The God of Wind:

Hello everyone, hope you're doing well. Welcome to the 5th chapter of this story. This time we finally have the bell test, and Naruto shows his bloodline for the first time. Well, not much else to say, on with the story!

Arc I: Beginnings:

Chapter 5: Bells and Blades

-x-x-x-x-x-x- TGOW -x-x-x-x-x-x-

If Naruto was a superstitious person, he might have taken the weather that day as a bad omen. A grey blanket of clouds obscured the sky, and rain fell in a near constant drizzly mist. The kind of rain that would drive you crazy because it ensured everything was damp, but it wasn't particularly hard or fast. In short it was a cold, wet, miserable day. At least for most it was. With his stomach full of a warm breakfast, Naruto himself didn't mind it so much. Though he enjoyed the general warmth the Land of Fire was known for, Naruto enjoyed the rain. It was refreshing, as if the world was being washed clean.

The third training ground was deserted when he arrived. It was still early, and the rain had caused a temporary stream to form on one side of the field. He hunkered down underneath one of the trees. Their emerald leaves stood out in the dreary grey light and the massive limbs served as good shelter from the rain. He simply sat there, content to admire the rain until his teammates arrived.

'Here's hoping they're willing to listen.' Naruto mused to himself. Last night he had a lot of time to think about the test after Shikako pointed out the oddities. Kakashi's insistence they be early, telling them not to eat, how irksome he was in the greetings. Everything he'd figured out led Naruto to one conclusion: For whatever reason Kakashi wanted them tired, weak, and upset. It was impossible to know why,but all his actions pointed towards that conclusion. Thus, he had disobeyed the man's suggestion not to eat. If it weren't for the need to get his teammates on side, Naruto might have forgone arriving before seven o'clock as well. As it was, he felt the need to try and convince them of his observations. Not that he had much hope of Sasuke agreeing.

Sqwick-sqwack

Naruto cracked his eyes open at the telltale squish of footfalls in mud. Through the haze of mist-like rain, he saw the sullen form of Sasuke trudging into the training area. The damp made his navy shirt look nearly black. A slight flaring of the nostrils was the only greeting he got. Sasuke stood underneath a different tree for shelter from the rain and crossed his arms moodily. He could have tried to broach the subject of the test, but Naruto didn't really want to waste his breath convincing Sasuke just to need to do it later with Sakura. Instead, he resolved to wait for her before broaching the subject.

Thankfully, the wait wasn't long at all. Just as Sasuke had minutes before, Sakura came squelching through the wet ground. Her hair hung lank and damp, and there were bags under her eyes. Clearly, she was tired.

"Good morning," She muttered sleepily.

"Mornin'. I'm glad you're here. I need to run something by you two." Naruto replied. Once he had both of their attentions, he continued. "So, I was thinking about this test … and somethings just not adding up. I'm pretty sure Kakashi is trying to put us off balance by having us tired and hungry."

"Tch, oh, what led you to that conclusion?" Sasuke asked pointedly.

Though he was irked by the Uchiha's tone, Naruto set it aside. He told them of what he and Shikako had noticed. They way Kakashi had been prodding them and trying to irritate them. By the end Sakura seemed fairly convinced, but Sasuke was impossible to read.

"… And that's why I don't think we should play into his hands. Which's why I brought these." Naruto concluded. He reached to the blue wristband and pulsed some chakra. There was a responding surge, and a puff of smoke. Two rectangular shadow sappeared amidst the white smoke, and Naruto quickly snatched them from the air. He held out two bento boxes and offered them to his teammates. "Why should we be tired and hungry for such an important test?"

"No thanks. I'm not risking my chance for your theory." Sasuke replied.

Sakura, meanwhile, hesitated. She worried her lip indecisively and her hand twitched as if she wanted to reach for the bento. Her eyes darted to Sasuke, then back to Naruto. Finally, she took the box from his left hand. Without a word, she went and sat against a tree-trunk and cracked open the box. It wasn't much, rice, a rolled omelet, and some fish. But it would be filling and give her energy.

As they waited the rain subsided and the clouds parted slightly. Light poured through the cracks and filled the training ground with watery sunlight. With each minute that passed, it became clearer he was right about Kakashi. Before long minutes turned to hours. Finally, after three grueling hours their sensei strolled into the clearing casually.

