Soul of the Seal: The Ninja Adventures by MrDust
Anime » Naruto Rated: T, English, Adventure & Friendship, Naruto U., Kyuubi/Kurama, Words: 221k+, Favs: 1k+, Follows: 1k+, Published: Feb 23, 2008 Updated: Dec 27, 2009
Chapter 6: SOTS,1,01,05
(AN: For disclaimer, see my profile, and also, help me with my goal to have it possible for submissions to display colored text!)
SOTS-1-01-05
Soul of the Seal - Story 1 - Arc 1 - Chapter 5
Chapter 5 - "Grabbing Kakashi's Bells"
Over the field of training area seven, the morning dawn was beginning to illuminate the landscape, but the sun hadn't risen above the horizon yet. It was early. Slightly early. No, make that really early. Quite early. Very, very early. Certainly earlier than Sakura was used to getting up as she... well, I guess you can call it walking... As Sakura walked into the field, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She was carrying a single pink duffle bag looped over her shoulder that had her limited supply of equipment.
Sasuke was approaching from a different direction, but being as punctual as Sakura, was arriving at the same. Thought, strangely, he seemed normal... I mean awake normal... I mean he didn't seem bothered by the early start. Over his shoulder was a purplish blue, heavy kind of cross of a tote bag and duffle bag.
"Oh, Hhhhhhhiii... S-Sasuke-kunnnn..." Sakura yawned at length as they approached each other. Still blinking, she looked around. "That Naruto-baka. He's going to get in trouble if he's late." She sighed, too tired to get angry. Sasuke looked around once.
"He's over there." Sasuke pointed.
Sakura turned and squinted in the direction indicated. Slumped down against the middle one of three large posts, sat Naruto... Or at least, a mass of orange with a topping of blonde. But between her grogginess and the still dim light, Sakura couldn't see him all that clearly. He seemed to simply be asleep, his backpack tucked next to him. But on the other side of him was what appeared to be two empty duffle bags, and a small stack of four empty instant ramen containers. From the look of things, they hadn't been empty very long. Naruto must have only eaten and dozed off just a little before the other two had arrived.
"What the...? Naruto ate? But Kakashi-sensei told us not to! That idiot is going to get us in trouble!" Sakura started to stomp towards the napping ninja, but was stopped by a hand on her shoulder. She turned around wide-eyed to look at Sasuke.
"Hey, don't wake him. We have a chance to have some quiet without his loud mouth for a change." He said, half suggestion, half order as he turned away to simply stand, waiting for their sensei.
Had he watched Sakura a moment longer, he'd have seen that she was DEFINITELY awake now.
'Sasuke-kun touched me! He... touched... He... He... Hehehehehehe!' Sakura was grinning like a maniac, starts shining in her eyes as she had forgotten all about Naruto, as she was now stuck on staring at the disinterested Uchiha.
They waited in the grassy area for their sensei. Time ticked by, but no one noticed. Naruto was asleep, Sakura just kept daydreaming about... certain things, and Sasuke was just glad the other two were quiet for a change.
After the sun had risen over the mountains, however, Sasuke and Sakura finally noticed that it was a fair time past five, and their sensei was a no-show. Sasuke was getting irritated that their sensei had told them to be at the training grounds at five, yet didn't show up on time himself. Considering the wait they had the day before, Sasuke frowned at the thought of this being a regular occurrence.
Sakura had sat down to spare her legs the ache. She could see that Sasuke was getting annoyed, and truthfully, so was she. She would cast the occasional glance over at Naruto, who had been motionless the whole time. It was a little eerie for her to see Naruto like that, being so used to see him always running around doing something or other. If not for the steady rise and fall of his shoulders to indicate his breathing, Sakura would have thought he'd have to be dead to be so inactive. That thought put ice down Sakura's spine for some reason she couldn't explain.
As the sun slowly rose higher and higher, it began to seem that their sensei would never show up. And just as Sasuke and Sakura were considering heading to the academy to find out what was going on...
"Yo! Good morning!" Kakashi waved as he seemed to appear out of nowhere with a backpack strapped on his back. Sakura was about to scream out her anger at the top of her lungs, but Sasuke's hand over her mouth shut her up instantly.
"Kakashi-sensei, why are you so late?" Sasuke asked calmly, despite a slight twitch of his eye.
"What? Oh, sorry, but you see, a family of black cats were camped out on my doorstep. So I had to circle around the village seven times to counter the bad luck. You understand, right?" Kakashi shrugged with a bizarre kind of... eye-smile? Since his mask covered most of his face, it seemed to be the primary way for him to express emotion.
"That is so ridiculous..." Sakura muttered as she fidgeted with anger.
Kakashi looked back and forth between the two, then looked over to the side to see Naruto asleep by the posts.
"Hmm. I suppose it would be difficult to conduct this exercise if you're a man short. Sakura, please go wake up Naruto." Kakashi directed.
Grumbling to herself, Sakura made her way over to her lazy teammate. She had planned to just yell in his ear, or pound him on the head, but when she got within a few feet, close enough to really get a good look at his face, she stopped with a tiny gasp.
Now, Sakura knew that sleep was one of those strange mysteries in life. No one could really understand how or why it happened, beyond some technical medical reasoning, or physiological purposes. But one of the things that couldn't be explained, was how sometimes a person could seem one way when they were awake, yet seem so completely different when they were asleep. Usually, this was attributed to the peacefulness of a person at rest.
But Sakura could see that Naruto's rest was anything but peaceful. His face was tense, his brow would twitch every so often, he was even frowning slightly. But the thing that had stopped Sakura so abruptly was the streams of continuous tears leaking out from under his closed eyes. It was very unnerving for her. She didn't think Naruto was the type to cry. She certainly couldn't remember any time that she had seen him do so before.
'Whatever he's dreaming about... It must be absolutely horrible...' Sakura thought nervously as she noticed he seemed a bit scuffed up, as his cloths had a very fine dusting of dry dirt on it. She knelt down next to him, beginning to reach out with one hand, intending to gently shake him awake. "Naru-"
CH-SHLING
Sakura froze as her face went deathly white. It was what most people would do when they suddenly had a pair of kunai crossed against their throat.
Sasuke's eyes widened in surprise and Kakashi went rigid, his eye focused on the event in front of him.
'Damn. Naruto takes the whole, 'I'm not a morning person', to a whole different level.' Sasuke thought with a mental note to himself to never have to be the one to wake the blonde.
Naruto blinked a few times in his process of regaining consciousness as he realized there was a person in front of him.
"Huh? Sakura-saaaaaHHHHhhhhnnn..." He yawned as he lowered his weapons, one arm coming up to wipe off his face out of habit. The instant that the metal was away from her, Sakura jumped back.
"NARUTO, YOU JERK! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Sakura screeched as one hand came up to check her neck, but felt nothing, no damage. "You could have killed me!"
"Awww. Now that would've been a real shame." Kyaena clicked her tongue in mock disappointment.
'Huh? Kya-chan? You're awake already?' Naruto asked as he slowly got to his feet, small pulses of chakra running though his system to wake himself up faster. A little trick he had learned over time.
"Just for a while. Don't worry, you haven't missed anything. I think the cyclops just now arrived." She reported, but still sent an unseen glare at Sakura. 'Filthy Pink... That'll teach her to interrupt Naru-kun's sleep. Although, maybe I shouldn't have held back Naru-kun's reflexes, and just let that teme learn to live without her voice...' She let out a low hiss. 'I just wish it had been the Uchiha-teme instead. He would have suffered the full consequence of Naru-kun's terrible life...' She pictured the brooding boy lying on his back, dead pale with his throat cut wide open...
'Oh, then I guess it's showtime.' Naruto put his kunai away and gave himself a double slap to the face to clear his head. As he pulled on his backpack, he noticed Sakura still staring at him with wide eyes. "Huh? Something wrong Sakura-san?"
"Yes there's something wrong! You nearly slashed my throat!" Sakura screamed, but didn't get any closer to him. Naruto paused with a confused look on his face.
"Why were you so close to me?" He asked.
"I was just trying to shake you awake because Kakashi-sensei is here!" Sakura pointed behind herself to the two other people in the field.
"Well, why didn't you just yell for me to hear? Or throw a pebble or something to wake me?" Naruto asked as he walked over to stand with his teammates.
"Hey, don't give her any ideas!" Kyaena shot in quickly.
"Because I was trying to be considerate and didn't want to startle you!" Sakura fumed, crossing her arms in a huff.
"Ok, jeez, sorry. But you should know better than to try to touch a sleeping ninja." Naruto sighed in exasperation.
"What!? Don't apologize to her!" Kyaena snapped with a growl.
