Naruto Fan Fiction ❯ To Measure My Capacity ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10

 

Naruto chuckled to himself as he approached his team mates. He could easily tell with his Akaigan that neither Sasuke nor Hinata had taken the advice he had given them in regards to their new `sensei'. It was clear that both had skipped on sleep to be on time for their survival training, and Naruto was certain neither had eaten.

 

`Admitidly,' Naruto thought, `I would be yawning there with them had Ero-sennin not told me about Hatake's habits.'

 

`And it seems he was telling the truth, for once,' Kyuubi added sardonically. `You can never trust that pervert.'

 

Naruto made his way across the field and approached his team mates who had barely acknowledged his presence. Hinata had hesitantly flashed her eyes towards Naruto before quickly looking affectionately at a spot between her feet while Sasuke briefly glared at Naruto with annoyance as he walked past to lean against one of the 3 large wooden posts rising out of the ground in the center of the field.

 

After 5 minutes of waiting Naruto was getting bored. He couldn't imagine why Kakashi would be consistently late enough to warrant a warning from Jiraiya. Being a few minutes late constantly is an annoying but forgivable quirk a person might have, however arriving 3 hours late continuously is unheard of.

 

`I must find out why Hatake is always late,' Naruto thought to Kyuubi. `I wonder if Ero-sennin knows?'

 

Kyuubi's reply was cut off as Kakashi suddenly appeared in front of Naruto, accompanied with a cloud of smoke.

 

“Morning everyone.” Kakashi greeted lazily as the smoke slowly cleared.

“You're late. Again.” Naruto replied coldly.

 

“Ah,” Kakashi said sheepishly, his hand moving to scratch the back of his head nervously, “you see, a small boy was trapped in an underground cave and I had to dig him out with a rusty spoon so…”

 

“…” Sasuke yelled angrily at Kakashi.

“…” Hinata added hesitantly.

 

“…” Naruto said, compounding and enforcing what his team mates had said.

 

“Well then,” Kakashi spoke up as the four watched tumbleweed roll slowly past, “I will now explain your mission for today.”

 

Kakashi held up two small bells.

 

“Your mission is to get one of these bells from me before Noon. If you don't get a bell from me, you will be tied to one of those logs” - Kakashi pointed to the posts Naruto was leaning on - “and those who get the bells will eat their lunch in front of you.”

 

`Well that explains why he told us not to eat anything.' Naruto chuckled mentally. `It's not that we would throw up, he just needed a way to `punish' us for failing his test.'

 

`Pathetic,' Kyuubi spat. `If you want to punish someone, you should do it right. Missing a simple meal or two is nothing.'

 

Naruto nodded in his head, thinking back to his training with Itachi and the punishment he received for failing his challenges. It sometimes took Naruto days to recover from his time in the Tsukuyomi world. A petty empty stomach was nothing compared to the pains he had endured tied to that cross.

 

“Additionally,” Kakashi continued, breaking Naruto from his spell of melancholic thoughts, “those who do not get a bell will be sent back to the Academy for failing to complete their mission, and subsequently fail to achieve the rank of Genin.”

 

Hinata shifted nervously as Kakashi said this.

 

“B-but, there are only two bells, Kakashi-senesi.” Hinata spoke softly, her eyes filled with dread. She knew she was no match for a Jounin, and both her team mates seemed much stronger than herself.

 

“Right,” Kakashi grinned behind his mask. “That means that one of you will be tied to the post, and therefore be sent back to the Academy.”

 

The stricken look that crossed Hinata's face was enough for Kakashi to rethink what he had said. `Way to knock what little confidence she had, moron.' Kakashi thought. `The rules of this test are designed to create competition between them, but she's just so… weak that any pressure will shatter what little confidence she has in herself.'

 

“Well, I will say this,” Kakashi said, deciding to give the three a subtle hint, although one disguised as a threat. “It's more likely all three of you will fail together than it is for any one of you to pass. You are, after all, only Academy graduates and I am a Jounin.”

 

Kakashi placed an alarm clock on the ground. “This clock is set for Noon. Shall we begin?”

 

The three graduates nodded. Well, Hinata bobbed her head slowly, Sasuke smirked and Naruto shrugged. Kakashi took this as a sign that they were ready.