"You're late!" Sakura shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at Kakashi.

"Sorry about that, I got lost on the road of life." Kakashi responded, ignoring their looks of disbelief at his blatant lie. "Now, let's get started. The test will last until noon. Your objective is to get one of these," Kakashi dug into his pocket. There was a jingling sound, and his hand emerged with two small silver bells dangling between his thumb and index finger. "All you must do is retrieve a bell to pass. Fail to do so, and not only do you not get lunch, but it will be a direct trip back to the academy."

None of them said anything for several moments. The reason was obvious: there were only two bells. That guaranteed one of them would fail. Even when Sasuke and Sakura recovered enough to complain–he was vaguely aware of Sakura pointing out the lack of a third bell–Naruto was stuck in his own mind. What Kakashi was saying didn't make sense. There were never two-man teams in the Hidden Leaf. Sure, it was possible they planned to fill the remaining slot with a reserve genin, but that was needlessly complex. No, at every step Kakashi had been playing games so surely, he was now. The only question was what the game was.

'What d'you think Kurama?' He asked his tenant.

'It's rather simple, he wants you fighting each other.' The fox replied lazily.

Naruto's eyes widened. The prisoner's dilemma, or at least a variation. That's what Kakashi was playing at. Kakashi wanted them to be forced to think they had no choice but to go it alone. Making sure they were tired and hungry was a part of making sure they didn't think enough to see through it. 'If he wanted to work solo, then the real test is whether we'd set aside our needs for the better of the group! 'All of this passed through his mind in seconds. Even as Kakashi brought out a mechanical alarm–setting it to go off at noon–Naruto had already realized what he had to do. Though it wasn't going to be easy. Getting both his teammates to work with him … would be challenging. 'Maybe I can come up with a few other options in case option one doesn't work.' He thought.

When it came to deciding who to approach first, Naruto didn't spend much time considering it. Given his teammates personalities the choice was obvious. Sasuke was proud and didn't have much time for those weaker than him. If there was any chance of convincing him it wouldn't help to approach Sakura first, that would be an afront. At the same time, if by some miracle he convinced Sasuke, that would make convincing Sakura easy given her crush. He could always convince her alone if he failed to convince Sasuke. 'More likely when,' Naruto mused pessimistically.

Thus, the second they scattered to hide, Naruto knelt and placed a finger to the damp earth. 'Let's get a feel for where they are.' He pulsed his chakra into the ground. It rippled out like a sonar.

Three large 'pings' stood out among hundreds of tiny ones. There was Kakashi obviously. His signature stood out because it was almost as large as Naruto's own, with a tingling, almost numbing feeling to it. On the other side of the scale was Sakura, who had by far the smallest signature. Then there was Sasuke, a tingling feel tinged with a hot sensation as well as something … elusive underneath it. While his signature wasn't nearly the size of Naruto's own or Kakashi's, it was still much higher than your average genin.

Naruto peered out from his perch behind a row of bushes and into the clearing. Kakashi stood there nonchalantly reading a book. His eyes darted into the trees where he sensed Sasuke. Getting to him undetected would be a challenge. Slowly, he wove his way through the bushes. Naruto was careful not to rustle any foliage or step on any branches. He kept a tight rein on his chakra to avoid Kakashi's notice.

Within minutes he'd skirted around to the spot Sasuke was perched in. If you didn't know where to look, it was almost impossible to spot the boys blue shirt among the green leaves.

"Oi, Sasuke, we need to talk." Naruto whispered. He made sure to stay quiet as possible.

For a moment, he thought he'd been too quiet. Then Sasuke poked his head out between the branches with a grumpy look. "What could we possibly need to talk about?" He asked.

"The test. It doesn't make sense. I think those bells are just a front for the real test; a prisoner's dilemma to see if we can put aside our needs and work for the team." Naruto answered.

"Hn, you're overlooking something." Sasuke replied, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Regardless of if there's any meaning beyond what he said, if we get a bell there's no way he can fail us." He bit back. "Now get lost. I don't need any help."

Sasuke didn't wait for a reply. As soon as he was done talking, the boy ducked back into the trees. Naruto fought the urge to scowl. It was what he'd expected, but the outcome still annoyed him. If he had to guess Sasuke knew he was right, he just felt he could get by on his own.