"Ok, that's enough." Kakashi cut in with a hint of anger in his voice. He had been more than a little surprised when he had seen Naruto move when Sakura went to wake him. 'That was a reaction only a veteran shinobi should have been capable of. What the hell has Naruto been through to have him develop reflexes like that?' He thought sourly at the prospect of Naruto's experience. "Naruto, you need to be more careful in the future." Kakashi kept his voice neutral, earning a slight frown from the boy. "But anyway, it's time we get started." Kakashi walked over to a tree stump, sliding off his backpack. Reaching into it, he pulled out... and alarm clock? He set it on the tree stump and pressed down the switch on it's top. "This alarm is set to go off at noon."
Naruto gave a glance at the clock to see it said that it was already 11:07. He double checked it against his own clock that was sewn into the inside of the thick collar of his jacket, and seeing it was accurate, gave a small grumph.
'First he shows up six hours later than he told us to be here, now, whatever he has planned, he expects us to do it in less that an hour?' He groaned.
"Well, it's going to be the longest hour of his life!" Kyaena grinned, showing off her teeth and fangs.
Kakashi reached into his backpack again, then stood up and stepped back a bit. He held up two small bells on short strings for the others to see.
"Your assignment is very simple. You just have to steal these bells from me before the alarm goes off at noon. That's all there is to it." He explained as he let the bells jingle once. "If you're not able to get a bell before noon, you don't get any lunch. You'll be tied to those posts over there and forced to watch as I eat my lunch in front of you." Kakashi said with a touch of amusement as he heard grumbling stomachs.
'So that was the point of having us not eat breakfast. He was trying to make things harder for us.' Sasuke swallowed slightly as his stomach protested.
"Hey, wait a minute! That's not fair!" Sakura complained as her stomach complained as well. "Naruto had something to eat while we didn't! We didn't have the chance-" Sakura had pointed over to where Naruto's duffle bags and empty ramen cups were piled, and when Kakashi saw them, he turned on Naruto.
"Naruto! I distinctly remember ordering you not to eat breakfast at our meeting yesterday!" Kakashi scolded with increasing annoyance at how Naruto had been interfering with every step of his plans so far.
"Wrong." Naruto shook his head. "You distinctly suggested we not eat breakfast. I just decided not to follow that suggestion." He shrugged with a small smirk.
"Alright then, in that case, you don't get lunch at all, regardless of whether you pass or fail." Kakashi declared smugly.
"WHAT!?" Naruto screeched. "You can't do that!" Kyaena hissed in disapproval.
"Consider it the consequential punishment for ignoring your sensei's advise, where, if we were on a mission, that could get you killed." Kakashi said, holding up the bells again. "But you might be able to redeem your little mistake if you can get a bell from me. After all, all you need is one... apiece." He taunted. Sakura blinked as she noticed the flaw.
"Hey, how come there are only two bells when there are three of us?" She asked. When Naruto and Kyaena noticed it as well, they both let out harsh growls, both internally.
"Oh, that way, one of you is guaranteed to wind up tied to a post and ultimately disqualified for failing to complete the mission. That one will go back to the academy in disgrace." Kakashi replied in a casual manner, as if it were nothing.
Naruto was beginning to seethe on the inside already.
'But if one of us fails, we all fail! This is a team test! The way he just set things up, we can't pass no matter what happens!' His teeth were clenched together, not quite grinding as he sent an intent glare at his 'teacher'.
"Only two bells for three people? As if he had already decided to fail the squad? As if he were planning on blaming the failure on a specific person, a person that he would deliberately ensure didn't get a bell!?" Kyaena growled in disgust at the perceived animosity in Kakashi.
Kakashi felt the low, but growing, killer intent coming from Naruto, though since it was directed at him, Sasuke and Sakura didn't seem to notice yet.
'I wonder what he's getting angry about now?' Kakashi wondered as he continued his instruction. "It might just be one of you who fails, or, then again, all three of you might flunk out. You can use any skill or weapons you have, including shruiken." He stared at the three kids. "You have to come at me with the intention of killing me, or else you'll never be able to get the bells."
When Naruto heard that, his eyes narrowed, and he reached behind to one of the side pouches on his backpack, pulling out a small blank scroll. The core of it, around which the paper was wrapped, had a built-in chamber that was opened from one end. Inside was a small penbrush with ink so it could be used at any time.
"But Kakashi-sensei, those weapons are too dangerous!" Sakura gasped in shock at such a risky situation.
"Especially for someone who has already suffered the wrath of an angry chalkboard eraser." Naruto snickered in a lightly amused tone as he was writing something on his scroll. Kakashi gave Naruto a slight glare.
"Class clowns are usually the weakest links. They complain more because they aren't skilled enough. Lowest scores. You can safely ignore them. Losers." Kakashi rambled in a 'know-it-all' tone, expecting it to make Naruto blow his top. "When I say start, we can begin." Kakashi waited a moment, but when Naruto didn't respond and continued writing, Kakashi nearly hissed. 'Almost nothing is going according to plan!' He thought in frustration. "Naruto! Put that scroll away and pay attention!" He snapped.
"Just a second." Naruto replied, not even looking up as Kyaena gave him a few instructions.
"Knock it off Naruto! Haven't you done enough? You have to take this seriously!" Sakura scolded, but was confused by what was happening.
"Oh don't worry. I am taking this seriously. This is for your benefit as well, you know." Naruto said as he paused, looking over what he had written.
"What? My benefit?" Sakura asked, now completely confused. Naruto added a little more to the scroll before smiling.
"Ok! That should do!" He held up the scroll and held out the penbrush. "Now if the three of you could just sign this as well, we can get started!"
"What are you talking about, dobe? What is that?" Sasuke frowned. Naruto cleared his throat once, and read.
Liability Release
This document is to verify, that during the genin exam for squad seven, jounin sensei Kakashi Hatake did order the use of deadly intent and force to be used in the exam exercise.
By specifically ordering the use of such force, jounin sensei Kakashi Hatake releases genin candidates Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki from liability concerning any resulting hazard or injuries sustained by any party during the genin exam.
By specifically ordering the use of such force, jounin sensei Kakashi Hatake takes responsibility for the conduct, actions and safety of genin candidates Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki during the genin exam.
Should hazard or injuries be sustained by any party during the genin exam, genin candidates Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki can not and will not be reprimanded or prosecuted in any way or form, and jounin sensei Kakashi Hatake will take responsibility of results and consequences of such injuries.
This document has been read and accepted by the undersigned.
-Naruto Uzumaki.
Naruto looked up expectantly at his wide-eyed companions.
"So, if you'll just sign-" Naruto started to say, but Sasuke blew up.
"What the hell are you doing!? Has that Hitai-ate cut off the blood flow to your lemon of a brain!? Why would I want to sign something like that!?" Sasuke fumed.
"I think he's just jealous that he didn't think of it first." Kyaena sneered a fang in disgust.
Kakashi was glaring at Naruto incredulously.
'What is the deal with him!? How could he have thought of these things!? He's virtually nothing like what I've heard about him!' Kakashi took several slow breaths to calm himself. "Naruto, your enemies aren't going to give you letters of liability before a battle."
"Are you saying we're enemies?" Naruto gave a small smirk, but with narrow eyes.
"No..." Kakashi's eye twitched, but it was the eye that was covered with his Hitai-ate, so fortunately, the others didn't see it.
"Naruto, what's going on?" Sakura asked, definitely not enjoying the position of knowing so little, when she was used to knowing more than the others around her.
"I just want a little insurance is all. I've had... difficulties, in the past, and didn't think it would be wise to do something like this without a back-up plan." Naruto shrugged. Sakura still looked confused, but signed the scroll. After all, it was a good idea, and she liked to play it safe.
"Grrr, fine, let's just get on with things already!" Sasuke huffed as he signed immediately after Sakura. Naruto took the scroll and turned to Kakashi.
"And finally, you." Naruto held up the scroll, but Kakashi didn't move.
"I'm not going to sign that, Naruto. There are no safety guarantees in real life." Kakashi stared down at the blonde, who suddenly turned on an oh-so-innocence look.
"Safety? Who said anything about safety? You're the one wanting us to intend on trying to kill you. This is just so we won't get in trouble in the unlikely possibility that we do." Naruto chuckled.
"Maybe I haven't been clear. I am not going to sign that." Kakashi said with growing impatience.
"He's done nothing but lie! Don't let him out of it! It's for your protection!" Kyaena ordered.
"Maybe I haven't been clear." Naruto suddenly growled back with a frown. "If you don't sign it, I walk away right now, and YOU can explain your actions regarding this... exam, to Old-Man-Hokage!" He snapped, actually causing Kakashi to take a step back in shock.
