Chapter Text
Naruto didn’t know what to make of his team.
It had been surreal sitting in that classroom; it wasn’t the same as the one from four years ago, but it had the same layout. If he didn’t focus on it, he could almost envision his first year class, filled with younger versions of everyone that had sat around him. Their gazes had been just as, if not more, intense than that day, but now unaccompanied by whispers.
He had felt so restless, unable to stop fidgeting and twitching, longing for the open forest. He tried to picture traipsing through the trees, walking over shallow streams as he guided chakra to the soles of his feet, or curling up in a meadow, a fox beside him. He tried to recall every peaceful afternoon, every morning he woke up and realized he had fallen asleep in the forest, but it did nothing to quell his nerves.
So he resolved to stare at his desk, trying to zone out yet hyperaware of every word that was said. When he heard his name being called, he knew he had an Uchiha on his team, and another, a girl without a clan, or without one that he knew of. But he couldn’t bring himself to look up and seek out his teammates, so he resigned himself to being a pariah, choosing to count down the minutes until Iruka-sensei would set them free.
So it had been shocking when he had heard a voice, not curled up in disgust or passive with reluctance, but cheerful, excited. He listened to a bubbly introduction, tentatively shaking Sakura’s hand. It was pitiful to think she was probably the first person he’d touched in years, but the thought popped into his mind anyway.
He heard the Uchiha, Sasuke, he had said, introduce himself, a touch more formal and reserved, but not entirely closed off. His face also seemed familiar, but then again, he’d tended to observe the Uchiha a lot in the past, so it was a given he’d see some resemblance.
He'd listened to both of them as they'd talked, obviously excited to be promoted to the rank of genin. Sasuke had tried to hide his glee, appearing more laid back than his chakra felt, while Sakura was obvious about it, rambling on and on about her hopes. It was nice to listen to a conversation without the pressure of coming up with a response.
Perhaps the less he spoke, the less likely they would be to pin him as the demon, to see his pointed teeth and bared flesh and throat wide enough to swallow a village. Maybe it would be longer than a day this time, before they noticed. Maybe this pseudo-peace could last just a bit longer.
It had been proven, tried and tested time and time again, so by now he knew he was stupid to hope. Utterly foolish to ponder on the ‘what-ifs’ and ‘maybes’.
And yet, he still did.
So the next morning, he was leaning up against a tree in the training grounds, an hour earlier than he was meant to be, hoping it would be better. He had been too worried to sleep, had barely rested in between overthinking every possible interaction, so he decided to get ready and leave his apartment.
He had strolled across the village, using the dark as a cloak to slip by unnoticed. Not that there was anyone to slip by at that hour, but on the off chance that a squad returning from a mission or a drunk civilian crossed his path, he didn’t have to worry.
It was a novelty, walking through the village without the weight of eyes on him. Though he was walking slowly, he slowed down even more, savouring each unburdened moment and cataloguing it for the next time he would need a good memory to dwell on.
The peace had followed him to the training ground, where he sat down and meditated, focusing on the flicker of his fire chakra, now one entity, indistinguishable from the parts that had once been his wind chakra. He could stop the flow, could separate the two, but he had no reason to. It didn’t require any of his focus to keep it in check; it was subconscious, staying that way even in his sleep.
Despite the progress, he still meditated and monitored his chakra, seeing it as more of a comfort than a part of his routine. He was focused on it, tracing the path that a stream of his chakra was taking from his forearm to his stomach, burning with the flame of Kyuubi’s rage, when he felt the presence of a familiar chakra signature.
“Good morning”, he heard from above him. He could feel the heat emanating from Sasuke, the warmth of the usual Uchiha fire chakra.
It was funny that he had an Uchiha as a teammate, the same clan he had used as a case study to replicate the fire nature.
“Good morning”, he replied, voice rough from underuse.
He didn’t know what to say, and Sasuke seemed lost in thought, so he stayed silent. He couldn’t ease himself back into meditation, but he could focus on his chakra output, making a game out of identifying the smallest animal he could sense with his chakra.
He had just gotten to a mouse when he heard another voice piercing the dawn.
“Hi guys!” Sakura said, her voice more sure and determined than when she had wished them goodbye the other day.
Sasuke inclined his head in greeting, and Naruto gave a hesitant wave, still on guard around the two.
