"Just for your bravery of trying to attack me without hesitation, I will be generous and add another condition to the test. The one who cannot get the bell, will not only fail the test, but will also be tied to that tree stump, which I obviously did not prepare beforehand, while I and the other two eat in front of the loser." Kakashi said, his only visible eye closing which confirmed the smile under his mask.
'So that's why he told us not to eat...' Sasuke grumbled, as his stomach churned from hunger. He shouldn't have obeyed that rule. It already seemed suspicious, but Sasuke expected that to be logical since it came from a Jounin.
"Then, start" Kakashi said and the three were gone.
"Good. It's common sense for a ninja to hide themselves well." Kakashi said, as he surveyed the field while shuffling the pocket of his pants.
As the dust cleared from the force that the kids jumped away, he was able to see the slight shade of grey. He thought it was probably the rising sun's ray.
Out of his pocket came the highlight of the past decade, 'Come Come Paradise', a very cultured book of extremely cultured men.
But out of his sight, he was able to glance at a figure standing with a huge grin.
'Idiot,...tsk' Sasuke cursed as he landed on the top of a tree nearby, carefully hidden from sight, from any angle.
Sakura face palmed. She had thought that Naruto would have changed since Iruka had passed him. But he was still the same, barbarian like. 'That's what happens when you skip lectures.'
"Well, you seem a bit odd..." Kakashi spoke, gulping the disbelief he felt. Just a day ago, he had seen the kid fight head-to-head with a Chunin and win. 'Not like he used his brains there. It was just a brute force of clones,...but still.' He had expected the blonde to be a bit more...reasonable and sane.
Naruto seemed nowhere near these expectations, as he stood under the rising sun, a huge grin on his face.
"Why don't you come fight me, and find out how odd I am?" Naruto said, taking out a kunai from the holders. 'I will make you taste some dust from this dead last.' He thought and the next second, he was bouncing, covering a huge leap in the blink of an eye. At last, he jumped as high as he could and threw the kunai at Kakashi.
"Fine. I will teach you Taijutsu." Kakashi said, still holding the book as he deflected the quickly approaching kunai with the back of his hand. The metal on his gloves clanked with the kunai and Kakashi grabbed Naruto by the collar of his jacket as he was landing, in a few seconds.
"Lesson #1, never approach an enemy with only one move" Naruto hung in his hand, his hands flailing.
"Say that, after you keep that book away!!" Naruto shouted as he announced a kick at Kakashi in the chest. But Kakashi simply extended his hand and Naruto's kick landed on his biceps.
"You are certainly strong," Kakashi said as he kept reading the book. "And don't worry about the book. It won't make much difference against you guys" he let go of Naruto, who landed on his butt.
"Hah, you are so annoying, you old man with a bad haircut!" Naruto jumped back to his feet and launched a punch at Kakashi, which landed on his waist like a pillow.
'Stop embarrassing us already...' Sasuke could help but cringe at Naruto. It was evident that Kakashi was just playing with Naruto. As if, Naruto was just a 'kid', and not a Genin candidate.
'Ugh,...so uncool' Sakura remained hidden. Sure, Naruto was fast and had done some moves he never did in the spars in the academy. But against a Jounin, it was common sense not to go head first. But it was Naruto they were talking about, he never did anything with sense.
"You don't learn, do you?" Kakashi said, as he swiftly motioned Naruto's hand in a circle and palmed his chest, with slight force. Naruto flew back and crashed into a tree. Dust arose and it was impossible to see.
'I didn't push him that hard...' Kakashi thought as he looked at the tree intently. As the dust cleared up, he was surprised. There was nothing at the tree.
"Ha...haha..." Kakashi laughed in disbelief. 'He proved me wrong. He IS sane. He isn't idiotic, eh.' Kakashi still kept reading. Just because Naruto had exceeded his range of assumptions of the three didn't mean it was anything serious. 'The real one won't be much different'
'What!?' Sakura almost jumped out of the bush. 'What did I just see? Wasn't Naruto right there, crashing into the tree?' She scratched her head. Naruto had disappeared like a clone. But Naruto couldn't be using a clone.
Firstly, because he was never able to execute that jutsu in the academy. Second, because she didn't sense a hollow clone. It was the real Naruto!
'Damn it!' Sasuke gritted his teeth. 'What was that?' he thought, a curse almost escaping his lips, threatening to reveal his location.
