Everyone Passed

Five hours earlier

"Original body, get up already. You're going to be late."

"Huh? Where did you come from?"

Naruto woke up groggily and looked strangely at the Shadow Clone that was identical to him.

"Didn't you make a Shadow Clone specifically to wake you up because you were afraid of being late? Hurry up."

"J-Just five more minutes. Just five."

Naruto's body seemed to be magnetically stuck to the bed. Minato had dragged him off for devilish training again last night, and he was severely sleep-deprived.

"Then you'll be late!"

"Then go in my place first. I'll be there soon."

"Why should I?!"

"Because you're a Shadow Clone."

"Shadow Clones don't have human rights? I have half your Chakra too. We're equals."

"Then let's play rock-paper-scissors. No complaining if you lose."

"Fine!"

"Scissors!"

"Paper!"

"I lost... orz"

The Shadow Clone stared resentfully at his hand, then dropped to his knees in utter dejection.

"See you later, then. Snore~"

"Ahh~ Mm, that was such a good sleep."

Naruto slowly climbed out of bed. For some reason, he felt especially happy, as if someone had done something for him.

"Cup noodles, cup noodles."

Naruto poured hot water into the cup noodles. During the three-minute wait, he went to the bathroom to wash up. Then he picked up a magazine from the table and flipped through it. Once the noodles were ready, he grabbed his chopsticks and began eating contentedly.

"Come to think of it, that mark on the calendar is..."

Naruto stared at the calendar and thought for a moment. His eyes widened further and further until he finally remembered that they were supposed to gather at five.

"Ahhh, I'm late! No, I skipped class entirely! I'm going to be killed! Hot, hot!"

Naruto grabbed the cup noodles and jumped out the window, shouting as he ate and leapt toward the meeting place.

When Naruto reached the gathering spot, he saw that Kakashi was already there. He could only hide in a tree and observe quietly, looking for an opportunity to switch places with his Shadow Clone. Soon, Sakura and Sasuke split up, and Sasuke happened to hide in the tree right in front of him.

That led to the scene just now.

"Sasuke, let's go."

"Tch, that idiot!"

Sasuke glared irritably at Naruto, who had already rushed out. What happened to the battle plan? Did those two genin really think they could defeat a jonin like this?

Naruto was the first to leap down from the tree trunk, charging straight at Kakashi. He formed Hand Seals with both hands and created dozens of Shadow Clones, all of whom charged together.

"From behind? This guy..."

Kakashi had still been searching for Naruto's original body when he discovered that Naruto had actually attacked from behind with his Shadow Clones. The surprise in his eyes deepened.

"But battles aren't won just because there are more people."

Kakashi's gaze sharpened. He drew a kunai and charged into the crowd of Narutos. Then came a series of bangs, as the Shadow Clones were destroyed one after another.

He's strong. Rasengan...

Naruto slightly curled the fingers of his right hand, wanting to form the spinning sphere, but then remembered Minato's warning and gave up on the idea.

[Naruto, you still can't control the Rasengan's power. You can't use this Jutsu in sparring matches, or your opponent could be seriously injured.]

"Looks like you're the original body."

Kakashi eliminated all the Shadow Clones and looked at the only Naruto left on the field. Still, he remained alert to the sounds around him. Who knew whether Naruto would disappear strangely again?

"That's right. Prepare yourself, Teacher Kakashi!"

Naruto charged at Kakashi as he spoke. He first threw a punch with his right hand, but Kakashi easily blocked it with his left and caught his fist. Naruto then swung his left leg toward Kakashi's head. Kakashi frowned slightly and grabbed Naruto's ankle with his right hand, only to feel astonishing force coming from it. Yet that leg was not the real attack. Naruto used that force to spin his body, then kicked at Kakashi with his right leg with even greater strength.

"Though I don't know who taught you Taijutsu, you're still far from being able to hurt me with this level of skill."

Kakashi did not release Naruto's hand. With a casual pull, he used his upper arm to block Naruto's strike. While Naruto's body was stiff from the motion, Kakashi let go and drove a hard punch into his stomach.

"Ugh, cough..."