Once she sat down, Sasuke began to speak, and Naruto realized he hadn’t simply been zoning out the whole time.
“We need to come up with a plan”, he started, hands clasped together.
“But we don’t know what he’s gonna make us do”, Sakura reasoned with the air of someone who’d thought through a fair deal of possibilities.
“We can’t be completely sure, but I’ve talked to a lot of my family about their genin tests, and I found out it’s usually some form of attacking the jonin instructor or finding them or something like that”.
“Attacking the jonin?”
“Yeah. It could just be a fight to see our skills, or there might be an objective we need to complete. Like Shisui told me that for his test, he had to lift a feather from his sensei’s pocket”.
“A feather? I don’t know if I could do that”, Sakura said nervously.
“Well, each jonin does it differently, especially based on what they’re looking for. Like Shisui’s was testing their stealth, while others might test jutsu, or something else”.
“What do you think Kakashi-sensei would test?”
“Maybe jutsu? I’m really not sure, ‘cause everyone knows him as the shinobi that’s copied over a thousand jutsu, but nobody actually knows anything about him”.
Sakura blinked at the title, looking shocked at the name. Naruto almost hadn’t made the connection, but after hearing his jonin sensei’s name, he’d rechecked the Bingo Book the Hokage had given him, and picked out the Copy Ninja.
“But it’s no use trying to guess what he might do”, Sasuke continued, picking up steam. “What we can do is find a way to work together, so we can do whatever he tells us to”.
“You sound like you already have a plan in mind”, Sakura pointed out.
Sasuke blushed, but nodded. “I was thinking about it last night”.
He turned to Naruto, tilting his head slightly to the side as if debating whether to say what was on his mind. “I’m just going to assume you’re not big on taijutsu?”
Naruto thought it over for just a moment, remembering all the shinobi spars he’d witnessed, the rapid exchanges of blows, the lithe movements, as though an intricate dance.
He shook his head in agreement.
Sasuke didn’t seem surprised, just nodding as he confirmed his suspicions. “That’s perfectly fine, because I was thinking you could be more of a distraction”.
“Distraction?” He prompted.
“I’m not sure how much fuuinjutsu you know, but I assumed you know a few seals that might be able to distract, or honestly just annoy Kakashi-sensei? It’d probably be best if you could activate them from afar so he won’t be able to find you”.
The question made him hesitant. He’d recently been working on remotely activated seals, and by recently, it had been a few months. But it rubbed him the wrong way, using something he wasn’t completely done with in the presence of others.
If he was being honest with himself, it was the thought of using his chakra around them.
But he saw the hope in Sasuke’s eyes, the curiosity in Sakura’s at the thought of finally seeing an art she’d only read about. Guilt at having nothing else to offer made him nod slowly, zoning out from the rest of the conversation as he racked his brain with what to do.
After finishing timed seals, he’d looked for the next big project he could work on, wanting to expand his knowledge when he finally mastered control of his chakra and knew that he would become a shinobi by the end of the year. In terms of practicality, time-activated seals were only useful if the fight was planned or if he had enough time in the middle to edit one of his seals and add the time component.
But he didn’t want to rely on ‘ifs’; he wanted concrete solutions, different ways to do things so he would never be stuck.
That led to a host of projects: learning how to write seals on materials other than paper, quickening his seal drawing, and the one that took up most of his time: learning how to activate a seal from afar.
He knew there were thousands of ways to do it, but he struggled to find even one that was discreet or viable. Sure, he could force wind chakra into the seal from afar, but his was a noticeable orange, and he would lose the element of surprise. He could place most of the chakra in the seal and channel in a little to activate the seal, but his chakra was so volatile that for most seals, after a while it would tear them to shreds.
So he’d perused different sources, and that’s when he first checked out the bingo books and noticed Kakashi-sensei’s impressive title and even more remarkable feats. But he’d also stumbled upon Sasori, a puppeteer famous for controlling multiple puppets simultaneously. It was impressive, from what he’d read about what a typical puppeteer could do, but that wasn’t what interested him.
It was the chakra strings he used that interested him. They were impossibly thin, invisible to the typical eye, and so far, they were his best bet. He’d tried out the exercises he found in one of the puppeteer books in the library, sending out his chakra in as small tendrils as he could, then spinning them quickly to direct them to the seal. It had taken weeks of practice, but he became proficient at it, conjuring the strings at a moment’s notice.
