Chapter 12

Lei

Truth be told, once I do this, I'll be low on chakra. Spending several minutes with my clones pretending to be Satsuki and Naruko and using jutsu not that aren't even my natural element has left me more than a little burned out.

Luckily I had enough chakra to make these clones.

Unluckily, I only have enough to do this once.

"Let's end this now, shall we?" I grinned at the white haired man, my hands clasping together and my clones mirroring my actions.

"Oh, and how do you plan to do that?" I could see him smiling through his mask.

Either he was mocking me, or he was excited to see what I had planned next. Honestly, knowing him…it was probably both.

""Wood Release: Four Pillar Prison Technique."" Four of my clones announced, Kakashi's eyes grew wide as he tried to make a move to get away.

"Wood Release: Underground Roots Technique." Two more of my clones added. Kakashi jumped into the air only to be grabbed by the roots. He pulled out his kunai and cut them, but by then it was too late. A massive wooden cage rose out of the ground at alarming speeds. Once Kakashi had cut the roots, he immediately made a move to jump out of the cage, the rest of my clones jumped in to keep him busy. Throwing kunai, and some outright charging the man to buy enough time.

The clones managed to buy enough time as the top of the cage was ground, completely trapping the man and clones in the cage.

Kakashi, realizing his predicament, pulled out his kunai and started stabbing each clone lethally. Their bodies turned to wood and dropped on the floor of the cage.

"It's over, Kakashi. Give up." I ordered.

The man eyed the cage for a moment before leaning against the wooden bars. "Over? I'm up in this cozy little room you built for me, and you're down there standing in the dirt. What part of this situation screams 'Over' to you?" He joked, reaching into his back pocket and wincing once he felt nothing.

I still do feel sorry about that…

"You don't understand the predicament your in…do you?" I gave a look to the six clones who were still standing around me along with a mental command.

'Do it.'

The clones saluted, clasping their hands together again as their chakra flowed up the tree and into the prison.

Shing

A bunch of spikes appeared on the top and sides of the prison, before it slowly began to close in on itself.

Kakashi didn't look too affected as he punched the bars at the front of the cage, the only side without spikes. A look of shock formed as he realized just how durable the cage was.

"Tenzo-sensei told me about you, he told me about plenty of Konoha jonin." I started, a deep frown snaking its way on my features. "Kakashi of the Sharingan, The Man Who Copied 1000 Jutsu. I know how powerful you are…so tell me. Why aren't you going all out?"

I was being honest. Tenzo-sensei had told me a great deal over the years, and he did mention Kakashi, even if it was briefly, calling him one of the strongest shinobi in the village.

"Why does that matter, let's end this." Naruko groaned in pain as she walked up behind me, rubbing her aching body all the while. Satsuki was in a similar state, only she looked a bit worse for wear. Not having a tailed beast actively healing you would do that.

"I'm honestly just curious." I admitted easily, my frown being replaced with a cheeky smile. "We're definitely strong enough for it, so why wouldn't he use his trump card?"

"Maybe because he's not a true Uchiha, and thus undeserving of my clan's dojutsu." Satsuki frowned.

There's that Uchiha angst I know and love.

"It's a test." Kakashi suddenly answered, the spikes growing ever close to him.

I raised an eyebrow. No shit it's a test, but if we surpass the base requirements, why wouldn't he push us to see how far we can go?

Don't tell me he's that fucking lazy!

"I see, alright let's end this." The clones continued closing the cage, this time faster.

Kakashi held up his hands in surrender.

"Alright, alright, you win. Let's call it quits." He chuckled out. The clones stopped the spikes from growing any closer. They were only a few feet from him at this point.

"Finally!" Naruko jumped up in joy. "Seriously, fighting you was such a pain!"

Satsuki gave a relieved smile before she looked at me, her eyes narrowing a bit as I showed no reaction whatsoever.

"Do you think I'm an idiot?"

The jonin hummed, putting a hand on his chin. "Whatever could you mean."

I eyed him for a bit before pointing at his waist. "You give up, that's cool and all, but I want the bells."

His single eye closed before he shrugged. "Well, you at the very least aren't as dumb as I thought you were. Your plans thus far have been…adequate, not very impressive, but they would work on a run of the mill chunin perhaps. Beyond that you aren't as brain dead as your friends down there."

"Hey, what the hell do you mean braindead!" Naruko shouted, her hands coming together.

