Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto nor any of the characters, beside the main OC. All credit for creating this amazing series goes to Mr. Kishimoto

EDITED: 26th January 2013

Thanks to everyone for reading!

THE BELL TEST

Or how deception is a shinobi greatest weapon

October, 21st 213 – Training Grounds 7, AM

"Seven AM, training grounds 7, Team 7." Naruto scoffed. "Don't they have any imagination?"

"Or maybe it's easier to remember this way..." Akimi observed, smiling. She wasn't reading, which was strange per se, but also showed how serious she was. "Oh, hello, Shino-san."

"Hello."

"It seems we were right." Akimi said. "Hatake-san isn't here yet."

"My bugs are exploring the area." Shino said.

Naruto dropped on the ground. "Did you have breakfast, Shino?"

"Of course. It would not be logical to start a survival training with an empty stomach."

"Indeed." Akimi nodded. "It's like the man doesn't expect us to do some critical thinking..." she said. "In any case, I have a scroll with extra food."

Shino nodded. The two could be strange at times, but damn did they take the whole shinobi thing seriously. Naruto was... different. He wore dark blue pants, with two orange lines that ran on the length of his legs. Then an orange muscle shirt and a blue jacket, but with orange sleeves, over it. The garment seemed to have the space for several scrolls on it, and it included pockets on the chest similar to those in the standard chūnin/jōnin jacket. He had the same red swirl on the back of it, with the white one on the right shoulder. He also spotted a golden flame on the left. His Hitai-ate was still used to restrain his hair.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." Naruto murmured. A vast group of clones appeared. "Scatter. Make traps around. You have an hour."

Akimi smiled. "Kaera is tracking Hatake-san, right now. He is still sleeping, actually." she crossed her arms. "He does seem to be late for everything, even for meetings with Sandaime-sama."

"That is correct. My father said so. Yesterday, he spent hours looking at that stone..." Shino indicated a blue stone nearby three poles in the ground. Akimi tilted her head.

"There are lots of names here, dattebayo."

"A memorial stone." Akimi said. "That means Hatake-san has some kind of regret."

"That is logical." Shino nodded. "So how are we going to play this?"

Akimi smirked. "Well, we do have a few ideas. Of course, we would like your input... I'm not sure if I understand exactly how your Kikaichū can be integrated in the plan."

"Morning, students." Kakashi saluted, appearing with a puff of smoke. "Sorry, I'm late but I was..." he stopped on his tracks. His genins were... relaxing and eating?

They had laid down a quilt near the shade of a couple of trees. Shino was sat with crossed legs, talking (or something) to a couple of bugs on his hands. Naruto, orange clad again, was eating with gusto an apple, while lying on Akimi's lap, who was reading with her back against a trunk, eating a banana.

"Morning, Hatake-san. Do you want some food?" asked the girl, with a smile.

"I told you not to have breakfast." said Kakashi, frowning.

Shino slowly got up. "You advised us not to have breakfast. It wasn't an order."

"Besides, it's way past ten in the morning. This is a quick snack, not breakfast. Maybe we didn't have one." Akimi smirked. "A pity you arrived, I was beginning to enjoy the sun."

Naruto and Akimi got up almost at the same time. Akimi sealed away the food and the quilt, putting her book in her equipment bag on her belt.

Kakashi mentally sighed. 'Figures I had to find the only bunch of genins who isn't intimidated by me and neither annoyed by my tardiness.' "Let's move on with our schedule, my students. We are here for a mock surviving battle. Your opponent will be... me."

The three genins looked at him, blankly, as if saying: 'You don't say!'

Kakashi inwardly smiled. 'They are good.' "Your goal will be taking one of these bells from me." he produced two tilting bells. "If you fail, you will be tied to that pole..." he indicated them. "... and be forced to see me and your teammates eat this delicious bentos I made." he produced the bentos as well.

Of course, since they had all eaten, they were not that worried. 'And here goes the dramatic effect.'

"Not only that, but if you fail to take a bell... you will be returning at the Academy!" he said, darkly. That did get a reaction.

Akimi merely tilted her head, while Naruto leaped forward. "What?" he thundered. "But there are only two bells!"

"Then one of you is doomed to fail." Kakashi shrugged. "This is the true graduation test. The exam at the Academy is only a way to eliminate the really hopeless ones. This test, though, the one that really makes you genin, and has a 66% failure rate."

"It's unfair!" Naruto whined. "All this time... I thought I was a genin."

