a team, despite the conditions." They were shocked by the revelation, except for Yuuki. Yuuki began snickering and rubbing her nose. He looked upset at seeing her laugh. "Don't act like you knew this!"

"I had it figured out when I saw two bells and you trying to act all bad. The entire time we fought, you kept criticizing our teamwork. It was clear that you would allow us to get the bells once we combined for an attack. Besides, who's ever heard of a two-genin team?" Konohamaru frowned as she made sense. The team turned to her and showed embarrassment at the logic.

"You could have told us he was bluffing." Takeshi wiped his forehead. "So we passed after all."

"This is why I hate you, dry eyes." Noriko refused to make eye contact with Yuuki. "When do we start our missions?"

Konohamaru took another breath of smoke. "I'll get you guys on missions right away. And don't be harsh on Yuuki's humor in the situation: Of all the teams I've tested, you were the only one I actually enjoyed testing." They accepted his response with some excitement. "I guess it makes sense, seeing as I had to fail my other teams. Why do young people always want to be the hero?"

"Can we go? You're starting to get boring, Uncle-Sensei." Yuuki's comment and tone irked him.

"Stop calling me that!" He rubbed his forehead to calm himself. "Anyways, how about I treat you all to ramen? I guess you more than earned it." They all felt their stomachs attack them from the inside.

"Hope you have a fat wallet, Uncle-Sensei. I'm starving!" He began sweating, knowing he was about to blow his paycheck. He couldn't help but be impressed though. This young team had quite an interesting variety to it. As they left the training field that day, he couldn't help but wonder how they would cope with the difficult future.

OoOoOoOo

The man had documented every moment of the fight from the shadows. His assignment required extensive knowledge of the team. He put his pen down and tucked away the scroll. With this, his mission for the day was complete. He practically melted away from the scene, undetected.

-Author's note-

This was a long chapter, compared to the others before it. However, this is actually a better representation of the average chapter length in this story. Some are longer, some are shorter, but that's my comfort zone as a writer. I want someone to feel satisfied with what one chapter has accomplished.