Chapter 3: Bell Test

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Naruto groaned as he woke up. Minato and Kyuubi had worked him hard the night before. His muscles were sore and he felt so much heavier thanks to the increased weights Minato had forced on him.

No matter his complaints, he was thankful for his dad training him. Minato had taught Naruto to read and write when he was five, taught him chakra control up until he was eight (which definitely helped Naruto out in the long run), and then helped smoothen out the things he was taught from the Academy before teaching him family-specific things.

Naruto just wished Minato had done it earlier… getting used to the new weights would make the test even harder…

"Think of it this way, Naruto… you won't have to worry about your mask breaking anytime soon," Minato said as Naruto moved about getting dressed. He was about to go out the door. "Hold it right there, young man."

Naruto frowned at Minato's stern tone. He turned back with a quizzical look. "What is it?" he asked.

"You still haven't eaten any breakfast," his dad said, crossing his arms. "Now come back and eat."

"But Kakashi-sensei told us not to eat," Naruto said, sounding puzzled.

"You won't amount to anything if you have nothing in your system," Minato said. "No son of mine goes to take a test without the proper preparation. That includes a good meal."

Naruto frowned but complied. "Fine, but it's your fault if I get in trouble because of it," he stated before settling down.

"Yeah, yeah…" Minato said, waving a hand dismissively.

~You only need to say 'yeah' once!~ Kyuubi exclaimed, sounding a little irritated.

"Yes, dear," Minato said sarcastically. "I swear she acts like Kushina…"

Naruto giggled in amusement before gobbling his breakfast down before heading out the door. Minato followed him dutifully. He wasn't going to miss this for the world.

It took Naruto some time to get to the training field as he wasn't able to move as comfortably as he normally was able to do thanks to the weight. By the time he got there, Sakura and Sasuke had already been waiting there for a while.

"You're late!" Sakura scolded Naruto. "What if Kakashi-sensei had gotten here already?"

"But he's not here, now is he?" Naruto pointed out as he started out doing his stretches. He could at least try to get used to his weights a little more before the test started.

Sasuke and Sakura stared at him blankly before shrugging their shoulders and going back to what they'd been doing: Sakura had been fangirling over Sasuke and Sasuke hadn't been paying her even a bit of attention.

It was nearly two hours later before Kakashi finally arrived.

"Good morning," he greeted brightly.

"YOU'RE LATE!" Sakura and Naruto shrieked simultaneously.

"Sorry but a black cat crossed my path and I had to go the long way…" Kakashi said.

"LIAR!" both Genin yelled indignantly.

'Taking a leaf from Obito's book… I never thought I'd see the day…' Minato thought, shaking his head at his former student.

Waving off the Genin's anger, Kakashi put an alarm clock on one of the wooden training posts and set it for noon.

"Okay, here's the deal," he said, taking out two small silver bells. "I set the clock for noon. You have from now until then to get these bells from me. Those who don't have a bell by noon get no lunch. Not only that, but I will eat your lunch right in front of you."

Almost on cue, Sakura and Sasuke's stomachs growled loudly. Kakashi noticed instantly that Naruto's hadn't. 'Looked like someone didn't listen to my suggestion…' he thought.

"There are only two bells, so one of you will be tied to the post for sure. The one who doesn't get the bell fails and will be sent to the Academy," Kakashi said, his eyes dead serious. "You can use whatever you like against me. You won't succeed, however, unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

"But we could hurt you!" Sakura protested. Naruto chuckled, sounding amused. Sakura turned to him with a glare. "What's so funny?" she demanded to know.

"He's a Jounin, Sakura-chan," he pointed out. "We're only Genin. The idea of us actually being able to give him more than a few small bruises is laughable."

'He's got more common sense than he lets on,' Kakashi thought to himself. 'He looks and acts like an idiot but there seems to be more to him… it looks like Kushina-san's not the only one influencing his personality, sensei…'

"But he didn't even detect that trap yesterday," Sakura commented, crossing her arms.

"I'm sure he could have if he'd tried," Naruto drawled. 'Albeit, it wasn't a Genin who set it up but a Kage.'

