A/N: All characters and places belong to Kishimoto…. except the ones that don't.
And please REVIEW, this is what keep us authors motivated
IMPORTANT MESSAGE AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER
PLEASE READ IT!!
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For those who have forgotten what had happened in the previous chapters, they can go back to read it but I'm giving a quick summary.
Basically, MC is reincarnated in Naruto-verse. He has the power to copy biological-related powers from anyone but it takes time and causes paralysis and crippling pain. He is an orphan and Uzumaki but for some reason wasn't taken in my Kushina. The story has a bit of AU elements. No Uchiha Massacre, Fourth Hokage and Kushina alive, Naruto has a twin sister Mito, and Sasuke has a twin sister Satsuki. Rin is still alive and is a Jinchūriki. MC (Arashi) is in Team 7 with Mito and Satsuki and Kakashi as their Sensei.
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Chapter 9- Test Begins
-Kakashi-
Hatake Kakashi was on a tree as he 'evaluated' the three kids enjoying ramen that might become his cute little genin by tomorrow.
In his humble opinion an Uchiha, an Uzumaki and the village's jinchūriki would make a solid team with him as their team leader.
But if they don't show a satisfactory level of teamwork in his test, he would not hesitate to dump their asses in reserve force. No matter what the Village Council, Uchiha Clan or Kushina-san would have to say about that. He wasn't worried about Minato-sensei. His sensei was understanding like that.
It may seem to others that it is a little harsh for newly minted genin to have to know the importance of teamwork when in the Academy they were conditioned to compete against each other. But in his humble opinion, if you don't know the value of teamwork on the most basic level, it is better you don't become a shinobi. That way you won't endanger your life or the lives of your comrades. After all, it's not wartime right now. There is no immediate need for more soldiers.
His attention shifted to the three kids as they finished their meal and got up to go back to the Academy.
He smiled in amusement as he watched Arashi checking his now empty wallet.
Truly, to treat an Uzumaki to ramen is a death sentence for one's wallet. He could only hope that Arashi learns from this.
It was then that the young jinchūriki looked straight at him, even though he was hidden, but then moved along with his teammates without doing anything.
Well… he shouldn't be surprised since the kid was a sensor and Kakashi had watched over him since Arashi was a little kid. But he has to admit that the white-haired Uzumaki has improved a lot if he was able to find Kakashi when he didn't want to be found.
He just hopes that Arashi has what it takes to pass his test. Because while Mito and Naruto are quite close to him because of his relationship with their father, he liked Arashi more.
Then again, that tends to happen if you are watching over an orphan kid since before he could even talk.
As the kids walked towards the Academy, Kakashi performed a couple of shunshin in quick succession and arrived in the classroom in which teams were assigned.
He walked towards the teacher's seat and sat down. With his legs resting on the desk and leaning back on the chair, he began to think.
How should he troll the three little ducklings?
-(A few minutes later)-
Kakashi shifted his attention from his beloved to the genin of Team 7 as the door of the classroom opened. Except for Arashi, they looked surprised to see him.
"My first impression of your team… is that you guys are unpunctual. Punctuality is a good characteristic for a ninja. And from what I'm seeing, we will have to work on it." He drawled out as he went back to reading.
Ah Suriko-chan, you naughty minx~
From the corner of his eyes, he saw Mito pouting.
"But Kakashi-Nii, you were-". Whatever Mito was saying was cut off by Kakashi.
"Meet at Training Ground 7 tomorrow at 7 am. Oh, and don't eat breakfast. You will just throw it up." With his piece said, Kakashi disappeared from the classroom.
He can't wait for tomorrow.
-Arashi-
"-sn't here… I need to tell Kaa-san about his bad habit of ignoring people." Mito muttered as even Satsuki looked a little surprised by Kakashi's sudden departure.
"Well, I guess I will see you guys tomorrow," I said as I gave both of my teammates a nod and also vanished with a shunshin.
I had a test to prepare for.
-(Next Morning, 06:50 am, Training Ground-7)-
I was sitting on one of the trees that littered around the Training Ground-7, trying to get some rest before the test. I had arrived here at about four 'o'clock to do my daily morning exercise, and while I knew that the chances are that Kakashi would be late, it never hurt to be prepared.
I was also sporting a new outfit. I now had a black, full sleeves t-shirt along with a tantō strapped to the back of my waist.
