11 Chapter 11

"Wake the hell up, Naruko!" I shouted from the kitchen.

Last night was a rather fun experience. We played a couple games of Uno before calling it a night. Hinata and Satsuki had left and returned home, while Naruko went to the room I had given her.

I lit the stove, then walked over to the fridge to pull out the curry over rice leftovers from last night. I poured it into the pan and mixed it, just to heat it up. Minutes later Naruko walked into the room, dressed in her shinobi attire, her hair a mess, and a dazed look in her eyes.

"I told you to wake up seven times, what took you so long?" I asked, giving the girl an amused smirk, a look that didn't seem to affect her. She walked past me, grabbed her plate of food then sat down. She gave a silent prayer before digging in.

Did she just fucking ignore me?

My frown deepened as I grabbed my own plate and sat beside her. We ate in silence, then cleaned up after ourselves before heading out of the house.

We flickered our way to Training Ground Three, and upon touching down we were greeted by a bored and tired Satsuki.

"Hey." She greeted us with a small wave, her eyes locked on my form before taking a peak at Naruko. "Long night?"

The blonde in question gave a small groan and went to sit against a tree nearby. Both Satsuki and I joined her moments later.

Silence descended upon the training ground, the only noises we could hear were the early birds chirping and tree leaves rustling from the breeze.

"What do you think we're gonna be doing?" Naruko asked, her voice dry as it was her first time speaking the entire day.

I raised my gaze to the clouds. I of course already knew, but I couldn't go and tell them that.

…But I could give them hints.

"Eh, if I had to guess, he'll probably have us all fight him to get a feel for where we're at."

Satsuki hummed in agreement. A sensei testing their students current status was something that was obvious afterall, but having to steal some bells or be sent to the genin corps wasn't.

Another longer silence filled the forest, we sat like that for an hour. The entire time Satsuki and I had been glancing at Naruko then at each other. Naruko was the bubbly knucklehead of our group, and you'd have to duck tape her mouth shut and place a seal on it if you wanted her quiet for even a couple of minutes. The Uchiha girl could tell something was wrong with her, and judging by the way she looked at me, she wanted answers. Though, I didn't have any to give her.

Not right now at least.

Eventually Naruko got tired of doing nothing, as a hyperactive ninja would, and decided to make some shadow clones to practice her calligraphy some more. Her drawing of seals was already near perfection, but it didn't hurt to polish up any mistakes or inconsistencies.

So we spent the next three hours watching her practice. During that time we did get her to talk a bit more.

Suddenly a gust of wind and leaves appeared right in front of us before the familiar form of Kakashi Hatake appeared. His eyes scanned over us before he gave us a lazy wave.

"Hey."

"Hey…? You make us wait for four hours…and all you say is hey?" Satsuki asked, not really angry, just surprised.

Which makes sense, one wouldn't expect a jonin to be so fucking lazy.

"Oh yes, sorry, I simply got lost on the path of life." He answered with a shrug, taking a couple steps towards us.

"You're full of shit." I groaned. Judging by the upward twitch of lips I saw through his mask, I could tell he relished in our pain.

"That's no way for a child to be talking." The gravity defying haired man wagged his finger slowly, his eyes screaming tales of his amusement. "Now then, let's get to business shall we?"

Kakashi drifted his vision over to Naruko and her clones. A silent command dancing in his eyes. Naruko gave a low sigh, and all the clones disappeared in a puff of smoke, taking all the sealing tools with them.

"Have any of you eaten?" He asked.

"Of course, why wouldn't we eat?" Satsuki frowned. He didn't answer the girl, instead narrowing his eye ever so slightly.

"Great. Now, let me to explain the rules of this little test-"

"Test?" Naruko interrupted, scrunching her nose up cutely. "You said we were training." Her eyes wandered over to Satsuki and myself, giving us a questioning look and we nodded in confirmation. "So if we're training do you mean like a test of our skills?"

Kakashi let out a low, mirthless chuckle. "Training? Who decided that? As far as I'm concerned you're all just a bunch of weak children who can't even think for themselves. Why would I train you?"

