I extinguished the chidori right before I punched Kakashi in the stomach. Passing was essential for the mission, killing the teacher probably wouldn’t be acceptable. My fist hit the hard outside of Kakashi’s abs, and the force threw him in the air.
A cloud of smoke surrounded Kakashi before he disappeared.
“Damn it!” I yelled. A shadow clone.
“… I’m different from them,” Sasuke’s voice said in the distance. He had to be talking to Kakashi.
I raced to the sound of the voices. I climbed up a tree and sat myself to watch the two. Sasuke was the only one who hadn’t gone for a frontal attack, and by the looks of it, he planned on doing that now.
The two silver bells on Kakashi’s side jingled lightly. “Why don’t you say that after you get a bell, Sasuke,” Kakashi said calmly staring at Sasuke across the clearing.
Sasuke reached behind his back and grabbed shuriken hurling them at Kakashi who immediately jumped out of their way. Sasuke was making this too easy, normal attacks would never work.
One of the shuriken flew past Kakashi slicing a rope. A trap?
The trap slung a bunch of weapons towards Kakashi. Kakashi jumped out of the way of every single kunai and shuriken gracefully and skidded backwards throwing up a little bit of dirt into the air. I thought I even heard Kakashi gasp when Sasuke appeared above him going in for a roundhouse kick. Kakashi blocked the kick and held onto Sasuke’s foot. Sasuke went to punch Kakashi with his foot still caught, but was yet again blocked. Nothing was going to work. Sasuke threw his other leg around at another attempt at kicking Kakashi, making the bells jingle. Sasuke smirked.
No fucking way, I thought, and I’m sure Kakashi was thinking the exact same thing as Sasuke’s fingers brushed the silver bells.
Kakashi flung himself back out of the way of Sasuke and they continued to stare at one another.
Hmph. It didn’t look like Kakashi would get much reading done with this one as his student. No, Sasuke was really proving to be a challenge. He expertly laid a trap and even got close enough to touch a bell, which was more to say than me.
I sighed. I really had to step up if I didn’t want to get shown-up by genin.
“I’ll admit you’re different than those two,” Kakashi said loudly to Sasuke. For a second I saw Kakashi’s eyes flicker to me, maybe to see the reaction on his statement.
He was different than us though.
Compared to Naruto he was a genius and incredibly skilled.
Compared to me, he was a wanna-be.
Sasuke smirked at Kakashi’s statement and began forming a number of hand signs. “Blazing fireball!” he shouted and raised to fingers to his mouth before blowing a fireball out directed at Kakashi.
I looked closer in amazement. He shouldn’t have that much chakra. That wasn’t a technique he should be able to do as a genin. When the flames disappeared it also revealed that Kakashi disappeared with them.
“He's gone!” Sasuke shouted looking frantically around, “Is he behind me? No, above? Where is he?”
“Beneath you.” Sasuke gasped as Kakashi’s gloved hand emerged from the ground and grabbed his leg.
“Whaa?” Sasuke screamed as Kakashi buried him in the ground leaving only his head up.
“Earth Style; Suicidal beheading!” Kakashi jumped out of the ground and looked at Sasuke. “This is the third ninja tactics know-how, Ninjutsu,” he smiled looking at Sasuke who was obviously irritated, “How is it? Can't move, right? Looks like your talents are exceptional. But... They say that stakes that point out get driven back into the ground,” he shrugged his shoulders and began walking away reading his book.
I smiled as Sasuke began cursing out loud. When Kakashi was fully out of sight, I jumped down from my tree and made my way casually to Sasuke.
I couldn’t help the mile-wide grin that was stretched across my face, “A severed head?”
“You saw what happened?” He spat.
“The whole thing.”
Sasuke cursed under his breath, “Hurry up and get me out of here. There’s still a little time left before noon.” I laid myself down on the ground beside him and stuck a piece of grass in my mouth before folding my arms behind my head and closing my eyes. “What the hell are you doing, Red?” Sasuke shouted angrily.
I turned my head to look at him. “I don’t like your tone.”
I swear a vein popped out of Sasuke’s forehead, “Fine!” he yelled before pushing himself out of the ground and began dusting himself off.
I sat myself up and looked at Sasuke, “Are you really going to go after the bells again?
“I was able to touch it a while ago. I can get it next time,” he said in a low but determined voice.
“I’d say you’re right, but I don’t think time is on your side,” I said heaving myself up too and wiping the dirt off of my black shorts and red shirt. Looks like I’d have to do laundry soon. I groaned.
“Only I can kill that man…”
I looked up at Sasuke. “Sensei?” I asked. It’s official, this one was crazy too.
“I was crying at the time…,” Sasuke said in a voice barely above a whisper. He turned his back to me and I saw a shake go down it. Sasuke didn’t seem like the type to cry, but at this moment I thought he might. The strong bravado was fading and he seemed like a little boy. “My…”
I put a hand delicately on his shoulder, “Sasuke, what are you talking about?”
He threw my hand off of him and turned to look at me, all previous signs of opening up, gone. “I'm an avenger,” his eye held a new ferocity in them and it sounded more like he was trying harder to convinve himself than me, “I must become stronger than him. I don't have time to stumble here.”
And destroy a certain someone…
The words echoed in my head. “Sasuke, just who are you talking about?”
BRIIIINNNNGGGGGG
The alarm… It was noon and none of us had a bell. Shit.
“Damn it!” Sasuke shouted, “I wasted my time talking.”
~
The three of our bellies growled as we stared at the two lunch packs that sat only a few feet away. We were seated in the main clearing, well Sasuke and I were. Naruto on the other hand was tied to the center log. I didn’t dare ask why. The answer would probably just drop my IQ.
“Oooh! Your stomachs are growling, eh?” Kakashi gave us a closed eye smile as he watched us squirm.
“I know mine wouldn’t be growling if someone didn’t chunk my apple,” I glared at Naruto who smiled nervously from the post.
“By the way, about the results of this training... None of you need to return to the Ninja Academy.”
Naruto gasped and began cheering by lifting his legs off the ground, seeing that he couldn’t move his arms or anything else. I even did a jump for joy and although I knew Sasuke was as giddy as a schoolgirl on the inside, he just smirked.
“Does that mean that the three of us-?” Naruto asked excitedly.
“Yeah,” Kakashi said calmly, “The three of you should quit being ninja.”