"You are a ninja. You must look underneath the underneath. You have until noon to take the bell." He set an alarm clock nearby. "You must come to me with the intent of killing me, otherwise you will fail."

"I don't want to hurt you, sensei." Naruto exclaimed.

"Don't worry. You won't. You know, class clowns are usually the weakest link on a team..." Kakashi smirked when Naruto reacted exactly as he expected. He ran forward without thinking, taking out a Kunai.

Kakashi disappeared in a burst of speed and appeared behind him, pointing a kunai to his neck. "Nice try, but I still haven't said... begin!" he eye smiled. "So, begin."

The three genins disappeared at once. 'Right, nice speed. They are good at hiding too. I almost lost the girl for a second...' he stopped his analysis when he saw Naruto marching towards him. He sweat dropped. "What are you doing?"

"I'm taking that bell from you! There is no way I'm going back to the Academy!"

'Maybe I got my hopes up too soon.' "You don't look much like a shinobi. Maybe you should ask for help. The girl, isn't she your friend?"

"'mi-chan can fend for herself." Naruto smirked. "As I do, dattebayo."

"Very well, then I shall teach you some lessons. Ninja art number one: Taijutsu." Kakashi slowly moved his hand toward his bag.

Naruto frowned. 'He said Taijutsu. Why is he taking a weapon then?' His eyes widened when he saw the man took out his Icha-Icha Paradise. "What are you doing?"

"I'm catching up with some reading, why?"

Naruto seethed. 'He is underestimating me... which is exactly what I wanted.' So he charged forward, using his flawed Academy Style. Despite the fact that he was reading, Kakashi easily dodged any blow.

'He is a brawler. He has no real style. But he hits hard. Stronger than I expected.' Eventually, Kakashi got tired of the skirmish and let himself being hit. While Naruto exulted at his defeated Kawarimi, he got behind him. He crossed his fingers.

Naruto panicked. 'A tiger seal? He wants to use a Katon jutsu on me. I'm outta here.' Even as Kakashi screamed: "Sennen Goroshi.", Naruto disappeared with a puff of smoke and a squeal.

Kakashi hit the air. "Nani?" he exclaimed. 'Where did he go? He didn't use Kawarimi and that was certainly not a Sunshin.' "Kage Bunshin?"

"He was about to shove his fingers into my ass!" Naruto exclaimed, shivering. "Is he a pedophile as well?"

Akimi giggled. "I think not... it would have been quite the effective technique, if not unorthodox" she looked at her left. "Ah, Shino-san. Everything ready?"

"Hai." the other boy landed near them. They were hidden on a tree far away from the central clearing. "The female Kikaichū is at the site of the trap. I'll be following you and act as support as we agreed."

Akimi smirked. "The man won't know what hit him." she said. "Kaera is shadowing him. Let's get moving."

Kakashi found Akimi a couple of minutes later, deep into the small forest. She had chosen a very strategic position. Hidden by some high brushes, her back on a tree to prevent sneaky attacks, she was covered by some boulders on the sides. She was looking around, wary.

'So she prefers to hide and wait for me to make my move. Well, let's see if what her files say is true.' He evoked a fairly simple and easy genjutsu, casting it on her. "Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu" He expected her to immediately noticed it and to dispel it... but she didn't.

Kakashi observed as her eyes got wide, and then watered up. She promptly fainted.

The man sighed. "Ninja art number two: Genjutsu." he said. 'If I took out so easily the so called rookie of the year... well, then this generation is really pitiful.' However, he did not want to have the girl recover and attack him later on, so he got nearer to bind her. Mistake.

As he kneeled neat her, he felt a hissing sound. 'Trap!' he jumped back at once, successfully avoiding a swarm of shurikens hitting the place he was in. In that very moment Akimi leaped back to feet, crossing her hands. "Fūin!"

Kakashi felt the same jolt of the day before, only stronger. "Damn!"

Then the girl leaped out of sight, somehow activating two other traps. A log coming towards him, he managed to dodge that, but the other shurikens... he ducked to the left, not daring jumping too high because of the tilting feeling the electricity had left on him. And he landed right on a pit fall. "Are you trying to kill me?" he exclaimed, annoyed. He barely managed a Kawarimi, lest he finished impaled by the metal poles on the end of the pit.