Naruko and Satsuki's eyes widened in confusion before anger surfaced in its place. My narrow eyes met Kakashi's bored ones. He was trying to piss us off, and he was damn good at it.

"What do you mean?! We spent years in the academy, became genin, all to join a team and have a jonin sensei!" Satsuki roared out, jumping off of her butt and giving Kakashi her signature 'Who the fuck do you think you are,' glare.

"I mean what I said, otherwise why would I say it." Kakashi hummed. "You spending time in that soft place does not make you worthy of my time. So a test in order, and more than that." He paused.

Ah, here it comes.

"Should you fail my test, you'll all be sent back to the academy, maybe another year will do you bedwetters some good."

Both Naruko and Satsuki's looks of anger dropped as horror replaced it. They hated the academy, not because it wasn't a good place, but because they learned more training at my compound than they ever did at the academy.

In short, it was a waste of time, but a waste of time they were required to attend.

"No, you can't do that! You may be a jonin, but you don't have that power!" Satsuki growled, her fists clenched so tightly, her knuckles started turning white.

"As I said, children. You know nothing of the ninja world. If I truly wanted to, I could make it so none of you ever put on those headbands again. Strength and rank matter in this world, the words of the weak fall upon the ears of fools."

There was some truth in his words, but I know for a fact he couldn't actually stop us from being ninja. Gramps would never allow Minato's, the Uchiha's, and the Senju's legacies all to die simply because one of his jonin decided it.

"What's this test?" I asked after a moment. Kakashi gave me a little eye smile, while Satsuki turned to me, anger still written on her face.

"How are you fine with this, Lei?!" I could tell by looking at Naruko that she mirrored Satsuki's feelings.

I gave her and the blonde a confident smirk. "If its a test we just need to pass it. I have no doubt in my mind we will."

Both girls took a moment to pause and think on my words. They peeked at Kakashi from the corner of their eyes. Then both of them sat down.

"You're right, jonin or not, there's no way we lose to a guy like this." Naruko punched her palm. The Uchiha girl remained quiet, but the fire in her eyes told me she agreed with her friend's sentiments.

"Hmm, I believe you're all greatly underestimating me, but to each their own. We've wasted enough time with this little game of angst, so let me go ahead and explain the test."

Seriously, this guy knew how to push buttons.

He pulled out the two iconic bells and gave them a little ring. "All you need to do is take these bells from me."

And he's shit at explanations.

"Huh, that's it?" Naruko asked, a grin forming as she eyed our future sensei like he was an idiot.

"You thought we'd fail a test like this?" Satsuki added with a raised eyebrow. Her lips twitched upwards implying she felt quite similar to Naruko.

"Yup, that's it- well I guess there is one more thing you should know…" Kakashi corrected himself, holding the bells in front of him so that they were the center of our attention. "There are only two bells, which means only two of you can pass. Regardless of how well you all do, at least one of you is going back to the Academy."

"Naruko, Satsuki." I said instantly after his explanation, gaining their attention before they could grow enraged again. We were on a time limit that started the moment he appeared and their constant pestering and questions was only dwindling it. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it, let's just focus on getting the bells."

Both girls hesitantly looked at one another then back at me, giving me a determined, if a bit hesitant, nod.

"Good, do everything you can to get these bells. A bit of advice, you won't come close if you don't come at me with the intent to kill. You have until midday."

The girls narrowed their eyes in preparation. Both glanced at me, to which I responded with an underhanded sign with my left hand. Their eyes lit in realization before they locked back onto Kakashi.

"The test begins…Now!"

Naruko instantly shot forward, her hands already together in the clone seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Twenty clones popped into existence, all rushing the jonin. The one eyed man reached into his back pouch, pulling out the first Icha Icha book. All of the Naruko clones faltered for a few seconds, dazed expressions replaced quickly with furious ones as they all resumed their rush. The first few clones threw out punches and kicks with Kakashi effortlessly dodging. As he read he quickly made short work of five clones with minimal effort.

