Kakashi sat on one of the stumps of Training Ground 7, reading his book and occasionally glancing at the alarm clock standing on the center post. The clock showed ten minutes to noon.
By the time Kakashi returned with the small kunoichi over his shoulder, all of Naruto's clones on the training ground had been dispelled. The jonin's copy had handled them without much trouble. Having received the information from the clones' battle, the man assessed Naruto's level of preparation. Quite decent, for a boy considered the worst student of his graduating class. Shadow clones, fire jutsu — mediocre ones, but still. Good throwing skills. For peaceful conditions, entirely respectable — especially given the absence of proper teachers.
Initially Hatake had intended to walk straight into the genin's trap in the forest. But upon spotting the defenseless Sakura in the trees, arguing with one of Naruto's clones, he had changed his mind. Not because he was afraid — not at all.
First, he simply couldn't pass up the opportunity that had presented itself — to make things harder for the team by taking Sakura "hostage." Second, because the boys needed to understand that things don't always go according to plan. Better that the genin learn this lesson here, on the training ground during the bell test, than discover the cost of failure on a mission — where the price of a mistake could prove far too high. Up to and including the loss of a teammate, or their own life.
Kakashi glanced at one of the posts, to which the unconscious Sakura was tied. The girl was snoozing sweetly, her head tilted toward her shoulder. The tear tracks had dried, and nothing seemed to remain of her recent distress.
Yes, I think I overdid the Genjutsu, Hatake recalled the girl's reaction. He was curious how Naruto would react to the clone's memories — the blond clearly had feelings for Sakura. And she had feelings for the Uchiha. A rather amusing little love triangle had formed.
The jonin dismissed the unnecessary thoughts. The students could attack at any moment.
Pretending to read his book, Hatake was in fact fully alert, anticipating an attack at all times. The Hokage had also hinted plainly to Kakashi that he should be gentler with the genin and finally set aside his laziness, taking responsibility for the team. So slipping out of the jonin-instructor duties this time around probably wouldn't work.
They're taking their time, Hatake thought. Five minutes remained until noon.
But the next moment, several kunai flew at the jonin with a whistle. Without looking up from his book, he twirled the cane in his hand and deflected every incoming projectile.
The kunai embedded themselves in the ground in front of him, forming a neat line.
"You weren't in a hurry," Kakashi said, putting his reading away in his pouch. He hopped off the stump and began strolling unhurriedly toward the forest's edge.
No time for showing off now. The kids were genin, but talented ones. Uzumaki was also unpredictable on top of everything else.
The boys stepped slowly out of cover, and while Sasuke wore his usual gloomy, focused expression, Naruto radiated killing intent. Apparently Kakashi had made him genuinely furious.
Interesting — is he this angry about Sakura, or about the Secret Technique of Two Fingers? Kakashi thought.
"You have five minutes left," Hatake began, coming to a stop. "Get the bells — and you can continue your path as shinobi. Fail — and the Academy is waiting…"
"You're going to answer for this, dattebayo," Naruto snarled, cutting the jonin off. He shot a dark look at Sakura. Then, for some reason, his hand reached toward his lower back.
"If that hadn't been a clone, my backside would still be hurting!" the boy shouted.
Forming a hand seal, he created two clones and immediately launched into an attack with them. This time neither he nor the clones held any weapon. Instead, all three were forming hand seals for a fire technique at full speed.
Has he lost his mind from rage?.. You idiot — Sakura is behind me! Kakashi clenched his teeth. He could use the Body Replacement Technique to dodge, but then the fireballs might catch the sleeping kunoichi. So the jonin was forced to use a considerably more costly technique.
"Earth Release: Mud Wall!"
A wall of earth jutsu burst from beneath the grass, shielding the man and the unconscious Sakura from the furious genin's attack. Kakashi hadn't spared chakra on the technique — the wall extended roughly twenty meters in length and seven in height. This should hold Uzumaki for a few moments. Perhaps he would realize he had nearly injured his teammate and calm down.
But the next moment a couple of clones appeared from above. They pushed off from the top of the wall, successfully completing their fire jutsu — then, flying over the jonin, immediately threw kunai. After that they dispersed with a pop.
Kakashi had braced to take the fireballs directly, reinforcing his body with chakra — but to his surprise, the jutsu passed wide, only setting the grass alight behind him, creating a curtain of flame and smoke. Two kunai thrown in their wake also landed strangely — in the ground in front of him, two more to his left. This struck the jonin as odd, since Naruto hadn't shown any accuracy problems before.
