Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ The Three ❯ Team 7, the Bell Test, and Stirrings of War ( Chapter 1 )

“Normal Speech”

`Thoughts'

Kyuubi

Team 7, the Bell Test, and Stirrings of War

The Three

Today was the day of the genin exams. When Naruto walked into the classroom, he saw Sasuke already sitting in his seat. The two boys smirked at each other, thinking of how much fun they could have on a genin team. Sakura winked at the two boys before Sasuke was smothered by his fangirls. Naruto backed away until Iruka came in, then sat down on one side of Sakura, with Sasuke on the other. His other fangirls were moaning in jealousy, and Naruto just rolled his eyes. It was on days like these when he was glad he had been the one stuck with the dobe act.

One by one, the prospective genin were taken into a separate room to perform the tests. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, all got perfect scores, which surprised the senseis and most of the academy students as well. The trio wasn't surprised at all, they were just bored and wanted to play with their peer's minds. It ended up amusing Sakura and Naruto to no end when their fellow academy students looked at them oddly. Iruka said to come the following day to receive their teams. With that, class was dismissed, and everyone left and went home.

The next day, Sasuke's fangirls were even worse than ever. After they calmed down, Iruka started reading out the cell assignments. Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto didn't even bother paying attention to the rest of the teams until they heard their names being called. “Team 7: Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura, and…Uzumaki Naruto. Your instructor will be Hatake Kakashi.”

The three genin smirked at each other. The plan had worked perfectly. They had ended up on the same team, and now it was time to have some fun.

And so they waited. And waited. When their sensei didn't show up, they decided to talk about how they should act and how much power they should show. They decided to revert to their natural personalities, and to show their full skills in weapons mastery, but only what was necessary for taijutsu and ninjutsu. Hopefully, they wouldn't be caught with their second identity, but they were going to get into situations where they would need beyond-average skills, even if it only was during training.

When their chronically late sensei finally showed up, all of the genin expressed their displeasure in different ways. Sasuke gave him the Uchiha-glare-of-death, Naruto just stared at him, eyes filled with promised pain, and Sakura's eyebrow was twitching madly. She looked like she was just restraining herself from screaming.

“Uh, maybe we'd better meet on the roof.” The silver-haired jounin said before he disappeared.

Sakura mumbled something that sounded like “Damn irresponsible jounin”. Sasuke and Naruto snickered before all three of them shunshined to the roof.

~

Kakashi looked at his genin in surprise. It wasn't every day that you came across a genin that knew the move, never mind three of them. He shrugged and put it to the back of his mind as a fluke. “Alright, so know that we're all here, let's begin with some introductions. The normal stuff, your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future.” Their jounin-sensei said.

“How about you go first, sensei?” Sakura said. She wanted to see how the silver haired jounin would reply. She had a sneaking suspicion that they wouldn't get much more than his name.

To the children's annoyance, she was right. “My name is Hatake Kakashi. My likes and dislikes are none of your business. My dreams for the future? Hmm… I have lots of hobbies… ” The genin sweatdropped at the introduction. “ Alright, first, you, Blackie.”

Sasuke twitched at the nickname. “I'd be surprised if you don't know everything about us down to our fingerprints, so what's the point?” the Uchiha asked.

“Aa… Well, you see, I didn't bother to read your files…” Kakashi said. The genins sweatdropped, again.

“Hn. I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I like my friends and foxes. I dislike homicidal murderers. Hobbies…training, I guess. My dream is to become strong enough so that I don't have to watch something like that massacre ever again.”

Kakashi watched the other two genin to see what their reactions to this would be. He was surprised to see that both Sakura and Naruto had sad smiles on their faces, and memories flashing through their eyes. Again, Kakashi shoved it off as a fluke.

“ Alright, Pinky, you're next.”

Sakura glared at Kakashi for the comment before she spoke. “My name is Haruno Sakura. I like foxes and my friends. I dislike bullies and people who blame others for things they can't control. Hobbies…training. I want to become a strong kunoichi like Tsunade-hime and Tsuchi from The Three. “ ( I promise the names will be explained eventually. Just hold on.)

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. So Sakura had heard about The Three? `Interesting. She seems to be very knowledgeable for a genin.' He thought to himself. “Alright, Blondie, you're next.” Kakashi said.

Naruto didn't respond like his friends had to the taunt. “My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I like foxes, my friends, and ramen. I dislike people who judge others before they meet them and the three minutes it takes to cook ramen. I guess my hobby would be training… My dream is to become a strong shinobi and prove I'm not what the village thinks I am.” Naruto stated calmly.

`He knows…' Kakashi thought. “…Alright. Your first duty as a shinobi will be tomorrow. It's survival training.”

“Pfft…We did plenty of survival training at the Academy.” Sasuke said dismissively.

“Yes, but this will be different. You'll be surviving against me. This next task is a super hard test with a failure rate of 66%! Those who fail will go straight back to the academy!” To Kakashi's surprise, the genin didn't even look slightly phased. `They must be very sure of themselves to not doubt themselves in face of that percentage… This might actually be interesting.' “Come fully equipped. Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You'll throw up.” With that, Kakashi disappeared, leaving three very confused genin behind.

~

Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto stood in the clearing, waiting very impatiently for their once again late sensei.

Over the years, harsh training had developed the trio far beyond what would look normal for a genin. Every day, they actually wore an advanced henge so they would fit in better. The real appearance of team 7 was not what their classmates had seen every day.

Sakura wore black skater shorts that stopped about halfway down her thighs. She wore a red skirt that was just as short , trimmed with white and split down the sides to allow for movement. She wore a similar shirt, (to her normal one, that is) but it didn't have a collar and was sleeveless. The red shirt exposed her stomach, which was covered by armored mesh. The normal kunai and shuriken holder had a third container with it, a senbon holder. Sakura's pink hair was cropped to chin length, and her usually innocent eyes had a sadistic glint in them that promised death for their sensei when he finally showed up. She was also a good five inches taller and very muscular.

Naruto wore black cargo pants with the shuriken and kunai holder on his right thigh. He wore a black belt, which carried four sais and a coil of nin wire. The jinchuuriki wore a black t-shirt with a small spiral of orange on his back. His golden blonde hair was longer and shaggier and had streaks of orange at the roots and at the tips. The blonde's blue eyes were narrower and the pupil was slightly slitted. Naruto was also about eight inches taller as well as muscular, like Sakura.

Sasuke was the least changed of the three. His hair looked the same. He wore a simple blue t-shirt with a much smaller Uchiha fan on the back. He too wore black cargo pants with the shuriken and kunai holders on his right. The round handles of two fuuma shuriken could be seen sticking out from behind his back. Instead of looking arrogant and cold, his eyes were simply emotionless, but those who knew him well could tell that there was warmth there as well. Like the others, he was well muscled and about two inches taller then Naruto

When Kakashi finally showed up, he stopped short as he took in the genin's new appearance. “You're late, sensei.” Sakura said dangerously. Naruto and Sasuke glanced warily at her. Sakura wasn't exactly safe to be around when she was in one of these sadistic moods. “Umm…Can you please explain your appearances?” Kakashi said.

“That's our secret for now. I may consider telling you if you are on time tomorrow.” Sakura said

“Hmph. Anyways.” Kakashi pulled an alarm clock out of his backpack and set it for a certain time. He also pulled out a pair of bells “Here are two bells. Your task is to take these bells before noon. The person who doesn't get a bell will be tied to one of those stumps. Since there are only two bells, someone will defiantly lose. And the person who loses will be sent back to the academy.”

“You're lying, sensei.” Sakura said with a smirk. “This is a test of teamwork to see if we can work together or not.”

Kakashi took a second glance at that. He decided to take a closer look at these kid's files. They sure weren't like they had thought they would be. He shrugged again. “Well, ummm, I guess you figured out the point of the test. You still have to get the bells though. Start!!”

With that, all four shinobi leaped away.

`Hmm…all of them are hidden very well…I can barely sense their chakras. This might be interesting.'

Kakashi's thoughts were broken off when a barrage of needles came his way. He quickly dodged, only to see a pair of sais flying towards him as well. When the sai missed, Naruto pulled on the nin wire attached to their handles, wrapping the nin wire around Kakashi, who turned into a log. “Over here!” Sasuke called, signaling his teammates. Sakura and Naruto ran over and found Sasuke facing Kakashi in another clearing. Sasuke was forming handseals, and Naruto did the same. “Katon: Great Fireball no jutsu!” Sasuke called as he released the technique. Meanwhile, Naruto called out “Fuuton: Slicing winds no jutsu!” The two techniques combined to create an even bigger fireball.

`No way…No genin should have enough chakra to do those techniques!' Kakashi thought. Never the less, he leaped out of the way of the fireball. Naruto pulled out his second pair of sai and charged towards Kakashi. The jounin tried to fight Naruto with a single kunai, but found it was useless as the blonde seemed to have mastered every aspect of the weapon, so he pulled out a second kunai. Once Kakashi was sufficiently distracted, Sakura came up from behind, her fist glowing with chakra. The silver haired jounin just barely managed to dodge the fist before it came into contact with him.

Of course, this left him wide open for Sasuke's trap. The nin wire that had been carefully laid on the floor wrapped around the jounin's torso, trapping his arms to his sides. `I can't make seals…I'll just have to rip myself out of them.' He thought. It was too late when he realized that the wire was sucking out his chakra at an alarming rate. The sudden deprivation of chakra was making his head spin, and he didn't react fast enough to dodge the pair of senbon that skewered his neck.

~

The fabled copy nin slowly opened his eyes to find Sakura healing the cuts on his neck with a worried expression. `Medical Ninjutsu… This team seems to be full of surprises. They are the first ones to pass as well. I think I might actually be starting to like them…' Kakashi thought. When he tried to get up, his arm immediately collapsed under him.

“Careful sensei. You probably won't be able to walk without support for a while yet. Stay still and rest.” Sakura said.