'Well, time for plan B.' Naruto thought. He pulsed his chakra once more, just to make sure Sakura hadn't moved.

It was much easier to reach her. Once more he snuck through the forest. His eyes and ears were pealed for anything odd. The woods were surprisingly quiet. Not a peep from any animals. That just meant he had to be even more careful, though he couldn't be slow. They couldn't expect Kakashi to stay put forever. Eventually the man might get bored and engage them instead of the other way around.

Sakura's signature was easy to home in on. Despite being the smallest, there was a unique feel to it. Shifty, yet soothing. A person's chakra often revealed a lot about them. For Kakashi and Sasuke, it revealed their elemental aptitudes. Based on his experience, most likely she had an aptitude for Yin Style, which was the basis for illusions and genjutsu.

Shwoom!

Naruto's head snapped to the side at the sound of metal whistling through the air. In a tiny gap in the underbrush, he could see several gleaming black disks slam into Kakashi. Instead of a spray of blood and viscera, a plume of smoke erupted and the shuriken bit deep into the log the jonin had replaced himself with. If he had the time, Naruto would have admired how seamlessly Kakashi did that. There hadn't been a single indicator until the very last moment.

'Damn, looks like Sasuke made a move.' He cursed.

His pace increased rapidly. It was a good thing. He just managed to reach Sakura's hiding spot as she stood up to try and dart away. Her eyes widened when she saw him. Seeing Sakura open her mouth to scream, he clapped a hand over her mouth to stop the piercing sound in its tracks. He silently shushed her with a finger to his lips. For a few tense moments, Naruto waited to feel whether Kakashi's signature would close on them. Luckily, it seemed he was going after Sasuke.

Naruto looked straight into Sakura's light green eyes, still filled with fear and uncertainty. "It looks like we weren't noticed." He whispered. "When I take my hand away, speak quietly, got it?"

Sakura nodded quickly. He slowly withdrew his hand, hoping she kept her word.

"I need to find Sasuke, Kakashi is sure to go after him now!" She whispered back urgently.

It was hard to suppress the twitching of his eyebrow muscle. Though she had the right idea, he couldn't help but be annoyed by her thoughts instantly going to Sasuke.

"We'll help him soon, but first, I wanna talk about the real meaning of the test. Tell me, you ever heard of the prisoner's dilemma?" He asked.

From the widening of her eyes, it was clear Sakura had. Good, that would save time explaining the concept. He tried to explain his logic as quickly as possible. How Kakashi was trying to manipulate them to think it was in their best interest to work alone when their only chance was working together. By the end, Sakura seemed shaken.

"… and that's why we gotta work together. Sasuke already turned me down, but that doesn't mean we can't support him anyways. There's no way he can take Kakashi alone, so he needs our help whether he likes it or not." Naruto concluded. "What do you say?"

Sakura stayed silent. He could see her eyes shifting as she thought it through. Finally she asked, "I–you have a point, but what if you're wrong?"

Naruto exhaled. From her response, he could tell Sakura would agree. He just had to reassure her. Thankfully this was a question he was ready for.

"Then you two can have the bells." He answered quickly. It's not like it mattered. Naruto was fully confident in his read.

"Fine, let's work together." She agreed. A wide smile sprouted across his face. That was one down, and they could work out how to get Sasuke on board later. Right now, he could feel Kakashi and Sasuke's chakras fluctuating.

"Good, now follow me, I can feel Sasuke and Kakashi about to fight. The last thing we need is for him to get incapacitated." He said.

Naruto didn't give her much time to think. He did an about face and started racing through the forest. Though he made sure not to use his full speed so as not to lose Sakura. The pink-haired girl was quick to follow and was running by his side within seconds.

` "What do you mean you can 'feel' them?" Sakura asked.

"Simple, I'm a sensor. I can sense other people's chakra. Runs in the family." He replied.

His lips twitched at the awed look Sakura gave him. To be fair, sensors were rare. Especially ones who could use it as well as he could.

