Shinobi battle jutsu. The lesson plan Kakashi had developed for all four ninja currently under his supervision. The test isn't simply just finding the hidden meaning, but a lesson to push them in finding the answer that lies behind the exercise. The goal of this test.
Battle jutsu skill one? Taijutsu.
"A thousand years of death!"
"Aaahh!"
Naruto found out the hard way. Attacking a jonin (twice now) without coming to the conclusion that he would counter attack was a fool's mistake. Then it happened twice once more when he was tricked into a trap that even a rat wouldn't fall for it. Talk about simple minded.
Battle jutsu skill two? Genjutsu.
"Sa... Sakura. P-Please... Help me."
"Aaahh!"
Sakura faired no better. In fact, she didn't even get the chance to put up a fight. She was caught instantly by a d-rank genjutsu. One she easily could've seen through, had it not been for the illusion of the boy she's been crushing on since her academy days. She passed out, horrified by the "death" she witnessed.
Battle jutsu skill three? Ninjutsu.
"He's gone! Is he behind me?! Above?! No... Where is he?!"
"Below."
"Wha—"
"Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu!"
"Uaaahh!"
Sasuke Uchiha, considered a prodigy from an early age amongst his peers, proved to be exceptional. However, even with his talented skills and the very blood that courses though him, his lack of experience was his undoing. Having finally gone against one of the many elites with the title "jonin," he was outclassed by a jutsu he never knew existed, and power he had yet to obtain.
In the original story, it was supposed to be finished here. All three graduates defeated by the hands of Kakashi before Naruto was tied to a log for attempting to eat the food placed away for those who earned it. However, Rise being the anomaly he is meant that a small change was going to arise from this. One that would strengthen the bond between the four of them for a future uncertain—
"Shinobi battle step four, bukijutsu."
And a decision he couldn't turn back from.
"So, I'm going to be the only one you use a weapon on, huh?" Rise questioned, placing his hand on the pouch tied to his right leg.
"It seems fair doesn't it? You wouldn't expect me to fight you unarmed while that sword is on your back."
"I can smell the bullshit on that statement."
Standing before him now, Rise found his heart racing. This was it. Summers versus Hatake, a "match" he never would've imagined to become reality during any point in his life. And yet, it was happening right now.
All his years of fighting, but now he stood before a wall he knew he couldn't overcome. Winning against him was impossible, and the slight shaking of his body made him nervous. However, he couldn't deny the excitement coursing through him.
Rise's right hand was already on his ninja tool holster (leg pouch), staring down Kakashi before lifting the flap of his pouch. Two of his fingers slipped through the rings of his kunai, slowly withdrawing the weapons.
Kakashi watched his arm swing upward, spotting the ninja tools flying in his direction with relative ease from years of experience. He of course removed a kunai from his holster with unrecognizable speed—for that of a genin—and deflected the bladed weapons with relative ease. Rise was already closing the distance, jumping before putting a twist in form and swinging his right leg.
His kick was met with a block, and then forced back into the opposite direction. As his feet slid across the ground, his right hand was already gripped on the handle of his kendo sword before he withdrew it from the baldric, and spun around long enough to take an upward swing.
The tip missed, but Rise brought it back down and witnessed Kakashi dodging with ease, flipping his kunai into a backwards hold before stepping in close. A little too close.
'When did he—' his thought process was interrupted by a sudden force being applied to his chest.
Kakashi's outstretched left arm was responsible, his open left palm having sent Rise flying back from his strength alone. Within that time frame, the former yanked the latter's kendo sword from him before tossing the kunai toward his feet. Rise's eyes drifted down to it, but only for a glance before they darted back to Kakashi just to see him examining it.
'It's been a while since I had the closet thing to a regular sword,' Kakashi thought, sliding a finger toward the edge of the tip before swiftly pointing it towards Rise's feet.
His sudden motion made him understand what he was getting at, and it made him slightly nervous. Yet, he grit his teeth because of him. His sword was being held by a matured prodigy, and he knew what the outcome was gonna be. As cool as it may be, it was starting to slightly infuriate him.
