Next day in the morning,

Izuna wakes up in the morning and stretches his arms.

"That was a splendid night yesterday."

Yawn…

He yawns and walks out of his room.

"Oh! Izuna-dear. You are awake." Aiko greets him.

"Yes… mother."

Izuna walks up to the table and picks up his breakfast.

"Where is Ayaka?"

He looks around.

"Ayaka is in the backyard. She woke up pretty early."

"Oh…"

Izuna finishes his breakfast and enters the backyard.

Sho… sho…

Ayaka is throwing wooden shurikens at a training dummy with her eyes closed. She removes her blindfold and checks the target.

"Why do I keep missing my targets?" Ayaka frowns.

She cutely walks up to the training dummies and inspects them.

"Why can't I hit them… I saw Onii-san do it with his eyes closed. I also want to be like Onii-san."

Ayaka pouts as she throws away the shuriken.

"Oh! looks like my cute imouto is having some trouble with her training."

Izuna walks up to her and pinches her cheeks.

Humph…

Ayaka pouts and turns her head away.

"Onii-san… you BAKA! you never spend your time with me. Train me today. I won't leave your side today."

Ayaka tightly hugs him like a koala.

"Well."

Izuna scratches his head.

"No… I won't hear a thing."

Ayaka puffs her cheeks as her eyes turn teary.

"Onii-san! you are such a meanie. You won't play with me."

"No… no… how can I ignore you? I will spend the entire day with you today."

Izuna gently picks her up and places her on his shoulders.

"Yay!... let's go. That's more like it."

Ayaka hugs his head.

'Hmm… today is supposed to be the day when Kakashi will hold the bell test for them. I have a bet with Kakashi. Let's check on them.'

"Ayaka! let's watch Naruto and Sasuke train."

"Yay… I will see Naruto and Sasuke nii-san train."

Whoosh…

Izuna flickers towards the third training ground with Ayaka.

He notices Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura sitting around three stakes.

"Damnit! Kakashi Sensei is so late. Dattebyo!"

Naruto kicks the stake in anger.

"Naruto, Calm down." Sasuke calms him down.

He places his hands under his chin as Sasuke enters into his thinking pose.

"As far as I can think of… Kakashi Sensei called us here to test our skills. He might be spying us on at this very instant. Naruto you should be aware of the fact that patience is very vital for a ninja. If you aren't patient enough, then you might fail a very important mission."

"Oh! I almost forgot about that." Naruto calms down and sits beside him.

"Hey, Naruto! get away from my Sasuke-kun?" Sakura pushes away Naruto and sits beside Sasuke.

Hmm…

Sasuke frowns as he notices this. He turns towards Sakura and rebukes her.

"Listen Sakura! Naruto is like my younger brother. Apologize to him this very instant for your rude behavior."

"But… but Sasuke-kun… Naruto always bothers you in the academy. He… he always fights with you."

Sakura replies in trepidation.

"Listen… that's our personal matter. There is no need for any outsider to interfere with that. Naruto is my brother, friend, and most of all… he is my rival."

"Oh… Sasuke, you think so highly of me."

Naruto shyly scratches his head.

"No one beside me can insult Naruto." Sasuke continues.

"Hey!... what do you mean?" Naruto clutches Sasuke's collar.

"Wanna go at it again? I have learned some new techniques from Izuna Nii-san. I won't lose this time."

Naruto smugly replies to Sasuke.

"Oh… you too, and here I thought Izuna nii-san only taught me." Sasuke brushes away Naruto's hand and smugly replies to him.

"Damnit… I am mad now." Naruto cracks his knuckles.

"Then let's decide."

Growl…

Both of them are interrupted by an empty stomach's growl.

"Huh!"

They turn towards Sakura, who blushes and turns her head away.

"You haven't eaten anything." Both of them ask her.

"Yes… Kakashi Sensei told us to not eat anything in the morning and I am on a diet so I didn't even eat my dinner." Sakura shyly responds to them.

"Diet? why do you need to diet?"

Naruto walks up to her and inspects her.

"You aren't as chubby as that, Choji. Is there even any need to diet?"

'Shannaro'

Sakura clutches her fist as she angrily stares at Naruto.

She punches Naruto.

Whoosh…

Naruto dodges her punch and questions her.