Naruto covered his stomach and staggered back several steps. The discomfort made him cough a few times.

"Heh. Hehehe."

"What's so funny?"

"Because I'm not alone."

Naruto bent over as he spoke. Behind him, Sasuke had already completed the Hand Seals for the Great Fireball Technique. He planted one hand on Naruto's back and leaped up, while bringing the other before his mouth and inhaling deeply... Then blazing flames poured from his mouth, surrounding Kakashi.

"From a blind spot, huh? Well."

Kakashi finally understood why Naruto had used the Shadow Clones to stall for time. It had been to let Sasuke conceal his presence. Sasuke had probably mixed into the crowd and gotten close, then formed Hand Seals while Naruto fought Kakashi at close range. These two had passed the teamwork test, but they still underestimated a jonin.

"We did it, Sasuke!"

Naruto cried happily. He wanted to high-five Sasuke in celebration, only to find that Sasuke ignored him completely.

"Hmph. If a jonin were that easy to defeat, he wouldn't be a jonin."

"That's right. You were still too careless."

Kakashi's voice suddenly came from behind them. Before either could turn around, kunai were pressed against their necks. Any slight movement would make the sharp blades cut through their arteries.

"What a shame. Just a little short."

Kakashi held a kunai in each hand, while the Great Fireball Technique that had just died out had burned nothing more than a log.

"Teacher Kakashi, you were careless too."

Naruto and Sasuke spoke in unison. Both of them turned into logs. Before Kakashi could even be surprised, the sound of rushing air came from behind him. Naruto and Sasuke had taken a running start, leaped up, and kicked toward his head.

"Oh? So you really are underestimating me."

The proud jonin could not even be bothered to dodge. He raised his kunai, intending to teach the two brats flying toward him a lesson. But something astonishing happened. The logs they had left behind with the Substitution Technique suddenly turned into Naruto and Sasuke. The kunai in their hands stabbed in unison toward his waist, putting the bells in grave danger.

"What?!"

Kakashi cried out in surprise. He had two options. One was to block Naruto and Sasuke's kunai, but then he would have to take the attack from the other pair. The other was to knock down the flying-kicking Naruto and Sasuke, but then he would not be able to protect the bells.

"Well, so be it."

A satisfied smile appeared in Kakashi's lazy eyes. He used the Body Flicker Technique to escape their attacks. At the last possible moment, the kunai still struck the bell at his waist, and as Kakashi disappeared, the bell fell to the ground.

"We did it! Yes!"

Naruto quickly picked up the bell from the ground. After checking that it was not a fake, he jumped up happily.

"Of course. Thanks to me...?"

Sasuke stopped halfway through speaking. Why was he so familiar with Naruto? It was strange enough that they could coordinate like that without even communicating. Now he had even said something that sounded like he wanted praise. Too strange.

"Good work, Sakura, Shadow Clone."

Naruto released the Shadow Clone Jutsu as he spoke. The Sasuke in the other Naruto-Sasuke pair turned into Sakura. Naruto had secretly created a Shadow Clone earlier, found Sakura's hiding place, explained the plan, and Sakura had agreed.

Clap, clap, clap.

"You passed."

Applause came from behind them. Kakashi returned to them with a smile and praised them, before abruptly changing the subject—

"However, there are only two bells and only two lunches. You and Sasuke contributed the most in this teamwork exercise, so they undoubtedly belong to you two. As for Sakura..."

"I... I'm fine."

Sakura clenched her little fists when she heard Kakashi's words. Holding back her tears, she forced a smile.

"No. I'll give my bell to Sakura."

"Oh? You're willing to give up your qualification?"

"Why? I took the bell. I already passed."

"But you gave it to Sakura..."

"But I took the bell."

"The bell is in Sakura's hand."

"I took the bell!"

"You little brat, why are you being so unreasonable... You're just like her."

Kakashi nearly swore. He knew this scene all too well. It was exactly like Master's Wife. Whenever Kushina argued with Minato, she was always like this.

"I don't care. You said whoever takes a bell passes. This bell belongs to both Sakura and me! Either one of us can hold it."

"Otherwise, after we eat, we can do this again in the afternoon. Then there'll be four bells."

