Scars speak more loudly than the sword that caused them.-Paulo Coelho.
Kakashi looked at his students. Sasuke and Naruko were standing next to each other which was a good distance from Sakura. Both looked pissed. Sakura looked like someone had kicked her puppy.
"You need to get these bells from me, that's all there is to it. You need a bell in order to pass," Kakashi informed them as he held up the bells.
Sakura gawked, "But there are only two bells!"
Well obviously!
Kakashi nodded, "Yes, whoever doesn't get a bell, will be tied to one of these three posts." He gestured to the posts, "And will go without lunch while they watch the others eat."
Sakura's stomach growled. Kakashi looked at Naruko and Sasuke who both looked fine. In fact, Sakura looked worn out, like she had lost some precious sleep while the other two seemed well rested. He could deduce that Naruko and Sasuke didn't arrive on time, nor did they take his suggestion to heart. Finally, some brats that could think for themselves.
"The one without a bell, goes back to the Academy for another year," he added.
He took notice of how Naruko and Sasuke glanced at each other, probably having decided that they'd make sure Sakura couldn't get a bell. He couldn't blame them. He'd only known the girl for a day, and he didn't like her. He was also going to bring the matter the the Hokage, if it got out of hand, and possibly have her dropped from the program.
"You can use any weapons you have," he told them.
"But we could hurt you!" Sakura bellowed.
Kakashi cast the girl a blank look. Seriously, what was wrong with the Kunoichi these days?
Sasuke actually spoke up, "He's an elite Jonin. He won't get hurt just by facing off against some rookie Genin."
Sakura smiled at Sasuke, "Okay Sasuke-kun!"
The boy rolled his eyes.
Kakashi shook his head.
He placed a timer on the middle post and set it. "This will go off at noon. You have until then to get a bell. We will start on the count of three."
Kakashi looked at the Genin, "One."
Sasuke and Naruko tensed.
"Two."
Sakura looked panicked.
"Three."
The Genin scattered. Kakashi took notice though, that Sasuke and Naruko went in the same direction. He had a feeling that they were going to come out of this with the bells, which meant that he needed to make sure that it was hard as hell to get the bells.
He scanned the area, only feeling Sakura's chakra signature. He looked closely at the trees and the bushes, easily spotting the mob of pink.
Appearing behind her was easy. He whispered, "Sakura!"
The girl turned and he made a sign, using a low level Genjutsu.
He Shunshined to a nearby tree to watch the proceedings.
Sakura looked around frantically. Then, her eyes lit up and she smiled happily. Her joy went down the drain as a look of pure horror crossed her face. She threw her arms up and screamed bloody murder before collapsing, foam coming from her mouth.
Kakashi shook his head. I don't feel the least bit sorry. She needs to learn to see passed these things.
He leapt off the tree branch and walked into the forest, keeping an eye out for the other two chakra signatures.
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Sasuke and Naruko sat under a tree, trying to come up with a plan.
"I think it'll work! You just have to wait it out and wear this chakra suppressor." Naruko told the Uchiha, holding out a bracelet.
Sasuke frowned, "It could, but we need more. Can you do any jutsu?"
Naruko nodded, smirking under the mask. "I can make Kage Bunshin, a couple of wind jutsu. The Shunshin and the Hiraishin, which I will only pull out as a last resort. I'd need to get a seal on Sensei first though."
Sasuke nodded, "I can do some fire jutsu, so your wind jutsu will help. I'm good with weapons as well."
"So, can we try my idea?"
Sasuke gave the girl a look and finally nodded.
Naruko jumped up and created a Kage Bunshin who went off after she handed it something, knowing what to do.
"Let's go."
Sasuke and Naruko followed the Kage Bunshin to an open area. Sasuke out on the suppressor and Naruko masked her chakra. They waited.
The Naruko Bunshin sat on the ground, legs folded and put a hand to her face. A minute later, tears were pouring from her eyes.
Kakashi walked into the area and their attention was drawn to him. He approached the Bunshin cautiously.
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Kakashi looked at Naruko, who was sitting on the ground, looking anywhere but at him.
"Naruko, something wrong?" he asked, wondering what kind of scheme she had planned.
He expanded his senses, not feeling Sasuke anywhere. He knew that neither Genin was good enough to hide their signatures, which meant that Sasuke had left, for some reason.
Naruko looked absolutely depressed.
"I'm fine Kakashi."
He could tell something went wrong, because she had called him by his name with no honorific.
"Are you sure? You look like you've been crying," the Jonin pointed out.
Naruko scoffed, "I haven't cried in years. Naruko Uzumaki doesn't cry."