The only problem was sending chakra through them. Either he could constantly lengthen the string, forcing the end into the seal, or he could send chakra along the string. The first was tedious and could disrupt the seal as the chakra entered it while spinning. If he tried to force too much in or did it too quickly, the rotational force tore the seal apart. But the other was even riskier, as forcing too much along the string could lead it to snap, and the chakra that hadn’t made it into the seal would disperse in the air, tearing through the environment.
He didn’t trust that method around the creatures in the forest, so he always practiced it on the roof of his apartment, so he definitely didn’t want to use it around people. But what choice did he have?
After hours spent lapsing between listening to his teammates converse and worrying about what to do, he felt a spark in the air, the calm before a storm. He straightened up, realizing that it was Kakashi’s lightning chakra signature, and when he turned, he saw him sitting on a low branch, legs swinging in the early afternoon breeze. He clapped his hands together, eye smile looking particularly sinister.
“Well, let’s get started, shall we?
🌀🌀🌀
Unsurprisingly, Sasuke was right.
Kakashi had dangled the bells in front of them, claiming that only those who got the bells would pass. It was an obvious bluff. Naruto had read enough about shinobi to know that a genin team always had three members, but knowing that didn’t make the exercise any easier. The Copy Ninja was just as good as his bingo book made him out to be, standing in the middle of the training ground, reading an Icha Icha book, yet obviously aware of all their positions and tactics.
They had all dispersed into the bushes, and as he fled, he dropped seals across the training grounds, continuing until he was satisfied with their positions. First, it was Naruto’s job to lead Kakashi into the clearing in the trees, where Sasuke and Sakura were hidden in the foliage.
So far, it had been going well. He’d placed paper bombs behind rocks, on the backs of trees, anywhere he could find the room for them. Paper bombs were special, as they only needed a little bit of chakra for the initial spark that would cause the explosion; the rest of the chakra was already within them. His chakra didn't rip them apart, instead intensifying the resulting explosion. So he didn’t have to do much, feeding the tips of the chakra strings into the seals to cause the reaction.
He had an inkling that Kakashi knew what he was doing; perhaps he saw him place the seals, or perhaps he could pick up the threads. Either way, he acted oblivious, using the substitution jutsu or just weaving out of the way of the bombs as they detonated. He was inching closer to the clearing with each bomb until he was within it, giving it a cursory glance, no doubt pinpointing his teammates.
As soon as he stepped within distance, waves of Kunai and shuriken were flung at him, but he didn’t see Kakashi move, instead watching as they poofed out of existence once they ‘hit’ their target. When he did move, he did so sparingly, eyes still trained on his novel, and feet light on the ground. The ones he dodged found themselves impaled in trees or scattered across the ground. It looked like he might be a sensor type, adept at discerning the clone jutsu without a thought.
When a flood of Sasukes erupted from the trees, he barely blinked, still sweeping a distracted hand through any of the clones that came too close. A moment later, though, there was a resounding clash of steel, and when he squinted through the flood of clones, he could see a kunai clutched in Kakashi’s hand striking against one in Sasuke’s, now the actual one.
Kakashi raised his one visible eyebrow, as though challenging him, and he put the novel away into his pocket, falling into a stance. The two circled each other, and it was clear Kakashi was waiting for Sasuke to make the first move.
Eventually, he lunged forward, throwing punches yet being blocked at every turn, fists meeting the air or hitting Kakashi’s sleeve. He was persistent, trying again and again for an opening, yet being denied one at every turn.
Naruto had spent years watching shinobi fight, but still, it was impressive to watch a jonin at work.
During his first few months of observation, as the book suggested, he had noticed that most of the jonin could sense him, either outright staring at him, despite the cover he hid behind, or glancing at him occasionally, tracking his movements. At first, he had debated whether or not he should continue watching them, but he made his choice when a purple-haired jonin, who he later learned was Mitarashi Anko, had dropped onto the branch beside him, a predatory smile on her face as she asked, “Enjoying the show?”
Needless to say, he hadn’t watched jonins practice for a few years.
However, what was even more impressive, in his opinion, was watching an academy student hold his own against a jonin.