On my shorts were the regular kunai and shuriken holster tied up along with other ninja tools that I would need.
… I need to earn money. Fast. Ninja supplies weren't affordable if you aren't making the money from the profession.
I could spy both Mito and Satsuki from where I was sitting and they didn't have a clue as to where I was.
Seriously, what have they all been doing till now?
"Late-late-late, he's late!" Frustration oozed off Mito like heat from an open flame, as she paced in circles, walking like a caged animal. "I'm beginning to hate him."
I tuned out my team mate's conversation and turned my attention from my teammates towards my hand, which was holding a slip of paper. Not any paper, Chakra Paper.
I bought it yesterday, along with other things I needed to prepare for the test. Suffice to say that my wallet is currently empty. This paper was expensive. There was on way I would have been able to get it on my stipend if I hadn't saved as much as I had.
Damn the Uzumaki and their obsession with Ramen.
Ahem, back to the Chakra Paper. The reason I haven't used it now it's because I was, ya know, kind of afraid.
I had spent a lot of time working on my Fire Nature Transformation and Lightning Nature Transformation. Lightning was mainly because I started my Nature Transformation training with it and fire because it was the most common affinity people had in the Land of Fire, so the chances were that it would be my affinity.
I at least knew that Lightning wasn't my affinity because I had a way easier time with Fire transformation. It was kind of a bummer actually but I got over it.
I didn't try other elements because that would have taken time because it isn't apparent what your affinity is just trying out different Nature Transformation exercises, it takes time. The time which I didn't have.
Now the thing I was afraid of was that if I didn't have Fire affinity, I would have, not per se wasted as it would help me in some way down line, but slowed down progress as I didn't have a lot of time and I need to train in efficient ways to make my training count for something.
… Moment of truth, I guess.
I pushed my chakra through and watched as the paper split in half.
… Wind, huh?
… Fuck.
Okay, calm down. No need to be discouraged. Hard work is never wasted and all that shit. I-I just need to Master this element too, no big deal.
I plucked a leaf from one of the branches near me, ready to start the Leaf-Cutting Exercise.
You know what they say, no time like right now.
-(Three hours later, Training Ground-7)-
"I know you are there, Kakashi-sensei," I said as I threw away the leaf. Another failed attempt. I'll train after the test.
Looking to my left, I saw Kakashi sitting on one of the trees, giving me his trademark eye-smile.
"You have gotten a lot better since the last time I saw you... and even training your Nature Transformation! You know that it is a Jōnin level skill, right?" He asked
I just shrugged my shoulders, "Don't have anything else to do, you know." I replied.
"True, true… Well, enough chit-chat. Let's go and meet your team-mates." With that said he vanished and appeared before Mito and Satsuki who jerked back in surprise at his sudden appearance, I soon followed him.
My team-mates' surprise lasted for a moment before they came out of their stupor.
"You are late! Both of you!" Mito shouted as she jumped from her sitting position followed by Satsuki. She was a little angry but it was Satsuki's glare that was drilling holes in our head.
"Now, now. No need to be angry. Arashi got stuck with me helping an old lady reach her home. She had heavy luggage, so I couldn't carry both of them." Kakashi replied to them with an eye-smile.
"... What kind of shitty excuse is that? Even if you were helping someone, that wouldn't take you three hours!" Satsuki said as Mito nodded her head in agreement.
"Well, when we were finished with our good deed of the day and were coming back, a black car crossed our path, so we had to take a det-" Before Kakashi could go on the whole triad and annoy my teammates, even more, I interrupted him.
"Sensei, I don't have any money left on me. I would like to get started with the D-rank mission as soon as possible, so can we start already?" I said as I walked towards my teammates and gave them a nod of acknowledgement.
Mito smiled at me while Satsuki just glared at me but nodded none the less.
I turned to see Kakashi pouting, "Well you guys no fun… but you are right, we are late as it is."
-Kakashi-
"BUT! Since we are all here, let's talk about ourselves. We're supposed to be a team now!" Kakashi said.
"And yes, I know some of us already know each other but a small introductory speech hasn't hurt anyone. Just some basic stuff, like your name, things you like, things you dislike, hobbies, aspirations. For tradition's sake if not anything else." Kakashi explained in a cheerful tone after seeing the confusing expression on his sensei's daughter.
