As Jay tossed the smoke bomb into the ground, the group retreated into a nearby bush with the silent and fast steps the academy trained them in.

  [Sasuke] - What now ? He only has two bells and we all know he will probably follow through with his nonsense -

  Sasuke was already narrowing his eyes … he knew the difference between them and a Jounin … His brother, Itachi, was enough of an example for Sasuke to know that he didn't stand a chance alone … but that meant that one of them would have to take the fall …

  Sasuke's eyes drifted momentarily towards Sakura …

  ***

  Sakura's heart was beating louder in her chest … there were only two bells … Sakura knew she was the weak link of their team all things considered … if it came down to it, she would have to take the fall …

  Sakura quietly looked at her teammates, noticing that Sasuke arrived at the same conclusion she did … Sakura's Prince was looking at her with the narrowed eyes of someone that already made a decision …

  ***

  [Jay] - Alright, this is great, we get the bells, you both take one and if he is lying we all pass and if he is not, I get free time and I don't have to deal with his bullshit, win-win for me … What do you guys think ? -

  Jay said in a whisper, a smile plastered into his face …

  Sakura and Sasuke looked into each other's eyes, a twitch in their mouths betraying their contained laughter …

  Of course Jay wouldn't care …

  [Sakura] - Baka-Jay … -

  [Sasuke] - Hmm … What's the plan ? -

  ***

  Jay looked at his two teammates, the kids were just fine, more than fine even … Jay was having to adjust his expectations about age and maturity in this place … children grew up a bit faster …

  [Jay] “ Must be a result of chakra adaptation … from what I gathered, the spiritual component of chakra is very tied to experience and knowledge … “

  Jay thought to himself as he diffused the rising tension that Kakashi introduced …

  From what Jay discovered about Hatake Kakashi, the man was quite finicky with his way of evaluating then …

  A test of patience, keeping your emotions in check, situational awareness, information gathering and knowing when to call quits … all the while acting like an infuriating jerk tailor made to make the children lose their temper and doubt themselves at every step …

  Jay had to give it to Kakashi, his little game worked wonders on the children, Sasuke and Sakura both immediately thought about who would have to take the fall … before even trying to figure out how to get the bells …

  Jay would bail them out of Kakashi's mind games once more … but he would leave planning to them …

  [Jay] “ Let's see if they can think outside the box … “

  ***

  [Jay] - What's the plan ? Why are you looking at me for it ? Go figure it out yourselves … Me ? I’ll fight him a bit, so get some info out alright ? -

  [Sakura] - Don't … -

  Sakura tried to say something but Jay already jumped out of their hiding spot … Sakura turned to Sasuke who had his Sharingan already active.

  [Sakura] - What do we do ? … -

  Sakura asked, slightly less anxious now that Jay voluntarily took the fall …

  [Sasuke] - What do we know ? … -

  Sasuke asked in a grunt …

  [Sakura] - We have until the clock rings to take the bells … that's it … -

  Sasuke closed his eyes and tried to think like Jay would …

  [Sasuke] - What’s the most obvious solution in hindsight ? … What we are not seeing ? … How long do we have ? -

  [Sakura] - … Kakashi didn't give us a precise time … We have until the clock rings … We don't know how long that even is … -

  Sakura frowned as she tried to think it through …

  [Sakura] - … We have until the clock rings … wait … -

  They both stopped and looked at each other, they both smiled, nodded, planned and went sneaking …

  Hopefully they would be able to tell the general plan to Jay or simply use his distraction to do it …

  *** *** ***

  Kakashi turned another page in his book, taking a small step to the left as a kunai sailed past where his center of mass was previously …

  The toss was almost perfect, but the jounin's senses were razor sharp … especially towards danger …

  [Kakashi] - You didn't go for a vital ? -

  Kakashi asked without looking up. Once more, Jay surprised him by being unbothered by the implied insult.

  [Jay] - Those are easier to dodge -

  Jay shrugged as he stepped out from behind the three he was in, slowly walking around Kakashi without approaching …

  [Kakashi] - Not because they might kill me ? -

  Kakashi raised an eyebrow, still not looking up from his book, but making sure to track Jay's movements … the boy was stepping harder than needed every time …

  [Jay] - Yeah, right, as if that was even a possibility … -

  Kakashi frowned, turning his body slightly to not let the boy get behind him … Kakashi was already giving the boy time to prepare something by not acting nor looking, but letting the boy on his back is a bit much …

  [Kakashi] - No trust in your own abilities ? Where are your companions by the way ? -

  [Jay] - I know where I stand better than most, nothing more nothing less, and I left them planning something, I'm just the bait -

  Kakashi smiled a knowing smile.

