~third pov~
It was towards the evening when Team 7 gathered. Beforehand, Nariko had trained Shizuka, intentionally exhausting her daughter so she will sleep early. In his retirement, Hiruzen resided with them at their home, so, with Hiruzen there to watch over Shizuka as she slept, along with Ghost, who Nariko summoned to stand guard for her daughter, Nariko went to her Paths chamber. After summoning Shiro and Kuro to stand guard for her, she sat in her meditation spot and closed her eyes to concentrate. The next moment, Naraka, Ningen, Annie and Asura stood before using the Flying Thunder God technique to appear next to Kakashi, who was already at the Third Training Grounds with the others. In the distance, Jiraiya was sitting in a tree with Tsunade and Shizune below him. Naraka went to stand next to Jiraiya, expecting to restore the other three paths after the fight. Nariko felt herself getting goosebumps, but passed it off as anticipation for the fight.
As agreed before the challenge was announced, Kakashi was to hold one bell while one of Nariko's paths holds the other two. He passes the two bells to Ningen, who ties them next to the flute on her waist. Asura and Annie moved in front of her, ready to defend her with Asura's hard-as-steel body and Annie's sword, Kurenai. Seeing this, Sasuke clutched onto the handle of his own chokutō, Sword of Kusanagi, which hung on his hip similar to Annie. Meanwhile, Sakura smirked at Asura, preparing to fight him with the techniques Tsunade taught her. Kakashi held up his bell, grabbing their attention. "Well... Let's see how much you've grown." He told them as he held his new book, then tucked the bell onto his hip. "The rules are the same as when we first met. Nariko and I don't care how you do it. Just take the bells away from us. If you don't..." "'come at me with the intent to kill, we won't be able to get the bells', right?" Naruto and Sakura interrupted him with a smirk. Kakashi chuckled. "Exactly. If you don't come at us with the intent to kill, you won't be able to get the bells. You have until sunrise tomorrow." He told them. Naruto reached back to tighten his forehead protector, Sakura took out her gloves, and Kakashi closed his book. "Now then, shall we begin?" He asked. Naruto snickered. "You're not going to do it while reading your book this time around, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned as he finished fixing his knot. "Or have you already finished reading?" Sakura added as she put on and adjusted her gloves. "Nope... I thought I'd save the fun for later..." Kakashi told them as he tucked away his book. "That's a first..." Annie snickered quietly to herself. Ignoring her, Kakashi continued. "Besides... Well, I kind of get the feeling... I may have to... get a bit serious this time around." He told them as he revealed his left Sharingan eye. Seeing this, Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan, preparing to counter any of Kakashi's moves. Nariko felt a slight shiver, but once again ignored the weird feeling she had.
With his sight on the bells, Naruto grunted. "Let's go!" He shouted before throwing shuriken at Kakashi, Asura, Annie and Ningen. Kakashi dropped to the ground to avoid the attack, while Asura simply deflected the weapons with his body, protecting Annie and Ningen. Kakashi threw shuriken back at Naruto, who leaped up to dodge them. With him mid-air, Kakashi threw more shuriken at him. Seeing this, Naruto made a clone to pull himself away from the weapons. "Not bad." Kakashi muttered. Sakura and Sasuke grinned at Naruto's smart thinking. While they were distracted, Kakashi lunged forward towards Naruto, Annie and Asura following his lead towards Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto used a transformation jutsu, turning his other self into a large shuriken, preparing to launch it at Kakashi. Unfortunately, Kakashi grabbed him before he could throw, restraining his arm and the back of his head. Meanwhile, Annie had her sword locked with Sasuke's, and Asura and Sakura had each other in a headlock. Without any of them noticing, Naruto had created three more clones, each one holding a kunai to his senseis' backs. Realizing this, Kakashi's gaze softened while the paths grinned in pride for him. From their spots, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune praised Naruto, watching on in amazement while Naraka watched the fight carefully with a small smirk.
Kakashi smiled fondly at his student. "Well, I see you're just as impatient as ever." He said. "I haven't even said start yet, have I?" He added as he looked back at the Naruto behind him. "Now then, let's begin. Ready... Start!" Kakashi said. He, Asura, Annie and Ningen then puffed into smoke, shocking Naruto and Sakura, though Sasuke just narrowed his eyes. Naruto cursed and looked around for them before glancing at his teammates. "I've been had!" He exclaimed, and Sakura became angry. "Come on, Naruto, you goof!" She yelled at him. Sasuke sighed. "It's not like we were any better." He reminded her as Naruto dispersed his clones.