 

“Begin,” Kakashi said, and the three disappeared.

***************************************************** *******************

Naruto had been watching Kakashi for several minutes, trying to decide the best way to get a bell from him. It was clear Kakashi didn't expect much from him or his team mates as he had taken one of Jiraiya's `novels' out as soon as the three had vanished and had been reading ever since.

 

As Kakashi let out yet another bout of giggles, Naruto became annoyed. His team mates were off being useless somewhere, his `sensei' was enjoying a good read while he himself was hiding in damp undergrowth waiting for something to happen. Visibly deciding on something, a single shadow clone appeared beside Naruto. It nodded once before walking casually out of the bush towards Kakashi, who hadn't stopped chuckling to himself.

 

The clone circled until it was behind Kakashi. It paused for a few moments, perplexed, waiting for the distracted ninja to at least notice him. Shrugging, the clone burst into action quickly launching a wave of shuriken towards the distracted ninja's back, aiming for vital points along the spine and fleshy, easily hittable organs. As the projectiles soared through the air, the clone rushed forward, intent on engaging his opponent in Taijutsu while he was occupied with the shuriken.

 

Kakashi turned a page a shifted his position slightly. He withdrew a single kunai from his weapons pouch and parried or caught each of the incoming shuriken easily. He placed his kunai and captured shuriken back in his weapons pouch and marked the page in his book he was on. Placing the book in its holder, Kakashi vanished, only to appear behind the clone rushing towards him.

Surprised, the clone's eyes widened. He looked back to see Kakashi crouched behind him, his hands clasped together, about to finish a jutsu.

 

`Shit, a Katon jutsu?' the clone thought to itself. `I can't counter that in this position… wait, that can't be…'

The clone drew upon Naruto's memories. Someone had once tried to pick a fight with Jiraiya when Naruto was 10. Jiraiya had used a technique very similar to the one the clone saw coming towards him to deliver a vicious Taijutsu move right to the…

 

Kakashi spoke as the blood drained from the clone's face. “You should never let an enemy get behind you. Now, lesson one: Taijutsu.”

Kakashi thrust his hands forward, letting out the shrill cry of “ONE THOUSAND YEARS OF PAIN!”

 

Instantly, the clone was covered in a dense ball of razor sharp, extremely hard golden-yellow spikes. Kakashi couldn't stop himself as he thrust his hands deep into the ball of dense spines, his fingers, hands and arms puncturing themselves on the razor sharp strands of hair. Grunting in pain, Kakashi threw himself away from the ball as it suddenly expanded outwards, the needle-like points rising several feet in every direction, forcing Kakashi to back away further, least his entire body become full of thousands of tiny holes.

 

To say Kakashi wasn't surprised would be a lie. The last time he had seen that jutsu being used was over 15 years ago by his deceased sensei, Yondaime. To his knowledge, it had never been taught to anyone but Jiraiya, and no one had heard from him in 10 years. How, then, could this kid know it?

 

Kakashi looked at his arms and hands to see blood seeping out of many tiny holes. Using the very small amount of medical jutsu he knew he closed all the trivial wounds before looking once again at the ball of giant, golden spines, so similar to his deceased sensei's jutsu. Deciding it would be best to reorganize his thoughts for a time and gain the upper hand again, Kakashi disappeared in the usual cloud of smoke.

 

Almost instantly after Kakashi vanished, the clone released its jutsu. He hadn't expected Kakashi to leave, he had expected some form of elemental jutsu to be used on him as Taijutsu had become useless. As he looked around, however, he noticed a bell a ways off. Obviously it would be trapped in someway, though the clone couldn't see how. Luckily for him, he was a clone and so any trap that may be set didn't worry it.

 

As his clone walked towards the bell, Naruto smiled. He could see with his Akaigan, even from his terrible vantage point that the bell was trapped and his clone would soon be hung upside down. Evidently, the clone did not have Kyuubi's chakra and so could not activate the ability, something Naruto would have to question Kyuubi on later. `Probably better to be the clone so I don't have this constant stinging in my eyes!' As predicted, his clone was soon hanging upside down.

