Stealing the Bells

Kakashi led them to the rooftop.

Naruto muttered under his breath the whole way, clearly unconvinced by Kakashi's claim that he was "pretty dislikeable." Sakura kept sneaking glances at Sasuke, while Sasuke leaned against the railing, still looking like he did not want to deal with anyone.

Chiya stood nearby and yawned.

Kakashi sat atop a concrete block with a book in hand, his tone as casual as if they were simply chatting.

"Introduce yourselves first. What you like, what you dislike, your future dreams, hobbies, that sort of thing."

Naruto immediately raised his hand.

"Teacher, you go first!"

Kakashi thought for a moment.

"My name is Kakashi Hatake. I don't feel like telling you what I like or dislike. As for dreams, I don't really have any. I have plenty of hobbies."

Sakura's face darkened as she muttered quietly.

"So other than his name, he didn't say anything at all!"

Naruto nodded along. Exactly, exactly.

Next was Naruto.

He stood up and held his forehead protector as he shouted, "My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like Ichiraku Ramen, and what I especially like is the ramen Iruka treats me to! What I hate is waiting three minutes for instant ramen to finish! My dream is to surpass the Hokage and make everyone in the village acknowledge me!"

Kakashi looked at him, and something flickered in his eyes.

When Sakura introduced herself, nearly everything she said revolved around Sasuke.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was very brief.

"Sasuke Uchiha."

He paused, and his voice turned cold.

"There are many things I dislike, and nothing I particularly like. Calling it a dream is too light. There is something I must do."

The smile on Sakura's face slowly faded.

Sasuke lowered his head, his fingers tightening slightly.

"I will restore the Uchiha Clan, then kill that man."

The rooftop fell silent for a moment.

Naruto did not speak either.

Chiya glanced at Sasuke but did not interrupt.

When it was his turn, Kakashi's gaze visibly grew more serious.

Chiya straightened slightly.

"My name is Chiya Uchiha. There are many things I like and many things I dislike. I don't have a dream for now. As for something I must do..."

He paused.

"Survive, I guess."

Kakashi looked at him.

It was a short answer, but it did not sound like something a child would say.

Naruto frowned.

"What do you mean, survive? That's way too unambitious."

Chiya smiled but said nothing.

Naruto wanted to say more, but Kakashi had already closed his book and stood up.

"All right, each of you has quite a distinct personality. Tomorrow, we'll conduct a survival exercise."

"What? We've already done lots of exercises at the Academy," Sakura complained.

"This isn't an ordinary exercise. It's the test that decides whether you can become genin. Oh, I forgot to tell you." Kakashi leaned forward, mysteriously saying, "Of everyone who graduates, only a few will truly become genin. The elimination rate is over fifty percent."

At those words, Naruto and Sakura both went pale.

"All right, meet at the training ground at five tomorrow morning. Oh, and don't eat breakfast, or you'll throw up."

With that, Kakashi vanished from where he stood with a snap.

The next morning, Chiya ate something anyway.

Not much—just two rice balls.

Kakashi's warning not to eat breakfast was meant to scare them. If he went through half the day on an empty stomach, a stamina monster like Naruto might be fine, but he did not intend to fight hungry.

Sasuke was already waiting outside his door. When he saw Chiya emerge still chewing, he could not help asking, "You ate?"

Chiya nodded, still chewing away.

"Teacher said not to eat!" Sasuke sounded a little anxious.

Chiya glanced at Sasuke and swallowed the food in his mouth.

"You believe everything he says?"

Sasuke's face darkened. Clearly, he had not eaten anything.

Chiya smiled and pulled a rice ball from his pocket.

"Here. This is for you."

Sasuke's eyes lit up.

"Hmph. I was just worried you'd eat too much and affect your performance."

Chiya shook his head helplessly. What an tsundere.

By the time the two arrived at the training ground, Sakura was already waiting there. She was always the most punctual one.

Naruto arrived not long afterward. Then they kept waiting and waiting, until Kakashi finally showed up close to noon.

Naruto pointed at Kakashi and shouted, "Kakashi-sensei, you're late!"

Kakashi scratched his head, looking innocent.

"Sorry. I got lost on the road of life today."

Naruto froze for a moment, then became even angrier.

"Who are you trying to fool?!"

Sakura could not help nodding beside him.

Sasuke said nothing, merely staring coldly at Kakashi.

As though he had not noticed their expressions, Kakashi took two bells from his ninja tool pouch and gently shook them.

The bells gave off a crisp chime.

"The rules are simple."

"The four of you will try to take these bells from me. As you can see, there are only two bells. The two who fail to get one will be eliminated."

Kakashi placed an alarm clock on a wooden post.

"Now, begin."

The instant he finished speaking, Sasuke vanished from where he stood.

Sakura hurried into the woods to hide as well.

Naruto, on the other hand, simply stayed where he was and rolled up his sleeves.

