It was morning. The sun had just begun to peek over the horizon and the people of Konoha had yet to awake from their slumber. But as always, there were exceptions.

 

Some of them being Team 7.

 

Naruto yawned as he and Ren walked towards the designated area Kakashi had told them to go. His complexion showed that while he was energetic, he was sleepy and most likely in not best shape to fight.

 

His companion was in no better shape. It was as if the two had not gotten an ounce of sleep all night. The breeze of the morning hit them and the two felt slightly more refreshed.

 

The two walked for a bit more and Sasuke’s figure was now visible to them. He was leaning on a tree and had his arms crossed while also staring at them. The ocular abilities of the Uchiha Clan enhanced even their normal eyes it seems.

 

“Morning to you as well Sasuke.” Ren chuckled while waving his hand at his ‘avenger’ teammate who nodded slightly.

 

Well that’s as good as he would ever get from him for now.

 

‘It seems he hasn’t arrived here yet, or is he hiding like yesterday? Only reason I managed to discover his presence was due to that small shift in movement to pull out that Icha Icha Paradise book.’

 

“We will proceed with the exact plan we discussed yesterday.” Naruto gave a thumbs-up at his words and his signature grin which reminded Ren of a certain jounin and his hair bristled in discomfort at the reminder.

 

And so, they waited… and waited… and waited…

 

And waited…

 

“Yo.”

 

Kakashi appeared while doing a peace sign and an eye smile. He walked towards them while pulling a scroll out of one his jounin vest’s pockets. He unfolded it and with a lot of smoke puled out a clock.

 

“Good morning my little genins, today’s going to be a long and tiring day for all three of you.”

 

He set down the clock on the remnant of a tree and look at the three of them.

 

“You were late, also good morning.” Naruto deadpanned at the antics of their teacher while the two others refused to take the bait, especially Sasuke who now was up and ready to start the action.

 

“Normally I’d be trying to scare all three of you, but there’s no point in doing that. I can see it from your eyes you already know what you’re supposed to do today. I have two bells with me here. Your goal is to somehow manage to steal both of them from me.”

 

“The alarm of that clock will ring at noon exactly, so you don’t have a lot of time. The one who doesn’t have a bell at the end will be sent back to the academy!” Kakashi showed them the bells which he also pulled out from the same scroll.

 

He put the scroll back in his pocket and smiled.

 

“Oh yeah, the loser also doesn’t get to eat lunch, not like it’s a big set-back for you three since you did not listen to my advice and ate breakfast.” He sot of looked hurt, if someone didn’t know the background of these words they might actually feel bad.

 

“Keyword there being ‘advice’ Kakashi-sensei.” Ren stated out, but the jounin just chuckle and ignored him.

 

“Start on my signal.”

 

The three genins started to get ready.

 

“Steady… Go!”

 

All four silhouettes spread across the field and into the forest of green and trees.

 

xXx

 

“The basics of being a shinobi is to be able to blend yourself with your surroundings and be one with nature to the point no one can find you. I can confidently say all three of you to a degree fulfill that.”

 

Kakashi scratched the back of his neck while confidently speaking out to no one in particular. He could still see each of his genins but was purposely playing the ‘in denial’ part perfectly.

 

‘Still, I can sense that blond eyesore completely, the avenger to a degree as well… But that seal master’s presence often fluctuates. It must be the work of one of his seals.’

 

Kakashi’s lone eye widened as he quickly stretched his neck to the left to dodge an incoming projectile, a lone kunai. He then proceeded to leap backwards to dodge several more kunai and shuriken alike.

 

‘They’re coming from where I last saw Ren. I see, he’s taking advantage of the fact I cannot completely notice his presence to make me move to a more favorable position. This is where he’ll leap and try to use those air-seals of his on me just like how he planned yesterday.’

 

Kakashi was a gentleman of course, he did not completely listen to what they wanted to do tomorrow. That would be a complete intrusion of privacy after all!