 

`Now, all we need is for Hatake to come out of hiding to spring our own trap,' Naruto smirked. Sure enough, Kakashi was soon retrieving his lost bell and lecturing the clone.

 

`Wait for it…' Naruto thought as he readied an arsenal of throwing weapons, waiting for an opening to launch his attack.

 

`Now!' Naruto thought, drawing back his weapons. As he was about to throw, a mass of shuriken flew past Naruto and hit Kakashi, sending him flying through the air before yet another cloud of smoke revealed a very dead looking log.

 

`Such an over-used jutsu, that one, and yet it always works,' Kyuubi stated, amused.

 

Naruto frowned as he watched the log crash in to the ground. The Uchiha messed up his plan, but it wouldn't have worked anyway as the Jounin obviously let his guard down to provoke such an attack.

 

`Oh well, the others can have their turn now,' Naruto thought, finally dismissing his clone. He needed to formulate a plan if he were to pass this stupid test.

 

***************************************************************** *******

 

Naruto watched as Sasuke took on Kakashi. Naruto was a little disappointed with the Uchiha's ability, but it looked as if he had potential.

 

`He's no where near where he needs to be for Itachi's plan, however. He doesn't even have the Sharingan yet!'

 

`Oh, he almost got a bell!' Kyuubi exclaimed as Sasuke's fingers managed to brush one of the bells, seemingly ignoring Naruto.

As the fight wore on Sasuke unleashed an impressive looking Katon jutsu, but Kakashi countered by quickly using a Doton jutsu to submerge Sasuke up to his neck. After giving a quick speech, Kakashi once again disappeared, leaving Sasuke trapped.

 

`This test is stupid,' Naruto observed. `There's no way for these people to get a bell. I'd have to go all out and take Hatake by surprise if I was to have any chance, and my ability is well above any useless Academy graduate.'

 

`You're only figuring this out now?' Kyuubi asked, surprised. `It seemed pretty obvious from the start that this test was designed to be impossible for you guys.'

 

`Well sorry for not having the IQ of a demon, oh Great One,' Naruto exclaimed. `Please, do let a petty mortal such as myself in on the secrets of this incredible mission I have be sent on!'

 

`I never bothered thinking about what the actual test was,' Kyuubi responded. `And not all demons are smart or wise, you know. I knew this one guy, Shukaku; such a moron! I only talked to him because I heard he was great in be-'

 

Naruto blocked out the rest of Kyuubi's story and set his mind to discovering the true point of the bell test. It just didn't make sense to Naruto. Genin squads always had 3 members with a Jounin sensei, and yet this test forced one member to fail no matter what. And yet, Kakashi didn't seem to think any of them would pass, going so far as to say “It's more likely all three of you will fail together than it is for any one of you to pass.”

 

As Naruto continued to think on the matter, one glaringly obvious aspect of the test stood out: it was designed to drive a wedge between the three graduates. Deciding to ask Kyuubi's opinion on what this could mean, Naruto tuned into what she was saying once again.

 

`…and so I said to Shukaku, “Bitch you're good but you're not that good!” and that pretty much ended the relationship.'

 

Naruto rolled his eyes. `So Kyuubi, how do we pass this test? Obviously it's designed to drive the team apart.'

 

`So work together or something, show Hatake you don't fear his pathetic attempts at punishment.' Kyuubi shrugged. `You know, you should really call me something more affectionate, Naruto-kun. We've known each other for a long time now, so there's no need to be so formal.'

 

`Sure, whatever Kyuu-chan,' Naruto responded distractedly, thinking about Kyuubi's idea to work together with his team. Naruto had never worked as a team before, save for a few missions with Itachi, which was more of a partnership. Team work involved watching out for others, making their safety your primary concern and encouraged unnecessary emotion in battle situations. It was not a concept Naruto agreed with for the most part, but it did allow for the accomplishment for goals that could not be achieved by a single person. This was obviously the case with this bell test; there would be no way a single Academy graduate could pass, but as a team there was a chance they could get a bell and therefore pass the test together

 

Naruto sighed.

 

`Now all I need to do is find my team, get them to agree to what I propose, and then figure out how to work as a team. Great.'