Kakashi remained ten feet away from the Genin, but still asked, "Really? What's that shining in your eye then?"
She looked away from him, "Nothing."
There was a silence. Naruko refused to look at him and he was wondering still if it was a trap. He was pretty sure it was.
"Hey sensei?" Naruko mumbled.
Kakashi, who had pulled out his Icha Icha, looked up, "Yes?"
"Did my parents really love me?"
He was shocked to hear that and briefly wondered if what Sakura had said actually affected the girl.
"Yes, why? If you're worried about what Sakura said, don't listen to her."
Naruko snorted, "The Banshee doesn't matter enough in my world, for me to care what her opinion is."
"Then, what the matter?" Kakashi asked as he turned a page.
Naruko sighed, "I had come up with a good idea for getting the bells and Sasuke didn't agree. He said that 'Uchiha's wouldn't stoop to that level', in regards to my plan. I told him that his reputation as an Uchiha wasn't at stake and it wasn't as if you were going to tell everyone in the world about it, but he denied and called it a stupid plan."
Kakashi could believe what she said. The Uchiha were very proud and held high standards. Yet, with the way Sasuke reacted around Naruko, he was sure that she was lying.
"I got mad, because Sasuke has never talked to me like that before. He was the one that I would never expect it from. I insulted him and he retaliated." She looked down.
"And then I said something and he said something."
Kakashi cocked a brow.
Naruko huffed and folded her arms, "He said that I was acting like Sakura!"
Kakashi dropped his book. The way Naruko's chakra was fluctuating and the depression surrounding it, he was pretty sure that this wasn't an act. If what he could tell from Sakura and Naruko's relationship, they hated each other. So, telling Naruko that she's acting like the person she hates most, was probably a sin.
But then, he knew from what he had heard, that Naruko was a master at deception. So, he'd let this all play out, and see what happened.
"Then," Naruko began, "he tells me that if I continue with how I'm acting, I'll only prove her right! Like that pink twig could ever be right about anything!"
Kakashi didn't know how to respond, even if it was a trick. Naruko was a skilled shinobi. Obviously if she was Rookie of the Year. But she was still a girl and they tended to get more offended than men did. Men had the tendency to be blind to the things that women could easily pick up on and he had no idea how to comfort an offended Kunoichi. The damage a scorned Kunoichi could bring, was momentous and he really didn't want to piss her off any more.
What to do?
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The real Naruko watched from the treeline as her Bunshin coaxed their sensei into her lie. Though Naruko would admit to herself that if Sasuke ever talked to her like that, she would act exactly how her Bunshin was acting.
The thought of Sasuke even treating her like that, was despicable.
Sasuke looked at her and whispered, "You really know how to layer it on thick. When can we attack?"
Naruko watched as the Jonin got closer to her Bunshin, "When he lets her hug him."
Sasuke pointed to the bracelet, "Will this hinder my jutsu at all? Where did you get it anyway?"
He received a shake of the head, "At a place."
He shrugged it off, not really caring.
They watched as Kakashi finally let the Bunshin hug him. Her arms wound around his neck, far from the bells. He hands sliding across the back of the Jonin's neck.
The Genin nodded to each other and Sasuke made the hand signs necessary as he rushed from the cover of the trees. Naruko following with her own jutsu.
Kakashi noticed their appearance and tried to move, only for the Bunshin to hold him in an unnaturally strong grip.
"Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" "Fuuton: Reppushou!"
Kakashi and the Bunshin were caught in the enhanced flames. Naruko and Sasuke watched as the Bunshin poofed from existence and Kakashi was replaced with a log.
"Well, it was a good try," Naruko mumbled.
"It certainly was," a voice whispered in her ear.
She jerked a Shunshined out of the way.
Appearing on the other side of the clearing, she eyed the Jonin.
"A pretty good plan Naruko, but I wasn't unprepared. I knew something was up and was ready to get out of there," Kakashi teased, putting his porn away.
Naruko looked over to Sasuke and nodded. The Uchiha began throwing shuriken and kunai like mad. Kakashi dodged, while still keeping an eye on her.
Sasuke paused in his attack and Kakashi realized that he was surrounded by ninja wire.
"Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu!"
The flames erupted from his mouth, following the wires. Kakashi used the Kawarimi again and Naruko moved, using the Hiraishin to appear with a hand on her sensei's neck from behind, holding him in place. She felt the dizziness settle in, and shook herself out of it.
Kakashi froze in place. How had she done it? How had she caught him? The only person that could do that, was his sensei, and the Yondaime was long dead.
