It was early morning, and the sun was starting to rise, chasing away the night. Sasuke walked along the streets of Konoha. He had gotten up early to exercise and warm up for the day ahead, but he still had an hour to burn before the test, and there was something he needed to get. That was why he stood in front of the Konoha Ninja Tools Store.
He stepped inside and met a tall, bulky old man who was yawning. The man noticed Sasuke before smiling, "Oh, Uchiha boy..."
Sasuke ignored the greeting as he approached, "I believe you have finished with what I asked for."
The old man rolled his eyes, "Not even a greeting... jeez, what are they teaching you kids in the academy?" He grumbled as he disappeared into the backroom.
A few days ago, Sasuke had commissioned a chokutō and some tools. Although today's test was meant to measure teamwork, Sasuke didn't plan on holding back. Depending on how well they performed, their squad might avoid some of the endless D-rank missions.
He knew the test had two purposes, first, to assess whether they could work together, which was the most important, and second, to gauge their true ability. He wasn't worried about the latter. He knew Naruto and Sakura were capable, more so than their counterparts in his visions.
The real challenge would be getting them to cooperate. The bell test was designed to divide them, but he couldn't just tell them that outright since they would ask many questions on how he knew. To do so would mean revealing too much, and he didn't want that, especially his visions, his knowledge, and most importantly, the existence of Nano. That was something he would never share. He would have to find another way to slowly make sure they understood without asking too many questions.
The backroom door creaked open again, and the old man emerged holding a long box with several scrolls stacked on top. "Here you go, kid, your chokutō. The paper bombs, smoke bombs, giant shuriken, kunai, and regular shuriken are all sealed in those scrolls."
Sasuke nodded absently as he opened the box. Inside was a sleek black sheath adorned with the Uchiha crest. He lifted the weapon, surprised by how light it felt, almost like a feather. Drawing it, he inspected the blade and gave it a few practice swings.
The old man watched from behind the counter, smiling, "Ain't she a beauty? Didn't craft it myself, but I gotta say, my disciple sure learns fast."
Sasuke slid the blade back into its sheath, grabbed the scrolls, and slipped them into his pouch.
"The money is on-"
"The Uchiha tab, I know..." the man cut him off.
Sasuke turned to leave, but the old man called after him, "Oh, wait a moment." He placed another scroll on the counter, "Mind giving this to my disciple?"
Sasuke frowned, "I don't know who your disciple—" He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes narrowing.
The old man smirked knowingly, "Be sure to tell him that just because he's a ninja now doesn't mean he can skip work."
Sasuke scowled. The old man eyed him before scoffing, "What? Just because you are teammates doesn't mean I'm going to give you a discount." Sasuke kept staring at him. After a pause, he picked up the scroll with a sigh and left.
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By seven, Sasuke arrived at the training ground, where Naruto and Sakura were already arguing. They both noticed him immediately.
"You were almost late," Naruto said, oddly cheerful. Was he happy to have beaten him there?
"And you didn't come as a clone."
Naruto hmphed, then fell quiet as Sasuke threw him the scroll. Frowning, he caught it. "How did you get this?" Naruto opened it and inspected it before looking back, though his eyes drifted toward Sasuke's sword. The moment he recognized it, his eyes widened. He jumped up, rushing over to inspect the blade.
"Ahh, so you were the one who commissioned it! Damn... I put my heart into this masterpiece, if I had known it was for you... Hmm, the handle and sheath came out better than I expected. I was worried when he said he'd finish it for me, thought he'd just find some excuse to break it... Can I hold it!?"
Sasuke stared, caught slightly off guard. He had never seen Naruto this passionate before. He was even more agitated than when he challenged him. Ignoring the request, he asked, "Where is Kakashi?"
Sakura sighed, "Late... again. At this point, I think we got stuck with the worst jōnin ever. How can you be late when you set the time yourself?"
Noticing Sasuke wasn't handing over the sword, Naruto sat down with a sigh. "I checked the bingo book, you know. Apparently, he's some big shot..." He suddenly grinned and eyed him, "Do you know what his nickname is? Kakashi of the 'Sharingan'."
Naruto seemed to press on, getting on his nerves. If Sasuke hadn't seen the visions, it might have worked. Was this payback for yesterday? He couldn't even remember what he did wrong, besides them discovering he was a clone.
'As petty as always.'
Sakura cast Sasuke a worried glance, "The Sharingan? But I thought only the Uchiha clan had that dōjutsu...and they... Anyways, how does he have it?"
Naruto shrugged, still watching Sasuke, "Beats me."
"We need a plan for the test," Sasuke said as he sat down.
