Something Precious

Chapter Nineteen

Well this has happened before, Naruto thought. He wondered why it was Kakashi he would be fighting. Naruto was jounin and to his knowledge at this point in time Kakashi was still a chuunin. It would make more sense if he would have been made to fight Minato, but he was glad that wasn't the case. He didn't want to fight his father. Then he thought, maybe it was just as much to test Kakashi as it was Naruto? Kakashi was very capable. He could probably hold his own against some jounin. The blonde teen mentally shrugged.

"Alright." he agreed. Minato seemed vaguely surprised. "Let's do this Little Man." Naruto grinned as he ruffled Kakashi's silver locks. Kakashi swatted at his hands and tried to fix his hair though it was always messy so it's not like he really changed anything.

Naruto and Kakashi took their places across from eachother in the middle of the clearing. "On my mark!" shouted Minato. Both slipped into defensive stances.

"Don't go easy on me." demanded Kakashi. Naruto shrugged in answer.

"Start!"

Despite the match starting neither one moved, they just stared at eachother daring the other to attack first. Both blue and onyx eyes held intensity and challenge.

"Uhhh, he said start you know." reminded Obito after about two minutes of stillness. Kakashi sighed at his teammate before running in. He delivered a kick which was easily blocked, he went low and tried for his legs but Naruto jumped out of the way. Kakashi jumped high and tried to get him from above but the Uzumaki was too fast. This continued as all of the boy's attacks were either blocked or dodged and the blonde never went on offense.

Kakashi grew increasingly frustrated. Why wasn't he attacking? What did he think he was some kind of joke? Was he trying to show off? He got his answer when he noticed how Naruto's eyes were taking in his movement. He's observing my fighting style, Kakashi realised and immediately stopped his assault, though he knew it was too late. He should have noticed earlier.

Once again they stood still as they watched eachother closely. After another couple of minutes ticked by Naruto concluded that the chuunin wouldn't make another attack attempt so he decided that it was his turn. Naruto rushed in and delivered an onslaught of punches and kicks, some were dodged, some hit home but after the first few times Kakashi noticed that trying to block the jounin was useless because once he noticed he always found a way around his defenses. He was simply too fast and yet Kakashi still got the impression that the blonde was holding back.

As Naruto fought Kakashi he pushed at the weaknesses the boy had in his taijutsu. He was a little rougher than what was necassary, but he knew Little Kakashi was pretty arrogant about his skills and was hoping to take him down a notch. After several blows to his left side the Hatake finally caught on to what Naruto was trying to show him. He was irked at first that the blonde wasn't fighting him full out but that didn't last long. Even Minato never pushed him the way Naruto was doing now, and from what he could feel, Naruto wasn't afraid to give him a few bruises.

After Kakashi was thrown into a tree for like the fifth time he finally collapsed, his breathing was heavy and he seemed exhausted. They had been at it for close to an hour, Rin and Obito were a little ways clear of their fight while they each worked on their own skills, but Minato was watching Naruto with great interest.

"Why don't you take a small rest Kakashi." Minato suggested with a smile.

"Hai." the boy responded with a voice shaking from exhaustion. He just stayed on the ground where he had fallen and ignoring the pain he felt from the multiple rough blows, he fell asleep just like that.

Minato walked up to Naruto with the smile still on his face. "That was impressive, it's been awhile since he was pushed that hard, and only with taijutsu. Who did you say your sensei was? Or did you develop it on you own?" Minato asked.