He then gestured to Satsuki.
"You, Wannabe-Ice-Queen-chan. Why don't you go first?" He said with an eye smile. Mito snickered at her friend's recent nickname, even Arashi had a hint of a smile on his face. The Uchiha glared at him for the call out but relented when he continued to smile.
"My name is Uchiha Satsuki, not Ice Queen or something." She started with a huff. "...I like my family and friends, and my favourite dish is Sukiyaki." She added with a little reluctance. "I don't like cheaters and people who mislead." She looked at Arashi.
Well… at least she seemed to have mellowed out after the free meal. And dislike of cheaters and those who mislead? He hopes that she is just saying that because of Arashi otherwise, she will have a hard career as a kunoichi.
"My dream… my dream is to be the first female Hokage!" She ended her intro with determination in her eyes.
Well… let it not be said she doesn't have a goal to work towards, Kakashi thought. But still, her dream is kinda generic. Which ninja of Konoha doesn't want to be Hokage?
Still, it's a better dream than his when he was her age. So, who was he to judge her?
"Hmm… well you didn't mention any hobbies but whatever. Moving on." He said ignoring the indignant look on Satsuki's face.
"My don't you go next, tomato-head." He said, pointing to Mito.
"Mou~ Kakashi-Nii, you said that you won't tease me anymore!" The Uzumaki pouted at her nickname. But seeing him continue to smile, she huffed, "I will get you back for this! Just you wait!"
Then she turned to Arashi, "Well, you already know my name, Arashi-kun. I like my friends and family and absolutely love ramen. I hate the time that it takes to cook ramen and Kaa-san's Fūinjutsu lessons but other than that I don't have a particular thing that I hate that comes to my mind right now."
Then she took a thinking pose, "As for hobbies, I like to hang out with my friends and-" she brought her right hand out with the palm facing upwards. From there a golden colour chain came out. "I like playing with my Chakra Chains."
"As for my dreams-" she then glanced towards Satsuki and gave her a challenging look which the Uchiha returned, "it is to become the first female Hokage!"
Huh. Rivals already?
"And-" She stopped and looked at Arashi, with her cheeks dusted a little pink.
Wait... Arashi is the boy Mito has a crush on? Does Minato-sensei know? What about Kushina-san?
… He can't wait to troll these kids. This drama might be as entertaining as his beloved Icha-Icha, but you know, minus the porn part.
Mito didn't finish her sentence.
"ANYWAY! Let's be friends, Arashi-kun!" Mito said- more like shouted- as she held Arashi's right hand and gave him a vigorous handshake.
"Uh, sure?" Arashi replied, a little confused by the whole ordeal. His hand still held by Mito.
Mito gave him a bright smile as she let go of his hand, sat down and looked at him expectedly, waiting for his introduction.
It was a little rude that she didn't even address him in her intro, but whatever.
"You are the only one left, Arashi," Kakashi said, promoting the white-haired Uzumaki to begin his intro. From the corner of his eyes, he saw the female Uchiha's eyes twitching.
He wonders the reason for that. It surely isn't because he didn't give any nickname to Arashi. No sir.
"Well, you guys already know that name is Uzumaki Arashi. I don't have a particular dish I like or dislike. And I guess enjoy hanging out with my friends."
Kakashi just eye-smiled at him.
Mito and Satsuki just had a disappointing look at knowing basically nothing new about their teammates.
"Now, I know that I said I don't have a particular thing that I dislike... except for one thing. What I dislike, no, what I absolutely loathe the most in this world is Kishimoto."
Both Mito and Satsuki gave him a look of bewilderment. "Who?" Mito asked.
"Kishimoto is the name of a cruel god, the source of all evil in this world and the King of Trolls. He is a heartless bastard that enjoys crushing hopes of people and has the habit of cutting off men's genitals when you least expect it." Arashi ignored the crazy looks everyone was giving him… Looks like Arashi likes to troll others too.
"As for my hobbies… I like to train, I guess?... There is nothing else that comes to mind." He continued.
Like? This kid trains all the time. It is less of a hobby and more of pure obsession. Even after all these years, Kakashi didn't know what drives him.
"Anyway, as for dreams… my dream is to become an S-rank ninja, to become strong enough to protect Akane-san."
