A/N: Opinions differed widely on how to handle the jutsu names. Since most people didn't care and there are many who grew up with the dub and/or aren't immersed that deeply in Naruto, I'll translate them each time. Not to mention Tanya's OG techniques, two of which you'll get to see in this chapter. If you don't care about the translation, the highlighted formatting should allow you easily read past it.

I also don't want my fights to devolve into braindead jutsu-spam, so most ninjutsu shouldn't appear more than one to three times per chapter anyway, meaning there won't be much difference to translating it once.

Also, techniques that are basically coined terms like Rasengan or Chidori won't get translations (though variations like Odama Rasengan will).

Objective: survive

Sasuke was startled for a second at the abrupt disappearance of his opponent. He tried looking for her when suddenly, all his instincts screamed danger. He quickly jumped back, and not a moment too soon. He was still in the air as he saw the small Jōnin drop an axe kick from above, her heel connecting with the boulder at the same point where he had just stood. With a loud crack! the stone was split in half. But she left him no time to be surprised by her strength as in an instant she stood before him, her fist rapidly closing in on his head. Not having time to dodge, he crossed his arms before his face in an attempt to block. His success was limited though as not only did he feel a sharp pain in his forearm where the strike connected, but the force of the impact also pushed his arms back, causing his face to get hit regardless. Sasuke was flung backward but managed to catch himself with a backflip and land on his feet.

Blood dripping to the ground made him realize that his nose was bleeding. He quickly touched it. It hurt, but it didn't seem broken at least.

She really meant it when she said she would attack us. What is up with that strength?!

Looking up, he realized that the girl had started to weave hand signs. Sasuke had to make a split-second decision on what to do. He could try and throw shuriken at her, but her eyes were locked on him - wait, wasn't her head slightly tilted? - and he was sure she could keep doing the hand signs while dodging. If he really wanted to interrupt her, he'd need to get into melee. But if he did that, he risked for the jutsu to finish and him to get it straight in the face. As the moment passed, he quickly decided to retreat into the forest and use the trees as cover. Quickly making distance, he managed to get about three rows of trees between them before Tanya ended her hand signs with the 'tiger' sign.

'Katon: Ekibi no Jutsu!' [Fire Release: Liquid Fire Jutsu]

With a deep breath, the small girl blew a wave in his direction. The wave closed in on the woods and crashed into the trees, causing drops to splatter in various directions, but kept flowing forward with high speed and force, ripping through bushes and even shaking the smaller ones of the trees it hit. In every conceivable way, the wave behaved like water.

Every way, bar one.

That being the fact that, somehow, it was fire.

The strange, water-like fire lit up the shadowy forest, relentlessly clinging to everything it grazed and instantly setting it ablaze. Sasuke's eyes widened in alarm as he realized the power of the jutsu the young Jōnin had just released. He sprinted away as fast as he could, feeling the heat in his back until finally, there were enough trees between them to break the wave and stop the jutsu from advancing any further. Panting slightly, Sasuke finally dared to turn around. The fire was reflecting in his eyes as he stared at a massive wall of flames. Everything the water-like fire had struck was burning. Trees, bushes, the grass, somehow even the soil itself was ablaze.

Sitting behind his desk, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, listened to the mission report of the Shinobi in front of him. Said shinobi was a man in his late twenties, who had most of his face covered with his mask and his headband. The only parts of him visible were his right eye and his signature silver hair. His name was Kakashi Hatake, and he had just returned from a secret mission in the Land of Water.

"…long story short, the rumors about civil unrest were a vast understatement. Many people want Yagura as the current Mizukage gone, and he is cracking down hard on them for it. Rumors say that ever since the failed assassination attempt on him during the last summer, his madness has become worse. And from what I could observe, it seems to be true. Just during the time I spent there, there were two public mass executions, both because of some unspecified "treason". I've seen less Hunter-Nin during the war than I did during this mission. But he's achieving the exact opposite of what he is trying to, and rebel cells are already beginning to form."

Hiruzen glanced over to Iruka, who was busy writing down everything Kakashi had said.

"Was there anything you could find out about those rebels?" the Hokage inquired.

"Not much I'm afraid. But there's a name that was dropped quite often when people talked about the topic: Mei Terumi. Though I don't know what exactly her role in this emerging rebellion is. Since I couldn't enter the hidden village without raising suspicion, all I could find out about her was that she's a kunoichi of the Blood Mist. But the tensions were already quite high when I left, so I expect a full-blown civil war to break out within the next few months. If it hasn't already started while I was on my way back here."