"Easy girl." I put a hand on her shoulder. I had the man caught in a cage with nowhere to go and nothing to substitute himself with. He was completely fucked unless he using lightning blade, I wouldn't have her getting pissed at clear rage bait and fucking it up.

"You're very annoying." Satsuki insulted the man with eyes full of hate. Ah, hating our future sensei wasn't good for any of us.

"Thank you. It's a skill I've worked hard on." Kakashi beamed at the girl, and with a flick of my wrist the clones started moving the spikes back in. Once they were mere inches from him, he reached down to his waist and threw the bells down.

Just like that? I get he was trapped, but he had a way out, so why would he…

"Was that so hard?" Naruko frowned, going to pick it up.

"No, Naruko get away!" I shouted all too late as the bells were enveloped by a puff of smoke and Kakashi appeared, his hands instantly getting to work as he hit her with several punches before launching her away with a kick.

"Fuck!" I growled in anger, my hands coming together as I weaved some more hand seals, but that was put to an end as Kakashi's boot met my face. My clones instantly jumped in to help, but were all made short work of, the jonin delivering harsh blows that destroyed my clones.

This shit never ends! We had him, why the fuck didn't I notice it earlier!

Satsuki moved to help me up, both of us eyeing the man. I only had about a tenth of my reserves left, which really doesn't bode too well for us.

"You wanted the sharingan?" He asked, his hand coming up to his headband. "Let this be a lesson, never ask for more than you can handle."

Why the fuck do I do the things I do?

He brought the headband up, and let his sharingan show, the three tomoe looking very prominent.

Badass.

Even in this horrible situation I couldn't help but find myself looking at his-

Oh fuck me!

"Dispel!" I shouted, pulsating my chakra outwards. I could feel the foreign chakra leaving my body. He had caught both Satsuki and I in a genjutsu the moment he showed his eye, thankfully as a sensor, I can tell immediately when I, or anyone around me is under any kind of genjutsu.

"Damnit, don't look into his eyes." Satsuki ordered. I gave her a half lidded stare for a few moments.

No shit.

Then my eyes went over to a surprisingly still conscious Naruko. Oh, she was talking to her. I honestly thought Kakashi knocked her out with that vicious combo he hit her with, but I guess she's more durable than I had previously thought.

"Naruko, over here." I told the girl and she immediately jumped over to us. All the while I eyed Kakashi's feet, ensuring he made no movement towards us while avoiding his gaze.

"What's the plan, Lei?" Naruko asked, kneeling once she reached us. My eyes never left the jonins feet as I fell into thought. He wasn't moving, just waiting. That means even though he has his sharingan out, he's still not trying to actively beat us. This is still a test afterall. Does that mean he wants to see just how far we could push our teamwork, or has he raised his standards on what it takes to pass?

"Best thing we can do is keep working together. I'm running lower and lower on chakra as this goes on, so we have to end this soon. Watch his feet, and whatever you do, do not attack him alone without backup."

That sharingan perception would fuck us up so badly, and not having the backup to pull us out of trouble would be like asking to fail.

Both girls gave a small nod as we rose from the ground.

"Oh, are you all finally ready? Devised a plan did you?" Kakashi asked with his infinitely annoying ass voice.

"No, not really, but I'm pretty sure we can come up with one along the way." Naruko grinned, punching her palm.

"This test has gone on for way too long, what do you say we end it here now, eye stealer." Satsuki dropped into her stance, her cocky Uchiha smirk ever growing.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I've learned my lesson, there won't be a third time." I announced, my hands going through various hand seals.

"Wood Release: Clone Jutsu." A single clone appeared to me, and I winced as I felt my chakra split in half.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu."

One hundred clones of Naruko once again poofed onto the training ground. Every one of them looked ready to charge at any moment. Satsuki weaved together some hand seals and gave me a look and a small prayer hand seal. Naruko's eyes widened as she looked back at me, giving me a determined nod.

The girls and I had plenty of hand signals for combination attacks, warnings, or outright orders. What Satsuki was doing was the latter of the three.

"Bring it on then, genin." Kakashi ordered, and the blonde didn't hesitate. Naruko's clones were the first to charge, some running around to surround him, while others ran right at him.

Both my clone and I jumped into the forest surrounding the training ground before sitting down and crossing our legs with our eyes closed. We began feeling the natural energy flow around us. It would take a while before we were ready, which means the girls would have to hold on.