He quickly pulled the kunai from the dirt and spun it on his middle finger. It locked into a reverse grip before Rise began dashing at Kakashi, watching the latter stand in place.
Rise blasted off from the ground with a swing of his arm. His attack was met with a kick under the kunai toward his wrist. He winced with his direction being changed, but swung his left leg backward only for it to be blocked by his kendo sword. A push from the bamboo blade made him roll across the ground, tucking his body in midway before managing to toss the kunai with perfect timing. Even then, it was for naught as Kakashi lazily deflected it.
"Surely that's not all. You'll never get a bell at this rate."
The response made Rise frown, slowly standing up as he faced Kakashi. Throwing weapons wasn't going to work, and not having his sword meant he couldn't utilize his kendo style. He knew he couldn't win, but why did it feel so frustrating trying to accept that?
Moving on, he should've updated his stats, but was worried someone would grow suspicious of his development. Still, it couldn't be helped. Better to use what he had for now, and just deal with it.
"Trust me Kakashi-sensei, I'm just getting started."
Rise dashed towards the jonin, disregarding the fact he was weaponless. One jump from the ground and he was in the air again, colliding his fist with the center of his sword that Kakashi used to block. He dropped low and went for a sweep, but Kakashi was already in the air flipping backwards. Rise halted his movements after doing a one-eighty sweep, boosting off the ground his position and drove his left elbow forward.
His elbow met the tsuba (guard) of the sword. Kakashi's hand found its way to his arm, and raised the bamboo sword before coming it a downward swing. Rise outstretched his hand before managing to take ahold of the bamboo sword, but a kick to his chest sent him rolling across the ground before pushing off the dirt during the recovery and proceeded to land on his feet.
His eyes caught Kakashi dashing toward him, but Rise barely managed to avoid being stabbed. He didn't have time to think before seeing Kakashi do a full spin, and the sword's edge was pushing through the dirt on the ground. A dust cloud was created from a swing of the kendo sword, and Rise found himself shielding his face with his arms. Bad move on his part since he recieved a strike to his ankle, causing him to collapse to one knee with a yell escaping him before witnessing Kakashi ready himself for his next attack.
Rise's hands were already on the move, immediately thinking "Tiger, Boar, Ox, Dog, Snake!"
The slash to his head was quick, but Kakashi managed to catch the puff of smoke just in time before hearing a smack infiltrate his ears. He struck a log.
'Substitution. First one of the three to use it, but it won't be of much help,' Kakashi thought, flipping Rise's sword in a reverse grip to swing backwards to block from behind.
Rise was gritting his teeth harder after watching Kakashi perfectly place the guard of the kendo sword below his wrist, stopping his attack with a newly drawn kunai while sending a small shock of pain through his system. Kakashi swung his right foot back, hitting Rise's arms upward to force him away and make him stagger.
He caught the change of the kendo sword being flipped in Kakashi's hand again, leaning backward to avoid a swipe at his neck. Rise flipped backward on to his feet, barely managing to redirect a stab at his stomach only to receive a shoulder bash that sent him to the ground.
"Agh!" He yelled, nearly dropping the kunai in his hand.
The sword cut through the air before it made contact with metal, sending Rise's weapon in his hand flying. Metal clattered against the ground second later, but that wasn't as important as Kakashi cocking his arm back to aim for a point that would stop rise. Then Kakashi noticed the hand signs being formed. Still, he engaged him with his attack, hitting Rise with the ken-sen of the sword. That was until a kunai took it's place, and he already knew which one he substituted too.
'... It wasn't the one I knocked away?'
Or so he thought, because he got a rude awakening once he picked up on the sound of clattering charging his form. All Kakashi was able to do was turn to his left, shielding his chest with his arm before a foot slammed into his limbs from such an alarming speed. Rise had one of the two kunai he tossed from earlier ready in his hand, and brought it down only for Kakashi to keep it from getting too close with Rise's sword. What he didn't expect was for Rise to kick with what momentum he had left, forcing Kakashi to duck.
