THE BELL TEST, PART I
The instruction was simple: Kakashi had two bells. They had to obtain the bells, by any means necessary. They had until noon to get them. No bells meant no lunch, watching Kakashi eat your lunch and, most importantly of all, not becoming a ninja, being sent back to the Academy.
For all three of them, that last part was simply unacceptable.
The previous day, after Kakashi had given them their instructions and an informational pamphlet and then disappeared in a puff of smoke and leaves, the three prospective genin had decided to meet up at Hamaru's mansion on Sakura's suggestion. Both boys had wanted to immediately jump into training headfirst to prepare for the test the next day, but the pinkette's earlier description of Kakashi's status as a Konoha legend (as well as the sheer speed he'd displayed in dismantling their little trap in the classroom), meant both boys conceded they could use all the advantages they could get.
Sure, it hurt their pride a bit to admit that, but the possibility of not becoming ninja would hurt far, far worse.
On the way there, Naruto guided Sakura through the throngs of people with familiarity as the girl was completely absorbed in reading the informational pamphlet that Kakashi had provided them with, digging through it in the hopes of finding even the tiniest advantage or loophole. It wasn't the first time they'd walked through Konoha's streets like this, as Sakura had developed a habit of devouring shinobi theory texts that Hamaru and Guren (and later Iruka as well) began providing her with to challenge her and Naruto was far too gallant (and enamoured) to allow the girl to walk forehead-first into a wall.
Sasuke of course looked like he didn't care one way or the other, but his signature scowl was enough to make people hurriedly step out of the pinkette's way as they approached. Naruto kept joking that the Uchiha was trying to level up his glaring skill so that eventually even buildings would jump out of the way as well.
Sasuke had not refuted this.
In short order, they found themselves on Hamaru's doorstep, though the house was unusually quiet. Considering Hamaru and Guren had three children and had practically adopted Naruto as well and all of them had a habit of inviting their friends and rivals over throughout the day, there was almost always some measure of chaos going on in the unusual household.
Today, however, it was only the enormous Inuzuka himself that was home, his beast-like features splitting into a large, fanged grin when he answered the door and saw the three of them standing on his doorstep.
Even so, both Sasuke and Naruto noticed the bags underneath the man's eyes and how he had to straighten from a slump when he addressed them, though beyond exchanging a knowing look, neither commented on it.
"Well, well, what have we here? Come to celebrate you becoming genin then?" the tall man rumbled as he stepped aside.
As the three of them moved past him (Naruto still having a firm grasp of Sakura's elbow as she mumbled out a soft and distracted 'hello' without even glancing up) the Uzumaki shook his head with a groan.
"We wish! Our sensei says we still have a test to do! Can you believe it?! We graduated the Academy, headband and everything and now I still have to do another test?! I suck at tests!"
"It is… frustrating." Sasuke agreed, though that was clearly all he was willing to say on the matter.
Closing the door behind them, Hamaru merely chuckled as he led them to the enormous table in the kitchen, the massive slab of artificial wood large enough to seat all of the ex-Inuzuka household as well as all of their assorted friends at once.
"It's not that uncommon. Taking on students is a big responsibility: this is not just a test to see if you have what it takes to work as a genin team, but also to see if you are a good fit for your teacher. If student and teacher do not have a good understanding of one another, then both can be the greatest geniuses since the Fourth Hokage, they won't be able to learn a single thing from each other." The beastly Inuzuka said wisely as he took a seat at the table, the children swiftly following suit.
There was a sense of exhausted familiarity in the man's tone, indicating that this was something he had been repeating for a long time recently, and even just saying it seemed to leave a bad taste in Hamaru's mouth, as he shook his head, his wild mane of hair swaying at the motion.
Again the boys shared a glance, but they decided to push on with the matter at hand. They had both learned by now that the large Inuzuka wasn't one to easily share his burdens with others, though he had a habit of taking on those of others himself. It's why they came to see him, after all.
"Our sensei would be Hatake Kakashi. Sakura says that he is one of Konoha's elite. He's definitely strong. He says that we'll have to do a survival test and that he'll be our opponent." Sasuke quickly relayed, not with fear or even scepticism, but with a healthy dose of caution.
His past year had been filled with frequent clashes against strong rivals, which had taught him to not underestimate his opponents (or rather, overestimate himself). In the Academy he had of course sparred against all his classmates, but outside of those that also frequented the ex-Inuzuka household, they were hardly a challenge at this point.
The only people his age that could really push him (in combat, at least, as he had yet to win a single Shogi match against Shikamaru and the Nara outright refused to fight him directly with an infuriatingly lazy yawn) were a noticeably more self-assured Naruto and through him, the other Hamaru children. Choji and Kiba were definitely a cut above the rest of their Academy class (especially now that Kiba had been training with the ninja claws his uncle had gifted him), but they simply couldn't compare to the much stronger and more experienced ex-Oto nin.
Fighting against Juugo was definitely something that got the blood pumping, considering how wild and unpredictable the normally quiet shape-shifting boy fought. Fighting against Kimimaro was disheartening and extremely motivating in equal measure, considering the genius' sheer strength reminded Sasuke uncomfortably of his brother. Since Kimimaro had a fierce rivalry going on with the equally stoic (and talented) Hyuuga Neji, as well as the fact that Hamaru's friendship with Gai meant that said Hyuuga was regularly taken to visit the ex-Inuzuka household with his team, Sasuke had even managed a spar or two against the other dōjutsu user.
In his personal, professional opinion, Kimimaro was the tougher opponent, but Hyuuga Neji had definitely shown him why his clan's eyes were as famous as Sasuke's own during the few bouts they'd had. Tenten's accuracy was definitely noteworthy (again uncomfortably reminding the last Uchiha of his hated brother) and Lee was just as much of a monster as his teacher and obvious role model.
Naruto kept insisting that they were related because Gai-sensei's eyebrows had clearly cloned themselves at some point and grown a new mini version of the boisterous man and Sasuke only mostly disagreed.
He had never fought Yukimaru and would've thought the timid boy the weakest of them all, if it weren't for the respect with which his brothers and parents (and especially Naruto) treated him. There was definitely something more to the boy, though Sasuke didn't pry.
The one time he had sparred against Hamaru himself was… well, it hurt him to say it, but it could only be called laughable. Sasuke could definitely see how this man had been strong enough to kill one of the Legendary Sannin and then force the Village to accept his return.
The spar hadn't lasted long and only even lasted at all because Hamaru had humoured him for a while, but it had been enough to lift a tip of the veil on what it truly meant to be considered a jonin, one of the Village's elite and it had left Sasuke in quiet awe and with a blazing determination. Having heard from Sakura that this Hatake Kakashi likely stood on the same level as Hamaru and having seen some of it firsthand when he turned their own trap in the classroom against them with a blistering speed he barely been able to track made Sasuke concede that any survival mission with a man such as that as their opponent required due caution.
Failure was unacceptable and victory (as the past year at Hamaru's household had drilled into him) was dependent on preparation. They needed every scrap of intel and possible advantage they could scrounge together before Sasuke was willing to face a stronger opponent of the level of Hatake Kakashi.
Having both Sakura and Naruto as teammates only worked to his benefit in that regard, he'd realized early on. Naruto's penchant for pranks had been fostered by Hamaru and his wife (and even Yukimaru, with whom Naruto was unusually close) into an affinity for traps and misdirection, which could come in useful if they could find a way to stack the deck in their favour beforehand. Meanwhile, Sakura was undeniably one of the most intelligent people that Sasuke knew. Considering that both Gai's students and Hamaru's own children had already become genin teams last year, and that Ino-Shika-Cho was pretty much already a given, that usually left Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto grouped together whenever Hamaru decided to throw some team-oriented training at them (usually disguised as children's games).
Out of their class, it was really only Kiba that also frequented his uncle's strange household, but much less often than the practically adopted Naruto, isolated Sasuke and determined (or lovesick) Sakura did. Despite having the closest connection to the enormous beast-like man out of all of them (save his own kids of course), it was the other Inuzuka that came by the house the least, though that was through no fault of his own.