"You seem to have a lot of faith in me for not even knowing me, Naruto," Kakashi mused, looking at the boy he had in his mind deemed as an adoptive little brother from the moment he'd laid eyes on him that fateful day twelve years ago…

"You're Hatake Kakashi, one of the elite Jounin of Konoha, trained by one of the best shinobi this village has ever seen…" Naruto pointed out. At Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke's surprised looks, he quickly defended his knowledge. "I did a little research… I spend a lot of time with Sarutobi-jii-chan after all. You learn a lot in that office."

"Thanks for the compliment," Minato beamed.

"You're a very interesting little boy, aren't you?" Kakashi remarked. "I take it you've acknowledged me then?"

They all nodded. Kakashi smiled.

"Great… then you may begin," he said.

Instantly, the three Genin hid.

'A good start,' Kakashi thought, getting on guard as he waited to see what they would do.

'Okay… this test doesn't make much sense…' Naruto thought to himself. 'We're put in a three-man block for a reason… so why would Kakashi-sensei try to split us up like this? Didn't Tou-san teach him how he believed those who broke rules were scum but those who abandoned their teammates were worse than scum?'

Naruto continued to think before his eyes widened as realization hit him. 'Unless he wants us pitted against each other to see if we could work as a team despite all of that!'

Minato watched proudly as Naruto realized the true purpose of the test. 'Go for it, kiddo,' he thought.

Naruto summoned two clones to seek out Sakura and Sasuke while he himself headed to where Kakashi was. He'd distract him while his clones relayed his message to his two teammates.

"The most important skill a ninja is the ability to hide oneself," Kakashi said, eyes locating where his students were located. 'They seem pretty well hidden…'

He spoke too soon as Naruto burst out in front of him with a glare on his face.

"Come on and face me like a man!" Naruto demanded. Kakashi sweatdropped. Naruto had seemed to have so much promise…

'Idiot,' Sasuke thought with a shake of his head.

"There's something off about you," Kakashi sighed, not looking impressed.

"The only thing off is your haircut!" Naruto retorted, lunging for Kakashi with a kunai in hand.

'And the mask is in place…' Minato said, eyeing how Naruto's movements were just a little abnormal due to the weights. It was better than before. He was already beginning to adjust to them. Minato turned to Kakashi. 'Can you see past it, Kakashi? Can you break his façade?'

Naruto saw Kakashi reach into his weapons' pouch and skidded to a halt, growing weary. What was he going to take out?

"Shinobi Lesson # 1: Taijutsu. I'll teach you about it," Kakashi stated, looking calm. Naruto froze. What did anything in his pouch have to do with Taijutsu?

He all but face-faulted when he saw Kakashi take out an orange book with a red mark on the back. The title read 'Icha Icha Paradise.'

Minato's eyes flashed. Kakashi was going to read that… smut in front of his kid?!

"What's wrong? Aren't you going to attack me?" Kakashi taunted as he began to read.

"What's with the book?" Naruto asked incredulously. 'He's underestimating me… but then again, that's exactly what I want everyone to do.'

"I just want to know what happens next," Kakashi said. "It won't be much of a big deal while dealing with you guys."

"I'm going to kick your ass!" Naruto screamed out in real irritation. Who did Kakashi think he was? He could at least act like he was taking this seriously…

'I think Kakashi deserves a rightful ass-kicking this round,' Minato mused, observing from the seal. Considering that Naruto had brought out some clones, he had multiple views to look from, so he was keeping an eye on Sasuke and Sakura. Naruto basically had himself his own personal surveillance system.

Naruto lunged at Kakashi, sending a punch his way that Kakashi blocked. The Jounin frowned.

'That hit was awfully hard for a Genin…' he thought, not realizing that the added impact was due to the hidden weights. He quickly ducked as Naruto aimed a kick for his head.

Naruto aimed another punch at Kakashi, only for the Jounin to vanish.

He stiffened as he sensed a presence behind him.

"A shinobi isn't supposed to be caught from behind, baka," Kakashi drawled.

'His hand position is the tiger seal? Is he going to use a jutsu against Naruto?' Sakura thought in horror.

'That's the fire seal… He's completely serious about this,' Sasuke thought, frowning.