  [Kakashi] - Let them do the thinking this time around ? Or did you bail them again ? -

  Kakashi looked up from his book, finally facing the boy.

  [Jay] - Wouldn't you like to know … By the way, thanks for the time … -

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  [Kakashi] - You're well… -

  But before Kakashi could finish, his ears picked up the muffled sound of an explosive tag going off …

  [Kakashi] “ Did he plant those with his steps ? … And are those custom made ? “

  Kakashi's body was already in motion as the ground around him exploded with a directed blast, sending debris blasting towards him, cutting off some escape routes and also serving as a distraction as Kakashi had to move his book out of the way from the rain of dirt and rocks … Jay, who had his hands raised in a bastardized stance of Guy's Strong-First, took the opening as a proper ninja should.

  ***

  Jay waited until Kakashi was mid step before dashing forward. His chakra was already primed for the motion he trained until it was muscle memory … chakra gathered on his feet, securing his grip, before flowing up towards his calves, thighs, quads, abs … contracting each muscle with perfect timing while keeping the reinforcement needed for his joints and tendons to sustain the abrupt motion …

  Jay activated a Storage Seal he had on hand, the piece of sealing paper puffing into a white smoke that soon revealed a spear that he thrust forward.

  Kakashi saw the metal point coming towards his center of mass, the boy's timing was almost perfect, Jay's dash and surprise weapon summon gave him a milliseconds advantage … Kakashi was left with less time than he liked to deal with the attack …

  Deciding to take things slightly more serious, Kakashi snapped his book shut with one hand, focusing his chakra on the collector's edition hard cover that he paid extra to have, and parried the strike with the spine of his book … putting just enough force to rattle the shaft of the spear but not break it …

  [Kakashi] - Good speed and good form, you really are studying under Guy aren't you ? -

  Kakashi smiled, ducking under the next strike.

  [Kakashi] - Not much of a talker mid combat ? Good habit, keeping your breathing even and the chakra churning … -

  Kakashi jumped over a sweep, stepping on the spear, focusing his chakra on his sandals to stick them and the spear to the ground.

  [Kakashi] - Not bad at all but not good enough, you will need a bit more than that you know ? … -

  Kakashi sensed a small but telling build up of chakra in the spear head he was stepping over …

  A quick string of hand seals and gestures with his free hand and Kakashi left the spear encased in hardened earth. Moments later a muffled explosion slightly shook said earth …

  [Kakashi] - … Sneaky, did you inscribe an explosive seal into the spear head ? Not bad, not bad at all … -

  Kakashi waited to see if the boy had more surprises.

  [Kakashi] “ Good offense, the Taijutsu is very polished, Guy did good work with him … but he is a bit light on the Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, why is that ? His file said he had a lot of potential there and he is smart enough to make use of them … “

  Kakashi gave a small pause as he saw the boy's eyes focus on something else for a brief moment …

  [Kakashi] “ … Sasuke and Sakura already came up with a plan ? … Not bad, most Chunin would have missed the signaling, they even did it while I had my back turned … Not bad stealth on their part either, making use of the explosions and debris to close in … now what you will do ? … “

  Kakashi smiled at Jay, who abandoned his still buried spear to gain some distance.

  [Kakashi] - Taking distance ? Gave up on Taijutsu already ? … -

  Kakashi inclined his head when Jay talked.

  [Jay] - One of the rewards I asked for after developing my own clone jutsu, was access to the other clone jutsus, for research, of course … And while I don't mesh all that well with the standard hand signs, I'm quite good at making my own … -

  Kakashi narrowed his eyes as the boy struck a pose and bent his chakra …

  [Kakashi] - Developing your own handsigns already ? Talk about precocious … -

  Instincts and muscle memory took hold. Kakashi's arm moved before his mind registered, hand coated in lightning chakra swiping forward while his body bent to the side …

  An afterimage of Jay passed through where Kakashi was, the image had an arm straight with a punch that was aimed at Kakashi's head … The image was beheaded by Kakashi's strike but the surprise was still there …

  [Kakashi] - Lightning Clone ? … Aren't you a little young to be playing with something that dangerous ? -

  Kakashi's tone was mocking but the question was serious.

  [Jay] - I don't know, weren't you doing the same at your age ? -

  Despite himself, Kakashi actually smirked at the boy's snark.

  [Kakashi] - Well, aren't you full of surprises ? … -

  Kakashi gave a small pause and flexed his chakra to dispel a minor genjutsu …

  Kakashi turned to look straight at a specific tree.

