Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ Hindsight's 20/20 ❯ Lines/Survival Training ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: Naruto most certainly is not mine but this story is as are the original ideas in it so no thieving of it please.

A/N: Chapter 3, finally finished! And 26 pages in Microsoft word, my longest chapter ever! Yay *happy dances* ^_^

To answer a few questions:

About Haruno, it will be explained why she's called Haruno instead of Sakura, probably in the next chapter or at the very least, it will be heavily hinted at.

About the updates: Yes, I realize I'm slower with this fic that I was with "The Butterfly" My reasons are that this story has chapters that are about 3 times the length of the chapters in "The Butterfly" and are much more detailed and have a lot more subtle hints worked into them and so they take a lot longer for me to write. Also, I don't have as much time to write seeing as my brother moved home and so I have to share the computer a lot more, the house is a lot noisier and so its much more difficult to concentrate on writing and I'm currently job hunting so I'm not even home all that often to write. I'm sorry its taking longer but please just bear with me, I'm doing my best.

If you're feeling particularly impatient, I do post several teasers for future chapters in my livejournal (www. livejournal. com/ users/ anotherstraycat) so check there.

Anyways, thank you to everyone who reviewed chapter 2, I hope you enjoy chapter 3 and I look forward to your reactions ^_^

Oh, and also, there has been a slight modification to chapter two, Kakashi now tells team 7 not to eat breakfast before he leaves after their intro session.

~~~

Hindsight's 20/20: Chapter 3

By: Tea Leaf/Banana Soap

~~~

Lunch passed easily, math passed in a blur and now finally Haruno found herself in her favorite class: visual arts with Shiranui Genma.

The room was located on the first floor of the school and the back wall was completely lined with windows so that the art students had lots of light to work with. There were four large, long tables made of thick, polished wood that were placed more or less centered in the room and had several chairs and benches around them.

Haruno sat at the end facing the window of the table closest to the door. Naruto sat beside her, Shikamaru opposite her and Chouji beside Shikamaru.

Yesterday they had been given free reign to check out the class supplies and experiment a little and today Genma-sensei was supposed to explain the year's projects.

Said teacher was standing in front of the blackboards that ran along the wall opposite the windows and was waiting for the second bell to ring as he chewed on a long toothpick.

Haruno liked Genma; he was very laid back and surprisingly creative and so allowed the students had complete creative freedom. He was also a really good teacher, he could explain anything to anyone and passed on his knowledge with ease.

Eventually the second bell rang and a few late students scrambled in. Genma left the door open, he didn't really care about punctuality and noise wasn't a bother seeing as the hall in from of the art room was usually deserted.

"Alright…so, last year, if you recall, we concentrated on objects and landscapes." The teacher began as he leaned casually against the blackboard behind him.

Several students nodded in response and he continued.

"So this year, we're going to work on people. You should all already have a strong base when it comes to color, technique and forms so portraits and anatomy are the logical step."

He now walked over to his desk and picked up a pile of papers and handed the pack to the first student so that it could be handed around.

"As described on the sheet you'll receive, this semester's overall project will be 3 pieces. They can be portraits, they can be bodies, they can be realistic, they can be cartoon, they can be abstract. Whatever you want really, but they have to be three people. More specifically, three people that have had an impact on your life." He explained.

"What do you mean by impact?" a student on the other side of the class asked.

"I mean people that changed you in some way, that influenced you. They can be parents, friends, idols, random people you've only seen once in your life, anyone as long as they struck some kind of cord in you."

"So what do you want us to do with these people?" another student asked.

"The goal of this is to try and recreate how you see this person or how they influenced you. To create something that relays how you see them. So, for example, lets say you were to pick your mother as a person who's influenced you. How has she influenced you? Lets say she's helped you become a confidant person, to look on the bright side of life, etc. etc. So here you have all these positive emotions that you associate to this person. So theoretically, when you see this person, you feel those emotions. Now your goal is to create something using the image of your mother that will inspire the same emotions you feel towards your mother in someone else." He explained.

"Or it could be something totally different, it could be that you saw someone save someone who was chocking or something like that and that event marked you. So now you want to draw the event that made this person important to you." He continued.

"So, the details. I want three pieces, one for each person. You can do them however you like, with whatever medium you like, but there does have to be some image of the person in the actual artwork. I don't care how you do it, but when I look at it, I need to see a person in it. Sound good?" he asked then.

Several students nodded and no one asked any more questions.

"Great. Ok, so any questions about anything, don't hesitate to ask. For today, start thinking about the people you want to use. If you figure that out, then start planning your first piece." He finished and headed over to his desk.

Haruno watched him for a moment, considering the project.

"Hmm…I wonder who I should pick…" Naruto muttered as he stared at the project sheet in front of him.

"I have no idea who to pick, no one really springs to mind." Shikamaru responded.

"I know I definitely want Chairman Kaga Takeshi from Iron Chef!" Chouji said.

Haruno smiled slightly.

"Why him Chouji?" she asked.

"Because he has influenced the way I look at cooking. Everything should be savored and only the best should be served at someone's table. And because I also admire his charisma when it comes to eating." Chouji informed them.

"That sounds great Chouji. Very good choice." Genma said from behind him as he did the rounds of the class.

"You think so sensei?" Chouji asked, surprised by the teacher's presence and unexpected praise.

"Definitely, I look forward to seeing how you put it into art." The sensei responded before moving on.

"Good idea Chouji. I should find something like that." Shikamaru told him.

"Any ideas yet, Naruto?" Haruno asked the blonde beside her, snapping him out of his distant air.

"Yeah…I've got this one idea…I think I'll do Yondaime for one of them." He answered.

"Yondaime?" Shikamaru questioned.

"Yeah…He's this guy I knew when I was little…I don't really remember much about him other than his name and a fuzzy image of what he looks like but I'm pretty sure he became my conscience. So that's how he influences me." Naruto answered.

"A personification of your conscience…brilliant concept." Shikamaru told him.

"Man…why didn't I think of that…" he muttered to himself.

Naruto grinned proudly.

"How about you Haruno-chan? Know who you'll do yet?" Naruto asked the pink-haired girl.

"Yeah…I've got some pretty good ideas…" she answered vaguely, looking out the window.

Naruto opened his mouth to pry but Haruno changed the subject before he could.

"So Shikamaru, got anything yet?" she asked the boy in front of her.

He sighed heavily.

"Nothing really good…"he muttered.

"…how about you use the person who got you to start cloud watching, if there is one. I'd say they've influenced you a great deal." Haruno told him.

Shikamaru stroked his chin as he thought over the idea.

"That could work…" he muttered.

Chouji and Naruto jumped in then and started giving him more ideas and Haruno took the opportunity to slip away from the table and head for the supply room.

"Haruno, decided already?" Genma asked her as she approached his desk that was beside the supply closet.

"Yes…on all three actually." She responded.

Genma frowned slightly as he stopped chewing on his toothpick momentarily.

"Really? All three? Have you thought them through?" he asked.

She nodded.

"I even know how I want to portray them." She added with a slight smirk.

Genma blinked in surprise then smirked slightly as well.

"To be expected I guess. Help yourself to the supply room." He told her.

She nodded and walked past his desk and into the side room.

She looked around for a moment before finding what she'd been looking for. A large set of pens with various nibs and a large bottle of black ink. She also selected a few paintbrushes. Finally she grabbed a large sheet of thick white paper that was designed for water color but would be perfect for what she intended to do with the ink.

She stepped back out of the room and Genma eyed her supplies curiously but said nothing as she stepped past him and made her way to the empty half of the table she was sharing with Shikamaru, Naruto and Chouji. The three were still in deep debate and didn't notice her setting up her supplies slightly further down the table.

She set the sheet down in front of her and opened the pen set, setting it on her right side. Then she looked pensively at the blank page, trying to decide where to start.

She didn't want to sketch first because it would be impossible to get rid of the pencil afterwards and she wanted it to be completely black. She could start with ink but she wasn't that confident in her drawing skills and so would rather not.

She frowned slightly. Maybe charcoal…and then she could smudge it too…she nodded to herself then stood up again and went back to the supply room, returning with several sticks of charcoal of various sizes as well as a moldable eraser and set to work, sketching the face that was forever burned into her mind. She started with his eyes…those cold, cruel, twisted eyes…

~~~

Kakashi slouched in his chair at his desk in his classroom. He was feeling lazy today and so had given the class "study group time" or as he liked to call it "slack off time". Slack off for him at any rate. He was always kind enough to make sure that the students had plenty of work to do that was to be handed in to be graded by him for the next day.

Then he collected them…and slacked off in his correcting. Then he'd tell them all it was a formative exercise as opposed to a summative one and they would bitch and he would laugh at them for falling into his trap yet again.

For some reason, he really enjoyed playing with the minds of his students.

But seeing as it was the beginning of the year, he'd probably go easy on them and correct the work in class with them tomorrow.

He grimaced behind his mask at the thought; he hated correcting.

He turned to gaze around the class, the students all seemed to be, if not working, at least sufficiently distracted for them to not be paying attention to him.

He smirked ever so slightly as he slipped his hand surreptitiously into the file drawer of his desk and carefully pulled out a semi-thick, softer cover, bright orange novel. He swiveled his chair slowly, still watching the class until he had his back almost completely to them. He slouched a little more in the chair lifting one of his legs so that the ankle rested on the other leg's knee then flipped open the well worn book to the bookmark and started reading contentedly, a lazy smile spreading behind his mask.

Neji frowned at him from the back of the class then curled his lip in disgust.

"What is it?" Tenten asked him from her seat beside him.

"That perv of a teacher is reading his porn book in class again." Neji informed her.

"Really?" Tenten asked incredulously as she turned quickly to stare at their teacher. He was almost turned completely from the class, but not turned enough; she could still see the telltale orange corner of the book. She blushed slightly and giggled. They had the best teacher.

Kakashi twitched at the sound of giggles but chose to ignore it, his book was reaching a really good spot and he didn't feel like stopping yet.

So he continued reading and more and more students spotted him reading and so took it as their cue to goof off behind his back. Finally, the last bell rang and the students practically ran out the door, relishing their freedom.

Kakashi sighed and replaced his bookmark before snapping the book closed, just as happy as his students that he could finally leave.

~~~

Haruno made her way slowly through the halls, unable to push her way as easily through the crowd due to the awkward portfolio case she was carrying that housed the beginning of her drawing.

Now that she had started it, she wanted to keep working on it until it was done. She was always like that, she liked to finish what she started and would work single-mindedly on anything until it was complete. She was just glad she didn't have to work tonight so that she could keep working on it.

Finally she managed to get outside and could break away from the stumbling heard of students that were heading for the city bus stop. She turned and walked around the school, heading towards the track field.

"Haruno, wait up" came a deep voice behind her.

She frowned slightly and turned to see who was addressing her.

"Uchiha? What do you want?" she asked him bluntly as the tall dark haired boy caught up to her.

"I was wondering if you could show me around town a bit. Yesterday you said you would." He reminded her as she started walking again and he fell into step beside her.

She frowned slightly.

"I only said that to save you from the hordes of slavering gold diggers." She admitted honestly.

"I figured that, and thank you by the way. But could you do it anyway? I am new to the area, and we do have some classes together and have that competition thing where we have to work together. And Hatake-sensei did say that getting to know each other was the first step to working as a team…" he said charmingly.

Haruno continued to frown, she couldn't explain it, but something felt off about this.

"Today's bad for me, I've got a lot of work to do. Besides, if you want to work on teamwork, we should get Uzumaki to come too." She responded as she continued to walk.

Sasuke frowned inwardly; she was being a lot less co-operative than he'd expected. Normal girls would be falling all over themselves right now.

"But I want to work on my teamwork with you." He said in a slightly seductive tone as he stepped in front of her and lowered his face closer to hers, giving her a practiced smile.

Haruno blinked, taken aback for a second as she saw someone else in his features but she quickly recovered and raised her eyebrow.

"Tough." She responded as she stepped to the side and walked around him.

Sasuke glared darkly at the spot where she had been. This was not going as planned.

"Are you going home? I'll walk you." He said as he forced the anger from his face, returning to his practiced "make girls melt" expression.

Haruno rolled her eyes slightly before he quite caught up to her.

"That's really not necessary." She muttered, ignoring him.

"I know, I want to though." He said in an engaging tone.

She sighed and stopped walking.

"Look Uchiha---" she started.

"Call me Sasuke." He interrupted.

"Uchiha, listen to me. This is a bad idea." She told him, her tone serious.

"What's a bad idea?" he asked her, keeping up his charming act and moving closer to her.

"I have a boyfriend, one I've been with for a good number of years now. So Back. Off!" she exclaimed as she raised her free hand to push him out of her personal space, ignoring the familiar jolt that jumped up her arm as she touched him. She'd analyze it later.

"I just want to walk you home Sakura." He told her, slightly condescendingly.

Her eyes narrowed dangerously.

"I am going to tell you this once, and only once. Do. Not. Call. Me. Sakura." She enunciated carefully. "Or you will regret it." She threatened.

"Now, I do not want you to walk me home so take the hint and leave me alone. I'll see you in class tomorrow." She said as she turned away from him and kept walking, slipping easily through the rip in the chain link fence.

Sasuke watched her go with a calculating look as his mental gears turned. Getting her under his thumb would be more difficult than anticipated.

No matter, he would simply move on to Plan B.

~~~

Haruno moved quickly through the streets, vaguely glad for her red coat that made her passage that much smoother. She soon found herself in front of her apartment building and made her way up to her designated cell, letting herself in and locking the door behind her.

She set down her portfolio and bag beside the door and slipped off her coat, setting it on a hook in the wall then brought her bag and portfolio to the kitchen table.

The table was bare and already clean seeing as it was rarely used, so she set her large piece of paper on the wood and took out her ink set and charcoal.

She stared at the image for a moment. In the center was a large face made of sketchy lines that accentuated the harshness of the character. She picked up her charcoal and added a few more lines to his thick neck, his sadistic smirk. She set the stick aside.

She opened her pen set and picked a finely tipped pen and dipped it in the ink then proceeded to scratch in the real face, the details, over the charcoal shadow.

She loved the paper she was using; it was so thick that the ink was instantly absorbed, leaving thin sharp scratch like lines.

She drew for hours, sometimes changing pens, sometimes picking up the charcoal or smudging what was already there.

The man was clear now though the image still maintained its menace and shadow-like appearance.

This was how she saw him now. A vague phantom that tormented her nightmares and coated her past in blood.

He was heavily shadowed due to the smoky smudged charcoal. He was dark…the whole image was dark. She could only ever remember seeing him in the dark.

His eyes were cold and cruel, his smirk was mocking her…he was still mocking her after all these years. His hand was raised, his fingers taping his chin in that calculating way he always had before he'd moved into action.

She was almost still afraid of the image.

She was drawing around him now, drawing the events he had inspired. Showing the world what he had done to her, how he had ruined her, humiliated her.

She could see it now in the far corner, the hideous scar that ran along her abdomen, the physical manifestation of the thousands of scars he had left in her mind. And there in the other corner, the chains…those burning chains that had chaffed her skin…that had bruised her so badly…those hated chains that he had heated and burned her with, though the scars from the event were somewhere where no one would see them.

And now, the drugs down in this corner…the ones that had filled his eyes with blood. The ones that had given him a bloodlust that not even his employ could cure him off and that had been so often needed to be finally quenched on her.

And there…the blood…the satisfying blood…The beautiful blood that had signaled her triumph…she hadn't needed his drugs to bring it out in her…she had done it of her own volition.

A small, twisted smile mutilated her lips as she stared at him, her pen scratching away. It was the only sound in the apartment for hours. Her persistent slicing at him, slowly carving him…

The door opened behind her and she snapped her head up from the drawing, the scratching ceased. The frenzy within her subsided as her concentration broke.

The overhead light switched on and only then did she notice that the room had turned pitch black.

"What are you doing in the dark?" his voice, dark as the night, questioned her.

She turned to look at him.

He was frowning slightly at her.

"I was working…I didn't notice the light." She answered him.

His frown deepened as he slipped off his black coat, hanging it beside her red one and moved towards her.

"What are you working on?" he asked her, no hint of actual concern or curiosity in his voice.

"Just a something for my art class…" she said, her eyes following him as he moved closer.

She now found herself looking up at him as he stood in front of her.

He moved closer, leaning over her shoulder to see the project that had so entranced her. She relished the waves of heat his body generated and that smell that was uniquely his that always enveloped her when he was close.

"Its just lines." He told her as he stared at it.

She turned to look at it as well.

"Yes…its just lines." She repeated a small smile curving her lips.

He wasn't there. It was just lines.

"Is it finished?" he asked her then.

"I don't know…I guess so…I can't think of anything else to add." She answered, staring at the once white page that had been mutilated with black ink and marred by black charcoal.

"Its missing something." He told her.

She frowned.

He bit his thumb, breaking the skin and held it over the drawing. The crimson dripped down and splashed on it.

She stared in fascination at the splatter.

He brought his thumb to his mouth, sucking on it until the bleeding stopped.

"I'm tired." He said simply then as he turned and walked away from her, heading towards her bedroom.

She stared at the drawing, her eyes roaming over its surface. In her perusal, her peripheral vision spotted the paintbrushes she'd brought.

She tilted her head to the side.