"Naruto! Run away! You're going to get killed!" Sakura cried out, eyes wide in panic.

Naruto turned his head slowly, eyes wide in shock.

"Too late," Kakashi said gleefully. "Konoha Ancient Supreme Technique: Sennen Gyoroshi!"

Naruto screamed out in pain as he was sent through the air and into the water.

'That was just a poke to the ass…' Sakura thought, completely unimpressed.

'They're both idiots,' Sasuke mused.

"That was MY technique!" Minato exclaimed in disbelief.

'Oh shit…' Naruto thought as he struggled to emerge from the water. 'These weights are too heavy…' He was being dragged down rapidly. He wasn't able to push himself up fast enough to overcome his downward path… and it was getting even harder to move his limbs even enough to try to remove the weights…

'How can we be expected to beat a Jounin? It's so unfair,' Sakura thought, feeling disheartened.

'Now to find the others,' Kakashi thought before disappearing.

Sakura had been worried about Sasuke, so she had gone to search for him. She froze when she saw Kakashi reading nearby.

'Good… he didn't see me,' Sakura thought.

"Sakura, behind you," a voice declared. Sakura turned around to see Kakashi.

Making a hand sign, Kakashi disappeared in a flurry of leaves as he caught Sakura in his enjutsu.

She screamed loud and hard as she succumbed to it, falling unconscious.

"Perhaps I was too hard on her…" Kakashi mused. 'Now to find Sasuke…'

"Damn straight you were!" Minato yelled in outrage before realizing something with a faint bit of horror. 'Naruto hasn't emerged from the water yet! Shit!'

Kakashi frowned in puzzlement when he heard a strange splash. It didn't sound like someone coming out of the water. It was more like… someone diving in. It wasn't Naruto, Sasuke, nor Sakura (who was still unconscious). So who was it?

Pushing it aside for now, he went after Sasuke.

'That was Sakura screaming…' Sasuke realized as he recognized the scream.

"Shinobi Lesson #2: Genjutsu. Sakura fell for it all too easily," Kakashi's voice rang out from the periphery.

'Of course she'd fall for that…' Sasuke thought. "But I'm different than the other two."

"Say that after you have a bell, Sasuke-kun," Kakashi said, still reading his book as he leaned against a tree behind Sasuke.

Facing off against Kakashi, Sasuke glared.

Minutes later, Kakashi finished with his current opponent.

"Doton: Shinjuu Zanshu no Jutsu!" Kakashi called as he pulled Sasuke down until only his head was still above the ground.

"Gyaah!" Sasuke yelled. Kakashi kneeled in front of him.

"Shinobi Lesson #3: Ninjutsu. You're already ahead of the others in that aspect…" Kakashi mused.

It was then that he saw an eerie golden yellow glow coming from where he'd left Naruto… Frowning, Kakashi went to investigate.

(A few minutes earlier…)

'Damn Kakashi… he didn't even wait to see if Naruto came out!' Minato cursed his former student as he grabbed Naruto who was struggling even to make a rational thought as his oxygen supply ran low. 'Sorry to interfere Naruto, but looks like Tou-san's got a former student to punish…'

With that, Minato's consciousness took control of Naruto's body and a golden yellow light began to emerge, saturating all of the water.

'What's going on?' Kakashi wondered as he stared at the eerily glowing water.

He went on guard as he saw something – or rather, someone – emerge from the water.

A crown of spiky golden hair became visible as the man emerged.

Kakashi was floored. Right in front of him was the Yondaime Hokage himself, dressed like he had been the night of his death, down to the infamous flame cloak. He was standing on the surface of the water and he wasn't happy.

"Ka-ka-shi…" Minato snarled as he glided off the water and to the stunned Jounin, grabbing him by the collar of his flak jacket. "You've got some explaining to do…"

Sakura yelped as water was splashed onto her, waking her up. Spluttering, she looked up to see a grinning Naruto.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he said gleefully. Sakura glared at him. She attempted to punch him but he dodged to the side.

"Watch it, Sakura-chan, or I'll be dispelled," he informed her matter-of-factly.

"Huh?" Sakura said, confused.

"I'm just a clone. Naruto sent me to find you to explain his plan," the clone said.