  [Kakashi] - Not bad Pinkie, I almost … -

  Once more Kakashi's body moved, a step to the side and another afterimage was cut …

  [Kakashi] - How rude, you attacked me in the middle of my mockery ? -

  Kakashi turned sharply towards Jay …

  [Kakashi] “ Wind is not my best element, but that barrier is a hard counter to that annoying lightning … “

  A string of handsigns later and a small dome of wind wrapped around Kakashi …

  [Jay] - That's four times, four times I made you use chakra … how many more can I squeeze out of you ? -

  Kakashi smiled.

  [Kakashi] - Aren't you forgetting what the challenge is ? -

  Kakashi flexed his chakra once more as another genjutsu tried to take hold and turn his focus.

  [Jay] - I don't know, aren't you forgetting something too ? -

  Kakashi frowned, the bells were untouched and none of them were close to him nor the clock, what could …

  Kakashi eyes widened as he flexed his chakra harder when another genjutsu tried to distract him … finally, another hidden signature became more apparent … one that went unnoticed as Kakashi made sure to relax his senses to give his cute little genins a fighting chance …

  Kakashi lowered his guard and stood up straight … slowly clapping his hands.

  *** *** ***

  Sasuke focused as best as he could, trying to hide his own chakra …

  He and Sakura went in different directions, Sasuke left a normal Clone with her and pumped as much chakra as the jutsu could hold while trying his best to hide his own signature as he walked closer to the tree where Kakashi stuck the clock in …

  When Kakashi took off the bells and winding clock, he made sure their attention was on the bells before tossing the clock with a Kunai in a tall tree away from him …

  Sasuke barely paid attention to it … and for that, it took him some time to find said tree and some extra time to climb that tree silently and with no chakra as to not alert Kakashi … A task harder than it sounds, as any chakra usage at all might alert their asshole of a sensei …

  Sakura took upon herself to try and distract Kakashi with a genjutsu that would subtly try to make Sasuke's clone less apparent, which in turn would make it stand out even more when Kakashi obviously dispelled them …

  Sasuke was starting to get mad at how his own mind was starting to see sense in Jay's joke-ish paranoia …

  Sasuke's lessons with Itachi's nii-san on how to properly use genjutsu still made Sasuke's head hurt with all the convoluted logic behind it, the art of misdirection wasn't natural to Sasuke's thought process … but if the plan worked, Sasuke would make sure to thank his brother for the headaches …

  Slowly, Sasuke climbed and climbed until the dangling clock was just out of his reach …

  Sasuke focused on his clone that should still be beside Sakura and gave the signal …

  ***

  Sakura didn't have the best reserves of chakra, her precise chakra control compensated for some of it, but trying to repeatedly cast a genjutsu into a Jounin was quickly eating away at her reserves …

  The more chakra a target had, the harder it was to overcome their natural resistance, this meant that to cast even a basic genjutsu on a target with so much more chakra than her would have a steep cost …

  Five tries and Sakura was already feeling herself getting exhausted, but Sasuke's clone beside her just gave her the signal …

  Jay was still occupying most of Kakashi's attention and with good reason, as the blond MENACE kept showing more and more tricks, there was a small pang of envy blooming in her chest …

  But Sakura had a job to do, it was time for a big one …

  Sakura focused most of her remaining chakra just as the clone finished giving the signal … Sakura did her best to occupy Kakashi's focus for only a few moments, layering the same basic misdirection again and again for as long as she could, even if that was only a half second …

  ***

  Sasuke took a deep breath, it was harder to do the jutsu with only a single hand free, the seals were different and there was a need to adjust the molding of the chakra …

  But Sasuke was an Uchiha Ninja, the Fireball was a rite of passage for any Uchiha in pursuit of that path … Sasuke was well used to casting the jutsu, even with the current constraints … besides, he didn't need to make a big one …

  Chakra mixed with the air in Sasuke's lungs, pressure built up slightly, and as soon as the jutsu formed, Sasuke released it …

  A small gout of flame spewed out from his mouth directly into the dangling clock … Chakra imbued flames quickly turning the cheap thing to a burnt useless crisp …

  *** *** ***

  Jay abandoned the stance he was in, relaxing his body as Kakashi slowly clapped.

  [Kakashi] - … Come to me, my cute little genins, you passed the test … with honors even … that was well thought, congratulations on seeing underneath the underneath … -

  Jay smirked as he saw Sakura visibly deflate in relief with Sasuke coming soon after.