As they got closer to the main training area the sounds of combat got clearer. A piercing metallic ring pulsed through the air, followed by another, and then a series of wooden thunks. Whatever Sasuke was doing, he wasn't making it easy for Kakashi. Within moments they could see the training area poking through the gaps in the trees. Sasuke and Kakashi were engaging in a hand-to hand fight. The Uchiha was doing well, but Naruto could tell their sensei wasn't going full tilt. Every time Sasuke twisted his body to try and get the upper hand the Jonin countered easily.

With a pulse of chakra, he unsealed three explosive tags from his arm band and passed them back to Sakura. She looked at him wide-eyed.

"I'm going to go help Sasuke. Wrap those around some kunai. The second we get some separation, throw those at Kakashi." He instructed. She bit her lip with an uncertain look in her eyes.

"… Are you sure that's not too much?" Sakura asked shakily. He nodded firmly. His resolve seemed to strengthen her own. "Okay, I'll do it.

Naruto turned his focus back to the clearing. Sasuke's chakra was building. That hot tinge was surging and growing stronger, overwhelming the electric. A fire jutsu, most likely. Sure enough, his chest bulged, and then Sasuke snapped his head forward and let out a billowing ball of glowing orange flames. They scorched the earth and filled the air with waves of heat and acrid smoke. At the last moment, Naruto felt a pulse of chakra from their sensei. His eyes narrowed when Kakashi's signature seemed to vanish and reappear underground. A substitution jutsu!

He moved instinctually. Naruto reached within. His palm tingled and a long, gleaming katana blade grey from his palm. A swirling temper line ran along the edge, like gusts of wind. At the base of the blade a circular bronze guard and black-clothed hilt.

Within seconds he burst from the bushes in a shower of leaves. His body soared in a descending arc, aimed right for his teammate. For a moment he relished Sasuke's shocked face, then he shouted. "Dodge left."

Sasuke followed his command without thinking. He threw himself to the side just as a pair of hands burst from the ground. Chakra thrummed through Naruto's arm, and a swirling haze of white wind engulfed his blade.

"Tempest Style: Razor Whip!" With a grunt of exertion, he swiped his sword towards Kakashi's hands. A white whip of wind snapped towards the hands, intent to sever them and gouge the earth.

Suddenly, the earth exploded. Kakashi emerged in a geyser of dirt. He just barely dodged the slash of wind which bit into the earth behind him.

Naruto landed in a crouch. Quick as a flash he darted forward and seized Sasuke's collar. He jerked backwards and shoved off the ground harshly to throw them away from their disoriented sensei. They'd just barely cleared ten meters when three kunai shot from the trees and careened towards Kakashi.

There was a bright flash, then searing heat, and finally three thunderous explosions as the explosive tags detonated. Buh-buh-booom! Naruto squinted his eyes against the brief inferno. He frowned. It was hard to tell with the chakra the explosive tags gave off, but he could have sworn he sensed another substitution. Sure enough, when the smoke and dust finally cleared, there was no sign of Kakashi amongst the thinning haze. More worrisome, he couldn't readily feel the man's chakra. 'He must be disguising it.' The amount of people who could fool his senses was very limited. 'Kakashi isn't going anywhere near as hard as he could.'

He was jerked–rather literally–back to reality by Sasuke tearing himself from his grip. The Uchiha fixed him with a menacing glare.

"I had him handled." Sasuke growled.

"Really, cause I could've sworn he was about to use an earth jutsu to trap you. For someone who's smart, you can be pretty dumb." Naruto fired back.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sasuke asked.

"I don't know, maybe the fact you're actually buying into the idea they'd give three wet behind the ears genin a test to defeat one of our best jonin." He answered. It was hard for Naruto to resist rolling his eyes. A tingle on the back of his neck caught his attention.

Naruto's eyes snapped to the edge of the clearing, where Sakura stood nervously. "Umm, am I interrupting?"

"No, I was just explaining to Sasuke that there's clearly more to this than meets the eye. Considering he was about three seconds from being buried to his neck in dirt, I think he gets that whether he'll admit it or not." He replied.

There was an awkward feeling in the air. A tension waiting to explode. Naruto stared hard at Sasuke, blue eyes trying to bore a hole in him. Finally, Sasuke gave an annoyed sigh.

"Fine, I admit there's probably more than Kakashi let on." He said.