"A plan? How can we plan when we don't even know the test? If we prepare for something and it turns out to be different, that's just wasted effort... stupid if you ask me," Naruto said while idly reading the scroll.
"Naruto!" Sakura snapped, swinging a punch at him, which he easily caught.
"Jeez, calm down."
"Why you—"
"He's not wrong. We don't know what the test will be," Sasuke cut in.
"See, even he agrees—"
"But that doesn't mean there are no clues."
Both Naruto and Sakura frowned. "Clues?"
Sasuke nodded, "First of all, look at the location. We're at a training ground. That rules out plenty of options, like a written test. It's more likely to be something measuring our capabilities... I'm sure you've already considered that much."
They nodded.
"It's pretty obvious... but still, it could be something unpredictable," Naruto muttered. "The academy already tested us individually, so what's the point of repeating that?"
"...while it's true they tested us as individuals, they haven't tested us as a group. Every genin forms a team, they're not left alone, so clearly teamwork is expected. That means the real test is-"
"To see how well we work together," Sakura finished, falling into thought.
"Exactly," Sasuke said. "This test is designed to measure our coordination and how well we can work together."
He watched them think it over before finishing, "But that's not all. If teamwork were the only condition, the failure rate wouldn't be so high. Most groups would eventually work together. Which means..."
"There's a dividing factor," Naruto said, grimacing. "Something to make sure we don't cooperate."
Sasuke nodded.
Naruto sighed, "Alright, it somewhat makes sense... so what's the plan?"
"First, we ignore the dividing factor no matter what," Sakura said, and the others nodded.
"Second, we need to know what each of us can do," Naruto added.
Sakura nodded and spoke first, "I'm decent in close combat, and besides the academy basics, I know a few genjutsu."
Naruto nodded, "I'm a sensory ninja, decent in close combat, and I know basic fūinjutsu, so I am pretty confident in my ability to set traps. Besides the academy basics, I know two wind-release jutsu, shadow clone, and... my Kekkei Genkai."
Both Sasuke and Sakura stared in shock.
"Kekkei... Genkai?" Sakura asked.
Naruto scratched his head, "Yeah... never really used it in the academy."
Sasuke's eyes narrowed. He expected Naruto to be different from the vision counterpart, but not this different.
"What does it do?" Sakura asked, and Sasuke was interested as well.
Naruto sighed and stood up, "It's better to show you."
He pointed at a practice log in the distance, and in an instant, goldish-brown chains burst from his chest, shot forward, and wrapped around the log thirty meters away, squeezing until it shattered into wood dust.
"Wow..." Sakura gasped.
Naruto blushed slightly as he sat back down, "W-well, yeah... that's my Kekkei Genkai."
Sasuke stared at the destroyed log. Adamantine chains... He remembered seeing them before, wielded by an Uzumaki in his visions. One of his vision counterparts' companions had them.
Naruto smirked, "What? Impressed? Heh, I held back during our spar. Don't take it too personally."
Expressionless, Sasuke turned to him, "I'm a sensory ninja too. I'm proficient in close combat and kenjutsu. Other than the academy basics, I know seventeen ninjutsu, fire, and lightning release."
"Bullshit," Naruto said flatly, "No need to lie."
"Naruto!" Sakura snapped, trying to smack him again. Although she, too, eyed Sasuke with doubt.
Sasuke ignored them, "Oh, and I also-"
Suddenly, Naruto and Sakura felt hands on their shoulders. They froze and turned. Sasuke stood behind them, his eyes blood-red, two tomoe spinning.
"Unlocked my clan's dōjutsu."
Naruto's mouth opened, then closed before he scoffed, "Show off."
'Two can play at that game,' Sasuke thought. Although he knew it was childish, he didn't care... Naruto had been trying to get on his nerves since he got there; a little payback for all of it didn't hurt.
"So, now that we know each other's abilities, should we make a plan?" Sakura said nervously.
Sasuke nodded. Naruto squinted at him, then nodded as well, smiling slightly.
"So... let's plan."
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A few hours later, Kakashi finally appeared.
"Oh, good morning,"
"YOU'RE LATE!" Naruto and Sakura shouted together.
"Huh? Am I? Pretty sure I said eleven..."
"Why you...!" Sakura trembled, forcing herself to calm down. A dry laugh slipped from her lips, "Oh, you are so going to regret that..."
Kakashi was about to brush it off when he noticed the three weren't just angry, in fact, he had felt this sense of unease ever since he got here, and now he could pinpoint it. They were watching him. His single visible eye narrowed. For some reason, his danger sense was screaming at him that something was terribly wrong.
'Well... this is going to be interesting.'
"Okay... ready to start our test, dear students?"