"I'm not hiding! I'll beat you head-on!"

Chiya had just hidden behind a tree when he heard that and nearly lost it.

Naruto really was adorably foolish right now.

Kakashi took out his copy of Make-Out Paradise and opened it, glancing at a page.

"A ninja should conceal his presence and wait for an opportunity."

Naruto did not listen at all.

"Shut up!"

Then he charged forward.

The result was just as straightforward.

Then he was sent flying.

More precisely, before he could even touch the edge of Kakashi's clothes, he was sent into the water by a Thousand Years of Death.

Kakashi turned a page, his tone lazy.

"First one eliminated."

After Naruto was dealt with, Sakura quickly ran into trouble as well. She had been hiding fairly well, but when she saw Sasuke disappear, she visibly panicked.

Kakashi merely cast a simple genjutsu.

Sakura saw Sasuke lying before her, covered in blood.

"Sasuke!"

After a scream, Sakura fainted on the spot.

Behind the tree, Chiya's mouth twitched.

That was way too fast.

Sakura had not grown yet. Aside from decent theoretical grades, she was practically hopeless in actual combat.

The field quickly fell silent.

Naruto was buried.

Sakura was unconscious.

That left only Sasuke and Chiya.

Sasuke hid behind a tree on the other side. His gaze passed through the woods and met Chiya's for an instant.

Neither of them spoke.

The next moment, both pairs of eyes turned scarlet.

Two tomoe slowly spun in Sasuke's eyes.

In Chiya's eyes, there were three tomoe.

The instant their Sharingan awakened, the world before them seemed to slow by half a beat.

The wind moving the leaves, Kakashi's fingers turning pages, the path of the bells lightly swaying at his waist—all became far clearer than before.

Sasuke moved first.

Several shuriken flew from the woods, fast and precise, shooting straight for Kakashi's wrist and the ground by his feet. Kakashi merely shifted slightly and easily avoided them.

But the moment he moved, Chiya's shuriken flew toward the position he was evading to.

Kakashi finally raised his eyes.

"Oh?"

With a tap of his foot, he flashed away at high speed.

Sasuke seized the chance and rapidly formed hand seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball burst from the woods, instantly illuminating half the clearing.

Kakashi dodged to the side.

But the moment he moved, Chiya's voice rang out from the other side.

"Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Fire Technique!"

More than a dozen small fireballs shot out.

Phoenix Fire did not crush an opponent head-on like the Great Fireball. Instead, it spread widely. Several shuriken were hidden among the fireballs, difficult to see in the firelight.

"Looks like I can't keep reading."

Kakashi snapped his book shut and flicked his wrist. Several kunai flew out, knocking aside the shuriken concealed within the flames.

A series of crisp clangs rang out.

Sasuke had already charged out.

Chiya also leaped from behind his tree, both hands pressing against the ground.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears."

Several earthen spikes erupted beside Kakashi's feet.

Kakashi's steps paused slightly. He twisted to the side and avoided the spikes.

In that instant, Sasuke had already closed in on him.

His kunai went straight for the bells.

Chiya flung out a wire shuriken. The wire curved through the air, wrapping toward Kakashi's waist.

One attacked at close range, while the other blocked his path.

The bells were right before them.

Clink.

Sasuke's kunai grazed a bell.

He had really been just a little short.

The next instant, Kakashi's figure suddenly turned into a wooden log.

Substitution Technique.

Sasuke's expression changed.

Chiya immediately reeled in his wire and retreated as well.

But he was still too late.

Kakashi appeared behind Sasuke and kicked him away.

Chiya threw a kunai backhandedly. Kakashi tilted his head to avoid it, grabbed Chiya's wrist, and flung him outward.

Chiya was sent flying.

While in midair, Chiya rapidly formed hand seals.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

An even larger fireball flew rapidly toward Kakashi.

But Kakashi was too fast. In an instant, he vanished from where he stood.

"Not bad ideas, and not bad teamwork either." Kakashi's voice suddenly rang beside Chiya's ear.

Chiya whipped his head around, but it was already too late.

"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

With a bang, Chiya was dragged entirely into the earth.

"Still, you've got a long way to go."

Having said that, Kakashi actually pulled out that book again.

"Teacher Kakashi, don't you know that ninja must never underestimate their opponents?" Chiya said, looking up with only his head exposed.

Before Kakashi could react, in the next instant—

With a bang, Chiya turned into a wisp of white smoke.

The Chiya underground had actually been a clone!

"Manipulated Shuriken Technique: Thousand Threads Binding!"

A huge number of steel wires suddenly sprang up from the ground. With a tug from Chiya in the distance, the wires rapidly tightened.

With a snap, they bound Kakashi's hands and feet.

"Not good!" Kakashi cried.

Sasuke, who had long been ready, swiftly stepped forward and scooped up the two bells.

"Got them!"

Just as he was about to grab the bells—

Ring~~

The alarm clock went off.