“Right, so let us begin!” Kakashi sensei said brightly, clapping his hands together. The rest of us looked at each other awkwardly. He had led us to the roof of the school building and was slouching rather lazily against the railings as we perched on the stairs opposite him.
He looked at us, expectantly. We looked at each other, confused as to what this was all about.
“Kakashi-sensei, if I may?” At his nod, I continued. “begin what, exactly?”
“Well,” His eyes curled, the only indication we had that he was smiling. “Let’s start by telling each other about yourselves.” He held out a hand, counting the fingers off of it as he listed the items. “Dreams, hobbies, likes and dislikes.”
So kind of like a show and tell.
“What about you?” Naruto prompted. “Wouldn’t it be better if you show us how to do it?”
Good going, Naruto. I nodded. Learning more about the great copy-ninja himself would always be helpful. I had tried to study him from afar during our walk up, but there was nothing about his posture that stood out. It was impossible to figure out what he was thinking at all.
“Hmmm, good idea.” Kakashi-sensei muttered. “Well, I am Kakashi Hatake. I don’t really like talking about my likes and dislikes, so let’s skip that. I do have dreams, but you don’t need to know about them. I do have a lot of hobbies though, but it will be a hassle to tell you all of them, so let’s just shelf that for the time being.”
I blinked. Twice. All that blabber, and all the information that I got was his name. Which I already know.
Wow.
“Right, let’s start then.” He smiled (don’t ask me how I know he’s smiling under that mask. I just know). “How about you?” He pointed at Sasuke.
Sasuke looked at Naruto, then me. When it was apparent that none of us was going to save him by insisting to introduce ourselves first, he sighed.
“I am Sasuke Uchiha.” He began. “I don’t really like a lot of things, but there isn’t really a lot of things to like anyway. That being said, I don’t really have a hobby and I think that things like ‘dreams’ are pointless…”
Wow, talk about a dark past.
“But I do have an ambition. I will revive my clan and kill that person.”
Naruto seemed to break out in chills when he heard that statement and in truth, so did I. I was just better at hiding it. Still, the amount of killing intent stated in that single word was greater than any I had ever seen ever since I left Otogakure.
And speaking as someone who had been forced into a kill-or-be-killed situation multiple times, that was saying something about Uchiha Sasuke.
“Alright, next!” Kakashi-sensei said, gesturing at Naruto. That broke him out of his chills and Naruto approached the introduction in his usual way.
“I am Uzumaki Naruto!” He proclaimed in a rambunctious manner. “What I like is Instant Ramen. What I like even more is when Iruka-sensei treats me to Ramen at Ichiraku’s! What I hate is the three minutes that I had to wait for the Ramen to be cooked!”
I looked at him in disbelief. Naruto’s love for ramen was well-known among our little social-circle. Even then, I had not expected it to be such an obsession.
“My dream is to become the Hokage!” He continued, punching his fist into the sky with what was probably all the enthusiasm he could muster. “That way all the shinobi in the village will finally acknowledge me!” He held that final pose for a few seconds before letting his hand fall down to his side. “My hobbies… probably pranking other people.” He finished lamely.
I was thankful that I was going last. It had given me enough time to figure out how much I wanted to say. “I am Kyoku Asagami. I like onigiri and learning, and there isn’t anything I particularly hate.” Except being helpless. The brief memory of my incarceration flashed before my eyes, along with the face of Ume. “My hobby is reading, and my dream, no, my goal is to become strong. Strong enough that I can survive in the world without worry.” I finished with as much conviction as I could.
“Good!” He clapped his hands. “Now that that is out of the way, let me tell you what your first mission for tomorrow will be.”
“Yes sensei!” Naruto slapped his hand up to his head in what was probably a salute. “What will be our first duty?”
“Survival exercise.”
“Survival exercise?” Naruto echoed. “Why would we need that, we had done enough of those in the academy!”
I silently agreed with Naruto, however, given the ominous feeling that Kakashi-sensei was now giving off, there must be more to this than meets the eye.
“This is not your typical survival exercise.” Kakashi-sensei said. “You have to survive against me… And there is more to it than that.”
He was very clearly enjoying this. At least from my point of view.