"What plan?" Sakura inquired.

"Here's the deal…"

Sasuke grunted as he tried to get out of the hole he'd been buried into.

"Looks like you need some help," Naruto remarked as he knelt in front of Sasuke. The Uchiha glared scathingly.

"I don't need help from the class dobe," Sasuke huffed. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"You're stuck in the ground up to your head with barely any room to move," the kitsune pointed out. "It sure looks like you need help."

"I'll do fine without you," Sasuke growled. Naruto stared at him, unimpressed. It pissed Sasuke off.

"Fine, be stubborn. Just so you know, by refusing my help, you're ensuring our failure," Naruto pointed out.

"No, only yours," Sasuke shot back. Naruto snorted.

"Are you that stupid, Teme?" Naruto queried. "This test is about teamwork. We all pass or we all fail. It's as simple as that."

Sasuke growled as he considered Naruto's words. As much as he hated to admit it, Naruto was right.

"Fine…" he muttered quietly. Naruto's ears perked.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you," the fox child said, holding a hand to his ear.

"I said fine," Sasuke said, a little louder.

"I still can't hear you," Naruto sang. A vein twitched in Sasuke's forehead.

"I SAID FINE, DOBE! GET ME OUT OF THIS HOLE!" he finally roared.

Naruto's amused laughter filled the air. "You didn't have to yell," he teased before making a familiar hand seal. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

'What the hell is going on? Is this some sort of trick?!' Kakashi gaped as he dodged Minato's angered strikes… but only barely. He'd unveiled his Sharingan in hopes of unearthing the trick behind the 'imposter' but the longer he fought him and observed him, the more he felt as if the man in front of him wasn't a fake.

"Coming late to team meetings… reading smut in front of the children… not even taking them seriously while they're trying their best to succeed… what the hell has gotten into you?!" Minato reprimanded, eyes ablaze as he knocked Kakashi back with a roundhouse kick.

Kakashi stumbled backwards, not getting enough time to recover before Minato was on him once more.

"I. Will. Not. Have. You. Turn. Into. My. Sensei. Do. You. Hear. Me?" Minato dragged out the words, reinforcing each one with a punch. Despite his shock and the pain, Kakashi could only think one thing.

'He's pulling his punches…' he thought. Never mind the fact that he was being beaten into the ground by someone who was supposed to be dead.

It was as Kakashi was still off guard that a red and blue blur passed by him on each side and he suddenly found himself missing the two bells.

Sasuke and Sakura smirked as they showed the bells while they flanked a smug Minato's side.

With an impish grin, Minato disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing Naruto.

Kakashi blinked. That entire scenario… had been Naruto's doing?

"We won, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said with a bright smile.

Kakashi turned to Naruto. "Impressive Henge…" he remarked. "I hadn't even detected it… your acting was impressive too, for someone who has never met the Yondaime Hokage before."

"Hey, the Yondaime Hokage is my idol. I know everything about him," Naruto said. 'Including that he's my dad, but you don't need to know that I know that…'

Running a hand through his hair, Kakashi had the grace to feel foolish for having gotten caught in such a trap. Minato had just seemed so… real… and his Sharingan hadn't detected any signs of it merely being a disguise…

'Seems you're hiding more than just the Kyuubi, Naruto…' Kakashi thought. He then smiled. "Congratulations… you all pass."

"Even Naruto?" Sakura blinked, seeing as Naruto didn't have a bell. Kakashi nodded.

"Yes, even him. He did most of the work after all," he pointed out. Sakura had the grace to look sheepish. "Naruto could have grabbed a bell from me at any time while he'd had me off guard with that unconventional disguise of his, but he didn't. He created an opening so that you could get the bells. If that's not a sign of what true teamwork is, than I don't know what is."

'So the dobe was right… this test had been about teamwork…' Sasuke thought, eyes falling on the smiling kitsune. 'I might have underestimated him this time… it won't happen again.'

"Granted, your teamwork could still use some tweaking," Kakashi stated. "Sasuke, you didn't even try to work with the others, believing them to be beneath you. Sakura, you were too worried about Sasuke to even pay attention to Naruto, who was closer to you. You didn't even think to help him when he looked to be drowning."