Huh… Kakashi has to say, out of all three of them, Arashi has the highest chance of achieving his dreams. Being the jinchūriki of Nine-Tails, coupled with the fact that he actually trains seriously, unlike the rest of the kids of this generation.
Kakashi would be surprised if Arashi didn't get an S-rank in the Bingo Book by the time he is 18.
But, he doesn't think the person who was the ANBU Commander and an S-Rank kunoichi during the Third Ninja War needs 'protection'.
Wait… Does Arashi not know that his caretaker was a kunoichi?
… Interesting.
"S-rank? That is quite a ways off for you, little genin. You have to pass my test first." He said. Can't show too much favouritism now, can he?
-Arashi-
"Test?" Mito sat up in surprise. "But we just finished our exams."
"No," I corrected her, "What we finished was the Academy Exams. What he is talking about is his personal test." Seeing the confused look on both of my teammate's faces, I asked. "You don't know about the Apprenticeship Laws?" They shook their head and I had to resist the urge to sigh.
Seriously, what have they all been doing in the Academy? You just need to look up this stuff in the library.
I turned to Kakashi, "Sorry Sensei but they are going to need an explanation about the laws."
Kakashi nodded in agreement. "You're right, they do." Then instead of beginning his explanations, he just placed an elbow on his knee before cupping his chin.
I sat there, waiting for him to start, but he did nothing and kept looking at me while I looked back at him.
Then it dawned on me.
"Would you like me to explain it for them?"
"Hmm? Oh if you really want to, sure, go ahead." He waved me on, clearly more than happy to let me do his job for him.
… I hope he isn't this lazy in his teaching.
"There are way too many Genin in Konoha and not enough Jōnin. You can't expect every one of the Genin to get a Jōnin-sensei." They seemed surprised by the information and shook their head in negative at my question.
"You know how the Hokage is the supreme leader of Konoha and has complete command over every one of its ninja?
"Of course." Mito nodded.
"Yeah, well that's not completely true. While the Hokage is the leader of Konoha, he does not have complete command over its ninjas." I held up a hand to forestall Satsuki when she looked like she was about to interrupt. "While he does have full command over us during times of war or emergencies, but during periods of peace the only ninjas that are under his complete control are the Anbu. The regular ninja forces are not forced to obey his every command. Think of it this way, you know how as ninjas we are allowed to pick our missions right?"
They both nodded again.
"Now, what happens if we are offered a mission we don't want? Let's say the mission was too dangerous, or we were too tired from our last job and want a break, what do we do then?"
"We…just say no?" Mito's voice rose up towards the end, making it sound more of a question than an answer.
"Correct." Giving her an encouraging smile, "We just say no. It's as simple as that. The Hokage cannot force us to accept a mission; it's not the way things work. While ANBU has no right to decline a mission or a direct order from the Hokage, we do. That's not to say the Hokage doesn't have any authority over us, because he does, a lot of it. It just means that we as Ninjas of Konoha have our rights as well. Understand?"
"Yeah, I think I get it." Mito slowly nodded her head to show her understanding, before tilting it to the side, "But what does this have to do with the exam?"
"Everything. Jōnin like Kakashi here-" I waved a hand towards him, "-are not required to take on students. While it is traditional for Jōnin to take apprentices eventually so that they can pass on their skills to the next generation, they are not required to do so and the Hokage certainly cannot force them to. And for good reason. You can't just force people to part with their personal techniques and skills when they don't want to and expect it to work. Nothing good can come from that. Which is why Jōnin or Chūnin instructors have to volunteer for the role."
"Now up to that point, there is no problem. The problem comes when deciding which students they have to train. If you let the Jōnin choose their own students then they would all just pick the best of the year, like us, or someone from their own Clan. Other students with average potential or who don't come from large Clans would be left behind."
"Naturally that couldn't be allowed to happen, which is why the Hokage is the one who decides who gets to train who, not the Jōnin. While they are allowed to petition the Hokage for certain students, the final decision will always lie with him. But this leaves us with an additional problem."
"What happens if a Jōnin gets saddled with a group of students he doesn't like? Remember, no one can force them to train the students, and even if Hokage did try everyone would just revolt. These are their hard-won skills we're talking about, some of them are their Clan's techniques, others are their own personal jutsu that they developed themselves. You can't expect to force them to give that knowledge away without consequences."