“You know,” He said, looking at us in the eyes, “I don’t know if any of you know this, but of the twenty-seven members of each graduating class, only nine are allowed to continue onto the Jounin course as Genin. The remaining eighteen would either go back to the academy for more training or be forced to join the Genin Corps. That means that you still have one more test to pass if you want to become a fully fledged genin. My test. A test that has a sixty-six percent chance of failure.”
The reaction of Naruto and Sasuke showed that they had not expected this. Not me though, to a certain degree, I had expected this. The graduation exam had felt too easy. Not to mention that the structure of the entire Shinobi organization of Konohagakure was a huge enough hint in its own.
Reaching into the pouch behind him, Kakashi-sensei took out a trio of leaflets, handing it out to us. “These are the details of your assignments. Memorize it. I’d be meeting you all tomorrow at five o’clock in the morning. Training will be harsh, so don’t eat anything unless you want to throw up.”
That was a trap if I ever heard one. It appears that the test had already started despite what sensei had said. Eating too much before training had its detriments, but one still needed to eat or else risk running out of energy and stamina during the exercise. That was where the standard ration bars and other small snacks came in, bland in taste but nutritious enough to provide enough energy for the activity.
“Is there anything else that we should know about?” I asked. It couldn’t hurt to ask, after all. If the test had already started, that may mean that sensei may had withheld some information from us.
“Mmmmh?” He blinked, or winked, however you want to call it. “Not really. But I guess, do your best?” He said it in such a nonchalant way, but for some reason it felt like he was daring us.
We were immediately dismissed after that. I spent the majority of the evening preparing for the exercise the next day. The preparation was almost similar to the camping trips I would make during my time in Otogakure. A small bottle of ten soldier pills to help bolster my chakra in case it goes too low. Two braces of six kunais, a full stack of shurikens. A medkit in case anything goes awry and my medical ninjutsu was not enough. Trap tools, obviously for setting traps. Half a dozen bars of biscuits, enough to stave off hunger for a few hours, especially if the exercise would last past lunch. I stopped, then added half a dozen more. You never know if the exercise would last till dinner. Better not take any chances.
When I woke up the next morning, I immediately proceeded to do a once over the rest of my inventory after my morning stretch. When everything was accounted for, I pulled out a trio of storage scrolls, the only three I could afford, and sealed the rest of my inventory into them save for a brace of kunais. Extremely handy items, storage scrolls. Place an item in the middle of the seal and apply a bit of chakra, and it would be stored in the scroll until you release it. If only they weren’t as expensive.
Everything was ready. I was ready, but still, there was a sinking feeling in my gut that I could not quite place my finger on.
I reached the training grounds about half past four, and was surprised to see Sasuke there before me. Surprisingly, he humored me with a nod when I greeted him. Fifteen minutes later, Naruto appeared in a burst of activity, basically being boisterous and noisy as he greeted me and yelled challenges at Sasuke.
Where did he get all of this energy from?
Fifteen more minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Kakashi-sensei. An additional half-hour, and I sighed. Of course he was late. I really should have brought some reading materials.
Feeling slightly peckish, a result of having only a light breakfast over an hour ago, I retrieved the scroll containing the biscuits and unsealed it.
“Kyoku-chan?” Naruto suddenly interrupted. “Kakashi-sensei said not to eat before the exercise or you’ll throw up!”
I looked at him quizzically. He was joking, right? No, I decided when I studied his reaction, apparently he was really serious about this. In fact, I would even guess that he did not even had breakfast, and neither did Sasuke, by the look of his face.
“You actually take his word for it?” I sighed exasperatedly. Gullible kids. “Listen here, while it’s true that consuming food before a physical activity would normally cause us to be sick, it’s still important to eat your breakfast.”
“But..” Naruto tried to speak, but I cut him off.
“Some missions last days, not to mention those that last for weeks.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “If you don’t eat at all, how else are you going to have the energy and stamina to perform your tasks?”
“You should have your meals at least half an hour before the activity starts.” I continued. “Something light and rich in carbohydrates would work.” I shot him a glare when his eyes lit up. “Not ramen.” He deflated immediately after that.
“I see,” Naruto mumbled before fixing me with something that was probably a mockery of puppy eyes. “Then can I have some? I didn’t have breakfast.”