Though Kakashi appeared relaxed, it was clear he had to focus more as time passed, narrowing his eyes and quickening his pace. Sasuke used the Uchiha clan stance, fluidly moving from one attack to another, not halting, whether it glanced off Kakashi’s shoulder or was blocked outright.
Naruto shook himself from watching the dance, reminding himself that he had a job to do. While waiting for the bombs to detonate, he had taken the time to use his chakra to trace a seal in the clearing, using a wind jutsu to cover it up with leaves. He created two chakra strings, one from each hand, and he started to feed chakra into the seal.
It was a paralysis seal, using earth chakra to bind whoever was within range to the ground, halting their movements. The plan was for him to perform it, and Sasuke would likely get caught in the process, so Sakura was meant to run in and snatch the bells. He had made the seal big on purpose, not knowing which part of the clearing the fight would take place.
As a result, it took a lot of chakra to activate, so as he continued to feed chakra into the seal, he focused back on the fight, watching as the clone Sasukes disappeared as their attacks got more aggressive, hitting the clones in the process.
Though she stopped making more henged clones, Sakura continued to throw shuriken from the trees, throwing clone diversions while they were engaged at close range, and actual ones when Sasuke wasn’t as close to Kakashi. She took the opportunity to send a wave of kunai as Sasuke stepped back as he ran through three familiar hand seals and used the signature Uchiha fireball jutsu. Before the flames had retreated, Sasuke shunshinned behind Kakashi, throwing a kick at his exposed back. Surprisingly, the hit landed and Sasuke reared his hand back for a punch, but before it could land, there was a cloud of smoke.
Poof.
‘Kakashi’ faded out of existence, revealing that it was a clone, a shadow clone by the looks of it, the entire time. To his credit, Sasuke didn’t let the shock halt his movements. He immediately looked around, activating his sharingan and glancing around the trees. Before Naruto could find out if he saw Kakashi or not, he heard a scream resounding from the trees, and moments later, Kakashi dropped Sakura in the clearing, either unconscious or caught in a genjutsu.
Sasuke rushed to aid his teammate, but Kakashi was more serious this time. He no longer approached with a carefree attitude, stance now fixed, and eyes focused. He pulled Sasuke into another spar, but his movements were too fast to be seen, just a flurry of limbs and intent. He pushed Sasuke back towards a tree, as he could do nothing but attempt to dodge the incoming attacks, no longer trying for the offensive.
He backed up to avoid a sweeping kick, moving to the side to avoid a right hook, and before Naruto could call out a shout when he noticed the patch of too dark grass, Sasuke was raised in the air, suspended by his ankle.
Naruto winced internally, but he barely had a moment to sympathize before Kakashi’s gaze snapped to him.
He desperately continued to push chakra into the paralysis seal, but it needed far too much. The more he tried to force it, the weaker the chakra string seemed to get, becoming dangerously close to snapping. He thought of rushing it even more, putting all he had into the weak string, but when he stared back into Kakashi’s eyes, he imagined them erupting from his skull, the blood dripping onto his mask. He noticed Sakura was still passed out on the ground, Sasuke still hanging from the tree, both dangerously close to the seal, in range of whatever chakra pushback might happen.
He imagined three people becoming plaques on gravestones, flowers decorating the earth where their lives could have bloomed.
He stopped channelling chakra into the seal.
He didn’t have a moment to spare, and clearly didn’t have a chance to think, because before he knew it, he had dropped down from the tree and was standing opposite Kakashi, trying to rearrange his limbs into something even remotely resembling a taijutsu stance. He thought he might’ve heard a groan coming from Sasuke’s direction, but before he could consider it, Kakashi was advancing, going noticeably slower than he did with Sasuke.
Naruto knew how to regulate the chakra in his body towards his fists or feet, so his attacks could hit harder. But knowing how to do that was vastly different from knowing how to actually fight. Sure, his hits would do a lot of damage, but that was only if they landed. And going against Kakashi, it was clear that none of them would.
He tried a feeble punch, which was easily deflected. Then he went in for a kick, cocking back his foot and striking, but before his shoes could brush against the fabric of Kakashi’s pants, he felt a hand grip his ankle, tugging him forward and making him lose his balance. The fight hadn’t even had the opportunity to begin, yet he was already on the ground.