With the twist of his figure in midair, Rise threw his kunai towards Kakashi's leg, aimining to cut down one of the bells. If not for his years of experience it would've succeeded, but all Kakashi had to do was angle the sword to deflect it. Seeing as his plan failed, Rise jumped back to create distance, but pulled a move that sent off exclamation points in Kakashi's head. The reason for him growing alarmed was because the former decided to place his hands in a snake sign.
'Ya know, when they say plant the seeds to reap the fruits of your labor, I don't think they meant it literally.' Rise remembered as the thought came crawling back, letting his mind wander to the situation that he found Sasuke and Sakura in.
Two pairs of blue-eyes looked over the defeated forms of their teammates, both of them having their concerns placed on one over the other.
"Sakura-chan. Sakura-chan wake up." Naruto shook her slightly, doing his best to try and awaken the recently traumatized girl.
Sasuke on the other hand was grumbling at the insult of being planted like a tree. Other than that, he watched Rise crouch down before pulling out a kunai, using it to dig away at the hole he was trapped in. While he was busy rescuing the Uchiha from the ground, Sakura was beginning to come to. Her vision was blurry, and she felt groggy from having passed out and hitting the ground again.
"Wha... What happened?" She questioned while lifting herself, eyesight returning to normal just in time to familiarize herself with an orange jumpsuit. "Naruto?"
"Hehe! You're finally awake Sakura-chan. You're ok, right?"
"Yeah I'm fine, but Sasuke-kun..." She thought about it, pausing in her statement upon remembering that she saw a bloodied Sasuke on death's door, then another version of him with his head on the ground. "Sasuke-kun! Naruto, where is he?! Is he ok?!"
"He will be once you two join me in digging him out. Help a guy out over here."
The girl didn't need to be told twice as she lifted herself up from the ground with haste. After running over to her crush, Naruto could be seen releasing a groan in the background before joining them in spending the next few minutes breaking the ground around Sasuke. Their goal was achieved since he jumped out from his former prison, dusting himself off with annoyed look before staring at the others.
"I'm glad you're ok!"
"Eh?! Hey, cut it out!" Sasuke was trying to pry Sakura from his body, being captured in a hug from having been in a situation that made her think he died. Twice.
"Now that we're all here, we've got a bigger problem. Noon's gonna be here soon, and none of us have gotten a bell," Rise spoke first, getting their attention with Naruto giving a huff.
"I could've gotten one, but I got strung up and hung by my feet."
"Which is on you for falling into such an obvious trap. Even a toddler wouldn't have easily walked into that," Sakura replied in response, making Naruto deflate slightly from being compared to a toddler.
"None of us may have one now, but I was at least able to touch one. Next time, I'll be taking them from him."
"Next time will be in your dreams unfortunately," Rise responded, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I saw what happened between you and Kakashi. The way you are now—scratch that. The way we are now, none of us are getting close to taking those bells."
"The way I am now?" A small glare manifested onto his expression, Sasuke staring Rise's dead in his eyes before realizing what he said. "Wait, you watched us?"
"Not just you, but Sakura as well. All three of you failed for different reasons, and I have yet to fight Kakashi-sensei."
"Wait, so you saw what happened and didn't do anything?" Sakura pointed a finger at Rise in anger, obviously upset from him not stepping in for her. "You could've helped me, or stopped Kakashi-sensei. You watched me face him alone and did nothing."
"Sorry you ended up being illusion food, but I was busy planning on how we could take the bells from him. In case you didn't pick up on it yet, everyone here except me has been through the wringer."
"Seeing as you have yet to obtain the bells, I can see why," Sasuke said, shoving his hands into pockets before replying "however, I never imagined you of all people to wait on a fight."
Rise raised an eyebrow at that, but then it came to him. A memory of sorts that he wasn't familiar with. Still, he saw it. A moment in time where he was itching for a reason to brawl. It didn't seem to just be one incident, but many more as he grew older. The game was providing him what he needed, but playing a part would only grow more difficult if he didn't get access to whatever memory bank this body has already experienced.