He panted from his safe position on a nearby branch. 'Those were some nasty traps. They were covered by a genjutsu, I believe. She made me believe she fell from my illusion, to make me activate the first trap. I could only retreat, so she probably put several seals in that direction. I was surprised to see her move, hence giving her the time to activate the seal and the next traps. With my dodging reactions limited, I could only duck into the pitfalls. Thanks the Kami for Kawarimi, or I would be severely hurt if not dead.'

"That was a nice escape, sensei-san." Akimi smirked at him from a higher branch behind him.

"I'm done underestimating you, Akimi-chan." Kakashi said. "You evidently deserve your title."

She tilted her head. "Does this mean you will not be reading while we fight? I'm honored."

Kakashi didn't answer, but instead leapt towards her. He aimed a quick punch at her shoulder, but the girl simply jumped off the tree. 'She knows I'm better than her in fighting on trees. Smart.' He thought, watching her run towards the open space at the start of the grounds. Kakashi tried to deter her with some shurikens, but she dodged them. 'She is fast and good at using her senses. She didn't even turn to dodge those. Yeah, she definitely is something else.'

Akimi stopped in the clearing, as he suspected. She seemed to be a little tired.

'Wait a second. Why did she get me to do a wild chase through the forest, when she could have easily escaped while I was dealing with the traps?' He immediately got extra attentive. 'Was she buying time for Naruto? She knew about the book, so they definitely communicated. Unless she was observing us... but if she did, she would have not had the time to prepare all those traps. But Naruto used a Kage Bunshin, so maybe he was helping her all the time... which means he also knows the secret of the technique. But I wonder, where did he learn it? It makes sense, seeing his massive reserves, but it is a forbidden technique.'

Akimi squared him, getting into a semi crouched stance. 'It worked. He has quite the number of Kikaichū on... but he suspects something. So, let's make him think what he is more likely to think' "There is no way you are going to separate me and Naruto-kun. We'll take your bells."

Kakashi sighed. 'So they are indeed excluding Shino, oh, well... I may as well have my fun with these two. Maybe they will pass the next test.' "The way you keep talking, it makes me wonder if you are afraid to attack me."

"I'm not really the rushing type." Akimi said and with a fluid move launched a dozen of shuriken at him. Kakashi dodged with ease, attacking her immediately after. He was relentless, giving her no room for attacking. 'For a genin, she is good, but I can see Taijutsu isn't really her forte.'

Akimi was getting tired. 'Maybe I should have left Naruto-kun to deal with this part. Or, maybe not. Well, onto more pressing matters, I need an opening. Ah, certainly.' She parried the umpteenth punch from the jōnin, this time using the Fire Style. The stinging from the Katon chakra had the desired effect to unsettle ever so slightly the man, allowing her to take out a kunai. Kakashi seemed more careful after that and she used the small time to jump back.

"Well, Akimi-chan, you are at least better than your good friend at Taijutsu too."

Akimi laughed. "Are you in need of a respite, sensei-san?"

"No, but I thought you could use one."

"So chivalry isn't dead. How delightful"

'Another point to her. She enjoys word sparring as well.' Kakashi made to attack again, but Akimi smirked.

The girl saw Naruto giving her a thumb up from his position, before puffing away. The signal. "Look like it's time to get serious, sensei-san. How did you say it?" she asked launching the kunai.

Kakashi dodged without even thinking.

"Ninja Art number 3... Ninjutsu." Akimi said. Her fingers moved at a very quick speed. A speed that was beyond genin level. Still he was able to read them. Tiger. Monkey. Boar. Horse. Tiger.

'No! A Genin should not have the necessary chakra to pull that off. Especially a kunoichi!'

"Katon." she exclaimed. "Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The fireball was even grander than he expected. He could feel the heat from where he stood. 'Has she mastered nature transformation?' he wondered, eye widening. He used Kawarimi at the last second, before the huge ball of flame engulfed him.

Akimi looked around, smirking a little at the crater she created. 'I love fire... but where is he?' She looked up, left and right, behind...

"BELOW!" Kakashi thundered. "Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu!" before dragging her into the ground until only her head was visible.

The jōnin smirked at her. "Nice try, Akimi-chan, but looks like I beat you in this field as well." he said, looking at the entrapped girl.

"Do you really?" she smirked back.

"Fūton: Daitoppa!"

Kakashi gulped, as he heard Naruto's voice exclaim the technique. He immediately jumped, dodging the massive gust of wind coming at him. He was flabbergasted by the sheer destruction it caused, creating a deep crack in the heart. It stopped only at the river, making some water fly around. 'Oh, no, I forgot about Akimi... but wait, would Naruto really hit his only friend?'