~~~

Sasuke stared at his computer screen. He had her file spread out before him

Haruno Sakura.

Born: March 28th

Age: 17

Mother: deceased, suicide

Father: deceased, murder, beaten to death with a steel pipe, believed to be gang related

Medical Records: was in the hospital for treatment of a severe wound to her abdomen when she was 13. Was brought in by a member of the ANBU gang.

Sasuke was willing to bet that the last time anyone had seen her was right before she'd sustained that injury.

What intrigued him were her seemingly long-standing relations with gangs. ANBU then, Akatsuki now. The odd thing was that she herself had no criminal record. She was however on the Police Blacklist and apparently was on the infamous Zabuza's recruit listing.

What was it about her that interested these people?

That's what he intended to find out.

~~~

Haruno slumped on her desk in the back of her first class the next morning. She was exhausted…She'd worked non-stop until Itachi had returned home which had been at 2am. And then she had stayed up later to finish her project.

She sighed softly to herself; her inner self was muttering vague obscenities to her now.

It wasn't even like the project was due today; she technically had until the end of the semester to complete it. But she just couldn't bring herself to stop once she'd started. She had just been so into it.

But she was paying for it now.

She'd deliberately chosen a seat in the back today, hoping to avoid any kind of confrontation with Kakashi and maybe catch up on some sleep before training next period. She propped up a book in front of her, obscuring her even more to the front of the class and rested her head on her folded arms, her eyes closing almost instantly.

Kakashi frowned slightly at the sight of Sakura asleep in his classroom. He had half a mind to go over there and wake her up. But then he remembered that she had training with him afterwards and a slightly sadistic smirk spread across his lips.

Let her sleep now, he'd get his retribution soon enough.

Naruto yawned widely before setting his chin in his hand as his elbow rested on his desk. Early morning classes sucked…hell, anything that had him waking up before noon sucked.

He looked to his side and saw that Haruno was fast asleep. He looked to the front of his class at his sensei; Hatake was ignoring the fact that she was asleep.

He smiled slightly to himself and set about following Haruno's example. He set up his book and crossed his arms over his desk, snuggling into them gratefully as his eyes dropped contentedly shut.

Kakashi scanned the class again as he continued in his lecture about Shakespearian sonnets only to pause in shock as he spotted Naruto sleeping in the back of the class.

"NARUTO!" he said loudly.

The blonde jumped suddenly having been shocked awake.

"Seeing as you were obviously following along in your book…" he told the student pointedly, Naruto flushed slightly. "Continue with the reading." He told him in his trademark nonchalant voice.

The color drained from Naruto's face as he grabbed his book and scanned the page desperately.

"Sure…Hatake-sensei…" He said, trying to hide his distress and trying to buy time.

Kakashi smirked slightly behind his mask as he watched the blonde squirm.

"page 218, line 12" came a whispered voice beside him.

"Thanks" Naruto quickly whispered back as he flipped to the correct page quickly and found the line and started to read.

Hinata flushed brightly beside him as she buried her nose back in her book. Naruto had just spoken to her! Her heart was beating madly.

Sasuke rolled his eyes from his seat on the other side of Hinata. He just wanted this class to be over.

~~~

Eventually the class bell rang loudly, waking Haruno up, and signaling the class change.

Haruno, Naruto and Sasuke all stayed in their seats as the rest of the students filled gratefully out of the room.

Finally, only the members of team 7 and their "trainer" remained.

Kakashi scanned their bored faces briefly the sighed inaudibly. Next time he was going to ask Gai what he wanted before volunteering. He did not enjoy spending his prep time teaching gym because Gai was too lazy to teach his classes himself.

But then he smirked evilly behind his mask. Seeing as he couldn't take it out on Gai, he would make sure these students regretted ever deciding to take gym.

"So today…I said we'd train right?" he asked vaguely, more speaking to himself than the other three occupants of the room.

Haruno rolled her eyes.

"Yup! Training starts today!" Naruto answered him energetically, excited at the prospect of physical activity.

Sasuke slouched slightly in his chair.