 

As Sasuke had already freed himself from his earthly prison and left the clearing, Naruto straightened up, dusted himself off and left to find Hyuuga Hinata.

 

***************************************************************** *******

 

Naruto found Hinata standing completely still in the middle of a clearing, staring wide-eyed at unseen horrors.

 

“Genjutsu, damnit.” Naruto swore as he approached the Hyuuga. “And I have no idea what Genjutsu Hatake used on her, not that I'd know how to break it anyway…”

 

`She's obviously useless.' Kyuubi stated, now beginning to grow bored with Kakashi's bell test. `You should go find the Uchiha and work with him to get this over with quickly.'

 

`No,' Naruto thought back, `I need her bloodline abilities for my plan.'

 

Circling the Hyuuga and thinking for a time, Naruto finally came to stand in front of the young heir. Bringing his hand back, he quickly slapped the Hyuuga across the face, the force of the blow sending the petite girl stumbling back several feet.

 

Blinking rapidly and holding her cheek in pain, Hinata's conscious mind returned to her body and looked upon Naruto, confused.

“Your name is Hinata, right?” Naruto spoke once he realized Hinata was freed from the Genjutsu. At the Hyuuga's hesitant nod, Naruto continued. “My name is Naruto.”

 

Naruto extended his hand, which Hinata gently took and shook lightly, still confused as to what was going on. Naruto smiled as he let go of her hand, intent on being as friendly as possible to get Hinata on his side.

“Well,” Naruto sighed, making an act “it seems pretty obvious to me that none of us have what it takes to get a bell from Hatake.” Hinata reluctantly nodded at this, her hopes of somehow getting a bell and passing the test gone.

 

“So I was thinking,” Naruto continued, “that maybe together we would be able to get them from him. The test is obviously designed to drive us apart, that's why there're only two bells, don't you agree?”

Hinata once again nodded, a glimmer of hope appearing in her mind. Perhaps with Naruto's help she would be able to achieve what she could never achieve on her own and acquire a bell

 

“And since the test is designed to drive a wedge between us, I think the actual test is to see if we can work as a team.” Naruto concluded. “After all, if we can work as a team to achieve what a single person could not, we are obviously suited to work as a Genin team together.”

 

The Hyuuga heir nodded once more, now smiling. Her being began to slowly fill with hope as Naruto laid out his plan to her.

 

***************************************************************** *******

 

To say Kakashi was truly surprised would be a lie, but he was somewhat startled. He had been watching the seconds ticking away on the clock, anticipating the end of the test when a pair of Byakugan-activated eyes came rushing towards him. While not at all afraid of the girl possessing the eyes, Kakashi was very wary of the Jyuuken style she was assaulting him with. Her general style was sloppy and lacked certainty, but the principle force behind her strikes was still present - bursts of chakra were being released with each attack. It was this aspect of the Taijutsu attack that kept Kakashi backing away from the girl - he was well aware that even a near miss could prove devastating to him, and consequently he was very careful to avoid every attack by the greatest margin possible.

 

But then something else happened. So completely focused on avoiding the deadly Jyuuken assault from his front, Hatake Kakashi - famous Konoha Nin for copying over a thousand jutsu - was caught off guard by mere Academy graduates.

 

A swift roundhouse to the back of the head was about the most unexpected thing to happen to him in Kakashi's recent life.

 

Managing to rotate his body mid-flight, Kakashi landed roughly on his feet and was suddenly presented with two young ninja engaging him in Taijutsu. The Hyuuga, Byakugan still blazing, was now joined by the enigmatic blonde dressed in his overly large white trench coat. The basic Taijutsu he was using was terrible, and Kakashi had expected more. However, the added threat just by his mere presence was enough to make him decide to retreat and gain the upper hand. Substituting himself with a trusty log by using the ever useful, overused and overpowered Kawarimi no Jutsu, Kakashi found himself in a nearby thicket. Sighing to himself and rubbing his throbbing head, Kakashi observed the two youngsters as they looked at Kakashi's log friend, annoyed. The blonde turned to the Hyuuga and said something - what, Kakashi couldn't lip-read without his Sharingan from this distance. The Hyuuga then pointed right at Kakashi, and the blonde nodded. The air was soon full of kunai with explosive tags attached flying directly towards Kakashi.

