Chapter 3: Pass or fail?
Naru and Mamoru walked into the training grounds a little after 5am, she yawned and slid down when he stopped, he nudged her towards the poles there. She sat down slowly and he curled up around her, keeping her warm in the cool air and both fell asleep.
Sasuke and Sakura arrived and watched them curiously as they slept. Naru woke up about an hour later with a yawn, rousing Mamoru from his light sleep when he heard her yawn. He purred a little and she rubbed his side and back gently and he continued to purr.
All three genin waited for hours, the sun climbing slowly higher and higher in the sky and still time ticked slowly by until finally at 10:00am Kakashi came strolling up lazily with a smile.
"Morning." he said.
"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura snarled.
"Sorry, sorry, you…see a black cat crossed in front of my path, so I had to take the long way around the village." he said with a grin while rubbing the back of his head, they growled at him, he cleared his throat. "Anyways..." he pulled out an alarm clock and put it on the pole that Naru was leaning against. She stood up and Mamoru walked with her to the others. "The test is simple, you have until noon to retrieve these bells from me." he said and held two silver bells up that jingled. "You may use any tactic to get them away from me, all weapons are allowed. However if you don't come at me like you want to kill me, you'll never stand a chance." he said causing them all to blink in shock. "If you don't get a bell by time the alarm goes off, you will be tied to these posts and watch while I eat my lunch in front of you." he said, their stomachs growled at the mention of food. "And that person will fail automatically and will be sent back to the academy." he said, they blinked in shock.
"But wait! There are only two!" Sakura said.
"Exactly, that way, one of you will definitely fail." he said with his trademark eye smile. "We'll begin when I say start." he said, Naru climbed on Mamoru's back, they got ready. "Start!" he said, they jumped away and Mamoru jumped through the woods quickly.
"What are we going to do?" Naru asked as they jumped through the woods.
"We'll wait and get a feel on his seriousness with this test. Then we'll decide from there." he rumbled, she nodded, he climbed a large tree and made sure they were hidden well in the leaves so he could see all around them while Naru listened.
Kakashi strolled through the forest collecting their locations, he sensed Sakura's chakra moving quickly and right towards him. 'Probably looking for Sasuke' he sighed mentally. He pulled out a small orange book and began to read. He heard her gasp followed by her sudden noisy stop, causing him to sigh as he quickly replaced himself with a clone and crept up behind her and smirked.
"Sakura." he whispered, she gasped and whirled around, she screamed and he made a few signs and threw the girl into a genjutsu.
He jumped up into the tree watching Sakura stand there dazed, suddenly she screamed bloody murder and fainted. "Too harsh? Oh well, she's got to learn these things." he muttered and turned the page.
Mamoru sighed and shook his head as he saw what happened.
"What in the world just happened? I heard Sensei say her name and then her scream! Did he kill her!?" Naru asked in a panic.
"No, Sakura was caught in a genjutsu and fainted." he said. "The Uchiha is confronting him now, we will attack after this." he said, she nodded and Mamoru watched the interesting fight, seeing the Uchiha was able to touch the bell.
Kakashi pulled him into the ground and walked away returning to his book, Mamoru grabbed Naru and jumped down, they stopped. "Any ideas?" Naru asked, he nodded.
"One." he said, she nodded and listened as he whispered the plan to her.
Kakashi stood leaning against a tree relaxing, if he calculated correctly he had at least 12 minutes until the alarm would ring and so far only two students had attacked him, as he thought about Naru and how strange she was, he heard a shuffle and watched Naru walk from the bushes, she stiffened and paused, he smirked and straightened. He heard another shuffle and Naru walked out from behind the tree, he cocked his eyebrow and stood relaxed.
"I was wondering when you would attack kid." he said, she blinked then closed her eyes and focused, he watched her build up some chakra, he glanced back and saw the other doing the same.
He blinked as the one in front of him shot towards him, she swung and he blocked and pushed her back, the other attacked and he dodged again, he watched the other hit the ground and the other skid and crouched, the other got up slowly and got up and let out a breath of air, she closed her eyes and ran towards him again, she pulled out kunai and shuriken and threw them, he pulled his own out and blocked them and threw a few towards her, suddenly a lightning bolt cracked and she disappeared, Kakashi blinked in shock and shook his head, he looked around. Was that the thunder god? He thought and looked around carefully, little pellets hit the ground and he flinched as smoke shot up, he saw movement and kicked Naru backwards and dodged the other then used the smoke and disappeared.
Naru stood there panting and focused her chakra, she blinked and launched in the air just as Kakashi shot up from the ground, he looked at her confused. 'Her eyes are closed.' He thought.
The other Naru launched at him, he blinked and dodged the blow and landed a harsh kick to her chest, she shot back and rolled a little, he heard a roar and bent backwards as Mamoru launched out at him, he skidded to a stop, he panted and looked at both as they stood there, he blinked and watched as Mamoru got ready to pounce again.
Suddenly a shrill ringing sounded, he smirked and relaxed, Naru cursed and Mamoru sighed and let Naru crawl on his back and he walked away with Naru who was looking down.
I need to talk to Sarutobi... he thought.
He walked to the posts and found all three sitting down waiting for him, they all looked depressed. Kakashi smirked. "Well, I have some news, none of you are going back to the academy." he said, they perked up and smiled. "Because you are being dropped from the being ninja entirely." he said, they gasped, Sasuke launched at him, he rolled his eyes and dodged the boy and threw him to the ground and sat on him, earning a grow. "Really? You expect me to pass you three? You don't even understand the meaning of the test." he said.
