Naruto waited outside Training Ground 7 the next morning, his belly growling from missing breakfast. He hadn't eaten because he was too hyped. He was going to prove to everyone that he was ready to be a ninja today.
The pink-haired girl was, as always, fawning over the Uchiha, and Sakura and Sasuke were already there. Naruto scowled but said nothing. His worries were more pressing.
They waited patiently. and waited patiently. and waited some more. The sun was high in the sky, but there was no sign of their sensei. Naruto was just about to lose his temper when a plume of smoke materialized before them, and there stood a tall man with a face mask and gravity-defying silver hair. He looked at them lazily.
"Yo," stated Kakashi Hatake. "The three of you are. dull."
Naruto flinched. "You're late!"
"A shinobi is never late," replied Kakashi matter-of-factly. "I got lost in life."
Naruto tightened his fists, Sakura sighed wistfully, and Sasuke reacted not at all. He already didn't like this guy.
"All right, let's start. Come on."
They went with Kakashi to an empty field where three wooden practice logs stood in a line. He produced two small bells from his pocket and attached them to his belt.
"Your assignment is easy," Kakashi explained. "I'll award one of these bells by noon. The loser goes back to the Academy."
Naruto was nauseous. There were only two bells. They'd have to both lose.
Sakura complained, "But Sensei, there are just two bells."
"Right," Kakashi answered in a senseless tone. "It goes without saying that at least one of you will fail."
Sakura gave Sasuke an anxious look. But Naruto ground his teeth. He would triumph.
"Begin."
The first to go was Sasuke, who disappeared among the trees. Sakura followed after. But Naruto attacked headlong.
Kakashi sighed, "You're really a fool."
With his hands flashing through signs, Naruto ignored him. "Thunderbolt!"
His fingers leapt with electricity, aimed straight at Kakashi. Before he easily sidestepped and let the attack sizzle harmlessly into the ground, the silver-haired jonin's visible eye widened slightly.
"Oh?" That isn't your standard jutsu," Kakashi thought. "Where did you learn about that?"
"None of your business!" Growling, Naruto flung a kunai forward.
Kakashi dodged Naruto's moves with ease, pulled out an orange book, and started reading. "You move too slowly."
Naruto clenched his jaw. His usual behavior and basic academy-level taijutsu were not enough. But he had something new.
His fingers flew rapidly. "Quick Attack!"
Naruto made a sudden burst of speed, beating Kakashi's anticipation. He swung his kunai forth, only to find nothing but thin air. Kakashi was gone.
Abruptly, a hand shot up from the ground and clamped onto his ankle. When he was dragged down and buried neck-deep in the ground, Naruto yelped.
Kakashi cleaned his hands. "And that's one down."
Naruto snarled as he fought. "Unfair!"
Kakashi merely flipped through his book. "Being a shinobi isn't fair."
Sasuke observed from a distance as Naruto struggled. He knew that he couldn't play with Kakashi. He employed rushed hand movements. "Fireball Jutsu: Fire Style!"
A gigantic sphere of fire bellowed in Kakashi's direction. But the jonin vanished in a flash and reappeared at Sasuke's back.
"Too slow."
Sasuke spun and fired a hail of kunai. Kakashi flipped them over and threw Sasuke into a tree with ease by grabbing his wrist.
Sasuke winced but stood up again. "Tch."
Sakura watched nervously behind a bush. She couldn't stop thinking about Sasuke.
"What if he thinks I'm useless?"
She heard noises behind her suddenly. When she turned around, she was confronted with the gruesome view of Sasuke's dead body!
She shrieked and fainted immediately.
Kakashi let out a sigh from a few feet away. "Genjutsu is always effective."
Naruto finally dug himself out when noon was approaching. He was bruised and panting as he stood before Kakashi, Sasuke, and a half-conscious Sakura. His belt still contained the bells.
"Everyone fails."
Naruto's heart dropped. "But—"
"Rather than working as a team, you worked as individuals. That was the real test. A ninja must be capable of seeing underneath things.
Naruto frowned. "But, there were only two bells! How were we supposed to work together?"
Kakashi's eye furrowed slightly. "That's exactly it. The moral of the lesson is that. You should have questioned the test itself."
Naruto blinked. "Huh?"
Kakashi sighed. "Disregard it. You get another opportunity; don't feed Naruto, but have lunch. He disobeyed the rules."
Naruto's stomach growled. Embarrassed, he turned aside.
After a moment of hesitation on the part of Sakura and Sasuke, Sasuke handed Naruto his rice ball. Sakura did likewise.
Suddenly, Kakashi stood before them again, smiling. "You pass."
Naruto nearly choked. "Wait—what?!"
Kakashi chuckled. "Those who break the rules are scum in the world of ninjas. But those who abandon their comrades are more than scum. Hello there, Team 7."