8 Meeting Kakashi

The next morning, with his headache gone, Naruto arrived bright and early at the training ground. He found that both Sasuke and Sakura had already arrived and were waiting for Kakashi. As the trio waited for their Jonin instructor to arrive, Naruto started practicing his chakra control. Sakura, like the fan girl that she was, was constantly fawning over Sasuke, which he completely ignored.

"Sigh ... the sad life of a fan girl," thought Naruto.

"Hn. How can an elite Jonin be so late?" snorted Sasuke.

"Probably the same way you can be an arrogant punk," said Naruto with a smile.

"What did you say?" hissed Sasuke.

"You heard me," said Naruto. "But relax, he's here now."

"Hey guys, you're all early," said a voice. "I'm Kakashi Hatake, your Jonin instructor."

The three Genins turned around and saw a silver haired man with half his face covered by a cloth with his headband covering his left eye. He was wearing a normal Jonin jacket and black pants.

"You're just late, you pervert," said Naruto with a frown on his face. "And you call yourself a Jonin? Should you really be leading a team of Genins?"

"Naruto's got a point," thought Sasuke.

"Hey Naruto-baka, don't be rude to our sensei!" shouted Sakura angrily. "Sorry sensei, Naruto lacks in manners."

"Shut it, pink banshee," hissed Naruto, glaring at Sakura. "So? What happened? A cat got on your way and you had to take a detour?"

"Something like that," replied Kakashi, the corner of his eye twitching.

"So it had nothing to do with that pervy book you've got on your hand?" asked Naruto, narrowing his eyes.

"Cough ... why don't you three introduce yourselvels," said Kakashi with a cough.

"Introduce ourselves? What should we say?" asked Sakura.

"Somthing like your likes, dislikes, your dreams and hobbies," said Kakashi, shrugging.

"How about you start us off," said Naruto, glaring at Kakashi.

"Very well, my name is Kakashi Hatake. I have no intention of telling you my likes and dislikes. As for my dreams and hobbies, they're none of your business," said Kakashi with a bored look on his uncovered eye. "Now it's your turn. You first."

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki," said Naruto, looking annoyed. "As for my likes, dislikes, dreams and hobbies, I have no intention of telling a pervert who can't even show up on time."

"Okay," said Kakashi awkwardly. "You next."

"I'm Sakura Haruno, I like ... well the person I like is ... my dream is ...," said Sakura furiously blushing as she eyed Sasuke.

"Sigh ... the sad life of a fan-girl ...," muttered Naruto, much to Sakura's glare.

"And? What do you hate?" asked Kakashi.

"Naruto," replied Sakura bluntly.

"Sigh ... the sad life of a STUPID fan-girl ...," said Naruto, sighing even deeper.

"This blondie might have a point," thought Kakashi. "What about you?"

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha," said Sasuke stoicly. "There are a lot of things that I hate and not a lot that I like. I have an ambition that I have no intention to leave as a dream. The revival of my clan and to ... kill a certain someone."

"Such a sad life to lead," said Naruto. "With that much hatred you're practically oozing, it's no wonder you have no friend."

"Friends are for losers," said Sasuke, shooting Naruto a glare.

"Hn. You're as bad as Sakura," said Naruto with a grunt.

"What did you say?" asked Sasuke angrily.

"You heard me," said Naruto, looking at Sasuke with a lazy eye. "If you let go of that stick that's shoved so far up your backside, you might actually grow strong."

"Alright, enough," said Kakashi. "I didn't gather you three here just so you could fight amongst yourselves. We've about to start our first mission."

"What kind of mission is that, sir?" asked Sakura, politely.

"Survival training," sais Kakashi.

"Why are we going to train when it's a mission?" asked Sakura, looking confused. "We did plenty of training back in the academy."

"This is no ordinary training," said Kakashi mysteriously. "Out of the 27 graduates, only 9 are going to become Genins. The other 18 will be sent back to the academy."

"What?" blurted Sakura. "You mean we're not Genins already? But we passed the academy exams. If we're going to be sent back to the Academy, then what was the point of that exam?"

"Poor girl," thought Naruto. "She has no clue."

"You look like you have something on your mind, Naruto," said Kakashi, noticing the look on Naruto's face.

"It's a selection of who's qualified to become Genins, isn't it?" asked Naruto.

"We finally have a smart one," said Kakashi happily. "That's correct. Your task is to get one of these two bells from me befor this alarm clock strikes midday. Since there is only two bells, one of you is bound to fail. If you want, you can use your kunais and shurikens. You can even aim to kill."

Naruto and Sasuke immediately turned serious while Sakura simply stared at Kakashi in pure confusion.

"But you'll be in danger," said Sakura in her shrieky banshee voice.

"Oi, Sakura, do seriously not remember what I said yesterday?" asked Naruto in a serious tone.

"What ... oooh," said Sakura in realisation.

"You three appear to be ready," said Kakashi. "Let's begin."

Seeing that all three of them understood, Kakashi disappeared into the forest. Seeing that he had gone into hiding, Naruto turned to Sasuke and Sakura. "Looks like I was right."

"So? What's your plan, seeing that you guessed his intentions right?" asked Sasuke, looking at Naruto.

"The plan is simple, we have to work together to get those two bells," said Naruto, rubbing his chin. "The advantage we have is that I can sense his location. Sasuke, you and I will start fighting him using taijutsu to stop him from using handsigns. That way, he can't use any ninjutsu. I know a sealing jutsu that could seal his movement. Sakura, there's a high chance Sasuke and I might fail, so use any opportunity you can find to grab the bells."

