A Little Kindness

The Bell Test

   The day of the bell test had arrived. And after meeting and introducing themselves to their new sensei, the newly formed Team 7 went their seperate ways. Each of them deciding to prepare in their own way. Naruto went home ate ramen, did some training and went to bed. Sasuke went home ate some rice and tomatoes, more tomatoes than necessary, did some training and went to bed. Sakura decided to try and learn more about her new sensei and what to expect. After a few minutes she gave up then went home to gorge herself on various sweets til she passed out into a sugar coma.

   When the next day came the team met up at the designated area at eight in the morning. Well Naruto and Sasuke met at eight, Sakura had been there since seven. She also unlike her two male teammates skipped breakfast. Sasuke declared that it would be too stupid to avoid eating breakfast the day of a test, and that their sensei only suggested that they didn't eat, not that they shouldn't. Naruto simply said it would be a crime, and disrespectful to the ramen Gods if he skipped out on indulging in their greatest creation. Which just made Sasuke and Sakura look at him in exasperation.

   After another hour of making his precious little Genin wait. Kakashi came sauntering into the clearing, book in hand, and other hand in pocket, looking nowhere near as guilty as he probably should have been. The fact that he chuckled at them as he put his book away, when they yelled at him about being late, didn't help his case at all. "I'm not late, as I never told you what time I would be here. I told you all to meet here at seven. I never said that I would be here at seven. Besides I may or may not have gotten lost on the road of life." Kakashi stated matter of factly, making his three students fall over anime style.

   "Now then shall we begin?" Kakashi asked once his students had recovered. "Yes, what exactly is the test about?" Sasuke asked in his usual nonchalant manner. "I'm glad you asked." Kakashi answered with an eye smile. As he walked up to the three posts in the clearing, where he deposited three bento boxes and an alarm clock, before walking back to his students and holding up two bells in front of them. "Your goal is to take these bells from me, before that alarm over there goes off, you'll have three hours to do so. If you do not manage to grab one by then you fail. And I, along with anyone who does manage to grab one, will eat lunch in front of you. And to top it all off, you will be sent back to the academy. Understood?" He asked his students as he attached the bells to his belt. "Yes sensei but one question, why just two bells, when there's three of us?" Sakura questioned. "Because regardless of how well you do, one of you will fail." Kakashi answered with a deadly serious tone. "And if you want to even have a hope of taking one of these bells from me, then you'll have to come after them with the intent to kill. Now start." He said as he readied himself for any possible attacks. But was met with the exact opposite, as his three students lept away from him.

   Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura all met up, shortly after fleeing from Kakashi. At the moment they were all strategizing, and discussing different plans and scenarios for how they would get the bells. As well as trying to figure out what the real reason behind this test was. Naruto tried asking Kurama if he knew anything, which the fox admitted that he did, but wouldn't tell him anything. And that they would have to figure it out on their own. After another thirty or so minutes of planning, the three Genin made their move.
 
   'So they're finally ready to start huh.' Kakashi thought to himself as he noticed their chakra flash momentarily as they moved away from their spot. 'It's best that I get serious then.' He thought as he put his book away. And not too soon cause as soon as he did, he was bombarded by a cluster of shuriken, kunai, and even a few....chopsticks. 'The hell? Where did they get chopsticks?' He questioned himself as he continuously dodged the deadly objects. After awhile the onslaught of weapons stopped coming, and Kakashi, allowed himself to stop and breath. Which led him to find out what the chopsticks were for. Cause on the chopsticks was a very familiar scent, one he knew all to well. 'Ichiraku, clever, so they're trying to give themselves an advantage by taking away my sense of smell.'
  
   Then he heard the unmistakable sound of shadow clones coming into existence. Which he then went about dispatching the clones with ease. Always keeping his eyes peeled on his surroundings since his nose was all but useless. He heard it before he saw it, as he quickly lept away from a few exploding tags that had been planted on the ground. 'So the clones were just a distraction, and the weapons being thrown at a distance were also just a set up, to make me keep my eyes on the edge of the clearing as opposed to inside it. And while I was dealing with the clones one of them was able to sneak in and set up some traps, taking advantage of me not being able to smell them. Now I have to not only worry about them attacking me from the treeline, but I also have to be weary of any other traps that they might have set. These kids are pretty good I must say.' Kakashi deduced as he awaited the next attack.

  He didn't have to wait long, as he heard a shout from his left calling out Katon! Goukakyuu no Jutsu! Which he dodged by jumping to the right. He cleared the fire only to hear someone else shout Katon! Yūdaina kitsunebi no Jutsu! As nine softball sized balls of blue fire, which were eerily shaped like a fox, came soaring towards him. Which gave him pause as he had never seen a jutsu like this one before, and that was saying something considering he had copied over a thousand of them. Before he quickly snapped out of it and jumped into the air to avoid them. Only to find out that they followed after him. Thinking quickly he pulled a small chain out of his weapon pouch that he used to wrap around a tree and pull himself toward. Only to notice that the strange technique kept pursuing him. He planned on jumping off the tree as soon as he touched it to keep moving. Key word being planned, cause that didnt happen like he wanted. Instead he was grabbed by Naruto, or maybe a clone?, oh well doesn't matter. As soon as he touched the tree Naruto came out of hiding and grabbed a hold of his new sensei. As the new jutsu was about to make impact with them, Kakashi quickly substituted with a log, leaving it and the Naruto clone to get caught by it. 'That was a close one I'll have to be weary of that jutsu in the future, wonder where Naruto learned it?' Kakashi mused as he carefully made his way back to the clearing.
  
   And this is how the rest of the morning went for the new team. The Genin trying different plans and strategies, to try and grab the bells, and the Jonin doing everything he can to keep that from happening. Soon the alarm rang, and all three students fell over in exhaustion. "That was very good you three, you were a lot better than I expected." Kakashi said as he made his way over to them. "We still failed miserably. "Sasuke replied bitterly. "I wouldn't say that, you guys displayed some amazing teamwork." Kakashi proudly responded. "But we didn't get a bell", Sakura stated. "You mean you didn't figure it out." Kakashi questioned. Sasuke answered, "it was never about getting the bells was it?". "Correct, the bells were just a excuse to test your teamwork. To see if you valued your team and the mission, more than individual glory. Because yes those that break the rules and abandon the mission are considered scum. But those that abandon their comrades are worse than scum. Remember that, and also let this test be your first lesson as a shinobi. Not everything is as it seems, and sometimes you will have to look underneath the underneath to find out the truth." Kakashi lectured. "But if it was about teamwork, then why did you drag the test out for the full three hours?" Naruto questioned. "Oh, that" Kakashi said as he pulled his book back out. "I was just wanting to see if you could actually get the bells." Kakashi said as he turned a page. Which made the three Genin fall over anime style.

   Kakashi chuckled as he watched his interesting students. "You guys are more than welcome to those three bento boxes behind you, but first Naruto." Kakashi said as he looked over his book at said blonde. "Where did you learn that jutsu, I've never seen anything like it before in my life. "Oh Kurama taught it to me." Naruto beamed at having impressed his sensei. "That makes so much sense now, anyway we're done for the day, meet up back here again tomorrow at 7, so we can officially start on missions." Kakashi said as he left to report to the Hokage.

Katon! Yūdaina kitsunebi no Jutsu - Fire Style: Majestic Foxfire Technique - Can only be used by the jinchuriki of Kurama. The user and their Bijuu mix their chakra to create a set of chakra seeking fireballs, that explode on contact. The user must also have a good ability to read chakra to effectively make the fireballs track a target.