Chapter 34: When 2 Train, then 2 improve.
"Good Morning!" Kakashi greeted the four of them leisurely.
"YOU ARE LATE!!!" Naruto and Sakura shouted both at him for being way too late again to their appointment. They already stood on the training grounds for a while now.
"Don't sweat about the small stuff." Kakashi didn't even apologize and got straight to the point. He placed a clock down and activated its alarm that would sound at noon. "Ok, it´s set for noon."
"Listen up now. Your task is to take these from me before the time´s up" Kakashi showed them 2 little bell chimes.
The group was rather confused. That is besides Kaito who understood what this was all about. But there was actually something special in this scenario. Kaito actually was not included in this little exercise.
"Those who don't get a bell by noon will get no lunch. And if you somehow manage to get the bells then the one that doesn't have one will be tied to a stump while the others eat. And to make something clear. One of you will certainly fail today."
Kakashi looked serious and then placed the bells around his waist so they were visible.
"You may use whatever you want. May it be Shuriken, Kunai, Katana or whatever weapons you like. Ninjutsu and Genjutsu are also okay. Come at me with the intent to kill. Or else you won't succeed."
"But you would be in danger!" Sakura was confused and worried about this being some sort of bait.
"Yeah, you cant even dodge that blackboard eraser. We would definitely hurt you badly, sensei!", grinned Naruto.
"The ones with the biggest mouth fall the quickest. Well, let's ignore Mr. dead-last here." Kakashi replied.
Naruto immediately got triggered by that provocation and took out a kunai but unlike normally when he would charge up he stopped and thought about something.
Kaito saw that and started smiling. ´Guess you finally noticed, huh?´
Naruto relaxed and waited. He started rotating his Kunai around his finger and started at Kakashi. Then he suddenly wanted to charge again but right after the first step he rotated his body and tried to stab behind him.
Kakashi who used his body flicker to suppress Naruto was surprised when he suddenly changed direction mid-motion and attacked his current position.
But that was still a far cry about being dangerous and Kakashi just grabbed Naruto´s hand holding the Kunai.
The other two that looked at what happened were both surprised. Sasuke even had a small smile on his face.
"Hmm, very interesting. Did you predict my movement?" Kakashi asked.
"Heh, you are just like my brother. Going preferably to the back. But now that I know how fast you can be, I won't hold back at all anymore." Naruto became quite serious now.
"I see. So you have finally acknowledged me? But you should calm down. I haven't said start yet. But seeing that all three of you seem to go at it with the right attitude I started to kinda like you all."
Kakashi looked over to Kaito. He probably thought about how fast Kaito was that Naruto did compare him to his own brother. Then after a short pause, he let go of Naruto.
"Ok, let´s begin. Ready...go!" With those words, Sasuke and Sakura charged off and hid in the surroundings. Those were the fundamentals of shinobi. They were assassins after all.
But there was still someone standing and preparing to go straight into a close-quarter fight. It was Naruto.
"Okay! Here I come." Naruto charged at Kakashi
Kakashi sighed. "Lesson #1. Taijutsu, let's see how good you are." Then he grabbed something from his tool pouch and pulled out his Come Come Paradise book.
"What's wrong?" Naruto stopped his charge. "Hurry up attack me."
"But...what is up with that book?", asked a confused Naruto.
"Didn't I already tell you I like reading? I just want to know what happens next. But don't worry. It won't make a difference against you guys.", answered Kakashi flipping a page in the book.
A clear angry vein appeared on Naruto´s forehead.
"I will totally kick your ass!!" Naruto continued the previous attack that he started.
´Naruto...calm down...´ Kaito sighed and started to tap the ground in annoyance. He felt somewhat annoyed now that he was put here only to watch all the action unfold.
Naruto was also still outmatched. One of the factors is that he was emotionally agitated before he even started the fight.
But because he did train with Kaito Naruto slowly started to calm down and the longer Kakashi seemed to dodge and parry nonchalantly the more naruto noticed other openings from his stance.
Of course, someone would have openings, when someone had a freaking book in their hands and read said book.
At some point, Naruto even threw a Kunai stealthily while he pretended a swing of his foot brought him out of balance.
That little trick was again a mid-motion change in action. Kakashi sure applauded Naruto´s talent in doing so. Normally an already started motion was rather hard to be changed, but he somehow manages to infuse his momentum into a smooth transition and apply a further increase in power to a combination of movements.
That kunai, for example, had the power of his swinging kick that let him do a backward somersault. Coupled with his arm movement in the same rotational movement as his body turned, he could increase his throwing strength.
The kunai ended up being so fast that it graced Kakashi's leg slightly. Kakashi even frowned a little bit. He was actually hit while trying to avoid the attack. But that was not all. That small moment of distraction was enough for Naruto and he already had his fingertip on one of the bells.
Seeing that, Kakashi´s eye went wide and he immediately slapped Naruto´s face with his book sending him flying to the ground a few meters away.
"Ugh! Damn it! I was so close!!" Naruto was annoyed that it failed and wiped away the dirt on his face with his sleeve.
Kakashi stared at him for a while and actually put away the book. He was planning on only dodging his attacks and have some fun but by the look, Naruto was rather far in Taijutsu. Once again Kakashi took a glance over to Kaito that was sitting leisurely on a rock now.
There was a rather pleased smile on his face. Even somewhat mocking.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone