Chapter 14: Teamwork

Disclaimer:

Dialogue

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 14: Teamwork

"Teamwork?... that's it?" Sakura asked.

"If I'm correct, then yes," Naruto answered.

"And if you are not?" Sasuke had an impassive gaze.

"What about this... the three of us work together to get one of the bells. If we succeed, you can have it. That way, if I am right, the three of us pass, and if I am wrong… then you pass," Naruto suggested.

"I have no problem with that plan! I'll help Sasuke in any way I can!" Sakura said with a lot of enthusiasm.

Sasuke stared at Naruto with a tinge of distrust. "And you will be okay with just me passing the test?"

"I have confidence in my plan," Naruto said.

He was also sure that he was not going to be allowed to remain a civilian forever even if he failed here.

Whoever had put that demon fox inside him, had some plan for the benefit of Konoha. That would explain why the Hokage showed so much interest in him.

'Whatever plan they had... was definitely not for my own benefit. But it doesn't matter. It suits me for now... I need to become stronger.'

"Fine then... let's do this." Sasuke nodded. As long as he got what he wanted, he didn't care about the rest.

"So, how do we do this, exactly?" Sakura asked while mostly looking at Sasuke.

"We have over an hour, why don't we spend some time coming up with a good strategy?" Naruto suggested. He didn't know what his teammates were good at so it was difficult to come up with a proper plan like that.

He was also not used to fighting as a group, so it was an extra challenge for him.

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Naruto walked into the open and found Kakashi standing in the middle of the clearing as he had been from the beginning.

He was currently reading the same book from the day before and didn't seem interested in paying much attention to him.

"You three have already wasted an hour. You have less than thirty minutes left," Kakashi said without lifting his gaze.

"I wouldn't say wasted. We had some things to discuss as a team," Naruto commented.

Now he finally lifted his gaze. His single visible eye focused on Naruto.

"As a team, huh? But there are only two bells… who is going to give up their position... you?"

"Let's be honest, even if we work together, our chances of getting a single bell are astronomical." Naruto walked towards Kakashi.

"But you seem ready to fight this time." Kakashi did not miss his change in posture and demeanor.

"I have to try... I also have my pride." Naruto gave Kakashi a wide grin.

The silver-haired ninja felt something... a shiver at the back of his neck.

'What was that?...'

Naruto jumped to action once he was just a few feet away from Kakashi.

'My opponent is faster, stronger, and has a much better understanding of this world's techniques. My chances of winning right now are… probably none. Especially without knowing what he can do… that covered eye is worrying me.'

His hands moved to form the Ram-Tiger-Snake seals.

Two clones appeared, one at each side of him.

"What?!" Kakashi was surprised to see him use that technique. According to what he had read, Naruto was unable to mold the chakra with enough precision to use that particular jutsu.

There was also something else that bothered him.

'Why isn't he using the Shadow Clones?'

Naruto, completely unaware of Kakashi's thoughts, began his attack.

All three figures punched together at the instructor.

'What a careless move…' This was more like something he expected from Naruto. A very telegraphed punch that left him open for a counterattack.

He didn't even need the Sharingan to know which one was the real one.

He easily dodged the punch coming from the middle Naruto and used his one free hand to punch back, aiming at the boy's sides with enough force to break a few ribs and teach a lasting lesson.

"Puff…"

The Naruto he punched disappeared in a cloud of smoke, along with the other two copies.

"Wait…" For a moment, Kakashi thought he had punched a Shadow Clone, but then he saw a shuriken floating in the air and realized.

All around him were the shuriken and kunai that Sasuke had previously thrown at him.

'A substitution.' Naruto had used one of them for the substitution jutsu.

The real Naruto was now at his left side, his hand extended to grab one of the bells.

"Tsk!" Kakashi had to put his book away to smack Naruto's hand from the bell.

But then, a series of well-aimed kunai flew at him from the trees.

'Sasuke?' He thought.

'They are working together?...'

Kakashi used his own kunai to block them while his other hand was busy blocking Naruto's relentless attacks.

Kakashi noticed that despite being much slower than him, Naruto's attacks were not as easy to block as he expected. He was always aiming at the correct spots, depending on his position, making things difficult for him.

'He doesn't fight like a newbie genin… were all the reports about Naruto wrong? I'll need to have a long talk with Iruka about this.'

Kakashi did not have much time to think now.

"Fire release: Phoenix Sage Fire technique!"

A volley of small fireballs attempted to hit him from behind.

'Wait! It wasn't Sasuke who was shooting from the trees then… it must have been Sakura. So the three of them had been working together.' He really thought that Naruto had been making things up before.

He avoided some of the fireballs while blocking the rest. None of them were aimed at any of his vital points and were not too difficult to block.

'Didn't Sasuke have better aim than this?...'

The smell of smoke reached his nose.

He looked down, expecting to see that his clothes had been singed but much to his horror, he saw his beloved book catching fire.

"Nooo!"

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