Our Heavy Burdens(Naruto Fanfic Gaara Love Story)[Slow Update]

Chapter 34: Another Bell Test and Unknown Enemies Pt. 1

~third pov~

It was towards the evening when Team 7 gathered. Beforehand, Nariko had trained Shizuka, intentionally exhausting her daughter so she will sleep early. In his retirement, Hiruzen resided with them at their home, so, with Hiruzen there to watch over Shizuka as she slept, along with Ghost, who Nariko summoned to stand guard for her daughter, Nariko went to her Paths chamber. After summoning Shiro and Kuro to stand guard for her, she sat in her meditation spot and closed her eyes to concentrate. The next moment, Naraka, Ningen, Annie and Asura stood before using the Flying Thunder God technique to appear next to Kakashi, who was already at the Third Training Grounds with the others. In the distance, Jiraiya was sitting in a tree with Tsunade and Shizune below him. Naraka went to stand next to Jiraiya, expecting to restore the other three paths after the fight. Nariko felt herself getting goosebumps, but passed it off as anticipation for the fight.

As agreed before the challenge was announced, Kakashi was to hold one bell while one of Nariko's paths holds the other two. He passes the two bells to Ningen, who ties them next to the flute on her waist. Asura and Annie moved in front of her, ready to defend her with Asura's hard-as-steel body and Annie's sword, Kurenai. Seeing this, Sasuke clutched onto the handle of his own chokutō, Sword of Kusanagi, which hung on his hip similar to Annie. Meanwhile, Sakura smirked at Asura, preparing to fight him with the techniques Tsunade taught her. Kakashi held up his bell, grabbing their attention. "Well... Let's see how much you've grown." He told them as he held his new book, then tucked the bell onto his hip. "The rules are the same as when we first met. Nariko and I don't care how you do it. Just take the bells away from us. If you don't..." "'come at me with the intent to kill, we won't be able to get the bells', right?" Naruto and Sakura interrupted him with a smirk. Kakashi chuckled. "Exactly. If you don't come at us with the intent to kill, you won't be able to get the bells. You have until sunrise tomorrow." He told them. Naruto reached back to tighten his forehead protector, Sakura took out her gloves, and Kakashi closed his book. "Now then, shall we begin?" He asked. Naruto snickered. "You're not going to do it while reading your book this time around, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto questioned as he finished fixing his knot. "Or have you already finished reading?" Sakura added as she put on and adjusted her gloves. "Nope... I thought I'd save the fun for later..." Kakashi told them as he tucked away his book. "That's a first..." Annie snickered quietly to herself. Ignoring her, Kakashi continued. "Besides... Well, I kind of get the feeling... I may have to... get a bit serious this time around." He told them as he revealed his left Sharingan eye. Seeing this, Sasuke immediately activated his Sharingan, preparing to counter any of Kakashi's moves. Nariko felt a slight shiver, but once again ignored the weird feeling she had.

With his sight on the bells, Naruto grunted. "Let's go!" He shouted before throwing shuriken at Kakashi, Asura, Annie and Ningen. Kakashi dropped to the ground to avoid the attack, while Asura simply deflected the weapons with his body, protecting Annie and Ningen. Kakashi threw shuriken back at Naruto, who leaped up to dodge them. With him mid-air, Kakashi threw more shuriken at him. Seeing this, Naruto made a clone to pull himself away from the weapons. "Not bad." Kakashi muttered. Sakura and Sasuke grinned at Naruto's smart thinking. While they were distracted, Kakashi lunged forward towards Naruto, Annie and Asura following his lead towards Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto used a transformation jutsu, turning his other self into a large shuriken, preparing to launch it at Kakashi. Unfortunately, Kakashi grabbed him before he could throw, restraining his arm and the back of his head. Meanwhile, Annie had her sword locked with Sasuke's, and Asura and Sakura had each other in a headlock. Without any of them noticing, Naruto had created three more clones, each one holding a kunai to his senseis' backs. Realizing this, Kakashi's gaze softened while the paths grinned in pride for him. From their spots, Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune praised Naruto, watching on in amazement while Naraka watched the fight carefully with a small smirk.