Kakashi had arrived.
Sakura was fuming. "You're late!" she snapped, standing up so fast her chair nearly toppled over.
Kakashi just raised a hand in lazy defense. "Mah, mah. I got lost on the road of life."
Naruto bit off another piece of carrot.
Sasuke remained silent, but the slight twitch of his eyebrow showed he was just as annoyed.
Kakashi, completely unfazed, reached into his pocket and pulled out two small, silver bells, letting them dangle from his fingers. "This is your test. Your goal is to take one of these bells from me."
The bells jingled softly, catching the light as they swayed.
"There are only two," Kakashi continued, "which means one of you is going back to the Academy."
Sakura stiffened. Sasuke's hands twitched slightly. Naruto swallowed the last of his carrot, licking stray crumbs off his thumb.
Kakashi set an alarm clock down on a tree stump, twisting the dial. "You have until noon."
One hour, then.
"Your time starts now."
Sasuke vanished.
Sakura was right behind him.
Naruto remained standing there in the clearing, staring blankly at Kakashi. The wind rustled the leaves, the distant chirping of birds filling the silence between them.
Kakashi tilted his head. "Not going to hide?"
Naruto blinked slowly, tilting his head the same way. "Can I have a bell, Inu?"
Kakashi's visible eye twitched. "It's Kakashi-sensei, now."
"Oh." Naruto scratched his cheek. "Can I have a bell, Kakashi-sensei?"
Kakashi sighed. "No, get it yourself."
Naruto hummed in thought. His stomach growled.
"You should've listened to me and skipped breakfast," Kakashi mused.
"Didn't have breakfast to begin with," Naruto replied.
Kakashi blinked. "Huh. Well, that's unfortunate."
Naruto sighed. He could feel Sakura and Sasuke hiding in the trees, their presence sharp and tense.
Alright, then.
He shouldn't display what he can do: how much of it he can do. He wasn't sure if there was a point of beating Inu, if he could, that is. Let's just move the limbs a bit.
He bent his knees slightly, then launched himself forward in a sudden blur of movement. His fingers grazed the bells—
Kakashi was gone.
Naruto landed on the ground lightly, blinking at the now-empty space in front of him.
Oh.
Fast.
He turned his head slightly, catching the faint sound of rustling leaves behind him.
"Good attempt," Kakashi said from a branch above, sounding vaguely amused. "But not good enough."
Naruto rolled his shoulders, stretching his arms behind his head.
Alright, maybe this would be fun after all.
The test had begun.
Sakura hid behind a tree, heart pounding, fingers gripping the bark so tightly her nails dug into it. She had barely gotten away before Kakashi could see her. She had seen how quickly he moved, how effortlessly he had dodged Naruto. This was a jōnin. A real ninja.
She swallowed hard.
I have to be smart about this.
Sasuke would probably try a direct attack. That was his style. She doubted Naruto had any real plan. He had just lunged at Kakashi like it was nothing. Idiot.
She needed to be careful. She needed to wait for the right moment.
Quietly, she peeked out from behind the tree, scanning the clearing for any sign of Kakashi.
Then—
A hand clamped onto her shoulder.
She barely had time to scream before the world flipped upside down.
Leaves and sky spun together, her stomach dropping as she found herself hanging, feet in the air, upside down from a tree branch, tied up in a snare of ninja wire.
Her shriek echoed through the forest.
Somewhere, Naruto remarked. "That was fast."
Sasuke moved through the trees silently, watching everything from above. He had seen Naruto's failed attempt. He had seen Sakura get caught.
Now, it was his turn.
He narrowed his eyes, tracking Kakashi's movements carefully. The jōnin was fast, but not impossible to follow. There were patterns in the way he moved, slight tells in the way his weight shifted before he vanished.
Sasuke adjusted his grip on his kunai.
He could do this.
He would do this.
He wasn't going back to the Academy.
Naruto sat cross-legged on a tree branch, watching the events unfold below with mild interest.
Sakura was hanging from a rope. Sasuke was lurking in the shadows, preparing for his attack.
Kakashi stood in the middle of it all, one hand in his pocket, completely unfazed.
