New Sensei - 5

"What the hell is taking so long?" Kiba groaned, leaning impatiently against his desk.

He and his fellow members of Squad 7 had been waiting inside the Academy for nearly an hour, and the passing time was gnawing away at their patience.

Next to him, Akamaru barked in agreement. The dog was in a more pleasant mood since Sakura had been patting his head for the majority of their wait.

"Maybe our sensei is just busy," Sakura sighed, exasperation weaving its way into her voice, "Jounin get called onto a lot of strenuous missions right?"

Kiba made a bland grunt in response, doubting the notion.

A short distance away from them, Sasuke sat with his fingers laced beneath his chin, just as uncommunicative as he had been for the past 45 minutes. The only evidence they had that he was actually capable of speech was his short greeting to Sakura earlier.

Without warning, Akamaru's floppy ears swiveled towards the direction of the door, and he moved his small head away from Sakura's ministrations. Kiba took a brief glance at his dog before understanding, and a satisfied smirk appeared on his face, "It's about time..."

Relieved and annoyed, Sakura and Sasuke also looked on as the door slid open, and a tall, wiry-looking ninja strolled inside, deeply absorbed in a book he was reading.

It was so anticlimactic it made their eyes sting.

"Hey teach!" Kiba barked at the silver haired jounin, "What took you?"

Reluctantly, Hatake Kakashi peeled his eye away from his favorite volume of Icha Icha Paradise, and settled it on his three would-be pupils.

"Oh, you know, I just got lost on the road of life..." He didn't bother making a good excuse.

The Inuzuka boy restrained himself from shouting out a very improper comment, and barely managed to give a highly critical look at the tardy jounin.

Kakashi swept his right-sided gaze over the freshly graduated genin, "Hm. This is an...interesting bunch. Why don't we go outside to get to know each other?"

Once outdoors, things didn't improve much for the newly-formed cell.

"So, tell me a bit about yourselves," Kakashi still had his dark eye glued to his naughty book, "Your names, hobbies, dreams; things you like and dislike..."

"Why don't you go first sensei? Just so we can have an idea." Sakura suggested.

He considered it briefly, "My name? Hatake Kakashi...hobbies...hm. I don't really have any. Dreams? I keep that to myself. Likes and dislikes? Hmm...never thought about that either..."

The genin sighed. So the only information he did give out was his name.

Kakashi glanced towards Kiba, "Why don't you start?"

"I'm Inuzuka Kiba," He said while scratching Akamaru's ears, "And this here is Akamaru. I like to train with Akamaru and hate things I can't chew..." He paused in thought, "My dreams? I'm going to be the strongest ninja in my clan!" His ninken barked fiercely at the proclamation.

Kakashi nodded, and then looked to Sakura, who seemed to be going over a mental checklist.

"My name is Haruno Sakura," She began, perking up considerably, "I like to hang out with my friends and study...and I hate Ino-pig..." Her voice lowered dangerously, "And...I will be one of the best kunoichi in the entire village!"

'She's...spirited...' Kakashi mused while turning his gaze to the last of Squad 7.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes before speaking, "Uchiha Sasuke. My sole focus is training. There aren't many things I like...and one day I will destroy a certain someone."

"Hn, I figured..." Kakashi muttered, "Fair enough."

His students looked up at him as he slowly raised himself off of the railing he had been leaning on.

"Tomorrow morning, you'll be participating in a survival exercise," Kakashi explained while turning a page in his novel, "We meet at training ground three at 6AM, oh and, you might not want to eat breakfast...because you'll throw up."

The genin were unnerved by such a menacing statement.

Unabashed, Kakashi turned on his heel with a wave, "See you tomorrow!"

Sakura exchanged a disbelieving glance with Kiba after their sensei departed. The Inuzuka boy quickly shook off the awkwardness.

"He's probably bluffing, that retard," Kiba snorted inelegantly, "I'm still eating breakfast anyway! I'll see you guys tomorrow."

The pink haired kunoichi watched as Kiba walked away as well, with a yappering Akamaru at his side. She felt slightly ill.

'Things seemed alright when we were picked as a team, but...' Sakura evaluated how different the experience was from her initial expectations, 'Kakashi-sensei...he really keeps to himself...'

"He's weird."

Sakura turned; surprised that Sasuke hadn't left yet. He had spoken voluntarily. He wore a contemplative expression, and his onyx eyes were less fierce than they had been during the introduction.

"He is." She agreed after a moment, "I was kind of hoping we'd actually get someone at least...a little ordinary."

"There are no normal jounin in this village." Sasuke replied bluntly and she took it into consideration.

He had a point. Many of the elite ninja of Konoha were...quirky. After many perilous missions and other painful strides to achieve the rank of 'high ninja', many shinobi had lost some of their more sociable characteristics. Kakashi, she judged, was no different.

As the young Uchiha began to walk away, Sakura turned back to him, "Sasuke-kun?"