  [Kakashi] - .. not many recently graduated ninjas ever think about destroying the clock as a win condition, most can’t even honestly work together, always subtly trying to sabotage each other even though none of them actually stands a chance at getting the bells … –

  Kakashi surveyed the kids there with him, taking note of Sakura’s relieved expression, Sasuke's proud smile and Jay’s knowing look …

  [Kakashi] - … You guys obviously don’t have that problem, so let’s get the boring team things out of the way, who's gonna be the team leader ? -

  Kakashi gave his now startled genin an eye smile, a smile that actually reached his face when Sasuke and Sakura both looked at Jay …

  Kakashi almost giggled when Jay gave an exasperated but resigned sigh.

  [Jay] - … Can I refuse ? -

  Kakashi’s smile widened.

  [Kakashi] - Nope … -

  Kakashi let the denial pop out of his mouth.

  [Kakashi] - Now that the test is done, Sasuke, Sakura … good work, you are both dismissed, I’ll talk with Jay for a bit … -

  Sakura opened her mouth to speak, but Sasuke beat her to it.

  [Sasuke] - If it is the same to you Kakashi sensei, I would like to stay -

  Sakura nodded at that.

  [Kakashi] - Commendable team spirit my cute little genins, but I’ll talk about some particular matters concerning little Jay here, so it’s not the same … -

  Kakashi saw Sasuke tensing up slightly with Sakura looking at him and Jay in a slightly anxious manner.

  [Jay] - It’s alright Sasuke, it’s probably another one of those things that Itachi can’t talk with you but I’m kinda obligated to be in the know … -

  Sasuke ground his teeth slightly at the indirect jab to his pride, being reminded that his own brother was training to be Hokage and that Jay was his apprentice …

  [Sasuke] - Right … -

  [Jay] - Why don’t you take Sakura with you ? Do some training together, get her more up to speed with us and all that … -

  Sakura smiled brightly at that, giving an almost puppy look to Sasuke …

  [Sasuke] - I suppose that’s fine too … -

  And before Sasuke could change his mind, Sakura already grabbed his hand.

  [Sakura] - YES, thank you, thank you so much BakaJay, we will be leaving you guys now, sorry not sorry, BYE … -

  Sasuke who was almost startled by the explosive reaction, was almost dragged by the hand by an overly excited Sakura.

  ***

  Kakashi saw both kids leaving the training grounds with an amused smile … remembering a scene from his own past … but somehow warped …

  Kakashi clapped his hands before the reminiscence got to him.

  [Kakashi] - So … Jay … -

  Kakashi stopped to look at the kid in front of him … the kid that reminded him of himself and even a bit of Itachi … but oh so different …

  Kakashi wanted to talk so much with him … with his sensei’s son … with his adopted father and mother’s son … his own adopted little brother …

  Kakashi felt his throat closing slightly, even as the cryptic words came out.

  [Kakashi] - What do you know ? -

  Kakashi supposed that the raised eyebrows weren’t unexpected, less so the question that came soon after.

  [Jay] - Depends on who is asking and if the conversation will actually be private … -

  Kakashi really shouldn’t have expected anything less of his own adopted little brother …

  [Kakashi] - How do you feel about petting some dogs while drinking a cup of tea ? … -

  Jay blinked slightly surprised.

  [Jay] - That sounds … lovely ? -

  [Kakashi] - Great, I know just the place … -

  Jay only watched as Kakashi slashed his finger with a slight application of wind chakra and performed a string of seals while focusing a massive amount of chakra …

  [Kakashi] - … Why does this never get any easier ? … -

  Jay heard Kakashi muttering with a slight wince as his chakra reserves dropped …

  [Kakashi] - … Brace yourself and be mindful of the pups … -

  Jay didn’t know what to expect when Kakashi palmed his bloody hands together and a chakra smoke covered both of them …

  Now, as some of you might know ... especially those that also read my other work ... I HATE inconsistencies, so I do my fucking best to not have any …

  That leaves me with Kakashi’s past and all the supposed ‘Familial’ relation he had with Minato … and I know that teacher-student is NOT father and son … but come on, that’s pretty close, especially since Kakashi was a kid who just lost his father … Minato was basically a father figure to him, and as far as we know, Kakashi was invited to be rather close to the family … I mean, he was one of Kushina’s bodyguards during her pregnancy and Minato basically invited Kakashi to be a part of the family to help him cope with Obito’s death … Kakashi is basically Naruto’s older brother that never actually got to interact with him.

  And any number of excuses can be made as to why Kakashi couldn’t interact with Naruto prior to being on a genin team, but DURING it ? … yeah, their interactions left a lot to be desired … so … yeah.

  Also, my trip to Scotland was to watch Hamilton live with my wife (big fan) and the rewatch of the story left me wanting to write some shit about revolutionary wars and shit, so for those that see my other work, here is the spoiler for what I’m cooking on the next chapter …