"Wood Release: Cutting Technique!" I shouted, sending a mass of spikes in the shape of daggers out of my body and towards the clones. As some of the clones attacked Kakashi, others caught the wood daggers and began rushing Kakashi with them.

Kakashi looked up from his book for a moment before looking back down. The addition of weapons obviously did not hold much effect as Kakashi slapped away the rushing clones like they owed him money.

"Naruko!" I barked, the girl gave me a glance and a nod as she and her clones started weaving through hand seals.

""Wind Release: Wind Cutting Technique!""

Several large cuts of wind made by her clones were launched towards Kakashi who looked entirely calm as the wind cut the man to shreds.

Or so no one thought.

His shredded body was replaced with a mangled log, our eyes scanning the clearing to find him sitting on a rock beside the lake, his eyes still firmly locked on the book. A mischievous giggle escapes his lips as he reads.

Beating this guy by normal means simply wasn't gonna happen. As strong as we are, he is too experienced to fall for such trivial tactics.

The two girls looked at me expectantly, as I gave them a few hand signals, a flat palm followed up by a twirling finger. Both girls understood quickly what I was getting at, as their eyes locked back on the giggling schoolgirl of a man.

"So you're a fan of Lord Jiraiya's Icha Icha series?" I asked, hoping to create an opening. Kakashi didn't even look up from his book, his giggling continuing. "The first book, Icha Icha Paradise was quite the interesting tale, but I took more of a liking to the second book, Icha Icha Violence."

That got his attention as Kakashi looked up from the book. "Oh? I had figured you for a child, but could you truly be a young man?" He asked, curiosity dancing in his eyes.

"Lord Hokage had given me both copies years ago, and you could say…I immediately took a liking."

I could feel the fiery glares from both girls on the back of my head. The three girls had asked to read the books one time after I had been hyping it up. They hadn't even made it past the second page before Satsuki burned the first, while Hinata ripped the second to shreds. Then they jumped me and made me promise never to own any of that "filth" as they called it. Of course fearing for my life, I agreed to their terms.

Then broke the promise the next day.

"Oh, so Lord Third started you off early, and you said you enjoy the second book more? I couldn't agree more. The first book was great, I hadn't believed it possible to improve from there, but BOOM the second book was released, and what a masterpiece it was!" Kakashi giggled again. "So, what's your favorite part in the first book?"

Good, he's interested.

A glance to see Satsuki's eyes burning with rage told me I better actually have a good idea.

Such scary women I have around me…

"Hmmm, if I had to choose just one, I would say when Boobnade finally gave herself fully to Hotraiya after pushing him away for so long. The burning heat of their love and lust burned so brightly throughout the entire book, all leading up to that one moment. What a moment that was!"

"Yes…You get it!" Kakashi dropped the book, pointing at me. "A cultured young man, it seems I was wrong about you!"

I crossed my arms over my chest, and nodded.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk. Never underestimate a fellow Icha Connoisseur again, Lord Jiraiya would be disappointed…oh, and I thought you should know…Jiraiya has plans to release the third book, Icha Icha Innocence sometime in the near future."

Kakashi's single eye widened further than I expected it to as he jumped off the rock. "When?! I need to know, tell me boy!"

Heh, got him.

Splash

Five wood clones launched themselves out of the water, created from the daggers that hadn't been caught by Naruko earlier. Kakashi looked back at them, surprised by their appearance but readied himself anyway.

As if I would make it so easy!

"Wood Release: Underground Roots Technique!"

Roots shot out of the ground, immediately wrapping around his legs before traveling up his body and binding his waist. The clones were upon him in a moment's notice, and I clicked my teeth as I watched his hand form the clone seal.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." He announced, a single clone appearing to fight off my sturdy wood clones.

"Now!" I growled out, looking back at the two girls who quickly made their way through hand seals.

Naruko was the first to finish. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" I could feel Naruko pump a great deal of her reserves into the jutsu. Good!

