Chapter 4
The next morning Sakura arrived at the meeting spot right at six am. She bought an extra bento for Sasuke so that they could eat it together after the test. She had taken their advice and eaten some fruit in the morning. She didn't want to break rules but since it was a suggestion instead of an order, she didn't fret much over it. Now, she was just waiting for her teammates and sensei to arrive. She didn't like how Sasuke and Naruto were already so close, if they were to be a team she had to fit in as well.
It was half an hour later when Sasuke and Naruto arrived at the training ground. They made over to where their teammate was already waiting for them.
"Good morning Sasuke-kun" Sasuke spoke when they were near and waved at him. Sasuke sighed, he didn't want to deal with this all over again.
"Sakura-chan! Good morning, did you eat something before coming?" Naruto asked enthusiastically and she nodded in affirmative. Good, at least they didn't have to worry about being hungry.
"Listen now, the bell test is supposed to pit teammates against each other, but to pass we need to work together, Naruto and I came up with an idea that would help us pass it and we need you not to drag us down" Sasuke started speaking but was interrupted when the blonde smacked him on the back of his head for being rude.
"What he means is we all need to work together!"
But Sakura had heard, and was hurt, along with shocked, what do they mean her dragging them down. She was the top kunoichi in their batch and Sasuke was the first in class. The one dragging them down was going to be Naruto-baka for sure. She was about to speak her thoughts but Sasuke continued.
"What we need is to get the bells from him, I have one bell with me, I bought it from a store some time back, but this is for later, so don't worry about it. When we start Naruto will use shadow clones to attack him from everywhere, it won't be difficult for Kakashi to counter them at all, Sakura, right at that time I need you to send a flurry of weapons at him, all aiming for vital spots, don't worry about him, he's a Jonin, we need you to be perfect in your timing okay?" He stopped to hear her response.
"Yeah, I can set them up" Sakura nodded, she would have to pull this off to pass and so she could show Sasuke-kun she was worthy of him. He nodded back before continuing.
"While he is dodging them I will put him under a genjustu, it will last only for a few seconds because he was a Sharingan as well, during that time Naruto will put a body binding seal on him and we will get the bells. All clear?" He finished and both of them nodded.
Naruto watched as Sasuke unconsciously slipped into his Anbu commander tone. It was almost refreshing to see him planning and giving orders like he and Shikamaru did before they came to the past. Sasuke and he had agreed that while they needed to downplay their skills they couldn't hide them completely or it would cause suspicion when they acted on reflexes in serious situations.
"Sasuke-kun, I know we can pull this off but Naruto won't be able to put a seal on sensei, you can't trust him with such an important thing!" And Sasuke watched as Naruto's smile dimmed just a little. He knew that while the blonde knew how strong he was now, during their childhood he had been insecure about himself and covered it up with smiles and cheer. He never wanted to see Naruto looking sad or unsure of himself ever in his life, it made a part of his heart break. He was about to tell Sakura to shut it when Naruto held his arm.
"Sakura, being book smart means nothing on the field, and Naruto is an Uzumaki, I don't think there is anyone in Konoha who can make seals better than him. Please focus on your own role" He said instead.
"Well, wake me up when Kaka-sensei arrives because I'm going to sleep" Naruto spoke while setting his backpack down against the wall and lying down. Sakura looked at him and wondered, is this what she was going to have to deal with? Counting on Sasuke-kuns's support for anything against Naruto was as good as useless, she will just have to get him to see her as a member of the team.
She watched as Sasuke climbed up the tree and seemed to look for something, he spent a few minutes there, and by the time he came back Naruto was already sleeping and his head was almost touching the ground. Sasuke sighed and sat down beside him, lifting his head and setting it on his lap. Watching that made Sakura think if he would have done the same if it was her instead of Naruto, she didn't really like her conclusions. Checking the time she saw it was already seven am but there was still no sign of their sensei. She decided to sit down.
Within a few minutes, Sasuke was asleep as well, neither he nor Naruto could sleep much at night, either their dreams were plagued with nightmares or they just spent time talking about random things and the years they spent apart. It was easier for them to sleep during the day, especially for Naruto who was still unnerved by the moon.
By the time Kakashi arrived at the training group, there were three sleeping baby genin there. Hm, maybe he kept them waiting long enough.
As soon as someone landed on the ground before him, Sasuke woke up. Years on staying on guard had made it impossible to sleep in such situations, outwardly, he slowly opened his eyes and tried to seem as unaware as possible before sitting up straight looking at Kakashi. How Naruto was still sleeping was beyond him, but he had learned not to question certain things when the said man was concerned.
"What time is it?" As far as he remembered, last time they waited a few hours before the gray-haired man arrived.
"Ma, its ten am already Sasuke-kun"
By now, Sakura was awake and she was looking at the jonin standing in front of her while her thoughts caught up to her brain, oh right, the test!
Sasuke woke up Naruto by shaking his shoulders and the blonde too snapped into focus.
"Well, since everyone seems to be awake right now we can finally begin our test" He said cheerily, even if they knew about the bell test they couldn't know about its true motive so he wasn't going to bother with something else, plus the bell test was team tradition.