Sakura and Sasuke looked back and forth in disbelief at what was happening, and how Naruto seemed to have caught Kakashi on some point they were unaware of.
'Damn it. If he tells them what I've been saying...' Kakashi sighed. "Fine, I'll sign it." He stepped forward to take the scroll and penbrush, but paused. "Um, it's not going to squirt ink on me, is it?" He asked cautiously.
"No, though I probably should have thought of that." Naruto shook his head in disappointment that he had overlooked a simple prank opportunity as Kakashi signed the scroll.
"Naruto, what in the world is going on!?" Sakura demanded, beginning to loose her temper yet again.
"Ah, don't worry about it Sakura-san! We've resolved this point... though we'll have to wait and see if any more points arise." Naruto finished, grinning at Kakashi as he took the scroll, wrapped it up, and set it next to the alarm clock before returning to stand with his teammates.
"Well," Kakashi cleared his throat, "I must admit, this is turning out to be more involving than I though it would be. And we haven't even started yet. I guess... that I'm starting to like this group." Kakashi gave an eye-smile.
Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto exchanged slightly confused glances, with Naruto giving a shrug.
"Guess different people have different tastes." He mused.
"Different tastes? I doubt that this lying cyclops would taste any good at all." Kyaena stuck out her tongue. "Make sure that scroll doesn't get lost or damaged."
'Oh, don't worry about that. I've got it all under control.' Naruto mentally smirked in confirmation.
"Alright then," Kakashi announced in a serious tone, making the three cadet graduates tense up. "Get ready... and... START!"
______________________
In an empty meeting hall at the academy, Sarutobi and Iruka sat at a lone table, drinking tea together.
"So, Iruka. I have a feeling that we're not just here to drink tea and chat about the academy curriculum." Sarutobi said casually as he dropped a sugar cube into his tea and began stirring. "You're concerned about Naruto, aren't you?"
"Squad seven is having their exam this morning." Iruka nodded, putting a drop of lemon and honey into his tea. "The jounin assigned to that group. How tough a trainer is he?"
"You mean Kakashi. You're worried about him for some reason?" Sarutobi asked, taking a sip.
"Yes. I've heard a fair amount about him as many have, but it's mostly second hand gossip when it comes to the infamous 'Copy Ninja'." Iruka took a whiff of his tea. "But I did hear an unpleasant rumor about his training methods. I was hoping you could tell me directly, what kind of ninja he really is. That is, how tough a trainer he is." He took a drink.
"Indeed. I had a feeling you'd want to know about that." Sarutobi put down his cup for a moment, then pulled a thin blue record book from within his robes. "I think you'll find this enlightening." He slid the book across the table.
"What's this?" Iruka asked, setting his own cup aside to pick up the book.
"It's the pass-fail record of all the teams Kakashi has ever been assigned to and tested." Sarutobi said with a rather ominously solemn tone.
"Really? Let's see here..." Iruka opened the book and flipped the pages until he came to Kakashi's file. After a moment of reading, his eyes widened. "Th-this... This is even worse than the rumor suggested!"
"Kakashi's tests may be a bit more difficult than others..." Sarutobi said slowly, as if announcing that the Hokage mountain was a cleverly built sand castle.
"A bit more difficult!?" Iruka gawked. "This says that no squad, no student, has ever passed his tests!"
"Yes, that is the truth. They tried, but none of them could manage to live up to Kakashi's standards." Sarutobi frowned as he took a lingering sip of tea. "I must admit, this very fact has me concerned. Even though Kakashi was correct about all the students he failed in the past... this is the first time he ever volunteered to take on a team."
"Volunteered?" Iruka raised an eyebrow in question.
"Yes. All the other times, he was assigned the duty, and he went along with it. But this time, he came forward and requested to be one of the jounin for the academy graduates before they had even graduated." Sarutobi shook his head in worry, the words of a certain kunoichi replaying in his mind. "I'm not sure why Kakashi thinks this time would be different. Or..." He stopped abruptly and shuddered at the terrible though. 'No, Kakashi wouldn't do that. He knows I'd have his hide stretched out on display if he did.'
"Or what?" Iruka leaned forward intently, but Sarutobi waved him off.
"No, it's nothing. But keep in mind, this group of candidates, all of them, are still young. It's not certain that they'll be able to handle the rigors and dangers that come with the life of a ninja." Sarutobi sighed.
"It's not really that. Forgive me Hokage-sama, but what I really wanted to ask you is... How does Kakashi feel about Naruto... personally." Iruka asked even as he swallowed a nervous lump. The meaning in his question was obvious. Does Kakashi hate Naruto because of the Kyuubi?
Sarutobi remained silent as he finished his cup of tea. He looked Iruka straight in the eye.
"Honestly... I don't know. But even if he has a grudge, Naruto is not in danger. I always make sure of that." Sarutobi stated with confidence, recalling how he had given Tetsuko special instructions. She was not to interfere with the exam, but if there was any evidence that Kakashi was trying to create and 'accident' during it's proceedings, she was to step in.
"Oh." Iruka blinked in slight surprise at the statement. He thought for a moment. "If the squad, and Naruto, fails, would you have any objection if I took Naruto back into my class in the next academy year?" He asked hopefully, earning a slight chuckle from his tea drinking companion.
"Not at all. In fact, I doubt any other teacher would be able to handle Naruto... what with his pranks and all." Sarutobi poured himself another cup of tea. "But don't get your hopes up. Naruto is surprising in many ways, and we have seen just how skilled he really is. Even with Kakashi's harsh expectations, I'd be willing to bet my hat that Naruto will find a way to pass the exam." The Hokage said as he offered to refill Iruka's cup.
"I'm not supposed to favor one student over others... But I really want Naruto to succeed." Iruka sighed as he held out his cup.
"Yes. Me too." Sarutobi nodded, pouring the tea. "I suspect, if we wait, Naruto will be along after the exam is over."
Iruka nodded, adding the lemon and honey to his cup.
_____________________
Naruto looked around franticly as Sasuke and Sakura had jumped away into hiding.
"WAK! What the hell!? What are you two doing!? Get back here!" Naruto screamed in shock.
"I knew it! I knew those two wouldn't be any help!" Kyaena snarled. "Just forget them and take this depth-perception challenged asshole down!"
'But this is a team test! I thought they knew that! And what's worse, if they go running around, they'll set off-' Naruto's face was grim with concern, as Kakashi regarded him.
"You know, compared to the others, you're a little... off." Kakashi sweat-dropped.
"Yeah right! The only thing off here is your hair style, Dandruff-Duster!" Naruto snapped as he set himself into a fighting stance, glaring at Kakashi.
"If you're wondering why the others ran off, well, it's the basis of all ninja skills. Stealth and concealment. You do know how to do that, right?" Kakashi asked, not even moving.
"Of course I do. But it doesn't apply to this situation." Naruto began oh-so-slowly side-stepping, keeping his eyes on Kakashi, who raised his one eyebrow.
In her spot under some heavy bushes, Sakura looked on in confusion.
'What is Naruto doing now? He should have hidden like Sasuke-kun and myself. Why would he say that stealth doesn't apply? It always applies!.... Doesn't it?' She wondered while remembering that Naruto had been right about the exam before, so what else was going on?
In his own spot in some heavy trees, Sasuke was glaring down at Naruto.
'Naruto is such a complete moron! Still trying to show off, only this time, he's really going to be in trouble if he messes up my chances at passing this test!' Sasuke struggled not to hiss or growl out loud, which would give away his position to Kakashi, who was still regarding Naruto.
"And just why wouldn't it apply to this situation?" Kakashi watched Naruto carefully.
"Stealth and concealment only apply if the opponent is unaware of your presence or approach. You know I'm here, and you know I'm coming after you." Naruto explained, continuing to inch his way in a circular path around Kakashi. "Furthermore, my objective is to retrieve an object you possess. Which means I have to approach you. You could just stand out in this open field all day waiting for me, so even if I were to hide, I'd just have to come out again to get to you. Worse yet, I'm on a time limit. You aren't. Any futile and pointless attempt to hide would only waste what time I have." Naruto frowned. "And on top of it all, it's our objective to obtain the bells, where as you're objective is not to keep the bells, but rather, to keep us from getting the bells. You could throw them away, or worse, destroy them, thereby making it impossible to pass this exam." Naruto scowled at Kakashi. "Now that wouldn't be right, would it? Deliberately rigging the test so we couldn't pass, no matter what we do?" His voice was that of an accusational tone.
In the bushes, Sakura and Sasuke were gaping, drop-jawed at Naruto's explanation. One that made total, absolute, perfectly clear sense! Kakashi on the other hand, felt like he was going to pass a gall stone the size of the moon.