While on the Hokage's orders the Village (and thus the clans) may have officially recognized and accepted Hamaru's return, the same clearly couldn't be said of the man's own sister. Tsume refused to see her little brother or even allow him anywhere near the clan compound and so far in the past two years, the large man had respected her wishes. Tsume had laid down similar rules for her son to follow. While she wasn't so strict as to forbid him to visit his uncle whenever he wanted to join his friends, it was made clear in no uncertain terms that he was never to approach the man on his own.
While it had clearly saddened both Hamaru and Kiba (who greatly idolized how strong his uncle was), the large Inuzuka had chosen to accept his sister's boundaries and in a rare display of authority had expressly ordered anyone in his household not to meddle in Tsume's decision. Instead, he had tried to spoil his nephew as much as possible, even gifting him a set of steel ninja claws, which he claimed he used himself when he had been Kiba's age, in order to supplement the signature Inuzuka wild brawling style of combat.
With the other children already grouped together and with Kiba not as present as the three of them, Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto had unknowingly gravitated towards each other as well, and both boys had quickly learned to rely on the pinkette's brain for intel-gathering, prep work and initial planning. It wasn't a role she had originally dared envision for herself, but her lasting friendship with Ino and now Tenten, as well as her informal tutelage under Guren, had pushed her to focus on her own strengths, rather than merely swoon over Sasuke's affection. It was a… mixed success, in that she did try and develop her own skillset, but mostly because Guren had pointed out that an 'Avenger' like Sasuke wouldn't show any interest in a kunoichi he thought was weak. Still, in trying to figure out what exactly her strengths were, it did plant the seed of trying to envision what kind of kunoichi (and in broader terms, what kind of woman) she wanted to grow into in the far future. She didn't have the stamina or chakra capacity to be a frontline brawler like the boys, but she did have excellent chakra control as well as a brain that excelled at gathering and memorizing information, which would be useful if she ever managed to branch out in Genjutsu or Medical ninjutsu.
When Guren had stressed this during one of their training sessions, it had made Sakura pretty much glow with barely suppressed pride… for all of ten seconds, before her bubble was popped by Ino nonchalantly looking her up and down with her hands on her hips.
"Ohh, well, that explains the giant forehead then. It's for data storage."
"I'll storage you!"
While Sakura may not have the cunning mind of Shikamaru (and often lost against him when they played Shogi, though the lazy Nara boy did claim she was one of the few girls he didn't mind hanging around with while they were playing), she did have access to the keen instincts of Sasuke and the devious craftiness of Naruto to bounce her stores of knowledge off of in order to turn them into coherent battle plans.
Sasuke was talented enough and Naruto unpredictable enough to improvise in the field when said plans inevitably had to adapt after first contact with the enemy, but they had both found that they performed better when said adaptations were done off the groundwork done by Sakura, instead of fighting by the seat of their pants.
Especially Naruto had to be confronted (often) with this truth. To Sasuke it had been another point towards acknowledging the importance of preparing a solid foundation, and so he hadn't disagreed with the pinkette when she had suggested interrogating the enormous Inuzuka for all the information they could on their prospective sensei and his ominous challenge.
"Hatake Kakashi, eh? Can't say I'm surprised. He is a capable shinobi and a ninjutsu expert, which I think compliments your own interests and talents well." Hamaru grumbled at Sasuke's words, who was clearly reminded of something when the Inuzuka mentioned complimenting each other's skills.
"According to Sakura, he is called the Copy Ninja, Kakashi of the Sharingan. It is said he has copied over a thousand jutsu." The last Uchiha said intently, subconsciously raising a hand to his own temple.
"Sharingan? Aren't those the creepy red eyes your family was known for? Hey, maybe this Kakashi is also family! Maybe you could convince him to pass us already, huh?" Naruto said with enthusiasm (and little tact), though Sasuke looked sceptical.
Realizing the can of worms that was the last Uchiha's family history, Hamaru quickly interrupted the blonde.
"No Naruto. While Kakashi does indeed wield the powers of the Sharingan, he is not related to Sasuke. His clan is small, but prestigious: his father was known as Konoha's White Fang, a legendary shinobi of the Village, until he fell out of grace. Both the tale of Kakashi's eye and father are filled with great tragedy and it's not my place to tell them. If you want the full story, then earn the man's respect and get it straight form him." Hamaru said in an unusually stern tone and both boys quieted down at that, though Sasuke still had a fierce look on his face.
"Hmm. He's definitely strong though. Much stronger than us. Hamaru-san, do all teams go through a survival test? The pamphlet merely mentions that prospective shinobi are tested for their suitability to learn under a jonin-sensei, but it also seems to imply that the jonin in question is allowed complete freedom in what the test will entail." Sakura spoke up, tapping a passage on the pamphlet and showing that she had been listening in on the conversation.
"Indeed. As it says there, it is a prerequisite in order to get the privilege of jonin-instruction. Exceptions are possible, but rare. The most recent one you already know: Rock Lee was abysmal at… well, at pretty much everything in the Academy, but is a natural genius when it comes to taijutsu, with an unparalleled work ethic to match. Gai had to cash in a lot of favours, but his reputation ensured that Lee was pretty much guaranteed a place on his team. When the taijutsu expert says he sees a prodigy in his field of specialisation, you step back and let him cook." Hamaru said with some amusement in his voice.
"Wait, so Bushy Brows never had to do this stupid test?! That's so unfair!" Naruto exploded.
"You've seen their training regimen. Hell, you've seen me after my workouts with Gai. Do you want to swap places with Lee?" Hamaru asked pointedly, raising a questioning eyebrow at the blonde, who quickly sat down again while rubbing his head in embarrassment.
"Well, I guess things aren't so bad, hehehe…"
"Hamaru-san, do you perhaps know of any previous teams that took Kakashi's test? We could ask them what to expect." Sakura asked hopefully, and both boys leaned forwards as well.
"Sorry kiddos. Kakashi is known to have failed every single team that the Hokage assigned to him. I wouldn't know their names, though maybe you could ask the Hokage or someone in his administration for a list of records. I know for a fact that there is one, though I doubt fresh-faced Academy graduates have the proper clearance needed to access those records. Though you could ask Iruka to look into it for you, even if it probably won't do you much good. Again, all of them failed, which means they either got rolled up in the general forces, were sent back to the Academy for another year, or just dropped out from being a shinobi altogether."
At that, the three children exchanged worried looks. Not only was their sensei one of the strongest in the village, already diminishing their chances of success against him, but now it turned out he was one of the strictest too?
Seeing these thoughts go through his teammate's minds, it was Naruto who tried to push away their worries.
"Look, all of those teams failed his stupid test, 'cause they didn't have what we have!" the blonde said with fire in his voice.
Sasuke raised his eyebrows in surprise, but it was Sakura who asked what he meant by that.
"What? What do we have?"
"Us!"
"Us?"
"Yeah, us! None of those other stupid teams had Sakura's smarts! They probably didn't even know who this Kakashi guy even was! And none of those other teams had someone as strong as Sasuke, or as awesome as me! We'll be the first team to pass Kakashi's test and make him acknowledge us! We'll make him our sensei, believe it!" Naruto said, really fired up now, having jumped to his feet and despite their own doubts, confidence began to return to Sakura and Sasuke as well.
"Alright, alright, settle down Naruto. Still, you've got a point. Forewarned is forearmed; you did good trying to dig up all you can about your opponent." Hamaru praised with a smile, though it fell somewhat as Naruto tilted his head and squinted up at him.
"What's having four arms got to do anything?"
"No, Naruto, fore-… nevermind." The enormous Inuzuka said with a sigh.
"Well, if we can't ask his previous students, we can ask others how their examination went. Maybe we can pick up some general tips from them." Sasuke suggested.
"Oh, that's a great idea! Say, Hamaru-san, where are your children? They graduated just last year, right?" Sakura asked politely, like the boys having noticed the unusual quiet in the ex-Inuzuka household.
"Well, the boys are off with their sensei, Ebisu, on a mission. Not that they'd be able to help you much, their examination wasn't a survival test or anything like that. Ebisu was assigned to them for two reasons: the first being that he is an expert teacher, especially when it comes to the basics and the foundations of ninjutsu as a whole. My kids are strong, damned strong, but also… well, specialised. Training with Ebisu will round out their skills nicely and give them an impressive toolbox to rely on without needing to fall back on their unique abilities." The large man said with a pleased smile.