Moving on, Rise released a sigh before folding his arms. "Until today. I know I can't take him on my own, and all three of you paid the price for doing so," was his response which earned him a glare from Sasuke. Not out of anger, but from the truth of the situation.
"Then what are we supposed to do?" Sakura asked. "If we don't get a bell before noon, we'll be disqualified and sent back to the academy."
"Hmph! And I came too far to end up at that dump again dattebayo."
"None of us won't have to end up there if we simply work as a team," Rise responded, getting a look from Sasuke.
"Work as a team? In case you forgotten, there's three bells, and one of us would willingly have to take disqualification in order for the others to pass."
"Yeah, Sasuke-kun's right," Sakura replied as she began recalling the statement from memory. "Only three bells are present because the fourth will be tied to the log, and has to watch everyone else eat before being sent back to the academy. No one would willingly work together if it means failing and losing the right to be a ninja."
"Ok, but how exactly are you gonna get a bell is my question," Rise spoke, staring down Sakura who felt slightly uncomfortable from his gaze. "The only person here who managed to touch one is Sasuke, and even he was bested due to Kakashi's years of experience. We're fresh out of the academy genin going up against an enemy we couldn't possibly defeat alone."
"That's—well..." Sakura paused in her statement, unable to find a rebuttal.
"Not to mention, he's gonna be more on guard now against Sasuke, so any chance of him getting one now is out of the question. He's a jonin, and we're not gonna get past him by ourselves at this rate with noon getting closer."
"Then what are gonna do, because I'm not failing this test!"
"As I mentioned before, we need to work together as one. After all, Iruka-sensei didn't assign all of us to a team just so we could play solo ninja."
"Then what's the plan?" Sasuke asked, slightly annoyed by the outcome of this. "Because I'm not sticking around if you have nothing in mind."
"Finally, someone's asking the right question," Rise replied before saying "the plan is simple, but I'm gonna need one thing from you."
"Like what?" The moment he asked that, black eyes watched the smirk carve itself into Rise's expression.
"Teach me the hand signs to your fire ball jutsu. That's where the plan starts." Now that brings us back to the present, Rise sending a glance to one of the trees nearby before the thought "I hope you three are ready" crossed his mind.
Rise dashed off towards Kakashi, his hands quickly going through the snake, ram, monkey, boar, horse, and tiger hand signs. Kakashi realized what was about to happen, but grew stunned when Rise betrayed the fireball attempt, and instead dispersed before reappearing in front of his face.
'Body flicker?!' He ducked in a knick of time, but caught glimpse of an outstretched hand.
Kakashi twisted his body, swinging behind him to deflect Rise's hand which caused the latter to block. From no where, shuriken flew out from their surrounding area, and his trained ears picked up on who they were targeting from the swishing sounds growing closer. That's when he witnessed not one, nor two, but multiple throwing stars heading his way.
The jonin ducked a kick from Rise before knocking him away with his own sword so he could focus on deflecting the weaponry flying at him. A surprise hit him once more up upon seeing every last shuriken burst into smoke, multiple fist and feet started coming from all angles around him.
"Gotcha now Kakashi-sensei!"
Said man being mentioned was quick on his feet to tilt his head from the first punch that nearly made contact, but the way he spun afterward allowed the kendo sword to slash at every Naruto present, poofing everyone out of existence except the real one who slammed against the ground with a yell.
With the time he had available to look around, Kakashi tried to spot where the shuriken disguised Narutos were thrown from, but a singular kunai caught his attention. He twisted his torso slightly, dodging with it ease before it poofed and turned into Sasuke. Sasuke's left hand was outstretched, appearing to reach for the bells attached to his shinobi pouch on his right side. Kakashi brought his right leg back, but Sasuke brought his hand to his lips and made a "O" with his hand.
'Fire Style: Fireball jutsu!' Flames immediately began erupting from his mouth, and Kakashi found himself narrowly dodging the attack.
His feet skidded across the ground, and he was able to catch Naruto, Sasuke, and Rise with their hands in a tiger sign. He knew where this was going, but—
'What the—' his arms were apprehended, and his torso ended up with two legs wrapped around him from a pink-haired genin he was all too familiar with. 'I left my guard down for too long.'