As the sun began to set, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and Naraka continued to watch on, while Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke observed their surroundings, looking for their teachers. Remembering the first bell test, Sakura looked right, above, left and behind her. Realizing what she was doing, Sasuke backed away to Naruto, who looked at him questionably. "He must be below!" Sakura yelled as she drove her fist into the ground. The earth broke apart, the tremor from the impact shocking Naruto as he toppled over while Sasuke, who was used to Sakura's hits, kept his balance as he watched on with a sweat drop. Once the dust cleared, it revealed a horrified Kakashi in the ground, Asura holding him steady with an exasperated expression. "You know other people like to use this training ground, right?" Asura said. Tsunade praised Sakura while Jiraiya deadpanned, comparing Sakura to Tsunade. "Kakashi-sensei." Sakura called, making his eyes widen. "Huh?" He asked. "I found you." She told him with a smirk. Naruto stood and looked at Sakura with a wary smile. Asura and Kakashi leaped up onto the leveled ground, observing Sakura.
~in Suna~
After a traitor within the village killed the border guards, he led two strange travelers past the entrance. The travelers wore straw hats and a black cloak with red clouds on them, one of the men being more serious than the other. When saying that he will go first after creating a large clay bird to travel on, the other, more serious traveler told him to hurry, not liking to be kept waiting. The arrogant clay user hopped onto his bird before flying off, taking note of the guards that watched the sky. He created three spiders for the guards, planning to use it on them. In his office, Gaara paused from his work as he sensed the intruder, glancing up to one of his windows. He stared outside for a while, tracking the intruder's movements. From beneath the floorboards, a Yama-uzo gumo spider watched Gaara with its Rinnegan eyes while also sensing the intruder.
~in Konoha~
The group paired off, Sakura and Naruto taking on Asura and Kakashi while Sasuke and two clones of Naruto went after Annie and Ningen. As Sasuke fought sword-to-sword with Annie, the Naruto clones prepared to back him up. However, Ningen used her flute to put the clones under a genjutsu, making them believe they were being swallowed by the earth. The clones exclaimed and flailed, but were brought to focus by Kurama's presence. "Naruto, calm down. Let me help." He said in the boy's mind before emitting a large amount of chakra, breaking the genjutsu. The clones steadied themselves and thanked Kurama before jumping back into the fight, Ningen watching them with a proud smile at the Jinchuuriki and Bijuu's teamwork.
Meanwhile, Kakashi dashed through the trees before coming to a stop, crouching down behind some bushes. With his Sharingan eye, he spotted Naruto hidden behind a tree ahead of him, then looked back to find Sakura also behind a tree. Kakashi had to quickly jump back as Naruto threw kunai at him, and Kakashi threw some back at him before pushing of a tree to lunge at him. Naruto and Kakashi went at each other with kunai in hand, clashing for a second before they flew past each other. Kakashi turned back to throw his kunai at Naruto, who used a branch to drop himself down to the ground as the kunai hit the branch. Sakura walked up to Naruto, the two preparing to fight Kakashi. "Let me teach the two of you something. Shinobi Battle Skills, part one... Taijutsu." He said before dashing forward to fight Naruto. Asura then leaped out from the trees, engaging in a fight with Sakura. As they swung at each other, Sakura accidentally drove her fist into a tree, toppling it over. Meanwhile, Naruto briefly jumped onto a tree and created more clones, then jumped down to fight Kakashi. Kakashi hit each clone, making them disperse. When one tried grabbing his bell, Kakashi took the clone's wrist and threw him into a tree before leaping away, three other clones following close behind. However, Kakashi reappeared behind them, making Naruto realize he did Dancing Leaf Shadow. Kakashi bound the clones together and spun them as they fell, making Naruto remember it was Rock Lee's move. Sakura noticed what was happening, saying it was Kakashi's Copycat Ninjutsu. The four landed, the impact kicking dust into the air. When it cleared, Kakashi stood to find himself alone. "Now... Where's the real one?" He questioned.
Naruto suddenly dashed out of the bushes with a grin on his face. "Right here!" He exclaimed, rushing behind Kakashi. Having his hands in the tiger sign, Naruto's grin widened. "Secret Finger Jutsu. A Thousand Years of Death!" He shouted, aiming for Kakashi's butt. Kakashi looked horrified as he exclaimed, then jumped away at the last second. Naruto stopped, cursing as he looked at Kakashi. "That was a close one... In a different sense." Kakashi commented when he landed. Sakura suddenly leaped up, aiming a kick at Kakashi. Asura quickly pulled him away, causing Sakura to drive her foot through another tree. Kakashi and Asura looked back at her with a sweat drop. "You're really doing a lot of damage to this place." Asura told her in exasperation while Kakashi tried to catch his breath. Naruto then used his Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu, creating clones throughout the whole clearing. The clones rushed Kakashi, who swiftly dodged and hit the clones. Some of the clones also worked with Sakura to fight Asura, who was easily dispersing the clones and defending himself against Sakura's attacks. Sakura then drove her fist into the ground again, breaking it and causing some of the clones to disperse. Jiraiya grinned at the sight of Kakashi starting to become overwhelmed, saying that things were getting interesting while Tsunade and Shizune praised Naruto and Sakura. Meanwhile, after clashing swords, Sasuke decided to summon Manda, Annie summoning Anubis in exchange. The two summons fought, destroying part of the training grounds, while their summoners continued their fight against each other. The clones Naruto send with Sasuke had long since dispersed, and Ningen retreated further away to avoid the fight. "Now then, what should I do...?" Kakashi pondered with a concerned gaze at his students. "We do seem evenly matched, don't we?" Asura told him with a grin, not being able to help the pride he felt for the trio.