'I can't recall the last time I had a candidate who was so... so...' Kakashi's fists clenched, then relaxed. "Well, Naruto. If it seems that the lesson of stealth is un-usable here," Kakashi reached into his ninkit, "Then perhaps we should move on to the other shinobi basics. To start, taijutsu, the physical art."
"Fine by me, though excuse me if my form is a little... rough." Naruto grinned. "Of course, it would be nice if I had A LITTLE HELP HERE!" He screamed in the direction of the bushes, making Sakura flinch, and Sasuke just frowned.
"Whenever... you're... READY!" Kakashi shouted as he whipped out... a book?
Naruto tilted his head as he looked on, with Kyaena letting out a sweat-drop.
"That looks familiar. Say, did you get that from Iruka-sensei?" Naruto asked as he stopped his movement.
"Hmm? Iruka has this edition also? Well, imagine that." Kakashi said in a bored tone.
"Ok, now this worm is just insulting you." Kyaena growled as her fur rippled slightly.
"Well, if it's valuable or anything, I really suggest you put it away. Why are you even trying to read that now anyway?" Naruto's hands slowly started reaching towards his weapon holsters.
"Well, because I want to know what happens in the story, of course." Kakashi replied, turning a page. Sakura was actually about to come out of hiding to help Naruto, given what he had said a moment ago, but she never got the chance.
"Fine. You can't say I didn't warn you." Naruto smirked as one foot tipped back to tap his toe on a small rock-
KaboomKaboomKaboomKaboom
Sakura and Sasuke had to look away from the blasts that erupted around Kakashi. They weren't all that powerful in force, but they were loud, and bright. Stun grenades.
Kakashi had to close his eye to avoid being blinded, and his shoulders came up to partially cover his ears, but the little amount of dirt kicked up by the bursts was no danger, so he didn't bother moving beyond shielding his book from the dirt. But in the instant of the flash, when he heard rapid fluttering of paper in the wind, he leapt backwards as hard as his legs could propel him, a moment before the spot he had been at erupted in a genuine explosion, courtesy of the kunai with three explosive tags tied to it that Naruto had thrown.
Kakashi blinked his eye to clear it as he was sliding to a stop, only to jump again when a click preceded two dozen or so long wooden spikes jutting up out of the ground, unsuccessfully attempting to skewer the jounin as Naruto dashed forward, throwing eight shuriken at the airborne man.
"NARUTO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Sakura screamed in panic. She couldn't believe Naruto was attacking so aggressively. Inner Sakura slammed a fist into her palm. 'Come on, what am I waiting for!? Naruto got Kakashi-sensei to sign that scroll, so we can't get in trouble! I should get out there and kick some ass too!' She watched their sensei twist in midair to dodge the shuriken that continued past him.
But then Naruto yanked his hands downward, and the shuriken did a instant 180 to come back at Kakashi, thanks to the guiding lines connected to them. They whipped around and around him, binding him in the fine ninja wire as he was falling, to hit the ground with a large burst of smoke that cleared to show the wires tied around a log.
As Naruto's eyes darted around the field looking for his slippery target, Sasuke was staring on from his tree perch with a dropped jaw.
'What the hell is going on!? Yesterday, Naruto somehow gets the drop on me with some jutsu I've never seen, fools Sakura pretending to be me, though that's not saying much, and pranks our sensei in a way that could have disabled him had Naruto wanted to. Now he's going at Kakashi-sensei like... like he really is trying to kill him!' Sasuke thought in disbelief.
Naruto was still standing in place, looking and listening for any sign of Kakashi when he sensed a chakra source appear behind him.
"A ninja should never expose his back to the enemy." Kakashi smirked with his hands together, index fingers pointed.
Sakura's eyes widened.
'Wait a minute, is that a handsign? Is that the tiger sign!?' Sakura thought in panic. 'That's much too advanced a ninjutsu! He could kill Naruto with that! He said we were to come at him with intention to kill, but this is...' Her heart was pounding in fear at what Kakashi might do to her, if he was willing to do that to Naruto.
'That's the sign for most fire jutsu.' Sasuke thought with a smirk. 'So the dobe is finally going to get a taste of reality. This should be amusing.'
"Naruto! Get out of there, quick! He's going to destroy you!" Sakura screamed out, drawing Naruto and Sasuke's attention.
'Stupid fan-girl! Why'd she have to warn him!?' Sasuke scowled.
"Too late." Kakashi grinned to himself. 'Time for payback for that eraser prank, Naruto.' He shifted his book out of the way in his hands. "Leaf-Style, Ultimate Taiju-EH!?" He stopped when Naruto leapt straight up in the air a good thirty feet.
Naruto yanked on the wires he was still holding when he jumped, pulling the log that Kakashi had substituted earlier to come flying towards Kakahsi, who had to duck as it flew over his head. Kakashi heard a Poof, and looked up to see a very, very large boulder about to fall on top of him, forcing him to throw himself sideways as it impacted the ground with a massive WHUD, sending dirt splattering everywhere. As Kakashi slid to a stop, he blinked at the stone that had nearly crushed him.
'This is getting ridiculous. I can't even read my book with Naruto acting this crazy! Although, I must admit, that was an interesting use of the Substitution Jutsu. But I have to slow Naruto dow-' Kakashi gave a start when four short poles sprang up out of the ground around him... no, not really poles... pipes.
He realized they were pipes when black liquid began spraying out of the ends, raining down around him, forcing him to put his book away or get ruined. But his eye widened when he sniffed the scent of the liquid. The thick, sticky liquid. He leapt away as a click sounded, causing sparks to ignite the oil in a burst of flame and smoke where he had just been. Kakashi looked up to see Naruto racing at him, a double bladed kunai in each hand.
Sakura didn't realize a small blush was creeping onto her cheeks.
'Whoa, this is amazing! Naruto is actually keeping Kakashi-sensei on his toes! But when did Naruto get the chance to set all these trap? We only woke him right before... Wait!' Sakura blinked in realization. 'Naruto was already here when Sasuke-kun and I showed up, and it looked like he had only just fallen asleep. I don't believe it...' She watched as Naruto attacked Kakashi with a frenzy of basic style, but very fast, taijutsu. 'Naruto came out her and stayed up all night, just so he could be ready for this exam. He... He is really serious about this.' Sakura's mouth set into a determined line... then she charged out of the bushes, throwing several shuriken at Kakashi's back.
Kakashi was severely surprised when Sakura attacked, but he refused to let it show to any degree. He did a massive back flip to get out of the line of fire and to try to get the two genin into his line of sight.
"S-Sakura-san?" Naruto blinked in surprise as his pink-haired teammate took a position next to him, with her kunai and shuriken at the ready. She gave him a slight smirk.
"Naruto, you idiot. Did you really think you could take on a jounin all by yourself? That's just like you, jumping in and getting yourself into trouble that's over your head." She remarked, then looked around along the tree line. "Hey, Sasuke-kun! Come on out, and we can take on Kakashi-sensei together!" She called, not quite sure where Sasuke was.
"Ok, what the hell is Pinky up to?" Kyaena growled. "She can't possibly really intend to help you." Her ears twitched in suspicion.
'Hey, this once, don't complain.' Naruto shot back, and turned to Sakura. "Hey, be careful where you step. I'll try to clue you to where the other traps are. Do you need extra weapons?"
"No, I'm good." Sakura shook her head, keeping an eye on Kakahsi. But a confused frown touched her lips. "HEY! SASUKE-KUN! CAN YOU HEAR ME!? WE NEED YOUR HELP! HURRY BACK HERE!" She yelled out again.
In the trees, Sasuke continued looking on without moving, waiting to see more of Kakashi's moves, waiting for his own opening.
"Something tells me he's not coming." Naruto grumbled, raising his kunai into an offensive position as he returned his focus to Kakashi, who had taken the momentary break in action to compose himself.
"You Jerk! Don't say that! Sasuke-kun wouldn't just ditch out on us!" Sakura snapped back.
Kakashi regarded the two as he thought about his plans.
'Hmm. It seems they're staring to pull together. But not quite all the way.' He didn't bother turning to look at the spot that he already knew Sasuke was hiding in. 'But if they can get Sasuke to come out and join them, things could get difficult. I think it's time for the next part of the 'test', and to finally slow Naruto down a bit.' Kakashi thought with a bit of satisfaction as he suddenly dashed forward.
"Look out Sakura-san! Here he comes!" Naruto blurted, as he started forward, and Sakura threw a few more shuriken.
