The echo of his own childish screams was still ringing in his ears, but the humiliation was a bitter taste that wouldn't go away. Naruto scrambled to his feet on the riverbank where he'd landed, his rear end throbbing with a sharp pain that brought tears to his eyes.
"Damn it, that hurt!" he complained in a furious whisper, rubbing the sore spot with both hands. "That jutsu should be illegal! Pervy Kakashi-sensei!"
He pushed himself up. His first major showdown had ended with the most ridiculous attack in history.
"That idiot..." Sakura's voice came from nearby, a whisper laced with panic and a hint of relief. "Is he really gone?"
Naruto gritted his teeth. Of course he wasn't gone! Did they think he'd give up? Never! But he wasn't dumb enough to charge in head-on again. Well, not right away.
Ignoring the throbbing pain, curiosity got the better of him. He couldn't just stay down; he'd miss the best part! He knew from his memories that Sasuke's turn was next.
With a renewed burst of determination, he moved stealthily through the undergrowth with surprising agility. He spotted Sakura crouched behind a dense thicket of bushes and slid in beside her.
The wind whispered through the leaves of the trees. Kakashi hadn't moved, standing in the center of the clearing with his orange book in hand. And Sasuke... Sasuke had positioned himself on a high branch of an ancient tree, a dark, motionless silhouette against the sky.
Come on, Sasuke! Naruto thought, a mix of rivalry and genuine expectation churning inside him. Finish him! Show him what an Uchiha is made of!
Time stretched on. The only sounds were the whistling wind and the soft rustle of pages as Kakashi turned them.
"Well..." the jōnin's lazy voice cut through the silence. "The loud one seems to have been dealt with. What about the other one? Is the Uchiha prodigy going to spend all morning up there?"
The provocation was like a spark to a powder keg.
Sasuke's answer was the metallic glint of three shuriken cutting through the air. They flew in a perfect arc, designed to cut off any escape route.
Kakashi didn't even look up from his book.
"Poor attempt."
The instant the shuriken thudded into the ground, Sasuke launched himself from the branch. It was a silent drop, and the moment his feet touched the earth, he was already a blur heading straight for the jōnin.
"THAT'S IT, SASUKE! GET HIM!" Naruto yelled from behind the bushes, unable to contain himself.
Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin, slapping a hand over his mouth. "Naruto, you idiot! Are you trying to get us caught?" she hissed, her eyes wide with terror.
He peeled her hand away. "He needs support! A good teammate cheers him on!"
"A good ninja stays hidden!" she shot back in a frantic whisper. She stole a glance at Sasuke, who was now a whirlwind of kicks and blocks. A conflicted look crossed her face. "But… maybe you have a point. Sasuke-kun would definitely fight even harder if he heard me cheering for him…"
"See? That's the spirit!" Naruto grinned.
Sasuke closed the distance in a blink. His fists and feet moved with a cold, deadly logic. A direct punch to the face, which Kakashi dodged. A spinning kick to the ribs, which Kakashi blocked with his forearm. A low sweep to unbalance him.
Incredible! Naruto thought, his eyes wide. He's so fast and cool! Every move is perfect!
But then, a sour memory surfaced. Wait a minute... This is the part where Sasuke shows off, but Kakashi-sensei takes him down to teach him about teamwork. Damn it! Should I warn him? No, he'd just call me an idiot and wouldn't listen.
Frustration washed over him. He wanted Sasuke to win, but he knew that wasn't the point of the test.
"Your taijutsu is clean, I'll admit," Kakashi said, easily sidestepping another blow. "Much better than your noisy teammate's. But..."
"FINISH HIM, SASUKE!" Naruto shouted again.
"YOU CAN DO IT, SASUKE-KUN! WE BELIEVE IN YOU!" Sakura chimed in, cupping her hands around her mouth, now fully committed to the role of cheerleader.
Sasuke didn't let Kakashi finish. He landed from his failed sweep and threw a dozen kunai.
