30 Chapter 30

Kakashi left the Hokage's office to move to training hiring seven. His little students would be waiting for him after all. At least the Pinkette would be waiting for him. He was sure of that. She seemed like the kind that was teacher's pet. She would not disappoint him.

Menma and Sasuke were probably stirring from their beds right now. It was highly likely that they may have put the Pinkette up to it as well. Kakashi just couldn't remember her name. 'What was it? Saraja, Skuda, Skura, ahh.... it was Sakura.' thought Kakashi.

Sakura had brilliant Chakra control. But her lack of chakra was going to hinder her in the long run. He would have to train her extensively if the three of them were to make a cohesive team. He had wanted Menma and Sasuke as they were already a cohesive and volatile duo that could take down a kage if it came down to it. They weren't as strong as Mito or Naruto by a long shot but they weren't pushovers either. Menma had learnt extensive Hyuuga level chakra control for one and Sasuke had recovered his Mangekyou in the previous year due to an especially tricky genjutsu that put him in his worst nightmare. He and Naruto were sparring and Naruto had expected Sasuke to break out of it easily as he had put less chakra into it but due to the contents of the genjutsu, Sasuke stayed in it. When it ended, his eyes were glowing red with a kaleidoscope pattern in it. Izuna stopped the spar with this development. He smirked as Sasuke had just been unable to bring it out but it had been there the entire time.

After these two developments, Menma and Sasuke had been advancing that much faster. Now that Menma knew of the Kyuubi, he would try tapping into its chakra. It was in his nature.

To say that bringing Sakura to par with the two of them was an uphill task was an understatement.

When he reached Training Ground Seven, the three of them were sitting beside a tree and chatting amongst themselves. Sakura was gobbling up a Bento which must have been given to Sasuke or Menma and they would have easily convinced her. She did after all have a crush on Sasuke. As he got near, he made a deadpan expression and asked Sakura, "Didn't I tell you that you weren't supposed eat breakfast? Should I be worried about insubordination?"

Sakura froze up when she heard Kakashi's stern voice. She looked up and said, "I am sorry sensei. I d-didn't want to b-but Menma made me do it!"

Sasuke sighed and said, "In his defense, you 'suggested' that we don't have breakfast. You didn't order us. Besides, any ninja worth half his chakra knows that it is better to train on a full stomach than be caught by fatigue going into a battle without enough chakra."

Sakura stuttered, "Y-Yeah! What he said!"

Kakashi chuckled at her antics. He told, "Sasuke, Menma, you know the drill about the bell test, having taken it every three months for the past few years. You also know what it's for. So I'll change the text. Instead of two, there is only one bell. Make out what that means. You have until noon to do so and implement it." Kakashi smiled widely at that.

Sasuke grabbed Sakura's shoulder and he shushined her into the woods. Menma was right alongside him.

Sakura asked, "Since there is only one bell, does that mean only one of us passes?"

Sasuke snorted and said, "Highly unlikely. He loves us too much for that. Besides, he does he want us to fail in the first place.

Sakura, do you know the reason for the bell test?"

Sakura shook her head. Menma said, "It's basically team work. Usually, there are two bells for a three man cell. The fact that there's only one means that he wants to shake things a little."

Sakura asked, "Does he want some extra good team work or something?"

Sasuke said, "Nah. He has already come to expect that from the two of us."

Menma said, "Wait a minute, he expects the Two of us, me an be Sasuke, to work as a team. He wants all three of us to work as a team!"

Sakura asked, "Would that be possible with two bells as well? Besides, why would he expect the two of you to work together and not me with either of you?"

Sasuke answered, "Because he has never seen you fight. He has seen the two of us go all out against each other, go all out against him, go all out against Naruto and Mito, go all out on Izuna-sama. He knows how the two of us fight. How we work. We have been fighting alongside each other for over half a decade. Of course he expects us to work together.

You on the other hand are our trump card. He doesn't know anything about you. We need to exploit this and use it against him! Besides, Menma has a good point. Kakashi probably wants to see us working as a cohesive team on some level. Even if we start off as a team, we still need to prove that this team won't lose any members in an all out battle."

Menma said, "So the two of us create an opening and Sakura tries to get the bell. If she successfully comes out of nowhere in reasonable places and makes a recognizable impact on the battle, I suppose we shall pass.

Also to answer your first question, if there were two bells, the two of us would go by ourselves and claim it. You wouldn't have to be involved."

Sakura nodded to everything that she had been told. She asked, "So what do we do?"

Sasuke and Menma smirked as they told Sakura of their plan. Kakashi would not see the bell with him at the end of this if they had their way.

Menma and Sasuke came back to the front yard where Kakashi was reading Icha Icha. He asked, "Where's Sakura?"

Sasuke frowned and said, "She felt that only one person would pass and claimed, 'each man on his own'. Guess she won't make the cut then?"

Kakashi said, "I guess you're right." They thought he couldn't sense Sakura literally below them with their actual selves. They though he would be fooled by such paltry tricks. He said, "Time to go all out and show you exactly why you shouldn't underestimate anyone!"

Kakashi removed his eye patch and his wife went from Sharingan to Mangekyou Sharingan. He unsheated two swords which were sealed on his wrists. The swords were purple in color. They could copy the properties of any metal they touched on the will of the wielder. He chanelled raiton chakra through the swords. The swords blazed a bright blue encompassing purple. He said, "Let's dance!"