Chapter 3

"Kakashi..." Naruto lifted his hand.

"Hm?"

"You said that this is our final test, but what about our last test at the academy?"

"Oh, that..." Kakashi smiled. "It's a test to determine whether you can become a Genin or not."

"Oh..." Hearing this Naruto became a lot more relaxed.

Noticing the look on his face, Kakashi was stumped for a moment.

"Eh, you seem to be pretty calm about this. Why?" Kakashi asked somewhat curious about his thoughts.

Hearing Kakashi, both Sasuke and Sakura were stunned and turned to look at him.

"Hm? You've already said that the test at the academy is the one that determines whether we can become Genin or not... A hidden village is in constant threat of war, and it doesn't make sense for only 36 Genins to be recruited every year, adding this information to the many Genins I have seen working on their own, it feels more like your test is to determine if we are qualified to receive special tutoring from a Jonin as a team or if we will have to rely on ourselves."

When Kakashi and the others heard his words, they were stunned. Sasuke and Sakura because they didn't notice it before, and Kakashi because he couldn't believe that he had slipped up unknowingly. Actually, it's not his fault, most kids wouldn't notice it, he was just 'lucky' and hit the jackpot on this case.

Sighing, Kakashi took another glance at Naruto with a somewhat surprised look on his face. The fourth's son was a lot more intelligent than he let out on the surface.

"Hm... that's right. Well, come see me at training ground 45 tomorrow at 6 AM and you better skip breakfast if you don't want to spill it out in the middle of the training."

Having said that, Kakashi disappeared in thin air without even leaving a trace behind. When Naruto and the others saw that, their eyes couldn't help but narrow subconsciously.

'What a monstrous speed!' He had been paying full attention to Kakashi at that time, but even then it felt like the man had simply disintegrated midair. He couldn't even catch a shadow of his moves! 'Jonins are already so strong... how strong must a Hokage be in order to keep the whole village united and orderly?'

....

The next day, when the sun had yet to shine. Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke were already waiting at the training ground. Silently watching the sunrise, they remained there without speaking a single word for hours.

Sakura and Sasuke had somewhat pale faces as they waited. From time to time, their stomachs would rumble and they would look at Naruto in wonder.

Why doesn't his stomach complain like ours?

As if hearing their thoughts, he shrugged and looked away. He took his breakfast an hour before coming, there's no point in not eating even if he pukes because it can happen even if his stomach is empty.

The fact that they didn't think about it themselves is a surprise in itself.

After a long wait, when the sun already shone brightly in the sky, Kakashi finally appeared.

"You're late!" Sakura gritted her teeth as she pointed at him.

"Haha, sorry, it's just that a black cat crossed my path..." Scratching his head somewhat embarrassed. He coughed and said while pointing to his watch. "It's 9 AM now, you have till midday to take these from me."

On Kakashi's hand, two small bells were hanging and tied to short ropes. "Those that fail will have to watch me having lunch while they eat nothing."

It became clear at this moment exactly why Kakashi told them not to eat anything. But more than that...

"Kakashi, but there are only two bells."

Smiling as if waiting for this question, Kakashi explained. "That's why there are three logs over there, only two of you can pass and the other that fails will be tied to it while we eat and will be sent back to the academy. Besides, you guys can use the shurikens. If you don't come at me with the intent to kill, you will never succeed at taking the bells."

Kakashi's words were like the sunrise that woke them up. Their muscles tensed and the adrenaline was already rushing up to their brains.

"Alright, the test starts now!"

When the words reached their ears, they moved using all their speed and disappeared amidst trees and bushes.

Narrowing his eyes, Kakashi observed his surroundings and nodded slightly. 'The first quality of a Ninja... A shinobi must know how to control his movements and hide very well. It seems that they learned this part well in the academy.'

It might not look like much, but many times even the strongest Shinobi have fallen because of ambushes. Even the first Hokage, acknowledged by all as the God of Shinobi, almost fell victim to ambushes many times eventually dying at the hands of ambushers at the end of the First Ninja World War. Sure, it wasn't an immediate death, but whatever poison they used was strong enough to slowly chip away his vitality till he died a year later.

A/N: This is not canon, in canon, we only know he died but not the reason.

Watching Kakashi from the shadows, the trio felt their nerves tensing as the atmosphere became colder and colder. From their hiding spots, they watched as Kakashi slowly lowered his hand towards his Shuriken handbag on his waist.

"He will be using Shurikens right from the start?" Naruto wondered silently while watching.

To his surprise and of the others, what Kakashi took out from his handbag was... was...

"What the..." Sakura blushed as she stared at the title on the cover.

Sasuke's eyebrows twitched as he glanced at the book. "Damn loggerhead!"

It was a scene that they couldn't comprehend, this man that moved faster than the eyes could see and emitted a cold-blooded aura, was actually reading Icha Icha Paradise with such a serious look on his face that it made them question their worldview.

In the end, they could only think that it was an elaborate trap made to distract them!

If only they knew...