 

“-king Byakugan,” Kakashi cursed as he burst from his hiding place and in to the open, just as the thicket he had been in exploded. Earth and wood was sent flying in every direction, coating Kakashi with dirt and splinters. As Kakashi turned to survey the damage, three pairs of hands clamped on to his limbs from behind, preventing the now thoroughly surprised Jounin from moving. A now smiling Hinata and Naruto slowly approached Kakashi from across the clearing.

 

***************************************************************** *******

 

Twenty Minutes Earlier

 

“So, do you agree that we should work together?” Naruto asked Hinata.

“B-but, why not get Sasuke to help?” Hinata replied. “He's a better ninja than I am.” She added, her eyes downcast.

“We don't need his help for this,” Naruto reassured Hinata. “All we need is your Byakugan and Jyuuken, and my clones.”

Hinata's eyes widened at this. She hadn't expected Naruto to know about her bloodline and Taijutsu style since he didn't seem to be from Konoha.

“How d-do you know about my b-bloodline abilities?” Hinata questioned Naruto, confused.

 

“The Hyuuga are pretty famous,” Naruto responded, shrugging. “And that's why it's perfect for my plan! What I need you to do, Hinata, is attack Kakashi with your Jyuuken. He will know the style and probably try to avoid it as much as possibly since he knows the consequences of being hit. Do you think you can do that?”

Hinata looked at her favored spot between her feet, uncertainty clearly evident on her face. At this, Naruto was suddenly struck by the absurdity of her personality. This weak, insecure wannabe kunoichi was supposed to be the heir of the famous, powerful and noble Hyuuga clan? It was hard to believe.

 

`There has to be some reason for it' Naruto thought, `and I must find out what it is if my plans for Hinata and my eventual learning of her Jyuuken style are to succeed.'

`What?' Kyuubi exclaimed. `You were actually serious when you said something about “changing her attitude”? It's a complete waste of time; she's obviously a lost cause.'

 

`She knows the most powerful form of Jyuuken' Naruto argued to Kyuubi, `and as far as I can tell she just lacks the confidence to use it properly. Once I break her and remold her, the full power of her Jyuuken style will be revealed to me and I can continue to adapt and evolve my own form of Jyuuken. There is only so far Itachi-sensei's copied style can take me. My Taijutsu style must continue to evolve and strengthen as I do.'

 

`Too much effort if you ask me.' Kyuubi yawned.

 

`Damn lazy arse fox, probably had a bunch of servants doing all her work for her.'

 

“Look,” Naruto said, becoming slightly irritated with Hinata's lack of cooperation, “you're not going to become a Genin by staring at the ground, and there's no way you'll be a good leader of your clan if you always ask the ground to solve your problems. Now Hinata, do you think you can keep Hatake busy with your Jyuuken?”

 

“I-I'm not sure,” Hinata said without looking up.

 

“Well,” Naruto started, reaching out and forcing Hinata to look at his eyes, willing his confidence into her, if only to get his damn plan in action, “I know you can. It's not a feared and famous style for no reason!” Hinata finally nodded, and Naruto gave her perhaps the biggest and most encouraging smile he had ever formed. Realizing Hinata couldn't actually see his smile due to the high collar of his trench coat, Naruto unzipped the white coat, letting it hang and move as it pleased while exposing his black pants and top. `This feels unnatural.' Naruto thought, thinking about both his smile and his open trench coat, usually kept closed and zipped up.

 

“Great! Okay, while you keep Hatake busy I'm going to sneak up from behind and attack him as well. I doubt he'll expect you attacking him, let alone myself as well. I predict he will retreat and observe us like he did the first time I fought him and try to gain the upper hand. Are you with me so far?”

”Y-yes,” Hinata said, trying to picture the fight in her mind.

“Good!” Naruto encouraged. “While the fight is going on, I'll get my shadow clones to surround the area, so no matter where Hatake goes there'll be clones nearby to trap him. When he retreats, you can find him with your Byakugan and we can chase him out in to the open again. As this happens, the clones will grab him from behind and we can safely take the bells from him!”