Hatake heard some commotion and turned. Through the smoke he saw the Uchiha cutting the ropes and freeing Sakura. The genin was sprinting away from the posts with the kunoichi in his arms, and Kakashi began to suspect something.
Looking more closely at the kunai, he finally spotted explosive tags wrapped around the handles.
The jonin leaped right immediately — but to his surprise, the embedded kunai vanished in puffs of smoke.
Shadow kunai? But why?
The moment Kakashi landed, a mass of small hands seized him from all sides. They were Naruto's clones. The man had sensed them earlier, but hadn't rushed to pull back. Strangely, the clones weren't even trying to grab the bells. Perhaps Naruto had forgotten the actual objective of the test?
He anticipated where I'd end up in advance. But to what end?
Hatake decided not to use the Body Replacement Technique immediately. A bunch of kids couldn't seriously harm a jonin. But as a precaution, Kakashi reinforced his body with chakra.
"Ready, Boss!" the clones shouted, pressing themselves tighter against the shinobi.
"And what now?" Kakashi said without expression. The clones' only response was a collective grin. There turned out to be five of them.
A smirking Uzumaki appeared atop the wall — most likely the original.
He sharply formed the snake seal and said:
"Kai!.."
The blast was impressive. But Naruto wasn't worried about the Copy Ninja's survival — the man was an S-rank jonin, after all. And if Kakashi had fallen for such a simple trap and gotten badly hurt by it, then… the man needed to retire.
Yes, Naruto had hit upon the idea of simultaneously using clones and explosive tags. The concept had seemed brilliant to him: plant explosive tags beneath the clones' clothing, then detonate them the moment the copies reached their target. The only ones who could spot the trick were Hyuuga with their Byakugan.
The tactic was nearly perfect. Its only downside was the need for a large supply of explosive tags, which had to either be purchased or made oneself. The first was expensive. The second was currently out of reach due to his lack of Fūinjutsu skills. But going forward, Uzumaki had decided that alongside his core training and the subjects Iruka-sensei had recommended, he would take a few lessons in Fūinjutsu.
When the dust settled and the smoke from the explosion cleared, Naruto was treated to the sight of a very roughed-up, yet deeply displeased jonin. It emerged that the man had no intention of retiring — despite the scorched clothing and slightly singed, smoking hair, he looked relatively unharmed. Only the area around one eye was blackened with soot. Even the cane had come through intact, which made the genin curious what it was actually made of.
Kakashi shook his head once, then again, trying to clear the ringing. Then his eye widened, and with a trembling hand he opened his pouch and pulled out his treasure.
What remained of Jiraiya's book was half of it. Only the spine had survived intact — the pages were smoldering and shrinking before his eyes. Hatake's body swayed, and the book slipped from his hand.
His gaze went blank, and the man muttered beneath his breath:
"The book… Jiraiya-sama's gift… Jiraiya-sama's autograph…"
"Oops…" escaped from Naruto.
"Naruto!.." the jonin growled. "It seems you want to experience the Leaf's secret technique firsthand…"
"Boss, I think it's time to run!" the voice of one of the watching clones rang out.
"Yep," Uzumaki nodded.
He backflipped off the wall, which was already beginning to crumble. In midair the boy created a dozen clones.
A mass of blonds scattered in every direction, trying to throw the furious jonin off.
But Kakashi also created two clones and began methodically eliminating the Naruto copies. The shinobi moved like lightning. His clones kept perfect pace with Hatake.
What a fraud! Naruto fumed. He doesn't need that cane for walking — he needs it to chase poor genin around more easily…
Watching the clones being picked off at the corner of his eye, Naruto concluded that Kakashi needed to be worn down. The problem was they had far too little time for that tactic to work.
Or… A wide smile crept onto Naruto's face on its own.
Hatake was making short work of Uzumaki's clones with considerable speed. The blond kept generating fresh copies, but it helped little.
Just how much chakra does this idiot have? Sasuke thought.
"Fire Release: Fireball!"
A powerful cloud of flame flew at one of Kakashi's clones that had gotten too caught up in the game of "find the real Naruto." The jonin's copy vanished with a pop. The Uchiha allowed himself a crooked smirk.
Earlier the boy had carried the unconscious kunoichi away from the epicenter of events, and now he decided to join the battle himself. Only minutes remained until noon.
Before Sasuke could exhale with relief, Kakashi's second clone came at him. It was obviously a clone — the original was in a thoroughly battered state, while this copy was in perfect condition, and notably without the cane.