~in Suna~
The sun has nearly set on the horizon. With that, the clay user dropped his three spiders, the user making a tiger sign and creating a puff of smoke as the three fell. The spiders landed behind the aerial guards, the guards not noticing their presence even as the spiders crawled up them. The guards exclaimed as the spiders latched onto their faces, making them stumble back and try to remove them. As the clay user commented to himself how his creations weren't strange, that the guards just don't understand art, he held up a tiger sign and said that art was an explosion. The spiders blew up, killing the guards.
~in Konoha~
The battles ceased and the summons dispersed. Kakashi and the paths went back into hiding when the sun set, and Sasuke reunited with Sakura and Naruto. The trio wandered the woods, cautiously searching for their teachers. "I'm sure I heard the sound of bells from this way." Naruto said. "There's a possibility that they rang them on purpose. Be careful." Sakura told him. "Yeah, it's Kakashi-sensei and Nariko-sensei, after all." He replied. When they looked back in front of them, they suddenly saw an injured Nariko bleeding out as she leaned against a tree, kunai sticking out of her back. Nariko winced in pain as she looked at them, struggling to stand up straight. Sakura and Naruto were alarmed by the sight, but Sasuke, with his Sharingan still active, glared at the image. "Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke... Help me." Nariko pleaded weakly as she stumbled to them. "I was attacked at my paths chamber. Help me. Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke... Please." She said, reaching out to them. Naruto gritted his teeth to keep him from reacting, and Sakura closed her eyes. "It's too bad... I want to talk to Nariko-sensei a little while longer, but..." Sakura muttered. Nariko shook in pain as she stood in her spot, watching for them to move. Sakura opened her eyes and held up a tiger sign. "Release!" She said, causing the image before them to fade. "I'm not interested in illusions, you see." She added, Sasuke glancing at her with a proud smile.
Naruto did a Shadow Clone Jutsu, one clone appearing to create a Rasengan in his hand. Sasuke also created Chidori in his hand, ready to attack when Naruto was. "Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi-sensei and Asura-sensei's behind those trees there." Sakura told them, causing the two teachers to stiffen and prepare to dodge. "Yeah, we know." Naruto replied, dispersing his clone once his Rasengan was a good size. Him and Sasuke ran forward, pulling their arms back to strike through the trees. "Rasengan/Chidori!" They shouted as they struck the trees, making Asura and Kakashi leap away. "Kakashi-sensei, Asura-sensei." Sakura called, getting their attention. "You have something to say, don't you? I missed it before." She said, leaning towards them a bit. Kakashi deadpanned. "Shinobi Battle Skills, part two... Genjutsu." Asura chuckled. "Kakashi-sensei, Asura-sensei, talk about a lack of pizzazz. No way we'd fall for the same trick over and over again." Sakura teased, Naruto grinning while raising a fist. "That's right, that's right." He agreed. Kakashi chuckled as he stood straight. "No, that's not necessarily the case." He told them, and Naruto noticed the bells on the ground. "All right! They dropped the bells." He exclaimed before rushing forward. Sasuke and Sakura reached out to him. "Naruto, don't/Dobe, wait." They told him, but it was too late. "They're mine...!" Naruto said before the illusion faded, a noose taking its place and tying around his ankle. Naruto shouted as he was hung upside down, dangling in the air. "See? Naruto would still fall for the same trick." Kakashi said with a smile while Asura sighed at his brother's peril.
Suddenly, Naruto dispersed, revealing that he was actually a clone and surprising Asura and Kakashi. Naruto then appeared behind Kakashi, Sakura following his lead to attack Asura. "No way will I fall for a trap... like this." Naruto said as he and Sakura went to punch Kakashi and Asura. When they struck their targets, they were met by a puff of smoke, revealing they were substitutes. Naruto cursed as Sasuke sighed in annoyance, the three surrounding the two logs to inspect them. As Sakura berated Naruto, Kakashi and the paths watched them from their hidden spots in the foliage, smiling at them proudly. Naraka felt a harsh chill run through her, gasping as her blood ran cold from the feeling.
~in Suna~
The clay user leaped down onto the Kazekage building, landing on its roof. When he looked up, his smirk fell as he saw Gaara standing before him, his Kazekage robe discarded and his sand gourd attached to his back. As soon as Gaara had left his office, the Yama spider hidden in the floorboards dispersed, going to inform its master of the danger.