The Bells

The Third Training Ground.

Three wooden posts stood in the middle of an open clearing, surrounded by dense forest.

By the time Kitahara Kaede and Tsunade arrived, Jiraiya was already there.

More precisely, he was already asleep.

His white-haired head lolled against a wooden post, a trickle of drool at the corner of his mouth. He clutched a little notebook to his chest, its crookedly written cover reading "Collection of Materials: Top Secret."

Tsunade glanced at it, her expression as if she'd swallowed a fly.

"Did that creep go peeping again last night?"

"Probably."

"Disgusting."

Tsunade walked over and kicked the wooden post.

The whole post shuddered. Jiraiya shot off it as if launched, landing on his rear as the little notebook flew far away.

"Who's there?!"

Jiraiya jumped to his feet and looked wildly around. The moment he saw Tsunade, the wary look on his face changed to an ingratiating smile.

"Well, Tsunade, that ponytail of yours today—"

"Try saying one more word."

Tsunade clenched her fist.

Jiraiya wisely shut his mouth. His eyes shifted to Kitahara Kaede.

"You two came together again?"

"We ran into each other on the way."

"Every time, you 'run into each other on the way.' You think I'm an idiot?" Jiraiya muttered, at just the right volume for them both to hear. "Tch, just because he's good-looking..."

Tsunade ignored him and folded her arms, looking toward the entrance to the training ground.

"Why hasn't the teacher—"

Three shuriken sliced through the air.

Without warning.

Kitahara Kaede's body reacted before his mind. He turned aside, and the shuriken skimmed his sleeve before embedding themselves in the wooden post behind him.

Tsunade ducked almost at the same time. The shuriken flew over her head, and the gust lifted her golden ponytail before it fell again.

Jiraiya—

"Gah!"

A shuriken smacked him right in the forehead.

It was blunt, not sharpened, but it still hurt like hell when it hit his head.

Jiraiya clutched his forehead and crouched down.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood atop the wooden post in the middle.

No one knew when he had arrived.

Hiruzen jumped down and looked over the three of them.

"Reaction speed." He glanced at Kitahara Kaede, then at Tsunade. "You two pass."

Then he looked at Jiraiya, still crouched on the ground.

"Jiraiya."

"...Yes."

"At the Ninja Academy, you made the most progress in the physical fitness test for three consecutive semesters. You went from fifth from the bottom to seventh from the top."

Jiraiya rubbed his forehead and looked up, the corners of his mouth just starting to lift—

"But willpower alone will only get you stabbed one more time on the battlefield."

His smile vanished.

Hiruzen said nothing more.

He took something out of his Ninja Tool Pouch.

A bell, tied to a red cord, jingled softly in the morning light.

Jiraiya stared at it for two seconds, then counted the people present.

"Sensei, there are three of us. Why is there only one bell?"

Kitahara Kaede almost laughed.

The bell test.

A classic among classics.

He'd been through it in real life, too.

The year he graduated from the Ninja Academy, his Jonin instructor had hung two bells from his belt.

He got one.

Not through skill, but by reading the room.

While his two teammates kept each other occupied, he slipped in from the side and took a bell.

Later, both of them died in the Third Great Ninja War.

He survived.

Kitahara Kaede pulled himself back to the present.

"Someone will be eliminated."

Hiruzen looked at him and nodded.

"Yes and no."

He fastened the bell to his belt.

"There are two bells. Anyone who gets one passes. Anyone who doesn't won't be sent back to the Ninja Academy, but for the next month, they'll train with me one-on-one every day, at triple the intensity of regular training."

Jiraiya's face went pale for a moment.

Tsunade frowned.

Kitahara Kaede's expression barely changed.

A month of personal training with the Third was supposed to be a punishment? Some people would give anything for that.

"The rules are simple." Hiruzen patted the bell at his waist. "One is on me. The other is hidden somewhere in this forest. You have one hour. Use any means you like."

His gaze passed over each of their faces, lingering on Kitahara Kaede for half a second longer.

Jiraiya raised his hand.

"Sensei!"

Hiruzen looked at him.

But Jiraiya wasn't looking at Hiruzen.

He turned to Tsunade.

"Tsunade, want to make a bet?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow.

"If I get a bell—" Jiraiya thumped his chest, beaming. "You'll go out for barbecue with me. Just the two of us. A date."

There was half a second of silence.

Tsunade let out a cold laugh.

"Fine."

Jiraiya froze.

He hadn't expected Tsunade to agree so readily.

Before he could even get excited—

"If you don't get one..." Tsunade folded her arms. "Stop following me around from now on. You're annoying."

"Deal!" Jiraiya thumped his chest, utterly confident.

After agreeing, Tsunade said nothing more.

Her gaze shifted sideways without her realizing it.

Kitahara Kaede leaned against a wooden post, his head tilted slightly back as if he were looking at something in the treetops.

There was no expression on his face.

Not the sort of "no expression" someone put on deliberately. He genuinely looked unaffected.

It was as if Jiraiya's words just now—barbecue, a date—had nothing to do with him at all.

Tsunade looked away.

She didn't know why she'd looked at him.

And she didn't know why seeing that he had "no reaction" had suddenly made her chest feel tight.

Just for a moment, very lightly.

As if someone had flicked her over the heart with a fingertip. It didn't hurt, but the spot had throbbed for an instant.

Tsunade clenched her fist.

She didn't know what was bothering her.

Kitahara Kaede had actually noticed her gaze.

But he didn't look back.

"Begin."

Hiruzen's voice rang out.

Kitahara Kaede darted into the woods on the right without looking back.

Tsunade set off almost at the same time.

She moved half a beat faster than usual. She didn't notice it, but her body had already made its choice.

Her golden ponytail flashed through the trees as she followed him.

Jiraiya was a full beat behind.

He stood where he was, looking left and right. Both of them had already disappeared into the forest.

"Hey—wait—"

No one answered.

Jiraiya gritted his teeth and trudged into the forest too.

The training ground fell quiet again.

Hiruzen stood between the three wooden posts, took a pipe from his sleeve, lit it, and drew a puff.

Smoke drifted away.

He watched the three directions in which the children had disappeared. There was scrutiny in his eyes, and something else he couldn't quite name.