"Give us the bells sensei," her voice rang out as a kunai appeared at his neck.
"How?" he choked out.
She snickered, "You'll know once you give me the bells, and I know you're the real Kakashi. You can attempt to move again, but I'll just follow you at a faster pace."
Kakashi sighed in defeat. He pulled the bells from his waist and handed them to the blonde. She grinned beneath the mask and Shunshined next to Sasuke, tossing him a bell.
Kakashi regained his bearings and stood. "So, how did you do that?" he asked after a moment of silence.
Naruko sighed, "I can do the Hiraishin." She held up a hand to stop his next question. "I am trying to create a better version of it without the use of seals, because I get very dizzy when I use it over short distances. I puke when it's a large distance. It's not perfected yet and will probably take a while."
Kakashi was gaping, though neither Genin could see it. "But the Hiraishin requires the use of seals and there are no seals on me."
Naruko smirked, "There was another part to the Kage Bunshin I used on you. You suspected that it was a trap from the beginning. You didn't know that I could do Kage Bunshin and expected a sneak attack from Sasuke. But when both of us appeared, you realized that something was off and got out of the way. But, you hugged the Bunshin and she placed the seal on the back of your neck."
Kakashi was shocked, "But anything a Kage Bunshin uses disappears when the Bunshin is destroyed."
Naruto nodded, "Exactly, so I gave her one of my seals, so that it would work."
Kakashi was stumped. He had gotten caught in such a detailed plan, by a Genin. Damn!
RRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNG!
Sasuke smirked in a superior way and Naruko snickered. Kakashi sighed, "Let's head back to the Memorial Stone."
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Kakashi finished tying Sakura to the post. The unconscious girl didn't move at all.
Sasuke and Naruko were talking in hushed tones, waiting for the girl to awaken.
He sighed, wondering how this was going to turn out.
When Sakura finally woke up, it was half past noon. She looked around, noticing how she was tied to the pole and screamed.
"You didn't get a bell Sakura," Kakashi told her.
Naruko stepped forward, "So what happens now? There is no history of a two man Genin squad ever. Your plan about teamwork," Kakashi jerked in surprise at that. "worked for us, but not her. We got the idea, but she didn't. It may seem rude, but I'm not forking over a bell just to show that I can take care of my teammate, because I don't think she deserves it if she was taken out so easily."
Kakashi sighed when Sakura screamed, "WHAT?!"
"Sakura, your infatuation with Sasuke, is a very big disadvantage. You can give the enemy, the means to destroy you because of how obvious you are. I defeated you with a simple Genjutsu and if I was your enemy, I would have killed you the moment you fell for it," Kakashi explained.
"This test was about teamwork. There were only two bells, which are used as a catalyst to start a fight between team members. With the possibility of only two people passing, dissension amongst the ranks is supposed to occur. Sasuke and Naruko worked together perfectly with no problem. They displayed Jutsu I never thought possible for Genin, because they didn't give anything about their abilities away. You let your major weakness get the better of you and you were taken out," Kakashi finished.
Looking at the Genin, he thought about his next course of action.
"I'll pass you all, mostly because of the promise Sasuke and Naruko showed. Sakura, you need to train, a lot. You need to watch your attitude as well. You all don't need to be best friends, but you need to improve your teamwork together. That means all of you. If this doesn't work out, I'll be forced to do something that rarely ever happens in the shinobi world. Please make it so that I don't have to?" Kakashi told them all.
Sasuke and Naruko nodded in appreciation while Sakura glared at Naruko, as if it was all the blonde's fault.
"Thanks, Ero-sensei!" Naruko cheered.
Kakashi sweatdropped at his nickname. "Meet at the missions office tomorrow at seven," he said with a sigh.
"That means after ten," Naruko supplied as she brought up a shuriken and whipped it toward Sakura, who squeaked in fear.
The ropes tying her to the pole went slack and Naruko rolled her eye.
"See you tomorrow," she waved, turning and leaving.
Sasuke grunted and followed after her, the two of them disappearing from view moments later.
Kakashi did the same and Shunshined from the area, leaving Sakura alone.
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Naruko and Sasuke walked along.
"Ero-sensei was talking about shinobi replacement. If Sakura proves to be absolutely useless, he'll petition the Hokage for a replacement. We can only hope," Naruko told the Uchiha.
He nodded, "True."
Naruko stopped, "Well, see you tomorrow Ducky."
"Sure thing Butch," Sasuke mumbled as they parted ways.
Naruko sighed, hoping that being on a team with Sakura wasn't going to be as big of a drag as it seemed.
Dear Kami, have mercy on us!