He halted. It had been a while since she had called him that.

She frowned in thought, "Should we eat breakfast tomorrow?"

Sasuke gave her a reserved glance, "If he's serious we'll throw up either way."

Sakura closed her eyes and grumbled, "Right."

The next morning was a bright, cloudless day. Naruto, Haku and Gaara arrived at the fourth training area at their designated time. They were antsy.

It had sunk in overnight that Jiraiya, the pervert who had brought them to Konoha as young children, had at last returned after six years as their sensei. It was difficult to wrap their heads around. It was also a monumental development, they had agreed over a dinner of beef ramen, seeing that they would be trained by one of the Legendary Three. Few could boast the same.

Haku was still a tad more enthusiastic than his teammates about Jiraiya being their mentor. Not because he approved of the hermit's lecherous ways, oh no. It was merely because he believed there was no use in complaining about Jiraiya's flaws when they were lucky to have a familiar face supporting them.

Had he returned to Konoha for any other reason, Haku probably would've chewed him out as his friends had, being older and more aware of the world.

Jiraiya abruptly ended his scribbling of notes, and looked excitedly at his genin students, "Fwo ho! Five minutes early eh? That's better than what I had expected!"

Naruto yawned, "Can it, old man."

Apparently, not much had changed between them after all.

"What kind of training do you have planned for us, Ero-sennin?" Naruto went on while stretching his arms over his head.

Haku jabbed him lightly in the side, "Call him Sensei, Naruto-kun. Have a bit more respect."

"Okay..." The blonde grumbled. Gaara was also slightly disappointed that they would have to cut back on their casual behavior with the sennin.

Jiraiya nodded to Haku before answering slyly, "This isn't exactly training..."

There was an eerie quiet before the sennin continued, "Listen up. This is a test of skill and if you fail to meet expectations you will be sent back to the Academy." He smirked, "That way I can continue my research in peace."

"No way we're going back there, old man!" Naruto declared ardently.

Honestly none of them could say they hadn't suspected Jiraiya to plan something along those lines. The three boys radiated determination, not wanting to return to a place that they had proven their abilities were far beyond.

"What does this test entail, Jiraiya-sensei?" Haku asked.

"You have to get your hands on one of these bells," He said simply, holding up two small tinkling objects, "Anyone who doesn't will be tied to one of the poles behind me," Jiraiya gestured to the three wooden stumps in a line, "Your time will be limited. I'm giving you five hours to get a bell, no exceptions." A kitchen timer was seated on top of one of the poles.

Gaara frowned, "There are only two bells...meaning one of us will undoubtedly be sent back to the Academy once this is through."

Jiraiya scratched his cheek disinterestedly, "Yup."

A look of horror came over Naruto and Haku, while Gaara hid his outrage.

"Forget it!" The blonde hollered, "You can't do that when we've all worked so hard to graduate!"

"Uh, yes I can!" The sage barked, "You've heard the conditions so you may begin..." He paused and watched each of them tense, "Now!

The three genin scattered, disappearing instantly into the surrounding forest.

'This sucks!' Naruto was thoroughly appalled that the super pervert had managed to turn him against his best friends all for the sake of passing a ridiculous test, 'But I can't go back to that place! Still...I can't just forget about Haku-kun or Gaara-kun either.'

He waited silently at the base of a fat tree, desperately trying to calm down, 'Relax. Get a bell and see what happens...maybe Ero-sennin has a third one hidden somewhere!'

But would he risk it? Risk sending Haku or Gaara back to the Academy if there wasn't an imaginary 'third' bell?

Naruto clenched his fists, 'No I...I can't do this. Not if it means...' Memories of the years he had spent growing up alongside his friends resurfaced in his mind; of how they shed sweat, blood, and tears to get to where they had, 'No. I guess I'll just tell Ero-sennin I quit, there's always next year...but Haku-kun and Gaara-kun, I wouldn't do that to them!'

Just as he was about to leave his cover and return to the open field, Gaara appeared in front of him, motioning for him to be silent. Puzzled, Naruto followed after the sand manipulator farther into the brush and up into the high tops of an oak tree.

Balanced like a cat on the top-most branch was Haku, waiting for them.

"There's no way any of this makes any sense..." Haku said in a low voice as Gaara and Naruto perched beside him, "What's the point of a three man cell if one of us will be sent back to the Academy anyway? It discourages teamwork outright!"

Gaara nodded, "He wants us to compete with each other."

"No way in hell!" Naruto hissed, "Even Ero-sennin's gotta know that we wouldn't turn against each other!"

"Maybe his intent was to test our team effort in the face of dire consequences." Haku hypothesized, "If we turn against each other, he will have a much easier time stopping us. I think there's still a chance we can make this go our way…"

Gaara and Naruto looked at him expectantly.

"We attack him head-on, all at once," Haku resolved, "Do whatever it takes to get a bell...I'll sort out the rest..."