The New Nine Tails

Pass or Fail!

The following day, Hiroto woke up early, before Naruto, and got dressed. Once he was dressed, he began to gather his ninja gear. He wore a kunai holster on his right thigh and kept his tool pouch on his waistband behind his back. As he finished loading up his tool pouch, Naruto lazily walked past Hiroto's room to the bathroom, still in his pajamas.

"Hurry up, Naruto," Hiroto called out as he sat back down on his bed and held his hand out, creating a flame in his hand. He found that it got easier with time the more he practiced. He also discovered that if he overloaded it with chakra, he could create an explosion of varying degrees of destruction but a convenient weapon for close combat to use as a surprise attack. After practicing all day yesterday, the flame was now easily the size of his hand.

"Hiroto, let's go," Naruto said sleepily, walking past Hiroto's room as Hiroto clenched his hand into a fist, putting out the flame as smoke came out from his enclosed fist.

"About time, you lazy shit," he said, annoyed and frustrated, as he walked out of their shared apartment with Naruto following behind him slowly.

Naruto and Hiroto got to training ground seven right at 5 o'clock as Sakura and Sasuke joined them at the same time. Sasuke and Hiroto were the only ones actually awake, as Naruto and Sakura were still half asleep.

The four genin then waited at the training ground for three hours before Kakashi finally showed up.

"Morning, everyone. Ready for your first day?" he greeted as Naruto, Sakura, and Hiroto got up and yelled at him.

"Hey! You're late!" they yelled angrily, Hiroto angrier than both of them.

"Well, a black cat crossed my path, so I had to take the long way around," Kakashi said as Hiroto growled angrily, sounding like a wild animal.

"Well..." Kakashi said, seeing how angry they were before clearing his throat. "Let's get started," he said before walking over to the middle of the three wooden posts and placing a clock on it. "Here we go. It's set for noon," he said before pressing the button on it to start the clock. He then took out three bells and dangled them in the air.

"Your assignment is very simple. You just have to take these bells from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get them by noon, you go without lunch," he said as Naruto screamed in fright. "You'll be tied to those posts, and you'll watch while I eat my lunch in front of you," Kakashi said, pointing to the three wooden posts as all their stomachs growled in hunger.

'So that's why,' Sasuke thought.

'He told us not to eat breakfast to make it harder on us,' Sakura thought, holding her stomach in pain before she realized something. "Wait a minute! There are four of us. How come there are only three bells?" she asked.

"Heh, well, that way, at least one of you will end up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one goes back to the academy," Kakashi stated, jingling the bells while Naruto and Hiroto growled in anger and everyone got serious. "Then again, all four of you could flunk out, too. You can use any weapons, including shuriken. If you're not prepared to kill me, you won't be able to take the bells." Kakashi stated as Hiroto got that insane grin on his face again.

"Those weapons are too dangerous, Sensei," Sakura protested while Naruto laughed.

"Especially since you couldn't even dodge that eraser," Naruto laughed.

"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. You can safely ignore them-- lowest scores, losers," Kakashi said to Naruto, making Naruto stop laughing and groan in frustration.

"When I say start, you can begin," Kakashi said as Naruto growled in anger before pulling out a kunai and spinning it on his finger before charging at Kakashi with the intent to kill him.