I sighed. There was no way that I could refuse him at this point, especially not with eleven bars of biscuits sitting on my scroll next to me. Still, it would probably be in my best interest to share. The exercise was a team exercise, and it would not do to have one of teammates incapacitated by hunger.
“Fine, just this once,” I was not exactly in the best position financially, so I couldn’t be blamed when I want to be stingy a little bit. “Here.” I took three out and passed them to him, which he cheered at. Looking over to Sasuke, I called out. “Want some?”
He ignored me, but his growling stomach said enough. Boys and their pride, I sighed, picking up three more bars and placing them next to him, an action he ignored. I had to give it to him though, he managed to hold out for about ten minutes before he gave in to his hunger.
About an hour had passed and still no sign of Kakashi-sensei. I was getting bored already and extremely desperate for something to do. Sasuke was still standing to the side, as stoic as ever. Naruto was drawing pictures in the dirt. That was when it hit me out of the blue, all the pieces finally falling into place for me.
“Hey,” I finally said. “What can the two of you do?”
At their questioning looks, I elaborated. “Your jutsus and fighting styles. We might as well get to know each other’s skills, especially if we want to work together against Kakashi-sensei later.”
“Work together?” Naruto laughed. “I can take him myself! Sensei couldn’t even notice a blackboard eraser!” I could almost hear Sasuke’s silent agreement on the matter.
“And how much of that was just an act?” I countered. “Think about it, if a jounin was really as weak as Kakashi-sensei had appeared to us, wouldn’t there be a lot more jounins now? By the way, Iruka-sensei was a chunin,” I mentally apologised to our former teacher, but I had to use him as an example to get the other two to listen to him. “And a jounin is supposed to be much, much better than him.”
Good, I had both their attention now. “I think Kakashi-sensei is just pretending to be weak.” I continued, getting into my element, “It may just be how he fights. Firstly, if you had noticed, yesterday he didn’t let us get to know each other beyond the basic ‘who are you and what you like’, we did not even get the chance to learn about each other properly, and we are supposed to be a team. Secondly, He told us that we are not to eat breakfast despite it being detrimental to us.” I frowned, “He was misdirecting us from the very beginning. I may be overthinking this, but I believed that the test had already started yesterday from the moment.”
Naruto gulped and Sasuke’s eyes widened. Clearly, they had not thought this far ahead.
“We should use this time we have to quickly understand each other, if not our techniques.” I said quickly, as I looked at the two of them in the eye “Kakashi-sensei had been deliberately making sure that our strengths are divided and making sure that we are all over-confident. And remember? He said that the survival test was against him. What easier way for him to defeat us when we are all underestimating him and incapable of working with each other?”
“That makes sense.” Naruto nodded and grinned and me. “Damn, Kyoku-chan, you’re smart!” Beside him, Sasuke was now looking at me with what seemed to be grudging respect in his eyes.
“Thanks,” I replied. Truth be told, I was a little miffed at myself for not noticing this before. This was the kind of information that could cause me to fail to enter the Jounin course. It could have ruined my chances to become a useful spy to Orochimaru-sama.
I could have screwed up majorly.
We spent what remaining time we had, learning about each other and our techniques. Naruto was rather average in his taijutsu, but his Shadow Clone technique was a real surprise and would no doubt be a huge asset. Sasuke was extremely proficient in his taijutsu and had a surprising arsenal of jutsu, including a powerful A-Rank Fire Release technique.
I shared what little techniques and skills I have. Though I did keep my mouth shut about my magic. My team didn’t need to know about that.
We managed to work out a decent plan by the time Kakashi-sensei arrived.
“Hello, cell seven.” He waved at us once he arrived.
“YOU’RE LATE!” Naruto shouted, rattling my eardrums more than was healthy.
“Sorry, I forgot something at home and had to go back to get it.” He said lamely.
“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re late!” Naruto raged.
“Nah,” I snarked, my voice dripping with sarcasm, mostly because my patience was wearing thin. “We’re just early.”
He looked at me, then he brightened up considerably. No. No way, he wasn’t going to…
“See, Kyoku-chan has the right idea!”
...
I’m going to murder him.
Once the mood had become something akin to ‘amiable’, Kakashi-sensei took out a rather old clock and placed it on one of the training stumps at the side.