But Kakashi blinked out of sight as the shuriken missed, only to re-appear as he slid right up to under Naruto, sending a kick into Naruto's chest. Unfortunately, Kakashi hadn't counted on the rate at which Naruto had been attempting to accelerate forward, and the combined opposing momentum was greater than expected.
Sakura clearly heard the sickening snap as Kakashi felt Naruto's chest shift under his foot, and Naruto spit up several drops of blood even as he was violently thrown back in a high arc that landed him in the river next to the training field with a hefty splash.
"NARUTO!" Sakura screamed in shock and fear as she watched her teammate sink. She turned to look back at Kakashi, who was still half laying on the ground from where he had kicked Naruto.
Kakashi was staring down at the drops of blood that had hit his vest with no small amount of shock.
'Oh... crap!' He swallowed a lump of nervousness, then jumped to his feet. 'Test or not, I can't let Naruto continue with that injury!... And Hokage-sama is probably going to have my good eye for injuring a student so badly!' He turned to a pale Sakura with intentions to have her help with Naruto. "Sakura! You-"
"AAAHHHH! PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!" Sakura screamed in terror, dropping her kunai and shuriken to the ground as she took several steps back.
'... Ok, maybe she is as pathetic as I thought before.' Sasuke frowned as he watched.
In the river, Naruto was struggling with the pain of his one... no, two broken ribs, while trying to hold his breath and trying to swim to the surface with the heavy weight of all his gear seeking to pull him down to the bottom. He could feel his healing power trying to repair the damage, but he still made the effort to focus it all into his chest, causing his chakra to react a bit more intensely than normal.
"That cyclopean freak... His intentions are clear! He'll use this so called test to try to kill you!" Kyaena growled in fury as Naruto's ribs were forced back into proper alignment.
'I... I don't know... The test... I have to...' Naruto thought in a disjointed manner as he felt the cricks of his bones and muscle regenerating. 'He could have done that from the start. But I still have another test to try on him. I'll get him... I will!' Still holding his breath as best he could, he had to stop his swimming for a brief moment to do something with his hands...
In the field, Kakashi was trying to calm down Sakura, but without much success.
"B-but sensei, how are we supposed to be able to match you? Even if all three of us came at you at once, we wouldn't stand a chance!" Sakura said, trembling with nervousness as her eyes widened. "Th-there's no way for us to pass! You made it impossible! We can't-"
"Sakura, calm down and listen!" Kakashi barked with aggravation, worried that Naruto might be drowning. "You have to go get-!" Kakashi stopped mid sentence as he whipped around to stare at the river when he felt something. An intense concentration of chakra, much stronger than anything he had been expecting today. It was almost too intense, and that was with the river water muffling it. 'What... was that?' Kakashi thought with professional concern. 'Is there another ninja here?'
The chakra had been intense enough that even Sakura, and to a lesser degree Sasuke, had felt it.
"Kakashi-sensei? What's going on? What was-" Sakura stopped when she followed Kakashi's gaze to the river, just in time to see Naruto pulling himself out of the water onto the bank... though, it appeared he did so with some difficulty. "Naruto! Are you ok?" She yelled in worry as she rushed over to him, but nearly fainted when he coughed up a mouthful of bloodied river water.
Naruto scooped up a handful of water to his mouth, swizsled, and spat out a little more blood with it. Sakura was pale with her guts twisting around at such a sight. Sasuke was looking at Kakashi, who seemed to be completely focused on Naruto.
'This is my chance...' He slowly pulled a few shuriken and kunai from his holsters, taking aim at Kakahsi's backside.
Kakashi was staring at something the others didn't seem to notice. Even from the instant Naruto had climbed out of the water, what water there was left on him was quickly evaporating into steam. In a matter of seconds, Naruto was already half dry.
"Naruto?" Kakashi asked in a cautious manner, causing said boy to look up with a glare at his 'sensei'.
"Bet you enjoyed that, didn't you?" Naruto hissed as he pushed himself up to his feet, causing Sakura to step forward and grab his arm to support him.
"Naruto, stop! You shouldn't try to move! There's no telling how badly you're hurt!" She was babbling, and also, quite unsure why she was so concerned for Naruto. 'Because he just had his chest kicked in! I am NOT so insensitive as to ignore THAT!' Inner Sakura raged in insult. Naruto however, just shrugged her off.
"Nah, I'm fine. It'll take a lot more than just a couple of broken ribs to keep me down." He said as he kept his eyes on Kakashi. Sakura's jaw dropped, and Sasuke paused to blink in disbelief himself.
"What!? How could you be 'fine'!? I heard your bones snap!" Sakura yelled, still in a state of shock over what was going on, even as she watched Naruto twist and stretch his arms in a blatant show that he was, in fact, quite alright.
"Yeah, and now I'm fine. Don't worry about me, Sakura-san. I can bounce back from nearly anything. HEY DUCK-BUTT!" Naruto yelled in the general direction of the trees, "If you would GET YOUR ASS OUT HERE, one of us might be able to rip Kakashi-sensei's bells off!" Naruto shouted out, making Sakura turn red and Kakashi pale slightly.
"Careful you don't trip over your tongue, Naru-kun." Kyaena snickered, privately wishing he had.
'And I was worried about him?' Kakashi thought with a small sweatdrop. 'But was that intense focus of chakra really from him? It was much too strong for any genin...' Kakashi pondered with a serious back line of thought.
"WHAT did you just say!?" Sakura screeched in embarrassment at Naruto.
"The bells, remember?" Naruto pointed to Kakashi. "We need to rip them off his belt if we have any hope of pa-" Naruto stopped when he saw movement behind Kakashi.
Several kunai and shuriken came straight at Kakashi's back, but he did a single spin around, knocking them away like they were nothing. He turned to glare at the trees.
"Not now, Sasuke! There's a matter I have to deal wi-" Kakashi was stopped when a series of splashes made him whip back around in time to see several Narutos leaping out of the river and charging at him quickly. He leapt straight backwards, his feet hardly leaving the ground as he tried to keep a distance from the blitzing blondes.
Sakura ducked slightly in reflex when the Narutos had jumped clear over her. But when she felt several drops of water fall on her she did a double take, looking at the running boys, including the one that had left her side. She saw the water and footprints they were leaving as they chased after their instructor, and she once again found herself stunned.
'Wait a minute, those aren't illusions, they're real! How in the world is Naruto doing this!?' She gaped, unable to move, even as her empty stomach tried to remind her of it's lacking of sustenance.
Sasuke, who had been about to dash after his failed attack on Kakashi, glared harshly as he watched the assault in progress.
'That's the same jutsu he used on me yesterday! It's not the Clone Jutsu, it's something far more powerful! What jutsu is that!?' Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration as he fought down his growling stomach.
Kakashi, thinking he had enough of a gap between him and them, considered his situation.
'So, the rumors were true. He does know the Shadow Clone Jutsu. And they say he defeated the chunin Mizuki with it. Things just got a whole lot more complicated. Although, even though he has more chakra than the others, he shouldn't be able to maintain it for more than about a minute or so.' Kakashi thought as the determined student group kept charging. "I must say this is unexpected, but even so, you can't beat me with this jutsu!" Kakashi stated. "This is the kind of situation that you ca-"
WHAP-chingggg
Kakashi gave a nasty jerk as something grabbed him from behind. He craned his neck to look behind, seeing another Naruto latched onto him with arms and legs wrapped around his torso.
"Yo!" The Naruto grinned.
"What the-!? How did you-!?" Kakashi gawked in disbelief. 'When did he get a clone behind me!? I didn't even sense his chakra!'
Sakura felt her cheeks warming up again when she saw the one Naruto grab Kakashi.
'Whoa... When did Naruto get so good!?' She wondered in growing amazement, and a small smile on her lips.
"I've got over a decade of sneaking experience, Sensei. Now, I'm going to do to you what you did to me!" The Naruto growled as he SQUEEZED.
"Ugh-Argh!" Kakashi grunted out in pain as his chest felt like it was being crushed... which it was. 'Wh-what is going on!? The real Naruto can't possibly be this strong, let alone a clone!' He staggered as he futilely tried to pull the boy's arms off him. He could already feel his own ribs creaking as the air was crushed out of his lungs. 'I have to get him off me, before...' Kakashi looked up, seeing the other Narutos almost upon him, all of them with fairly angry looks on their faces.
In the trees, Sasuke was livid.
'No way! Naruto is about to get the bells! And knowing that loser, he'll keep one and give the other to Sakura!' He growled. 'I will not let that dead-last force me out of this test!' He reached for his holsters...
Kakashi looked on as seven Naruto's were bearing down on him, two of whom were obviously aiming at his hip to get the bells, but the others just looked like they wanted to stomp him into the ground until he was little more than fungus mold.