The moment his thought concluded, Kakashi caught the speed of Rise and Sasuke through the body flicker technique. The boys apprehended his legs, making sure he couldn't move before two Narutos appeared in smoke beside the original.
"Alright, you two make sure Kakashi-sensei doesn't move while I get the bells."
"You got it boss!"
After his command, the two went over and held him before Naruto jogged around to Sakura who kept her grip tight on Kakashi. Reaching past her, he snatched the bells tied to Kakashi's shinobi pouch, smirking brightly.
"Looks like we yanked the bells from you Kakashi-sensei!"
"Hmm... Looks like you did indeed," he replied casually, turning his head to see the smiles of Rise, Sakura, and Sasuke as best as he could.
After hearing their confirmed victory, the three relinquished their hold on their superior with the two clones dispersing. As all eyes were on Kakashi, he gave out a small sigh before looking towards Naruto. Despite having "lost" to his subordinates, the test wasn't done yet. He may not've expected them to band together before the appointed time and succeed in getting the bells, but their victory against him meant he could ask a simple question.
"So, who are you giving a bell to, Naruto?"
"... Eh?" The question itself caught them all off guard.
All eyes landed on Kakashi, the latter expressing his confusion with his one eye alone. "What? I thought I made it clear that whoever didn't get a bell would be sent back to the academy," which made their eyes nearly bulge out of their sockets.
"Hold on just a second! Even through all that effort, one of us still has to fail?!" Sakura questioned, her anger slightly showing itself as Kakashi gave her his attention. "We figured out the meaning of the test being teamwork, managed to get the bells despite the odds not being in our favor, but one of us still has to fail despite all the effort that got us here?!"
"Of course. After all, I did make it clear that it could be one of you, or all of you. Since Naruto has them in hands, he gets to choose the two that stays with him."
Blue eyes glanced down at the three bells in his hand, the Uzumaki staring down at them as if he obtained power he shouldn't have. All he could do was give the items in hands a blank stare. After all that work, one of them was still going to be sent back to the academy; he was the one deciding who it would be in the end.
"... Why do I have to decide?" He asked, but it felt more like a rhetorical. "We worked together to get them, and you're telling me that my only on option is leave one of them behind despite all that?"
"Yes, I am."
"But that's unfair! There's no way I could leave one of them behind when we worked so hard to get this point!"
"It doesn't matter how unfair it is," Kakashi retorted, keeping Naruto's frustrated expression on himself. "As ninja, you have to make the hardest decisions, or risk everything INCLUDING your team. Those bells were your target, but your mission isn't finished. They still need to end up in the hands of your comrades who you want to stick by you."
"And if I refuse to let one of them fail?" He asked.
"Then I'll fail every last one of you," Kakashi was serious.
Naruto answered his words with a growl, grumbling as he stared back at the bells. Sasuke was in disbelief, but the clicking of his teeth and tight clenching of his hands with his knuckles turning white was a clear showcase of his blood boiling. Sakura was scared, and all she could do was send Rise a glance. His twisted expression of distress was enough to make her worry further, and she couldn't help but think about the unfairness from their situation.
They figured out the true meaning of the test, and yet they were still meeting a dead end for one of them. Whoever Naruto didn't choose would be back in the academy, meaning they would have to kiss their shinobi/kunoichi career goodbye.
Speaking of said blonde, he grit his teeth. Whoever doesn't get a bell is getting sent back to the classrooms, but if he doesn't make that choice then everyone fails. Yet, he couldn't decide. It wasn't fair to them when they played a part in getting him here, and he wasn't going to throw away their dreams of being ninja if he selected no one. Sasuke was chasing after a man he wanted to kill and restore his clan, Sakura wanted to be with Sasuke—which heavily pained him every time he thought about it as he liked her—and Rise just wanted to live his life however he wanted to while helping them achieve their dreams.
Still, he wasn't gonna sacrifice any of them to get ahead. No matter how big or small, detailed or vague, he wasn't gonna leave their dreams behind to achieve his own. After all, what kind of Hokage in the making would forfeit one of their own to reach the top? Not Naruto Uzumaki, that's for sure!