The Uchiha threw one kunai, then another, then a pair of shuriken. But every projectile missed; the clone dodged without apparent effort. When they closed in for melee, Sasuke felt the full power and speed of the jonin's strikes. He could barely keep up with his reactions.
Damn it! It's only a clone, but it's this strong…
After taking several solid hits, the Uchiha sharply broke away from the exchange. His hands blurred as he formed seals. A couple of moments later a fireball flew at Kakashi's copy. This jutsu came out even more powerful than the previous one.
Sasuke didn't hear the characteristic pop, but sincerely hoped the clone was destroyed. Because he couldn't fight any longer. He had spent far too much chakra — his body was unsteady, and his vision slightly doubled. In this state he didn't have enough left for Ninjutsu, and Taijutsu against a jonin was useless.
"Earth Release: Underground Decapitation Technique!"
The next moment the Uchiha was pulled into the earth, leaving only his head above the surface. A couple of breaths later he saw the looming silhouette of the jonin standing over him, blocking out the sun like a small mountain.
"Well…" the shinobi scratched his chin thoughtfully. "I'm disappointed. If this is the full extent of the last Uchiha's skills, then…"
The jonin paused momentarily, then continued:
"…The Uchiha clan has no future."
Sasuke's face contorted. He clenched his teeth against his own powerlessness and felt rage filling him. He intended to avenge himself upon his brother — an SS-rank missing-nin — but right now he couldn't even handle a clone of a local jonin.
"I'll get stronger," Sasuke said darkly, lowering his head.
"I hope so," Kakashi said briefly, then formed a seal and dispelled.
Suddenly, beyond the sounds of battle, the brunette heard the cracking of branches. At the edge of his vision, the genin caught someone emerging from the forest.
It was Sakura, rubbing her eyes and staring around in confusion. Her gaze caught on the Uchiha, her eyes went wide in shock, and with a cry of "Sasuke-kun!" she fainted.
The boy clicked his tongue in displeasure and began trying to work his way free of the earth trap, watching what was happening on the training ground at the same time.
"One-Eye-Sensei, I promise I'll buy you a new book!" the many-voiced chorus in the name of Uzumaki Naruto was shouting.
"Come back here, you little brat!" Kakashi snarled. "Stop hiding among your clones. Come out and take your punishment like a man!"
No chance, Naruto thought. No sensible man would take that kind of punishment…
The clones kept drawing farther from the posts with the alarm clock. Kakashi continued pursuing the group of about ten blonds as they neared the forest's edge. And Naruto finally decided to act.
He let out a piercing whistle, and the clones began running up the trees. Naruto himself dissolved into the copies and climbed one of the trunks using chakra.
But Kakashi materialized directly in front of him.
That fast! How did he… Naruto didn't finish the thought, because Hatake was already swinging his cane and rasping:
"Don't whistle — you'll never get rich."
The cane strike aimed at Naruto's head was barely caught on a block of crossed forearms. His muscles ached unpleasantly, but Naruto took a step back, then — without leaving the tree — performed a cartwheel. He followed it by throwing a couple of kunai, which were immediately batted aside by the jonin.
Uzumaki formed a seal: with a pop and a cloud of smoke, a massive fuma shuriken appeared in the genin's hands and was immediately hurled at Kakashi.
Hatake angled his body to the right, letting the projectile sail past.
"Useless!" the jonin commented.
Suddenly the fuma shuriken behind Kakashi transformed into a Naruto clone, which latched onto the trunk and reached for the bells on the jonin's belt.
The blond's hand touched the bells, threatening to tear them free — but Kakashi stepped sharply forward, dispelling the clone with a backward strike of the cane without looking.
Naruto clicked his tongue in irritation.
"You could at least play along a little, dattebayo," the genin muttered in displeasure, settling into a combat stance.
The Copy Ninja prepared for the next exchange — but Uzumaki suddenly turned and leaped down. Kakashi followed, only for a volley of assorted throwing weapons to come at him from multiple directions simultaneously. The clones hadn't taken up their positions for decoration, after all.
It looked for a moment as though Hatake had been riddled with shuriken and kunai — but an instant later the jonin's illusion dispersed, revealing a falling log.
"I hate the Body Replacement Technique!" Naruto hissed, sprinting toward the nearby lake. Kakashi emerged from the forest in pursuit.
A few moments later Uzumaki was standing on the water's surface, turned to face his instructor. Looking into the jonin's smirking eye, he formed a hand seal. It appeared he was preparing for a mass shadow clone technique.