"But we can't allow the Jōnin to decline the students from the get-go just because they didn't get the ones they wanted, nothing will ever get done that way. So a compromise was made, an exam. Every Jōnin would be obligated to test out the students, if they fail, don't meet their standards, or if he simply doesn't like the kids then he can walk away, no questions asked.
"The test allows the students to prove themselves, a chance to show what they made of and to convince the Jōnin that they are worthy of his or her time. If they succeed then good, the Jōnin has his students, the students have a teacher, everyone is happy. If they fail then the students would either get handed over to the next Jōnin available or even Chuunin if there are no Jōnin left. In the worst cases, they may have to wait for months until they get assigned to their personal Sensei."
"So you mean we have to prove ourselves." Mito pointed sceptically at Kakashi, "to him? But look at him, he's a slob. He can't even make it to work on time. Can't we trade him in for someone better? I know Tou-san would listen to me if I asked him for an upgrade, maybe even switch up for a younger model." Mito said while eyeing Kakashi's hair.
"I resent that," Kakashi rose a hand to his head, "I'll have you know my hair is silver, not grey. I'm still in my twenties." And I couldn't help but notice how he didn't deny being a slob.
"Mito, there is no better model." I explained, "I am the Rookie of the Year and Satsuki is the top Kunoichi and you are just behind her, we are all the most highly sought after students from this year's lot, which means we would be assigned the best Sensei that there is. So no matter what he looks like," I pointed at Kakashi, "He is currently the best teacher Konoha has to offer, there is no one better. Anyone else we can get to replace him would only be worse."
There was also the whole thing about the Reserve Corps. But I don't think they need to know about that now.
"Bingo." Kakashi chimed in, "You see ducklings, it doesn't matter how special you think you are, it doesn't even matter how special the Hokage think you are, in the end, all that matters is what I think of you. I'm the one who gets to decide whether you pass and continue as Genin or fail and get sent back to the Academy."
I frowned as I noticed something wrong with his words, "Sent back to the Academy? Kakashi-Sensei, what are you talking about? If you fail us the worst that would happen is that we get passed along to the next Jōnin in line, you don't have the authority to send us back to the Academy."
"Hmm, you would normally be right." The masked-man nodded as he scratched his chin, "Normally being the operative word here, and this is far from normal circumstances. Tell me, do you know what has been happening over the last day?"
"We've been waiting for you to show up, that's what," Satsuki grumbled.
Kakashi rolled his eyes, "Other than that."
Satsuki and Mito both turned to look at me but I had no idea what he was talking about either and just shrugged.
"Let me give you a clue then," He snapped his finger and pointed at me, "You, sensor, can you check up on what the rest of your classmates are doing."
Confused, and more than a little bit suspicious, I decided to comply for now. Turning on my Chakra Sensing, I began searching for my now-former classmates. It didn't take me long to find them all, as far as I can tell none of them was doing anything out of the ordinary I can't find any Genin Teams in the training grounds. Just like with Kurenai's and Asuma's team, they were all hanging out together in the village centre area and I guess that they are trying to get to know their new teammates and Sensei better now that they all passed-
Then it hit me.
"Oh you son of a bitch," I turned off my Sensing and glared at the grey-haired man, who just eye-smiled back at me. "You weren't just fucking with us for the hell of it, you were stalling!"
"Eh, what's wrong, Arashi-kun?" Mito asked, concerned.
I turned to her, "The other teams, they all passed. Every single last one of them."
I could tell by her reaction that Mito didn't understand why I was upset, but Satsuki seemed to get it right away.
"I see." Satsuki turned his eyes on the Jōnin, "So that's what you meant. You set things up so that you'd be our only option." She glared at him.
"Correct," Kakashi clapped his hands, "Konoha has lost a lot of good ninjas in the Kyūbi attack twelve years ago, and while we are well onto the road of recovery, we are still not quite there yet. We've been having a bit of a Jōnin shortage problem for years now, and the Hokage has been having trouble finding enough Jōnin-instructors to teach newly graduating Genin. As a matter of fact, this year he was barely able to pull in enough instructors for each group. And now that the rest of the Jōnin have finished selecting their teams, that means that the only remaining group of Genin and Jōnin that aren't paired up yet are you three," He pointed at us, then at himself, "and me."
