"..." They stood opposite each other on the field.
Sabuko pointed his kunai at Bolo.
"Sabuko Kanto," Bolo said coolly. "I have no time for bluffs or last-ditch efforts. Jonin are busy people."
'No,' Sabuko clenched his teeth, 'If he backs off, it's over. Fuck that!'
"I'd hate to hurt you more. Best luck next year." Bolo sighed before turning around.
'... You fucker. You know so much about me, you must know that if I fail, I lose everything.' Sabuko clenched his fist.
'Fuck everything. Worst case, I get hit again. But I'mma force you to pass me.'
"You're just some cheap Kakashi copycat knockoff, who are YOU to tell me what's my future?" Sabuko let out with a smirk.
"...." Bolo stopped, "... Excuse me?"
"Excuse your ripoff of a test?" Sabuko replied, "Or maybe the fact that you base your whole philosophy on the guy, and can't even remember his quote, you failure?"
".... You've resorted to insults... I can tell..." Bolo's fist tightened as he exhaled, "Trying to get under my skin... But that's far enough—"
"What was it you said, Bolo-sensei? That Jonin are so far above Genin, today's test wasn't about fighting you, right? It was about teamwork."
"... What of it." Bolo narrowed his eyes.
"Well, it's just that we're not that far apart."
"I could hit you without needing to sneak up on you. I guarantee that. Doing this much... Should compensate for my lack of Taijutsu, right?"
"..."
Bolo then placed a palm to his face and chuckled.
"I see... You indeed bear the qualities fitting for a great shinobi."
"...?" Sabuko gulped.
"You underestimate your superiors and your teachers. Thinking I'd actually lose my head over a few insults." Bolo shook his head with a smirk. "Though, I should praise you for this... Trying to get me mad to follow along this farce... I was right, you are perceptive and calm. You'd do well as a ninja."
He turned around again.
"Next year."
Sabuko clenched his teeth.
'No, you fucking DON'T.'
"Fuck that." Sabuko snapped. "You useless bastard! I SAID I COULD BEAT YOU! A JONIN!"
"Language~..." Bolo muttered softly with a smirk as he walked casually away from Bolo.
Sabuko tensed every muscle in his body.
Then relaxed.
'... I know.'
"Ah, it's natural you'd be scared of me," Sabuko said.
"Yeah, yeah... You're too scary~" Bolo mocked as he waved him off. Back still turned.
"All of you were, after all, a bunch of useless cowards when the Kyuubi struck."
Bolo froze dead in his spot.
"My dad used to tell me stories... About how the fourth Hokage sacrificed himself while you were all jumping around. And all you could—"
"... Stop." Bolo interrupted quietly.
"... Do... Is watch your villagers get killed and slaughtered."
"I SAID ENOUGH!!" Bolo fully turned around, his face tensed and red.
"No, SE-N-SEI... Do as you said, and run off, little coward. The way you ran away all those years ago with all that blood on your hands, while the Kyuubi took everyone you care about away from you."
Bolo clenched his fist.
"... This?" Bolo said.
Sabuko gulped as he instinctively shielded his throat.
"THIS... Is your gratitude for our... Your teachers' SACRIFICE!!?" He screamed, crows flying off a nearby tree.
"Please. Neither of you Jonins are teachers." Sabuko said as he spat on the ground.
"What did you just say...?" Bolo fumed, his whole body shaking.
"You heard me." Sabuko straightened.
"A real teacher, a real caretaker and mentor, doesn't expect twelve-year-olds to walk in with a prebuilt philosophy on teamwork. They teach them. They guide them why it's wrong to abandon your teammates, no matter the odds. They don't call kids "scumbags of the ninja world" for not reading their mind."
In the Hokage's Office
The Hokage glanced toward Kakashi.
"..." Kakashi said nothing, eye narrowing in quiet thought.
-----------------
Back on the field:
"You Jonin might be skilled instructors, sure." Sabuko's voice cracked slightly, but his anger held.
