Chapter 3: The Bell Test
It had been three hours.
As patient as Jun could be, which was a lot considering the cards he was dealt in life, this was starting to piss him off.
Naruko was dealing with it far worse, shouting and swearing every 5 minutes about how she was going to 'murder Kakashi-nii for being the lazy bastard he is'.
Even Sasuke was becoming irritated - more so than he usually was anyways. Jun couldn't figure out if it was because of their sensei or Naruko's voice. Probably a combination of both.
Most of the jonin instructors had shown up within the first 10 minutes, with Team 8's Kurenai Yuhi already in the classroom 5 minutes early. Team 6's instructor had appeared at 9:30, which Jun was thankful for. It gave him some time to spend with his friends as he brought Ema and Haruki up to speed about his thoughts on yesterday, and listened to them recount their own. Iruka had left after the first hour, and they had spent the next 2 waiting for Kakashi.
Worse still, Jun had arrived an hour early. At the time he was thankful his neighbour hadn't decided to bring someone over, so there were no 'noises' to keep him up. He'd woken up around 7 am and after a quick shower and some breakfast, he'd decided to make his way to the academy. Making a good first impression for Kakashi had been his reasoning, but clearly, it was a waste of time.
Naruko had set a trap for Kakashi when it hit the 2-hour mark. He secretly hoped it would work, watching as she delicately balanced the chalkboard eraser on the top of the door.
It was just as he was debating whether to ask Naruko to pay a visit to the Hokage and inquire into the whereabouts of their sensei when all 3 of them snapped their heads at the sound of the classroom door creaking open.
A man with white hair and a mask wearing a standard Jonin uniform stepped through, effortlessly side-stepping the eraser as it fell to the floor.
"Yo!" he said, his eyes curving up to indicate a smile behind his mask.
Naruko's voice filled the empty classroom.
"YO?! YO?! YOU'RE THREE HOURS LATE AND YOU SAY 'YO'?! I'M GONNA KILL YOU!"
Kakashi raised a hand with what Jun assumed to be a (fake) apologetic look. It was hard to tell when 70% of his face was covered.
"Sorry I'm late. I just got lost on the path of life."
Before Naruko could shout at him again, Kakashi continued.
"And there'll be plenty of time for that later Naruko. For now, let's meet up on the roof shall we?"
With a flash, he was gone, and Naruko huffed and puffed, muttering under her breath as she stomped out of the classroom. Sasuke followed suit, and Jun behind him as the 3 of them made their way to the roof.
Once there, they sat down where they could face Kakashi, who was leaning against the fence erected around the roof, giggling to himself as read his book.
Jun recognised the orange cover as Icha Icha Paradise. He'd seen it before in the Leaf Village's library, deciding to read one after he'd noticed Hiroto flicking through a copy. He'd promptly put it back after scanning the first page, his face tinged dark red all the way home.
'That'll be an interesting reaction when she finds out.' he thought, glancing at Naruko's angry face.
Kakashi snapped the book closed and stepped forward, drawing Team 7's attention.
"So," he said, his eye curving upwards again, "Let's start with introductions, shall we? Your name, likes, dislikes, hobbies and an ambition you might have."
Sasuke leaned forward and spoke, "As our jonin instructor, don't you think you should go first?"
Kakashi's smile didn't falter. "Right you are, where are my manners? I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future… never really thought about it. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies."
'That doesn't tell us anything,' the 3 of them thought.
Well, Jun and Sasuke could always ask Naruko later, although both of them didn't think that would be much help.
"Your turn. Let's start with short, dark and handsome."
Sasuke stood up first.
"My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality." He grabbed the triple ring necklace he wore above his shirt. "I'm going to become Head of the Leaf Military Police Force and bring back my brother."
Naruko and Kakashi didn't seem fazed by the introduction but Jun looked at the determination in Sasuke's face, and felt a little afraid.
'Sasuke has a brother? He looks so serious. Is this the resolve it takes to be a ninja?'
Kakashi nodded and looked at Naruko next. She darted up and pointed at Kakashi.
"First of all Kakashi-nii, that was a shitty excuse, and secondly, you're a lazy bastard."
"Language." replied Kakashi, his eye still upturned.
"Hmph. Whatever." Naruko lowered her finger and placed her hands on her hips, "I'm Naruko Uzumaki. I like instant ramen in a cup, and I really like the ramen the old man and Ayame makes me at Ichiraku Ramen. I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different kinds of ramen and comparing them, but more seriously, training to be a kickass ninja! My future dream is to surpass my dad and become the greatest Hokage!"