"And the second reason?" Sasuke pressed and Hamaru's expression dimmed somewhat.
"The second is that his utter loyalty to the Village is unquestioned." He stated simply, leaving Naruto scratching his head.
"Well, why should that matter? We're all loyal to Konoha, right? This is our home."
"Thank you Naruto. But not everyone sees it that way. To many, they are still the sons of a traitor, after all."
"But they didn't do anything wrong!" Sakura said somewhat dismayed.
"You're not a traitor!" Naruto yelled, affronted, but Hamaru shook his head with a smile.
"Naruto, I-" he began gently, but was surprisingly interrupted by the heated voice of Sasuke.
"You're not." He almost hissed, taking the large Inuzuka aback somewhat.
"Take it from me." The Uchiha finished in a subdued tone and Hamaru's eyes softened as he nodded.
"Thank you. All of you. Still, the truth remains. All things considered, I'm not too mad about it. Like I said, Ebisu really is an excellent teacher and a good fit for my boys. Besides, he used to be Gai's teammate when they were still genin under Choji's dad, so I trust him. But since they all knew they were going to be paired up, there was not much use in a test like the one Kakashi has planned for you. Mostly just catching each other up on their specialisations and weaknesses, that sort of thing."
"Hmm, that could still be useful to know. We could show Kakashi that our strengths are compatible with his own. Between your chakra reserves, Naruto, and your talent with ninjutsu, Sasuke and my own control, we really would be a good fit for his teachings. He is reputed to have copied over a thousand techniques, after all." Sakura mused and Naruto's eyes turned into stars.
"A thousand jutsu! Can you imagine! Throwing around a thousand different awesome techniques! Oh, man, I can't wait to make Kakashi my sensei and have him teach me all of 'em! Right, Sasuke?"
While far (far) less exuberant than the blonde, the smile on the Uchiha's face showed that he was equally looking forward to it, making Hamaru chuckle.
"Well, he's not your sensei just yet, Naruto. And you have a long way to go before you can make a man like Hatake Kakashi do anything he doesn't want to. Hell, not even the Hokage can make him be on time."
"We've noticed." Sakura groused, but the large Inuzuka just shot her an amused look.
"Better get used to it kiddo if you want him as a sensei. Like I said, almost nobody can force him to do anything, especially not academy students. You know he's friends with Gai-senpai, right? Well, Gai made his students fight him. While he was standing on his hands. Fight him, mind you: they didn't have to beat him, just last a full hour in combat. He trashed them in fifteen minutes. And considering Kakashi is his closest friend…" Hamaru mused with a grin and the three children blanched at that.
"W-well, if Tenten-san and the rest of her team have fought Kakashi's best friend, maybe they can help us plan for his fighting style? They've studied under a jonin for year now after all…"
"Not a bad plan, but like my boys, they're outta town."
"Hell, is everyone away or something? It's quiet here!" Naruto complained, but the large Inuzuka could only shrug.
"Considering most free jonin are currently trying out their prospective genin, their workload falls to the rest of us. Meaning both Ebisu and Gai are out with their teams and even Guren has been put on missions. ANBU, so can't tell you anything 'bout them, she's not even supposed to tell me 'bout them. As for your friends from the Academy, they're likely going through their own tests right now as well, or at least the prep work like you're doing. Only reason I'm still here is I'm not allowed out of the Village. Hokage's orders." Hamaru said with a careless shrug.
"Eh, guess that makes sense…" Naruto muttered.
"That leaves our intel gathering options limited. Anything further we can do to prepare?" Sasuke asked, turning towards the pinkette at his side, who had begun scrutinizing the pamphlet again.
"Well, it says here we're supposed to meet at the Third Training Ground, close to the Village's cemetery. Supposedly it's where Lord Third trained his own students. Amazing that Kakashi-sensei has such access to it!" Sakura said, being somewhat of a history buff.
"Makes sense. One of Hiruzen's students was Jiraiya after all, who taught the Fourth Hokage. The Fourth Hokage in turn was Kakashi's own sensei." Hamaru rumbled.
"No way! Kakashi is a student of the Fourth? That's awesome! I'm definitely gonna make him my sensei now!"
"Does it say when we're supposed to be at this, apparently, legendary training ground?" Sasuke interrupted with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, he did say to skip breakfast. Says here we're supposed to be there at 7 in the morning, on the dot. I don't think it's wise to keep a jonin waiting, so it's probably smart to make sure we get there a bit earlier than that." Sakura said, though Naruto let out a pained whine at that.
"Awh man! Even earlier than that?!" he tried, but the pinkette was having none of it.
"If we need to survive in the Third Training Ground, then getting a good lay of the land is really important Naruto! Ninja rule #37: 'options are dependent on landscape. More options increase chances of success. Therefore, landscape determines success.' We need to know what we'll be working with." Sakura recited from memory and Naruto hung his head in defeat.
"The earlier we get there, the more we can take advantage of the landscape. You'll need time to set your traps, Naruto, especially in an environment you're unfamiliar with. I suggest getting there a half hour early, comb the place and then have Naruto go wild. It'll also allow us to create fallback and defensive positions if needed during our survival test." Sasuke decided in a firm tone and Naruto seemed torn between crying about the ungodly hour or rub his hands in glee at the thought of going all-out in a prank war against their sensei to be.
Something about their discussion apparently was incredibly comical to the large Inuzuka, as he was clearly struggling to hold back a smile.
"Oi, oi, what's so damned funny?! You know something we don't?!" Naruto immediately shouted, though Hamaru merely shrugged.
"Of course, plenty in fact. But I think I'll let you figure this one out for yourselves. Now then, let's get some training in, see how you'll fare against an elite opponent."
"We're gonna kick your ass, believe it!"
"Not yet, I don't Naruto. Not just yet."
Today, the three would-be genin had figured out what was so funny to the enormous Inuzuka. Apparently, yesterday had not been a fluke with their sensei, who was, once again, appallingly late. Thankfully, as Sakura had pointed out to Kakashi, while they had skipped breakfast as per his instructions, neither he nor the pamphlet said anything about them not being allowed to bring their own rations to the test.
In fact, the ninja regulations even encouraged shinobi to make sure to be well-stocked during survival scenarios.
As they hadn't been punished (yet) the three Academy graduates figured they had done the smart thing and instead focused on Kakashi's concise instructions. Get the bells before noon. No bells, no lunch and no shinobi career.
"That's bullshit! You're one bell short sensei!" Naruto had immediately (and loudly) refuted.
"The loudmouth is correct. Everyone else we know operates in cells of three genin under one jonin-sensei. Besides, Iruka-sensei himself said yesterday we will be placed in three-man teams." Sasuke said confidently, but Kakashi merely smiled back underneath his mask.
"Clever. But, if you're that clever, then you're obviously also clever enough to realize that it's the jonin who reserve the right to compose their own teams, which may have any number of subordinates, and not Iruka." The legendary ninja said casually and both boys glanced nervously towards Sakura, who was worrying her lip.
"He's right, I think. Although in that case, they're more team captains rather than true sensei and most recently graduated genin squads operate in groups of three until they either reach chuunin or get reassigned. Then again, Hatake Kakashi is a legend… if he wanted a team of just two, I'm pretty sure he could get it approved. Remember, Orochimaru originally would've only taken on Anko as his sole apprentice if it weren't for Hamaru-san impressing him." Sakura said in a worried tone.
"Damn. I cannot go back to the Academy." Sasuke said darkly, though he was immediately answered by Naruto.
"Hey, same goes for us too, you know! We can't back down either: I also have a dream, just like you! And you know how hard Sakura's worked for this! None of us can fail now!"
"Yet all of you will, if you do not come at me with everything you have." A cold voice said suddenly from behind them.
'I didn't even see him move!' Sasuke thought to himself as he jumped away, trying to put as much distance between himself and their sensei, who was still standing with his hands in his pockets.
Sakura and Naruto had jumped away as well, though they were slower to react than the Uchiha and Sakura noticeably wasn't able to land as far as the boys had propelled themselves.
