Chapter 297   - Ch297. Genin Test 1

Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata arrived at the training ground three at ten minutes before ten a.m., anxious about this supposed real genin test.

They were not nervous because of the test. Far from it. They were ninjas and information gathering was a basic skill taught in the academy. They asked around and found out almost nobody fails the test nowadays. That, however, only put more pressure on them.

No, they were nervous because of who was going to be testing them.

Kakashi Hatake was one of the very few jonins who failed fresh genins since the reforms in the academy took effect. Sure, these genins were simply given a second chance and passed with flying colors because... apparently, Kakashi was a huge dick, but that was not really important.

They witnessed the white-haired jonin fight Anko and the idea of being part of such a fast-paced fight was as scary as it was exciting for the trio. After all, Anko handed their asses to them hands down without even really trying and Kakashi could go blow for blow against her. Judging by that, their prospects were not the best...

"Calm down. I don't understand why you are so uptight about it, bastard." Naruto lazily said from his spot under a tree where he carefreely laid with his hands behind his head, not betraying how nervous he really felt.

"Why? Maybe because we are going to fight against one of the strongest jonins in Konoha? Unlike you, I did my homework and gathered information about this Hatake Kakashi. He is famed as the Sharingan no Kakashi and is known for copying more than a thousand ninjutsu! Fighting against him won't be easy, loser." Sasuke grunted, counting his newly-purchased exploding tags to pass the long while.

"But Anko has beaten him so readily..." Naruto whined.

"Sometimes you act so smartly I forget you are actually an idiot." Sasuke wearily sighed, "Anko played dirty and dispatched him before he could use his area of expertise, ninjutsu. The man has Sharingan and was a ninjutsu prodigy even before he got that."

"So we just have to play dirty too!" Naruto rolled his eyes.

"No shit sherlock..." Hinata muttered under her nose. She was occasionally activating and deactivating her eyes to scan the surroundings. Being surprised by Anko once was enough trauma for one lifetime.

As such, she was very aware that Naruto's clones were currently trapping the forest to high heavens and made sure to remember the position of every trap. They were given the advantage of knowing where they would fight and not using it would be such a waste Anko would no doubt flunk them just because.

"As if it was that easy..." Sasuke snorted.

Honestly, he was very interested in Kakashi after finding out the man possessed Sharingan. That desire plummeted when he heard what others had to say about him. Pervert, lazy as fuck, always late... Apparently, he pissed off quite a few people with his bad habits.

When Sasuke thought a person like this possessed his clan's fabled dojutsu and was known for using it to great effect... he couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed to share this trait with him. God knows Anko-sensei would beat the crap out of him if she caught him reading Icha Icha before he became a full-fledged genin.

He definitely didn't know that because she once caught him... Nope.

The trio quieted down in silent contemplation, all going through the repertoire of techniques they knew while trying to devise a strategy based on what they saw Kakashi being capable of in his fight against Anko. Their information was severely limited but it was still better than going in completely blind.

When the clock hit ten a.m., Kakashi finally arrived, boredly hunching down while trying to keep as far away as possible from the excitable and sadistic kunoichi who followed him to make sure he wouldn't be late.

Kakashi didn't like being on this team. At all. Especially so after the three hours he spent in hospital yesterday while his mind tried to reboot from all the pain Anko put him through. Unfortunately for him, he was under the threat of having his eggs scrambled... and Kakashi quickly learned to take Anko's threats quite seriously... so he had to listen to the ridiculous rules Anko gave him.

. No pissing people off by being lazy and arriving in every meeting three hours late!

. No pissing on people!

. No pissing Anko off as that makes her cranky and cranky Anko is stabby Anko! Consider yourself warned.

. No imagining humping Anko's leg because she forbade you to read Icha Icha during work, ya pervert!

. No beating your genin up to relieve your frustration! In this team, only Anko-chan can bully others!

. No playing fetch with pointy sharp metal with your genins! Use blunted ones! They hurt longer.

. No teamwork crap until the team members are individually competent enough to actually make working together worth it.

Anko called these things the Seven Commandments of Utterly Amazing Anko-chan and Kakashi wasn't sure if some of them didn't come from a book about training pets.

"Yo..." Kakashi lazily waved at his three new genins but his voice didn't contain the usual cheer. Instead, it sounded quite dejected. He then pulled out a clock from his pocket and set it up on a nearby stump, "So... well, I wanted to give you a teamwork test but it was pointed to me," He shivered as he remembered Anko's kunai approaching his ass while he was paralyzed from all the pain coming from his crotch, "that three genins put together on a team are not supposed to have a passable teamwork and it is my duty as your jonin-sensei to teach you how to work together rather than expect it from you right off the bat."

Kakashi had no idea why he was explaining himself but damn if it didn't feel good to complain in this roundabout way about the brutal team-leader abuse going on in his team.

"Instead, you three will try to subdue me within the next two hours," Cue the three groans that lifted Kakashi's mood, "so I can get a decent image of your current skillset. Don't worry and-" He eye-smiled before setting the alarm to go off in two hours, "come at me with the intent to kill."

The second he finished saying that, the ground under him suddenly exploded as three exploding tags went off right underneath him, sending rocks, dirt, and dust into the air.

Sasuke and Naruto glanced at Hinata who gently shook her head, gesturing with her head at a tree to their left where Kakashi was currently halfheartedly 'hiding' by leaning on the tree trunk with his back while reading Icha Icha. Fortunately, Anko allowed him to read it during this occasion as it would be a good motivation for the genins.

Kakashi yet again wondered why did he agree to Anko's ridiculous rules and why did he need permission from the younger woman to read his porn...

"Nice plan, you three." He half-heartedly praised, "You definitely deserve a point for eagerness and being murder-happy."

Contrary to Kakashi's expectations, the three genins didn't react to his remark and just spread out, watching him with cute determined looks as if they had a chance.

'Let's get this over with. Might as well use this opportunity to show the Uchiha some Jutsu while teaching him humility, teach the Hyuuga her clan's fighting style is not God's gift, and make sure Naruto would never dream of pranking me out of fear of retaliation.' He thought with a sigh. This was going to be a nice leisure two hours of fun.

Unknown to Kakashi, Anko watched in anticipation from her hiding spot. Yes, the three genins were anxious and careful but she didn't train the three of them to be Kakashi's personal punching bag. If he thought this was going to be easy he had another thing coming.

'I wonder if Hinata will make good use of my advice about how to subdue men..' Anko giggled, imagining the vast possibilities of Gentle Fist.