"But it's boring!" Kakashi finished, and then he moved.
The book vanished. In an instant, he was in the midst of the kunai storm, deflecting them with insulting ease. The sharp clang of metal on metal filled the air. From their not-so-hidden spot, Naruto and Sakura watched in awe.
"He's amazing!" Sakura gasped.
Of course he's amazing! Naruto thought, irritated. But he's not looking around! He's fighting alone! You can't win like this!
Sasuke, seeing his attack was useless, switched tactics. He leaped backward, his hands flying through a series of seals: Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.
"YES! THAT JUTSU!" Naruto exclaimed, recognizing it.
"Don't you dare underestimate an Uchiha!" Sasuke yelled, his cheeks puffing out.
Kakashi stopped, watching him with a new spark of interest.
"At your age? Impressive."
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
A torrent of flames roared from Sasuke's lips. The air over the clearing shimmered from the scorching heat, and the wave of fire surged toward Kakashi with a deafening roar.
Any other ninja would have been cornered.
Kakashi simply sighed.
"A bit overkill for a couple of bells, don't you think?"
And just as the flames were about to engulf him, his body dissolved into smoke and splinters. A mossy log appeared in its place, instantly charring.
"A substitution jutsu?" Sasuke said between pants. His eyes darted around frantically; the jutsu had cost him a considerable amount of chakra.
"No. Behind you."
Kakashi's voice was an icy whisper right at his neck. He had appeared without a single sound.
Before Sasuke could even begin to turn, he felt a sharp blow to the back of his knees, forcing them to buckle. At the same time, a hand grabbed his hair, yanking his head back, while the other wrapped around his throat from the front, the cold edge of a kunai pressed against his skin.
It all happened in less than a second. Sasuke was immobilized, kneeling on the clearing floor, completely at his sensei's mercy. He was defeated.
The silence was absolute, broken only by the whistling wind.
Naruto and Sakura gaped from behind the bushes. Their cheers died in their throats.
Kakashi leaned in, his voice quiet but sharp.
"I told you. Your taijutsu is clean. But your mind is rigid. You charged in head-on, without thinking, without observing. Do you see your teammates? No. Because you don't care about them. You only care about the bells. Your pride won't let you see there are two other people on your team."
Naruto felt a pang of annoyance. Hey, I care about my team, he thought, conveniently forgetting that his version of "teamwork" had involved shouting their exact location to the enemy.
Sasuke struggled, a growl of pure rage escaping his lips.
"A ninja who doesn't understand teamwork is just trash," Kakashi concluded, his voice devoid of all emotion.
Trash.
The word hit Naruto like a punch to the gut. He saw the struggle in Sasuke's eyes—the fury, and beneath it, a desperation he recognized all too well. It was the look of someone who is completely alone.
Kakashi released Sasuke with a shove that sent him sprawling onto the dirt. The jōnin walked away, pulling out his book again.
"It seems none of you understands the lesson."
Sasuke slowly got to his feet, his body trembling with a silent fury and a humiliation that was almost palpable. He didn't look at anyone, his dignity in tatters.
The time for the test kept ticking away, relentless. Naruto's gaze shifted to Sakura. She was pale as a ghost, staring at Sasuke. The hero of her dreams—the one she had been cheering for with all her might—had been utterly defeated.
Now it was her turn.
And Naruto knew exactly what was coming next. The genjutsu. The scream. The terror.
A cold, sharp pang of empathy shot through him. This wasn't the strategist thinking about the next phase. This was the boy who was about to watch his teammate, the girl he liked, go through something horrible.
Get ready, Sakura, he thought, his jaw tightening. This is the part where you realize love won't stop a kunai.
He felt helpless. He had all the answers to the test, but if he said them out loud, no one would believe him. His mission, he realized, wasn't just to pass. It was, somehow, to fit the broken pieces of this team back together. And the next piece was the most fragile of all.