My eyes locked on Satsuki who was waiting for my signal. I motioned my hand forward.

"Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame!" Satsuki roared, sending a massive spout of flames from her mouth.

The C rank wind jutsu, and B rank fire jutsu quickly mixed together and exploded in power. My clones, seeing the attacks coming, did everything in their power to keep both the clone Kakashi, and the real Kakashi as busy as possible.

As the massive torrent of fire and strong gusts made its way towards Kakashi, I enacted the next part of my plan.

The attack consumed Kakashi and the clones, the winds expanding and turning the entire clearing into a hurricane of flames. It took a full minute for the attack to die down, and another for visibility to return.

When the smoke cleared, we all frowned as Kakashi's outline was clearly visible.

"You ruthless…heartless…bastards." He whispered, just loud enough for us to hear him. I raised an eyebrow before my eyes widened in realization.

His book wasn't in his hands.

The entire training ground was scorched. Which means…

"You burned my book!" He shouted, hands grabbing his hair and pulling on it. "I trusted you as a man trusts his friend and you betrayed that trust!"

Yeah, I fucked up.

"Hope you kids enjoyed the games while they lasted." He chuckled darkly. "Cause that ends now."

Then he disappeared. I didn't even catch a glimpse of him as his fist pressed firmly into my stomach and I went flying away.

"Lei!" Naruko shouted, running to catch me but getting launched back with a harsh kick.

"Damnit!" Satsuki growled, her hands coming up into another flurry of hand seals. "Fire Release: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

The fireball made its way towards Kakashi, but he easily sidestepped it and brought his foot up to meet Satsuki's chin firmly.

I landed harshly, my body aching upon impact. Nonetheless I made sure to get up quickly. I still had phase two of my plan and I absolutely had to succeed here or we wouldn't get the bells.

"Wood Release: Wood Clone Jutsu!" Three more clones appeared beside me, and quickly followed me in rushing to Kakashi.

"Naruko, Satsuki, be my cover fire!" I ordered.

""Right!"" They answered without missing a beat.

My clones started throwing a mix of punches and kicks at Kakashi. One of them using the Senju's Natural Fist, one using the Uchiha's Interceptor Fist, and one trying to use the Hyuga's Gentle Fist.

While I used a mix between the former two. Kakashi easily avoided the hits from the first, kicking it hard and blocking the swift counter attack it sent towards his head. The second clone jumped over the back, and sent a downward kick at the jonin which he backstepped to avoid, the third clone landing hit to his side before getting punched.

I saw my opening, lunging out for the bells, and earning a bitch slap for my troubles. I looked back at Naruko, and a shit eating grin formed as I saw her throw two seals written on chakra paper into the air.

Two puffs of smoke later, and a bunch of weapons started raining down from the sky. A winning grin on Naruko's soft features.

Sorry about taking your move, Tenten, I'll make it up to you.

The weapons fell down towards Kakashi, but right before they reached him, Satsuki grabbed one of the swords out of the air by using Body Flicker and aimed the sword directly for the jonin's heart. Kakashi looked unfazed, as he redirected the blade away from himself and stepped backwards, avoiding all danger. His eyes widened as a sword went right through the top of her head. Her body falling to the ground, lifeless.

His mind seemingly halted as he rushed over to her as her body slowly turned to wood.

And phase two begins.

—

Kakashi

"Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Naruko shouted. Kakashi's eyes trailed over to the blonde girl who definitely hadn't just done a jutsu.

He was confused, for the first time since this fight started.

From the trees over one hundred clones of Naruko appeared and started rushing him. His eyes widening as he tried to piece together what had happened. His gears stopped turning as Lei and his clones sent several punches straight at him. As he blocked the attacks, his eyes locked onto the downed wooden statue of Satsuki.

Then it hit him.

Well played.

The three he had been fighting ever since the fire tornado was launched had been clones.

The real ones had run away and had watched from the treeline, gathering information and forming a plan. His lips twitched upwards.

These kids would be worth teaching. But let's see if they can take these bells.