"Enough, enough. You all passed. I was just teasing you."

Kakashi waved his hand. As a child, Kushina had given him plenty of headaches, and seeing Naruto act like this now killed any interest he had in continuing.

"Huh?"

"This test was about teamwork. There were only two bells at first because I wanted you to scheme against each other and fight alone. That way, it would have been impossible to take the bells from me. Though you three didn't cooperate at first, you must have eventually united under this guy's guidance."

Facing the three confused students, Kakashi revealed the entire original plan and pointed at Naruto.

"Hehe."

"That said, I still want to see how you divide the lunches. It would be amusing if you started fighting over food at the last moment."

Kakashi handed the lunches to the three of them, openly admitting his twisted sense of humor.

"Sakura, Sasuke, you're both hungry, right? Go ahead and eat."

Naruto took the lunch box. Faced with Sakura and Sasuke's sincere gazes, he really could not bring himself to say that he had already eaten cup noodles. He would probably get beaten to death if he did.

"No, no. I barely contributed anything, and I'm not that hungry either."

Growl.

Sakura kept waving her hands. She was already deeply moved that Naruto was willing to help her like that. She could not possibly steal his food too. However, her stomach was not so polite, and it grumbled traitorously.

"Give me the lunch boxes."

Sasuke coldly took the two lunches, divided each one in half, placed the portions on the lunch box lids, and handed them to Naruto.

"You contributed the most. I acknowledge that."

"You two... Sob, sob... Then let's eat together."

Naruto was moved to tears. He took the lunch box and began eating in huge mouthfuls.

"Mm. Everyone in Team Seven has passed. One hundred points."

Kakashi wrote the highest score on the scoreboard. He had not expected the first students to pass under him to earn a perfect score. Then his lazy eyes sharpened as he looked at Naruto, who was wolfing down his food.

"By the way, Naruto, have you heard of Flying Thunder God?"

If there was any Jutsu that could make someone disappear in an instant, it was his teacher's Flying Thunder God. It was the only method of disappearing that he could think of.

"No."

Naruto's chopsticks did not stop moving. Without even raising his head, he responded. Minato had ordered him not to tell even Hinata about that secret, so how could he tell Kakashi?

"Is that so? When I fought you, there were several times when your hand was not clenched into a fist but curled inward instead. I thought you were going to use some kind of Jutsu."

This guy has an even stronger Jutsu hidden away?

Kakashi had no ill intent, but Sasuke, who had overheard, could not sit still. From Kakashi's words, Naruto seemed to be hiding something. Against a jonin in that situation, he had still held back a trump card? Intense unwillingness surged in his heart.

"Team Seven will begin taking missions tomorrow. Dismissed."

Kakashi waved his hand and disappeared from before the three of them. Sakura was exhausted and sleepy as well, so she went home to catch up on sleep. Only Naruto and Sasuke remained in the forest.

"Naruto, can you tell me how you disappeared?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto expectantly, hoping for a satisfying answer, such as some ultra-high-speed Jutsu.

"That? Listen, actually, I was late..."

Naruto scratched his head awkwardly and confessed that he had been late.

"Naruto!!!"

Sasuke's expression shifted from green to red, then white, then black, like an overturned palette. Gritting his teeth, he pounced at Naruto.

"Ah! Why are you hitting me? I'm fighting back!"

"Die once! Only then will you make up for the feelings you deceived!"

"That makes no sense!"

"This guy really is full of surprises."

On his way home, Sasuke remembered Naruto's cheeks, swollen from Sasuke's beating, and could not help smiling.

"Surprises? I once had a friend like that too. He always acted outside the norm, was overly familiar with everyone, and barged into my daily life on his own."

A fragment flashed through Sasuke's mind. The friend he had played with most as a child. Though his face was already blurry, Sasuke remembered every single thing they had done together clearly. But he had been killed, by Itachi on that night... The moment he recalled that night, Sasuke clutched his eyes in pain. He could feel the agony and killing intent in them.

"Itachi, I will... kill you."

When he opened his eyes again, the scarlet Sharingan already held two tomoe. The heart Naruto had only just managed to open closed itself once more.