"What was that for? Are you an idiot?"

"Naruto… you are an idiot?" Sakura angrily replies to him.

"Hmm… I agree with Naruto. What kind of ninja will go unprepared for a mission? If the ninja doesn't even have any strength to support his body, then forget about completing the mission he will just turn into a useless liability for the team."

Sasuke calmly replies to her.

"Uuu… useless…" Sakura drops down her head as she looks at Sasuke.

"Listen, Sakura! it may not seem like it… but Naruto is as strong as me. He likes to fool around a lot, but believe me, when this guy is serious… he can put a lot of effort into any task. I hate to admit it, but it is the truth." Sasuke praises Naruto.

"Oh!… this is music to my ears. I have recorded it. Now I can hear it anytime." Naruto takes out a tape recorder from his pocket and plays it.

"Listen, Sakura…"

"Damnit… destroy that tape this instant." Sasuke chases Naruto.

"Haha…"

Ayaka giggles as she stares at Naruto and Sasuke from the top of a tree.

"Onii-san… Sasuke Nii-san and Naruto Nii-san are so funny. But who is that girl? I don't like that girl. She is very rude."

Ayaka points her little finger towards Sakura.

"Humph… she is useless for calling Naruto Nii-san useless."

"…"

Izuna silently nods his head.

"True words were never spoken."

Ahem…

"Anyway… Ayaka… look who is coming?"

Izuna points towards Kakashi, who is walking towards the group.

"Oh… that's broom haired Nii-san. I recognize him."

"…"

'Looks like she caught my old habit of nick-naming people.'

"Ayaka! a great show is about to start. Let's watch it together."

Izuna takes out some popcorns from his storage.

Ayaka grabs a handful of popcorns with her tiny hands and gnaws them like a squirrel.

"Nii-san… I feel like it is missing something. I need something to drink with it."

"…"

Izuna silently takes out a soda can from his storage and passes it to her.

'Why do I feel like, she is also reincarnated like me? Probably not.'

Izuna shakes his head to dismiss such thoughts as he watches one of the most awaited moments of Naruto.

'I wonder how things will turn out this time. Kakashi is a lot stronger than his original counterpart. But so are Sasuke and Naruto. As for Sakura, let's not talk about her for now.'

------------------

"Hi, folks! Good Morning."

Kakashi waves his hand.

"You are late." Naruto and Sakura yell at him.

"Sorry… sorry… a black cat crossed my way, so I have to turn around and take the longer route." Kakashi scratches his forehead.

"Lies…" Naruto yells at him.

"Okay…"

Kakashi takes out an alarm clock and places it on the stump.

"… it is set for noon."

He takes out two bells from his pocket and jingles them.

"Today's assignment is to take these bells away from me by noon."

Jingle… jingle…

The bells jingle in his hands.

"I am sure everybody skipped their breakfast, right?" Kakashi questions them.

"No… Sasuke and me ate ours." Naruto reveals this to Kakashi.

"Ho… as your team leader I gave you an order for the mission and you neglected my order."

Kakashi grabs the bells tightly as his expression darkens.

Gulp…

Sakura gulps her saliva as she stares at Kakashi.

'Scary… Kakashi Sensei is scary.'

"Mind explaining. Why?" He questions them.

"Let me explain. We ate our breakfast because without our breakfast we won't be in our peak condition. A shinobi should always be prepared before a mission and that includes food supplies." Sasuke answers him.

"Well, that's true." Kakashi nods his head as he explains the rules.

"Wait! Kakashi sensei, why are there only two bells?"

Sakura asks him.

"Good question." Kakashi nods his head as he replies.

"There are only two, so at the very least, one will have to go back to the academy."

Huh…

All three of them are surprised by this revelation.

'What's he thinking?'

Sasuke ponders as he stares at Kakashi's smug expression.

'As far as I know, a squad should have three members. How can there be a squad without three genins? Looks like there is more to the matter than it seems.'

"I won't return to the academy. Dattebyo!"

Naruto pumps his fist in the air.

"Hoh! Confident… aren't you? Let's see where your confidence will carry you?"

Kakashi smiles at Naruto as he ties the bells around his belt.

"You won't be able to take the bells unless you come with the intent to kill me.

Begin when I give the "ready-go" signal."

---

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