Mito just snorted, "So what? Why are you all making such a big deal out of this?" She flashed a cocky smirk at the man, "All we have to do is pass this exam of yours then we'll be good right? Then hurry up and give it to us so we'll ace it. If every other team was able to pass theirs then this should be easy."
Kakashi chuckled, "Well, aren't you the optimistic one? But I'm sorry to say I'm nowhere near as soft as the other Instructors," Kakashi raised his hand and held up three fingers. "Three times. I have been assigned three other groups before you, and all of them failed my exam, and from what I've seen of you ducklings, it doesn't seem like you're going to fare any better."
If he meant to scare her off then he failed because Mito grin just grew larger "Well of course they failed, they didn't have me on their team did they? Listen up Kakashi-nii, I am Uzumaki Mito, and you have never met anyone like me before."
I had to repress a chuckle at that. Mito was right, despite Kakashi's attempt to scare us, there was no way we'd fail. Ignoring what I already knew of his test, I knew that Kakashi would never fail Mito and allow his Sensei's daughter to be trained by someone else, someone potentially less competent than himself.
And between Mito, Satsuki and me, this team was pretty much a well-rounded powerhouse. The odds of us failing were close to nil. Not to mention I already knew the answer behind the bell test, and so long as nothing had changed then there is no way we can lose.
And then there is the fact that there was no way Konoha didn't have more Jōnin. I can name four to five on the top of my head that didn't have any team assigned to them.
Kakashi just yawned and gave Mito an unimpressed look, "Hmm, well, I guess we'll see soon enough whether you're all talk or not. Listen up, I'm about to go through the rules of the exam." He reached into the pouch strapped to his side and pulled out a pair of bells, along with an alarm clock from… somewhere. "Your objective is simply to get one of these two bells for yourselves."
I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding and allowed myself a tiny grin of victory. That confirms it, this is our win.
"The exam will continue until noon, at which point the exam will come to a close. Your objective is to try and take a bell off of me and keep it safe until the end of the exam. To pass, you need to capture a bell and keep it on your person when the time limit runs out. If you do not have a bell on you by the end, then you fail. It doesn't matter if you captured a bell at one point if you don't have one when the exam is over then you lose."
He looked at each of us one by one, "For the duration of the exam, I officially permit the use of lethal attacks, both on me and on each other. Once we start, anything goes, any tactics or jutsu you know are permitted. This is a test to determine your qualification as ninjas, as soldiers, and I expect you all to fight with your life on the line."
"Wait," Mito raised her hand, noticing the obvious flaw with the exam. "You said only those with a bell are allowed to pass, but you only have two of them and there are three of us. How are we supposed to all pass then?"
"Hmm, wasn't I being clear enough? Uzumaki Mito, think about this." His eyes turned cold as they locked onto her, "Why do you think I gave you permission to attack each other?"
Mito head shot straight up when she got what he was implying, "But that's-!"
"This is the Ninja world brat, not some playground. In here, it's either kill or be killed. If an enemy has what you need to survive, you either take it from him or just sit down and let them slit your throat." He jingled the bells at her, "Besides, dragging around three kids with me is too much of a pain. If I cut you down to two, things will be much easier for me."
"…Bastard," Mito growled out from clenched teeth, glaring furiously at the Jōnin, looking as if she'd be more than happy to begin attacking him right now. "You're really planning on making us fight each other just to make your job easier?"
"Of course," Kakashi smiled at her, "But it's not like I'm going to force you to participate. If you are so opposed to my exam then you can just quit right now and try again next year, with another Sensei. Of course, you'd be doing it with another team too, as I'll just take the other two here as my students and leave you behind. But I'm sure you don't mind being separated from friends if it means you don't have to get your hands dirty?"
"Oh, I forgot to mention one thing. The one who fails to take the bell will be tied to that wooden stump there and will not be allowed to eat lunch." Kakashi said with a smile.
"... So that's why you had us not eat anything before the test… Damn it! I should have listened to Kaa-san." That was Satsuki. But looking at the regrettable expression on Mito's face, I guess she didn't eat anything too.
I, as any reasonable SI would do, used my meta-knowledge and already ate my lunch.
… Shut up.
Then they both looked at each other. Mito suddenly had a complicated look on her face. But a raised eyebrow from Satsuki was answered with a resigned nod.
… They aren't planning to leave me behind, are they?
"When I say start, make sure you come at me with the intent to kill. Otherwise, you won't stand a chance. Ready?" Kakashi explained.