"Oh? Taking me a bit more seriously, I see. Maybe I'm beginning to like you guys after all. Still, that won't save you, not by a long shot." Kakashi said, a smile clear on his face, despite three-quarters of it being covered.
"Dammit, he's right! No bells means nobody gets their dream. We need to beat his ass first, we can figure the rest out later!" Naruto shouted to the other two and Sakura and Sasuke only had to exchange a glance to realize the truth in the blonde's words.
Alone, they stood no chance, they knew that already. Only once their immediate objective had been completed could they worry about what the future would bring.
"Kick my ass, huh? You know, in the shinobi world, it's usually the ones with the least talent that bark the loudest. Out of the three of you, Naruto, your written scores were definitely the worst, by quite a margin. Maybe you should just hang back and let the ones with an actual chance at being ninja have a shot…?" Kakashi said leadingly, and as expected, Naruto immediately got enraged at the taunt.
Sure, he might not be the absolute dead last anymore thanks to the positive reinforcement he received from Hamaru and his family (and especially Yukimaru who showed that he had the patience of a saint as he sat with the struggling blonde every single night to guide him through his homework), but the fact remained that Naruto hated school just as much as his teachers seemingly despised him.
"Say that again asshole, I dare you-!"
While the reaction was expected, Kakashi was surprised when the girl pulled Naruto back, her voice more imploring rather than scolding.
"Naruto, focus! He's trying to get in your head!"
"Well, it's working!" Naruto fumed and Kakashi tried to needle him a bit further, letting out a nonchalant shrug.
"Ah, probably because it's empty enough so there's plenty of room left for me…"
"Oh, that is IT!"
"Naruto, this is just like any other insult you've ever gotten. People have said worse based on less. You're better than it. Get over yourself." Sasuke surprisingly spoke up, his tone firm and blunt, but without any real heat in his words, his eyes fixed unwaveringly on Kakashi.
Surprisingly, that did seem to do the trick for the raging blonde, who slowly unclenched his fists with a deep sigh. When he glanced up at the still relaxed Kakashi, his face was set in a scowl and his eyes were blazing with fierce determination.
"You know what? You're right Sasuke. I'm not gonna let him mess with my head. I'm done being insulted! I'm gonna make you respect my shinobi skills and hard work, Kakashi!" Naruto declared as he fell into a loose combat stance.
'Oh? What's this? Self-control from Konoha's Number One Hyperactive ninja? I'm surprised the words of the others actually got through enough for him to calm down somewhat, I really thought that'd get him. Hamaru… just what have you been teaching all those kids…' Kakashi thought idly to himself as the three children across from him prepared themselves.
"Alright then. Naruto, on me, follow my lead. Sakura, hang back, look for an opening. Now!" Sasuke commanded, fishing a kunai out of his equipment pouch, seeing Naruto do the same from the corner of his eye.
"He, as if! You better follow my lead! Let's go!" Naruto called out and without waiting, charged towards the bemused looking Kakashi as Sasuke couldn't help but roll his eyes.
"You know, I didn't even actually say 'begin' just yet…" the jonin trailed off laconically, though it didn't seem either of the boys were really concerned with that in the least, pumping their legs for all they were worth, kunai held in tightened grips.
For his part, Kakashi seemed entirely unworried by the two knife-wielding children running full-tilt towards him.
'A head-on charge? I had honestly expected something a bit… more.' He thought to himself somewhat disappointed, leveling a cool gaze towards the prospective genin.
Even when Naruto threw his kunai suddenly at Kakashi's head, the man barely even moved from his spot.
'Wild, sloppy movements, though at least it's on target.' The jonin thought dispassionately to himself.
He almost lazily tilted his head to the side, allowing the kunai to go wide… when he noticed the victorious smirk suddenly flash over Naruto's face. The boy swiftly went through several hand seals at a speed that showcased his familiarity with them, though of course still slow enough for Kakashi to follow them easily.
Ram Boar Ox Dog Snake
'Wait, that's-'
"Replacement Technique!"
In a poof of smoke, the kunai that had just sailed past Kakashi's ear turned into Naruto, already mid-spin, his entire torso twisted with torsion as he attempted to plant his leg straight through the jonin's head. Taken off guard, Kakashi's body moved completely on autopilot, hand shooting up and catching the leg, then dragging it downwards and slamming Naruto into the ground with a painful 'thud!', the blonde gasping in shock and pain.
'That was-! That almost looked like… sensei…' Kakashi couldn't help but think, his mind flashing back towards the countless times during his youth when he had seen a similar shade of blonde suddenly flash into the corner of his vision.
It was a large shock to his system, one which he had tried to steel himself against, but was ultimately not prepared for. Still, he was one of the Hidden Leaf's strongest ninja and without further hesitation, he shot forwards, catching the kunai that was still in mid-air on the same course Naruto had just been after their sudden replacement.
Snatching it easily out of the air, he clashed it against Sasuke's own charge, sparks flying as steel slammed into steel.
'Decent strength and speed, especially if you take his young age into account.' Kakashi thought to himself, his years of experience allowing him to dismiss the thoughts of his sensei and focus back on the here and now.
Undeterred by the man's sudden appearance, Sasuke immediately went on the offensive, kunai lashing out in swift slashes as he tried to force the jonin on the backfoot. While certainly none too shabby, the difference in their abilities and skill was simply far too great and Kakashi managed to settle himself further as he easily parried each and every one of the Uchiha's strikes.
"Keep going Sasuke! Keep going for as long as you can!" Sakura cheered on from the sidelines and Kakashi inwardly rolled his eye.
'Fangirls. Every generation has some.' But when he glanced in the girl's direction, he was surprised to find she wasn't standing on the sidelines, cheering on her crush. Instead, she had turned and was now in a dead sprint towards the tree line.
'Oh? So it wasn't a cheer after all, but an instruction? Interesting. Question then is: are you fleeing, or do you actually have something planned?' Kakashi wondered, even as he swept his kunai to the side, throwing one of Sasuke's stabs wide, while using the same motion to twist his torso, allowing a recovered Naruto's flying leap to sail harmlessly by, outstretched hands just barely missing the back of Kakashi's combat vest as he tried to capitalize on the opening seemingly created by Sasuke trying to pressure the silver haired jonin.
It hadn't escaped Kakashi's notice that the three had already seemed rather more familiar with each other than he had at first anticipated. Could it be that they already had the beginnings of proper teamwork? Intrigued despite himself, he kicked Sasuke away, dodged the kunai that the boy immediately threw in retaliation even as he ragdolled across the ground, before grabbing Naruto's outstretched arm and once again slammed him into the ground with a simple hip toss.
And then he was off.
"Dammit, he's going for Sakura!" Naruto yelled, or tried to rather, considering the little air still left in his struggling lungs.
It mostly came out as peeps and wheezes, like one of his ninken's rubbery chew toys.
"Stall him, don't let him catch her!" Sasuke immediately responded, to his credit having already (mostly) shrugged off Kakashi's kick, his hand shooting into his equipment pouch.
Instead of retrieving a kunai however, this time he pulled out a brace of five shuriken, sending them flying at Kakashi's back with precision and speed. The Hatake had noticed of course, though he wasn't too worried.
'Hmm. I could just Body Flicker out of their way… catch up to Sakura in a single move… No, this isn't live combat, this is an examination. Let's take it a little slower. See how the Uchiha kid reacts to this.'
Kakashi's thoughts were like lightning and without even faltering in his step, he turned around mid-pursuit and in that same single motion, dipped his hand into his own equipment pouch, tossing two shuriken of his own.
Sasuke, looking on as intently as he was, could only gape as the two shuriken perfectly hit his own outer two ones in such an impossibly accurate (and hauntingly familiar) way that they redirected their flight pats to crash into the ones next to them.
'Still, that leaves the centre one-!' Sasuke thought, determined, yet it proved all for naught.
Still smoothly running backwards, Kakashi's hand shot out in a blur, and before Sasuke's disbelieving eyes, he treaded his finger exactly through the middle of the spinning shuriken, letting it madly rotate on the tip of his index finger. Without breaking stride and still running in reverse, Kakashi sent the shocked Uchiha an amused look.
"Oh dear, I think you dropped this." He smiled, before drawing back his arm slightly.
"Here, you can have it back." He said, shooting his arm forwards, the shuriken almost disappearing in a metallic black blur.