"Ok…well, seeing as everyone else will be training here, we're going to train somewhere else." Their sensei told them.

"Follow me." He ordered as he stopped leaning against his desk and headed out the door.

The three other members of the team frowned slightly then scrambled to get their things and followed the older man through the halls then out to the staff parking lot.

He stopped in front of a black jeep and unlocked the front door then reached back to unlock the door behind his then leaned across the seats to get the locks on the other side of the vehicle.

"Get in." he said finally as he settled himself in the driver's seat.

"Shotgun!" Haruno spoke suddenly before rushing around to the other side of the car.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed indignantly as her rushed after her only to reach that side of the car as she slammed the front passenger door closed his face and then stuck her tongue out at him from the front seat.

Naruto glared good-naturedly before grudgingly climbing into the seat behind her. Sasuke had already settled into the seat behind Kakashi.

"So Sensei, where are we going?" Naruto asked as Kakashi started the car and backed out of his parking space.

"You'll see" Kakashi answered vaguely.

Naruto frowned slightly as he sat back and started to speculate out loud on where they could possibly be going to train.

Haruno shot a wary glance at their sensei; she wasn't a big fan of getting into a car when their destination was kept secret.

"Don't worry, you know the place well." Kakashi muttered in a low voice so that only she could hear.

Her frown deepened slightly but then it cliqued in her mind where he meant so she relaxed and enjoyed the front seat, settling in for the long drive.

Sasuke watched the exchange in the front seat but seeing as he couldn't hear what had been said over Naruto's chattering he followed Haruno's example and settled as comfortably as possible in the rather cramped back seat and set his sunglasses over his eyes to hide their calculating look as he decided to take advantage of the drive to scheme about his quest.

The drive passed uneventfully, the silence broken only by the low radio playing classic rock music and Naruto's chatter that alternated between guessing possible locations and asking for hints about the location. Kakashi's responses remained non-committal and vague.

Haruno watched calmly out the window as the familiar city flew by, the intensity of its constructs steadily diminishing as they drove further and further from the downtown core where the school was located.

Sasuke watched through his smoky lenses, enjoying how the shadows became intensified and the colors became muted. He frowned slightly when they found themselves driving out of the city completely and where now traveling through the surrounding countryside.

Finally, as the roads turned from paved to dirt, Naruto snapped.

"Alright! I give up; I have no idea where we're going. But are we at least almost there yet? We've been driving for 40 minutes now! How are we going to manage to get any training done and still make it back in time for the afternoon classes?" the blonde exclaimed, exasperation lacing his energetic tone.

"Don't worry about your classes, I already got you guys excused from them. And yes, as a matter of fact, we are just about there." Kakashi answered him as he turned up a half overgrown side road from the dirt road they'd been driving on.

A few moments later he slowed the car to a stop on the edges of a largish field surrounded by several large trees.

"No one's been here in a while." Haruno noticed out loud as she unbuckled her seat belt and got out of the car, taking her small gym bag with her.

The other three followed suit and followed her towards a small wooden building that was a few paces from the parked car.

A few moments later, the four of them were all sitting in a circle in the center of the clearing wearing variations of track pants and t-shirts. Kakashi was still wearing his headband that covered one of his eyes and had changed his turtleneck shirt for a sleeveless shirt and an independent mask that covered his face. However, the tattoos on his arms were clear.

Naruto frowned slightly, the markings were vaguely familiar to him but he couldn't quite place them so he shrugged it off.

"So sensei…what are we going to do for training?" Naruto asked their teacher.

Kakashi snapped out of the daze he's slipped into as he'd looked over the familiar surroundings.

"Easy." He began as he reached into his pocket and pulled out two small bells tied to red strings.

"Today, I'm going to test you. Your goal is going to be to get one of these bells from me." He told the three of them.

Haruno smiled slightly to herself as she remembered the last time she'd gone through this exercise.

Naruto frowned and cocked his head to the side. "We need to get a bell from you? How?" he asked, confused by the vague task.

"You need to take one from me." He answered. "By fighting with me."

"One at a time?" Naruto asked then.

"No, all three of you will be trying to get one at the same time." Kakashi continued.

"But there are only two bells." Sasuke noticed with a slight frown.

"Indeed. That means one of you will definitely fail." Kakashi responded.

"What happens if you get a bell?" Naruto asked.

"You get lunch." Kakashi answered.

Sasuke glared slightly from behind his sunglasses. So that was why he had wanted them to skip breakfast…

"What happens if you fail?" Naruto asked then.

"See those posts over there…" Kakashi began pointing to three large posts beside the cabin where they had changed.

Naruto frowned. "Yeah…" he said cautiously.

"If you lose, you get tied to one of those for the rest of the day and get to watch the others eat lunch." Kakashi said, smiling behind his mask.

Naruto gulped.

"Why are there three posts…?" Naruto asked almost reluctantly.

"Because it's quite possible that none of you will get a bell and then you'll all get tied up and get to watch me eat lunch." Kakashi answered. Sasuke would have bet good money he heard a sadistic lilt to their sensei's voice.

"So, to get food, we need to get a bell." Naruto stated.

Kakashi nodded.

"You're pretty confident thinking you can take on all three of us." Sasuke pointed out.

Kakashi arched and eyebrow at him.

Haruno laughed.

"Oh, I would be sorely disappointed in him if he couldn't." She told Sasuke before Kakashi got the chance to respond.