'I gotta hand it to her, she aims high.' Jun thought.
Kakashi nodded again as Naruko sat down and turned his head towards Jun.
"And last but not least."
Jun slowly pulled himself up off the ground and cleared his throat.
"My name is Jun Sato. I like to read and I dislike sweets. My hobbies include taking care of plants and painting. My dream is to make it to chunin and live a peaceful life."
Kakashi nodded a third time and Jun joined his teammates back on the floor.
"Dramatic, stupid and simple. I like it. Now, as I'm sure you know, there is still one final test you have yet to undertake before you will be given the rank of genin. That step will be left up to me. It is at my complete discretion as to whether or not you are ready to move on from the academy. Meet me at Training Ground 7 in 5 minutes. And don't be late."
This time, Kakashi disappeared into a puff of smoke.
Naruko wasn't happy.
"He was a fucking shadow clone?!"
"Got it?" Kakashi asked, dangling the bells in front of them mockingly.
"Yeah, yeah Kakashi-nii, take the bells, one of us fails blah blah blah. It's time for payback!" Naruko said, finishing with a glare.
Kakashi turned his gaze to the rest of Team 7 and gave them a smile. He pulled a scroll from his vest pocket and opened it, and what seemed to be an antique alarm clock appeared in a small cloud of smoke. He winded the clock back and tossed it between them. They had 2 hours.
"Try your best."
Immediately Naruko charged forward, her fingers in a cross symbol as 2 shadow clones puffed into existence around her.
"Naruko wait!" Sasuke called out after her, arm outstretched. "God why is this girl so dense?!"
Naruko had explained to Jun what shadow clones were on their way to the training grounds, revealing to him her dad had taught her the jutsu during the academy. He was interested to learn they were corporeal and fully autonomous. The fact that they could retain memories and send them back to their caster when they were destroyed was pretty cool too, which helped Jun catch on to the fact that the real Kakashi had never come to the academy. Sasuke had remarked Naruko's use of shadow clones only meant there were 3 or 4 useless ninja instead of 1, to which Naruko had to restrain herself from tackling him and settled for calling him a bastard.
But there was no restraint here.
Jun watched as Naruko and her clones aggressively attacked Kakashi, or tried to anyway, as Kakashi slipped and blocked her movements with ease. The bored look on his face only further aggravated Naruko, who continued her offence.
Sasuke slowly walked to Jun's side. "The plan was to take him as a team, and of course the idiot rushes in alone the first chance she gets." He said.
"Well 3 'Naruko's' are kind of a team, right?" replied Jun, trying to ease Sasuke's transparent annoyance.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes at Jun and ignored his comment.
"Before you decided to rush off too, there's no point in trying to help her right now. Naruko and I have sparred with each other enough times to be able to work together in sync. We understand each other's capabilities, weaknesses and strengths. But you don't. Which means you'd only get in the way. The bells are an obvious red herring, so Kakashi is unlikely to pass us if only 2 out of 3 of us act as a team. We should wait for him to dispatch her, regroup, and draw up an actual strategy."
Jun's insides flared up in anger and embarrassment at Sasuke's words. He knew what he'd really meant. He was too weak. He wasn't fast enough or strong enough to keep up with them and neither did he know any jutsu to compensate. He'd only get in the way as Sasuke had so eloquently put it. Jun knew it was the truth, but that only pissed him off more.
"Yeah, okay." he said quietly.
It wasn't long before Kakashi hit Naruko's clones hard enough for them to pop out of existence. She'd rushed forward again, but found herself quickly thrown into the nearby lake. Kakashi walked back to the centre of the field, his orange book back in his hand.
Naruko crawled onto dry ground dripping wet, glancing over at her two teammates and finally taking the hint. She summoned one more shadow clone to keep Kakashi busy before making her way back to them.
She approached with a bashful look on her face.
"Err... hey." she said, scratching the back of her head, "Sorry about going solo back there. Kakashi-nii can really piss me off sometimes."
"Hn." Sasuke grunted. Jun stayed quiet.
"So... plan time?" Naruko asked.
Sasuke fished around his pouch and pulled out a smoke bomb. "Yeah, but not out in the open. We'll rendezvous 50 metres east into the forest." he said, before throwing it down.
Kakashi glanced over at the cloud of thick smoke as he dodged another swipe from Naruko's shadow clone and watched it dissipate, all 3 members of Team 7 gone from the clearing.
50 metres east, the 3 of them sat high amidst the numerous trees, Naruko wringing her soaked jacket onto the ground below.