"Stop saying that as if it's our fault we were delayed, someone decided to arrive hours later to the allotted time and it wasn't us" Naruto spoke up pointing an accusing finger at Kakashi.
"Well, let's not waste any more time and start with the test" He held up two bells identical to the one Sasuke had shown them earlier. "The objective is simple, you have to get this bell from me before noon, whoever gets the bell passes, if you don't get it, you won't get any lunch" He watched them and their reactions one by one as they heard him explain. None of the three were hearing anything particularly new as
Sasuke had already filled Sakura in.
Kakashi smiled and added, "Whoever gets the bell will pass"
Sakura was about to protest when she remembered Sasuke had warned them about this already and nodded instead.
Kakashi was getting really annoyed with the lack of reactions, well, just another day and he would be done with them. It was likely that the council will push him to pass them but he wasn't about to give in. Might as well get it over with.
"Uhm, you can use any methods to attack, come with the intent to kill or you won't get anywhere." He gave a pause "Start" He said and took out his little orange book from his weapon pouch as he started reading. Sasuke and Sakura had hidden in the trees as soon as he finished speaking while Naruto stood right in front of Kakashi.
At least the other two knew to hide their locations.
"Alright! I'm getting those bells now" Naruto exclaimed with enthusiasm as he made hand seals, "Kage bunshin no Jutsu" a dozen or so clones popped up and engaged him in a fight. Kakashi started dispelling them with ease, not yet looking up from his book when Sasuke gave Sakura the signal. She cut the rope holding the weapons and they flew towards the jonin. This made him look up as he dodged them while still fighting off the clones. Just as the last kunai fell he looked up to see who the attack had come from only to look into Sasuke's fully developed Sharingan. He was only allowed a moment of surprise before he was trapped in a genjutsu. Not wasting a moment, Naruto took a piece of paper from his pouch and aimed it at his back "Body Binding Seal"
They watched as the man went completely still, he was still trapped in the false world as well. Both Sasuke and Sakura dropped down on the ground as Naruto took the two bells from him. He gave one to Sakura while Sasuke took out his own.
So that's why he already had one bell, Sakura thought and sighed dreamily at the thought of the Uchiha being so smart.
"Teme, you overdid with the genjutsu" Naruto glared at Sasuke while the other only looked away with a smirk. He finished tying up their sensei on the stump where he had been tied last time, payback is a bitch.
Sasuke and Naruto sat down near their now tied up teacher and pulled out their lunches, Sakura looked at them in equal parts of confusion and hesitance. Finally, she shook her head and took out her own bento, and all of them ate in silence, which was a little weird since they were supposed to be giving a test.
Kakashi was fighting the genin as they made fruitless attempts to get the bells from him. He only realized something was wrong when he was unable to read further in the chapter he was on. Hm? His eyes widened as he realized what was wrong and bought his fingers up and whispered 'kai'. He had to try it a few more times before he was able to break out of the genjutsu. What the fuck. He quickly figured he was tied to a pole, when he tried to free himself he found that he couldn't move at all. Again, what the fuck. Looking up he saw his students were eating lunch.
"Oh, you're with us again!" Naruto yelled as he saw him look around.
"What happened?" He asked, trying to keep away the humiliation of being defeated by a couple of not-yet-genin.
"We made a plan to get the bells and you fell for it, it was a little too easy actually" Sasuke added the last part as an afterthought. Both the others snorted. Kakashi swore he was going to kill the Uchiha brat as soon as he could move. He didn't want to ask them why was it he couldn't move but the little remainder of his pride stopped him. Those little shits didn't even seem to notice as they continued eating. It was only Sakura who seemed to get it.
"Um Naruto, the seal?" she said apprehensively and the blonde seemed to realize he was missing something. He got up and quickly worked on breaking the seal. Kakashi was panicking over the fact that he now had three students whom he already hated. Once Naruto was done he stepped back and let Kakashi free himself.
Kakashi sighed deeply before turning to the three who looked at him with various expressions, Naruto and Sakura looked hopeful while the raven looked as if he was mocking him.
"So, which one of you have the bells, the other goes back to the academy" this was completely not true, they had all passed but he just wanted to be petty. This quickly turned on him as well when all three pulled out one bell each from their pockets. He blinked once, What.
"How.."
"A ninja must never reveal their tricks" Sasuke said with a smile that was more sadistic than anything. Kakashi considered punching him in the face but smiled instead. "I didn't know you had your Sharingan already" the fully-developed part was left unsaid.
"I don't need to inform anyone about my eyes, not you for sure"
And that was true, but the Hokage and the council will soon know anyway, he wished he could just do away with the so-called advisors anyway.
"And Naruto, what seal was that?"
"I made it myself, its a body binding seal" the blonde answered casually and Kakashi would have laughed if it wasn't actually used on him moments prior. He had also never heard of such a seal before. But still, no matter the son of the two strongest seal masters of Konoha, he couldn't start developing seals at twelve, right? He shook off his thoughts and decided to drop it.
"You can't mess around with seals, it could be incredibly dangerous to yourself and others, do you get it?"