"So, lets get started." Haruno continued as she jumped to her feet and stretched a bit and bounced around a little to warm up.

The other three followed suit.

"Its about 11 o'clock now. You guys have until noon to get a bell. And allow me to assure you, come at me with everything you've got because there is no way you will get a bell without a killer intent." Kakashi said, vaguely ominous as he tied the bells to one of the belt loops of his calf length shorts.

"I also recommend trying to take me by surprise. Start." He finished.

Instantly the three vanished.

{Well, this is a good start…} Kakashi mused to himself as he turned to inspect the field around him to see if any where in clear sight.

And there was Naruto, standing five feet in front of him with his large arms crossed across his broad chest.

Haruno smothered her laugh at Kakashi's stunned expression from her observation spot under a particularly leafy bush.

"Naruto, what are you doing?" Kakashi asked, vaguely wondering if the blonde kid had somehow misunderstood his explanations.

"I'm not big on the sneakiness thing. I prefer to tackle things head on." He said with his trademark foxy grin.

Kakashi felt a small smile tug at his lips; he liked the kid's frankness.

"Alright then, come on." The silver haired man said in his typical nonchalant tone as his stance remained aloof and slightly slouched.

Naruto narrowed his electric blue eyes slightly; Hatake-sensei wasn't taking him seriously.

Naruto crouched, ready to charge.

Kakashi ignored him and reached into his pocket.

Naruto tensed.

Kakashi pulled out a book with a bright orange cover and flipped it open.

Sasuke caught himself before he face vaulted due to the title of the book, preventing what would have been a sorely embarrassing fall from the tree he was crouched in.

Haruno rolled her eyes. {Some things just never change…}

Naruto's face flushed in anger as fire-like rage burned through his veins and he pounced, springing from his crouched position and charging at the older man.

Kakashi dodged him easily, eyes never leaving his book.

Naruto landed in another crouch, turned and sprung again, raising his leg in a high kick, that Kakashi blocked, followed by a low kick from the other side, using his spin to add force to it, again Kakashi blocked. Naruto moved in with his fist, aiming his powerful punch to his sensei's jaw. Kakashi blocked and took advantage of Naruto's now exposed midsection, landing a hard kick that sent the blonde boy flying into the foliage at the edge of the clearing.

Naruto landed roughly but quickly jumped to his feet about to charge forward again but something caught his ankle and pulled him down to the ground.

Haruno winked at him as she held him in the underbrush beside her.

"Watch." She whispered and the pair turned their eyes back to the clearing in time to see Kakashi dodge a volley of kunai.

~~~

Sasuke smirked at the opening. It was so basic. He mercilessly exploited it, throwing half a dozen kunai at their sensei.

They all hit their target but unfortunately the target had been switched and instead of being embedded in Kakashi's body, they were embedded in a stray log.

Sasuke's eyes went wide; it had been a trap. His position was now exposed. He ran swiftly swinging through the trees, jumping from branch to branch, finally he descended to the ground and crouched, searching the area.

"Found you." Came a voice from behind him. He spun quickly, moving in time to dodge the kunai being thrown back at him. Kakashi stood a few feet away from him, leaning against a tree, spinning a kunai on the index finger of his right hand as he held his book open with his left.

The bells were on his right side.

The dark haired boy reached into the pouch strapped to his leg and pulled out two kunai. Holding one in each hand so that the blade followed along his arm, he charged forward. Kakashi blocked one blade with his own, the other with his book. Sasuke pushed against him trying to break his sensei's hold on the blade and book. Kakashi smacked his forehead against Sasuke's, dazing the boy slightly and forcing him back.

~~~

Haruno crouched with Naruto, both well hidden on the outskirts of the small clearing that was acting as an arena for Sasuke and Kakashi's knife fight.

"Wait for it, when Kakashi has his back to us, you're going to charge in at him. Be loud, we want him to know you're there and turn towards you to block. I recommend a kunai stab from above. Now, Sasuke will react by being annoyed at first and so might tell you to stay out of it or might attack you or might just be stunned for a minute before taking advantage of the situation. So, watch yourself, it'll be hard for you to take on both Kakashi-kun and the Uchiha kid. If Sasuke attacks you though, Kakashi will go after him so you don't need to worry about that." Haruno whispered quickly to him.

"What about you?" Naruto whispered back.

"Don't worry about me, it'll be over before you know it." She whispered back, a half smile curving her lips and a mischievous gleam in her eyes. This new move of hers was going to throw Kakashi through a total loop.