"But don't pretend to be mentors when you're anything but."
"ENOUGH!"
Bolo's shout echoed across the field.
"You've insulted me and all my fellow Jonin... far too long. You.. You wanted me to play along? Get under my skin? FINE. I'll play THOROUGHLY, you little bastard."
Sabuko smirked. 'It worked..!'
"On one condition," Bolo raised his finger.
"Whenever you attack... I'm allowed to retaliate."
"I wonder how much I'll hold back after what you just said." Bolo concluded.
---------- At Hiruzen's office ---------
"Kakashi." Hiruzen said to Kakashi, briefly turning to him.
"Yep. On my way there." Kakashi said before vanishing from the office.
----------------------------------------
"And I'll make SURE you won't ever be a Shinobi if you fail."
Bolo growled.
"Can I… start then?" Sabuko asked, missing no beat.
"Sure. Be my guest."
Sabuko raised his kunai, preparing to throw.
"Before you do," Bolo said, halting him. "Let me guess…"
He smirked.
"That kunai… it's a transformed Kage Bunshin, isn't it? I've seen you touching it often. Is it to supply it with Chakra so that it maintains its form?"
Sabuko's eyes widened. He visibly flinched.
Bolo's smirk deepened.
"I told you. I'm a Jonin for a reason. Paying attention to details such as you touching your Kunai twice today... Is just routine for us." Bolo concluded, "Something you are too far from understanding. And from the looks of it, never will."
"Damn it…" Sabuko clenched his teeth.
"DAMN IT!!!" he shouted, and hurled the kunai toward Bolo.
'Hmph… you showed potential. But in the end, you're just a hotheaded, disrespectful brat,' Bolo thought, watching the kunai spin through the air.
'To disrespect Kakashi-senpai… and us… after everything we've been through… the likes of you, raised in peace off our backs..!! You have no right!!'
His hand shot out. The kunai transformed mid-air into a clone; just as he expected.
Without hesitation, Bolo slammed his palm into the clone's face, pinning it to the ground hard enough to crack the earth.
'It's over. I will MAKE SURE... YOU'LL NEVER BE A NINJA.'
Then... he looked down.
Blood trickled from the clone's mouth.
'...What?'
But, a moment before the clone dispelled, Bolo could clearly see it.
A huge, triumphant smile on its face as it looked at Bolo dead in the eye.
'Why is that clone… smiling?'
Far across the field, Sabuko smirked.
'He fell for it.'
"You were right, Bolo-sensei. That kunai was a shadow clone. You dealt with him. Brilliantly done."
"Now then,"
His eyes seemed to glow as he folded his arms and raised his chin.
"…What will you do about the second one?"
'SECOND?!' Bolo whipped his head around. 'There IS no second!'
"…!!!"
Too late.
To his side, right beside his hip, The kunai's handle wrap fluttered in the breeze…
…as it morphed into another Sabuko.
'WHAT!?'
--- AT THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE ---
"HOOOH…!"
The Hokage leaned in over the crystal ball, a grin spreading across his face.
"To think I'd see Shadow Clone and Transformation Jutsu used like that…!"
"I'm impressed...!"
---------------------------------------------------
'The kunai's handle wrap… it was another clone!?' Bolo's eyes widened as the second Sabuko slipped into his blind spot.
'I MESSED UP…! I'll be stabbed!'
But he didn't attack.
Instead, he reached at the two silver bells attached to Bolo's belt...
…and snatched them after a quick poke to Bolo's ribs. He then rolled away, and stood triumphantly with the two bells in his hand.
"DUUUUUUMBASS. Like I'd risk my life stabbing a Jōnin." He mocked.
"I won, Bolognese." He smirked, waving the two bells in front of him.
Bolo stood frozen. His expression unreadable.
"...?" The other Sabuko tilted his head from afar, as he watched Bolo slightly turning away from the Sabuko that just stole his bells.
