A/N: I had a wonderful idea all of the sudden. It's amazing what you can make your mind think up when you are deathly bored. :D
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Chapter Number 1!
"You're… you're kidding, Kakashi-sensei."
"I already told you, no. This is not a joke."
Sakura stood dumbfounded, jaw wide open, in front of an extremely old, abandoned, and broken down building miles from Konoha. Kakashi grinned at her. She made no reply and just turned to look at the kunoichi next to her, Ino.
And right now Ino was angry. Angry, bitchy, and hated by Sakura, especially since they were partners.
Partners.
Partners who had to spend who knew how long together in this empty, dilapidated building with walls that could fall in at any minute, rats that could be carrying all sorts of interesting diseases, and what was rumored to be ghosts.
The challenge, as Kakashi, Gai, Asuma, and Kurenai had explained to their squads, was to stay in this building with few supplies until they could find their way out - after they completed three complicated challenges.
And they were to be mixed up and put with unfamiliar partners. Each pair would go into a different entrance, so that they would likely be isolated for at least a very long amount of time.
Naruto stood up on the ground where they had been out in the field and raised his arm high into the air. "Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei! Hey, Kakashi-sensei!"
Kakashi sighed. "I'm not done giving instructions yet, Naruto."
"But – !"
"Now, you will be given a knapsack with two bags of food and two bottles of water for each person…"
"Kakashi-senseeeeiiiiiii," Naruto said in a singsong voice.
"Naruto, shut up," Sakura hissed through the side of her mouth.
"You will also have a box of matches…" Kakashi continued.
"Pick me! Pick me!" Naruto interrupted him again, waving his hand around.
"…some kunai and shuriken…"
"Are you done now, Kakashi-sensei? C'mon, pick me…" Naruto's hand was flailing around so wildly he was about to hit Sakura, Tenten, and Shikamaru in the head.
"What is this about, Naruto?" Kakashi asked tiredly.
"It's about the challenge!"
"Can it wait?"
"No, it can't, Kakashi-sensei, it's really, really important!"
"How important?"
"Really, really, really important!"
Kakashi sighed again. "Alright, ask."
"Is there ramen in there?" he inquired, pointing at the run-down building with such a sincerely unknowing expression, there could have been a question mark above his head.
A few of the genin snickered quietly. Sakura slapped herself in the forehead. Shikamaru shook his head and mumbled, "How troublesome."
"No," Kakashi replied vaguely. "No, Naruto, there is not any ramen in the abandoned, empty building. Any other questions?"
Neji raised his hand. Gai nodded to him and he asked, "How will we get the first challenge? Is there something we're supposed to do or find?"
"Good question," Kakashi said. "But we can't tell you. A good ninja always know what they're looking for, even if they don't know what they're looking for."
The genin all cocked their heads to the side and said, "Huh?" "What?" "I don't get it."
"Nice way of explaining things, Kakashi," Gai said sarcastically.
"I know."
"Okay!" Kurenai said. "Listen up! I'm going to give you all your partners." She held up a scroll with names written in dark ink across the paper for all of them to see. She began to read the pairs.
"Aburame, Shino and Hyuga, Neji… Akimichi, Choji and Inuzuka, Kiba… Rock Lee and Uchiha, Sasuke…"
"You're kidding me…" Sasuke mumbled, otherwise not giving any indication that he had heard Kurenai.
"Nara, Shikamaru and Uzumaki, Naruto… That's it for the boys. Now…"
"Great, I'm with the lazy one!" Naruto shouted exasperatedly.
"I heard that!" Shikamaru said.
"Tenten and Hyuga, Hinata… and that leaves Haruno, Sakura and Yamanaka, Ino."
Immediately, a heated argument began between Ino and Sakura. Kakashi tried to quiet them in vain – it turned into a kind of a catfight. Naruto was repeatedly calling Shikamaru lazy while Shikamaru just sighed and mumbled to himself.
Rock Lee approached Sasuke, seeming to come out of thin air, which just pissed Sasuke off more. "I will readily take this challenge!" he said.
"Alright, I get it!" Sasuke hissed. "Get out of my face…"
Kiba looked over at Choji, who was going through a bag of chips at rapid speed. His eyes grew large and Akamaru whimpered. Neji and Shino didn't acknowledge each other in any way. Hinata was silent while Tenten went on about boys being hotheaded, watching Sasuke yell at Rock Lee.
"This will be very interesting," Gai commented as the four jonin watched the crowd of kids becoming more and more chaotic.
Sakura and Ino grabbed each other by the collar of their clothes. Sasuke and Rock Lee were starting to get in a fistfight. Naruto was passionately talking about how lazy Shikamaru was with showy gestures. Choji asked over all the noise, "Anyone got some more food? I better eat while I can."
"Interesting doesn't even begin to describe this," Kakashi said.
End First Chapter