Knowing them, they'll be just fine.

—

Satsuki

They were absolutely not fine.

Satsuki watched as Kakashi made quick work of the clones, moving around as gracefully as he was deadly. Delivering powerful attacks to the fakes, and even landing several blows on the real Naruko who pushed in.

Why the fuck she decided to go and fight the man himself, Satsuki would never know. He had the sharingan, which means chances are, he could tell the real Naruko from the fakes.

"Naruko, retreat." She ordered, but Naruko being the stubborn knuckleheaded idiot she was rushed back in only to get a firm backhand from their future sensei.

And what a can of worms that in itself was. The man was powerful, that much anyone would agree to, but his overall sheer rage-baiting personality, lazy and unmotivated attitude, and altogether annoying existence wasn't what she wanted in a sensei. If they had to follow a man like this on missions, the old man was better off promoting Lei to chunin and letting him lead their team.

"Dammit, you're so annoying!" Naruko growled out as she recovered from a firm punch to the face.

"Me…annoying? You hurt my feelings." Kakashi giggled out, weaving blows from her clones all the while.

Fuck his feelings.

"Fire Release: Fire Ball Jutsu."

The fireball formed within the lungs of the Uchiha before being fired out at their annoying bastard of a sensei.

"Oh, the Uchiha princess decided to join the fray. How honored I am." Kakashi taunted as he grabbed one of Naruko's clones by the neck and used it to block the fire attack.

"You should be, you damn fake!" She growled, letting her anger get the better of her and looking directly into the man's sharingan eye.

"A fake? Yes, I do suppose you would be right about that, however…" The man disappeared in a burst of speed. The next moment she felt a powerful impact against her back which sent her skidding across the clearing. "This was a gift from a friend. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't use such a thoughtful gift?"

"Satsuki!" Naruko shouted running over to her. A loud groan of pain and anger escaped the Uchiha's lips as she struggled to get up off the ground.

"I'm fine, Naruko." She responded with a wince, trying to rub her back but failing to reach it.

"What's the plan?" The blonde asked, her eyes watching the man's feet.

"We don't." Satsuki admitted, eliciting a questioning gasp from the Uzumaki. "He's a jonin, we're genin. No matter how impressive we may be, he can win off his experience alone. Not to mention he's powerful and fast and holds the dojutsu of the Uchiha. The only way we can win is through Lei."

"I knew that much already…but why does he always get to be the coolest one doing the coolest things?" Naruko whined.

"There is a saying in my clan." She smirked at the blonde. ""Only a sharingan can beat a sharingan, unless the challenger bears the mark of the Senju." In our clan history, time and time again the Uchiha and Senju would trade blows. Lei's stronger than me…that much I can admit. Even if it pains me."

"So you say, Wood Release is a rather impressive kekkei genkai." Kakashi chuckled, slowly stepping towards them. "But I believe you are heavily overestimating the abilities of that child. Strong as he may be, he is no Tenzo, nor is he Lord First."

Satsuki sent a sneer at the eye stealer, then suddenly she noticed an insect crawling on the ground. A beetle.

A wooden beetle.

A tired sigh escaped her lips followed by a small giggle. "You're right, Kakashi." She admitted easily, a shit eating grin consuming her face. "He's so much more."

BOOM

From the ground between them burst a tree sized eastern wood dragon that immediately bit onto Kakashi's shoulder and wrapped around his body.

"We win."

—

Lei

The best way I can describe Nature chakra is like a soothing high turned hallucinating nightmare. Like smoking a new strain of weed that at first feels very calm and relaxing, but can suddenly leave you tripping balls.

I guess that sounds more like shrooms now that I think about it.

Well regardless, it was very very hard to control energy. My body, similarly to Hashirama, is very good at sensing and gathering natural energy. The problem however, lies within how much it can take in. I'm sure Hashirama could take in enough energy to fill the waters of the final valley, but mine can only take in enough to fill a small pond at the moment.

The natural energy we take in is used as a second energy source besides our original chakra reserves. Unlike other sages though, I cannot for the life of me enter sage mode simply off of taking in the natural energy of the living things around me. Thus why I try to decipher the riddle, within it lies the answer to my problem, I'm sure of it.

Until then, I use the natural energy I can gather as a second storage within my body for jutsu that I would have trouble using without said nature energy.