I don't think I would be ready to go toe to toe with Kakashi for quite some time.
"START!"
Mito and Satsuki immediately jumped towards the bushes near the trees to hide but before I could perform a shunshin to follow them a hand on my shoulder stopped me.
"If you tell them about the real objective of this, I will fail all of you," Kakashi whispered into my ear. As soon as I felt the hold ease on my shoulder, I used shunshin to get away from him.
… Well, there goes my Plan-A of just telling my teammates about the secret objective and passing the test without any hiccups.
And how the fuck did he knew that I knew about the test?
Was it my face? I guess I didn't appear as surprised as I should have been.
I immediately started searching for the duo through my Sensing skill.
Found them.
Using the shunshin again, I appeared behind.
"So what's the plan?!" I asked.
""Whaa!"" They both jumped back in surprise, taking out their kunai
… They really need to work on their awareness. But hey, at least they have a good reaction time.
They lowered their weapon when they saw me.
… Seriously? They lowered their guard this quickly? I could have been Kakashi in a henge… I'm just going to stop complaining about their incompetence from now on.
They both looked at each other, then Satsuki sighed and stepped forward, "Arashi look, I-I will admit that I had a bad first impression of you and when I got to know you, you turned out to be pretty cool guy … but only two people can pass this test and there is no way I will choose someone who I know just for a single day over my childhood friend." She finished.
Hmm… I looked at Mito and asked, "Do you feel the same way?"
Mito looked a little reluctant to answer but nodded nonetheless.
… Well, at least they have their priority figured out.
"I get what both of you are trying to say-" And I really did. After all, I would do the same thing, "- but what does it have anything to do with the test?" I asked, a little confused.
"... It has everything to do with the test!" Both Satsuki and Mito shouted for ruining the little emotional moment.
"Does it though? There is no way, even if both of you worked together, that you will be able to get those bells from Kakashi." I said.
"... Are you calling us weak?" Satsuki asked, genuinely angry this time.
Good.
"You know what? Yes. I'm calling you weak." I replied.
At my answer, she stomped towards me and brought me closer to her face by grabbing the collar area of my shirt. Mito behind her was trying to calm her down.
"Why you-!! You think you are hot shit just because you got First Place in the Academy?" She growled.
Instead of replying, I used my foot to remove her footing and unbalance her and used my hands to disengage her.
Then taking hold of her right wrist, I pivoted her and slammed her into the ground with the right wrist on her back. Then I looked at Mito and gave her a look that stopped her from helping her childhood friend.
"Ack! Get off me, you bastard." She growled.
"I will but only after you listen to me... calmly," I said.
She thrashed around and struggled for a bit but after not being able to free herself, she stopped, "Fine!!"
"Good. Now listen, I may think of myself as 'hot shit' as you had eloquently put it as. But in front of Kakashi-sensei?... He would wipe the floor with my ass. He was the student of the 4th Hokage, is an S-Rank level Jōnin, has more than a thousand jutsus under his belt and has a Sharingan which you Uchiha are oh so proud of, which might I remind you, you don't have yet." I reminded her.
"We just graduated from the Academy one day ago. We after barely Genin yet. That white-haired scarecrow graduated from the Academy when he was five-years-old! When he was of our age, he was already a Jōnin! So, do pray to tell, how are you planning on passing his test?" I asked as I let go of her and stood up.
She also quickly got up and glared at me, "We aren't idiots. We know that he is stronger than us but this isn't a life-and-death fight, we only have to take two stupid bells. If we can't even pass this stupid test together, how can I or Mito even hope to become Hokage?!" She said, a little anger in her voice.
"... Fine. How about a compromise? We have two hours left before the test ends. You and Mito can do whatever you think you can do to pass the test for one hour. But if both of you aren't done by that time, we go by my plan." I said.
"And why should we agree? What are you offering to make us agree?" Satsuki asked with her hands folded beneath her sizable chest, making them even more prominent.
God damn these ninja kids! Why are they so developed when they have barely reached teenage-hood?!
"Well… I'm broke. So-" Before I could finish whatever I was trying to say, I was interrupted by Mito.
"Wait! Broke? You don't have any money? Then how did you treat us to ramen yesterday?"