"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, but his teammate had already moved, every single instinct in the child's body screaming at him to dodge.
He threw himself to the ground and felt a brush of air pass just along his cheek, taking a few errant hairs with it. Both boys on hands and knees, they could only look on as their would-be teacher gave them a cheeky wave, before with an effortless motion, managed to jump several feet up to alight weightlessly on a nearby tree branch, swiftly disappearing further into the woods…
… all the while still running backwards.
Sakura's legs were pumping away underneath her, trees flitting past her as she charged through the underbrush. She jumped over thick bushes and ducked underneath low-hanging branches as the shouts of the boys drifted faintly from the clearing at her back.
Knowing that the small lake was to her left, she made to turn in that direction, skidding through a grassy patch of dirt as she tried to round a large tree-
"Yo."
-only to fall back onto her butt with a shriek as she almost ran forehead-first into Kakashi's flack-jacket.
"Abandoning your teammates? That's an… interesting strategy. Especially as it means getting no bell. You do realize the consequences of that, right?" Kakashi asked, and while his stance was just as relaxed as ever, there was a chilling tone of stern disapproval in his voice.
Scrambling back to her feet, Sakura's eyes darted around the small clearing as she held a kunai in a tight grip, fear clear on her face.
"I'm n-not… it's just that…"
"Well? What do you have to say for yourself?" Kakashi pressed as he pushed off the tree and began advance on the trembling girl, towering tall over her as his hands slowly came up to form handseals.
"I'm just… just…" Sakura tried, though the words couldn't worm themselves past her panicked throat.
"Just… what?" Kakashi almost growled out in an icy tone, his hands already settling in the Snake seal for the Demonic Illusion: Hell Viewing Technique, a genjutsu that would show the prospective genin her worst fear, regardless if she even knew what that fear was.
Despite its imposing name and gruesome effect, the jutsu was merely rated as a D-Rank due a combination of factors, such as its low chakra requirement, the few handseals required (merely two) and its very short range, but mostly because the illusion tended to be so over the top as to be painfully obvious and as such easy to recognize and break.
If you had been taught how to spot and break Genjutsu. For a fresh-faced Academy graduate however, it was likely to halt her in her tracks completely.
"You're just what, Sakura?" Kakashi pressed, deliberately slow in his movements as his hands moved into the Rat seal, almost finishing the jutsu.
"I'm just…" the girl said in a small voice, taking another step back as she hung her head, allowing her striking pink hair to fall in front of her eyes and Kakashi took another step closer to her.
He knew something was wrong when Sakura's face suddenly shot up, all her previous fear and doubt gone as her face settled into a victorious grin.
"… the distraction!" she yelled out, letting her kunai fly to the side where it cut through a wire that was hidden underneath the lowest hanging branches of a shrub that grew on the very edge of the clearing.
'A trap? When did she-' Kakashi thought to himself, surprised despite himself and cursing his own sloppiness.
He should've spotted it from a mile away, but he simply hadn't felt a need to be on the lookout for any ambushes from Academy children of all people. Sure, Naruto had a reputation as a prankster, but up until quite recently, said pranks had been rather childish and sloppily executed, designed more to gather attention and usually only successful because the Konoha population rather turned their heads away than engage with the boy directly, even if it was to scold him. Besides, the overactive blonde and pinkette had clearly been impatient back in the clearing, with the way they yelled at him for his extreme tardiness. To think they had had the forethought to place wire traps in the forest and then lead him to it…
'Apparently, they used their free time for more than just ignoring my order not to eat. Knowing Naruto, I'll have to be on my toes in this entire forest.' Kakashi thought to himself as he jumped several feet straight up, letting a brace of throwing knives and shuriken sail by underneath him to slam harmlessly into the trunk of a nearby tree.
Keeping an eye on the pink haired girl, who looked shocked he had managed to evade her (all things considered well-put together, if basic) trap with ease, Kakashi let go of the Rat seal as he landed on the branch above her head.
'Fighting here isn't advantageous for me. It also probably won't be long before the boys start charging in here. I can probably turn a few of the traps back around on them, but clearly they've told each other where they've hidden them, so they'll have a better lay of the land than I. Hmm, I'll forego Genjutsu for now then and just go for the knock-out immediately.' Kakashi thought to himself, taking a kunai from his vest as in a single smooth movement he allowed his momentum to carry him further, letting him tilt over the branch.
With chakra gluing his feet to the bark, instead of falling past it, he instead swung underneath it and Sakura squeaked when she realized her sensei was now hanging upside down and was right above her. Kakashi drew in his legs, prepared to push off-
'poof!' "Ha! Got you!"
-as a thin branch right beside him suddenly exploded in an orange wearing, particularly loud blond who managed to wrap both his hands around Kakashi's ankle.
'What the-?! Transformation? On a clone? But this clone is definitely solid… Iruka and Mizuki's records do state that Naruto suddenly improved his Clone jutsu pretty much overnight well over a year ago. Did he fool them by making Shadow Clones instead? But who taught him- of course. I see. Just what is your game here, Hamaru, teaching a kid such a forbidden technique?' Kakashi almost immediately deduced what had happened, slightly impressed despite himself.
"Go, Sakura! I got him!" the clone (as the one he left back in the clearing had to be the original, considering the beating that blonde had endured) shouted and the pinkette didn't hesitate, quickly nodding before sprinting off again.
"Don't you think you've got it the other way around?" Kakashi asked with some bemusement of his blonde student, who was still clinging firmly onto his sensei's ankles, his own legs wrapped firmly around the branch they were hanging onto.
"Ehh? What do you mean? I caught your ankle!"
"Incorrect! My ankle has caught you. However, I usually throw back the small ones anyways. So, be free, little shrimp!"
"What are you- HEY!"
Straightening to his full height, Kakashi pulled back the leg that Naruto was clinging onto and, still standing upside down on the tree branch, shot it forwards at a speed that would make Gai proud.
Losing his grip, the blonde shot through the canopy on a direct collision course with the retreating Sakura.
"Sakura!"
"I know, run!"
"No, Sakura, DUCK!"
"What the- OH GOD!"
Falling to her knees just in time, Sakura ate dirt but at least managed to dodge underneath the airborne blonde, who came to a sudden stop when he crashed facefirst into a tree trunk, dispelling with a pained groan and a pitiful 'poof!' of smoke.
Sakura quickly tried to work herself to her feet, somewhat surprised Kakashi hadn't already swooped down on her to kick her ass as well. However, the Hatake was glancing down at his leg, specifically the ankle from which he had dislodged the loud blonde. The bandages that he usually wrapped around his ankle had been torn away for the most part, showing the bare skin underneath and Kakashi felt his eyebrows rise in surprise.
'That was definitely Chakra Adhesion. Do these kids know Tree Walking already?' the jonin couldn't help but wonder.
Glancing at the child that was working herself back to her feet, Kakashi's eye narrowed.
'Only one way to find out.' He decided, but apparently, the ignoble death of the clone had been a sign of some sort, because in the canopy surrounding the tree that Kakashi was standing on were a sudden multitude of puffs, creating so much smoke the vision of the clearing was briefly obscured. When a small gust of wind blew away the cloud of dust, Kakashi was surprised to see almost two dozen of the blondes glaring at him from the rest of the surrounding trees.
"Oi! What's the big idea, throwing me into a tree?!"
"Yeah! If that was the real me, that would've really hurt!"
"I'm gonna kick your ass for kicking my ass!"
The blondes descended upon the bemused Kakashi. While their individual speed and skill weren't much to write home about, they were still decently genin level and their sheer numbers were definitely not a factor to take lightly. However, the jonin was more impressed how these had clearly been pre-prepared and then scattered and hidden underneath a Transformation throughout the forest.
'Considering Naruto's reserves, I doubt these are all of them. Who knows what else might be a clone in disguise here. Every branch or shrub might actually secretly be a blonde out for revenge. Should I…?' Kakashi thought to himself as his hand darted up to the headband draped over his face.
'No, not yet.' He quickly decided, uncovered eye intently trained on the prone Sakura and ignoring the screaming horde of orange that descended on his tree.
