"Noted." His eye crinkles into a smile. "Well, you three aren't the worst graduates I've ever seen. In fact, I think we're going to have a great time together." His head tilts ever so slightly, his single gray eye regarding us intently. "That is, if you pass the test."
...
Uh. I glance between Sasuke and Sakura, but they're as bewildered as I am. "Sensei?" I say hesitantly. "We already passed the graduation test."
"Oh, sure you have," Kakashi agrees. "I'm talking about a different test. A much, much more important test. The Academy exam was just there to make sure you had the shinobi potential to take the genin test," he explains happily. "This is the one that really decides whether or not you keep that headband come tomorrow or trade it in for some fashionable merchant clothes."
My brows furrow. I don't like the sound of that at all.
"What is it?" Sakura asks. Kakashi pushes off the railing, beckoning us to follow.
"Let's find out!" And then he's off, hopping up onto the steel beams and over to the nearest rooftop at breakneck speed.
Shouting a curse, I jump up from the bench and vault over the railing, propelling myself over the gap between the Academy and the nearest apartment complex with a concentrated gust of chakra. Already Kakashi-sensei is little more than a dot on the horizon, and the world blurs as I push to close the gap.
Sasuke appears at my side in a flurry of leaves, easily assuming an even pace with me. Leaping over yet another rooftop and hastily avoiding slamming into a startled chunin, I chance a look behind me and see Sakura's pink hair bobbing a few buildings behind us.
Kakashi slips constantly in and out of sight throughout the chase, and soon the bustling activity and stone footing of the marketplace dissolves into the sparsely populated but no less active training ground sector and it's crowded trees and sturdy branches.
Sasuke and I navigate the treetops as easily as can be expected while keeping a constantly distant focus. Soon enough the they give way to dead, dry earth and chain link fences rising higher than my apartment building.
We come bursting out of the last tree, landing in skidding crouches in front of Kakashi, who happens to be casually leaning against said chain link fence reading a book. Straightening up, I breathe deeply once, twice, three times. Exhale.
"You're an ass," I say flatly. Kakashi presses his book to his chest.
"Oh, my heart."
A sharp rustling sound a second later warrants Sakura's arrival. The girl makes the jump about halfway towards us and lands hard on her feet, stumbling once and then falling to her knees gasping for breath.
"Why did you bring us here?" Sasuke demands. Kakashi blinks innocently.
"For your test, of course," he says. Scowling, I finally look past him and past the towering fences, towards the apparent location of our real genin test. My mouth drops open.
It's a forest. A really, really bigforest. My head tilts backward, straining to take it all in. An image flashes behind my eyes, of a different view of this forest, from atop the Yondaime's head.
They'd been eye level up there, the trees, and looked unnaturally large, but down here it was beyond ridiculous. They blot out the very sun itself, shrouding everything below in an artificial dusk. A flash of bright red catches my eye, a sign hanging on the fence high above Kakashi-sensei's head. Training Ground 44, it reads. The Forest of Death.
This is where we're taking our genin test? What the hell kind of test is it?
"Now, the rules are simple," Kakashi explains, heading off along the fence. Sasuke and I exchange a glance before following cautiously behind. "All you have to do is make it to that tower right there poking through the treeline before sunset and you three are as good as mine." The masked jounin stops besides an open gate. "Whenever you're ready."
"What's the catch?" Sasuke asks bluntly, peering forward into the ominous forest.
"Maa, nothing much," Kakashi says, slapping Sasuke on the back and sending him staggering through the gate. "All that's in there are a few bugs and the odd tiger." He reaches out and ruffles Sakura's hair. "As long as you keep your head you'll be fine." He assures her.
I slink in through the fence behind Sakura, and the gate slams loudly shut behind me, dozens of seals lighting up briefly across its surface and fading away just as quickly. A roar echoes somewhere off to the right, deep in the forest. Kakashi gives us a thumbs up from his spot behind the fence just before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.
"Good luck!"
I stare blankly at the falling leaves for a little while, just trying to process it all. I fail.
"What the hell just happened?"
Sakura shrugs helplessly and Sasuke ignores me entirely, a pensive expression settling on his features.
"No, seriously," I insist. "What the hellwas that?"
"I've heard about this test before," Sasuke admits, frowning. "From some of my cousins a few years ago. I don't think it's ever been held here before, though..." He shakes his head in frustration. "Let's just get to the tower. We can sort things out when we've passed."