He saw a sliced log in the place where Akimi's head was. 'Kawarimi'. As he landed, he felt Akimi behind him. He turned, gaping, to see her with the tiger seal formed. "Katon: Kouen Kasui no Jutsu!"

"Fūton: Kaze no Ame!" Naruto screamed as well, with impeccable timing. A storm of small, sharp wind projectiles hurled toward him.

'These two have an astonishing teamwork!' Kakashi thought as he used Kawarimi again to escape. 'The wind needles will not harm Akimi because she is still steaming fire, but forced me to get away, instead of dodging and attacking in Akimi's opening.'

"It seems sensei-san is too dodgy to use effectively ninjutsu on him." Akimi said, jumping in the middle of the clearing.

"Then we shall adapt." Naruto passed her a kunai, after landing near her. "I'll do the distraction this time."

Kakashi, from the branch he landed to, looked at the two with puzzled eyes. 'Dead last, huh? Looks like you played all of us, Naruto. Too bad you don't extend that teamwork of yours to Shino. Mmm. I wonder where that one is...' He was stopped in the middle of his musing by a sudden movement at his back. Only his experience allowed him to duck a kick aimed at his neck. He rapidly counterattacked with a punch in Naruto's guts, dispelling the clone. 'He changed clothes. Was the first one I fought henged to make me underestimating him? Clever.'

Kakashi was then assaulted by a swarm of clones, who forced him back to the clearing, where the original waited. He soon discovered that Naruto's taijutsu wasn't the flawed Academy Style. No. Not at all.

The kid was always in motions, using not only his arms and feet, but also elbows and knees. He had great balance and was quicker than before. His movements made no apparent sense, but they were cleverly unsettling him. He managed to dispel at least a dozen of clones, but there were still too many of them. 'Time to level the field.' He used Kawarimi to buy time and reappeared on the pound.

"'to-kun, fuel!" exclaimed Akimi, noticing him at once.

"You got it!" the original exclaimed.

As Kakashi did a long set of seals with astonishing speed, while Akimi did her own.

"Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu!" An almighty wave of water rose from the river, clashing down towards the two genins.

Akimi jumped back, nodding at Naruto: "Katon: Hi no Tate!"

The fire burst out from her mouth, creating a dome shield in front of her. Just before the water jutsu of Kakashi impacted on it, it was augmented by Naruto: "Fūton: Daitoppa!"

Kakashi watched in amazement as the fire shield become higher and thicker. It created so much heat that water from his wave started to evaporate at once. When the two jutsu clashed, the result was a wide and dense cloud of hot steam appearing around. 'This is unbelievable. They are two mere genins!'

His eye widened when he saw a black silhouettes coming at him from the steam. 'Shurikens!' He jumped to dodge, landing in the middle of the clearing.

Naruto and a slightly panting Akimi waited for him. The clones had been dispelled like he intended. 'I doubt he will create others. He has stamina, but not that much.'

"I'd like a re-examination of your first lesson, sensei." Naruto said, leaping towards him. "Taijutsu!"

Kakashi sighed. 'How much energy does this kid have?' Thing was, this time the fight went very different from before. Naruto still didn't seem to plan ahead much, but he was surprisingly... unreadable. It was like the style he was using only made sense in his head, Kakashi supposed, and he doubted he could make it out even with his Sharingan.

His moves were not elegant, nor pretty, but they hurt a lot. Kakashi was startled when he managed to cut his arm even without touching it. 'Wind manipulation! Who was the idiot who said he's a dobe?'

Kakashi's attention had been diverted for one second, but it was enough. Akimi threw few shurikens at him, with deadly accuracy. He managed to duck only because of his seasoned reflexes, but dodged right into Naruto's punch. The kid could hit, all right. 'Ouch!' He recovered quickly managing to sweep a kick and hit the boy on his leg, making him lose balance. On a second thought though, he should have not.

"Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu!"

This time Kakashi really wanted to scream in frustration. The Shuriken replication was an A-rank technique invented by the Sandaime himself. Of course, Akimi managed to create no more than three dozen of them, instead of the usual hundreds, but still... Kakashi quickly jumped away into the forest, taking cover into the trees.

And then he felt something crawling on his hand. He looked down. 'A Kikaichū! Damn! I need to shake them off!' Kakashi focused lighting chakra around all his body. He fried some bugs and many others flew away from him.