Looking up, he noticed the glint of the silver bells, and he weakly tried to grab it, shame further draining his energy. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, as if surprised he would try something so pointless, and just slapped his fingers away. Kakashi leaned down and jabbed a finger into his forehead, sighing deeply as he sent out a rush of his lightning chakra. Naruto didn’t even have a moment to stew on his embarrassment before everything faded to black.
🌀🌀🌀
Sasuke almost didn’t want Naruto to regain consciousness, wanting to forget the fight he’d watched him try to put up against Kakashi.
He knew, as Itachi had drilled into him, that he was lucky to have been born into a clan, specifically the Uchiha clan. He had been introduced to jutsu and chakra long before others had been, and received support from his family as he trained. He knew that most of his ‘talents’ weren’t prodigious; they were simply the result of training from a young age. He had had a head start and knew he was privileged in that regard.
Still, he couldn’t help wincing at how pitiful Naruto’s display had been.
He’d been waiting for Kakashi to freeze the whole fight, eyes trained carefully on the silver bells so he could grab them as soon as he paused, on the off chance that he wasn’t frozen in place as well. When Kakashi was revealed to be a clone, he assumed that was why Naruto hadn’t activated the seal, somehow able to distinguish the clone from the original. Yet, when he came into the clearing, the seal was still never activated; instead, he had to watch Naruto attempt to hold his own while suspended from the tree.
As he mulled over the fight, Sakura woke up, red-faced, and remorseful at being taken out of the fight so early. But there was also a determination in her gaze, as though promising herself that it wouldn’t happen again. So now all that was left was to wait for Naruto to wake up, bound to one of the trees in the training ground.
Kakashi leaned against a different tree, observing the three and shaking his head in disappointment.
Sasuke didn’t need to see the expression broiling in his gut put together so perfectly on a jonin’s face, but it reminded him of how useless he had felt in the moment. No matter his feelings against Naruto, he hadn’t completed his goal either. His brother had graduated from the academy at 6, yet here he was: twelve years old and unable to win a fight. He knew the fight in question was against a seasoned jonin, lauded as one of the best shinobi of his time, but the irrational part of his mind disregarded the fact.
He stewed in self-loathing until he heard Kakashi shift, and focused back onto his surroundings, realizing that Naruto’s eyes were now open, flitting around sheepishly.
“You guys failed to get a single bell!” Kakashi announced, clapping his hands together in glee.
The three stayed silent, gazes trained on the ground. “None of you were able to even brush a hand against one of the bells”, he stated deadpan.
“You need to work on your aim and be more aware of your surroundings”, he said, narrowing his eyes as Sakura, before turning to Sasuke. “And you need to integrate jutsu more into your taijutsu; it must flow as easily as your punches do. And you”, he started, turning to Naruto, "need to work on… everything”.
Sasuke stopped his head from nodding in agreement, reminding himself that they were in the same boat.
“But despite that, you passed the test”.
What?
“What?” Sasuke asked without thinking, confusion bubbling out of his mouth. He noticed his shock was mirrored in his teammates as well, as they squinted at their sensei.
“The real purpose of this assignment was to evaluate your teamwork. Aim, fighting stances, and jutsu can all be taught, but team chemistry can’t. The fact that you came up with a plan together, one that used your individual skills, is enough to show me that you’re capable of reasoning and working together. All the teams I’ve had have tried individually for a chance to get a bell for themselves, and they all failed. You should be proud to hear that you’re the first group that passed”.
Though the news made him happy, simultaneously, it made him feel even worse. It felt almost like a pity victory, as though Kakashi was telling them that they'd failed, but they were still winners at heart. Maybe that wasn't even the purpose of the test, maybe he had just felt bad after their pitiful display.
The voice in his mind whispered that Itachi would’ve been able to get one of the bells, whether it was individually or working with a team, he would’ve found a way and had the skills to execute it.
“Tomorrow we start the first day of actual training, so come back here at 8 am, and don’t be late!” Kakashi eye smiled, disappearing in a cloud of mist.
One he left, Sakura punched the sky victoriously, whooping at the victory, and Naruto gave a measured smile at her antics. Sasuke laughed too, matching the mirth he saw in them, but there was a seed of doubt planted in his gut.
He had been put with a Haruno, and an Uzumaki: a civilian, and the untrained child of a dead clan.
He didn’t want to think it, but he felt as though they would hold him back.