It was a simple plan, one that didn't require advanced jutsu or elaborate weapon traps, only simple Taijutsu and some clones. While Hinata wasn't absolutely sure of her ability, it wasn't like she had any option but to go with the plan - she truly didn't want to fail the test. She had to try her best!

 

Nodding her head with an amount of confidence Naruto had not seen in the young Hyuuga before, Hinata accepted the plan.

 

“Okay then, let's go!” Naruto exclaimed, brimming with confidence.

****************************************************** ******************

 

The two found Kakashi in the field the test had started. He seemed bored, idling watching the clock set for Noon. Naruto observed for a few moments, trying to tell if Kakashi had noticed them. Soon coming to the conclusion that Kakashi wasn't aware of their presence, Naruto turned to Hinata.

“I'm going to circle around to the other side of the field, creating shadow clones as I go. I need you to drive Hatake towards me in a few minutes, will you do that?” Naruto was careful not to leave any doubt that he thought she could do it, trying to get Hinata's confidence as high as possible.

“I g-guess.” Hinata replied with little certainty.

“You guess, or you will?” Naruto pressed, not letting her have the novelty of uncertainty.

“I will,” came the reply after a short pause. Naruto gave another of his best reassuring smiles.

“Let's do this, then!” Naruto exclaimed, leaving Hinata and quickly maneuvering around the field's edge, creating clones as he went.

'You don't honestly think this will work' Kyuubi snorted as Naruto settled himself down in some dense bush, his clones poised ready, waiting for Hinata to attack.

 

`It's so simple it can't possibly fail' Naruto replied casually. `Nothing can go wrong, unless like, one of the clones fall over'

 

Kyuubi's response was ignored by Naruto as Hinata suddenly burst forth and engaged Kakashi, using an all too familiar style that Naruto observed intently with his Akaigan, now barely noticing the strange tingling in his eyes. `Her style isn't terrible, but it lacks… certainty, finality, power and… confidence. All quirks that can be hammered out easily… if you have the right hammer.'

 

As Hinata drove Kakashi closer to Naruto, Naruto's vision soon focused itself on the appearance of the Byakugan in Hinata's eyes. It was completely different from all versions of the Sharingan, and his own Akaigan. Veins bulged and became easily visible around the eyes, while the usual pupil-less Hyuuga eyes had a visible marking on the usually unmarked lavender iris.

 

`You know,' Kyuubi pondered, `she can probably tell with that Byakugan of hers that you're using my chakra and focusing it to your eyes. You might want to consider that when you're around her.'

 

Naruto thought over what he knew about the Byakugan - can see great distances, in a near-360 degree sphere, through objects and, most importantly to Naruto, chakra. Deciding to play it safe for the time being, Naruto deactivated the flow of chakra to his eyes. He was instantly plunged into the gloom of the undergrowth he was in, and almost thought himself blinded as he could now hardly make out any defining features of Kakashi or Hinata.

 

`It's hard to believe my true vision is that bad' Naruto thought, shocked.

 

`You mean it's hard to believe perfect human vision is that bad' Kyuubi chuckled.

 

Naruto judged it was now time for him to make his move on Kakashi. Zipping his open trench coat back up to avoid any chance it could trip him, he rushed from his spot. Coming up behind the engaged Jounin Naruto drew his leg back and, with as much force as he could, kicked the one-eyed ninja in the back of the head. Smiling briefly to Hinata as Kakashi flew through air, Naruto led a renewed assault on the startled Jounin with the most basic of Taijutsu. True to his prediction, Kakashi soon vanished only to be replaced by a sturdy log. Shaking his head at the log's predictable appearance, Naruto turned to Hinata.

“That was great!” He said, smiling. “Now, where did he go to?”

Hinata gave a small smile in return, before pointing to a large crop of bush a good distance away. Naruto nodded, quickly withdrawing copious amounts of kunai with what he considered to be thoroughly entertaining explosive tags, which he promptly threw towards the spot Hinata was pointing. True to Naruto's expectations, Kakashi burst from the bushes and turned back to watch the pretty explosions when Naruto's final trap was sprung.

