Chapter 16: The Bell Test and a Lazy Revelation
The morning sun had climbed high over Training Ground 7, casting long, sharp shadows. By nine o'clock, the air was already warm, filled with the chirping of birds and the tense, silent fury of two genin. Sasuke and Sakura stood stiffly, their bodies coiled with impatience. Their new sensei was, predictably, late.
Finally, in a casual swirl of leaves, Kakashi appeared. "Yo! Good morning!" he greeted, his single visible eye crinkling into a smile.
"You're too slow!" Sakura burst out, her voice cracking with frustration. Beside her, Sasuke remained silent, but the tight line of his jaw betrayed his own simmering irritation.
"A black cat crossed my path this morning," Kakashi explained with a breezy wave of his hand, offering an excuse so flimsy it was almost an insult. "Now, where is Uzumaki Naruto?"
"Who knows?" Sakura grumbled, crossing her arms. "He probably overslept. He was always doing that at the Academy."
Sasuke said nothing, his dark eyes fixed on the empty space where their third teammate should have been.
Kakashi sighed internally. 'Do I have to go drag him out of bed?'
Just as the thought formed, a figure emerged from the tree line. It was Naruto, but not as they usually saw him. He wore a crisp white blouse and dark shorts, and his usually spiky blond hair was parted neatly down the middle. He ambled towards them without a care in the world.
"Sorry, sorry," Naruto said, his voice laced with feigned apology. "A black cat crossed my path on the way here. Made me late."
Kakashi stared, utterly speechless.
Sakura's mouth fell open.
Sasuke's eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly.
"Sensei," Sakura said, her eyes narrowing suspiciously as she glanced between Kakashi and Naruto. "Are you two... related?"
Kakashi ignored her, his gaze locked on Naruto's new look. 'The new clothes, the hairstyle... did he spend all that D-rank money on a makeover? Is that why he's late?'
"Did you eat breakfast, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, a dangerous edge to his tone.
Naruto promptly pulled a steamed bun from his pocket and took a large, deliberate bite. "Yep."
Kakashi felt the last shred of his authority as an instructor wither and die. He sighed, a long, weary sound. 'I've spent too much time with this kid. He's learned all my bad habits.'
Deciding to move things along, he produced an alarm clock and set it for noon. "Your task is simple," he announced, holding up two silver bells that jingled softly. "You have until this alarm goes off to take these bells from me."
"Sensei, there are only two bells!" Sakura pointed out, her voice trembling slightly. "But there are three of us!"
Kakashi's eye curved into a grim smile. "Exactly. The one who fails to get a bell will be tied to that stump," he gestured to a large, weathered log, "and will not only miss lunch but will be sent back to the Academy for re-education."
Sakura paled. "You... you can't be serious!"
Sasuke's mind was already racing, calculating angles and strategies to snatch a bell from a jōnin.
Naruto, however, remained a picture of bored indifference, his expression utterly blank.
"Starting now," Kakashi continued, tucking the bells back onto his hip, "you are free to come at me with any weapon, any tactic. Kunai, shuriken, ninjutsu... I suggest you fight with the intent to kill. Otherwise, you'll never stand a chance."
At this, a short, dry laugh escaped Naruto's lips.
'Fight with intent to kill?' he thought, amused. 'If I did that, someone would actually die.' He knew his own power was a hidden maelstrom—Kage-level proficiency in all five nature transformations, Grandmaster-level swordsmanship, the nascent potential of Wood Style, the vast, controlled chakra of the Nine-Tails, and the instantaneous, battlefield-altering power of the Flying Thunder God. With that arsenal, he was confident he could defeat the current Third Hokage himself. Playing for keeps against Kakashi was not an exercise; it would be a slaughter.
"Fight to kill? Sensei, isn't that too dangerous?" Sakura asked, her face etched with worry.
Naruto shot her a look of pure, unadulterated disbelief, but her eyes were locked on Kakashi, sparing him another argument.
"It will only be more dangerous on real missions," Kakashi replied, his tone leaving no room for negotiation. "Now, unless you wish to forfeit... let's begin." He pulled out his well-worn copy of Make-Out Paradise and began to read. "You may start."
In an instant, Sasuke and Sakura vanished, their forms disappearing into the dense foliage of the training ground with practiced stealth.
Naruto simply stood there, hands in his pockets, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else. 'That last volume of Icha Icha really was a page-turner... I should have slept in.'
"Aren't you going to hide, Naruto?" Kakashi asked, not looking up from his book. "Or are you confident you can take these bells from me head-on?"
From their hiding spots, Sasuke and Sakura both mentally cursed Naruto's idiocy. He was ignoring the most fundamental rule of being a shinobi.
But was he?
Naruto casually picked at his ear. "What's the point of hiding, Kakashi-sensei?" he asked, his voice flat. "Playing hide-and-seek with a jōnin is just a way to distract a fraction of his attention before he picks you off one by one." He finally met Kakashi's gaze, his own eyes sharp and clear despite their lazy demeanor. "Only an idiot fresh out of the Academy would think that's a viable strategy."
(End of Chapter)