I looked up my scroll to see Tsunade arrive at the training ground thirty-nine at six o clock sharp. I was already there, leaning against one of three wooden posts at the edge of the training ground, which was a clearing surrounded on one side by woods, the other by a lake.

"Hey," she greeted. I looked up, my green eyes flicking to her face.

"Hello," I said.

"Sensei hasn't arrived yet, then?" Tsunade asked.

"No, nor has Jiraiya," I replied.

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Ten minutes already."

"...ah."

Fifteen minutes later, Jiraiya came running in.

"Sorry I'm late!" he cried out, stopping short when both Tsunade and Orochimaru shot him annoyed glances.

"Where's sensei?" Jiraiya asked, looking confused.

"He hasn't arrived yet," Tsunade informed him, "He's later than you are."

Jiraiya paid this no heed, flopping onto the grass.

"Damn old geezer made us wake up early in the morning..." he grumbled.

"Tell me about it," Tsunade sighed, brushing away her bangs.

~•~

Two hours later, Jiraiya was snoring loudly, face-down on the grass. I leaned against the wooden post, and Tsunade was pacing around frantically.

"Where is he?" she asked out loud, "Do you think he got called for a mission or something?

"It's a possibility," I said calmly, casting a glance at the snoozing Jiraiya, who had dozed off about an hour ago.

"This is such a waste of time!" she exclaimed, "I could have slept in for two more hours!"

"You could go to sleep now, like Jiraiya," I pointed out.

"No, he'll probably show up soon," Tsunade said, rolling her eyes, "And Jiraiya's an idiot, anyway. But why would he keep us waiting so long without even telling us anything? I haven't even eaten!"

"Maybe he wants to make us wait without food, to teach us patience and endurance or something," I said, "After all, shinobi go on long missions without eating or sleeping. Maybe this training for that."

"You could be right," Tsunade agreed. "But I'm really bored. Wanna spar?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"We don't even know enough jutsu for that," I said, "And it would be foolish wasting all our chakra before sensei even arrives."

"You're right," Tsunade conceded, plopping down onto the grass, a few feet from Jiraiya, who was now snoring loudly, "But I'm getting really irritated..."

Third POV

~•~

Two hours after Hiruzen did arrive, to find one of his Genin sleeping.

"You're late!" Tsunade pounced up, pointing at him accusatorily, looking supremely annoyed.

He peered over at Jiraiya, who was fast-asleep, before quickly making a few hand-signs. Suddenly, the ground beneath Jiraiya disappeared, along with the snoozing boy.

There was a loud crash and a string of colorful expletives that Jiraiya most definitely was far too young to be using.

"Hey, that hurt!" Jiraiya whined, clambering out of the hole, "Sensei! What gives?"

"Good morning, Jiraiya," Hiruzen smiled pleasantly, "Had a good nap?"

"Ahahaha," Jiraiya chuckled, looking sheepishly, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... but you took forever to come!"

"I was testing your patience," Hiruzen told him, helping him up before he addressed all three of them.

"Today, we're going to do a test," he informed the three Genin.

"What kind of test, sensei?" Tsunade asked.

"A very important test," Hiruzen said, reaching out into his pocket, and pulling out two bells. They jingled merrily.

"Your job is to capture these bells from me," Hiruzen announced, "Before lunchtime."

It was ten o clock already, and Tsunade assumed that meant they had two hours.

"Is that it?" Jiraiya asked, "Get the bells?"

"Yes," Hiruzen nodded.

But won't - three on one be kinda unfair?" Jiraiya pointed out.

Hiruzen chuckled.

"We'll see about that," he said, "I think you'll find I'm not so badly disadvantaged against three newly graduated Genin."

"What's the catch?" Orochimaru asked suddenly.

Hiruzen observed him carefully.

"What do you mean?"

"There are two bells, but only three of us," Orochimaru stated, "So does that mean we're competing against one another as well?"

Hiruzen smiled.

"Perceptive, Orochimaru," he said, "There are, in fact, three of you, but only two bells. So whoever doesn't get the bell, doesn't pass the test, and has to be tied to this post and misses lunch."

"WHAT?" Jiraiya bellowed, "No way! I already skipped breakfast! Heck, I'm getting one of those darn bells!"

"We'll see about that," Tsunade said loftily, "Remember, you're competing against us too..."

"SO?" Jiraiya screeched, "Bet I'll get a bell and you won't, princess Tsunade!"