“I’ve set the clock to go off at noon.” He announced as he retrieved two bells, which he held up. “Here I have two small bells, your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails to do so will not get any lunch, and I’ll tie you to that stump and eat bento in front of you.”
That was kind of cruel. Now I was glad that I brought the ration bars.
“However, as you can see, there are only two bells, so one of you will definitely be tied up.” He looked up at us, an ominous aura emanating from as he did so, “whoever that was tied up will be the first to fail. You will be sent back to the academy in disgrace.”
That struck me as strange. Then what was the point of three-man cells?
“Oh, and a word of advice. Come at me as though you mean to kill me, or you’ll never stand a chance.” That made sense. In fact, except about the part with two bells, the entire exercise would qualify as a final test for us. After all, Kakashi-sensei was one of the best shinobis in Konoha. Despite all that I said about wanting to kill him, the very act itself would be impossible. But attacking him with the intent to kill was different, it meant putting your all into your attacks and defense. Without that intent your attacks would be weak and your jutsus would lack substance.
The three of us shared a look, and nodded. Kakashi-sensei eyes seemed to glimmer with a hint of approval when he saw that.
“Alright, then… begin!”
The academy had taught us that when up against a greater opponent, we need to scatter and hide, delay the battle as much as possible until reinforcement had finally arrived. What they didn’t tell us was what actions to be taken in a ‘no retreat’ scenario. Before sensei had arrived, I had hammered out two separate plans. One for if we only need to survive, the other for if we need to attack him. Considering the bells...
“Plan B!” I cried out, Naruto immediately charging forth at my cry, with me following close behind. Sasuke, as agreed upon, leapt into and hid himself in one of the trees.
“Shadow Clone technique!” Naruto shouted, forming a cross with his hands. A giant puff of smoke erupted from him as about a dozen clones of him popped out from thin air. As I was in the immediate area, I would have to say this, it was one thing to hear Naruto talk about this technique, another to see it in person.
Quickly, I made a succession of three seals, “Transformation technique!” I mumbled, using the chakra smoke created by Naruto’s jutsu to cover me as I transformed into essentially another copy of Naruto.
We rushed Kakashi, many of Naruto’s clones leaping forward with the intent to clobber him into meat paste. Not. Exactly as I predicted, Kakashi was good enough that he avoided the blows with smooth and efficient movements.
“I will educate you on the first art of a shinobi, Naruto-kun.” Kakashi-sensei said, his hand reaching into his pouch, pulling out an orange colored book. “Taijutsu.”
O...kay? Then what was the book for?
A handicap evidently, as Kakashi promptly began reading it while avoiding Naruto and his clone’s attacks, giggling from time to time like one of Sasuke’s fangirls. Still, one had to appreciate his technique. His movements were swift and precise, and he did those with such ease too. Still, at least Naruto was sticking to the plan.
I, myself hung back from the melee throng. Waiting for the opportune moment.
There! Kakashi-sensei leapt up, dodging a series of sweeping kicks from a clone. In that instant, I let loose a brace of senbons and saw them sink into his face and body, drawing quite a lot of blood. Far too much to be realistic.
As expected, a wood log soon appeared in place of our sensei. A replacement technique, coupled with a transformation genjutsu. What was most impressive was the fact that he did both of it in an instant.
I felt a presence behind me and I turned about, only to see Kakashi-sensei right behind me. Still reading that damnable book.
“If you want to deceive me, you should act more like Naruto.” He said without looking up. Reacting on pure instinct, I reinforced my hands with chakra and lashed out, but to no avail. Not once did he look up at me as I sent a flurry of blows at him. Clearly, the plan we had to beat him up was not working. But he was right in front of me, and so were the bells. Digging deep into my magic, I lashed out with a hand as though to deliver another blow, but pulled it back in a grasping action, feeling the small decrease in my mana pool. The two bells, now glowing with the green light of my telekinetic spell, almost leapt out at me if Kakashi did not grab them in time.
“Interesting.” He seemed to smile through his mask as he set his book aside. I paled.
“Now, the second art of a shinobi.” He clasped his hands together and I felt the world start to warp around me. “Genjutsu.”
Genjutsu was the act of inserting your chakra into your opponent to affect their five senses or more. To cancel the effects, one needs to disrupt your chakra flow, though that also depends on the amount of chakra placed into you. The greater the amount of chakra used, the more the flow needs to be disrupted.