"I see," the old man said with a nod. The Hidden Mist Village had always been an outlier among the five great hidden villages, not least because of its practices that earned it the title of Blood Mist Village. But due to the Land of Water's relative seclusion, word didn't travel much beyond its borders and only rumors had managed to reach the Hidden Leaf. He was a bit surprised when Kakashi had volunteered; it wasn't the type of mission the Copy Ninja commonly went on, but the Hidden Leaf's spymaster had been on a different mission with higher priority anyway.

Back then, Hiruzen hadn't put much thought into it, he merely wanted to know how much truth these rumors contained. He probably wouldn't have even sent someone had Kakashi not volunteered. But what he brought back was concerning, to say the least. The question was now what to do with this information. Unlike the Land of Wind, the Land of Water wasn't allied with the Land of Fire, and a wrong move could easily cause another war to break out. As tragic as the lives lost in this potential rebellion were, it was still the better alternative if the fights stayed within their borders.

"Make a note to the mission roster. Every mission that has something to do with the Land of Water is now at least B-Rank for the time being, even simple escorts. Also, instruct every Leaf Ninja who gets a mission there to not engage Mist Ninja in combat, as well as avoid any other action that could make it seem like we are picking a side in this conflict."

"Yes, Lord Third."

Terumi… I'm not sure, but that family name sounds familiar somehow. I should have Jiraiya look into her, just in case. Still, is all of this really just the Mizukage's insanity? Or could there maybe be more to it?

"Lord Third?" The voice of Kakashi brought him back into reality.

"Hm? Oh, I'm sorry, I was lost in thought."

The Hokage then realized that the Copy Ninja was pointing at the window behind him.

"There seems to be a fire."

Quickly, Hiruzen and Iruka turned around. And indeed, far off in the distance, outside of the village's walls, there was a wide, thick plume of black smoke rising into the sky.

"That's training ground three if I'm not mistaken."

Iruka pulled out a list.

"Three, that is… ah, Tanya. That explains it."

"Right," the Hokage recalled. "She asked whether it was fine if the forest got destroyed. It seems I may have misunderstood her question. But I'm curious about her test report. Anyway, if it's just the training area then the fire is contained, and I'm sure she has it under control. Though we might need to do some reforestation afterward," he said with a chuckle.

"Um, wait a minute," Kakashi chimed in once more. "We aren't talking about the same Tanya here, are we? The Pixie? The one who…"

"…broke two of your records, yes, that Tanya."

"She is the reason why you said I didn't have to test a team this year? With all due respect Lord Third, what made you make her of all people a sensei?"

"Well, she asked me to."

That seemed to catch the Copy Ninja off guard. For a few seconds, he just stared into the room, his one visible eye blinking a couple of times before finding his words again.

"Tanya. The Tanya. Asked. To become a Jōnin-sensei?"

"I admit, I was surprised, too. She had always struck me as someone who was more suited for the Anbu. But she gave sound reasoning why, and there wasn't really a reason to decline. And, to be honest, I'm curious how she will fare as a teacher. Still, just to be sure…"

He raised his hand, holding up to fingers. Immediately, a shinobi with grey armor and a hawk mask appeared in the room, kneeling in front of him. He was a member of the Hokage's personal Anbu squad that was always in his attendance. This particular one was versed in water release.

"Go to training area three and see that the fire doesn't spread. I trust that Tanya has it under control, so don't intervene as long as it stays inside the fence. Once she is done with the test, offer her to help put it out."

Without a word, the Anbu member nodded and disappeared. Hiruzen was glad to see how much enthusiasm his youngest Jōnin showed to examining her team, so this should allow Tanya to put more focus on the kids.

'Doton: Hahen Bakuhatsu!' [Earth Release: Shrapnel Blast]

"Eep!"

A startled shriek was all Sakura could get out as she threw herself to the ground. Mere milliseconds later, dozens of tiny shards of rock flew over her head. When the first alarm went off, the pinkette had thought it to be a good idea to use herself as bait for her trap. After all, Tanya had announced that she would attack them on sight. What she hadn't expected was for the young Jōnin to use Ninjutsu against them.

Countless sounds of wood breaking overlapped as the stones missed her and hit the forest instead. The young kunoichi flinched as splinters rained down on her, looking up as soon as it ended.

What she saw made her freeze.

The trees behind her had their bark ripped off while smaller branches and parts of bushes had been torn to shreds, hammering home just how deadly the technique was that she had just dodged. Wasn't this supposed to be a test? This looked more like she was trying to kill them!

Her gaze snapped back to Tanya who, with a wide grin on her face, held three shuriken between the fingers of her right hand, and threw them at her. Sakura needed to dodge.