Naruto tilted his head.
Maybe I should actually try.
With a lazy stretch, he hopped down from his branch, landing soundlessly on the forest floor.
Kakashi turned his head slightly, sensing the movement.
Naruto blinked.
Then he vanished.
The real game had just begun.
Naruto tilted his head, watching Kakashi flip another page of his orange book, completely ignoring the fact that two of his students had already been taken out. His posture was relaxed, his grip on the book casual, but Naruto wasn't fooled. Beneath that mask of boredom, Kakashi was coiled like a viper, perfectly aware of every movement around him.
Naruto took a step closer. "Can I fight you for real?"
Kakashi didn't even look up. "Go ahead."
That was all the permission he needed.
Naruto moved.
Like a cheetah, he lunged forward, fast and sharp, hands reaching for the bells with practiced precision. But Kakashi was faster. Before Naruto could even blink, Kakashi had already sidestepped, barely bothering to dodge. It was effortless.
Naruto twisted midair, landing on all fours before launching again, this time like a puma—more force, more muscle, more calculated. His foot barely touched the ground before he was airborne again, coming in at a sharper angle.
Kakashi yawned.
Naruto frowned.
Fine, then.
He adjusted his approach. Instead of speed, he hopped lightly, moving unpredictably—rabbit. Then, suddenly, a powerful kick—kangaroo. His legs were fast, stronger than they looked, and they had knocked out grown men before. But—
Kakashi was gone.
Before Naruto could react, a leg swept through the air, catching him at the ribs.
His world spun.
And then, splash.
Water engulfed him instantly, cold and jarring, the pond swallowing his entire form in one go.
For a second, he was still. Then, instinct kicked in, and he shot out of the water like a kingfisher, body arcing through the air, aiming straight for Kakashi's head—
Except—
He hit a log instead.
His face smacked against the rough bark, and before he could react, a voice whispered right behind him.
"Boo."
A foot connected with his back, and suddenly, he was flying again.
Except this time—
"OW!"
Sakura's shriek rang in his ears as he crashed straight into her, sending them both spinning like tangled marionettes.
Naruto groaned, limbs wrapped around hers as they dangled awkwardly from the rope trap.
"Sorry. Dattebane."
Sakura flailed. "Get off me, you idiot!"
"I'm kinda stuck, actually."
"You're heavy!"
"You're loud."
"You're annoying!"
Before Naruto could argue further, there was a click, and the rope suddenly snapped, sending them both plummeting toward the ground.
They landed in a heap of limbs and groans.
Naruto was the first to sit up, rubbing the back of his head.
Sakura groaned from beneath him. "This sucks."
"Yeah."
A shadow loomed over them.
They looked up.
Kakashi crouched on a branch, staring down at them with an eye-smile. "Having fun?"
Naruto narrowed his eyes. "You planned that, didn't you?"
Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "Maa, maybe."
Naruto stared at him, then at the still-dangling bells, then back at Kakashi.
This guy was playing with them.
This wasn't even a challenge for him.
Naruto sighed, standing up and offering a hand to Sakura, who batted it away and stood on her own. He turned toward the last person left standing.
Sasuke.
Naruto could see it in his posture, the way his hands clenched, the way his brows furrowed just slightly.
Frustration.
He was getting impatient.
Sasuke had been watching the entire time. Studying. Calculating. Now, he was ready to move.
And move he did.
With the sharp snap of a twig, Sasuke vanished, moving fast, even faster than Naruto had.
But Kakashi didn't even flinch.
With a single step, he was gone.
A blur of movement. The sound of impact.
Then, silence.
Naruto blinked.
Sasuke was in the ground.
Literally.
Only his legs were sticking out, dirt and debris scattered around the impact zone.
Sakura let out a horrified gasp. Naruto just exhaled through his nose.
Kakashi dusted his hands off. "Well, that's three down."
He checked his watch.
"Ten seconds left."
Naruto sighed, stretching his arms behind his head. "Guess we failed, huh?"
Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. "Oh, you definitely failed."
The alarm clock rang.
Time was up.