"You're quite good," Kakashi said. "For an Academy graduate, your skills are impressive… Shadow clones, fire jutsu, walking freely on trees and water using chakra. The idea of planting explosive tags in the clones was also rather original…"
The jonin paused. Sasuke, now free, and the awakened Sakura had come to the edge of the water. Both looked slightly dazed — most likely they had never seen shinobi standing on water before.
"Of course, against someone at the level of an elite jonin, that's child's play — but still…" he turned to look at the pair of genin, then back at Naruto. "The good news is that none of you need to return to the Academy…"
At those words Uzumaki relaxed and, breaking into a wide grin, scratched the back of his head. The other two also exhaled with relief.
"Yes. You three can forget about a career as ninja," Kakashi finished.
Sakura let out a stunned gasp, Sasuke frowned, and Uzumaki's smile froze for a moment — then shifted into something predatory, becoming a bared grin.
"We still have time to take the bells, One-Eye-Sensei. So your words mean nothing," Naruto formed the seal again. "I will become the strongest shinobi and the greatest Hokage. The opinion of some ordinary jonin doesn't interest me."
Kakashi only smirked at this speech. Sakura looked back and forth between her sensei and Naruto.
"I didn't want to use this, one-eye, but you've left me no choice… The Forbidden Jutsu of the Uzumaki…"
A palpable wave of killing intent crashed over the training ground.
Kakashi frowned. Sakura trembled with fear, but Sasuke only gave a quiet snort, the corner of his mouth curving into something close to a smile. Naruto formed several seals.
"Harem Technique!"
The training ground was engulfed in clouds of smoke, from which a multitude of beautiful women appeared. Blondes, brunettes, redheads. What united them was one thing: all had perfect figures and incredibly attractive forms, concealed by colorful swimsuits.
Kakashi lost his concentration and stumbled backward into the lake, sinking to his knees in the water. The beauties waded in as well and began lavishing their attentions on the jonin.
"Kakashi-san is so cute," a blonde said coyly, running a gentle hand through the man's silver hair.
"Would Kakashi-san go on a date with me?" a brunette asked, lips pouting, pressing close to his arm.
"Kakashi-san, you're simply wonderful," a petite redhead said breathlessly, jumping onto Hatake from behind and pressing herself to the back of his head.
Kakashi appeared to lose his grip on reality entirely. He swallowed loudly. Were it not for his mask, onlookers would have been able to observe streams of blood trickling from the jonin's nose.
The man felt as though he had arrived in Paradise. The chiming sound pulled him back from his state of total bliss.
The bells, damn it…
Hatake turned his head and saw the brunette holding the bells in her hand, smiling slyly.
The redhead twisted nimbly in the air and landed gracefully in front of him, barely raising a splash.
"Mission accomplished, One-Eye-Sensei!" the redhead's smile turned into a sharp grin — and the next moment Kakashi received a powerful blow to the solar plexus. His body lifted slightly off the ground, and something audibly cracked among his ribs.
The brunette tossed the bells to the redhead, and Naruto dismissed the technique. The blond stood before the air-gulping jonin, swinging the bells.
"That's for Sakura," he said, then whispered: "And for my backside."
Uzumaki, jingling the bells, made his way toward his teammates. Sasuke had already concealed his smirk, returning his face to its gloomy, focused expression. Sakura stared in shock, looking between the jonin and Naruto. The girl's cheeks were red, and she clearly wanted to say exactly what she thought of the indecent technique.
RRRRING…
The alarm clock's unpleasant trill rang out across the vicinity of Training Ground 7, announcing the end of the test. One of Uzumaki's clones ran to the post and smacked the top of the clock, silencing the universally despised device.
"Just made it," Uzumaki grinned, walking over to the other genin.
Kakashi finally recovered from the unexpected blow. He slowly straightened, turned, and walked toward the bank.
"So what now, Naruto?" the jonin asked. "There are three of you, but only two bells."
Uzumaki smiled sadly. He tossed a bell each to his teammates.
"If someone has to go back to the Academy, let it be me. I have gaps in my knowledge, so repeating some classes would do me good. I'm leaving. See you guys!"
Uzumaki waved to the genin and walked unhurriedly away from the training ground. The other two stared blankly at the bells in their hands.
The Uchiha frowned, then nodded to himself and fixed a sharp gaze on Kakashi.
"I'm leaving too," he tossed his bell to the jonin and walked with a firm stride after Naruto.
Sakura watched her beloved depart with a dazed expression. But she didn't think for long. The girl ran to Kakashi, apologized, returned her bell, and jogged after the Uchiha.
"Sasuke-kun, wait!.."
The brunette caught up with Naruto. Shortly after, Sakura caught up with them as well.
