Chapter 19: Team 7

After graduation, the teams were to be assigned and today every student in the class anxiously awaited their future teammates and Jonin Sensei.

But among them, five people already knew many things about this team placement.

Ino, Shikamaru and Choji were well aware of their team as a famous Ino-Shika-Cho trio.

Then there was Sasuke who knew he would be placed with Naruto and Sakura. He wanted Hinata as he had been sparring with her and knew about her strength. Instead, Saskura was annoying and even told him about her dieting which astonished him. He thought she was some random civilian wasting her time playing ninja because it would be cool, but he knew in the future she would become a student of Tsunade and improve in strength.

Naruto had sent his clone for this. Even Sasuke and Hinata also wanted to send the clone, but she didn't know if her test would take place the same day. And Sasuke wanted to see Kakashi in person.

After the team placement was done by Iruka, Naruto dispersed himself, not wanting to waste time. This surprised many in the class.

Everything went as canon. Kakashi was late, and Sasuke was practising nature transformation and didn't pay attention to the only remaining Sakura.

Outside Kakashi was observing all of this. He was briefed about Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata's strength by the Hokage but seeing one practising advanced nature transformation while already being proficient in one, another doing god knows what in his house, probably practising fuinjutsu, from the report of the Hokage and the third being a fangirl.

'Sigh! Is this girl going to fit between them? From her words, she sees Naruto as someone who leaches on Sasuke and only passes because of Sasuke's training. She doesn't believe it is the other way around even after seeing them in training.

Well, Naruto's score in theory was just passable, and he probably just went home after doing the bare minimum. And she has a full score in theory, so the confidence might be from there, but these two are Jonin and above and Sakura is ...well academy level.

Why didn't Hokage place Hinata in this team?

No point in wasting time pondering over this issue.'

With these thoughts going in his mind, he received information from his clone which went to check on what Naruto was doing and as expected, he could be seen practising fuinjutsu.

Kakashi decided to greet their team and inform them about tomorrow's test, but as soon as he entered the class, he was surprised to see a pair of scarlet eyes with three tomoe scrutinising him. It was as if he was aware of his arrival.

'Wait, he can sense me? No, what is important is that he has three tomoe, not the two mentioned in the report. Might have activated recently' With that he got out of his stupor and greeted them both in the same fashion as in canon. They went to the roof, again he was surprised by Sasuke's speed. After a while Sakura also arrived, he wanted them to do introductions but postponed it till tomorrow as Naruto was absent.

"Since one of your teammates is absent, we will follow up tomorrow, morning. You will have a test, and if you fail I can send you back to the academy. Also, inform your teammate." Then he told them about not eating breakfast and blurred away before they could ask any questions. Sasuke already knowing things also immediately flickered off to the training grounds and only Sakura remained with a horrified face wondering if she would be sent back to the academy.

The next morning around Noon, two boys can be seen moving towards the training ground, one with a stoic expression and the other carrying a drink in his hand and urging his friend to take a sip and enjoy life. When they were about to be in sight, he kept away his drink. Sasuke was used to his friend's drinking and eating habits, which resembled a wild man.

Kakashi had just arrived 5 minutes early and found Sakura on the verge of collapse and the other two boys were not there.

When he saw them coming in a relaxed manner, his brows started twitching.

"What kind of behaviour is this? You have arrived hours late from the decided time." He said in a cold voice which can send shivers down their back, at least Sakura's back.

"Well, didn't you arrive just five minutes early?" asked Naruto in a nonchalant manner.

"I am the superior here, and you have to follow my order. A ninja must follow every rule and order. Your behaviour might cause you to get suspended. " Kakashi reprimanded and this time he was really angry. What kind of behaviour is this, arriving late and even talking back to your superiors?

"Okay, jeez don't be so irritated, anyways, aren't we here for a test, and anyways who told you to make your reputation of a latecomer? And before going on saying words like the following order, prove to me you are worthy to make me follow them, kay?"

This caught them off guard, even Sasuke looked towards Naruto asking what is this all about. Naruto might not show it, and most of the time he just laughs off whatever someone says to him, but inwardly he has his own pride.