"Aw man, this was brand new too!" she complained.
Jun quickly looked away when he noticed her wet shirt clinging to her body. Naruko was a lot of things: loud, strong, confident, and popular. But as much as she was known for her larger-than-life personality, she'd always been known for her looks too. Long blonde hair tied into twin ponytails, bright blue eyes and creamy skin, Naruko was certainly one of the prettiest girls in the village. It didn't help that she'd recently develo-
Jun shook his head out of his thoughts. 'C'mon man. Focus.'
Once Sasuke was sure Kakashi wouldn't be able to hear them, and Naruto had tied her jacket around her waist just above her shorts and looked like she was paying attention, he turned to his teammates and spoke.
"It's clear from Naruko's attempt that we won't be able to take him head-on. A jonin trained by Lord Fourth won't be taken down so easily by 1 just-graduated academy student, and I doubt 3 will make a huge difference. We need to set up an ambush and at least catch him by surprise."
"How do we do that?" Jun asked.
"I have an idea," Sasuke replied. "Naruko, how many more shadow clones can you make?"
Naruko furrowed her brows in thought, "Well, I've already used three, so... I think I can spare two more."
"Good. Jun, how confident are you in your shurikenjutsu?"
"I scored decently in that part of the practical exam, so I'm sure I can hit what you need me to." He said, wanting to prove Sasuke's earlier comment wrong. He may not be as physically gifted as these two, but Haruki was right, he did have his own stuff to show off.
"Good. We won't make our move until Naruko's current clone disappears. This is what we're going to do."
Kakashi knew they'd had a 2-hour time limit. But even he was starting to wonder what Team 7 had been doing for the last 15 minutes. They'd already used up nearly a quarter of their time, and so far he'd not seen any clear teamwork.
He'd sensed they'd moved east and had periodically checked their location while he was toying with Naruko's shadow clone. They'd been static the whole time.
'Well, I guess I better draw them back out into the open.'
Kakashi dodged the shadow's clone hook and roundhouse kicked it hard enough for it to pop. He pulsed his chakra to check their whereabouts. They'd finally moved.
His attention was drawn to the sound of a smoke bomb going off in front of him and he watched as Jun and Sasuke stepped out.
"Only the 2 of you?" he asked. "Is Naruko afraid to face me again?"
Neither of them replied as they pulled out kunai from their pouches and ran to flank him on either side. He had given them permission to fight to kill after all.
Sasuke lunged first, his kunai just short of swiping Kakashi's chest as he simultaneously ducked Jun's kick to the face. Kakashi blocked the next swipe from Sasuke's kunai with his own and slipped Jun's punch. He used the locking of their kunai to push Sasuke back and swiped at Jun's feet. Jun fell on his back but quickly flipped backwards, avoiding Kakashi's next hit.
Immediately both of them jumped forwards, kunai in hand, and Kakashi caught sight of Sasuke in the distance, his hands forming the Tiger hand seal. 'Ah.'
The Sasuke in the distance took a deep breath inwards and suddenly blew out. 'Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu.'
A blazing ball of flame erupted from Sasuke's mouth and headed towards Kakashi.
Kakashi looked at the two in front of him, and watched as 'Jun' and 'Sasuke' burst into smoke. He turned his attention back to the fireball and made a half ram seal, ready to substitute himself with a log.
"NOW!" Sasuke shouted, eyes red as his Sharingan activated.
Kakashi glanced behind him at a rustle in the leaves and noticed Jun, who jumped out and threw a flurry of shuriken and kunai, aimed directly at him.
A small smile he couldn't control appeared on Kakashi's face, hidden by his mask, before he simply performed the Kawarimi jutsu.
The shuriken and kunai embedded themselves within the log with a thunk before it then further collided with the fireball jutsu, charring the bark.
Kakashi appeared back at the centre of the field completely intact, as all 3 members of Team 7 rushed forward from different angles. It was just as Jun was going to throw some more shuriken and Naruko and Sasuke were closing the gap ready to go toe-to-toe with Kakashi that they all suddenly came to a halt.
"You pass."
"Hey Kakashi, you feeling okay?" Asuma asked.
Kakashi looked back at the bearded man, taking note of the slightly concerned look on his face. "I'm fine. Why?"
"Because you look happy. And I don't see any of your disgusting porno books in your hands." said Kurenai, standing next to Asuma. Standing a bit too close, if Kakashi did say so himself.
"What, I'm not allowed to be happy now?" Kakashi said, now taking note of the slightly concerned looks on both of their faces.
"It's weird." replied Kurenai. "Stop being weird."