"I don't bet," Tsunade shot back, "And you don't have a chance, Jiraiya-baka! You're half-asleep anyways!"

"I'm not anymore!" Jiraiya protested, "And I bet I'll get a bell before both you and Orochimaru!"

"I highly doubt it," Orochimaru said, entering the conversation.

"What?" Jiraiya turned on him, "You're siding with her against me? You traitor!"

Orochimaru looked confused.

"How am I a traitor? I meant I highly doubt you'll get a bell before me," he pointed out.

"I thought we were friends," Jiraiya said melodramatically.

"We barely know each other," Orochimaru said, still bemused.

"IT'S THE PRINCIPLE OF THE THING!" Jiraiya howled at him.

"SHUT UP, USURATONKACHI!" Tsunade shouted, whacking Jiraiya on the head.

"Yeeeowch!" Jiraiya rubbed his head, scowling, "That hurt!"

"Well, you deserved it!" Tsunade snapped, "Stop acting like an immature moron!"

"Then you stop being bossy !" Jiraiya retorted.

"Why you-" Tsunade lunged at him, but Hiruzen grabbed her arms, holding her back, and Jiraiya cackled loudly.

"Keep laughing and I'll break your teeth!" Tsunade threatened.

"I'd like to see you try that when you're tied to that post," Jiraiya teased.

"You're going to be tied to the post!" Tsunade shot back.

"You can sort out your differences later," Hiruzen said, "Because the test begins now!"

And suddenly, he was gone in a swirl of leaves, and Tsunade stumbled forwards, nearly bumping into Jiraiya, though she steadied herself before that.

"He disappeared!" Jiraiya howled, "How the heck do we find him or the bells now?"

"That's your problem," Tsunade shrugged, sticking her tongue out at him, before flouncing off.

"Geez," Jiraiya rolled his eyes, "Moody woman. Can't stand them. Hey Orochimaru -"

He looked around, turning his head, but Orochimaru was nowhere to be found.

"Traitor," Jiraiya muttered under his breath, though he knew it wasn't true, "Leaving me alone with a bossy woman and disappearing like that..."

~•~

Tsunade finally found her sensei, peering at him from her spot in the tree. She was hidden well enough by the leaves, and she supposed Orochimaru was as well.

She waited, wondering when and how to go about getting the bells, when with a blur of green, red and white, Jiraiya had sped out and was attacking their sensei with a series of rapid taijutsu moves.

Hiruzen, however, dodged and side-stepped them nimbly. Tsunade was surprised at how fast Jiraiya was, but he held nothing to sensei. The Jounin was dodging them effortlessly.

Jiraiya made a few hand-seals and suddenly, a fairly sized fireball was blazing from his mouth.

Tsunade's eyes widened - that was a signature Uchiha technique! She didn't think he would know it.

Still, the attack forced Hiruzen to leap away, though Jiraiya was no closer to getting the bells than before.

Tsunade, however, took the chance and jumped down from her tree, landing behind her sensei. She didn't know too many jutsu either, so she created a shadow clone, and rushed towards him from two sides, her fist raised.

He dodged her easily, and she struck out again, as hard as she could. This time, he substituted instead.

"ARGH!" Tsunade shrieked, nursing a bruised hand.

Her punches were hard, but when they hit tree trunks, they hurt her more than anything!

Only Hiruzen noticed the small crack that had opened up in the trunk after Tsunade's hit.

Orochimaru chose that moment to make his appearance, and struck out as well, moving fluidly from one kata to another. He was as good at taijutsu as his teammates, though he moved with more fluidity and grace than Jiraiya, and was faster than the both of them.

Suddenly there was a flash of silver, and Tsunade noted that Orochimaru was wielding a medium-sized kodachi. She wondered how he could already wield it so well. Hiruzen, however, took out a kunai and effectively parried every blow, even forcing Orochimaru back a few steps, nearly knocking the weapon out of his hands.

Tsunade reached into her weapons pouch, grabbing a few shurikens and sending them spinning at her sensei. Jiraiya began to do the same. Hiruzen was able to parry their projectiles quite easily with just one kunai, but Tsunade kept hurling weapon after weapon anyway, though Jiraiya seemed to find it pointless, and switched to fireballs after awhile.

Tsunade then shot a meaningful glance at Orochimaru, who was in battle stance, kodachi in hand, and nodded over to their sensei. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes but seemed to catch her meaning.