He managed to dodge most of them simply by cutting the chakra to his feet and allowing gravity to drag him down off the branch he had been standing on, letting a few of the clones slam into it (and each other) instead. Two more came at his side with wild swinging kicks, but Kakashi simply took a hold of the leg of one and twisting in mid-air so he could swing the Naruto clone into its brother, and continued the spin to land gracefully on his feet on the ground below. Not wasting a second, he immediately pushed off and launched a shuriken into a nearby brush, cutting a wire and allowing a small storm of kunai to slam into the clone that had landed right after him in his spot instead.
Undeterred, the remaining clones hollered as they took off in pursuit, but of course Kakashi was far faster, even as he dodged a few more simple wire traps as well as two more trees that were similarly filled with transformed clones (though he was taken by surprise when he pushed off a tree trunk in order to dodge an obvious wire on the forest floor, only to realize that the bark had been painted over with a storage seal that immediately and violently disgorged copious amounts of paint). All the while, Sakura was making a beeline towards the nearby lake.
"Go Sakura! Don't let him get our super secret weapon!" A Naruto clone (now bright baby blue from head to toe after Kakashi had dodged yet another paint trap) loudly yelled, foolishly giving away their plan and Kakashi couldn't help but smirk.
'Oh no you don't.'
Having no interest in experiencing anything Naruto would deem a 'super' weapon firsthand, he quickly formed the Tiger seal, disappearing in a Body Flicker to the great surprise of the pursuing clones. Though their disbelief paled in comparison to the sheer shock Sakura experienced when Kakashi seemingly materialized right in front of her with a spinning backfist that would nail her right in the forehead.
"Oh crap!"
"Replacement Technique!"
Instead of hitting a pinkette, Kakashi's fist instead slammed into the surprised face of a Naruto clone, who poofed into smoke at the hit. Immediately, the jonin's eye scanned the position of the clones that had been closing in on them, quickly spotting a flash of pink that was moving away from him, in contrast to the horde of blondes (and greens, blues and purples) that was descending on him with angry yells.
One of them even managed to land on his back, holding him in a tight grip.
"Ha! I got you now Kakashi!"
"Hold him still! Let's see how he likes getting punched!" another Naruto roared to the cheers of his clone brothers.
"Oh no, I have been captured. Whatever shall I do." Kakashi responded in the most deadpan, utterly unafraid tone he could muster, seeing the clone grit his teeth at the taunt.
"Shut up, you bastard! Ha!" the clone descended upon Kakashi with a righteous fury, throwing a wide, powerful (if sloppy) fist-
"Ow, dammit!"
-only for his fist to bury itself deeply into the whiskered cheek of another Naruto who had suddenly appeared in Kakashi's place. The clone's eyes briefly bulged as its pupils began to lose focus, its face set in a rictus of shock and betrayal, before it disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"What the hell happened?!"
"Wait, you guys, it's so obvious!"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he's the Copy Ninja, right? Obviously, he was so impressed by our awesomeness, he has copied our super techniques!"
From a nearby treetop, Kakashi found himself somewhat surprised and slightly impressed.
'Huh, for such a hothead, I didn't think he'd figure it out that fast-'
"Yeah, he clearly copied our Transformation!"
'-… well, maybe not.'
"Yeah! He obviously was amazed by how super sneaky we were! He'd rather look like us than his dumb self, hahaha!" one Naruto said to the great amusement and cheers of the others, though one other Naruto looked to be a lot more cautious than his brothers.
"Wait, you guys, don't you see? Now that we know he copied our super awesome Transformation, none of us are safe! You saw what he did to our colleague. He could be right in this very clearing and we wouldn't know. And worst of all, he could be any one of us. He could be you! He could be me! He could even be-"
"HAAA!" another clone interrupted, slamming a kunai into the other Naruto's face with a sudden roar, causing all the other blondes to face fault and Kakashi to sweat drop.
"What? It was obvious! He said that it could be him." The violent clone defended himself, though his fellow Narutos seemed sceptical.
"Well clearly he wasn't Kakashi! But he also said it could be you!"
"Why are you pointing at me, he obviously meant you!"
"I think he meant you!"
"Maybe he meant 'you' as in you all?"
"If he did, then why didn't he say you all. He clearly said 'you', not all of you."
"Maybe like a y'all?"
"All y'all?"
"Now you're being ridiculous. Nobody talks like that."
What followed was, in Kakashi's opinion, perhaps the strangest free for all brawl that he had ever seen, with a multitude of shouts, expletives and puffs of smoke ringing throughout the forest.
'Now that they're distracted, it's time to close in on Sakura. Hopefully, there aren't any more clones that can substitute with her.' Kakashi thought to himself as he set off in hot pursuit, rapidly closing in on the panting pinkette.
"Replacement Technique!"
"Oh, come on-!"
At it turned out, there were many more clones perfectly willing to eat a haymaker or a dropkick from Kakashi if it meant getting Sakura out of dodge. Between the gallantly suicidal clones and the widespread simple (if effective traps), the jonin found himself on a very twisty sort of chase, as the clones didn't seem to coordinate with each other properly about who would be switching places with Sakura and at what time.
The clone who replaced himself with another clone who himself had just taken Sakura's place, only to eat a knee to the face while the first clone was left huddled on a tree branch with its eyes clenched shut waiting for a blow that'd never come was particularly memorable.
Even so, despite all the misdirections and the many, many traps, they still found themselves approaching the nearby body of water within roughly fifteen minutes, with Sakura left panting and Kakashi getting somewhat tired of clones constantly substituting themselves with either Sakura, each other, or thrown weapons.
They especially had quickly developed a habit for the latter and Kakashi still couldn't quite contain a small shudder whenever a familiar blonde just popped into existence in his peripherals where a kunai had just been.
Between that and the ominous 'super secret weapon' the genin had apparently hidden in the small lake, Kakashi decided to take things a bit more seriously. Instead of simply jumping towards Sakura once again, he flooded his body with chakra and seamlessly preformed a Body Flicker, appearing directly in front of Sakura and halting her with an unbeatable taijutsu move: he held out his leg and tripped her.
As the pinkette rolled to an undignified stop, Kakashi materialized above her, lightly pushing her back into the dirt with a sandaled foot upon her back.
"Well, this has certainly been… a chase. However, just running away from me doesn't mean you'll ever be able to become a ninja." Kakashi said coolly, but the girl struggled surprisingly strongly.
"Didn't I already say…" the girl grunted, tilting her head towards the silver-haired jonin until she could lock eyes with him.
Kakashi got a strange sense of déjà vu when Sakura suddenly broke out in a victorious grin.
"… that I… AM THE DISTRACTION!?" the pinkette began, though she ended in a yell as her entire body was enveloped in a puff of smoke, revealing her to have been a grinning Naruto all along.
Despite himself, Kakashi couldn't help but raise his eyebrow in genuine surprise, even as he pushed down harder, causing the clone to dispel with another puff of smoke.
'Of course. Naruto does have a noted skill with the Transformation. It wouldn't be that difficult for him to copy his teammates, especially if he's somewhat familiar with them. They probably switched Sakura the moment she entered the forest; Sasuke's shuriken was never meant to land, merely to draw my eyes away. The moment she hit the treeline, a clone likely immediately took her place. Why the ruse though? Where was the real Sakura running towards? The lake then?' Kakashi thought to himself, distractedly dealing with the dwindling number of clones, who having seen that the jig was up, now decided to body the jonin with all that they had.
'No, if they went through all that trouble to distract me with nothing more than a clone as bait, then the 'super secret weapon' is a distraction itself as well. Likely there's nothing there, worst case scenario it's another trap. But, that means that if they wanted me here… then that means that they definitely don't want me somewhere else.'
Dealing with the last two clones by delivering a roundhouse kick to the side of one at just enough force to not pop it immediately, instead sending it crashing headfirst into its brother (all without even looking in their direction), Kakashi couldn't help but smile as he shook his head.
"To think they'd force me to take them this seriously already." The jonin mused as he took out a small scroll as he bit his thumb.
"I won't need the whole squad for this. Three should do it." He muttered as he smeared his blood over the contract, which was swiftly followed by three small puffs of air.
"Hey there Kakashi." A deep, gravelly voice came from the smoke and the jonin smiled down at his companions.