"... That was all the money I had left from my allowance." Well, not exactly. But they didn't need to know that, "Anyway as I-"
"But why? Now you don't have any money!" I was again interrupted by Mito. There were some emotions in her voice.
"... I had to break the ice between us and couldn't think of anything else to do. And I wasn't going to put money over my teammates," I said to her. It looked I plucked some heartstring because she looked at me awe.
Turning back Satsuki, I continued, "As I was saying-" I glanced at Mito to see if she was going to interrupt me… again. No? Good. "- all I can offer is that both of you is that you can each ask me to do any one thing if you succeed at the test yourself. But if you aren't done in one hour, we go by my plan and I don't owe anything to either of you. Deal?" I asked the Uchiha.
Satsuki went to say something but Mito interrupted her, "Deal!" Mito said, a little loudly.
Satsuki looked at her friend with a questioning look but after seeing her stubborn expression, she just sighed, "Fine... I wanted to have a no-holds-bar fight with him anyway."
… Didn't I just man-handle her a minute ago? Where is this confidence coming from? Or is it the Uchiha Pride talking?
I just nodded to them shunshin'ed away from there and left them to their planning. I had to check up on my prep that I had done yesterday.
-(One Hour Later)-
I gave both my teammates a knowing look.
Both of them looked pretty roughed up and were drenched. I had seen everything that Kakashi put them through, from burying them in the ground with only their heads visible to drowning them in the river.
He even set up some simple traps and made them fall for them, just to humiliate them.
But still, I learned something from it, mainly the strengths and weaknesses of my teammates. I couldn't get anything from Kakashi. He basically toyed with them for an hour while reading his smut.
So, yeah. Suffice to say he is quite above my level… for now.
I noticed now that since both of them have come back from their adrenaline-high, they looked sullen and subdued.
Satsuki isn't displaying her tsundere personality and Mito isn't her cheerful self. They looked… defeated.
I guess this is what happens when reality slaps you in the face and you realize how far you are away from your dreams.
They both have, all their lives, listening to people talking about how much of a prodigy they are and how much better than everyone one else in their peer group. And The Academy only cemented this belief.
While they knew that Jōnin were strong and they weren't aware just how vast the gap was. And after all the reality checks Kakashi had them go through, I would have been surprised if they weren't a little demotivated.
But I can't have them drowning in their petty sorrow. I need them in their top performance and I can't have that if they are bagged down by a single loss.
"What's with the defeated look?" I asked them. "Is that all your resolve amounted to? How are you planning on becoming the Hokage after just one setback?"
That didn't work. It seemed to make them even more depressed. Okay, if negative reinforcement doest work, how about some positive reinforcement.
"Look-" I said as I sat down beside them. "Kakashi was trained in wartime, he has the amount of experience in combat that we can't even comprehend now. And there is no shame in losing to a person like him. What would be shameful is giving up after the first try." I said looking at them.
Looks like my words weren't going to waste because they don't look down anymore.
"And both of your goals are to become Hokage, right?" I asked. They both nodded in affirmative.
"Then you can't give up right now. We have plenty of time to get to his level. And I'm sure by the time you both are of his age, you will be able to kick his ass, individually. But you won't be able to do that if you give up now." I continued looking right into their eyes, giving the impression of the most sincere person.
"So, will you try again with me this time?" I asked while standing up and extending my hands to both of them.
They both looked at each other and nodded to each other. Then they took my hands and stood up.
What surprised me was that Mito kissed my cheeks as soon as she stood up.
"Thank you, Arashi-kun." She whispered and then looked at Satsuki.
… I knew that it would eventually happen but damn.
I can't say she doesn't have courage.
"...I still want that spar," Satsuki said, making Mito sigh.
I just chuckled.
"Sure. Now for the plan…"
-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-
A/N: Sorry for the long wait. You guys know how real-life can be.
I had to prepare for University Entrance Exams, then the online classes started for my first year in college. There was a huge workload because Uni wanted to cover-up the syllabus that was left behind due to covid.
Then there were mid-semester exams which I hand to prepare for. I have given two of those and fortunately did well in them. Then I lost my muse and couldn't come up with anything to write
Then I got into Valornat because of my friends and that took my free time. If anyone is interested in playing it with me, my User Id is GodSpeed2804 and Tag is #8395. I am a noob at Iron 2.
So, yeah. Sorry for the delay I hope I can provide regular updates to the story.
Peace.