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The moment was silent, none of them spoke up ever since they left the classroom. As they sauntered through the halls, nothing else but the footsteps and the sounds of the jounin's sandals tapping against the smooth flooring was the only thing heard.

Kiara could've looked anywhere else, but her gaze was fixed on the jounin's back. His vest proudly representing the Leaf's red insignia. How she hoped to wear a vest like that one day.

I don't even know his name...

She thought as she continued following her new sensei and mysterious savior. Luckily, it didn't take very long for her to keep following the male, as he finally led both of them to the roof.

The jounin leaned against the railings and gestured her to take a seat on one of the steps. Silently complying with his wishes, Kiara did just that. She looked up to him, simply observing him.

Though, what she didn't know was that he was doing exactly the same thing.

"So, you are Kiara Uchiha. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." The jounin started.

"Likewise, sensei..." Kiara suddenly raised her eyebrow a little in suspicion. He didn't question her eye color, that's a start. "Though, I wouldn't say that we are fully acquainted if I don't know who you are and what your name is, to begin with."

The jounin chuckled at her response and gave her that same friendly smile with his eye turning upwards. He crossed his arms as he leaned himself more against the railings and tilted his head to the side. "You have a point. I apologize for that. My name is Kakashi Hatake, and as you know already, I am your new sensei."

Kakashi Hatake...? I've heard of that name from somewhere... Was it, in the bingo book?

"So, now you know who I am, I'd like to know more about you."

"Like what?" Kiara asked.

"Well, the usual things. Your likes, dislikes, dreams for the future and what you wish to accomplish. Anything really." Kakashi shrugged.

"Alright..." Kiara took in a deep breath before she began listing the things she liked, what she disliked and what her dreams for the future were. "I want to be able to accomplish my dream of becoming a renowned kunoichi... 

"I want to grow to become someone who is capable and someone who people can rely on in any sort of trouble. I also want to be able to prove that even though I may be different, I can still accomplish a lot." Her last statement was spoken strongly and firmly, and there was no sense of wavering in her voice.

Kakashi was intrigued, to say the least. He had encountered many students in the past but not many, especially young kunoichis these days, dreamed of something more ambitious. Already, he could tell that this young girl was different from most teenagers he met.

"I'm impressed. However, do you think you have what it takes to become that person?" He looked at Kiara. He watched her turn elsewhere, perhaps searching for thoughts in her mind to answer that question. "We'll never know unless you try."

Kakashi straightened his posture again and held up two of his bells. "Let's see if you really have what it takes to become that person you aspire to be, Uchiha Kiara. Find me on the third training grounds and try and take these bells from me. If you succeed, then you might just have a chance of achieving your goals.

"However, failure to do so, you can say goodbye to those dreams of becoming a shinobi." The jounin's gaze darkened. "You have three hours to show me what you've got. I'll be waiting..." And just like that, he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kiara stood up as she faned away the smoke from her view. She then stared at the spot where she last saw Kakashi and felt her heart race like there was no tomorrow.

This is it... There's no turning back now.

She gazed at the village before her and took in one deep breath. After that, she leaped from roof to roof. Kiara then felt the warm gust of wind embrace her form and felt as if it pushed her quickly towards her destination, towards her future.

To say that she wasn't nervous would be an understatement as well. 

Still, Kiara looked forward with an ambitious mindset and hoped for the best. 

I can do this... I know I can. I just have to try!

With a small new-found determination rushing through her veins, Kiara picked up the pace as she moved forward.

I'll prove it to them. I'll prove it to all of you that I carry the name of the Uchiha clan, and my eyes will not be the one to put me down. Just wait. I'll show you...

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Upon reaching the third training grounds, Kiara was greeted with nothing but nature all around her. She stood in the middle of the area, surveying her surroundings.

Once she took a good look around from her position, she then closed her eyes and began to focus on any peculiar sounds that may ring in her ears. Kiara remained calm and composed, taking in deep breaths when she needed to.

Secretly enough, Kiara found out a few years ago that she had this rather odd ability to 'scan' her surroundings even with her eyes closed. If she focused hard enough, everything from movements as well as the chakra networks that run through the earth and through others, posed as an advantage for her.

It was as if she was looking through everything so transparently. 

As she focused on her surroundings, she was vaguely able to capture a faint person's chakra. It may be very faint, but at least she knew where that person was positioned at. Since she couldn't sense anyone else's chakra, other than a few small animals in the area, Kiara guessed that that person could only be Kakashi.

She opened her eyes once again and swiftly headed towards Kakashi's hiding position.

I don't actually mind playing a little game of hide and seek. Once I find you, sensei, you'll never know I was coming.

Kiara was confident enough that her approach with her little plan might possibly work. All she had to do was stay silent. She made sure that she made no sounds, whatsoever.

While she got closer to her target's position, she readied her weapons. She slowly lowered her hand down in her pouch and gripped onto a few shurikens. Once she perched closer to Kakashi's silhouette form, Kiara instantly pulled out her stars and threw at the direction of where he was.

Knowing that her shurikens wouldn't really take an effect of taking Kakashi down, she moved away from her spot and gave herself more time to perform a water jutsu she had recently learned from a book.