 

• In reality he just wanted to read Icha Icha Paradise more than listen to what his little genins were planning. It’s not like they could cover the gap of years of experience so easily.

 

A tree shook and he noticed a red silhouette move from a branch to another. ‘So, he also released one or more of these seals of his which suppress his strength. Does he think it’ll be the same as with Mizuki?’

 

Ren used the ground as support and launched himself over several meters, his palm extended as far as it could.

 

Fuinjutsu – Four Pillar Restricting Barrier!

 

His hand shone as the sky rumbled. Four pillars of ancient look emerged from an extended kanji circle and flew at different directions forming a blue barrier.

 

Kakashi’s eye widened at this show of fuinjutsu prowess.

 

‘A seal barrier is often considered extremely complicated even for the most of experienced chunins to pull out, how did a genin like him get one under his belt? No, what the hell does he want to do with it now? I didn’t entirely get their plan yesterday, but I’m pretty sure he wasn’t going with a support-type seal.’

 

“Got you!”

 

Naruto grinned while rushing at Kakashi with a kunai in a reverse hold. Apparently, Ren was capable of letting people leave and enter this barrier at will.

 

Kakashi felt more and more amused while dodging Naruto’s half-assed attempts which wouldn’t be able to make any decent chunin get in a tough spot.

 

He grabbed Naruto’s arm and disarmed him. Then he threw him across the barrier before looking around for any possible enemy in sight.

 

“This isn’t over just yet!”

 

Naruto used some sort of momentum to form hand-seals mid-air and make shadow clones. He then threw each shadow clone at Kakashi at high-speed, surprising even the jounin at his tenacity.

 

“But…”

 

A burst of chakra was all Kakashi needed to swiftly deal with each shadow clone.

 

“You’re a hundred years too early to pull that sort of trick on me!”

 

Fire Style – Great Fireball Technique!

 

Kakashi’s only warning was a tiny bit of sweat which had started to form itself around the back of his neck.

 

He looked up only to see a massive amalgamation of fire and wind together. He could only assume that a secondary skill of this barrier was to increase or enhance the effectivity of fire-affinity techniques.

 

He made a faux attempt to dodge it and the last thing Sasuke noticed from up in the air was a hint of silver

 

‘Did I get him?’

 

“That was a close one, I’d say that if you were just a bit less obvious and a bit faster, you’d have done it.” A familiar rough and chill voice rang out in and out of Sasuke’s ears and instantly earned his focus.

 

Someone’s hand tapped on his shoulder and made him lose his stepping, sending him straight onto the ground.

 

Not to be one to disappoint, Sasuke regained control mid-air and threw several shuriken and sharp blades at his previous position, only to strike nothing but a log.

 

‘Substitution?!’

 

“You were kind of looking down a bit on me, aren’t you?”

 

A fist slammed itself on Sasuke’s stomach and he fell onto the ground, creating a quite massive crater the size of a human body and some more.

 

“Lesson one of being a Shinobi, Taijutsu, the art of close combat.”

 

 Kakashi smiled as he plopped next to the Uchiha with a very carefree posture.

 

“This was a definitely interesting strategy you three formed, but ultimately you just came a bit short of achieving your goal.”

 

“Now, I wonder about that~”

 

Ren’s humorous voice entered their ears and both of them looked at him. Kakashi was actually a bit surprised as he had failed on sensing his presence yet again, what kind of seal was he using?

 

Two bells rang as he waved his hand in front of them.

 

“How did you?” Kakashi was not upset, not at all.

 

“Lesson two of being a shinobi, Genjutsu, the art of illusion and hypnosis – though I guess they’re practically the same.” Ren snickered

 

In fact, he was actually happy and a bit in shock. He might not be the most attentive of all shinobis at the moment, but even he would never let someone near him so much without him knowing it.

 

His apprentice did not immediately respond. Instead he threw one bell at Naruto who had just also appeared out of the bushes.