…but she couldn't. With her heart rate at 180, it almost seemed like slow motion as the throwing stars closed in on her. Yet, her body refused to obey her. The blades drew closer.

"Sakura!"

Suddenly, two figures jumped in front of her. It was Naruto and… Naruto?

The two Narutos caught the attack that was meant for her. They then disappeared in a puff of white smoke and the shuriken fell harmlessly to the ground. What was that? It had been just like earlier. These Narutos were clearly physical, so they couldn't be clones.

"Ha! Got you now!"

From the other side of the river, another Naruto jumped out of the forest and into the clearing.

"And what the hell was that, Sakura?! Are you trying to get hit?!" he reprimanded her. His face then switched to one of confusion as he seemingly noticed the destruction behind her, but he apparently decided not to think too much about it as he shifted his focus back to Tanya.

"And you! Don't think I'll let you get away a second time!"

"Forgot the rules already? We're in the second half; I'm no longer trying to get away. I guess short-term memory isn't your strong point either," she taunted.

"You… I'LL STUFF THAT BIG MOUTH OF YOURS!"

"By all means, come at me. Try your best to survive."

Twisting his face in anger, Naruto formed a hand sign that Sakura didn't recognize.

'Kagebushin no Jutsu!' [Shadow Clone Jutsu]

Fifteen Narutos appeared, eight of them grabbing the other seven and the original by the arms and spinning them around before throwing them over the river, where they landed with a roll.

Not clones, but 'shadow clones'? What kind of jutsu is that? Is this Naruto really the dead last from the academy?

With a battle cry, the seven 'shadow clones' charged at Tanya. The girl took out another set of shuriken and, with a flick of her wrist and not even looking, threw them at Sakura before assuming a combat stance.

The pinkette was startled at the realization that she was still the one being targeted. The attack hadn't even looked serious despite being perfectly on point. Thanks to Naruto, however, she had managed to snap out of her shock. Her hands were still shaking, but she managed to bring them together.

Ram-Boar-Ox-Dog-Snake!

The shuriken hit right as she finished the last hand sign, two slashing her left arm and one piercing her side.

'Kawarini no Jutsu!' [Body Replacement Jutsu]

In the blink of an eye, Sakura was no longer sitting at the edge of the forest. In her place, there was now a piece of timber lying on the ground, with three shuriken stuck in it.

A bit deeper into the forest, Sakura's legs denied her their service as the boost from the adrenalin faded. Releasing a breath she hadn't realized she was holding the pinkette sank to the ground, leaning heavily panting against a tree trunk and resting her head against the bark as she waited for her heartbeat to approach a normal rate again. She didn't know for how long she just sat there like a puppet whose strings had been cut. All she knew was that, after a while, she noticed blood running down her left arm. It was just a tiny trickle, stemming from an easily ignorable cut. But it showed how she had activated the Body Replacement Jutsu slightly too late, reminding her of what had almost happened.

Still, she was eternally thankful to her past self for having prepared the wood for the jutsu. She had originally planned to use the replacement to spring her trap once Tanya was close. However, she doubted she could succeed with that now.

What was she supposed to do now? The trap had been her only idea for getting a bell!

…did she even want to get the bell anymore? She wasn't sure. Even her inner self was quiet for once. And a part of her wanted to follow suit, simply hide until the test was over.

…maybe Mom and Dad were right after all.

"Sakura?"

Immediately, her body tensed. She was so on the edge that she at first couldn't even identify the voice that normally would've brought joy to her heart hearing it call her name. Snapping her head to the direction it came from, she finally recognized Sasuke. He looked even worse than her; the lower half of his face was smeared with blood and his left hand clutched his right forearm, unable to completely cover a nasty-looking hematoma that had formed there. The two of them looked at each other in silence until after a few moments, the black-haired boy spoke again.

"…looks like you found her, too."

"That bell is mine!" Naruto shouted sure of his victory, the line of clones in front of him completely covering his sight of the short Jōnin. Unfortunately, because of that, he couldn't see exactly what happened when the first clone disappeared. The memory of seeing the clone getting kicked in the chin hadn't even fully reached his mind as the next clone followed. Mere seconds later, six of the seven clones were gone, allowing him to see her duck under a punch from the last clone before stabbing it in the stomach, making it disappear as well.

"…you were saying?"

Naruto clenched his teeth in anger. The girl's attitude was seriously pissing him off. Crossing his fingers once more, he created another set of shadow clones, twice as many this time, and also followed them as they charged at Tanya.

"This is getting annoying," she sighed and started to weave hand signs, finishing the last one just as the first line of clones was about the reach her.