"Water style, Ripping Torrent!" Kiara pointed her jutsu at Kakashi's figure as she watched his dark silhouette leap from tree to tree. She followed him in pursuit, trying to get as close as she possibly can.

While following him back in the direction of the open area of the training grounds, Kiara suddenly caught sight of Kakashi just standing there in the middle, reading his book. She looked back ahead of her and realized that who she was following was just a clone.

Smirking to herself, Kiara halted her chase and headed back where she knew the real Kakashi was. It was not much of a surprise to the said sensei, however, when Kiara appeared from behind him.

Kakashi simply closed his book and placed it back in his pouch. "So, you knew?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be standing behind the real you."

The jounin chuckled at her response. "Well, good job for following one of the most important rules then. Not many first time genins are able to realize that."

Kiara said nothing to this. She only kept her smirk up as she continued to listen. It wasn't the fact that she was feeling cocky or confident in that matter, but rather, she knew that something else was up.

"But then again, are you sure that it's really me you're looking at?" Kakashi looked over his shoulder with a mischievous glint in his eye. Though, Kiara's smirk only widened.

"Why not we figure it out then?" The Uchiha made the first move by throwing a couple of taijutsu moves at Kakashi. Of course, the jounin deflected her attacks with ease but the quicker she got, the more Kakashi knew he had to step up his game.

She's good for a genin rank... But let's see if she can figure it out.

Normally, Kakashi wouldn't use ninjutsu on the first day of training with genins, but he thought that she was an exception. After all, she did just perform a B-rank water style jutsu, which was still impressive, to say the least. Kakashi created a fireball jutsu and sent it her way. Of course, as expected, she countered it with the same water jutsu.

The duo kept on fighting, though eventually, Kiara suddenly saw an opening and she took that chance to land a hard hit on her sensei. Kakashi flipped himself backward and balanced on one of the training poles. He then crouched down on his knees, looked down at Kiara and sighed as he rested his masked cheek on his knuckles.

"Impressive work so far, for a genin. However, we've been at it this for almost three hours, yet you still haven't gotten any of my bells. Failing a small task such as this is the same as saying that you have failed to complete a mission. Rule 9: A shinobi must always carry out the mission assigned.

"Unfortunately, Kiara Uchiha, you've failed to carry out this task. Therefore, you can bid those dreams goodbye." Kakashi gave her that same darkened aura as he jumped down from the post. As he approached her though, he noticed that she hasn't moved from her spot yet.

"You said I failed because I did not carry out the task you assigned me to do, which is to capture those bells."

Kakashi narrowed his gaze as he stared at Kiara. He wasn't sure where she was going with this, but he knew he made himself clear before. "Correct."

"First of all, sensei, the entire time we've been battling against one another, you've never had your bells on you." Kiara looked up to the jounin and watched his single eye widened slightly. "Second of all, Rule 11. A Shinobi must see the underneath under the underneath.

"The moment you asked me that question: 'Are you sure that it's really me you're looking at?' You were trying to make me have this mindset of figuring out whether you were a clone or not. Your strategy of making me stray from my original task of finding the bells, to instead figure out whether it was the real you was something that you wanted to achieve. You wanted to deceive me."

"Although, even as I knew that, I also came to realize that the bells you spoke of were never on you in the first place. You've hidden them somewhere else. That question you asked me... It was a hint. Behind those words, you meant an entirely different thing. 'Was I really certain that it's you who has the bells I needed or not?' That's what you wanted me to think, isn't it?

"And how would you have known that I never had these bells to begin with?" Kakashi challenged. "For all you know, I could've hidden them well somewhere on me."

"Simple. I never heard those bells clink against each other as we fought." Kiara smirked victoriously, crossing her arms in front of her. "If it was on you, I would've heard at least a small bell chime. There could've been many chances for me to hear that as we fought, but I never did.

"Therefore, you cannot fail me, because, in the first place, you never had those bells on you. I am certain of it."

Kakashi was at a loss for words. He never expected her to figure out any of this, but she did anyway. It was an astounding feat for a mere genin to figure these things at a much deeper level. The way she thought and strategize things was not something that a genin could manage that easily. 

This battle that they've had done only made Kakashi admire Kiara's efforts even more. Kakashi couldn't help but let out a light-hearted��chuckle sound as a response. 

"Well done, Kiara. I am truly impressed by what you have accomplished just now. It actually made me start to wonder, are you really suppose to be at a genin level with this kind of high-level mindset? Because that's more of a chunin/jounin type of level." The jounin sensei praised.

Kiara smiled a little and let out a weary laugh, "My nii-san taught me not to be easily deceived. I guess from his teachings and constant reminders, I've been a little more aware of everything around me."

"I see. You have a good elder brother to teach you then." Kakashi closed his eye with a contented smile underneath his mask. When he looked up again, he gently patted on Kiara's head and gave her a thumbs up and an eye-smile. "I'm happy to say that you've passed, Kiara. Meet me back here tomorrow at 9 am. We'll start practicing to hone your skills better."

Kiara's smile widened even more and she nodded, "Hai! Thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

"And don't be late."

"I won't."

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