"Let's see how much punishment you can take, Sensei!" The lead Naruto exclaimed as he jumped into the air. "It'll be interesting to see what you'll do when your only usable eye is swollen shut!" He smirked as his fist was traveling straight at Kakashi's face-
ThwackThwakThwakThwak-POOF/POOF-WHAM-crack-POOF
Sakura gasped in surprise as she witnessed what happened. The two Narutos that had been lunging for the bells were each hit with a pair of shuriken, causing them to vanish in bursts of smoke. Their dispersal had distracted the lead Naruto for a split second, even as his fist had made contact, only for him to look back and see that he had just struck another of himselves, thoroughly destroying that Naruto's jaw, causing him to go up in smoke even as the Naruto that had been holding him fell backwards onto wobbly legs.
The five remaining Narutos just stood, frozen in momentary confusion, looking at each other. Sakura wasn't fairing much better as she tried to work out what had just happened, and how one Naruto had clobbered another Naruto. And as for Kyaena...
"Oh no... That miserable little wretch did NOT just do what I think he did!" She howled in outrage.
In the trees, Sasuke let out a slow breath of relief.
'So, Kakashi-sensei used the Substitution Jutsu to swap with one of the Narutos at the last moment.' Sasuke noted as he watched four of the Narutos disappear, leaving, presumably, the real one left, standing in the field. 'I wonder if he was going to do that even if I hadn't taken out two of the losers.'
Naruto, who had re-gathered his wits, turned towards the tree line.
"UCHIHA! What the HELL was that about!?" Naruto seethed in such fury that his chakra and killer intent was surging to dangerous levels. Sakura and Sasuke could both feel it with unmistakable, wide-eyed clarity. "I guess you don't want to pass, do you, Duck-Butt!? You are more arrogant and foolish than I ever thought-...?" Naruto paused when something gleaming caught the corner of his eye.
Sasuke was gaping even as he felt Naruto's chakra diminish again as the blonde turned away for some reason.
'Wh-...What the hell... I haven't felt a chakra that strong since... that night.' Sasuke's fists clenched around the branches he was leaning against as his eye twitched in a glare down at Naruto. 'I need to plan out my next attack...' He turned and dashed deeper into the foliage.
Sakura, who hadn't moved from her spot right next to the river since Naruto had climbed out of it, was now in total confusion at what had just happened... And was also in slight awe from the energy she had just felt.
'This is incredible! I remember Iruka-sensei once telling us about how it was possible to actually feel the presence of a person's chakra, but I didn't think anyone in our class was capable of exerting that kind of energy!' Sakura wondered. 'But what happened with the clones and the shurik-... wait, what's Naruto doing now?' She peered as Naruto was looking at something on the ground.
Naruto was looking down at, what seemed to be, one of the bells. It was next to the roots of one of the lone trees in the open field.
'Do you think it's a trap? Or could Kakashi-sensei actually have dropped one during that little scuffle?' Naruto wondered, staring at the small silver object.
"It's unlikely that only one of the bells would have been knocked loose. They both should have fallen if they had been knocked off, and I don't see the other. On top of that, the bell is right next to the snare trap you set in that tree." Kyaena observed in thought. "Just grab it quick so this whole thing will be over already!"
'...I'll give it to Sakura-san so she'll-' Naruto began to say as he reached into one of his ninkits.
"WHAT!? WHY!?" Kyaena jumped to her feet with bared fangs. Naruto grimaced slightly as he withdrew a small object attached to a length of wire from his ninkit, unraveling it a bit.
'Because once she has it, she'll be able to get out of the way, and then I can really go all out.' Naruto explained with a smirk as he held the wire and flicked the small solid bit over to the bell. It landed, and drew the bell to it with a small clink. Naruto's smirk got a little bigger as he yanked the wire, causing the bell to leap up and come flying towards his outstretched hand...
"Naruto, look out!" Sakura yelled, but this time, it really was too late.
"Ultimate Secret Leaf Taijutsu, Thousand Years of Death!" Kakashi shouted as he appeared behind Naruto, and did something... most unpleasant.
Kyaena screamed out demonic obscenities and Naruto gave a harsh howl himself as he was launched forward, slamming face first into the tree. He fell to the ground, only for a snap-twang of a rope to yank him up by his ankles. But he hadn't even rebounded once when he bent up and slashed the rope with a kunai. He twisted in mid-air and landed on his feet... only for a second rope to yank him up by his ankles again. This time, due to his momentary surprise, several wire towing shuriken managed to zip around him, and in seconds, he was tied, upside down, to the tree trunk.
"Well now," Kakashi chuckled, pulling the wires tight, "It seems I've finally slowed you down." He bent down to pick up what Naruto had been using on the bell. "Hmm. A magnet. An interesting choice for standby equipment." He nodded. 'Whoa. Two nearly successful attempts in the span of only minutes. And if he hadn't been so focused on the bell with his magnet...' He mused in approval.
"Hey! What's the deal!? I distinctly remember only setting ONE snare trap in this tree!" Naruto yelled as he looked to see the rope still tied to his ankles.
"Oh, that? Well, one trap doesn't always do the job, so I thought I'd help you out by adding a few more." Kakashi said with an eyesmile.
Naruto frowned as he tried to look around the tree slightly.
"Hey Sakura-san! Help me down!" Naruto called.
"Why bother with her? You can break out of this easy!" Kyaena huffed.
Kakashi turned to look at the pink haired girl who was about to start forward to help her tied up teammate.
"Oh, I don't think that would be a very good idea, Sakura." Kakashi shook his head. "After all, now that I have Naruto immobilized, if I immobilize you as well, Sasuke will be allllll on his own." He shrugged in a pitying gesture, making Sakura's eyes widen.
"What!? No, don't listen to him Sakura-san! Just throw some shuriken to cut the wires, that way you won't have to get in his reach!" Naruto shouted out in instruction.
Sakura hesitated.
'Naruto was doing pretty good against Kakashi-sensei, but I'm no match for him on my own.' She thought as her eyes darted from Kakashi, to Naruto, to the various damage around the field. 'I need Sasuke-kun's help! If I go get him, then we come back to group with Naruto... Yes! That's what I'll do!' She smiled to herself as she turned and ran towards the tree line. "Don't worry Naruto! I'll get Sasuke-kun and be right back!"
"NO! Sakura-san! Come ba-LOOK OUT FOR MY TRAPS!" Naruto shouted just barely in time to see Sakura manage to jump over a pitfall that had opened under her. Naruto sighed in defeat as he watched Sakura disappear into the brush looking for their third group member.
Kakashi walked over to Naruto and tied the wire tight to the tree. Kakashi took a step back to regard the upside down student.
"All tied up with nowhere to go!" Kakashi snickered.
"This might be your last chance, Kakashi." Naruto said quietly in a serious tone.
"Oh? And what chance are you talking about?" Kakashi asked innocently, making Naruto nearly scowl.
"This test. You're supposed to give a test that we actually have a chance to pass as a team." Naruto growled. "But even though I'm trying to get the others included, you keep doing things to break us apart." Naruto glared even harder. "If you don't want to pass, just say so, and it would save us all the time and hassle. Otherwise, you should come clean with the others, and do this right."
Kakashi squatted down a little to be more face-to-face with Naruto.
"Did it ever occur to you, that maybe the others just aren't interested in being your teammates?" Kakashi said in a low voice. "It's entirely their choice on how committed they are to passing. But even with that in mind," Kakashi slowly stood up straight again, "I also have a part to play in this, and it begs the question... How responsible a jounin or sensei would I be.. if I let someone like you pass?"
The surge of chakra and killing intent from Naruto was so strong, Kakashi actually leapt backwards, thinking he was going to attack, despite being tied up.
"You just dug your own grave." Naruto growled through clenched teeth.
"Oh yeah, that's a definite." Kyaena agreed, thinking of many nasty things to do to Kakashi.
"Well..." Kakashi composed himself. "I suggest you try not to think too hard while you hang out. The blood rushing to your head will make it somewhat painful." He offered in advice as he turned to head off. "If you'll excuse me, I have to go deal with the others." He turned to head off, pausing at the stump with the alarm clock, picking up the scroll Naruto had set there earlier. "I don't think you'll be needing this anymore." He put the scroll in his ninkit and headed into the trees. 'I'm sorry Naruto, I don't really want to be this mean, but I have to make sure this team can handle the difficulties, both physical and psychological, of being a ninja. You're enemies won't ever play nice with you. And speaking of... Sasuke better have a DAMN good explanation for what he did.' He scowled to himself in severe disappointment.