That was enough for Akimi and Naruto to catch up with him, though.

Kakashi realized with a startle that his chakra was severely drained. 'How long had I had those bugs on? Were they working together all along?'

Akimi threw another dozen of shuriken at him.

"Fūton: Reppūshō!" Naruto screamed, hurling the wind chakra at the projectiles, which became quicker and deadlier. Kakashi ducked down, managing not to jump right into a swarm of Kikaichū only at the last second.

Akimi had predicted his movement and he had a kunai hissing towards him. "Damn!" he cursed, taking out a kunai as well and using it to deflect the projectile. The discarded weapon landed at his feet. "You are three interesting kids." he said, painting.

"Why, that must have been the nicest thing anyone has ever told me." Akimi said.

Kakashi smirked. "Still. You haven't got any bell. And the alarm is going to ring any second now."

"Is that so, sensei?" Shino suddenly arrived to the scene, behind him.

Kakashi moved a little so he could see all three of them.

"Yeah, but you really made a good effort, therefore..."

"Fudou no Fūin!" Akimi exclaimed. "Activate"

"Nani?" Kakashi eye widened. There was a clone behind him. A clone he hadn't detected. 'The kunai!' he realized, remembering the moment when Naruto passed a kunai to Akimi. 'Of course!' The clone had placed a tag on his shoulders, with the same seal that Akimi activated. 'The seal is strong, but it wouldn't hold me down if not for the chakra drain caused by those Kikaichū. A perfect strategy.'

"It's over, sensei." Naruto said. "Bye, bye!"

And a cloud of swarming bugs descended on him, just as a sharp ring echoed in the ground. Then all was black.

"Maybe we did go overboard." Akimi observed.

The three genins had robbed Kakashi of the bells and his book, tying the jōnin in the middle post in front of memorial stone.

"Nah, he did make us wait ages this morning." Naruto said, opening one bento. "Itadakimasu."

"It was a nice spar." Shino said. "I enjoyed it." eating his own lunch.

"You bet, Shino! We'll be the most powerful team of Konoha, dattebayo!"

Akimi giggled, busy drawing some seals on the Icha-Icha Paradise volume.

"What are you doing, Akimi-san?"

"Leverage." she curtly explained. "This is going to be awesome."

Shino looked at her, puzzled.

"All the village thinks I'm a prankster." Naruto started. "Which is true."

"No kidding there, 'to-kun."

"But I would never dare to prank Akimi-chan. She is really scary when she is angry."

"And Kakashi-sensei made you angry, Akimi-san? Why?"

Akimi shrugged. "He made us wait ages, he is a pervert... and he insulted Naruto-kun."

Shino nodded. Insulting the blonde wasn't a very smart thing to do if Akimi was around. Saying that she was protective was an understatement.

"So, tell me, Shino-san..." Akimi finished whatever she was doing with the orange book and smiled at her teammate. "Do you, by any chance, play shogi?"

Kakashi groaned. He felt tired and dizzy... chakra exhaustion's symptoms. Moreover, his ribs were a little sore. And he felt some stinging all around his body. 'What the hell?'. Then, he remembered. He opened his eye, realizing he was tied to the pole.

"Say cheese!" a chirpy voice exclaimed. The man was blinded by a bright flash.

Naruto smirked at him, waving a freshly printed photo in front of him. "Golden blackmail material." he said, sealing the thing away.

Kakashi felt like growling. Thankfully, he knew how to rein in his emotions.

"Ehi, guys!" Naruto exclaimed then. "He woke up!"

"What a drag!" (Yeah Akimi really did spend too much time playing Shogi with Shikamaru – if not her, her clones did). "The game had just gotten interesting!"

Nevertheless, both her and Shino got up and joined Naruto, flanking him on both sides. Akimi was a mere step from him, Kakashi noted. They were really close.

"Don't try the Tonsou no Jutsu, sensei-san, the rope is chakra enhanced." Akimi said, crossing her arms.

"Will you untie me, then?" Kakashi said, calmly. He was a little annoyed he had been beaten by three genins, but admittedly they were not normal genins. Especially the girl and the so called "dope".

"Do we pass?" replied Naruto, smirking.

"You took the two bells from me." Kakashi slowly considered. "But which one of you is going back to the Academy?"

"I'll go." Shino said. "Akimi-san and Naruto-san have an excellent teamwork. They could fend well without me."