"It's weird if I look happy?"
"Yes."
Kakashi willed his face back into its standard bored expression. "Better?"
Kurenai gave a teasing smile. "Much better."
Kakashi rolled his uncovered eye and leaned back against the wall of the Hokage's office. He surveyed the room and wondered how many of the new jonin instructors were going to fail their teams this graduation. For once, his answer wasn't going to be the same.
There was a flash of blonde and everyone in the room, bar Kakashi and Asuma, stood up straight.
Minato Namikaze was a man of international renown. Esteemed for many things, such as his infamous self-invented jutsu, his humble start as an orphaned, clanless ninja did nothing to slow his growth into a prodigy of his generation that had risen rapidly through the ranks of the shinobi system. His tutelage and growth as a sage under Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin had only exacerbated his already quick development. He'd excelled at every stage of his career as a ninja. From the highest-scoring academy graduate in the history of the Leaf Village to the youngest Kage ever appointed across the Five Great Shinobi Countries, he was near worshipped by the citizens of the Leaf. The only man with a flee-on-sight order in the bingo book, he'd single-handedly turned the tide of the Third Great Ninja War, saving countless Leaf ninja lives. His mere existence was the most agreed-upon singular reason no Hidden Village had dared to invade the Leaf after the catastrophic Nine-Tails Attack. Although the Third Hokage had given his life to seal the great beast away, there was no denying Minato's abilities had played a vital role in the vast reduction of damage caused. In short, this was a man both feared and respected. Hated by his enemies and loved by his people, Minato Namikaze was one of the most recognised names across the Elemental Nations, some arguing his infamy on a level that of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, and some who even argued greater.
Minato sat on his chair and faced the jonin instructors with his well-known cheery demeanour, a sheet of paper with the genin team numbers in front of him and a blank column on the right of them.
"Good afternoon everybody. I hope today hasn't been too much of a hassle for you. I'm looking forward to hearing the results of your genin tests. Let's get on it with it, shall we? Team 1?"
Kakashi watched as a jonin he didn't recognise stepped forward and introduced himself before giving his answer.
"Fail, Lord Hokage."
"Ah." replied Minato, jotting down the verdict onto the sheet. "Team 2?"
"Pass, Lord Hokage"
"Team 3?"
"Fail, Lord Hokage."
"Team 4?"
"Fail, Lord Hokage."
"Team 5?"
"Fail, Lord Hokage."
"Team 6?"
Kakashi watched as a jonin he did recognise this time as Hamaki Mimura step forward to introduce himself before giving his answer. He was vaguely surprised Hamaki had been assigned as a jonin instructor. He didn't know much about the man, but he hadn't seemed the most capable person he'd come across. He was better than Gai at least though, on the basis that he likely wouldn't traumatise his students. In that case, anyone was really.
"Pass, Lord Hokage."
"Team 7?"
Kakashi stepped forward off the wall, hands in his pockets and the same bored look on his face.
"Pass, Lord Hokage."
Minato paused a little, looking up to give a small smile, before scratching down the result into the blank box.
"Team 8?"
Kurenai stepped forward and answered professionally.
"Pass, Lord Hokage."
"Team 9?"
"Fail, Lord Hokage."
"And finally Team 10?"
Asuma stepped forward with a nonchalant expression.
"Pass, Lord Hokage."
Minato wrote into the final box before placing the pen down. "5 out of 10 teams this year, not bad." He looked up at the room. "Thank you for your work today. Those who have failed their teams are free to return to active duty, unless, of course, they wish to remain as a jonin instructor. For those of you who do, the genin tests for teams who have failed in previous years will be undertaken in the following week. Speak to Shikaku about the decision you wish to make. That is all."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
The jonin instructors slowly made their way out one by one, Asuma and Kurenai leaving together, with Minato giving Kakashi a look for him to stay.
"Ah, Hamaki?" Minato said, stopping the jonin in his tracks.
"Yes, Lord Hokage?"
"Please can you take this and hand it to my assistant?" Minato asked, handing him the sheet of paper he had been writing down on.
"Of course, Lord Hokage."
Once the office was empty and only Kakashi and Minato remained, he slumped back into his chair, a theatrically depressed look on his face. "I'm not built for this Kakashi. Trying to juggle the responsibilities of a Hokage, a husband and a father is the hardest thing I've ever had to do. Put me back into the Third Great Ninja War any day."
Minato Namikaze was a man of international renown. But to Kakashi, Kushina and Naruko, he was an overworked hypersomniac.