With the help of my clone, gathering the natural chakra was much faster than it would have been if I had done it on my own, and after a mere five minutes or so, I felt like I had enough to use the jutsu I knew would end this damn test of ours.

One of the most powerful jutsu I can manage, and one Kakashi, no matter how strong he is, couldn't escape.

Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu.

A powerful wooden dragon with chakra enhanced strength, speed, and durability, and even more than that, it has the ability to absorb chakra and transfer it to me if I manage to bring it back to myself. A powerful technique that would normally require all of my base chakra reserves if I were to do it. It would leave me with little to no chakra

Which means it would kill me.

However, with the addition of a large amount of natural chakra, I can use it, if only for a short moment. Sustaining such a powerful jutsu would be hard, and if I fail to catch Kakashi, I'm definitely going to pass out.

Though, if I do catch him…his chakra will be absorbed by the wood dragon, and thus power the jutsu until he's left with no chakra.

Satsuki really is a genius. I wouldn't have gone with this plan simply because of the win or go home nature of it, but she seemed confident enough to get me an opening, so I'll trust her.

As she, Naruko, and Hinata have trusted me for years. It's the least I can do.

"That's enough." I whispered to my clone, getting up and hopping into the trees. My clone dispelled itself, leaving a new tree to grow behind. I could feel the natural energy he gathered flow into my body before steadily falling.

Con of not having a sage mode yet, my body cannot passively hold onto natural energy. It steadily drops when I'm not using it. Which fucking sucks, but is something I can work with.

As I peered into the training ground, I watched as Kakashi dealt a devastating blow to Satsuki's back. I clenched my fist in selfish anger.

How dare he?!

I took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm myself down. We're shinobi after all, this wasn't the first time I've seen the girls get hit hard, and it definitely wouldn't be the last.

I focused on my index finger, producing a small wooden beetle from a few of my own cells, and let it down on the tree. Giving it mental commands to go to Satsuki.

Another signal we would use, varying wood insects would mean different things. An ant would mean help is required, a caterpillar would mean we need a new plan, and a beetle would mean the plan is ready. Of course there were others, but those were all that mattered at the current moment.

I watched as Naruko ran to help Satsuki, as Kakashi slowly stalked towards them. All the while listening in on their conversation through my wood beetle who was progressively getting closer to them.

"So you say, Wood Release is a rather impressive kekkei genkai…But I believe you are heavily overestimating the abilities of that child. Strong as he may be, he is no Tenzo, nor is he Lord First." I snorted at Kakashi's words. Damn right I wasn't, but in time, I'd surpass both of them.

A mental ping in my mind and an image of Satsuki's eyes widening as she sees my beetle, lets me know that the plan is on. Now all I need is a signal from her.

"You're right, Kakashi…He's so much more." I felt my heart skip a beat as I listened to Satsuki's words. To know that she believes in me, the fact she knows in heart that I can and will outdo the two of them, spreads warmth throughout my entire body.

"We win."

There it is.

'Wood Release: Wood Dragon Jutsu!'

I felt the dragon from the tree that the clone left behind and snake its way through the ground at incredible speeds, all while leaving the ground undisturbed. Eventually it made its way between the girls and Kakashi and blasted its way out of the ground. Kakashi didn't even have a moment to blink before the dragon had bit into his shoulder and wrapped itself around his body.

I watched in satisfaction as the dragon began absorbing the chakra through its body. Kakashi was powerless to try and get out. He couldn't weave hand seals, and more than that, he couldn't even move.

It was truly game over. I watched as Satsuki walked over, Naruko in tow. Both of them reached to his hip and yanked off the bells. They both looked my way and gave them a little jingle.

Seeing that we won, I was about to let up with the wood dragon, but then I considered the possibility that he was tricking us again.

So I let the dragon suckle on his chakra for a little bit longer, ya know, just in case.

Totally not to blow off some steam or anything. Me? Never…

Once I had felt that the dragon had enough of his chakra to fill up my base reserves around halfway, I finally let the jonin man go before having the dragon come over to me and give me my delicious reward.

Pause.

I waited as Kakashi's chakra flowed into me.

Again, pause.

Then canceled the jutsu and went down to celebrate with the very tired, yet still incredibly happy girls.

Kakashi had fallen to his hands and knees in exhaustion as I stepped past him. I didn't take too much chakra from him, at least I don't think? I watched as he slowly pulled down his headband over his eye and stood up with a slight wobble. A large amount of blood was leaking from his shoulder.