Sasuke just 'hn'ed while Sakura looked ashamed of herself for her mistake.

"You banded together in the end, which is what redeemed you," the Jounin declared. "When going on missions, your teamwork is key. The quick way to failure is thinking that you can only depend on yourself. I used to be just like you, Sasuke… I didn't care about my teammates as long as the mission was completed… I ended up regretting those thoughts. Individual play that disrupts the mission will only put your other teammates in danger. A wise man once told me: Those who break the rules and codes of the shinobi world are trash… but those who don't take care of their comrades are lower than trash."

"Those were the words I was waiting for," Minato said gleefully, crossing his arms. "I taught him well. Well Obito played a major role in his change of heart too. Perhaps more than me."

~Who's Obito?~ Naruto asked his dad curiously.

"I'll tell you later," the former Hokage declared.

Kakashi smiled at them. "As time goes on, your ability to work together will get better. As long as you're able to realize it's importance and put aside your personal reservations, I think you three will work together just fine."

"Meet me at the bridge tomorrow at five in the morning. Starting from tomorrow, we will start our missions as a team," the Copy Ninja declared.

Naruto and Sakura cheered while Sasuke merely smirked.

As they were leaving together, they noticed Iruka coming their way, looking nervous.

Kakashi smiled and was about to greet the cute Chuunin when a blonde ball of energy passed by him and tackled the poor teacher.

"Iruka-sensei, Iruka-sensei? Guess what?" Naruto exclaimed childishly, snuggling into the surprised man's lap.

"What, Naruto?" Iruka humored the excited child.

"We passed!" Naruto cried out, waving his arms around wildly.

Kakashi had been silently cursing Naruto for stealing Iruka's attention away but the sudden brightening of Iruka's expression made it all worth it. Damn he was adorable when he smiled…

"That's great!" Iruka said. "Congratulations!"

"Ne, ne, can we go for ramen?" Naruto begged Iruka, stars in his eyes. Iruka grinned.

"Of course," he conceded before turning to the others. "You're all welcome to come if you'd like."

"I'd be delighted to," Kakashi said, not missing a chance to be near Iruka. He turned to Sakura and Sasuke. "See this as time for you guys to get to know each other better. I'm certain there's a lot for you to three to discuss."

"Hn," Sasuke said, conceding. Sakura agreed as well, seeing that Sasuke was going.

As they got to Ichiraku's and made their orders, Kakashi turned to Iruka.

"So, Iruka-sensei… anything I should know about these three troublemakers?" he inquired with a smile as he engaged the other teacher in conversation.

"That was an interesting move you made back there…" Sakura reluctantly complimented Naruto as they ate. Naruto looked at her curiously.

"What move?" he asked her curiously.

"Turning yourself into the Yondaime," Sakura said. "How did you know that it would work?"

"I said it before, didn't I? Kakashi-sensei had been taught by one of the best shinobi in Konoha. That was the Yondaime. So I figured, what better to throw him off than the spontaneous sighting of his former sensei?"

"So it was a wild guess?" Sasuke declared raising an eyebrow.

"Pretty much. I'm glad it worked," Naruto said, grin widening. Sasuke and Sakura sighed.

"Once a dobe, always a dobe," the Uchiha said. "What would you have done if that hadn't worked?"

"I would have come up with something else, I guess," Naruto said. "And don't call me dobe!"

"Usoratonkachi," Sasuke retorted, making Naruto glare at him.

"At least I wasn't stuck up to my head in the ground!" he shot back, earning a scathing glare from Sasuke. Naruto paid it no mind as he turned his attention back to his precious Iruka-sensei, regaling him with the story of how they'd passed Kakashi's exam.

Minato observed them silently, not interfering. Naruto would enter the shinobi world for real now. He had to think of how he would go about teaching Naruto everything he needed to know for the future. As much as Minato would love to go protecting Naruto forever, Naruto would need to be independent and able to stand on his own two feet.

~Don't worry so much, he'll be fine,~ Kyuubi told Minato. ~He's our kit after all.~

"Yeah… you're right," Minato agreed, watching his son with pride.