 

Three shadow clones threw themselves on Kakashi, disabling his arms and legs to prevent him from escaping. Naruto once again had a smile on his face, which was mirrored by Hinata as they both made their way towards Kakashi.

Approaching, Naruto couldn't help but bask in the moment. His plan had gone off flawlessly. Stopping in front of the captured Jounin, Naruto took a moment to look him up and down.

 

“What was it you told me, Hatake?” Naruto said, a smirk on his face. “'You should never let an enemy get behind you', that was it, wasn't it? Maybe if you took your own advice, you wouldn't be in this position. I'll be taking those bells now.”

As Naruto's hand reached out towards the bells, the shrill cry of an alarm clock sounded through the air. Naruto's hand paused, and a strange look came across his face. Hinata's small smile slowly disappeared as the alarm continued to cry out the Academy graduates' failure. Naruto's clones disappeared in a cloud smoke.

 

“Well, well,” Kakashi spoke up as the alarm clock's shrieking stopped, “it looks like you guys… pass.”

 

Hinata's disappointed face turned into one of confusion as Kakashi said this.

“B-but Kakashi-sensei, we didn't get the bells from you.” Hinata said with uncertainty in her voice.

 

“True,” Kakashi conceded, “but the test was never about the bells. The test was to see whether or not you could work together as a team. You two did just that, and while Sasuke wasn't a part of your plan, he came close to getting a bell on his own so… you guys pass.”

 

Naruto's face didn't change as Kakashi explained the test. Mentally, he was raging.

'I can't believe I let my emotions get the better of me. I should never have bragged. Even when I had gotten the bells, I should have kept my composure. Have you forgotten what you learnt from Itachi-sensei, moron? What the crap was that. Never again. Never again will such idiocy happen.'

 

`Yeah that was pretty stupid of you' Kyuubi added helpfully. `I can't believe that happened, to tell the truth. He wasn't dead; the mission hadn't been completed; he could have easily broken free; you shouldn't have even gone near him, just have a clone get the bells. But, I never said you were a very intelligent person.'

 

Sasuke soon approached the group and found out the good news. He barely acknowledged the fact he had passed before leaving the group, muttering something about `training'. Naruto continued to berate himself mentally over his actions, completely ignoring the conversation around him. Hinata was still getting over the shock of passing when she was certain she had failed.

 

As the Noon day sun continued to shine brightly down on the trio, Kakashi announced he was leaving. Both newly appointed Genin barely acknowledged his imminent departure; Hinata stretched her arms while Naruto took off his heavy white trench coat as the temperature had risen. Naruto turned in time to see Kakashi vanish in a swirl of leaves, a change from his usual smoke.

 

Kakashi, however, had seen Naruto's full face for the first time and was struck by the similarities he had with the young boy who was the great Kyuubi's container. As Kakashi walked to a popular Jounin joint, he couldn't help but associate his new student with the young boy that bore those same facial marks. Trying to give the face a name, Kakashi finally remembered: Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. He had vanished 6 years ago, and no one seemed to know what happened. But now, this young ninja, who would be the appropriate age and resembled the young boy so much appears, with special treatment from the Hokage? Having not visited the Hokage recently, Kakashi changed his course and headed towards the Hokage's tower, for he had many questions that needed answering. Kakashi was sure he had discovered the enigmatic young blonde's secret.

 

Naruto had finally grown bored of insulting himself, and became fully aware of his surroundings for the first time since the clock rang. Noticing the young Hyuuga was still with him, Naruto decided now was as good a time as any to initiate his plans for the timid Hyuuga heir.

 

Turning to face Hinata, who still looked a little shocked, Naruto spoke.

“Hey Hinata,” Naruto said casually, “would you be interested in training with me for a while? We can eat the lunches Hatake left and then train for a bit, what do you say?”

 

“U-umm, I don't know if I should,” Hinata replied nervously. She wasn't sure her father would approve of her training with anyone other than himself or her Jounin instructor.

“We're team mates now, and we work well together.” Naruto pressed. “Just say `yes'.”

Hinata shifted nervously. It was true that they were team mates now, and they did seem to work well together. What harm could a little training do?

 

“Yes, I will t-train with you, Naruto-k..kun.” Hinata finally replied.

Naruto smiled.

'Excellent.'