"Alright, they're moving this way, get ready!" she whispered. Naruto nodded. She patted his shoulder briefly and disappeared.

~~~

Sasuke blinked quickly, attempting to get the sweat out of his eyes as he continued fighting with Kakashi. The book had long been discarded and both were now using only kunai.

Both had a few minor lacerations and were breathing slightly heavier.

They were both moving intensely, and Sasuke was hard pressed to remember that his goal was to take a bell and not defeat this man.

Kakashi was on the defensive, slowly being forced backwards.

All of a sudden a loud yell came from behind him and Kakashi spun fast enough to block the kunai Naruto had been stabbing downwards but seeing as Naruto was descending from a jump, his entire body weight was being pushed against Kakashi's kunai.

Sasuke blinked slightly then narrowed his eyes in annoyance; this was his fight and that loud blonde had no right to interfere.

He'd been about to attack him when he remembered that this wasn't a fight, this was just to get the bells, and with Kakashi twisted to defend against Naruto, his right side was vulnerable.

Sasuke smirked slightly and lunged in, ignoring the fluttering of leaves in his peripheral vision. Kunai outstretched, he sliced at the cords of the bells. His kunai passed right through but the rope didn't cut. Surprised, he didn't catch his lunge in time and tumbled to the ground, he caught himself in a summersault and looked up only to see that he was alone in the clearing.

"What the…" he muttered out loud, his eyes narrowing as blood filled his vision, activating his sharingan.

His blood limit pierced through the genjutsu that had been used on him in time to see himself still fighting with Kakashi and Naruto.

Only, obviously, that wasn't him. He stared at it more intensely, the black teardrop deposits in his eyes beginning to spin as his sharingan detangled the illusions that had been cast. The him fighting Kakashi with Naruto was a shadow clone that had been transformed. Haruno's shadow clone.

He scanned the surrounding area, looking for the girl with the pink hair and found her still crouched and well hidden beneath the underbrush on the other side of the small clearing, she was waiting for the right opportunity to rush Kakashi, probably by running through her shadow clone, and grab the bells.

He frowned; this strategy was familiar to him. When had he seen it before?

His eyes narrowed as a foggy image began to overlap with the one before him. They had been training with their father…the clone that looked like him had looked like…

His lip curled into a snarl.

Itachi.

~~~

Suddenly Haruno found the opening she'd been looking for and sprang forward, bursting right through the shadow clone, causing it to explode into smoke that obscured both Kakashi and Naruto's vision seeing as it was in such close proximity.

Kakashi felt a slight tug at his waist and turned from Naruto, following the strength of the pull, in time to see Haruno skid to a halt with a large grin on her face and both bells dangling from her right fingers.

Naruto cheered loudly.

"Alright Haruno-chan! That was awesome!"

Kakashi stared at her, stupefaction clear in his only visible eye.

She batted her eyes innocently but the smirk on her lips ruined the attempt at an innocent expression.

"Thanks for the help Naruto." She said as she tossed a bell at him.

The blonde grinned.

"You too Uchiha, couldn't have done it without you." She said, turning to him and tossing the other bell to him.

She froze when she made eye contact, taken aback by not only his shocking Sharingan eyes but also at the raw anger and maybe even hatred within them.

That's when Sasuke realized he still had his sharingan activated. He blinked quickly and looked away as his vision quickly returning to normal.

When his eyes were completely cleared he looked at the bell he'd caught then looked back at her.

"You realize you've no bell for yourself now." He said casually.

"I figured I didn't really earn one seeing as I used the pair of you to get them. Besides, I got them and that's enough bragging rights." She responded, turning her smirk back to Kakashi.

The older man laughed slightly to himself and shook his head lightly.

"Good job." He told her. "You even made the time limit." He told her.

She grinned.

"Oy sensei, about that lunch…" Naruto said pointedly.

"Heh…right. They're in the car." He answered and the four made their way back through the trees and across the clearing.

Lunch was peaceful and as it turned out, Haruno had brought her own lunch and so she cheated and ate that.

They finished eating and lounged around for a while.

Sasuke was internally seething over the fact that Itachi had obviously taught one of his personalized strategies to Haruno but had refused to teach it to him.

Kakashi was feeling a bit melancholic, still taken aback by the fact that he didn't know the extent of his little Sakura-chan's abilities anymore. And that she had progressed without his help.

Haruno was half relishing having defeated Kakashi while half making a list of questions to ask Itachi in regards to the sharingan and more specifically about Uchiha Sasuke.

Naruto was enjoying the sunshine and the fact that he wasn't sitting in his boring old history class, as he normally would be at this point in the day.

Expectedly though, Naruto was the first to lose interest in his inner thoughts.

"So what now Hatake-sensei?" the energetic blonde asked as he sat up from his reclining position.

"Next? Well, I figured that since the point of this competition is to defeat the other teams, we'd train by holding sparring matches with the other teams." He answered.

"Sparring?" Haruno asked, her interest picked at the idea of being allowed to kick the asses of the people who pissed her off.

Kakashi nodded. "Today was to test the level of your abilities and judge whether or not you were ready to fight the other teams. I think you are and so there's really no need for any one-on-one training with me. So, on monday, you spar with team 10." He answered.

"Team 10…isn't that Shikamaru and Chouji's team?" Naruto asked Haruno.

A sadistic smile spread across her lips. "Ino's team." She stated with relish. Finally she could beat that girl down a few pegs.

"Yes, those would be the members…" Kakashi said, a little wary of Haruno's smile.

Sasuke didn't react.

"What will we be doing until Monday?" the dark haired boy asked, eyes hidden behind his sunglasses again.

"Researching the opponent and working on teamwork seeing as you'll be taking on all three members of the other team together. And according to their sensei Asuma, their parents all go way back in the police force and so have a bunch of group formations that now also work between their kids seeing as their parents passed on the same techniques they'd used together. So as a team, their tight." Kakashi told them.

Naruto and Haruno nodded.

"Well, Shikamaru's ability is that he can trap people with his shadow…" Naruto said.

"And Chouji has his super-size jutsu that make him quite large and difficult to deal with." Haruno added.

Kakashi nodded. "So that's two abilities we know and can train for, anyone know anything about Ino?" he asked.

"Yeah, she can do a mind-body-switch jutsu that allow her to take over the body of her opponent. It's got a huge weakness though, her body becomes totally vulnerable." Sasuke told them, still lying on his back and staring at the sky.

