Chapter 10: The next Test

Disclaimer:

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 10:The next Test

"You want us to talk about ourselves? You should already know about us!" Sakura exclaimed.

"Of course I do, but I want to hear it from you," Kakashi answered.

"Why don't you start? We don't even know your name." Sakura insisted.

"Very well… I am Hatake Kakashi. I like… things. I dislike… different things. My goal in life is… not to have my time wasted… now you go."

"You told us nothing about yourself!" Sakura shouted.

"He did tell us his name," Naruto said. "We also know he is a jonin… and that he has several dogs."

"Wait, how do you know he has a dog?" Sakura turned around.

"Because of the smell."

"And how do you know I have several?" Kakashi asked.

"You have dog hair on your clothes and there are several different ones… so, different dogs." Naruto pointed out.

Sakura stared at him in shock.

"Who are you?..."

Sasuke stared at him for a moment but kept his silence.

Kakashi looked at him with interest. He neither confirmed nor denied what he said.

"Why don't you go next, blondie?"

"I am Uzumaki Naruto… I think I like ramen… don't really have much else to say." He had eaten the ramen from Ichiraku a few more times after his first visit and would admit that he liked it. Even though it wasn't the only item on his diet anymore.

"You think you like it?... that's the only thing you eat," Sakura said. "What's with you today?..."

"Okay, the loud girl… you are next." Kakashi pointed at Sakura.

"I'm not that loud!... I mean… I am Haruno Sakura, I'm fifteen. I like the color pink… and romance novels and…" She gave Sasuke a side glance, and her cheeks gained a red tint. "I don't like annoying people, like Ino or…" She now gave Naruto a glance but didn't say his name. For some reason, he hadn't been annoying today. "My goal in life is to become an awesome kunoichi and be recognized by someone…" She gave Sasuke another glance.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. She was being way too obvious.

"Fine… you, quiet one. Say something." He looked at Sasuke.

"Uchiha Sasuke… I have nothing I like… as for what I hate…" He clenched his teeth and fists.

Kakashi stared at him with an impassive gaze. He knew well enough who Sasuke was thinking about right now.

'Still the same, huh?...'

"My goal in life is to restore my clan and… get revenge," Sasuke said coldly.

"R-Restore the clan…" Sakura's cheeks became red again.

Naruto recalled reading about Sasuke's clan being exterminated around six or seven years ago. There were no details about the ones responsible for it or their motives. But from what little Sasuke had said, he definitely knew more than that…

"Well… that was… something, I guess." Kakashi said with little enthusiasm.

Sakura approached Kakashi.

"So, you are going to be our instructor then? Will you be the one who gives us our missions or?..."

"That is still to be seen… for when you are actually Genins," Kakashi said.

"What do you mean? We are already genins," Sakura said.

Sasuke glanced at Kakashi. He also thought the same.

"Is there an extra test we have to pass?" Naruto asked. He had been wondering why this man was trying to test them. It all seemed to indicate that they were still being evaluated.

Kakashi smiled. Or at least it appeared that way. It was hard to tell with the mask.

"Correct… you still need to pass my test. Only then will you have the right to call yourselves… genins."

"But… we passed. We graduated already! Me and Sasuke were number one students!" Sakura shouted.

"You did graduate, yes. But to be an official genin, you need to also pass a trial period under the guidance of a Jonin instructor. This next test is to decide if I take you under my wing… if you fail… you go back to the academy until another instructor is willing to test you." Kakashi explained.

"But that… that's not fair!" Sakura complained.

Sasuke frowned.

"I'm not going back to the academy…"

"We'll see about that," Kakashi said.

"Tomorrow, five a.m., Training Ground number three. I advise you not to eat breakfast… and do not be late." After saying that, he disappeared.

"W-wait!" Sakura shouted.

"This is so unfair! Now we have to pass another test?!"

Sasuke stood up.

Sakura turned to face him and smiled.

"Oh, Sasuke!... do you want to go somewhere? We could go get some tea or s-"

"I need to train… I will not fail here." He muttered in a low voice and left the rooftop.

"I doubt one more day of training would make any difference… I wonder what kind of test he has in mind." Naruto wondered if there was a way to learn more about this teacher.

Sakura stared at Naruto like he was a complete stranger. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something to her, but much to her surprise, Naruto left while in deep focus, thinking about something.

"You didn't even ask me out…" Sakura muttered in a soft voice.

After a nice meal at Ichiraku, Naruto went home and began preparing for the next day.

He opened the door and walked inside. The apartment looked very clean now. At least compared to what it used to be.

And although he didn't have much food in the fridge, this one wasn't spoiled.

"I wish I had more money though… I need to buy new tools and… uhm?...." He glanced at the window. There was something off with the way it was closed.

"Someone has been here…"

When he got closer to the window, he was able to pick up a familiar smell.

For the past week, his sense of smell had been improving a lot, even though he didn't know why.

His current training should have had no effect on his nose.

"Sniff sniff… it smells like… dog."