“But I have to report to the Hokage that you guys passed…” Kakashi whined. “If I can't move by myself, someone's going to have to carry me…”

Sasuke and Naruto looked at each other and grimaced, while Sakura cackled evilly at the embarrassment she could cause her sensei. Sasuke sighed and Naruto shrugged, before the newly formed team 7 shunshined to the Hokage's office.

~

Asuma, Kurenai, a few other jounins and Sarutobi were waiting for the one and only jounin who was late to everything, Hatake Kakashi. They didn't know how he was going to arrive, but he most certainly did not expect him to arrive being carried by Sasuke and Naruto. Sakura showed up a second later, behind the three males. The three genin weren't recognized because of their changed appearances.

The Hokage raised an eyebrow in a silent question. The Copy Nin simply said “Don't ask. And Sakura, don't you dare do that ever again.”

“It's not my fault you can't dodge a pair of senbon needles.” The pink-haired kunoichi responded, smirking.

“Hmph.”

“And once you are done with the meeting, go to the hospital sensei. You won't be able to move properly for weeks, so don't try to.”

Kakashi glared at his genin. Taking the hint, the three of them disappeared. A few seconds later, Kurenai burst into laughter, Asuma looked pretty amused, and the Sandaime was just barely restraining himself from chuckling. “Care to explain?” the Hokage asked.

“That, apparently, is my new genin team. Don't ask me why they look so different. I don't know yet myself.”

Sarutobi shrugged and asked the jounin which teams passed. Teams 7, 8, and 10, were the only ones. The senseis whose teams had failed left the room, leaving Kakashi, Kurenai, Asuma, and the Hokage there.

“Alright.” Sarutobi said. “Tell me about your teams.”

Asuma went first. “They are very good at the InoShikaCho combination. Ino has the beginnings of a great kunoichi, but has certain…issues to get over first. Shikamaru is the laziest person I have met, including myself. He has the makings of a leader, however, and has a strategic mind. Chouji is well-versed in his clan jutsus, and gets along well with Shikamaru. He is very, uh, food motivated.”

Kurenai went next. “My team works reasonably well together, nothing that can't be fixed. Hinata has great potential but lacks confidence in herself. Kiba is a hot-head, but works well with Akamaru. Shino is currently the strongest of the three, however, his stoic nature doesn't exactly help the team work together.”

Kakashi sighed, thinking about what to say. “Sakura is very smart and talented. She has a grasp of medical ninjutsu, and seems to know a lot about the human anatomy. She is an expert at senbon needles and has very strong taijutsu. Sasuke seems to be a genius, just like the files said. He has unusually large chakra reserves, and has strong taijutsu and a good understanding of fuuma shuriken. Naruto works well with his team, and is pretty damn strong too. He is an expert with sais, and knows at least one fuuton jutsu. His taijutsu is above average as well. My team works together extremely well.”

The shinobi in the room blinked at Kakashi. The Uchiha was famous for being unable to work with others, Sakura for being weak, and Naruto for being a dobe. But none of the things Kakashi had just said matched up with their previous understanding of the members of cell 7. The people in the room sensed that the Copy Ninja wasn't done, so they let him continue.

“Sakura immediately discovered the true answer to my test. After that, Sakura and Naruto distracted me while Sasuke set up a trap elsewhere. When I used kawarimi, I ended up fighting all three of them at once. Not an experience that I want to have again. The trap Sasuke set was a bit on nin wire that sucked out my chakra at a rapid rate, making me dizzy. The last thing I remember was two senbon needles skewering my neck before I got knocked out. Then I woke up with Sakura healing my neck, me being reprieved of my bells, of course.”

Sarutobi's pipe clattered to his desk. This was the first time Kakashi had ever passed a team. It was also the first time in Konoha's history that any team had managed to get the bells. Something just didn't add up.

“So you're telling me that a Sasuke fangirl, a dobe, and an Uchiha who is famous for being unable to work with others kicked your ass?” Kurenai asked, eyebrow raised.

“Unfortunately. There is something off about those three. I just need to find out what it is. In the meantime, I'll be training them as I normally would.”

“Fine. But back to the real reason I wanted you three here. I need all of your teams at chuunin fighting capabilities in six months.” The Sandaime said.

“But why?” Asuma asked his father, bemused.

“There are stirrings of war. A few days ago, a spy was captured. We found out he was from Iwa. Under Ibiki's…persuasion… he told us that something big is coming in six months. He didn't know what it was, however. It seems that Oto and Iwa have formed an alliance. I may not like it, but this is turning out to be the Fourth Shinobi War if things keep on going like this.” Sarutobi said sadly. The jounin nodded in their understanding and left the room to ponder on the day's events

*Fuuko-chan*

Do ya like? Please review, input is welcome with open arms.

Anyways, (I like that word, don't I?) onto the explanations.

For the people who think Itachi shouldn't have been killed. Itachi needed to die for the story to go where I need it to. Itachi was distracted by Sasuke, and there had to be something to force team 7 to become The Three.

For the people who think Kakashi shouldn't have been beaten so easily. Kakashi was underestimating the genin. Sakura is very smart and, in my story, good at reading people, Sasuke works with others easier, and Naruto is smarter and not loud.