"Alright Kakashi-sensei, I know who I wanna gives the bells too." His bright smirk slightly confused them, but Kakashi's demeanor remained the same.
"So, who's gonna become genin with you?"
"No one, because I'm giving a bell to the three of them."
His answered surprised all of them. Without another word, he gave Rise, Sasuke, and Sakura bell. It left him empty handed, but his content smile meant he was satisfied by his decision.
"Naruto you can't—" Rise and Sakura tried to rebuttal, but Kakashi swung his arm in front of them to halt the two from speaking any more of that sentence.
"Is your decision final?" Kakashi asked.
"Yeah, it is. My dream is to become Hokage, but I don't need to throw away their dreams to do so. No matter how long it takes, I'll catch up to everyone and show them that no one is more deserving of the title than Naruto Uzumaki!"
Kakashi closed his eye at the declaration, nodding his head at Naruto's words. Those words felt so similar to... Never mind.
"Then I won't argue with your decision. Rise, Sakura, Sasuke, you all passed the survival exercise. As for you Naruto..."
Kakashi paused in his statement, letting the air grow heavy as he was about to declare Naruto's failure. Sakura grew saddened, Sasuke's glare hardened at the bell in his hand, but the explosion anger about to release itself from Rise showed itself clearly in his expression. All because of him, because of his choice to meddle in the story at this point, Naruto was going to fail. A possibility he never considered threw itself in the story, and Naruto was paying the price for Rise altering it.
Not on his watch.
"Hell no I don't accept this! Naruto deserves to—"
"You passed. Welcome to team seven."
"... Eh?"
A thumbs up aimed in his direction with Kakashi's signature one-eyed smile made his expression become confusion before it turned into full blown shock. In fact, even the three behind Kakashi were in disbelief from his declaration.
"I—passed?" Naruto questioned, not sure if this was something he should believe.
"Not just you Naruto. All of you. Each and every last one of you has earned the right to be here."
"But how?" Sakura asked, getting Kakashi to place his sight on her own.
"Simply put, you four are the first to make it this far. Before you guys, everyone blindly followed my orders without giving it much thought just because I'm their superior. It made it easy to weed out those who weren't ready."
His response made them silent, Kakashi stepping back to give them his undivided attention. He could still see the inexperience in them, but there was something beneath it that reminded him ever so clearly why these four were worth keeping around.
"In the world of ninja, you must always see through deception. This test was designed to make you all think you were at risk of going back to the academy if you didn't get a bell, but you still found teamwork amongst each other to overcome that obstacle. That, and Naruto's decision to pass you all instead of himself firmly cemented what I'm gonna tell you now."
The wind blew past them slightly. A few leaves kicked up before swiftly passing them, flowing ever so free with the breeze. Kakashi casted his sight upon the sky, almost as if to reminisce on what used to be, and what could've been.
"In this life, those who breaks the codes and rules are branded as garbage. However, those who fail to cherish their friends are scum worse than that."
The four of them smiled. Or in Sasuke's case, gave a small smirk.
"That's it for this exercise. Team seven receives their first mission starting tomorrow!" He gave them one last thumbs up, looking forward to what his team would offer in their future as genin and hopefully further beyond.
"Yes sir!" Sakura screamed, inner Sakura suddenly coming forth within in her mind just to shout "cha!"
"Hell yeah! Now that's a good ending!" Rise's shout got Naruto's attention, the two hi-fiving each other as their celebration.
"We're ninja!" There wasn't anything Naruto could say other than those two words, and he'd scream it for as long as he needed to for this very moment.
Sasuke was the only quiet one, having lost his smirk. His happiness for the situation was still there though, but of course the Uchiha wouldn't show it for some reason. Despite that, the day had finally come to a close for Naruto, Rise, Sakura, and Sasuke. From this point onward, whatever awaited them around every corner wishing to show them harm would be dealt with accordingly.
Look out ninja world. Here's comes the wild storm that is team seven.