A few seconds passed.
Then; a quiet click of the tongue.
Suddenly, Bolo launched forward faster than Sabuko's eyes could register, and threw a punch with every ounce of power in his body toward Sabuko—right past the one that just stole his two bells.
"..!!" Sabuko's eyes widened. He only caught the last frame—
—just before the punch was halted inches from his face.
By none other than...
"You were really about to drive that in..." came a calm voice.
It was Kakashi.
"...Bolo-sensei. Over a few snide remarks?" Kakashi's grip locked around his wrist.
'Shit... I guess I took it too far with the Italian dish.' Sabuko thought, glancing at the fury still burning in Bolo's eyes before he registered Kakashi's presence.
"But... Kakashi-senpai, that brat—!"
"Enough," Kakashi cut in. "You're in no state to argue. Cool off. We'll discuss this with the Hokage later."
Bolo shot Sabuko one final glare before Kakashi let go of his wrist. Without another word, Bolo walked off, passing the Sabuko that still held the bells.
"And you," Kakashi turned to Sabuko, "As justified as your reasons might be, pissing off your superior Jōnin isn't the smartest move." His tone was calm, hands on hips, expression unreadable.
"Your head would've snapped clean off if that hit had landed. You know that?"
'Holy shit... It's actually Kakashi.'
"Y-yeah… but it wasn't going to hit me." Sabuko said, exhaling.
"..." Kakashi sighed. "You're putting a lot of faith in me, considering how hard you trashed Jōnin earlier."
'But OF COURSE he eavesdropped.' Sabuko deadpanned.
"Oh, no. Even if you hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't have been injured. And for the record, I never trashed you. I just stated facts."
A beat.
"Okay, I trashed you a little bit." Sabuko admitted, deadpan, "I'm sorry. But I meant every word... Well, the ones that didn't involve the Kyuubi attack."
Kakashi narrowed his eye, tilting his head slightly.
'... What kind of apology is that...' Kakashi sighed.
"Right, sure. So tell me... how exactly are you so sure you wouldn't have been hit? You developed some forbidden Taijutsu while no one was looking?"
"No," Sabuko said.
"It's just that I'm not the original."
"..!!"
POOF.
'No way…' Kakashi stared as the shadow clone vanished into smoke. He slowly turned toward the real Sabuko—walking up casually, the bells he snatched earlier in hand.
'He was the Kunai's handle wrap the whole time!?'
"Since Shadow Clones last indefinitely if they're undisturbed or not burning chakra, I made two clones six hours ago." He said, giving the bells a twirl.
"I then refilled my own chakra via resting, then disguised myself as the Kunai's handle wrap. The first clone transformed into the Kunai, and the second clone carried both of us." Sabuko continued, tossing the bells to Kakashi. With him lazily catching them.
"I fed the Kunai clone chakra from the inside when needed to keep it going longer. The clone that carried us touched me for a miniscule resupply every now and then."
Kakashi looked at Sabuko a beat too long.
"Using Shadow Clone jutsu like that is dangerous," Kakashi said, "And this... This was something that wasn't sure to work on a Jonin. It was—"
"It was a gamble, sure. But I had to plan for my weak Taijutsu if I wanted to be a ninja."
"…"
Kakashi's visible eye widened.
'No inherited techniques. No renowned bloodline. Subpar taijutsu. And yet… he outsmarted two Jōnin using nothing but Transformation and a forbidden Shadow Clone.'
'That… is just hella impressive.' He pursed his unseen lips.
"Sorry," Kakashi said, rubbing the back of his head. "What's your name again?"
"Sabuko Kanto, sir."
"Sir, huh..." Kakashi muttered. "So you don't have a problem with authority."
"...?" Sabuko tilted his head slightly. "I don't think I ever said I did."
Kakashi stared at him for a moment, then gave a low-effort chuckle.
"I guess you didn't." He looked away, just slightly.
'I might actually like this kid.'