“KAI!” I clasped my hands together, feeling my chakra veins for the amount of foreign chakra. I had to do it quickly, before the effects of the genjutsu set in. Thankfully, I managed it. The amount of chakra Kakashi-sensei had used was miniscule and I managed to easily rid myself of the external influence.
I woke up in time to see Sasuke swoop in, making a kick at Kakashi-sensei who was still standing before me. He dodged it, but had to fall back over a few meters as a few Narutos followed up on the attack. Sasuke joined the combat, easily leaping over the throng of Narutos to engage the sensei in taijutsu. As expected, he was really good, though in the mess of the melee he often had to compensate that the shadow clones had no coordination with him whatsoever. Still, as the best genin to graduate, he really gave Kakashi a run for his money, even coming close to getting a bell at one point. I tried to assist when I could, but as far as team coordination went, we still had a long way to go, considering how many times an oblivious clone leapt into my senbons that were meant for Kakashi.
It was not long before said Jounin sent Sasuke flying out of the melee with a well-aimed kick. Thankfully, the attack was not as heavy as it looked as the Uchiha boy righted himself in midair before landing on his knees.
We looked at each other, and then at Kakashi-sensei, who was still engaged with a dozen clones.
“Do it!” I said, Sasuke nodded and passed his hands quickly through the handseals, before ending with the seal of the tiger.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
“What the-” Was all I heard Kakashi-sensei get out when a gigantic fireball lit up the place he was standing in. Well, that and the many agonized cries of the clones struck by the flame and disappearing. Still, they were just clones, so no big deal.
Did we do it? Was what I thought when the fire died out. No, no way would he go down so easily. I closed my eyes, sending out a small pulse of magic, a life-seeking spell to be exact. One second, and the entire process was done, relaying all the information and more specifically, the location of the life-signs in a three hundred meter radius about me. Quickly, I opened my eyes, my body already in action.
“Watch out!” I shouted as I jumped away, the earth beneath me trembling. Sasuke reacted a second too late, his feet barely leaving when the ground when a hand came out of the earth to grab at his ankle and yanked him down into the ground, leaving only his head above ground level.
“The third art of a shinobi,” Kakashi said, even as he climbed, or rather, walk out of ground. “Ninjutsu.” He looked at the remaining clones and I, “well, that’s about the three arts I want to show you. Shall we start wrapping it up?”
By the princess, he was serious. I felt cold sweat roll down my back. Sasuke was easily our best close combat fighter and ninjutsu specialist. He was our hard hitter and Kakashi-sensei had incapacitated him so easily.
Still, we could hardly afford to give up now, could we?
Naruto shared my sentiment, apparently. “Yeah, we’re going to take you down! Shadow clone technique!” A giant puff of smoke blasted outwards as about thirty more clones popped into existence. “Get ready for a beatdown!” They yelled as they rushed Kakashi-sensei.
They would stand no chance, and based on the position of the sun, we were running out of time. Still, thanks to Naruto, we might stand a chance. After all, I had a last resort that I could capitalize on.
I casted a spell and began walking, or creeping slowly towards Kakashi-sensei, who was still in the thick of the melee. He did not notice me, in fact, there was no way he could focus on me at all. The notice-me-not spell was extremely potent in such a scenario. The spell diverts the attention of any onlookers by writing you off as ‘disinteresting’. However, when you stand out, its effects weaken immediately as people know that you were there, they just could not focus on you. On the other hand, now that I was disguised as Naruto and was creeping up towards Kakashi-sensei in the middle of a messy melee full of Narutos, well, let’s just say that it would take a miracle to discover me.
I inched closer, and closer, then swung out with my kunai. Perhaps it was my sudden killing intent, or perhaps he was looking out for all forms of attack, because at the last moment, he twisted out of the way. But he was a step too slow, and my kunai sliced the strings holding onto the bell. I reached for it with my left hand, and Kakashi-sensei, finally noticing me now that my spell’s effects had worn off, turned his waist awkwardly, his own hand reaching out to the bells as well.
Good thing I had a backup plan. I undid the transformation technique, took aim with my left hand and sent out a small burst of telekinesis, sending the bells flying out of both of our reach.
“Naruto!” I yelled, even as I grabbed onto one of Sensei’s legs. “Get the bells!”
