Team 7 (Naruto Fanfiction) Volume 1

The legendary bell test

"I feel... really full," Sengen grunted, a burp leaving his mouth.

"Are you kidding me? You ate more than all of us," Itsuha eyed her teammate.

"Blame the Yakitori for that. And Hatsuki," he sighed.

"Dobe," Hatsuki chuckled, his head on the table.

"Alright, let's get to work," said Sasuke, who stood up from the table.

"But I'm still digesting," Sengen responded, looking up.

"Hmm..."

"Hmm? What's that supposed to mean?" Itsuha asked. Sasuke got down on his knees and signed Sengen to get on his back.

"We shouldn't waste any time. Get on my back."

"W-wait, I'm sure he can walk, Sensei," Itsuha stuttered.

"No, it's okay. Get on, Sengen."

"YES!" Sengen jumped, his hands circling around his sensei's neck. "Thank you, Sensei," he thanked him as Sasuke nodded.

"Let's go. You two follow along."

The village was bustling with people. While riding on his Sensei's back, Sengen could see the huge crowd in front of them.

"You're so tall, Sensei. I can see the whole village from up here," he giggled, while Hatsuki let out a sigh.

"What are we doing next, Sensei?" Itsuha inquired.

"It's a surprise."

The team got to a huge field shortly, where Sasuke let Sengen down.

"Okay, team 7. We have one last activity to do today."

"Thankfully, I'm done digesting," Sengen whispered to Itsuha.

"I have two bells..." Sasuke started, showing the two bells dangling in his hands. "And it's your job to each get one bell. If you don't, one of you will end up being tied to that post over there."

"But there's only two bells," Hatsuki noted.

"That's the point."

"And I thought Sensei was reasonable," Itsuha mumbled.

"All right. Go." As soon as Sasuke said go, all genins disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hatsuki, hiding in a nearby tree, sought out a plan.

"Hmm... If I attack from behind him, he will definitely sense my chakra, but by using Art of Substitution, I might just have an increase of probability in winning. I've been practicing my aim lately, meaning I can use wind release to shoot a kunai at him, longer than most distances. Or just blow him away? Either way's fine."

Itsuha hid under a bush as she thought to herself what to do.

"I wonder what Papa would do in this situation. He's taught me the fireball jutsu, although I haven't quite mastered it. He said I'm quite skilled in my Shuriken lessons, and my chakra control is greater than my brother. So if I can manage to attack from above him and shoot my three shurikens, hmm, then I could possibly make it to his waist, where the bells are. I'll shape the fireballs and aim it from above him, just like my practice with Nisan."

Sengen squinted his eyes as he stared at his Sensei, who simply sat in the middle of the field.

"Dad taught me his dust release technique, and I can shape it just enough with my chakra to hit him, the same speed as a kunai. Uh huh. I can hit him straight on his face. Wait. Or behind. Wait no. Yeah yeah, whatever. I'll work it out."

Hatsuki, taking the first lead, appeared from behind Sasuke. Sensing the chakra, the sensei prepared to defend himself. Hatsuki's silhouette turned into a piece of wood. 'Art of Substitution. Not bad for a genin.' The whoosh of Hatsuki's kunai hit Sasuke's back. Almost.

"Almost," Sasuke said, his hand letting go of the kunai, to which it dropped to the ground with a clink.

"What?! B-but I used my-"

"Almost. But not enough."

"KYAHH!!!" Itsuha's shout from above as Shurikens went flying, aimed at Sasuke. He swiftly dodged all of them, smirking as he did. Fireballs shot through, but they didn't even touch a single hair on him.

"Wait, but I calculated it all-"

"Nope. Try next time, Uchiha."

"ART OF THE DUST FLAMES!!" yelled Sengen, who ran towards Sasuke, dust shaping around his hands and feet. The balls of what seemed to be dirt shaped into spheres as he threw it right at Sasuke, facing a straight hit. No. The chakra plopped to the ground as the Jounin simply whacked it with his hand. "WHAT?!"

"Maybe next time, Stick boy."

"OH COME ON!!" he shouted, his head sinking into his hands.

"Sensei." Looking behind him, Sasuke saw Itsuha and Hatsuki holding up the two bells from his waist.

"Oh."

In the end, all three of them were tied to the post.

"Aw, this is so unfair," Sengen complained, struggling to get out.

"Well, who was the one who used dust flames on a Jounin who's best friends with the Hokage?!" Hatsuki accused.

"Hey, at least I didn't throw a stupid kunai at him!"

"Shut up, dobe!"

"Ugh, stop fighting. It's not getting us anywhere," Itsuha scolded.

"Hai, you three. If you all worked together instead of quarreling, you might have had a chance to get all three bells," Sasuke shrugged.

"There's only two," Itsuha replied.

"No. There's three," Sasuke corrected, opening his hand, showing one last bell that they hadn't noticed.

"Wait, what?!" Sengen gasped.

"But I don't understand," Itsuha perplexed.

"I would have given you the third one if I had seen your teamwork, which you didn't have."

"Oh, men." His head drooping down, Sengen pouted.

"I'll get something to eat. You three can wait here."

"WAIT, SENSEI!" Hatsuki shouted, as Sasuke walked away.

"Yes?"

"Why don't you just free them? I can stay here."

"WAIT, WHAT?!" Sengen shouted.

"Tsuki-kun!!" Itsuha exclaimed as Sasuke chuckled while he untied all three of them.

"We'll continue tomorrow. For now, you should all go home and rest."

"Are you sure, Sensei? Didn't we fail?" Sengen asked.

"Hm. Try again tomorrow. And be back here at 6."

"Okay, bye, guys!" Sengen dashed off, laughing.

"Uhm, sure, bye Tsuki-kun. Bye, Sasuke sensei," Itsuha bid goodbye as she ran off in another direction. Hatsuki was about to leave when Sasuke stopped him.

"Hatsuki. Let's go home."

"But my apartment is this way."

"Was."

"Huh?"

"You're evicted, aren't you? Let's go home. My wife's cooking."

"No, I'm fine."

"Let's go," Sasuke said, leading the way. As their footsteps made tip-tap sounds, Hatsuki can't help but wonder why.

"I can always stop by Sengen's house, so I don't need to go to yours," explained Hatsuki, who stopped midway.

"I insist. Don't worry. Sarada and Sakura, I'm sure, won't mind if I bring a guest."

"But why?"

"I don't like it when one of my students don't have a place to call home."