Ah, I might have overdone it. Then again, he did say to come at him with the intent to kill…

"Nice job Lei! Kakashi was all like "you're not that great" then you were all like "try me" then you launched a huge dragon at him and it was just amazing!" The adorable blonde jumped up and down. I sheepishly rubbed the back of my head. Did this girl not just go through a whole fight using jutsu and summoning over two hundred clones?

"Yeah, I honestly didn't know if I could get him, luckily the wood dragon was fast enough to get past the sharingan's enhanced perception." I chuckled, Naruko humming in approval as she showed off the bell in her hand.

"I expected you to gather natural energy, but I hadn't expected you to use something like that." Satsuki admitted, walking up to me, her hands coming up to my face to cup my cheeks as she inspected me. "If I recall correctly, that jutsu uses a lot of chakra, what if you failed? You could have ended up with chakra exhaustion." Her look was scolding, and I averted her gaze.

"Eh, you're right, but I didn't." I answered a bit nervously. I didn't even want to think about what would happen if Satsuki told Hinata what I had done.

My girlfriend's angry byakugan gaze flashed into my mind, my body trembled for a moment before I calmed myself.

"It was risky." Satsuki glared. "...But you're right it worked, don't do something like that again though, next time use something less chakra consuming, like one of the flowering trees." She ordered, and I nodded quickly.

That honestly would have worked as well now that I think about it.

"You really weren't pulling punches." Kakashi voiced from behind us. We turned around to see him not as exhausted, but still bleeding.

Did he take a soldier pill?

"Though now that you got the bells, who's passing and who's going back to the academy?" The man asked, eyeing us with his one exposed eye.

The girls and I all glanced at each other. Even though I knew this was just another test, the answer would have been the same even if this wasn't one.

"Of course it's me." I answered easily.

""What!?"" Both girls shouted in surprise then I was once again made victim to the glares of two powerful women.

"We're not sending you back!" Naruko crossed her arms under her bust as she got into my face, her eyes burning in betrayal and anger.

"We all did our part, why the hell do any of us need to go back!?" Satsuki sneered at Kakashi.

Kakashi didn't answer, instead staring off into the treeline.

"Girls, who do you think I am?" I asked, making them pause. "I'm not some random genin that spent their days playing more than they did training. I've spent more time grinding in my life than Shikamaru's spent conscious! I worked for my spot as rookie of the year. Don't think just because Kakashi sends me back that my career ends here, if I have to go to the academy for another year, so be it."

The girls were about to say something but I held up my hand stopping them.

"Naruko, your dream is to become the greatest hokage and bring honor to the Uzumaki name. How will you do that when you're spending your days dozing off in the academy?" I asked, smiling a bit as the blonde looked down at the ground. "Satsuki, your goal is to avenge your clan, travel the world, and bring forth another generation of Uchiha. It won't be easy on you if you have to spend another year held back from proper training."

"And what about your dreams!?" Satsuki shouted back. "What about your dream to bring peace to the village, to the allied nations, to be the hokage who actually did their job properly! Don't go give me that selfless crap, having your dreams die so ours can live isn't fair to you, to Naruko, or to me!"

I was honestly taken aback as I looked at the anger and sadness in Satsuki's eyes. I knew she cared about me, I'd be a fool not to, but I didn't know she cared this much. A peak at Naruko and I could tell she was agreeing with Satsuki's sentiments even if she didn't have the words to express it. I placed a hand on Satsuki's shoulder and gave her an apologetic smile.

"You're right. That's on me. We've been together for so long, I just didn't want to see both of your dreams die on my account, but I guess such thinking, while selfless in some ways, was extremely selfish in others."

The onyx eyed girl's eyes softened up a bit before she looked away from me and at Kakashi.

"If you don't want to take all of us, then none of us want to be your students!" Naruko shouted, cutting Satsuki off before she could even part her lips. The Uchiha gave the Uzumaki an annoyed glare but rolled her eyes instead of arguing.

The jonin stared at all of us for half a minute of scrutinizing silence. "Okay, then all of you fail. Bye." With a gust of wind and leaves he was gone.

We all stared at the spot he was just in for a while. Then we looked at one another, our eyes as wide as dinner plates.

"What. The. Actual. Fuck?" I asked, the girls didn't have a response for me, instead just continuing to stare.

We waited five minutes, then ten, then fifteen, and he didn't come back.

"WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!?"