One of the clones threw himself forward at my command and snatched the bells out of mid-air. And not a moment too soon as the clock rang, the annoying clamour sounding out over the entire clearing.
“Congratulations Naruto.” Kakashi-sensei said good naturedly. “You passed.”
I collapsed, sitting on the ground as the adrenaline left me. I never had a fight that intense before. Not even that one with my first kill…
I shook my head as I registered what sensei had said. “Only Naruto passed?” I asked him.
“Of course,” He said, “you have to get a bell to pass.” He looked at me, “weren’t you listening?”
I blinked as the words settled in. I failed. My plan worked, but I failed.
“So, looks like you get a bento and also get to be a genin too.” Kakashi-sensei smiled. “Now have your shadow clones tie up Kyoku-chan. No need to dig up Sasuke-kun, he would be fine where he is.”
Naruto looked at me, and then at Sasuke. Then back to Kakashi, determination in his eyes. “I don’t want to.” He said quietly.
“Sorry, what was that?” Kakashi-sensei leaned forward, eye glinting maliciously. “Are you disobeying a direct order?”
“Yes.” Naruto said, louder this time. “If I have to be a ninja, I won’t do it this way. I don’t want to pass, especially if it meant that I need to backstab both Kyoku-chan and Sasuke-kun!” He turned to me, tossing one of the bells at me, before turning to Sasuke, who had been dug up by the clones and tossed the second one to him.
“Well then,” Kakashi-sensei smiled. “Looks like Kyoku-chan and Sasuke-kun passed instead. Congratulations!”
I looked at the bell in my hand. It was a requirement I needed to pass, and I really really wanted to pass. But at the cost of throwing away a teammate? I frowned, trying to sort out my thoughts over the mental fatigue that came with the fading adrenaline and using a tenth of my magical reserves.
“I don’t want it.” Sasuke said, returning the bell to one of the clones. “You can have it back, dead last.”
Well, now I can’t in good conscience keep the bell, can I? At least not without portraying myself as a selfish little brat. Which was the opposite of the image I had been trying to cultivate here.
“But two needs to pass.” I said, even as I offered the bell to Sasuke. “Might as well be you too. Besides, I have decent chakra control so I could always try for the Medic Corps.” Yes, I came up with that reason in all of two seconds. It was the truth, too. I really did not not mind joining the medic corps. Sure, it may be a longer route to becoming Jounin and I would not want to attempt for anything, but if I somehow failed now… Well, let’s just say I had a backup plan.
“Well, much as I hate to spoil this touching moment.” Kakashi-sensei interrupted. “I would like to take this moment to say that you all passed!”
We looked at him. He smiled.
“What?” Was all I managed. I was really confused.
“Funny, I thought you all heard me the first time.” He said cheerfully. “I said, the test was over and you all passed!” His eye crinkled with amusement, “I never did say that the test was over when the alarm rang.”
Yes, he never said that. I groaned aloud. So that entire conversation we had was part of the test too?
“Then what was that part about the bells?” Naruto demanded. “And that part about whoever that doesn’t get it will be tied up and sent back to the academy?”
“I said that only those tied up would be sent back to the academy.” Kakashi-sensei corrected. “And that those who failed to get the bells will be tied up. And technically, you all got the bell at least once.”
“Sensei.” I deadpanned. “That was lame.”
“Ahahaha, was it?” Kakashi-sensei laughed. Then he sobered, “but you do understand the point of the test, don’t you?”
I got it already, and since I wanted to hurry up and put this giant headache of a test behind me, I immediately offered my two cents on the matter.
“It was to test our teamwork.”
“Correct, Kyoku-chan.” Kakashi smiled. “Working together to get the bells despite knowing that one of you will have to fail is to see if you are still capable of working as a team despite such an obstacle. That is the first part of the test.” He straightened. “The second part is to see if you are willing to put your team above yourself and complete the mission. Because when the opposite happens and the individuals prioritise themselves instead, people will die and the mission will fail.” He turned. “Come, I want to show you all something.”
We followed him to a small stone tablet in the middle of the training ground. “Do you know what this is?”
“A stone for the names of all the honoured heroes of the village.” I said quietly. Naruto perked up almost immediately.
“Yeah!” He cheered, “I’m going to have my name on there one day, just watch me!”