"I'm honored, Shino-san." the girl said. "But it's either all of us or none." Naruto nodded besides her, while her smirk widened. "That, and if we don't pass, then your book goes with us, sensei-san!"

"My... my book?" Kakashi squealed. "What do you... no! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOO" the jōnin's scream could be heard all over the village.

Kakashi was in agonizing pain, seeing his precious book in the hand of the meanest kunoichi he had met in years, who also happened to have a knack for pyrotechnic. "You pass, you all pass! You... YOU ALL PASS!" he screamed. "But please, release the precious..."

The three genins sweat dropped. "On second thought, maybe we should go back to Academy. He creeps me out." Naruto observed.

"It... it's not logical."

Akimi simply smirked. "You won't underestimate us again, will you not?"

Kakashi was almost in tears. "No, no..."

"Right, so you will take us seriously..."

"I will. I swear."

"Well and―"

"'mi-chan, that's enough, I think." Naruto patted her shoulder. "He has gotten the message."

Akimi pouted. "Fine, all right." she said. "Untie him." she casually threw the book at the jōnin's feet. Naruto dismissively sent some Fūton chakra and severed the rope.

Kakashi fell on the ground and snatched up the book with lightening speed. "It's all right, precious, you are with Kakashi-kun now, it's all right..."

Shino coughed uncomfortably.

In less than a second Kakashi recomposed himself. "I didn't pass you because of blackmail, you know..."

"We do." Shino said.

Kakashi sweat dropped. "Oh, boy."

"That's because the test wasn't really about getting the bells. Why do you ask? It's logical. They would not bother creating three men cell teams for then splitting them. Hence, we passed because we worked together."

Kakashi eye smiled. "Correct." he said. "I never did fool you, didn't I?"

"Nope!" Naruto smirked. "But we did fool you."

Kakashi ruffled his hair. "You will never let this pass, won't you?"

"Nope, dattebayo!"

"So, tell me how you came up with the plan." Kakashi said, sitting down.

"Your bento, sensei-san."

"Ah, thank you, Akimi-chan."

"We gathered Intel on you yesterday night." Shino curtly explained.

"Your Kikaichū and Naruto's clones?" Kakashi asked, starting to eat.

"And Kaera-chan." the blonde explained.

"Your familiar." Kakashi mumbled, pointing at Akimi. It was curious, because he managed to eat without taking his mask off.

"Yeah." the girl replied. "Her expertise is espionage. We soon realized you tend to be tardy... so we decided to meet at seven, because we were certain you would make us wait."

"Which you did." Naruto smirked. "But we used the time to explore the place and place traps."

Kakashi nodded. 'This explains how they managed to pull off that long series of traps...'

"Kaera-chan was trailing you, so we would be certain you wouldn't surprise us." Akimi said. "In the meantime we settled down and devised a couple of plans. Nothing definitive, though, because we didn't know what you would ask us."

"Then, we you knew I was about to arrive, you decided to try and unsettle me, eating and such..."

"Actually, Naruto-kun was simply hungry."

The blonde boy laughed a little, ruffling his hair in embarrassment.

Kakashi smiled. 'He still has his idiotic moments.' "But you did keep up with the "dobe" act."

"Of course, dattebayo." Naruto smirked. "Even though you kind of really irked me at the beginning, sensei. So I just got two birds with one stone, dattebayo! When you said 'begin' I did went away from you, then created a clone and sent it to distract you."

"In the meantime, we finalized our plan." Shino explained. "The set of traps Akimi tricked you into, it was all devised to place a female Kikaichū on you. That allowed the other bugs to find you while you were chasing her around the forest."

"And later in the clearing, while we fought." Akimi said. "I used taijutsu to buy time and allow the bugs drain your chakra. When Shino thought it was enough, Naruto gave me a signal, and we started we ninjutsu."

"To make me drain chakra even more quickly." Kakashi nodded.

"Not only that. My clones were filled with Kikaichū as well." Naruto explained. "They passed them to you while we fought. But the key part of the plan was when I passed Akimi the henged kunai."

"It was really a clone, you know this." Akimi explained. "'to-kun thought of this part. We needed to put the seal on you and since he is better at close ranged combat he has a lot of seals to place on the opponent."

"But it was you who activated it, why?" Kakashi asked. "I thought seals worked better with the one who drew them."