"But how are we going to divide the bells?" asked Sakura. "There's only two of them."

"There's no point worrying about that if we haven't even got it yet," said Naruto. "We can decide after we get them."

"Okay, let's look for him, I can't sense him anywhere," said Sasuke.

"Why waste your time looking for him?" asked Naruto, giving Sasuke a weird look. "I told you I can sense his location. You two hide somewhere. I'll draw him out."

Kakashi was hiding in the forest, atop a tree branch with a low level genjutsu. He saw Naruto approaching him at full speed. Naruto suddenly stopped just below the branch that Kakashi was hiding and jumped. He swiftly performed a few handseals and muttered: Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"

A large amount of fire escaped from Naruto and burnt away the genjutsu Kakashi had cast, blasting him away from where he was hiding. Naruto was about to launch another attack before he stopped immediately.

"Damn, he escaped," cursed Naruto under his breath before sensing Kakashi's new location. "He used the Substitution Jutsu in the last minute. He's fast."

"That surprised me," muttered Kakashi as he stared at Naruto's figure. "Since when can Genins pull such high level fire Jutsus?"

"Normal Genins can't," whispered a voice in Kakashi's ear, sending shivers down his spine. "I'm special."

Kakashi immediately jumped from where he was standing and landed a few meters away. He looked up to see Naruto charging directly at him. He quickly glanced to where Naruto was standing earlier, only to see him waving.

"I see, Kage Bunshin," muttered Kakashi as he engaged in a taijutsu battle with Naruto.

Kakashi was greatly surprised at Naruto's proficiency at taijutsu. His surprise turned into shock when he noticed Naruto was always aiming at his chakra points. Naruto's taijutsu style resembled the Hyuga clan's Gentle Fist Style, however, there was also a mixture of the Hard Fist Style added to the mix. As they exchanged blows, Kakashi noticed that this style was a completely new one he had encountered. There were tecniques of three different styles that was mixed together to form a new one: the Hyuga's style, the Uchiha's style and the Hard Fist Style.

"Where did this kid learn this new style?" wondered Kakashi as he jumped back.

Suddenly, a hand grabbed Kakashi's leg, pulling him down into the ground to trap him.

"Earth Style: Double Suicide Decapitation," muttered Naruto as he grinned slyly looking at Kakashi.

Kakashi quickly freed himself from the grip of Naruto's clone and used the substitution jutsu to replace himself with a log.

"Dammit, he always escapes," said Naruto. "Sasuke, quick! Your five o'clock!"

Naruto quickly joined Sasuke in his fight against Kakashi. He quickly tied his legs with Kakashi's and injected lightning infused chakra to Kakashi's legs, numbing him temporarily.

"Sakura, now!" shouted Naruto.

Sakura quickly appeared behind Kakashi and slammed a tag on his back. As Sakura removed her hand from the tag, it had the Kanji "Seal" written on it. Seeing that he could not move, Sakura quickly grabbed the two bells that were dangling from Kakashi's waste.

"Success!" screamed Sakura in her high pitched voice as she jumped into the air in celebration.

Seeing that the bells were safely acquired by Sakura, Naruto removed the sealing tag from Kakashi's back.

"What did you think of that performance, pervy sensei?" asked Naruro, waving the sealing tag in Kakashi's face.

"To be bested by three Genins, how shameful," said Kakashi mournfully.

"Are you seriously a Jonin with your strength?" asked Sasuke arrogantly.

"Brat, if was a real fight to kill, you three would have long been killed!" hissed Kakashi, glaring at Sasuke. "But more importantly, Naruto, how did you become so strong?"

"Having the entire village after your blood does that to you," said Naruto, shrugging.

"Anyway, you three pass," said Kakashi. "Congratulations."

"Pass?" asked Sakura in confusion. "What do mean all three pass? I thought one of us had to fail."

"You guys are the first team I've passed," said Kakashi. "The other teams were all morons. They never understood the true meaning of my tests. A ninja must see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules are called trash but those who abandone their comrades are pure scum. The main purpose of this test was to see if you would work as part of the team. You three did. Never forget the importance of teamwork. However, you should also work hard to increase your own individual ability as it may be just what the team might need. Do you all understand?"

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura nodded their heads.

"Good, with the training over, Team 7 will begin its duties tomorrow," said Kakashi happily. "Sasuke and Sakura, you two can go home now. Naruto, I want you to stay behind a little bit."

"I knew this was coming," thought Naruto.

"Naruto-kun I'm hoping you can answer a few of my questions," said Kakashi when they were alone.

"Shoot away," said Naruto, sitting on a tree stump.

"How are you so strong for a Genin?" asked Kakashi.

"The Hokage never told you about me?" asked Naruto, narrowing his eyes.

"He said to directly ask you about it," said Kakashi honestly.

"Tsk, that lazy old man," grumbled Naruto in annoyance. "Well, since he's trusted you to place you as my Jonin instructor, I suppose I can trust you too. My name is Naruto Uzumaki, son of Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namekazi - the Fourth Hokage and your late Jonin instructor."

After hearing Naruto's response, Kakashi looked at Naruto with his one uncovered eye widening widely.

"Y-you-re re-really his son," stuttered Kakashi as his breathing quickened. "Of course, how could I have been blind! You're his carbon copy!"

"It's not just you," said Naruto. "The real blinded fools have been the villagers."

"Do you hate them?" asked Kakashi.

"I don't know," replied Naruto honestly. "I'm definitely angry at them for treating me like they have been. Sometimes I feel like I should hate them, but then I feel pity for them."