'Katon: Ekibi no Jutsu!' [Fire Release: Liquid Fire Jutsu]

A wave, a literal wave of fire tore forward and swallowed every clone in its path, relentlessly clinging to each of them before it made them disappear. The real Naruto realized that this wasn't normal fire. Panicking, he stumbled backward, his feet tripping over a small rock. As he fell backward, he could see the wave of flames rise above him, basking him in its light and ready to come crashing down on him. His heart skipped a beat, almost sure that he was done for when suddenly a cold wetness embraced him from behind.

…ah, right, he had been standing right at the stream.

Above him, he could see the fire slam into the river, but the water surface proved to be a barrier it could not pass. Bubbles rose from Naruto's mouth as he let out a sigh of relief. Now he just needed to wait for the jutsu to end.

But seconds passed and the jutsu didn't end. As his air started to run out, he realized with horror that the flames weren't gushing over the river anymore, they were simply burning above him.

What the… how the hell did she set the water on fire?!

In a panic, he began to swim, desperately trying to get away from the fire. His lungs were already starting to hurt when he finally reached a point at the shore that wasn't burning. Gasping for air, he broke through the surface and pulled himself out of the Water. Panting heavily, he managed to get to his feet. Only to realize that Tanya was right on the other side of the river, spinning a Kunai around her finger and grinning widely.

"Sasuke! W-what happened to you?!"

"This looks worse than it is," he dismissed her. "She just caught me off guard."

That was only half true. Sure, Tanya certainly had caught him off guard; but even now that he would no longer be surprised by it, he still wasn't sure what to do against her. Her Taijutsu was superb, she somehow was physically stronger than many adult shinobi, and this strange fire jutsu was insanely dangerous. She probably had other techniques of that caliber as well. Any doubts he might've had yesterday about whether she deserved her rank were completely gone. She had more than proven the difference in ability between them, despite being not even a year older.

If I was at her level already… maybe I could challenge him.

Tanya was living proof of what was possible. If he could learn under her, his goal would be within his reach. He had to pass this test!

…but as much as he hated to admit it, he had no idea how - even if the hunger hadn't been currently drilling a hole in his stomach. In his head, he went through their exchange again, but he couldn't recall a single opening. No, actually, there was one thing he had noticed...

"WAAAHHH!"

A panicked scream pulled him out of his thought. Both he and Sakura turned in the direction it came from and saw Naruto running towards them, a blazing inferno rushing after him.

"Great, he led her to us."

Lacking other options, Sasuke and Sakura joined his escape, trying to get as much distance between them and the fire before daring to slow down.

"I… think we… lost her," Naruto panted.

BOOM!

He hadn't even finished his sentence when hidden bomb tags on the trees around the trio exploded, causing them to fall over. The three desperately scrambled, barely managing to not get squashed by the falling tree trunks. Even when it grew quiet again they were still on the edge, ready to engage whatever came next. A full minute of them looking in all directions passed until they finally allowed themselves to believe they now had some peace.

All of them sank to the ground and leaned against the fallen trees.

"Damn it! This chick is completely crazy!" Naruto then broke the silence. "I think she's really trying to kill us!"

"B-but… that can't be!" Sakura objected, even though she had started to think that herself. "I mean, this is still a test, right?"

As if she was waiting for that line, Tanya's voice echoed through the forest.

"Oh, by the way! Regardless of whether you pass or not, if you hear the second alarm, you'll officially be the first ones to survive my test!"

Being alone again, I allowed myself to stretch my arms a bit before looking around the clearing. By now, almost half of the forest in the training area was burning. Fire could be scary, but when it was under control, it was kind of cathartic to watch. And I had specifically asked whether it was fine to destroy the forest. According to the Hokage, they had someone who was kind of an expert in reforestation.

Scaring the kids also was more fun than I wanted to admit. My imitation of the Napalm Spell, unfortunately, consumed a lot of chakra, so I couldn't use it too often. Still, it was nice to just let loose a bit without having my life at risk. Sure, it was a bit annoying to constantly watch out that none of the three actually got hurt beyond some bruises, but that was doable. I could still feel their chakra signatures, so I could at any point intervene should something go wrong. They were currently far away from any fire, seemingly having sprung one of my explosive traps. It was a shame that you needed a Kekkei Genkai to create explosions, but hey, bomb tags did the job well enough.

I waited a bit so they had enough breathing room to fully realize how bad their current situation was. Just one of them needed to chicken out, and then I wouldn't have to deal with them ever again. Of course, I also couldn't give them so much breathing room that they could calm down, so after a minute, I formed a new set of hand signs.

Alright kids, I've spent a lot of time crafting the details in this, so I hope you can appreciate my work! Don't blame me, you chose to be here! And hey, mental scars are better than being dead!