Kakashi walked over to his desk. "It can't be that bad sensei."
"Can't it?" Minato asked, a knowing look on his face. "Just the other day Naruko blew up at me for asking about her graduation from the academy, and Kushina nodded along telling me it was my fault she was upset because I'd 'asked her in the wrong way'. What does that even mean? So much for a united front! Teenagers and their hormones. The Rasengan was easier to manage than this. Why can't she just stay a baby forever? Her cheeks used to be so chubby."
Kakashi chuckled at his former teacher's antics. Minato may have been revered across the Leaf, but those who knew him knew he was more human than most.
"You'll figure it out sensei. Remember what I was like at that age?"
"You were difficult that's for sure," Minato said, reminiscing his time as a jonin instructor. He moved one of the frames set up on his desk. A picture of Team 7. His Team 7. "She reminds me so much of Obito. And Rin. She shares both their qualities."
Kakashi gave a small 'yeah' in agreement. He'd noticed it too.
"I wish they were still here."
"So do I sensei."
There was a brief silence before Minato clapped his hands and smiled at Kakashi. "So, tell me everything. How did the test go?"
Kakashi ran through the day to the best of his ability. Starting with his daily excursion to the Leaf's Cemetery where he spent most of his mornings at the memorial stone, and then through to his first time seeing Team 7. He mentioned Naruko's (failed) prank and the introductions he had them do on the roof. Minato's eyes sparkled at Kakashi's recounting of the bell test, at how they'd seemingly seen straight through the 2 bells completely, bar Naruko's solo attack, which he admitted was his fault for goading her, and carrying on to mention their assault as a team, each member contributing in their own way. He'd finished with a comment on how they'd understood how to work as a team almost intuitively, which was something not many 3-man cells were capable of right off the bat.
Minato sat back in the chair with a smile on his face, hands clasped, before a more serious tone took over his face.
"And Jun?" he asked, "What did you think of him?"
Kakashi took some time to think out his response before he answered. "Jun seems to be extraordinarily average. An average student, an average ninja and an average person. He isn't as blunt as Sasuke, but neither is he as excitable as Naruko. It seems to me he's settled comfortably into a meek character, content with an average lifestyle as long as it's peaceful, which I'm sure is most likely to due his childhood. His friendship with Ema and Haruki has only seemed to grow stronger from the time you first noticed it transpiring. Unfortunately, he has not integrated with the children of the clan heads as you wished, it seems cliques within classes are still a pseudo-tradition that lives on. Of course, this is mostly information you already know. I'm sure that the more interactions I have with Jun as his sensei, the more accurately I will be able to assess his character and well-being. We both know he hasn't exactly received the most help from Iruka, which is understandable. I will, of course, be focusing on bringing Jun up to the level of Naruko and Sasuke, so he is able to flourish within the team you have decided for him."
Minato mulled over Kakashi's words for a while, organising his thoughts concerning Jun. It was a while before he spoke again.
"And in regards to it?"
Kakashi looked directly into Minato's reserved blue eyes.
"I am absolutely certain Jun Sato has no idea he is the Jinchuuriki of the Nine-Tails."
Big Reveal! Not really. I've revised the first two chapters and added a few things here and there to help connect some minor things better for new readers. Sorry current readers! This will probably be something I do throughout the story, but don't worry I won't change anything major.
For example, I added a few throwaway lines in the first chapter about Jun's potted plant and canvas so his introduction here would feel a little less out of the blue. Little things like that.
Sorry I took a little long for this chapter but I hope it's worth the read! A bit more of Team 7 dynamics and a little Kakashi-centric. The main focus of the story will of course be Jun, but I might do a little POV-type exploring from time to time with members of Team 7. Helps flesh them out. I think.
Thank you for the two reviews I have, I won't say the name of the account even though you can go see for yourself, just in case. But I'll answer those here. I won't be doing that for every review, but just know I will be reading each and every one. I will say that this fic does have Bloodbag vibes because it is inspired by it! I don't want to create a 1 to 1 copy, however, so I'll try my best to make Jun a little different from Kane.
Originally I was going to have Sasuke as Satsuki but I couldn't find a female Sasuke character tag. If you think I should change Sasuke to a female, let me know in the reviews. It shouldn't be too hard to change with only 3 chapters in.
I don't know if it'd be easier to create a forum for this story instead, which would probably make discussion easier, but I'm not too well-versed on the inner workings of this website. This is my first proper story after all. So for now I'll stick to reviews unless there's an overwhelming opinion to create a forum. (Does anyone actually use them?)
Thank you for reading as always!