"Hai, sensei" It didn't sound sincere at all.
"So did we pass?" The pink-haired girl anxiously, she wasn't sure of what was going on but she knew they completed the objective and should hence pass.
"Yes, team seven will report for their first mission tomorrow at six am" he sighed "You are dismissed for today"
"Yahoo!" both Naruto and Sakura exclaimed white Sasuke just gave a small smile.
Kakashi very unhappily made way over to the Hokage's office.
------
"Team 5"
"Fail"
"Team 8"
"Pass"
"Team 7"
"Pass" Kakashi said not bothering to look up from his Icha-Icha. The other jonin and Hokage started at him in barely concealed surprise and he raised an unamused eyebrow at them.
"Um. Team 9"
"Fail"
"Team 10"
"Pass"
Once the report was over the other jonin left the room one by one till only
Kakashi remained.
"What the hell Hokage sama, are the academy reports even a fraction of truth, today during the test all three of them worked together to get the bells, Sasuke Uchiha put me under a genjutsu using his Sharingan" At this, the Hokage raised his eyebrows "And Uzumaki Naruto put a seal on me that completely stopped my movements, apparently one had he has made himself" at this the pipe fell out of his mouth and he stared at him in shock.
"He..... invented a seal" At Kakashi's sharp nod he sighed, "I guess it's in his blood after all."
"Are both of them.. alright?" He asked with a look and Kakashi felt some anger rising within him, he was asking if they were both stable, no matter who, the Sharingan, and the Jinchuriki were only a tool for Konoha at the end, to be used if useful and eliminated if dangerous. He crushed his thoughts and nodded. The Hokage nodded satisfied and dismissed the Hatake.
-----
Once Kakashi left and Sasuke and Naruto started going home, Sakura held his arm to stop him. "Sasuke-kun, how about we go out for some snacks?" she asked with a giggle. Instead of ignoring her pitiful attempts at flirting like he had done before he shook off his arm from her hold and turned to look at her.
"Listen, Sakura, while you are a member of this team and we are teammates, I have no further interest in you and will never have it either, so please behave decently and professionally or I'll file a complaint to move teams" No he won't, he didn't know if these things were possible but he wouldn't accept stupid fangirling. For once, even Naruto was quiet as he watched the exchange.
He ignored the tears forming in the kunoichi's eyes and turned away to resume walking. Naruto hesitantly joined him and they made home.
Sakura ran home crying, she thought that if she managed to get on the same team as him, they would eventually fall in love and get married one day. She maintained top scores because she knew the placement of teams. What's the point of it all now?
Her parents were surprised to find her in tears and asked her what happened but she just informed them they passed and went into her room, locking the door.
Both of them were equally confused so they just looked at each other and shrugged.
------
"That was a bit harsh" Naruto said leaning against the counter as Sasuke cooked dinner. He raised a single eyebrow in question and Naruto scoffed. "You know what I'm talking about, with Sakura earlier"
"It needed to be done sooner or later, she needs to break out of her delusions and accept reality, besides it would be harsher if she still believed there was a chance once we left" he said without missing a beat.
"I guess.. so, not running off without me this time around?" Naruto asked in a tone clearly meant to be a joke, his eyes showed nothing but amusement, but Sasuke still felt a prick of guilt in his stomach.
"Never, I don't think I could go on a single day without you at this point" His cheeks flushed as soon as he finished saying it, but he wasn't about to take it back. It wasn't as if it wasn't true, he just hadn't meant to word it quite this way.
Seeking a glance at Naruto he saw the other's cheeks were equally red and he felt a bubble of satisfaction inside him. "I-um, I don't think I could either... so... ah, Itachi, right. How are we going to lure out Itachi?" Naruto stammered and settled on a topic.
"I...I don't really know, from what we know last time he came to grab you while you were out finding Tsunade and because the Sandaime had died, we are going to stop Orochimaru's plans before that so I don't know how exactly, and we can't really go to Ame right now"
Naruto nodded and both of them stood in silence for some time. "Let's go and find Tsunade that time anyway, he might still come. And you're going to be the bait. He cares about you more than anything so ill come up with something he can't ignore." he said thoughtfully and Sasuke looked at him impressed.
"Stop thinking so much dobe, you're brain is going to fry before our first mission"
"Shut up teme!" He retorted but it had no bite.
"So, the next part is the chunin exams" Sasuke said as he served the curry and rice into two plates.
Naruto was quiet for a moment, appreciating his teammate who was moving around in his kitchen looking like he belonged . It made his chest fluttery and he sighed.
Yeah, he could really get used to this.
"Naruto?" Sasuke asked the blonde who was lost in his head.
"Hmm? Oh yeah, Chunin exams, right" he replied intelligently and Sasuke rolled his eyes.
"No wait, we have the waves mission before that, and this time neither Haku nor Zabuza are dying" The blonde spoke with such conviction, daring the other to contradict. Sasuke looked at him, maintaining his gaze for a moment before he sighed and nodded, what else could he say, no ? He'd learnt to accept Naruto's saviour complex and the surprising success rate of talk-no-jutsu long ago.