"Indeed. I drew the seal. I'm better than Naruto-kun at creating and also controlling seals. The power of a seal stands in the understanding one has of it." Akimi explained. "And also connection. This is why every seal user in training learns to make their own ink."

Kakashi nodded. "What if you couldn't activate the seal?"

"Naruto has more than enough chakra to do it himself. Besides, we have a shared ink."

Kakashi gaped. 'They are even closer than what it looked like.'

"Very well, team. You have shown me great potential and skills. It seems you have already learned the lesson I was planning to teach you today. But I shall lecture you nevertheless, because this is one of the most important lessons you will ever learn." Kakashi rose. He appeared strong, tall and imposing. "Teamwork is Konoha's most powerful asset. Our rules state that the mission is the most important thing and to never show our emotions. In the Shinobi world, those who break the rule are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash. Always remember this. That..." Kakashi stopped, forcing back a tear from his visible eye. "... is a memorial stone with the names of all the brave shinobi and kunoichi that fought and died for this village. Honor their memory with your own actions as true ninja."

The three genins looked at him with awe.

'So the late lazy pervert is only a facade.' Akimi pondered. 'He is an honorable man and shinobi.'

Naruto was frozen of the spot. Then, he moved almost by instinct, getting near the stone and kneeling. Akimi didn't lose time and imitated him. Eventually, Shino joined them too, even though he merely bowed his head.

Kakashi looked at them, already proud of his kids. 'Aburame Shino, Katora Akimi, Uzumaki Naruto.' he declared, solemnly. 'You are now proud genins and shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato: wear you Hitai-ate with honor. Report tomorrow at the bridge near the entrance of these grounds, at 8.' and he disappeared with a puff of smoke.

JUTSU LIST:

Sennen Goroshi [One Thousand Years of Death]: E rank, offensive, short range, the technique involves shoving one's fingers (for example the position of the tiger seal) or even a kunai into the opponent's anus, causing constipation, pain and embarrassment.

Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu [Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique]: D rank, supplementary, short range, this genjutsu makes the victim believe they are inside one of their greatest fears. The actual start of the technique is preceded by leaves swirling around.

Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu! [Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique]: C rank, offensive, short to mid range, it sends a massive fireball clashing towards the opponent. Mastery over fire makes the technique more powerful and deadly. Originally created by the Uchiha Clan, it soon became their signature technique.

Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu! [Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique]: D rank, supplementary, short range, the user hides underground, suddenly grabbing their victim's ankle when they let down their guard. Then the user shot out from the ground, yanking their opponent down until only their head remains free.

Fūton: Daitoppa [Wind Release: Great Breakthrough] C rank, offensive, short to mid range, it creates a powerful gust of wind, powerful enough to knock back a tree and blow up everything on its curse. Deadly if used in combination with Katon, to augment a fire technique's power.

Fūton: Kaze no Ame [Wind Release: Rain of Wind Technique]: D rank, offensive, short-to mid range, it creates a series of small, sharp needles of wind that descend upon the user's victim like a sort of rain. With an high mastery over wind, one can create more needles and make them sharper, increasing the effectives of the technique.

Suiton: Mizurappa no Jutsu![Water Release: Wild Water Wave Technique]: C rank, offensive, short to mid range, the user unleashes a wave of water against their enemy – the exact size depends from the chakra used and mastery over water. It's the Goukakyuu counterpart.

Katon: Hi no Tate! [Fire release: Shield of Fire]: C rank, defensive, mid-close range, it creates a small dome shield of flame in front of the user. Useful to defend against mild water attacks or taijutsu attacks.

Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu[Shuriken Shadow Clones Technique]: A rank, supplementary, mid-long range, it allows the user to duplicate tenfold the number of shuriken they throw toward the enemies. The specific number created depends from the quantity of chakra used. (the high rank of the technique comes from the control necessary to perform it, that is greater than a normal Kage Bunshin.)

Fūton: Reppūshō: [Wind Release: Gale Palm]: C rank, supplementary, short to mid range, the techniques creates powerful and compressed gales of wind. They alone are strong enough to knock back an opponent, but if used alongside weapons they increase speed and sharpness.

Fudou no Fūin [Seal of Immobility]: it causes a sudden block of movement on the victim's body. For this to happen, the seal utilizes a great burst of chakra. The needs to place a small seal tag on the opponent before activating the seal. A great quantity of chakra is also required to hold the seal in place, making it useful for creating openings, but not as a definite way to keep an enemy prisoner.