As Tsunade and Jiraiya distracted Hiruzen with weapons, Orochimaru snuck up behind him and lashed out with his kodachi. Hiruzen spun around just in time, and the weapon barely glanced against his belt. It did, however, make contact with the string holding the two bells, as Orochimaru had intended.

They landed on the ground, with a merry little jingle, and Orochimaru swiftly pocketed one of them, before leaping away.

At the same moment, both Jiraiya and Tsunade raced ahead.

"Hey!" Tsunade shrieked, as a shuriken barely grazed past the top of her head, cutting off a few strands of platinum blonde hair.

Jiraiya grinned cheekily at her, before leaping forwards, his fingers just inches from the bell that lay in the grass.

"No way," Tsunade growled, launching herself forward, and toppling onto Jiraiya.

They scuffled in the grass for a few moments, trying desperately to get the bell, until Tsunade punched him, hard in the face.

She regretted it slightly, but he had thrown a shuriken at her to force her to divert her path earlier.

"Owwww!" Jiraiya yelped, nursing a black eye, and Tsunade closer her hands around the cool, round metal, before leaping up and walking over to Orochimaru.

"Got it!" she announced triumphantly, raising her hand, and Jiraiya sat up, groaning, to glare at her.

~•~

"Well, I must say your teamwork, even if initially unintentional, did evolve towards the end," Hiruzen commented, "Orochimaru effectively cut the bells from me while Tsunade and Jiraiya caused a diversion, and then took one for his own. Next time, Orochimaru, you can take your teammate's bell as well, and hand it to them, instead of leaving them to fight over it."

"Yes, sensei," Orochimaru nodded, before adding, "But I didn't know who to give it to."

"Me, obviously!" Jiraiya roared, struggling against the ropes that bound him to the wooden post, "For the sake of male pride, Orochimaru! We can't let these stupid women overpower us!"

"You just did," Tsunade felt compelled to point out, jingling her bell in his face. "I won, Jiraiya-baka!" she giggled.

"Shut up, flat-chested Tsunade!" Jiraiya shot back.

Tsunade lunged at him again, shrieking.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"HIRUZEN-SENSEI TSUNADE CHEATED!" Jiraiya screeched into her face.

"Why you little-" Tsunade snarled, but Hiruzen held her back before she could punch Jiraiya again.

"Once is quite enough, don't you think, Tsunade-chan?" Hiruzen asked.

"I didn't cheat! Jiraiya's just a sore loser!" Tsunade insisted.

Hiruzen didn't say anything to that.

"I am not. You did cheat, by punching me. That was foul play. I would never hit a girl-"

"You threw a freaking shuriken at me, you retard!"

"That's different! I would never - get physical with you! I wouldn't-"

"EWWW! You pervert!" Tsunade accused, eyes widening.

"I didn't mean it like that!" Jiraiya yelled back, reddening instantly, "You touched me!"

"I punched you!" Tsunade screamed.

"You practically - raped me!"

"You really shouldn't be using that word, forget knowing what it means," Hiruzen said quickly.

"I - what?" Tsunade blinked, not getting it.

"You punched me," Jiraiya repeated instead, pouting slightly, "And it hurt.'

"Get over it," Tsunade rolled her eyes, "You'll be facing worse from enemy ninja. And I didn't even punch you where it'd hurt, idiot."

Jiraiya looked rather fearful, attempting to cross his legs. The ropes restricted his movements.

"Pervert," he squeaked, and Tsunade looked ready to fly at him again before Hiruzen intervened.

"Now, now, that's enough," Hiruzen separated them.

Tsunade stuck her tongue out at Jiraiya, pulling down her eyelid. Jiraiya just fumed, glowering at her, still looking rather sulky.

"Tsunade, Orochimaru, good job on getting the bells," Hiruzen said, "You two can head on home now."

"By the sensei, I might be a little late tomorrow," Orochimaru said.

"Ok just try not to be too late," Hiruzen said.

💖💖💖💖

Hey Lovely Readers 💗💗💗

I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Don't hesitate to let me know what you think about this chapter.

Questions:

1: What did you think of the bell test?

2:What was your favorite part of this chapter?

3:What do you hope to see throughout this story?

A\N: Like I mentioned before don't remember all of the chapters from before I decided to rewrite this story. So there probably be a lot of changes except for the last chapter and one chapter from the second great shinobi war. If you remember any of the old chapters feel free to let me know.

Thanks for reading 💖