Naruto watched Kakashi disappear from sight. A few seconds later, Naruto gave a grunt as he jerked his arms outward, snapping the wires holding him. He lunged up and cut the rope around his ankles with a kunai, then kicked off the tree hard to land about ten feet away even as the impact of his kick shook the tree, setting off the remaining snares.
Naruto stood up and looked back at the tree, seeing another six rope loops that had been triggered now hanging in view from the branches. He just stood motionless for a moment, before he let his head hang in depression with a fallen expression on his face.
"They're unworthy of you, Naru-kun." Kyaena stated with gentle firmness. "They're liars and cowards, with no sense of loyalty. And in time, when you become greater than any human this village has ever seen, they will suffer in their guilt for having abandoned you." She growled with adamant conviction.
'So close... I was so close...' Naruto lamented miserably. 'Almost a ninja. But even if I can trust Iruka-sensei at the academy, it doesn't do any good if no jounin is willing to be my sensei on a squad. It's just like you said.' He put his face in his hands.
"I don't like being right, not when it leads to your suffering. But I know that humanity isn't as great a race as they would like to claim." Kyaena said with a more subdued tone as she flicked her claws slightly.
Naruto stood in silence for a minute, until the clearly recognizable sound of Sakura's scream echoed over the treetops.
'Looks like Kakashi got Sakura-san.' Naruto slowly looked up in the general direction of the screech. 'Kya-chan... Could I... Could I have one more year? Please? Will you let be have one more chance to become a ninja... before... before I have to...' His faced scrunched up in overwhelming shame of what he was truly considering.
"... Before you leave the village?" Kyaena whispered, knowing, and feeling, just how horrible a thought it was for Naruto. "Yeah, sure. It's ok. It took you three tries to graduate from the academy, so taking two chances to become a genin is more than fair. And it will also be one more chance for the village, and even for the Old-Man." Kyaena said, making Naruto blink in confusion.
'What do you mean, for the Old-Man?' He asked as he readjusted his backpack on his shoulders.
"As long as you get put back in Iruka's class when you return to the academy, you'll easily make the top rank when you graduate again. But it will then be up to the Hokage to put you in a proper squad with teammates that aren't stupid bastards, and to try to get a jounin who will give you an honest chance without prejudice. If this failed test isn't enough for him to realize what needs to be done... Well, after that..." Kyaena trailed off, since Naruto already knew what the consequences of another failure would mean.
'I see.' Naruto nodded slowly. 'Old-Man-Hokage... Pops-Ichiraku... Sis-Ayame... Iruka-sensei... Konohamaru... ... I may not have many friends... But I'll still miss them.' He lightly kicked his toe at the grass.
"I know Naru-kun." Kyaena purred slightly, then her lips pulled back in a sinister smile. "Now, before you head back to the academy, what do you say to thoroughly humiliating the one eyed snake?"
'What do you have in mind?' Naruto asked as he straightened up with a slight smirk of his own.
Sasuke had been working his way in a circling pattern through the trees and fields when he heard Sakura's scream. He found his way into a clearing that, thought he wasn't aware of it, was only separated from the original starting field by a single, view-blocking line of thick trees.
Sasuke paused when he felt a distinct presence behind him.
"So now it's you, and me. But I'm different than the others." Sasuke slowly turned around, but blinked in surprise.
Kakashi was standing ridged, glaring harshly at him, with no hint that he was fooling around at all.
"Sasuke, I have a question, and you'd better answer truthfully, for your sake." Kakashi stated in an 'I-mean-business-so-don't-piss-me-off' tone.
"What?" Sasuke slipped into his own taijutsu stance as he edged closer.
"When Naruto was attacking me with his clones earlier, and you threw those shuriken... What were you aiming at?" Kakashi's eye narrowed as he continued to glare.
"Hn. Like it really matters." Sasuke snorted as he abruptly dashed forward with an attempted high kick.
Kakashi reached out and grabbed Sasuke's ankle, swung him around like a whip and slammed him face down into the ground. The next thing Sasuke knew, Kakashi had both of his arms pinned behind his back by kneeling on him.
"Yes, actually it matters a great deal! When you threw those shuriken, what were you aiming at!?" Kakashi demanded out in a shout.
Sasuke struggled for a moment, attempting to free himself, before giving a grunt.
"The one Naruto was holding you. I threw the shuriken, intending to disable one of your legs so you'd be at a disadvantage and no longer be at top speed." Sasuke lied smoothly. "The loser copies just got in the way."
Kakashi stared down at the dark-haired boy.
'From his position in the trees, to where I was, the trajectory... Well, Naruto's clones were in-between us. But even if he's telling the truth... which I'm not convinced he is, it was unacceptably reckless of him.' Kakashi frowned under his mask as he got off Sasuke...
Sasuke lunged into a sudden hand spring backwards, kicking at Kakashi's face. Kakashi brought up his arms to block, catching Sasuke's ankles, then instantly looked down as the upside-down boy made a mad grab at the bells. Sasuke's finger barely touched one as Kakashi released him and leapt backwards to put a little distance between them. Sasuke saved himself from dropping on his head with a one-handed hand spring to flip himself up right and land on his feet.
"I'm going to end this." Sasuke announced as he stood up straight.
"Even if you are different from the others, that's just called individuality. You have to allow for the other's own diff-" Kakashi stopped with a wide eye as Sasuke made two handsigns.
"FIRE ART, FIREBALL JUTSU!" Sasuke called loudly in triumph as he brought one hand to his mouth...
'What the-!? First Naruto, now Sasuke!? How much chakra do the members of their graduate class have!?' Kakashi thought in shock.
A stream of flames shot from Sasuke's mouth to blossom into a large, round, mass of fire where Kakashi had been standing. After a moment, Sasuke stopped his jutsu, and looked at the damage to the ground in front of him, but saw no sign of Kakashi's body at all.
'Wait, where did he go? Behind me? Above?' Sasuke thought quickly as he looked around himself.
CRUNCH
In a blink, Sasuke was sucked into the ground until only his head remained above the dirt. Stunned by his sudden condition, he watched as Kakashi seemed to rise up seamlessly out of the ground.
"Earth Art, Headhunter Jutsu." Kakashi announced in a near monotone. "How disappointing. Naruto put up a much better fight than that." He shook his head with a sigh, making Sasuke tense up and growl in indignation.
"I almost got the bell by myself!" He snapped.
"So did Naruto." Kakashi shrugged.
"I got closer quicker than Naruto did!" Sasuke hissed as he was struggling to free himself from the dirt.
Kakashi kneeled down in front of him, giving him a moderate glare.
"It took me far longer to immobilize Naruto that it took me to immobilize you." Kakashi pointed out. "You shouldn't be in such a hurry to try to make yourself stand out. After all, the nail that sticks up most, gets hammered down first... Or something like that, as the saying goes. You could learn quite a bit from Naruto concerning deception and misdirection." Kakashi stood up and walked away.
"NO! There's nothing that wothless dead-last could ever teach me!" Sasuke yelled in anger after him. 'I can't believe how easily he overpowered me! He really is a jounin, and is stronger than I am... And it's an unacceptable difference in strength!' He hissed, still struggling to free himself.
Kakashi frowned to himself as he headed off to go check on something.
'I can't believe this. Everything I was expecting in this test has gone completely backwards. The two I thought had the least skill turned out to be the most promising, and the one I thought had the greatest promise is turning out to be a severe disappointment.' Kakashi thought sourly.
____________________
Naruto had been discussing the plan with Kyaena when the sound of Sasuke's voice carried his jutsu name over the trees.
'What the-? After all the times he's accused me of showing off-!' Naruto growled slightly as he looked in the general direction that the sound of erupting fire had come from.
"Stuck-up Uchiha braggart! People always giving them everything! None of the others in your class were allowed to study assault jutsu, yet he goes and gets it like it was candy! I bet that half-blind scum eater is giving that spoiled bitch one of the bells right now!" Kyaena hissed and spat as she whipped her tails around.
'Well he's in for a surprise when he finds out he's failed anyway. And Kakashi is going to regret doing this as well!' Naruto smirked, but then paused and frowned. 'Kya-chan, are you sure about this plan? Are you really ok with me doing it this way? I mean, it is your-'
"Don't worry Naru-kun. This one time, to humiliate a Tail-Hunter, is alright. I want him to remember this day for the rest of his miserable life!" Kyaena chuckled with a huge foxy grin.
Naruto moved into position and prepared himself...
____________
Back in the other field, Sakura had managed to locate Sasuke, and between the two of them, succeeded in exhuming the broody boy from the ground.
Sakura looked on in extreme worry as Sasuke was brushing the leftover dirt from himself, growling all the while. She could see he was VERY upset about something, presumably getting caught in such a way.