"How do you know that?" Naruto asked him.

"On the first day she cornered me into eating lunch with her and she bragged about it." He answered.

Haruno laughed at him.

"The Barbie table? That sucks." She said between laughs.

Sasuke tched. "Its your fault I had to. You disappeared after gym."

"Oh that's right, sorry. I'd forgotten I'd volunteered to be your babysitter. Oh well, worked out for the best, you got us some inside information on her." Haruno said nonchalantly.

"So now we have a general idea of ability, let's work on countering." Kakashi said, redirecting the conversation to a productive one.

"Well, Shika's shadow has a limit of how far it can stretch but he can use surrounding shadows to elongate it. To counter, it would be best to fight him in an open field at noon when his shadow is at its shortest." Haruno said.

"For Chouji, when he's in his "meat tank" thing, he only really moves in straight line so dodging is easy enough." Naruto added.

"For Ino's technique to work, the target has to be stationary. So as long as you can move out of the way, it won't hit you. Also, if it misses, she can't return to her own body right away so she's incredibly vulnerable." Sasuke finished.

"So their strategy is probably to distract the opponent by using Chouji's technique first and forcing the opponent to move within range for Shikamaru. Shikamaru would then trap them and Ino would take one hostage with her technique, forcing the opponent to surrender." Kakashi stated.

The other three nodded, that sounded plausible.

"So how would we counter that?" Kakashi asked them.

And the next hour was spend in a strategy session before finally they headed back to the school, arriving in time for the last ten minutes of class. Naruto, Sasuke and Kakashi blew the classes off all together but Haruno headed to the art room.

~~~

"Ah Haruno, nice of you to join us." Genma said sarcastically as she entered the classroom.

"Sorry I'm late sensei, I was under the impression that Hatake-sensei had explained to my afternoon classes that I would be absent." She responded as she headed to his desk, still lugging her portfolio.

"He did." Genma answered her around his long toothpick.

Haruno decided to just drop it.

"So, what have you got for me?" Genma asked her then, changing the subject as he eyed her portfolio.

"I've got supplies to return and my first work to hand in." She answered.

"Done already? Well, let's see it then." He said, only briefly surprised that she had already completed it. She was always fast with assignments.

She unzipped the edges of the portfolio and pulled out the large sheet of thick paper, placing it on his neat desk.

Genma studied it for a long moment, appreciating her technique. The lines were sharp and broken. The image was distorted from this close up; it would only achieve clarity from distance. The ink was pure black and the smudged charcoal underneath added to the distortion of the image but also to its depth. But what intrigued him where the dark, dark red splatters that marred its surface, looking almost like lacerations across it.

"Is this blood?" he asked her tilting his head slightly as he looked at a particularly long spattering that stretched across what would be the eye of the image.

She shoved her hand deeper into her pocket, hiding the thick band-aid that encircled her left thumb, and didn't answer.

He looked at her hard for a moment then sighed and let it go.

"May I ask who it is?" he asked her then, moving his eyes back to the drawing.

"Its…someone who was too close to me for comfort." She answered ambiguously.

Genma nodded.

"Alright. Hang it on the board in the hall." He told her.

She hesitated.

"I'd rather not hang it…" she told him honestly.

He sighed.

"I understand that Haruno, but I would really appreciate it if you would. You don't have to put your name on it, or explain it at all. But please hang it." Genma half pleaded with her.

She was one of his most talented students and when the school board saw talent, they invested money in the program and so his students got new materials and better supplies.

She bit her lip then nodded.

"But I'm not signing it." She said.

"Do you want to frame it before you hang it?" he asked her then.

She considered for a moment.

"No, I prefer it raw and open." She answered.

Her sensei nodded again and handed her a box of thumbtacks.

She took them and took the drawing and headed into the hall to post it on the art room's designated bulletin board.

She hung it in the center, not caring that the tacks would ruin the corners of the paper. It was suiting.

The board around it was still bare. It was suiting as well.

She stared at it for a long time. Then she stared at the characters of her name that had been discreetly scratched into the lower right corner last night when she had finished it. They blended into the scratches that made up the pile of blood…no one would find it.

She heard steps at the other end of the hall but ignored them as she continued to study the drawing.

Itachi had been right; the blood spatters had perfected it. It was odd but he always seemed to know what her artwork was missing.

The steps at the other end of the hall paused and something dropped to the floor.

She turned and stared back at the stunned Kakashi.

"Haruno-sama…" he muttered low, staring past her, eyes glued to the image of his former boss.

Haruno walked towards him and grasped his hand.

"Look closer." She said, pulling him towards the drawing until they were standing directly in front of it.

"Its not him. Its just lines. Lines have no power." She told him, still holding onto his hand as she explained it to him.

He looked at it impassively for a long moment.

"Someone might recognize him." He told her.

"If they do, they won't say anything. No one would admit to knowing his face." She responded.

The last bell rang before he could say anything more and she quickly dropped her hold on his hand, breaking their connection.

"I'll see you in class tomorrow." She said lightly as she left him in the hall and returned to the art class to return her supplies and gather her things to leave.

Kakashi watched her disappear behind the door, lost in the flood of students that were flowing out of the room.

He shook his head slightly, clearing it, and walked back down the hall to pick up his briefcase and the papers he had dropped.

He looked back at the image from this distance. It was just lines, he knew, but from here it looked eerily real. He suppressed his shudder and walked away.