"Hello Pakkun. Akino. Biscuit."
The adorable pug, the dog with sunglasses and the dog with the narrowed eyes all smiled up at their summoner.
"What ya need?"
"I'm testing a couple brats right now. Gotta say, they impressed me so far: managed to fool me with a distraction, so I lost sight of them. One of them has access to an enormous amount of solid clones that he can easily Transform into his teammates, which is how he managed to distract me. Also means that, if we catch up to one of the three, we can't be sure it's just a clone of one of them, disguised at the others. They'll definitely try to use this to throw us off, so we'll need to track down the originals."
"Leave it to us, Kakashi. We'll find 'em for ya." Pakkun grumbled good-naturedly.
"Let's go!"
"Hai!"
"Think he fell for it?"
"I'm still getting memories of him stomping in my face, so I'd say yeah." Naruto grouched as he answered Sakura's nervous question, in a bit of a mood considering he had felt what it was like to be utterly dismantled by a jonin several times in a row today.
Kakashi had not been gentle when dispelling his clones.
"Good. I doubt the traps will take him down, but between them and his clones, he'll hopefully won't realize the deception for a while. We still have some time before it's noon: we need to-"
"Uhmm, Sasuke?"
"What now, Naruto? I just said that we need to-"
"Run."
"What?"
"Run. We need to run. He literally just stomped Naruto-Sakura into the ground. He seems pissed." The Uzumaki said in a small voice, his entire face blanched white with fear.
"Running won't get us the bells. The longer we delay in going for them, the closer we are to the deadline and failing." Sasuke stressed in a heated voice, even as he joined the other would-be genin as they picked up the pace, leaving Training Ground Three behind them as they skirted along the edges of the cemetery towards the centre of the village.
"We can hope for a lucky hit from one of Naruto's clones or one of our traps, but it will likely all eventually come down towards combat. We might get one or even both bells if we go all out simultaneously, but you've seen how fast he is. We need to avoid slowly ramping up the pressure to the point he decides to keep the bells away: what we need is a sudden, immediate, decisive victory." Sakura said with fire in her voice.
"Ehh? But you just said we won't be able to, not even when we go at him simo-… simula-… all together." Naruto squinted.
"And that's why we'll be using this." Sakura said with a smirk, holding up the pamphlet that Kakashi had handed out to them yesterday.
"Oh? Planning to defeat me with just a piece of paper? I mean, it's possible, exploding tags are a thing after all, but otherwise, the combat applications of paper are pretty abysmal all things considered." A lazy voice spoke up from above them.
Far, far away, a purple haired kunoichi got a sudden and inexplicable urge to sneeze.
The three would-be genin glanced up in shock, only to see Kakashi running easily along the many intricate buildings of Konoha as they all made their way closer towards the centre of the Village… by running perpendicular to their walls, at a 90-degree angle off the ground and seeming completely unbothered by it.
"Damn, he tracked us so fast! Naruto?!"
"I dunno- oh, wait, he has ninja dogs! And they're super cute! And they all bit my diversion clones on the butt!"
"Dogs huh? Sniffed us out then?" Sasuke asked in a glower as the three children slid to a stop in the middle of the street, throwing up a cloud of dusting and getting many angry yells and complaints from surprised civilians.
With a simple push off the wall, Kakashi corkscrewed to the air, only to land lightly in front of the children, exposed eye pinning them in place.
"In a jiffy." The Hatake prodigy agreed simply.
"Ah, you sniffed us?! Ew!" Naruto and Sakura shrieked simultaneously.
"Technically, my cute ninken did, who then relayed it back to me. It was surprisingly easy." Kakashi explained and Sakura whirled on the blonde at her side.
"Dammit Naruto, I told you those ramen packets of yours stink-!"
Before the affronted Uzumaki could defend his beloved food of choice, the silver haired jonin interrupted with a leisurely smile.
"Actually, Sakura, my ninken Pakkun managed to pretty much instantly locate… you."
"W-wha… me? Why me?!"
"Minty Rainforest Mist Shampoo, with extra bodywash?"
"… who told you that name?" Sakura asked with growing trepidation, which only increased as a pug landed from a nearby rooftop onto Kakashi's shoulder, giving them a wave.
"Pakkun here uses it as well." Kakashi explained and Sakura face faulted hard enough to cause a crater in the road.
Seeing the shocked look on the boys' faces, the pug extended his paw, bottom forwards.
"It really helps keep my paw pads nice and soft." The dog explained.
"Oh my god…" Sakura said in a thin whine, before jumping to her feet, hoisting both boys up by their collar and lifting them up in front of her face.
"You ever mention this to anyone… or god forbid, Ino…" she growled out with righteous fury in a voice that her teammates had never heard (or expected) from her.
"N-never, not a soul!" Naruto swiftly agreed while nodding so rapidly it almost shook loose his headband.
"I will take your secret to the grave with me." Sasuke promised solemnly.
"As cute as this is, we're getting closer and closer to noon. You've displayed some adequate running-away skills, which is a good quality for rookie genin to have. But you'll need more than that if you want to catch these bells and actually become genin." Kakashi interrupted.
"Don't you worry sensei, we'll get those bells before noon, and make you make us genin, believe it!" Naruto yelled from his position in Sakura's iron grip.
"And how do you plan to do that?"
"By using my ultimate technique!" Naruto yelled as Sakura released him, Sasuke and her taking a few wary steps back from the now grinning blonde.
"Oh? And what would that be then?"
"A super secret technique, one that is unique to me! One that I have worked days on, years even!" Naruto said, his hands coming up in an unusual hand signal.
'More Shadow Clones? But the way he's talking about it… It can't be… the fox?!' Kakashi thought to himself as his eye shot open in surprise.
"Ultimate Uzumaki Perfect Heavenly Technique of Ultimate Awesome!"
"Did he just use 'ultimate' twice…?"
"Naruto, no-!"
"RUNNING AWAY!"
'poof!'
A massive cloud exploded around the blonde and from it a horde of Narutos, Sasukes and Sakuras exploded forwards, running down the street, back alleys and even up the walls to reach the rooftops. Kakashi was surprised enough that for just a moment, he failed to react to the sudden multitude of prospective ninja, standing frozen in place. Seeing as the newly made clones were all desperate to put distance between them and him, he snapped himself out of it.
'Even more clones? Even for Naruto's reserves, this must be taxing. He does seem a bit tired, but not as much as he should be. Then again, most of the clones I fought in the forest were made a while ago, giving him plenty of time to rest and recharge. Since Shadow Clones return their chakra to their creator, that means his tank has been pretty handily refilled. Wonder if they planned that?'
It was becoming more and more apparent to Kakashi that giving the children a day and a half to prepare might be working a bit to his disadvantage. Clearly, the children had a knack for setting up traps and diversions, making them slippery to pin down.
Still, Kakashi was ex-ANBU. No way a group of three Academy graduates was going to escape his clutches.
"Pakkun!"
"There, that rooftop over there!"
And Kakashi was off in hot pursuit. Landing on the rooftop he immediately sprung into a Body Flicker, appearing before the genin. Sasuke, possessing faster reflexes than his teammates, pushed them to the side as he ducked under a wide roundhouse kick of Kakashi. The jonin turned his kick into a spin, fishing two kunai out of his vest pockets and prepared to throw them to hem in the escaping students, but immediately the sound of "Replacement!" sounded out from the surrounding rooftops.
'Not this again.'
Two Sasukes and a Sakura took the place of the three children that had jumped out of the way of his attack, though they were almost immediately dispelled by a brace of shuriken from Kakashi. A simple pressure of Pakkun's (admittedly very soft little paw) on his shoulder told him the right way to go. Though after two more distractions (where Kakashi had realized in equal parts annoyance and grudging admiration that Sakura and Sasuke had begun mixing in their own incorporeal clones with Naruto's legion of solid ones) he quickly realized their intended target even without Pakkun's directions.
'But this is the route to… what are you up to you three?'
Not wanting to find out, Kakashi once again closed in on the running children, brutally dispatching the clones that tried to intervene, seriously tempted to pull out his Sharingan now. Seeing his renewed assault, Sasuke turned towards his teammates.
"Sakura, keep running! Naruto, protect her at all costs! I'll try and buy you time!"