"Are you sure about this?" the Uchiha shot a displeased glance at the grinning Uzumaki, whose question he ignored. "What if you're wrong?"
The small kunoichi stared at the boys in bewilderment:
"What are you talking about?"
Suddenly Kakashi appeared directly in front of them. His expression was fierce.
"You…" the jonin's voice sounded more like something from a demon.
Sakura began trembling like a leaf in the wind, Sasuke tensed, and Naruto wore a vacant grin — though a bead of sweat was visibly running from his temple.
The weather shifted abruptly. A strong wind rose, clouds rolled across the sky, lightning flashed, thunder rolled. A storm was building.
"Do you have any idea what you've done?!" Kakashi's voice boomed.
The girl's legs gave way and she fell. The Uchiha dropped into a fighting stance. The vacant smile never left Naruto's face, though the bead of sweat on his temple was quite evident.
"…You passed," the jonin showed his eye-smile and scratched the back of his head. "Congratulations — well done."
The weather normalized just as abruptly. The sky returned to blue, the wind died. As if there had never been any storm.
Naruto and Sasuke exhaled simultaneously. Sakura jumped to her feet and was about to say something, but their instructor cut her off.
"Team Seven — you have successfully passed the test," Hatake began. "The primary purpose of the test was to check your teamwork and determine whether you could set aside personal interests and achieve a shared goal together…"
Kakashi twirled the cane in his hand, then leaned on it and studied the genin intently.
"…And although proper teamwork was only demonstrated between Sasuke and Naruto," the shinobi continued, with a reproving glance at the small kunoichi, "at the critical moment you did reach a shared decision — to return to the Academy. Each of you was willing to sacrifice your personal goals for the sake of your teammates. That is commendable…"
The jonin paused for a couple of seconds, sinking into his thoughts.
"Well then, that's all for today," he waved his hand. "You can rest. Tomorrow we begin our missions."
A moment later the man vanished in a swirl of leaves.
"Whoa, that's so cool," Naruto shook his head in envy. "I want to make exits like that too. And the way he scared us just before. Sasuke, what even was that — some kind of area Genjutsu, dattebayo? Either way, our instructor is pretty awesome…"
Sasuke only snorted and looked away. Sakura was devouring the brunette with adoring eyes, letting Uzumaki's words flow past her unheard.
"Phew…"
Kakashi leaned his back against a tree and slowly slid down the trunk. The last Body Flicker had taken the rest of his chakra. The jonin wasn't able to make it home. So he decided to stay in the forest of Training Ground 7 temporarily.
His students must not see him weak.
Either I haven't fully recovered from the run-in with the bald one, or I'm losing my edge, Hatake thought.
To think — a genin had very nearly gotten the better of him. Of course, one could attribute it all to his health, to not being fully recovered, and to fighting far below full strength. But that was all beside the point. Because a true shinobi must always be ready to fight.
Today the jonin had seriously underestimated his student. The explosive tags planted inside the clones had been very unexpected — a considerable amount of chakra had gone into blocking the damage. And that mud wall. Multiple back-to-back Body Replacement Techniques didn't help the chakra reserves either — quite the opposite.
A prolonged battle, clones, techniques. The end result: chakra depletion.
Clever, Kakashi smirked inwardly.
He had caught out of the corner of his eye that during the chase, one of Naruto's clones had moved the alarm clock back five minutes. That way the boy had given himself and his team not five minutes, but ten.
And that harem technique…
Kakashi prodded his ribs. One appeared to be cracked.
That final strike was solid too. On the level of a strong chunin or weak jonin…
Of course, if Hatake had been prepared for it — if Naruto hadn't caught him off guard — no damage would have gotten through. But battles left no room for wishful thinking. Either you react to your opponent's actions, or you're a corpse.
Good of Naruto to have reminded him of that. Never underestimate an opponent. No matter how harmless they might look.
Now Kakashi needed to dig through the heap of jutsu imprinted in his memory thanks to the Sharingan. Perhaps it was worth creating a couple of new techniques on the basis of existing knowledge — and remembering which end of a sword to hold. He had carried a tantō quite often in his youth, after all. And today the jonin had found the cane considerably more comfortable than going without.
Decided. Tomorrow I'll visit the weapons smith…
Hatake tried to rise, leaning on the cane, but his body wouldn't cooperate.
"Heh-heh," escaped from him. "Minato-sensei, you have every right to be proud of your son…"
Gathering his will, he somehow found the strength to get up and began walking slowly toward his home.
"…I'm certain, Minato-sensei, that Naruto will make a fine shinobi…"