"What do you mean?" Naru asked.
"It's so obvious!" he said. "Teamwork!" He barked. "If you had worked together as a team, you might have gotten the bell." he said, they blinked then looked down. "Sakura, you did nothing! You were so focused on Sasuke, you fell for an easy trap." he said, she slumped and looked down. "Sasuke, you thought the others were a waste of time so you ignored them, I hate that." he said and pressed the boy's head to the ground hard, he growled. "Naru, you showed a little teamwork, but not with your teammates." he said, she blinked a few times. "You want to be called ninja's but you can't even get that?!" he said and got up. "Look at this stone. This stone contains the names of all the great heroes of our village..." He said somberly.
"Heroes?" Naru said.
"They were all KIA." he said. "The names of some of my best friends are on here." he said, they blinked. "When you don't have teamwork, you might as well just kill yourself and the others." he said, they slunk. "I will give you one more chance." he said and pulled out two bento's and walked up to them. He gave Sasuke one and then the other to Naru. "Eat up, you'll have one more chance, Sakura, you don't get any." he said, she whined a little, Naru blinked. "I make the rules. Get it." he said and disappeared, they began to eat, Sakura sat there then whimpered as her stomach growled, Naru blinked and gave one piece to Mamoru. She brought another piece to her mouth, but paused focusing a little.
"Sakura, here." she said, the girl blinked.
"Baka! You heard him!" Sakura exclaimed.
"But if you are hungry, you won't be able to fight at your best." she said. "I'm not that hungry." she said and smiled, she took the offered food.
"Thanks." she said, Sasuke held some out, she blushed. "Sasuke-kun." she swooned.
"Just shut up and eat." he said.
Kakashi appeared in front of them, they gasped in horror.
"YOU!" he growled, Mamoru snarled and stood in front of Naru. "You broke the rules!" he said, they gulped. "You must be punished!" he said.
"But…" Naru said.
"What?" he said.
"You said this test was about teamwork, and that even means giving food to a teammate." Naru said.
"We're a team, we'll stick together." Sasuke said.
"Right!" Sakura said. "We're one!" she said, Kakashi glared at them then smirked.
"You pass." he said, they blinked confused.
"What?" Sakura asked.
"You... pass." he said. "See every other ninja before you did exactly what I said and that is wrong." he said. "The meaning of this test, the lesson behind it, is one of the most important things I was ever taught." he said and pulled out the bells and held them. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are scum, but those who abandon their comrades, are worse than scum." he said, they blinked. "Team 7 passes!" he said, they cheered and laughed, he smirked. "You are all dismissed. Tomorrow Team 7 starts missions." he said.
Naru got on Mamoru and rubbed his ear, earning a rather loud purr from the snow leopard. Kakashi smirked and watched them set off towards their apartment. Kakashi waited until they were out of sight then headed to the Hokage's office.
He walked in and bowed to the Hokage, he nodded. "So?" Hiruzen said putting his pipe down.
"Team 7 consisting of Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naru has passed." he said, Sarutobi smirked. 'I knew it would work.' He thought.
"That is good to hear." he said. "You can come in tomorrow for missions." he said, Kakashi nodded then shifted. "What is it Kakashi?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing sir, just tired." he said then bowed and walked out, Sarutobi sighed and looked out the window.
Now let's see what will happen now … he thought.
That night he walked into Naru's apartment, she let him in, he smiled. "So, you passed?"
"Yes." she said with a smile.
"I'm proud of you." he said, she gave him a large grin.
"Thank you." she said.
"How did you do?" He asked.
"Alright." she said and smiled. "It was hard to act nice and help them..." she said with an eye roll, he chuckled.
There was a knock on the door, Naru got up and answered it.
"I heard you passed!" Iruka said, she chuckled, he picked her up and spun her, she laughed as he set her down, and he walked in and paused. "Hokage-sama! I'm sorry I'll come ba-"
"No, you're fine Iruka, I was just checking on Naru. I will talk with you later." he said and walked out.
"Oh! I'm so proud of you Naru!" he said, she smiled at him and nodded, he chuckled and opened a bag.
"What did you bring?" she asked.
"A small cake to celebrate." he said and opened it, Naru smiled at him and nodded, she took it slowly and set it on the table.
"Want some?" she asked.
"Sure." he said, she smiled and got a knife and cut the cake up, he smiled as he watched her wash the knife right away and put it back exactly as it was. "You are a very meticulous person aren't you Naru-chan." he said.
"Well, yeah, I guess just a quirk." she shrugged. "Sorry." she chuckled.
"Oh! No!" he said and laughed. "I just noticed how neat this place is."
"I just have to have it like that." she smiled. 'And because of I don't keep it neat I end up tripping over something like when I was first adjusting.' She thought dejectedly while she slid the plate to him and they ate the cake.
"So, are you excited about getting a mission now?" he asked.
"Yeah." she nodded. "I'm excited!" she said, he chuckled.
"I knew you'd pass." he said, she smiled at him.
Alright Blind Naru and Team 7 start their missions next!
I do want Naru to be slightly cold but yet open with them, she'll help them out, but it doesn't mean she'll be open with them... telling them the truth!
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My beta Vandar93 and I are on a roll with this story! Planning it all out and we hope we can make this a kick ass story for you all to enjoy! Until next time! ;3