Knowing that all the Leis were in fact wood clones, he pulled out his kunai and slashed through them all, causing their bodies to slowly turn to wood.

Naruko's clones were on him moments later, and he had to admit that fighting them was harder.

Wait…did she get faster?!

All of the clones moved around at a much faster pace than she ever had throughout the fight. As he dodged the attacks and countered with his own, his brain started turning.

'She had been wearing weights.' He concluded, his eyes widening in realization and a slight bit of panic.

They all had been wearing weights.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!"

He quickly jumped back to avoid the volley of fireballs launched by the Uchiha who had finally revealed herself.

The girl launched forwards in a burst of speed he had not expected from a freshly graduated genin as he caught her kick. Her surprisingly powerful kick.

The girl using the force from her first attack to launch another, sending her other leg at his face. Which he caught as well. Then the clones were upon him again.

He had to move.

In a puff of smoke, he replaced himself with a log by way of Substitution Jutsu. Appearing in one of the trees. His eyes scanned the treeline, looking for the main threat according to their files.

If they possessed this much strength and quickness, how strong and fast was the boy with a Senju body?

He contemplated lifting up his headband and using his sharingan. Realistically they were worth it, if for nothing else, then to deal with Naruko's rather speedy clones. He concluded that each of his potential students could definitely take on a chunin. He hadn't seen Lei yet, but Naruko could probably take on a jonin with the massive number of clones she could create and their base power.

Even if she couldn't win, the jonin would have to try.

As the clones rushed Kakashi he sighed. This was a test. He wouldn't use his sharingan on kids.

No matter how worthy they may be.

His eyes moved to look at the Uchiha who was watching, her body tensed and ready to support.

The clones reached him and started attacking, but for the first time since the exam started, he truly showed a glimpse of his speed as he destroyed fifteen clones in a quick burst of speedy attacks. He couldn't just stand around and wait for the boy to catch him caught between clones.

He made quick work of the clones, sending them back with powerful, and precise punches and kicks. Eventually there were just a few clones left along with the original.

The clones of the blonde, and the black haired girl smirked.

"I hope you've seen enough to know that we aren't a waste of time, now how about we end this?" Satsuki chuckled as she started weaving through hand seals.

"Lightning Release: Shadow Clone." A shadow clone infused with lightning appeared beside the girl.

His eyes widened as he stared at the clone.

An A Rank lightning jutsu. Used by a new genin!

Before he could think about what this meant, Naruko along with her clones transformed into Satsuki and the two girls and their clones rushed him.

He jumped back as fast as he could, gaining a couple dozen meters of distance. They were trying to hide the lightning shadow clone. Which would be bad for him if it managed to make contact with him. Even if he blocked its attack, it could electrocute him which would be the end game of this test.

Just kidding.

Kakashi blitzed towards the lightning clone, punching a hole through its head. It exploded into a mass of lightning chakra which seemingly fried his entire body.

Emphasis on seemingly.

The lightning chakra danced around him as he used his own chakra to shield himself and direct it outwards, shocking Satsuki, Naruko and her clones.

The clones poofed out of existence, while Satsuki and Naruko dropped to the ground, shaking from the high power volts flowing through their body.

'Now…the boy.'

Kakashi's eyes scanned the treeline, expecting his arrival at any moment.

What he did not expect however was for the boy to launch from the earth below him and send an uppercut his way. He had barely even been able to avoid the hit, Lei's fists grazing his chin as he backstepped.

The jonin's singular eye widening as he watched a victorious smile grow on Lei's face. His hand going to pat the bells at his side. His body relaxed as he felt them there.

'Then what are you smiling at?'

BOOM

Several clones launched out of the earth around him. He quickly looked around, mind running a mile a second and counted eighteen clones.

Eighteen, wood clones.

Troublesome.

"Let's end this now, shall we?" The cocky brat grinned, his hands coming together in prayer. A quick glance around and he watched as all the clones did the same.

Kakashi's lips twitched upwards through his mask.

"Oh, and how do you plan to do that?"