Naruto let out a relieved sigh. "Good, now let's go talk about this somewhere a bit more secluded. I'll explain there."

With Sakura now in range, he placed a hand on the shoulders of his teammates and activated the Teleportation Jutsu. They didn't have to travel far. Only twenty meters from the main training area was a secluded hollow tucked between several towering trees. Thick underbrush provided a good wall. If he kept his sensing active there was no chance of Kakashi spying on them.

They crouched on the mossy forest floor in a circle. A musty smell filled the air, like this place didn't get much sunshine. He kept his finger on the ground and made sure to emit a steady pulse of his chakra. Once they were settled, Naruto turned to Sasuke and began to explain his reasoning for believing there was a hidden meaning to the test. How Kakashi had subtly directed them at every turn, including trying to ensure they were worn down. Though he was skeptical at first, as Naruto laid out each point it became clear Sasuke thought he was right. Even if he'd never use those words. It also didn't mean he didn't have demands.

"Tch, and what if you're wrong? I'm not risking my future based off your theory. If we do this, I want one of the bells." Sasuke insisted.

"Is that all? Like I told Sakura, you two can have them, cause I'm not wrong." Naruto said easily. "Now, for the plan,"

It took longer than he'd have liked to hammer out the plan. Between Sasuke's stubbornness, and the fact Sakura couldn't contribute on the front line, there were a lot of details that needed going over. Eventually they landed on the optimal plan. Sakura would set up traps with some of his clones, while another group of clones drove Kakashi to the main training area. Sasuke and Naruto would lie in wait there to engage Kakashi directly.

Some concessions had to be made, ones he wasn't entirely happy with. Sasuke insisted he be the one to attack up-close while Naruto supported him. Given the fact he used a sword, he felt he would be a better option for that role. But Sasuke was insistent. He got the feeling the Uchiha didn't entirely trust him not to take a bell for his own.

With their plans made the three made their way back to the clearing stealthily. He could still feel Kakashi a way off across the river that cut through the training area, so there was no concern of discovery.

He and Sasuke waited tensely for Sakura and his clones to finish setting up. An entirely different set had already departed to force Kakashi their way. With every second that passed he worried that Kakashi would discover his clones.

Finally, he received a sudden burst of sensations and images. The scent of oil from the wire. Knicking his finger on a kunai. The traps were set. Peeking at Sasuke and himself standing in the clearing. The job was done.

It was a signal not just for Naruto but his clones lurking in wait to attack Kakashi. And it wasn't subtle in the slightest.

BOOM … BANG … BOOM!

Explosions rocked the air and shook the earth. Even from a couple hundred meters away you could see flashes of fire and plumes of smoke as his clones herded Kakashi their way. Naruto didn't delude himself. He fully expected Kakashi had already figured out he was being herded. The plan depended on the fact Jonin would be curious enough about their plan he'd allow himself to be guided into the trap.

With one final explosion, the top of one of the trees across the stream was blown apart in a fiery explosion. A dark shape rocketed through the air. Pieces of shattered wood followed and hit the river with hissing splashes. Kakashi tumbled to the ground roughly, though he quickly turned it into a roll and came up into a crouch.

Before the man had any chance to get his bearings, a hail of kunai and shuriken were launched at him from the bushes on either side of the clearing. The silver-haired man shot forward, barely escaping the storm of deadly metal. That was their chance. Sasuke darted forward with a kunai in either hand. Naruto followed on his heels; sword held ready. With a speed he hadn't shown before, Kakashi moved. He became a blur and before Naruto could even comprehend what happened, Sasuke was sent rocketing backwards and tumbled harshly to the ground.

He tried to channel his chakra into his sword, but it was too late. Kakashi blurred again and he felt a sharp pain as his arm was yanked backwards and to the side. A harsh twist made Naruto drop his katana.

"That advanced nature bloodline is pretty useful. A type of wind that acts like water at the same time? There's a lot of potential. But so long as you're restrained, it's harmless." Kakashi commented dryly.

Despite the discomfort of his arm being yanked, Naruto turned his head towards his sensei and grinned. "Well, that's two mistakes."

"Oh?" The silver-haired man quirked an eyebrow curiously.

"First, you figured the advanced nature is my bloodline. And Second … you got in close."