"Can he even do that?" I press as we set off at an easy run into the forest. "Just drop us off here without telling us what our objective is? That's his job, isn't it?"
"What do you mean, Naruto?" Sakura asks confusedly. I roll my eyes.
"He's obviously not telling us something. You really think all we have to do is get past a couple tigers and reach that tower to become shinobi? What would be the point of that?" I ask harshly. Sakura flinches, mumbling an apology.
Ah, great. Snap at the shy girl for asking a question, Naruto. What could possibly go wrong? I open my mouth to apologize, only to be stopped short by a familiar roar, this one closer than before. I jerk to a stop, reaching into my weapon's pouch and pulling out my double ended kunai. The titanic treetops rustle above us and a flash of white catches the corner of my eye.
A muffled boom reaches my ears and I spin, coming face to face with the biggest tiger I've ever seen. As big as old man Teuchi's ramen stand, bigger even. Its fur is a dirty white striped with purple, and its eyes are a violent shade of yellow, same as its bared teeth. Its nostrils flare and it lets loose a rumbling growl that sets the hairs on the back of my neck on edge.
Three more booms rend the air, and I take my eyes off the tiger in front of me just long enough to see three more of equally monstrous stature prowling forward, entrapping us. Blood stains the fur of one and drips from the teeth of the other two.
"Sasuke," I say lowly. "I'll take the two to your left, you take the on directly behind me, Sakura-" A cloud of smoke drifts past my vision, revealing a broken branch on the ground in place of my pink-haired teammate. "Awesome," I snarl, just as the tiger in front of me roars and pounces.
My chakra explodes free, shrieking, and I spin around the tiger's swiping claw and sink my kunai into its shoulder. It yowls, tail whipping around and smacking me in the back of the head hard enough to send stars spiralling into my vision. I hurriedly drag my kunai out, praying for a severed tendon, and throw out my other hand, blasting the beast's head backwards with a surge of wind and sending it staggering back.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball!" Heat dances behind me, an uncomfortable warmth at my back. One of the tigers roars in pain.
The tiger on Sakura's side comes bearing down on me, teeth flashing toward my neck. I spin away, sweeping both arms forward and pushing my chakra with all my might. It shoves savagely behind the tiger, sending it tumbling headfirst into a tree. Sasuke appears at my side, hands flashing through the seals to another katon jutsu, and I turn to deal with the pissed off tiger behind him.
Wait. Tiger?
A snapping above me reveals the fourth tiger, navigating the treetops as easily as one of old man Hokage's monkey summons. I follow it incredulously as it travels farther and farther out among the branches until it's almost directly above me and Sasuke.
The tiger on the ground growls, stalking forward, and its tail lashes out at my face. I duck under the blow and bring my left arm up sharply, severing a solid foot of the monstrous appendage.
Spinning out of the way of yet another furious pounce, I see Sasuke being backed up by his two tigers, and see the tiger in the treetops poised directly above him. My eyes widen.
"Sasuke!" I shout, and immediately he disappears in a shunshin. The fourth tigers yowls furiously, landing on the other two with a crash.
Instinct screams at me to move and I dive out to the side, the final tiger's massive bulk thundering past. Rolling to my feet, I let my kunai drop and flash forward. My chakra howls around me and I slam a fist into the beast's side, sending it skidding into the thrashing pile of its brethren. A fireball from above engulfs them all, courtesy of Sasuke from his place above me.
I'm bracing myself for another pass when four translucent walls of shimmering blue spring to life around the enraged tigers. One of them rushes forward and bounces off the wall in front of me ineffectually, snarling.
A hissing sound fills the air.
Chakra comes to life in the form of dozens of little squares lighting up within the barrier. Flames brighter and infinitely more dangerous than the katon jutsu Sasuke was slinging around fill the great big chakra box. I stare in silence as the barrier falls and the smoke settles, along with the pink mist that used to be four giant tigers.
Sakura inches out from behind a tree to my left, slipping a sealing brush into her weapons pouch. She smiles nervously at me.
I'm not sure what to say, so I blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. "Nice."
Sasuke lands heavily beside me. Straightening up, he regards Sakura curiously. "Where'd you learn that?"
Sakura's smile morphs into something just the slightest bit mischievous. "I read it in a library."
I chuckle, turning to look for my kunai. "So was that it, you think?" I call, making for a particularly scorched tree. Sasuke shrugs.
"Probably."
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