"Sasuke no!" Sakura pleaded.
"Sasuke yes!" Naruto cheered.
The Uchiha turned in mid-air, and rapidly went through the seals for Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger. The moment he landed on the rooftop, he pushed off again on a straight collision course with the descending Kakashi.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"
A cone of fire shot from the child's mouth up into the air, clearly intent on enveloping the descending Kakashi.
'To think a mere genin has the chakra capacity for a technique such as this… Thankfully, he was smart enough to aim it upwards, though that does leave me in a bit of a pickle… Well, I am the 'Copy' Ninja, after all.' The jonin thought with some amusement to himself even in the face of an approaching fireball, before bringing up his hands in a familiar cross seal.
With a 'poof!' a second Kakashi appeared at his side. Still in free fall, the clone grabbed its creator and swung him around with all his might, sending him sailing clear over Sasuke's shocked head.
However, that still left the clone in the line of fire (literally) so taking another que from his opponents, the second Kakashi went through a set of familiar handseals in a blur.
'Forgive me, civilian-san, but this is for the good of the village! … probably.'
Right before Sasuke's disbelieving eyes, his fire jutsu collided with the falling clone, engulfing him in flames as the sound of an explosion rang out. Yet as the bright glare of the inferno died away, the boy was shocked to see only charred debris falling to the suddenly emptied street below.
"What the-?"
It was only his superb reflexes that allowed him to turn on a dime and intercept the sudden charge to his side. Clone and Uchiha clashed in mid-air, the jonin's sheer momentum carrying them to a nearby rooftop, sparks flying from their kunai and the faux Kakashi smiled, while the child's eyes widened in understanding.
"Replacement Technique."
"Two can play at that game." Not-Kakashi agreed gleefully, though he winced guiltily at a nearby shriek of "my microwave?!", while Sasuke desperately tried to disengage with a snarl, trying to pursue the original.
The clone of course, equally as gifted as the real thing, didn't let him, once again testing the boy's limit in a furious exchange of taijutsu. Meanwhile, the original had descended on Naruto and Sakura, who had seen the fate of their comrade and the way Kakashi had dodged Sasuke's attack. Sakura's eyes widened, while Naruto's merely narrowed.
"You're not the only one who can copy things!" he shouted, his own hands coming up in a cross seal as well.
Instead of one clone at his side, a veritable chain appeared above Naruto, each one standing on the shoulders of the other. As one, they began throwing each other forwards like Kakashi's own clone had done with him. Whenever a clone hit the apex of their arc, they'd Replace themselves with the next clone in the chain, and then grab their new neighbour and throw them towards the now airborne clone. They clasped hands, whirled around each other and the first clone would throw the newcomer even further, after which he'd use the replacement technique himself on the next clone in the row and so on.
In no time at all, and in a quite weird display of shifting orange-yellow flashes and disappearances, the last clone in the chain had cleared the entire length of the street with ease. Even as it fell to the ground, it brought up its hands for the Body Replacement jutsu, locking eyes with Sakura.
At her side, the original encouraged her.
"Go Sakura! We need you to complete the plan! I'll hold him off!"
And with a 'poof!', suddenly Naruto's own clone was standing next to him as Sakura was abruptly at the other end of the street.
'That's some reach on that technique. It probably helps that the distance was already travelled by his clones, but still…' the original Kakashi thought to himself as he landed on the same rooftop as the panting blonde.
"Seems like that… 'Naruto-ladder' took a lot out of you, Naruto." The silver haired jonin mused with some amusement, though his eye was instead focused on Sakura in the distance, who had just hit the ground running.
Naruto shouted something back between his pants, wiping the sweat from his brow, but Kakashi only half-listened.
'I can't linger here. She's close to their intended target, I can tell. And with Naruto's stamina and use of clones, he can keep me occupied longer than I'd like if I want to keep holding back enough to not seriously injure them. Dammit, this will take more out of me than I was hoping for, but it can't be helped.'
Right as Naruto, flanked by two other Narutos, charged him head-on, Kakashi made yet another Shadow Clone, feeling the sudden drastic drop in his already modest (by jonin levels, at least) chakra reserves quite keenly. The clone immediately rushed down the charging blondes, while the original Kakashi sped on, even using the original Naruto's head as a springboard to launch himself forwards.
Even as he sailed by, he couldn't help but notice how the blonde seemed to want to keep… grabbing his clone?
'What an odd taijutsu style is that. Does it perhaps have to do with that strangely strong grip he had on my ankle?'
One major advantage that he had over the fleeing would-be genin (aside from his far greater speed) was the fact that, while the children had managed to climb up the walls of buildings showing a rudimentary command of the Chakra Adhesion exercise, they clearly weren't proficient in it enough to fully utilize it non-stop. While Sakura had to dodge past and even push through the crowd, Kakashi simply returned to the side of the building's walls, completely defying gravity with ease.
Even so, Naruto's odd transportation move had given Sakura enough of a headstart (and Kakashi's approach enough desperation) that they both landed almost simultaneously in front of a large mansion.
Without hesitation, Sakura banged hard enough on the door that Kakashi briefly wondered if she'd knock it down. Just as he prepared to close in on the worried pinkette, said door opened and revealed the massive form of Hamura Inuzuka, glancing at the two of them in clear surprise.
"Sakura? What are you doing here? Don't you have a genin test-?" the large man rumbled in confusion, but the girl interrupted him with a waterfall of words, relief clear in her voice.
"Hamaru-san, please listen! We have been given an objective by Hatake Kakashi: to obtain two bells from him! Due to the difference in our skill level, the three of us have come to the conclusion that we lack the skills necessary to complete our mission. However! Rule #13 of the Shinobi handbook states that 'in the event of encountering mission parameters that exceed the skills of the shinobi, the mission must either be abandoned, unless doing so harms the village, or be completed with aid of fellow ninja, unless doing so violates the security parameters of the mission'! Since nowhere on this pamphlet does it state that our test is dependant on secrecy, and as our failure may harm the future combat capabilities of our village, we are fully within our rights to request back up! Additionally, it states that we must bring all of our tools and means to this test, which according to Rule #7 of the Shinobi handbook also includes our contacts as well as fellow shinobi, as 'we are all tools utilized by our Village to ensure our safety and prosperity'!" the girl finished with a gasp, even holding out the pamphlet Kakashi had given them towards the man himself, as if it were some sort of warding talisman.
For a moment, the adults merely looked at each other in surprise, before Hamaru glanced down at the panting girl on his doorstep.
"Uhm… I'm sure you did your research very well, Sakura-chan. But what does that have to do with me?"
"Inuzuka Hamaru! On behalf of my teammates, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, I, Haruno Sakura, officially request your aid in fulfilling our mission objective: to retrieve those two silver bells from Hatake Kakashi!" Sakura declared loudly and both Hamaru's and Kakashi's eyebrows rose in surprise.
Slowly, the giant Inuzuka glanced towards the lithe Hatake, who was looking back at them with a cautious glare.
'Please say no, please say no-!'
"You do realize that, officially speaking, the shinobi that are brought in as back up on a mission receive a significant portion of the mission's original pay-out, right? As this one doesn't have a pay-out at all…" Hamaru rumbled as he casually leaned against the doorframe.
'Yes!'
"Naruto, Sasuke and I will do all your household chores for the rest of the month!"
"Deal!"
'No!'
With a dark chuckle, Hamaru stepped past Sakura, who (after a brief blink of surprise) was madly pumping her fist in victory behind the man's broad back.
"I do expect you all to still pull your weight. Don't just sit back on your asses expecting me to beat this guy by myself for you guys." Hamaru cautioned her in a low rumble and the pinkette immediately stopped her celebration, instead snapping off a sharp salute.
"Yes, sir! You can count on us, Hamaru-san!"
"Very well. Kakashi, you heard pinkie over here." The tall Inuzuka said with a rumbling laugh as he slowly began to approach the wary jonin.
Hamaru cracked his thick neck, before grinning a smile towards Kakashi that showed off a multitude of sharpened fangs and elongated canines as an excited gleam entered the man's slitted eyes.
"What say we have a little fun, eh?" he chuckled darkly, causing Kakashi to sweat drop.