He was sure that the one fighting was Naruto. But when he crashed into the tree, for a split second, he was sure he saw smoke rising and Naruto disappeared.
'What weird jutsu is that?' Sasuke couldn't help but feel relentless. Naruto outsmarting and out-skilling him was never a possibility.
While the three were surprised by this new but amazing antic of Naruto, he observed from a much closer tree. He looked at their sensei, who was still reading the book. It annoyed him, but at the same time reminded him of Kakashi's strength.
Even if it was a shadow clone, it was just like Naruto. And a real human is very unpredictable. To have 'played' with it wasn't just arrogance. It was skill.
"Fck, he is strong. He isn't anything like Mizuki" Naruto stood up on the branch of the tree. He smirked. Not like usual, not like a brat. It contained fear, hunger, and excitement. A thrill he had never felt before, from anyone. Not from the guard shinobi who chased him, not from the pranks, not from the fights with bullies. Not even Mizuki. This was different.
Like a wall which he HAD to climb, either by scratching, clawing, or shattering. Because it was THAT sturdy.
"But that makes it more fun, right?" The entire tree's branches had at least three or four Naruto standing on them.
"Damn right!!!" A loud roar collided with the air and vibrated the other three's ears. Kakashi was surprised, as a sudden flood of orange poured out of the nearby tree. And...it was fast. Unusually fast, even more than the previous shadow clone.
"Tsk,..." He clicked his tongue and jumped away. "Such foolery. Shouting and charging with a vast amount of shadow clones is not going to help you if you can't reach me." He looked at his book, reading from where he had left off.
But suddenly, the orange in his vision was approaching closer. 'How?' he was confused, since he had already backed off a lot.
When he looked up, what he saw made him shiver with awe. 'It's the second time,...' Naruto had already shattered his assumptions twice, back to back.
Both Sasuke and Sakura were even more surprised. No, they were shocked and terrified. What they saw didn't make sense. How was it, that there were more than 100 Naruto? Equally loud and brash?
But what surprised them even more was the amount. It kept increasing, as if the tree was growing Naruto instead of fruit.
And when Kakashi jumped back, they weren't disappointed. They were still surprised by the sheer number of that many Naruto. And from what Kakashi said, these were Shadow clones. They hadn't heard of it much, but it was not a skill taught to academy students, meaning it was far above their levels.
'Maybe even higher than my fireball. And with that amount,...how much chakra does he have?' Sasuke could feel sweat forming on his face and wetting his hair. The dense chakra he felt was terrifying. And it was only Naruto's.
But then, Naruto did something even more surprising. When Kakashi was out of reach, Sakura and Sasuke were ready to see Naruto face defeat again. But that did not happen. Rather, the number of clones increased and they started to throw each other in the air.
Any clone that found its footing would jump even further towards Kakashi, getting support from other clones. Soon, like a chain, and soon a beast, a huge collection of Naruto was on the ground.
'Damnit!' Kakashi fell for his own carelessness. One of the clones almost grabbed his collar. He ducked, but then another clone crashed into him, launching a kick. He dodged, but 10 more flew to that side.
'He isn't giving me time to attack' Kakashi threw a few shuriken, as his hand instinctively slid the book back in his pockets.
The clones in the air puffed in smoke but another batch took their place.
Kakashi dodged again when the clones landed on the place he was at, with incredible force. 'He isn't just trying to get the bells. He is fighting.' No one could see, but under that mask, there was a smile.
"You made me keep my book away. Good,...I guess you aren't all bark." Kakashi, instead of rushing away to escape another set of Naruto, charged forward. And in a flash, he made them disappear.
"Now, let's see, why don't you come fight me directly? I don't have the book, so maybe I will defeat you faster." Kakashi smirked. 'Provoking him will be easier than fighting these endless clones' Kakashi thought as he sliced another pair of Naruto.
"Not a chance!" But because the amount kept increasing as fast as he sliced, he wasn't able to track them all. One clone had successfully grabbed him from behind.
"Lesson #2, never let an enemy get behind you. It's for me of course..." Kakashi gave an awkward chuckle and disappeared, now replaced by another Naruto.
'Kawarimi...' Sasuke was spectating the fight, with a mix of jealousy and awe. He never thought Naruto could make a Jounin fight him seriously.
But for Naruto who wasn't able to understand what happened, it seemed as if Kakashi used henge to transform into Naruto.
And so, the clash of all the Naruto started, to find the real Kakashi. Curses, slurs, insults, and fists to each other, as if they weren't the same person.