I might not mind what you say about me but if you want me to follow your orders, then you should first prove it to me. Even Roger, Xebec and Garp in their prime can be defeated by me and you say words like "follow my order". Even he will not be silent after hearing them, plans be damned.

Kakashi meanwhile thought that his teacher's son had become arrogant just because of Nine-tails chakra enhanced body and taijutsu. He just like others, still attributes Naruto's transformation to the Nine Tails chakra in his body.

'I should tone down his arrogance, can't let the teacher's son be harmed by his arrogance.'

"You want me to prove it right? Sure, but first finish this test and prove to me that you are ready to be genin. You have to get these bells from me. One for each, the one who gets the bell becomes a full-fledged genin and the other gets back to the academy. "

"But sensei you only have two bells," said Sakura, she was still shocked by Naruto's audacity, but after noticing that things were getting heated, she kept calm and asked the important question.

"Only two of you can pass the exam, the third will fail and study again in the academy," said Kakashi with a smile reaching his eyes but felt eerie to Sakura.

Sasuke on the sideline, didn't say much. For the first part, he achieved a minor breakthrough in lightning nature transformation. So he extended his training till late in the morning, and even now he is quite exhausted and his chakra is also very low. He can't fight a Jonin in this state. 

He thinks this is all just a farce, because Kakashi has to take them as a team because of Hokage's orders, and he doesn't want to play in this chakra-depleted state. Plus, Kakashi is not going anywhere. He is close to mastering his nature transformation, so he can fight after that. In recent years, under the guidance of Naruto, he has become a lot more sensible and started to think with his brain rather than act on impulse.

"Now let's start the exam!" He clapped his hands and Sakura immediately went to hide behind the bushes. Sasuke kept on standing there with a face saying you owe me money.

Naruto on the other hand walked towards Kakashi.

"Oh, you want to face me head on Naruto. I guess I should show you that being arrogant can be quite fatal." This time Kakashi didn't take out his book but instead focused on Naruto.

He is aware of his strength, which can be rivalling his but he still believes that Naruto lacks experience in battles and has become arrogant due to his strength. Little did he know, that the boy in front of him fought monsters far more powerful than he had ever seen and that too for 30 years. If it is experience then he has more than Kakashi.

Naruto then grinned at Kakashi. He felt uneasy seeing this. Naruto suddenly vanished from Kakashi's sight and appeared behind him.

Kakashi was stunned, but instead of turning back, he decided to flicker forward. This was his battle instinct telling him and he did just that. When he turned around, he saw Naruto standing at the place he was, and still with that grin on his face.

He felt something wrong and when he tried to find it, he saw Naruto with two bells in his hand. He was given the shock of his life, a 12-year-old kid snatched the bells from him within a second and he didn't even feel it. If he were to attack him, he was open to it.

Not only Kakashi, but Sakura was also shocked. Just now, she couldn't see Naruto move at all. A moment ago, he was standing there, grinning, then the next moment Kakashi and Naruto swapped places. She couldn't see Kakashi flicker or Naruto moving behind him. All she saw was Naruto holding two bells. And she knew, since Naruto held the bells, she was disqualified because Naruto would give the other bell to Sasuke.

With a depressed mood, she came out of the bushes. Sasuke was also shocked by Naruto's speed. In his spars, he has never seen Naruto, move like that. He doubts that even with his Sharingan, he might not be able to see him.

But the good thing is that he was able to follow Kakashi's flicker, although not completely, but with his Sharingan he can see Kakashi's flicker.

After a couple of seconds, Kakashi spoke again, bringing everyone out of their thoughts.

"So, you have two bells, Who will you give it to? Sasuke or Sakura. You can choose one, while the other will go back."

Sakura's mood plummeted while Sasuke didn't show any other emotion than his usual you-owe-me-money look. He knew the correct answer was to show team spirit.

But the plot didn't move forward according to any of the options given to Naruto. What happened next stunned all three of them which left their mouths agape.

Naruto closed his fists and crushed the two bells. As he opened his palm, the powder flew out while Naruto still had his characteristic smirk.