Naruto focused his chakra into his shoulder blade. A blue disk glimmered on his back, and he felt an old, familiar sting. The sound of cloth tearing rent the air. A gleaming silver blade erupt from his shoulder and headed right for Kakashi's chest. With a curse the jonin disengaged and flipped backwards.

In one swift move Naruto forced the rest of the fully formed sword from his shoulder and spun around to catch it deftly. He grinned at Kakashi, who regarded him wearily.

"See, the Tempest Style is just a side-effect of my actual bloodline." He said. Recognition flashed through Kakashi's eye.

"The Soul Blade Forge … I see." Kakashi replied.

'He knows what it is? Interesting. It's rare to run into someone who knows of it.' Naruto thought to himself. Suddenly, he felt a buildup of fire chakra. It seemed Sasuke had recovered. Naruto threw himself to the side even before he heard the Uchiha's warning shout of "Move!" Sasuke's chest bulged. He flung his head forward and unleashed a barrage of embers that erupted into basketball-sized flames. 'Might as well make my contribution.'

Naruto leapt to his feet and placed his hands in the bird seal before clapping them together and thrusting his hands towards the fireballs. "Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

A burst of wind swept forth and fed the flames, fanning them to the size of beach balls. Kakashi's hands blurred into motion, ending when he slammed his palms into the ground. A wall of earth erupted in front of the man and took the impact of the flames. They slammed into the wall and tried to overwhelm it, but it was no good. The wall stood firm when the smoke cleared.

Naruto growled and swept his katana back. He channeled his Tempest Style into the blade and sent his Razor Whip flying. He was careful to restrain himself. Just enough to cut through the wall, but hopefully not enough to cut Kakashi. It wouldn't do to disembowel his sensei on the first day. The whip snapped forward with a crack and sliced diagonally through the wall like it was nothing.

SCRRIIIITCH!

The harsh sound of grinding stone rang out as the wall slowly slid apart. As the upper half collapsed into rubble on the ground, it revealed Kakashi, frozen in place. Despite Naruto's care the jonin's vest had been sliced almost entirely through, though there was no sign of blood. Kakashi's single grey eye was stretched wide in shock.

'This is our chance!' Naruto realized. Kakashi was frozen for real. Eager to capitalize, he shouted, "Sakura, NOW!"

From the other side of the clearing, a trio of balls made of miniature seal tags shot towards them. As the balls approached Kakashi they began to glow a bright white. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut so tight they hurt. Even with that he could see a red glow on his eyelids as the flash-bombs went off.

After several seconds the glow faded and Naruto opened his eyes, blinking away the spots. Kakashi was dazed and confused. Naruto glanced to Sasuke. Their eyes met. This was it. They moved at the same moment. Together they shot forwards towards their sensei. Naruto hurled himself over the crumbled remains of the earth wall and swung his arm forward. His katana's blade hummed with wind chakra. A thin blade of wind shot out and severed the bells from Kakashi's waist. Sasuke shot past him, hand reaching for the bells. Just a few more feet and they'd have them. Naruto's stomach tingled with excitement. They were going to do it!

One second, they were about to succeed. The next he felt something drive the wind from his chest. His vision flickered, and he was only vaguely aware of slamming onto his back.

Naruto felt lightheaded. All he saw was grey. Idly, he realized it was the sky. Bam! A sharp pain rang through his skull and made his mind even more fuzzy. He heard a distant sound, high, and sharp. It wouldn't go away, and it was several seconds before he realized what it was. The alarm clock. Like a switch being flipped, everything came flooding back. The test, and the bells.

His stomach sank. They hadn't made it in time. He heard the dirt crunch, and Naruto found himself looking at Kakashi's upside down masked visage.

"Well, that was certainly a good try. When you're able to get up, come and join us by the stumps." The silver-haired man said.

Naruto groaned. It was a minute before he felt up for giving it a try. With a groan he got on all fours and tried to push himself up. It was a struggle, and he felt like throwing up. Eventually he managed, and he turned his head to search for his teammates. Like Kakashi had said, they were by the trio of stumps. With a strength he didn't know he had, he strolled over to them and took a place between Sasuke and Sakura. The pink-haired girl looked incredibly nervous, while Sasuke was nursing a bruised jaw.

