Chapter 18: The True Test and a Month of D-Ranks
Kakashi meticulously pieced together the strategy, his voice a mix of professional admiration and personal chagrin. "First, you used Sasuke's Great Fireball as a massive diversion to create two Shadow Clones and hide them. Then, while I was subduing Sasuke, you sacrificed one clone, knowing it would draw our collective attention. You then deliberately revealed the location of your second clone in the tree, making me believe I had outsmarted you and located the real you. That made me drop my guard." He paused, his visible eye narrowing. "And the final move I never anticipated—the clone I had buried broke free of my Earth Style jutsu to launch that shuriken and snag the bells. Impressive. You are one of the most tactically gifted shinobi I've ever encountered."
Naruto listened to the praise with a face of stone. Internally, he was amused. Kakashi had gotten one crucial detail wrong.
The one buried in the earth hadn't been a clone.
It had been him, the real Naruto. Breaking free from the Headhunter Jutsu without hand seals required pure, unadulterated physical power, far beyond the chūnin level he had intended to display. To retrieve the bells, he'd been forced to reveal a fraction of his true strength.
As if to confirm this, the single hand sticking out of the soil made a quick gesture. The two other Narutos—the one in the tree and the one by the bell—poofed into nonexistence, leaving only the one trapped in the ground. The real one.
Kakashi stared, the gears in his head grinding to a halt. His brilliant analysis had just collapsed. The embarrassment was palpable.
Ahem.
Kakashi coughed, trying to reclaim his composure. "Well," he began, shifting his focus to the other two. "As it stands, Uzumaki Naruto has acquired the bells. He has earned his place."
He turned his gaze to Sasuke and Sakura, his voice hardening. "Sasuke. Sakura."
The two flinched, bracing for the verdict.
"Only one of you will become a genin today."
The words hung in the air, heavy and cruel. Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other, a complex storm of emotions passing between them. Sasuke, for all his coldness, felt a pang of guilt at the thought of his success costing her a future. Sakura, meanwhile, was drowning in a sea of inferiority.
'What right do I have to stand beside them?' she thought, looking at Sasuke's fierce determination and Naruto's unnerving calm. 'They're in a different league. If only two can pass, it should be them.'
Her resolve solidified. She stood up straight, meeting Kakashi's gaze with a firmness that surprised everyone. "I forfeit!"
Sasuke's eyes widened, staring at the pink-haired girl as if seeing her for the first time.
Kakashi studied her intently. "Are you certain?"
"Yes," Sakura declared, her voice unwavering. "I am giving up my chance to become a genin. During this test, I saw the true gap between myself, Sasuke, and Naruto. If only two can pass... they are the most deserving."
A profound silence fell over the training ground. Sasuke was speechless. Kakashi was contemplative. Naruto simply stifled another yawn.
Then, Naruto spoke, his voice cutting through the quiet. "Kakashi-sensei."
He tossed the two silver bells back to the jōnin. They jingled as they landed in Kakashi's open palm.
Kakashi looked down at the bells, then back at Naruto, utterly confused. "?"
"If being a ninja means abandoning my comrades," Naruto stated, his tone flat yet resonant, "then I don't want to be one."
His words landed like a shockwave. Sakura's eyes welled up with fresh tears, a wave of gratitude and newfound respect washing over her. For the first time, she saw past the lazy exterior to the unwavering loyalty beneath.
Sasuke looked from Naruto to Sakura, then to the bells in Kakashi's hand. A bitter conflict warred within him. Finally, he gritted his teeth and stood, affecting an air of cold indifference. "I'll... graduate next year, then." He turned to leave, his pride forcing him to accept this outcome.
"Wait."
Kakashi's voice stopped him. The jōnin began to clap, a slow, deliberate applause that echoed in the clearing.
"Congratulations," he announced, a genuine smile finally gracing his features. "All three of you... pass."
Sasuke and Sakura stared, dumbfounded, their minds struggling to catch up.
"Those who break the rules are scum," Kakashi explained, his gaze sweeping over them. "But those who abandon their comrades are worse than scum. The true purpose of this test was never to see who could get a bell. It was to see if you had the will to protect your team, no matter the cost. All three of you demonstrated that perfectly. You pass."
Sakura burst into tears of relief and joy. Sasuke let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, a rare, unguarded look of relief flashing across his face.
A month later, Team 7 had settled into the grueling, monotonous rhythm of a genin's life. Their days were filled with an endless parade of D-rank missions—pulling weeds, painting fences, finding lost pets. They were currently outside a farmer's house, waist-deep in a field under the warm sun.
Kakashi leaned against a fence post, his nose buried in Make-Out Paradise. His one visible eye, however, kept flicking towards Naruto, who was methodically stacking firewood. There was a subtle lack of presence, a certain flatness to his chakra that Kakashi had come to recognize.
'A Shadow Clone again,' he mused to himself. Since the team's formation, the real Naruto had only participated in a single mission. The rest of the time, this doppelganger did the work while the original was... elsewhere. Kakashi had a strong suspicion it involved a certain Hyūga heiress.
This constant absence was eroding any chance of building team cohesion. Sasuke was growing more distant, and Sakura, while trying her best, was clearly affected by Naruto's lack of genuine engagement.
Closing his book with a soft snap, Kakashi made a decision. "I'm heading out for a bit," he announced to the team. "Keep up the good work."
As he walked away, his mind was already formulating the request. 'It's time to pay the Hokage a visit. We need a C-rank. A real mission. Something that will force the real Naruto to show up.'
(End of Chapter)