"It's got to be almost noon by now. I have to get one of those bells!" Sasuke clenched a fist as he judged the position of the sun in the sky.
"Don't worry, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura offered a supportive smile. "If we hurry back and get Naruto, the three of us should be able to-"
"NO! I won't accept help from that pathetic loser! I'll get the bells, and then that dead-last will be kicked out of here for good!" Sasuke frowned to himself.
"But Kakashi-sensei is too strong for any of us to take on alone! You don't really expect to be able to get a bell from him, do you?" Sakura pleaded to reason.
"I got close enough that I actually touched a bell just a little while ago. Next time, I'll get them." Sasuke vowed with dark undertones.
'What!? Sasuke-kun touched a bell!? And Naruto nearly had Kakashi-sensei cornered before... At this rate, they'll get the bells and I'm the one who'll be kicked out! No! I can't be separated from Sasuke-kun!' Sakura thought in panic. "Sasuke-kun, since you and Naruto are both so-Hey wait!" She called out as Sasuke took off, and she followed.
They both ran back to their staring point in the training ground. Sasuke was looking around as Sakura caught up.
"Do you see Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke demanded, not even looking at her.
"No, but as long as we're here, we should cut down Naruto. He's right th-... Hey, where'd he go?" Sakura blinked as she noticed that Naruto was not tied to the tree where she last saw him. She looked around until she spotted him coming out from some heavy brush next to the river. "Oh, there he is!" Sakura sighed in relief.
Sasuke turned to glare at the blonde who was walking towards the two with a neutral look on his face.
"Hey, brat. Did you see where Kakashi-sensei got to?" Sasuke demanded, and let out a small growl when Naruto ignored him, approaching closer. "HEY! Answer me loser! Tell me what you-eh?" Sasuke stopped when Naruto tossed something at him and at Sakura.
chinnng-chinnng
Sasuke and Sakura stared in total shock at the small bells now in their hands as Naruto just walked by them, and headed over to the three posts. He picked up the empty duffel bags and ramen cups he had left there. He turned away, just as the alarm clock sounded. Blinking once, Naruto calmly reached over and shut it off, then turned and started off to leave.
"Hey, wait, Naruto! Where are you going!?" Sakura blurted out, still holding the bell in her hand.
Naruto paused for a moment.
"To go get some lunch." He mumbled with a dull tone, not even looking back at them before heading off.
"What? Why? I mean, what are you-... Sasuke-kun, say something!" Sakura shouted, even though Naruto was already gone.
Sasuke was looking at the bell in his hand, and had only one thought.
"HOW THE HELL DID NARUTO GET THE BELLS!?"
_____________________
END OF CHAPTER
Authors Notes:
I can't believe how hard it is for me to write fighting scenes. I thought I would be able to breeze through it, but I had to constantly stop, go back, double check, alter this and that, etc. etc.
I'd really hate to have to re-write this chapter, since to change anything at this point would require me to redo the whole thing, and I'm not sure I could come up with another scenario that would be able to end the way I did it here. Maybe I'm just getting a bit paranoid.
Most of the chapter is self explanatory, with the ending cliffy being quite deliberate. The only thing I want to make sure is clear right now, is when Naruto was in the river and was healing his ribs, Kakashi did not feel the demonic chakra he was using. It still only consists a small part of Naruto's total chakra at this time, and it was Naruto's own concentration of chakra (which is mondo huge) that Kakashi felt. I know it would spin my story completely off track if Kakashi got any indication of how much control over Kyaena's energy Naruto has already. But I have made it so that even her presence allows Naruto's own chakra to help contribute to his regenerative abilities. Many of you will notice that I have made Naruto's healing powers stronger than canon. It's intentional, and will play parts in the future. But Naruto is still not, by any means, invincible. I hope it works out alright.
The next chapter is going to be tough to write, as it will be entirely my own. The conclusion of the genin exam, some very heated arguments, and some events that I'm not entirely sure will be very acceptable to some readers. But, it's what I've planned, so it's what I'll write... even if I loose a large number of readers for doing so.
Please be aware, I posted this chapter without having it checked by my beta reader.
To the next batch of reviews:
Epiphany's Apocalypse: When it comes to ramen, Naruto is always serious.
Vahzred: Thank you for your advice concerning the summery. I have made the change. I'll just have to wait to see.
Darksnider05: While I can understand your opinion, and in fact I agree to some extent, I assure you that it will not be so forever. It will take a good while, but Naruto will eventually stop taking crap from anyone. If you stop reading my story, I could offer to PM you when I get to that point. Though, like I said, it will take a long time for me to get to that point. We're talking something like 130 chapters or so.
Khellan Rafe: A very good guess. Naruto's behavior will get a little stranger later on, and his... instabilities... will start coming to the surface. But don't worry, he doesnot become a psychotic mass murderer or anything.
ascher67: I would never deliberately try to disappoint anyone, but I'm afraid you probably will be when you read my Wave Arc. I am trying to stay close to canon storyline, so events will still happen in more or less the same order, it's just the outcome of each event has the chance to change because of the changes I've made to Naruto, especially including his friendship with Kyaena.
Yanara: Sorry the test was mostly serious, but ask yourself... How DID Naruto get the bells? I'm sure you'll enjoy the explanation in the next chapter.
RevlisFlow: Thank you for pointing out the hair thing. I have made the alteration to fix that.
Dr. Yami: Oh, believe me, I was so very tempted to do what you suggested. But I don't like being cruel to animals if I can help it, and Sasuke would be very, VERY cruel to ANY animal that dared to do such a thing. But don't worry, Sasuke will be humiliated in other ways in the future.
Raikah: Thanks for the feed back on those story ideas, though it would have been even better if you had told me you were going to try to write one of them. That's what I put them there for. Oh well.
Silent Blade: You say Kyaena is focused on getting Naruto paired with Hinata? Well, let me ask you this. Have you ever heard the expression - "It's not a choice, it's a lack of options." - ? I mean, come on. Naruto, the village parri-, paraiai-, ... the 'demon boy', isn't exactly being chased by fan girls. And Kyaena would at least want someone for Naruto that doesn't seem to have any animosity towards him. Who knows what will happen in the future as Naruto meets more girls, girls from outside Konoha. ... ... Well, as the writer, I do, but that would be telling.
hiro15: Sorry. While I do like the idea of Naruto on team 8, many others have done that route (and admittedly, I like those stories myself), so I'll be sticking with team 7. It's just the way my story is planned out, it requires it to be so.
shadow'sdawn: I have no idea what you mean about the ramen shop scene. As for the pairing... I don't think it's 'blindingly obvious', as anything could happen, and Hinata doesn't even spend that much time around Naruto after graduation, since she has her own missions to do. And as for your harem suggestion, keep in mind two things: One, Naruto doesn't strike me as the type to intentionally seek out such a situation, and Two, even in the event that multiple females do start taking a serious interest in him at the same time, they have to pass Kyaena's approval. And I'm not sure how strict I'm going to have her criteria be just yet.
Patrick Gleason: Yes, I do have a LOT of this story planned out already. No, I can't make promises about the pairings, though I'm sure that in time you'll see the direction I lean in, along with one or two surprises (winks) I will throw in.
Nikki Sage: I try my best, but hey, updates happen when they happen. Not much I can do about it unless I were to quite my job, stop going out, and become, for all intents and purposes, a cockroach, for the rest of my life in my dedication to writing non-stop, 20 hours a day. (Hey, even cockroaches need sleep... ... I think.) But I'm trying to write for quality. So it takes a while.
And one final note for everyone: I'm sorry if you don't like me putting Naruto on team 7, and if you think my explanation for doing so is weak, I have two words for you - RED TAPE. It happens, it's never fair, and sometimes it can even be worse for military (which I was under the impression that a NINJA village was) than it is for regular politics like nobles or such.
Kunoichi Identity poll
Please see my profile for the poll
Note: I must confess, a few of the guesses are very interesting. Even more so must be the line of thinking to lead people to make those guesses. Strangely though, a few of you reviewers are not completely sure of your guesses. There are a few 'Maybe her, or maybe her' going on. Well, don't expect me to give too many clues, as that would defeat the point of keeping her identity secret for the time being. Also, since I didn't mention it before, the identity will be revealed sometime in the chunin exams. Just so you know. And I will say this for the last time, the kunoichi is not Tetsuko. Tetsuko is my own OC. The kunoichi is someone else. I hope that is clear now. Sorry to say, those who already voted in reviews, please go to my profile, now that I've gotten the actual poll up and running. You only have to vote again once. Just a couple of clicks. This should keep things organized now.
This chapter edited:
5-20-2013
Redd: Okay, all beta'd! Let me know if you spot any mistakes!
1-21-2017