“Naruto…” I whispered. Sasuke said nothing, but he did give out an exasperated sigh.
“What?”
“They are a special kind of hero.” Kakashi said somberly.
“Yeah,” Naruto laughed, “What kind?”
“The dead kind.” That shut Naruto up.
“Many shinobi who had died for the village had their names engraved here.” Kakashi continued, “Many of my best friends were here as well.”
All of them were heroes. Powerful shinobi and beloved friends alike. But they were all dead, that’s why they had their names engraved on that little tablet. That fate was not for me, however, I doubt that Konoha would be kind enough to engrave the name of a spy on their memorial stone.
“The test can be simply put into two sentences.” He continued, “those who violate the rules and fail to follow orders are garbage. But those who do not care and support their comrades are even lower than that.” He smiled at us, “I’m glad you are above that. Congratulations on passing, team seven! You should be proud!”
I’m not. I thought even as I smiled and cheered with the others. Because the day would come, when I had to turn my back on my ‘comrades’.
“Alright,” Kakashi clapped his hands to get our attention again. “We’ll be starting to take missions tomorrow. You get the rest of the day off. Dismissed!”
“So, you used it.” I looked up from the entrance of the apartment, seeing father seated in his usual chair in the kitchen, his brown hair waving about in the breeze that was blowing from an open window.
“Excuse me?”
“Kakashi came by.” Shiratama sighed as he took a sip from a cup of brown liquid. “He told me about what you did.”
“What I did?” I frowned, trying to remember exactly what I had done that day. Immediately after the battle, I had moved off to do my usual surveillance of the village, and pass a scroll from father to a local fruit vendor, who also happened to be one of the Orochimaru-sama’s agents here. And by pass, I meant place it in one of his cooking pots without him noticing, it was better to work detached from the other agents, after all, so as not implicate each other. The only reason why I worked with Father was that Orochimaru intended for us to work as a team and only idiots with a death wish would question him.
Still, what could possibly make Kakashi come by? I did ensure that I was not noticed nor followed while out on her daily tasks. Unless…
I paled.
“Oh no.” I had instinctively used magic in that fight…
“‘Oh no’ indeed.” he deadpanned before standing up. “He surprised me too, showing up as he did. Still…” He glared at me, I instinctively shrunk back, ashamed. “You should know better than to reveal your Bloodlimit like that. It might get you killed.”
“My what?” I looked up, eyes wide.
“A Kekkei Genkai.” Father repeated. My eyes widened. Kekkei Genkai, a Bloodlimit. My magic was going to be listed as one of those? I contemplated. Sure, why not? Orochimaru-sama also refuses to acknowledge my magic as magic, so it would make sense that it would listed as such, especially considering that Kekkei Genkais were widely varied.
“Don’t worry though.” He assured me. “Kakashi-sensei has stated that he would want you to develop it abit more before you were to be brought in to finalise your Bloodlimit.” He said, while tapping his hand on his waist.
Coverstory. Finalise. I nodded.
“By the way.” He mumbled as he tossed a small bag towards me, which would had hit me squarely on the nose if I did not catch it in time. “Here, congratulations on making genin.”
My eyes opened wide as I took in the Ryou notes within. It was far, far more money than I had ever seen in the two years I was here, and the sum here definitely exceeded my savings, which was cumulation of fifty percent of my daily allowance. I would be lying if I said that I was not the least bit sour at the fact that father
“Dinner’s on you, by the way.” I looked up, he grinned. “You made my life difficult, you had to pay.”
I sobered. Yeah, I did. Well, at least it was only going to cost me a bit of the reward that father had prepared for me. I must have been a little bit too tired that day, for I did not see what was coming next. That was when I flinched as I felt a sudden force strike my nose. Both my hands flew up instinctively to cover the place which had been struck as I looked up.
Did he just poke my nose? I thought incredulously
Father merely grinned down at me. “It’s a joke,” He smiled. It looked genuine. But spies don’t do genuine.
“I see.” I smiled, smothering that little spark of hope within. Father’s hand quickly clamped down on my head, ruffling it a little as he passed by me.
“Come on then,” He said over his shoulder to me. “Dinner at Shirobeko?”
I stared. Then shrugged as I let out an aggravated sigh. I really could never understand this man...