Kakashi didn't speak right away. For several minutes he just stared at them. With every second that passed it was like a great weight bearing down on them. It was hard to breath. Finally, the Jonin spoke.

"While you got close, ultimately none of you got the bells. By all rights I could make good on my word and send you all back to the Academy." Kakashi seemed to savor the way his words made them tense. "Though I find myself curious as to who's idea it was to work together even though only two would get bells." The jonin mused. He eyed them, daring someone to speak. "Well, I'm waiting."

"It was me." Naruto heard himself say, though he never consciously decided to speak.

The silver-haired man rose an eyebrow. "Oh, then maybe I should just fail you and take the other two as students."

His heart leapt into his throat. Naruto glanced at his teammates to either side. He was slightly surprised to see Sakura didn't seem tempted at all. She stared at Kakashi, upper lip trembling. It looked like she'd burst into tears at any moment. Yet there was no sign of caving. Though what shocked him was Sasuke's reaction. The Uchiha set his jaw and gave Kakashi a challenging glare.

"Tch, if you're going to fail us get on with it. As much as it galls me, we'd never have gotten so close without the idiot." He said.

Kakashi narrowed his eye. An intense, heavy feeling came over Naruto and froze the breath in his lungs. It felt like his life was in imminent danger. He knew what it was. Killing intent, a way for ninja to throw an enemy off. That knowledge still didn't help him shrug it off.

"Is that right?" He paused, as if giving them a chance to change their minds. None of them took the bait. "Very well, then I have no choice but to tell you … you all pass."

Naruto took a moment to realize what Kakashi had said. When it registered, he grinned. They'd done it! He let out a cheer, with Sakura joining in with a delighted squeal. For his part Sasuke simply smirked.

Kakashi let them celebrate for several moments, before he brought them back to earth. "Come, I want to show you why this test is important." The silver-haired man turned and began to walk towards the entrance to the training ground. Instead of passing through the gate, he led them to the side where a separate section sat. There, in the middle of a circle of pavement, sat a shinnying black memorial. It was shaped like a kunai, sharp angles jutting upwards and coming to a point. The surface was etched with countless names. Too many to possibly count. Kakashi stared at the surface of the memorial forlornly.

"This memorial commemorates the names of all those who died in service to the village. The names of my best friends are on this stone." Kakashi said softly. Naruto felt his mouth go dry. He couldn't help but imagine Shikako's name on that rock, or Ino or Choji. The thought brought an indescribable dread to him. The silver-haired jonin turned away from the stone and regarded this. "I want you to always remember this. It's lesson I learned through tremendous loss. Those who disobey the rules are trash, that's true. But those who abandon their comrades are even lower than trash. Teamwork is the most important thing I can teach you. From this day forward we'll be Team 7. Congratulation."

Despite the heavy air, Naruto felt that thrill of excitement return. His blood pumped through him fiercely. This was just the beginning, he realized. He couldn't wait to get started.

-x-x-x-x-x-x- TGOW -x-x-x-x-x-x-

Naruto has revealed his bloodline, an original creation by myself called Tamashi no Ken. Generally speaking I don't use Japanese names. The idea was to come up with something similar to "Dead Bone Pulse" for the name, but I wasn't quite a fan of "Soul Blade Forge" so I instead went with "Blade of the Soul" in Japanese with the former name as an unofficial name given by others. Anyways, we got to see a bit of the dynamic between Naruto and Sasuke. As I stated last chapter, Sasuke respects power. Regardless of his personal feelings, if he feels someone will improve how strong he is he's willing to associate with them. That's not just my assessment, it's part of his cannon character.

Feel free to leave a review with your thoughts. Always good to get critiques that will help me improve.

As always, I want to give a shoutout to my patrons. Chapter 33 of Uchiha Chronicles Re-Version went up this morning. If you're interested in supporting my work, you can find my page by typing in the Pa treon web address and adding /RinneTaicho, or by visiting my AO3 account under the same penname and using the copiable link.

⸻ Patron Shoutout Wall ⸻

Odin Darkfeather, Neil Tucker, Chillz90, Kit Arashi, CrusaderMoya, MK3Kratos, Kevin Lopez, MASTERCHEIF1229, SvWJan.

Well, until next time,

RinneTaicho, Signing Off!